{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_6046/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_6046","id":"gutenberg_6046","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6046","summary":null,"tags":["Authors, English -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- Biography","Bunyan, John, 1628-1688","Category: Biographies","Category: British Literature","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian literature, English","Christian literature, English -- History and criticism","Puritans -- England -- Biography"],"text":"The Works of John Bunyan\n\nWITH AN\nINTRODUCTION TO EACH TREATISE, NOTES,\nAND A\nSKETCH OF HIS LIFE, TIMES, AND CONTEMPORARIES.\n\nVOLUME FIRST.\n\nEXPERIMENTAL, DOCTRINAL, AND PRACTICAL.\n\nEDITED BY\nGEORGE OFFOR, ESQ.\n\n\nContents\n\n MEMOIR OF JOHN BUNYAN\n GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS\n A RELATON OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN\n THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED\n THE GREATNESS OF THE SOUL\n THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST AS AN ADVOCATE\n CHRIST A COMPLETE SAVIOUR\n COME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST\n JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS\n SAVED BY GRACE\n THE STRAIT GATE\n LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS\n A TREATISE OF THE FEAR OF GOD\n THE DOCTRINE OF THE LAW AND GRACE UNFOLDED\n ISRAEL\u2019S HOPE ENCOURAGED\n A DISCOURSE TOUCHING PRAYER\n THE SAINTS\u2019 PRIVILEGE AND PROFIT\n THE ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE\n PAUL\u2019S DEPARTURE AND CROWN\n THE DESIRE OF THE RIGHTEOUS GRANTED\n\n\n\n\nMEMOIR OF JOHN BUNYAN\n\n\nTHE FIRST PERIOD.\n\n\nTHIS GREAT MAN DESCENDED FROM IGNOBLE PARENTS\u2014BORN IN POVERTY\u2014HIS\nEDUCATION AND EVIL HABITS\u2014FOLLOWS HIS FATHER\u2019S BUSINESS AS A\nBRAZIER\u2014ENLISTS FOR A SOLDIER\u2014RETURNS FROM THE WARS AND OBTAINS AN\nAMIABLE, RELIGIOUS WIFE\u2014HER DOWER.\n\n\n\u2018We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the\npower may be of God, and not of us.\u2019\u20142 Cor 4:7\n\n\u2018For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,\nsaith the Lord.\u2019\u2014Isaiah 55:8.\n\n\u2018Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a\ndove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.\u2019\u2014Psalm\n68:13.\n\nWhen the Philistine giant, Goliath, mocked the host of Israel, and\nchallenged any of their stern warriors to single combat, what human\nbeing could have imagined that the gigantic heathen would be\nsuccessfully met in the mortal struggle by a youth \u2019ruddy and of a fair\ncountenance?\u2019 who unarmed, except with a sling and a stone, gave the\ncarcases of the hosts of the Philistines to the fouls of the air, and\nto the wild beasts of the earth.\u2019\n\nWho, upon seeing an infant born in a stable, and laid in a manger, or\nbeholding him when a youth working with his father as a carpenter,\ncould have conceived that he was the manifestation of the Deity in\nhuman form, before whom every knee should bow, and every tongue confess\nHim to be THE ETERNAL?\n\nFather Michael, a Franciscan friar, on a journey to Ancona, having lost\nhis way, sought direction from a wretched lad keeping hogs\u2014deserted,\nforlorn, his back smarting with severe stripes, and his eyes suffused\nwith tears. The poor ragged boy not only went cheerfully with him to\npoint out his road, but besought the monk to take him into his convent,\nvolunteering to fulfill the most degrading services, in the hope of\nprocuring a little learning, and escaping from \u2019those filthy hogs.\u2019 How\nincredulously would the friar have listened to anyone who could have\nsuggested that this desolate, tattered, dirty boy, might and would fill\na greater than an imperial throne! Yet, eventually that swine-herd was\nclothed in purple and fine linen, and, under the title of Pope Sixtus\nV., became one of those mighty magicians who are described in Rogers\nItaly, as\n\n\u2018Setting their feet upon the necks of kings,\nAnd through the worlds subduing, chaining down\nThe free, immortal spirit\u2014theirs a wondrous spell.\u2019 [1]\n\n\nA woman that was \u2019a loose and ungodly wretch\u2019 hearing a tinker lad most\nawfully cursing and swearing, protested to him that \u2019he swore and\ncursed at that most fearful rate that it made her tremble to hear him,\u2019\n\u2019that he was the ungodliest fellow for swearing that ever she heard in\nall her life,\u2019 and \u2019that he was able to spoil all the youth in a whole\ntown, if they came in his company.\u2019 This blow at the young reprobate\nmade that indelible impression which all the sermons yet he had heard\nhad failed to make. Satan, by one of his own slaves, wounded a\nconscience which had resisted all the overtures of mercy. The youth\npondered her words in his heart; they were good seed strangely sown,\nand their working formed one of those mysterious steps which led the\nfoul-mouthed blasphemer to bitter repentance; who, when he had received\nmercy and pardon, felt impelled to bless and magnify the Divine grace\nwith shining, burning thoughts and words. The poor profligate, swearing\ntinker became transformed into the most ardent preacher of the love of\nChrist\u2014the well-trained author of The Jerusalem Sinner Saved, or Good\nNews to the Vilest of Men.\n\nHow often have the Saints of God been made a most unexpected blessing\nto others. The good seed of Divine truth has been many times sown by\nthose who did not go out to sow, but who were profitably engaged in\ncultivating their own graces, enjoying the communion of Saints, and\nadvancing their own personal happiness! Think of a few poor, but pious\nhappy women, sitting in the sun one beautiful summer\u2019s day, before one\nof their cottages, probably each one with her pillow on her lap,\ndexterously twisting the bobbins to make lace, the profits of which\nhelped to maintain their children. While they are communing on the\nthings of God, a traveling tinker draws near, and, over-hearing their\ntalk, takes up a position where he might listen to their converse while\nhe pursued his avocation. Their words distil into his soul; they speak\nthe language of Canaan; they talk of holy enjoyments, the result of\nbeing born again, acknowledging their miserable state by nature, and\nhow freely and undeservedly God had visited their hearts with pardoning\nmercy, and supported them while suffering the assaults and suggestions\nof Satan; how they had been borne up in every dark, cloudy, stormy day;\nand how they contemned, slighted, and abhorred their own righteousness\nas filthy and insufficient to do them any good. The learned discourses\nour tinker had heard at church had casually passed over his mind like\nevanescent clouds, and left little or no lasting impression. But these\npoor women, \u2019methought they spake as actually did make them speak; they\nspeak with such pleasant as of Scripture language, and with such\nappearance of grace in all they said, that they were to me as if they\nhad found a new world, as if they were people that dwelt alone, and\nwere not to be reckoned among their neighbors\u2019 (Num 23:9).\n\nO! how little did they imagine that their pious converse was to be the\nmeans employed by the Holy Spirit in the conversion of that poor\ntinker, and that, by their agency, he was to be transformed into one of\nthe brightest luminaries of heaven; who, when he had entered into rest\nwould leave his works to follow him as spiritual thunder to pierce the\nhearts of the impenitent, and as heavenly consolation to bind up the\nbroken-hearted; liberating the prisoners of Giant Despair, and\ndirecting the pilgrims to the Celestial City. Thus were blessings in\nrich abundance showered down upon the church by the instrumentality, in\nthe first instance, of a woman that was a sinner, but most eminently by\nthe Christian converse of a few poor but pious women.\n\nThis poverty-stricken, ragged tinker was the son of a working mechanic\nat Elstow, near Bedford. So obscure was his origin that even the\nChristian name of his father is yet unknown:[2] he was born in 1628, a\nyear memorable as that in which the Bill of Rights was passed. Then\nbegan the struggle against arbitrary power, which was overthrown in\n1688, the year of Bunyan\u2019s death, by the accession of William III. Of\nBunyan\u2019s parents, his infancy, and childhood, little is recorded. All\nthat we know is from his own account, and that principally contained in\nhis doctrine of the Law and Grace, and in his extraordinary development\nof his spiritual life, under the title of Grace Abounding to the Chief\nof Sinners. His birth would have shed a luster on the wealthiest\nmansion, and have imparted additional grandeur to any lordly palace.\nHad royal or noble gossips, and a splendid entertainment attended his\nchristening, it might have been pointed to with pride; but so obscure\nwas his birth, that it has not been discovered that he was christened\nat all; while the fact of his new birth by the Holy Ghost is known over\nthe whole world to the vast extent that his writings have been\ncirculated. He entered this world in a labourer\u2019s cottage of the\nhumblest class, at the village of Elstow, about a mile from Bedford.[3]\nHis pedigree is thus narrated by himself:\u2014\u2018My descent was of a low and\ninconsiderable generation, my father\u2019s house being of that rank that is\nmeanest and most despised of all the families in the land.\u2019[4] Bunyan\nalludes to this very pointedly in the preface to A Few Sighs from\nHell:\u2014\u2018I am thine, if thou be not ashamed to own me, because of my low\nand contemptible descent in the world.\u2019[5] His poor and abject\nparentage was so notorious, that his pastor, John Burton, apologized\nfor it in his recommendation to The Gospel Truths Opened:\u2014\u2018Be not\noffended because Christ holds forth the glorious treasure of the gospel\nto thee in a poor earthen vessel, by one who hath neither the greatness\nnor the wisdom of this world to commend him to thee.\u2019[6] And in his\nmost admirable treatise, on The Fear of God, Bunyan observes\u2014\u2018The poor\nChristian hath something to answer them that reproach him for his\nignoble pedigree, and shortness of the glory of the wisdom of this\nworld. True may that man say I am taken out of the dunghill. I was born\nin a base and low estate; but I fear God. This is the highest and most\nnoble; he hath the honour, the life, and glory that is lasting.\u2019[7] In\nhis controversy with the Strict Baptists, he chides them for reviling\nhis ignoble pedigree:\u2014\u2018You closely disdain my person because of my low\ndescent among men, stigmatizing me as a person of THAT rank that need\nnot be heeded or attended unto.\u2019[8] He inquired of his father\u2014\u2018Whether\nwe were of the Israelites or no? for, finding in the Scripture that\nthey were once the peculiar people of God, thought I, if I were one of\nthis race, my soul must needs be happy.\u2019[9] This somewhat justifies the\nconclusion that his father was a Gipsy tinker, that occupation being\nthen followed by the Gipsy tribe. In the life of Bunyan appended to the\nforged third part of the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, his father is described as\n\u2018an honest poor labouring man, who, like Adam unparadised, had all the\nworld before him to get his bread in; and was very careful and\nindustrious to maintain his family.\u2019[10]\n\nHappily for Bunyan, he was born in a neighbourhood in which it was a\ndisgrace to any parents not to have their children educated. With\ngratitude he records, that \u2018it pleased God to put it into their hearts\nto put me to school to learn both to read and to write.\u2019 In the\nneighbourhood of his birthplace, a noble charity diffused the blessings\nof lettered knowledge.[11] To this charity Bunyan was for a short\nperiod indebted for the rudiments of education; but, alas, evil\nassociates made awful havoc of those slight unshapen literary\nimpressions which had been made upon a mind boisterous and impatient of\ndiscipline. He says\u2014\u2018To my shame, I confess I did soon lose that little\nI learned, and that almost utterly.\u2019[12] This fact will recur to the\nreader\u2019s recollection when he peruses Israel\u2019s Hope Encouraged, in\nwhich, speaking of the all-important doctrine of justification, he\nsays\u2014\u2018It is with many that begin with this doctrine as it is with boys\nthat go to the Latin school; they learn till they have learned the\ngrounds of their grammar, and then go home and forget all.\u2019[13]\n\nAs soon as his strength enabled him, he devoted his whole soul and body\nto licentiousness\u2014\u2018As for my own natural life, for the time that I was\nwithout God in the world, it was indeed according to the course of this\nworld, and the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.\nIt was my delight to be taken captive by the devil at his will: being\nfilled with all unrighteousness; that from a child I had but few\nequals, both for cursing, swearing, lying, and blaspheming the holy\nname of God.\u2019[14]\n\nIt has been supposed, that in delineating the early career of Badman,\n\u2018Bunyan drew the picture of his own boyhood.\u2019[15] But the difference is\nbroadly given. Badman is the child of pious parents, who gave him a\n\u2018good education\u2019 in every sense, both moral and secular;[16] the very\nreverse of Bunyan\u2019s training. His associates would enable him to draw\nthe awful character and conduct of Badman, as a terrible example to\ndeter others from the downward road to misery and perdition.\n\nBunyan\u2019s parents do not appear to have checked, or attempted to\ncounteract, his unbridled career of wickedness. He gives no hint of the\nkind; but when he notices his wife\u2019s father, he adds that he \u2018was\ncounted godly\u2019; and in his beautiful nonsectarian catechism, there is a\nvery touching conclusion to his instructions to children on their\nbehaviour to their parents:\u2014\u2018The Lord, if it be his will, convert our\npoor parents, that they, with us, may be the children of God.\u2019[17]\nThese fervent expressions may refer to his own parents; and, connecting\nthem with other evidence, it appears that he was not blessed with pious\nexample. Upon one occasion, when severely reproved for swearing, he\nsays\u2014\u2018I wished, with all my heart, that I might be a little child\nagain, that my father might learn me to speak without this wicked way\nof swearing.\u2019[18] In his numerous confessions, he never expresses pain\nat having, by his vicious conduct, occasioned grief to his father or\nmother. From this it may be inferred, that neither his father\u2019s example\nnor precept had checked this wretched propensity to swearing, and that\nhe owed nothing to his parents for moral training; but, on the\ncontrary, they had connived at, and encouraged him in, a course of life\nwhich made him a curse to the neighbourhood in which he lived.\n\nIn the midst of all this violent depravity, the Holy Spirit began the\nwork of regeneration in his soul\u2014a long, a solemn, yea, an awful\nwork\u2014which was to fit this poor debauched youth for purity of\nconduct\u2014for communion with heaven\u2014for wondrous usefulness as a minister\nof the gospel\u2014for patient endurance of sufferings for righteousness\u2019\nsake\u2014for the writing of works which promise to be a blessing to the\nChurch in all ages\u2014for his support during his passage through the black\nriver which has no bridge\u2014to shine all bright and glorious, as a star\nin the firmament of heaven. \u2018Wonders of grace to God belong.\u2019\n\nDuring the period of his open profligacy, his conscience was ill at\nease; at times the clanking of Satan\u2019s slavish chains in which he was\nhurrying to destruction, distracted him. The stern reality of a future\nstate clouded and embittered many of those moments employed in\ngratifying his baser passions. The face of the eventful times in which\nhe lived was rapidly changing; the trammels were loosened, which, with\natrocious penalties, had fettered all free inquiry into religious\ntruth. Puritanism began to walk upright; and as the restraints imposed\nupon Divine truths were taken off, in the same proportion restraints\nwere imposed upon impiety, profaneness, and debauchery. A ringleader in\nall wickedness would not long continue without reproof, either\npersonally, or as seen in the holy conduct of others. Bunyan very\nproperly attributed to a gracious God, those checks of conscience which\nhe so strongly felt even while he was apparently dead in trespasses and\nsins. \u2018The Lord, even in my childhood, did scare and affright me with\nfearful dreams, and did terrify me with dreadful visions.\u2019[19] \u2018I often\nwished that there had been no hell, or that I had been a devil to\ntorment others.\u2019 A common childish but demoniac idea. His mind was as\n\u2018the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and\ndirt.\u2019 \u2018A while after, these terrible dreams did leave me; and with\nmore greediness, according to the strength of nature, I did let loose\nthe reins of my lusts, and delighted in all transgression against the\nlaw of God.\u2019 \u2018I was the very ringleader of all the youth that kept me\ncompany, into ALL MANNER of vice and ungodliness.\u2019[20]\n\nDr. Southey and others have attempted to whiten this blackamore, but\nthe veil that they throw over him is so transparent that it cannot\ndeceive those who are in the least degree spiritually enlightened. He\nalleges that Bunyan, in his mad career of vice and folly, \u2018was never so\ngiven over to a reprobate mind,\u2019[21] as to be wholly free from\ncompunctions of conscience. This is the case with every depraved\ncharacter; but he goes further, when he asserts that \u2018Bunyan\u2019s heart\nnever was hardened.\u2019[22] This is directly opposed to his description of\nhimself:\u2014\u2018I found within me a great desire to take my fill of sin,\nstill studying what sin was yet to be committed; and I made as much\nhaste as I could to fill my belly with its delicates, lest I should die\nbefore I had my desire.\u2019 He thus solemnly adds, \u2018In these things, I\nprotest before God, I lie not, neither do I feign this sort of speech;\nthese were really, strongly, and with all my heart, my desires; the\ngood Lord, whose mercy is unsearchable, forgive me my transgressions.\u2019\nThe whole of his career, from childhood to manhood, was, \u2018According to\nthe course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the\nair, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience\u2019 (Eph\n2:2).\n\nThese reminiscences are alluded to in the prologue of the Holy War:\u2014\n\n\u2018When Mansoul trampled upon things Divine,\nAnd wallowed in filth as doth a swine,\nThen I was there, and did rejoice to see\nDiabolus and Mansoul so agree.\u2019\n\n\nThe Laureate had read this, and yet considers it the language of a\nheart that \u2018never was hardened.\u2019 He says that \u2018the wickedness of the\ntinker has been greatly overcharged, and it is taking the language of\nself-accusation too literally to pronounce of John Bunyan, that he was\nat any time depraved. The worst of what he was in his worst days is to\nbe expressed in a single word, the full meaning of which no\ncircumlocution can convey; and which, though it may hardly be deemed\npresentable in serious composition, I shall use, as Bunyan himself (no\nmealy-mouthed writer) would have used it, had it in his days borne the\nsame acceptation in which it is now universally understood;\u2014in that\nword then, he had been a blackguard.\n\nThe very head and front of his offending\nHath this extent\u2014no more.\u2019[23]\n\n\nThe meaning of the epithet is admirably explained; but what could Dr.\nSouthey imagine possible to render such a character more vile in the\nsight of God, or a greater pest to society? Is there any vicious\npropensity, the gratification of which is not included in that\ncharacter? Bunyan\u2019s estimate of his immorality and profaneness prior to\nhis conversion, was not made by comparing himself with the infinitely\nHoly One, but he measured his conduct by that of his more moral\nneighbours. In his Jerusalem Sinner Saved, he pleads with great\nsinners, the outwardly and violently profane and vicious, that if HE\nhad received mercy, and had become regenerated, they surely ought not\nto despair, but to seek earnestly for the same grace. He thus describes\nhimself:\u2014\u2018I speak by experience; I was one of those great sin-breeders;\nI infected all the youth of the town where I was born; the neighbours\ncounted me so, my practice proved me so: wherefore, Christ Jesus took\nme first; and, taking me first, the contagion was much allayed all the\ntown over. When God made me sigh, they would hearken, and inquiringly\nsay, What\u2019s the matter with John? When I went out to seek the bread of\nlife, some of them would follow, and the rest be put into a muse at\nhome. Some of them, perceiving that God had mercy upon me, came crying\nto him for mercy too.\u2019[24] Can any one, in the face of such language,\ndoubt that he was most eminently \u2018a brand snatched from the fire\u2019; a\npitchy burning brand, known and seen as such by all who witnessed his\nconduct? He pointedly exemplified the character set forth by James,\n\u2018the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, set on fire of hell\u2019 (James\n3:6). This was as publicly known before his conversion, as the effects\nof the wondrous change were openly seen in his Christian career\nafterwards. He who, when convinced of sin, strained his eyes to see the\ndistant shining light over the wicket-gate, after he had gazed upon\n\n\u2014\u2018The wondrous cross\nOn which the Prince of glory died,\u2019\n\n\nbecame a luminous beacon, to attract the vilest characters to seek\nnewness of life; and if there be hope for them, no one ought to\ndespair. Far be it from us to cloud this light, or to tarnish so\nconspicuous an example. Like a Magdalene or a thief on the cross, his\ncase may be exhibited to encourage hope in every returning prodigal.\nDuring this period of his childhood, while striving to harden his heart\nagainst God, many were the glimmerings of light which from time to time\ndirected his unwilling eyes to a dread eternity. In the still hours of\nthe night \u2018in a dream God opened\u2019 his ears[25]\u2014the dreadful vision was\nthat \u2018devils and wicked spirits laboured to draw me away with them.\u2019\nThese thoughts must have left a deep and alarming impression upon his\nmind; for he adds, \u2018of which I could never be rid.\u2019[26]\n\nThe author of his life, published in 1692, who was one of his personal\nfriends, gives the following account of Bunyan\u2019s profligacy, and his\nchecks of conscience:\u2014\u2018He himself hath often, since his conversion,\nconfessed with horror, that when he was but a child or stripling, he\nhad but few equals for lying, swearing, and blaspheming God\u2019s holy\nname\u2014living without God in the world; the thoughts of which, when he,\nby the light of Divine grace, came to understand his dangerous\ncondition, drew many showers of tears from his sorrowful eyes, and\nsighs from his groaning heart. The first thing that sensibly touched\nhim in this his unregenerate state, were fearful dreams, and visions of\nthe night, which often made him cry out in his sleep, and alarm the\nhouse, as if somebody was about to murder him, and being waked, he\nwould start, and stare about him with such a wildness, as if some real\napparition had yet remained; and generally those dreams were about evil\nspirits, in monstrous shapes and forms, that presented themselves to\nhim in threatening postures, as if they would have taken him away, or\ntorn him in pieces. At some times they seemed to belch flame, at other\ntimes a continuous smoke, with horrible noises and roaring. Once he\ndreamed he saw the face of the heavens, as it were, all on fire; the\nfirmament crackling and shivering with the noise of mighty thunders,\nand an archangel flew in the midst of heaven, sounding a trumpet, and a\nglorious throne was seated in the east, whereon sat one in brightness,\nlike the morning star, upon which he, thinking it was the end of the\nworld, fell upon his knees, and, with uplifted hands towards heaven,\ncried, O Lord God, have mercy upon me! What shall I do, the day of\njudgment is come, and I am not prepared! When immediately he heard a\nvoice behind him, exceeding loud, saying, Repent. At another time he\ndreamed that he was in a pleasant place, jovial and rioting, banqueting\nand feasting his senses, when a mighty earthquake suddenly rent the\nearth, and made a wide gap, out of which came bloody flames, and the\nfigures of men tossed up in globes of fire, and falling down again with\nhorrible cries, shrieks, and execrations, whilst some devils that were\nmingled with them, laughed aloud at their torments; and whilst he stood\ntrembling at this sight, he thought the earth sunk under him, and a\ncircle of flame enclosed him; but when he fancied he was just at the\npoint to perish, one in white shining raiment descended, and plucked\nhim out of that dreadful place; whilst the devils cried after him, to\nleave him with them, to take the just punishment his sins had deserved,\nyet he escaped the danger, and leaped for joy when he awoke and found\nit was a dream.\u2019\n\nSuch dreams as these fitted him in after life to be the glorious\ndreamer of the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, in which a dream is told which\ndoubtless embodies some of those which terrified him in the night\nvisions of his youth.\n\nIn the interpreter\u2019s house he is \u2018led into a chamber where there was\none rising out of bed, and as he put on his raiment he shook and\ntrembled. Then said Christian, Why doth this man thus tremble? The\nInterpreter then bid him tell to Christian the reason of his so doing.\nSo he began and said, This night, as I was in my sleep I dreamed, and\nbehold the heavens grew exceeding black; also it thundered and\nlightened in most fearful wise, that it put me into an agony. So I\nlooked up in my dream, and saw the clouds rack at an unusual rate, upon\nwhich I heard a great sound of a trumpet, and saw also a man sit upon a\ncloud, attended with the thousands of heaven\u2014they were all in flaming\nfire; also the heavens were in a burning flame. I heard then a voice\nsaying, \u201cArise, ye dead, and come to judgment;\u201d and with that the rocks\nrent, the graves opened, and the dead that were therein came forth.\nSome of them were exceeding glad, and looked upward; and some sought to\nhide themselves under the mountains. Then I saw the man that sat upon\nthe cloud open the book, and bid the world draw near. Yet there was, by\nreason of a fierce flame which issued out and came from before him, a\nconvenient distance betwixt him and them, as betwixt the judge and\nprisoners at the bar. I heard it also proclaimed, \u201cGather together the\ntares, the chaff, and stubble, and cast them into the burning lake\u201d;\nand with that the bottomless pit opened just whereabout I stood, out of\nthe mouth of which there came, in an abundant manner, smoke and coals\nof fire, with hideous noises. It was also said, \u201cGather my wheat into\nthe garner\u201d; and with that I saw many catched up and carried away into\nthe clouds, but I was left behind. I also sought to hide myself, but I\ncould not, for the man that sat upon the cloud still kept his eye upon\nme; my sins also came into my mind, and my conscience did accuse me on\nevery side. Upon that I awaked from my sleep.\u2019\n\nNo laboured composition could have produced such a dream as this. It\nflows in such dream-like order as would lead us to infer, that the\nauthor who narrates it had, when a boy, heard the twenty-fifth chapter\nof Matthew read at church, and the solemn impression following him at\nnight assisted in producing a dream which stands, and perhaps will ever\nstand, unrivalled.\n\nAwful as must have been these impressions upon his imagination, they\nwere soon thrown off, and the mad youth rushed on in his desperate\ncareer of vice and folly. Is he then left to fill up the measure of his\niniquities? No, the Lord has a great work for him to do. HIS hand is\nnot shortened that he cannot save. Bunyan has to be prepared for his\nwork; and if terrors will not stop him, manifested mercies in judgments\nare to be tried.\n\n\u2018God did not utterly leave me, but followed me still, not now with\nconvictions, but judgments; yet such as were mixed with mercy. For once\nI fell into a creek of the sea, and hardly escaped drowning. Another\ntime I fell out of a boat into Bedford river, but mercy yet preserved\nme alive. Besides, another time, being in the field with one of my\ncompanions, it chanced that an adder passed over the highway, so I,\nhaving a stick in my hand, struck her over the back; and having stunned\nher, I forced open her mouth with my stick, and plucked her sting out\nwith my fingers; by which act, had not God been merciful unto me, I\nmight by my desperateness have brought myself to my end.\n\n\u2018This also have I taken notice of, with thanksgiving. When I was a\nsoldier, I, with others, were drawn out to go to such a place to\nbesiege it; but when I was just ready to go, one of the company desired\nto go in my room, to which, when I had consented, he took my place; and\ncoming to the siege, as he stood sentinel, he was shot into the head\nwith a musket bullet, and died.\u2019[27]\n\nIn addition to these mercies recorded by his own pen, one of his\nfriends asserts that he acknowledged his deep obligations to Divine\nmercy for being saved when he fell into an exceeding deep pit, as he\nwas traveling in the dark; for having been preserved in sickness; and\nalso for providential goodness that such a sinner was sustained with\nfood and raiment, even to his own admiration.\n\nBunyan adds, \u2018Here were judgments and mercy, but neither of them did\nawaken my soul to righteousness\u2019; wherefore I sinned still, and grew\nmore and more rebellious against God, and careless of mine own\nsalvation.\u2019[28]\n\nThat such a scape-grace should enter the army can occasion no surprise.\nHis robust, hardy frame, used to exposure in all weathers\u2014his daring\ncourage, as displayed in his perilous dealing with the adder, bordering\nupon fool-hardiness\u2014his mental depravity and immoral habits, fitted him\nfor all the military glory of rapine and desolation. In his Grace\nAbounding he expressly states that this took place before his marriage,\nwhile his earliest biographer places this event some years after his\nmarriage, and even argues upon it, as a reason why he became a soldier,\nthat \u2018when the unnatural civil war came on, finding little or nothing\nto do to support himself and small family, he, as many thousands did,\nbetook himself to arms.\u2019[29] The same account states that, \u2018in June,\n1645, being at the siege of Leicester, he was called out to be one who\nwas to make a violent attack upon the town, vigorously defended by the\nKing\u2019s forces against the Parliamentarians, but appearing to the\nofficer who was to command them to be somewhat awkward in handling his\narms, another voluntarily, and as it were thrust himself into his\nplace, who, having the same post that was designed Mr. Bunyan, met his\nfate by a carbine-shot from the wall; but this little or nothing\nstartled our too secure sinner at that time; for being now in an army\nwhere wickedness abounded, he was the more hardened.\u2019\n\nThus we find Bunyan engaged in military affairs. There can be no doubt\nbut that he was a soldier prior to his marriage, and that he was\npresent at the siege of Leicester; but it is somewhat strange (if true)\nthat he should have preferred the Parliamentary to the Royal army.\nAlthough this is a question that cannot be positively decided without\nfurther evidence than has yet been discovered, there are strong reasons\nfor thinking that so loyal a man joined the Royal army, and not that of\nthe Republicans.\n\nThe army into which Bunyan entered is described as being \u2018where\nwickedness abounded,\u2019 but, according to Hume, in this year the\nRepublican troops were generally pious men.\n\nBunyan\u2019s loyalty was so remarkable as to appear to be natural to him;\nfor even after he had so severely suffered from the abuse of kingly\npower, in interfering with the Divine prerogative of appointing modes\nof worship, he, who feared the face of no man\u2014who never wrote a line to\ncurry favour with any man or class of men\u2014thus expresses his loyal\nfeelings\u2014\u2018I do confess myself one of the old-fashioned professors, that\ncovet to fear God, and honour the king. I also am for blessing of them\nthat curse me, for doing good to them that hate me, and for praying for\nthem that despitefully use me and persecute me; and have had more peace\nin the practice of these things than all the world are aware of.\u2019 \u2018Pray\nfor the long life of the king.\u2019 \u2018Pray that God would discover all plots\nand conspiracies against his person and government.\u2019[30] \u2018Will you\nrebel against the king? is a word that shakes the world.\u2019[31] \u2018Pray for\nall that are in authority; reproach not the governor, he is set over\nthee; all his ways are God\u2019s, either for thy help or the trial of thy\ngraces\u2014this is duty, will render thee lovely to thy friends, terrible\nto thine enemies, serviceable as a Christian.\u2019[32] \u2018Let kings have that\nfear, honour, reverence, worship that is due to their place, their\noffice and dignity.\u2019 \u2018I speak it to show my loyalty to the king, and my\nlove to my fellow-subjects.\u2019[33] With such proofs of his peaceful\nsubmission to government in all things that touched not the\nprerogatives of God; it would have been marvelous indeed if he had\ntaken up arms against his king. His infatuated delight in swearing, and\nroisterous habits, were ill suited to the religious restraints of the\nParliamentarians, while they would render him a high prize to Rupert\u2019s\ndragoons. Add to this, the remarkable fact, that Leicester was besieged\nand stormed with terrible slaughter by the king, but not by the army of\nthe Parliament. The taking of Leicester by the king in person was\nattended with great cruelties. The abbey was burnt by the cavaliers.\nRupert\u2019s black flag was hoisted on the gate which had been\ntreacherously given up. Every Scotchman found in the town was murdered.\nThe mace and town seals were carried off as plunder; and, if the\naccount given by Thoresby in his History of Leicester is correct, the\nscene of carnage was quite enough to sicken Bunyan of a military life.\nHe knew the mode in which plunder taken from the bodies of the slain\nwas divided by the conquerors:\u2014\n\n\u2018Or as the soldiers give unto\nEach man the share and lot,\nWhich they by dint of sword have won,\nFrom their most daring foe;\nWhile he lies by as still as stone,\nNot knowing what they do.\u2019[34]\n\n\n\u2018The king\u2019s forces having made their batteries, stormed Leicester;\nthose within made stout resistance, but some of them betrayed one of\nthe gates; the women of the town laboured in making up the breaches,\nand in great danger. The king\u2019s forces having entered the town, had a\nhot encounter in the market-place; and many of them were slain by shot\nout of the windows, that they gave no quarter, but hanged some of the\ncommittee, and cut others to pieces. Some letters say that the kennels\nran down with blood; Colonel Gray the governor, and Captain Hacker,\nwere wounded and taken prisoners, and very many of the garrison were\nput to the sword, and the town miserably plundered. The king\u2019s forces\nkilled divers who prayed quarter, and put divers women to the\nsword,[35] and other women and children they turned naked into the\nstreets, and many they ravished. They hanged Mr. Reynor and Mr. Sawyer\nin cold blood; and at Wighton they smothered Mrs. Barlowes, a\nminister\u2019s wife, and her children.\u2019[36]\n\nLord Clarendon admits the rapine and plunder, and that the king\nregretted that some of his friends suffered with the rest.[37] Humphrey\nBrown deposed that he was present when the garrison, having surrendered\nupon a promise of quarter, he saw the king\u2019s soldiers strip and wound\nthe prisoners, and heard the king say\u2014\u2018cut them more, for they are mine\nenemies.\u2019 A national collection was made for the sufferers, by an\nordinance bearing date the 28th October, 1645, which states\nthat\u2014\u2018Whereas it is very well known what miseries befell the\ninhabitants of the town and county of Leicester, when the king\u2019s army\ntook Leicester, by plundering the said inhabitants, not only of their\nwares in their shops, but also all their household goods, and their\napparel from their backs, both of men, women, and children, not\nsparing, in that kind, infants in their cradles; and, by violent\ncourses and tortures, compelled them to discover whatsoever they had\nconcealed or hid, and after all they imprisoned their persons, to the\nundoing of the tradesmen, and the ruin of many of the country.\u2019\n\nCan we wonder that \u2018the king was abused as a barbarian and a murderer,\nfor having put numbers to death in cold blood after the garrison had\nsurrendered; and for hanging the Parliament\u2019s committee, and some Scots\nfound in that town?\u2019 The cruelties practiced in the king\u2019s presence\nwere signally punished. He lost 709 men on that occasion, and it\ninfused new vigour into the Parliament\u2019s army. The battle of Naseby was\nfought a few days after; the numbers of the contending forces were\nnearly equal; the royal troops were veterans, commanded by experienced\nofficers; but the God of armies avenged the innocent blood shed in\nLeicester, and the royal army was cut to pieces; carriages, cannon, the\nking\u2019s cabinet, full of treasonable correspondence, were taken, and\nfrom that day he made feeble fight, and soon lost his crown and his\nlife. The conquerors marched to Leicester, which surrendered by\ncapitulation. Heath, in his Chronicle, asserts that \u2018no life was lost\nat the retaking of Leicester.\u2019 Many of Bunyan\u2019s sayings and proverbs\nare strongly tinged with the spirit of Rupert\u2019s dragoons\u2014\u2018as we say,\nblood up to the ears.\u2019[38] \u2018What can be the meaning of this\n(trumpeters), they neither sound boot and saddle, nor horse and away,\nnor a charge?\u2019[39] In his allegories when he alludes to fighting, it is\nwith the sword and not with the musket;[40] \u2018rub up man, put on thy\nharness.\u2019[41] \u2018The father\u2019s sword in the hand of the sucking child is\nnot able to conquer a foe.\u2019[42]\n\nConsidering his singular loyalty, which, during the French Revolution,\nwas exhibited as a pattern to Dissenters by an eminent Baptist\nminister; [43] considering also his profligate character and military\nsayings, it is very probable that Bunyan was in the king\u2019s army in\n1645, being about seventeen years of age. It was a finishing school to\nthe hardened sinner, which enabled him, in his account of the Holy War,\nso well to describe every filthy lane and dirty street in the town of\nMansoul.\n\nWhether Bunyan left the army when Charles was routed at the battle of\nNaseby, or was discharged, is not known. He returned to his native town\nfull of military ideas, which he used to advantage in his Holy War. He\nwas not reformed, but hardened in sin, and, although at times alarmed\nwith convictions of the danger of his soul, yet in the end, the flesh\npleading powerfully, it prevailed; and he made a resolution to indulge\nhimself in such carnal delights and pleasures as he was accustomed to,\nor that fell in his way. \u2018His neglecting his business, and following\ngaming and sports, to put melancholy thoughts out of his mind, which he\ncould not always do, had rendered him very poor and despicable.\u2019[44]\n\nIn this forlorn and miserable state, he was induced, by the persuasion\nof friends, under the invisible guidance of God, to enter into the\nmarriage state. Such a youth, then only twenty years of age, would\nnaturally be expected to marry some young woman as hardened as himself,\nbut he made a very different choice. His earliest biographer says, with\nsingular simplicity, \u2018his poverty, and irregular course of life, made\nit very difficult for him to get a wife suitable to his inclination;\nand because none that were rich would yield to his allurements, he\nfound himself constrained to marry one without any fortune, though very\nvirtuous, loving, and conformably obedient and obliging, being born of\ngood, honest, godly parents, who had instructed her, as well as they\nwere able, in the ways of truth and saving knowledge.\u2019[45] The idea of\nhis seeking a rich wife is sufficiently droll; he must have been\nnaturally a persuasive lover, to have gained so good a helpmate. They\nwere not troubled with sending cards, cake, or gloves, nor with the\nceremony of receiving the visits of their friends in state; for he\nsays, that \u2018This woman and I came together as poor as poor might be,\nnot having so much household stuff as a dish or spoon betwixt us\nboth.\u2019[46] His wife had two books, The Plain Man\u2019s Pathway to Heaven,\nand The Practice of Piety; but what was of more importance than wealth\nor household stuff, she had that seed sown in her heart which no thief\ncould steal.[47] She enticed and persuaded him to read those books. To\ndo this he by application \u2018again recovered his reading, which he had\nalmost lost.\u2019 His wife became an unspeakable blessing to him. She\npresents a pattern to any woman, who, having neglected the apostolic\ninjunction not to be unequally yoked, finds herself under the dominion\nof a swearing dare devil. It affords a lovely proof of the insinuating\nbenign favour of female influence. This was the more surprising, as he\nsays, \u2018the thoughts of religion were very grievous to me,\u2019 and when\n\u2018books that concerned Christian piety were read in my hearing, it was\nas it were a prison to me.\u2019 In spite of all obstacles, his rugged heart\nwas softened by her tenderness and obedience, he \u2018keeping on the old\ncourse,\u2019[48] she upon every proper season teaching him how her father\u2019s\npiety secured his own and his family\u2019s happiness. Here was no\nupbraiding, no snubbing, no curtain lectures; all was affectionate,\namiable mildness. At first, he became occasionally alarmed for his\nsoul\u2019s salvation; then with the thought of having sinned away the day\nof grace, he plunged again into sin with greediness; anon a faint hope\nof mercy would fill him with fear and trembling. But this leads us to\nthe wondrous narrative of his new birth.\n\nTHE SECOND PERIOD.\n\nTHE INTERNAL CONFLICT, OR BUNYAN\u2019S CONVICTIONS AND CONVERSION.\n\n\nAll nature is progressive; if an infant was suddenly to arrive at\nmanhood, how idiotic and dangerous he would be! A long training is\nessential to fit the human being for the important duties of life; and\njust so is it in the new birth to spiritual existence\u2014first a babe,\nthen the young man; at length the full stature, and at last the\nexperienced Christian.\n\nThe narrative of Bunyan\u2019s progress in his conversion is, without\nexception, the most astonishing of any that has been published. It is\nwell calculated to excite the profoundest investigation of the\nChristian philosopher. Whence came those sudden suggestions, those\ngloomy fears, those heavenly rays of joy? Much learning certainly did\nnot make him mad. The Christian dares not attribute his intense\nfeelings to a distempered brain. Whence came the invisible power that\nstruck Paul from his horse? Who was it that scared Job with dreams, and\nterrified him with visions? What messenger of Satan buffeted Paul? Who\nput \u2018a new song\u2019 into the mouth of David? We have no space in this\nshort memoir to attempt the drawing a line between convictions of sin\nand the terrors of a distempered brain. Bunyan\u2019s opinions upon this\nsubject are deeply interesting, and are fully developed in his Holy\nWar. The capabilities of the soul to entertain vast armies of thoughts,\nstrong and feeble, represented as men, women, and children, are so\ngreat as almost to perplex the strongest understanding. All these\nmultitudes of warriors are the innumerable thoughts\u2014the strife\u2014in ONE\nsoul. Upon such a subject an interesting volume might be written. But\nwe must fix our attention upon the poor tinker who was the subject of\nthis wondrous war.\n\nThe tender and wise efforts of Mrs. Bunyan to reclaim her husband, were\nattended by the Divine blessing, and soon led to many resolutions, on\nhis part, to curb his sinful propensities and to promote an outward\nreformation; his first effort was regularly to attend Divine worship.\n\nHe says, \u2018I fell in very eagerly with the religion of the times, to\nwit, to go to church twice a-day, and that too with the foremost; and\nthere should very devoutly both say and sing as others did, yet\nretaining my wicked life; but withal, I was so overrun with a spirit of\nsuperstition, that I adored, and that with great devotion, even all\nthings, both the high-place, priest, clerk, vestment, service, and what\nelse belonging to the Church; counting all things holy that were\ntherein contained, and especially, the priest and clerk most happy, and\nwithout doubt greatly blessed, because they were the servants, as I\nthen thought,[49] of God, and were principal in the holy temple, to do\nhis work therein. This conceit grew so strong in little time upon my\nspirit, that had I but seen a priest, though never so sordid and\ndebauched in his life,[50] I should find my spirit fall under him,\nreverence him, and knit unto him; yea, I thought, for the love I did\nbear unto them, supposing they were the ministers of God, I could have\nlain down at their feet, and have been trampled upon by them; their\nname, their garb, and work did so intoxicate and bewitch me.\u2019\n\nAll this took place at the time when The Book of Common Prayer, having\nbeen said to occasion \u2018manifold inconveniency,\u2019 was, by an Act of\nParliament, \u2018abolished,\u2019[51] and by a subsequent Act[52] prohibited,\nunder severe penalties, from being publicly used. The \u2018manifold\ninconveniences\u2019 to which the Act refers, arose from differences of\nopinion as to the propriety of the form which had been enforced,\nheightened by the enormous cruelties practiced upon multitudes who\nrefused to use it. Opposition to the English Liturgy as more combined\nin Scotland, by a covenant entered into, June 20, 1580, by the king,\nlords, nobles, and people, against Popery; and upon Archbishop Laud\u2019s\nattempt, in 1637, to impose the service-book upon our northern\nneighbours, tumults and bloodshed ensued; until, in 1643, a new and\nvery solemn league and covenant was entered into, which, in 1645,\nextended its influence to England, being subscribed by thousands of our\nbest citizens, with many of the nobility\u2014\u2018wherein we all subscribe, and\neach with his own hands lifted up to the Most High God, doe swear\u2019;\nthat being the mode of taking an oath, instead of kissing the cover of\na book, as is now practiced. To the cruel and intemperate measures of\nLaud, and the zeal of Charles, for priestly domination over conscience,\nmay be justly attributed the wars which desolated the country, while\nthe solemn league and covenant brought an overwhelming force to aid the\nParliament in redressing the grievances of the kingdom. During the\nCommonwealth there was substituted, in place of the Common Prayer, A\ndirectory for the Publique Worship of God, and the uniformity which was\nenjoined in it was like that of the Presbyterians and Dissenters of the\npresent day. The people having assembled, and been exhorted to\nreverence and humility, joined the preacher in prayer. He then read\nportions of Scripture, with or without an exposition, as he judged it\nnecessary, but not so as to render the service tedious. After singing a\npsalm, the minister prayed, leading the people to mourn under a sense\nof sin, and to hunger and thirst after the grace of God, in Jesus\nChrist; an outline or abstract is given of the subject of public\nprayer, and similar instructions are given as to the sermon or\nparaphrase. Immediately after the sermon, prayer was again offered up,\nand after the outline that is given of this devotional exercise, it is\nnoted, \u2018And because the prayer which Christ taught his disciples, is\nnot only a pattern of prayer, but itself a most comprehensive prayer,\nwe recommend it also to be used in the prayers of the Church.\u2019 This\nbeing ended, a psalm was sung, and the minister dismissed the\ncongregation with a solemn blessing.[53] Some of the clergy continued\nthe use of prayers, contained in the liturgy, reciting, instead of\nreading them\u2014a course that was not objected to. This was the form of\nservice which struck Bunyan with such awe and reverence, leaving a very\nsolemn impression upon his mind, which the old form of common prayer\nhad never produced.\n\nBunyan was fond of athletic sports, bell-ringing, and dancing; and in\nthese he had indulged, so far as his worldly calling allowed. Charles\nI, whether to promote Popery\u2014to divert his subjects from political\ngrievances\u2014or to punish the Puritans, had endeavoured to drown their\nserious thoughts in a vortex of dissipation, by re-publishing the Book\nof Sports, to be used on Sundays. That \u2018after Divine service our good\npeople be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from dancing, either\nmen or women; archery, leaping, vaulting, or any other such harmless\nrecreations; May games, Whitsun-ales, Morris dances, May poles, and\nother sports.\u2019 But this was not all, for every \u2018Puritan and Precisian\nwas to be constrained to conformity with these sports, or to leave\ntheir country.\u2019 The same severe penalty was enforced upon every\nclergyman who refused to read from his pulpit the Book of Sports, and\nto persuade the people thus to desecrate the Lord\u2019s-day. \u2018Many hundred\ngodly ministers were suspended from their ministry, sequestered, driven\nfrom their livings, excommunicated, prosecuted in the high commission\ncourt, and forced to leave the kingdom for not publishing this\ndeclaration.\u2019[54] A little gleam of heavenly light falls upon those\ndark and gloomy times, from the melancholy fact that nearly eight\nhundred conscientious clergymen were thus wickedly persecuted. This was\none of the works of Laud, who out-bonnered Bonner himself in his\ndreadful career of cruelty, while making havoc of the church of Christ.\nEven transportation for refusing obedience to such diabolical laws was\nnot the greatest penalty; in some cases it was followed by the death of\nthe offender. The punishments inflicted for nonconformity were\naccompanied by the most refined and barbarous cruelties. Still many of\nthe learned bowed their necks to this yoke with abject servility: thus,\nRobert Powell, speaking of the Book of Sports, says, \u2018Needless is it to\nargue or dispute for that which authority hath commanded, and most\ninsufferable insolence to speak or write against it.\u2019[55] These Sunday\nsports, published by Charles I, in 1633, had doubtless aided in\nfostering Bunyan\u2019s bad conduct in his youthful days. In 1644, when The\nBook of Common Prayer was abolished, an Act was passed for the better\nobservance of the Lord\u2019s-day; all persons were prohibited on that day\nto use any wrestlings, shooting, bowing, ringing of bells for pastime,\nmasques, wakes, church-ales, dancing, game, sports or pastime whatever;\nand that \u2018the Book of Sports shall be seized, and publicly burnt.\u2019\nDuring the civil war this Act does not appear to have been strictly\nenforced; for, four years after it was passed, we find Bunyan and his\ndissolute companions worshipping the priest, clerk, and vestments on\nthe Sunday morning, and assembling for their Sabbath-breaking sports in\nthe afternoon. It was upon one of these occasions that a most\nextraordinary impression was fixed upon the spirit of Bunyan. A\nremarkable scene took place, worthy the pencil of the most eminent\nartist. This event cannot be better described than in his own words:\u2014\n\n\u2018One day, amongst all the sermons our parson made, his subject was, to\ntreat of the Sabbath-day, and of the evil of breaking that, either with\nlabour, sports, or otherwise; now I was, notwithstanding my religion,\none that took much delight in all manner of vice, and especially that\nwas the day that I did solace myself therewith; wherefore I fell in my\nconscience under his sermons, thinking and believing that he made that\nsermon on purpose to show me my evil doing. And at that time I felt\nwhat guilt was, though never before, that I can remember; but then I\nwas, for the present, greatly loaden therewith, and so went home, when\nthe sermon was ended, with a great burthen upon my spirit.\n\n\u2018This, for that instant, did benumb the sinews of my best delights, and\ndid imbitter my former pleasures to me; but behold it lasted not for\nbefore I had well dined, the trouble began to go off my mind, and my\nheart returned to its old course. But O! how glad was I, that this\ntrouble was gone from me, and that the fire was put out, that I might\nsin again without control! Wherefore, when I had satisfied nature with\nmy food, I shook the sermon out of my mind, and to my old custom of\nsports and gaming I returned with great delight.\n\n\u2018But the same day, as I was in the midst of a game at cat, and having\nstruck it one blow from the hole, just as I was about to strike it the\nsecond time, a voice did suddenly dart from heaven into my soul, which\nsaid, \u201cWilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven, or have thy sins and\ngo to hell?\u201d At this I was put to an exceeding maze; wherefore leaving\nmy cat upon the ground, I looked up to heaven, and was as if I had,\nwith the eyes of my understanding, seen the Lord Jesus looking down\nupon me, as being very hotly displeased with me, and as if he did\nseverely threaten me with some grievous punishment for these and other\nmy ungodly practices.\n\n\u2018I had no sooner thus conceived in my mind, but, suddenly, this\nconclusion was fastened on my spirit, for the former hint did set my\nsins again before my face, that I had been a great and grievous sinner,\nand that it was now too late for me to look after heaven; for Christ\nwould not forgive me, nor pardon my transgressions. Then I fell to\nmusing upon this also; and while I was thinking on it, and fearing lest\nit should be so, I felt my heart sink in despair, concluding it was too\nlate; and therefore I resolved in my mind I would go on in sin: for,\nthought I, if the case be thus, my state is surely miserable; miserable\nif I leave my sins, and but miserable if I follow them; I can but be\ndamned, and if I must be so, I had as good be damned for many sins, as\nbe damned for few.\n\n\u2018Thus I stood in the midst of my play, before all that then were\npresent: but yet I told them nothing. But I say, I having made this\nconclusion, I returned desperately to my sport again; and I well\nremember, that presently this kind of despair did so possess my soul,\nthat I was persuaded I could never attain to other comfort than what I\nshould get in sin; for heaven was gone already; so that on that I must\nnot think.\u2019[56]\n\nHow difficult is it, when immorality has been encouraged by royal\nauthority, to turn the tide or to stem the torrent. For at least four\nyears, an Act of Parliament had prohibited these Sunday sports. Still\nthe supineness of the justices, and the connivance of the clergy,\nallowed the rabble youth to congregate on the Green at Elstow, summoned\nby the church bells to celebrate their sports and pastimes, as they had\nbeen in the habit of doing on the Lord\u2019s day.[57]\n\nThis solemn warning, received in the midst of his sport, was one of a\nseries of convictions, by which the hardened sinner was to be fitted to\nreceive the messages of mercy and love. In the midst of his companions\nand of the spectators, Bunyan was struck with a sense of guilt. How\nrapid were his thoughts\u2014\u2018Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven, or\nhave thy sins and go to hell?\u2019 With the eye of his understanding he saw\nthe Lord Jesus as \u2018hotly displeased.\u2019 The tempter suggests it is \u2018too,\ntoo late\u2019 to seek for pardon, and with a desperate resolution which\nmust have cost his heart the severest pangs, he continued his game.\nStill the impression remained indelibly fixed upon his mind.\n\nThe next blow which fell upon his hardened spirit was still more deeply\nfelt, because it was given by one from whom he could the least have\nexpected it. He was standing at a neighbour\u2019s shop-window, \u2018belching\nout oaths like the madman that Solomon speaks of, who scatters abroad\nfirebrands, arrows, and death\u2019[58] \u2018after his wonted manner.\u2019 He\nexemplified the character drawn by the Psalmist. \u2018As he clothed himself\nwith cursing like as with his garment: so let it come into his bowels\nlike water, and like oil into his bones.\u2019 Here was a disease that set\nall human skill at defiance, but the great, the Almighty Physician,\ncured it with strange physic. Had any professor reproved him, it might\nhave been passed by as a matter of course; but it was so ordered that a\nwoman who was notoriously \u2018a very loose and ungodly wretch,\u2019 protested\nthat she trembled to hear him swear and curse at that most fearful\nrate; that he was the ungodliest fellow she had ever heard, and that he\nwas able to spoil all the youth in a whole town.[59] Public reproof\nfrom the lips of such a woman was an arrow that pierced his inmost\nsoul; it effected a reformation marvelous to all his companions, and\nbordering upon the miraculous. The walls of a fortified city were once\nthrown down by a shout and the tiny blast of rams\u2019-horns (Josh 6:20);\nand in this instance, the foundations of Heart Castle, fortified by\nSatan, are shaken by the voice of one of his own emissaries. Mortified\nand convicted, the foul-mouthed blasphemer swore no more; an outward\nreformation in words and conduct took place, but without inward\nspiritual life. Thus was he making vows to God and breaking them,\nrepenting and promising to do better next time; so, to use his own\nhomely phrase, he was \u2018feeding God with chapters, and prayers, and\npromises, and vows, and a great many more such dainty dishes, and\nthinks that he serveth God as well as any man in England can, while he\nhas only got into a cleaner way to hell than the rest of his neighbours\nare in.\u2019[60]\n\nSuch a conversion, as he himself calls it, was \u2018from prodigious\nprofaneness to something like moral life.\u2019[61] \u2018Now I was, as they\nsaid, become godly, and their words pleased me well, though as yet I\nwas nothing but a poor painted hypocrite.\u2019 These are hard words, but,\nin the most important sense, they were true. He was pointed out as a\nmiracle of mercy\u2014the great convert\u2014a wonder to the world. He could now\nsuffer opprobrium and cavils\u2014play with errors\u2014entangle himself and\ndrink in flattery. No one can suppose that this outward reform was put\non hypocritically, as a disguise to attain some sinister object; it was\nreal, but it arose from a desire to shine before his neighbours, from\nshame and from the fear of future punishment, and not from that love to\nGod which leads the Christian to the fear of offending him. It did not\narise from a change of heart; the secret springs of action remained\npolluted; it was outside show, and therefore he called himself a\npainted hypocrite. He became less a despiser of religion, but more\nawfully a destroyer of his own soul.\n\nA new source of uneasiness now presented itself in his practice of\nbell-ringing, an occupation requiring severe labour, usually performed\non the Lord\u2019s-day; and, judging from the general character of\nbell-ringers, it has a most injurious effect, both with regard to\nmorals and religion. A circumstance had recently taken place which was\ndoubtless interpreted as an instance of Divine judgment upon\nSabbath-breaking. Clark, in his Looking-Glass for Saints and Sinners,\n1657, published the narrative:\u2014\u2018Not long since, in Bedfordshire, a\nmatch at football being appointed on the Sabbath, in the afternoon\nwhilst two were in the belfry, tolling of a bell to call the company\ntogether, there was suddenly heard a clap of thunder, and a flash of\nlightning was seen by some that sat in the church-porch coming through\na dark lane, and flashing in their faces, which must terrified them,\nand, passing through the porch into the belfry, it tripped up his heels\nthat was tolling the bell, and struck him stark dead; and the other\nthat was with him was so sorely blasted therewith, that shortly after\nhe died also.\u2019[62] Thus we find that the church bells ministered to the\nBook of Sports, to call the company to Sabbath-breaking. The\nbell-ringers might come within the same class as those upon whom the\ntower at Siloam fell, still it was a most solemn warning, and accounts\nfor the timidity of so resolute a man as Bunyan. Although he thought it\ndid not become his newly-assumed religious character, yet his old\npropensity drew him to the church tower. At first he ventured in, but\ntook care to stand under a main beam, lest the bell should fall and\ncrush him; afterwards he would stand in the door; then he feared the\nsteeple might fall; and the terrors of an untimely death, and his\nnewly-acquired garb of religion, eventually deterred him from this mode\nof Sabbath-breaking. His next sacrifice made at the shrine of\nself-righteousness was dancing: this took him one whole year to\naccomplish, and then he bade farewell to these sports for the rest of\nhis life.[63] We are not to conclude from the example of a man who in\nafter-life proved so great and excellent a character, that, under all\ncircumstances, bell-ringing and dancing are immoral. In those days,\nsuch sports and pastimes usually took place on the Lord\u2019s-day; and\nhowever the Church of England might then sanction it, and proclaim by\nroyal authority, in all her churches, the lawfulness of sports on that\nsacred day, yet it is now universally admitted that it was commanding a\ndesecration of the Sabbath, and letting loose a flood of vice and\nprofaneness. In themselves, on days proper for recreation, such sports\nmay be innocent; but if they engender an unholy thought, or occupy time\nneeded for self-examination and devotion, they ought to be avoided as\nsinful hindrances to a spiritual life.\n\nBunyan was now dressed in the garb of a religious professor, and had\nbecome a brisk talker in the matters of religion, when, by Divine\nmercy, he was stripped of all his good opinion of himself; his want of\nholiness, and his unchanged heart, were revealed to his surprise and\nwonder, by means simple and efficacious, but which no human forethought\ncould have devised. Being engaged in his trade at Bedford, he overheard\nthe conversation of some poor pious women, and it humbled and alarmed\nhim. \u2018I heard, but I understood not; for they were far above, out of my\nreach. Their talk was about a new birth, the work of God on their\nhearts, also how they were convinced of their miserable state by\nnature; how God had visited their souls with his love in the Lord\nJesus, and with what words and promises they had been refreshed,\ncomforted, and supported against the temptations of the devil.\nMoreover, they reasoned of the suggestions and temptations of Satan in\nparticular; and told to each other by which they had been afflicted,\nand how they were borne up under his assaults. They also discoursed of\ntheir own wretchedness of heart, of their unbelief; and did contemn,\nslight, and abhor their own righteousness, as filthy and insufficient\nto do them any good. And methought they spake as if joy did make them\nspeak; they spake with such pleasantness of Scripture language, and\nwith such appearance of grace in all they said, that they were to me as\nif they had found a new world; as if they were people that dwelt alone,\nand were not to be reckoned among their neighbours (Num 23:9).\n\n\u2018At this I felt my own heart began to shake, as mistrusting my\ncondition to be nought; for I saw that in all my thoughts about\nreligion and salvation, the new birth did never enter into my mind;\nneither knew I the comfort of the Word and promise, nor the\ndeceitfulness and treachery of my own wicked heart. As for secret\nthoughts, I took no notice of them; neither did I understand what\nSatan\u2019s temptations were, nor how they were to be withstood, and\nresisted.\n\n\u2018Thus, therefore, when I heard and considered what they said, I left\nthem, and went about my employment again, but their talk and discourse\nwent with me; also my heart would tarry with them, for I was greatly\naffected with their words, both because by them I was convinced that I\nwanted the true tokens of a truly godly man, and also because by them I\nwas convinced of the happy and blessed condition of him that was such a\none.\u2019[64]\n\nThe brisk talker of \u2018talkative,\u2019 was confounded\u2014he heard pious godly\nwomen mourning over their worthlessness instead of vaunting of their\nattainments. They exhibited, doubtless to his great surprise, that\nself-distrust and humility are the beginnings of wisdom.\n\nThese humble disciples could have had no conception that the Holy\nSpirit was blessing their Christian communion to the mind of the\ntinker, standing near them, pursuing his occupation. The recollection\nof the converse of these poor women led to solemn heart-searching and\nthe most painful anxiety; again and again he sought their company, and\nhis convictions became more deep, his solicitude more intense. This was\nthe commencement of an internal struggle, the most remarkable of any\nupon record, excepting that of the psalmist David.\n\nIt was the work of the Holy Spirit in regenerating and preparing an\nignorant and rebellious man for extraordinary submission to the sacred\nScriptures, and for most extensive usefulness. To those who never\nexperienced in any degree such feelings, they appear to indicate\nreligious insanity. It was so marvelous and so mysterious, as to be\nmistaken by a poet laureate, who profanely calls it a being \u2018shaken\ncontinually by the hot and cold fits of a spiritual ague\u2019: \u2018reveries\u2019:\nor one of the \u2018frequent and contagious disorders of the human\nmind,\u2019[65] instead of considering it as wholesome but bitter medicine\nfor the soul, administered by the heavenly Physician. At times he felt,\nlike David, \u2018a sword in his bones,\u2019 \u2018tears his meat.\u2019 God\u2019s waves and\nbillows overwhelmed him (Psa 43). Then came glimmerings of\nhope\u2014precious promises saving him from despair\u2014followed by the shadow\nof death overspreading his soul, and involving him in midnight\ndarkness. He could complain in the bitterness of his anguish, \u2018Thy\nfierce wrath goeth over me.\u2019 Bound in affliction and iron, his \u2018soul\nwas melted because of trouble.\u2019 \u2018Now Satan assaults the soul with\ndarkness, fears, frightful thoughts of apparitions; now they sweat,\npant, and struggle for life. The angels now come (Psa 107) down to\nbehold the sight, and rejoice to see a bit of dust and ashes to\novercome principalities, and powers, and might, and dominion.\u2019[66] His\nmind was fixed on eternity, and out of the abundance of his heart he\nspoke to one of his former companions; his language was that of\nreproof\u2014\u2018Harry, why do you swear and curse thus? what will become of\nyou if you die in this condition?\u2019[67] His sermon, probably the first\nhe had preached, was like throwing pearls before swine\u2014\u2018He answered in\na great chafe, what would the devil do for company, if it were not for\nsuch as I am.\u2019[68]\n\nBy this time he had recovered the art of reading, and its use a little\nperplexed him, for he became much puzzled with the opinions of the\nRanters, as set forth in their books. It is extremely difficult to\ndelineate their sentiments; they were despised by all the sects which\nhad been connected with the government, because, with the Quakers and\nBaptists, they denied any magisterial or state authority over\nconscience, and refused maintenance to ministers; but from the\ntestimony of Bunyan, and that of the early Quakers, they appear to have\nbeen practical Antinomians, or at least very nearly allied to the new\nsect called Mormonites. Ross, who copied from Pagitt, describes them\nwith much bitterness\u2014\u2018The Ranters are unclean beasts\u2014their maxim is\nthat there is nothing sin but what a man thinks to be so\u2014they reject\nthe Bible\u2014they are the merriest of all devils\u2014they deny all obedience\nto magistrates.\u2019[69]\n\nThis temptation must have been severe. The Ranters were like the black\nman with the white robe, named Flatterer, who led the pilgrims into a\nnet,[70] under the pretence of showing them the way to the celestial\ncity; or like Adam the first, who offered Faithful his three daughters\nto wife[71]\u2014the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride\nof life\u2014if he would dwell with him in the town of Deceit. \u2018These\ntemptations,\u2019 he says, \u2018were suitable to my flesh,\u2019[72] I being but a\nyoung man, and my nature in its prime; and, with his characteristic\nhumility, he adds, \u2018God, who had, as I hope, designed me for better\nthings, kept me in the fear of his name, and did not suffer me to\naccept such cursed principles.\u2019 Prayer opened the door of escape; it\nled him to the fountain of truth. \u2018I began to look into the Bible with\nnew eyes. Prayer preserved me from Ranting errors. The Bible was\nprecious to me in those days.\u2019[73] His study of the Holy Oracles now\nbecame a daily habit, and that with intense earnestness and prayer. In\nthe mist of the multitude of sects with which he was on all sides\nsurrounded, he felt the need of a standard for the opinions which were\neach of them eagerly followed by votaries, who proclaimed them to be\nTHE TRUTH, the way, and the life. He was like a man, feeling that if he\nerred in the way, it would be attended with misery, and, but for Divine\ninterference, with unutterable ruin\u2014possessed of a correct map, but\nsurrounded with those who, by flattery, or threats, or deceit, and\narmed with all human eloquence, strove to mislead him. With an enemy\nwithin to urge him to accept their wily guidance, that they might lead\nhim to perdition\u2014inspired by Divine grace, like Christian in his\nPilgrim, he \u2018put his fingers in his ears, and ran on, crying Life,\nlife, eternal life.\u2019 He felt utter dependence upon Divine guidance,\nleading him to most earnest prayer, and an implicit obedience to Holy\nWrit, which followed him all through the remainder of his pilgrimage.\n\u2018The Bible\u2019 he calls \u2018the scaffold, or stage, that God has builded for\nhope to play his part upon in this world.\u2019[74] Hence the Word was\nprecious in his eyes; and with so immense a loss, or so magnificent a\ngain, the throne of grace was all his hope, that he might be guided by\nthat counsel that cannot err, and that should eventually insure his\nreception to eternal glory.\n\nWhile in this inquiring state, he experienced much doubt and\nuncertainty arising from the apparent confidence of many professors. In\nhis own esteem he appeared to be thoroughly humbled; and when he\nlighted on that passage\u2014\u2018To one is given by the spirit the word of\nwisdom, to another, knowledge, and to another, faith\u2019 (1 Cor 12:8,9),\nhis solemn inquiry was, how it happened that he possessed so little of\nany of these gifts of wisdom, knowledge, or faith\u2014more especially of\nfaith, that being essential to the pleasing of God. He had read (Matt\n21:21), \u2018If ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall say unto this\nmountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be\ndone\u2019; and (Luke 17:6), \u2018If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye\nmight say to this sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be\nthou planted in the sea, and it shall obey you\u2019; and (1 Cor 13:2),\n\u2018Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains.\u2019 The poor\ntinker, considering these passages in their literal import, imagined\nthey were meant as tests to try whether the believer possessed faith or\nnot. He was a stranger to the rules of Hebrew rhetoric; nor did he\nconsider that they were addressed to the apostles, who had the power to\nwork miracles. He had no idea that the removing a mountain, or planting\na sycamore tree in the sea, were figures of speech conveying to us the\nfact that, aided by faith, mountainous difficulties might and would be\novercome. Anxious for some ocular demonstration that he had faith, he\nalmost determined to attempt to work a miracle\u2014not to convert or\nconfirm the faith of others, but to satisfy his own mind as to his\npossessing faith. He had no such magnificent idea as the removal of a\nmountain, for there were none in his neighbourhood, nor to plant a tree\nin the sea, for Bedfordshire is an inland county; but it was of the\nhumblest kind\u2014that some puddles on the road between Elstow and Bedford\nshould change places with the dry ground. When he had thought of\npraying for ability, his natural good sense led him to abandon the\nexperiment.[75] This he calls \u2018being in my plunge about faith, tossed\nbetwixt the devil and my own ignorance.\u2019[76] All this shows the\nintensity of his feelings and his earnest inquiries.\n\nIt may occasion surprise to some, that a young man of such\nextraordinary powers of mind, should have indulged the thought of\nworking a miracle to settle or confirm his doubts; but we must take\ninto account, that when a boy he had no opportunity of acquiring\nscriptural knowledge; no Sunday schools, no Bible class excited his\ninquiries as to the meaning of the sacred language. The Bible had been\nto him a sealed book until, in a state of mental agony, he cried, What\nmust I do to be saved? The plain text was all his guide; and it would\nnot have been surprising, had he been called to bottle a cask of new\nwine, if he had refused to use old wine bottles; or had he cast a loaf\ninto the neighbouring river Ouse, expecting to find it after many days.\nThe astonishing fact is, that one so unlettered should, by intense\nthought, by earnest prayer, and by comparing one passage with another,\narrive eventually at so clear a view both of the external and internal\nmeaning of the whole Bible. The results of his researches were more\ndeeply impressed upon his mind by the mistakes which he had made; and\nhis intense study, both of the Old and New Testaments, furnished him\nwith an inexhaustible store of things new and old\u2014those vivid images\nand burning thoughts, those bright and striking illustrations of Divine\ntruth, which so shine and sparkle in all his works. What can be more\nclear than his illustration of saving faith which worketh by love, when\nin after-life he wrote the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress. Hopeful was in a similar\nstate of inquiry whether he had faith. \u2018Then I said, But, Lord, what is\nbelieving?\u2019 And then I saw from that saying, He that cometh to me shall\nnever hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst, that\nbelieving and coming was all one, and that he that came, that is, ran\nout in his heart and affections after salvation by Christ, he indeed\nbelieved in Christ (John 6:25).[77]\n\nIn addition to his want of scriptural education, it must be remembered\nthat, when he thought of miraculous power being an evidence of faith,\nhis mind was in a most excited state\u2014doubts spread over him like a huge\nmasses of thick black clouds, hiding the Sun of Righteousness from his\nsight. Not only is he to be pardoned for his error, but admired for the\nhumility which prompted him to record so singular a trial, and his\nescape from \u2018this delusion of the tempter.\u2019 While \u2018thus he was tossed\nbetwixt the devil and his own ignorance,\u2019[78] the happiness of the poor\nwomen whose conversation he had heard at Bedford, was brought to his\nrecollection by a remarkable reverie or day dream:\u2014\n\n\u2018About this time, the state and happiness of these poor people at\nBedford was thus, in a dream or vision, represented to me. I saw as if\nthey were set on the sunny side of some high mountain, there refreshing\nthemselves with the pleasant beams of the sun, while I was shivering\nand shrinking in the cold, afflicted with frost, snow, and dark clouds.\nMethought also, betwixt me and them, I saw a wall that did compass\nabout this mountain; now through this wall my soul did greatly desire\nto pass, concluding that if I could, I would go even into the very\nmidst of them, and there also comfort myself with the heat of their\nsun.\n\n\u2018About this wall I thought myself to go again and again, still prying,\nas I went, to see if I could find some way or passage, by which I might\nenter therein; but none could I find for some time. At the last I saw,\nas it were, a narrow gap, like a little doorway in the wall, through\nwhich I attempted to pass; but the passage being very strait and\nnarrow, I made many efforts to get in, but all in vain, even until I\nwas well nigh quite beat out, by striving to get in; at last, with\ngreat striving, methought I at first did get in my head, and after\nthat, by a sidling striving, my shoulders, and my whole body; then I\nwas exceeding glad, and went and sat down in the midst of them, and so\nwas comforted with the light and heat of their sun.\n\n\u2018Now this mountain, and wall, was thus made out to me: The mountain\nsignified the church of the living God; the sun that shone thereon, the\ncomfortable shining of his merciful face on them that were therein; the\nwall I thought was the Word, that did make separation between the\nChristians and the world; and the gap which was in this wall, I\nthought, was Jesus Christ, who is the way to God the Father (John 14:6;\nMatt 7:14). But forasmuch as the passage was wonderful narrow, even so\nnarrow that I could not, but with great difficulty, enter in thereat,\nit showed me, that none could enter into life, but those that were in\ndownright earnest, and unless also they left this wicked world behind\nthem; for here was only room for body and soul, but not for body and\nsoul and sin.[79]\n\n\u2018This resemblance abode upon my spirit many days; all which time I saw\nmyself in a forlorn and sad condition, but yet was provoked to a\nvehement hunger and desire to be one of that number that did sit in the\nsunshine. Now also I should pray wherever I was; whether at home or\nabroad, in house or field, and should also often, with lifting up of\nheart, sing that of the fifty-first Psalm, \u201cO Lord, consider my\ndistress.\u201d[80]\n\nIn this striking reverie we discover the budding forth of that great\ngenius which produced most beautiful flowers and delicious fruit, when\nit became fully developed in his allegories.\n\nWhile this trial clouded his spirits, he was called to endure\ntemptations which are common to most, if not all, inquiring souls, and\nwhich frequently produce much anxiety. He plunged into the university\nproblems of predestination, before he had completed his lower\ngrammar-school exercises on faith and repentance. Am I one of the\nelect? or has the day of grace been suffered to pass by never to\nreturn? \u2018Although he was in a flame to find the way to heaven and\nglory,\u2019 these questions afflicted and disquieted him, so that the very\nstrength of his body was taken away by the force and power thereof.\n\u2018Lord, thought I, what if I should not be elected! It may be you are\nnot, said the tempter; it may be so, indeed thought I. Why then, said\nSatan, you had as good leave off, and strive no farther; for if indeed\nyou should not be elected and chosen of God, there is no talk of your\nbeing saved; \u201cfor it is neither of him that willeth, nor of him that\nrunneth, but of God that showeth mercy.\u201d\n\n\u2018By these things I was driven to my wit\u2019s end, not knowing what to say,\nor how to answer these temptations. Indeed, I little thought that Satan\nhad thus assaulted me, but that rather it was my own prudence thus to\nstart the question: for that the elect only obtained eternal life; that\nI without scruple did heartily close withal; but that myself was one of\nthem, there lay all the question.\u2019[81]\n\nThus was he for many weeks oppressed and cast down, and near to \u2018giving\nup the ghost of all his hopes of ever attaining life,\u2019 when a sentence\nfell with weight upon his spirit\u2014\u2018Look at the generations of old and\nsee; did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded\u2019 (Ecclesiasticus\n2:10). This encouraged him to a diligent search from Genesis to\nRevelation, which lasted for above a year, and although he could not\nfind that sentence, yet he was amply rewarded for this diligent\nexamination of the Holy Oracles, and thus he obtained \u2018yet more\nexperience of the love and kindness of God.\u2019 At length he found it in\nthe Apocrypha, and, although not the language of inspiration, yet as it\ncontained the sum and substance of the promises, he took the comfort of\nit, and it shone before his face for years. The fear that the day of\ngrace had passed pressed heavily upon him; he was humbled, and bemoaned\nthe time that he had wasted. Now he was confronted with that\n\u2018grim-faced one, the Captain Past-hope, with his terrible standard,\u2019\ncarried by Ensign Despair, red colours, with a hot iron and a hard\nheart, and exhibited at Eye-gate.[82] At length these words broke in\nupon his mind, \u2018compel them to come in, that my house may be filled\u2014and\nyet there is room.\u2019 This Scripture powerfully affected him with hope,\nthat there was room in the bosom and in the house of Jesus for his\nafflicted soul.\n\nHis next temptation was to return to the world. This was that terrible\nbattle with Apollyon, depicted in the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, and it is\nalso described at some length in the Jerusalem Sinner Saved. Among many\nvery graphic and varied pictures of his own experience, he introduces\nthe following dialogue with the tempter, probably alluding to the\ntrials he was now passing through. Satan is loath to part with a great\nsinner. \u2018This day is usually attended with much evil towards them that\nare asking the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward. Now the devil\nhas lost a sinner; there is a captive has broke prison, and one run\naway from his master. Now hell seems to be awakened from sleep, the\ndevils are come out. They roar, and roaring they seek to recover their\nrunaway. Now tempt him, threaten him, flatter him, stigmatize him,\nthrow dust into his eyes, poison him with error, spoil him while he is\nupon the potter\u2019s wheel, anything to keep him from coming to\nChrist.\u2019[83] \u2018What, my true servant,\u2019 quoth he, \u2018my old servant, wilt\nthou forsake me now? Having so often sold thyself to me to work\nwickedness, wilt thou forsake me now? Thou horrible wretch, dost not\nknow, that thou hast sinned thyself beyond the reach of grace, and dost\nthou think to find mercy now? Art not thou a murderer, a thief, a\nharlot, a witch, a sinner of the greatest size, and dost thou look for\nmercy now? Dost thou think that Christ will foul his fingers with thee?\nIt is enough to make angels blush, saith Satan, to see so vile a one\nknock at heaven-gates for mercy, and wilt thou be so abominably bold to\ndo it?\u2019 Thus Satan dealt with me, says the great sinner, when at first\nI came to Jesus Christ. And what did you reply? saith the tempted. Why,\nI granted the whole charge to be true, says the other. And what, did\nyou despair, or how? No, saith he, I said, I am Magdalene, I am\nZaccheus, I am the thief, I am the harlot, I am the publican, I am the\nprodigal, and one of Christ\u2019s murderers; yea, worse than any of these;\nand yet God was so far off from rejecting of me, as I found afterwards,\nthat there was music and dancing in his house for me, and for joy that\nI was come home unto him. O blessed be God for grace (says the other),\nfor then I hope there is favour for me. Yea, as I told you, such a one\nis a continual spectacle in the church, for every one by to behold\nGod\u2019s grace and wonder by.[84] These are the \u2018things the angels desire\nto look into\u2019 (1 Peter 1:12), or as Bunyan quaintly says, this is the\nmusic which causes \u2018them that dwell in the higher orbs to open their\nwindows, put out their heads, and look down to see the cause of that\nglory\u2019 (Lev 15:7,10).[85]\n\nAs he became less agitated with fear, and drew consolation more\nfrequently from the promises, with a timid hope of salvation, he began\nto exhibit singular powers of conception in spiritualizing temporal\nthings. His first essay was to find the hidden meaning in the division\nof God\u2019s creatures into clean and unclean. Chewing the cud, and parting\nthe hoof, he conceived to be emblematical of our feeding upon the Word\nof God, and parting, if we would be saved, with the ways of ungodly\nmen.[86] It is not sufficient to chew the cud like the hare\u2014nor to part\nthe hoof like the swine\u2014we must do both; that is, possess the word of\nfaith, and that be evidenced by parting with our outward pollutions.\nThis spiritual meaning of part of the Mosaic dispensation is admirably\nintroduced into the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, when Christian and Faithful\nanalyse the character of Talkative.[87] This is the germ of that\nsingular talent which flourished in after-life, of exhibiting a\nspiritual meaning drawn from every part of the Mosaic dispensation, and\nwhich leads one of our most admired writers[88] to suggest, that if\nBunyan had lived and written during the early days of Christianity, he\nwould have been the greatest of the fathers.\n\nAlthough he had received that portion of comfort which enabled him to\nindulge in religious speculations, still his mind was unsettled, and\nfull of fears. He now became alarmed lest he had not been effectually\ncalled to inherit the kingdom of heaven.[89] He felt still more humbled\nat the weakness of human nature, and at the poverty of wealth. Could\nthis call have been gotten for money, and \u2018could I have given it; had I\na whole world, it had all gone ten thousand times over for this.\u2019 In\nthis he was sincere, and so he was when he said, I would not lose one\npromise, or have it struck out of the Bible, if in return I could have\nas much gold as would reach from London to York, piled up to the\nheavens. In proportion to his soul\u2019s salvation, honour was a worthless\nphantom, and gold but glittering dust. His earnest desire was to hear\nhis Saviour\u2019s voice calling him to his service. Like many young\ndisciples, he regretted not having been born when Christ was manifest\nin the flesh. \u2018Would I had been Peter or John!\u2019 their privations,\nsufferings, martyrdom, was nothing in comparison to their being with,\nand hearing the voice of the Son of God calling them to his service.\nStrange, but general delusion! as if Christ were not the same\nyesterday, to day, and for ever. Groaning for a sense of pardon, he was\ncomforted by Joel\u2014\u2018I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed,\nfor the Lord dwelleth in Zion\u2019 (Joel 3:21), and he was led to seek\nadvice and assistance from a neighbouring minister, and from pious\npersons.\n\nThe poor women in Bedford, whose conversation had been blessed to his\nthorough awakening, were sought for, and to them he unfolded his\nsorrows. They were members of a Baptist church, under the pastoral care\nof John Gifford, a godly, painstaking, and most intelligent minister,\nwhose history is very remarkable. In early life he had been, like\nBunyan, a thoroughly depraved character; like him had entered the army,\nand had been promoted to the rank of a major in the royal forces.\nHaving made an abortive attempt to raise a rebellion in his native\ncounty of Kent,[90] he and eleven others were made prisoners, tried by\nmartial law, and condemned to the gallows. On the night previous to the\nday appointed for his execution, his sister found access to the prison.\nThe guards were asleep, and his companions drowned in intoxication. She\nembraced the favourable moment, and set him at liberty. He lay\nconcealed in a ditch for three days, till the heat of the search was\nover, and in disguise escaped to London, and thence to Bedford, where,\naided by some great people who favoured the royal cause, he commenced\nbusiness as a doctor. Here his evil habits followed him,\nnotwithstanding his merciful deliverance. Swearing, drunkenness,\ngambling, and other immoral practices, rendered him a curse to others,\nespecially to the Puritans, whom he bitterly persecuted. One night he\nlost fifteen pounds at play, and, becoming outrageous, he cast angry\nreproaches upon God. In this state he took up a book by R. Bolton\u2014he\nread, and his conscience was terror-stricken. Distress, under\nconviction of sin, followed him. He searched his Bible, and found\npardon and acceptance. He now sought acquaintance with those whom\nbefore he had persecuted, but, like Paul, when in similar\ncircumstances, \u2018they were all afraid of him.\u2019 His sincerity soon became\napparent; and, uniting with eleven others, they formed a church. These\nmen had thrown off the fetters of education, and were, unbiased by any\nsectarian feeling, being guided solely by their prayerful researches\ninto divine truth as revealed in the Bible. Their whole object was to\nenjoy Christian communion\u2014to extend the reign of grace\u2014to live to the\nhonour of Christ\u2014and they formed a new, and at that time unheard-of,\ncommunity. Water-baptism was to be left to individual conviction; they\nwere to love each other equally, whether they advocated baptism in\ninfancy, or in riper years. The only thing essential to\nchurch-fellowship, in Mr. Gifford\u2019s opinion, was\u2014\u2018UNION WITH CHRIST;\nthis is the foundation of all saints\u2019 communion, and not any judgment\nabout externals.\u2019 To the honour of the Baptists, these peaceable\nprinciples appear to have commenced with two or three of their\nministers, and for the last two centuries they have been, like heavenly\nleaven, extending their delightful influence over all bodies of\nChristians.\n\nSuch was the man to whom Bunyan was introduced for religious advice and\nconsolation; and he assisted in forming those enlarged and nonsectarian\nprinciples which made his ministry blessed, and will render his Works\nequally acceptable to all evangelical Christians in every age of the\nchurch. Introduced to such a minister, and attending social meetings\nfor prayer and Christian converse, he felt still more painfully his own\nignorance, and the inward wretchedness of his own heart. \u2018His\ncorruptions put themselves forth, and his desires for heaven seemed to\nfail.\u2019 In fact, while he compared himself with his former self, he was\na religious giant; in comparison with these pious, long-standing\nChristians, he dwindled into a pigmy; and in the presence of Christ he\nbecame, in his own view, less than nothing, and vanity. He thus\ndescribes his feelings:\u2014\u2018I began to sink\u2014my heart laid me low as hell.\nI was driven as with a tempest\u2014my heart would be unclean\u2014the Canaanites\nwould dwell in the land.\u2019[91] He was like the child which the father\nbrought to Christ, who, while he was coming to Him, was thrown down by\nthe devil, and so rent and torn that he lay and wallowed, foaming. His\nheart felt so hard, that with many a bitter sigh he cried, \u2018Good Lord!\nbreak it open. Lord, break these gates of brass, and cut these bars of\niron asunder\u2019 (Psa 107:16). Little did he then think that his\nbitterness of spirit was a direct answer to such prayers. Breaking the\nheart was attended with anguish in proportion as it had been hardened.\nDuring this time he was tender and sensitive as to the least sin; \u2018now\nI durst not take a pin or a stick, my conscience would smart at every\ntouch.\u2019 \u2018O, how gingerly did I then go in all I said or did!\u2019[92]\n\u2018Still sin would as naturally bubble out of my heart as water would\nbubble out of a fountain.\u2019 He felt surprised when he saw professors\nmuch troubled at their losses, even at the death of the dearest\nrelative. His whole concern was for his salvation. He imagined that he\ncould bear these small afflictions with patience; but \u2018a wounded spirit\nwho can bear?\u2019\n\nIn the midst of all these miseries, and at times regretting that he had\nbeen endowed with an immortal spirit, liable to eternal ruin, he was\njealous of receiving comfort, lest it might be based upon any false\nfoundation. Still as his only hope he was constant in his attendance\nupon the means of grace, and \u2018when comforting time was come,\u2019 he heard\none preach upon two words of a verse, which conveyed strong consolation\nto his weary spirit; the words were, \u2018my love\u2019 (Song 4:1). From these\nwords the minister drew the following conclusions:\u20141. That the church,\nand so every saved soul, is Christ\u2019s love, even when loveless; 2.\nChrist\u2019s love is without a cause; 3. They are Christ\u2019s love when hated\nof the world; 4. Christ\u2019s love when under temptation and under\ndesertion; 5. Christ\u2019s love from first to last.[93] Now was his heart\nfilled with comfort and hope. \u2018I could believe that my sins should be\nforgiven me\u2019; and, in a state of rapture, he thought that his trials\nwere over, and that the savour of it would go with him through life.\nAlas! his enjoyment was but for a season\u2014the preparation of his soul\nfor future usefulness was not yet finished. In a short time the words\nof our Lord to Peter came powerfully into his mind\u2014\u2018Satan hath desired\nto have you\u2019; and so strong was the impression they made, that he\nthought some man addressed them to him; he even turned his head to see\nwho it was that thus spoke to him. This was the forerunner of a cloud\nand a storm that was coming upon him. It was the gathering up of\nSatan\u2019s mighty strength, to have, if possible, overwhelmed him. His\nnarrative of this internal tempest in his soul\u2014this last great struggle\nwith the powers of darkness\u2014is very striking.\n\n\u2018About the space of a month after, a very great storm came down upon\nme, which handled me twenty times worse than all I had met with before;\nit came stealing upon me, now by one piece, then by another. First, all\nmy comfort was taken from me; then darkness seized upon me; after\nwhich, whole floods of blasphemies, both against God, Christ, and the\nScriptures, were poured upon my spirit, to my great confusion and\nastonishment. These blasphemous thoughts were such as also stirred up\nquestions in me against the very being of God, and of his only beloved\nSon. As, whether there were in truth a God or Christ, or no? And\nwhether the Holy Scriptures were not rather a fable, and cunning story,\nthan the holy and pure Word of God.\n\n\u2018These suggestions, with many others, which at this time I may not,\ndare not utter, neither by word nor pen, did make such a seizure upon\nmy spirit, and did so overweigh my heart, both with their number,\ncontinuance, and fiery force, that I felt as if there were nothing else\nbut these from morning to night within me, and as though indeed there\ncould be room for nothing else; and also concluded, that God had, in\nvery wrath to my soul, given me up unto them, to be carried away with\nthem as with a mighty whirlwind.\n\n\u2018Only by the distaste that they gave unto my spirit, I felt there was\nsomething in me that refused to embrace them.\u2019[94]\n\nHere are the facts which are allegorized in the history of Christian,\npassing through the Valley of Humiliation, and fighting with the Prince\nof the power of the air. \u2018Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began\nto gather up close to Christian, and wrestling with him, gave him a\ndreadful fall; and with that Christian\u2019s sword flew out of his hand.\u2019\nThis was the effect of his doubts of the inspiration of the\nScriptures\u2014the sword of the Spirit. \u2018I am sure of thee now, said\nApollyon; and with that he had almost pressed him to death, so that\nChristian began to despair of life; but as God would have it, while\nApollyon was fetching of his last blow, Christian nimbly stretched out\nhis hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, \u201cRejoice not against me,\nO mine enemy, when I fall I shall arise\u201d (Matt 7:8), and with that gave\nhim a deadly thrust, which made him give back as one that had received\nhis mortal wound. Christian perceiving that, made at him again, saying,\n\u201cNay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that\nloved us\u201d; and with that Apollyon spread forth his dragon wings, and\nsped him away.\u2019[95] What an awful moment, when he fell unarmed before\nhis ferocious enemy! \u2018Faith now has but little time to speak to the\nconscience\u2014it is now struggling for life\u2014it is now fighting with\nangels\u2014with infernals\u2014all it can do now is to cry, groan, sweat, fear,\nfight, and gasp for life.\u2019[96] How desperate the conflict\u2014the mouth of\nhell yawning to swallow him\u2014man cannot aid the poor warrior, all his\nhelp is in God. Is it not a wonder to see a poor creature, who in\nhimself is weaker than the moth, to stand against and overcome all\ndevils\u2014all the world\u2014all his lusts and corruptions; or, if he fall, is\nit not a wonder to see him, when devils and guilt are upon him, to rise\nagain, stand upon his legs, walk with God again, and persevere in faith\nand holiness?[97]\n\nThis severe conflict lasted for about a year. He describes his feelings\nat times as resembling the frightful pangs of one broken on the wheel.\nThe sources of his misery were fears that he had sinned against the\nHoly Ghost; and that through his hardness of heart and impatience in\nprayer\u2014he should not persevere to the end. During all this time,\noccasional visits of mercy kept him from despair; and at some intervals\nfilled him with transports of joy. At one time so delightfully was his\nburden removed that he could not tell how to contain himself. \u2018I\nthought I could have spoken of his love and of his mercy to me, even to\nthe very crows that sat upon the ploughed lands before me, had they\nbeen capable to have understood me.\u2019[98] Thus his feelings were\ncontrolled by reason, very different to the poor madman who, in olden\ntime, is represented as preaching to the fish. With Bunyan it was a\nhallowed joy\u2014a gush of holy gladness, in which he wished all creation\nto participate. his heart was baptized in hope. \u2018I know that my\nRedeemer liveth\u2019; and with holy Job, he wished to perpetuate his joy by\na memorial not in rock, but in a book of resemblance. \u2018I would I had a\npen and ink here to write it down.\u2019 This is the first desire that he\nexpressed to proclaim or publish to others the great Saviour he had\nfound: but he was not yet prepared; he must pass through deeper depths,\nand possess a living knowledge of Divine truth, burnt into his soul by\nsatanic fires.\n\nVery soon after this, he was harassed with fear lest he should part\nwith Christ. The tempter, as he did with Christian in the Valley of the\nShadow of Death, suggested blasphemies to him, which he thought had\nproceeded from his own mind. \u2018Satan troubled him with his stinking\nbreath. How many strange, hideous, and amazing blasphemies have some\nthat are coming to Christ had injected upon their spirits against\nhim.\u2019[99] \u2018The devil is indeed very busy at work during the darkness of\na soul. He throws in his fiery darts to amazement, when we are\nencompassed with the terrors of a dismal night; he is bold and\nundaunted in his assaults, and injects with a quick and sudden malice a\nthousand monstrous and abominable thoughts of God, which seem to be the\nmotions of our own minds, and terribly grieve and trouble us.\u2019[100]\n\nWhat makes those arrows more penetrating and distressing is, that\nSatan, with subtle art, tips them with sentences of Scripture. \u2018No\nplace for repentance\u2019; \u2018rejected\u2019; \u2018hath never forgiveness,\u2019 and other\npassages which, by the malignant ingenuity of the fiend, are formed by\nhis skill as the cutting and barbed points of his shafts. At one time\nBunyan concluded that he was possessed of the devil; then he was\ntempted to speak and sin against the Holy Ghost. He thought himself\nalone in such a tempest, and that no one had ever felt such misery as\nhe did. When in prayer, his mind was distracted with the thought that\nSatan was pulling his clothes; he was even tempted to fall down and\nworship him. Then he would cry after God, in awful fear that eventually\nSatan would overcome him. During all this time he was struggling\nagainst the tempter; and, at length, the dayspring visited him in these\nwords, \u2018I am persuaded that nothing shall separate us from the love of\nGod in Christ Jesus.\u2019 Again he was cast down with a recollection of his\nformer blasphemies. What reason can I have to hope for an inheritance\nin eternal life? The questions was answered with that portion of\nScripture, \u2018If God be for us, who can be against us?\u2019 These were visits\nwhich, like Peter\u2019s sheet, of a sudden were caught up to heaven\nagain.[101] At length the Sun of Righteousness arose, and shone upon\nhim with healing influence. \u2018He hath made peace through the blood of\nhis cross,\u2019 came with power to his mind, followed by the consoling\nwords of the apostle, \u2018Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers\nof flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same;\nthat through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,\nthat is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all\ntheir lifetime subject to bondage\u2019 (Heb 2:14,15). This was the key that\nopened every lock in Doubting Castle. The prisoner escaped to breathe\nthe air of hope, and joy, and peace. \u2018This,\u2019 said he, \u2018was a good day\nto me, I hope I shall not forget it.\u2019 \u2018I thought that the glory of\nthose words was then so weighty on me, that I was, both once and twice,\nready to swoon as I sat, not with grief and trouble, but with solid joy\nand peace.\u2019\n\nHis mind was now in a fit state to seek for church fellowship, as a\nfurther means of advance in his knowledge of Divine love. To effect\nthis object, he was naturally led to the Baptist church at Bedford, to\nwhich those pious women belonged whose Christian communion had been\nblessed to him. I sat under the ministry of holy Mr. Gifford, whose\ndoctrine, by God\u2019s grace, was much for my stability.[102] Although his\nsoul was led from truth to truth, his trials were not over\u2014he passed\nthrough many severe exercises before he was received into communion\nwith the church.[103]\n\nAt length he determined to become identified with a body of professed\nChristians, who were treated with great scorn by other sects because\nthey denied infant baptism, and he became engaged in the religious\ncontroversies which were fashionable in those days. We have noticed his\nencounter with the Ranters, and he soon had to give battle to persons\ncalled Quakers. Before the Society of Friends was formed, and their\nrules of discipline were published, many Ranters and others, some of\nwhom were bad characters and held the wildest opinions, passed under\nthe name of Quakers. Some of these denied that the Bible was the Word\nof God; and asserted that the death of Christ was not a full atonement\nfor sin\u2014that there is no future resurrection, and other gross errors.\nThe Quakers, who were afterwards united to form the Society of Friends,\nfrom the first denied all those errors. Their earliest apologist,\nBarclay, in his theses on the Scriptures, says, \u2018They are the doctrines\nof Christ, held forth in precious declarations, spoken and written by\nthe movings of God\u2019s Spirit.\u2019 Whoever it was that asserted the\nheresies, to Bunyan the investigation of them, in the light of Divine\ntruth, was attended with great advantages. It was through \u2018this narrow\nsearch of the Scriptures that he was not only enlightened, but greatly\nconfirmed and comforted in the truth.\u2019[104]\n\nHe longed to compare his experience with that of some old and eminent\nconvert, and \u2018God did cast into his hand\u2019 Luther On the Galatians, \u2018so\nold that it was ready to fall piece from piece, if I did but turn it\nover.\u2019[105] The commentary of this enlightened man was a counterpart to\nhis own feelings. \u2018I found,\u2019 says Bunyan, \u2018my condition, in his\nexperience so largely and profoundly handled, as if his book had been\nwritten out of my own heart. I prefer the book before all others as\nmost fit for a wounded conscience.\u2019 This was the \u2018voice of a man\u2019 that\nChristian \u2018heard as going before him in the Valley of the Shadow of\nDeath,\u2019 and was glad that some who feared God were in this valley as\nwell as himself, who could say, \u2018I will fear no evil for thou art with\nme.\u2019[106] In many things Luther and Bunyan were men of similar\ntemperament. Like Emmanuel\u2019s captains, in the Holy War, they were \u2018very\nstout rough-hewn men; men that were fit to break the ice, and to make\ntheir way by dint of sword.\u2019[107] They were animated by the same\nprinciples, and fought with the same weapons; and although Luther\nresided in a castle protected by princes, was furnished with profound\nscholastic learning, and became a terror to Popery; yet the voice of\nthe unlettered tinker, issuing from a dreary prison, bids fair to be\nfar more extensively heard and blessed than that of this most\nillustrious reformer.[108]\n\nBunyan\u2019s happiness was now very great; his soul, with all its\naffections, clave unto Christ: but lest spiritual pride should exalt\nhim beyond measure, and lest he should be scared to renounce his\nSaviour, by the threat of transportation and death, his heart was again\nwounded, and quickly after this his \u2018love was tried to purpose.\u2019\n\nThe tempter came in upon him with a most grievous and dreadful\ntemptation; it was to part with Christ, to exchange him for the things\nof this life; he was perpetually tormented with the words \u2018sell\nChrist.\u2019 At length, he thought that his spirit gave way to the\ntemptation, and a dreadful and profound state of despair overpowered\nhim for the dreary space of more than two years.[109] This is the most\nextraordinary part of this wonderful narrative, that he, without\napparent cause, should thus be tempted, and feel the bitterness of a\nsupposed parting with Christ. There was, doubtless, a cause for every\npang; his heavenly Father afflicted him for his profit. We shall soon\nhave to follow him through fiery trials. Before the justices, allured\nby their arguments, and particularly by the sophistry of their clerk,\nMr. Cobb, and then dragged from a beloved wife and from children to\nwhom he was most fondly attached\u2014all these fiery trials might be\navoided, if he would but \u2018sell Christ.\u2019 A cold damp dungeon was to\nincarcerate his body for twelve tedious years of the prime of his life,\nunless he would \u2018sell Christ.\u2019 His ministering brother and friend, John\nChild, a Bedford man, who had joined in recommending Bunyan\u2019s\nVindication of Gospel Truths,[110] fell under this temptation, and\nfearing temporal ruin and imprisonment for life, conformed, and then\nfell into the most awful state of despair, suffering such agonies of\nconscience, that, to get rid of present trouble, he hurried himself\ninto eternity. Probably Bunyan alludes to this awful instance of fell\ndespair in his Publican and Pharisee: \u2018Sin, when appearing in its\nmonstrous shape and hue, frighteth all mortals out of their wits, away\nfrom God; and if he stops them not, also out of the world.\u2019[111] To arm\nBunyan against being overcome by a fear of the lions in the way to the\nhouse Beautiful\u2014against giving way, under persecution\u2014he was visited\nwith terrors lest he should sell or part with Christ. During these sad\nyears he was not wholly sunk in despair, but had at times some\nglimmerings of mercy. In comparing his supposed sin with that of Judas,\nhe was constrained to find a difference between a deliberate intention\nto sell Christ and a sudden temptation.[112] Through all these\nsearchings of heart and inquiries at the Word, he became fixed in the\ndoctrine of the final perseverance of God\u2019s saints. \u2018O what love, what\ncare, what kindness and mercy did I now see mixing itself with the most\nsevere and dreadful of all God\u2019s ways to his people; he never let them\nfall into sin unpardonable.\u2019 \u2018But these thoughts added grief and horror\nto me; I thought that all things wrought for my eternal overthrow.\u2019 So\nready is the tender heart to write bitter things against itself, and as\nready is the tempter to whisper despairing thoughts. In the midst of\nthis distress he \u2018saw a glory in walking with God,\u2019 although a dismal\ncloud enveloped him.\n\nThis misery was aggravated by reading the fearful estate of Francis\nSpira, who had been persuaded to return to a profession of Popery, and\ndied in a state of awful despair.[113] \u2018This book\u2019 was to his troubled\nspirit like salt rubbed into a fresh wound.\n\nBunyan now felt his body and mind shaking and tottering under the sense\nof the dreadful judgment of God; and he thought his sin\u2014of a momentary\nand unwilling consent to give up Christ\u2014was a greater sin than all the\nsins of David, Solomon, Manasseh, and even than all the sins that had\nbeen committed by all God\u2019s redeemed ones. Was there ever a man in the\nworld so capable of describing the miseries of Doubting Castle, or of\nthe Slough of Despond, as poor John Bunyan?\n\nHe would have run from God in utter desperation; \u2018but, blessed be his\ngrace, that Scripture, in these flying sins, would call, as running\nafter me, \u201cI have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions,\nand, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee\u201d\n(Isa 44:22).Still he was haunted by that scripture, \u2018You know how that\nafterwards, when he would have inherited the blessing, he found no\nplace of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.\u2019 Thus\nwas he tossed and buffeted, involved in cloudy darkness, with now and\nthen a faint gleam of hope to save him from despair. \u2018In all these,\u2019 he\nsays, \u2018I was but as those that justle against the rocks; more broken,\nscattered, and rent. Oh! the unthought of imaginations, frights, fears,\nand terrors, that are effected by a thorough application of\nguilt.\u2019[114] \u2018Methought I saw as if the sun that shineth in the heavens\ndid grudge to give light, and as if the very stones in the street, and\ntiles upon the houses, did bend themselves against me.\u2019[115] Here we\nfind him in that doleful valley, where Christian was surrounded by\nenemies that \u2018cared not for his sword,\u2019 he put it up, and places his\ndependence upon the more penetrating weapon, \u2018All Prayer.\u2019 Depending\nupon this last resource, he prayed, even when in this great darkness\nand distress. To whom could he go? his case was beyond the power of men\nor angels. His refuge, from a fear of having committed the unpardonable\nsin, was that he had never refused to be justified by the blood of\nChrist, but ardently wished it; this, in the midst of the storm, caused\na temporary clam. At length, he was led to look prayerfully upon those\nscriptures that had tormented him, and to examine their scope and\ntendency, and then he \u2018found their visage changed, for they looked not\nso grimly on him as before he thought they did.\u2019[116] Still, after such\na tempest, the sea did not at once become a calm. Like one that had\nbeen scared with fire, every voice was fire, fire; every little touch\nhurt his tender conscience.[117]\n\nAll this instructive history is pictured by a few words in the\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress. At the Interpreter\u2019s house the pilgrim is shown \u2018a\nfire burning against a wall, and one standing by it, always casting\nmuch water upon it, to quench it; yet did the fire burn higher and\nhotter.\u2019[118] As Esau beat him down, Christ raised him again. The\nthreatening and the promise were like glittering swords clashing\ntogether, but the promise must prevail.\n\nHis entire relief at last was sudden, while meditating in the field\nupon the words, \u2018Thy righteousness is in heaven.\u2019 Hence he drew the\nconclusion, that his righteousness was in Christ, at God\u2019s right hand,\never before him, secure from all the powers of sin and Satan. Now his\nchains fell off; he was loosed from his affliction and irons; his\ntemptation fled away. His present supply of grace he compared to the\ncracked groats and fourpence half-pennies,[119] which rich men carry in\ntheir pockets, while their treasure is safe in their trunks at home, as\nhis was in the store-house of heaven.\n\nThis dreary night of awful conflict lasted more than two years; but\nwhen the day-spring from on high visited him, the promises spangled in\nhis eyes, and he broke out into a song, \u2018Praise ye the Lord. Praise God\nin his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him\nfor his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent\ngreatness.\u2019[120]\n\nBunyan\u2019s opinion as to the cause of this bitter suffering, was his want\nof watchfulness, his not coming boldly to the throne of grace, and that\nhe had tempted God. The advantages he considered that he had gained by\nit were, that it confirmed his knowledge of the existence of God, so\nthat he lost all his temptations to unbelief, blasphemy, and hardness\nof heart, Doubts as to the truth of the Word, and certainty of the\nworld to come, were gone for ever.\n\nHe found no difficulty as to the keys of the kingdom of heaven. \u2018Now I\nsaw the apostles to be the elders of the city of refuge, those that\nthey were to receive in, were received to life, but those that they\nwere to shut out, were to be slain by the avenger of blood.\u2019 Those were\nto enter who, with Peter, confessed to Jesus, \u2018Thou art the Christ, the\nSon of the living God\u2019 (Matt 16:16). This is simply an authority to\nproclaim salvation or condemnation to those who receive or reject the\nSaviour. It is upon his shoulder the key of the house is laid (Isa\n22:22). Christ only has the key, no MAN openeth or shutteth (Rev 1:18,\n3:7). All that man can do, as to binding or loosening, is to warn the\nhardened and to invite the contrite.\n\nBy these trials, the promises, became more clear and invaluable than\never. He never saw those heights and depths in grace, and love, and\nmercy, as he saw them after this severe trial\u2014\u2018great sins drew out\ngreat grace\u2019; and the more terrible and fierce guilt was, the more high\nand mighty did the mercy of God in Christ appear. These are Bunyan\u2019s\nown reflections; but may we not add to them, that while he was in God\u2019s\nschool of trial, every groan, every bitter pang of anguish, and every\ngleam of hope, were intended to fit him for his future work as a\npreacher and writer? Weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, there\nwas not a jot too little, or an iota too much. Every important subject\nwhich embarrasses the convert, was most minutely investigated,\nespecially faith, the sin against the Holy Ghost, the divinity of\nChrist, and such essential truths. He well knew every dirty lane, and\nnook, and corner of Mansoul, in which the Diabolonians found shelter,\nand well he knew the frightful sound of Diabolus\u2019 drum.[121] Well did\nhis pastor, John Burton, say of him, \u2018He hath through grace taken these\nthree heavenly degrees, to wit, union with Christ, the anointing of the\nSpirit, and experience of the temptations of Satan, which do more fit a\nman for that mighty work of preaching the gospel, than all the\nuniversity learning and degrees that can be had.\u2019[122]\n\nPreserved in Christ Jesus, and called\u2014selected from his associates in\nsin, he was taken into this school, and underwent the strictest\nreligious education. It was here alone that his rare talent could be\ncultivated, to enable him, in two immortal allegories, to narrate the\ninternal discipline he underwent. It was here he attained that habitual\naccess to the throne of grace, and that insight into the inspired\nvolume, which filled his writings with those solemn realities of the\nworld to come; while it enabled him to reveal the mysteries of\ncommunion with the Father of spirits, as he so wondrously does in his\ntreatise on prayer. To use the language of Milton\u2014\u2018These are works that\ncould not be composed by the invocation of Dame Memory and her Siren\ndaughters, but by devout prayer to that eternal Spirit, who can enrich\nwith all utterance and knowledge, and send out his seraphim, with the\nhallowed fire of his altar, to touch and purify the lips of whom he\npleases, without reference to station, birth, or education.\u2019 The\ntent-maker and tinker, the fisherman and publican, and even a friar or\nmonk,[123] became the honoured instruments of his choice.\n\nThroughout all Bunyan\u2019s writings, he never murmurs at his want of\neducation, although it is often a source of humble apology. He honoured\nthe learned godly as Christians, but preferred the Bible before the\nlibrary of the two universities.[124] He saw, what every pious man must\nsee and lament, that there is much idolatry in human learning, and that\nit was frequently applied to confuse and impede the gospel. Thus he\naddresses the reader of his treatise on The Law and Grace\u2014\u2018If thou find\nthis book empty of fantastical expressions, and without light, vain,\nwhimsical, scholar-like terms, it is because I never went to school, to\nAristotle or Plato, but was brought up at my father\u2019s house, in a very\nmean condition, among a company of poor countrymen. But if thou do find\na parcel of plain, yet sound, true, and home sayings, attribute that to\nthe Lord Jesus his gifts and abilities, which he hath bestowed upon\nsuch a poor creature as I am and have been.\u2019[125] His maxim was\u2014\u2018Words\neasy to be understood do often hit the mark, when high and learned ones\ndo only pierce the air. He also that speaks to the weakest may make the\nlearned understand him; when he that striveth to be high, is not only\nof the most part understood but of a sort, but also many times is\nneither understood by them nor by himself!\u2019[126] This is one of\nBunyan\u2019s maxims, well worthy the consideration of the most profoundly\nlearned writers, and also of the most eloquent preachers and public\nspeakers.\n\nBunyan was one of those pioneers who are far in advance of the age in\nwhich they live, and the narrative of his birth and education adds to\nthe innumerable contradictions which the history of man opposes to the\nsystem of Mr. Owen and the Socialists, and to every scheme for making\nthe offspring of the poor follow in leading-strings the course of their\nparents, or for rendering them blindly submissive to the dictates of\nthe rich, the learned, or the influential. It incontestably proves the\ngospel doctrine of individuality, and, that native talent will rise\nsuperior to all impediments. Our forefathers struggled for the right of\nprivate judgment in matters of faith and worship\u2014their descendants will\ninsist upon it, as essential to salvation, personally to examine every\ndoctrine relative to the sacred objects of religion, limited only by\nHoly Writ. This must be done with rigorous impartiality, throwing aside\nall the prejudices of education, and be followed by prompt obedience to\nDivine truth, at any risk of offending parents, or laws, or resisting\ninstitutions, or ceremonies which he discovers to be of human\ninvention. All this, as we have seen in Bunyan, was attended with great\nmental sufferings, with painstaking labour, with a simple reliance upon\nthe Word of God, and with earnest prayer. If man impiously dares to\nsubmit his conscience to his fellow-man, or to any body of men called a\nchurch, what perplexity must he experience ere he can make up his mind\nwhich to choose! Instead of relying upon the ONE standard which God has\ngiven him in his Word; should he build his hope upon a human system he\ncould be certain only that man is fallible and subject to err. How\nstriking an instance have we, in our day, of the result of education,\nwhen the mind does not implicitly follow the guidance of the revealed\nWord of God. Two brothers, named Newman, educated at the same school,\ntrained in the same university, brought up under the same religious\nsystem\u2014all human arts exhausted to mould their minds into strict\nuniformity, yet gradually receding from the same point in opposite\ndirections, but in equally downward roads; one to embrace the most\npuerile legends of the middle ages, the other to open infidelity. Not\nso with those who follow the teachings of the Word of God, by which,\nand not by any church, they are to be individually judged at the great\nday: no pontiff, no priest, no minister, can intervene or mediate for\nthem at the bar of God. There it will be said, \u2018I know you, by your\nprayers for Divine guidance and your submission to my revealed will\u2019;\nor, \u2018I know you not,\u2019 for you preferred the guidance of frail, fallible\nmen, to me, and to my Word\u2014a solemn consideration, which, as it proved\na source of solid happiness and extensive usefulness to Bunyan in his\npilgrimage, so it insured to him, as it will to all who follow his\ncourse, a solid foundation on which to stand at the great and terrible\nday, and thus enable them to live as well as die in the sure and\ncertain hope of a triumphant entry into the celestial city.\n\nTHE THIRD PERIOD.\n\n\nBUNYAN IS BAPTIZED, AND ENTERS INTO COMMUNION WITH A CHRISTIAN CHURCH\nAT BEDFORD\u2014IS SET APART TO FILL THE DEACON\u2019S OFFICE, AND SENT OUT AS AN\nITINERANT PREACHER IN THE NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES.\n\n\nMan is naturally led to seek the society of his fellow-men. His\npersonal progress, and the great interests of civilization, depend upon\nthe nature of his friendly intercourse and his proper associations. So\nis it with the Christian, but in a much higher degree. Not only does he\nrequire companions with whom he can enjoy Christian communion\u2014of\nsufferings and of pleasures\u2014in seasons of depressing trials, and in\nholy elevations\u2014but with whom he may also form plans to spread the\ngenial influence of Christianity, which has blessed and so boundlessly\nenriched his own soul. Christian fellowship and communion has received\nthe broad seal of heaven. \u2018The Lord hearkened,\u2019 when they that feared\nhim spake often to one another, \u2018and a book of remembrance was written\nbefore him for them that feared the Lord\u2019 (Mal 3:16).\n\nBunyan possessed a soul with faculties capable of the highest enjoyment\nof the communion of saints in church order. His ideas of mutual\nforbearance\u2014that \u2018in lowliness of mind should each esteem others better\nthan themselves\u2019\u2014he enforces with very peculiar power, and, at the same\ntime, with delicate sensibility. After the pilgrims had been washed by\nInnocence in the Interpreter\u2019s bath, he sealed them, which \u2018greatly\nadded to their beauty,\u2019 and then arrayed them in white raiment of fine\nlinen; and \u2018when the women were thus adorned, they seemed to be a\nterror one to the other, for that they could not see that glory each\none on herself which they could see in each other. Now, therefore, they\nbegan to esteem each other better than themselves.\u2019[127] \u2018The\nInterpreter led them into his garden, where was great variety of\nflowers. Then said he, Behold, the flowers are diverse in stature, in\nquality and colour, and smell and virtue, and some are better than\nsome; also, where the gardener hath set them, there they stand, and\nquarrel not with one another.\u2019[128] \u2018When Christians stand every one in\ntheir places, and do their relative work, then they are like the\nflowers in the garden that grow where the gardener hath planted them,\nand both honour the gardener and the garden in which they are\nplanted.\u2019[129] In the same treatise on Christian Behaviour, similar\nsentiments are expressed in language extremely striking and beautiful.\n\u2018The doctrine of the gospel is like the dew and the small rain that\ndistilleth upon the tender grass, wherewith it doth flourish and is\nkept green (Deut 32:2).Christians are like the several flowers in a\ngarden that have upon each of them the dew of heaven, which, being\nshaken with the wind, they let fall their dew at each other\u2019s roots,\nwhereby they are jointly nourished, and become nourishers of one\nanother. For Christians to commune savourly of God\u2019s matters one with\nanother, it is as if they opened to each other\u2019s nostrils boxes of\nperfume.\u2019[130] Similar peaceful, heavenly principles, flow through\nBunyan\u2019s Discourse of the Building, &c., of the House of God and its\ninmates;[131] and blessed would it be if in all our churches every\nbeliever was baptized into such motives of forbearance and brotherly\nlove. These sentiments do honour to the head and heart of the prince of\nallegorists, and should be presented in letters of gold to every\ncandidate for church fellowship. A young man entertaining such opinions\nas these, however rude his former conduct, being born again to\nspiritual enjoyments, would become a treasure to the Christian society\nwith which he might be connected.\n\nIn ordinary cases, the minister or people who have been useful to a\nyoung convert, lead him in his first choice of Christian associates;\nbut here we have no ordinary man. Bunyan, in all things pertaining to\nreligion, followed no human authority, but submitted himself to the\nguidance of the inspired volume. Possessing a humble hope of salvation,\nhe would read with deep interest that \u2018the Lord added to the church\nsuch as should be saved.\u2019 The question which has so much puzzled the\nlearned, as to a church or the church, would be solved without\ndifficulty by one who was as learned in the Scriptures as he was\nignorant of the subtle distinctions and niceties of the schools. He\nfound that there was one church at Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), another at\nCorinth (1 Cor 1:2), seven in Asia (Rev 1:4), and others distributed\nover the world; that \u2018the visible church of Christ is a (or every)\ncongregation of faithful men.\u2019[132] He well knew that uniformity is a\nfool\u2019s paradise; that though man was made in the image of God; it\nderogates not from the beauty of that image that no two men are alike.\nThe stars show forth God\u2019s handy work, yet \u2018one star different from\nanother star in glory\u2019 (1 Cor 15:41). Uniformity is opposed to every\nlaw of nature, for no two leaves upon a majestic tree are alike. Who\nbut an idiot or a maniac would attempt to reduce the mental powers of\nall men to uniformity? Every church may have its own order of public\nworship while the Scriptures form the standard of truth and morals.\nWhere differences of opinion occur, as they most certainly will, as to\nthe observance of days or abstinence from meats\u2014whether to stand, or\nsit, or kneel, in prayer\u2014whether to stand while listening to some pages\nof the inspired volume, and to sit while others are publicly\nread\u2014whether to call Jude a saint, and refuse the title to Isaiah\u2014are\nquestions which should bring into active exercise all the graces of\nChristian charity; and, in obedience to the apostolic injunction, they\nmust agree to differ. \u2018Let every man be fully persuaded in his own\nmind\u2019 (Rom 14:5). Human arts have been exhausted to prevent that mental\nexercise or self-persuasion which is essential to a Christian\nprofession. The great object of Satan has ever been to foster\nindifference, that deadly lethargy, by leading man to any source of\ninformation rather than prayerful researches into the Bible. Bunyan\u2019s\nsevere discipline in Christ\u2019s school would lead him to form a judgment\nfor himself; he was surrounded by a host of sects, and, with such a\nBible-loving man, it is an interesting inquiry what party he would\njoin.\n\nHe lived in times of extraordinary excitement. England was in a\ntransition state. A long chain of events brought on a crisis which\ninvolved the kingdom in tribulation. It was the struggle between the\nunbridled despotism of Epsicopacy, and the sturdy liberty of\nPuritanism. For although the immediate cause of the civil wars was\ngross misgovernment\u2014arbitrary taxation without the intervention of\nParliament, monopolies and patents, to the ruin of trade; in fact,\nevery abuse of the royal power\u2014still, without the additional spur of\nreligious persecution, the spirit of the people would never have proved\ninvincible and overpowering. The efforts of Archbishop Laud, aided by\nthe queen and her popish confessor, Panzani, to subjugate Britain to\nthe galling yoke of Rome, signally failed, involving in the ruin the\nlife of the king and his archbishop, and all the desolating calamities\nof intestine wars, strangely called \u2018civil.\u2019 In this strife many of the\nclergy and most of the bishops took a very active part, aiding and\nabetting the king\u2019s party in their war against the parliament\u2014and they\nthus brought upon themselves great pains and penalties. The people\nbecame suddenly released from mental bondage; and if the man who had\nbeen born blind, when he first received the blessing of sight, \u2018saw men\nas trees walking,\u2019 we cannot be surprised that religious speculations\nwere indulged in, some of which proved to be crude and wild, requiring\nmuch vigorous persuasive pruning before they produced good fruit.\nBunyan was surrounded by all these parties; for although the rights of\nconscience were not recognized\u2014the Papists and Episcopalians, the\nBaptists and Unitarians, with the Jews, being proscribed\u2014yet the hand\nof persecution was comparatively light. Had Bunyan chosen to associate\nwith the Episcopalians, he would not have passed through those severe\nsufferings on which are founded his lasting honours. The Presbyterians\nand Independents received the patronage of the state under the\nCommonwealth, and the great mass of the clergy conformed to the\ndirectory, many of them reciting the prayers they had formerly read;\nwhile a considerable number, whose conscience could not submit to the\nsystem then enforced by law, did, to their honour, resign their\nlivings, and suffer the privations and odium of being Dissenters. Among\nthese were necessarily included the bishops.[133]\n\nOf all sects that of the Baptists had been the most bitterly written\nagainst and persecuted. Even their first cousins, the Quakers, attacked\nthem in language that would, in our peaceful days, be considered\noutrageous. \u2018The Baptists used to meet in garrets, cheese-lofts,\ncoal-holes, and such like mice walks,\u2019\u2014\u2018theses tumultuous,\nblood-thirsty, covenant-breaking, government-destroying\nAnabaptists.\u2019[134] The offence that called forth these epithets was,\nthat in addressing Charles II on his restoration, they stated that\n\u201cthey were no abettors of the Quakers.\u201d Had royal authority possessed\nthe slightest influence over Bunyan\u2019s religious opinions, the question\nas to his joining the Baptists would have been settled without\ninvestigation. Among other infatuations of Charles I, had been his\nhatred of any sect that professed the right and duty of man to think\nfor himself in choosing his way to heaven. In 1639 he published his\n\u2018Declaration concerning the tumults in Scotland,\u2019 when violence was\nresorted to against the introduction of the Common Prayer in which he\ndenounced voluntary obedience because it was not of constraint, and\ncalled it \u2018damnable\u2019; he calls the principles of the Anabaptists, in\nnot submitting their consciences to human laws, \u2018furious frenzies,\u2019 and\n\u2018madness\u2019; all Protestants are \u2018to detest and persecute them\u2019; \u2018these\nAnabaptists raged most in their madness\u2019; \u2018the scandal of their\nfrenzies\u2019; \u2018we are amazed at, and aggrieved at their horrible\nimpudence\u2019; \u2018we do abhor and detest them all as rebellious and\ntreasonable.\u2019[135] This whole volume is amusingly assuming. The king\nclaims his subjects as personal chattels, with whose bodies and minds\nhe had a right to do as he pleased. Bunyan owed no spiritual submission\nto man, \u2018whose breath is in his nostrils\u2019; and risking all hazards, he\nbecame one of the denounced and despised sect of Baptists. To use the\nlanguage of his pilgrim, he passed the lions, braving all the dangers\nof an open profession of faith in Christ, and entered the house called\nBeautiful, which \u2018was built by the Lord of the hill, on purpose to\nentertain such pilgrims in.\u2019[136] He first gains permission of the\nwatchman, or minister, and then of the inmates, or church members. This\ninteresting event is said to have taken place about the year 1653.[137]\nMr. Doe, in The Struggler, thus refers to it, Bunyan \u2018took all\nadvantages to ripen his understanding in religion, and so he lit on the\ndissenting congregation of Christians at Bedford, and was, upon\nconfession of faith, baptized about the year 1653,\u2019[138] when he was in\nthe twenty-fifth year of his age. No minutes of the proceedings of this\nchurch, prior to the death of Mr. Gifford in 1656,[139] are extant, or\nthey would identify the exact period when Bunyan\u2019s baptism and\nadmission to the church took place. The spot where he was baptized is a\ncreek by the river Ouse, at the end of Duck Mill Lane. It is a natural\nbaptistery, a proper width and depth of water constantly fresh;\npleasantly situated; sheltered from the public highway near the High\nStreet. The Lord\u2019s Supper was celebrated in a large room in which the\ndisciples met, the worship consecrating the place.[140]\n\nReligious feelings and conduct have at all times a tendency to promote\nthe comfort, and elevate the character of the poor. How often have we\nseen them thus blessed; the ragged family comfortably clothed, the\nhungry fed, and the inmates of a dirty miserable cottage or hovel\nbecome a pattern of cleanly happiness. One of Bunyan\u2019s biographers, who\nwas an eye-witness, bears this testimony. \u2018By this time his family was\nincreased, and as that increased God increased his stores, so that he\nlived now in great credit among his neighbours.\u2019 He soon became a\nrespectable member of civil as well as religious society; for, by the\ntime that he joined the church, his Christian character was so fully\nestablished, that, notwithstanding the meanness of his origin and\nemployment, he was considered worthy of uniting in a memorial to the\nLord Protector. It was to recommend two gentlemen to form part of the\ncouncil, after Cromwell had dissolved the Long Parliament. It is a\ncurious document, very little known, and illustrative of the peculiar\nstyle of these eventful times.\n\nLetter from the people of Bedfordshire to the Lord Generall Cromwell,\nand the Councell of the army.\n\n\nMay 13th, 1653.\n\n\nMay it please your Lordship, and the rest of the council of the army.\nWe (we trust) servants of Jesus Christ, inhabitants in the county of\nBedford, haveing fresh upon our hearts the sadde oppressions we have (a\nlong while) groan\u2019d under from the late parlayment, and now eyeing and\nowning (through grace) the good hand of God in this great turne of\nprovidence, being persuaded that it is from the Lord that you should be\ninstrument in his hand at such a time as this, for the electing of such\npersons whoe may goe in and out before his people in righteousnesse,\nand governe these nations in judgment, we having sought the Lord for\nyow, and hopeing that God will still doe greate things by yow,\nunderstanding that it is in your hearte through the Lord\u2019s assistance,\nto establish an authority consisting of men able, loveing truth,\nfeareing God, and hateing covetouseness; and we having had some\nexperience of men with us, we have judged it our duty to God, to yow,\nand to the rest of his people, humbly to present two men, viz.,\nNathaniell Taylor, and John Croke, now Justices of Peace in our County,\nwhom we judge in the Lord qualified to manage a trust in the ensuing\ngovernment. All which we humbly referre to your serious considerations,\nand subscribe our names this 13th day of May, 1653\u2014\n\nJohn Eston, Clement Berridge, Isaac Freeman, John Grewe, John Bunyan,\nWilliam Dell, John Gifford, William Baker, junr., William Wheelar, Ja.\nRush, Anth. Harrington, John Gibbs, Tho. Varrse, Richard Spensley, John\nDonne, Michael Cooke, Edward Covinson, Tho. Gibbs, John Ramsay, John\nHogge, Edward White, Robert English, John Jeffard, John Browne, John\nEdridge, John Ivory, John White, George Gee, Daniell Groome, Charles\nPeirse, Ambrose Gregory, Luke Parratt, Thomas Cooke, William Page,\nThomas Knott, Thomas Honnor. These to the Lord Generall Cromwell, and\nthe rest of the councell of the army, present.[141]\n\n\nBunyan\u2019s daughter Elizabeth was born at Elstow, April 14, 1654, and a\nsingular proof of his having changed his principles on baptism appears\nin the church register. His daughter Mary was baptized in 1650, but his\nElizabeth in 1654 is registered as born, but no mention is made of\nbaptism.\n\nThe poor harassed pilgrim having been admitted into communion with a\nChristian church, enjoyed fully, for a short season, his new\nprivileges. He thus expresses his feelings:\u2014\u2018After I had propounded to\nthe church that my desire was to walk in the order and ordinances of\nChrist with them, and was also admitted by them: while I thought of\nthat blessed ordinance of Christ, which was his last supper with his\ndisciples before his death, that scriptures, \u201cthis do in remembrance of\nme,\u201d was made a very precious word unto me; for by it the Lord came\ndown upon my conscience with the discovery of his death for my sins:\nand as I then felt, did as if he plunged me in the virtue of the\nsame.\u2019[142]\n\nIn this language we have an expression which furnishes a good sample of\nhis energetic feelings. He had been immersed in water at his baptism,\nand doubtless believed it to be a figure of his death to sin and\nresurrection to holiness; and when he sat at the Lord\u2019s table he felt\nthat he was baptized into the virtue of his Lord\u2019s death; he is plunged\ninto it, and feels the holy influence covering his soul with all its\npowers.\n\nHis pastor, John Gifford, was a remarkably pious and sensible man,\nexactly fitted to assist in maturing the mind of his young member.\nBunyan had, for a considerable time, sat under his ministry, and had\ncultivated acquaintance with the members of his church; and so\nprayerfully had he made up his mind as to this important choice of a\nchurch, with which he might enter into fellowship, that, although\ntempted by the most alluring prospects of greater usefulness,\npopularity, and emolument, he continued his church fellowship with\nthese poor people through persecution and distress, imprisonment and\nthe threats of transportation, or an ignominious death, until he\ncrossed the river \u2018which has no bridge,\u2019 and ascended to the celestial\ncity, a period of nearly forty years. Of the labours of his first\npastor, John Gifford, but little is known, except that he founded the\nchurch of Christ at Bedford, probably the first, in modern times, which\nallowed to every individual freedom of judgment as to water baptism;\nreceiving all those who decidedly appeared to have put on Christ, and\nhad been received by him; but avoiding, with godly jealousy, any\nmixture of the world with the church. Mr. Gifford\u2019s race was short,\nconsistent, and successful. Bunyan calls him by an appellation, very\nprobably common in his neighbourhood and among his flock, \u2018holy Mr.\nGifford\u2019;[143] a title infinitely superior to all the honours of\nnobility, or of royalty. He was a miracle of mercy and grace, for a\nvery few years before he had borne the character of an impure and\nlicentious man\u2014an open enemy to the saints of God. His pastoral letter,\nleft upon record in the church-book, written when drawing near the end\nof his pilgrimage, is most admirable; it contains an allusion to his\nsuccessors, Burton or Bunyan, and must have had a tendency in forming\ntheir views of a gospel church. Even Mr. Southey praises this puritanic\nepistle as exemplifying \u2018a wise and tolerant and truly Christian\nspirit\u2019: and as it has not been published in any life of Bunyan, I\nventure to introduce it without abridgement:\u2014\n\nTo the Church over which God made me an overseer when I was in the\nworld.\n\nI beseech you, brethren beloved, let these following words (wrote in my\nlove to you, and care over you, when our heavenly Father was removing\nme to the kingdom of his dear Son), be read in your church-gatherings\ntogether. I shall not now, dearly beloved, write unto you about that\nwhich is the first, and without which all other things are as nothing\nin the sight of God, viz., the keeping the mystery of the faith in a\npure conscience; I shall not, I say, write of these things, though the\ngreatest, having spent my labours among you, to root you and build you\nup in Christ through the grace you have received; and to press you to\nall manner of holiness in your conversations, that you may be found of\nthe Lord, without spot, and blameless, at His coming. But the things I\nshall speak to you of, are about your CHURCH AFFAIRS, which I fear have\nbeen little considered by most of you; which things, if not mended\naright, and submitted unto, according to the will of God, will by\ndegrees bring you under divisions, distractions, and at last, to\nconfusion of that gospel order and fellowship which now, through grace,\nyou enjoy. Therefore, my brethren, in the first place, I would not have\nany of you ignorant of this, that every one of you are as much bound\nnow to walk with the church in all love; and in the ordinances of Jesus\nChrist our Lord, as when I was present among you: neither have any of\nyou liberty to join yourselves to any other society, because your\npastor is removed from you; for you were not joined to the ministry,\nbut to Christ, and the church; and this is and was the will of God in\nChrist to all the churches of the saints, read Acts 2:42; and compare\nit with Acts 1:14, 15. And I charge you before the Lord, as you will\nanswer it at the coming of our Lord Jesus, that none of you be found\nguilty herein.\n\nSecondly. Be constant in your church assemblies. Let all the work which\nconcerns the church be done faithfully among you; as admission of\nmembers, exercising of gifts, election of officers, as need requires,\nand all other things as if named, which the Scriptures being searched,\nwill lead you into, through the Spirit; which things, if you do, the\nLord will be with you, and you will convince others that Christ is your\nhead, and your dependency is not upon man; but if you do the work of\nthe Lord negligently, if you mind your own things and not the things of\nChrist, if you grow of indifferent spirits, whether you mind the work\nof the Lord in his church or no, I fear the Lord by degrees will suffer\nthe comfort of your communion to be dried up, and the candlestick which\nis yet standing to be broken in pieces; which God forbid.\n\nNow, concerning your admission of members, I shall leave you to the\nLord for counsel, who hath hitherto been with you; only thus much I\nthink expedient to stir up your remembrance in; that after you are\nsatisfied in the work of grace in the party you are to join with, the\nsaid party do solemnly declare (before some of the church at least),\nThat Union with Christ is the foundation of all saints\u2019 communion; and\nnot any ordinances of Christ, or any judgment or opinion about\nexternals; and the said party ought to declare, whether a brother or\nsister, that through grace they will walk in love with the church,\nthough there should happen any difference in judgment about other\nthings. Concerning separation from the church about baptism, laying on\nof hands, anointing with oil, psalms, or any externals, I charge every\none of you respectively, as you will give an account for it to our Lord\nJesus Christ, who shall judge both quick and dead at his coming, that\nnone of you be found guilty of this great evil; which, while some have\ncommitted, and that through a zeal for God, yet not according to\nknowledge, they have erred from the law of the love of Christ, and have\nmade a rent from the true church, which is but one. I exhort you,\nbrethren, in your comings together, Let all things be done decently,\nand in order, according to the Scriptures. Let all things be done among\nyou without strife and envy, without self-seeking and vain-glory. Be\nclothed with humility, and submit to one another in love. Let the gifts\nof the church be exercised according to order. Let no gift be concealed\nwhich is for edification; yet let those gifts be chiefly exercised\nwhich are most for the perfecting of the saints. Let your discourses be\nto build up one another in your most holy faith, and to provoke one\nanother to love and good works: if this be not well-minded, much time\nmay be spent and the church reap little or no advantage. Let there be\nstrong meat for the strong, and milk for babes. In your assemblies\navoid all disputes which gender to strife, as questions about\nexternals, and all doubtful disputations. If any come among you who\nwill be contentious in these things, let it be declared that you have\nno such order, nor any of the churches of God. If any come among you\nwith any doctrine contrary to the doctrine of Christ, you must not\ntreat with such an one as with a brother, or enter into dispute of the\nthings of faith with reasonings (for this is contrary to the\nScriptures); but let such of the brethren who are the fullest of the\nSpirit, and the word of Christ, oppose such an one steadfastly face to\nface, and lay open his folly to the church, from the Scriptures. If a\nbrother through weakness speak anything contrary to any known truth of\nGod (though not intended by him), some other brother of the church must\nin love clear up the truth, lest many of the church be laid under\ntemptation. Let no respect of persons be in your comings-together; when\nyou are met as a church there\u2019s neither rich nor poor, bond nor free in\nChrist Jesus. \u2019Tis not a good practice to be offering places or seats\nwhen those who are rich come in; especially it is a great evil to take\nnotice of such in time of prayer, or the word; then are bowings and\ncivil observances at such times not of God. Private wrongs are not\npresently to be brought unto the church. If any of the brethren are\ntroubled about externals, let some of the church (let it not be a\nchurch business) pray for and with such parties.\n\nNone ought to withdraw from the church if any brother should walk\ndisorderly, but he that walketh disorderly must bear his own burden,\naccording to the Scriptures. If any brother should walk disorderly, he\ncannot be shut out from any ordinance before church censure. Study\namong yourselves what is the nature of fellowship, as the word,[144]\nprayer, and breaking of bread; which, whilst few, I judge, seriously\nconsider, there is much falling short of duty in the churches of\nChrist. You that are most eminent in profession, set a pattern to all\nthe rest of the church. Let your faith, love, and zeal, be very\neminent; if any of you cast a dim light, you will do much hurt in the\nchurch. Let there be kept up among you solemn days of prayer and\nthanksgiving; and let some time be set apart, to seek God for your\nseeds, which thing hath hitherto been omitted. Let your deacons have a\nconstant stock by them, to supply the necessity of those who are in\nwant. Truly, brethren, there is utterly a fault among you that are\nrich, especially in this thing, \u2019tis not that little which comes from\nyou on the first day of the week that will excuse you. I beseech you,\nbe not found guilty of this sin any longer. He that sows sparingly will\nreap sparingly. Be not backward in your gatherings-together; let none\nof you willingly stay till part of the meeting be come,[145] especially\nsuch who should be examples to the flock. One or two things are omitted\nabout your comings-together, which I shall here add. I beseech you,\nforbear sitting in prayer, except parties be any way disabled; \u2019tis not\na posture which suits with the majesty of such an ordinance. Would you\nserve your prince so? In prayer, let all self-affected expressions be\navoided, and all vain repetitions. God hath not gifted, I judge, every\nbrother to be a mouth to the church. Let such as have most of the\ndemonstration of the Spirit and of power, shut up all your\ncomings-together, that ye may go away with your hearts comforted and\nquickened.\n\nCome together in time, and leave off orderly; for God is a God of order\namong his saints. Let none of you give offence to his brethren in\nindifferent things, but be subject to one another in love. Be very\ncareful what gifts you approve of by consent for public service.\n\nSpend much time before the Lord, about choosing a pastor, for though I\nsuppose he is before you,[146] whom the Lord hath appointed, yet it\nwill be no disadvantage to you, I hope, if you walk a year or two as\nyou are before election; and then, if you be all agreed, let him be set\napart, according to the Scriptures. Salute the brethren who walk not in\nfellowship with you, with the same love and name of brother or sister\nas those who do.\n\nLet the promises made to be accomplished in the latter days, be often\nurged before the Lord in your comings-together; and forget not your\nbrethren in bonds. Love him much for the work\u2019s sake, who labours over\nyou in the word and doctrine. Let no man despise his youth.[147] Muzzle\nnot the mouth of the ox that treads out the corn to you. Search the\nScriptures; let some of them be read to you about this thing. If your\nteacher at any time be laid aside, you ought to meet together as a\nchurch, and build up one another. If the members at such a time will go\nto a public ministry, it must first be approved of by the church.\nFarewell; exhort, counsel, support, reprove one another in love.\n\nFinally, brethren, be all of one mind, walk in love one to another,\neven as Christ Jesus hath loved you, and given himself for you. Search\nthe Scriptures for a supply of those things wherein I am wanting. Now\nthe God of peace, who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead,\nmultiply his peace upon you, and preserve you to his everlasting\nkingdom by Jesus Christ. Stand fast: the Lord is at hand.\n\nThat this was written by me, I have set my name to it, in the presence\nof two of the brethren of the church.\n\nJohn Gifford.[148]\n\nBunyan was now settled under the happiest circumstances, and doubtless\nlooked forward to much religious enjoyment. A pious wife\u2014peace in his\nsoul\u2014a most excellent pastor, and in full communion with a Christian\nchurch. Alas! his enjoyments were soon interrupted; again a tempest was\nto agitate his mind, that he might be more deeply humbled and prepared\nto become a Barnabas or son of consolation to the spiritually\ndistressed.\n\nIt is a remarkable fact, that upon the baptism of our Lord, after that\nsublime declaration of Jehovah\u2014\u2018this is my beloved Son,\u2019 \u2018Jesus was led\ninto the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil.\u2019 As it was with their\nleader, so it frequently happens to his followers. After having\npartaken, for the first time, of the holy enjoyments of the Lord\u2019s\ntable\u2014tending to exalt and elevate them, they are often abased and\nhumbled in their own esteem, by the assaults of Satan and his\ntemptations, aided by an evil heart of unbelief. Thus Christian having\nbeen cherished in the house called Beautiful, and armed for the\nconflict, descended into the Valley of Humiliation, encountered\nApollyon in deadly combat, and walked through the Valley of the Shadow\nof Death. \u2018For three quarters of a year, fierce and sad temptations did\nbeset me to blasphemy, that I could never have rest nor ease. But at\nlast the Lord came in upon my soul with that same scripture, by which\nmy soul was visited before; and after that, I have been usually very\nwell and comfortable in the partaking of that blessed ordinance; and\nhave, I trust, therein discerned the Lord\u2019s body, as broken for my\nsins, and that his precious blood hath been shed for my\ntransgressions.\u2019[149] This is what Bunyan calls, \u2018the soul killing to\nitself its sins, its righteousness, wisdom, resolutions, and the things\nwhich it trusted in by nature\u2019; and then receiving \u2018a most glorious,\nperfect, and never-fading life.\u2019 The life of Christ in all its purity\nand perfections imputed to me\u2014\u2018Sometimes I bless the Lord my soul hath\nhad this life not only imputed to me, but the very glory of it upon my\nsoul\u2014the Son of God himself in his own person, now at the right hand of\nhis Father representing me complete before the mercy-seat in his\nownself.\u2019 \u2018There was my righteousness just before the eyes of Divine\nglory.\u2019[150]\n\nAbout this period his robust hardy frame gave way under the attack of\ndisease, and we have to witness his feelings when the king of terrors\nappeared to be beginning his deadly work. Whether the fiery trials, the\nmental tempest through which he had passed, were too severe for his\nbodily frame, is not recorded. His narrative is, that, \u2018Upon a time I\nwas somewhat inclining to a consumption, wherewith, about the spring I\nwas suddenly and violently seized, with much weakness in my outward\nman; insomuch that I thought I could not live.\u2019[151] This is slightly\nvaried in his account of this illness in his Law and Grace. He there\nsays, \u2018having contracted guilt upon my soul, and having some distemper\nof body upon me, I supposed that death might now so seize upon, as to\ntake me away from among men.[152] These serious considerations led to a\nsolemn investigation of his hopes. His having been baptized, his union\nto a church, the good opinion of his fellow-men, are not in the\nslightest degree relied upon as evidences of the new birth, or of a\ndeath to sin and resurrection to holiness.\u2019 \u2018Now began I afresh to give\nmyself up to a serious examination after my state and condition for the\nfuture, and of my evidences for that blessed world to come: for it\nhath, I bless the name of God, been my usual course, as always, so\nespecially in the day of affliction, to endeavour to keep my interest\nin the life to come, clear before my eye.\n\n\u2018But I had no sooner began to recall to mind my former experience of\nthe goodness of God to my soul, but there came flocking into my mind an\ninnumerable company of my sins and transgressions: amongst which these\nwere at this time most to my affliction, namely, my deadness, dullness,\nand coldness in holy duties; my wanderings of heart, my wearisomeness\nin all good things, my want of love to God, his ways and people, with\nthis at the end of all, \u201cAre these the fruits of Christianity? Are\nthese the tokens of a blessed man?\u201d\n\n\u2018At the apprehension of these things my sickness was doubled upon me,\nfor now was I sick in my inward man, my soul was clogged with guilt;\nnow also was my former experience of God\u2019s goodness to me quite taken\nout of my mind, and hid as if it had never been, nor seen. Now was my\nsoul greatly pinched between these two considerations, \u201cLive I must\nnot, die I dare not.\u201d Now I sunk and fell in my spirit, and was giving\nup all for lost; but as I was walking up and down in my house, as a man\nin a most woeful state, that word of God took hold of my heart, Ye are\n\u201cjustified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus\nChrist\u201d (Rom 3:24). But O! what a turn it made upon me!\n\n\u2018Now was I as one awakened out of some troublesome sleep and dream; and\nlistening to this heavenly sentence, I was as if I had heard it thus\nexpounded to me:\u2014\u201cSinner, thou thinkest, that because of thy sins and\ninfirmities, I cannot save thy soul; but behold my Son is by me, and\nupon him I look, and not on thee, and will deal with thee according as\nI am pleased with him.\u201d At this I was greatly lightened in my mind, and\nmade to understand, that God could justify a sinner at any time; it was\nbut his looking upon Christ, and imputing of his benefits to us, and\nthe work was forthwith done.\u2019[153]\n\n\u2018Now was I got on high, I saw myself within the arms of grace and\nmercy; and though I was before afraid to think of a dying hour, yet now\nI cried, Let me die. Now death was lovely and beautiful in my sight,\nfor I saw that we shall never live indeed, till we be gone to the other\nworld. I saw more in those words, \u201cHeirs of God\u201d (Rom 8:17), than ever\nI shall be able to express. \u201cHeirs of God,\u201d God himself is the portion\nof his saints.\u2019[154]\n\nAs his mental agitation subsided into this delicious calm, his bodily\nhealth was restored; to use his own figure, Captain Consumption, with\nall his men of death, were[155] routed, and his strong bodily health\ntriumphed over disease; or, to use the more proper language of an\neminent Puritan, \u2018When overwhelmed with the deepest sorrows, and that\nfor many doleful months, he who is Lord of nature healed my body, and\nhe who is the Father of mercies and God of all grace has proclaimed\nliberty to the captive, and given rest to my weary soul.\u2019[156] Here we\nhave a key to the most eventful picture in the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress\u2014The\nValley of the Shadow of Death\u2014which is placed in the midst of the\njourney. When in the prime of life, death looked at him and withdrew\nfor a season. It was the shadow of death that came over his spirit.\n\nThe church at Bedford having increased, Bunyan was chosen to fill the\nhonourable office of a deacon. No man could have been better fitted for\nthat office than Bunyan was. He was honesty itself, had suffered severe\nprivations, so as to feel for those who were pinched with want; he had\ngreat powers of discrimination, to distinguish between the poverty of\nidleness, and that distress which arises from circumstances over which\nhuman foresight has no control, so as to relieve with propriety the\npressure of want, without encouraging the degrading and debasing habit\nof depending upon alms, instead of labouring to provide the necessaries\nof life. He had no fine clothes to be spoiled by trudging down the\nfilthiest lanes, and entering the meanest hovels to relieve suffering\nhumanity. The poor\u2014and that is the great class to whom the gospel is\npreached, and by whom it is received\u2014would hail him as a brother.\nGifted in prayer, full of sound and wholesome counsel drawn from holy\nwrit, he must have been a peculiar blessing to the distressed, and to\nall the members who stood in need of advice and assistance. Such were\nthe men intended by the apostles, \u2018men of honest report, full of the\nHoly Ghost and wisdom\u2019 (Acts 6:3), whom the church were to select, to\nrelieve the apostles from the duties of ministration to the wants of\nthe afflicted members, in the discharge of which they had given\noffence.\n\nWhile thus actively employed, he was again visited with a severe\nillness, and again was subject to a most searching and solemn\ninvestigation as to his fitness to appear before the judgment-seat of\nGod. \u2018All that time the tempter did beset me strongly, labouring to\nhide from me my former experience of God\u2019s goodness; setting before me\nthe terrors of death, and the judgment of God, insomuch that at this\ntime, through my fear of miscarrying for ever, should I now die, I was\nas one dead before death came; I thought that there was no way but to\nhell I must.\u2019[157]\n\n\u2018A wounded spirit who can bear.\u2019 Well might the apostle say, \u2018If in\nthis life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most\nmiserable\u2019 (1 Cor 15:19). Bunyan had enjoyed holy emotions full of\nglory, and now the devil was threatening him, not only with the loss of\nheaven, but the terrors of hell. The Puritan, Rogers, describes\nreligious melancholy as \u2018the worst of all distempers, and those sinking\nand guilty fears which it brings along with it are inexpressibly\ndreadful; what anguish, what desolation! I dare not look to heaven;\nthere I see the greatness of God, who is against me. I dare not look\ninto his Word; for there I see all his threats, as so many barbed\narrows to strike me to the heart. I dare not look into the grave;\nbecause thence I am like to have a doleful resurrection; in this\ndoleful night the soul hath no evidence at all of its former\ngrace.\u2019[158] Bunyan\u2019s experience reminds us of the impressive language\nof Job\u2014a book full of powerful imagery and magnificent ideas, in which\nBunyan delighted, calling it \u2018that blessed book.\u2019[159] Job goes on,\nfrom step to step, describing his mental wretchedness, until he rises\nto a climax, God \u2018runneth upon me like a giant\u2019 (16:7-22). \u2018Thou\nhuntest me as a fierce lion\u2019 (10:16). \u2018The arrows of the Almighty are\nwithin me; they drink up my spirit: the terrors of God do set\nthemselves in array against me\u2019 (6:4). Poor Bunyan, in the depth of his\ndistress, cried unto God, and was heard and relieved from these soul\ntroubles. He recollected the joyful ascent of Lazarus from the extreme\nof human misery to the height of celestial enjoyments. His spirit was\nsweetly revived, and he was enabled, with delight, to hope yet in God,\nwhen that word fell with great weight upon his mind, \u2018O death, where is\nthy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?\u2019 \u2018At this he became both well\nin body and mind at once; his sickness did presently vanish, and he\nagain walked comfortably in his work for God.\u2019[160] The words, \u2018by\ngrace are ye saved,\u2019 followed him through the rest of his pilgrimage.\nHis consolation was, that \u2018a little true grace will go a great way;\nyea, and do more wonders than we are aware of. If we have but grace\nenough to keep us groaning after God, it is not all the world that can\ndestroy us.\u2019[161] He had now become deeply instructed in the school of\nChrist, and was richly furnished with the weapons of spiritual warfare;\n\u2018a scribe instructed into the kingdom of heaven, like unto a man that\nis an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new\nand old\u2019 (Matt 13:12). Or, as \u2018the man of God, perfected, thoroughly\nfurnished unto all good works\u2019 (2 Tim 3:17). It was powerfully\nimpressed upon his mind that all his inward conflicts were to be made\nuse of in preparing him to instruct others. All the events of his\nSaviour\u2019s life passed before his mind as if he had stood by as a\nwitness to his birth\u2014his walking with his disciples; his wondrous\nparables and stupendous miracles; his mental and bodily sufferings; his\nsacrifice, burial, ascension, intercession, and final judgment; all\npassed in vivid review before the eye of his mind; and then, he says,\n\u2018as I was musing with myself what these things should mean, methought I\nheard such a word in my heart as this, I have set thee down on purpose,\nfor I have something more than ordinary for thee to do\u2019; which made me\nthe more to marvel, saying, \u2018What, my Lord, such a poor wretch as\nI?\u2019[162] Such was his inward call to the ministry; and it being\nattended with the three requisites usually insisted on among\nDissenters\u2014ability, inclination, and opportunity\u2014he was sent out as an\nitinerant preacher in the surrounding villages in 1655, and laid the\nfoundation of many churches, which now flourish to the praise of the\nglory of Divine grace. In some of these villages the gospel had never\nbefore been preached; they were strongholds of Satan. These were fit\nplaces for the full display of his intrepid energy.\n\nAfter thus preaching and much suffering, for fifteen years, he was\nappointed to the pastoral office, or eldership.[163] Can a man enter\nupon the work of the ministry from a better school than this? Deeply\nversed in scriptural knowledge; thoroughly humbled by the assaults of\nsin and Satan; aware of his devices; with a keen perception of the\nvalue of the soul; its greatness; and, if lost, the causes and the\nunspeakable extent of its loss. Solemnly devout and fluent in prayer;\nready in conversation upon heavenly things; speaking the truth without\nfear of consequences, yet avoiding unnecessary offence; first speaking\nin the church-meeting, and then more extensively in barns, or woods, or\ndells, to avoid the informers.[164] Such was his training; and the\nresult was, that, when permitted to proclaim the gospel publicly,\nthousands hung upon his words with intense feeling; numerous converts\nwere by his means added to the church; the proud became broken-hearted,\nand the lowly were raised, and blessings abounded; the drunkards were\nmade sober; thieves and covetous were reclaimed; the blasphemers were\nmade to sing the praises of God; the desert bid fair to blossom and\nbring forth fruit as a garden. But, alas! his early labours were\ncontrary to acts of parliament; the spirit of intolerance and\npersecution soon troubled, and eventually consigned him to a prison.\n\nBefore we bid a final farewell to Bunyan\u2019s extraordinary mental\nstruggles with unbelief, it may be well to indulge in a few sober\nreflections. Are the narratives of these mighty tempests in his spirit\nplain matters of fact? No one can read the works of Bunyan and doubt\nfor a moment his truthfulness. His language is that of the heart,\nfervent but not exaggerated, strong but a plain tale of real feelings.\nHe says, and he believed it, \u2018My sins have appeared so big to me, that\nI thought one of my sins have been as big as all the sins of all the\nmen in the nation; ay and of other nations too, reader; these things be\nnot fancies, for I have smarted for this experience. It is true that\nSatan has the art of making the uttermost of every sin; he can blow it\nup, make it swell, make every hair of its head as big as a cedar;[165]\nbut yet the least stream of the heart blood of Jesus hath vanished all\naway and hath made it to fly, to the astonishment of such a poor\nsinner, and hath delivered me up into sweet and heavenly peace and joy\nin the Holy Ghost.\u2019[166] Some have supposed the narrative to be\nexaggerated, while others have attributed the disturbed state of his\nmind to disease; my humble belief is that the whole is a plain\nunvarnished account of facts; that those facts occurred while he was in\nfull possession of all the faculties of his mind. To ascribe such\npowers to the invisible world by which we are constantly surrounded,\ndoes not agree with the doctrines of modern philosophers. Those holy or\nunholy suggestions suddenly injected, would by the world be set down as\nthe hallucinations of a distempered imagination. Carnal relations\nattributed Christian\u2019s alarm to \u2018some frenzy distemper got into his\nhead,\u2019 and Southey, following their example, ascribes Bunyan\u2019s hallowed\nfeelings to his want of \u2018sober judgment,\u2019 \u2018his brutality and extreme\nignorance,\u2019 a \u2018stage of burning enthusiasm,\u2019 and to \u2018an age in which\nhypocrisy was regnant, and fanaticism rampant throughout the\nland.\u2019[167] What a display of reigning hypocrisy and rampant fanaticism\nwas it to see the game at cat openly played by men on Sunday, the\nchurch bells calling them to their sport!!! Had Southey been\npoet-laureate to Charles II, he might with equal truth have concealed\nthe sensuality, open profaneness, and debauchery of that profligate\nmonarch and his court of concubines, and have praised him as \u2018the\nLord\u2019s anointed.\u2019 Bunyan was an eye-witness of the state of the times\nin which he lived, and he associated with numbers of the poor in\nBedfordshire and the adjoining counties. So truthful a man\u2019s testimony\nis of great value, and he proves that no miraculous reformation of\nmanners had taken place; no regnant hypocrisy nor rampant fanaticism.\nIn 1655, that being the brightest period of the Commonwealth, he thus\n\u2018sighs\u2019 over the state of his country:\u2014\u2018There are but a few places in\nthe Bible but there are threatenings against one sinner or another;\nagainst drunkards, swearers, liars, proud persons, strumpets,\nwhoremongers, covetous, railers, extortioners, thieves, lazy persons.\nIn a word, all manner of sins are reproved, and there is a sore\npunishment to be executed on the committers of them; and all this made\nmention of in the Scriptures. But for all this, how thick, and by\nheaps, do these wretches walk up and down our streets? Do but go into\nthe ale-houses, and you shall see almost every room besprinkled with\nthem, so foaming out their own shame that it is enough to make the\nheart of a saint to tremble.\u2019[168] This was a true character of the\ngreat masses of the labouring and trading portions of the commonwealth.\nLet us hear his testimony also as to the most sacred profession, the\nclergy, in 1654:\u2014\n\n\u2018A reason why delusions do so easily take place in the hearts of the\nignorant, is, because those that pretend to be their teachers, do\nbehave themselves so basely among them. And indeed I may say of these,\nas our Lord said of the Pharisees in another case, the blood of the\nignorant shall be laid to their charge. They that pretend they are sent\nof the Lord, and come, saying, Thus saith the Lord; we are the servants\nof the Lord, our commission is from the Lord by succession; I say,\nthese pretending themselves to be the preachers of truth, but are not,\ndo, by their loose conversation, render the doctrine of God, and his\nSon Jesus Christ, by whom the saints are saved, contemptible, and do\ngive the adversary mighty encouragement, to cry out against the truths\nof our Lord Jesus Christ, because of their wicked waling. For the most\npart of them, they are the men that at this day do so harden their\nhearers in their sins by giving them such ill examples, that none goeth\nbeyond them for impiety. As, for example, would a parishioner learn to\nbe proud, he or she need look no farther than to the priest, his wife,\nand family; for there is a notable pattern before them. Would the\npeople learn to be wanton? they may also see a pattern among their\nteachers. Would they learn to be drunkards? they may also have that\nfrom some of their ministers; for indeed they are ministers in this, to\nminister ill example to their congregations. Again, would the people\nlearn to be covetous? they need but look to their minister, and they\nshall have a lively, or rather a deadly resemblance set before them, in\nboth riding and running after great benefices, and parsonages by night\nand by day. Nay, they among themselves will scramble for the same. I\nhave seen, that so soon as a man hath but departed from his benefice as\nhe calls it, either by death or out of covetousness of a bigger, we\nhave had one priest from this town, and another from that, so run, for\nthese tithe-cocks and handfuls of barley, as if it were their proper\ntrade, and calling, to hunt after the same. O wonderful impiety and\nungodliness! are you not ashamed of your doings? Read Romans 1 towards\nthe end. As it was with them, so, it is to be feared, it is with many\nof you, who knowing the judgments of God, that they who do such things\nare worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure also in\nthem that do them. And now you that pretend to be the teachers of the\npeople in verity and truth, though we know that some of you are not, is\nit a small thing with you to set them such an example as this? Were\never the Pharisees so profane; to whom Christ said, Ye vipers, how can\nye escape the damnation of hell? Doth not the ground groan under you?\nsurely, it will favour you no more than it favoured your fore-runners.\nCertainly the wrath of God lies heavy at your doors, it is but a very\nlittle while, and your recompense shall be upon your own head. And as\nfor you that are indeed of God among them, though not of them, separate\nyourselves. Why should the righteous partake of the same plagues with\nthe wicked? O ye children of the harlot! I cannot well tell how to have\ndone with you, your stain is so odious, and you are so senseless, as\nappears by your practices.\u2019[169]\n\nThe testimony of George Fox as to England\u2019s fashions in 1654, is very\npointed and extremely droll:\u2014Men and women are carried away with\nfooleries and vanities; gold and silver upon their backs,[170] store of\nribbands hanging about the waist, knees, and feet\u2014red or white, black\nor yellow; women with their gold; their spots on their faces, noses,\ncheeks, foreheads; rings on their fingers, cuffs double, like a\nbutcher\u2019s white sleeves; ribbands about their hands, and three or four\ngold laces about their clothes; men dressed like fiddlers\u2019 boys or\nstage players; see them playing at bowls, or at tables, or at\nshovel-board, or each one decking his horse with bunches of ribbands on\nhis head, as the rider hath on his own. These are gentlemen, and brave\nfellows, that say pleasures are lawful, and in their sports they should\nlike wild asses. This is the generation carried away with pride,\narrogancy, lust, gluttony, and uncleanness; who eat and drink and rise\nup to play, their eyes full of adultery, and their bodies of the\ndevil\u2019s adorning.[171] Such quotations from the writings of men of\nundoubted veracity, and who lived during that period, might be\nmultiplied to fill a volume.\n\nIs this the regnant hypocrisy and rampant fanaticism which prevailed in\nEngland, and which Southey supposes to have influenced Bunyan and\nderanged his sober judgment? It is true that the Protector and his\ncouncil discountenanced vice and folly, and that there was more piety\nand virtue in the kingdom at that time than it had ever before\nwitnessed. But it would have been the greatest of miracles, had the\npeople been suddenly moralized, after having been baptized in brutality\nfor ages. Not a century had elapsed since the autos da fe had blazed\nthroughout the country, burning the most pious, moral, and enlightened\nof her citizens. A century of misery to the professors of religions had\npassed, in which the persecutions of Papists and Puritans, hanging,\ntransporting, murdering by frightful imprisonments all those who dared\nto dissent from the church of England. All this must have produced a\ndebasing effect upon public morals. Even among professors Bunyan\ndiscovered pride, covetousness, impiety and uncleanness.[172]\n\nBunyan\u2019s religious impressions did not, as Southey states, arise from\nhis ignorance, brutal manners, low station, nor from the fanaticism of\nthe age in which he lived. Did the similar feeling of Job or David\nspring from these polluted fountains? He is a stranger to Christ\u2019s\nschool that confounds its discipline with mental drunkenness, or with\nthe other depraved sources alluded to by Southey. The luxurious\nimagination which ruled over him, must be curbed and brought into\nsubjection to Christ. He must be weaned from a reliance upon sudden\nimpulses to rely upon Divine truth. The discovery of errors by\nscriptural investigation was putting on armour of proof.\nSelf-confidence was gradually swallowed up by dependence upon the\nword\u2014the result of the severest spiritual training. Those painful\nexercises produced a life of holiness and usefulness. Can the thistle\nproduce grapes, or the noxious weeds corn? Never! His experience came\nfrom heaven, in mercy to his soul, and to make him a blessing to\nmillions of his race. By this he was made truly wise, civilized,\nenlightened, and elevated. Every painful feeling was measured by Divine\nrule\u2014weighed in the sanctuary balance\u2014not one iota too much or too\nlittle to form his noble character. He has been compared with Lord\nByron, one of our most impassioned thinkers and writers; but the noble\npoet\u2019s heart-griefs were on the wrong side. Judging of his own feelings\nby those painted on his heroes\u2014they fight for freedom only to gratify\nlust, pride, and ambition, while the future appeared in dark, dreary\nuncertainty. But Bunyan strives to be released from the slavery of sin\nand Satan, that he might enjoy the liberty of being a servant of\nChrist, whose service is perfect freedom, with a glorious vista of\neternity occasionally breaking in upon his soul.\n\nWell may it be said of him:\u2014Simple, enchanting man! what does not the\nworld owe to thee and to the great Being who could produce such as\nthee? Teacher alike of the infant and of the aged; who canst direct the\nfirst thought and remove the last doubt of man; property alike of the\npeasant and the prince; welcomed by the ignorant and honoured by the\nwise; thou hast translated Christianity into a new language, and that a\nuniversal one! Thou art the prose poet of all time!\n\nTHE FOURTH PERIOD.\n\n\nBUNYAN ENTERS INTO CONTROVERSY\u2014BECOMES AN AUTHOR\u2014OFFENDS A PERSECUTING\nMAGISTRACY, AND IS PROCEEDED AGAINST AT THE SESSIONS UNDER AN ACT OF\nTHE COMMONWEALTH\u2014IS ACCUSED OF REPORTING A STRANGE CHARGE OF\nWITCHCRAFT\u2014PUBLICLY DISPUTES WITH THE QUAKERS.\n\n\nIn proportion as a man becomes a public character, especially if\neminent for talent and usefulness in the church, so will his enemies\nincrease. The envy of some and the malice of others will invent\nslanders, or, what is worse, put an evil construction upon the most\ninnocent conduct, in the hope of throwing a shade over that brightness\nwhich reveals their own defects. In this they are aided by all the\ncraft, and cunning, and power of Satan, the archenemy of man. The\npurity of gospel truth carries with it the blessed fruits of the\nhighest order of civilization; the atmosphere in which it lives is\n\u2018good will to man.\u2019 Salvation is a free gift, direct from God to the\npenitent sinner. It cannot be obtained by human aid, nor for all the\ngold in the universe. It cannot possibly be traded in, bought, or sold,\nbut is bestowed without money or price. Hence the opposition of\nAntichrist. The cry or groan of the contrite enters heaven and brings\ndown blessings, while the most elegant and elaborately-composed prayer,\nnot springing from the heart, is read or recited in vain. Human\nmonarchs must be approached by petitions drawn up in form, and which\nmay be accepted, although the perfection of insincerity and hypocrisy.\nThe King of kings accepts no forms; he knows the heart, and requires\nthe approach of those who worship him to be in sincerity and in truth;\nthe heart may plead without words, God accepteth the groans and sighs\nof those that fear him. These were the notions that Bunyan had drawn\nfrom the Holy Oracles, and his conversation soon made him a favourite\nwith the Puritans, while it excited feelings of great hostility among\nthe neighbouring clergy and magistrates.\n\nBunyan\u2019s conversion from being a pest to the neighbourhood to becoming\na pious man, might have been pardoned had he conformed to the\nDirectory; but for him to appear as a Dissenter and a public teacher,\nwithout going through the usual course of education and ordination, was\nan unpardonable offence. The opinions of man gave him no concern; all\nhis anxiety was to have the approbation of his God, and then to walk\naccordingly, braving all the dangers, the obloquy, and contempt that\nmight arise from his conscientious discharge of duties, for the\nperformance of which he knew that he alone must give a solemn account\nat the great day.\n\nHe entered upon the serious work of the ministry with fear and\ntrembling, with much heart-searching, earnest prayer, and the advice of\nthe church to which he was united, not with any pledge to abide by\ntheir decision contrary to his own conviction, but to aid him in his\ndetermination. His own account of these important inquiries is very\nstriking:\u2014\u2018After I had been about five or six years awakened, and\nhelped myself to see both the want and worth of Jesus Christ our Lord,\nand also enabled to venture my soul upon him, some of the most able\namong the saints with us, for judgment and holiness of life, as they\nconceived, did perceive that God had counted me worthy to understand\nsomething of his will in His holy and blessed Word, and had given me\nutterance, in some measure, to express what I saw to others for\nedification; therefore they desired me, and that with much earnestness,\nthat I would be willing at some times to take in hand, in one of the\nmeetings, to speak a word of exhortation unto them. The which, though\nat the first it did much dash and abash my spirit, yet being still by\nthem desired and entreated, I consented to their request, and did\ntwice, at two several assemblies in private, though with much weakness\nand infirmity, discover my gift amongst them; at which they did\nsolemnly protest, as in the sight of the great God, they were both\naffected and comforted, and gave thanks to the Father of mercies for\nthe grace bestowed on me.\n\n\u2018After this, sometimes, when some of them did go into the country to\nteach, they would also that I should go with them; where, though as yet\nI did not, nor durst not, make use of my gift in an open way, yet more\nprivately, as I came amongst the good people in those places, I did\nsometimes speak a word of admonition unto them also, the which they, as\nthe other, received with rejoicing at the mercy of God to me-ward,\nprofessing their souls were edified thereby.\n\n\u2018Wherefore at last, being still desired by the church, after some\nsolemn prayer to the Lord, with fasting, I was more particularly called\nforth, and appointed to a more ordinary and public preaching of the\nword, not only to and amongst them that believed, but also to offer the\ngospel to those who had not yet received the faith thereof.\u2019[173]\n\nThe ministry of Bunyan\u2019s pastor, whom he affectionately called holy Mr.\nGifford, must have been wonderfully blessed. In 1650 only twelve pious\nmen and women were formed into a Christian church, and, although\nsubject to fierce persecution, they had so increased that in 1672 ten\nmembers had been solemnly set apart for the work of the ministry, and\nthey became a blessing to the country round Bedford. The benighted\nstate of the villages was a cause of earnest prayer that men might be\nsent out, apt to teach, and willing to sacrifice liberty, and even\nlife, to promote the peaceful reign of the Redeemer. The names of the\nmen who were thus set apart were\u2014John Bunyan, Samuel Fenn, Joseph\nWhiteman, John Fenn, Oliver Scott, Luke Ashwood, Thomas Cooper, Edward\nDent, Edward Isaac, and Nehemiah Coxe.[174] Four of these were\npermitted to fulfil their course without notoriety; the others were\nseverely persecuted, fined and imprisoned, but not forsaken.\n\nEncouraged by the opinion of the church which had been so prayerfully\nformed, that it was his duty to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation,\nBunyan entered upon his important work, and was soon encouraged by a\nhope that his labours were useful to his fellow-men. \u2018About this time,\u2019\nhe narrates, \u2018I did evidently find in my mind a secret pricking forward\nthereto, though, I bless God, not for desire of vain glory, for at that\ntime I was most sorely afflicted with the fiery darts of the devil\nconcerning my eternal state. But yet I could not be content unless I\nwas found in the exercise of my gift; unto which also I was greatly\nanimated, not only by the continual desires of the godly, but also by\nthat saying of Paul to the Corinthians, \u201cI beseech you, brethren [ye\nknow the household of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia,\nand that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints],\nthat ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with\nus, and laboureth\u201d (1 Cor 16:15,16).\n\n\u2018By this text I was made to see that the Holy Ghost never intended that\nmen, who have gifts and abilities, should bury them in the earth, but\nrather did command and stir up such to the exercise of their gift, and\nalso did commend those that were apt and ready so to do.\n\n\u2018Wherefore, though of myself, of all the saints the most unworthy, yet\nI, but with great fear and trembling at the sight of my own weakness,\ndid set upon the work, and did according to my gift, and the proportion\nof my faith, preach that blessed gospel that God had showed me in the\nholy Word of truth; which, when the country understood, they came in to\nhear the Word by hundreds, and that from all parts. And I thank God he\ngave unto me some measure of bowels and pity for their souls, which did\nput me forward to labour with great diligence and earnestness, to find\nout such a word as might, if God would bless it, lay hold of and awaken\nthe conscience, in which also the good Lord had respect to the desire\nof his servant; for I had not preached long before some began to be\ntouched, and be greatly afflicted in their minds at the apprehension of\nthe greatness of their sin, and of their need of Jesus Christ.\n\n\u2018But I at first could not believe that God should speak by me to the\nheart of any man, still counting myself unworthy; yet those who were\nthus touched would love me, and have a particular respect for me; and\nthough I did put it from me that they should be awakened by me, still\nthey would confess it, and affirm it before the saints of God. They\nwould also bless God for me, unworthy wretch that I am! and count me\nGod\u2019s instrument that showed to them the way of salvation.\n\n\u2018Wherefore, seeing them in both their words and deeds to be so\nconstant, and also in their hearts so earnestly pressing after the\nknowledge of Jesus Christ, rejoicing that ever God did send me where\nthey were; then I began to conclude that it might be so, that God had\nowned in his work such a foolish one as I; and then came that word of\nGod to my heart with much sweet refreshment, \u201cThe blessing of him that\nwas ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow\u2019s heart to\nsing for joy\u201d (Job 29:13).\n\n\u2018At this therefore I rejoiced; yea, the tears of those whom God did\nawaken by my preaching would be both solace and encouragement to me. I\nthought on those sayings, \u201cWho is he that maketh me glad, but the same\nthat is made sorry by me\u201d (2 Cor 2:2). And again, \u201cThough I be not an\napostle to others, yet doubtless I am unto you: for the seal of my\napostleship are ye in the Lord\u201d (1 Cor 9:2). These things, therefore,\nwere as an another argument unto me, that God had called me to, and\nstood by me in this work.\n\n\u2018In my preaching of the Word I took special notice of this one thing,\nnamely, that the Lord did lead me to begin where his Word begins with\nsinners; that is, to condemn all flesh, and to open and allege, that\nthe curse of God by the law doth belong to, and lay hold on all men as\nthey come into the world, because of sin. Now this part of my work I\nfulfilled with great feeling, for the terrors of the law, and guilt for\nmy transgressions, lay heavy on my own conscience. I preached what I\nfelt, what I smartingly did feel, even that under which my poor soul\ndid groan and tremble to astonishment. Indeed, I have been as one sent\nto them from the dead; I went myself in chains to preach to them in\nchains; and carried that fire in my own conscience that I persuaded\nthem to beware of.[175] I can truly say, that when I have been to\npreach, I have gone full of guilt and terror even to the pulpit-door,\nand there it hath been taken off, and I have been at liberty in my mind\nuntil I have done my work, and then, immediately, even before I could\nget down the pulpit stairs, I have been as bad as I was before: yet God\ncarried me on with a strong hand, for neither guilt nor hell could take\nme off my work. Thus I went on for the space of two years, crying out\nagainst men\u2019s sins, and their fearful state because of them.\u2019[176]\n\nA man so much in earnest soon became a most acceptable and popular\npreacher. He studied his sermons carefully, and wrote such memorandums\nand notes as might refresh his memory before going into the pulpit,\nalthough his intensity of feeling, his ready utterance, and natural\neloquence which charmed his hearers, and his extensive usefulness as a\npreacher, render it quite improbable that he restricted himself to\nnotes while publicly engaged in sacred services. They must have aided\nhim when he did not enjoy liberty of utterance. \u2018At times when I have\nbegun to speak the Word with much liberty, I have been presently so\nstraitened in speech that I scarcely knew what I was about, or as if my\nhead had been in a bag.\u2019[177] They were valuable, also, as a proof that\nall he said had its exclusive reference to the world to come, without\nthe mixture of politics, which might have given offence to the\nGovernment. Thus, when he was apprehended for neglecting to attend the\nchurch service and for preaching the gospel, in his conversation with\nMr. Cobb, the magistrate\u2019s clerk, he said \u2018that, to cut off all\noccasions of suspicion from any, as touching the harmlessness of my\ndoctrine, in private I would willingly take the pains to give any one\nthe notes of all my sermons, for I do sincerely desire to live quietly\nin my country, and to submit to the present authority.\u2019[178] In such\ntroublesome times these would afford abundant proof that he was\ndesirous of submitting to all the political institutions of his\ncountry, while he dared not conform to human laws affecting his faith\nor his mode of worshipping God, for which he alone was to stand\nanswerable at the great day.\n\nThe employment of his time in earning a maintenance for his family, and\nhis constant engagements to preach, interfered with the proper\nfulfillment of his duties as a deacon of the church. His resignation of\nthis important office is thus recorded in the minutes of the church\u2014\u2018At\na meeting held on the 27th of the 6th month, 1657, the deacon\u2019s office\nwas transferred from John Bunyan to John Pernie, because he could no\nlonger discharge its duties aright, in consequence of his being so much\nemployed in preaching.\u2019\n\nWe cannot wonder that his time was incessantly employed. His was no\nordinary case. He had to recover and improve upon the little education\nhe had received, and lost again by dissipated habits. He must have made\nevery effort, by his diligent study of the Bible, to gain that\nspiritual knowledge which alone could enable him to proclaim the\nunsearchable riches of Christ, and that profound internal converse with\nthe throne of God which appears in all his writings. In addition to all\nthis, he was engaged in continual controversy with a variety of sects,\nwhich, in his sober judgment, opposed the simplicity of the gospel.\nAmong these the Ranters, or Sweet Singers, were very conspicuous. It is\ndifficult to discover what were their opinions, but they appear to have\nbeen nearly like the Dutch Adamites; they were severely persecuted, by\npublic authority, under the Commonwealth, for blasphemy. George Fox\nfound some of them in prison at Coventry in 1649, and held a short\ndisputation with them. They claimed each one to be GOD, founding their\nnotion on such passages as 1 Corinthians 14:25, \u2018God is in you of a\ntruth.\u2019 Fox quaintly asked them whether it would rain the next day; and\nupon their answering that they could not tell, \u2018Then said I unto them,\nGod can tell.\u2019[179] Strange as it may appear, the Ranters had many\nfollowers, while numerous pious people were troubled by their impudence\nand perversion of Scripture, but more especially by their being a\npersecuted people. Taking advantage of the inquiries that were excited\nby these strange doctrines, Bunyan determined to become an author, that\nhe might set forth more extensively than he could do by preaching, the\ntruths of the gospel in their native purity, simplicity, and beauty, as\nan antidote to fanaticism. The learned and eloquent looked with\ncontempt upon the follies of the Ranters, Familists, and some loose\nQuakers, \u2018and only deigned to abuse them with raillery, while the poor\nunlettered tinker wrote against them.\u2019 To indite a work would be to him\na pleasant recreation, but writing a book must have been extremely\ndifficult, and have required extraordinary patience. This will be\nbetter seen by a specimen of his handwriting, now in the Bedford\nLibrary, found in Fox\u2019s Book of Martyrs, the three volumes of which\nbeguiled many of his tedious hours when in prison.\n\nTo write a volume, containing about twenty-five thousand words, must\nhave been a serious task to such a scribe.\n\nIt is interesting to trace his improvement in calligraphy while\nrecovering his lost education, and advancing in proficiency in an art\nso essential to his constantly extending usefulness. The next is a more\nuseful running hand, however defective in orthography and grammar; it\nis from the first page of a copy of Bishop Andrews\u2019 sermons[180]\u2014\n\nThe inscription in a copy of his Holy City, 1665, in Dr. Williams\u2019 or\nthe Dissenter\u2019s Library, Red Cross Street, is in a still more useful\nhand, as good as that of most authors of that day\u2014\n\nThe autograph in Powell\u2019s Concordance, in the library of the Baptist\nAcademy, Bristol, is in a fair hand\u2014\n\nHis autograph is in possession of the Society of Antiquaries. The\ndocument to which it is subscribed is written in a remarkably neat\nhand, addressed to the Lord Protector. The signatures appear to be\nwritten as if in the writer\u2019s best style.[181]\n\nSignature to the deed of gift[182]\u2014\n\nIn addition to the motives which have been noticed as inducing him to\nbecome an author, it appears, that in the course of his itinerating\nlabours, he was much grieved with the general depravity which had\noverspread all classes of society. Evil communications had corrupted\nthe great mass, and occasioned an aversion to hear the gospel, which\nplunged the people into carnal security. When roused by his preaching\nthey too often found refuge in despair, or in vain attempts to impose\nupon God their unholy self-righteousness, endeavouring \u2018to earn heaven\nwith their fingers\u2019 ends\u2019;[183] anything rather than submit to receive\nsalvation as the free gift of God, and thus be led to consecrate all\ntheir powers to his glory and the comfort of society. A few who\nappeared to have thought on this solemn subject, without any change of\nconduct, are called by Bunyan \u2018light notionists, with here and there a\nlegalist,\u2019[184] or those who relied upon a creed without the fruits of\nrighteousness, and some of these imbibed notions of the strangest\nkind\u2014that the light within was all-sufficient, without any written\nrevelation of the will of God\u2014that the account of Christ\u2019s personal\nappearance on earth was a myth, to represent his residence in the\npersons of believers, in whom he suffers, is crucified, buried, and\nraised again to spiritual life\u2014that such persons might do whatever\ntheir inclinations led them to, without incurring guilt or sin; in\nshort, many sinned that grace might abound!! Some of them professed to\nbe the Almighty God manifest in the flesh. All this took place in what\nwas called a Christian country, upon which millions of treasure had\nbeen spent to teach religion by systems, which had persecuted the\nhonest, pious professors of vital Christianity to bonds, imprisonment,\nand death. This had naturally involved the kingdom in impiety and gross\nimmorality. The discovery of the awful state of his country, while he\nwas engaged in preaching in the villages round Bedford induced him, in\nthe humble hope of doing good, to become an author, and with trembling\nanxiety he issued to the world the first production of his pen, in\n1656, under the title of Some Gospel Truths Opened According to the\nScriptures; and, as we shall presently find, it met with a rough\nreception, plunging him into controversy, which in those days was\nconducted with bitter acrimony.\n\nBefore it was published, he sought the approbation and protection of\nMr. John Burton, who had been united with Mr. Gifford in the pastoral\ncharge of the church to which Bunyan belonged. The testimony that he\ngives is very interesting:\u2014\n\n\u2018Here thou hast things certain and necessary to be believed, which thou\ncanst not too much study. Therefore pray that thou mayest receive it,\nso it is according to the Scriptures, in faith and love, not as the\nword of man but as the word of God, and be not offended, because Christ\nholds forth the glorious treasure of the gospel to thee in a poor\nearthen vessel, by one who hath neither the greatness nor the wisdom of\nthis world to commend him to thee; for as the Scriptures saith, Christ,\nwho was low and contemptible in the world himself, ordinarily chooseth\nsuch for himself and for the doing of his work. \u201cNot many wise men\nafter the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called: but God\nhath chosen the foolish things of the world.\u201d This man [Bunyan] is not\nchosen out of an earthly, but out of the heavenly university, the\nchurch of Christ, furnished with the Spirit, gifts, and graces of\nChrist\u2014out of which, to the end of the world, the word of the Lord and\nall true gospel ministers must proceed. And, though this man hath not\nthe learning or wisdom of man; yet, through grace, he hath received the\nteaching of God, and the learning of the Spirit of Christ. He hath\ntaken these three heavenly degrees\u2014union with Christ, the anointing of\nthe Spirit, and experience of the temptations of Satan\u2014which do more\nfit a man for the mighty work of preaching the gospel, than all the\nuniversity learning and degrees that can be had. I have had experience\nwith many other saints of this man\u2019s [Bunyan\u2019s] soundness in the faith,\nhis godly conversation, and his ability to preach the gospel, not by\nhuman art, but by the Spirit of Christ, and that with much success in\nthe conversion of sinners. I thought it my duty to bear witness with my\nbrother to these glorious truths of the Lord Jesus Christ.\u2019[185]\n\nBunyan was twenty-eight years of age when he published this work, and\nas he attacked the follies of his times, and what he deemed to be\nheresies, were exposed to Scripture light and condemned without mercy,\nit very naturally involved him in controversy. This brought forth the\nremarkable resources of his mind, which was stored with the\nScriptures\u2014his fearlessness\u2014ready wit and keen retort, much sanctified\nby an earnest desire for the salvation of his opponents. An\nextraordinary man, younger than himself, full of energy and enthusiasm,\nentered the lists with him; and in Edward Burrough, very properly\ncalled a son of thunder and of consolation, Bunyan found an able\ndisputant. He was talented, pious, and fearless in his Master\u2019s work,\nand became eminently useful in laying the foundation of the Society of\nFriends. Soon after this he was numbered with the noble army of martyrs\nat the age of twenty-eight, being sacrificed in Newgate, at the shrine\nof religious intolerance.\n\nAt this time the Quakers were not united as a body, and consequently\nthere was no test of character nor rules of discipline for those who\nassumed that name. They were very dissimilar men to their quiet and\nunobtrusive descendants. The markets, fairs, and every public concourse\nwere attended by them, denouncing false weights and measures,\ndrunkenness and villany, with the curses of the Almighty, calling upon\nthe people, frequently with furious and fearful energy and powerful\neloquence, to repent, and cry unto God, that his mercy might be\nextended to the salvation of their immortal souls. their zeal led them\nto many breaches of good manners. They would enter churches, and after\nthe service, when the quiet folks were thinking of gratifying their\nbodies with a substantial dinner, they were arrested by the violent\ndeclamation of a man or woman, frequently denouncing the priest as\nbeing the blind leading the blind. This naturally led to a scene of\nriot and confusion, in which the Quakers were in many cases handled\nwith great barbarity. among these disturbers were mingled persons of\nbad character. The violence of sectarian feeling in the churches thus\ndisturbed, made no discrimination between bad and good; they were\nequally subjected to the roughest treatment. Bunyan attacked those who\ndenied that Christ had appeared in the world as Emmanuel, God with us\n\u2018in fashion as a man,\u2019 that by the infinite merits of his life and\ndeath imputed to believers, they might be made holy. His attack was\nalso directed against those who refused obedience to the written Word,\nor who relied upon inward light in contradistinction and preference to\nthe Bible. The title to Burrough\u2019s answer is a strange contrast to the\nviolence of his language\u2014The Gospel of Peace Contended for in the\nSpirit of Meekness and Love. In this spirit of meekness he calls his\nopponents \u2018crafty fowlers preying upon the innocent\u2019; and lovingly\nexclaims, \u2018How long shall the righteous be a prey to your teeth, ye\nsubtle foxes; your dens are in darkness, and your mischief is hatched\nupon your beds of secret whoredoms.\u2019 The unhallowed spirit of the age\nmistook abuse for argument, and harsh epithets for faithful\ndealing.[186]\n\nBunyan replied in _A Vindication of Gospel Truths_, to the great\nsatisfaction of all his friends; and although Burrough answered this\ntract also, Bunyan very wisely allowed his railing opponent to have the\nlast word, and applied his great powers to more important labours than\ncaviling with one who in reality did not differ with him. The Quaker\nhad been seriously misled by supposing that the Baptist was a hireling\npreacher; and we must be pleased that he was so falsely charged,\nbecause it elicited a crushing reply. Burrough, in reply to an\nimputation made by Bunyan, that the Quakers were the false prophets\nalluded to in Scripture, observed that \u2018in those days there was not a\nQuaker heard of.\u2019 \u2018Friend,\u2019 replied Bunyan, \u2018thou hast rightly said,\nthere was not a Quaker heard of indeed, though there were many\nChristians heard of then. Again, to defend thyself thou throwest the\ndirt in my face, saying, If we should diligently trace thee, we should\nfind thee in the steps of the false prophets, through fancied words,\nthrough covetousness, making merchandise of souls, loving the wages of\nunrighteousness.\u2019 To which Bunyan replied; \u2018Friend, dost thou speak\nthis as from thy own knowledge, or did any other tell thee so? However,\nthat spirit that led thee out this way, is a lying spirit; for though I\nbe poor, and of no repute in the world as to outward things, yet\nthrough grace I have learned, by the example of the apostle, to preach\nthe truth, and also to work with my hands, both for mine own living,\nand for those that are with me, when I have opportunity. And I trust\nthat the Lord Jesus, who hath helped me to reject the wages of\nunrighteousness hitherto, will also help me still, so that I shall\ndistribute that which God hath given me freely, and not for filthy\nlucre sake.\u2019[187] Thus had he learned of the apostle to \u2018make the\ngospel of Christ without charge\u2019 (1 Cor 9:18); and upon this subject\nthey strangely agreed. The same agreement existed between them upon the\nnecessity of inward light from the Holy Spirit; without which they both\nconsidered the Bible to be a dead letter. The peculiar principle which\nseparates the Quaker from every other Christian community, has nothing\nto do with the light within. Upon that subject all evangelical sects\nare agreed. The substantial difference is whether our Lord intended the\nwork of the ministry to be exclusively a work of benevolence, charity,\nand love, binding all who are capable of using the talent intrusted to\nthem, to do it without worldly reward. Surely every man may be\nsatisfied in his own mind upon such a subject, without quarrelling\nwith, or anathematizing each other. Bunyan and Burrough agreed, without\nknowing it, in the sentiments of their illustrious and learned\ncotemporary, John Milton, as to the ministry being without charge; and\nhad they, when offended, followed their Master\u2019s rule, \u2018If thy brother\ntrespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him\nalone\u2019 (Matt 18:15), had they met, and on their knees before the throne\nof grace, sought from heaven wisdom and charity in defending Divine\ntruth, we can easily imagine that the approbation of God would have\nbeen manifested, by sending them on their important work in peaceful\nunity. They had been immersed in the same deep and solemn regeneration,\nand their ardent object was the same\u2014to spread the influence of the\nkingdom of Christ.\n\nWhen Christians of various denominations meet in prayer, how it melts\ndown their sectarian bitterness. In this controversy, mention is made\nof a total abstinence movement in the time of the commonwealth, a germ\nwhich has put forth its mighty efforts in our more peaceful and happy\ntimes. A cloud now hovered over Bunyan, and threatened him with\ntroubles of a very different kind to those of religious controversy. It\nwill startle many of our readers to hear that, under the government of\nCromwell, Bunyan was persecuted for his religious opinions and\npractices. Mr. Jukes, in his interesting History of Bunyan\u2019s Church,\nthus refers to it: \u2018Soon after he had resigned the office of deacon in\n1657, the hand of persecution was raised against him; for at a meeting\nof the church, held on the 25th day of the twelfth month, in the same\nyear (Feb. 1658), it was agreed that the 3d day of the next month be\nset apart to seek God in the behalf of our brother Wheeler, who hath\nbeen long ill in body, whereby his ministry hath been hindered; and\nalso about the church affairs, and the affairs of the nation; and for\nour brother Whitbread, who has long been ill; and also for counsel what\nto do with respect to the indictment of brother Bunyan at the assizes,\nfor preaching at Eaton.\u2019[188]\n\nAlthough persecution for religious opinions assumed a milder form under\nthe Commonwealth, the great principles of religious freedom and\nequality were neither known nor practiced. The savage barbarities\nperpetrated upon Prynne, Bastwick, Burton, Leighton, and others, by\nCharles I and his archbishop, Laud, were calculated to open the eyes of\nthe nation to the wickedness and inutility of sanguinary or even any\nlaws to govern the conscience, or interfere with Divine worship. Alas!\neven those who suffered and survived became, in their turn,\npersecutors. The great object of persecution was the book of Common\nPrayer, the use of which was rigorously prohibited. The clergy were\nplaced in an extremely awkward predicament. No sooner was the Act of\nParliament passed ordering the Directory to be used and the Prayer-book\nto be laid aside, than the king, by his royal proclamation, issued from\nOxford, November 13, 1645, ordered the Directory to be set aside, and\nthe Common Prayer to be used in all the churches and chapels. Both\nthese orders were under very severe penalties.\n\nThe Act against atheistical opinions, which passed August 9, 1650,\nillustrates the extraordinary state of the times. The preamble states\nthat, \u2018Divers men and women have lately discovered themselves to be\nmost monstrous in their opinions, and loose in all wicked and\nabominable practices.\u2019 It then enacts that\u2014\u2018Any one, not being mad, who\npretends to be God Almighty, or who declares that unrighteousness,\nuncleanness, swearing, drunkenness, and the like filthiness and\nbrutishness, or denying the existence of God, or who shall profess that\nmurder, adultery, incest, fornication, uncleanness, filthy or\nlascivious speaking, are not wicked, sinful, impious, abominable, and\ndetestable, shall be imprisoned, and, for a second offence, be\ntransported.\u2019[189]\n\nOne of the Acts that affected Bunyan was passed April 26, 1645, cap.\n52\u2014\u2018None may preach but ordained ministers, except such as, intending\nthe ministry, shall, for trial of their gifts, be allowed by such as be\nappointed by both houses of Parliament.\u2019 This was amended by \u2018an\nordinance appointing commissioners for approbation of public\npreachers,\u2019 March, 1653. In this Dr. Owen, Goodwin, Caryl, and many\nothers are named, who were to judge of the candidate\u2019s fitness to\npreach.[190] The Act which more seriously touched Bunyan was that of\nMay 2, 1648, which enacts that any person saying, \u2018that man is bound to\nbelieve no more than by his reason he can comprehend, or that the\nbaptizing of infants is unlawful, or such baptism is void, and that\nsuch persons ought to be baptized again, and, in pursuance thereof,\nshall baptize any person formerly baptized, shall be imprisoned until\nhe gives security that he will not publish or maintain the said error\nany more.\u2019[191] It was these intolerant proceedings that led Milton to\npublish a poem On the New Forcers of Conscience, beginning with these\nlines\u2014\n\n\u2018Dare ye, for this, adjure the civil sword,\nTo force our consciences that Christ set free.\u2019\n\n\nThis last-mentioned ungracious and uncalled-for Act against the\nBaptists, led some violent spirits to print a paper, entitled, \u2018The\nSecond Part of England\u2019s new Chains Discovered,\u2019 this was read in many\nBaptist meeting-houses, and the congregations called upon to subscribe\nit: fortunately, they were peaceably disposed, and denounced it to the\nHouse of Commons in a petition, dated April 2, 1649. Mr. Kiffin and the\nothers were called in, when the Speaker returned them this answer\u2014\u2018The\nHouse doth take notice of the good affection to the Parliament and\npublic you have expressed, both in this petition and otherways. They\nhave received satisfaction thereby, concerning your disclaiming that\npamphlet, which gave such just offence to the Parliament, and also\nconcerning your disposition to live peaceably, and in submission to the\ncivil magistracy; your expressions whereof they account very Christian\nand seasonable. That for yourselves and other Christians, walking\nanswerable to such professions as in this petition you make, they do\nassure you of liberty and protection, so far as God shall enable them,\nin all things consistent with godliness, honesty, and civil\npeace.\u2019[192] Whether it was in consequence of this good understanding\nhaving remained between the Baptists and the Parliament, or from some\napplication to the Protector, or from some unknown cause, the\npersecution was stayed;[193] for the indictment does not appear to have\nbeen tried, and Bunyan is found to have been present, and to have taken\na part in the affairs of the church, until the 25th day of the 2d\nMonth, 1660 (April), when \u2018it was ordered, according to our agreement,\nthat our brother, John Bunyan, do prepare to speak a word at the next\nchurch meeting and that our brother Whiteman fail not to speak to him\nof it.\u2019[194]\n\nThis invitation was very probably intended to introduce him to the\ncongregation, with a view to his becoming an assistant pastor, but\nbefore it took place, he again appeared before the public as an author.\nThe second production of his pen is a solemn and most searching work,\nfounded upon the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, under the title\nof A Few Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a Damned Soul; by that poor\nand contemptible Servant of Jesus Christ, John Bunyan, 1658. His\nhumility led him to seek the patronage of his pastor; and Mr. Gifford,\nunder the initials of J. G., wrote a preface of thirty-eight pages, but\nhe dying before it reached the second edition, that preface was\ndiscontinued, and the title somewhat altered. The only copy of this\nfirst edition yet discovered is in the royal library at the British\nMuseum. It appears to have belonged to Charles II, who, with more wit\nthan decorum, has bound it up, as a supplement, to an extremely\nlicentious book, as if it was intended to say, \u2018Her house is the way to\nhell, going down to the chamber of death\u2019; or that a licentious life\nendeth in \u2018sighs from hell.\u2019\n\nMr. Gifford, in this preface, after strongly recommending the work,\nspeaks of the author in the most respectful and affectionate terms,\nshowing that his zeal, and energy, and great usefulness had excited the\nenvy of many who ought to have encouraged him as one taught by the\nSpirit, and used in his hand to do souls good\u2014\u2018divers have felt the\npower of the Word delivered by him; and I doubt not but that many more\nmay, if the Lord continues him in his work\u2019; and he gives this as a\nreason \u2018why the archers have shot so sorely at him\u2019; and then\nscripturally proves that no objection should be made to his valuable\nservices from his want of human learning. As the whole of this\ninteresting preface is accurately reprinted with the book, the reader\nis referred to it without further extracts.[195] The Editor\u2019s\nintroduction to these Sighs was written under very solemn feelings,\nproduced by reading this searching treatise. The rich man is intended\nto personify those who, neglecting salvation, die in their sins, while\nLazarus personates all those who humbly receive salvation as the gift\nof God; who, however they may suffer in this world, retain their\nintegrity to death. In this parable, a voice is heard from the place of\ntorment\u2014the cry is a \u2018drop of water,\u2019 the slightest relief to\nunutterable woes; and that a messenger may be sent to warn his\nrelatives, lest they should be plunged into the same torment. The\nimpassable gulf defies the vain request, while the despised Christian\nreposes in everlasting and indescribable enjoyment. This little volume\nwas very popular; nine editions were printed and sold in the author\u2019s\nlifetime, besides pirated copies. Bunyan\u2019s feelings and mode of\npreaching are well described in the Grace Abounding,[196] and will be\nfelt by every attentive reader of his Sighs from Hell:\u2014\u2018When I have\nbeen preaching, I thank God, my heart hath often, with great\nearnestness, cried to God that he would make the Word effectual to the\nsalvation of the soul. Wherefore I did labour so to speak the Word, as\nthat thereby, if it were possible, the sin and person guilty might be\nparticularized by it.\u2019\n\n\u2018And when I have done the exercise, it hath gone to my heart, to think\nthe Word should now fall as rain on stony places; still wishing from my\nheart, O! that they who have heard me speak this day, did but see as I\ndo, what sin, death, hell, and the curse of God is; and also what the\ngrace, and love, and mercy of God is, through Christ, to men in such a\ncase as they are who are yet estranged from him.\n\n\u2018For I have been in my preaching, especially when I have been engaged\nin the doctrine of life by Christ, without works, as if an angel of God\nhad stood by at my back to encourage me.\u2019\n\nSuch feelings are not limited to Bunyan, but are most anxiously felt by\nall our pious ministers. How fervently ought their hearers to unite in\napproaches to the mercy-seat, that the Divine blessing may make the\nWord fruitful.\n\nIn those days it was not an uncommon thing for the hearers, at the\nclose of the sermon, to put questions to the preacher, sometimes to\nelicit truth, or to express a cordial union of sentiments, or to\ncontradict what the minister had said. Upon one occasion, Mr. Bunyan,\nafter his sermon, had a singular dispute with a scholar. It is narrated\nby Mr. C. Doe, who was a personal friend and great admirer of our\nauthor, and who probably heard it from his own mouth, and will be found\nin the Struggler, inserted vol. iii., p. 767.\n\nIt is the common taunt of the scorner, and sometimes a stone of\nstumbling to the inquirer, that, while the Christian believes in the\nintensity of the Saviour\u2019s sufferings, and that God was made flesh that\nhe might offer himself as an atonement to redeem mankind, yet few are\nsaved, in comparison with those who are lost\u2014broad is the way that\nleadeth to destruction, and many walk therein, while few attempt the\nnarrow way to life; that four sorts of hearers are described by the\nSaviour, only one receiving the truth; as if the doleful realms of\ndarkness and misery would be more thickly peopled than those of light\nand happiness, and Satan prove stronger than Christ. Such cavilers\nforget that the far greater portion of mankind die in infancy, purified\nby the Saviour\u2019s sufferings, and enter heaven in the perfection of\nmanhood. As Mr. Toplady justly observes, what a vista does this open to\nthe believer through the dreary gloom of the infidel! They forget,\nalso, that all those who gain the narrow path, once helped to throng\nthe road to destruction; and that the hearers, whose hardened deceitful\nhearts rejected the gospel under one sermon, may, by mercy, have them\nopened to receive it under another. And who dares to limit the\nAlmighty? The power that prepared the spirit of the thief, when upon\nthe cross, even in his last moments, for the pure enjoyments of heaven,\nstill exists. Is the arm of the Lord shortened that he cannot save? The\nmyriads of heaven will be found countless as are the sands upon the\nsea-shore, and the harmony of their worship shall swell like the voice\nof many waters and mighty thunderings, saying, \u2018Alleluja, for the Lord\nGod omnipotent reigneth.\u2019 What! Satan stronger than the Almighty\nRedeemer? Perish the thought. Still how common is the question, which\none of the disciples put to his master, \u2018Lord, are there few that be\nsaved?\u2019 How striking the answer! \u2018Strive to enter in at the strait\ngate\u2019 (Luke 13:23). Encumber not thy mind with such needless inquiries,\nbut look to thine own salvation.\n\nAnother very singular anecdote is related, which proves that the use of\nthe churches was not then limited to any one sect. \u2018Being to preach in\na church in a country village (before the restoration of king Charles)\nin Cambridgeshire, and the people being gathered together in the\nchurch-yard, a Cambridge scholar, and none of the soberest of \u2019em\nneither, enquired what the meaning of that concourse of people was, it\nbeing upon the week day, and being told, That one Bunyan, a tinker, was\nto preach there, he gave a boy twopence to hold his horse, saying, He\nwas resolved to hear the tinker prate; and so went into the church to\nhear him. But God met with him there by his ministry, so that he came\nout much changed, and would, by his good will, hear none but the tinker\nfor a long time after, he himself becoming a very eminent preacher in\nthat county afterwards. This story I know to be true, having many a\ntime discoursed with the man, and, therefore, I could not but set it\ndown as a singular instance of the power of God that accompanied his\nministry.\u2019[197]\n\nBunyan\u2019s veneration for the Scriptures, as the only source and standard\nof religious knowledge, led him into frequent controversies. In common\nwith the Christian world, he wholly depended upon the enlightening\ninfluence of the Holy Spirit to impress the Divine truths of revelation\nupon the mind, and also to illustrate, open, and apply the sacred\nwritings to the heart of man. Unable to read the Bible in the original\nlanguages in which it was written, he wisely made use of every aid that\nmight enable him to study its contents with the greatest advantage. It\nwas his habit to examine the two translations then in common use. The\npresent authorized version, first published in 1611, is that to which\nhe usually refers; comparing it with the favourite Puritan version made\nby the refugees at Geneva, and first printed in 1560. He sometimes\nquotes the Genevan, and so familiar were the two translations, that in\nseveral instances he mixes them in referring from memory to passages of\nholy writ.\n\nUpon one of his journeys, being upon the road near Cambridge, he was\novertaken by a scholar, who concluded that he was an itinerant\npreacher, whether from having heard him, or observing his serious\ndeportment, or his Bible reading, does not appear, although the latter\nwas probably the reason. But the student determined to have a brush\nwith him, and said, \u2018How dare you preach from the Bible, seeing you\nhave not the original, being not a scholar?\u2019 Then said Mr. Bunyan,\n\u2018Have you the original?\u2019 \u2018Yes, said the scholar.\u2019 \u2018Nay, but,\u2019 said Mr.\nBunyan, \u2018have you the very self-same original copies that were written\nby the penmen of the Scriptures, prophets and apostles?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said the\nscholar, \u2018but we have the true copies of these originals.\u2019 \u2018How do you\nknow that?\u2019 said Mr. Bunyan. \u2018How?\u2019 said the scholar. \u2018Why, we believe\nwhat we have is a true copy of the original.\u2019 \u2018Then,\u2019 said Mr. Bunyan,\n\u2018so do I believe our English Bible is a true copy of the original.\u2019\nThen away rid the scholar.[198] As neither persecution nor railing, nor\ntemptations, nor the assaults of Satan, produced any effect upon Bunyan\nto prevent his preaching, but rather excited his zeal and energy, means\nof a more deadly nature were resorted to, to injure or prevent his\nusefulness. As Mr. Gifford said, \u2018The archers shot sorely at him\u2019 by\nthe most infamous and unfounded slanders, which he thus narrates:\u2014\n\n\u2018When Satan perceived that his thus tempting and assaulting of me would\nnot answer his design, to wit, to overthrow my ministry, and make it\nineffectual, as to the ends thereof: then he tried another way, which\nwas to stir up the minds of the ignorant and malicious to load me with\nslanders and reproaches. Now, therefore, I may say, that what the devil\ncould devise, and his instruments invent, was whirled up and down the\ncountry against me, thinking, as I said, that by that means they should\nmake my ministry to be abandoned. It began, therefore, to be rumoured\nup and down among the people, that I was a witch, a Jesuit, a\nhighwayman, and the like. To all which, I shall only say, God knows\nthat I am innocent. But as for mine accusers, let them provide\nthemselves to meet me before the tribunal of the Son of God, there to\nanswer for all these things, with all the rest of their iniquities,\nunless God shall give them repentance for them, for the which I pray\nwith all my heart.\n\n\u2018But that which was reported with the boldest confidence, was, that I\nhad my misses, yea, two wives at once, and the like. Now these\nslanders, with the others, I glory in, because but slanders, foolish,\nor knavish lies, and falsehoods cast upon me by the devil and his seed;\nand should I not be dealt with thus wickedly by the world, I should\nwant one sign of a saint, and a child of God. \u201cBlessed are ye (said the\nLord Jesus) when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say\nall manner of evil against you falsely for my sake; rejoice and be\nexceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted\nthey the prophets which were before you.\u201d\n\n\u2018These things therefore, upon mine own account, trouble me not. No,\nthough they were twenty times more than they are, I have a good\nconscience; and whereas they speak evil of me, they shall be ashamed\nthat falsely accuse my good conversation in Christ. Therefore I bind\nthese lies and slanders to me as an ornament, it belongs to my\nChristian profession to be vilified, slandered, reproached, and\nreviled. I rejoice in reproaches for Christ\u2019s sake. My foes have missed\ntheir mark in this their shooting at me. I am not the man. If all the\nfornicators and adulterers in England were hanged by the neck till they\nbe dead, John Bunyan, the object of their envy, would be still alive\nand well. I know not whether there be such a thing as a woman breathing\nunder the copes of the whole heaven, but by their apparel, their\nchildren, or by common fame, except my wife.\n\n\u2018And in this I admire the wisdom of God, that he made me shy of women\nfrom my first conversion until now. When I have seen good men salute\nthose women that they have visited, I have made my objection against\nit; and when they have answered, that it was but a piece of civility, I\nhave told them, it is not a comely sight. Some indeed have urged the\nholy kiss; but then I have asked why they made baulks, why they did\nsalute the most handsome, and let the ill-favoured go. Not that I have\nbeen thus kept, because of any goodness in me, more than any other, but\nGod has been merciful to me, and has kept me, to whom I pray that he\nwill keep me still, not only from this, but every evil way and work,\nand preserve me to his heavenly kingdom. Amen.\u2019[199]\n\nNotwithstanding all Mr. Bunyan\u2019s care to avoid the slightest appearance\nof evil, yet being over-persuaded to an act of humanity and civility to\none of his female members, he was most unjustly calumniated. The\ncircumstances which gave rise to this slander are narrated in James\u2019s\nAbstract of God\u2019s dealings with Mrs. Agnes Beaumont, of which an\nabridged account will be found in a note to the Grace Abounding.[200]\nIt exhibits in a remarkable manner how easily such reports are raised\nagainst the holiest men.\n\nAnother still more extraordinary and unnatural charge was made against\nBunyan. He lived at a period when witchcraft, witches, and wizards were\nin the height of fashion. Any poor woman who had outlived or had become\na burden to her natural protectors, and whose temper was soured by\ninfirmities, especially if her language was vulgar and her appearance\nrepulsive, ran the risk of being defamed as a witch. If in her\nneighbourhood a murrain seized the cattle, or a disease entered a\nfamily which baffled the little knowledge of the country\npractitioners\u2014such as epilepsy, St. Vitus\u2019 dance, or St. Anthony\u2019s\nfire\u2014it was ascribed to witchcraft, and vengeance was wreaked upon any\nreputed witch. In many parts of England she was tried by a kind of\nLynch law, in a very summary manner. Her hands and feet being bound\ntogether, she was thrown into deep water; if she sank, and was drowned,\nshe was declared innocent; if she swam, it was a proof of guilt, and a\nlittle form of law condemned her to the stake or halter. In Scotland,\nthey were treated with greater barbarity; they were awfully\ntortured\u2014thumb-screws, the boots to crush their knees, pricking them\nwith needles or awls night and day, to prevent a moment\u2019s rest, were\npersevered in\u2014until a confession was extorted, to be followed by a\nfrightful death. The ignorance that prevailed may account for the faith\nof the vulgar in witchcraft; but that learned divines, and even the\nenlightened Judge Hale, should fall into the delusion, is most\nsurprising. The charge against Bunyan was, that he had circulated some\npaper libeling a most respectable widow, a Quakeress, as a witch. This\npaper cannot now be discovered; but the story is so perfectly\nridiculous as to render it quite improbable that Bunyan had any\nknowledge of it. The account is contained in a rare pamphlet of four\nleaves, preserved in the very curious library of the Society of Friends\nat Devonshire House, Bishopsgate. It is entitled, \u2018A lying wonder\ndiscovered, and the strange and terrible news from Cambridge proved\nfalse; which false news is published in a libel, concerning a wicked\nslander cast upon a Quaker; but the author of the said libel was\nashamed to subscribe his name to it. Also, this contains an answer to\nJohn Bunion\u2019s paper, touching the said imagined witchcraft, which he\nhath given forth to your wonderment, as he saith; but it is also proved\na lie and a slander by many credible witnesses hereafter\nmentioned.\u2019[201] It narrates that Margaret Pryor, of Long Stanton,\nindicted, on the 28th July, 1659, the widow Morlin, a Quaker lady, for\nhaving, on the 29th November, 1657, took her out of bed from her\nhusband in the night, put a bridle in her mouth, and transformed her\ninto a bay mare, and with a Quaker, William Allen, rode upon her to\nMaddenly House, a distance of four miles; that they made her fast to\nthe latch of the door, while she saw them partake of a feast of mutton,\nrabbits, and lamb [lamb in November!!]; that they shone like angels,\nand talked of doctrine, and that she knew some of the guests; that her\nfeet were a little sore, but not her hands, nor was she dirty. In\nexamining her, the judge elicited that she made no mention of the story\nfor a year and three-quarters, and that her deposition then was that\nsome evil spirit changed her into a bay-horse; that her hands and feet\nwere lamentably bruised, and changed as black as a coal; that she had\nher chemise on, which was all bloody, from her sides being rent and\ntorn with the spurs. All this was unknown to her husband; nor had she\naccounted for her chemise so strangely fitting a horse or mare. It was\nproved that the complainant had received money for bringing the charge,\nand pretended to have burnt some of her hair with elder-bark, as a\ncounter-charm to prevent it happening again. The judge summed up with\nobserving that it was a mere dream or phantasy, and that the\ncomplainant was the sorceress, by practicing incantations in burning\nher hair and bark. The jury found a verdict of\u2014not guilty; and thus two\ninnocent persons were saved by an enlightened judge from an ignominious\ndeath. It is almost incredible that, even after the trial, priests and\nmagistrates who had promoted the prosecution professed to believe that\nthe charge was true. This singular narrative, in defence of the poor\npersecuted Quakeress, is signed James Blackley, an alderman, George\nWhitehead, and three others. No one can believe that John Bunyan gave\ncredit to such a tale, or mentioned it to the injury of the parties\naccused. His reply was, that these slanders were devised by the devil\nand his instruments\u2014\u2018God knows that I am innocent.\u2019 The probability is,\nthat the pamphlet called Strange News from Cambridge had been sent to\nhim, and that he gave it to some Quaker to answer.\n\nConsidering the almost universal belief in witchcraft in those\ndays\u2014that Baxter, Cotton Mather, Clarke, and many of our most eminent\ndivines, believed in it\u2014and that Bunyan received the Scriptures in our\nauthorized translation with the deepest reverence, it becomes an\ninteresting inquiry how far he believed in witchcraft, possessions,\nincantations, and charms. He was persuaded that Satan could appear to\nmankind in the shape of animals, and in the human form. Had any one\ndoubted the possibility of these appearances, he would at that time\nhave been called an atheist and an unbeliever in the existence of God\nand of separate spirits. Thus he argues, that \u2018If sin can make one who\nwas sometimes a glorious angel in heaven now so to abuse himself as to\nbecome, to appearance, as a filthy frog, a toad, a rat, a cat, a fly, a\nmouse, or a dog, to serve its ends upon a poor mortal, that it might\ngull them of everlasting life, no marvel if the soul is so beguiled as\nto sell itself from God and all good for so poor a nothing as a\nmomentary pleasure.\u2019[202] When speaking of the impropriety of excluding\na pious person from the Lord\u2019s table, because of a difference of\nopinion as to water baptism, he says, \u2018Do you more to the openly\nprofane\u2014yea, to all wizards and witches in the land?\u2019[203] In quoting\nIsaiah 13, he, taught by the Puritan version, puts the key in the\nmargin\u2014\u2018Wild beasts of the desert shall be there and their houses shall\nbe full of doleful creatures. And owls shall dwell there, and satyrs\n[that is, the hobgoblins, or devils] shall dance there.\u2019[204] He gave\nno credence to the appearance of departed spirits, except in the hour\nof death; and then, while between time and eternity, he thought that in\nsome rare cases spiritual sight was given to see objects otherwise\ninvisible.[205]\n\nHe fully believed in the power of Satan to suggest evil thoughts to the\npious Christian, and to terrify and punish the wicked, even in this\nlife; but never hints, through all his works, at any power of Satan to\ncommunicate to man any ability to injure his fellows. What a contrast\nis there between the Pilgrim of Loretto, with its witch and devil\nstory, mentioned in the introduction to the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, and\nBunyan\u2019s great allegorical work! Conjurors and fortune-tellers, or\nwitches and wizards, were vagabonds deserving for their fraudulent\npretensions,[206] punishment by a few months\u2019 imprisonment to hard\nlabour, but not a frightful death. In all these things this great man\nwas vastly in advance of his age. He had studied nature from personal\nobservation and the book of revelation. In proportion as the laws of\nnature are understood, the crafty pretensions of conjurors and witches\nbecome exposed to contempt. Bunyan never believed that the great and\nunchangeable principles which the Creator has ordained to govern nature\ncould be disturbed by the freaks of poor old crazy women, for purposes\ntrifling and insignificant. No, such a man could never have circulated\na report that a woman was turned into a bay mare, and her chemise into\na horse-cloth and saddle! Unbridled sectarian feeling perverted some\nremark of his, probably made with the kindest intention, into a most\nincredible slander.\n\nAmong the many singularities of that very interesting period, one was\nthe number of religious tournaments or disputations that were held all\nover the country. The details of one of these, between Fisher, a\nJesuit, and Archbishop Laud, occupy a folio volume. In these wordy\nduels the Baptists and Quakers bore a prominent part. To write a\nhistory of them would occupy more space than our narrow limits will\nallow. Bunyan entered into one of these controversies with the Quakers\nat Bedford Market-cross,[207] and probably held others in the church,\nthose buildings being at times available under the Protectorate for\nsuch purposes. Bunyan was met by the son of thunder, Edward Burrough,\nwho was also assisted by Anne Blackly, a remarkably pious woman and an\nable disputant. Bunyan pressed them with the Scriptures, and dealt such\nsevere blows that Mrs. Blackly, in the public assembly, bid him throw\naway the Scriptures. To which he answered, \u2018No, for then the devil\nwould be too hard for me.\u2019 The great controversy was as to Christ\nwithin his saints. Bunyan proved, by the holy oracles, that Christ had\nascended, and was at the right hand of God; to which Mrs. Blackly\nanswered, that he preached up an idol, and used conjuration and\nwitchcraft. To the charge of spiritual conjuration and witchcraft he\nmade no reply, it being unworthy his notice; but called upon her to\nrepent of her wickedness in calling Christ an idol. With regard to his\npresence in his saints, he reminded her, that if any man have not the\nSpirit of Christ, he is none of his.[208] As a matter of course, both\nparties claimed the victory; and although the hearers were puzzled,\ndoubtless much good was effected.\n\nThese were comparatively happy days for God\u2019s fearers\u2014much valuable\nseed was sown, and the light of divine truth penetrated into many a\nbenighted town and village. At length dark and portentous clouds rolled\nover the horizon. The Protector had entered into rest; his son was\nwholly incapable of taking the helm of public affairs. The exiled king,\nCharles II, declared his determination to publish an amnesty for all\npolitical offences; and from Breda issued his proclamation for liberty\nof conscience, and the kingdom was cajoled and sold. The king was\nscarcely seated on his throne, and armed with power, when he threw off\nthe mask. Men who had faithfully performed very painful duties under\nthe authority of Acts of Parliament were put to death, others\nimprisoned and transported, and uniformity in religion was re-enacted\nunder ferocious penalties. Bunyan was to endure a cruel imprisonment,\nwith all the fears of an ignominious death. \u2018Now,\u2019 he says, \u2018as Satan\nlaboured by reproaches and slanders, to make me vile among my\ncountrymen, that if possible my preaching might be made of none effect,\nso there was added hereto a long and tedious imprisonment, that thereby\nI might be frighted from my service for Christ, and the world terrified\nand made afraid to hear me preach, of which I shall in the next place\ngive you a brief account.\u2019[209]\n\nTHE FIFTH PERIOD.\n\n\nBUNYAN SUFFERS PERSECUTION, AND A LONG AND DANGEROUS IMPRISONMENT, FOR\nREFUSING TO ATTEND THE COMMON PRAYER SERVICE, AND FOR PREACHING.\n\n\n\u2014\u2018O happie he who doth possesse\nChrist for his fellow prisoner, who doth gladde\nWith heavenly sunbeams, goales that are most sad.\u2019\n\n\n(_Written by William Prynne, on his Prison wall, in the Tower._)\n\nThe men who arraign their fellows before any standard of orthodoxy, or\nclaim the right of dictating forms of belief or modes of worship under\npains or penalties, are guilty of assuming the prerogative of the Most\nHigh, and of claiming, for their frail opinions, infallibility. Such\nare guilty of high treason against the Majesty of heaven\u2014and all their\nmachinations have a direct tendency to destroy human happiness\u2014the\nwealth of the nation, and that universal good-will among men which the\ngospel is intended to establish. Such men present to us the various\nfeatures of antichrist, the dread enemy of mankind.\n\nThe duty of every intelligent creature is to watch the operations of\nnature, that he may be led to just perceptions of the greatness of the\nCreator, and the goodness of his immutable laws. Soon he finds his\nperceptions dim, and is conscious of evil propensities, which baffle\nall his efforts at sinless perfection. He finds nothing in nature to\nsolve the solemn inquiry how sin is to be pardoned, and evil thoughts\nand habits to be rooted out. The convinced sinner then feels the\nnecessity of a direct revelation from God; and in the Bible alone he\nfinds that astounding declaration, which leaves all human philosophy at\nan immeasurable distance\u2014\u2018Ye must be born again.\u2019 God only can effect\nthe wondrous change\u2014man, priest, prophet, or magi, can do him no\ngood\u2014his terror-stricken conscience drives him to his Creator, and\nfaith in the Redeemer causes consolation to abound.\n\nIn every kingdom of the world, the Christian inquirer is met by the\nopposition of antichrist, in some form or other, attempts will be made\nto limit his free-born spirit to human inventions and mediations in\nseeking Divine mercy. He feels that he is bound, by all his hopes of\nhappiness, here and hereafter, to obey God rather than man, in\neverything pertaining to spiritual religion. In his simple obedience to\nthe Word of God, he braves all dangers, sure of the Divine blessing and\nsupport while encountering obloquy, contempt, allurements, and\npersecution, in its varied polluted forms and appalling cruelties.\n\nAfter the decease of Oliver Cromwell, it soon became apparent that the\nexiled king would be restored. In the prospect of that event, Charles\nII promised a free pardon to all his subjects, excepting only such\npersons as should be excepted by parliament; and \u2018we do declare a\nliberty to tender consciences, and that no man shall be disquieted or\ncalled in question for differences of opinion in matters of religion,\nwhich do not disturb the peace of the kingdom.\u2019 Who could imagine,\nthat, in the face of this solemn declaration, acts, the most oppressive\nand tyrannical, would be passed\u2014compelling pretended uniformity in\nbelief and real uniformity in the mode of public worship\u2014driving the\nmost pious and useful clergymen from their pulpits and\nlivings\u2014preventing them from becoming tutors or schoolmasters\u2014and not\nsuffering them to live within five miles of a city or town. Ruinous\npenalties were inflicted, not only on every minister, but upon every\nhearer, who met to worship God in private houses or in the fields and\nwoods. Christians, convinced of the wickedness of such laws, strove, by\nevery possible means, to evade the penalties, with a stern\ndetermination to worship God in the way that their conscience led them.\nThey met their beloved ministers in private places, and at the most\nunseasonable hours. It is said that Bunyan, to avoid discovery, went\nfrom a friend\u2019s house disguised as a carter; with his white frock,\nwide-awake cap, and his whip in his hand, to attend a private meeting\nin a sheltered field or barn. To prevent these meetings, severe and\nalmost arbitrary penalties were enforced, a considerable part of which\nwent to the informers\u2014men of debauched habits and profligate\nprinciples. With all their vigilance, these prohibited meetings could\nnot be prevented. In some cases, the persecuted disciples of a\npersecuted Lord took houses adjoining each other, and, by opening\ninternal communications, assembled together. In some cases, the barn or\nroom in which they met, had a door behind the pulpit, by which the\npreacher could escape. A curious letter, preserved in the archives at\nDevonshire House, states, that when a Christian assembly was held near\nDevonshire Square, while the minister was in his sermon, the officers\nand trained bands entered the meeting-house. The preacher immediately\nceased preaching, and gave out the lines of a hymn, which the\ncongregation joined in singing, and the officers waited till the\ndevotional exercise was ended. The preacher, taking advantage of their\nhesitation, made his escape by a door at the back of the pulpit;\n\u2018thus,\u2019 says the quaint Quaker, \u2018he choked the informers off with his\nhymn.\u2019 In the Life of Badman are some illustrative anecdotes relating\nto informers and their violent ends, with an interesting cut of a\nreligious meeting in the fields. One informer is in a neighbouring\ntree, to identify the meeters; while in the distance, another is\nrunning for the officers, with this verse under the print:\u2014\n\n\u2018Informer, art thou in the tree?\nTake heed, lest there thou hanged be:\nLook likewise to thy foot-hold well;\nLest, if thou slip, thou fall to hell.\u2019\n\n\nIn many cases the justices considered a field preacher to be equally\nguilty with a regicide.[210] One of the informers, named W. S., was\nvery diligent in this business; \u2018he would watch a-nights, climb trees,\nand range the woods a-days, if possible to find out the meeters, for\nthen they were forced to meet in the fields.\u2019 At length he was stricken\nby the hand of God, and died a most wretched object.[211] The cruelties\nthat were inflicted upon Dissenters are scarcely credible. Penn, the\nQuaker, gives this narrative of facts:\u2014The widow\u2019s mite hath not\nescaped their hands; they have made her cow the forfeit of her\nconscience, not leaving her a bed to lie on, nor a blanket to cover\nher; and what is yet more barbarous, and helps to make up this tragedy,\nthe poor helpless orphan\u2019s milk, boiling over the fire, was flung away,\nand the skillet made part of their prize; that, had not nature in\nneighbours been stronger than cruelty in informers and officers, to\nopen her bowels for their relief, they must have utterly perished.[212]\nOne of these infamous, hard-hearted wretches in Bedford, was stricken,\nsoon after, with death; and such had been his notorious brutality, that\nhis widow could not obtain a hearse, but was obliged to carry his body\nto the grave in a cart.\n\nIt is gratifying to leave these horrors\u2014these stains upon our national\nhistory\u2014for a moment, to record an event which took place about fifty\nyears back. The Rev. S. Hillyard, the pastor of Bunyan\u2019s church, thus\nwrites:\u2014\u2018When our meeting-house was lately repaired, we were allowed,\nby the Lord Lieutenant and the justices, to carry on our public\nworship, for a quarter of a year in the town-hall, where, if it had\nbeen standing in Mr. Bunyan\u2019s time, he must have been tried and\ncommitted to jail for preaching.\u2019 How different our position from that\nof our pilgrim forefathers.\n\nThe justices, if the law had allowed them, would, from the first, have\nprevented Bunyan\u2019s preaching. When they had the power, he possessed\nnothing to excite the cupidity of an informer: this, with the caution\nof his friends, saved him, for some months, from being apprehended;\nthey met privately in barns, milk-houses, and stables, or in any\nconvenient place in which they were not likely to be disturbed. In\naddition to these services, every opportunity was embraced to visit his\nfriends\u2014praying with them, and administering consolation, arming them\nwith a steady resolve to be patient in suffering, and to trust in God\nfor their safety and reward. At length an information was laid, and he\nwas caught in the very act of worshipping God with some pious\nneighbours. Bunyan\u2019s account of this event is deeply interesting; but\nthe want of sufficient space prevents my giving more than an abstract\nof it, referring the reader to his Grace Abounding for fuller details.\n\nOn November 12, 1660, as the winter was setting in, having been invited\nto preach at Samsell, in Bedfordshire, he prepared a sermon upon these\nwords\u2014\u2018Dost thou believe in the Son of God?\u2019 (John 9:35); from which he\nintended \u2018to show the absolute need of faith in Jesus Christ, and that\nit was also a thing of the highest concern for men to inquire into, and\nto ask their own hearts whether they had faith or no.\u2019[213] He had then\nbeen a preacher of the glorious gospel of Christ for five or six years,\nwithout any interruption; for, although indicted, he had continued his\nuseful career, and through grace had received great encouragement and\neminent proofs of the Divine blessing.\n\nFrancis Wingate, a neighbouring justice of the peace, having heard of\nthe intended meeting, issued his warrant to bring the preacher before\nhim. The intention of the magistrate was whispered about, and came to\nBunyan\u2019s ears before the meeting was held, probably to give him an\nopportunity of escape. His friends, becoming alarmed for his safety,\nadvised him to forego the opportunity. It was a trying moment for him;\nhe had a beloved wife to whom he had not been long married, and four\ndear children, one of them blind, depending upon his daily labour for\nfood. If he escaped, he might continue his stolen opportunities of\ndoing good to the souls of men. He hesitated but for a few minutes for\nprivate prayer; he had hitherto shown himself hearty and courageous in\npreaching, and it was his business to encourage the timid flock.\n\u2018Therefore, thought I, if I should now run and make an escape, it will\nbe of a very ill savour in the country; what will my weak and newly\nconverted brethren think of it? If I should run, now there was a\nwarrant out for me, I might, by so doing, make them afraid to stand\nwhen great words only should be spoken to them.\u2019 He retired into a\nclose, privately, to seek Divine direction, and came back resolved to\nabide the will of God. It was the first attempt, near Bedford, to\napprehend a preacher of the gospel, and he thus argued with himself\u2014\u2018If\nGod, of his mercy, should choose me to go upon the forlorn hope, that\nis, to be the first that should be opposed for the gospel, if I should\nfly it might be a discouragement to the whole body that should follow\nafter. And I thought that the world thereby would take occasion at my\ncowardliness, to have blasphemed the gospel.\u2019[214] These considerations\nbrought him to the noble resolution of fulfilling his duty, under all\nits difficulties and dangers. In these reasonings the same honourable\ndecision of mind animated him which impelled Daniel, and the three\nHebrew youths, to violate the wicked laws of the nation in which they\nlived, because these laws were opposed to the will of God. He and they,\nas well as the apostles, judged for themselves, and opposed statutes or\nancient customs which, in their opinion, were contrary to the Divine\nlaw by which they were to be judged at the solemn and great day. Nor\ndid they, in the prospect of the most dread personal sufferings,\nhesitate to follow the convictions of their minds. Some laws are more\nhonoured in the breach than in the observance of them. The law of\nPharaoh to destroy the male children of the Israelites, in ancient\ntimes, and the present Popish laws of Tuscany, that the Bible shall not\nbe read, are laws so contrary to common sense, and the most sacred\nduties of man, that \u2018God dealt well\u2019 with those who broke them in\nEgypt, as he has ever dealt with those who have thus honoured him. The\nmillions of prayers that were offered up for a blessing upon the\nconfessors, Madiai, have been answered. Had they perished in the\nprisons of Tuscany, they would have joined the noble army of martyrs\nbefore the throne of God, to witness his judgments upon that\npersecuting church which has shed so much holy blood.\n\nWhen Bunyan was advised to escape by dismissing the meeting, which\nconsisted of about forty persons, he replied, \u2018No, by no means; I will\nnot stir, neither will I have the meeting dismissed. Come, be of good\ncheer, let us not be daunted; our cause is good, we need not be ashamed\nof it; to preach God\u2019s Word is so good a work, that we shall be well\nrewarded if we suffer for that.\u2019[215] All this took place about an hour\nbefore the officers arrived. The service was commenced with prayer at\nthe time appointed, the preacher and hearers had their Bibles in their\nhands to read the text, when the constable and his attendants came in,\nand, exhibiting the warrant, ordered him to lave the pulpit and come\ndown; but he mildly told him that he was about his Master\u2019s business,\nand must rather obey his Lord\u2019s voice than that of man. Then a\nconstable was ordered to fetch him down, who, coming up and taking hold\nof his coat, was about to remove him, when Mr. Bunyan fixed his eyes\nsteadfastly upon him; having his Bible open in his hand, the man let\ngo, looked pale, and retired; upon which he said to the congregation,\n\u2018See how this man trembles at the Word of God.\u2019 Truly did one of his\nfriends say, \u2018he had a sharp, quick eye.\u2019 But being commanded in the\nking\u2019s name, he went with the officer, accompanied by some of his\nfriends, to the magistrate\u2019s residence. Before they left, the constable\nallowed him to speak a few words to the people of counsel and\nencouragement. He declared that it was a mercy when called to suffer\nupon so good an account; that it was of grace that they had been kept\nfrom crimes, which might have caused their apprehension as thieves and\nmurderers, or for some wickedness; but by the blessing of God it was\nnot so, but, as Christians, they were called to suffer for well-doing;\nand that we had better be persecuted than the persecutors. The\nconstable took him to the justice\u2019s house, but as he was from home, to\nsave the expense and trouble of charging a watch to secure his\nprisoner, he allowed him to go home, one of his friends undertaking to\nbe answerable for his appearance the next day. On the following morning\nthey went to the constable and then to the justice. The celebrated\nQuaker, John Roberts, managed an affair of that kind better. There was\nplenty of time to have held and dismissed the meeting before the\nconstable arrived, and then he might have done as Roberts did\u2014made the\nbest of his way to the magistrate\u2019s house, and demanded, \u2018Dost thou\nwant me, old man?\u2019 and when asked whether or not he went to church, his\nready reply was, \u2018Yes, sometimes I go to the church, and sometimes the\nchurch comes to me.\u2019[216]\n\nWhen Bunyan and the constable came before Justice Wingate, he inquired\nwhat the meeters did, and what they had with them; suspecting that they\nmet armed, or for treasonable practices: but when the constable told\nhim that they were unarmed, and merely assembled to preach and hear the\nWord, he could not well tell what to say. Justice Wingate was not the\nonly magistrate who had felt difficulties as to the construction of the\npersecuting acts of 35 Eliz. and 15 Chas. II. Had he taken an opinion,\nas one of the justices at that time did, it might have saved him from\nthe infamy and guilt of punishing an innocent man. The case was\nthis:\u2014\u2018Two persons of insolent behaviour, calling themselves informers,\ndemanded, on their evidence of having been present, without summons or\nhearing in presence of the accused, that a fine of \u00a3100 should be\nlevied; they were at the meeting and heard no Common Prayer service.\u2019\nThe opinion was that there must be evidence showing the intent, and\nthat the meeting was held under colour and pretence of any exercise of\nreligion to concoct sedition.[217] Mr. Wingate asked Bunyan why he did\nnot follow his calling and go to church? to which he replied, that all\nhis intention was to instruct and counsel people to forsake their sins,\nand that he did, without confusion, both follow his calling and preach\nthe Word. At this the angry justice ordered his commitment to jail,\nrefusing bail, unless he would promise to give up preaching. While his\nmittimus was preparing, he had a short controversy with an old enemy of\nthe truth, Dr. Lindale, and also with a persecuting justice, Mr.\nFoster, who, soon after, sorely vexed the people of God at Bedford.\nThey tried their utmost endeavours to persuade him to promise not to\npreach; a word from him might have saved his liberty; but it was a word\nwhich would have sacrificed his religious convictions, and these were\ndearer to him than life itself. This was a trying moment, but he had\nbeen forewarned of his danger by the extraordinary temptation to sell\nChrist narrated in his Grace Abounding. His feelings, while they were\nconducting him to the prison, were so cheering as to enable him to\nforget his sorrows; he thus describes them\u2014\u2018Verily, as I was going\nforth of the doors I had much ado to forbear saying to them, that I\ncarried the peace of God along with me; and, blessed be the Lord, I\nwent away to prison with God\u2019s comfort in my poor soul.\u2019[218]\n\nTradition points out the place in which this eminently pious man was\nconfined, as an ancient prison, built with the bridge over the river\nOuse, supported on one of the piers near the middle of the river.[219]\nAs the bridge was only four yards and a half wide, the prison must have\nbeen very small. Howard, the philanthropist, visited the Bedford\nprison, that which was dignified as the county jail about 1788, and\nthus describes it:\u2014\u2018The men and women felons associate together; their\nnight-rooms are two dungeons. Only one court for debtors and felons;\nand no apartment for the jailer.\u2019[220] Imagination can hardly realize\nthe miseries of fifty or sixty pious men and women, taken from a place\nof public worship and incarcerated in such dens or dungeons with\nfelons, as was the case while Bunyan was a prisoner. Twelve feet square\nwas about the extent of the walls; for it occupies but one pier between\nthe center arches of the bridge. How properly does the poor pilgrim\ncall it a certain DEN! What an abode for men and women who had been\nmade by God kings and priests\u2014the heirs of heaven! The eyes of Howard,\na Dissenter, penetrated these dens, these hidden things of darkness,\nthese abodes of cruelty. He revealed what lay and clerical magistrates\nought to have published centuries before, that they were not fit places\nin which to imprison any, even the worst of criminals. He denounced\nthem, humanity shuddered at the discovery, and they were razed to their\nfoundations. In this den God permitted his honoured servant, John\nBunyan, to be incarcerated for more than twelve years of the prime of\nhis life. A man, whose holy zeal for the salvation of sinners, whose\ndisinterested labours, whose sufferings for Christ prove his\napostolical descent much better than those who claim descent from\npopes, and Wolsey or Bonner\u2014those fiends in human shape.\n\nBedford bridge was pulled down in the year 1811, when the present\nhandsome bridge was built. One of the workmen employed upon the ruins\nfound, among the rubbish, where the prison had stood, a ring made of\nfine gold, bearing an inscription which affords strong presumptive\nevidence that it belonged to our great allegorist. Dr. Abbot, a\nneighbouring clergyman, who had daily watched the labours of the\nworkmen, luckily saw it, and saved it from destruction. He constantly\nwore it, until, drawing near the end of his pilgrimage, in 1817, he\ntook it off his own finger and placed it upon that of his friend Dr.\nBower, then curate of Elstow,[221] and at present the dean of\nManchester, charging him to keep it for his sake. This ring must have\nbeen a present from some person of property, as a token of great\nrespect for Bunyan\u2019s pious character, and probably from an indignant\nsense of his unjust and cruel imprisonment. By the kind permission of\nthe dean, we are enabled to give a correct representation of this\ncurious relic.[222][223]\n\nBunyan was thirty-two years of age when taken to prison. He had\nsuffered the loss of his pious wife, whose conversation and portion had\nbeen so blessed to him. It is not improbable that her peaceful\ndeparture is pictured in Christiana\u2019s crossing the river which has no\nbridge. She left him with four young children, one of whom very\nnaturally and most strongly excited his paternal feelings, from the\ncircumstance of her having been afflicted with blindness. He had\nmarried a second time, a woman of exemplary piety and retiring modesty;\nbut whose spirit, when roused to seek the release of her beloved\nhusband, enabled her to stand unabashed, and full of energy and\npresence of mind, before judges in their courts, and lords in their\nmansions. When her partner was sent to jail, she was in that peculiar\nstate that called for all his sympathy and his tenderest care. The\nshock was too severe for her delicate situation; she became dangerously\nill, and, although her life was spared, all hopes had fled of her\nmaternal feelings being called into exercise. Thus did one calamity\nfollow another; still he preserved his integrity.[224]\n\nBunyan was treated with all the kindness which many of his jailers\ndared to show him. In his times, imprisonment and fetters were\ngenerally companions. Thus he says\u2014\u2018When a felon is going to be tried,\nhis fetters are still making a noise on his heels.\u2019[225] So the\nprisoners in the Holy War are represented as being \u2018brought in chains\nto the bar\u2019 for trial. \u2018The prisoners were handled by the jailer so\nseverely, and loaded so with irons, that they died in the prison.\u2019[226]\nIn many cases, prisoners for conscience\u2019 sake were treated with such\nbrutality, before the form of trial, as to cause their death. By Divine\nmercy, Bunyan was saved from these dreadful punishments, which have\nceased as civilization has progressed, and now cloud the narratives of\na darker age.\n\nAfter having lain in prison about seven weeks, the session was held at\nBedford, for the county; and Bunyan was placed at the bar, indicted for\ndevilishly and perniciously abstaining from coming to church to hear\nDivine service, and as a common upholder of several unlawful meetings\nand conventicles, to the great disturbance and distraction of the good\nsubjects of this kingdom, contrary to the laws of our sovereign lord\nthe king. In this indictment Bunyan is not described as \u2018of Elstow\u2019 but\n\u2018of Bedford.\u2019 Probably he had removed to Bedford soon after he joined\nGifford\u2019s church. The bench was numerous, and presided over by Justice\nKeelin.[227] If this was Sergeant Kelynge who, the following year, was\nmade Lord Chief-Justice, he was a most arbitrary tyrant, equaled or\nexcelled only by Judge Jeffreys. It was before him that some persons\nwere indicted for attending a conventicle; but it being only proved\nthat they had assembled on the Lord\u2019s-day with Bibles in their hands\nwithout prayer-books, and there being no proof that their meeting was\nonly under colour or pretence of religion, the jury acquitted them.\nUpon this he fined each of the jury-men one hundred marks, and\nimprisoned them till the fines were paid. Again, on a trial for murder,\nthe prisoner being under suspicion of Dissent, was one whom the judge\nhad a great desire to hang, he fined and imprisoned all the jury\nbecause, contrary to his direction, they brought in a verdict of\nmanslaughter! Well was it said, that he was more fit to charge the\nRoundheads under Prince Rupert than to charge a jury. After a short\ncareer, he fell into utter contempt.[228] He entered into a long\nargument with the poor tinker, about using the liturgy of the Church of\nEngland, first warning him of his danger if he spake lightly of it.\nBunyan argued that prayer was purely spiritual, the offering of the\nheart, and not the reading of a form. The justice declared\u2014\u2018We know the\nCommon Prayer-book hath been ever since the apostles\u2019 time, and is\nlawful to be used in the church!!\u2019 It is surprising that such a\ndialogue was ever entered upon; either Keling was desirous of\ntriumphing over the celebrated tinker, or his countenance and personal\nappearance commanded respect. For some cause he was treated with great\nliberality for those times; the extent of it may be seen by one justice\nasking him, \u2018Is your God Beelzebub?\u2019 and another declaring that he was\npossessed with the devil! \u2018All which,\u2019 says Bunyan, \u2018I passed over, the\nLord forgive them!\u2019 When, however, the justice was worsted in argument,\nand acknowledged that he was not well versed in Scripture, he demanded\nthe prisoner\u2019s plea, saying, \u2018Then you confess the indictment?\u2019 \u2018Now,\u2019\nsays Bunyan, \u2018and not till now, I saw I was indicted; and said\u2014\u201cThis I\nconfess, we have had many meetings together, both to pray to God, and\nto exhort one another; and that we had the sweet comforting presence of\nthe Lord among us for our encouragement (blessed be his name!);\ntherefore I confess myself guilty, and no otherwise.\u201d\u2019 This was\nrecorded as a plea of guilty, and Keling resumed his natural ferocity.\n\u2018Then,\u2019 said he, \u2018hear your judgment. You must be had back again to\nprison, and there lie for three months following; and then, if you do\nnot submit to go to church to hear Divine service, and leave your\npreaching, you must be banished the realm; and after that, if you shall\nbe found in this realm without special license from the king, you must\nstretch by the neck for it. I tell you plainly\u2019; \u2018and so he bid my\njailer have me away.\u2019 The hero answered\u2014\u2018I am at a point with you: if I\nwere out of prison to-day, I would preach the gospel again to-morrow,\nby the help of God.\u2019[229]\n\nThe statutes, by virtue of which this awful sentence was pronounced,\ntogether with the legal form of recantation used by those who were\nterrified into conformity, are set forth in a note to the Grace\nAbounding.[230] Bunyan was, if not the first, one of the first\nDissenters who were proceeded against after the restoration of Charles\nII; and his trial, if such it may be called, was followed by a\nwholesale persecution. The king, as head of the Church of England,\nwreaked his vengeance upon all classes of Dissenters, excepting Roman\nCatholics and Jews.\n\nThe reign of Charles II was most disgraceful and disastrous to the\nnation, even the king being a pensioner upon the French court. The\nDutch swept the seas, and threatened to burn London; a dreadful plague\ndepopulated the metropolis\u2014the principal part of which was, in the\nfollowing year, with its cathedral, churches, and public buildings,\ndestroyed by fire; plots and conspiracies alarmed the people; tyranny\nwas triumphant; even the bodies of the illustrious dead were exhumed,\nand treated with worse than savage ferocity; while a fierce persecution\nraged throughout the kingdom, which filled the jails with Dissenters.\n\nIn Scotland, the persecution raged with still more deadly violence.\nMilitary, in addition to civil despotism, strove to enforce the use of\nthe Book of Common Prayer. The heroic achievements and awful suffering\nof Scottish Christians saved their descendants from this yoke of\nbondage.[231]\n\nA short account of the extent of the sufferings of our pious ancestors\nis given in the Introduction to the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress[232]\u2014a narrative\nwhich would appear incredible did it not rest upon unimpeachable\nauthority. It would be difficult to believe the records of the brutal\ntreatment which the sufferers underwent had they not been handed down\nto us in the State Trials, and in public registers, over which the\npersecuted had no control. Two instances will show the extreme peril in\nwhich the most learned and pious men held their lives. John James, the\npastor of a Baptist church in Whitechapel, was charged, upon the\nevidence of a perjured drunken vagabond named Tipler, a pipe-maker\u2019s\njourneyman, who was not present in the meeting, but swore that he heard\nhim utter treasonable words. Notwithstanding the evidence of some most\nrespectable witnesses, who were present during the whole service, and\ndistinctly proved that no such words were used, Mr. James was\nconvicted, and sentenced to be hung. His distracted wife saw the king,\npresented a petition, and implored mercy, when the unfeeling monarch\nreplied, \u2018O! Mr. James; he is a sweet gentleman.\u2019 Again, on the\nfollowing morning, she fell at his feet, beseeching his royal clemency,\nwhen he spurned her from him, saying, \u2018John James, that rogue, he shall\nbe hanged; yea, he shall be hanged.\u2019 And, in the presence of his\nweeping friends, he ascended from the gibbet to the mansions of the\nblessed. His real crime was, that he continued to preach after having\nbeen warned not to do so by John Robinson, lieutenant of the Tower,\nproperly called, by Mr. Crosby,[233] a devouring wolf, upon whose head\nthe blood of this and other innocent Dissenters will be found. Another\nDissenting minister, learned, pious, loyal, and peaceful, was, during\nBunyan\u2019s time, marked for destruction. Thomas Rosewell was tried before\nthe monster Jeffreys. He was charged, upon the evidence of two infamous\ninformers, with having doubted the power of the king to cure the kings\u2019\nevil, and with saying that they should overcome their enemies with\nrams\u2019 horns, broken platters, and a stone in a sling. A number of most\nrespectable witnesses deposed to their having been present; that no\nsuch words were uttered, and that Mr. Rosewell was eminent for loyalty\nand devoted attachment to the Government. Alas! he was a Dissenting\nteacher of high standing, of extensive acquirements, and of great\nearnestness in seeking the salvation of sinners; and, under the\ndirection of that brutal judge, the venal jury found him guilty, and he\nwas sentenced to be hung. This frightful sentence would have been\nexecuted but from a singular interposition of Providence. Sir John\nTalbot was present during the trial, and a stranger to Mr. Rosewell;\nbut he was so struck with the proceedings, that he hastened to the\nking, related the facts, and added, \u2018that he had seen the life of a\nsubject, who appeared to be a gentleman and a scholar, in danger, upon\nsuch evidence as he would not hang his dog on.\u2019 And added, \u2018Sire, if\nyou suffer this man to die, we are none of us safe in our own houses.\u2019\nAt this moment Jeffreys came in, gloating over his prey, exulting in\nthe innocent blood he was about to shed, when, to his utter confusion,\nthe king said, \u2018Mr. Rosewell shall not die\u2019; and his pardon was issued\nunder the great seal.[234] Every Englishman should read the state\ntrials of that period, recording the sufferings of Richard Baxter,\nWilliam Penn, Sir H. Vane, and many others of our most pious\nforefathers; and they must feel that it was a miracle of mercy that\nsaved the life of Bunyan, and gave him leisure to write not only his\npopular allegories, but the most valuable treatises in the English\nlanguage upon subjects of the deepest importance.\n\nWhen he entered the prison, his first and prayerful object was to levy\na tax upon his affliction\u2014to endeavour to draw honey from the carcass\nof the lion. His care was to render his imprisonment subservient to the\ngreat design of showing forth the glory of God by patient submission to\nHis will. Before his commitment, he had a strong presentiment of his\nsufferings; his earnest prayer, for many months, was that he might,\nwith composure, encounter all his trials, even to an ignominious death.\nThis led him to the solemn consideration of reckoning himself, his\nwife, children, health, enjoyments, all as dying, and in perfect\nuncertainty, and to live upon God, his invisible but ever-present\nFather.\n\nLike an experienced military commander, he wisely advises every\nChristian to have a reserve for Christ in case of dire emergency. \u2018We\nought to have a reserve for Christ, to help us at a dead lift. When\nprofession and confession will not do; when loss of goods and a prison\nwill not do; when loss of country and of friends will not do; when\nnothing else will do, then willingly to lay down our lives for his\nname.\u2019[235] In the midst of all these dread uncertainties, his soul was\nraised to heavenly contemplations of the future happiness of the saints\nof God.\n\nIt is deeply impressive to view a man, with gigantic intellect,\ninvolved in the net which was laid to trammel his free spirit,\ndisregarding his own wisdom; seeking guidance from heaven in earnest\nprayer, and in searching the sacred Scriptures; disentangling himself,\nand calmly waiting the will of his heavenly Father. Still he severely\nfelt the infirmities of nature. Parting with his wife and children, he\ndescribed as \u2018the pulling the flesh from the bones. I saw I was as a\nman who was pulling down his house upon the head of his wife and\nchildren; yet, thought I, I must do it.\u2019[236] His feelings were\npeculiarly excited to his poor blind Mary.[237] \u2018O! the thoughts of the\nhardships my poor blind one might go under, would break my heart in\npieces.\u2019 It is one of the governing principles of human nature, that\nthe most delicate or afflicted child excites our tenderest feelings. \u2018I\nhave seen men,\u2019 says Bunyan, \u2018take most care of, and best provide for\nthose of their children that have been most infirm and helpless; and\nour Advocate \u201cshall gather his lambs with his arms, and carry them in\nhis bosom.\u201d\u2019[238] While in this state of distress, the promise came to\nhis relief\u2014\u2018Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive;\nand let thy widows trust in me.\u2019 He had heard of the miseries of those\nbanished Christians who had been sold into slavery, and perished with\ncold and calamities, lying in ditches like poor, forlorn, desolate\nsheep.\n\nAt the end of three months he became anxious to know what the enemies\nof the cross intended to do with him. His sentence was transportation\nand death, unless he conformed. To give up or shrink from his\nprofession of Christ, by embracing the national forms and submitting\nhis conscience to human laws, he dared not. He resolved to persevere\neven at the sacrifice of his life. To add to his distress, doubts and\nfears clouded his prospects of futurity; \u2018Satan,\u2019 said he, \u2018laid hard\nat me to beat me out of heart.\u2019 At length he came to the determination\nto venture his eternal state with Christ, whether he had present\ncomfort or not. His state of mind he thus describes\u2014\u2018If God doth not\ncome in (to comfort me) I will leap off the ladder, even blindfold,\ninto eternity, sink or swim, come heaven, come hell. Lord Jesus, if\nthou wilt catch me, do; I will venture all for thy name.\u2019 From this\ntime he felt a good hope and great consolation.\n\nThe clerk of the peace, Mr. Cobb, was sent by the justices to persuade\nhim to conform, and had a very long and interesting conference with him\nin the prison. This shows that the magistrates were well convinced that\nhe was a leader in nonconformity, who, if brought over, would afford\nthem a signal triumph. In fact, he was called, by a beneficed\nclergyman, \u2018the most notorious schismatic in all the county of\nBedford.\u2019[239] It is perhaps to the arguments of Cobb that he refers in\nhis Advice to Sufferers. \u2018The wife of the bosom lies at him, saying, O\ndo not cast thyself away; if thou takest this course, what shall I do?\nThou hast said thou lovest me; now make it manifest by granting this my\nsmall request\u2014Do not still remain in thine integrity. Next to this come\nthe children, which are like to come to poverty, to beggary, to be\nundone, for want of wherewithal to feed, and clothe, and provide for\nthem for time to come. Now also come kindred, and relations, and\nacquaintance; some chide, some cry, some argue, some threaten, some\npromise, some flatter, and some do all to befool him for so unadvised\nan act as to cast away himself, and to bring his wife and children to\nbeggary for such a thing as religion. These are sore temptations.\u2019[240]\nIt was during this period of his imprisonment that the mad attempt was\nmade, by Venner and his rabble, to overturn the government. This was\npressed upon Bunyan as a reason why he should not hold meetings for\nreligious exercises, but rely upon his more private opportunities of\nexhorting his neighbours. In reply to this, Mr. Cobb is reminded of\nBunyan\u2019s well-known loyalty, which would become useful in proportion to\nhis public teaching. It was a pleasing interview, which, while it did\nnot for a moment shake his determination, led him to thank Mr. Cobb for\nhis civil and meek discourse, and to ejaculate a heartfelt prayer\u2014\u2018O\nthat we might meet in heaven.\u2019[241] The whole of it is reprinted at the\nend of the Grace Abounding, and it shows that God gave him favour even\nwith his persecutors. It Is not surprising that such a prisoner should\nhave won the good opinion of his jailer, so that he was permitted the\nconsolation of seeing his relatives and friends, who ministered to his\ncomforts.\n\nWhen the time arrived for the execution of the bitterest part of his\nsentence, God, in his providence, interposed to save the life of his\nservant. He had familiarized his mind with all the circumstances of a\npremature and appalling death; the gibbet, the ladder, the halter, had\nlost much of their terrors; he had even studied the sermon he would\nthen have preached to the concourse of spectators. At this critical\ntime the king\u2019s coronation took place, on April 23, 1661. To garnish\nthis grand ceremony, the king had ordered the release of numerous\nprisoners of certain classes, and within that description of offences\nwas that for which Bunyan was confined. The proclamation allowed twelve\nmonths\u2019 time to sue out the pardon under the great seal, but without\nthis expensive process thousands of vagabonds and thieves were set at\nliberty, while, alas, an offence against the church was not to be\npardoned upon such easy terms. Bunyan and his friends were too simple,\nhonest, and virtuous, to understand why such a distinction should be\nmade. The assizes being held in August, he determined to seek his\nliberty by a petition to the judges. The court sat at the Swan Inn, and\nas every incident in the life of this extraordinary man excites our\ninterest, we are gratified to have it in our power to exhibit the state\nof this celebrated inn at that time.\n\nHaving written his petition, and made some fair copies of it, his\nmodest, timid wife determined to present them to the judges. Her heroic\nachievements\u2014for such they deserve to be called\u2014on behalf of her\nhusband, are admirably narrated by Bunyan, the whole of which is\nreprinted in our first volume,[243] and deserves a most attentive\nperusal. Want of space prevents us repeating it here, or even making\nextracts from it. She had previously traveled to London with a petition\nto the House of Lords, and entrusted it to Lord Barkwood, who conferred\nwith some of the peers upon it, and informed her that they could not\ninterfere, the king having committed the release of the prisoners to\nthe judges. When they came the circuit and the assizes were held at\nBedford; Bunyan in vain besought the local authorities that he might\nhave liberty to appear in person and plead for his release. This\nreasonable request was denied, and, as a last resource, he committed\nhis cause to an affectionate wife. Several times she appeared before\nthe judges; love to her husband, a stern sense of duty, a conviction of\nthe gross injustice practiced upon one to whom she was most tenderly\nattached, overcame her delicate, modest, retiring habits, and forced\nher upon this strange duty. Well did she support the character of an\nadvocate. This delicate, courageous, high-minded woman appeared before\nJudge Hale, who was much affected with her earnest pleading for one so\ndear to her, and whose life was so valuable to his children. It was the\ntriumph of love, duty, and piety, over bashful timidity. Her energetic\nappeals were in vain. She returned to the prison with a heavy heart, to\ninform her husband that, while felons, malefactors, and men guilty of\nmisdemeanours were, without any recantation or promise of amendment, to\nbe let loose upon society to grace the coronation, the poor prisoners\nfor conscience\u2019 sake were to undergo their unjust and savage sentences.\nOr, in plain words, that refusing to go to church to hear the Common\nPrayer was an unpardonable crime, not to be punished in any milder mode\nthan recantation, or transportation, or the halter. With what bitter\nfeelings must she have returned to the prison, believing that it would\nbe the tomb of her beloved husband! How natural for the distressed,\ninsulted wife to have written harsh things against the judge! She could\nnot have conceived that, under the stately robes of Hale, there was a\nheart affected by Divine love. And when the nobleman afterwards met the\ndespised tinker and his wife, on terms of perfect equality, clothed in\nmore glorious robes in the mansions of the blessed, how inconceivable\ntheir surprise! It must have been equally so with the learned judge,\nwhen, in the pure atmosphere of heaven, he found that the illiterate\ntinker, harassed by poverty and imprisonment, produced books, the\nadmiration of the world. As Dr. Cheever eloquently writes\u2014\u2018How little\ncould he dream, that from that narrow cell in Bedford jail a glory\nwould shine out, illustrating the grace of God, and doing more good to\nman, than all the prelates and judges of the kingdom would\naccomplish.\u2019[244]\n\nBunyan was thus left in a dreary and hopeless state of imprisonment, in\nwhich he continued for somewhat more than twelve years, and it becomes\nan interesting inquiry how he spent his time and managed to employ his\ngreat talent in his Master\u2019s service. The first object of his\nsolicitude would be to provide for his family, according to 1 Timothy\n5:8. How to supply his house with bare necessaries to meet the expenses\nof a wife and four children, must have filled him with anxiety. The\nillness, death, and burial of his first beloved wife, had swept away\nany little reserve which otherwise might have accumulated, so that,\nsoon after his imprisonment commenced, before he could resume any kind\nof labour, his wife thus pleaded with the judge for his liberty, \u2018My\nlord, I have four small children that cannot help themselves, of which\none is blind, and have nothing to live upon but the charity of good\npeople.\u2019 How inscrutable are the ways of Providence; the rich reveling\nin luxury while using their wealth to corrupt mankind, while this\neminent saint, with his family, were dependent upon charity! As soon as\nhe could get his tools in order he set to work; and we have the\nfollowing testimony to his industry by a fellow-prisoner, Mr. Wilson,\nthe Baptist minister, and of Charles Doe, who visited him in\nprison:\u2014\u2018Nor did he, while he was in prison, spend his time in a supine\nand careless manner, nor eat the bread of idleness; for there have I\nbeen witness that his own hands have ministered to his and his family\u2019s\nnecessities, making many hundred gross of long tagged laces, to fill up\nthe vacancies of his time, which he had learned to do for that purpose,\nsince he had been in prison. There, also, I surveyed his library, the\nleast, but yet the best that e\u2019er I saw\u2014the Bible and the Book of\nMartyrs.[245] And during his imprisonment (since I have spoken of his\nlibrary), he writ several excellent and useful treatises, particularly\nThe Holy City, Christian Behaviour, The Resurrection of the Dead, and\nGrace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.\u2019[246] Besides these valuable\ntreatises, Charles Doe states that, of his own knowledge, in prison\nBunyan wrote The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, the first part, and that he had\nthis from his own mouth.[247] In addition to the demonstration of this\nimportant fact contained in the introduction to The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress,\nthere ought to have been added, Bunyan\u2019s statement made in introducing\nhis second part:\u2014\u2018Now, having taken up my lodgings in a wood about a\nmile off the place\u2019: no longer in \u2018a den,\u2019 but sheltered, in a wood, in\na state of comparative, but not of perfect liberty, about a mile\ndistant from the den in which he wrote his first part. Whether this may\nrefer to his former cottage at Elstow, of which there is great doubt,\nor to the house he occupied in Bedford after his release, they were\nequally about a mile from the jail. He certainly means that the two\nparts were not written in the same place, nor is there a shadow of a\ndoubt as to the fact that in prison the great allegory was conceived\nand written. Well might Mr. Doe say, \u2018What hath the devil or his agents\ngot by putting our great gospel minister in prison?\u2019 They prevented his\npreaching to a few poor pilgrims in the villages round Bedford, and it\nwas the means of spreading his fame, and the knowledge of the gospel,\nby his writings, throughout the world. Thus does the wrath of man\npraise God. In addition to the works above enumerated, he also\npublished some extremely valuable tracts, several editions of a work\nwhich ought to be read by all young Christians\u2014A Treatise on the\nCovenants of the Law and of Grace; several editions of Sighs from Hell;\nA Map of Salvation and Damnation; The Four Last Things, a poem; Mount\nEbal and Gerizim, or, Redemption from the Curse, a poem; Prison\nMeditations, a poem: the four last are single sheets, probably sold by\nhis children or friends to assist him in obtaining his livelihood:\nJustification by Faith in Jesus Christ, 4to; Confession of His Faith\nand Reason of His Practice. The most remarkable treatise which he\npublished while in confinement, is on prayer, from the words of the\napostle, \u2018I will pray with the spirit and with the understanding also.\u2019\nHis attention had been fixed on this subject when his free-born spirit\nwas roused by the threat of Justice Keeling, \u2018Take heed of speaking\nirreverently of the Book of Common Prayer, for if you do you will bring\ngreat damage upon yourself.\u2019\n\nBunyan had formed his ideas of prayer from heartfelt experience; it is\nthe cry of the burthened, sinking sinner, \u2018Lord save us, we perish\u2019; or\nadoration rising from the heart to the throne of grace, filled with\nhopes of pardon and immortality. In his estimation, any form of human\ninvention was an interference with the very nature of prayer, and with\nthe work of the Holy Spirit, who alone can inspire our souls with\nacceptable prayer.\n\nIn expressing his views upon this all-important subject, Bunyan was\nsimply guided by a sense of duty. Fear of the consequences, or of\noffending his enemies, never entered his mind. He felt that they were\nin the hands of his heavenly Father, and that all their malice must be\nover-ruled for good. Notwithstanding his solemn warning not to speak\nirreverently of the book, his refusal to use which had subjected him to\nsevere privations and the fear of a halter, this Christian hero was not\ndaunted, but gives his opinion of it with all that freedom and liberty\nwhich he considered essential to excite in his fellow-men inquiries as\nto its origin and imposition.\n\nIt is not my province to enter into the controversy whether in public\nworship a form of prayer ought to be used. Let every one be persuaded\nin his own mind; but to pass a law denouncing those that refuse to use\na prescribed form as worthy of imprisonment, transportation, or death,\nis an attack upon the first principles of Christianity. To punish those\nwho spoke irreverently of it, was almost an acknowledgment that it\nwould not bear investigation. To speak of the book as in his serious\njudgment it deserved, was not that mark of sectarianism which Romaine\nexhibited when he called the beautiful hymns of Dr. Watts, which are\nused so much in public worship among Dissenters, \u2018Watts\u2019 jingle,\u2019 and\n\u2018Watts\u2019 whims!\u2019[248] No answer appears to have been published to\nBunyan\u2019s extremely interesting volume until twelve years after the\nauthor\u2019s death, when a reply appeared under the title of Liturgies\nVindicated by the Dissenters, or the Lawfulness of Forms of Prayer\nproved against John Bunyan and the Dissenters. 1700. This is a very\nrare and curious volume. The author, as usual in such controversies,\ndeals wholesale in invective, and displays all the ability of a\nsophist.\n\nThe Christian world is indebted to Dr. Cheever for a beautiful picture\nof Bunyan\u2019s devotional exercise in his cell. \u2018It is evening; he\nfinishes his work, to be taken home by his dear blind child. He reads a\nportion of Scripture, and, clasping her small hands in his, kneels on\nthe cold stone floor, and pours out his soul to God; then, with a\nparting kiss, dismisses her to her mother. The rude lamp glimmers on\nthe table; with his Bible, pen, and paper, he writes as though joy did\nmake him write. His face is lighted as from the radiant jasper walls of\nthe celestial city. He clasps his hands, looks upward, and blesses God\nfor his goodness. The last you see of him\u2014is alone, kneeling on the\nprison floor; he is alone with God.\u2019\n\nCharles Doe, who manifested most laudable anxiety to hand down the\nworks of Bunyan to posterity, bears honourable testimony to his conduct\nwhile in prison. \u2018It was by making him a visit in prison that I first\nsaw him, and became acquainted with him; and I must profess I could not\nbut look upon him to be a man of an excellent spirit, zealous for his\nmaster\u2019s honour, and cheerfully committing all his own concernments\nunto God\u2019s disposal. When I was there, there were about sixty\nDissenters besides himself there, taken but a little before at a\nreligious meeting at Kaistoe, in the county of Bedford; besides two\neminent Dissenting ministers, Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Dun (both very well\nknown in Bedfordshire, though long since with God[249]), by which means\nthe prison was very much crowded; yet, in the midst of all that hurry\nwhich so many new-comers occasioned, I have heard Mr. Bunyan both\npreach and pray with that mighty spirit of faith and plerophory of\ndivine assistance that has made me stand and wonder.\u2019[250] Here they\ncould sing, without fear of being overheard; no informers prowling\nround. The world was shut out; and, in communion with heaven, they\ncould forget their sorrows, and have a rich foretaste of the\ninconceivable glory of the celestial city. It was under such\ncircumstances that Bunyan preached one of his most remarkable sermons,\nafterwards published under the title of The Holy City or the New\nJerusalem, 1665. \u2018Upon a certain first-day, being together with my\nbrethren in our prison-chamber, they expected that, according to our\ncustom, something should be spoken out of the Word for our mutual\nedification. I felt myself, it being my turn to speak, so empty,\nspiritless, and barren, that I thought I should not have been able to\nspeak among them so much as five words of truth with life and evidence.\nAt last I cast mine eye upon this prophecy, when, after considering\nawhile, methought I perceived something of that jasper in whose light\nyou find this holy city descended; wherefore, having got some dim\nglimmering thereof, and finding a desire to see farther thereinto, I\nwith a few groans did carry my meditations to the Lord Jesus for a\nblessing, which he did forthwith grant, and helping me to set before my\nbrethren, we did all eat, and were well refreshed; and behold, also,\nthat while I was in the distributing of it, it so increased in my hand,\nthat of the fragments that we left, after we had well dined, I gathered\nup this basketful. Wherefore, setting myself to a more narrow search,\nthrough frequent prayer, what first with doing and then with undoing,\nand after that with doing again, I thus did finish it.\u2019[251] To this\nsingular event the religious public are indebted for one of Bunyan\u2019s\nablest treatises, full of the striking sparkles of his extraordinary\nimagination. It was a subject peculiarly adapted to display his\npowers\u2014the advent of New Jerusalem, her impregnable walls and gates of\nprecious stones, golden streets, water of life, temple, and the\nredeemed from all nations flocking into it.[252]\n\nIn these times of severe persecution, two of the church members, S.\nFenn and J. Whiteman, were ordained joint pastors. Fenn has just been\ndelivered out of prison; yet they ventured to brave the storm, and in\nthis year, although the lions prowled before the porch, a number were\nadded to the church. Thus was their little Jerusalem built \u2018even in\ntroublous times.\u2019\n\nBunyan\u2019s popularity and fame for wisdom and knowledge had spread all\nround the country, and it naturally brought him visitors, with their\ndoubts, and fears, and cases of conscience. Among these a singular\ninstance is recorded in the Life of Badman. \u2018When I was in prison,\u2019\nsays the narrator, \u2018there came a woman to me that was under a great\ndeal of trouble. So I asked her, she being a stranger to me, what she\nhad to say to me? She said she was afraid she should be damned. I asked\nher the cause of those fears. She told me that she had, some time\nsince, lived with a shopkeeper at Wellingborough, and had robbed his\nbox in the shop several times of money, and pray, says she, tell me\nwhat I shall do? I told her I would have her go to her master, and make\nhim satisfaction. She said she was afraid lest he should hang her. I\ntold her that I would intercede for her life, and would make use of\nother friends to do the like; but she told me she durst not venture\nthat. Well, said I, shall I send to your master, while you abide out of\nsight, and make your peace with him before he sees you? and with that I\nasked her master\u2019s name. But all she said in answer to this was, pray\nlet it alone till I come to you again. So away she went, and neither\ntold me her master\u2019s name nor her own; and I never saw here\nagain.\u2019[253] He adds, \u2018I could tell you of another, that came to me\nwith a like relation concerning herself, and the robbing of her\nmistress.\u2019\n\nTo his cruel imprisonment the world is indebted for the most surprising\nnarrative of a new birth that has ever appeared. It was there that he\nwas led to write the Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. He\ndisplays in the preface his deep interest in the spiritual welfare of\nthose who had been born under his ministry. He rejoices in their\nhappiness, even while he was \u2018sticking between the teeth of the lions\nin the wilderness. I now again, as before from the top of shenir and\nHermon, so now from the lions\u2019 dens, from \u201cthe mountains of the\nleopards,\u201d do look yet after you all, greatly longing to see your safe\narrival into the desired haven.\u2019[254] How natural it was that, while\nnarrating his own experience, he should be led to write a guide to\npilgrims through time to eternity, and that it should be dated from\n\u2018the den!\u2019\n\n\u2018And thus it was: I writing of the way\nAnd race of saints, in this our gospel-day,\nFell suddenly into an allegory\nAbout their journey, and the way to glory.\u2019[255]\n\n\nAny one possessing powers of imagination, to whom the adventures of\nChristian are familiar, would, on reading the Grace Abounding, be\ncontinually struck with the likeness there drawn of the pilgrim\u2014the\nmore he contemplates the two pictures of Christian experience, so much\nthe more striking is their similarity. The one is a narrative of facts,\nthe other contains the same facts allegorized. Thus, by an irresistible\nimpulse from heaven upon the mind of a prisoner for Christ, did a light\nshine forth from the dungeon on Bedford bridge which has largely\ncontributed to enlighten the habitable globe. The Pilgrim has been\ntranslated into most of the languages and dialects of the world. The\nCaffrarian and Hottentot, the enlightened Greek and Hindoo, the remnant\nof the Hebrew race, the savage Malay and the voluptuous Chinese\u2014all\nhave the wondrous narrative in their own languages. Bunyan was\nimprisoned by bigots and tyrants, to prevent his being heard or known;\nand his voice, in consequence, reaches to the ends of the earth. Let\nevery wretched persecutor contemplate this instance of God\u2019s\nover-ruling power. You will surely plunge the avenging sword into your\nown vitals if, by persecution, you vainly endeavour to wound the saints\nof the living God. You may make hypocrites throw off their disguise.\nThe real Christian may be discouraged, but he perseveres. He feels the\ntruth of Bunyan\u2019s quaint saying, \u2018the persecutors are but the devil\u2019s\nscarecrows, the old one himself lies quat\u2019; while the eye of God is\nupon him to save the children of Zion.[256] His otherwise dreary\nimprisonment was lightened, and the time beguiled by these delightful\nwritings. His fellow-prisoners were benefited by hearing him read his\npilgrim\u2019s adventures. But this has been so fully displayed in the\nintroduction to the Pilgrim that any further notice is\nunnecessary.[257]\n\nWhile busily occupied with his Grace Abounding and Pilgrim\u2019s Progress,\nhe wrote a poetical epistle in answer to the kind inquiries of his\nnumerous friends and visitors. After thanking them for counsel and\nadvice, he describes his feelings in prison. His feet stood on Mount\nZion; his body within locks and bars, while his mind was free to study\nChrist, and elevated higher than the stars. Their fetters could not\ntame his spirit, nor prevent his communion with God. The more his\nenemies raged, the more peace he experienced. In prison he received the\nvisits of saints, of angels, and the Spirit of God. \u2018I have been able\nto laugh at destruction, and to fear neither the horse nor his rider. I\nhave had sweet sights of the forgiveness of my sins in this place, and\nof my being with Jesus in another world.\u2019[258] If his ears were to be\npierced in the pillory, it would be only \u2018to hang a jewel there.\u2019 The\nsource of his happy feelings is well expressed in one of the stanzas:\u2014\n\n\u2018The truth and I were both here cast\n    Together, and we do\nLie arm in arm, and so hold fast\n    Each other; this is true.\u2019[259]\n\n\nYes, honest John Bunyan, the world at large now gives you credit for\nthe truth of that saying.\n\nHow strange must it seem to the luxurious worldling, with his bed of\ndown and splendid hangings, but aching heart, to hear of the exquisite\nhappiness of the prisoner for Christ on his straw pallet! \u2018When God\nmakes the bed,\u2019 as Bunyan says, \u2018he must needs be easy that is cast\nthereon; a blessed pillow hath that man for his head, though to all\nbeholders it is hard as a stone.\u2019[260] In the whole course of his\ntroubles, he enjoyed the sympathy of his family and friends. his food\nwas brought daily, and such was the veneration in which his memory was\nembalmed, that the very jug in which his broth was taken to the prison\nhas been preserved to this day.[261]\n\nIn the midst of all his sufferings he murmurs not nor for a moment\ngives way to revenge; he leaves the persecutor in the hands of God.\nStand off, Christian; pity the poor wretch that brings down upon\nhimself the vengeance of God. Your pitiful arm must no strike him\u2014no,\nstand by, \u2018that God may have his full blow at him in his time.\nWherefore he saith avenge not yourself\u2014\u201cVengeance is mine, saith the\nLord.\u201d Give place, leave such an one to be handled by me.\u2019[262]\n\n\u2018There are several degrees of suffering for righteousness\u2014the scourge\nof the tongue, the ruin of an estate, the loss of liberty, a gaol, a\ngibbet, a stake, a dagger. Now answerable to these are the comforts of\nthe Holy Ghost, prepared like to like, part proportioned to part, only\nthe consolations are said to abound.\u2019[263] The mind of Bunyan was\nimbued with these sentiments; baptized into them, and consequently\nelevated far above the fear of what man could do unto him. Yes, he knew\nthe power of God. \u2018He can make those things that in themselves are most\nfearful and terrible to behold, the most delightful and most desirable\nthings. He can make a gaol more beautiful than a palace, restraint more\nsweet by far than liberty, and the reproach of Christ greater riches\nthan the treasures of Egypt.\u2019[264]\n\nThe Bible, that heavenly storehouse, was opened to him: \u2018I never had,\nin all my life, so great an inlet into the Word of God as now.\u2019[265] \u2018I\nhave had sweet sights of forgiveness and of the heavenly Jerusalem. I\nhave seen here that which, while in this world, I shall never be able\nto express.\u2019\n\nAbout a year before he was set at liberty he received a very popular\nwork, written by Edward Fowler, a Bedfordshire clergyman, who was soon\nafter elevated to the see of Gloucester. It was entitled The Design of\nChristianity, and professed to prove that the object of the Saviour was\nmerely to place man in a similar position to that of Adam before the\nfall. It is an extremely learned production, full of Greek and Latin\nquotations; but, in Bunyan\u2019s estimation, it aimed a deadly blow at the\nfoundations of Christianity. To restore man to Adam\u2019s innocency, and\nthen to leave him to cope with Satanic subtlety, was to cut off all\nhopes of salvation. It was brought to him in February 1672, and in the\nvery short period of forty-two days, Fowler\u2019s theory was most\ncompletely demolished by Bunyan\u2019s Defence of the Doctrine of\nJustification, 4to, dated from prison, the 27th of the 12th Month, 1671\n(27th March, 1672). This was answered by a small 4to volume, entitled\nDirt Wiped Off. Bunyan had used some harsh epithets; but the clergyman,\nor his curate, beat the tinker in abusive language. He had been by this\ntime promoted to the rectory of Cripplegate. For an account of this\ncontroversy, the reader is referred to the introduction to Bunyan\u2019s\nwork on Justification, and to that to the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.[266] The\nimpression it made upon the public mind is well expressed in a rude\nrhyme, made by an anonymous author, in his Assembly of Moderate\nDivines:\n\n\u2018There\u2019s a moderate Doctour at Cripplegate dwells,\nWhom Smythes his curate in trimming excells;\nBut Bunyan a tinker hath tickled his gills.\u2019\n\n\nThe last work that he wrote in prison was the confession of his faith,\nand reason of his practice as to mixed communion, not with the world,\nbut with saints of other denominations. As this plunged him into a\nfearful controversy with his Dissenting brethren (Baptists,\nIndependents, and Presbyterians), a notice of it will more properly be\nintroduced in our account of that conflict. He had been incarcerated\nnearly twelve years, and had determined to suffer to the end. Here he\nfound time \u2018to weigh, and pause, and pause again, the grounds and\nfoundations of those principles for which he suffered,\u2019 and he was a\nNonconformist still. \u2018I cannot, I dare not now revolt or deny my\nprinciples, on pain of eternal damnation,\u2019[267] are his impressive\nwords. \u2018Faith and holiness are my professed principles, with an\nendeavour to be at peace with all men. Let they themselves be judges,\nif aught they find in my writing or preaching doth render me worthy of\nalmost twelve years\u2019 imprisonment, or one that deserveth to be hanged\nor banished for ever, according to their tremendous sentence. If\nnothing will do unless I make of my conscience a continual butchery and\nslaughter-shop, unless putting out my own eyes, I commit me to the\nblind to lead me, I have determined, the Almighty God being my help and\nshield, yet to suffer, if frail life might continue so long, even until\nthe moss shall grow over mine eye-brows, rather than to violate my\nfaith and principles.\u2019[268] The allusion to moss growing on his\neye-brows most probably referred to the damp state of his den or\ndungeon.\n\nThe continuation to the Grace Abounding, written by a friend, and\npublished four years after his decease, divides his imprisonment into\nthree periods; but as Bunyan makes it one continued imprisonment, there\ncan be no doubt but that it was a long, dreary confinement; during\nwhich the testimony of his friend, Samuel Wilson, is, that it was \u2018an\nuncomfortable and close prison, and sometimes under cruel and\noppressive jailers.\u2019 The division into three parts most probably\nalludes to the severity or liberality of his jailers. He had at times,\nwhile a prisoner, an extraordinary degree of liberty; like Joseph in\nEgypt, some of his jailers committed all to his hands. There can be\nlittle doubt but that he went from the prison to preach in the villages\nor woods, and at one time went to London to visit his admiring[269]\nfriends; but this coming to the ears of the justices, the humane jailer\nhad well nigh lost his place, and for some time he was not permitted to\nlook out at the door. When this had worn off, he had again\nopportunities of visiting his church and preaching by stealth. It is\nsaid that many of the Baptist congregations in Bedfordshire owe their\norigin to his midnight preaching.\n\nUpon one occasion, having been permitted to go out and visit his\nfamily, with whom he intended to spend the night, long before morning\nhe felt so uneasy that at a very late hour he went back to the prison.\nInformation was given to a neighbouring clerical magistrate that there\nwas strong suspicion of Bunyan having broke prison. At midnight, he\nsent a messenger to the jail, that he might be a witness against the\nmerciful keeper. On his arrival, he demanded, \u2018Are all the prisoners\nsafe?\u2019 the answer was, \u2018Yes.\u2019 \u2018Is John Bunyan safe?\u2019 \u2018Yes.\u2019 \u2018Let me see\nhim.\u2019 He was called up and confronted with the astonished witness, and\nall passed off well. His kind-hearted jailer said to him, \u2018You may go\nout when you will, for you know much better when to return than I can\ntell you.\u2019[270]\n\nDuring these twelve terrible years, and particularly towards the end of\nhis imprisonment, the members and elders of his church at Bedford\nsuffered most severely, a very abridged account of which is given in\nthe introduction to the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.[271] The set time for his\nliberation was now drawing near, but the singular means by which it was\naccomplished must be reserved for our next chapter.\n\nPERIOD SIXTH.\n\n\nBUNYAN IS DELIVERED FROM PRISON\u2014CONTROVERSY WITH THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH\nON THE SUBJECT OF THE LORD\u2019S SUPPER\u2014PUBLISHES THE PILGRIM\u2019S PROGRESS,\nAND MANY BOOKS, AND BECOMES EXTREMELY POPULAR\u2014HIS DECEASE AND\nCHARACTER.\n\n\nAs Charles II felt himself securely seated on his throne, his design to\nestablish an absolute monarchy became more and more apparent. The\nadulation of his professed friends, and the noisy popularity with which\nhe was greeted, appear to have fostered his crafty designs to rid\nhimself of parliamentary government. His whole conduct was that of a\nPapist, who keeps no faith with Protestants; or of a statesman, whose\nreligion, honour, and truthfulness, were wholly subservient to\nexpediency. To further his object, he formed a council of five\nnoblemen, two of whom were Roman Catholics, and the other three either\ncareless as to religion or professed infidels. The first letter of\ntheir names formed the word CABAL. Aided by these he sought to\nextinguish liberty, and extirpate the Protestant faith.[272] To furnish\nhimself with the means of indulging his unbridled passions, he, like a\nbuccaneer, seized the Dutch merchantmen returning from India and\nSmyrna, without any declaration of war, and laid his hands upon all the\nmoney borrowed of his merchants which had been deposited in the\nexchequer. He then united himself with France to destroy Holland, the\nstronghold of liberty. To gratify the Roman Catholics, and conciliate\nthe Dissenters, he issued a declaration in favour of liberty of\nconscience, the seal to which he afterwards broke with his own\nhands,[273] but he could not prevent a considerable degree of religious\nliberty arising from such vacillating conduct.\n\nBunyan, who had secured the confidence and esteem of his jailer, now\nfound his prison more like a lodging-house, and enjoyed great\nprivileges. He frequently, if not regularly, attended the church\nmeetings, and preached with some degree of publicity. The church at\nBedford was at this time in want of a pastor, and their eyes were\nnaturally fixed upon Bunyan to succeed to that important office. There\nwere two weighty considerations that required Divine guidance in coming\nto a conclusion. One was, whether it might injuriously affect the\nprisoner\u2019s comforts, and the other was, the propriety of making choice\nof a Christian brother to be their ministering elder, while\nincarcerated in a jail. Feeling these difficulties, the church held\nseveral meetings on the subject, the minutes of which are very\ninteresting. The first was held at Hawnes, on the 24th of the eighth\nmonth (October) 1671, when \u2018the improvement of the gifts of the church,\nand their disposal in an orderly way, were proposed to consideration,\nthat God might be sought for direction therein; and a time further to\nconsider and debate thereof, was appointed this day seven-night, at\nevening, at Bedford, where the principal brethren were desired for that\npurpose to come together, at brother John Fenn\u2019s; and a church-meeting\nwas appointed to be there that day week. The church was also minded to\nseek God about the choice of brother, Bunyan to the office of elder,\nthat their way in that respect may be cleared up to them.\u2019 At a meeting\nheld at Bedford, on the last day of the ninth month (November), there\nwas appointed another meeting \u2018to pray and consult about concluding the\naffair before propounded, concerning gifts of the brethren to be\nimproved, and the choice of brother Bunyan to office, at Gamlingay, on\nthe 14th day, and at Hawnes, the 20th, and at Bedford, the 21st of the\nsame instant, which it was desired might be a general meeting.\u2019 After\nall this jealous care, and these fervent applications to the throne of\ngrace for divine guidance, the result was most gratifying. \u2018At a full\nassembly of the church at Bedford, the 21st of the tenth month,[274]\nafter much seeking God by prayer and sober conference formally had, the\ncongregation did at this meeting, with joynt consent, signified by\nsolemn lifting up of their hands, call forth and appoint our brother\nJohn Bunyan to the pastoral office or eldership. And he accepting\nthereof, gave himself up to serve Christ and his Church, in that\ncharge, and received of the elders the right hand of fellowship, after\nhaving preached fifteen years.\u2019 The choice thus solemnly made, was\nratified by the abundant blessings of heavenly union and great\nprosperity\u2014no stranger or novice, but one whose preaching and writings\nhad proved most acceptable to them for a series of years\u2014on that had\nbeen owned and blessed of his God, and whom the church delighted to\nhonour.\n\nAt the same church meeting, \u2018The congregation having had long\nexperience of the faithfulness of brother John Fenn in his care for the\npoor, did after the same manner solemnly choose him to the honourable\noffice of a deacon, and committed their poor and purse to him, and he\naccepted thereof, and gave himself up to the Lord and them in that\nservice.\u2019 The church did also determine to keep the 26th inst. as a day\nof fasting and prayer, both here, and at Hawnes, and at Gamlingay,\nsolemnly to commend to the grace of God brother Bunyan and brother\nFenn, and to entreat his gracious assistance and presence with them in\ntheir respective works, whereunto he hath called them.\n\nThe most extraordinary circumstance that took place at this time was,\nthat while Bunyan was a prisoner in a wretched dungeon for preaching\nthe glad tidings of salvation, or, in the mysterious legal jargon of\nthe period, \u2018holding conventicles,\u2019 he received his Majesty\u2019s license\nto preach, and thus to hold conventicles\u2014it was one of the first that\nwas granted. His Majesty continued to keep him a prisoner for preaching\nmore than six months after he had licensed him to preach!! At the same\ntime that the permission to preach was granted to Bunyan, the house of\nJosiah Roughed, Bedford, was licensed by his Majesty\u2019s command, for the\nuse of such as do not conform to the Church of England. In this John\nBunyan was authorized to teach, or in any other licensed place.[275]\nThese were among the first licenses that were granted. The present\nhighly-respected pastor of the church considers that this license does\nnot refer to Roughed\u2019s private dwelling, but rather to \u2018an edifice or a\nbarn, purchased of Robert Crompton, Esq., with a piece of ground\nadjoining it,\u2019 in the parishes of St. Paul and Cuthbert, for \u00a350, in\n1672, by Roughed, Bunyan, Fenn, and others, and which was released by\nFenn to Bunyan and others, November 10, 1681, two days before Fenn\u2019s\ndeath. This building having been properly fitted up by voluntary\ncontribution, became permanently occupied by the church as its place of\nmeeting, until the old chapel was erected in 1707. From this we may\nconclude that Bunyan was engaged in his worldly occupation as a\nbrazier, in the year that he obtained his release from prison, and to\n1681.\n\nHow utterly contemptible does any Government become when they tamper\nwith spiritual worship. At one period they punished Dissenters with\nimprisonment, transportation, and, to use Judge Keeling\u2019s elegant\nexpression in his sentence on Bunyan, \u2018to stretch by the neck for it\u2019;\nand anon, the very same Government, under the same king, gives them\nlicense to dissent! Human laws affecting religion can never be the\nstandard of morality; to read the Bible is considered to be sin in\nTuscany, and righteousness in Britain. The release of this great and\npious man from his tedious imprisonment, has been hitherto involved in\na cloud of mystery, which it will be our happiness to disperse, while\nwe record that event in a clear, indisputable narrative of facts. His\nearlier biographer, Mr. Doe, not having access to archives which the\nlapse of time has now rendered available, attributed his release to the\ninfluence of Bishop Barlow, by the interference of Dr. Owen. It is\nnarrated in the life of Dr. Owen, published in 1721:\u2014\u2018The doctor had\nsome friends also among the bishops, Dr. Barlow, formerly his tutor,\nthen bishop of Lincoln, who yet upon a special occasion failed him,\nwhen he might have expected the service of his professed friendship.\nThe case was this, Mr. John Bunyan had been confined to a jail twelve\nyears, upon an excommunication for Nonconformity. Now there was a law,\nthat if any two persons will go to the bishop of the diocese, and offer\na cautionary bond, that the prisoner shall conform in half a year, the\nbishop may release him upon that bond; whereupon a friend of this poor\nman desired Dr. Owen to give him his letter to the bishop in his\nbehalf, which he readily granted. It was soon after the discovery of\nthe Popish plot, when this letter was carried to the bishop, who having\nread it, desired \u201ca little time to consider of it, and if I can do it,\nyou may be assured of my readiness.\u201d He was waited upon again in about\na fortnight, and his answer was, \u201cI would desire you to move the Lord\nChancellor in the case, and, upon his order, I will do it.\u201d To which it\nwas replied, \u201cthis method would be chargeable, and the man was poor,\nnot able to expend so much money; and, being satisfied he could do it\nlegally, it was hoped his Lordship would remember his promise, there\nbeing no straining a point in the case. But he would do it upon no\nother terms, which at last was done, and the poor man released.\u201d And\nfor this we are told that \u201cMr. Bunyan returned him his unfeigned\nthanks, and often remembered him in his prayers, as, next to God, his\ndeliverer.\u201d\u2019 The whole of this story, so far as it relates to Bunyan,\nis not only improbable, but utterly impossible. Bunyan was never\nexcommunicated, and he was certainly released from prison two or three\nyears previous to Dr. Barlow becoming a bishop. The critical times to\nwhich he alludes, refer doubtless to the Popish plot, which took place\nin 1678, Bunyan having been released in 1672. The probability is, that\nDr. Owen did about 1678 apply to the bishop of Lincoln for the release\nof some poor prisoner under sentence of excommunication, it being his\nprovince to release such prisoners upon their making peace with the\nChurch. If this person was a friend of Bunyan\u2019s, his prayers for the\nbishop, and acknowledgments for this act of kindness, are readily\naccounted for. That Barlow had nothing to do with Bunyan\u2019s release is\nnow perfectly clear; because all, even the minutest particulars\nrelative to it, have been discovered. This is a very romantic history,\nand necessarily leads us back to the battle of Worcester. At this\nbattle, the republicans were numerous, well disciplined, and led by\nexperienced officers; the royal army was completely routed, and its\nleaders, who survived the battle, were subject to the severest\nprivations. Charles found refuge at Boscobel House, and, disguised as a\nwoodcutter, was hid in an oak. His adventures and hair-breadth escapes\nfill a volume:\u2014the parliament offered one thousand pounds reward for\nhis apprehension. At length, after wandering in various disguises forty\ndays, he arrived at Brighton, then a small fishing town, and here his\nfriends succeeded in hiring a fishing boat to take him to France.\nNumerous histories of this extraordinary escape were published, but no\ntwo of them agree, excepting that, to please the king, all the credit\nwas given to Roman Catholics. Of these narratives, that by Dr. Lingard\nhas the strangest blunder. When they left Shoreham, \u2018The ship stood\nwith easy sail towards the Isle of Wight, as if she were on her way to\nDeal, to which port she was bound\u2019[276]\u2014Deal being exactly in the\ncontrary direction! Carte has the best account. The vessel was bound\nfor Poole, coal-laden; they left Shoreham at seven a.m. under easy\nsail; and at five, being off the Isle of Wight, with the wind north,\nshe stood over to France, and returned to Poole, no one discovering\nthat they had been out of their course. A letter recently discovered\namong the archives of the Society of Friends at Devonshire House solves\nevery difficulty. It is written by Ellis Hookes to the wife of George\nFox, dated January, 1670\u2014\n\n\u2018Yesterday there was a friend (a quaker) wth the king, one that is John\nGroves mate, he was the may yt. was mate to the master of the\nfisher-boat yt carried the king away when he went from Worcester fight,\nand only this friend and the master knew of it in the ship, and the\nfriend carried him (the king) ashoare on his shoulders. the king knew\nhim again, and was very friendly to him, and told him he remembered him\nand of severall tings yt was done in ye ship att the same time. the\nfriend told him the reason why he did not come all this while was yt he\nwas satisfied in yt he had peace and satisfaction in himself yt he did\nwhat he did to releiue a man in distresse and now he desired nothing of\nhim (the king) but that he would sett friends at libertie who were\ngreat sufferers or to that purpose and told the king he had a paper of\n110 that were premunired yt had lain in prison about 6 years and none\ncan release ym but him. Soe the king took the paper and said there was\nmany of ym and yt they would be in again in a monthes time and yt the\ncountry gentlemen complained to him yt they were so troubled wth the\nquakers. So he said he would release him six. but ye friend thinkes to\ngoe to him again, for he had not fully cleared himselfe.\u2019\n\nThis letter is endorsed by Fox himself, \u2018E Hookes to M F of passages\nconsering Richard Carver, that cared the King of his backe.\u2019\n\nE. Hooke\u2019s next letter, addressed to George Fox, thus continues the\nnarrative\u2014\n\n\u2018February, 1669-70.\n\n\u2018Dear G. F. As for the friend that was with the King, his love is to\nthee. He has been with the King lately, and Thomas Moore was with him,\nand the King was very loving to them. He had a fair and free\nopportunity to open his mind to the King, and the King has promised to\ndo for him, but willed him to wait a month or two longer. I rest thy\nfaithful friend to serve thee,\n\n\u2018E.H.\u2019[277]\n\n\nThe captain of the fisher-boat was Nicholas Tattersall, whose grave,\ncovered with a slab of black marble, is still to be seen in Brighton\nchurch-yard, with a long poetical inscription, now scarcely legible. On\nthe Restoration, he applied for his reward, and was made a commander in\nthe royal navy, with an annuity to him and his heirs for ever of \u00a3100.\nThe family have recently become extinct. His fisher-boat was moored for\na considerable time in the Thames, opposite Whitehall. Years had rolled\non, but the Quaker mate who had so materially assisted the flying\nprince\u2014by keeping the secret\u2014arranging the escape with the crew, and\nwhen, in fear of danger from a privateer, rowing the prince ashore, and\nin shoal water carrying him on his shoulders to the land, near the\nvillage of Fecamp, in Normandy, yet he had not been with the king to\nclaim any reward. This escape took place in 1651, and nearly twenty\nyears had elapsed, ten of which were after the Restoration; so that in\nall probability the king, who with all his faults was not ungrateful,\nwas agreeably surprised with his appearance at the palace. Whatever\nalteration the rough life of a sailor had made on his appearance, the\nking at once recognized him. All the progress he had made as to worldly\nprosperity was from being mate of a fisher-boat, under Tattersall, to\nbecoming mate of a West Indiaman, under Captain Grove. His Majesty, who\nhad passed his time more with courtiers than with Quakers, was\ndoubtless astonished that a poor man, having such a claim on his\nbounty, should have been so many years without seeking his recompense.\nOn asking the reason, the Quaker nobly answered to this effect, That\nthe performance of his duty in saving the life of the hunted prince,\nwas only a moral obligation, for the discharge of which God had amply\nrepaid him by peace and satisfaction in his mind and conscience. And\nnow, Sire, I ask nothing for myself, but that your Majesty would do the\nsame to my friends that I did for you\u2014set the poor pious sufferers at\nliberty, that they may bless you, and that you may have that peace and\nsatisfaction which always follows good and benevolent actions. The king\nattempted feebly to argue, that they would soon offend again, and that\nthey were much complained of by the country gentlemen. How readily the\nsailor might have said to his sailor king, Alter the ship\u2019s articles,\nlet all the crew fare alike as to their free choice in religion, and\nthere will be no grumbling in your noble ship; every subject will do\nhis duty. The king offered to release any six, and we may imagine the\nsailor\u2019s blunt answer, What, six poor Quakers for a king\u2019s ransom!! His\nMajesty was so pleased as to invite him to come again, when he\nintroduced another member of the Society of Friends, Thomas Moore. At\nthis period an amazing number of Friends, men and women, were in the\njails throughout the kingdom, torn from their families, and suffering\nmost severe privations, under which great numbers had perished. The\napplication for the release of the survivors, thus happily commenced,\nwas followed up with zeal and energy, and crowned with great success.\nThis narrative solves all those difficulties which rendered that\nremarkable event extremely mysterious. The question naturally arises\nwhy so debauched and dissolute a king should prefer such tight-laced\nChristians to be the peculiar objects of his mercy. The reason is\nperfectly obvious, he owed his life to one of their members, who,\nhowever poor as to this world, possessed those riches of piety which\nprevented his taking any personal reward for an act of duty. Shade of\nthe noble sailor, thy name, Richard Carver, is worthy of all honour!\nAnd the more so, because thy gallant bearing has been studiously\nconcealed in all the histories of these important transactions. Had he\nbeen a mischief-making Jesuit, like Father Huddleston, his noble deed\nwould have been trumpeted forth for the admiration of the world in all\nages. His name was left to perish in oblivion, because he was of a\ndespised sect. It is an honour to Christianity that a labouring man\npreferred the duty of saving the life of a human being, and that of an\nenemy, to gaining so easily heaps of glittering gold. And when all the\nresources of royalty were ready munificently to reward him, he, like\nMoses, preferred the rescue of his suffering friends to personal\nhonours or emoluments\u2014even to all the riches of England!\n\nThe efforts of Carver and Moore were followed by most earnest appeals\nfor mercy by George Whitehead, who with Moore appeared before the king\nin council several times, until at length the royal word sanctioned\nthis act of mercy. The Quakers were then appealed to by sufferers of\nother denominations, and advised them to obtain the permission of the\nking in council, that their names might be inserted in the deed;\nrendering them all the assistance that was in their power. Great\ndifficulties were encountered in passing the cumbrous deed through the\nvarious offices, and then in pleading it in all parts of the country.\nThe number of Quakers thus released from imprisonment was 471, being\nabout the same number as those who had perished in the jails. The rest\nof the prisoners liberated by this deed were Baptists and Independents,\nand among the former was JOHN BUNYAN.\n\nA very circumstantial narrative of these proceedings, copies of the\nminutes of the privy council, and other documents, will be found in the\nintroduction to The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.[278] One of these official\npapers affords an interesting subject of study to an occasional\nconformist. It is the return of the sheriff of Bedfordshire, stating\nthat ALL the sufferings of Bunyan\u2014his privation of liberty, sacrifice\nof wife, children, and temporal comforts, with the fear of an\nignominious death\u2014were for refusing to attend his parish church and\nhear the Common Prayer service.\n\nWhen it is considered that Bunyan was very severe in his remarks upon\nthe Quakers, the event reflects no ordinary degree of honour upon the\nSociety of Friends, at whose sole charge, and entirely by their own\nexertions, this great deed of benevolence was begun, carried on, and\ncompleted. It is difficult to ascertain the exact duration of this sad\nimprisonment, because we cannot discover any record of the day of his\nrelease. His imprisonment commenced November 13, 1660, and his pardon\nunder the great seal is dated September 13, 1672. As the pardon\nincluded nearly 500 sufferers, it occupied some time to obtain official\nduplicates to be exhibited at the assizes and sessions for the various\ncounties. A letter from E. Hooks to Mrs. Fox intimates that none were\nreleased on the 1st November 1672. Another letter shows that the\nBedfordshire prisoners were discharged before January 10, 1673;[279]\nconfirming Bunyan\u2019s own account, published by him in the Grace\nAbounding, 1680, that his imprisonment lasted complete twelve\nyears.[280]\n\nDuring the latter period of his imprisonment, probably from the time of\nhis receiving the royal license to preach, May 15, 1672, he enjoyed\nextraordinary liberty\u2014visiting those who had been kind to his family,\nand preaching in the surrounding counties. An entry in the records of\nthe city of Leicester proves that he was there, and claimed the liberty\nof preaching\u2014\u2018John Bunyan\u2019s license bears date the 15th of May 1672, to\nteach as a Congregational person, being of that persuasion, in the\nhouse of Josias Roughed, Bedford, or in any other place, room, or\nhouse, licensed by his Majestie\u2019s memorand. The said Bunyan shewed his\nlicense to Mr. Mayor, Mr. Overinge, Mr. Freeman, and Mr. Browne, being\nthen present, the 6th day of October, 1672, that being about two months\nbefore his final release from jail.\u2019[281]\n\nHis first object, upon recovering his liberty, appears to have been the\nproper arrangement of his worldly business, that he might provide for\nthe wants of his family, a matter of little difficulty with their\nfrugal habits. He, at the same time, entered with all his soul into his\nbeloved work of preaching and writing, to set forth the glories of\nImmanuel. The testimony of one who was his \u2018true friend and long\nacquaintance,\u2019 is, that one of the first fruits of his liberation was\nto visit those who had assisted him and comforted his family during his\nincarceration, encouraging those who were in fear of a prison, and\ncollecting means of assistance to those who still remained prisoners;\ntraveling even to remote counties to effect these merciful\nobjects.[282]\n\nWhile the premises occupied by Mr. Roughed were being converted into a\ncapacious meeting-house, the pastor was indefatigable in visiting the\nsick, and preaching from house to house, settling churches in the\nvillages, reconciling differences, and extending the sacred influences\nof the gospel, so that in a very short time he attained the appellation\nof Bishop Bunyan\u2014a title much better merited by him than by the downy\nprelates who sent him to jail for preaching that which they ought to\nhave preached.\n\nHe formed branch churches at Gamlingay, Hawnes, Cotton-end, and\nKempston, in connection with that at Bedford. When he opened the new\nmeeting-house, it was so thronged that many were constrained to stay\nwithout, though it was very spacious, every one striving to partake of\nhis instructions. Here he lived, in much peace and quiet of mind,\ncontenting himself with that little God had bestowed upon him, and\nsequestering himself from all secular employments to follow that of his\ncall to the ministry.[283] The word \u2018sequestering\u2019 would lead us to\nconclude, that his business was continued by his family, under his\ncare, but so as to allow him much time for his Christian duties, and\nhis benevolent pursuits. His peaceful course was interrupted by a\nsevere controversy with the Christian world upon the subject of\ncommunion at the Lord\u2019s Table, which had commenced while he was in\nprison. He would admit none but those who, by a godly conversation,\nbrought forth fruits meet for repentance, nor dared he to refuse any\nwho were admitted to spiritual communion with the Redeemer. Every sect\nwhich celebrated the Lord\u2019s Supper, fenced the table round with ritual\nobservances, except the Baptist church at Bedford, which stood\npreeminent for non-sectarianism. A singular proof of this is, that the\ncatechism called Instruction of the Ignorant, written and published by\nBunyan, is admirably adapted for the use, not only of his own church,\nbut of Christians of all denominations.\n\nHis spirit was greatly refreshed by finding that his precept and\nexample had been blessed to his son Thomas. On the 6th of the 11th\nmonth, 1673, he passed the lions, and was welcomed into the house\ncalled Beautiful, uniting in full communion with his father\u2019s church.\nThere doubtless was, as Mercy expresses it, \u2018music in the house, music\nin the heart, and music also in heaven, for joy that he was here.\u2019[284]\nHe afterwards became a village preacher.\n\nBunyan was by no means a latitudinarian. No one felt greater decision\nthan he did for the truths of our holy faith. When his Lord\u2019s design in\nChristianity was, as he thought, perverted by a beneficed clergyman,\nthen he sent forth from his prison an answer as from a son of thunder,\neven at the risk of his life. His love for the pure doctrines of the\ngospel was as decided as his aversion to sectarian titles. \u2018As for\nthose factious titles of Anabaptists, Independents, Presbyterians, or\nthe like, I conclude that they came neither from Jerusalem, nor from\nAntioch, but rather from hell and Babylon, for they naturally tend to\ndivisions.\u2019[285] The only title that he loved was that of Christian.\n\u2018It is strange to see how men are wedded to their own opinions, beyond\nwhat the law of grace and love will admit. Here is a Presbyter\u2014here an\nIndependent and a Baptist, so joined each man to his own opinions, that\nthey cannot have that communion one with another as by the testament of\nthe Lord Jesus they are commanded and enjoined.\u2019[286] The meaning which\nhe attached to the word \u2018sectarian\u2019 is very striking\u2014Pharisees are\nsectarians, they who in Divine worship turn aside from the rule of the\nwritten Word, and in their manner do it to be seen of men\u2014these are\nsectaries.[287] Bunyan was most decided as to the importance of baptism\nand the Lord\u2019s Supper. \u2018Do you think that love letters are not desired\nbetween lovers? Why these, God\u2019s ordinances, they are his love letters,\nand his love tokens, too. No marvel, then, if the righteous do so\ndesire them. \u201cMore to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much\nfine gold; sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb.\u201d Christ made\nhimself known to his disciples in breaking of bread; who would not,\nthen, that loves to know him, be present at such an ordinance? Ofttimes\nthe Holy Ghost, in the comfortable influence of it, has accompanied the\nbaptized in the very act of administering of it.\u2019 His views of the\nfellowship of the saints were equally explicit\u2014\u2018Church fellowship,\nrightly managed, is the glory of all the world. No place, no community,\nno fellowship, is adorned and bespangled with those beauties, as is a\nchurch rightly knit together to their Head, and lovingly serving one\nanother.\u2019[288] Such he admitted to the table of their common Lord; but,\nin his esteem, to communicate with the profane was all one with\nsacrificing to the devil.\n\nAll this liberality was accompanied by very strict notions of church\nfellowship, not allowing private judgment in the withdrawing of any\nmember, if the church withheld its approbation. Mary Tilney had been\ncruelly robbed by the persecuting Justice Porter, for not attending the\nparish church. He carted away all her goods, beds, and bedding, even to\nthe hangings of her rooms. She was a most benevolent widow, and was\nmore troubled with the crying and sighing of her poor neighbours, than\nwith the loss of her goods. Harassed by persecution at Bedford, she\nremoved to London, and requested her dismission to a church of which\nher son-in-law was pastor, which was refused. As the letter announcing\nthis to her is a good example of Bunyan\u2019s epistolary correspondence, it\nis carefully extracted from the church book.\n\n\u2018Our dearly-beloved sister Tilney.\n\n\u2018Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, by Jesus Christ our Lord.\nAmen.\n\n\u2018I received your letter, and have presented it to the sight of the\nbrethren, who, after due consideration of your motion, have jointly\nconcluded to give you this answer. This for yourself (honoured sister),\nyou are of high esteem with the church of God in this place, both\nbecause his grace hath been bestowed richly upon you, and because of\nyour faithful fellowship with us; for you have been rightly a daughter\nof Abraham while here, not being afraid with any amazement. Your holy\nand quiet behaviour, also, while with patience and meekness, and in the\ngentleness of Christ, you suffered yourself to be robbed for his sake,\nhath the more united our affections to you in the bowels of Jesus\nChrist. Yea, it hath begotten you reverence, also, in the hearts of\nthem who were beholders of your meekness and innocency while you\nsuffered; and a stinging conviction, as we are persuaded, in the\nconsciences of those who made spoil for themselves; all which will\nredound to the praise of God our Father, and to your comfort and\neverlasting consolation by Christ, in the day he shall come to take\nvengeance for his people, and to be glorified in them that believe.\nWherefore we cannot (our honoured sister) but care for your welfare,\nand increase of all good in the faith and kingdom of Christ, whose\nservant you are, and whose name is written in your forehead; and do\ntherefore pray God and our Father, that he would direct your way, and\nopen a door in his temple for you, that you may eat his fat and be\nrefreshed, and that you may drink the pure blood of the grape. And be\nyou assured that, with all readiness, we will help and forward you what\nwe can therein, for we are not ashamed to own you before all the\nchurches of Christ.\n\n\u2018But, our dearly beloved, you know that, for our safety and your\nprofit, it is behoofful that we commit you to such, to be fed and\ngoverned in the Word and doctrines as, we are sufficiently persuaded,\nshall be able to deliver you up with joy at the coming of our Lord\nJesus Christ with all his saints: otherwise we (that we say not you)\nshall receive blushing and shame before him and you; yea, and you also,\nour honoured sister, may justly charge us with want of love, and a due\nrespect for your eternal condition, if, for want of care and\ncircumspection herein, we should commit you to any from whom you should\nreceive damage, or by whom you should not be succoured and fed with the\nsincere milk of the incorruptible Word of God, which is able to save\nyour soul. Wherefore we may not, neither dare give our consent that you\nfeed and fold with such whose principles and practices, in matters of\nfaith and worship, we, as yet, are strangers to, and have not received\ncommendations concerning, either from works of theirs or epistles from\nothers. Yourself, indeed, hath declared that you are satisfied therein;\nbut, elect sister, seeing the act of delivering you up is an act of\nours and not yours, it is convenient, yea, very expedient, that we, as\nto so weighty a matter, be well persuaded before. Wherefore we beseech\nyou, that, for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, you give us leave to\ninform ourselves yet better before we grant your request; and that you\nalso forbear to sit down at the table with any without the consent of\nyour brethren. You were, while with us, obedient, and we trust you will\nnot be unruly now. And for the more quick expedition of this matter, we\nwill propound before you our further thoughts. 1. Either we shall\nconsent to your sitting down with brother Cockain, brother Griffith,\nbrother Palmer, or other, who, of long continuance in the city, have\nshowed forth their faith, their worship, and good conversation with the\nWord; 2. Or if you can get a commendatory epistle from brother Owen,\nbrother Cockain, brother Palmer, or brother Griffith, concerning the\nfaith and principles of the person and people you mention, with desire\nto be guided and governed by, you shall see our readiness, in the fear\nof God, to commit you to the doctrine and care of that congregation.\nChoose you whether of these you will consent unto, and let us hear of\nyour resolution. And we beseech you, for love\u2019s sake, you show, with\nmeekness, your fear and reverence of Christ\u2019s institution; your love to\nthe congregation, and regard to your future good. Finally, we commit\nyou to the Lord and the Word of his grace, who is able to build you up,\nand to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified. To God,\nthe only wise, be glory and power everlasting. Amen.\u2014Your affectionate\nbrethren, to serve you in the faith and fellowship of the gospel.\n\n\u2018Sent from Bedford, the 19th of the Fourth Month, 1671.\n\nAs a farther illustration of Bunyan\u2019s sentiments on this subject, we\ngive the following letter to the church at Braintree:\u2014\n\n\u2018The 7th of the Twelfth Month, 1676 (Feb. 1677).\n\n\u2018The church of Christ in and about Bedford, to the church of Christ in\nand about Braintree, sendeth greeting,\n\n\u2018Holy and beloved\u2014We, fellow-heirs with you of the grace of life,\nhaving considered your request concerning our honoured and beloved\nbrother, Samuel Hensman: that he shall be given up to you for your\nmutual edification, and his furtherance and joy of faith; and\nconsidering also, in the capacity he now standeth by reason of his\nhabitation amongst you, his edification is to be from you, not from\nus\u2014he being, by God\u2019s providence (by which he disposeth the world),\nplaced at such a distance from us. And considering, also, the great end\nof Christ our Lord, in ordaining the communion of saints, is his glory\nin their edification, and that all things are to be done by his command\nto the edification of the body in general, and of every member in\nparticular, and that this we oft (ought?) to design in our receiving\nhim, and giving up to other churches, and not to please ourselves: do\nas before God and the elect angels, grant and give up to you our elect\nbrother, to be received by you in the Lord, and to be nourished, in the\nchurch at Braintree, with you as one that is dear to the Father and our\nLord Jesus Christ; and this we the willinger do, because, as we are\ninformed concerning you, beloved, you are not rigid in your principles,\nbut are for communion with saints as saints, and have been taught by\nthe Word to receive the brotherhood, because they are beloved, and\nreceived of the Father and the Son, to whose grace we commend you, with\nthe brother of late a member with us, but now one of you. Grace be with\nyou all. Written by the appointment of the church here, and subscribed,\nin her name, by your brethren, as followeth:\u2014\n\nJohn Bunyan\n\n    Sam. Fenn. Oliver Stot.\n    John Fenn. Thomas Cooper.\n    Luke Astwood. John Croker.\n\nThe late Mr. Kilpin of Bedford considered the whole of this letter to\nbe entered in the minutes in Bunyan\u2019s hand-writing.\n\nThere is also in the church book the copy of a letter, in 1674,\naddressed to the \u2018church sometime walking with our brother Jesse,\u2019\nrefusing to dismiss to them Martha Cumberland, unless they were\ncertified that they continued in the practice of mixed communion. In\nthese sentiments Bunyan lived and died. His church remains the same to\nthe present day. In the new, commodious, and handsome meeting-house,\nopened in 1850, there is a baptistery, frequently used. The present\nminister, the amiable and talented John Jukes, baptizes infants, and\nreceives the assistance of a neighbouring Baptist minister to baptize\nadults.\n\nNot only had Bunyan clear, well-defined, and most decided views of the\nordinances of the gospel, but also of all its doctrines. His knowledge\nupon those solemn subjects was drawn exclusively from the sacred pages;\nnor dared he swerve in the slightest degree from the path of duty;\nstill he belonged to no sect, but that of Christian, and the same\nfreedom which had guided him in forming his principles, he cheerfully\nallowed to others. Hitherto, water baptism had been considered a\npre-requisite to the Lord\u2019s table by all parties. The Episcopalians,\nPresbyterians, and Independents, had denounced the Baptists as guilty\nof a most serious heresy, or blasphemy, in denying the right of infants\nto baptism; not only did they exclude the Baptists from communion with\ntheir churches, but they persecuted them with extreme rigour. When the\nIndependents made laws for the government of their colony in America,\nin 1644, one of the enactments was, \u2018That if any person shall either\nopenly condemn, or oppose the baptizing of infants, or seduce others,\nor leave the congregation during the administration of the rite, they\nshall be sentenced to banishment.\u2019 The same year a poor man was tied up\nand whipped, for refusing to have his child baptized. \u2018The Rev. J.\nClarke, and Mr. O. Holmes, of Rhode Island, for visiting a sick Baptist\nbrother in Massachusetts, instead of being admitted to the Lord\u2019s\ntable, they were arrested, fined, imprisoned, and whipped.\u2019 At this\nvery time, the Baptists formed their colony at Rhode Island, and the\ncharter concludes with these words, \u2018All men may walk as their\nconsciences persuade them, every one in the name of his God.\u2019 This is\nprobably the only spot in the world where persecution was never known.\nThe Baptists considered that immersion in water was the marriage rite\nbetween the believer and Saviour; that to sit at the Lord\u2019s table\nwithout it was spiritual adultery, to be abhorred and avoided, and\ntherefore refused to admit any person to the Lord\u2019s table who had not\nbeen baptized in water upon a personal profession of faith in the\nSaviour. This was the state of parties when Bunyan, at the commencement\nof his pastorate, entered into the controversy. He had been promised a\ncommendation to his book by the great, the grave, \u2018the sober\u2019 Dr. Owen,\nbut he withdrew his sanction. \u2018And perhaps it was more for the glory of\nGod, that truth should go naked into the world,\u2019 said Bunyan, \u2018than as\nseconded by so weighty an armour-bearer as he.\u2019[289] Bunyan denied that\nwater could form a wedding garment, or that water baptism was a\npre-requisite for the Lord\u2019s table, or that being immersed in water was\nputting on our Lord\u2019s livery, by which disciples may be known. \u2018Away,\nfond man, do you forget the text, \u201cBy this shall all men know that ye\nare my disciples, if ye have love one to another.\u201d\u2019[290] And attempt\nwas made to embroil Bunyan in a public disputation in London upon this\nsubject, which he very wisely avoided.[291] This controversy will be\nfound in our second volume, and is deeply interesting, making allowance\nfor the esprit de corps manifested on all sides. A verse in the emblems\nis very pertinent upon the violence of this dispute:\u2014\n\n\u2018Our gospel has had here a summer\u2019s day,\nBut in its sunshine we, like fools, did play;\nOr else fall out, and with each other wrangle,\nAnd did, instead of work, not much but jangle.\u2019[292]\n\n\nAfter a lapse of nearly two centuries, Bunyan\u2019s peaceable principles\nhave greatly prevailed; so that now few churches refuse communion on\naccount of the mode, in which water baptism has been administered. The\nBaptists are no longer deemed heretics as they formerly were. Dr. Watts\naided this kindly feeling\u2014\u2018A church baptized in infancy, or in adult\nage, may allow communion to those that are of the contrary practice in\nbaptism.\u2019[293] Robert Robinson praises Bunyan\u2019s work, and advocates his\nsentiments upon the most liberal principles. One of his remarks is very\nstriking:\u2014\u2018Happy community! that can produce a dispute of one hundred\nand fifty years unstained with the blood, and unsullied with the fines,\nthe imprisonments, and the civil inconveniences of the disputants. As\nto a few coarse names, rough compliments, foreign suppositions, and\nacrimonious exclamations, they are only the harmless squeakings of men\nin a passion, caught and pinched in a sort of logical trap.\u2019[294] To\nthis time, Bunyan was only known as an extraordinarily talented and\neloquent man, whose retentive memory was most richly stored with the\nsacred Scriptures. All his sermons and writings were drawn from his own\nmental resources, aided, while in prison, only by the Bible, the\nConcordance, and Fox\u2019s Book of Martyrs. Very emphatically he says, \u2018I\nam for drinking water out of my own cistern.\u2019 \u2018I find such a spirit of\nidolatry in the learning of this world, that had I it at command I\ndurst not use it, but only use the light of the Word and Spirit of\nGod.\u2019 \u2018I will not take of it from a thread even to a shoe\nlatchet.\u2019[295] It must not be understood that he read no other works\nbut his Bible and Book of Martyrs, but that he only used those in\ncomposing his various treatises while in confinement. He certainly had\nand read The Plain Man\u2019s Pathway, Practice of Piety, Luther on the\nGalatians, Clarke\u2019s Looking-glass for Saints and Sinners, Dodd on the\nCommandments, Andrews\u2019 Sermons, Fowler\u2019s Design of Christianity,\nD\u2019Anvers and Paul on Baptism, and doubtless all the books which were\nwithin his reach, calculated to increase his store of knowledge.\n\nAbout this time he published a small quarto tract, in which he\nscripturally treats the doctrine of eternal election and reprobation.\nThis rare book, published for sixpence, we were glad to purchase at a\ncost of one guinea and a half, because a modern author rejected its\nauthenticity! It is included in every early list of Bunyan\u2019s works, and\nespecially in that published by himself, in 1688, to guard his friends\nfrom deception; for he had become so popular an author that several\nforgeries had been published under his initials. These few pages on\nelection contain a scriptural treatise upon a very solemn subject,\nwritten by one whose mind was so imbued by the fear of God, as to have\ncast out the fear of man; which so generally embarrasses writers upon\nthis subject. It was translated into Welsh, and is worthy an attentive\nperusal, especially by those who cannot see the difference between\nGod\u2019s foreknowledge and his foreordination.\n\nA new era was now dawning upon him, which, during the last ten years of\nhis life, added tenfold to his popularity. For many years his\nbeautifully simple, but splendid allegory, The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, lay\nslumbering in his drawer.[296] Numerous had been his consultations with\nhis pious associates and friends, and various had been their opinions,\nwhether it was serious enough to be published. All of them had a solemn\nsense of the impropriety of anything like trifling as to the way of\nescape from destruction, and the road to the celestial city. It appears\nstrange to us, who have witnessed the very solemn impressions, in all\ncases, made by reading that book, that there could have been a doubt of\nthe propriety of treating in a colloquial manner, and even under the\nfashion of a dream, those most important truths. Some said, \u2018John,\nprint it\u2019; others said, \u2018not so.\u2019 Some said, \u2018it might do good\u2019; others\nsaid, \u2018no.\u2019 The result of all those consultations was his\ndetermination, \u2018I print it will,\u2019 and it has raised an imperishable\nmonument to his memory. Up to this time, all Bunyan\u2019s popularity arose\nfrom his earlier works, and his sermons. Leaving out of the question\nthose most extraordinary books, The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress and Holy War,\nhis other writings ought to have handed down his name, with honour and\npopularity, to the latest posterity. While the logical and ponderous\nworks of Baxter and Owen are well calculated to furnish instruction to\nthose who are determined to obtain knowledge, the works of Bunyan\ncreate that very determination, and furnish that very knowledge, so\nblended with amusement, as to fix it in the memory. Let one\nillustration suffice. It is our duty to love our enemies, but it is a\nhard lesson; we must learn it from the conduct of the Divine\nCreator\u2014\u2018There is a man hates God, blasphemes his name, despises his\nbeing; yea, says there is no God. And yet the God that he carrieth it\nthus towards doth give me his breakfast, dinner, and supper; clothes\nhim well, and, when night comes, has him to bed, gives him good rest,\nblesses his field, his corn, his cattle, his children, and raises him\nto high estate; yea, and this our God doth not only once or twice, but\nuntil these transgressors become old; his patience is thus extended\nyears after years, that we might learn of him to do well.\u2019[297] All the\nworks of Bunyan abound with such striking lessons, as to render them\nextremely valuable, especially to Sunday-school teachers and ministers,\nto enliven their addresses and sermons. But, in The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress,\nthe world has acknowledged one train of beauties; picture after\npicture, most beautifully finished, exhibiting the road from\ndestruction to the celestial city; our only difficulty in such a\ndisplay being to decide as to which is the most interesting and\nstriking piece of scenery.[298] The editor\u2019s introduction to that\nextraordinary book is intended to prove that it was written while the\nauthor was imprisoned for refusing to submit his conscience to human\nlaws, and that it is a perpetual monument to the folly of persecution;\nthe peculiar qualifications of the author are displayed in its having\nbeen a spontaneous effusion of his own mind, unaided by any previous\nwriter; an analysis is given of all prior pilgrimages, in which, more\nespecially in The Pilgrims, The Pylgremage of the Soule, Grande Amoure,\nand in The Pilgrim of Loretto, the reader will find a faithful picture\nof some of the singularities of Popery drawn by itself; an account of\nthe editions, forgeries, errors in printing, versions and translations\nof this wonderful book; the opinions of the learned and pious of its\nmerits, principal scenes, and a synopsis. It has been the source of\nvery numerous courses of lectures by ministers of all denominations;\nand has been turned into a handsome volume of hymns, adapted for public\nworship, by the late Mr. Purday, a friend of John Wesley\u2019s, and a\nlaborious preacher for more than half a century.\n\nGreat efforts have been made by the most popular artists to enliven the\nscenes of the pilgrimage; but no colour glows like the enchanting words\nof Bunyan. No figures are so true to nature, and so life-like. Those\neminent engravers, Sturt and Strut, Stothard and Martin, with the prize\nefforts excited by the Art Union of England, and the curious outlines\nby Mrs. M\u2019Kenzie, the daughter of a British admiral, have endeavoured\nto exhaust the scenes in this inexhaustible work of beautiful scenery.\nThe most elegant and correct edition is the large-paper, sumptuous\nvolume by Mr. Bogue, admirably illustrated with new designs, engraved\non wood in superior style\u2014a volume worthy the drawing-room of queens\nand emperors. The designs, also, of the late David Scott, recently\npublished at Edinburgh, are new, and peculiarly striking. His entrance\nto the Valley of the Shadow of Death is mysteriously impressive, a fit\naccompaniment to Bunyan\u2019s description, which is not excelled by any\nthing in Dante, Spencer, or Milton. In both parts of The Pilgrim\u2019s\nProgress this scene is full of terrific sublimity. But we must be\nexcused, if we most warmly recommend our own offspring\u2014the present\nedition\u2014as combining accuracy, elegance, and cheapness, with the\naddition of very numerous notes, which, we trust, will prove highly\nillustrative and entertaining.\n\nThe carping criticisms of Mr. Dunlop, in his History of Fiction, and of\nan author in the Penny Encyclopedia, are scarcely worth notice. The\ncomplaint is, want of benevolence in the hero of the tale. How singular\nit is, and what a testimony to its excellence, that an intelligent\nwriter upon fictions should have been so overpowered with this\nspiritual narrative, as to confound it with temporal things. Christian\nleaves his wife and children, instead of staying with them, to be\ninvolved in destruction\u2014all this relates to inward spiritual feelings,\nand to these only. Visited by compunctions of heart, Christian strives\nto inspire his wife and children with the same, but in vain; he attends\nsolitarily to his spiritual state, taunted by his family, while, as to\ntemporal things, he becomes a better husband and father than ever he\nwas\u2014but this is not prominent, because it is entirely foreign to the\nauthor\u2019s object, which is to display the inward emotions of the new\nbirth, the spiritual journey alone, apart from all temporal affairs.\nMultitudes read it as if it was really a dream, the old sleeping\nportrait confirming the idea. In the story, Christian most mysteriously\nembodies all classes of men, from the prince to the peasant\u2014the\nwealthiest noble, or merchant, to the humbles mechanic or labourer\u2014and\nit illustrates the most solemn, certain truth, that, with respect to\nthe salvation of the soul, the poorest creature in existence is upon\nperfect equality with the lordly prelate, or magnificent emperor, with\nthis word ringing in their ears, \u2018the POOR have the gospel preached to\nthem.\u2019 The Grace Abounding, or Life of Bunyan, is a key to all the\nmysteries of The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, and Holy War.\n\nBunyan\u2019s singular powers are those of description, not of invention. He\nhad lived in the city of destruction\u2014he had heard the distant\nthreatening of the awful storm that was shortly to swallow it up in\nunutterable ruin\u2014he had felt the load of sin, and rejoiced when it was\nrolled away before a crucified Saviour\u2014he knew every step of the way,\nand before he had himself passed the black river, he had watched\nprayerfully over those who were passing, and when the gate of the city\nwas opened to let them enter, he had strained his eyes to see their\nglory.\n\nThe purifying influence of The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress may be traced in the\nwritings of many imaginative authors. How does it in several parts\nbeautify the admirable tale of Uncle Tom, and his Cabin. In that\ninimitable scene, the death of the lovely Eva, the distressed negro,\nwatching with intense anxiety the progress of death, says, \u2018When that\nblessed child goes into the kingdom, they\u2019ll open the door so wide,\nwe\u2019ll all get a look in at the glory.\u2019 Whence came this strange\nidea\u2014not limited to the poor negro, but felt by thousands who have\nwatched over departing saints? It comes from the entrance of Christian\nand Hopeful into the celestial city\u2014\u2018I looked in after them, and,\nbehold, the city shone like the sun; the streets, also, were paved with\ngold, and in them they walked with crowns on their heads, palms in\ntheir hands, and golden harps to sing praises, which, when I had seen,\nI wished myself among them.\u2019[299] How often has Bunyan\u2019s wit sparkled\nin sermons, and even in speeches delivered in the senate. Recently, in\na speech on the collation ministry, the following reference was\nintroduced:\u2014\u2018Mr. Facing-both-ways, of honest John Bunyan, is not a\ncreature mankind can regard with any complacency; nor will they likely\nsuffer any one to act with one party, and reserve his principles for\nanother.\u2019 It has also been strangely quoted in novel writing\u2014thus in\nBell\u2019s Villette\u2014visiting a God-mother in a pleasant retreat, is said\n\u2018to resemble the sojourn of Christian and Hopeful, beside the pleasant\nstream, with green trees on each bank, and meadows beautified with\nlilies all the year round.\u2019 It is marvelous that a picture of nature\nshould have been so beautifully and strikingly described by an\nunlettered artisan, as to be used in embellishing an elegant novel,\nwritten nearly two centuries after his decease.[300]\n\nThe Pilgrim was followed by a searching treatise on The Fear of God.\nThe value of this book led to its republication by the Tract Society,\nand 4000 copies have been circulated. It is a neat and acceptable\nvolume, but why altered? and a psalm omitted.[301] Bunyan says, \u2018Your\ngreat ranting, swaggering, roysters\u2019; this is modernized into \u2018Your\nranting boasters.\u2019[302] Then followed, the Come and Welcome to Jesus\nChrist. This was frequently reprinted, and hundreds of thousands have\nbeen circulated to benefit the world. His popularity increased with his\nyears; efforts were made, but in vain, to steal him from his beloved\ncharge at Bedford. \u2018He hath refused a more plentiful income to keep his\nstation,\u2019 is the language of his surviving friend, Charles Doe. It is\nnot surprising that he was thus tempted to leave his poor country\nchurch, for we are told by the same biographer, that \u2018When Mr. Bunyan\npreached in London, if there were but one day\u2019s notice given, there\nwould be more people come together to hear him preach, than the\nmeeting-house could hold. I have seen to hear him preach, by my\ncomputation, about 1200 at a morning lecture, by seven o\u2019clock, on a\nworking day, in the dark winter time. I also computed about 3000 that\ncame to hear him one Lord\u2019s-day, at London, at a town\u2019s end\nmeeting-house, so that half were fain to go back again for want of\nroom, and then himself was fain at a back door to be pulled almost over\npeople to get up stairs to his pulpit.\u2019 This took place in a large\nmeeting-house, erected in Zoar Street, either on the site or near the\nGlobe Theatre, Southwark.[303] On this spot, the prince of dramatists\namused and corrupted crowded houses; while in the immediate vicinity\nwere the stews and bear garden, frequented by libertines of the lowest\ncaste. One Sunday, in 1582, many were killed or miserably wounded while\nattending the brutal sport of bear-baiting. Here, in the heart of\nSatan\u2019s empire, the prince of allegorists attracted multitudes, to be\nenlightened by his natural eloquence, and to be benefited by the fruits\nof his prolific and vivid imagination, at all times curbed and directed\nby the holy oracles. It was a spacious building, covering about 2000\nfeet of ground (50 by 40), with three galleries, quite capable of\nholding the number computed by Mr. Doe. We have, from correct drawings,\nfurnished our subscribers with the plan and elevation of this ancient\nmeeting-house. Having preached with peculiar warmth and enlargement,\none of his friends took him by the hand, and could not help observing\nwhat a sweet sermon he had delivered; \u2018Ay,\u2019 said he, \u2018you need not\nremind me of that, for the devil told me of it before I was out of the\npulpit!\u2019[304] Amongst his hearers were to be found the learned and the\nilliterate. It was well known that Dr. John Owen, when he had the\nopportunity, embraced it with pleasure, and sat at the feet of the\nunlearned, but eloquent tinker. Charles II, hearing of it, asked the\nlearned D.D., \u2018How a man of his great erudition could sit to hear a\ntinker preach?\u2019 to which the doctor replied, \u2018May it please your\nMajesty, if I could possess the tinker\u2019s abilities, I would gladly give\nin exchange all my learning.\u2019\n\nHe now pictured the downward road of the sinner to the realms of death\nand darkness in the Life of Badman. This was published in 1680, and is\nwritten in a language which fraudulent tradesmen at that period could\nnot misunderstand; using terms now obsolete or vulgar. It is full of\nanecdotes, which reveal the state of the times, as superlatively\nimmoral, and profane. He incidentally notices that a labourer received\neightpence or tenpence per day.[305] At that time, bread and all the\nnecessaries of life, excepting meat, were dearer than they are at\npresent. In fact, our days are much happier for the poor than any\npreceding ones in British history. Bunyan\u2019s notions of conscientious\ndealing, will make all traders who read them\u2014blush.[306]\n\nNovember 12, 1681, Bunyan\u2019s friend and fellow-labourer Samuel Fenn, was\nremoved from this world, and in the following year persecution raged\nseverely. The church was, for a season, driven from the meeting-house,\nand obliged to assemble in the fields. The Word of the Lord was\nprecious in those days.\n\nIn 1682, while surrounded by persecution, he prepared and published his\nmost profound and beautiful allegory, The Holy War, made by Shaddai\nupon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World; or,\nThe Losing and Taking again the Town of Mansoul.[307] The frontispiece\nis the most accurate likeness of Bunyan that is extant; it is engraved\nby White, from a drawing, also by him, now preserved in the print\ndepartment of the British Museum. From this drawing, carefully compared\nwith the print, we have furnished the expressive likeness which forms\nthe frontispiece to this volume. It has also a correct whole-length\nportrait, with emblematical devices. This exceedingly beautiful and\nmost finished allegory has never been so popular as The Pilgrim\u2019s\nProgress, for reasons which are shown in the introduction to The Holy\nWar.[308] The whole narrative of this wondrous war appears to flow as\nnaturally as did that of the pilgrimage from the highly imaginative\nmind of the author. Man, in his innocence, attracts the notice and\nhatred of Apollyon. Nothing could be accomplished by force\u2014all by\nsubtlety and deceit. He holds a council of war\u2014selects his\nofficers\u2014approaches\u2014parleys, and gains admittance\u2014then fortifies the\ntown against its king\u2014Immanuel determines to recover it\u2014vast armies,\nunder appropriate leaders, surround the town, and attack every gate.\nThe ear is garrisoned by Captain Prejudice and his deaf men. But he who\nrides forth conquering and to conquer is victorious. All the pomp, and\nparade, and horrors of a siege are as accurately told, as if by one who\nhad been at the sacking of many towns. The author had learnt much in a\nlittle time, at the siege of Leicester. All the sad elements of war\nappear, and make us shudder\u2014masses of armed men with their slings and\nbattering-rams\u2014clarions and shouts\u2014wounded and slain, all appear as in\na panorama. The mind becomes entranced, and when sober reflection\nregains her command, we naturally inquire, Can all this have taken\nplace in my heart? Then the armies of Diabolus, with his thousands of\nElection Doubters, and as many Vocation Doubters, and his troops of\nBlood-men\u2014thousands slain, and yet thousands start into existence. And\nall this in one man! How numberless are our thoughts\u2014how crafty the\napproaches of the enemy\u2014how hopeless and helpless is the sinner, unless\nImmanuel undertakes his recovery. The Holy War is a most surprising\nnarrative of the fall and of the recovery of man\u2019s soul, as accurate as\nit is most deeply interesting. It is one of the most perfect of\nallegories.[309] There is as vast a superiority in Bunyan\u2019s Holy War\nover that by Chrysostom, as there is in the sun over a rush-light.\n\nIn 1684, he completed his Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, with the Journey of a\nFemale Christian, her Children, and the Lovely Mercy; and now, as his\ninvaluable and active life drew towards its close, his labours were\nredoubled. In his younger days, there appeared to have been no\npresentiment on his part that the longest term of human life would with\nhim be shortened, but rather an expectation of living to old age,\njudging from an expression in his Grace Abounding. when he enjoyed a\ngood hope, and bright anticipation of heavenly felicity, \u2018I should\noften long and desire that the last days were come. O! thought I, that\nI were fourscore years old now, that I might die quickly and be gone to\nrest.\u2019[310] At that time he did not anticipate twelve years\u2019\nimprisonment in a wretched jail, nor the consequent effects it must\nhave upon his robust frame, well calculated to stand all weathers, but\neasily sapped and undermined by a damp dungeon. Symptoms of decay,\nafter having enjoyed his liberty for about a year, led him to close his\nAffectionate Advice to his Beloved Flock, on their Christian Behaviour;\nwith these words, \u2018Thus have I written to you, before I die, to provoke\nyou to faith and holiness, and to love one another, when I am deceased,\nand shall be in paradise, as through grace I comfortably believe; yet\nit is not there, but here, I must do you good.\u2019[311] It is remarkable\nthat Bunyan escaped all the dangers of the trying reign of James II,\nwho, at times, was a persecutor, and at times endeavoured, in vain, by\nblandishments, to win the Nonconformists. His minions had their eyes\nupon our pilgrim, but were foiled in every attempt to apprehend him;\nall that he suffered was the occasional spoiling of his goods.[312]\nNeither violence nor allurements induced him to deviate from his line\nof duty. No fear of man appeared to agitate his breast\u2014he richly\nenjoyed that \u2018perfect love,\u2019 which \u2018casteth out fear\u2019 (1 John 4:18).\nJames did all that an unprincipled man could do to cajole the\nDissenters, that by their aid he might pull down the walls of\nProtestantism, and give full sway to the Papacy. He attempted, among\nmany others, to bribe John Bunyan. He knew not how well he was read in\nthe Book of Martyrs; how well he was aware that \u2018the instruments of\ncruelty are in their habitations,\u2019 and that the only advantage he could\nhave received, would have been the same that Polypheme, the monstrous\ngiant of Sicily, allowed to Ulysses, that he would eat his men first,\nand do him the favour of being eaten last. Mr. Doe states that\n\u2018Regulators were sent into all cities and towns corporate to new-model\nthe magistracy, by turning out some, and putting in others. Against\nthis Bunyan expressed his zeal with great anxiety, as foreseeing the\nbad consequences that would attend it, and laboured with his\ncongregation to prevent their being imposed on in this kind. And when a\ngreat man in those days, coming to Bedford upon some such errand, sent\nfor him, as it is supposed, to give him a place of public trust, he\nwould by no means come at him, but sent his excuse.\u2019[313] He knew that\nin his flesh he possessed what he calls \u2018Adam\u2019s legacy, a conduit pipe,\nthrough which the devil conveys his poisoned spawn and venom,\u2019[314] and\nhe wisely avoided this subtle temptation. He detested the \u2018painted\nSatan, or devil in fine clothes.\u2019[315] It was one of these hypocritical\npretences to correct evil, while really meaning to increase it, and\nwhich Bunyan calls, \u2018the devil correcting vice.\u2019 He was watchful, lest\n\u2018his inward man should catch cold,\u2019[316] and every attempt to entangle\nhim failed.\n\nThis godly jealousy led him to sacrifice worldly interests to an extent\nnot justifiable, if all the facts appear. When told that a very worthy\ncitizen of London would take his son Joseph apprentice without fee, and\nadvance his interests, he refused, saying, \u2018God did not send me to\nadvance my family, but to preach the gospel.\u2019\n\nAt this time he again manifested his lion heart, by writing and\npreparing for the press a fearless treatise on Antichrist, and his\nRuin. In this he shows, that human interference with Divine worship, by\npenal laws or constraint, is \u2018Antichrist\u2019\u2014that which pretends to\nregulate thought, and thus to reduce the kingdom of Christ to a level\nwith the governments of this world. In this treatise, he clearly\nexhibits the meaning of that passage, so constantly quoted by the\nadvocates of tyranny and persecution (Ezra 7:26), and shows that the\nlaws interfered not with Divine worship, but that they upheld to the\nfullest extent the principle of voluntary obedience (v 13); so that any\nman putting constraint upon another in religious affairs, would be\nguilty of breaking the law, and subject him to extreme punishment. This\nwas one of the last treatises which Bunyan prepared for the press, as\nif in his dying moments he would aim a deadly thrust at Apollyon.\nReader, it is worthy your most careful perusal, as showing the certain\ndownfall of Antichrist, and the means by which it must be accomplished.\n\nFeeling the extreme uncertainty of life, and that he might be robbed of\nall his worldly goods, under a pretence of fines and penalties, he, on\nthe 23d of December, 1685, executed a deed of gift, vesting what little\nhe possessed in his wife. It is a singular instrument, especially as\nhaving been sealed with a silver twopenny piece. The original is in the\nchurch book, at Bedford:\u2014\n\n\u2018To all people to whom this present writing shall com, J. Bunyan of the\nparish of St. Cuthbirt\u2019s, in the towne of Bedford, in the county of\nBedford, Brazier send greeting. Know ye, that I the said John Bunyan as\nwell for, and in consideration of the natural affection and loue which\nI have, and bear vnto my welbeloued wife, Elizabeth Bunyan, as also for\ndivers other good causes and considerations, me at this present\nespecially moneing, have given and granted, and by these presents, do\ngive, grant, and conferm vnto the said Elizabeth Bunyan, my said wife,\nall and singuler my goods, chattels, debts, ready mony, plate, rings,\nhousehold stuffe, aparrel, vtensills, brass, peuter, beding, and all\nother my substance, whatsoever moueable and immoueable, of what kinde,\nnature, quality, or condition soever the same are or be, and in what\nplace or places soever the same be, shall or may be found as well in\nmine own custodies, possession, as in the possession, hands, power, and\ncustody of any other person, or persons whatsoever. To have and to hold\nall and singuler the said goods, chattels, debts, and all other, the\naforesaid premises vnto the said Elizabeth, my wife, her executors,\nadministerators, and assigns to her and their proper vses and behoofs,\nfreely and quietly without any matter of challinge, claime, or demand\nof me the said John Bunyan, or of any other person, or persons,\nwhatsoever for me in my name, by my means cavs or procurement, and\nwithout any mony or other thing, therefore to be yeeilded, paid or done\nvnto me the said John Bunyan, my executors, administrators or assigns.\nAnd I, the said John Bunyan, all and singular, the aforesaid goods,\nchattels, and premises to the said Elizabeth my wife, her executors,\nadministrators, and assignes to the vse aforesaid, against all people\ndo warrant and forever defend by these presents. And further, know ye,\nthat I the said John Bunyan have put the said Elizabeth, my wife, in\npeacable and quiet possession of all and singuler the aforesaid\npremises, by the delivrye vnto her at the ensealing hereof one coyned\npeece of silver, commonly called two pence, fixed on the seal of these\npresents.[317]\n\n\u2018In wittnes wherof, I the said John Bunyan have herevnto set my hand\nand seall this 23d day of December, in the first year of the reigne of\nour soueraigne lord, King James the Second of England, &c., in the year\nof our lord and saviour, Jesus Christ, 1685.\n\nJohn Bunyan\n\nSealed and delivered in the presence of vs, whos names are here vnder\nwritten:\u2014\n\nJohn Bardolph. Willm Hawkes.\nNicholas Malin. Lewes Norman.\n\n\nIt appears from this deed that Bunyan continued in business as a\nbrazier, and it is very probable that he carried it on until his\ndecease. This deed secured to his wife what little he possessed,\nwithout the trouble or expense of applying to the ecclesiastical courts\nfor probate of a will.\n\nAmong other opinions which then divided the Christian world, was a very\nimportant one relative to the law of the ten commandments, whether it\nwas given to the world at large, or limited to the Jews as a peculiar\nnation until the coming of Messiah, and whether our Lord altered or\nannulled the whole or any part of that law. This question involves the\nobservance of the seventh-day Sabbath. An awful curse is denounced upon\nthose who do not continue in ALL things which are written in the book\nof the law to do them (Gal 3:10; Deut 27:26). When an innovation upon\nthe almost universal practice of infant baptism had become an object of\ninquiry only to be answered from the New Testament, it is not\nsurprising that the serious question, why God\u2019s Sabbath-day had been\naltered, should also be agitated with deep feeling. Generally, those\nwho advocated the restoration of the Jewish Sabbath were decidedly of\nopinion that believers only were fit subjects for baptism, and that the\nscriptural mode of administering it was by immersion; hence they were\ncalled Seventh-day Baptists\u2014Sabbatarians, or Sabbath-keepers.\n\nBunyan entered with very proper and temperate zeal into this\ncontroversy. Popular feeling had no influence over him; nor could he\nsubmit to the opinions of the ancient fathers. His storehouse of\nknowledge was limited to the revealed will of God, and there he found\nample material to guide his opinion. His work upon this subject is\ncalled, Questions about the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh-day\nSabbath; and proof that the First Day of the Week is the Christian\nSabbath. It is one of the smallest of his volumes, but so weighty in\nargument as never to have been answered.\n\nWe now arrive at the last year of his eventful and busy life, during\nwhich he published six important volumes, and left twelve others in\nmanuscript, prepared for publication. A list of these will be found in\nThe Struggler;[318] they are upon the most important subjects, which\nare very admirably treated. We notice among these, The Jerusalem Sinner\nSaved, or Good News for the Vilest of Men. It is a specimen of\npreaching calculated to excite the deepest interest, and afford the\nstrongest consolation to a soul oppressed with the sense of sin. Great\nsinner! thou art called to mercy by name. Arise! shoulder thy way into\ncourt through any crowd,\u2014\u2018say, Stand away, devil; stand away all\ndiscouragements; my Saviour calls me to receive mercy.\u2019 In this\ntreatise, Bunyan has repeated from memory what he had read in some book\nwhen in prison, four and twenty years before. It is a curious legend,\nwhich he doubtless believed to be true, and it displays his most\nretentive memory.[319] His poetry, like his prose, was not written to\ngain a name, but to make a deep impression. One of his professed\nadmirers made a strange mistake when he called them doggerel\nrhymes.[320] His Caution to Watch Against Sin is full of solemn and\nimpressive thoughts, the very reverse of doggerel or burlesque. his\npoem on the house of God is worthy of a most careful perusal; and\nthousands have been delighted and improved with his emblems. One rhyme\nin the Pilgrim can never be forgotten\u2014\n\n\u2018He that is down need fear no fall;\nHe that is low no pride;\nHe that is humble ever shall\nHave God to be his guide,\u2019 &c.\n\n\nThe careful perusal of every one of his treatises, has excited in my\nmind a much livelier interest than any other religious works which, in\na long life, have come under my notice. In fact, the works of Bunyan to\na country minister may be compared to a vast storehouse, most amply\nreplenished with all those solemn subjects which call for his prayerful\ninvestigation; well arranged, ready of access, striking in their\nsimplicity, full of vivid ideas conveyed in language that a novice may\nunderstand. They are all so admirably composed that pious persons,\nwhether in houses of convocation or of parliament, or the inmates of a\nworkhouse, may equally listen to them with increasing delight and\ninstruction. No man ever more richly enjoyed the magnificent language\nof Job. He called it \u2018that blessed book.\u2019[321] The deep interest that\nhe took in its scenery may be traced through all his writings. His\nspirit, with its mighty powers, grasped the wondrous truths so\nsplendidly pourtrayed in that most ancient book. The inspired writings,\nwhich so eminently give wisdom to the simple, expanded his mind, while\nhis mental powers were strengthened and invigorated by his so deeply\ndrinking into the spirit of the inspired volume.\n\nThe time was drawing near when, in the midst of his usefulness, and\nwith little warning, he was to be summoned to his eternal rest. He had\nbeen seriously attacked with that dangerous pestilence which, in former\nyears, ravaged this country, called the sweating sickness, a malady as\nmysterious and fatal as the cholera has been in later times. The\ndisease was attended by great prostration of strength; but, under the\ncareful management of his affectionate wife, his health became\nsufficiently restored to enable him to undertake a work of mercy; from\nthe fulfillment of which, as a blessed close to his incessant earthly\nlabour, he was to ascend to his Father and his God to be crowned with\nimmortality. A father had been seriously offended with his son, and had\nthreatened to disinherit him. To prevent the double mischief of a\nfather dying in anger with his child, and the evil consequence to the\nchild of his being cut off from his patrimony, Bunyan again ventured,\nin his weak state, on his accustomed work, to win the blessings of the\npeace-maker. He made a journey on horseback to Reading, it being the\nonly mode of travelling at that time, and he was rewarded with success.\nReturning home by way of London to impart the gratifying intelligence,\nhe was overtaken by excessive rains, and, in an exhausted state, he\nfound a kindly refuge in the house of his Christian friend Mr.\nStrudwick, and was there seized with a fatal fever. His much-loved\nwife, who had so powerfully pleaded for his liberty with the judges,\nand to whom he had been united thirty years, was at a great distance\nfrom him. Bedford was then two days\u2019 journey from London. Probably at\nfirst, his friends had hopes of his speedy recovery; but when the\nstroke came, all his feelings, and those of his friends, appear to have\nbeen absorbed, by the anticipated blessings of immortality, to such an\nextent, that no record is left as to whether his wife, or any of his\nchildren, saw him cross the river of death. There is abundant testimony\nof his faith and patience, and that the presence of God was eminently\nwith him.\n\nHe bore his trying sufferings with all the patience and fortitude that\nmight be expected from such a man. His resignation was most exemplary;\nhis only expressions were \u2018a desire to depart, to be dissolved, to be\nwith Christ.\u2019 His sufferings were short, being limited to ten days. He\nenjoyed a holy frame of mind, desiring his friends to pray with him,\nand uniting fervently with them in the exercise. His last words, while\nstruggling with death, were, \u2018Weep not for me, but for yourselves. I go\nto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will, no doubt, through the\nmediation of his blessed Son, receive me, though a sinner; where I hope\nwe ere long shall meet, to sing the new song, and remain everlastingly\nhappy, world without end. Amen.\u2019 He felt the ground solid under his\nfeet in passing the black river which has no bridge, and followed his\npilgrim into the celestial city in August, 1688, in the sixtieth year\nof his age. There is some uncertainty as to the day of his decease:\nCharles Doe, in the Struggler, 1692, has August 31, and this has been\ncopied in all his portraits. In the life appended to the Grace\nAbounding, 1692, his death-day is stated as August 12; and in the\nmemoir appended to the third part of the Pilgrim, also in 1692, the\ndate is August 17. The circumstances of his peaceful decease are well\ncompared by Dr. Cheever to the experience of Mr. Standfast, when he was\ncalled to pass the river: the great calm\u2014the firm footing\u2014the address\nto by-standers\u2014until his countenance changed, his strong man bowed\nunder him, and his last words were, \u2018Take me, for I come to thee.\u2019 Then\nthe joy among the angels while they welcomed the hero of such spiritual\nfights, and conducted his wandering soul to the New Jerusalem, which he\nhad so beautifully described as \u2018the holy city\u2019; and then his wonder\nand amazement to find how infinitely short his description came to the\nblissful reality.\n\nThe deep affliction that his church was plunged into led to several\nspecial meetings. Wednesday, the 4th of September, \u2018was kept in prayer\nand humiliation for this heavy stroke upon us\u2014the death of dear brother\nBunyan; it was appointed also, that Wednesday next be kept in prayer\nand humiliation on the same account. At the meeting held on the 11th,\nit was appointed that all the brethren meet together on the 18th of\nthis month, September, to humble themselves for this heavy hand of God\nupon us, and also to pray unto the Lord for counsel and direction what\nto do, in order to seek out for a fit person to make choice of for an\nelder. On the 18th, when the whole congregation met to humble\nthemselves before God, by fasting and prayer, for his heavy and severe\nstroke upon us in taking away our honoured brother Bunyan by death, it\nwas agreed by the whole congregation that care be taken to seek out for\none suitably qualified to be chosen an elder among us, and that care\nwas committed by the whole to the brethren at Bedford.\u2019 Thus did the\nchurch manifest that they had improved in wisdom under his ministry by\nflying, in their extreme distress, to the only source of consolation.\n\nThe saddest feelings of sorrow extended to every place where he had\nbeen known. His friend, the Rev. G. Cockayn, of London, says, \u2018it\npleased the Lord to remove him, to the great loss and inexpressible\ngrief of many precious souls.\u2019 Numerous elegies, acrostics, and poems\nwere published on the occasion of his decease, lamenting the loss thus\nsustained by his country\u2014by the church at large, and particularly by\nthe church and congregation at Bedford. One of these, \u2018written by a\ndear friend of his,\u2019 is a fair sample of the whole:\u2014\n\nA SHORT ELEGY IN MEMORY OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN, WRITTEN BY A DEAR FRIEND OF\nHIS.\n\n\nThe pilgrim traveling the world\u2019s vast stage,\nAt last does end his weary pilgrimage:\nHe now in pleasant valleys does sit down,\nAnd, for his toil, receives a glorious crown.\nThe storms are past, the terrors vanish all,\nWhich in his way did so affrighting fall;\nHe grieves nor sighs no more, his race is run\nSuccessfully, that was so well begun.\nYou\u2019ll say he\u2019s dead: O no, he cannot die,\nHe\u2019s only changed to immortality\u2014\nWeep not for him, who has no cause of tears;\nHush, then, your sighs, and calm your needless fears.\nIf anything in love to him is meant,\nTread his last steps, and of your sins repent:\nIf knowledge of things here at all remains\nBeyond the grave, to please him for his pains\nAnd suffering in this world; live, then, upright,\nAnd that will be to him a grateful sight.\nRun such a race as you again may meet,\nAnd find your conversation far more sweet;\nWhen purged from dross, you shall, unmix\u2019d, possess\nThe purest essence of eternal bliss\n\n\n\u2018He in the pulpit preached truth first, and then\nHe in his practice preached it o\u2019er again.\u2019\n\n\nHis remains were interred in Bunhill Fields, in the vault of his friend\nMr. Strudwick, at whose house he died. His tomb[322] has been visited\nby thousands of pilgrims, blessing God for his goodness in raising up\nsuch a man, so signally fitted to be a blessing to the times in which\nhe lived. All the accounts of his decease, published at the time, agree\nas to his place of burial. The words of Mr. Doe, who probably attended\nthe funeral, are, \u2018he was buried in the new burying-place, near the\nartillery ground, where he sleeps to the morning of the\nresurrection.\u2019[323] His Life and Actions, 1692, records that \u2018his\nfuneral was performed with much decency, and he was buried in the new\nburying-ground by Moorfields.\u2019 The Struggler calls it \u2018Finsbury\nburying-ground, where many London Dissenting ministers are laid.\u2019[324]\nBunhill Fields burying-ground for Dissenters was first opened in 1666.\nThe inscription upon the tomb to his memory was engraven many years\nafter his funeral. It is not contained in the list of inscriptions\npublished in 1717. His widow survived him four years. He had six\nchildren by his first wife, three of whom survived him\u2014Thomas, Joseph,\nand Sarah. His son Thomas joined his church in 1673, and was a preacher\nin 1692. He appears to have been usefully employed in visiting absent\nmembers until December 1718. My kind friend, the Rev. J. P. Lockwood,\nrector of South Hackney, recently discovered entries in the register of\nKimbolton, in Huntingdonshire, probably of the descendants of this son,\nThomas. November 26, 1698, John Bonion and Mary Rogers, married: she\nwas buried, September 7, 1706; and he again married Anne, and buried\nher in 1712, leaving a son and two daughters. His death is not\nrecorded. One of the descendants, Hannah Bunyan, died in 1770, aged\nseventy-six years, and lies in the burial-ground by the meeting-house\nat Bedford. John Bunyan\u2019s son, Joseph, settled at Nottingham, and\nmarrying a wealthy woman, conformed to the Church. A lineal descendant\nof his was living, in 1847, at Islington, near London, aged\neighty-four, Mrs. Senegar, a fine hearty old lady, and a Strict\nBaptist. She said to me, \u2018Sir, excuse the vanity of an old woman, but I\nwill show you how I sometimes spend a very pleasant half-hour.\u2019 She\ntook down a portrait on canvas of her great forefather, and propped it\nup on the table with a writing-desk, with a looking-glass by its side.\n\u2018There, Sir, I look at the portrait, and then at myself, and can trace\nevery feature; we resemble each other like two pins.\u2019 \u2018Excepting the\nimperial and moustachios,\u2019 I replied; to which she readily assented. It\nwas the fact that there was a striking family likeness between the\npicture and her reflection in the looking-glass. Another descendant,\nfrom the same branch of the family, is now living at Lincoln. He was\nborn in 1775, and possessed a quarto Bible, published by Barker and\nBill in 1641, given by John Bunyan to his son Joseph. This was\npreserved in his family until the present year, when it came into the\neditor\u2019s possession, with the following relics, which were, and I trust\nwill yet be preserved with the greatest care:\u2014An iron pencase, made by\nBunyan the brazier, with some stumps of old pens, with which it is said\nhe wrote some of his sermons and books; the buckles worn by him, and\nhis two pocket-knives, one of them made before springs were invented,\nand which is kept open by turning a ferrule; his apple-scoop, curiously\ncarved, and a seal; his pocket-box of scales and weights for money,\nbeing stamped with the figures on each side of the coins of James and\nCharles I.[325] These were given by Robert Bunyan, in 1839, then\nsixty-four years of age, to a younger branch of the family, Mr. Charles\nRobinson, of Wilford, near Nottingham (his sister\u2019s son), for safe\ncustody. He died in 1852; while his aged uncle remains in good health,\nsubject to the infirmities of his seventy-eighth year. On many of the\nblank spaces in the Bible are the registers of births and deaths in the\nfamily, evidently written at the time. Those relics are deposited in a\ncarved oak box. They were sold with the late Mr. Robinson\u2019s effects,\nJanuary, 1853, and secured for me by my excellent friend James Dix,\nEsq., of Bristol, who met with them immediately after the sale, on one\nof his journeys at Nottingham. They are not worshipped as relics, nor\nhave they performed miracles, but as curiosities of a past age they are\nworthy of high consideration. Everything that was used by him, and that\nsurvives the ravages of time, possesses a peculiar charm; even the\nchair in which he sat is preserved in the vestry of the new chapel, and\nis shown to those who make the pilgrimage to the shrine of Bunyan.[326]\n\nIn the same vestry is also a curious inlaid cabinet, small, and highly\nfinished. It descended from Bunyan to a lady who lived to an advanced\nage\u2014Madam Bithray; from her to the Rev. Mr. Voley; and of his widow it\nwas purchased to ornament the vestry of Bunyan\u2019s meeting-house.\n\nThe personal appearance and character of our pilgrim\u2019s guide, drawn by\nhis friend Charles Doe, will be found at the end of his Grace\nAbounding; to which is appended his Dying Sayings\u2014\u2018of\nsin\u2014afflictions\u2014repentance and coming to Christ\u2014of prayer\u2014of the Lord\u2019s\nday, sermons, and week days: \u201cMake the Lord\u2019s day the market for thy\nsoul\u201d\u2014of the love of the world\u2014of suffering\u2014of death and judgment\u2014of\nthe joys of heaven\u2014and the torments of hell.\u2019\n\nHow inscrutable are the ways of God! Had Bunyan lived a month longer,\nhe would have witnessed the glorious Revolution\u2014the escape of a great\nnation. The staff and hope of Protestant Europe was saved from a\nsubtle\u2014a Jesuitical attempt\u2014to introduce Popery and arbitrary\ngovernment. The time of his death, as a release from the incumbrance of\na material body, was fixed by infinite wisdom and love at that\njuncture, and it ought not to be a cause of regret. His interest in the\nwelfare of the church ceased not with his mortal life. How swiftly\nwould his glorified spirit fly to see the landing of William, and hover\nwith joy over the flight of the besotted James! He was now in a\nsituation to prove the truth of that saying, \u2018the angels desire to look\ninto\u2019 the truth and spread of the glad tidings. How he would prove the\nreality of his opinion, expressed in The Holy War, of the interest\ntaken by the inhabitants of heaven in the prosperity of the church on\nearth. When Mansoul was conquered, the spirits that witnessed the\nvictory \u2018shouted with that greatness of voice, and sung with such\nmelodious notes, that they caused them that dwell in the highest orbs\nto open their windows, and put out their heads and look down to see the\ncause of that glory\u2019 (Luke 15:7-10).[327] So may we imagine that the\nhappy, happy, glorified spirit of Bunyan would look down rejoicing,\nwhen, a few years after he had yielded up his pastoral cares, the seed\nwhich he had been instrumental in sowing produced its fruit in such\nnumbers, that the old meeting-house was pulled down, and in its place a\nlarge and respectable one was erected. And again, on the 20th February,\n1850, with what joy would he look down upon the opening of a still\nlarger, more commodious, and handsome meeting-house, bearing his name,\nand capable of holding 1150 worshippers. One of Bunyan\u2019s pungent,\nalarming sayings to the careless was, \u2018Once die, we cannot come back\nand die better.\u2019[328] If anything could tempt him, in his angelic body,\nto re-visit this earth, it would be to address the multitude at the new\nBunyan Chapel with his old sermon on The Jerusalem Sinner Saved, or\nGood News to the Vilest of Men. But we have Moses and the\nprophets\u2014Christ and his apostles; if we shut our ears to them, neither\nshould we listen to a messenger from the New Jerusalem.\n\nWhen it is recollected that Bunyan received the most imperfect\nrudiments of education in a charity school when very young, which were\n\u2018almost entirely\u2019 obliterated by bad habits\u2014that he was a hard-working\nman through life, maintaining himself, a wife, and four children, by\nhis severe labour as a brazier\u2014and yet, by personal efforts, he\neducated himself and wrote sixty-two valuable religious treatises,\nnumbering among them his inimitable allegories, The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress\nand Holy War, made a Concordance to the Bible, and conducted important\ncontroversies. Preaching, while at liberty, almost innumerable sermons\non the Lord\u2019s-days and week-days, early in the morning and late at\nnight. Visiting his flock with pastoral care\u2014founding churches in the\nvillages, and even in towns and cities far distant from his\ndwelling\u2014constantly giving advice to promote peace and good will, and\nrendering benevolent aid by long journeys! His whole life presents to\nus a picture of most astonishing, energetic perseverance. Every moment\nof time must have been employed as if he valued it as a precious trust,\nwhich, if once lost, could never be regained. Who of us can compare our\nlife with his last thirty years, and not blush with shame!\n\nThe finest trait in Bunyan\u2019s Christian character was his deep,\nheartfelt humility. This is the more extraordinary from his want of\nsecular education, and his unrivalled talent. The more we learn, the\ngreater is the field for research that opens before us, insomuch that\nthe wisest philosophers have most seriously felt the little progress\nthey have made. He acknowledged to Mr. Cockayn, who considered him the\nmost eminent man, and a star of the first magnitude in the firmament of\nthe churches,[329] that spiritual pride was his easily besetting sin,\nand that he needed the thorn in the flesh, lest he should be exalted\nabove measure. A sense of this weakness probably led him to peculiar\nwatchfulness against it. His self-abasement was neither tinctured with\naffectation, nor with the pride of humility. His humble-mindedness\nappeared to arise form his intimate communion with Heaven. In daily\ncommunion with God, he received a daily lesson of deeper and deeper\nhumility. \u2018I am the high and lofty One, I inhabit eternity! verily this\nconsideration is enough to make a broken-hearted man creep into a\nmouse-hole, to hide himself from such majesty! There is room in this\nman\u2019s heart for God to dwell.\u2019[330] \u2018I find it one of the hardest\nthings that I can put my soul upon, even to come to God, when warmly\nsensible that I am a sinner, for a share in grace and mercy. I cannot\nbut with a thousand tears say, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner\u201d (Ezra\n9:15).\u2019[331]\n\nThe Revs. Messrs. Chandler and Wilson, bear the following testimony as\neye-witnesses to his character:\u2014\u2018His fancy and invention were very\npregnant and fertile. His wit was sharp and quick\u2014his memory tenacious,\nit being customary with him to commit his sermons to writing after he\nhad preached them,\u2019 a proof of extraordinary industry. \u2018His\nunderstanding was large and comprehensive\u2014his judgment sound and deep\nin the fundamentals of the gospel. His experience of Satan\u2019s\ntemptations in the power and policy of them, and of Christ\u2019s presence\nin, and by his Word and Spirit to succour and comfort him, was more\nthan ordinary; the grace of God was magnified in him and by him, and a\nrich anointing of the Spirit was upon him; and yet this great saint was\nalways in his own eyes the chiefest of sinners, and the least of\nsaints. He was not only well furnished with the helps and endowments of\nnature, beyond ordinary, but eminent in the graces and gifts of the\nSpirit, and fruits of holiness. He was from first to last established\nin, and ready to maintain, that God-like principle of having communion\nwith saints as such, without any respect to difference in things\ndisputable among the godly. His carriage was condescending, affable,\nand meek to all, yet bold and courageous for Christ. He was much struck\nat, in the late times of persecution; being far from any sinful\ncompliance to save himself, he did cheerfully bear the cross.\u2019 Such was\nthe character given of him by these two eminent divines, in 1693, while\nhis memory, in its fullest fragrance, was cherished by all the\nchurches.\n\nThis humility peculiarly fitted him to instruct the young, of whom he\nwas very fond\u2014\n\n\u2018Nor do I blush, although I think some may\nCall me a baby, \u2018cause I with them play;\nI do \u2018t to show them how each fingle fangle\nOn which they doating are, their souls entangle;\nAnd, since at gravity they make a tush,\nMy very beard I cast behind a bush.\u2019[332]\n\n\nHe had friends among the rich as well as the poor. Of this his solid\ngold ring and handsome cabinet are proofs. From a letter in the Ellis\ncorrespondence, we learn that Bunyan had so secured the affections of\nthe Lord Mayor of London, as to be called his chaplain.[333]\n\nAmong his religious friends and associates he must have been a\npleasing, entertaining, lively companion. However solemn, nay awful,\nhad been his experience when walking through the Valley of the Shadow\nof Death, yet when emerging from the darkness and enjoying the sunshine\nof Divine favour, he loved social intercourse and communion of saints.\nIt is one of the slanders heaped upon Christianity to call it a gloomy,\nmelancholy theme: though \u2018it is better to go to the house of mourning\nthan to the house of feasting,\u2019 yet the wisely pious man will\nendeavour, even at an elegant entertainment or a Lord Mayor\u2019s dinner,\nto drop useful hints. Whenever Bunyan describes a social party,\nespecially a feast, he always introduces a wholesome dish; and it is\nsingular, in the abundance of publications, that we have not been\nfavoured with John Bunyan\u2019s Nuts to Crack at Religious Entertainments,\nor a Collection of his Pious Riddles. Thus, at the splendid royal feast\ngiven to Emmanuel, when he entered Mansoul in triumph, \u2018he entertained\nthe town with some curious riddles, of secrets drawn up by his father\u2019s\nsecretary, by the skill and wisdom of Shaddai, the like to which there\nare not in any kingdom.\u2019 \u2018Emmanuel also expounded unto them some of\nthose riddles himself, but O how were they lightened! They saw what\nthey never saw, they could not have thought that such rarities could\nhave been couched in such few and ordinary words. The lamb, the\nsacrifice, the rock, the door, the way.\u2019[334] \u2018The second Adam was\nbefore the first, and the second covenant was before the first.\u2019[335]\n\u2018Was Adam bad before he eat the forbidden fruit?\u2019[336] \u2018How can a man\nsay his prayers without a word being read or uttered?\u2019[337] \u2018How do men\nspeak with their feet?\u2019 Answer, Proverbs 6:13.[338] \u2018Why was the brazen\nlaver made of the women\u2019s looking-glasses?\u2019[339] \u2018How can we comprehend\nthat which cannot be comprehended, or know that which passeth\nknowledge?\u2019[340] \u2018Who was the founder of the state or priestly\ndomination over religion?\u2019[341] What is meant by the drum of Diabolus\nand other riddles mentioned in The Holy War?[342] The poetical riddles\nin The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress are very striking\u2014\n\n\u2018A man there was, though some did count him mad,\nThe more he cast away, the more he had.\u2019\nHow can \u2018evil make the soul from evil turn.\u2019[343]\nCan \u2018sin be driven out of the world by suffering?\u2019[344]\n\u2018Though it may seem to some a riddle,\nWe use to light our candles at the middle.\u2019[345]\n\u2018What men die two deaths at once?\u2019[346]\n\u2018Are men ever in heaven and on earth at the same time?\u2019[347]\n\u2018Can a beggar be worth ten thousand a-year and not know it?\u2019[348]\n\n\nHe even introduced a dance upon the destruction of Despair, Mr.\nReady-to-halt, with his partner Miss Much-afraid, while Christiana and\nMercy furnished the music. \u2018True, he could not dance without one crutch\nin his hand; but I promise you he footed it well. Also the girl was to\nbe commended, for she answered the music handsomely.\u2019 Is this the\ngloomy fanaticism of a Puritan divine? It is true, that promiscuous\ndancing, or any other amusement tending to evil, he had given up and\ndiscountenanced, but all his writings tend to prove that the Christian\nonly can rationally and piously enjoy the world that now is, while\nliving in the delightful hope of bliss in that which is to come.\n\nBunyan\u2019s personal appearance and character was drawn by his friend Mr.\nDoe. \u2018He appeared in countenance stern and rough, but was mild and\naffable; loving to reconcile differences and make friendships. He made\nit his study, above all other things, not to give occasion of offence.\nIn his family he kept a very strict discipline in prayer and\nexhortations. He had a sharp, quick eye, and an excellent discerning of\npersons; of good judgment and quick wit. Tall in stature, strong-boned;\nsomewhat of a ruddy face with sparkling eyes; his hair reddish, but\nsprinkled with gray; nose well set; mouth moderately large; forehead\nsomething high, and his habit always plain and modest.\u2019\n\nMy determination in writing this memoir has been to follow the\nscriptural example, by fairly recording every defect discoverable in\nBunyan\u2019s character; but what were considered by some to be blemishes,\nafter his conversion, appear, in my estimation, to be beauties. His\nmoral and religious character was irreproachable, and his doctrinal\nviews most scriptural; all agree in this, that he was a bright and\nshining light; unrivalled for his allegories, and for the vast amount\nof his usefulness. His friend, Mr. Wilson, says, \u2018Though his enemies\nand persecutors, in his lifetime, did what they could to vilify and\nreproach him, yet, being gone, he that before had the testimony of\ntheir consciences, hath now their actual commendation and\napplause.\u2019[349] To this we may add, that he was without sectarianism, a\nmost decided Bible Christian. This reveals the secret of his striking\nphraseology. It was in the sacred pages of Divine truth that he learned\ngrammar and rhetoric. Style, and all his knowledge of the powers of\nlanguage\u2014all were derived from the only source of his religious wisdom\nand learning. He lived, and thought, and wrote under the influence of\nthe holy oracles, translated by the Puritans in 1560, compared with the\nversion of 1611. This gives a charm to all his works, and suits them to\nevery human capacity.\n\nReader, the object of biography is to excite emulation. Why should not\nothers arise as extensively to bless the world as Bunyan did? The\nstorehouses of heaven from which he was replenished with holy\ntreasures, are inexhaustible. As he said, \u2018God has bags of mercy yet\nunsealed.\u2019 We have the same holy oracles, and the same mercy-seat. The\ntime is past for merely challenging the right to personal judgment of\nreligious truths. In Britain the lions are securely chained, and the\ncruel giants disabled. The awful crime of imprisoning and torturing man\nfor conscience\u2019 sake, exists only in kingdoms where darkness reigns\u2014\n\n\u2018\u2019Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy.\u2019\n\n\nWe stand upon higher ground than our forefathers; we take our more\nsolemn stand upon the imperative duty of personal investigation\u2014that no\none can claim the name of Christian, unless he has laid aside all\nnational, or family, or educational prejudices, and drawn from the holy\noracles alone all his scheme of salvation and rules of conduct. All the\nsecret of Bunyan\u2019s vast usefulness, the foundation of all his honour,\nis, that the fear of God swallowed up the fear of man; that he was\nbaptized into the truths of revelation, and lived to exemplify them. He\nwas a bright and shining light in a benighted world; and of him it may\nbe most emphatically said, \u2018Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,\nthat they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.\u2019\n\nGEORGE OFFOR.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n1. For a most interesting account of the rise of Sixtus V, see the new\nvolume of the Lounger\u2019s Common-place Book, 1807, p. 152.\n\n2. The Rev. J. H. A. Rudd, the Vicar of Elstow, has most kindly\nfurnished me with an extract from the registers of all the entries\nrelative to Bunyan\u2019s family. The register commences in 1641, and has\nbeen searched to 1750. It confirms the Rev. J. Juke\u2019s impression, that\nsoon after Bunyan joined Gifford\u2019s church he left Elstow to live in\nBedford.\n\nThomas Bonion, buried, Dec. 9, 1641. Margaret Bonion, wife, buried,\nJune 20, 1644. Margaret Bonion, b., July 24, 1644. Charles, the son of\nThos. Bunion, bapt., May 22, 1645. Charles Bunion, bur., May 30, 1645.\nMary, the daught. of Joh. Bonion, bapt., July 20, 1650 Elizabeth, the\ndaughter of John Bonyon, was born 14th day of April, 1654.\n\nThomas Bonion of the town of Bedford, and Elizabeth _______ of the\nparish of Elstow, were married, May 10, 1656. (The Christian name of\nthe husband, and the surname of the wife, are very much obliterated.)\n\nAnn Bonyonn, Widdo, was buried, 12th day of April, 1659. Thos. Bunyan,\nburied, Feby. 7th, 1675. Ann Bunyon, Widdo, buried in Woolen, September\n25, 1680.\n\nThe marriage here recorded, May 10, 1656, could not be that of John\nBunyan to his second wife Elizabeth; for she declared to Judge Hale in\nAugust, 1661, that she had \u2018not been married to him yet full two\nyears.\u2019\u2014Vol. i. 61.\n\n3. This cottage has long ceased to exist, and has been replaced by\nanother of the poorest description. But from an old print we have given\nin the Plate, p. 1, vol. i., a representation of the original, with the\nshed at side often mentioned as \u2018The forge\u2019; thus leading us to\nbelieve, that to the \u2018tinker\u2019s\u2019 humble calling might be united that of\nthe \u2018smith,\u2019 a more manly and honourable trade.\n\n4. Grace Abounding, No. 2.\n\n5. Vol. iii., p. 674.\n\n6. Vol. ii., p. 140.\n\n7. Vol. i., p. 490.\n\n8. Vol. ii., p. 617.\n\n9. Grace Abounding, No. 18.\n\n10. Extracted from the first edition in the British Museum. It was much\naltered in the subsequent impressions.\n\n11. In 1566, Sir Thomas Harper, Lord Mayor of London, gave \u00a3180 for\nthirteen acres and a rood of meadow land in Holborn. This was settled,\nin trust, to promote the education of the poor in and round Bedford. In\n1668, it produced a yearly revenue of \u00a399\u2014a considerable sum in that\nday, but not in any proportion to the present rental, which amounts to\nupwards of \u00a312,000 a-year.\n\n12. Grace Abounding, No. 3.\n\n13. Vol. i., p. 618.\n\n14. Grace Abounding, No. 4.\n\n15. Philip\u2019s Life of Bunyan, p. 4.\n\n16. Vol. iii., p. 597.\n\n17. Vol. ii., p. 564.\n\n18. Grace Abounding, No. 27.\n\n19. Grace Abounding, No. 5.\n\n20. Ibid., No. 8.\n\n21. Life, p. vii.\n\n22. Ibid. p. viii.\n\n23. Life, pp. xli., xlii.\n\n24. Vol. i., p. 79.\n\n25. Job 33:15.\n\n26. Grace Abounding, No. 5, vol. i., p. 6.\n\n27. Life appended to the first and second editions of the forged third\npart of Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\n\n28. Grace Abounding, Nos. 12-14, vol. i., p. 7. How do these\nhair-breadth escapes illustrate the unerring providence of God, and the\nshort-sightedness of even pious Christians. It is easy to imagine the\nexclamations of a reflecting character when hearing of the marvelous\nescapes of this wicked youth. \u2018Dark providences! the good and\nbenevolent are snatched away; but such a plague as this has his life\npreserved to pester us still. Short-sighted mortal, \u201cshall not the\nJudge of all the earth do right?\u201d\u2019 No life in the British empire was so\nprecious in the sight and gracious purposes of God, as that of the poor\ndepraved lad; which was thus preserved by the special care of Divine\nprovidence.\n\n29. Life appended to part third of Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, 1692. This is\nomitted from the third edition (1700), and all the subsequent ones.\n\n30. Vol. ii., p. 74.\n\n31. Vol. i., p. 732.\n\n32. Vol. ii., p. 738.\n\n33. Vol. ii., p. 709; ii., p. 45; ii., 601.\n\n34. Vol. iii., p. 727; v. 7, 8.\n\n35. The women were remarkably active in defending the town.\n\n36. Thoresby\u2019s Leicester, 4to, p. 128.\n\n37. Hist. of Rebellion, edition 1712, vol. ii., p. 652.\n\n38. Vol. i., p. 661.\n\n39. Vol. iii., p. 357.\n\n40. Vol. iii., p. 113, 358.\n\n41. Vol. i., p. 726.\n\n42. Vol. i., p. 694.\n\n43. The Political Sentiments of John Bunyan, re-published by John\nMartin, 1798.\n\n44. Life of Bunyan, 1692, p. 12.\n\n45. Ibid., 1692, p. 13.\n\n46. Vol. i., p. 7.\n\n47. The Pathway to Heaven is the work of that pious puritan Dent, and\nis full of those striking illustrations which were admirably adapted to\nprepare Bunyan for writing his allegories. A copy with the name Ma\nBunyann, written on the title page, has long been in the editor\u2019s\nlibrary. We give a facsimile of the writing, as it has been supposed\nthat of Bunyan. This is very doubtful; it appears more like a woman\u2019s\nhand; but, if it is the name of Mrs. Bunyan, then it indicates that his\ndaughter Mary, baptized 20th July, 1650, was called after her.\n\n48. Life of Bunyan, 1691, p. 13.\n\n49. This is a solemn consideration; many profess to serve God while\nthey are bond-slaves to sin; and many are servants in his family who\nare not sons, nor heirs, of heaven. Blessed are those who are both\nservants and sons.\n\n50. Vol. i., p. 7, 8.\n\n51. Jan. 3, 1644-5.\n\n52. Aug. 23, 1645.\n\n53. 4to Edit., 1644.\n\n54. Neale, 1822, vol. ii., p. 220.\n\n55. Life of Alfred, comparing him to Charles I. Preface. 8vo. 1634.\n\n56. Vol. i., p. 8, 9.\n\n57. The game of cat, tipcat, or \u201csly,\u201d so called by Wilson, in his life\nof Bunyan [Wilson\u2019s Edition of Works, vol. i., fol. 1736], is an\nancient game well known in many parts of the kingdom. A number of holes\nare made in the ground, at equal distances, in a circular direction; a\nplayer is stationed at each hole; the opposite party stand around; one\nof them throws the cat to the batsman nearest to him; every time the\ncat is struck, the batsmen run from one hole to the next, and score as\nmany as they change positions; but if the cat is thrown between them\nbefore reaching the hole, the batsman is out [Strutt\u2019s Sports and\nPastimes, 8vo., p. 110]. Such was the childish game played by men on\nthe Lord\u2019s-day.\n\n58. Life by C. Doe, 1698.\n\n59. Vol. i., p. 9.\n\n60. Saved by Grace, vol. i., p. 351.\n\n61. Vol. i., p. 9; No. 32.\n\n62. Folio edition, pp. 595-6.\n\n63. In the Engraving, p. 1, vol. i., is a view of part of the village\ngreen, Elstow, with the ancient building now used as a school-house, as\nseen from the church-yard. This building is older than the time of\nBunyan, and was the scene of village meetings at the period in which he\nlived, and doubtless associated with his dancing and thoughtless\namusements, as the green itself was the scene of the game of cat. A\nview looking towards the church is given in Vignette to vol. i. of the\nWorks.\n\n64. Vol. i., p. 10.\n\n65. Southey\u2019s Life, pp. xxv., xxxii.\n\n66. Vol. i., p. 80.\n\n67. Vol. i., p. 11.\n\n68. Vol. iii., p. 607.\n\n69. Heresiography. 4tp. 1654. p. 143.\n\n70. Vol. iii., p. 151.\n\n71. Vol. iii., p. 118.\n\n72. Vol. i., p. 11.\n\n73. Vol. i., p. 11.\n\n74. Vol. i., p. 591.\n\n75. The Rev. H. J. Rose, in his Biographical Dictionary, distorts this\nsingular affair into, \u2018he laid claim to a faith of such magnitude as to\nwork miracles!\u2019\n\n76. Vol. i., p. 12.\n\n77. Vol. iii., pp. 155, 156.\n\n78. Vol. i., p. 12.\n\n79. It is as easy for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, as for\na man to pass through this door with the world on his back.\n\n80. Vol. i., p. 13.\n\n81. Vol. i., p. 13.\n\n82. Holy War, vol. iii., p. 342, 346.\n\n83. Bunyan on the Throne of Grace, vol. i., p. 677.\n\n84. Vol. i., p. 80.\n\n85. Holy War, vol. iii., p. 297.\n\n86. Vol. i., p. 14.\n\n87. Vol. iii., p. 123.\n\n88. Addison.\n\n89. Vol. i., p. 14.\n\n90. April 1645. About 300 discontented persons got together in Kent,\nand took Sir Percival Hart\u2019s house; Colonel Blunt attacked and\ndispersed them with horse and foot, regained the house, and made the\nchief of them prisoners. Whitelock, folio 137.\n\n91. Vol. i., p. 15.\n\n92. Vol. i., p. 15; No. 82.\n\n93. Vol. i., p. 16.\n\n94. Vol. i., p. 17, 18.\n\n95. Vol. iii., p. 113.\n\n96. Bunyan\u2019s Saints\u2019 Privilege and Profit, vol. i., p. 661.\n\n97. Bunyan\u2019s Saved by Grace, vol. i., p. 340.\n\n98. Vol. i., p. 17.\n\n99. Bunyan\u2019s Christ a Complete Saviour, vol. i., p. 210.\n\n100. Rogers on Trouble of Mind. Preface. Thus temptations are suited to\nthe state of the inquiring soul; the learned man who studies Plato,\nAristotle, and Aquinas, is filled with doubts arising from \u2018philosophy\nand vain deceit, profane and vain babblings\u2019; the unlettered mechanic\nis tried not by logic, but by infernal artillery; the threatenings of\nGod\u2019s Word are made to obscure the promises. It is a struggle which, to\none possessing a vivid imagination, is attended with almost intolerable\nagonies\u2014unbelief seals up the door of mercy.\n\nBunyan agreed with his learned contemporary, Milton, in the invisible\nagency of good and bad spirits.\n\n\u2018Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth Unseen, both when we\nwake and when we sleep!\u2019\n\nThe malignant demons watch their opportunity to harass the pilgrim with\nevil thoughts, injected when least expected.\n\n101. Vol. i., p. 19.\n\n102. Vol. i., p. 20.\n\n103. The anxiety of this pious teacher was to press upon his hearers to\ntake special heed, not to receive any truth upon trust from any man,\nbut to pray over it and search \u2018the Holy Word.\u2019 This, Mr. Southey\ndesignates, \u2018doctrine of a most perilous kind.\u2019 How happy would it be\nfor society if every religious teacher pressed this perilous doctrine\nupon their hearers, that it might bring forth the same fruit\nuniversally, as it did specially in Bunyan. Compare Grace Abounding,\nNo. 117, and Southey\u2019s Life, p. 27, 28.\n\n104. Vol. i., p. 21.\n\n105. Vol. i., p. 22.\n\n106. Vol. iii., p. 115.\n\n107. Vol. iii., p. 270.\n\n108. Luther fell into the same mistake as to the Baptists, that Bunyan\ndid as to the Quakers. Both were keenly alive to the honour of\nChristianity, and were equally misled by the loose conduct of some\nunworthy professors. Luther charges the Baptists as being \u2018devils\npossessed with worse devils\u2019 [Preface to Galatians]. \u2018It is all one\nwhether he be called a Frank, a Turk, a Jew, or an Anabaptist\u2019 [Com.\nGal. iv. 8, 9]. \u2018Possessed with the devil, seditious, and bloody men\u2019\n[Gal. v. 19]. Even a few days before his death, he wrote to his wife,\n\u2018Dearest Kate, we reached Halle at eight o\u2019clock, but could not get on\nto Eisleben, for there met us a great Anabaptist, with waves and lumps\nof ice, which threatened us with a second baptism.\u2019 Bunyan, in the same\nspirit, calls the Quakers \u2018a company of loose ranters, light\nnotionists, shaking in their principles!\u2019 [Vol. ii., p. 133, 9, 21].\nDenying the Scriptures and the resurrection [Com. Gal. iv. 29]. These\ntwo great men went through the same furnace of the regeneration; and\nBunyan, notwithstanding Luther\u2019s prejudices against the Baptists, most\naffectionately recommended his Comment on the Galatians, as an\ninvaluable work for binding up the broken-hearted.\n\n109. Vol. i., p. 23.\n\n110. Vol. ii., p. 181.\n\n111. Vol. ii., p. 260.\n\n112. Vol. i., p. 25; No. 158.\n\n113. See note in vol. i., p. 26.\n\n114. Vol. i., p. 29.\n\n115. Vol. i., p. 30\n\n116. The study of those scriptures, in order that the solemn question\nmight be safely resolved, \u2018Can such a fallen sinner rise again?\u2019 was\nlike the investigation of the title to an estate upon which a whole\nlivelihood depended. Every apparent flaw must be critically examined.\nTremblingly alive to the importance of a right decision, his prayers\nwere most earnest; and at length, to his unspeakable delight, the word\nof the law and wrath gave place to that of life and grace.\n\n117. Vol. i., p. 35.\n\n118. Vol. iii., p. 100.\n\n119. Irish sixpences, which passed for fourpence-halfpenny. See the\nnote on vol. i., p. 36. Since writing that note I have discovered\nanother proof of the contempt with which that coin was\ntreated:\u2014\u2018Christian, the wife of Robert Green, of Brexham,\nSomersetshire, in 1663, is said to have made a covenant with the devil;\nhe pricked the fourth finger of her right hand, between the middle and\nupper joints, and took two drops of her blood on his finger, giving her\na fourpence-halfpenny. Then he spake in private with Catharine her\nsister, and vanished, leaving a smell of brimstone behind!\u2019\u2014Turner\u2019s\nRemarkable Providences, folio, 1667, p. 28.\n\n120. Vol. i., p. 36.\n\n121. Holy War.\n\n122. Vol. ii., p. 141.\n\n123. Luther and Tyndale.\n\n124. Vol. iii., p. 398.\n\n125. Vol. i., p. 495.\n\n126. Vol. iii., p. 398.\n\n127. Vol. iii., p.190.\n\n128. Vol. iii., p. 186.\n\n129. Bunyan on Christian Behaviour, vol. ii., p. 550.\n\n130. Vol. ii., p. 570.\n\n131. Vol. ii., p. 585.\n\n132. The Nineteenth Article.\n\n133. The sufferings of the Episcopalians were severe; they drank the\nbitter cup which they had shortly before administered to the Puritans.\nUnder suspicion of disloyalty to the Commonwealth, they were most\nunjustly compelled to swallow the Covenant as a religious test, or\nleave preaching and teaching. Their miseries were not to be compared\nwith those of the Puritans. Laud was beheaded for treason, but none\nwere put to death for nonconformity. It was an age when religious\nliberty was almost unknown. These sufferings were repaid by an awful\nretaliation and revenge, when Royalty and Episcopacy were restored.\n\n134. Penn\u2019s Christian Quaker.\n\n135. Folio, p. 417.\n\n136. Vol. iii., p. 107.\n\n137. Vol. iii., p. 765. The author of Bunyan\u2019s Life, published in 1690,\ndates his baptism \u2018about the year 1653.\u2019\n\n138. Life from his Cradle to his Grave, 1700.\n\n139. September 21.\n\n140. In the same year, and about the same period, Oliver Cromwell was\nmade Lord Protector. Upon this coincidence, Mr. Carlisle uses the\nfollowing remarkable language:\u2014\u2018Two common men thus elevated, putting\ntheir hats upon their heads, might exclaim, \u201cGod enable me to be king\nof what lies under this! For eternities lie under it, and infinities,\nand heaven also and hell! and it is as big as the universe, this\nkingdom; and I am to conquer it, or be for ever conquered by it. Now,\nWHILE IT IS CALLED TO-DAY!\u2019\u201d\n\n141. In possession of the Society of Antiquities.\n\n142. Vol. i., p. 39.\n\n143. Vol. i., p. 20.\n\n144. Reading and Preaching.\n\n145. Not to wait for one another, each one to come in good time.\n\n146. Alluding to Bunyan, or his co-pastor, Burton, or to both of them.\n\n147. Bunyan was about twenty-seven years of age.\n\n148. This letter was copied into the church records at the time: the\noriginal cannot be found. It was published with Ryland\u2019s Funeral Sermon\non Symonds, 1788, and in Jukes\u2019 very interesting account of Bunyan\u2019s\nchurch, in 1849. The signature is copied from an original in the Milton\nState Papers, library of the Antiquarian Society.\n\n149. Vol. i., p. 39.\n\n150. Vol. i., p. 545.\n\n151. Grace Abounding, No. 255, vol. i., p. 39.\n\n152. Vol. i., p. 545.\n\n153. Grace Abounding, No 255-259, vol. i., p. 39.\n\n154. Vol. i., p. 40.\n\n155. Vol. iii., p. 655.\n\n156. Rogers on Trouble of Mind.\n\n157. Grace Abounding, No. 260.\n\n158. 1st edition, p. 355.\n\n159. Vol. ii., p. 425.\n\n160. Vol. i., p. 40.\n\n161. Vol. i., p. 769.\n\n162. Vol. i., p. 549.\n\n163. Church Book, 1671.\n\n164. This secrecy became needful after the Restoration, as noticed more\nfully afterwards, p. lix. During those years of persecution, a frequent\nplace of resort was a dell in Wain-wood, about three miles from\nHitchin. Of this locality the following notice will be acceptable:\u2014On\nthe 19th of May, 1853, a splendidly hot day, my pilgrimage to the\nshrines of Bunyan was continued at Hitchin and its vicinity, in company\nwith S. B. Geard, Esq. Here it was my honour to shake hands with honest\nEdward Foster, whose grandfather often entertained and sheltered John\nBunyan. So singular a case I had never met with, that three lives\nshould connect, in a direct line, evidence of transactions which\noccurred at a distance of 190 years. His grandfather was born in 1642,\nand for many years was a friend and companion of the illustrious\ndreamer. In 1706, when he was sixty-four years of age, his youngest son\nwas born, and in 1777, when that son was seventy-one years of age, his\nyoungest son was born, and in 1853 he has the perfect use of limbs and\nfaculties, and properly executes the important office of assistant\noverseer to his extensive parish. With such direct testimony, we\nvisited the very romantic dell, where, in the still hours of midnight,\nthe saints of God were wont to meet and unite in Divine worship. It is\na most romantic dell, in Wain-wood, which crowns a hill about three\nmiles from Hitchin. We had some difficulty in making our way through\nthe underwood\u2014crushing the beautiful hyacinths and primroses which\ncovered the ground in the richest profusion, and near the top of the\nhill came suddenly upon this singular dell\u2014a natural little eminence\nformed the pulpit, while the dell would hold under its shade at least a\nthousand people\u2014and now I must give you the countryman\u2019s eloquent\ndescription of the meetings of his ancestors. \u201cHere, under the canopy\nof heaven, with the rigour of winter\u2019s nipping frost, while the clouds,\nobscuring the moon, have discharged their flaky treasures, they often\nassembled while the highly-gifted and heavenly-minded Bunyan has broken\nto them the bread of life. The word of the Lord was precious in those\ndays. And here over his devoted head, while uncovered in prayer, the\npious matrons warded off the driving hail and snow, by holding a shawl\nover him by its four corners. In this devoted dell these plain\nunpolished husbandmen, like the ancient Waldenses, in the valleys of\nPiedmont, proved themselves firm defenders of the faith in its\nprimitive purity, and of Divine worship in its primitive style.\u201d\n\nTheir horses on which they rode, from various parts, were sheltered in\nneighbouring friendly farms, while they, to avoid suspicion, ascended\nthe hill by scarcely visible footpaths. Could fine weather be insured,\nit would form a lovely spot for a meeting to celebrate the third\njubilee of religious toleration\u2014there listen to a Bunyan of our age,\nand devise measures for religious equality. Then we might close the\nservice by solemnly objuring every system which gave power to tyrannise\nover the rights of conscience. Here, as in other places where Bunyan\nfounded churches, the cause of Christ hath spread. At Hitchin, in 1681,\nabout thirty-five Christians united in the following covenant:\u2014\n\n\u2018We who, through the mercy of God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have\nobtained grace to give ourselves to the Lord, and one to another by the\nwill of God, to have communion with one another, as saints in one\ngospel fellowship:\u2014Do, before God our Father, and our Lord Jesus\nChrist, and the holy angels, agree and promise to walk together in this\none gospel communion and fellowship as a church of Jesus Christ, in\nlove to the Lord and one to another, and endeavour to yield sincere and\nhearty obedience to the laws, ordinances, and appointments of our Lord\nand Lawgiver in his church. And also do agree and promise, the Lord\nassisting, to follow after the things which make for peace, and things\nwherewith one may edify another, that so living and walking in love and\npeace, the God of love and peace may be with us. Amen.\u2019\n\nThis was probably drawn by Bunyan, and so simple and comprehensive has\nit proved, that the church has flourished, and lately a spacious and\nhandsome place of worship has been erected, to accommodate a thousand\nworshippers, at a cost of \u00a33000, all paid for, with a surplus fund in\nhand for contingencies, of \u00a3500. In addition, there are also large and\ncommodious chapels for the Independents, Wesleyans, and Quakers.\n\n165. Christ a Complete Saviour, vol. i., p. 210.\n\n166. Law and Grace, vol. i., pp. 549, 550.\n\n167. Life of Bunyan, p. xiv.\n\n168. Sighs, vol. iii., p. 712.\n\n169. Gospel Truths, vol. ii., p. 178.\n\n170. Like the Beef-eaters, or yeomen of the guard at the present day.\n\n171. Journal, folio, 1694, p. 144. Is it surprising that the Quakers,\nat such a time, assumed their peculiar neatness of dress?\n\n172. Vol. ii., p. 178, 566.\n\n173. Grace Abounding, vol. i., p. 41.\n\n174. Nehemiah Coxe is said to have been a descendant from Dr. Richard\nCoxe, preceptor to Edward VI, and Dean of Oxford. He fled from\npersecution under Mary, was a troubler of his brother refugees by his\nturbulent temper, and his attachment to superstitious ceremonies. On\nhis return, he was made Bishop of Ely, and became a bitter persecutor.\nBenjamin Coxe, A.M., probably a son of the furious bishop, was as\nardently fond of rites and ceremonies. He was cited to appear before\nLaud for denying the jure divino of bishops, and the poor bishop said,\n\u201cGod did so bless me that I gave him satisfaction.\u201d Mr. Coxe soon after\ncame out as a Baptist, and having preached at Bedford, he settled in\nCoventry. Here he disputed with Mr. Baxter and the Presbyterians; and\nthe Independents had him imprisoned for defending adult baptism\n(Crosby, History of Baptists, i. 354), a very short mode of settling\nthe controversy. Probably Nehemiah Coxe was his son, settled at Bedford\nas a shoemaker. He was a learned man, and, when tried at Bedford\nassizes for preaching the gospel, he was indicted in the usual\nNorman-French, or Latin; and pleaded first in Greek, which the\nprosecutors not understanding, he pleaded in Hebrew, arguing, that as\nhis indictment was in a foreign tongue, he was entitled to plead in any\nof the learned languages. The counsel being ignorant of those\nlanguages, and the judge glad to get rid of a vexatious indictment,\ndismissed him, saying to the counselors, \u2018Well, this cordwainer hath\nwound you all up, gentlemen.\u2019 This anecdote is handed down in a funeral\nsermon by T. Sutcliff, on the death of Symonds, one of the pastors of\nthe church at Bedford.\n\nAnother of this little band that was set apart with Bunyan, became so\nuseful a preacher as to have been honoured with a record in the annals\nof persecution in the reign of Charles II. John Fenn was on Lord\u2019s-day,\nMay 15, 1670, committed to prison for preaching in his own house; and\non Tuesday, all his goods and stock in trade were seized and carted\naway, leaving his family in the most desolate condition.\n\nIn the following week, Edward Isaac, a blacksmith, another of this\nlittle band, having been fined, had all his stock in trade, and even\nthe anvil upon which he worked, seized and carted away.\n\nSuch were the severe trials which these excellent citizens were, with\ntheir families, called to pass through, by the tyranny of the church;\nbut they were light, indeed, in comparison with those that awaited the\namiable and pious Bunyan.\n\n175. If Christians recollected with what anxiety their teachers\nprepared and delivered their sermons, how constant and prayerful would\nbe their attendance on the means of grace.\n\n176. Grace Abounding, vol. i., p. 42. The taunts and revilings of a\npoet laureate upon Bunyan\u2019s preaching and sufferings need only a\npassing notice. No words could be more vile and slanderous than those\nof Mr. Southey. He says, \u2018Peace might be on his lips, and zeal for the\nsalvation of others in his heart, but he was certainly, at that time,\nno preacher of good will, nor of Christian charity.\u2019 How can we judge\nof a preacher\u2019s good will, but by \u2018peace on his lips?\u2019 and what is the\ncriterion of Christian charity, except it be \u2018zeal for the salvation of\nothers in his heart?\u2019\n\n177. Grace Abounding, No. 293, vol. i., p. 44.\n\n178. Vol. i., p. 59. Eben. Chandler thus describes Bunyan: \u2018His wit was\nsharp and quick, his memory tenacious; it being customary with him to\ncommit his sermons to writing after he had preached them.\u2019\u2014Chandler and\nWilson\u2019s Preface to Bunyan\u2019s Works, folio, 1692. All these autographs\nhave unaccountably disappeared.\n\n179. Noticed in the life annexed to Pilgrim, Part III.\n\n180. In the editor\u2019s library, folio, 1635. Orthography was little cared\nfor in those days. On the beautiful portrait of Andrews, is the\nautograph of Annie Brokett hir Blook!\n\n181. This document is copied on page xxvi.\n\n182. See page lxxii.\n\n183. Vol. ii., p. 132.\n\n184. Vol. ii., p. 133.\n\n185. Vol. ii., pp. 140, 141.\n\n186. The American authors of a recent life of Burrough, (William and\nThomas Evans, Philadelphia, republished by Gilpin, London, 1851), have\ngiven an unfair account of his controversy with Bunyan, drawn from\nBurrough\u2019s works in the shape of a supposed dialogue. Such a\ndisputation can only be understood by reading both sides of the\nquestion. We unite with them in admiring the character of that young\nbut noble martyr. They are, however, wrong in their conclusion that\n\u2018the meekness and gentleness of Christ softened and adorned his whole\ncharacter.\u2019 He was one of those that are called in the Holy War, \u2018rough\nhewn men fit to break the ice.\u2019 Vol. iii. p. 270\n\n187. Vol. ii., p. 201.\n\n188. P. 16.\n\n189. It is difficult to describe the state of those times. James Naylor\nrode into Bristol, a multitude accompanying him, strewing their scarfs,\nhandkerchiefs, and garments on the ground for his horse to tread on,\nand singing, Hosanna in the highest; holy, holy, holy is the Lord God\nof Israel. He was addressed as the everlasting son of righteousness,\nand prince of peace. His brain was bewildered with adulation. Women\nkissed his feet, and called him Jesus the Son of God. To stop the\ntumult, he was apprehended, and had he been simply subjected to the\ndiscipline of a mad-house, like Mr. Brothers of a later period, his\nblood would soon have recovered from its agitation. Instead of this, a\ngrand parade was made by trying him before a Committee of the House of\nCommons, and, upon a report of the whole house, he was convicted of\n\u2018horrid blasphemy,\u2019 and it was by the small majority of fourteen that\nhis life was spared. His cruel sentence was whipping, pillory, his\ntongue bored through with a red hot iron, a large letter B burnt into\nhis forehead, and to be imprisoned during the pleasure of Parliament.\nBy his followers he was considered a martyr; but the infatuation soon\nsubsided. After his release, he was mercifully restored to his senses,\nand became a useful Quaker.\n\n190. These commissioners were called \u2018triers,\u2019 and, being high\nCalvinists, were nick-named Dr. Absolute, chairman, Mr. Fatality, Mr.\nFri-babe, Mr. Dam-man, Mr. Narrow-grace, Mr. Indefectible, Mr. Dubious,\nand others. They turned out of their livings those clergymen who were\nproved to be immoral in their conduct, and others who did not come up\nto the orthodox standard. Of these, Mr. Walker, in his account of the\nsufferings of the clergy, gives a long list.\n\n191. This Act or ordinance of Parliament involved some of our excellent\nancestors in trouble. Hansard Knollys, Wm. Kiffin, Mr. Lamb, and many\nothers, were imprisoned for short periods; Edward Barbour for eleven\nmonths. To avoid the informers, adult baptism was performed at\nmidnight; for this Henry Denne suffered imprisonment. That gracious and\nvaluable minister, Vavasor Powel also suffered a short imprisonment\nduring the Protectorate; his life was afterwards sacrificed by a\ntedious imprisonment in the following reign. He was taken, with his\nflock, at a midnight meeting; and for safe custody they were locked up\nin the parish church, and there he preached without molestation. When\nconveyed to the justice\u2019s house, while waiting his worship\u2019s leisure,\nhe again preached. When this magistrate arrived, he was violently\nenraged that his house should have been turned into a conventicle. He\nwould have committed them at once to prison, but two of his daughters\nwere so affected with the sermon, that, at their intercession, after\nsevere threatenings, the preacher and his friends were set at liberty.\n\n192. From the original, in the editor\u2019s possession.\n\n193. Cotton Mather says that these laws were never carried to\nextremity, and were soon laid entirely by. Hist. of America.\n\n194. Jukes\u2019 History of Bunyan\u2019s Church, p. 16.\n\n195. Works, vol. iii., p. 667; especially pp. 672, 673.\n\n196. No. 280-317, vol. i., p. 42-46.\n\n197. Life and Death of Mr. J. Bunyan, 1700, p. 27.\n\n198. Vol. iii., p. 767.\n\n199. Grace Abounding, vol. i., p. 46.\n\n200. See Note, vol. i., p. 45.\n\n201. 4tp. London, 1659. A MS copy is in the editor\u2019s possession.\n\n202. Vol. i., p. 683.\n\n203. Vol. iii., p. 445.\n\n204. Vol. iii., p. 48.\n\n205. Vol. ii., p. 635.\n\n206. Vol. iii., p. 680.\n\n207. See postscript to The True Faith of the Gospel of Peace, British\nMuseum.\n\n208. Vol. ii., p. 201.\n\n209. Vol. i., p. 46.\n\n210. Macaulay\u2019s History of England, vol. i.\n\n211. Life of Badman.\n\n212. Penn\u2019s England\u2019s Interest, 4to, 1676, p. 2.\n\n213. Vol. ii., p. 593.\n\n214. Vol. i., p. 51.\n\n215. Vol. i., p. 51.\n\n216. This very interesting Memoir was published by the Society of\nFriends, 1825.\n\n217. Case and Opinion, under the head \u2018Conventicles,\u2019 British Museum.\nThere is also a rare Tract, to prove that the Persecuting Acts expired\nOct. 24th, 1670.\n\n218. Vol. i., p. 54. How unspeakable the mercy, that the persecutor\ncannot plunge his implements of torture into the spirit, nor prevent\nits intercourse with heaven!\n\nA very deeply interesting narrative of all the particulars of this\nexamination and form of trial, was recorded by the sufferer. See vol.\ni., p. 50.\n\n219. There were three prisons in Bedford\u2014the county jail, the\nbridewell, and the tower jail. No decisive evidence has been discovered\nas to which prison Bunyan was committed. Two views of the bridge and\nprison are given in the plate at p. 63, vol. i.\n\n220. Howard\u2019s Account of Lazarettos, &c. 4to, 1789, p. 150.\n\n221. Elstow is a perpetual curacy or vicarage, worth at that time only\n\u00a335 per annum! forming one of the discreditable anomalies of the\nchurch, in the division of its immense revenues.\n\n222. He has favoured us with the following description of it:\u2014\u2018The ring\nis of fine gold, very like in colour to that which has been brought\ninto this country from California. The head is, I think, engraven, but\nthe letters have not that sharpness about them which indicates the\nengraving tool; and the I. B. are undoubted indents made after the ring\nwas finished.\u2019 It is not the usual emblem of a mourning gift, for that\nwould have the cross-bones under the skull; it was more probably given\nas a special mark of esteem. Three things are certain\u20141st, That if so\nvaluable a gift excited the poor man\u2019s pride, its loss must have been a\nserious annoyance to one whose family was dependent upon his daily\nlabour. 2d, His preaching talent must have been highly appreciated,\nbefore he was known as the author of the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, to have\nbrought him so valuable a token of respect. But the most pleasing and\nremarkable reflection, is the surprising progress of good-will among\nmen of various denominations, that a ring, worn by a despised and\npersecuted Nonconformist of a former age, is now highly prized and\nworn, from respect to his memory, by a dignified clergyman of the\nEstablished church.\n\n223. This was not his only ring; he left, inter alia, all his rings to\nhis wife. See. p. lxxii.\n\n224. After he had lain in jail five or six days, an application was\nmade to a liberal justice at Elstow, named Crumpton, to release him on\nbail; but he declined, fearing to give offence. He, however, so felt\nfor this persecuted servant of Christ, as to sell him an edifice and\nbarn, which, upon his release, was converted into a large\nmeeting-house.\n\n225. Vol. ii., p. 107.\n\n226. Vol. iii., p. 341, 366.\n\n227. From his autograph, in the editor\u2019s possession, he spelt his name\nJohn Keling.\n\n228. Lord Campbell\u2019s lives of the Chief Justices.\n\n229. Vol. i., p. 57. This forcibly reminds us of Greatheart\u2019s reply to\nGiant Maul\u2014\u2018I am a servant of the God of heaven; my business is to\npersuade sinners to repentance; if to prevent this be thy quarrel, let\nus fall to it as soon as thou wilt,\u2019 vol. iii., p. 210. Southey\nattempts to vindicate the justices in condemning Bunyan, and grossly\nmis-states the facts; deeming him to be unreasonable and intolerant;\nthat preaching was incompatible with his calling, and that he ought not\nto have sacrificed his liberty in such a cause! The poet-laureate makes\nthese assertions, knowing the vast benefits which sprung from the\ndetermined piety and honesty of the persecuted preacher. Would not\nBy-ends, Facing-both-ways, and Save-all, have jumped to the same\nconclusion?\n\n230. Vol. i., p. 56.\n\n231. Every Christian should read the appalling account of these\nsufferings, recently published under the title of Ladies of the\nCovenant.\n\n232. Vol. iii., p. 17.\n\n233. History of Baptists, vol. ii., p. 172. Robinson was a nephew of\nArchbishop Laud, and appeared to inherit his evil spirit.\n\n234. Wilson\u2019s History of Dissenting Churches, and the Trial of\nRosewell.\n\n235. Vol. i., p. 198; and Grace Abounding, No. 326.\n\n236. Vol. i., p. 48.\n\n237. Baptized at Elstow, July 20, 1650.\n\n238. Vol. i., p. 168.\n\n239. Vol. ii., p. 279.\n\n240. Vol. ii., p. 733.\n\n241. Vol. i., p. 60.\n\n242. The cut, copied from an old drawing of the house taken before its\nentire demotion, at the end of last century, exhibits its quaint\ncharacteristics. The bridge foot is to the spectator\u2019s right; the\nchurch tower behind is that of St. Mary\u2019s, also seen in our view of the\njail, which would, of course, be seen from the bow-windows of the old\ninn, in which the Judges met.\n\n243. Vol. i., p. 60.\n\n244. Lectures on the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\n\n245. This valuable set of books came into the possession of my old\nfriend Mr. Wontner, of the Minories, London; it descended at his\ndecease, to his widow, who resided on Camberwell Green, and from her to\na daughter, married to Mr. Parnel, an orange merchant in Botolph Lane.\nHe was tempted to sell it to Mr. Bohn, the bookseller, from whom it was\nbought for the Bedford library.\n\n246. Charles Doe in Heavenly Footman, 2d edition, 1700.\n\n247. Introduction to the Pilgrim, vol. iii., p. 6, 7.\n\n248. Psalmody Edit., 1775, p. 137. George Whitefield, in recommending\nthe works of Bunyan, says, \u2018Ministers never write or preach so well as\nwhen under the cross; the Spirit of Christ and of glory shall rest upon\nthem\u2019 [Preface to Bunyan\u2019s Works, 1767]. Admiring the courage and\nhonesty of Bunyan, when alluding to the Prayer-Book, we earnestly unite\nin his petition\u2014\u2018The Lord in mercy turn the hearts of his people, to\nseek more after the Spirit of prayer, and, in the strength of that, to\npour out their souls before the Lord.\u2019\n\n249. This was published in 1698.\n\n250. Heavenly Footman, 2d edition, 1700, p. 126.\n\n251. Vol. iii., p. 397, 398.\n\n252. This deeply interesting book is dedicated to four sorts of\nreaders\u2014the godly, the learned, the captious, and to the mother of\nharlots. To her he says, \u2018I have nothing here to please your wanton\neye, or voluptuous palate; no paint for thy wrinkled face, nor crutch\nto support thy tottering kingdom.\u2019 It is a very amusing preface.\n\n253. Vol. iii., p. 610.\n\n254. Vol. i., p. 4.\n\n255. Author\u2019s Apology for the Pilgrim.\n\n256. Vol. i., p. 602.\n\n257. Vol. iii., p. 7.\n\n258. Grace Abounding, No. 322.\n\n259. Vol. i., p. 65.\n\n260. Vol. i., p. 741.\n\n261. This jug is in possession of Mrs. Hillyard, widow of the late Mr.\nHillyard, who was minister of the chapel for fifty years, and died in\n1839. One tradition says the jug was used as noted in the text; another\nthat his broth was brought to \u2018chapel\u2019 in it, for his Sunday dinner, in\nthe vestry.\n\n262. Vol. ii., p. 737-739.\n\n263. 2 Cor 1:5; vol. ii., p. 735.\n\n264. Vol. ii., p. 700.\n\n265. Vol. i., p. 47.\n\n266. Vol. i., p. 278; and vol. iii., p. 13.\n\n267. Vol. ii., p. 593.\n\n268. Vol. ii., p. 594.\u2014Heroic man! British Christians are most deeply\nindebted to thee, and thy fellow-sufferers, for the high privileges\nthey now enjoy. May thy name be had in everlasting remembrance.\n\n269. Vol. i., p. 62.\n\n270. It has been doubted whether he was justified in thus making\nexcursions from the prison. This may be answered by the question\u2014Was\nPeter justified in leaving the prison, and going to the prayer-meeting\nat Mary\u2019s house? Acts 12:7-19.\n\n271. Vol. iii., p. 19.\n\n272. Rapin.\n\n273. For an accurate copy of this declaration, see vol. iii., p. 21.\n\n274. The ecclesiastical year commenced in March. The tenth month means\nDecember.\n\n275. For a copy of these licenses, see vol. iii., p. 24.\n\n276. 4to, vol. vii., p. 75.\n\n277. I am greatly indebted to J. P. Brown, Esq., James Street,\nIslington, for directing my attention to these letters.\n\n278. Vol. iii., pp. 21-29.\n\n279. Vol. iii., p. 27.\n\n280. Vol. i., p. 47; No. 319.\n\n281. Jukes\u2019 History of Bunyan\u2019s Church, p. 24.\n\n282. Continuation of Life to Grace Abounding.\n\n283. It is generally believed at Bedford, that, after Bunyan was\nimprisoned, his family removed from Elstow to Bedford, in order that\nthey might have more frequent access to him; and that, on his release,\nhe made his abode there. His humble dwelling was much like that of his\nfather at Elstow, most unassuming; just such a cottage as a poor\nwounded sinner would feel at home in when visiting his pastor for\nadvice. The late Rev. J. Geard, of Hitchin, in his Diary, says\u2014\u2018July\n17, 1774. I preached, for the first time, at Bedford, to the successors\nof good Mr. Bunyan\u2019s congregation, and the next day called at the house\nwhere he used to live, and went into the room that tradition reported\nwas his study. This house, though it had been the habitation of so\ntruly great a man, was now let for about 40s. per annum.\u2019 Allowing for\nthe difference in the value of money, Bunyan would have now paid 16s.\na-year rent for his humble abode. It will be always matter of regret,\nthat it was not purchased and preserved by the members of the \u2018Old\nMeeting,\u2019 when it was offered them before its destruction; we procured,\nhowever, a drawing of it, which is here engraved. The cottage was in\nthe parish of St. Cuthbert, in the street opposite the meeting-house,\nand here Bunyan lived, while he was pastor, from 1681 to 1688.\n\n284. Pilgrim, vol. iii., p. 198.\n\n285. Vol. ii., p. 649.\n\n286. Vol. ii., p. 538.\n\n287. Vol. ii., p. 219.\n\n288. Vol. i., p. 757.\n\n289. Vol. ii., 649.\n\n290. Vol. ii., p. 638.\n\n291. Vol. ii., p. 641.\n\n292. Vol. iii., p. 758.\n\n293. Christian Church, 8vo, 1747, p. 280.\n\n294. The General Doctrine of Toleration, applied to Free Communion, p.\n8. George Whitefield most warmly approved the communion of all God\u2019s\nsaints with each other. This, I must own, more particularly endears Mr.\nBunyan to my heart. He was of a catholic spirit. The want of water\n(adult baptism), with this man of God, was no bar to outward Christian\ncommunion. And I am persuaded that if, like him, we were more deeply\nand experimentally baptized into the benign and gracious influences of\nthe blessed Spirit, we should be less baptized into the waters of\nstrife about circumstantials and non-essentials. For being thereby\nrooted and grounded in the love of God, we should necessarily be\nconstrained to think and let think, bear with and forbear one another\nin love, and without saying, I am of Paul, Apollos, or Cephas; have but\none grand, laudable, disinterested strife, namely, who should live,\npreach, and exalt the ever-loving, altogether-lovely Jesus most.\n\n295. Vol. iii., p. 398.\n\n296. He hesitated as to the propriety of publishing it, probably from\nthe influence of the weighty opinion of Martin Luther. \u2018The people are\ngreatly delighted with allegories and similitudes, and therefore Christ\noftentimes useth them; for they are, as it were, certain pictures which\nset forth things as if they were painted before our eyes. Paul was a\nmarvelous cunning workman in handling allegories, but Origen and Jerome\nturn plain Scriptures into unfit and foolish allegories. Therefore, to\nuse allegories, it is oftentimes a very dangerous thing\u2019 [Com. on Gal.\niv. 21]. Such instructions, from one he so much venerated, curbed his\nexuberant imagination, and made him doubly watchful, lest allegorizing\nupon subjects of such vast importance might \u2018darken counsel by words\nwithout knowledge.\u2019\n\n297. Vol. iii., p. 739.\n\n298. Even Dean Swift, in his popular Letter to a Young Divine, says, \u2018I\nhave been better entertained, and more informed by a few pages in the\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress, than by a long discourse upon the will and the\nintellect, and simple and complex ideas.\u2019 Nothing short of\nextraordinary merit could have called for such a eulogy from so severe\na critic.\n\n299. Vol. iii., p. 166.\n\n300. Within the Editor\u2019s memory, polished writers hesitated to name our\nincomparable allegorist, on account of his humble name and education.\nThus Cowper sang\u2014\n\n\u2018I name thee not, lest so despised a name Should move a sneer at thy\ndeserved fame.\u2019\n\nNow nearly all men find it difficult to do that name sufficient honour.\nOne of the most splendid steam-ships in America is called after his\nname. A magnificent ship, for the China trade, was built at Aberdeen by\nWalter Hood & Co., which so swiftly traversed the ocean as to have made\nthe voyage from Canton to London in ninety-nine days, without any aid\nfrom steam. This beautiful and grand specimen of the perfection of\nnaval architecture is named The John Bunyan. Roman Catholics have\nprinted large editions of the Pilgrim, with slight omissions, for\ncirculation among the young under the care of the nuns. Our English\nfanatics have committed a crime that would make a papist blush. A Rev.\nE. Neale has clumsily altered the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, that Bunyan might\nappear to teach the things which Bunyan\u2019s righteous heaven-born soul\nabhorred. It is a piece of matchless self-conceit to think of mending\nthat which has been admired by the wisest of the human race in all\nnations, and which has obtained an unbounded popularity. Such an\nattempt to alter it is an acknowledgment that all the boasted power of\nOxford, Exeter, and Rome, are unable to invent a tale to supersede the\nmatchless beauties of the work of our spiritually-minded,\nheavenly-assisted brazier. If Mr. Neale should, at any time, alter a\ndeed and the punishment for that felony is transportation for life. A\nsimilar forgery was committed in a recent London edition of Dr.\nCheever\u2019s Hill Difficulty. The Tractarians, doubtless, commit these\nscandalous outrages upon the Fathers, and all other writers, and\ndeserve the contempt of every honest, upright mind.\n\n301. Vol. i., p. 473.\n\n302. Vol. i., p. 480.\n\n303. Two views of this meeting-house, an exterior and interior, after\nits conversion into a workshop, are given in the Plate facing page i.\nof this Memoir. In the interior, part of the beams and pillars that\nsupported the gallery still remain.\n\n304. Toplady\u2019s Works, vol. iv., p. 463.\n\n305. Vol. iii., p. 637.\n\n306. One of his anecdotes is remarkable, as exhibiting the state of\nmedical knowledge in his neighbourhood. A poor wretch, who had taught\nhis son to blaspheme, was affected with a nervous twisting of the\nmuscles of his chest. This was supposed to arise from a Satanic\npossession. One Freeman, a more than ordinary doctor, attempted the\ncure. They bound the patient to a form, with his head hanging down over\nthe end; set a pan of coals under his mouth, and put something therein\nthat made a great smoke, to fetch out the devil. There they kept the\nman till he was almost smothered, but no devil came out of him [Vol.\niii., p. 605]. The death-bed scene of the broken-hearted Mrs. Badman,\nis delicately and beautifully drawn.\n\n307. Sutcliff\u2019s History of Bunyan\u2019s Church.\n\n308. Vol. iii., p. 245.\n\n309. A beautiful satire is contained in the account of the\ntraitors\u2014tradition, human wisdom, and man\u2019s invention. This picture is\ndrawn by an inimitable artist. Nor have we seen anything more admirably\nadapted to the present state of our Tractarian times. Vol. iii. 277.\n\n310. Vol. i., p. 22, No. 128.\n\n311. Vol. ii., p. 574.\n\n312. Life, 1692.\n\n313. Grace Abounding (continued), vol. i., p. 63, and Life, 1692.\n\n314. Vol. i., p. 505.\n\n315. Vol. i., p. 719.\n\n316. Vol. i., p. 753.\n\n317. Some of the wax remains, but the coin is lost.\n\n318. Vol. iii., p. 763.\n\n319. Vol. i., p. 81.\n\n320. Mr. Philip, Critique on Bunyan, p. vi. and xvi.\n\n321. Vol. ii., p. 425.\n\n322. Vol. iii., p. 766.\n\n323. Grace Abounding, 1692.\n\n324. No. 25, E.; 26, W.; 26, N.; 27, S.\n\n325. As matters of curious interest to all lovers of Bunyan, we insert,\nin the accompanying page, engravings of these relics, from drawings by\nMr. Edward Offor.\n\n326. The chair is engraved above, and it will be seen that it has\nsuffered some little dilapidation since the last published engraving of\nit. The legs have been cut down to suit the height of one of his\nsuccessors in the ministry!! With regard to the pulpit, an old resident\nin Bedford says\u2014The celebrated John Howard presented a new pulpit in\nthe room of the old one, which was cut up. Of part of the wood a table\nwas made, which now belongs to Mrs. Hillyerd.\n\n327. Vol. iii., p. 297.\n\n328. Vol. i., p. 714.\n\n329. Vol. i., p. 686.\n\n330. Vol. i., pp. 690, 691.\n\n331. Vol. ii., p. 261.\n\n332. Vol. iii., p. 748.\n\n333. It is noticed, in a letter to the Secretary for Ireland, dated\nSeptember 6, 1688\u2014\u2018On teusday last died the Lord Mayor Sir J. Shorter.\nA few days before died Bunnian his lordship\u2019s teacher or chaplain a man\nsaid to be gifted that way though once a cobler\u2019 [Ellis\u2019s Cor., vol.\nii., p. 161]. We can excuse the sarcasm of a Roman Catholic, and with\nequal good nature, and more truth, remark, that the great and eminent\npope, Sixtus V., was once a swineherd\u2014not a bad school in which to\nstudy how to keep up a despotic sway over the Papacy.\n\n334. Vol. iii., p. 308.\n\n335. Law and Grace, marg., vol. i., p. 524.\n\n336. Vol. ii., p. 651.\n\n337. Vol. i., pp. 634, 635.\n\n338. Vol. ii., p. 653.\n\n339. Vol. i., p. 647.\n\n340. Vol. ii., p. 15.\n\n341. Vol. ii., p. 497.\n\n342. Vol. iii., p. 251.\n\n343. Emblem xiv., vol. iii., p. 751.\n\n344. Christ is made known by the sufferings of his saints, vol. ii., p.\n701, and note.\n\n345. Vol. iii., p. 751, and note.\n\n346. Vol. iii., p. 595.\n\n347. Vol. ii., p. 22.\n\n348. Vol. ii., p. 257.\n\n349. Works, folio, 1693.\n\n***\n\n\n\n\nGRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS:\n\n\nA BRIEF AND FAITHFUL RELATION OF THE EXCEEDING MERCY OF GOD IN CHRIST\nTO HIS POOR SERVANT, JOHN BUNYAN;\n\nWHEREIN IS PARTICULARLY SHOWED THE MANNER OF HIS CONVERSION, HIS SIGHT\nAND TROUBLE FOR SIN, HIS DREADFUL TEMPTATIONS, ALSO HOW HE DESPAIRED OF\nGOD\u2019S MERCY, AND HOW THE LORD AT LENGTH THROUGH CHRIST DID DELIVER HIM\nFROM ALL THE GUILT AND TERROR THAT LAY UPON HIM.\n\n\nWhereunto is added a brief relation of his call to the work of the\nministry, of his temptations therein, as also what he hath met with in\nprison. All which was written by his own hand there, and now published\nfor the support of the weak and tempted people of God.\n\n\u201cCome and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath\ndone for my soul.\u201d\u2014Psalm 66:16.\n\nLondon: Printed by George Larkin, 1666.\n\nThis title page was afterwards altered, and instead of what follows the\nfirst line, he inserted,\n\nOr a brief and faithful relation of the exceeding mercy of God in\nChrist to his poor servant, John Bunyan; namely, in his taking of him\nout of the dunghill, and converting of him to the faith of his blessed\nSon, Jesus Christ. Here is also particularly showed, what sight of, and\nwhat trouble he had for sin; and also what various temptations he hath\nmet with, and how God hath carried him through them.\n\nCorrected and much enlarged now by the Author, for the benefit of the\ntempted and dejected Christian.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nThe great utility of remarkable accounts of the ways of God in bringing\nhis sheep into the fold, must be admitted by all. The Bible abounds\nwith these manifestations of Divine grace from the gentle voice that\ncalled Samuel, even unto the thunder which penetrated the soul of one,\nwho followed the church with continued malignity, calling unto him,\n\u201cSaul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?\u201d\u2014a voice so terrible, and\naccompanied by such a flood of light, as to strike the persecutor to\nthe earth, and for a season to deprive him of sight.\n\nThe \u2018Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners\u2019 is doubly interesting, as\nit unfolds to us not only the return of a notorious prodigal, but a\nwondrous system of education, by which a chosen man was fitted for a\nwondrous work; heavenly and spiritual learning, which could not have\nbeen obtained in all the schools and universities in the world. It\nenabled a poor, vile, unlettered rebel\u2014a blasphemous travelling tinker,\nto become a most eminent preacher; one whose native powers, sanctified\nby harrowing but hallowing feelings, attracted the deep attention of\nthe most learned and pious of his contemporaries, while it carried\nconviction to the most impious and profane. Even beyond all this, his\nspiritual acquirements fitted him, without scholastic learning, to\nbecome the most popular, the most attractive, the most useful of\nEnglish authors. His works increase remarkably in popularity. As time\nrolls on, they are still read with deeper and deeper interest, while\nhis bodily presence and labours mingle in the records of the events of\nbygone ages.\n\nBunyan\u2019s account of his singular trials and temptations may have\nexcited alarm in the minds of some young Christians lest they should be\nin an unconverted state, because they have not been called to pass\nthrough a similar mode of training. Pray recollect, my dear young\nChristian, that all are not called to such important public labours as\nBunyan, or Whitfield, or Wesley. All the members of the Christian\nfamily are trained to fit them for their respective positions in the\nchurch of Christ. It is a pleasant and profitable exercise to look back\nto the day of our espousals, and trace the operations of Divine grace\nin digging us from the hole of the pit; but the important question with\nus all should be, not so much HOW we became enlightened, but NOW do we\nlove Christ? _Now_ do we regret our want of greater conformity to his\nimage? If we can honestly answer these questions in the affirmative, we\nare believers, and can claim our part in that precious promise,\n\u201cWhosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.\u201d Spiritual life\nis ours, and eternal life is essentially connected with it, and must be\nour portion, without an inquiry into the means by which we were called,\nwhether by the thunders and lighting of Sinai, as Paul was smitten, or\nby the \u201cstill small voice\u201d (Acts 9:3,4; 1 Kings 19:12; Job 4:16,17).\n\nThe value of such a narrative to a terror-stricken prodigal is vividly\nshown by Bunyan, in his \u2018Jerusalem Sinner Saved,\u2019 in one of those\ncolloquial pieces of composition in which he eminently shone. \u2018Satan is\nloath to part with a great sinner. \u201cWhat, my true servant,\u201d quoth he,\n\u201cmy old servant, wilt thou forsake me now? Having so often sold thyself\nto me to work wickedness, wilt thou forsake me now? Thou horrible\nwretch, dost not know, that thou hast sinned thyself beyond the reach\nof grace, and dost think to find mercy now? Art not thou a murderer, a\nthief, a harlot, a witch, a sinner of the greatest size, and dost thou\nlook for mercy now? Dost thou think that Christ will foul his fingers\nwith thee? It is enough to make angels blush, saith Satan, to see so\nvile a one knock at heaven-gates for mercy, and wilt thou be so\nabominably bold to do it?\u201d Thus Satan dealt with me, says the great\nsinner, when at first I came to Jesus Christ. And what did you reply?\nSaith the tempted. Why, I granted the whole charge to be true, says the\nother. And what, did you despair, or how? No, saith he, I said, I am\nMagdalene, I am Zacheus, I am the thief, I am the harlot, I am the\npublican, I am the prodigal, and one of Christ\u2019s murderers; yea, worse\nthan any of these; and yet God was so far off from rejecting of me, as\nI found afterwards, that there was music and dancing in his house for\nme, and for joy that I was come home unto him. O blessed be God for\ngrace, says the other, for then I hope there is favour for me.\u2019\n\nThe \u2018Grace Abounding\u2019 is a part of Bunyan\u2019s prison meditations, and\nstrongly reminds us of the conversation between Christian and Hopeful\non the enchanted ground.\n\n\u2018Christian. Now then, to prevent drowsiness in this place, let us fall\ninto good discourse.\n\n\u2018Hopeful. With all my heart.\n\n\u2018Christian. Where shall we begin?\n\n\u2018Hopeful. Where God began with us.\u2019\n\nTo prevent drowsiness, to beguile the time, he looks back to his past\nexperience, and the prison became his Patmos\u2014the gate of heaven\u2014a\nBethel, in which his time was occupied in writing for the benefit of\nhis fellow-Christians. He looks back upon all the wondrous way through\nwhich the Lord had led him from the City of Destruction to Mount Zion.\nWhile writing his own spiritual pilgrimage, his great work broke upon\nhis imagination.\n\n\u2018And thus it was: I writing of the way,\nAnd race of saints, in this our gospel day,\nFell suddenly into an allegory\nAbout their journey, and the way to glory.\u2019\n\n\n\u2018As you read the \u201cGrace Abounding,\u201d you are ready to say at every step,\nhere is the future author of the \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress.\u201d It is as if you\nstood beside some great sculptor, and watched every movement of his\nchisel, having seen his design; so that at every blow some new trait of\nbeauty in the future statue comes clearly into view.\u2019[1]\n\nA great difference of opinion has been expressed by learned men as to\nwhether Bunyan\u2019s account of himself is to be understood literally, as\nit respects his bad conduct before his conversion, or whether he views\nhimself through a glass, by which his evil habits are magnified. No one\ncan doubt his perfect honesty. He plainly narrates his bad, as well as\nhis redeeming qualities; nor does his narrative appear to be\nexaggerated. He was the son of a travelling tinker, probably a gipsy,\n\u2018the meanest and most despised rank in the land\u2019; when, alarmed at his\nsins, recollection that the Israelites were once the chosen people of\nGod, he asked his father, whether he was of that race; as if he thought\nthat his family were of some peculiar people, and it was easy for such\na lad to blend the Egyptians with the Israelitish race. When he was\ndefamed, his slanderers called him a witch, or fortune teller, a\nJesuit, a highwayman, or the like. Brought up to his father\u2019s trade,\nwith his evil habits unchecked, he became a very depraved lad; and when\nhe states his sad character, it is with a solemn pledge that his\naccount is strictly true. Probably, with a view to the full\ngratification of his sinful propensities, he entered the army, and\nserved among the profligate soldiers of Charles I at the siege of\nLeicester.[2]\n\nDuring this time, he was ill at ease; he felt convinced of sin, or\nrighteousness, and of judgment, without a hope of mercy. Hence his\nmisery and internal conflicts, perhaps the most remarkable of any upon\nrecord. His own Giant Despair seized him with an iron grasp. He felt\nhimself surrounded by invisible beings, and in the immediate presence\nof a holy God. By day, he was bewildered with tormenting visions, and\nby night alarming dreams presented themselves to him upon his bed. The\nfictitious appeared to his terrified imagination realities. His excited\nspirit became familiar with shapeless forms and fearful powers. The\nsorrows of death, and the pains of hell, got hold upon him. His\ninternal conflict was truly horrible, as one who thought himself under\nthe power of demons; they whispered in his ears\u2014pulled his clothes; he\nmadly fought, striking at imaginary shades with his hands, and stamping\nwith his feet at the destroyer. Thoughts of the unpardonable sin beset\nhim, his powerful bodily frame became convulsed with agony, as if his\nbreast bone would split, and he burst asunder like Judas. He possessed\na most prolific mind, affording constant nourishment to this excited\nstate of his feelings. He thought that he should be bereft of his wits;\nthen a voice rushed in at the window like the noise of wind, very\npleasant, and produced a great calm in his soul. His intervals of ease,\nhowever, were short; the recollection of his sins, and a fear that he\nhad sold his Saviour, haunted his affrighted spirit. His soul became so\ntormented, as to suggest to his ideas the suffering of a malefactor\nbroken upon the wheel. The climax of these terrors is narrated at\nparagraph No. 187. \u2018Thus was I always sinking, whatever I did think or\ndo. So one day I walked to a neighbouring town, and sat down upon a\nsettle in the street, and fell into a very deep pause about the most\nfearful state my sin had brought me to; and, after long musing, I\nlifted up my head, but methought I saw as if the sun that shineth in\nthe heavens did grudge to give light; and as if the very stones in the\nstreet, and tiles upon the houses, did bend themselves against me;\nmethought that they all combined together, to banish me out of the\nworld; I was abhorred of them, and unfit to dwell among them, or be a\npartaker of their benefits, because I had sinned against the Saviour.\u2019\nIn this deep abyss of misery, THAT love which has heights and depths\npassing knowledge, laid under him the everlasting arms, and raised him\nfrom the horrible pit in miry clay, when no human powers could have\nreached his case. Dr. Cheever eloquently remarks, that \u2018it was through\nthis valley of the shadow of death, overhung by darkness, peopled with\ndevils, resounding with blasphemy and lamentations; and passing amidst\nquagmires and pitfalls, close by the very mouth of hell, that Bunyan\njourneyed to that bright and fruitful land of Beulah, in which he\nsojourned during the latter days of his pilgrimage.\u2019 The only trace\nwhich his cruel sufferings and temptations seen to have left behind\nthem, was an affectionate compassion for those who were still in the\nstate in which he had once been.\n\nYoung Christians, you must not imagine that all these terrors are\nabsolute prerequisites to faith in the Saviour. God, as a sovereign,\ncalls his children to himself by various ways. Bunyan\u2019s was a very\nextraordinary case, partly from his early habits\u2014his excitable mind, at\na period so calculated to fan a spark of such feelings into a flame.\nHis extraordinary inventive faculties, softened down and hallowed by\nthis fearful experience, became fitted for most extensive usefulness.\n\nTo eulogize this narrative, would be like \u2018gilding refined gold\u2019; but I\ncannot help remarking, among a multitude of deeply interesting\npassages, his observations upon that honest open avowal of Christian\nprinciples, which brought down severe persecution upon him. They excite\nour tenderest sympathy; his being dragged from his home and wife and\nchildren, he says, \u2018hath oft been to me, as the pulling my flesh from\nmy bones; my poor blind child, what sorrow art thou like to have for\nthy portion in this world! thou must be beaten, must beg, suffer\nhunger, cold, nakedness, and a thousand calamities, though I cannot now\nendure the wind should blow upon thee. O, I saw I was as a man who was\npulling down his house upon the head of his wife and children; yet,\nrecollecting myself, thought I, I must venture you all with God.\u2019 How\nawful must be the state of the wretched persecutor, who occasions such\nsufferings to the children of the most high God!\n\nIn this edition, the greatest care has been taken to preserve the exact\nwords of the author, as he first published them; where he altered or\nadded to the text in subsequent editions, it is marked with an inverted\ncomma, or inserted in the notes. Obsolete words and customs are\nexplained; the numbering of his sections is continued, in addition to\nwhich, it is divided into chapters for family reading, upon the plan of\nthe late Rev. J. Ivimey; double inverted commas denote quotations of\nScripture.\n\nThe reader is strongly pressed to keep in his recollection the peculiar\nuse made of the word should, by the author in this narrative. It is\nfrom the Saxon scealan, to be obliged. Thus, in the Saxon gospels (Matt\n27:15), \u201cthe governor should release unto the people a prisoner\u201d; in\nour version it is, \u201cwas wont to release,\u201d meaning that custom compelled\nhim so to do. In Bunyan\u2019s phraseology, the word should is used in the\nsame sense, that is, to show that, under peculiar circumstances, his\nfeelings or position involuntarily produced a certain result. Thus, in\nNo. 6, Troubled with the thoughts of judgment and condemnation I should\ntremble; and in No. 15, The father of his wife having left her two\nbooks, in these I should sometimes read; probably the only books he\nthen had. It is remarkable, that although the Saxon language had not\nbeen spoken in Bedfordshire for many centuries, still many valuable\nwords remained in use.\n\nThe order in which this thrilling narrative of Bunyan\u2019s religious\nfeelings and experience is now for the first time published, is, I.\nGrace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners\u2014his call to the ministry, and\nhis imprisonment for refusing to attend the Church of England service.\nII. His Relation of the Circumstances attending his incarceration in\nBedford Jail. III. The continuation of his Life to his decease, written\nby one of his friends, and always printed with Grace Abounding. IV. His\nDying Thoughts. V. His Prison Meditations\u2014verses which were probably\nsold on a broadside or sheet of paper by his children, to procure\nnecessaries for his family.\n\nThe length of the notes may need some apology; the only one the editor\ncan make is his veneration for John Bunyan, and his earnest desire to\nrender this inestimable book more deeply interesting, by explaining\nmanners, customs, and words not now in use; the note on No. 232,\noccupied the time of one whole day.\n\nThe errors, omissions, and additions, which existed to a most\nextraordinary extent through the book, have been corrected, and the\ntext restored to its primitive beauty; among many hundred of these\nerrors, one may suffice as a specimen; it is in Bunyan\u2019s preface, \u2018God\ndid not play in convincing of me, the devil did not play in tempting of\nme,\u2019 this is altered in many editions to \u2018God did not play in tempting\nof me.\u2019\n\nMost earnestly do I hope that this republication, now for the first\ntime, for nearly two hundred years, given in its native excellence and\npurity, may be attended with the Divine blessing, to the comfort of\nmany despairing Jerusalem sinners; to the building up of the church of\nChrist on earth; to the extension of pure, heart-felt, genuine\nChristianity; and to the confusion of the persecutors. They intended,\nby shutting the pious pilgrim up in a dungeon, to prevent his voice\nfrom being heard to the comfort of his poor neighbours, and by which\nviolence, his persecutors have caused his voice to burst the prison\ndoors and walls, and to be heard over the whole world. His \u2018Pilgrim\u2019s\nProgress,\u2019 which was written in prison, has been, and now is, a guide\nto Christian pilgrims of all nations, kindreds, tribes, and people,\nteaching them not to rest content in any national religion, but\npersonally to search the Scriptures, with earnest supplications to the\nGod of mercy and truth, that they may be guided to Christ, as the Alpha\nand Omega of their salvation.\n\nGEORGE OFFOR.\n\nA PREFACE, OR BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE PUBLISHING OF THIS WORK, WRITTEN BY\nTHE AUTHOR THEREOF, AND DEDICATED TO THOSE WHOM GOD HATH COUNTED HIM\nWORTHY TO BEGET TO FAITH, BY HIS MINISTRY IN THE WORD.\n\n\nChildren, grace be with you, Amen. I being taken from you in presence,\nand so tied up, that I cannot perform that duty that from God doth lie\nupon me to youward, for your further edifying and building up in faith\nand holiness, &c., yet that you may see my soul hath fatherly care and\ndesire after your spiritual and everlasting welfare; I now once again,\nas before, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, so \u2018now\u2019 from the lions\u2019\ndens, from the mountains of the leopards (Song 4:8), do look yet after\nyou all, greatly longing to see your safe arrival into the desired\nhaven.[3]\n\nI thank God upon every remembrance of you; and rejoice, even while I\nstick between the teeth of the lions in the wilderness, at the grace,\nand mercy, and knowledge of Christ our saviour, which God hath bestowed\nupon you, with abundance of faith and love. Your hungerings and\nthirstings also after further acquaintance with the Father, in his Son;\nyour tenderness of heart, your trembling at sin, your sober and holy\ndeportment also, before both God and men, is great refreshment to me;\n\u201cFor ye are my glory and joy\u201d (1 Thess 2:20).\n\nI have sent you here enclosed, a drop of that honey, that I have taken\nout of the carcase of a lion (Judg 14:5-9). I have eaten thereof myself\nalso, and am much refreshed thereby. (Temptations, when we meet them at\nfirst, are as the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome\nthem, the next time we see them, we shall find a nest of honey within\nthem.) The Philistines understand me not. It is \u2018something of\u2019 a\nrelation of the work of God upon my own soul, even from the very first,\ntill now; wherein you may perceive my castings down, and raisings up;\nfor he woundeth, and his hands make whole. It is written in the\nScripture (Isa 38:19), \u201cThe father to the children shall make known the\ntruth of God.\u201d Yea, it was for this reason I lay so long at Sinai (Deut\n4:10,11), to see the fire, and the cloud, and the darkness, that I\nmight fear the Lord all the days of my life upon earth, and tell of his\nwondrous works to my children (Psa 78:3-5).\n\nMoses (Num 33:1,2) writ of the journeyings of the children of Israel,\nfrom Egypt to the land of Canaan; and commanded also, that they did\nremember their forty years\u2019 travel in the wilderness. \u201cThou shalt\nremember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years\nin the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was\nin thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no\u201d\n(Deut 8:2). Wherefore this I have endeavoured to do; and not only so,\nbut to publish it also; that, if God will, others may be put in\nremembrance of what he hath done for their souls, by reading his work\nupon me.\n\nIt is profitable for Christians to be often calling to mind the very\nbeginnings of grace with their souls. \u201cIt is a night to be much\nobserved unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt:\nthis is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of\nIsrael in their generations\u201d (Exo 12:42). \u201cO my God,\u201d saith David (Psa\n42:6), \u201cmy soul is cast down within me; therefore will I remember thee\nfrom the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.\u201d\nHe remembered also the lion and the bear, when he went to fight with\nthe giant of Gath (1 Sam 17:36,37).\n\nIt was Paul\u2019s accustomed manner (Acts 22), and that when tried for his\nlife (Acts 24), even to open, before his judges, the manner of his\nconversion: he would think of that day, and that hour, in the which he\nfirst did meet with grace;[4] for he found it support unto him. When\nGod had brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea, far into\nthe wilderness, yet they must turn quite about thither again, to\nremember the drowning of their enemies there (Num 14:25). For though\nthey sang his praise before, yet \u201cthey soon forgat his works\u201d (Psa\n106:11-13).\n\nIn this discourse of mine you may see much; much, I say, of the grace\nof God towards me. I thank God I can count it much, for it was above my\nsins and Satan\u2019s temptations too. I can remember my fears, and doubts,\nand sad months with comfort; they are as the head of Goliah in my hand.\nThere was nothing to David like Goliah\u2019s sword, even that sword that\nshould have been sheathed in his bowels; for the very sight and\nremembrance of that did preach forth God\u2019s deliverance to him. Oh, the\nremembrance of my great sins, of my great temptations, and of my great\nfears of perishing for ever! They bring afresh into my mind the\nremembrance of my great help, my great support from heaven, and that\nthe great grace that God extended to such a wretch as I.\n\nMy dear children, call to mind the former days, \u201cand the years of\nancient times: remember also your songs in the night; and commune with\nyour own heart\u201d (Psa 73:5-12). Yea, look diligently, and leave no\ncorner therein unsearched, for there is treasure hid, even the treasure\nof your first and second experience of the grace of God toward you.\nRemember, I say, the word that first laid hold upon you; remember your\nterrors of conscience, and fear of death and hell; remember also your\ntears and prayers to God; yea, how you sighed under every hedge for\nmercy. Have you never a hill Mizar to remember? Have you forgot the\nclose, the milk house, the stable, the barn, and the like, where God\ndid visit your soul?[5] Remember also the Word\u2014the Word, I say, upon\nwhich the Lord hath caused you to hope. If you have sinned against\nlight; if you are tempted to blaspheme; if you are down in despair; if\nyou think God fights against you; or if heaven is hid from your eyes,\nremember it was thus with your father, but out of them all the Lord\ndelivered me.\n\nI could have enlarged much in this my discourse, of my temptations and\ntroubles for sin; as also of the merciful kindness and working of God\nwith my soul. I could also have stepped into a style much higher than\nthis in which I have here discoursed, and could have adorned all things\nmore than here I have seemed to do, but I dare not. God did not play in\nconvincing of me, the devil did not play in tempting of me, neither did\nI play when I sunk as into a bottomless pit, when the pangs of hell\ncaught hold upon me; wherefore I may not play in my relating of them,\nbut be plain and simple, and lay down the thing as it was. He that\nliketh it, let him receive it; and he that does not, let him produce a\nbetter. Farewell.\n\nMy dear children, the milk and honey is beyond this wilderness. God be\nmerciful to you, and grant \u2018that\u2019 you be not slothful to go in to\npossess the land.\n\nJOHN BUNYAN.\n\nGRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS; OR, A BRIEF RELATION OF THE\nEXCEEDING MERCY OF GOD IN CHRIST, TO HIS POOR SERVANT, JOHN BUNYAN.\n\n[BUNYAN\u2019S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF PREVIOUS TO HIS CONVERSION.]\n\n\n1. In this my relation of the merciful working of God upon my soul, it\nwill not be amiss, if, in the first place, I do, in a few words, give\nyou a hint of my pedigree, and manner of bringing up; that thereby the\ngoodness and bounty of God towards me, may be the more advanced and\nmagnified before the sons of men.\n\n2. For my descent then, it was, as is well known by many, of a low and\ninconsiderable generation; my father\u2019s house being of that rank that is\nmeanest and most despised of all the families in the land.[6] Wherefore\nI have not here, as others, to boast of noble blood, or of a high-born\nstate, according to the flesh; though, all things considered, I magnify\nthe heavenly Majesty, for that by this door he brought me into this\nworld, to partake of the grace and life that is in Christ by the\ngospel.\n\n3. But yet, notwithstanding the meanness and inconsiderableness of my\nparents, it pleased God to put it into their hearts to put me to\nschool, to learn both to read and write; the which I also attained,\naccording to the rate of other poor men\u2019s children;[7] though, to my\nshame I confess, I did soon lose that little I learned, and that even\nalmost utterly, and that long before the Lord did work his gracious\nwork of conversion upon my soul.\n\n4. As for my own natural life, for the time that I was without God in\nthe world, it was indeed according to the course of this world, and\n\u201cthe spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience\u201d (Eph\n2:2,3). It was my delight to be \u201ctaken captive by the devil at his\nwill\u201d (2 Tim 2:26). Being filled with all unrighteousness: the which\ndid also so strongly work and put forth itself, both in my heart and\nlife, and that from a child, that I had but few equals, especially\nconsidering my years, which were tender, being few, both for cursing,\nswearing, lying, and blaspheming the holy name of God.\n\n5. Yea, so settled and rooted was I in these things, that they became\nas a second nature to me; the which, as I also have with soberness\nconsidered since, did so offend the Lord, that even in my childhood he\ndid scare and affright me with fearful dreams, and did terrify me with\ndreadful visions; for often, after I had spent this and the other day\nin sin, I have in my bed been greatly afflicted, while asleep, with the\napprehensions of devils and wicked spirits, who still, as I then\nthought, laboured to draw me away with them, of which I could never be\nrid.\n\n6. Also I should, at these years, be greatly afflicted and troubled\nwith the thoughts of the day of judgment, and that both night and day,\nand should tremble at the thoughts of the fearful torments of hell\nfire; still fearing that it would be my lot to be found at last amongst\nthose devils and hellish fiends, who are there bound down with the\nchains and bonds of eternal darkness, \u201cunto the judgment of the great\nday.\u201d\n\n7. These things, I say, when I was but a child, \u2018but nine or ten years\nold,\u2019 did so distress my soul, that when in the midst of my many sports\nand childish vanities, amidst my vain companions, I was often much cast\ndown and afflicted in my mind therewith, yet could I not let go my\nsins. Yea, I was \u2018also then\u2019 so overcome with despair of life and\nheaven, that I should often wish either that there had been no hell, or\nthat I had been a devil\u2014supposing they were only tormentors; that if it\nmust needs be that I went thither, I might be rather a tormentor, than\n\u2018be\u2019 tormented myself.\n\n8. A while after, these terrible dreams did leave me, which also I soon\nforgot; for my pleasures did quickly cut off the remembrance of them,\nas if they had never been: wherefore, with more greediness, according\nto the strength of nature, I did still let loose the reins to my lusts,\nand delighted in all transgression against the law of God: so that,\nuntil I came to the state of marriage, I was the very ringleader of all\nthe youth that kept me company, into all manner of vice and\nungodliness.[8]\n\n9. Yea, such prevalency had the lusts and fruits of the flesh in this\npoor soul of mine, that had not a miracle of precious grace prevented,\nI had not only perished by the stroke of eternal justice, but had also\nlaid myself open, even to the stroke of those laws, which bring some to\ndisgrace and open shame before the face of the world.\n\n10. In these days, the thoughts of religion were very grievous to me; I\ncould neither endure it myself, nor that any other should; so that,\nwhen I have seen some read in those books that concerned Christian\npiety, it would be as it were a prison to me. Then I said unto God,\n\u201cDepart from me, for I desire not the knowledge of thy ways\u201d (Job\n21:14). I was now void of all good consideration, heaven and hell were\nboth out of sight and mind; and as for saving and damning, they were\nleast in my thoughts.[9] O Lord, thou knowest my life, and my ways were\nnot hid from thee.\n\n11. Yet this I well remember, that though I could myself sin with the\ngreatest delight and ease, and also take pleasure in the vileness of my\ncompanions; yet, even then, if I have at any time seen wicked things,\nby those who professed goodness, it would make my spirit tremble. As\nonce, above all the rest, when I was in my height of vanity, yet\nhearing one to swear that was reckoned for a religious man, it had so\ngreat a stroke upon my spirit, that it made my heart to ache.\n\n12. \u2018But God did not utterly leave me, but followed me still, not now\nwith convictions, but judgments; yet such as were mixed with mercy. For\nonce I fell into a creek of the sea, and hardly escaped drowning.\nAnother time I fell out of a boat into Bedford river, but mercy yet\npreserved me alive. Besides, another time, being in the field with one\nof my companions, it chanced that an adder passed over the highway; so\nI, having a stick in my hand, struck her over the back; and having\nstunned her, I forced open her mouth with my stick, and plucked her\nsting out with my fingers; by which act, had not God been merciful unto\nme, I might, by my desperateness, have brought myself to mine end.\u2019\n\n13. \u2018This also have I taken notice of with thanksgiving; when I was a\nsoldier, I, with others, were drawn out to go to such a place to\nbesiege it; but when I was just ready to go, one of the company desired\nto go in my room; to which, when I had consented, he took my place; and\ncoming to the siege, as he stood sentinel, he was shot into the head\nwith a musket bullet, and died.\u2019[10]\n\n14. \u2018Here, as I said, were judgments and mercy, but neither of them did\nawaken my soul to righteousness; wherefore I sinned still, and grew\nmore and more rebellious against God, and careless of mine own\nsalvation.\u2019\n\n15. Presently after this, I changed my condition into a married state,\nand my mercy was to light upon a wife whose father was counted\ngodly.[11] This woman and I, though we came together as poor as poor\nmight be, not having so much household stuff as a dish or spoon betwixt\nus both, yet this she had for her part, The Plain Man\u2019s Pathway to\nHeaven, and The Practice of Piety, which her father had left her when\nhe died. In these two books I should sometimes read with her, wherein I\nalso found some things that were somewhat pleasing to me; but all this\nwhile I met with no conviction. She also would be often telling of me,\nwhat a godly man her father was, and how he would reprove and correct\nvice, both in his house, and amongst his neighbours; what a strict and\nholy life he lived in his day, both in word and deed.\n\n16. Wherefore these books with this relation, though they did not reach\nmy heart, to awaken it about my sad and sinful state, yet they did\nbeget within me some desires to religion: so that, because I knew no\nbetter, I fell in very eagerly with the religion of the times; to wit,\nto go to church twice a day, and that too with the foremost; and there\nshould very devoutly, both say and sing as others did, yet retaining my\nwicked life; but withal, I was so overrun with a spirit of\nsuperstition, that I adored, and that with great devotion, even all\nthings, both the high place, priest, clerk, vestment, service, and what\nelse belonging to the church; counting all things holy that were\ntherein contained, and especially the priest and clerk most happy, and\nwithout doubt, greatly blessed, because they were the servants, as I\nthen thought, of God, and were principal in the holy temple, to do his\nwork therein.\n\n17. This conceit grew so strong in little time upon my spirit, that had\nI but seen a priest, though never so sordid and debauched in his life,\nI should find my spirit fall under him, reverence him, and knit unto\nhim; yea, I thought for the love I did bear unto them, supposing they\nwere the ministers of God, I could have lain down at their feet, and\nhave been trampled upon by them; their name, their garb, and work, did\nso intoxicate and bewitch me.\n\n18. After I had been thus for some considerable time, another thought\ncame into my mind; and that was, whether we were of the Israelites, or\nno? For finding in the Scriptures that they were once the peculiar\npeople of God, thought I, if I were one of this race, my soul must\nneeds be happy.[12] Now again, I found within me a great longing to be\nresolved about this question, but could not tell how I should. At last\nI asked my father of it; who told me\u2014No, we were not. Wherefore then I\nfell in my spirit as to the hopes of that, and so remained.\n\n19. But all this while, I was not sensible of the danger and evil of\nsin; I was kept from considering that sin would damn me, what religion\nsoever I followed, unless I was found in Christ. Nay, I never thought\nof him, nor whether there was one, or no. Thus man, while blind, doth\nwander, but wearieth himself with vanity, for he knoweth not the way to\nthe city of God (Eccl 10:15).\n\n20. But one day, amongst all the sermons our parson made, his subject\nwas, to treat of the Sabbath-day, and of the evil of breaking that,\neither with labour, sports, or otherwise. Now I was, notwithstanding my\nreligion, one that took much delight in all manner of vice, and\nespecially that was the day that I did solace myself therewith,[13]\nwherefore I fell in my conscience under his sermon, thinking and\nbelieving that he made that sermon on purpose to show me my evil doing;\nand at that time I felt what guilt was, though never before, that I can\nremember; but then I was, for the present, greatly loaden therewith,\nand so went home when the sermon was ended, with a great burden upon my\nspirit.\n\n21. This, for that instant, did \u2018benumb\u2019[14] the sinews of my \u2018best\u2019\ndelights, and did imbitter my former pleasures to me; but behold, it\nlasted not, for before I had well dined, the trouble began to go off my\nmind, and my heart returned to its old course: but oh! How glad was I,\nthat this trouble was gone from me, and that the fire was put out,\n\u2018that I might sin again without control!\u2019 Wherefore, when I had\nsatisfied nature with my food, I shook the sermon out of my mind, and\nto my old custom of sports and gaming I returned with great delight.\n\n22. But the same day, as I was in the midst of a game at cat,[15] and\nhaving struck it one blow from the hole, just as I was about to strike\nit the second time, a voice did suddenly dart from heaven into my soul,\nwhich said, Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven, or have thy sins\nand go to hell? At this I was put to an exceeding maze; wherefore,\nleaving my cat upon the ground, I looked up to heaven, and was, as if I\nhad, with the eyes of my understanding, seen the Lord Jesus looking\ndown upon me, as being very hotly displeased with me, and as if he did\nseverely threaten me with some grievous punishment for these and other\nmy ungodly practices.\n\n23. I had no sooner thus conceived in my mind, but suddenly this\nconclusion was fastened on my spirit, for the former hint did set my\nsins again before my face, that I had been a great and grievous sinner,\nand that it was now too late for me to look after heaven; for Christ\nwould not forgive me, nor pardon my transgressions. Then I fell to\nmusing upon this also; and while I was thinking on it, and fearing lest\nit should be so, I felt my heart sink in despair, concluding it was too\nlate; and therefore I resolved in my mind I would go on in sin: for,\nthought I, if the case be thus, my state is surely miserable; miserable\nif I leave my sins, and but miserable if I follow them; I can but be\ndamned, and if I must be so, I had as good be damned for many sins, as\nto be damned for few.\n\n24. Thus I stood in the midst of my play, before all that then were\npresent; but yet I told them nothing: but I say, I having made this\nconclusion, I returned \u2018desperately\u2019 to my sport again; and I well\nremember, that presently this kind of despair did so possess my soul,\nthat I was persuaded, I could never attain to other comfort than what I\nshould get in sin; for heaven was gone already, so that on that I must\nnot think; wherefore I found within me a great desire to take my fill\nof sin, still studying what sin was yet to be committed, that I might\ntaste the sweetness of it; and I made as much haste as I could to fill\nmy belly with its delicates, lest I should die before I had my desire;\nfor that I feared greatly. In these things, I protest before God, I lie\nnot, neither do I feign this sort of speech; these were really,\nstrongly, and with all my heart, my desires; the good Lord, whose mercy\nis unsearchable, forgive me my transgressions.\n\n25. And I am very confident, that this temptation of the devil is more\nusual amongst poor creatures than many are aware of, even to overrun\ntheir spirits with a scurvy and seared frame of heart, and benumbing of\nconscience; which frame, he stilly and slyly supplieth with such\ndespair, that though not much guilt attendeth the soul, yet they\ncontinually have a secret conclusion within them, that there is no\nhopes for them; for they have loved sins, \u201ctherefore after them they\nwill go\u201d (Jer 2:25, 18:12).\n\n26. Now therefore I went on in sin with great greediness of mind, still\ngrudging that I could not be so satisfied with it as I would. This did\ncontinue with me about a month, or more; but one day, as I was standing\nat a neighbour\u2019s shop-window, and there cursing and swearing, and\nplaying the madman, after my wonted manner, there sat within, the woman\nof the house, and heard me, who, though she was a very loose and\nungodly wretch, yet protested that I swore and cursed at that most\nfearful rate, that she was made to tremble to hear me; and told me\nfurther, That I was the ungodliest fellow for swearing that ever she\nheard in all her life; and that I, by thus doing, was able to spoil all\nthe youth in a whole town, if they came but in my company.\n\n27. At this reproof I was silenced, and put to secret shame, and that\ntoo, as I thought, before the God of heaven; wherefore, while I stood\nthere, and hanging down my head, I wished with all my heart that I\nmight be a little child again, that my father might learn me to speak\nwithout this wicked way of swearing;[16] for, thought I, I am so\naccustomed to it, that it is in vain for me to think of a reformation,\nfor I thought it could never be.\n\n28. But how it came to pass, I know not; I did from this time forward\nso leave my swearing, that it was a great wonder to myself to observe\nit; and whereas before, I knew not how to speak unless I put an oath\nbefore, and another behind, to make my words have authority; now, I\ncould, \u2018without it,\u2019 speak better, and with more pleasantness, than\never I could before. All this while I knew not Jesus Christ, neither\ndid I leave my sports and plays.\n\n29. But quickly after this, I fell in company with one poor man that\nmade profession of religion; who, as I then thought, did talk\npleasantly of the Scriptures, and of the matters of religion;\nwherefore, falling into some love and liking to what he said, I betook\nme to my Bible, and began to take great pleasure in reading, but\nespecially with the historical part thereof; for, as for Paul\u2019s\nepistles, and Scriptures of that nature, I could not away with them,\nbeing as yet but ignorant, either of the corruptions of my nature, or\nof the want and worth of Jesus Christ to save me.\n\n30. Wherefore I fell to some outward reformation, both in my words and\nlife, and did set the commandments before me for my way to heaven;\nwhich commandments I also did strive to keep, and, as I thought, did\nkeep them pretty well sometimes, and then I should have comfort; yet\nnow and then should break one, and so afflict my conscience; but then I\nshould repent, and say I was sorry for it, and promise God to do better\nnext time, and there get help again, \u2018for then I thought I pleased God\nas well as any man in England.\u2019\n\n31. Thus I continued about a year; all which time our neighbours did\ntake me to be a very godly man, a new and religious man, and did marvel\nmuch to see such a great and famous alteration in my life and manners;\nand, indeed, so it was, though yet I knew not Christ, nor grace, nor\nfaith, nor hope; and, truly, as I have well seen since, had I then\ndied, my state had been most fearful; well, this, I say, continued\nabout a twelvemonth or more.\n\n32. \u2018But, I say, my neighbours were amazed at this my great conversion,\nfrom prodigious profaneness, to something like a moral life; and,\ntruly, so they well might; for this my conversion was as great, as for\nTom of Bedlam to become a sober man.[17] Now, therefore, they began to\npraise, to commend, and to speak well of me, both to my face, and\nbehind my back. Now, I was, as they said, become godly; now, I was\nbecome a right honest man. But, oh! When I understood that these were\ntheir words and opinions of men, it pleased me mighty well. For though,\nas yet, I was nothing but a poor painted hypocrite, yet I loved to be\ntalked of as one that was truly godly. I was proud of my godliness,\nand, indeed, I did all I did, either to be seen of, or to be well\nspoken of, by man. And thus I continued for about a twelvemonth or\nmore.\u2019\n\n33. \u2018Now, you must know, that before this I had taken much delight in\nringing, but my conscience beginning to be tender, I thought such\npractice was but vain, and therefore forced myself to leave it, yet my\nmind hankered; wherefore I should go to the steeple house, and look on\nit, though I durst not ring. But I thought this did not become religion\nneither, yet I forced myself, and would look on still; but quickly\nafter, I began to think, How, if one of the bells should fall? Then I\nchose to stand under a main beam, that lay overthwart the steeple, from\nside to side, thinking there I might stand sure, but then I should\nthink again, should the bell fall with a swing, it might first hit the\nwall, and then rebounding upon me, might kill me for all this beam.\nThis made me stand in the steeple door; and now, thought I, I am safe\nenough; for, if a bell should then fall, I can slip out behind these\nthick walls, and so be preserved notwithstanding.\u2019\n\n34. \u2018So, after this, I would yet go to see them ring, but would not go\nfurther than the steeple door; but then it came into my head, How, if\nthe steeple itself should fall? And this thought, it may fall for ought\nI know, when I stood and looked on, did continually so shake my mind,\nthat I durst not stand at the steeple door any longer, but was forced\nto flee, for fear the steeple should fall upon my head.\u2019\n\n35. \u2018Another thing was my dancing; I was a full year before I could\nquite leave that; but all this while, when I thought I kept this or\nthat commandment, or did, by word or deed, anything that I thought was\ngood, I had great peace in my conscience; and should think with myself,\nGod cannot choose but be now pleased with me; yea, to relate it in mine\nown way, I thought no man in England could please God better than I.\u2019\n\n36. \u2018But poor wretch as I was, I was all this while ignorant of Jesus\nChrist, and going about to establish my own righteousness; and had\nperished therein, had not God, in mercy, showed me more of my state of\nnature.\u2019\n\n[HIS CONVERSION AND PAINFUL EXERCISES OF MIND, PREVIOUS TO HIS JOINING\nTHE CHURCH AT BEDFORD.]\n\n\n37. But upon a day, the good providence of God did cast me to Bedford,\nto work on my calling; and in one of the streets of that town, I came\nwhere there were three or four poor women sitting at a door in the sun,\nand talking about the things of God; and being now willing to hear them\ndiscourse, I drew near to hear what they said, for I was now a brisk\ntalker also myself in the matters of religion, but now I may say, I\nheard, but I understood not; for they were far above, out of my reach;\nfor their talk was about a new birth, the work of God on their hearts,\nalso how they were convinced of their miserable state by nature; they\ntalked how God had visited their souls with his love in the Lord Jesus,\nand with what words and promises they had been refreshed, comforted,\nand supported against the temptations of the devil. Moreover, they\nreasoned of the suggestions and temptations of Satan in particular; and\ntold to each other by which they had been afflicted, and how they were\nborne up under his assaults. They also discoursed of their own\nwretchedness of heart, of their unbelief; and did contemn, slight, and\nabhor their own righteousness, as filthy and insufficient to do them\nany good.\n\n38. And methought they spake as if joy did make them speak; they spake\nwith such pleasantness of Scripture language, and with such appearance\nof grace in all they said, that they were to me, as if they had found a\nnew world,[18] as if they were people that dwelt alone, and were not to\nbe reckoned among their neighbours (Num 23:9).\n\n39. At this I felt my own heart began to shake, as mistrusting my\ncondition to be nought; for I saw that in all my thoughts about\nreligion and salvation, the new birth did never enter into my mind,\nneither knew I the comfort of the Word and promise, nor the\ndeceitfulness and treachery of my own wicked heart. As for secret\nthoughts, I took no notice of them; neither did I understand what\nSatan\u2019s temptations were, nor how they were to be withstood and\nresisted, &c.\n\n40. Thus, therefore, when I had heard and considered what they said, I\nleft them, and went about my employment again, but their talk and\ndiscourse went with me; also my heart would tarry with them, for I was\ngreatly affected with their words, both because by them I was convinced\nthat I wanted the true tokens of a truly godly man, and also because by\nthem I was convinced of the happy and blessed condition of him that was\nsuch a one.[19]\n\n41. Therefore I should often make it my business to be going again and\nagain into the company of these poor people, for I could not stay away;\nand the more I went amongst them, the more did question my condition;\nand as I still do remember, presently I found two things within me, at\nwhich I did sometimes marvel, especially considering what a blind,\nignorant, sordid, and ungodly wretch but just before I was; the one was\na very great softness and tenderness of heart, which caused me to fall\nunder the conviction of what by Scripture they asserted; and the other\nwas a great bending in my mind to a continual meditating on it, and on\nall other good things which at any time I heard or read of.\n\n42. \u2018By these things\u2019 my mind was now so turned, that it lay like a\nhorse leech at the vein, still crying out, Give, give (Prov 30:15);\nyea, it was so fixed on eternity, and on the things about the kingdom\nof heaven, that is, so far as I knew, though as yet, God knows, I knew\nbut little; that neither pleasures, nor profits, nor persuasions, nor\nthreats, could loosen it, or make it let go his hold; and though I may\nspeak it with shame, yet it is in very deed a certain truth, it would\nthen have been as difficult for me to have taken my mind from heaven to\nearth, as I have found it often since to get it again from earth to\nheaven.\u2019\n\n43. \u2018One thing I may not omit: There was a young man in our town, to\nwhom my heart before was knit more than to any other, but he being a\nmost wicked creature for cursing, and swearing, and whoring, I now\nshook him off, and forsook his company; but about a quarter of a year\nafter I had left him, I met him in a certain lane, and asked him how he\ndid; he, after his old swearing and mad way, answered, He was well.\nBut, Harry, said I, why do you swear and curse thus? What will become\nof you, if you die in this condition? He answered me in a great chafe,\nWhat would the devil do for company, if it were not for such as I am?\u2019\n\n44. \u2018About this time I met with some Ranters\u2019 books, that were put\nforth by some of our countrymen, which books were also highly in esteem\nby several old professors; some of these I read, but was not able to\nmake a judgment about them; wherefore as I read in them, and thought\nupon them, feeling myself unable to judge, I should betake myself to\nhearty prayer in this manner: O Lord, I am a fool, and not able to know\nthe truth from error: Lord, leave me not to my own blindness, either to\napprove of, or condemn this doctrine; if it be of God, let me not\ndespise it; if it be of the devil, let me not embrace it. Lord, I lay\nmy soul, in this matter, only at thy foot; let me not be deceived, I\nhumbly beseech thee. I had one religious intimate companion all this\nwhile, and that was the poor man that I spoke of before; but about this\ntime he also turned a most devilish Ranter,[20] and gave himself up to\nall manner of filthiness, especially uncleanness: he would also deny\nthat there was a God, angel, or spirit; and would laugh at all\nexhortations to sobriety. When I laboured to rebuke his wickedness, he\nwould laugh the more, and pretend that he had gone through all\nreligions, and could never light on the right till now. He told me\nalso, that in a little time I should see all professors turn to the\nways of the Ranters. Wherefore, abominating those cursed principles, I\nleft his company forthwith, and became to him as great a stranger, as I\nhad been before a familiar.\u2019\n\n45. \u2018Neither was this man only a temptation to me; but my calling lying\nin the country, I happened to light into several people\u2019s company, who,\nthough strict in religion formerly, yet were also swept away by these\nRanters. These would also talk with me of their ways, and condemn me as\nlegal and dark; pretending that they only had attained to perfection\nthat could do what they would, and not sin. Oh! These temptations were\nsuitable to my flesh, I being but a young man, and my nature in its\nprime; but God, who had, as I hope, designed me for better things, kept\nme in the fear of his name, and did not suffer me to accept of such\ncursed principles. And blessed be God, who put it into my heart to cry\nto him to be kept and directed, still distrusting mine own wisdom; for\nI have since seen even the effect of that prayer, in his preserving me\nnot only from ranting errors, but from those also that have sprung up\nsince. The Bible was precious to me in those days.\u2019\n\n46. And now, methought, I began to look into the Bible with new eyes,\nand read as I never did before; and especially the epistles of the\napostle Paul were sweet and pleasant to me; and, indeed, I was then\nnever out of the Bible, either by reading or meditation; still crying\nout to God, that I might know the truth, and way to heaven and glory.\n\n47. And as I went on and read, I lighted on that passage, \u2018To one is\ngiven by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of\nknowledge by the same Spirit; and to another faith,\u2019 &c. (1 Cor\n12:8,9). And though, as I have since seen, that by this Scripture the\nHoly Ghost intends, in special, things extraordinary, yet on me it did\nthen fasten with conviction, that I did want things ordinary, even that\nunderstanding and wisdom that other Christians had. On this word I\nmused, and could not tell what to do, \u2018especially this word faith put\nme to it, for I could not help it, but sometimes must question, whether\nI had any faith or no\u2019; for I feared that it shut me out of all the\nblessings that other good people had give them of God;[21] but I was\nloath to conclude I had no faith in my soul; for if I do so, thought I,\nthen I shall count myself a very cast-away indeed.\n\n48. No, said I with myself, though I am convinced that I am an ignorant\nsot, and that I want those blessed gifts of knowledge and understanding\nthat other good people have; yet, at a venture, I will conclude I am\nnot altogether faithless, though I know not what faith is. For it was\nshowed me, and that too, as I have since seen, by Satan, that those who\nconclude themselves in a faithless state, have neither rest nor quiet\nin their souls; and I was loath to fall quite into despair.\n\n49. Wherefore, by this suggestion, I was for a while made afraid to see\nmy want of faith; but God would not suffer me thus to undo and destroy\nmy soul, but did continually, against this my blind and sad conclusion,\ncreate still within me such suppositions, \u2018insomuch\u2019 that I might in\nthis deceive myself, that I could not rest content, until I did now\ncome to some certain knowledge, whether I had faith or no; this always\nrunning in my mind, But how if you want faith indeed? But how can you\ntell you have faith? \u2018and, besides, I saw for certain, if I had not, I\nwas sure to perish for ever.\u2019\n\n50. So that though I endeavoured at the first, to look over the\nbusiness of faith, yet in a little time, I better considering the\nmatter, was willing to put myself upon the trial, whether I had faith\nor no. But, alas, poor wretch, so ignorant and brutish was I, that I\nknew to this day no more how to do it, than I know how to begin and\naccomplish that rare and curious piece of art, which I never yet saw\nnor considered.\n\n51. Wherefore, while I was thus considering, and being put to my plunge\nabout it, for you must know, that as yet I had in this matter broken my\nmind to no man, only did hear and consider, the tempter came in with\nhis delusion, That there was no way for me to know I had faith, but by\ntrying to work some miracle; urging those Scriptures that seem to look\nthat way, for the enforcing and strengthening his temptation. Nay, one\nday as I was betwixt Elstow and Bedford, the temptation was hot upon\nme, to try if I had faith, by doing of some miracle: which miracle at\nthat time was this, I must say to the puddles that were in the horse\npads, Be dry; and to the dry places, Be you the puddles. And truly, one\ntime I was agoing to say so indeed; but just as I was about to speak,\nthis thought came into my mind, But go under yonder hedge and pray\nfirst, that God would make you able. But when I had concluded to pray,\nthis came hot upon me, That if I prayed, and came again and tried to do\nit, and yet did nothing notwithstanding, then be sure I had no faith,\nbut was a cast-away and lost. Nay, thought I, if it be so, I will never\ntry yet, but will stay a little longer.\n\n52. So I continued at a great loss; for I thought, if they only had\nfaith, which could do so wonderful things, then I concluded, that, for\nthe present, I neither had it, nor yet, for time to come, were ever\nlike to have it. Thus I was tossed betwixt the devil and my own\nignorance, and so perplexed, especially at some times, that I could not\ntell what to do.\n\n53. About this time, the state and happiness of these poor people at\nBedford was thus, in a dream or vision, represented to me. I saw, as if\nthey were set on the sunny side of some high mountain, there refreshing\nthemselves with the pleasant beams of the sun, while I was shivering\nand shrinking in the cold, afflicted with frost, snow, and dark clouds.\nMethought, also, betwixt me and them, I saw a wall that did compass\nabout this mountain; now, through this wall my soul did greatly desire\nto pass; concluding, that if I could, I would go even into the very\nmidst of them, and there also comfort myself with the heat of their\nsun.\n\n54. About this wall I thought myself, to go again and again, still\nprying as I went, to see if I could find some way or passage, by which\nI might enter therein; but none could I find for some time. At the\nlast, I saw, as it were, a narrow gap, like a little doorway in the\nwall, through which I attempted to pass; but the passage being very\nstrait and narrow, I made many efforts to get in, but all in vain, even\nuntil I was well nigh quite beat out, by striving to get in; at last,\nwith great striving, methought I at first did get in my head, and after\nthat, by a sidling striving, my shoulders, and my whole body; then was\nI exceeding glad, and went and sat down in the midst of them, and so\nwas comforted with the light and heat of their sun.\n\n55. Now, this mountain and wall, &c., was thus made out to me\u2014the\nmountain signified the church of the living God; the sun that shone\nthereon, the comfortable shining of his merciful face on them that were\ntherein; the wall, I thought, was the Word, that did make separation\nbetween the Christians and the world; and the gap which was in this\nwall, I thought, was Jesus Christ, who is the way to God the Father\n(John 14:6; Matt 7:14). But forasmuch as the passage was wonderful\nnarrow, even so narrow, that I could not, but with great difficulty,\nenter in thereat, it showed me that none could enter into life, but\nthose that were in downright earnest,[22] and unless also they left\nthis wicked world behind them; for here was only room for body and\nsoul, but not for body and soul, and sin.[23]\n\n56. This resemblance abode upon my spirit many days; all which time, I\nsaw myself in a forlorn and sad condition, but yet was provoked to a\nvehement hunger and desire to be one of that number that did sit in the\nsunshine. Now also I should pray wherever I was, whether at home or\nabroad, in house or field, and should also often, with lifting up of\nheart, sing that of the 51st Psalm, O Lord, consider my distress; for\nas yet I knew not where I was.\n\n57. Neither as yet could I attain to any comfortable persuasion that I\nhad faith in Christ; but instead of having satisfaction, here I began\nto find my soul to be assaulted with fresh doubts about my future\nhappiness; especially with such as these, Whether I was elected? But\nhow, if the day of grace should now be past and gone?\n\n58. By these two temptations I was very much afflicted and disquieted;\nsometimes by one, and sometimes by the other of them. And first, to\nspeak of that about my questioning my election, I found at this time,\nthat though I was in a flame to find the way to heaven and glory, and\nthough nothing could beat me off from this, yet this question did so\noffend and discourage me, that I was, especially at some times, as if\nthe very strength of my body also had been taken away by the force and\npower thereof. This scripture did also seem to me to trample upon all\nmy desires, \u201cIt is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,\nbut of God that showeth mercy\u201d (Rom 9:16).\n\n59. With this scripture I could not tell what to do; for I evidently\nsaw, that unless the great God, of his infinite grace and bounty, had\nvoluntarily chosen me to be a vessel of mercy, though I should desire,\nand long and labour until my heart did break, no good could come of it.\nTherefore, this would still stick with me, How can you tell that you\nare elected? And what if you should not? How then?\n\n60. O Lord, thought I, what if I should not, indeed? It may be you are\nnot, said the tempter; it may be so, indeed, thought I. Why, then, said\nSatan, you had as good leave off, and strive no further; for if,\nindeed, you should not be elected and chosen of God, there is no talk\nof your being saved; \u201cFor it is neither of him that willeth, nor of him\nthat runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.\u201d\n\n61. By these things I was driven to my wits\u2019 end, not knowing what to\nsay, or how to answer these temptations. Indeed, I little thought that\nSatan had thus assaulted me, but that rather it was my own prudence,\nthus to start the question; for, that the elect only attained eternal\nlife, that I, without scruple, did heartily close withal; but that\nmyself was one of them, there lay all the question.\n\n62. Thus, therefore, for several days, I was greatly assaulted and\nperplexed, and was often, when I have been walking, ready to sink where\nI went, with faintness in my mind; but one day, after I had been so\nmany weeks oppressed and cast down therewith, as I was now quite giving\nup the ghost of all my hopes of ever attaining life, that sentence fell\nwith weight upon my spirit, \u201cLook at the generations of old and see;\ndid ever any trust in the Lord, and was confounded?\u201d\n\n63. At which I was greatly lightened and encouraged in my soul; for\nthus, at that very instant, it was expounded to me, Begin at the\nbeginning of Genesis, and read to the end of the Revelation, and see if\nyou can find that there was ever any that trusted in the Lord, and was\nconfounded. So, coming home, I presently went to my Bible to see if I\ncould find that saying, not doubting but to find it presently; for it\nwas so fresh, and with such strength and comfort on my spirit, that I\nwas as if it talked with me.\n\n64. Well, I looked, but I found it not; only it abode upon me; then I\ndid ask first this good man, and then another, if they knew where it\nwas, but they knew no such place. At this I wondered, that such a\nsentence should so suddenly, and with such comfort and strength, seize\nand abide upon my heart, and yet that none could find it, for I doubted\nnot but it was in holy Scripture.\n\n65. Thus I continued above a year, and could not find the place; but at\nlast, casting my eye into the Apocrypha books, I found it in\nEcclesiasticus 2:10. This, at the first, did somewhat daunt me; but\nbecause, by this time, I had got more experience of the love and\nkindness of God, it troubled me the less; especially when I considered,\nthat though it was not in those texts that we call holy and canonical,\nyet forasmuch as this sentence was the sum and substance of many of the\npromises, it was my duty to take the comfort of it; and I bless God for\nthat word, for it was of God to me: that word doth still, at times,\nshine before my face.\n\n66. After this, that other doubt did come with strength upon me, But\nhow if the day of grace should be past and gone? How if you have\nover-stood the time of mercy? Now, I remember that one day, as I was\nwalking into the country, I was much in the thoughts of this, But how\nif the day of grace be past? And to aggravate my trouble, the tempter\npresented to my mind those good people of Bedford, and suggested thus\nunto me, That these being converted already, they were all that God\nwould save in those parts; and that I came too late, for these had got\nthe blessing before I came.\n\n67. Now was I in great distress, thinking in very deed that this might\nwell be so; wherefore I went up and down bemoaning my sad condition,\ncounting myself far worse than a thousand fools, for standing off thus\nlong, and spending so many years in sin as I had done; still crying\nout, Oh, that I had turned sooner; Oh, that I had turned seven years\nago! It made me also angry with myself, to think that I should have no\nmore wit, but to trifle away my time till my soul and heaven were lost.\n\n68. But when I had been long vexed with this fear, and was scarce able\nto take one step more, just about the same place where I received my\nother encouragement, these words broke in upon my mind, \u201cCompel them to\ncome in, that my house may be filled\u201d; \u201cand yet there is room\u201d (Luke\n14:22,23). These words, but especially them, \u201cAnd yet there is room\u201d\nwere sweet words to me; for, truly, I thought that by them I saw there\nwas place enough in heaven for me; and, moreover, that when the Lord\nJesus did speak these words, he then did think of me; and that he\nknowing that the time would come that I should be afflicted with fear\nthat there was no place left for me in his bosom, did before speak this\nword, and leave it upon record, that I might find help thereby against\nthis vile temptation. \u2018This, I then verily believed.\u2019\n\n69. In the light and encouragement of this word, I went a pretty while;\nand the comfort was the more, when I thought that the Lord Jesus should\nthink on me so long ago, and that he should speak them words on purpose\nfor my sake; for I did then think, verily, that he did on purpose speak\nthem, to encourage me withal.\n\n70. \u2018But I was not without my temptations to go back again;\ntemptations, I say, both from Satan, mine own heart, and carnal\nacquaintance; but I thank God these were outweighed by that sound sense\nof death and of the day of judgment, which abode, as it were,\ncontinually in my view; I should often also think on Nebuchadnezzar, of\nwhom it is said, He had given him all the kingdoms of the earth (Dan\n5:19). Yet, thought I, if this great man had all his portion in this\nworld, one hour in hell fire would make him forget all. Which\nconsideration was a great help to me.\u2019\n\n71. \u2018I was almost made, about this time, to see something concerning\nthe beasts that Moses counted clean and unclean. I thought those beasts\nwere types of men; the clean, types of them that were the people of\nGod; but the unclean, types of such as were the children of the wicked\none. Now, I read that the clean beasts chewed the cud; that is, thought\nI, they show us we must feed upon the Word of God. They also parted the\nhoof; I thought that signified we must part, if we would be saved, with\nthe ways of ungodly men. And also, in further reading about them I\nfound, that though we did chew the cud as the hare, yet if we walked\nwith claws like a dog, or if we did part the hoof like the swine, yet\nif we did not chew the cud as the sheep, we were still, for all that,\nbut unclean; for I thought the hare to be a type of those that talk of\nthe Word, yet walk in the ways of sin; and that the swine was like him\nthat parteth with his outward pollutions, but still wanteth the Word of\nfaith, without which there could be no way of salvation, let a man be\nnever so devout (Deut 14).\u2019 After this I found, by reading the Word,\nthat those that must be glorified with Christ in another world must be\ncalled by him here; called to the partaking of a share in his Word and\nrighteousness, and to the comforts and first fruits of his spirit, and\nto a peculiar interest in all those heavenly things which do indeed\nfore fit the soul for that rest and house of glory which is in heaven\nabove.\n\n72. Here, again, I was at a very great stand, not knowing what to do,\nfearing I was not called; for, thought I, if I be not called, what then\ncan do me good? \u2018None but those who are effectually called, inherit the\nkingdom of heaven.\u2019 But oh! how I now loved those words that spake of a\nChristian\u2019s calling! as when the Lord said to one, \u201cFollow me,\u201d and to\nanother, \u201cCome after me.\u201d And oh! thought I, that he would say so to me\ntoo, how gladly would I run after him!\n\n73. I cannot now express with what longings and breakings in my soul I\ncried to Christ to call me. Thus I continued for a time, all on a flame\nto be converted to Jesus Christ; and did also see at that day, such\nglory in a converted state, that I could not be contented without a\nshare therein. Gold! could it have been gotten for gold, what could I\nhave given for it! had I had a whole world it had all gone ten thousand\ntimes over for this, that my soul might have been in a converted state.\n\n74. How lovely now was every one in my eyes that I thought to be\nconverted men and women! they shone, they walked like a people that\ncarried the broad seal of heaven about them. Oh! I saw the lot was\nfallen to them in pleasant places, and they had a goodly heritage (Psa\n16:6). But that which made me sick was that of Christ, in Mark, He went\nup into a mountain and called to him whom he would, and they came unto\nhim (Mark 3:13).\n\n75. This scripture made me faint and fear, yet it kindled fire in my\nsoul. That which made me fear was this, lest Christ should have no\nliking to me, for he called \u201cwhom he would.\u201d But oh! the glory that I\nsaw in that condition did still so engage my heart that I could seldom\nread of any that Christ did call but I presently wished, Would I had\nbeen in their clothes; would I had been born Peter; would I had been\nborn John; or would I had been by and had heard him when he called\nthem, how would I have cried, O Lord, call me also. But oh! I feared he\nwould not call me.\n\n76. And truly the Lord let me go thus many months together and showed\nme nothing; either that I was already, or should be called hereafter.\nBut at last, after much time spent, and many groans to God, that I\nmight be made partaker of the holy and heavenly calling, that Word came\nin upon me\u2014\u201cI will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, for\nthe Lord dwelleth in Zion\u201d (Joel 3:21). These words I thought were sent\nto encourage me to wait still upon God, and signified unto me, that if\nI were not already, yet time might come I might be in truth converted\nunto Christ.[24]\n\n77. About this time I began to break my mind to those poor people in\nBedford, and to tell them my condition, which, when they had heard,\nthey told Mr. Gifford of me, who himself also took occasion to talk\nwith me, and was willing to be \u2018well\u2019 persuaded of me, though I think\nbut from little grounds: but he invited me to his house, where I should\nhear him confer with others, about the dealings of God with the soul;\nfrom all which I still received more conviction, and from that time\nbegan to see something of the vanity and inward wretchedness of my\nwicked heart, for as yet I knew no great matter therein; but now it\nbegan to be discovered unto me, and also to work at that rate for\nwickedness as it never did before. Now I evidently found that lusts and\ncorruptions would strongly put forth themselves within me, in wicked\nthoughts and desires, which I did not regard before; my desires also\nfor heaven and life began to fail. I found also, that whereas before my\nsoul was full of longing after God, now my heart began to hanker after\nevery foolish vanity; yea, my heart would not be moved to mind that\nthat was good; it began to be careless, both of my soul and heaven; it\nwould now continually hang back, both to, and in every duty; and was as\na clog on the leg of a bird to hinder her from flying.\n\n78. Nay, thought I, now I grow worse and worse; now am I further from\nconversion than ever I was before. Wherefore I began to sink greatly in\nmy soul, and began to entertain such discouragement in my heart as laid\nme low as hell. If now I should have burned at a stake, I could not\nbelieve that Christ had love for me; alas, I could neither hear him,\nnor see him, nor feel him, nor savour any of his things; I was driven\nas with a tempest, my heart would be unclean, the Canaanites would\ndwell in the land.\n\n79. Sometimes I would tell my condition to the people of God, which,\nwhen they heard, they would pity me, and would tell me of the promises;\nbut they had as good have told me that I must reach the sun with my\nfinger as have bidden me receive or rely upon the promise; and as soon\nas I should have done it, all my sense and feeling was against me; and\nI saw I had a heart that would sin, and \u2018that\u2019 lay under a law that\nwould condemn.\n\n80. These things have often made me think of that child which the\nfather brought to Christ, who, while he was yet a coming to him, was\nthrown down by the devil, and also so rent and torn by him that he lay\nand wallowed, foaming (Luke 9:42; Mark 9:20).\n\n81. Further, in these days I should find my heart to shut itself up\nagainst the Lord, and against his holy Word. I have found my unbelief\nto set, as it were, the shoulder to the door to keep him out, and that\ntoo even then, when I have with many a bitter sigh cried, Good Lord,\nbreak it open; Lord, break these gates of brass, and cut these bars of\niron asunder (Psa 107:16). Yet that word would sometimes create in my\nheart a peaceable pause, \u201cI girded thee, though thou hast not known me\u201d\n(Isa 45:5).\n\n82. But all this while as to the act of sinning, I never was more\ntender than now; I durst not take a pin or a stick, though but so big\nas a straw, for my conscience now was sore, and would smart at every\ntouch; I could not now tell how to speak my words, for fear I should\nmisplace them. Oh, how gingerly[25] did I then go in all I did or said!\nI found myself as on a miry bog that shook if I did but stir; and \u2018was\u2019\nthere left both of God and Christ, and the Spirit, and all good things.\n\n83. \u2018But, I observe, though I was such a great sinner before\nconversion, yet God never much charged the guilt of the sins of my\nignorance upon me; only he showed me I was lost if I had not Christ,\nbecause I had been a sinner; I saw that I wanted a perfect\nrighteousness to present me without fault before God, and this\nrighteousness was nowhere to be found, but in the person of Jesus\nChrist.\u2019\n\n84. \u2018But my original and inward pollution, that, that was my plague and\nmy affliction; that, I say, at a dreadful rate, always putting forth\nitself within me; that I had the guilt of, to amazement; by reason of\nthat, I was more loathsome in my own eyes than was a toad; and I\nthought I was so in God\u2019s eyes too; sin and corruption, I said, would\nas naturally bubble out of my heart, as water would bubble out of a\nfountain. I thought now that every one had a better heart than I had; I\ncould have changed heart with any body; I thought none but the devil\nhimself could equalize me for inward wickedness and pollution of mind.\nI fell, therefore, at the sight of my own vileness, deeply into\ndespair; for I concluded that this condition that I was in could not\nstand with a state of grace. Sure, thought I, I am forsaken of God;\nsure I am given up to the devil, and to a reprobate mind; and thus I\ncontinued a long while, even for some years together.\u2019\n\n85. \u2018While I was thus afflicted with the fears of my own damnation,\nthere were two things would make me wonder; the one was, when I saw old\npeople hunting after the things of this life, as if they should live\nhere always; the other was, when I found professors much distressed and\ncast down, when they met with outward losses; as of husband, wife,\nchild, &c. Lord, thought I, what ado is here about such little things\nas these! What seeking after carnal things by some, and what grief in\nothers for the loss of them! if they so much labour after, and spend so\nmany tears for the things of this present life, how am I to be\nbemoaned, pitied, and prayed for! My soul is dying, my soul is damning.\nWere my soul but in a good condition, and were I but sure of it, ah!\nhow rich should I esteem myself, though blessed but with bread and\nwater; I should count those but small afflictions, and should bear them\nas little burdens. \u201cA wounded spirit who can bear?\u201d\u2019\n\n86. And though I was thus troubled, and tossed, and afflicted, with the\nsight and sense and terror of my own wickedness, yet I was afraid to\nlet this sight and sense go quite off my mind; for I found, that unless\nguilt of conscience was taken off the right way, that is, by the blood\nof Christ, a man grew rather worse for the loss of his trouble of mind,\nthan better. Wherefore, if my guilt lay hard upon me, then I should cry\nthat the blood of Christ might take it off; and if it was going off\nwithout it (for the sense of sin would be sometimes as if it would die,\nand go quite away), then I would also strive to fetch it upon my heart\nagain, by bringing the punishment for sin in hell fire upon my spirits;\nand should cry, Lord, let it not go off my heart, but the right way,\nbut by the blood of Christ, and by the application of thy mercy,\nthrough him, to my soul; for that Scripture lay much upon me, \u201cwithout\nshedding of blood is no remission\u201d (Heb 9:22). And that which made me\nthe more afraid of this was, because I had seen some, who, though when\nthey were under wounds of conscience, then they would cry and pray; but\nthey seeking rather present ease from their trouble, than pardon for\ntheir sin, cared not how they lost their guilt, so they got it out of\ntheir mind; and, therefore, having got it off the wrong way, it was not\nsanctified unto them; but they grew harder and blinder, and more wicked\nafter their trouble. This made me afraid, and made me cry to God \u2018the\nmore,\u2019 that it might not be so with me.\n\n87. And now was I sorry that God had made me a man, for I feared I was\na reprobate; I counted man as unconverted, the most doleful of all the\ncreatures. Thus being afflicted and tossed about my sad condition, I\ncounted myself alone, and above the most of men unblessed.\n\n88. \u2018Yea, I thought it impossible that ever I should attain to so much\ngoodness of heart, as to thank God that he had made me a man. Man\nindeed is the most noble by creation, of all creatures in the visible\nworld; but by sin he had made himself the most ignoble. The beasts,\nbirds, fishes, &c., I blessed their condition, for they had not a\nsinful nature, they were not obnoxious to the wrath of God; they were\nnot to go to hell fire after death; I could therefore have rejoiced,\nhad my condition been as any of theirs.\u2019\n\n89. In this condition I went a great while; but when comforting time\nwas come, I heard one preach a sermon upon those words in the Song\n(4:1), \u201cBehold thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair.\u201d But at\nthat time he made these two words, \u201cMy love,\u201d his chief and subject\nmatter; from which, after he had a little opened the text, he observed\nthese several conclusions: 1. That the church, and so every saved soul,\nis Christ\u2019s love, when loveless. 2. Christ\u2019s love without a cause. 3.\nChrist\u2019s love when hated of the world. 4. Christ\u2019s love when under\ntemptation, and under desertion. 5. Christ\u2019s love from first to last.\n\n90. But I got nothing by what he said at present, only when he came to\nthe application of the fourth particular, this was the word he said; If\nit be so, that the saved soul is Christ\u2019s love when under temptation\nand desertion; then poor tempted soul, when thou art assaulted and\nafflicted with temptation, and the hidings of God\u2019s face, yet think on\nthese two words, \u201cMy love,\u201d still.\n\n91. So as I was a going home, these words came again into my thoughts;\nand I well remember, as they came in, I said thus in my heart, What\nshall I get by thinking on these two words? This thought had no sooner\npassed through my heart, but the words began thus to kindle in my\nspirit, \u201cThou art my love, thou art my love,\u201d twenty times together;\nand still as they ran thus in my mind, they waxed stronger and warmer,\nand began to make me look up; but being as yet between hope and fear, I\nstill replied in my heart, But is it true, but is it true? At which,\nthat sentence fell in upon me, He \u201cwist not that it was true which was\ndone by the angel\u201d (Acts 12:9).\n\n92. Then I began to give place to the word, which, with power, did over\nand over make this joyful sound within my soul, thou art my love, thou\nart my love; and nothing shall separate thee from my love; and with\nthat (Rom 8:39) came into my mind: Now was my heart filled full of\ncomfort and hope, and now I could believe that my sins should be\nforgiven me; \u2018yea, I was now so taken with the love and mercy of God,\nthat I remember I could not tell how to contain till I got home; I\nthought I could have spoken of his love, and of his mercy to me, even\nto the very crows that sat upon the ploughed lands before me, had they\nbeen capable to have understood me\u2019; wherefore I said in my soul, with\nmuch gladness, well, I would I had a pen and ink here, I would write\nthis down before I go any further, for surely I will not forget this\nforty years hence; but, alas! within less than forty days, I began to\nquestion all again; \u2018which made me begin to question all still.\u2019\n\n93. Yet still at times, I was helped to believe that it was a true\nmanifestation of grace unto my soul, though I had lost much of the life\nand savour of it. Now about a week or fortnight after this, I was much\nfollowed by this scripture, \u201cSimon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired\nto have you\u201d (Luke 22:31). And sometimes it would sound so loud within\nme, yea, and as it were call so strongly after me, that once above all\nthe rest, I turned my head over my shoulder, thinking verily that some\nman had, behind me, called to me; being at a great distance, \u2018methought\nhe called so loud; it came, as I have thought since, to have stirred me\nup to prayer, and to watchfulness; it came to acquaint me that a cloud\nand a storm was coming down upon me, but I understood it not.\u2019[26]\n\n94. \u2018Also, as I remember, that time that it called to me so loud, was\nthe last time that it sounded in mine ear; but methinks I hear still\nwith what a loud voice these words, Simon, Simon, sounded in mine ears.\nI thought verily, as I have told you, that somebody had called after\nme, that was half a mile behind me; and although that was not my name,\nyet it made me suddenly look behind me, believing that he that called\nso loud meant me.\u2019\n\n95. But so foolish was I, and ignorant, that I knew not the reason of\nthis sound; which, as I did both see and feel soon after, was sent from\nheaven as an alarm, to awaken me to provide for what was coming; only\nit would make me muse and wonder in my mind, to think what should be\nthe reason that this scripture, and that at this rate, so often and so\nloud, should still be sounding and rattling in mine ears; but, as I\nsaid before, I soon after perceived the end of God therein.\n\n96. For about the space of a month after, a very great storm came down\nupon me, which handled me twenty times worse than all I had met with\nbefore; it came stealing upon me, now by one piece, then by another;\nfirst, all my comfort was taken from me, then darkness seized upon me,\nafter which, whole floods of blasphemies, both against God, Christ, and\nthe Scriptures, were poured upon my spirit, to my great confusion and\nastonishment. These blasphemous thoughts were such as also stirred up\nquestions in me, against the very being of God, and of his only beloved\nSon; as, whether there were, in truth, a God, or Christ, or no? and\nwhether the holy Scriptures were not rather a fable, and cunning story,\nthan the holy and pure Word of God?\n\n97. The tempter would also much assault me with this, how can you tell\nbut that the Turks had as good Scriptures to prove their Mahomet the\nSaviour, as we have to prove our Jesus is? And, could I think, that so\nmany ten thousands, in so many countries and kingdoms, should be\nwithout the knowledge of the right way to heaven; if there were indeed\na heaven, and that we only, who live in a corner of the earth, should\nalone be blessed therewith? Every one doth think his own religion\nrightest, both Jews and Moors, and Pagans! and how if all our faith,\nand Christ, and Scriptures, should be but a think-so too?\n\n98. Sometimes I have endeavoured to argue against these suggestions,\nand to set some of the sentences of blessed Paul against them; but,\nalas! I quickly felt, when I thus did, such arguings as these would\nreturn again upon me, Though we made so great a matter of Paul, and of\nhis words, yet how could I tell, but that in very deed, he being a\nsubtle and cunning man, might give himself up to deceive with strong\ndelusions; and also take both that pains and travel, to undo and\ndestroy his fellows.\n\n99. These suggestions, with many other which at this time I may not,\nnor dare not utter, neither by word nor pen, did make such a seizure\nupon my spirit, and did so overweigh my heart, both with their number,\ncontinuance, and fiery force, that I felt as if there were nothing else\nbut these from morning to night within me; and as though, indeed, there\ncould be room for nothing else; and also concluded, that God had, in\nvery wrath to my soul, given me up unto them, to be carried away with\nthem, as with a mighty whirlwind.\n\n100. Only by the distaste that they gave unto my spirit, I felt there\nwas something in me, that refused to embrace them. But this\nconsideration I then only had, when God gave me leave to swallow my\nspittle, otherwise the noise, and strength, and force of these\ntemptations, would drown and overflow; and as it were, bury all such\nthoughts or the remembrance of any such thing. While I was in this\ntemptation, I should often find my mind suddenly put upon it, to curse\nand swear, or to speak some grievous thing against God, or Christ his\nSon, and of the Scriptures.[27]\n\n101. Now I thought, surely I am possessed of the devil; at other times\nagain, I thought I should be bereft of my wits; for instead of lauding\nand magnifying God the Lord with others, if I have but heard him spoken\nof, presently some most horrible blasphemous thought or other, would\nbolt out of my heart against him; so that whether I did think that God\nwas, or again did think there were no such thing; no love, nor peace,\nnor gracious disposition could I feel within me.\n\n102. These things did sink me into very deep despair; for I concluded,\nthat such things could not possibly be found amongst them that loved\nGod. I often, when these temptations have been with force upon me, did\ncompare myself in the case of such a child, whom some gipsy hath by\nforce took up under her apron,[28] and is carrying from friend and\ncountry; kick sometimes I did, and also scream and cry; but yet I was\nas bound in the wings of the temptation, and the wind would carry me\naway. I thought also of Saul, and of the evil spirit that did possess\nhim; and did greatly fear that my condition was the same with that of\nhis (1 Sam 16:14).\n\n103. In these days, when I have heard others talk of what was the sin\nagainst the Holy Ghost, then would the tempter so provoke me to desire\nto sin that sin, that I was as if I could not, must not, neither should\nbe quiet until I had committed that; now, no sin would serve but that;\nif it were to be committed by speaking of such a word, then I have been\nas if my mouth would have spoken that word, whether I would or no; and\nin so strong a measure was this temptation upon me, that often I have\nbeen ready to clap my hand under my chin, to hold my mouth from\nopening; and to that end also I have had thoughts at other times, to\nleap with my head downward, into some muck hill hole or other, to keep\nmy mouth from speaking.\n\n104. Now I blessed the condition of the dog and toad, and counted the\nestate of everything that God had made far better than this dreadful\nstate of mine, and such as my companions was; yea, gladly would I have\nbeen in the condition of dog or horse, for I knew they had no soul to\nperish under the everlasting weights of hell for sin, as mine was like\nto do. Nay, and though I saw this, felt this, and was broken to pieces\nwith it, yet that which added to my sorrow was, that I could not find\nthat with all my soul I did desire deliverance. That scripture did also\ntear and rend my soul, in the midst of these distractions, \u201cThe wicked\nare like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up\nmire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked\u201d (Isa\n57:20,21).\n\n105. \u2018And now my heart was, at times, exceeding hard; if I would have\ngiven a thousand pounds for a tear, I could not shed one; no, nor\nsometimes scarce desire to shed one. I was much dejected to think that\nthis should be my lot. I saw some could mourn and lament their sin; and\nothers, again, could rejoice, and bless God for Christ; and others,\nagain, could quietly talk of, and with gladness remember, the Word of\nGod; while I only was in the storm or tempest. This much sunk me; I\nthought my condition was alone. I should, therefore, much bewail my\nhard hap; but get out of, or get rid of, these things, I could not.\u2019\n\n106. While this temptation lasted, which was about a year, I could\nattend upon none of the ordinances of God but with sore and great\naffliction. Yea, then was I most distressed with blasphemies; if I have\nbeen hearing the Word, then uncleanness, blasphemies, and despair would\nhold me as captive there; if I have been reading, then, sometimes, I\nhad sudden thoughts to question all I read; sometimes, again, my mind\nwould be so strangely snatched away, and possessed with other things,\nthat I have neither known, nor regarded, nor remembered so much as the\nsentence that but now I have read.\n\n107. In prayer, also, I have been greatly troubled at this time;\nsometimes I have thought I should see the devil, nay, thought I have\nfelt him, behind me, pull my clothes; he would be, also, continually at\nme in the time of prayer to have done; break off, make haste, you have\nprayed enough, and stay no longer, still drawing my mind away.\nSometimes, also, he would cast in such wicked thoughts as these: that I\nmust pray to him, or for him. I have thought sometimes of that\u2014Fall\ndown, or, \u201cif thou wilt fall down and worship me\u201d (Matt 4:9).\n\n108. Also, when, because I have had wandering thoughts in the time of\nthis duty, I have laboured to compose my mind and fix it upon God,\nthen, with great force, hath the tempter laboured to distract me, and\nconfound me, and to turn away my mind, by presenting to my heart and\nfancy the form of a bush, a bull, a besom, or the like, as if I should\npray to those; to these he would, also, at some times especially, so\nhold my mind that I was as if I could think of nothing else, or pray to\nnothing else but to these, or such as they.\n\n109. Yet, at times I should have some strong and heart-affecting\napprehensions of God, and the reality of the truth of his gospel; but,\noh! how would my heart, at such times, put forth itself with\ninexpressible groanings. My whole soul was then in every word; I should\ncry with pangs after God that he would be merciful unto me; but then I\nshould be daunted again with such conceits as these; I should think\nthat God did mock at these, my prayers, saying, and that in the\naudience of the holy angels, This poor simple wretch doth hanker after\nme as if I had nothing to do with my mercy but to bestow it on such as\nhe. Alas, poor fool![29] how art thou deceived! It is not for such as\nthee to have a favour with the Highest.\n\n110. Then hath the tempter come upon me, also, with such\ndiscouragements as these\u2014You are very hot for mercy, but I will cool\nyou; this frame shall not last always; many have been as hot as you for\na spirit, but I have quenched their zeal. And with this, such and such\nwho were fallen off would be set before mine eyes. Then I should be\nafraid that I should do so too; but, thought I, I am glad this comes\ninto my mind. Well, I will watch, and take what heed I can. Though you\ndo, said Satan, I shall be too hard for you; I will cool you\ninsensibly, by degrees, by little and little. What care I, saith he,\nthough I be seven years in chilling your heart if I can do it at last?\nContinual rocking will lull a crying child asleep. I will ply it close,\nbut I will have my end accomplished. Though you be burning hot at\npresent, yet, if I can pull you from this fire, I shall have you cold\nbefore it be long.\n\n111. These things brought me into great straits; for as I at present\ncould not find myself fit for present death, so I thought to live long\nwould make me yet more unfit; for time would make me forget all, and\nwear even the remembrance of the evil of sin, the worth of heaven, and\nthe need I had of the blood of Christ to wash me, both out of mind and\nthought; but I thank Christ Jesus these things did not at present make\nme slack my crying, but rather did put me more upon it, like her who\nmet with the adulterer (Deut 22:27); in which days that was a good word\nto me after I had suffered these things a while: \u201cI am persuaded that\nneither-height, nor depth, nor life,\u201d &c., \u201cshall\u2014separate us from the\nlove of God, which is in Christ Jesus\u201d (Rom 8:38). And now I hoped long\nlife should not destroy me, nor make me miss of heaven.\n\n112. Yet I had some supports in this temptation, though they were then\nall questioned by me; that in the third of Jeremiah, at the first, was\nsomething to me, and so was the consideration of the fifth verse of\nthat chapter; that though we have spoken and done as evil things as we\ncould, yet we should cry unto God, \u201cMy Father, thou art the guide of my\nyouth\u201d; and should return unto him.\n\n113. I had, also, once a sweet glance from that in 2 Corinthians 5:21:\n\u201cFor he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might\nbe made the righteousness of God in him.\u201d I remember, also, that one\nday as I was sitting in a neighbour\u2019s house, and there very sad at the\nconsideration of my many blasphemies, and as I was saying in my mind,\nWhat ground have I to think that I, who have been so vile and\nabominable, should ever inherit eternal life? that word came suddenly\nupon me, \u201cWhat shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who\ncan be against us?\u201d (Rom 8:31). That, also, was an help unto me,\n\u201cBecause I live, ye shall live also\u201d (John 14:19). But these were but\nhints, touches, and short visits, though very sweet when present; only\nthey lasted not; but, like to Peter\u2019s sheet, of a sudden were caught up\nfrom me to heaven again (Acts 10:16).\n\n114. But afterwards the Lord did more fully and graciously discover\nhimself unto me; and, indeed, did quite, not only deliver me from the\nguilt that, by these things, was laid upon my conscience, but also from\nthe very filth thereof; for the temptation was removed, and I was put\ninto my right mind again, as other Christians were.\n\n115. I remember that one day, as I was traveling into the country and\nmusing on the wickedness and blasphemy of my heart, and considering of\nthe enmity that was in me to God, that scripture came in my mind, He\nhath \u201cmade peace through the blood of his cross\u201d (Col 1:20). By which I\nwas made to see, both again, and again, and again, that day, that God\nand my soul were friends by this blood; yea, I saw that the justice of\nGod and my sinful soul could embrace and kiss each other through this\nblood. This was a good day to me; I hope I shall not forget it.\n\n116. At another time, as I sat by the fire in my house, and musing on\nmy wretchedness, the Lord made that also a precious word unto me,\n\u201cForasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he\nalso himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he\nmight destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and\ndeliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime\nsubject to bondage\u201d (Heb 2:14,15). I thought that the glory of these\nwords was then so weighty on me that I was, both once and twice, ready\nto swoon as I sat; yet not with grief and trouble, but with solid joy\nand peace.\n\n[BUNYAN ATTENDS THE MINISTRY OF MR. GIFFORD, AND BECOMES INTENSELY\nEARNEST TO UNDERSTAND THE DOCTRINES OF THE GOSPEL.]\n\n\n117. At this time, also, I sat under the ministry of holy Mr. Gifford,\nwhose doctrine, by God\u2019s grace, was much for my stability.[30] This man\nmade it much his business to deliver the people of God from all those\nfalse and unsound rests that, by nature, we are prone to take and make\nto our souls. He pressed us to take special heed that we took not up\nany truth upon trust\u2014as from this, or that, or any other man or men\u2014but\nto cry mightily to God that he would convince us of the reality\nthereof, and set us down therein, by his own Spirit, in the holy Word;\nfor, said he, if you do otherwise when temptations come, if strongly,\nyou, not having received them with evidence from heaven, will find you\nwant that help and strength now to resist as once you thought you had.\n\n118. This was as seasonable to my soul as the former and latter rain in\ntheir season; for I had found, and that by sad experience, the truth of\nthese his words; for I had felt [what] no man can say, especially when\ntempted by the devil, that Jesus Christ is Lord but by the Holy Ghost.\nWherefore I found my soul, through grace, very apt to drink in this\ndoctrine, and to incline to pray to God that, in nothing that pertained\nto God\u2019s glory and my own eternal happiness, he would suffer me to be\nwithout the confirmation thereof from heaven; for now I saw clearly\nthere was an exceeding different betwixt the notions of flesh and\nblood, and the revelations of God in heaven; also, a great difference\nbetween that faith that is feigned, and according to man\u2019s wisdom, and\nof that which comes by a man\u2019s being born thereto of God (Matt\n16:15-17; 1 John 5:1).\n\n119. But, oh! now, how was my soul led from truth to truth by God! even\nfrom the birth and cradle of the Son of God to his ascension and second\ncoming from heaven to judge the world.\n\n120. Truly, I then found, upon this account, the great God was very\ngood unto me; for, to my remembrance, there was not anything that I\nthen cried unto God to make known and reveal unto me but he was pleased\nto do it for me; I mean not one part of the gospel of the Lord Jesus,\nbut I was orderly led into it. Methought I saw with great evidence,\nfrom the relation of the four evangelists, the wonderful work of God,\nin giving Jesus Christ to save us, from his conception and birth even\nto his second coming to judgment, Methought I was as if I had seen him\nborn, as if I had seen him grow up, as if I had seen him walk through\nthis world, from the cradle to his cross; to which, also, when he came,\nI saw how gently he gave himself to be hanged and nailed on it for my\nsins and wicked doings. Also, as I was musing on this, his progress,\nthat dropped on my spirit, He was ordained for the slaughter (1 Peter\n1:19,20).\n\n121. When I have considered also the truth of his resurrection, and\nhave remembered that word, \u201cTouch me not, Mary,\u201d &c., I have seen as if\nhe leaped at the grave\u2019s mouth for joy that he was risen again, and had\ngot the conquest over our dreadful foes (John 20:17). I have also, in\nthe spirit, seen him a man on the right hand of God the Father for me,\nand have seen the manner of his coming from heaven to judge the world\nwith glory, and have been confirmed in these things by these scriptures\nfollowing, Acts 1:9, 10, 7:56, 10:42; Hebrews 7:24, 8:3; Revelation\n1:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:17, 18.\n\n122. Once I was much troubled to know whether the Lord Jesus was both\nman as well as God, and God as well as man; and truly, in those days,\nlet men say what they would, unless I had it with evidence from heaven,\nall was as nothing to me, I counted not myself set down in any truth of\nGod. Well, I was much troubled about this point, and could not tell how\nto be resolved; at last, that in the fifth of the Revelation came into\nmy mind, \u201cAnd I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the\nfour beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb.\u201d In the\nmidst of the throne, \u2018thought I,\u2019 there is his Godhead; in the midst of\nthe elders, there is his manhood; but oh! methought this did glister!\nit was a goodly touch, and gave me sweet satisfaction. That other\nscripture also did help me much in this, \u201cTo us a child is born, unto\nus a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and\nhis name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The\neverlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,\u201d &c. (Isa 9:6).\n\n123. Also, besides these teachings of God in his Word, the Lord made\nuse of two things to confirm me in these things; the one was the errors\nof the Quakers, and the other was the guilt of sin; for as the Quakers\ndid oppose his truth, so God did the more confirm me in it, by leading\nme into the scriptures that did wonderfully maintain it.[31]\n\n124. \u2018The errors that this people then maintained were, 1. That the\nholy Scriptures were not the Word of God. 2. That every man in the\nworld had the spirit of Christ, grace, faith, &c. 3. That Christ Jesus,\nas crucified, and dying 1600 years ago, did not satisfy divine justice\nfor the sins of the people. 4. That Christ\u2019s flesh and blood was within\nthe saints. 5. That the bodies of the good and bad that are buried in\nthe churchyard shall not arise again. 6. That the resurrection is past\nwith good men already. 7. That that man Jesus, that was crucified\nbetween two thieves on Mount Calvary, in the land of Canaan, by\nJerusalem, was not ascended up above the starry heavens. 8. That he\nshould not, even the same Jesus that died by the hands of the Jews,\ncome again at the last day, and as man judge all nations, &c.\u2019\n\n125. \u2018Many more vile and abominable things were in those days fomented\nby them, by which I was driven to a more narrow search of the\nScriptures, and was, through their light and testimony, not only\nenlightened, but greatly confirmed and comforted in the truth\u2019; and, as\nI said, the guilt of sin did help me much, for still as that would come\nupon me, the blood of Christ did take it off again, and again, and\nagain, and that too, sweetly, according to the Scriptures. O friends!\ncry to God to reveal Jesus Christ unto you; there is none teacheth like\nhim.\n\n126. It would be too long for me here to stay, to tell you in\nparticular how God did set me down in all the things of Christ, and how\nhe did, that he might so do, lead me into his words; yea, and also how\nhe did open them unto me, make them shine before me, and cause them to\ndwell with me, talk with me, and comfort me over and over, both of his\nown being, and the being of his Son, and Spirit, and Word, and gospel.\n\n127. Only this, as I said before I will say unto you again, that in\ngeneral he was pleased to take this course with me; first, to suffer me\nto be afflicted with temptation concerning them, and then reveal them\nto me: as sometimes I should lie under great guilt for sin, even\ncrushed to the ground therewith, and then the Lord would show me the\ndeath of Christ; yea, and so sprinkle my conscience with his blood,\nthat I should find, and that before I was aware, that in that\nconscience where but just now did reign and rage the law, even there\nwould rest and abide the peace and love of God through Christ.\n\n128. Now had I an evidence, \u2018as I thought, of my salvation\u2019 from\nheaven, with many golden seals thereon, all hanging in my sight; now\ncould I remember this manifestation and the other discovery of grace,\nwith comfort; and should often long and desire that the last day were\ncome, that I might for ever be inflamed with the sight, and joy, and\ncommunion with him whose head was crowned with thorns, whose face was\nspit on, and body broken, and soul made an offering for my sins: for\nwhereas, before, I lay continually trembling at the mouth of hell, now\nmethought I was got so far therefrom that I could not, when I looked\nback, scarce discern it; and, oh! thought I, that I were fourscore\nyears old now, that I might die quickly, that my soul might be gone to\nrest.[32]\n\n129. \u2018But before I had got thus far out of these my temptations, I did\ngreatly long to see some ancient godly man\u2019s experience, who had writ\nsome hundreds of years before I was born; for those who had writ in our\ndays, I thought, but I desire them now to pardon me, that they had writ\nonly that which others felt, or else had, through the strength of their\nwits and parts, studied to answer such objections as they perceived\nothers were perplexed with, without going down themselves into the\ndeep. Well, after many such longings in my mind, the God in whose hands\nare all our days and ways, did cast into my hand, one day, a book of\nMartin Luther; it was his comment on the Galatians\u2014it also was so old\nthat it was ready to fall piece from piece if I did but turn it over.\nNow I was pleased much that such an old book had fallen into my hands;\nthe which, when I had but a little way perused, I found my condition,\nin his experience, so largely and profoundly handled, as if his book\nhad been written out of my heart. This made me marvel; for thus thought\nI, This man could not know anything of the state of Christians now, but\nmust needs write and speak the experience of former days.\u2019\n\n130. \u2018Besides, he doth most gravely, also, in that book, debate of the\nrise of these temptations, namely, blasphemy, desperation, and the\nlike; showing that the law of Moses as well as the devil, death, and\nhell hath a very great hand therein, the which, at first, was very\nstrange to me; but considering and watching, I found it so indeed. But\nof particulars here I intend nothing; only this, methinks, I must let\nfall before all men, I do prefer this book of Martin Luther upon the\nGalatians, excepting the Holy Bible, before all the books that ever I\nhave seen, as most fit for a wounded conscience.\u2019\n\n131. \u2018And now I found, as I thought, that I loved Christ dearly; oh!\nmethought my soul cleaved unto him, my affections cleaved unto him. I\nfelt love to him as hot as fire; and now, as Job said, I thought I\nshould die in my nest; but I did quickly find that my great love was\nbut little, and that I, who had, as I thought, such burning love to\nJesus Christ, could let him go again for a very trifle; God can tell\nhow to abase us, and can hide pride from man. Quickly after this my\nlove was tried to purpose.\u2019\n\n132. For after the Lord had, in this manner, thus graciously delivered\nme from this great and sore temptation, and had set me down so sweetly\nin the faith of his holy gospel, and had given me such strong\nconsolation and blessed evidence from heaven touching my interest in\nhis love through Christ; the tempter came upon me again, and that with\na more grievous and dreadful temptation than before.\n\n133. And that was, To sell and part with this most blessed Christ, to\nexchange him for the things of this life, for anything. The temptation\nlay upon me for the space of a year, and did follow me so continually\nthat I was not rid of it one day in a month, no, not sometimes one hour\nin many days together, unless \u2018when\u2019 I was asleep.\n\n134. And though, in my judgment, I was persuaded that those who were\nonce effectually in Christ, as I hoped, through his grace, I had seen\nmyself, could never lose him for ever\u2014for \u201cthe land shall not be sold\nfor ever, for the land is mine,\u201d saith God (Lev 25:23)[33]\u2014yet it was a\ncontinual vexation to me to think that I should have so much as one\nsuch thought within me against a Christ, a Jesus, that had done for me\nas he had done; \u2018and yet then I had almost none others, but such\nblasphemous ones.\u2019\n\n135. But it was neither my dislike of the thought, nor yet any desire\nand endeavour to resist it that in the least did shake or abate the\ncontinuation, or force and strength thereof; for it did always, in\nalmost whatever I thought, intermix itself therewith in such sort that\nI could neither eat my food, stoop for a pin, chop a stick, or cast\nmine eye to look on this or that, but still the temptation would come,\nSell Christ for this, or sell Christ for that; \u2018sell him, sell him.\u2019\n\n136. Sometimes it would run in my thoughts, not so little as a hundred\ntimes together, Sell him, sell him, sell him; against which I may say,\nfor whole hours together, I have been forced to stand as continually\nleaning and forcing my spirit against it, least haply, before I were\naware, some wicked thought might arise in my heart that might consent\nthereto; and sometimes also the tempter would make me believe I had\nconsented to it, then should I be as tortured upon a rack for whole\ndays together.\n\n137. This temptation did put me to such scares, lest I should and some\ntimes, I say, consent thereto, and be overcome therewith, that by the\nvery force of my mind, in labouring to gainsay and resist this\nwickedness, my very body also would be put into action or motion by way\nof pushing or thrusting \u2018with my hands or elbows,\u2019 still answering as\nfast as the destroyer said, Sell him; I will not, I will not, I will\nnot, I will not; no, not for thousands, thousands, thousands of worlds.\nThus reckoning lest I should in the midst of these assaults, set too\nlow a value of him, even until I scarce well knew where I was, or how\nto be composed began.\n\n138. \u2018At these seasons he would not let me eat my food at quiet; but,\nforsooth, when I was set at table at my meat, I must go hence to pray;\nI must leave my food now, and just now, so counterfeit holy also would\nthis devil be. When I was thus tempted, I should say in myself, Now I\nam at my meat, let me make an end. No, said he, you must do it now, or\nyou will displease God, and despise Christ. Wherefore I was much\nafflicted with these things; and because of the sinfulness of my\nnature, imagining that these things were impulses from God, I should\ndeny to do it, as if I denied God; and then should I be as guilty,\nbecause I did not obey a temptation of the devil, as if I had broken\nthe law of God indeed.\u2019\n\n139. But to be brief, one morning, as I did lie in my bed, I was, as at\nother times, most fiercely assaulted with this temptation, to sell and\npart with Christ; the wicked suggestion still running in my mind, sell\nhim, sell him, sell him, sell him, \u2018sell him,\u2019 as fast as a man could\nspeak; against which also, in my mind, as and other times, I answered,\nNo, no, not for thousands, thousands, thousands, at least twenty times\ntogether. But at last, after much striving, even until I was almost out\nof breath, I felt this thought pass through my heart, Let him go, if he\nwill! and I thought also, that I felt my heart \u2018freely\u2019 consent\nthereto. \u2018Oh, the diligence of Satan! [34] Oh, the desperateness of\nman\u2019s heart!\u2019\n\n140. Now was the battle won, and down fell I, as a bird that is shot\nfrom the top of a tree, into great guilt, and fearful despair. Thus\ngetting out of my bed, I went moping into the field; but God knows,\nwith as heavy a heart as mortal man, I think, could bear; where, for\nthe space of two hours, I was like a man bereft of life, and as now\npast all recovery, and bound over to eternal punishment.\n\n141. And withal, that scripture did seize upon my soul, \u201cOr profane\nperson, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat, sold his birthright; for\nye know, how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing,\nhe was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, so he sought it\ncarefully with tears\u201d (Heb 12:16,17).\n\n142. \u2018Now was I as one bound, I felt myself shut out unto the judgment\nto come; nothing now for two years together would abide with me, but\ndamnation, and an expectation of damnation; I say, nothing now would\nabide with me but this, save some few moments for relief, as in the\nsequel you will see.\u2019\n\n143. These words were to my soul like fetters of brass to my legs, in\nthe continual sound of which I went for several months together. But\nabout ten or eleven o\u2019clock one day, as I was walking under a hedge,\nfull of sorrow in guilt, God knows, and bemoaning myself for this hard\nhap, that such a thought should arise within me; suddenly this sentence\nbolted in upon me, The blood of Christ remits all guilt. At this I made\na stand in my spirit; with that, this word took hold upon me, begin,\n\u201cThe blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin\u201d (1 John\n1:7).\n\n144. Now I began to conceive peace in my soul, in methought I saw as if\nthe tempter did leer[35] and steal away from me, as being ashamed of\nwhat he had done. At the same time also I had my sin, and the blood of\nChrist thus represented to me, that my sin, when compared to the blood\nof Christ, was no more to it, then this little clot or stone before me,\nis to this vast and wide field that here I see. This gave me good\nencouragement for the space of two or three hours; in which time also,\nmethought I saw, by faith, the Son of God, as suffering for my sins;\nbut because it tarried not, I therefore sunk in my spirit, under\nexceeding guilt again.\n\n145. \u2018But chiefly by the afore-mentioned scripture, concerning Esau\u2019s\nselling of his birthright; for that scripture would lie all day long,\nall the week long, yea, all the year long in my mind, and hold me down,\nso that I could by no means lift up myself; for when I would strive to\nturn me to this scripture, or that, for relief, still that sentence\nwould be sounding in me, \u201cFor ye know, how that afterward, when he\nwould have inherited the blessing-he found no place of repentance,\nthough he sought it carefully with tears.\u201d\u2019\n\n146. Sometimes also, [36] I should have a touch from that in Luke\n22:32, \u201cI have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not\u201d; but it would\nnot abide upon me; neither could I indeed, when I considered my state,\nfind ground to conceive in the least, that there should be the root of\nthat grace within me, having sinned as I had done. Now was I tore and\nrent in heavy case, for many days together.\n\n147. Then began I with sad and careful heart, to consider of the nature\nand largeness of my sin, and to search in the Word of God, if I could\nin any place espy a word of promise, or any encouraging sentence by\nwhich I might take relief. Wherefore I began to consider that third of\nMark, All manner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven unto the\nsons of men, wherewith soever they shall blaspheme. Which place,\nmethought, at a blush, did contain a large and glorious promise, for\nthe pardon of high offences; but considering the place more fully, I\nthought it was rather to be understood as relating more chiefly to\nthose who had, while in a natural estate, committed such things as\nthere are mentioned; but not to me, who had not only received light and\nmercy, but that had, both after, and also contrary to that, so slighted\nChrist as I had done.\n\n148. I feared therefore that this wicked sin of mine, might be that sin\nunpardonable, of which he there thus speaketh. \u201cBut he they shall\nblaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in\ndanger of eternal damnation\u201d (Mark 3:29). And I did the rather give\ncredit to this, because of that sentence in the Hebrews common \u201cFor ye\nknow, how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he\nwas rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it\ncarefully with tears.\u201d \u2018And this stuck always with me.\u2019\n\n149. \u2018And now was I both the burden and a terror to myself, nor did I\never so know, as now, what it was to be weary of my life, and yet\nafraid to die. Oh, how gladly now would I have been anybody but myself!\nAnything but a man! and in any condition but mine own! for there was\nnothing did pass more frequently over my mind, than that it was\nimpossible for me to be forgiven my transgression, and to be saved from\nwrath to come.\u2019\n\n150. And now began I to labour to call again time that was past;\nwishing a thousand times twice told, that the day was yet to come, when\nI should be tempted to such a sin! concluding with great indignation,\nboth against my heart, and all assaults, how I would rather have been\ntorn in pieces, than found a consenter thereto. But, alas! these\nthoughts, and wishings, and resolvings, were now too late to help me;\nthe thought had passed my heart, God hath let me go, and I am fallen.\nOh! thought I, \u201cthat it was with me as in months past, as in the days\nwhen God preserved me!\u201d [Job 29:2]\n\n151. Then again, being loath and unwilling to perish, I began to\ncompare my sin with others, to see if I could find that any of those\nthat were saved had done as I had done. So I considered David\u2019s\nadultery and murder, and found them most heinous crimes; and those too\ncommitted after light and grace received; but yet but considering, I\nperceived that his transgressions were only such as were against the\nlaw of Moses; from which the Lord Christ could, with the consent of his\nWord, deliver him: but mine was against the gospel; yea, against the\nMediator thereof; \u2018I had sold my Saviour.\u2019\n\n152. Now again should I be as if racked upon the wheel,[37] when I\nconsidered, that, besides the guilt that possessed me, I should be so\nvoid of grace, so bewitched. What, thought I, must it be no sin but\nthis? Must it needs be the great transgression? (Psa 19:13) Must that\nwicked one touch my soul? (1 John 5:18) Oh, what stings did I find in\nall these sentences!\n\n153. \u2018What, thought I, is there but one sin that is unpardonable? But\none sin that layeth the soul without the reach of God\u2019s mercy; and must\nI be guilty of that? Must it needs be that? Is there but one sin among\nso many millions of sins, for which there is no forgiveness; and must I\ncommit this? Oh, unhappy sin! Oh, unhappy man! These things would so\nbreak and confound my spirit, that I could not tell what to do; I\nthought, at times, they would have broke my wits; and still, to\naggravate my misery, that would run in my mind, \u201cYe know how that\nafterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected.\u201d\nOh! none knows the terrors of those days but myself.\u2019\n\n154. After this I came to consider of Peter\u2019s sin, which he committed\nin denying his master; and indeed, this came nighest to mine, of any\nthat I could find; for he had denied his Saviour, as I, and that after\nlight and mercy received; yea, and that too, after warning given him. I\nalso considered, that he did both once and twice; and that, after time\nto consider betwixt. But though I put all these circumstances together,\nthat, if possible, I might find help, yet I considered again, that his\nwas but a denial of his master, but mine was a selling of my Saviour.\nWherefore I thought with myself, that I came nearer to Judas, than\neither to David or Peter.\n\n155. Here again my torment would flame out and afflicte me; yea, it\nwould grind me, as it were, to powder, to discern the preservation of\nGod towards others, while I fell into the snare; for in my thus\nconsidering of other men\u2019s sins, and comparing of them with my own, I\ncould evidently see how God preserved them, notwithstanding their\nwickedness, and would not let them, as he had let me, to become a son\nof perdition.\n\n156. But oh, how did my soul, at this time, prize the preservation that\nGod did set about his people! Ah, how safely did I see them walk, whom\nGod had hedge in! They were within his care, protection, and special\nprovidence; though they were full as bad as I by nature; yet because he\nloved them, he would not suffer them to fall without the range of\nmercy; but as for me, I was gone, I had done it; he would not preserve\nme, nor keep me; but suffered me, because I was a reprobate, to fall as\nI had done. Now, did those blessed places, that spake of God\u2019s keeping\nhis people, shine like the sun before me, though not to comfort me, but\nto show me the blessed state and heritage of those whom the Lord had\nblessed.\n\n157. \u2018Now I saw, that as God had his hand in all providences and\ndispensations that overtook his elect, so he had his hand in all the\ntemptations that they had to sin against him, not to animate them unto\nwickedness, but to choose their temptations and troubles for them; and\nalso to leave them, for a time, to such sins only as might not destroy,\nbut humble them; as might not put them beyond, but lay them in the way\noff the renewing of his mercy. But oh, what love, what care, what\nkindness and mercy did I now see, mixing itself with the most severe\nand dreadful of all God\u2019s ways to his people! He would let David,\nHezekiah, Solomon, Peter, and others fall, but he would not let them\nfall into sin unpardonable, nor into hell for sin. Oh! thought I, these\nbe the men that God hath loved; these be the men that God, though he\nchastiseth them, keeps them in safety by him, and them whom he makes to\nabide under the shadow of the Almighty. But all these thoughts added\nsorrow, grief, and horror to me, as whatever I now thought on, it was\nkilling to me. If I thought how God kept his own, that was killing to\nme. If I thought of how I was falling myself, that was killing to me.\nAs all things wrought together for the best, and to do good to them\nthat were the called, according to his purpose; so I thought that all\nthings wrought for my damage, and for my eternal overthrow.\u2019\n\n158. Then, again, I began to compare my sin with the sin of Judas,\nthat, if possible, I might find that mine differed from that which, in\ntruth, is unpardonable. And, oh! thought I, if it \u2018should differ from\nit,\u2019 though but the breadth of an hair, what a happy condition is my\nsoul in! And, by considering, I found that Judas did his intentionally,\nbut mine was against my \u2018prayer and\u2019 strivings; besides, his was\ncommitted with much deliberation, but mine in a fearful hurry, on a\nsudden; \u2018all this while\u2019 I was tossed to and fro, like the locusts, and\ndriven from trouble to sorrow; hearing always the sound of Esau\u2019s fall\nin mine ears, and of the dreadful consequences thereof.\n\n159. Yet this consideration about Judas, his sin was, for a while, some\nlittle relief unto me; for I saw I had not, as to the circumstances,\ntransgressed so foully as he. But this was quickly gone again, for, I\nthought with myself, there might be more ways than one to commit the\nunpardonable sin; \u2018also I thought\u2019 that there might be degrees of that,\nas well as of other transgressions; wherefore, for ought I yet could\nperceive, this iniquity of mine might be such, as might never be passed\nby.\n\n160. \u2018I was often now ashamed, that I should be like such an ugly man\nas Judas; I thought, also, how loathsome I should be unto all the\nsaints at the day of judgment; insomuch, that now I could scarce see a\ngood man, that I believed had a good conscience, but I should feel my\nheart tremble at him, while I was in his presence. Oh! now I saw a\nglory in walking with God, and what a mercy it was to have a good\nconscience before him.\u2019\n\n161. \u2018I was much about this time tempted to content myself, by\nreceiving some false opinion; as that there should be no such thing as\na day of judgment, that we should not rise again, and that sin was no\nsuch grievous thing; the tempter suggesting thus, For if these things\nshould indeed be true, yet to believe otherwise, would yield you ease\nfor the present. If you must perish, never torment yourself so much\nbefore hand; drive the thoughts of damning out of your mind, by\npossessing your mind with some such conclusions that Atheists and\nRanters do use to help themselves withal.\u2019\n\n162. \u2018But, oh! when such thoughts have led through my heart, how, as it\nwere, within a step, hath death and judgment been in my view! Methought\nthe judge stood at the door, I was as if it was come already; so that\nsuch things could have no entertainment. But, methinks, I see by this,\nthat Satan will use any means to keep the soul from Christ; he loveth\nnot an awakened frame of spirit; security, blindness, darkness, and\nerror is the very kingdom and habitation of the wicked one.\u2019\n\n163. \u2018I found it hard work now to pray to God, because despair was\nswallowing me up; I thought I was, as with a tempest, driven away from\nGod, for always when I cried to God for mercy, this would come in, It\nis too late, I am lost, God hath let me fall; not to my correction, but\ncondemnation; my sin is unpardonable; and I know, concerning Esau, how\nthat, after he had sold his birthright, he would have received the\nblessing, but was rejected. About this time, I did light on that\ndreadful story of that miserable mortal, Francis Spira;[38] a book that\nwas to my troubled spirit as salt, when rubbed into a fresh wound;\nevery sentence in that book, every groan of that man, with all the rest\nof his actions in his dolours, as his tears, his prayers, his gnashing\nof teeth, his wringing of hands, his twining and twisting, languishing\nand pining away under that mighty hand of God that was upon him, was as\nknives and daggers in my soul; especially that sentence of his was\nfrightful to me, Man knows the beginning of sin, but who bounds the\nissues thereof? Then would the former sentence, as the conclusion of\nall, fall like a hot thunderbolt again upon my conscience; \u201cfor you\nknow how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he\nwas rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it\ncarefully with tears.\u201d\u2019\n\n164. Then was I struck into a very great trembling, insomuch that at\nsometimes I could, for whole days together, feel my very body, as well\nas my mind, to shake and totter under the sense of the dreadful\njudgment of God, that should fall on those that have sinned that most\nfearful and unpardonable sin. I felt also such a clogging and heat at\nmy stomach, by reason of this my terror, that I was, especially at some\ntimes, as if my breast bone would have split in sunder; then I thought\nof that concerning Judas, who, by his falling headlong, burst asunder,\nand all his bowels gushed out (Acts 1:18).\n\n165. I feared also that this was the mark that the Lord did set on\nCain, even continual fear and trembling, under the heavy load of guilt\nthat he had charged on him for the blood of his brother Abel. Thus did\nI wind, and twine, and shrink, under the burden that was upon me; which\nburden also did so oppress me, that I could neither stand, nor go, nor\nlie, either at rest or quiet.\n\n166. Yet that saying would sometimes come to my mind, He hath received\ngifts for the rebellious (Psa 68:18). \u201cThe rebellious,\u201d thought I; why,\nsurely they are such as once were under subjection to their prince,\neven those who, after they have sworn subjection to his government,\nhave taken up arms against him; \u2018and this, thought I, is my very\ncondition; once I loved him, feared him, served him; but now I am a\nrebel; I have sold him, I have said, Let him go if he will; but yet he\nhas gifts for rebels, and then why not for me?\u2019\n\n167. This sometimes I thought on, and should labour to take hold\nthereof, that some, though small, refreshment might have been conceived\nby me; but in this also I missed of my desire, I was driven with force\nbeyond it, \u2018I was\u2019 like a man that is going to the place of execution,\neven by that place where he would fain creep in and hide himself, but\nmay not.\n\n168. Again, after I had thus considered the sins of the saints in\nparticular, and found mine went beyond them, then I began to think thus\nwith myself: Set the case I should put all theirs together, and mine\nalone against them, might I not then find some encouragement? For if\nmine, though bigger than any one, yet should but be equal to all, then\nthere is hopes; for that blood that hath virtue enough \u2018in it\u2019 to wash\naway all theirs, hath also virtue enough in it to do away mine, though\nthis one be full as big, if no bigger, than all theirs. Here, again, I\nshould consider the sin of David, of Solomon, of Manasseh, of Peter,\nand the rest of the great offenders; and should also labour, what I\nmight with fairness, to aggravate and heighten their sins by several\ncircumstances: but, alas! It was all in vain.[39]\n\n169. \u2018I should think with myself that David shed blood to cover his\nadultery, and that by the sword of the children of Ammon; a work that\ncould not be done but by continuance and deliberate contrivance, which\nwas a great aggravation to his sin. But then this would turn upon me:\nAh! but these were but sins against the law, from which there was a\nJesus sent to save them; but yours is a sin against the Saviour, and\nwho shall save you from that?\u2019\n\n170. \u2018Then I thought on Solomon, and how he sinned in loving strange\nwomen, in falling away to their idols, in building them temples, in\ndoing this after light, in his old age, after great mercy received; but\nthe same conclusion that cut me off in the former consideration, cut me\noff as to this; namely, that all those were but sins against the law,\nfor which God had provided a remedy; but I had sold my Saviour, and\nthere now remained no more sacrifice for sin.\u2019\n\n171. \u2018I would then add to those men\u2019s sins, the sins of Manasseh, how\nthat he built altars for idols in the house of the Lord; he also\nobserved times, used enchantment, had to do with wizards, was a wizard,\nhad his familiar spirits, burned his children in the fire in sacrifice\nto devils, and made the streets of Jerusalem run down with the blood of\ninnocents. These, thought I, are great sins, sins of a bloody colour;\nyea, it would turn again upon me: They are none of them of the nature\nof yours; you have parted with Jesus, you have sold your Saviour.\u2019\n\n172. This one consideration would always kill my heart, My sin was\npoint blank against my Saviour; and that too, at that height, that I\nhad in my heart said of him, Let him go if he will. Oh! methought, this\nsin was bigger than the sins of a country, of a kingdom, or of the\nwhole world, no one pardonable, nor all of them together, was able to\nequal mine; mine outwent them every one.\n\n173. Now I should find my mind to flee from God, as from the face of a\ndreadful judge; yet this was my torment, I could not escape his hand:\n\u201cIt is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God\u201d (Heb\n10:31). But blessed be his grace, that scripture, in these flying\nsins,[40] would call as running after me, \u201cI have blotted out, as a\nthick cloud, thy transgressions; and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto\nme, for I have redeemed thee\u201d (Isa 44:22). This, I say, would come in\nupon my mind, when I was fleeing from the face of God; for I did flee\nfrom his face, that is, my mind and spirit fled before him; by reason\nof his highness, I could not endure; then would the text cry, \u201cReturn\nunto me\u201d; it would cry aloud with a very great voice, \u201cReturn unto me,\nfor I have redeemed thee.\u201d Indeed, this would make me make a little\nstop, and, as it were, look over my shoulder behind me, to see if I\ncould discern that the God of grace did follow me with a pardon in his\nhand, but I could no sooner do that, but all would be clouded and\ndarkened again by that sentence, \u201cFor you know how that afterwards,\nwhen he would have inherited the blessing, he found no place of\nrepentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.\u201d Wherefore I\ncould not return, but fled, though at sometimes it cried, \u201cReturn,\nreturn,\u201d as if it did holloa after me. But I feared to close in\ntherewith, lest it should not come from God; for that other, as I said,\nwas still sounding in my conscience, \u201cFor you know how that afterwards,\nwhen he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected,\u201d &c.\n\n174. \u2018Once as I was walking to and fro in a good man\u2019s shop, bemoaning\nof myself in my sad and doleful state, afflicting myself with\nself-abhorrence for this wicked and ungodly thought; lamenting, also,\nthis hard hap of mine, for that I should commit so great a sin, greatly\nfearing I should not be pardoned; praying, also, in my heart, that if\nthis sin of mine did differ from that against the Holy Ghost, the Lord\nwould show it me. And being now ready to sink with fear, suddenly there\nwas, as if there had rushed in at the window, the noise of wind upon\nme, but very pleasant, and as if I heard a voice speaking, Didst ever\nrefuse to be justified by the blood of Christ? And, withal my whole\nlife and profession past was, in a moment, opened to me, wherein I was\nmade to see that designedly I had not; so my heart answered groaningly,\nNo. then fell, with power, that word of God upon me, \u201cSee that ye\nrefuse not him that speaketh\u201d (Heb 12:25). This made a strange seizure\nupon my spirit; it brought light with it, and commanded a silence in my\nheart of all those tumultuous thoughts that before did use, like\nmasterless hell-hounds, to roar and bellow, and make a hideous noise\nwithin me. It showed me, also, that Jesus Christ had yet a word of\ngrace and mercy for me, that he had not, as I had feared, quite\nforsaken and cast off my soul; yea, this was a kind of a chide for my\nproneness to desperation; a kind of a threatening me if I did not,\nnotwithstanding my sins and the heinousness of them, venture my\nsalvation upon the Son of God. But as to my determining about this\nstrange dispensation, what it was I knew not; or from whence it came I\nknow not. I have not yet, in twenty years\u2019 time, been able to make a\njudgment of it; I thought then what here I shall be loath to speak. But\nverily, that sudden rushing wind was as if an angel had come upon me;\nbut both it and the salvation I will leave until the day of judgment;\nonly this I say, it commanded a great calm in my soul, it persuaded me\nthere might be hope; it showed me, as I thought, what the sin\nunpardonable was, and that my soul had yet the blessed privilege to\nflee to Jesus Christ for mercy. But, I say, concerning this\ndispensation, I know not what yet to say unto it; which was, also, in\ntruth, the cause that, at first, I did not speak of it in the book; I\ndo now, also, leave it to be thought on by men of sound judgment. I lay\nnot the stress of my salvation thereupon, but upon the Lord Jesus, in\nthe promise; yet, seeing I am here unfolding of my secret things, I\nthought it might not be altogether inexpedient to let this also show\nitself, though I cannot now relate the matter as there I did experience\nit. This lasted, in the savour of it, for about three or four days, and\nthen I began to mistrust and to despair again.\u2019[41]\n\n175. \u2018Wherefore, still my life hung in doubt before me, not knowing\nwhich way I should tip; only this I found my soul desire, even to cast\nitself at the foot of grace, by prayer and supplication. But, oh! it\nwas hard for me now to bear the face to pray to this Christ for mercy,\nagainst whom I had thus most vilely sinned; it was hard work, I say, to\noffer to look him in the face against whom I had so vilely sinned; and,\nindeed, I have found it as difficult to come to God by prayer, after\nbacksliding from him, as to do any other thing. Oh, the shame that did\nnow attend me! especially when I thought I am now a-going to pray to\nhim for mercy that I had so lightly esteemed but a while before! I was\nashamed, yea, even confounded, because this villany had been committed\nby me; but I saw there was but one way with me, I must go to him and\nhumble myself unto him, and beg that he, of his wonderful mercy, would\nshow pity to me, and have mercy upon my wretched sinful soul.\u2019\n\n176. \u2018Which, when the tempter perceived, he strongly suggested to me,\nThat I ought not to pray to God; for prayer was not for any in my case,\nneither could it do me good, because I had rejected the Mediator, by\nwhom all prayer came with acceptance to God the Father, and without\nwhom no prayer could come into his presence. Wherefore, now to pray is\nbut to add sin to sin; yea, now to pray, seeing God has cast you off,\nis the next way to anger and offend him more than you ever did before.\u2019\n\n177. \u2018For God, saith he, hath been weary of you for these several years\nalready, because you are none of his; your bawlings in his ears hath\nbeen no pleasant voice to him; and, therefore, he let you sin this sin,\nthat you might be quite cut off; and will you pray still? This the\ndevil urged, and set forth that, in Numbers, when Moses said to the\nchildren of Israel, That because they would not go up to posses the\nland when God would have them, therefore, for ever after, God did bar\nthem out from thence, though they prayed they might, with tears (Num\n14:36,37), &c.\u2019\n\n178. \u2018As it is said in another place (Exo 21:14), the man that sins\npresumptuously shall be taken from God\u2019s altar, that he may die; even\nas Joab was by King Solomon, when he thought to find shelter there (1\nKings 2:28), &c. These places did pinch me very sore; yet, my case\nbeing desperate, I thought with myself I can but die; and if it must be\nso, it shall once be said, that such an one died at the foot of Christ\nin prayer.[42] This I did, but with great difficulty, God doth know;\nand that because, together with this, still that saying about Esau\nwould be set at my heart, even like a flaming sword, to keep the way of\nthe tree of life, lest I should taste thereof and live. Oh! who knows\nhow hard a thing I found it to come to God in prayer.\u2019\n\n179. \u2018I did also desire the prayers of the people of God for me, but I\nfeared that God would give them no heart to do it; yea, I trembled in\nmy soul to think that some or other of them would shortly tell me, that\nGod had said those words to them that he once did say to the prophet\nconcerning the children of Israel, \u201cPray not thou for this people,\u201d for\nI have rejected them (Jer 11:14). So, pray not for him, for I have\nrejected him. Yea, I thought that he had whispered this to some of them\nalready, only they durst not tell me so, neither durst I ask them of\nit, for fear, if it should be so, it would make me quite besides\nmyself. Man knows the beginning of sin, said Spira, but who bounds the\nissues thereof?\u2019\n\n180. About this time I took an opportunity to break my mind to an\nancient Christian, and told him all my case; I told him, also, that I\nwas afraid that I had sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost; and he\ntold me he thought so too. Here, therefore, I had but cold comfort;\nbut, talking a little more with him, I found him, though a good man, a\nstranger to much combat with the devil. Wherefore, I went to God again,\nas well as I could, for mercy still.\n\n181. Now, also, did the tempter begin to mock me in my misery, saying,\nthat, seeing I had thus parted with the Lord Jesus, and provoked him to\ndispleasure, who would have stood between my soul and the flame of\ndevouring fire, there was now but one way, and that was, to pray that\nGod the Father would be the Mediator betwixt his Son and me, that we\nmight be reconciled again, and that I might have that blessed benefit\nin him that his blessed saints enjoyed.\n\n182. Then did that scripture seize upon my soul, He is of one mind, and\nwho can turn him? Oh! I saw it was as easy to persuade him to make a\nnew world, a new covenant, or new Bible, besides that we have already,\nas to pray for such a thing. This was to persuade him that what he had\ndone already was mere folly, and persuade with him to alter, yea, to\ndisannul, the whole way of salvation; and then would that saying rend\nmy soul asunder, \u201cNeither is there salvation in any other: for there is\nnone other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be\nsaved\u201d (Acts 4:12).\n\n183. \u2018Now, the most free, and full, and gracious words of the gospel\nwere the greatest torment to me; yea, nothing so afflicted me as the\nthoughts of Jesus Christ, the remembrance of a Saviour; because I had\ncast him off, brought forth the villany of my sin, and my loss by it to\nmind; nothing did twinge my conscience like this. Every time that I\nthought of the Lord Jesus, of his grace, love, goodness, kindness,\ngentleness, meekness, death, blood, promises and blessed exhortations,\ncomforts and consolations, it went to my soul like a sword; for still,\nunto these my considerations of the Lord Jesus, these thoughts would\nmake place for themselves in my heart; aye, this is the Jesus, the\nloving Saviour, the Son of God, whom thou hast parted with, whom you\nslighted, despised, and abused. This is the only Saviour, the only\nRedeemer, the only one that could so love sinners as to wash them from\ntheir sins in his own most precious blood; but you have no part nor lot\nin this Jesus, you have put him from you, you have said in your heart,\nLet him go if he will. Now, therefore, you are severed from him; you\nhave severed yourself from him. Behold, then, his goodness, but\nyourself to be no partaker of it. Oh, thought I, what have I lost! What\nhave I parted with! What have I disinherited my poor soul of! Oh! it is\nsad to be destroyed by the grace and mercy of God; to have the Lamb,\nthe Saviour, turn lion and destroyer (Rev 6).[43] I also trembled, as I\nhave said, at the sight of the saints of God, especially at those that\ngreatly loved him, and that made it their business to walk continually\nwith him in this world; for they did, both in their words, their\ncarriages, and all their expressions of tenderness and fear to sin\nagainst their precious Saviour, condemn, lay guilt upon, and also add\ncontinual affliction and shame unto my soul. The dread of them was upon\nme, and I trembled at God\u2019s Samuels (1 Sam 16:4).\u2019\n\n184. Now, also, the tempter began afresh to mock my soul another way,\nsaying that Christ, indeed, did pity my case, and was sorry for my\nloss; but forasmuch as I had sinned and transgressed, as I had done, he\ncould by no means help me, nor save me from what I feared; for my sin\nwas not of the nature of theirs for whom he bled and died, neither was\nit counted with those that were laid to his charge when he hanged on\nthe tree. Therefore, unless he should come down from heaven and die\nanew for this sin, though, indeed, he did greatly pity me, yet I could\nhave no benefit of him. These things may seem ridiculous to others,\neven as ridiculous as they were in themselves, but to me they were most\ntormenting cogitations; every of them augmented my misery, that Jesus\nChrist should have so much love as to pity me when he could not help\nme; nor did I think that the reason why he could not help me was\nbecause his merits were weak, or his grace and salvation spent on them\nalready, but because his faithfulness to his threatening would not let\nhim extend his mercy to me. Besides, I thought, as I have already\nhinted, that my sin was not within the bounds of that pardon that was\nwrapped up in a promise; and if not, then I knew assuredly, that it was\nmore easy for heaven and earth to pass away than for me to have eternal\nlife. So that the ground of all these fears of mine did arise from a\nsteadfast belief that I had of the stability of the holy Word of God,\nand also, from my being misinformed of the nature of my sin.\n\n185. But, oh! how this would add to my affliction, to conceit that I\nshould be guilty of such a sin for which he did not die. These thoughts\nwould so confound me, and imprison me, and tie me up from faith, that I\nknew not what to do; but, oh! thought I, that he would come down again!\nOh! that the work of man\u2019s redemption was yet to be done by Christ! How\nwould I pray him and entreat him to count and reckon this sin amongst\nthe rest for which he died! But this scripture would strike me down as\ndead, \u201cChrist being raised from the death dieth no more; death hath no\nmore dominion over him\u201d (Rom 6:9).[44]\n\n186. Thus, by the strange and unusual assaults of the tempter, was my\nsoul, like a broken vessel, driven as with the winds, and tossed\nsometimes headlong into despair, sometimes upon the covenant of works,\nand sometimes to wish that the new covenant, and the conditions\nthereof, might, so far forth as I thought myself concerned, be turned\nanother way and changed. But in all these I was but as those that\njustle against the rocks; more broken, scattered, and rent. Oh, the\nunthought of imaginations, frights, fears, and terrors that are\naffected by a thorough application of guilt, yielded to desperation!\nThis is the man that hath \u201chis dwelling among the tombs\u201d with the dead;\nthat is, always crying out and \u201ccutting himself with stones\u201d (Mark\n5:2-5). But I say, all in vain; desperation will not comfort him, the\nold covenant will not save him; nay, heaven and earth shall pass away\nbefore one jot or tittle of the Word and law of grace shall fall or be\nremoved. This I saw, this I felt, and under this I groaned; yet this\nadvantage I got thereby, namely, a farther confirmation of the\ncertainty of the way of salvation, and that the Scriptures were the\nWord of God! Oh! I cannot now express what then I saw and felt of the\nsteadiness of Jesus Christ, the rock of man\u2019s salvation; what was done\ncould not be undone, added to, nor altered. I saw, indeed, that sin\nmight drive the soul beyond Christ, even the sin which is unpardonable;\nbut woe to him that was so driven, for the Word would shut him out.\n\n187. Thus was I always sinking, whatever I did think or do. So one day\nI walked to a neighbouring town, and sat down upon a settle in the\nstreet, and fell into a very deep pause about the most fearful state my\nsin had brought me to; and, after long musing, I lifted up my head, but\nmethought I saw as if the sun that shineth in the heavens did grudge to\ngive light, and as if the very stones in the street, and tiles upon the\nhouses, did bend themselves against me; methought that they all\ncombined together to banish me out of the world; I was abhorred of\nthem, and unfit to dwell among them, or be partaker of their benefits,\nbecause I had sinned against the Saviour. O how happy, now, was every\ncreature over [what] I was; for they stood fast and kept their station,\nbut I was gone and lost.\n\n188. Then breaking out in the bitterness of my soul, I said \u2018to\nmyself,\u2019 with a grievous sigh, How can God comfort such a wretch as I?\nI had no sooner said it but this returned upon me, as an echo doth\nanswer a voice, This sin is not unto death. At which I was as if I had\nbeen raised out of a grave, and cried out again, Lord, how couldest\nthou find out such a word as this? for I was filled with admiration at\nthe fitness, and, also, at the unexpectedness of the sentence, \u2018the\nfitness of the Word, the rightness of the timing of it, the power, and\nsweetness, and light, and glory that came with it, also, was marvelous\nto me to find. I was now, for the time, out of doubt as to that about\nwhich I so much was in doubt before; my fears before were, that my sin\nwas not pardonable, and so that I had no right to pray, to repent, &c.,\nor that if I did, it would be of no advantage or profit to me. But now,\nthought I, if this sin is not unto death, then it is pardonable;\ntherefore, from this I have encouragement to come to God, by Christ,\nfor mercy, to consider the promise of forgiveness as that which stands\nwith open arms to receive me, as well as others. This, therefore, was a\ngreat easement to my mind; to wit, that my sin was pardonable, that it\nwas not the sin unto death (1 John 5:16,17). None but those that know\nwhat my trouble, by their own experience, was, can tell what relief\ncame to my soul by this consideration; it was a release to me from my\nformer bonds, and a shelter from my former storm. I seemed now to stand\nupon the same ground with other sinners, and to have as good right to\nthe Word and prayer as any of them.\u2019[45]\n\n189. Now, \u2018I say,\u2019 I was in hopes that my sin was not unpardonable, but\nthat there might be hopes for me to obtain forgiveness. But, oh, how\nSatan did now lay about him for to bring me down again! But he could by\nno means do it, neither this day nor the most part of the next, for\nthis sentence stood like a mill post at my back; yet, towards the\nevening of the next day, I felt this word begin to leave me and to\nwithdraw its supportation from me, and so I returned to my old fears\nagain, but with a great deal of grudging and peevishness, for I feared\nthe sorrow of despair; \u2018nor could my faith now longer retain this\nword.\u2019\n\n190. But the next day, at evening, being under many fears, I went to\nseek the Lord; and as I prayed, I cried, \u2018and my soul cried\u2019 to him in\nthese words, with strong cries:\u2014O Lord, I beseech thee, show me that\nthou hast loved me with everlasting love (Jer 31:3). I had no sooner\nsaid it but, with sweetness, this returned upon me, as an echo or\nsounding again, \u201cI have loved thee with an everlasting love.\u201d Now I\nwent to bed at quiet; also, when I awaked the next morning, it was\nfresh upon my soul\u2014\u2018and I believed it.\u2019\n\n191. But yet the tempter left me not; for it could not be so little as\nan hundred times that he that day did labour to break my peace. Oh! the\ncombats and conflicts that I did then meet with as I strove to hold by\nthis word; that of Esau would fly in my face like to lightning. I\nshould be sometimes up and down twenty times in an hour, yet God did\nbear me up and keep my heart upon this word, from which I had also, for\nseveral days together, very much sweetness and comfortable hopes of\npardon; for thus it was made out to me, I loved thee whilst thou wast\ncommitting this sin, I loved thee before, I love thee still, and I will\nlove thee for ever.\n\n192. Yet I saw my sin most barbarous, and a filthy crime, and could not\nbut conclude, and that with great shame and astonishment, that I had\nhorribly abused the holy Son of God; wherefore I felt my soul greatly\nto love and pity him, and my bowels to yearn towards him; for I saw he\nwas still my Friend, and did reward me good for evil; yea, the love and\naffection that then did burn within to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ\ndid work, at this time, such a strong and hot desire of revengement\nupon myself for the abuse I had done unto him, that, to speak as then I\nthought, had I had a thousand gallons of blood within my veins, I could\nfreely \u2018then\u2019 have spilt it all at the command and feet of this my Lord\nand Saviour.\n\n193. And as I was thus in musing and in my studies, \u2018considering\u2019 how\nto love the Lord and to express my love to him, that saying came in\nupon me, \u201cIf thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall\nstand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared\u201d\n(Psa 130:3,4). These were good words to me,[46] especially the latter\npart thereof; to wit, that there is forgiveness with the Lord, that he\nmight be feared; that is, as then I understood it, that he might be\nloved and had in reverence; for it was thus made out to me, that the\ngreat God did set so high an esteem upon the love of his poor\ncreatures, that rather than he would go without their love he would\npardon their transgressions.\n\n194. And now was that word fulfilled on me, and I was also refreshed by\nit, Then shall they be ashamed and confounded, \u201cand never open their\nmouth any more because of their shame, when I am pacified toward them\nfor all that they have done, saith the Lord God\u201d (Eze 16:63). Thus was\nmy soul at this time, and, as I then did think, for ever, set at\nliberty from being again afflicted with my former guilt and amazement.\n\n195. But before many weeks were over I began to despond again, fearing\nlest, notwithstanding all that I had enjoyed, that yet I might be\ndeceived and destroyed at the last; for this consideration came strong\ninto my mind, that whatever comfort and peace I thought I might have\nfrom the Word of the promise of life, yet unless there could be found\nin my refreshment a concurrence and agreement in the Scriptures, let me\nthink what I will thereof, and hold it never so fast, I should find no\nsuch thing at the end; \u201cfor the Scripture cannot be broken\u201d (John\n10:35).\n\n196. Now began my heart again to ache and fear I might meet with\ndisappointment at the last; wherefore I began, with all seriousness, to\nexamine my former comfort, and to consider whether one that had sinned\nas I have done, might with confidence trust upon the faithfulness of\nGod, laid down in those words by which I had been comforted and on\nwhich I had leaned myself. But now were brought those sayings to my\nmind, \u201cFor it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and\nhave tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy\nGhost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the\nworld to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto\nrepentance\u201d (Heb 6:4-6). \u201cFor if we sin willfully after that we have\nreceived the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice\nfor sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery\nindignation, which shall devour the adversaries\u201d (Heb 10:26,27). Even\n\u201cas Esau, who, for one morsel of meat sold his birthright; for ye know\nhow that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was\nrejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it\ncarefully with tears\u201d (Heb 12:16,17).\n\n197. Now was the word of the gospel forced from my soul, so that no\npromise or encouragement was to be found in the Bible for me; and now\nwould that saying work upon my spirit to afflict me, \u201cRejoice not, O\nIsrael, for joy as other people\u201d (Hosea 9:1). For I saw indeed there\nwas cause of rejoicing for those that held to Jesus; but as for me, I\nhad cut myself off by my transgressions, and left myself neither\nfoot-hold, nor hand-hold, amongst all the stays and props in the\nprecious word of life.\n\n198. And truly I did now feel myself to sink into a gulf, as an house\nwhose foundation is destroyed; I did liken myself, in this condition,\nunto the case of a child that was fallen into a mill-pit, who, though\nit could make some shift to scrabble and spraul in the water, yet\nbecause it could find neither hold for hand nor foot, therefore at last\nit must die in that condition. So soon as this fresh assault had\nfastened on my soul, that scripture came into my heart, \u201cThis is for\nmany days\u201d (Dan 10:14). And indeed I found it was so; for I could not\nbe delivered, nor brought to peace again, until well nigh two years and\nan half were completely finished. Wherefore these words, though in\nthemselves they tended to discouragement, yet to me, who feared this\ncondition would be eternal, they were at sometimes as an help and\nrefreshment to me.\n\n199. For, thought I, many days are not, not for ever, many days will\nhave an end, therefore seeing I was to be afflicted, not a few, but\nmany days, yet I was glad it was but for many days. Thus, I say, I\ncould recall myself sometimes, and give myself a help, for as soon as\never the words came \u2018into my mind\u2019 at first, I knew my trouble would be\nlong; yet this would be but sometimes, for I could not always think on\nthis, nor ever be helped \u2018by it,\u2019 though I did.\n\n200. Now, while these Scriptures lay before me, and laid sin \u2018anew\u2019 at\nmy door, that saying in the 18th of Luke, with others, did encourage me\nto prayer. Then the tempter again laid at me very sore, suggesting,\nThat neither the mercy of God, nor yet the blood of Christ, did at all\nconcern me, nor could they help me for my sin; \u2018therefore it was in\nvain to pray.\u2019 Yet, thought I, I will pray. But, said the tempter, your\nsin is unpardonable. \u2018Well, said I, I will pray. It is to no boot, said\nhe.\u2019 Yet, said I, I will pray. So I went to prayer to God; and while I\nwas at prayer, I uttered words to this effect, Lord, Satan tells me\nthat neither thy mercy, nor Christ\u2019s blood, is sufficient to save my\nsoul; Lord, shall I honour thee most, by believing thou wilt and canst?\nor \u2018him,\u2019 by believing thou neither wilt nor canst? Lord, I would fain\nhonour thee, by believing thou wilt and canst.\n\n201. And as I was thus before the Lord, that scripture fastened on my\nheart, \u201cO [wo]man, great is thy faith\u201d (Matt 15:28), even as if one had\nclapped me on the back, as I was on my knees before God. Yet I was not\nable to believe this, \u2018that this was a prayer of faith,\u2019 till almost\nsix months after; for I could not think that I had faith, or that there\nshould be a word for me to act faith on; therefore I should still be as\nsticking in the jaws of desperation, and went mourning up and down \u2018in\na sad condition,\u2019 crying, Is his mercy clean gone? Is his mercy clean\ngone for ever? And I thought sometimes, even when I was groaning in\nthese expressions, they did seem to make a question whether it was or\nno; yet I greatly feared it was.\n\n202. \u2018There was nothing now that I longed for more than to be put out\nof doubt, as to this thing in question; and, as I was vehemently\ndesiring to know if there was indeed hopes for me, these words came\nrolling into my mind, \u201cWill the Lord cast off for ever? And will he be\na favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his\npromise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he\nin anger shut up his tender mercies?\u201d (Psa 77:7-9). And all the while\nthey run in my mind, methought I had this still as the answer, It is a\nquestion whether he had or no; it may be he hath not. Yea, the\ninterrogatory seemed to me to carry in it a sure affirmation that\nindeed he had not, nor would so cast off, but would be favourable; that\nhis promise doth not fail, and that he had not forgotten to be\ngracious, nor would in anger shut up his tender mercy. Something, also,\nthere was upon my heart at the same time, which I now cannot call to\nmind; which, with this text, did sweeten my heart, and made me conclude\nthat his mercy might not be quite gone, nor clean gone for ever.\u2019[47]\n\n203. At another time, I remember I was again much under the question,\nWhether the blood of Christ was sufficient to save my soul? In which\ndoubt I continued from morning till about seven or eight at night; and\nat last, when I was, as it were, quite worn out with fear, lest it\nshould not lay hold on me, these words did sound suddenly within my\nheart, He is able. But methought this word ABLE was spoke so loud unto\nme; it showed such a great word, \u2018it seemed to be writ in great\nletters,\u2019 and gave such a justle to my fear and doubt, I mean for the\ntime it tarried with me, which was about a day, as I never had from\nthat all my life, either before or after that (Heb 7:25).\n\n204. But one morning, when I was again at prayer, and trembling under\nthe fear of this, that no word of God could help me, that piece of a\nsentence darted in upon me, \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d At this methought\nI felt some stay, as if there might be hopes. But, oh how good a thing\nit is for God to send his Word! For about a fortnight before I was\nlooking on this very place, and then I thought it could not come near\nmy soul with comfort, \u2018therefore\u2019 I threw down my book in a pet. \u2018Then\nI thought it was not large enough for me; no, not large enough\u2019; but\nnow, it was as if it had arms of grace so wide that it could not only\nenclose me, but many more besides.\n\n205. By these words I was sustained, yet not without exceeding\nconflicts, for the space of seven or eight weeks; for my peace would be\nin and out, sometimes twenty times a day; comfort now, and trouble\npresently; peace now, and before I could go a furlong as full of fear\nand guilt as ever heart could hold; and this was not only now and then,\nbut my whole seven weeks\u2019 experience; for this about the sufficiency of\ngrace, and that of Esau\u2019s parting with his birthright, would be like a\npair of scales within my mind, sometimes one end would be uppermost,\nand sometimes again the other; according to which would be my peace or\ntrouble.\n\n206. Therefore I still did pray to God, that he would come in with this\nScripture more fully on my heart; to wit, that he would help me to\napply the whole sentence, \u2018for as yet I could not: that he gave, I\ngathered; but further I could not go,\u2019 for as yet it only helped me to\nhope \u2018there might be mercy for me,\u2019 \u201cMy grace is sufficient\u201d; and\nthough it came no farther, it answered my former question; to wit, that\nthere was hope; yet, because \u201cfor thee\u201d was left out, I was not\ncontented, but prayed to God for that also. Wherefore, one day as I was\nin a meeting of God\u2019s people, full of sadness and terror, for my fears\nagain were strong upon me; and as I was now thinking my soul was never\nthe better, but my case most sad and fearful, these words did, with\ngreat power, suddenly break in upon me, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for\nthee, my grace is sufficient for thee, my grace is sufficient for\nthee,\u201d three times together; and, oh! methought that every word as a\nmighty word unto me; as my, and grace, and sufficient, and for thee;\nthey were then, and sometimes are still, far bigger than others be.\n\n207. At which time my understanding was so enlightened, that I was as\nthough I had seen the Lord Jesus look down from heaven through the\ntiles upon me, and direct these words unto me. This sent me mourning\nhome, it broke my heart, and filled me full of joy, and laid me low as\nthe dust; only it stayed not long with me, I mean in this glory and\nrefreshing comfort, yet it continued with me for several weeks, and did\nencourage me to hope. But so soon as that powerful operation of it was\ntaken off my heart, that other about Esau returned upon me as before;\nso my soul did hang as in a pair of scales again, sometimes up and\nsometimes down, now in peace, and anon again in terror.\n\n208. Thus I went on for many weeks, sometimes comforted, and sometimes\ntormented; and, especially at some times, my torment would be very\nsore, for all those scriptures forenamed in the Hebrews, would be set\nbefore me, as the only sentences that would keep me out of heaven.\nThen, again, I should begin to repent that ever that thought went\nthrough me, I should also think thus with myself, Why, how many\nscriptures are there against me? There are but three or four: and\ncannot God miss them, and save me for all them? Sometimes, again, I\nshould think, Oh! if it were not for these three or four words, now how\nmight I be comforted? And I could hardly forbear, at some times, but to\nwish them out of the book.\n\n209. Then methought I should see as if both Peter, and Paul, and John,\nand all the writers, did look with scorn upon me, and hold me in\nderision; and as if they said unto me, All our words are truth, one of\nas much force as another. It is not we that have cut you off, but you\nhave cast away yourself; there is none of our sentences that you must\ntake hold upon but these, and such as these: \u201cIt is impossible; there\nremains no more sacrifice for sin\u201d (Heb 6). And \u201cit had been better for\nthem not to have known\u201d the will of God, \u201cthan after they have known\nit, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them\u201d (2 Peter\n2:21). \u201cFor the Scriptures cannot be broken.\u201d[48]\n\n210. \u2018These, as the elders of the city of refuge, I saw were to be the\njudges both of my case and me, while I stood, with the avenger of blood\nat my heels, trembling at their gate for deliverance, also with a\nthousand fears and mistrusts, I doubted that they would shut me out for\never (Josh 20:3,4).\u2019\n\n211. Thus was I confounded, not knowing what to do, nor how to be\nsatisfied in this question, Whether the scriptures could agree in the\nsalvation of my soul? I quaked at the apostles, I knew their words were\ntrue, and that they must stand for ever.\n\n212. And I remember one day, as I was in diverse frames of spirit, and\nconsidering that these frames were still according to the nature of the\nseveral scriptures that came in upon my mind; if this of grace, then\nwas I quiet; but if that of Esau, then tormented; Lord, thought I, if\nboth these scriptures would meet in my heart at once, I wonder which of\nthem would get the better of me. So methought I had a longing mind that\nthey might come both together upon me; yea, I desired of God they\nmight.\n\n213. Well, about two or three days after, so they did indeed; they\nbolted both upon me at a time, and did work and struggle strangely in\nme for a while; at last, that about Esau\u2019s birthright began to wax\nweak, and withdraw, and vanish; and this about the sufficiency of grace\nprevailed with peace and joy. And as I was in a muse about this thing,\nthat scripture came home upon me, \u201cMercy rejoiceth against judgment\u201d\n(James 2:13).\n\n214. This was a wonderment to me; yet truly I am apt to think it was of\nGod; for the word of the law and wrath must give place to the word of\nlife and grace; because, though the word of condemnation be glorious,\nyet the word of life and salvation doth far exceed in glory (2 Cor\n3:8-12; Mark 9:5-7). Also, that Moses and Elias must both vanish, and\nleave Christ and his saints alone.\n\n215. This scripture did also most sweetly visit my soul, \u201cAnd him that\ncometh to me I will in no wise cast out\u201d (John 6:37). Oh, the comfort\nthat I have had from this world, \u201cin no wise\u201d! as who should say, by no\nmeans, for no thing, whatever he hath done. But Satan would greatly\nlabour to pull this promise from me, telling of me that Christ did not\nmean me, and such as I, but sinners of a lower rank, that had not done\nas I had done. But I should answer him again, Satan, here is in this\nword no such exception; but \u201chim that comes,\u201d HIM, any him; \u201chim that\ncometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d And this I well remember\nstill, that of all the sleights that Satan used to take this scripture\nfrom me, yet he never did so much as put this question, But do you come\naright? And I have thought the reason was, because he thought I knew\nfull well what coming aright was; for I saw that to come aright was to\ncome as I was, a vile and ungodly sinner, and to cast myself at the\nfeet of mercy, condemning myself for sin. If ever Satan and I did\nstrive for any word \u2018of God in all my life, it was for this good word\nof Christ; he at one end and I at the other. Oh, what work did we\nmake!\u2019 It was for this in John, \u2018I say, that we did so tug and strive\u2019;\nhe pulled and I pulled; but, God be praised, \u2018I got the better of him,\u2019\nI got some sweetness from it.\n\n216. But, notwithstanding all these helps and blessed words of grace,\nyet that of Esau\u2019s selling of his birthright would still at times\ndistress my conscience; for though I had been most sweetly comforted,\nand that but just before, yet when that came into \u2018my\u2019 mind, it would\nmake me fear again, I could not be quite rid thereof, it would every\nday be with me: wherefore now I went another way to work, even to\nconsider the nature of this blasphemous thought; I mean, if I should\ntake the words at the largest, and give them their own natural force\nand scope, even every word therein. So when I had thus considered, I\nfound, that if they were fairly taken, they would amount to this, that\nI had freely left the Lord Jesus Christ to his choice, whether he would\nbe my Saviour or no; for the wicked words were these, Let him go if he\nwill. Then that scripture gave me hope, \u201cI will never leave thee nor\nforsake thee\u201d (Heb 13:5). O Lord, said I, but I have left thee. Then it\nanswered again, \u201cBut I will not leave thee.\u201d For this I thank God also.\n\n217. Yet I was grievously afraid he should, and found it exceeding hard\nto trust him, seeing I had so offended him. I could have been exceeding\nglad that this thought had never befallen, for then I thought I could,\nwith more ease and freedom abundance, have leaned upon his grace. I see\nit was with me, as it was with Joseph\u2019s brethren; the guilt of their\nown wickedness did often fill them with fears that their brother would\nat last despise them (Gen 50:15-17).\n\n218. But above all the scriptures that I yet did meet with, that in the\ntwentieth of Joshua was the greatest comfort to me, which speaks of the\nslayer that was to flee for refuge. And if the avenger of blood pursue\nthe slayer, then, saith Moses, they that are the elders of the city of\nrefuge shall not deliver him into his hand, because he smote his\nneighbour unwittingly, and hated him not aforetime. Oh, blessed be God\nfor this word; I was convinced that I was the slayer; and that the\navenger of blood pursued me, that I felt with great terror; only now it\nremained that I inquire whether I have right to enter the city of\nrefuge.[49] So I found that he must not, who lay in wait to shed blood:\n\u2018it was not the willful murderer,\u2019 but he who unwittingly did it, he\nwho did unawares shed blood; \u2018not of spite, or grudge, or malice, he\nthat shed it unwittingly,\u2019 even he who did not hate his neighbour\nbefore. Wherefore,\n\n219. I thought verily I was the man that must enter, because I had\nsmitten my neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not aforetime. I hated\nhim not aforetime; no, I prayed unto him, was tender of sinning against\nhim; yea, and against this wicked temptation I had strove for a\ntwelvemonth before; yea, and also when it did pass through my heart, it\ndid it in spite of my teeth: wherefore I thought I had right to enter\nthis city, and the elders, which are the apostles, were not to deliver\nme up. This, therefore, was great comfort to me; and did give me much\nground of hope.\n\n220. Yet being very critical, for my smart had made me that I knew not\nwhat ground was sure enough to bear me, I had one question that my soul\ndid much desire to be resolved about; and that was, Whether it be\npossible for any soul that hath indeed sinned the unpardonable sin, yet\nafter that to receive though but the least true spiritual comfort from\nGod through Christ? The which, after I had much considered, I found the\nanswer was, No, they could not; and that for these reasons:\u2014\n\n221. First, Because those that have sinned that sin, they are debarred\na share in the blood of Christ, and being shut out of that, they must\nneeds be void of the least ground of hope, and so of spiritual comfort;\nfor to such \u201cthere remaineth no more sacrifice for sins\u201d (Heb 10:26).\nSecondly, Because they are denied a share in the promise of life; they\nshall never be forgiven, \u201cneither in this world, neither in that which\nis to come\u201d (Matt 12:32). Thirdly, The Son of God excludes them also\nfrom a share in his blessed intercession, being for ever ashamed to own\nthem both before his holy Father, and the blessed angels in heaven\n(Mark 8:38).\n\n222. When I had, with much deliberation, considered of this matter, and\ncould not but conclude that the Lord had comforted me, and that too\nafter this my wicked sin; then, methought, I durst venture to come nigh\nunto those most fearful and terrible scriptures, with which all this\nwhile I had been so greatly affrighted, and on which, indeed, before I\ndurst scarce cast mine eye, yea, had much ado an hundred times to\nforbear wishing of them out of the Bible; for I thought they would\ndestroy me; but now, I say, I began to take some measure of\nencouragement to come close to them, to read them, and consider them,\nand to weigh their scope and tendency.\n\n223. The which, when I began to do, I found their visage changed; for\nthey looked not so grimly on me as before I thought they did. And,\nfirst, I came to the sixth of the Hebrews, yet trembling for fear it\nshould strike me; which when I had considered, I found that the falling\nthere intended was a falling quite away; that is, as I conceived, a\nfalling from, and an absolute denial of the gospel of remission of sins\nby Christ; for from them the apostle begins his argument (vv 1-3).\nSecondly, I found that this falling away must be openly, even in the\nview of the world, even so as \u201cto put Christ to an open shame.\u201d\nThirdly, I found that those he there intended were for ever shut up of\nGod, both in blindness, hardness, and impenitency: it is impossible\nthey should be renewed again unto repentance. By all these particulars,\nI found, to God\u2019s everlasting praise, my sin was not the sin in this\nplace intended.\n\n\u2018First, I confessed I was fallen, but not fallen away, that is, from\nthe profession of faith in Jesus unto eternal life. Secondly, I\nconfessed that I had put Jesus Christ to shame by my sin, but not to\nopen shame; I did not deny him before men, nor condemn him as a\nfruitless one before the world. Thirdly, Nor did I find that God had\nshut me up, or denied me to come, though I found it hard work indeed to\ncome to him by sorrow and repentance. Blessed be God for unsearchable\ngrace.\u2019\n\n224. Then I considered that in the tenth of the Hebrews, and found that\nthe willful sin there mentioned is not every willful sin, but that\nwhich doth throw off Christ, and then his commandments too. Secondly,\nThat must also be done openly, before two or three witnesses, to answer\nthat of the law (v 28). Thirdly, This sin cannot be committed, but with\ngreat despite done to the Spirit of grace; despising both the\ndissuasions from that sin, and the persuasions to the contrary. But the\nLord knows, though this my sin was devilish, yet it did not amount to\nthese.\n\n225. And as touching that in the twelfth of the Hebrews, about Esau\u2019s\nselling his birthright, though this was that which killed me, and stood\nlike a spear against me; yet now I did consider, First, That his was\nnot a hasty thought against the continual labour of his mind, but a\nthought consented to and put in practice likewise, and that too after\nsome deliberation (Gen 25). Secondly, It was a public and open action,\neven before his brother, if not before many more; this made his sin of\na far more heinous nature than otherwise it would have been. Thirdly,\nHe continued to slight his birthright: \u201cHe did eat and drink, and went\nhis way; thus Esau despised his birthright\u201d (v 34). Yea, twenty years\nafter, he was found to despise it still. \u201cAnd Esau said, I have enough,\nmy brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself\u201d (Gen 33:9).\n\n226. Now as touching this, that Esau sought a place of repentance; thus\nI thought, first, This was not for the birthright, but for the\nblessing; this is clear from the apostle, and is distinguished by Esau\nhimself; \u201che took away my birthright [that is, formerly]; and, behold,\nnow he hath taken away my blessing\u201d (Gen 27:36). Secondly, Now, this\nbeing thus considered, I came again to the apostle, to see what might\nbe the mind of God, in a New Testament style and sense, concerning\nEsau\u2019s sin; and so far as I could conceive, this was the mind of God,\nThat the birthright signified regeneration, and the blessing the\neternal inheritance; for so the apostle seems to hint, \u201cLest there be\nany profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his\nbirthright\u201d; as if he should say, Lest there be any person amongst you,\nthat shall cast off all those blessed beginnings of God that at present\nare upon him, in order to a new birth, lest they become as Esau, even\nbe rejected afterwards, when they would inherit the blessing.\n\n227. For many there are who, in the day of grace and mercy, despise\nthose things which are indeed the birthright to heaven, who yet, when\nthe deciding day appears, will cry as loud as Esau, \u201cLord, Lord, open\nto us\u201d; but then, as Isaac would not repent, no more will God the\nFather, but will say, I have blessed these, yea, and they shall be\nblessed; but as for you, depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity\n(Gen 27:33; Luke 13:25-27).\n\n228. When I had thus considered these scriptures, and found that thus\nto understand them was not against, but according to other scriptures;\nthis still added further to my encouragement and comfort, and also gave\na great blow to that objection, to wit, that the scripture could not\nagree in the salvation of my soul. And now remained only the hinder\npart of the tempest, for the thunder was gone beyond me, only some\ndrops did still remain, that now and then would fall upon me; but\nbecause my former frights and anguish were very sore and deep,\ntherefore it did oft befall me still, as it befalleth those that have\nbeen scared with fire, I thought every voice was Fire, fire; every\nlittle touch would hurt my tender conscience.[50]\n\n229. But one day, as I was passing in the field, and that too with some\ndashes on my conscience, fearing lest yet all was not right, suddenly\nthis sentence fell upon my soul, Thy righteousness is in heaven; and\nmethought withal, I saw, with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at\nGod\u2019s right hand; there, I say, as my righteousness; so that wherever\nI was, or whatever I was adoing, God could not say of me, He wants my\nrighteousness, for that was just before him. I also saw, moreover,\nthat it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness\nbetter, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my\nrighteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday, and to-day,\nand for ever (Heb 13:8).\n\n230. Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed, I was loosed from my\naffliction and irons, my temptations also fled away; so that, from that\ntime, those dreadful scriptures of God left off to trouble me; now went\nI also home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God. So when I came\nhome, I looked to see if I could find that sentence, Thy righteousness\nis in heaven; but could not find such a saying, wherefore my heart\nbegan to sink again, only that was brought to my remembrance, he \u201cof\nGod is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and\nredemption\u201d; by this word I saw the other sentence true (1 Cor 1:30).\n\n231. For by this scripture, I saw that the man Christ Jesus, as he is\ndistinct from us, as touching his bodily presence, so he is our\nrighteousness and sanctification before God. Here, therefore, I lived\nfor some time, very sweetly at peace with God through Christ; Oh\nmethought, Christ! Christ! there was nothing but Christ that was before\nmy eyes, I was not now only for looking upon this and the other\nbenefits of Christ apart, as of his blood, burial, or resurrection, but\nconsidered him as a whole Christ! As he in whom all these, and all\nother his virtues, relations, offices, and operations met together, and\nthat \u2018as he sat\u2019 on the right hand of God in heaven.\n\n232. It was glorious to me to see his exaltation, and the worth and\nprevalency of all his benefits, and that because of this: now I could\nlook from myself to him, and should reckon that all those graces of God\nthat now were green in me, were yet but like those cracked groats and\nfourpence-halfpennies[51] that rich men carry in their purses, when\ntheir gold is in their trunks at home! Oh, I saw my gold was in my\ntrunk at home! In Christ, my Lord and Saviour! Now Christ was all; all\nmy wisdom, all my righteousness, all my sanctification, and all my\nredemption.\n\n233. Further, the Lord did also lead me into the mystery of union with\nthe Son of God, that I was joined to him, that I was flesh of his\nflesh, and bone of his bone, and now was that a sweet word to me in\nEphesians 5:30. By this also was my faith in him, as my righteousness,\nthe more confirmed to me; for if he and I were one, then his\nrighteousness was mine, his merits mine, his victory also mine. Now\ncould I see myself in heaven and earth at once; in heaven by my Christ,\nby my head, by my righteousness and life, though on earth by my body or\nperson.\n\n234. Now I saw Christ Jesus was looked on of God, and should also be\nlooked upon by us, as that common or public person, [52] in whom all\nthe whole body of his elect are always to be considered and reckoned;\nthat we fulfilled the law by him, died by him, rose from the dead by\nhim, got the victory over sin, death, the devil, and hell, by him; when\nhe died, we died; and so of his resurrection. \u201cThy dead men shall live,\ntogether with my dead body shall they arise,\u201d saith he (Isa 26:19). And\nagain, \u201cAfter two days will he revive us: in the third day he will\nraise us up, and we shall live in his sight\u201d (Hosea 6:2); which is now\nfulfilled by the sitting down of the Son of man on the right hand of\nthe Majesty in the heavens, according to that to the Ephesians, he\n\u201chath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly\nplaces in Christ Jesus\u201d (Eph 2:6).\n\n235. Ah, these blessed considerations and scriptures, with many other\nof a like nature, were in those days made to spangle in mine eyes, \u2018so\nthat I have cause to say,\u2019 \u201cPraise ye the Lord. Praise God in his\nsanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his\nmighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness\u201d (Psa\n150:1,2).\n\n236. Having thus, in few words, given you a taste of the sorrow and\naffliction that my soul went under, by the guilt and terror that this\nmy wicked thought did lay me under! and having given you also a touch\nof my deliverance therefrom, and of the sweet and blessed comfort that\nI met with afterwards, which comfort dwelt about a twelve-month with my\nheart, to my unspeakable admiration; I will now, God willing, before I\nproceed any further, give you in a word or two, what, as I conceive,\nwas the cause of this temptation; and also after that, what advantage,\nat the last, it became unto my soul.\n\n237. For the causes, I conceived they were principally two: of which\ntwo also I was deeply convinced all the time this trouble lay upon me.\nThe first was, for that I did not, when I was delivered from the\ntemptation that went before, still pray to God to keep me from\ntemptations that were to come; for though, as I can say in truth, my\nsoul was much in prayer before this trial seized me, yet then I prayed\nonly, or at the most, principally for the removal of present troubles,\nand for fresh discoveries of \u2018his\u2019 love in Christ! which I saw\nafterwards was not enough to do; I also should have prayed that the\ngreat God would keep me from the evil that was to come.\n\n238. Of this I was made deeply sensible by the prayer of holy David,\nwho, when he was under present mercy, yet prayed that God would hold\nhim back from sin and temptation to come; \u201cThen,\u201d saith he, \u201cshall I be\nupright, and I shall be innocent from the GREAT transgression\u201d (Psa\n19:13). By this very word was I galled and condemned, quite through\nthis long temptation.\n\n239. That also was another word that did much condemn me for my folly,\nin the neglect of this duty (Heb 4:16), \u201cLet us therefore come boldly\nunto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to\nhelp in time of need.\u201d This I had not done, and therefore was suffered\nthus to sin and fall, according to what is written, \u201cPray that ye enter\nnot into temptation.\u201d And truly this very thing is to this day of such\nweight and awe upon me, that I dare not, when I come before the Lord,\ngo off my knees, until I entreat him for help and mercy against the\ntemptations that are to come; and I do beseech thee, reader, that thou\nlearn to beware of my negligence, by the affliction that for this thing\nI did for days, and months, and years, with sorrow undergo.\n\n240. Another cause of this temptation was, that I had tempted God; and\non this manner did I do it. Upon a time my wife was great with child,\nand before her full time was come, her pangs, as of a woman in travail,\nwere fierce and strong upon her, even as if she would have immediately\nfallen in labour, and been delivered of an untimely birth. Now, at this\nvery time it was, that I had been so strongly tempted to question the\nbeing of God; wherefore, as my wife lay crying by me, I said, but with\nall secrecy imaginable, even thinking in my heart, Lord, if thou wilt\nnow remove this sad affliction from my wife, and cause that she be\ntroubled no more therewith this night, and now were her pangs just upon\nher, then I shall know that thou canst discern the most secret thoughts\nof the heart.\n\n241. I had no sooner said it in my heart, but her pangs were taken from\nher, and she was cast into a deep sleep, and so she continued till\nmorning; at this I greatly marveled, not knowing what to think; but\nafter I had been awake a good while, and heard her cry no more, I fell\nto sleeping also. So when I waked in the morning, it came upon me\nagain, even what I had said in my heart the last night, and how the\nLord had showed me that he knew my secret thoughts, which was a great\nastonishment unto me for several weeks after.\n\n242. Well, about a year and a half afterwards, that wicked sinful\nthought, of which I have spoken before, went through my wicked heart,\neven this thought, Let Christ go if he will; so when I was fallen under\nguilt for this, the remembrance of my other thought, and of the effect\nthereof, would also come upon me with this retort, which also carried\nrebuke along with it, Now you may see that God doth know the most\nsecret thoughts of the heart.[53]\n\n243. And with this, that of the passages that were betwixt the Lord and\nhis servant Gideon fell upon my spirit; how because that Gideon tempted\nGod with his fleece, both wet and dry, when he should have believed and\nventured upon his word, therefore the Lord did afterwards so try him,\nas to send him against an innumerable company of enemies; and that too,\nas to outward appearance, without any strength or help (Judg 6, 7).\nThus he served me, and that justly, for I should have believed his\nword, and not have put an IF upon the all-seeingness of God.\n\n244. And now to show you something of the advantages that I also gained\nby this temptation; and first, By this I was made continually to\npossess in my soul a very wonderful sense both of the being and glory\nof God, and of his beloved Son; in the temptation \u2018that went\u2019 before,\nmy soul was perplexed with \u2018unbelief, blasphemy, hardness of heart,\nquestions about the being of God, Christ, the truth of the Word, and\ncertainty of the world to come; I say, then I was greatly assaulted and\ntormented with\u2019 atheism; but now the case was otherwise, now was God\nand Christ continually before my face, though not in a way of comfort,\nbut in a way of exceeding dread and terror. The glory of the holiness\nof God did at this time break me to pieces; and the bowels and\ncompassion of Christ did break me as on the wheel;[54] for I could not\nconsider him but as a lost and rejected Christ, the remembrance of\nwhich was as the continual breaking of my bones.\n\n245. The Scriptures now also were wonderful things unto me; I saw that\nthe truth and verity of them were the keys of the kingdom of heaven;\nthose \u2018that\u2019 the Scriptures favour they must inherit bliss, but those\n\u2018that\u2019 they oppose and condemn must perish evermore. Oh this word, \u201cFor\nthe Scripture cannot be broken\u201d: would rend the caul of my heart; and\nso would that other, \u201cWhose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted\nunto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.\u201d Now I\nsaw the apostles to be the elders of the city of refuge (Josh 20:4),\nthose \u2018that\u2019 they were to receive in, were received to life; but those\nthat they shut out were to be slain by the avenger of blood.[55]\n\n246. Oh! one sentence of the Scripture did more afflict and terrify my\nmind, I mean those sentences that stood against me, as sometimes I\nthought they every one did, more I say, than an army of forty thousand\nmen that might have come against me. Woe be to him against whom the\nScriptures bend themselves.\n\n247. By this temptation I was made \u2018to\u2019 see more into the nature of the\npromises than ever I was before; for I lying now trembling under the\nmighty hand of God, continually torn and rent by the thunderings of his\njustice; this made me, with careful heart and watchful eye, with great\nseriousness, to turn over every leaf, and with much diligence, mixed\nwith trembling, to consider every sentence, together with its natural\nforce and latitude.\n\n248. By this temptation, also, I was greatly beaten off my former\nfoolish practice, of putting by the word of promise when it came into\nmy mind; for now, though I could not suck that comfort and sweetness\nfrom the promise as I had done at other times, yea, like to a man\na-sinking, I should catch at all I saw; formerly I thought I might not\nmeddle with the promise unless I felt its comfort, but now it was no\ntime thus to do, the avenger of blood too hardly did pursue me.\n\n249. Now therefore I was glad to catch at that word, which yet I feared\nI had no ground or right to own; and even to leap into the bosom of\nthat promise, that yet I feared did shut its heart against me. Now also\nI should labour to take the Word as God had laid it down, without\nrestraining the natural force of one syllable thereof. O what did I now\nsee in that blessed sixth of John, \u201cAnd him that cometh to me, I will\nin no wise cast out\u201d (v 37). Now I began to consider with myself, that\nGod had a bigger mouth to speak with than I had heart to conceive with.\nI thought also with myself that he spake not his words in haste, or in\nunadvised heat, but with infinite wisdom and judgment, and in very\ntruth and faithfulness (2 Sam 3:18).\n\n250. I should in these days, often in my greatest agonies, even flounce\ntowards the promise, as the horses do towards sound ground that yet\nstick in the mire, concluding, though as one almost bereft of his wits\nthrough fear, on this I will rest and stay, and leave the fulfilling of\nit to the God of heaven that made it. Oh! many a pull hath my heart had\nwith Satan for that blessed sixth of John. I did not now, as at other\ntimes, look principally for comfort, though, O how welcome would it\nhave been unto me! But now a word, a word to lean a weary soul upon,\nthat I might not sink for ever! \u2018it was that I hunted for.\u2019\n\n251. Yea, often when I have been making to the promise, I have seen as\nif the Lord would refuse my soul for ever. I was often as if I had run\nupon the pikes, and as if the Lord had thrust at me to keep me from him\nas with a flaming sword. Then I should think of Esther, who went to\npetition the king contrary to the law (Esth 4:16). I thought also of\nBenhadad\u2019s servants, who went with ropes upon their heads to their\nenemies for mercy (1 Kings 20:31). The woman of Canaan also, that would\nnot be daunted, though called dog by Christ (Matt 15:20-28). And the\nman that went to borrow bread at midnight (Luke 11:5-8), were great\nencouragements unto me.\n\n251. I never saw those heights and depths in grace, and love, and\nmercy, as I saw after this temptation. Great sins do draw out great\ngrace; and where guilt is most terrible and fierce there the mercy of\nGod in Christ, when showed to the soul, appears most high and mighty.\nWhen Job had passed through his captivity, he had \u201ctwice as much as he\nhad before\u201d (Job 42:10). Blessed be God for Jesus Christ our Lord. Many\nother things I might here make observation of, but I would be brief,\nand therefore shall at this time omit them, and do pray God that my\nharms may make others fear to offend, lest they also be made to bear\nthe iron yoke as I \u2018did.\u2019\n\n\u2018I had two or three times, at or about my deliverance from this\ntemptation, such strange apprehensions of the grace of God, that I\ncould hardly bear up under it, it was so out of measure amazing, when I\nthought it could reach me, that I do think, if that sense of it had\nabode long upon me, it would have made me incapable for business.\u2019\n\n[ENTERS INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AT BEDFORD, IN WHICH\nHE AFTERWARDS BECAME A MINISTERING ELDER.]\n\n\n253. Now I shall go forward to give you a relation of other of the\nLord\u2019s dealings with me, of his dealings with me at sundry other\nseasons, and of the temptations I then did meet withal. I shall begin\nwith what I met with when I first did join in fellowship with the\npeople of God in Bedford.[56] After I had propounded to the church that\nmy desire was to walk in the order and ordinances of Christ with them,\nand was also admitted by them; while I thought of that blessed\nordinance of Christ, which was his last supper with his disciples\nbefore his death, that Scripture, \u201cThis do in remembrance of me\u201d (Luke\n22:19), was made a very precious word unto me; for by it the Lord did\ncome down upon my conscience with the discovery of his death for my\nsins; and as I then felt, did as if he plunged me in the virtue of the\nsame. But, behold, I had not been long a partaker at that ordinance,\nbut such fierce and sad temptations did attend me at all times therein,\nboth to blaspheme the ordinance, and to wish some deadly thing to those\nthat then did eat thereof; that, lest I should at any time be guilty of\nconsenting to these wicked and fearful thoughts, I was forced to bend\nmyself all the while to pray to God to keep me from such blasphemies;\nand also to cry to God to bless the bread and cup to them as it went\nfrom mouth to mouth. The reason of this temptation I have thought since\nwas, because I did not, with that reverence \u2018as became me,\u2019 at first\napproach to partake thereof.\n\n254. Thus I continued for three quarters of a year, and could never\nhave rest nor ease; but at last the Lord came in upon my soul with that\nsame scripture by which my soul was visited before; and after that I\nhave been usually very well and comfortable in the partaking of that\nblessed ordinance, and have, I trust, therein discerned the Lord\u2019s body\nas broken for my sins, and that his precious blood hath been shed for\nmy transgressions.\n\n255. Upon a time I was somewhat inclining to a consumption, wherewith,\nabout the spring, I was suddenly and violently seized with much\nweakness in my outward man, insomuch that I thought I could not live.\nNow began I afresh to give myself up to a serious examination after my\nstate and condition for the future, and of my evidences for that\nblessed world to come; for it hath, I bless the name of God, been my\nusual course, as always, so especially in the day of affliction, to\nendeavour to keep my interest in the life to come clear before my eye.\n\n256. But I had no sooner began to recall to mind my former experience\nof the goodness of God to my soul, but there came flocking into my\nmind, an innumerable company of my sins and transgressions, amongst\nwhich these were at this time most to my affliction, namely, my\ndeadness, dullness, and coldness in holy duties; my wanderings of\nheart, \u2018of\u2019 my wearisomeness in all good things, my want of love to\nGod, his ways, and people, with this at the end of all, Are these the\nfruits of Christianity? are these the tokens of a blessed man?\n\n257. At the apprehension of these things my sickness was doubled upon\nme, for now was I sick in my inward man, my soul was clogged with\nguilt; now also was my former experience of God\u2019s goodness to me quite\ntaken out of my mind, and hid as if it had never been, nor seen. Now\nwas my soul greatly pinched between these two considerations, Live I\nmust not, Die I dare not; now I sunk and fell in my spirit, and was\ngiving up all for lost; but as I was walking up and down in the house,\nas a man in a most woeful state, that word of God took hold of my\nheart, Ye are \u201cjustified freely by his grace, through the redemption\nthat is in Christ Jesus\u201d (Rom 3:24). \u2018But oh what a turn it made upon\nme!\u2019\n\n258. Now was I as one awakened out of some troublesome sleep and dream,\nand listening to this heavenly sentence, I was as if I had heard it\nthus expounded to me: Sinner, thou thinkest that because of thy sins\nand infirmities I cannot save thy soul, but behold my Son is by me, and\nupon him I look, and not on thee, and will deal with thee according as\nI am pleased with him. At this I was greatly lightened in my mind, and\nmade to understand that God could justify a sinner at any time; it was\nbut \u2018his\u2019 looking upon Christ, and imputing of his benefits to us, and\nthe work was forthwith done.\n\n259. And as I was thus in a muse that scripture also came with great\npower upon my spirit, Not by works of righteousness which we have done,\nbut according to his mercy he saved us, &c. (Titus 3:5; 2 Tim 1:9). Now\nwas I got on high; I saw myself within the arms of grace and mercy; and\nthough I was before afraid to think of a dying hour, yet now I cried,\nLet me die. Now death was lovely and beautiful in my sight; for I saw\nwe shall never live indeed till we be gone to the other world. Oh,\nmethought this life is but a slumber in comparison of that above; at\nthis time also I saw more in those words, \u201cHeirs of God\u201d (Rom 8:17),\nthan ever I shall be able to express while I live in this world. \u201cHeirs\nof God!\u201d God himself is the portion of the saints. This I saw and\nwondered at, but cannot tell you what I saw.[57]\n\n260. \u2018Again, as I was at another time very ill and weak, all that time\nalso the tempter did beset me strongly, for I find he is much for\nassaulting the soul when it begins to approach towards the grave, then\nis his opportunity, labouring to hide from me my former experience of\nGod\u2019s goodness; also setting before me the terrors of death and the\njudgment of God, insomuch that at this time, through my fear of\nmiscarrying for ever, should I now die, I was as one dead before death\ncame, and was as if I had felt myself already descending into the pit;\nmethought, I said, there was no way, but to hell I must; but behold,\njust as I was in the midst of those fears, these words of the angels\ncarrying Lazarus into Abraham\u2019s bosom darted in upon me, as who should\nsay, So it shall be with thee when thou dost leave this world. This did\nsweetly revive my spirit, and help me to hope in God; which, when I had\nwith comfort mused on a while, that word fell with great weight upon my\nmind, \u201cO death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?\u201d (1\nCor 15:55). At this I became both well in body and mind at once, for my\nsickness did presently vanish, and I walked comfortably in my work for\nGod again.\u2019\n\n261. At another time, though just before I was pretty well and savoury\nin my spirit, yet suddenly there fell upon me a great cloud of\ndarkness, which did so hide from me the things of God and Christ, that\nI was as if I had never seen or known them in my life; I was also so\noverrun in my soul, with a senseless, heartless frame of spirit, that I\ncould not feel my soul to move or stir after grace and life by Christ;\nI was as if my loins were broken, or as if my hands and feet had been\ntied or bound with chains. At this time also I felt some weakness to\nseize \u2018upon\u2019 my outward man, which made still the other affliction the\nmore heavy and uncomfortable \u2018to me.\u2019\n\n262. After I had been in this condition some three or four days, as I\nwas sitting by the fire, I suddenly felt this word to sound in my\nheart, I must go to Jesus; at this my former darkness and atheism fled\naway, and the blessed things of heaven were set within my view. While I\nwas on this sudden thus overtaken with surprise, Wife, said I, is there\never such a scripture, I must go to Jesus? she said she could not tell,\ntherefore I sat musing still to see if I could remember such a place; I\nhad not sat above two or three minutes but that came bolting in upon\nme, \u201cAnd to an innumerable company of angels,\u201d and withal, Hebrews the\ntwelfth, about the mount Sion was set before mine eyes (vv 22-24).\n\n263. Then with joy I told my wife, O now I know, I know! But that night\nwas a good night to me, I never had but few better; I longed for the\ncompany of some of God\u2019s people that I might have imparted unto them\nwhat God had showed me. Christ was a precious Christ to my soul that\nnight; I could scarce lie in my bed for joy, and peace, and triumph,\nthrough Christ; this great glory did not continue upon me until\nmorning, yet that twelfth of the author to the Hebrews (Heb 12:22,23)\nwas a blessed scripture to me for many days together after this.\n\n264. The words are these, \u201cYe are come unto mount Sion, and unto the\ncity of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable\ncompany of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,\nwhich are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the\nspirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new\ncovenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things\nthan that of Abel.\u201d Through this blessed sentence the Lord led me over\nand over, first to this word, and then to that, and showed me wonderful\nglory in every one of them. These words also have oft since this time\nbeen great refreshment to my spirit. Blessed be God for having mercy on\nme.\n\n[A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR\u2019S CALL TO THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY.]\n\n\n265. And now I am speaking my experience, I will in this place thrust\nin a word or two concerning my preaching the Word, and of God\u2019s dealing\nwith me in that particular also. For after I had been about five or six\nyears awakened, and helped \u2018myself\u2019 to see both the want and worth of\nJesus Christ our Lord, and \u2018also\u2019 enabled to venture my soul upon him,\nsome of the most able among the saints with us, I say the most able for\njudgment and holiness of life, as they conceived, did perceive that God\nhad counted me worthy to understand something of his will in his holy\nand blessed Word, and had given me utterance, in some measure, to\nexpress what I saw to others for edification; \u2018therefore\u2019 they desired\nme, and that with much earnestness, that I would be willing, at\nsometimes, to take in hand, in one of the meetings, to speak a word of\nexhortation unto them.[58]\n\n266. The which, though at the first it did much dash and abash my\nspirit, yet being still by them desired and intreated, I consented to\ntheir request, and did twice at two several assemblies, but in private,\nthough with much weakness and infirmity, discover my gift amongst them;\nat which they not only seemed to be, but did solemnly protest, as in\nthe sight of the great God, they were both affected and comforted, and\ngave thanks to the Father of mercies for the grace bestowed on me.\n\n267. After this, sometimes when some of them did go into the country to\nteach, they would also that I should go with them; where, though as yet\nI did not, nor durst not, make use of my gift in an open way, yet more\nprivately still as I came amongst the good people in those places, I\ndid sometimes speak a word of admonition unto them also; the which,\nthey as the other received, with rejoicing, at the mercy of God to\nme-ward, professing their souls were edified thereby.\n\n268. Wherefore, to be brief, at last, being still desired by the\nchurch, after some solemn prayer to the Lord, with fasting, I was more\nparticularly called forth, and appointed to a more ordinary and public\npreaching the word, not only to, and amongst them that believed, but\nalso to offer the gospel to those who had not yet received the faith\nthereof; about which time I did evidently find in my mind a secret\npricking forward thereto; though I bless God, not for desire of vain\nglory, for at that time I was most sorely afflicted with the fiery\ndarts of the devil concerning my eternal state.\n\n269. But yet could not be content, unless I was found in the exercise\nof my gift, unto which also I was greatly animated, not only by the\ncontinual desires of the godly, but also by that saying of Paul to the\nCorinthians, \u201cI beseech you, brethren (ye know the household of\nStephanus, that it is the first fruits of Achaian, and that they have\naddicted themselves to the ministry of the saints) that ye submit\nyourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and\nlaboureth\u201d (1 Cor 16:15,16).\n\n270. By this text I was made to see that the Holy Ghost never intended\nthat men who have gifts and abilities should bury them in the earth,\nbut rather did command and stir up such to the exercise of their gift,\nand also did commend those that were apt and ready so to do, \u201cThey have\naddicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.\u201d This scripture, in\nthese days, did continually run in my mind, to encourage me and\nstrengthen me in this my work for God; I have also been encouraged from\nseveral other scriptures and examples of the godly, both specified in\nthe Word and other ancient histories (Acts 8:4, 18:24,25; 1 Peter 4:10;\nRom 12:6; Foxe\u2019s Acts and Monuments).\n\n271. Wherefore, though of myself, of all the saints the most unworthy,\nyet I, but with great fear and trembling at the sight of my own\nweakness, did set upon the work, and did according to my gift, and the\nproportion of my faith, preach that blessed gospel that God had showed\nme in the holy Word of truth; which, when the country understood, they\ncame in to hear the Word by hundreds, and that from all parts, though\nupon sundry and divers accounts.\n\n272. And I thank God he gave unto me some measure of bowels and pity\nfor their souls, which also did put me forward to labour with great\ndiligence and earnestness, to find out such a word as might, if God\nwould bless it, lay hold of, and awaken the conscience, in which also\nthe good Lord had respect to the desire of his servant; for I had not\npreached long before some began to be touched by the Word, and to be\ngreatly afflicted in their minds at the apprehension of the greatness\nof their sin, and of their need of Jesus Christ.\n\n273. But I at first could not believe that God should speak by me to\nthe heart of any man, still counting myself unworthy; yet those who\nthus were touched would love me and have a peculiar respect for me; and\nthough I did put it from me, that they should be awakened by me, still\nthey would confess it and affirm it before the saints of God; they\nwould also bless God for me, unworthy wretch that I am! and count me\nGod\u2019s instrument that showed to them the way of salvation.\n\n274. Wherefore, seeing them in both their words and deeds to be so\nconstant, and also in their hearts so earnestly pressing after the\nknowledge of Jesus Christ, rejoicing that ever God did send me where\nthey were; then I began to conclude it might be so, that God had owned\nin his work such a foolish one as I, and then came that word of God to\nmy heart with much sweet refreshment, \u201cThe blessing of him that was\nready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow\u2019s heart to sing\nfor joy\u201d (Job 29:13).\n\n275. At this therefore I rejoiced, yea, the tears of those whom God did\nawaken by my preaching would be both solace and encouragement to me;\nfor I thought on those sayings, \u201cWho is he that maketh me glad but the\nsame which is made sorry by me?\u201d (2 Cor 2;2); and again, Though \u201cI be\nnot an apostle to others, yet, doubtless, I am to you: for the seal of\nmine apostleship are ye in the Lord\u201d (1 Cor 9:2). These things,\ntherefore, were as another argument unto me that God had called me to,\nand stood by me in this work.\n\n276. In my preaching of the Word, I took special notice of this one\nthing, namely, that the Lord did lead me to being where his Word begins\nwith sinners; that is, to condemn all flesh, and to open and allege\nthat the curse of God, by the law, doth belong to, and lay hold on all\nmen as they come into the world, because of sin. Now this part of my\nwork I fulfilled with great sense;[59] for the terrors of the law, and\nguilt for my transgressions, lay heavy on my conscience. I preached\nwhat I felt, what I smartingly did feel, even that under which my pour\nsoul did groan and tremble to astonishment.\n\n277. Indeed I have been as one sent to them from the dead; I went\nmyself in chains to preach to them in chains; and carried that fire in\nmy own conscience that I persuaded them to beware of. I can truly say,\nand that without dissembling, that when I have been to preach, I have\ngone full of guilt and terror even to the pulpit door, and there it\nhath been taken off, and I have been at liberty in my mind until I have\ndone my work, and then immediately, even before I could get down the\npulpit stairs, I have been as bad as I was before; yet God carried me\non, but surely with a strong hand, for neither guilt or hell could take\nme off my work.\n\n278. Thus I went for the space of two years, crying out against men\u2019s\nsins, and their fearful state because of them. After which the Lord\ncame in upon my own soul with some staid peace and comfort through\nChrist; for he did give me many sweet discoveries of his blessed grace\nthrough him. Wherefore now I altered in my preaching, for still I\npreached what I saw and felt; now therefore I did much labour to hold\nforth Jesus Christ in all his offices, relations, and benefits unto the\nworld; and did strive also to discover, to condemn, and remove those\nfalse supports and props on which the world doth both lean, and by them\nfall and perish. On these things also I staid as long as on the other.\n\n279. After this, God led me into something of the mystery of union with\nChrist; wherefore that I discovered and showed to them also. And when I\nhad traveled through these three chief points of the Word of God, about\nthe space of five years or more, I was caught in my present practice\nand cast into prison, where I have lain[60] above as long again, to\nconfirm the truth by way of suffering, as I was before in testifying of\nit according to the Scriptures in a way of preaching.\n\n280. When I have been preaching, I thank God, my heart hath often all\nthe time of this and the other exercise, with great earnestness, cried\nto God that he would make the Word effectual to the salvation of the\nsoul; still being grieved lest the enemy should take the Word away from\nthe conscience, and so it should become unfruitful. Wherefore I did\nlabour so to speak the Word, as that thereby, if it were possible, the\nsins and person guilty might be particularized by it.\n\n281. Also, when I have done the exercise, it hath gone to my heart to\nthink the Word should now fall as rain on stony places, still wishing\nfrom my heart, O that they who have heard me speak this day did but see\nas I do what sin, death, hell, and the curse of God is; and also what\nthe grace, and love, and mercy of God is, through Christ, to men in\nsuch a case as they are, who are yet estranged from him. And, indeed, I\ndid often say in my heart before the Lord, That if to be hanged up\npresently before their eyes would be a means to awaken them, and\nconfirm them in the truth, I gladly should be contented.\n\n282. For I have been in my preaching, especially when I have been\nengaged in the doctrine of life by Christ, without works, as if an\nangel of God had stood by at my back to encourage me. Oh, it hath been\nwith such power and heavenly evidence upon my own soul, while I have\nbeen labouring to unfold it, to demonstrate it, and to fasten it upon\nthe consciences of others, that I could not be contented with saying, I\nbelieve, and am sure; methought I was more than sure, if it be lawful\nso to express myself, that those things which then I asserted were\ntrue.\n\n283. When I went first to preach the Word abroad, the doctors and\npriests of the country did open wide against me.[61] But I was\npersuaded of this, not to render railing for railing, but to see how\nmany of their carnal professors I could convince of their miserable\nstate by the law, and of the want and worth of Christ; for, thought I,\nThis shall answer for me in time to come, when they shall be for my\nhire before their faces (Gen 30:33).\n\n284. I never cared to meddle with things that were controverted, and in\ndispute amongst the saints, especially things of the lowest nature; yet\nit pleased me much to contend with great earnestness for the word of\nfaith and the remission of sins by the death and sufferings of Jesus;\nbut I say, as to other things, I should let them alone, because I saw\nthey engendered strife, and because that they neither, in doing nor in\nleaving undone, did commend us to God to be his. Besides, I saw my work\nbefore me did run in another channel, even to carry an awakening word;\nto that therefore did I stick and adhere.[62]\n\n285. I never endeavoured to, nor durst make use of other men\u2019s lines\n(Rom 15:18)[63], though I condemn not all that do, for I verily\nthought, and found by experience, that what was taught me by the Word\nand Spirit of Christ, could be spoken, maintained, and stood to by the\nsoundest and best established conscience; and though I will not now\nspeak all that I know in this matter, yet my experience hath more\ninterest in that text of Scripture than many amongst men are aware (Gal\n1:11,12).\n\n286. If any of those who were awakened by my ministry did after that\nfall back, as sometimes too many did, I can truly say their loss hath\nbeen more to me than if one of my own children, begotten of my body,\nhad been going to its grave; I think, verily, I may speak it without an\noffence to the Lord, nothing hath gone so near me as that, unless it\nwas the fear of the loss of the salvation of my own soul. I have\ncounted as if I had goodly buildings and lordships in those places\nwhere my children were born; my heart hath been so wrapped up in the\nglory of this excellent work, that I counted myself more blessed and\nhonoured of God by this than if he had made me the emperor of the\nChristian world, or the lord of all the glory of \u2018the\u2019 earth without\nit! O these words, \u201cHe which converteth the sinner from the error of\nhis way shall save a soul from death\u201d (James 5:20). \u2018\u201cThe fruit of the\nrighteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise\u201d (Prov\n11:30). \u201cThey that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the\nfirmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for\never and ever\u201d (Dan 12:3). \u201cFor what is our hope, or joy, or crown of\nrejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at\nhis coming? For ye are our glory and joy\u201d (1 Thess 2:19,20). These, I\nsay, with many others of a like nature, have been great refreshments to\nme.\u2019\n\n287. I have observed, that where I have had a work to do for God, I\nhave had first, as it were, the going of God upon my spirit to desire I\nmight preach there. I have also observed that such and such souls in\nparticular have been strongly set upon my heart, and I stirred up to\nwish for their salvation; and that these very souls have, after this,\nbeen given in as the fruits of my ministry. I have also observed, that\na word cast in by the by hath done more execution in a sermon than all\nthat was spoken besides; sometimes also when I have thought I did no\ngood, then I did the most of all; and at other times when I thought I\nshould catch them I have fished for nothing.\n\n288. \u2018I have also observed, that where there hath been a work to do\nupon sinners, there the devil hath begun to roar in the hearts, and by\nthe mouths of his servants. Yea, oftentimes when the wicked world hath\nraged most, there hath been souls awaked by the Word. I could instance\nparticulars, but I forbear.\u2019\n\n289. My great desire in my fulfilling my ministry was to get into the\ndarkest places of the country, even amongst those people that were\nfurthest off of profession; yet not because I could not endure the\nlight, for I feared not to show my gospel to any, but because I found\nmy spirit leaned most after awakening and converting work, and the Word\nthat I carried did lead itself most that way \u2018also\u2019; \u201cyea, so have I\nstrived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should\nbuild upon another man\u2019s foundation\u201d (Rom 15:20).\n\n290. In my preaching I have really been in pain, and have, as it were,\ntravailed to bring forth children to God; neither could I be satisfied\nunless some fruits did appear in my work. If I were fruitless it\nmattered not who commended me; but if I were fruitful, I cared not who\ndid condemn. I have thought of that, \u201cHe that winneth souls is wise\u201d\n(Prov 11:30); and again, \u201cLo, children are an heritage of the Lord; and\nthe fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty\nman, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath filled\nhis quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall\nspeak with the enemies in the gate\u201d (Psa 127:3-5).\n\n291. \u2018It pleased me nothing to see people drink in opinions if they\nseemed ignorant of Jesus Christ, and the worth of their own salvation,\nsound conviction for sin, especially for unbelief, and an heart set on\nfire to be saved by Christ, with strong breathing after a truly\nsanctified soul; that it was that delighted me; those were the souls I\ncounted blessed.\u2019\n\n292. But in this work, as in all other, I had my temptations attending\nme, and that of diverse kinds, as sometimes I should be assaulted with\ngreat discouragement therein, fearing that I should not be able to\nspeak the word at all to edification; nay, that I should not be able to\nspeak sense unto the people; at which times I should have such a\nstrange faintness and strengthlessness seize upon my body that my legs\nhave scarce been able to carry me to the place of exercise.\n\n293. Sometimes, again, when I have been preaching, I have been\nviolently assaulted with thoughts of blasphemy, and strongly tempted to\nspeak the words with my mouth before the congregation. I have also at\nsome times, even when I have begun to speak the Word with much\nclearness, evidence, and liberty of speech, yet been before the ending\nof that opportunity so blinded, and so estranged from the things I have\nbeen speaking, and have also been so straitened in my speech, as to\nutterance before the people, that I have been as if I had not known or\nremembered what I have been about, or as if my head had been in a bag\nall the time of the exercise.\n\n294. Again, when as sometimes I have been about to preach upon some\nsmart and scorching[64] portion of the Word, I have found the tempter\nsuggest, What, will you preach this? this condemns yourself; of this\nyour own soul is guilty; wherefore preach not of it at all; or if you\ndo, yet so mince it as to make way for your own escape; lest instead of\nawakening others, you lay that guilt upon your own soul, as you will\nnever get from under.\n\n295. \u2018But, I thank the Lord, I have been kept from consenting to these\nso horrid suggestions, and have rather, as Samson, bowed myself with\nall my might, to condemn sin and transgression wherever I found it,\nyea, though therein also I did bring guilt upon my own conscience! \u201cLet\nme die,\u201d thought I, \u201cwith the Philistines\u201d (Judg 16:29,30), rather than\ndeal corruptly with the blessed Word of God, \u201cThou that teachest\nanother, teachest not thou thyself?\u201d It is far better that thou do\njudge thyself, even by preaching plainly to others, than that thou, to\nsave thyself, imprison the truth in unrighteousness; blessed be God for\nhis help also in this.\u2019\n\n296. I have also, while found in this blessed work of Christ, been\noften tempted to pride and liftings up of heart; and though I dare not\nsay I have not been infected with this, yet truly the Lord, of his\nprecious mercy, hath so carried it towards me, that, for the most part,\nI have had but small joy to give way to such a thing; for it hath been\nmy every day\u2019s portion to be let into the evil of my own heart, and\nstill made to see such a multitude of corruptions and infirmities\ntherein, that it hath caused hanging down of the head under all my\ngifts and attainments; I have felt this thorn in the flesh, the very\nmercy of God to me (2 Cor 12:7-9).\n\n297. I have had also, together with this, some notable place or other\nof the Word presented before me, which word hath contained in it some\nsharp and piercing sentence concerning the perishing of the soul,\nnotwithstanding gifts and parts; as, for instance, that hath been of\ngreat use unto me, \u201cThough I speak with the tongues of men and of\nangels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, and a\ntinkling cymbal\u201d (1 Cor 13:1,2).\n\n298. A tinkling cymbal is an instrument of music, with which a skillful\nplayer can make such melodious and heart-inflaming music, that all who\nhear him play can scarcely hold from dancing; and yet behold the cymbal\nhath not life, neither comes the music from it, but because of the art\nof him that plays therewith; so then the instrument at last may come to\nnought and perish, though, in times past, such music hath been made\nupon it.\n\n299. Just thus I saw it was and will be with them who have gifts, but\nwant saving grace, they are in the hand of Christ, as the cymbal in the\nhand of David; and as David could, with the cymbal, make that mirth in\nthe service of God, as to elevate the hearts of the worshippers, so\nChrist can use these gifted men, as with them to affect the souls of\nhis people in his church; yet when he hath done all, hang them by as\nlifeless, though sounding cymbals.[65]\n\n300. This consideration, therefore, together with some others, were,\nfor the most part, as a maul on the head of pride, and desire of vain\nglory; what, thought I, shall I be proud because I am a sounding brass?\nIs it so much to be a fiddle? Hath not the least creature that hath\nlife, more of God in it than these? Besides, I knew it was love should\nnever die, but these must cease and vanish; so I concluded, a little\ngrace, a little love, a little of the true fear of God, is better than\nall these gifts; yea, and I am fully convinced of it, that it is\npossible for a soul that can scarce give a man an answer, but with\ngreat confusion as to method, I say it is possible for them to have a\nthousand times more grace, and so to be more in the love and favour of\nthe Lord than some who, by virtue of the gift of knowledge, can deliver\nthemselves like angels.[66]\n\n301. \u2018Thus, therefore, I came to perceive, that though gifts in\nthemselves were good to the thing for which they are designed, to wit,\nthe edification of others; yet empty and without power to save the soul\nof him that hath them, if they be alone; neither are they, as so, any\nsign of a man\u2019s state to be happy, being only a dispensation of God to\nsome, of whose improvement, or non-improvement, they must, when a\nlittle love more is over, give an account to him that is ready to judge\nthe quick and the dead.\u2019\n\n302. \u2018This showed me too, that gifts being alone, were dangerous, not\nin themselves, but because of those evils that attend them that have\nthem, to wit, pride, desire of vain glory, self-conceit, &c., all which\nwere easily blown up at the applause and commendation of every\nunadvised Christian, to the endangering of a poor creature to fall into\nthe condemnation of the devil.\u2019\n\n303. \u2018I saw therefore that he that hath gifts had need be let into a\nsight of the nature of them, to wit, that they come short of making of\nhim to be in a truly saved condition, lest he rest in them, and so fall\nshort of the grace of God.\u2019\n\n304. \u2018He hath also cause to walk humbly with God, and be little in his\nown eyes, and to remember withal, that his gifts are not his own, but\nthe church\u2019s; and that by them he is made a servant to the church; and\nhe must give at last an account of his stewardship unto the Lord Jesus;\nand to give a good account, will be a blessed thing.\u2019\n\n305. \u2018Let all men therefore prize a little with the fear of the Lord;\ngifts indeed are desirable, but yet great grace and small gifts are\nbetter than great gifts and no grace. It doth not say, the Lord gives\ngifts and glory, but the Lord gives grace and glory; and blessed is\nsuch an one, to whom the Lord gives grace, true grace, for that is a\ncertain forerunner of glory.\u2019\n\n306. \u2018But when Satan perceived that his thus tempting and assaulting of\nme would not answer his design, to wit, to overthrow my ministry, and\nmake it ineffectual, as to the ends thereof; then he tried another way,\nwhich was to stir up the minds of the ignorant and malicious, to load\nme with slanders and reproaches; now therefore I may say, That what the\ndevil could devise, and his instruments invent, was whirled up and down\nthe country against me, thinking, as I said, that by that means they\nshould make my ministry to be abandoned.\u2019\n\n307. \u2018It began therefore to be rumoured up and down among the people,\nthat I was a witch, a Jesuit, a highwayman, and the like.\u2019\n\n308. \u2018To all which, I shall only say, God knows that I am innocent. But\nas for mine accusers, let them provide themselves to meet me before the\ntribunal of the Son of God, there to answer for all these things, with\nall the rest of their iniquities, unless God shall give them repentance\nfor them, for the which I pray with all my heart.\u2019\n\n309. \u2018But that which was reported with the boldest confidence, was,\nthat I had my misses, my whores, my bastards, yea, two wives at once,\nand the like. Now these slanders, with the other, I glory in, because\nbut slanders, foolish, or knavish lies, and falsehoods cast upon me by\nthe devil and his seed; and should I not be dealt with thus wickedly by\nthe world, I should want one sign of a saint, and a child of God.\n\u201cBlessed are ye [said the Lord Jesus] when men shall revile you, and\npersecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for\nmy sake; rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in\nheaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you\u201d\n(Matt 4:11).\u2019\n\n310. \u2018These things, therefore, upon mine own account, trouble me not;\nno, though they were twenty times more than they are. I have a good\nconscience, and whereas they speak evil of me, as an evil doer, they\nshall be ashamed that falsely accuse my good conversation in\nChrist.[67]\u2019\n\n311. \u2018So then, what shall I say to those that have thus bespattered me?\nshall I threaten them? Shall I chide them? Shall I flatter them? Shall\nI intreat them to hold their tongues? No, not I, were it not for that\nthese things make them ripe for damnation, that are the authors and\nabettors, I would say unto them, Report it, because it will increase my\nglory.\u2019\n\n312. \u2018Therefore I bind these lies and slanders to me as an ornament, it\nbelongs to my Christian profession to be vilified, slandered,\nreproached and reviled; and since all this is nothing else, as my God\nand my conscience do bear me witness; I rejoice in reproaches for\nChrist\u2019s sake.\u2019\n\n313. \u2018I also calling all those fools, or knaves, that have thus made it\nanything of their business, to affirm any of the things afore-named of\nme, namely, that I have been naught with other women, or the like. When\nthey have used to the utmost of their endeavours, and made the fullest\ninquiry that they can, to prove against me truly, that there is any\nwoman in heaven, or earth, or hell, that can say, I have at any time,\nin any place, by day or night, so much as attempted to be naught with\nthem; and speak I thus, to beg mine enemies into a good esteem of me;\nno, not I: I will in this beg relief of no man; believe or disbelieve\nme in this, all is a case to me.[68]\u2019\n\n314. \u2018My foes have missed their mark in this their shooting at me. I am\nnot the man. I wish that they themselves be guiltless. If all the\nfornicators and adulterers in England were hanged by the neck till they\nbe dead, JOHN BUNYAN, the object of their envy, would be still alive\nand well. I know not whether there be such a thing as a woman breathing\nunder the copes of the whole heaven, but by their apparel, their\nchildren, or by common fame, except my wife.\u2019\n\n315. \u2018And in this I admire the wisdom of God, that he made me shy of\nwomen from my first conversion until now. Those know, and can also bear\nme witness, with whom I have been most intimately concerned, that it is\na rare thing to see me carry it pleasant towards a woman; the common\nsalutation of a woman I abhor, it is odious to me in whomsoever I see\nit. Their company alone, I cannot away with. I seldom so much as touch\na woman\u2019s hand, for I think these things are not so becoming me. When I\nhave seen good men salute those women that they have visited, or that\nhave visited them, I have at times made my objection against it, and\nwhen they have answered, that it was but a piece of civility, I have\ntold them, it is not a comely sight; some indeed have urged the holy\nkiss; but then I have asked why they made baulks,[69] why they did\nsalute the most handsome, and let the ill-favoured go; thus, how\nlaudable soever such things have been in the eyes of others, they have\nbeen unseemly in my sight.\u2019\n\n316. \u2018And now for a wind up in this matter, I calling not only men, but\nangels, to prove me guilty of having carnally to do with any woman save\nmy wife, nor am I afraid to do it a second time, knowing that I cannot\noffend the Lord in such a case, to call God for a record upon my soul,\nthat in these things I am innocent. Not that I have been thus kept,\nbecause of any goodness in me more than any other, but God has been\nmerciful to me, and has kept me; to whom I pray that he will keep me\nstill, not only from this, but from every evil way and work, and\npreserve me to his heavenly kingdom. Amen.\u2019\n\n317. \u2018Now as Satan laboured by reproaches and slanders, to make me vile\namong my countrymen, that if possible, my preaching might be made of\nnone effect, so there was added hereto a long and tedious imprisonment,\nthat thereby I might be frighted from my service for Christ, and the\nworld terrified, and made afraid to hear me preach, of which I shall in\nthe next place give you a brief account.\u2019\n\n[A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR\u2019S IMPRISONMENT]\n\n\n318. Having made profession of the glorious gospel of Christ a long\ntime, and preached the same about five years, I was apprehended at a\nmeeting of good people in the country, among whom, had they let me\nalone, I should have preached that day, but they took me away from\namongst them, and had me before a justice; who, after I had offered\nsecurity for my appearing at the next sessions, yet committed me,\nbecause my sureties would not consent to be bound that I should preach\nno more to the people.\n\n319. At the sessions after, I was indicted for an upholder and\nmaintainer of unlawful assemblies and conventicles, and for not\nconforming to the national worship of the Church of England; and after\nsome conference there with the justices, \u2018they taking my plain dealing\nwith them for a confession, as they termed it, of the indictment,\u2019 did\nsentence me to perpetual banishment, because I refused to conform. So\nbeing again delivered up to the jailer\u2019s hands, I was had home to\nprison again, and there have lain now[70] \u2018complete twelve years,\u2019\nwaiting to see what God would suffer these men to do with me.\n\n320. In which condition I have continued with much content, through\ngrace, but have met with many turnings and goings upon my heart, both\nfrom the Lord, Satan, and my own corruptions; by all which, glory be to\nJesus Christ, I have also received among many things, much conviction,\ninstruction, and understanding, of which at large I shall not here\ndiscourse; only give you in a hint or two, a word that may stir up the\ngodly to bless God, and to pray for me; and also to take encouragement,\nshould the case be their own, not to fear what man can do unto them.\n\n321. I never had in all my life so great an inlet into the Word of God\nas now; those Scriptures that I saw nothing in before, are made in this\nplace and state to shine upon me; Jesus Christ also was never more real\nand apparent than now; here I have seen him and felt him indeed: O that\nword, We have not preached unto you cunningly devised fables (2 Peter\n1:16); and that, God raised Christ from the dead, and gave him glory,\nthat your faith and hope might be in God (1 Peter 1:2), were blessed\nwords unto me in this my imprisoned condition.\n\n322. These three or four scriptures also have been great refreshment in\nthis condition to me (John 14:1-4, 16:33; Col 3:3,4; Heb 12:22-24). So\nthat sometimes when I have been in the savour of them, I have been able\nto laugh at destruction, and to fear neither the horse nor his rider\n(Job 39:18). I have had sweet sights of the forgiveness of my sins in\nthis place, and of my being with Jesus in another world: O, \u201cthe mount\nZion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumerable company of angels, and\nGod the judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and to\nJesus\u201d (Heb 12:22-24), have been sweet unto me in this place: I have\nseen THAT here, that I am persuaded I shall never, while in this world,\nbe able to express; I have seen a truth in that scripture, \u201cWhom having\nnot seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye se him not, yet believing, ye\nrejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory\u201d (1 Peter 1:8).[71]\n\n323. I never knew what it was for God to stand by me at all turns, and\nat every offer of Satan \u2018to afflict me,\u2019 &c., as I have found him since\nI came in hither; for look how fears have presented themselves, so have\nsupports and encouragements, yea, when I have started, even as it were\nat nothing else but my shadow, yet God, as being very tender of me,\nhath not suffered me to be molested, but would with one scripture and\nanother strengthen me against all; insomuch that I have often said,\nWere it lawful, I could pray for greater trouble, for the greater\ncomfort\u2019s sake (Eccl 7:14; 2 Cor 1:5).\n\n324. Before I came to prison, I saw what was a-coming, and had\nespecially two considerations warm upon my heart; the first was how to\nbe able to endure, should my imprisonment be long and tedious; the\nsecond was how to be able to encounter death, should that be here my\nportion; for the first of these, that scripture (Col 1:11) was great\ninformation to me, namely, to pray to God to be \u201cstrengthened with all\nmight, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and\nlong-suffering with joyfulness.\u201d I could seldom go to prayer before I\nwas imprisoned, but not for so little as a year together, this\nsentence, or sweet petition, would, as it were, thrust itself into my\nmind, and persuade me, that if ever I would go through long-suffering,\nI must have all patience, especially if I would endure it joyfully.\n\n325. As to the second consideration, that saying (2 Cor 1:9), was of\ngreat use to me, But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we\nshould not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead. By\nthis scripture I was made to see, that if ever I would suffer rightly,\nI must first pass a sentence of death upon everything that can properly\nbe called a thing of this life, even to reckon myself, my wife, my\nchildren, my health, my enjoyments, and all, as dead to me, and myself\nas dead to them. \u201cHe that loveth father or mother, son or daughter,\nmore than me, is not worthy of me\u201d (Matt 10:37).\n\n326. The second was, to live upon God that is invisible; as Paul said\nin another place, the way not to faint, is to \u201clook not at the things\nwhich are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things\nwhich are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are\neternal\u201d (2 Cor 4:18). And thus I reasoned with myself; if I provide\nonly for a prison, then the whip comes at unawares; and so does also\nthe pillory; again, if I provide only for these, then I am not fit for\nbanishment; further, if I conclude that banishment is the worst, then\nif death come I am surprised. So that I see the best way to go through\nsufferings is to trust in God through Christ, as touching the world to\ncome; and as touching this world, to count \u201cthe grave my house, to make\nmy bed in darkness, and to say to corruption, Thou art my father, and\nto the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister.\u201d That is, to familiarize\nthese things to me.[72]\n\n327. But notwithstanding these helps, I found myself a man, and\ncompassed with infirmities; the parting with my wife and poor children\nhath oft been to me in this place as the pulling the flesh from my\nbones, and that not only because I am somewhat too too fond of those\ngreat mercies, but also because I should have often brought to my mind\nthe many hardships, miseries and wants that my poor family was like to\nmeet with, should I be taken from them, especially my poor blind child,\nwho lay nearer my heart than all I had besides; O the thoughts of the\nhardship I thought my blind one might go under, would break my heart to\npieces.\n\n328. Poor child, thought I, what sorrow art thou like to have for thy\nportion in this world? Thou must be beaten, must beg, suffer hunger,\ncold, nakedness, and a thousand calamities, though I cannot now endure\nthe wind should blow upon thee. But yet recalling myself, thought I, I\nmust venture you all with God, though it goeth to the quick to leave\nyou. O, I saw in this condition I was as a man who was pulling down his\nhouse upon the head of his wife and children; yet thought I, I must do\nit, I must do it. And now I thought on those two milch kine that were\nto carry the ark of God into another country, and to leave their calves\nbehind them (1 Sam 6:10-12).\n\n329. But that which helped me in this temptation was divers\nconsiderations, of which three in special here I will name; the first\nwas the consideration of those two scriptures, \u201cLeave thy fatherless\nchildren, I will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in me.\u201d\nAnd again, \u201cThe Lord said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant;\nverily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of\nevil,\u201d &c. (Jer 49:11, 15:11).\n\n330. I had also this consideration, that if I should now venture all\nfor God, I engaged God to take care of my concernments; but if I\nforsook him and his ways, for fear of any trouble that should come to\nme or mine, then I should not only falsify my profession, but should\ncount also that my concernments were not so sure, if left at God\u2019s\nfeet, while I stood to and for his name, as they would be, if they were\nunder my own tuition,[73] though with the denial of the way of God.\nThis was a smarting consideration, and was as spurs unto my flesh. That\nscripture also greatly helped it to fasten the more upon me, where\nChrist prays against Judas, that God would disappoint him in all his\nselfish thoughts, which moved him to sell his master: pray read it\nsoberly (Psa 109:6-20).\n\n331. I had also another consideration, and that was, the dread of the\ntorments of hell, which I was sure they must partake of, that for fear\nof the cross, do shrink from their profession of Christ, his words, and\nlaws, before the sons of men; I thought also of the glory that he had\nprepared for those that, in faith, and love, and patience, stood to his\nways before them. These things, I say, have helped me, when the\nthoughts of the misery that both myself and mine, might for the sake of\nmy profession be exposed to, hath lain pinching on my mine.\n\n332. When I have indeed conceited that I might be banished for my\nprofession, then I have thought of that scripture, \u201cThey were stoned,\nthey were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they\nwandered about in sheep skins and goat skins; being destitute,\nafflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy\u201d (Heb 11:37),\nfor all they thought they were too bad to dwell and abide amongst them.\nI have also thought of that saying, \u201cThe Holy Ghost witnesseth in every\ncity, that bonds and afflictions abide me.\u201d I have verily thought that\nmy soul and it[74] have sometimes reasoned about the sore and sad\nestate of a banished and exiled condition, how they are exposed to\nhunger, to cold, to perils, to nakedness, to enemies, and a thousand\ncalamities; and at last, it may be, to die in a ditch, like a poor\nforlorn and desolate sheep. But I thank God, hitherto I have not been\nmoved by these most delicate reasonings, but have rather, by them, more\napproved my heart to God.\n\n333. I will tell you a pretty business; I was once above all the rest\nin a very sad and low condition for many weeks; at which time also I\nbeing but a young prisoner, and not acquainted with the laws, had this\nlay much upon my spirit, That my imprisonment might end at the gallows\nfor aught that I could tell. Now, therefore, Satan laid hard at me to\nbeat me out of heart, by suggesting thus unto me, But how if when you\ncome indeed to die, you should be in this condition; that is, as not to\nsavour the things of God, nor to have any evidence upon your soul for a\nbetter state hereafter? For indeed at that time all the things of God\nwere hid from my soul.\n\n334. Wherefore, when I at first began to think of this, it was a great\ntrouble to me; for I thought with myself, that in the condition I now\nwas in, I was not fit to die, neither indeed did think I could, if I\nshould be called to it: besides, I thought with myself, if I should\nmake a scrabbling[75] shift to clamber up the ladder, yet I should\neither with quaking, or other symptoms of faintings, give occasion to\nthe enemy to reproach the way of God and his people, for their\ntimorousness. This therefore lay with great trouble upon me, for\nmethought I was ashamed to die with a pale face, and tottering knees,\nfor such a cause as this.\n\n335. Wherefore, I prayed to God that he would comfort me, and give me\nstrength to do and suffer what he should call me to; yet no comfort\nappeared, but all continued hid: I was also at this time so really\npossessed with the thought of death, that oft I was as if I was on the\nladder with a rope about my neck; only this was some encouragement to\nme, I thought I might now have an opportunity to speak my last words to\na multitude, which I thought would come to see me die; and, thought I,\nif it must be so, if God will but convert one soul by my very last\nwords, I shall not count my life thrown away, nor lost.\n\n336. But yet all the things of God were kept out of my sight, and still\nthe tempter followed me with, But whither must you go when you die?\nWhat will become of you? Where will you be found in another world? What\nevidence have you for heaven and glory, and an inheritance among them\nthat are sanctified? Thus was I tossed for many weeks, and knew not\nwhat to do; at last this consideration fell with weight upon me, That\nit was for the Word and way of God, that I was in this condition,\nwherefore I was engaged not to flinch a hair\u2019s breadth from it.\n\n337. I thought also, that God might choose, whether he would give me\ncomfort now or at the hour of death, but I might not therefore choose\nwhether I would hold my profession or no: I was bound, but he was free:\nyea, it was my duty to stand to his word, whether he would ever look\nupon me or no, or save me at the last: wherefore, thought I, the point\nbeing thus, I am for going on, and venturing my eternal state with\nChrist, whether I have comfort here or no; if God doth not come in,\nthought I, I will leap off the ladder even blindfold into eternity,\nsink or swim, come heaven, come hell, Lord Jesus, if thou wilt catch\nme, do; \u2018if not,\u2019 I will venture for thy name.\n\n338. I was no sooner fixed upon this resolution, but that word dropped\nupon me, \u201cDoth Job serve God for nought?\u201d As if the accuser had said,\nLord, Job is no upright man, he serves thee for by-respects: hast thou\nnot made a hedge about him, &c. \u201cBut put forth thine hand now, and\ntouch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.\u201d How now,\nthought I, is this the sign of an upright soul, to desire to serve God,\nwhen all is taken from him? Is he a godly man, that will serve God for\nnothing rather than give out? blessed be God, then, I hope I have an\nupright heart, for I am resolved, God giving me strength, never to deny\nmy profession, though I have nothing at all for my pains; and as I was\nthus considering, that scripture was set before me (Psa 44:12-26).[76]\n\n339. Now was my heart full of comfort, for I hoped it was sincere: I\nwould not have been without this trial for much; I am comforted every\ntime I think of it, and I hope I shall bless God for ever for the\nteaching I have had by it. Many more of the dealings of God towards me\nI might relate, but these, \u201cOut of the spoils won in battles have I\ndedicated to maintain the house of the LORD\u201d (1 Chron 26:27).\n\nTHE CONCLUSION.\n\n\n1. Of all the temptations that ever I met with in my life, to question\nthe being \u2018of God,\u2019 and truth of his gospel, is the worst, and the\nworst to be borne; when this temptation comes, it takes away my girdle\nfrom me, and removeth the foundation from under me: O, I have often\nthought of that word, \u201chave your loins girt about with truth\u201d; and of\nthat, \u201cWhen the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?\u201d\n\n2. \u2018Sometimes, when, after sin committed, I have looked for sore\nchastisement from the hand of God, the very next that I have had from\nhim hath been the discovery of his grace. Sometimes, when I have been\ncomforted, I have called myself a fool for my so sinking under trouble.\nAnd then, again, when I have been cast down, I thought I was not wise,\nto give such way to comfort. With such strength and weight have both\nthese been upon me.\u2019\n\n3. I have wondered much at this one thing, that though God doth visit\nmy soul with never so blessed a discovery of himself, yet I have found\nagain, that such hours have attended me afterwards, that I have been in\nmy spirits so filled with darkness, that I could not so much as once\nconceive what that God and that comfort was with which I have been\nrefreshed.\n\n4. I have sometimes seen more in a line of the Bible than I could well\ntell how to stand under, and yet at another time the whole Bible hath\nbeen to me as dry as a stick; or rather, my heart hath been so dead and\ndry unto it, that I could not conceive the least drachm of refreshment,\nthough I have looked it \u2018all\u2019 over.\n\n5. Of all tears, they are the best that are made by the blood of\nChrist; and of all joy, that is the sweetest that is mixed with\nmourning over Christ. Oh! it is a goodly thing to be on our knees, with\nChrist in our arms, before God. I hope I know something of these\nthings.\n\n6. I find to this day seven abominations in my heart: 1. Inclinings to\nunbelief. 2. Suddenly to forget the love and mercy that Christ\nmanifesteth. 3. A leaning to the works of the law. 4. Wanderings and\ncoldness in prayer. 5. To forget to watch for that I pray for. 6. Apt\nto murmur because I have no more, and yet ready to abuse what I have.\n7. I can do none of those things which God commands me, but my\ncorruptions will thrust in themselves, \u201cwhen I would do good, evil is\npresent with me.\u201d\n\n7. These things I continually see and feel, and am afflicted and\noppressed with; yet the wisdom of God doth order them for my good. 1.\nThey make me abhor myself. 2. They keep me from trusting my heart. 3.\nThey convince me of the insufficiency of all inherent righteousness. 4.\nThey show me the necessity of flying to Jesus. 5. They press me to pray\nunto God. 6. They show me the need I have to watch and be sober. 7. And\nprovoke me to look to God, through Christ, to help me, and carry me\nthrough this world. Amen.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n1. Dr. Cheever.\n\n2. Leicester was only besieged by the royal army, who took it, and\ncruelly treated the inhabitants; upon the republicans appearing before\nit, the city surrendered at once without a siege.\u2014Ed.\n\n3. This should be the prayer and effort of every Christian for his\nbrethren and sisters in Christ, and more especially of those who are\ncalled to the public ministry.\u2014Ed.\n\n4. The people of God look back on the day of their espousals with holy\njoy and thanksgiving to the God of their mercies; and they delight in\ntelling his goodness to others. \u201cCome and hear, all ye that fear God,\nand I will declare what he hath done for my soul\u201d (Psa 66:16).\u2014Mason.\n\n5. How unspeakable the mercy that our omnipresent God will hear the\nprayer of the heart under all circumstances, at all times, in all\nplaces. Had he limited it to certain forms, in certain buildings, read\nby certain men, what fearful merchandise of souls they would have\nmade.\u2014Ed.\n\n6. Bunyan says very little about his parents in his treatise on\n\u2018Christian Behaviour\u2019; he concludes his observations on the duties of a\npious son to ungodly parents with this remarkable prayer, \u2018The Lord, if\nit be his will, convert OUR poor parents, that they, with us, may be\nthe children of God.\u2019 Although this does not demonstrate that his own\nparents were ungodly, yet his silence as to their piety upon all\noccasions when speaking of them, and the fervent feeling expressed in\nthis short prayer, inclines me to conclude that they were not pious\npersons in his judgment.\u2014Ed.\n\n7. Mr. Bunyan alludes to the poverty of his education in several of his\nworks. Thus, in his Scriptural poems\u2014\n\n\u2018I am no poet, nor a poet\u2019s son\nBut a mechanic, guided by no rule\nBut what I gained in a grammar school,\nIn my minority.\u2019\n\n\nAnd in the preface to \u2018The Law and Grace\u2019: \u2018Reader, if thou do find\nthis book empty of fantastical expressions, and without light, vain,\nwhimsical, scholar-like terms; thou must understand, it is because I\nnever went to school to Aristotle or Plato, but was brought up at my\nfather\u2019s house, in a very mean condition, among a company of poor\ncountrymen.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n8. \u2018I have been vile myself, but have obtained mercy; and I would have\nmy companions in sin partake of mercy too.\u2019\u2014Preface to Jerusalem Sinner\nSaved.\u2014Ed.\n\n9. Every careless sinner, or wicked professor, carries upon his\nforehead the name of Infidel and Atheist, a practical unbeliever in the\nBible, in the day of judgment, and in the existence of a holy God.\u2014Ed.\n\n10. Bunyan served in the wars between Charles I and his country, but it\nis not known on which side. Judging from his \u2018delight in all\ntransgressions against the law of God,\u2019 as he describes his conduct to\nhave been at that time, he must have served on the king\u2019s side, as one\nof his drunken cavaliers. Probably this event took place when Leicester\nwas besieged by the king\u2019s troops.\u2014Ed.\n\n11. The notice of his wife\u2019s father being a godly man, and not\nmentioning anything of the kind with regard to his own parents,\nstrengthens my conclusion that they were not professors of religion.\nThis very copy of the Pathway to Heaven here noticed, with the name of\nBunyan on the title, is in the Editor\u2019s possession.\u2014Ed.\n\n12. Asking his father this question, looks a little as if the family\nhad been connected with the gipsy tribe.\u2014Ed.\n\n13. \u2018The king (James, 1618) put forth an order to permit everybody, as\nhe had before given leave in the county of Lancaster, who should go to\nevening prayer on the Lord\u2019s day, to divertise themselves with lawful\nexercises, with leaping, dancing, playing at bowls, shooting with bows\nand arrows, as likewise to rear May poles, and to use May games and\nMorris dancing; but those who refused coming to prayers were forbidden\nto use these sports.\u2019\u2014(Camden\u2019s Annals). The head of the Church of\nEngland had wondrous power thus to dispense with God\u2019s laws.\u2014Ed.\n\n14. \u2018Did cut the sinews,\u2019 first edition; properly altered by Bunyan\nafterwards to \u2018did benumb.\u2019\n\n15. Tip cat, or cat, is an ancient English game, thus described in\nStrutt\u2019s Sports and Pastimes:\u2014The game of cat is played with a cudgel.\nIts denomination is derived from a piece of wood, about six inches long\nand two thick, diminished from the middle to form a double cone. When\nthe cat is placed on the ground, the player strikes it smartly\u2014it\nmatters not at which end\u2014and it will rise with a rotatory motion high\nenough for him to strike it; if he misses, another player takes his\nplace; if he hits, he calls for a number to be scored to his game; if\nthat number is more than as many lengths of his cudgel, he is out; if\nnot, they are scored, and he plays again.\u2014Ed.\n\n16. This wish looks as if Bunyan\u2019s father had not checked him for this\nwicked propensity; if so, he could not have pretended to piety or\nreligion.\u2014Ed.\n\n17. \u2018Tom of Bedlam\u2019; a byword for an inveterate drunkard, alluding to\nan old interesting song describing the feelings of a poor maniac whose\nfrenzy had been induced by intoxication, and who escaped from Bedlam.\n\n   \u2018Poore naked Tom is very drye\n    A little drinke for charitye!\u2019\n\nIt ends with this verse\u2014\n\n   \u2018The man in the moone drinkes claret,\n    Eates powder\u2019d beef, turnip, and carret,\n    But a cup of old Malaga sacke\n    Will fire the bushe at his backe.\u2019\n\nProbably the tale is connected with the drummer\u2019s tune, \u2018Drunk or\nsober, go to bed Tom.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n18. When the Lord, in his blessed work upon the soul, illuminated the\nmind, he opens to it a new world; he leads the blind by a way that they\nknow not, crooked things become straight, rough places plain, and he\nnever forsakes his charge.\u2014Mason.\n\n19. \u2018Their talk went with me; my heart would tarry with them\u2019; nothing\nis so powerfully attractive as a community of feeling under the\nteaching of the Holy Spirit. Bunyan\u2019s wish to be \u2018tried and searched,\u2019\nreminds me of one who, when alarmed for his soul\u2019s safety, earnestly\nprayed that he might be made increasingly wretched, until he had found\nsafety in Jesus, and knew him, whom to know is joy unspeakable in this\nlife, and felicity in the eternal world.\u2014Ed.\n\n20. That bitter fanatic, Ross, calls the ranters \u2018a sort of beasts,\u2019\nwho practiced sin that grace might abound. Many under that name were\nopenly profligate; they denied the sacraments, but were disowned by the\nQuakers. It seems, from Bunyan, that they were infatuated with some\nidea that the grossest sins of the flesh did not injure the sanctity of\nthe spirit!\u2014Ed.\n\n21. Faith comes by venturing wholly on Christ, as he is freely offered\nin the Word\u2014mercy to the miserable\u2014salvation to the lost and\nself-condemned. If we honour God\u2019s veracity by giving credit to his\nWord, he will honour that faith by giving us joy and peace in\nbelieving.\u2014Mason.\n\n22. \u2018In downright earnest\u2019; as one who is in imminent danger of\ndrowning, or in a house on fire, eager to escape. Reader, have you ever\nfelt thus \u2018in downright earnest\u2019 for salvation? Blessed are they that\nhunger and thirst after righteousness, for they SHALL be filled.\u2014Ed.\n\n23. This is an interesting view of church fellowship; and the admission\nof a convert to Christian communion. See also Christiana at the\nInterpreter\u2019s House, and the preface to Bunyan\u2019s \u2018Christian\nBehaviour.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n24. The Christian who is found waiting upon God, is the thriving one;\nthe best way to be assured of our election is to examine our state with\nthe touchstone of truth, the Scriptures. The elect of God know Christ\nsavingly, esteem him precious, and obey him cheerfully from love and\ngratitude.\u2014Mason.\n\n25. \u2018Gingerly\u2019; cautiously.\n\n\u2018Has it a corn? or do\u2019s it walk on conscience, It treads so gingerly.\u2019\nLove\u2019s Cure, Act ii., Scene 1.\u2014Ed.\n\n26. Manifestations of love and grace are not to be rested in, or made a\nsaviour of; they are given to strengthen and prepare us for future\ntrials.\u2014Mason.\n\n27. Here we have Christian in the valley of the shadow of death. \u2018One\nthing I would not let slip, I took notice that now poor Christian was\nso confounded, that he did not know his own voice; and thus I perceived\nit, just when he was come over against the mouth of the burning pit,\none of the wicked ones got behind him, and stept up softly to him, and\nwhisperingly suggested many grievous blasphemies to him, which he\nverily thought had proceeded from his own mind.\u2019\u2014Pilgrim\u2019s\nProgress.\u2014Ed.\n\n28. \u2018Under her apron,\u2019 was altered in subsequent editions to \u2018in her\narms.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n29. \u2018Poor fool\u2019; altered, in later editions, to \u2018poor soul.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n30. John Gifford, Bunyan\u2019s pastor, was a Kentish man, and had been a\nmajor in the King\u2019s army, a roistering cavalier. For some crimes, he,\nwith eleven others, was condemned to be hung, but made his escape to\nLondon, and thence to Bedford, where, being unknown, he practiced\nphysic. Addicted to swearing, drinking, and gambling, he, in distress\nat a serious loss, vowed repentance; he became greatly distressed under\nconviction of sin; at length his mind was enlightened, the Holy Spirit\nled him to forgiveness by the atonement of Christ, and his heart was\nfilled with a hitherto unknown source of blessedness. This he imparted\nto others, and at length, in 1650, formed a church, with which the\nsoul-harassed pilgrim Bunyan cast in his lot as a member in 1653. There\nappears to have been a strong mutual affection between him and his\npastor. In 1658, Mr. Gifford published a preface to Bunyan\u2019s \u2018Few Sighs\nfrom Hell,\u2019 in which he speaks of him with the warmest affection, as\none \u2018that I verily believe God hath counted faithful, and put him into\nthe ministry\u2014one that hath acquaintance with God, and taught by his\nSpirit, and hath been used to do souls good. Divers have felt the power\nof the word delivered by him, and I doubt not but that many more may,\nif God continue him in his work.\u2019 Judging from Gifford\u2019s preface, he\nmust have been an excellent teacher to train Bunyan for his important\nlabours as a Christian minister. He uses the same fervid striking\nlanguage. Thus, on the value of the soul: \u2018Consider what an ill bargain\nthou will make to sell thy precious soul for a short continuance in sin\nand pleasure. If that man drives an ill trade, who to gain the whole\nworld should lose his own soul, then certainly thou art far worse that\nsells thy soul for a very trifle. Oh, \u2019tis pity that so precious a\nthing should be parted withal to be made a prey for the devouring lion,\nfor that which is worse than nothing. If they were branded for\ndesperate wretches that caused their children to pass through the fire\nto Moloch, surely thou much more that gives thy soul to devouring\nflames. What meanest thou, O man! to truck+ with the devil?\u2019\u2014See Sighs,\n1st Edition, and Brooks\u2019 Puritans.\u2014Ed.\n\n+ \u2018To truck\u2019; to barter or exchange.\n\n31. That persons called Quakers held these heresies, there can be no\ndoubt; but they were never held by that respectable and useful body of\nChristians, the Society of Friends, is equally clear. Barclay, in his\nTheses, 1675, says of the Scriptures:\u2014\u2018They are the doctrine of Christ,\nheld forth in precious declarations, spoken and written by the movings\nof God\u2019s Spirit.\u2019 He goes on to say, that the same Spirit can alone\nguide man into these sacred truths. In all important doctrines, the\ndifference between the Quakers and evangelical professors is in terms\nand not in things. Their distinguishing difference relates to the work\nof the ministry.\u2014Ed.\n\n32. How natural is it for man to build up vain hopes of long life!\nBunyan\u2019s vigorous constitution, had he enjoyed the free air of liberty,\nmight have prolonged his pilgrimage to extreme old age. But his long\nimprisonment shortened his valuable life: it almost amounted to legal\nmurder.\u2014Ed.\n\n33. Bunyan, in his treatise on \u2018Jesus Christ the Advocate,\u2019 admirably\nshows the analogy between the year of jubilee and the Christian\u2019s\nreversion to his inheritance, although deprived for a time of the\ncomfort of it during his pilgrimage, by reason of sin.\u2014Ed.\n\n34. He is a restless, powerful, and malicious enemy; ever striving to\ndrive the sinner to desperation. Let the tempted look to Jesus the\nserpent-bruiser to shield him, so that the fiery darts of the wicked\none may be quenched.\u2014Mason.\n\n35. Printed \u2018did hear\u2019 in first edition.\u2014Ed.\n\n36. Altered to \u2018indeed\u2019 in later editions.\u2014Ed.\n\n37. \u2018Racked or broken upon the wheel,\u2019 was a horrid mode of torturing a\ncriminal to death, formerly used in France. The sufferer was stretched\nand made fast upon a large wheel, when the executioner, with a heavy\niron bar, proceeded to break every bone in his body; beginning with the\ntoes and fingers, and proceeding to crush those bones that the least\naffected life, and ending by crushing the skull into the brains. How\npiercing must have been the convictions of sin upon Bunyan\u2019s soul, to\nhave led him to such a simile!\u2014Ed.\n\n38. \u2018A Relation of the Fearful Estate of Francis Spira.\u2019\n\n   \u2018Here see a soul that\u2019s all despair; a man\n    All hell; a spirit all wounds.\n    Reader, would\u2019st see what may you never feel,\n    Despair, racks, torments, whips of burning steel?\n    Behold this man, this furnace, in whose heart,\n    Sin hath created hell.\u2019\n\nFrom the address to the reader, in a copy of this awful narrative in\npossession of the Editor. Spira was filled with remorse and despair for\nhaving been induced, by improper motives, to become a papist.\u2014Ed.\n\n39. No Christian minister ever dwelt more richly on the \u2018Saint\u2019s\nKnowledge of Christ\u2019s Love\u2019 than Bunyan. See vol. ii. p. 1. It was the\nresult of this soul-harrowing experience. He there shows its heights\nexceeding the highest heavens, depths below the deepest hell, lengths\nand breadths beyond comprehension. That treatise ought to be read and\ncherished by every trembling believer.\u2014Ed.\n\n40. Alter, in later editions, to \u2018flying fits.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n41. Internal conflicts, dreams, or visions ought not to be the source\nof peace or of bitterness to the soul. If they drive us to Christ, we\nmay hope that they are from heaven for our relief; but if their\ntendency is to despair, by undervaluing the blood of atonement, or to\nlasciviousness, they are from Satan. Our real dependence must be upon\n\u2018a more sure word of prophecy\u2019: if we are well-grounded in the\npromises, it will save us from many harassing doubts and fears which\narise from a reliance upon our feelings.\u2014Ed.\n\n42. That a poor penitent should perish at the feet of Jesus is an utter\nimpossibility. God, when manifest in the flesh, decreed, that\n\u2018Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.\u2019 \u2018I will give\nhim rest.\u2019 His Word must stand fast for ever.\u2014Ed.\n\n43. How soul-rending a thought! but it can only be the case with those\nwho continue to their death despising the Saviour. Those who love him\nare kept by almighty power, everlasting love, and irresistible\ngrace.\u2014Ed.\n\n44. Happy would it be for tempted souls, in their distress, to look\nsimply to the declarations and promises of God in the Word; we there\nfind salvation completed by Christ. Our duty is to look in faith and\nprayer to the Spirit of God for the application and comfort of\nit.\u2014Mason.\n\n45. However humbling, this is a truth not to be disputed. The wisest\nphilosopher and most illiterate peasant are upon a level, fallen from\nGod. None will be excluded who come to Christ, whose gracious\ninvitation is general, \u2018Whosoever will, let him take the water of life\nfreely\u2019 (Rev 22:17).\u2014Mason.\n\n46. This is the proper source of comfort\u2014the records of infallible\ntruth. There is found mercy for the miserable, redemption for the\ncaptive, salvation for the lost, heaven for the hell-deserving\nsinner.\u2014Mason.\n\n47. Though we may wait long for mercy, yet the hand of faith never\nknocked in vain at the door of heaven. Mercy is as surely ours as if we\nhad it, if it be given us in faith and patience to wait for it.\u2014Mason.\n\n48. To sin against light and knowledge, received in and by the gospel,\nis a very heinous aggravation of sin. The condition of persons simply\nignorant is not so sad by far, as theirs who have been enlightened and\nyet afterwards apostatized. Let the formalist and lukewarm professors\nread this and tremble.\u2014Mason.\n\n49. The Holy Spirit is the candle of the Lord, by whose light the\nawakened conscience is brought to see something of the mystery of\niniquity lurking in the heart. He first convinces of sin,\nrighteousness, and judgment; and then points to Jesus as the only\nsecurity: \u2018Behold the Lamb of God.\u2019\u2014Mason.\n\n50. This is very beautifully expressed; nothing can be more descriptive\nof a poor pilgrim who has been toiling through the valley of the shadow\nof death, and upon whose soul the day-spring from on high has\narisen.\u2014Ed.\n\n51. \u2018Cracked groats and fourpence-halfpennies.\u2019 The humility of our\nauthor is here most unobtrusively apparent. He had some treasure in his\n\u2018earthen vessel\u2019; but, in comparison with his store in Christ, it was\nlike a few cracked groats by the side of massive pure gold. What he\nmeant by \u2018fourpence-halfpennies\u2019 somewhat puzzled me, there never\nhaving been any piece of English money coined of that value. I found\nthat a proclamation was issued shortly before Mr. Bunyan\u2019s time (April\n8, 1603), to save the people from being deceived with the silver harp\nmoney of Ireland, purporting to be twelve and sixpenny pieces. It fixed\nthe value of the Irish twelvepence to be ninepence English; so that the\nIrish sixpence was to pass current for fourpence-halfpenny in England.\nThat accomplished antiquary, Mr. Hawkins, the curator of the coins in\nthe British Museum, shewed me this Irish silver money; and agreed with\nme in believing that Bunyan alludes to these Irish sixpences, placing\nthem in company with cracked groats, depreciated in value. Mr. Hawkins\nwas not aware that they had been in common circulation in England.\u2014Ed.\n\n52. \u2018Common or public,\u2019 belonging equally to many. Christ is the\nfederal or covenant head of his church, each member claiming an equal\nor common right to all his merits as a Saviour, Mediator, and\nAdvocate.\u2014Ed.\n\n53. This retort, or rebuke, is inserted twice in the first edition,\nprobably a typographical error.\u2014Ed.\n\n54. See note on No. 152. The feelings of Bunyan must have been\nexceedingly pungent.\u2014Ed.\n\n55. This is a view of the power given to the apostles to forgive or\nretain sins worthy of our serious consideration. That mysterious power,\nunder the pretence of possessing which merchandise is made of souls, if\nit was not limited to the apostles personally, was intended to be used\nby all those whom God sends to preach the gospel; an authority to\nproclaim salvation or condemnation to those who receive or reject the\nSaviour. Bunyan considers it a similar power to that given to the\ngovernors of the city of refuge; to admit the terror-stricken soul that\n\u2018shall declare his cause\u2019\u2014or confess his guilt\u2014into the city, there to\nabide the judgment upon him, as in Christ the Refuge. This is very\ndifferent to turning God out of his judgment-seat; as is the case when\na poor worm says to his fellow-worm, \u2018I absolve thee from all thy\nsins.\u2019 See the visitation of the sick, in the Book of Common\nPrayer.\u2014Ed.\n\n56. The mode of admitting members into the church, among the Baptists,\nappears to have been the same in Bunyan\u2019s days as it is now practiced.\nIt is, first to be introduced to the minister, who endeavours to\nascertain whether there is an earnest desire to flee from the wrath to\ncome, sincere repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If so, he\nmentions it to the church; and visitors are appointed, to encourage the\nyoung convert, and to scrutinize into moral character. If they are\nsatisfied, he is invited to attend a private church meeting; and if the\nmembers have a good hope that he is a decided believer in Jesus, they\nreceive him into their fellowship; and if he requests it, he is\npublicly baptized in water, and communicates with the church at the\nLord\u2019s table. This appears to have been the mode in which Bunyan was\nadmitted into the church at Bedford. Most of the Baptist churches now\nagree with Bunyan, that the baptism of the Holy Ghost, or inward\nspiritual regeneration, is, alone, the essential pre-requisite to the\nLord\u2019s table; and they leave members to their own conclusions as to the\nvalidity of their having been sprinkled in infancy, or the necessity of\nimmersion in water upon a profession of faith.\u2014Ed.\n\n57. Many will be surprised that Bunyan, who was so ready a writer,\nshould be unable to tell what he saw and felt when in these holy\nenjoyments; but all who have had similar feelings will unite with him\nin saying, they are inexpressible, great, and full of glory.\u2014Ed.\n\n58. This is a very correct view of the excellent mode in which\ndissenting ministers are generally called to their important work.\nFirst, their gifts in prayer and conversation upon Divine things, and\naptness in illustrating and confirming what they advance from the\nScriptures, is noticed; and, secondly, they are encouraged to pray with\nand address the poor children in a Sunday school. If they manifest an\naptness to teach, they are, thirdly, invited to give an exhortation to\nthe church privately; and then, fourthly, they are encouraged to pray\nand preach among the poor in country villages and in work-houses. The\nGod who gave the wish and the talent, soon opens a way to still more\npublic usefulness. In most cases, they enter upon a course of study, to\nfit them for their momentous labours; but many of our most valuable\nministers have, like Bunyan, relied entirely upon their prayerful\ninvestigation of the Scriptures. his college was a dungeon, his library\nthe Bible; and he came forth with gigantic power to grapple with the\nprince of darkness. No human learning could have so fitted him for this\nterrible and mysterious warfare.\u2014Ed.\n\n59. \u2018With great sense,\u2019 means with great feeling, arising from his own\nacute experience.\u2014Ed.\n\n60. In the first edition Bunyan says, \u2018I have lain as long,\u2019 (five\nyears). This was in 1666.\u2014Ed.\n\n61. When God sends forth a zealous ambassador to publish the glad\ntidings of salvation to perishing sinners, he will be sure to meet with\nthe fiercest opposition from proud pharisaical professors: so it was\nfrom the beginning, and will be to the end of time; but the Lord will\nwork, and none shall hinder. Experimental preaching will always be\noffensive to the carnal and profane.\u2014Mason.\n\n62. It is impossible to identify the sect to which Bunyan belonged by\nreading his works. He rises above all sectarian bias in his earnest\nefforts to win souls to Christ, and to keep them in a heavenly frame of\nmine.\u2014Ed.\n\n63. \u2018Other men\u2019s lines,\u2019 other men\u2019s compositions. Bunyan went himself\nto the fountain head of Divine truth, and was not taught by the wisdom\nof his fellow-men in the things that pertained to salvation. He spoke\nas he felt; and, while he copied no sentence from others, no man that\never wrote has been so copied from by others. Application was once made\nto the Editor, to publish an admirable sermon which had been taken in\nshort hand from the lips of a D.D.; when, to the surprise of the\napplicant, he was shown the whole sermon in Bunyan\u2019s Heavenly\nFootman.\u2014Ed.\n\n64. Altered, in later editions, to \u2018searching.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n65. Gifts are no evidence of God\u2019s favour; they are like the gold which\nadorned the temple, but grace, the saving grace of the Spirit, is like\nthe altar which sanctifies the gold.\u2014Mason..\n\n66. In this paragraph is displayed that modest genuine humility which\nshone so conspicuously in Bunyan. He possessed that popular natural\neloquence, by which he could deliver himself like an angel; but when\npride began to rise, he knocked it on the head with that severe maul,\n\u2018Is it so much to be a fiddle\u2019 that Satan once so played upon?\u2014Ed.\n\n67. One circumstance from which these vile slanders were raised, is\nnarrated in the thrilling narrative of God\u2019s gracious dealings with\nMrs. Agnes Beaumont. She was waiting in hopes of attending a meeting,\nwhen \u2018at last, quite unexpectedly, came Mr. Bunyan. The sight of him\ncaused a mixture of joy and grief. I was glad to see him, but afraid he\nwould not be willing to take me up behind him, and how to ask him I\nknew not. At length my brother did; but Mr. Bunyan answered, with some\ndegree of roughness, \u201cNo, I will not carry her.\u201d These words were\ncutting indeed, and made me weep bitterly. My brother, perceiving my\ntrouble, said, \u201cSir, if you do not carry her, you will break her\nheart\u201d; but he made the same reply, adding, \u201cYour father would be\ngrievously angry if I should.\u201d \u201cI will venture that,\u201d said I. And thus,\nwith much entreaty, he was prevailed on; and O how glad was I to think\nI was going. Soon after we set out, my father came to my brother\u2019s, and\nasked his men whom his daughter rode behind? They said, Mr. Bunyan.\nUpon hearing this, his anger was greatly inflamed; he ran down the\nclose, thinking to overtake me, and pull me off the horse, but we were\ngone out of his reach.\n\n\u2018I had not ridden far, before my heart began to be lifted up with pride\nat the thoughts of riding behind this servant of the Lord; and was\npleased if any looked after us, as we rode along. Indeed, I thought\nmyself very happy that day: first, that it pleased God to make way for\nmy going; and then, that I should have the honour to ride behind Mr.\nBunyan, who would sometimes be speaking to me about the things of God.\nMy pride soon had a fall; for, in entering Gam\u2019gay, we were met by one\nMr. Lane, a clergyman who lived at Bedford, and knew us both, and spoke\nto us, but looked very hard at us as we rode along; and soon after\nraised a vile scandal upon us, though, blessed be God, it was false.\u2019\n\nNo Christian should be without that deeply interesting volume of\nChristian experience, James\u2019 Abstract of the Gracious Dealings of God\nwith several Eminent Christians. The persecutions that Mrs. Beaumont\nwent through were like a dreadful tempest, yet was she joyfully\ndelivered out of them all.\u2014Ed.\n\n68. \u2018All is a case,\u2019 all the same. A case\u2014that which falls, comes, or\nhappens; an event. See Blackie\u2019s Imperial Dictionary.\u2014Ed.\n\n69. \u2018Baulks,\u2019 missing, omitting, leaving untouched. \u2018This was looked\nfor at your hand, and this was baulked; the double gill of this\nopportunity you let time wash off, and you are now sailed into the\nnorth of my lady\u2019s opinion; where you will hang like an icicle on a\nDutchman\u2019s beard.\u2019\u2014Twelfth Night, Act iii. Scene 2; and Imperial\nDictionary.\u2014Ed.\n\n70. \u2018Above five year and a quarter\u2019 are the words in the first edition,\n1666. His imprisonment commenced November 1660; the order for his\nrelease bears date September 13, 1672, but it was some months before he\nwas discharged.\u2014Ed.\n\n71. Angel visits may be expected when Antichrist persecutes the\nChristian to bonds and imprisonment. An angel released Peter from\nprison; angels revealed to John, when exiled to Patmos, the wonders of\nhis book of Revelation. The Lord of angels, the angel of the covenant,\ncommunes with Bunyan in his dungeon, and converts it into a Bethel to\nhis soul; and this, for refusing obedience to the laws of his country,\nbecause those laws violated God\u2019s prerogative, and impiously dared to\nassume authority which belongs exclusively to the Almighty. They remain\nto this day a disgrace to our statutes, but are never enforced.\u2014Ed.\n\n72. Bunyan did well to prepare for the worst. He must have been\nfamiliar with the horrid cruelties practiced upon Dr. Leighton by that\nfiend in human shape, Archbishop Laud. The pious and learned doctor was\ncaught in Bedfordshire; and the story of his unparalleled sufferings\nstrengthened the Roundheads to deeds of valour, in putting an end to\nsuch diabolical cruelties. The spirit of the charges against him were\nhis saying that no king may make laws in the house of God; and that the\nbishops were ravens and magpies that prey upon the state. His\nsufferings are narrated in Brooke\u2019s Puritans, vol. ii. p. 478.\u2014Ed.\n\n73. \u2018Tuition\u2019 was altered to \u2018care\u2019 in later editions.\u2014Ed.\n\n74. i.e., My profession\u2014the soul, shrinking from pain, moving him one\nway, and his profession another.\u2014Ed.\n\n75. \u2018To scrabble,\u2019 to go on all fours\u2014\u2018to move along on the hands and\nknees, by clawing with the hands.\u2019\u2014Blackie\u2019s Imperial Dictionary.\u2014Ed.\n\n76. This is the language of a heaven-born soul, which sees such beauty\nand excellency in Christ, that it would not part with him for a\nthousand worlds; if there were no heaven hereafter, his delight in the\nways of God renders his service preferable to all the wealth, grandeur,\nand vain pleasures of the ungodly.\u2014Mason.\n\n\n\n\nA RELATON OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN, MINISTER OF THE\nGOSPEL AT BEDFORD, IN NOVEMBER 1660. HIS EXAMINATION BEFORE THE\nJUSTICES; HIS CONFERENCE WITH THE CLERK OF THE PEACE; WHAT PASSED\nBETWEEN THE JUDGES AND HIS WIFE WHEN SHE PRESENTED A PETITION FOR HIS\nDELIVERANCE, ETC.\n\nWRITTEN BY HIMSELF, AND NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.\n\n\n\u201cBlessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness\u2019 sake: for\ntheirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile\nyou, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you\nfalsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your\nreward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before\nyou.\u201d Matthew 5:10-12\n\nLondon: Printed for James Buckland, at the Buck, in Paternoster Row,\nMDCCLXV.\n\nThe relation of my imprisonment in the month of November 1660.\n\nWhen, by the good hand of my God, I had for five or six years together,\nwithout any interruption, freely preached the blessed gospel of our\nLord Jesus Christ; and had also, through his blessed grace, some\nencouragement by his blessing thereupon; the devil, that old enemy of\nman\u2019s salvation, took his opportunity to inflame the hearts of his\nvassals against me, insomuch that at the last I was laid out for by the\nwarrant of a justice, and was taken and committed to prison. The\nrelation thereof is as followeth:\n\nUpon the 12th of this instant November 1660, I was desired by some of\nthe friends in the country to come to teach at Samsell, by Harlington,\nin Bedfordshire. To whom I made a promise, if the Lord permitted,\nto be with them on the time aforesaid. The justice hearing thereof,\nwhose name is Mr. Francis Wingate, forthwith issued out his warrant\nto take me, and bring me before him, and in the meantime to keep a\nvery strong watch about the house where the meeting should be kept,\nas if we that were to meet together in that place did intend to do\nsome fearful business, to the destruction of the country; when, alas,\nthe constable, when he came in, found us only with our Bibles in our\nhands, ready to speak and hear the Word of God; for we were just about\nto begin our exercise. Nay, we had begun in prayer for the blessing\nof God upon our opportunity, intending to have preached the Word of\nthe Lord unto them there present;[1] but the constable coming in\nprevented us; so that I was taken and forced to depart the room. But\nhad I been minded to have played the coward, I could have escaped,\nand kept out of his hands. For when I was come to my friend\u2019s house,\nthere was whispering that that day I should be taken, for there was a\nwarrant out to take me; which when my friend heard, he being somewhat\ntimorous, questioned whether we had best have our meeting or not; and\nwhether it might not be better for me to depart, lest they should take\nme and have me before the justice, and after that send me to prison,\nfor he knew better than I what spirit they were of, living by them;\nto whom I said, No, by no means, I will not stir, neither will I have\nthe meeting dismissed for this. Come, be of good cheer, let us not be\ndaunted; our cause is good, we need not be ashamed of it; to preach\nGod\u2019s Word is so good a work, that we shall be well rewarded, if we\nsuffer for that; or to this purpose; but as for my friend, I think\nhe was more afraid of [for] me, than of himself. After this I walked\ninto the close, where, I somewhat seriously considering the matter,\nthis came into my mind, That I had showed myself hearty and courageous\nin my preaching, and had, blessed be grace, made it my business to\nencourage others; therefore, thought I, if I should now run, and make\nan escape, it will be of a very ill savour in the country. For what\nwill my weak and newly converted brethren think of it, but that I was\nnot so strong in deed as I was in word? Also I feared that if I should\nrun, now there was a warrant out for me, I might by so doing make\nthem afraid to stand, when great words only should be spoken to them.\nBesides, I thought, that seeing God of his mercy should choose me to\ngo upon the forlorn hope in this country; that is, to be the first,\nthat should be opposed, for the gospel; if I should fly, it might be a\ndiscouragement to the whole body that might follow after. And further,\nI thought the world thereby would take occasion at my cowardliness,\nto have blasphemed the gospel, and to have had some ground to suspect\nworse of me and my profession than I deserved. These things with others\nconsidered by me, I came in again to the house, with a full resolution\nto keep the meeting, and not to go away, though I could have been gone\nabout an hour before the officer apprehended me; but I would not; for\nI was resolved to see the utmost of what they could say or do unto\nme. For blessed be the Lord, I knew of no evil that I had said or\ndone. And so, as aforesaid, I began the meeting. But being prevented\nby the constable\u2019s coming in with his warrant to take me, I could not\nproceed. But before I went away, I spake some few words of counsel\nand encouragement to the people, declaring to them, that they saw we\nwere prevented of our opportunity to speak and hear the Word of God,\nand were like to suffer for the same: desiring them that they should\nnot be discouraged, for it was a mercy to suffer upon so good account.\nFor we might have been apprehended as thieves or murderers, or for\nother wickedness; but blessed be God it was not so, but we suffer as\nChristians for well doing: and we had better be the persecuted than the\npersecutors, &c. But the constable and the justice\u2019s man waiting on\nus, would not be at quiet till they had me away, and that we departed\nthe house. But because the justice was not at home that day, there was\na friend of mine engaged for me to bring me to the constable on the\nmorrow morning. Otherwise the constable must have charged a watch with\nme, or have secured me some other ways, my crime was so great. So on\nthe next morning we went to the constable, and so the justice.[2] He\nasked the constable what we did, where we were met together, and what\nwe had with us? I trow, he meant whether we had armour or not; but when\nthe constable told him, that there were only met a few of us together\nto preach and hear the Word, and no sign of anything else, he could not\nwell tell what to say: yet because he had sent for me, he did adventure\nto put out a few proposals to me, which were to this effect, namely,\nWhat I did there? and why I did not content myself with following my\ncalling? for it was against the law, that such as I should be admitted\nto do as I did.\n\nJohn Bunyan. To which I answered, that the intent of my coming thither,\nand to other places, was to instruct, and counsel people to forsake\ntheir sins, and close in with Christ, lest they did miserably perish;\nand that I could do both these without confusion, to wit, follow my\ncalling, and preach the Word also. At which words, he was in a\nchafe,[3] as it appeared; for he said that he would break the neck of\nour meetings.\n\nBun. I said, it may be so. Then he wished me to get sureties to be\nbound for me, or else he would send me to the jail.\n\nMy sureties being ready, I called them in, and when the bond for my\nappearance was made, he told them, that they were bound to keep me from\npreaching; and that if I did preach, their bonds would be forfeited. To\nwhich I answered, that then I should break them; for I should not leave\nspeaking the Word of God: even to counsel, comfort, exhort, and teach\nthe people among whom I came; and I thought this to be a work that had\nno hurt in it: but was rather worthy of commendation than blame.\n\nWingate. Whereat he told me, that if they would not be so bound, my\nmittimus must be made, and I sent to the jail, there to lie to the\nquarter-sessions.\n\nNow while my mittimus was making, the justice was withdrawn; and in\ncomes an old enemy to the truth, Dr. Lindale, who, when he was come in,\nfell to taunting at me with many reviling terms.\n\nBun. To whom I answered, that I did not come thither to talk with him,\nbut with the justice. Whereat he supposed that I had nothing to say for\nmyself, and triumphed as if he had got the victory; charging and\ncondemning me for meddling with that for which I could show no warrant;\nand asked me, if I had taken the oaths? and if I had not, it was pity\nbut that I should be sent to prison, &c.\n\nI told him, that if I was minded, I could answer to any sober question\nthat he should put to me. He then urged me again, how I could prove it\nlawful for me to preach, with a great deal of confidence of the\nvictory.\n\nBut at last, because he should see that I could answer him if I listed,\nI cited to him that verse in Peter, which saith, \u201cAs every man hath\nreceived the gift, even so let him minister the same,\u201d &c.\n\nLind. Aye, saith he, to whom is that spoken?\n\nBun. To whom, said I, why, to every man that hath received a gift from\nGod. Mark, saith the apostle, \u201cAs every man that hath received a gift\nfrom God,\u201d &c. And again, \u201cYou may all prophesy one by one.\u201d Whereat\nthe man was a little stopt, and went a softlier pace: but not being\nwilling to lose the day, he began again, and said:\n\nLind. Indeed I do remember that I have read of one Alexander a\ncoppersmith, who did much oppose and disturb the apostles;\u2014aiming, it\nis like, at me, because I was a tinker.\n\nBun. To which I answered, that I also had read of very many priests and\nPharisees that had their hands in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nLind. Aye, saith he, and you are one of those scribes and Pharisees:\nfor you, with a pretence, make long prayers to devour widows\u2019 houses.\n\nBun. I answered, that if he had got no more by preaching and praying\nthan I had done, he would not be so rich as he now was. But that\nscripture coming into my mind, \u201cAnswer not a fool according to his\nfolly,\u201d I was as sparing of my speech as I could, without prejudice to\ntruth.\n\nNow by this time my mittimus was made, and I committed to the constable\nto be sent to the jail in Bedford, &c.\n\nBut as I was going, two of my brethren met with me by the way, and\ndesired the constable to stay, supposing that they should prevail with\nthe justice, through the favour of a pretended friend, to let me go at\nliberty. So we did stay, while they went to the justice; and after much\ndiscourse with him, it came to this; that if I would come to him again,\nand say some certain words to him, I should be released. Which when\nthey told me, I said if the words were such that might be said with a\ngood conscience, I should, or, else, I should not. So through their\nimportunity I went back again, but not believing that I should be\ndelivered: for I feared their spirit was too full of opposition to the\ntruth to let me go, unless I should in something or other dishonour my\nGod, and wound my conscience. Wherefore, as I went, I lifted up my\nheart to God for light and strength to be kept, that I might not do\nanything that might either dishonour him, or wrong my own soul, or be a\ngrief or discouragement to any that was inclining after the Lord Jseus\nChrist.\n\nWell, when I came to the justice again, there was Mr. Foster of\nBedford, who coming out of another room, and seeing of me by the light\nof the candle, for it was dark night when I came thither, he said unto\nme, Who is there? John Bunyan? with such seeming affection, as if he\nwould have leaped in my neck and kissed[4] me, which made me somewhat\nwonder, that such a man as he, with whom I had so little acquaintance,\nand, besides, that had ever been a close opposer of the ways of God,\nshould carry himself so full of love to me; but, afterwards, when I saw\nwhat he did, it caused me to remember those sayings, \u201cTheir tongues are\nsmoother than oil, but their words are drawn swords.\u201d And again,\n\u201cBeware of men,\u201d &c. when I had answered him, that blessed be God I was\nwell, he said, What is the occasion of your being here? or to that\npurpose. To whom I answered, that I was at a meeting of people a little\nway off, intending to speak a word of exhortation to them; but the\njustice hearing thereof, said I, was pleased to send his warrant to\nfetch me before him, &c.\n\nFoster. So, said he, I understand; but well, if you will promise to\ncall the people no more together, you shall have your liberty to go\nhome; for my brother is very loath to send you to prison, if you will\nbe but ruled.\n\nBun. Sir, said I, pray what do you mean by calling the people together?\nMy business is not anything among them, when they are come together,\nbut to exhort them to look after the salvation of their souls, that\nthey may be saved, &c.\n\nFost. Saith he, We must not enter into explication or dispute now; but\nif you will say you will call the people no more together, you may have\nyour liberty; if not, you must be sent away to prison.\n\nBun. Sir, said I, I shall not force or compel any man to hear me; but\nyet, if I come into any place where there is a people met together, I\nshould, according to the best of my skill and wisdom, exhort and\ncounsel them to seek out after the Lord Jesus Christ, for the salvation\nof their souls.\n\nFost. He said, that was none of my work; I must follow my calling; and\nif I would but leave off preaching, and follow my calling, I should\nhave the justice\u2019s favour, and be acquitted presently.\n\nBun. To whom I said, that I could follow my calling and that too,\nnamely, preaching the Word; and I did look upon it as my duty to do\nthem both, as I had an opportunity.\n\nFost. He said, to have any such meetings was against the law; and,\ntherefore, he would have me leave off, and say I would call the people\nno more together.\n\nBun. To whom I said, that I durst not make any further promise; for my\nconscience would not suffer me to do it. And again, I did look upon it\nas my duty to do as much good as I could, not only in my trade, but\nalso in communicating to all people, wheresoever I came, the best\nknowledge I had in the Word.\n\nFost. He told me that I was the nearest the Papists of any, and that he\nwould convince me of immediately.\n\nBun. I asked him wherein?\n\nFost. He said, in that we understood the Scriptures literally.\n\nBun. I told him that those that were to be understood literally, we\nunderstood them so; but for those that were to be understood otherwise,\nwe endeavoured so to understand them.\n\nFost. He said, which of the Scriptures do you understand literally?\n\nBun. I said this, \u201che that believeth shall be saved.\u201d This was to be\nunderstood just as it is spoken; that whosoever believeth in Christ\nshall, according to the plain and simple words of the text, be saved.\n\nFost. He said that I was ignorant, and did not understand the\nScriptures; for how, said he, can you understand them when you know not\nthe original Greek? &c.\n\nBun. To whom I said, that if that was his opinion, that none could\nunderstand the Scriptures but those that had the original Greek, &c.,\nthen but a very few of the poorest sort should be saved; this is harsh;\nyet the Scripture saith, \u201cThat God hides these things from the wise and\nprudent,\u201d that is, from the learned of the world, \u201cand reveals them to\nbabes and sucklings.\u201d\n\nFost. He said there were none that heard me but a company of foolish\npeople.\n\nBun. I told him that there were the wise as well as the foolish that do\nhear me; and again, those that are most commonly counted foolish by the\nworld are the wisest before God; also, that God had rejected the wise,\nand mighty, and noble, and chosen the foolish and the base.\n\nFost. He told me that I made people neglect their calling; and that God\nhad commanded people to work six days, and serve him on the seventh.\n\nBun. I told him that it was the duty of people, both rich and poor, to\nlook out for their souls on those days as well as for their bodies; and\nthat God would have his people \u201cexhort one another daily, while it is\ncalled to-day.\u201d\n\nFost. He said again that there was none but a company of poor, simple,\nignorant people that came to hear me.\n\nBun. I told him that the foolish and ignorant had most need of teaching\nand information; and, therefore, it would be profitable for me to go on\nin that work.\n\nFost. Well, said he, to conclude, but will you promise that you will\nnot call the people together any more? and then you may be released and\ngo home.\n\nBun. I told him that I durst say no more than I had said; for I durst\nnot leave off that work which God had called me to.\n\nSo he withdrew from me, and then came several of the justice\u2019s servants\nto me, and told me that I stood so much upon a nicety. Their master,\nthey said, was willing to let me go; and if I would but say I would\ncall the people no more together, I might have my liberty, &c.\n\nBun. I told them there were more ways than one in which a man might be\nsaid to call the people together. As, for instance, if a man get upon\nthe market place, and there read a book, or the like, though he do not\nsay to the people, Sirs, come hither and hear; yet if they come to him\nbecause he reads, he, by his very reading, may be said to call them\ntogether; because they would not have been there to hear if he had not\nbeen there to read. And seeing this might be termed a calling the\npeople together, I durst not say I would not call them together; for\nthen, by the same argument, my preaching might be said to call them\ntogether.\n\nWing. and Fost. Then came the justice and Mr. Foster to me again; we\nhad a little more discourse about preaching, but because the method of\nit is out of my mind, I pass it; and when they saw that I was at a\npoint, and would not be moved nor persuaded,\n\nMr. Foster, the man that did at the first express so much love to me,\ntold the justice that then he must send me away to prison. And that he\nwould do well, also, if he would present all those that were the cause\nof my coming among them to meetings. Thus we parted.\n\nAnd, verily, as I was going forth of the doors, I had much ado to\nforbear saying to them that I carried the peace of God along with me;\nbut I held my peace, and, blessed be the Lord, went away to prison,\nwith God\u2019s comfort in my poor soul.\n\nAfter I had lain in the jail five or six days, the brethren sought\nmeans, again, to get me out by bondsmen; for so ran my mittimus, that I\nshould lie there till I could find sureties. They went to a justice at\nElstow, one Mr. Crumpton, to desire him to take bond for my appearing\nat the quarter-sessions. At the first he told them he would; but\nafterwards he made a demur at the business, and desired first to see my\nmittimus, which run to this purpose: That I went about to several\nconventicles in this county, to the great disparagement of the\ngovernment of the church of England, &c. When he had seen it, he said\nthat there might be something more against me than was expressed in my\nmittimus; and that he was but a young man, and, therefore, he durst not\ndo it. This my jailer told me; whereat I was not at all daunted, but\nrather glad, and saw evidently that the Lord had heard me; for before I\nwent down to the justice, I begged of God that if I might do more good\nby being at liberty than in prison, that then I might be set at\nliberty; but if not, his will be done; for I was not altogether without\nhopes but that my imprisonment might be an awakening to the saints in\nthe country, therefore I could not tell well which to choose; only I,\nin that manner, did commit the thing to God. And verily, at my return,\nI did meet my God sweetly in the prison again, comforting of me and\nsatisfying of me that it was his will and mind that I should be\nthere.[5]\n\nWhen I came back again to prison, as I was musing at the slender answer\nof the justice, this word dropt in upon my heart with some life, \u201cFor\nhe knew that for envy they had delivered him.\u201d\n\nThus have I, in short, declared the manner and occasion of my being in\nprison; where I lie waiting the good will of God, to do with me as he\npleaseth; knowing that not one hair of my head can fall to the ground\nwithout the will of my Father which is in heaven. Let the rage and\nmalice of men be never so great, they can do no more, nor go no\nfurther, than God permits them; but when they have done their worst,\n\u201cWe know that all things work together for good to them that love God\u201d\n(Rom 8:28). Farewell.\n\nHere is the sum of my Examination before Justice Keelin, Justice\nChester, Justice Blundale, Justice Beecher, and Justice Snagg, &c.\n\nAfter I had lain in prison above seven weeks, the quarter-sessions was\nto be kept in Bedford, for the county thereof, unto which I was to be\nbrought; and when my jailer had set me before those justices, there was\na bill of indictment preferred against me. The extent thereof was as\nfolloweth: \u2018That John Bunyan, of the town of Bedford, labourer, being a\nperson of such and such conditions, he hath, since such a time,\ndevilishly and perniciously abstained from coming to church to hear\nDivine service, and is a common upholder of several unlawful meetings\nand conventicles, to the great disturbance and distraction of the good\nsubjects of this kingdom, contrary to the laws of our sovereign lord\nthe King,\u2019 &c.\n\nThe Clerk. When this was read, the clerk of the sessions said unto me,\nWhat say you to this?\n\nBun. I said, that as to the first part of it, I was a common frequenter\nof the church of God. And was also, by grace, a member with the people\nover whom Christ is the Head.\n\nKeelin. But, saith Justice Keelin, who was the judge in that court? Do\nyou come to church, you know what I mean; to the parish church, to hear\nDivine service?\n\nBun. I answered, No, I did not.\n\nKeel. He asked me why?\n\nBun. I said, Because I did not find it commanded in the Word of God.\n\nKeel. He said, We were commanded to pray.\n\nBun. I said, But not by the Common Prayer Book.\n\nKeel. He said, How then?\n\nBun. I said, With the Spirit. As the apostle saith, \u201cI will pray with\nthe Spirit, and\u2014with the understanding\u201d (1 Cor 14:15).\n\nKeel. He said, We might pray with the Spirit, and with the\nunderstanding, and with the Common Prayer Book also.\n\nBun. I said that the prayers in the Common Prayer Book were such as\nwere made by other men, and not by the motions of the Holy Ghost,\nwithin our hearts; and as I said, the apostle saith, he will pray with\nthe Spirit, and with the understanding; not with the Spirit and the\nCommon Prayer Book.\n\nAnother Justice. What do you count prayer? Do you think it is to say a\nfew words over before or among a people?\n\nBun. I said, No, not so; for men might have many elegant, or excellent\nwords, and yet not pray at all; but when a man prayeth, he doth,\nthrough a sense of those things which he wants, which sense is begotten\nby the Spirit, pour out his heart before God through Christ; though his\nwords be not so many and so excellent as others are.\n\nJustices. They said, That was true.\n\nBun. I said, This might be done without the Common Prayer Book.\n\nAnother. One of them said (I think it was Justice Blundale, or Justice\nSnagg), How should we know that you do not write out your prayers\nfirst, and then read them afterwards to the people? This he spake in a\nlaughing way.\n\nBun. I said, It is not our use, to take a pen and paper, and write a\nfew words thereon, and then go and read it over to a company of people.\n\nBut how should we know it, said he?\n\nBun. Sir, it is none of our custom, said I.\n\nKeel. But, said Justice Keelin, it is lawful to use Common Prayer, and\nsuch like forms: for Christ taught his disciples to pray, as John also\ntaught his disciples. And further, said he, cannot one man teach\nanother to pray? \u201cFaith comes by hearing\u201d; and one man may convince\nanother of sin, and therefore prayers made by men, and read over, are\ngood to teach, and help men to pray.\n\nWhile he was speaking these words, God brought that word into my mind,\nin the eighth of the Romans, at the 26th verse. I say, God brought it,\nfor I thought not on it before: but as he was speaking, it came so\nfresh into my mind, and was set so evidently before me, as if the\nscripture had said, Take me, take me; so when he had done speaking,\n\nBun. I said, Sir, the Scripture saith, that it is the Spirit that\nhelpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we\nought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with [sighs\nand] groanings which cannot be uttered. Mark, said I, it doth not say\nthe Common Prayer Book teacheth us how to pray, but the Spirit. And it\nis \u201cthe Spirit that helpeth our infirmities,\u201d saith the apostle; he\ndoth not say it is the Common Prayer Book.\n\nAnd as to the Lord\u2019s prayer, although it be an easy thing to say, \u201cOur\nFather,\u201d &c., with the mouth; yet there are very few that can, in the\nSpirit, say the two first words in that prayer; that is, that can call\nGod their Father, as knowing what it is to be born again, and a having\nexperience, that they are begotten of the Spirit of God; which if they\ndo not, all is but babbling, &c.[6]\n\nKeel. Justice Keelin said, that that was a truth.\n\nBun. And I say further, as to your saying that one man may convince\nanother of sin, and that faith comes by hearing, and that one man may\ntell another how he should pray, &c., I say men may tell each other of\ntheir sins, but it is the Spirit that must convince them.\n\nAnd though it be said that \u201cfaith comes by hearing,\u201d yet it is the\nSpirit that worketh faith in the heart through hearing, or else they\nare not profited by hearing (Heb 4:12).\n\nAnd that though one man may tell another how he should pray; yet, as I\nsaid before, he cannot pray, nor make his condition known to God,\nexcept the Spirit help. It is not the Common Prayer Book that can do\nthis. It is the Spirit that showeth us our sins, and the Spirit that\nshoweth us a Saviour (John 16:16); and the Spirit that stirreth up in\nour hearts desires to come to God, for such things as we stand in need\nof (Matt 11:27), even sighing out our souls unto him for them with\n\u201cgroans which cannot be uttered.\u201d With other words to the same purpose.\nAt this they were set.\n\nKeel. But, says Justice Keelin, what have you against the Common Prayer\nBook?\n\nBun. I said, Sir, if you will hear me, I shall lay down my reasons\nagainst it.\n\nKeel. He said, I should have liberty; but first, said he, let me give\nyou one caution; take heed of speaking irreverently of the Common\nPrayer Book; for if you do so, you will bring great damage upon\nyourself.\n\nBun. So I proceeded, and said, My first reason was, because it was not\ncommanded in the Word of God, and therefore I could not use it.\n\nAnother. One of them said, Where do you find it commanded in the\nScripture, that you should go to Elstow, or Bedford, and yet it is\nlawful to go to either of them, is it not?\n\nBun. I said, To go to Elstow, or Bedford, was a civil thing, and not\nmaterial, though not commanded, and yet God\u2019s Word allowed me to go\nabout my calling, and therefore if it lay there, then to go thither,\n&c. But to pray, was a great part of the Divine worship of God, and\ntherefore it ought to be done according to the rule of God\u2019s Word.\n\nAnother. One of them said, He will do harm; let him speak no further.\n\nKeel. Justice Keelin said, No, no, never fear him, we are better\nestablished than so; he can do no harm; we know the Common Prayer Book\nhath been ever since the apostles\u2019 time, and is lawful for it to be\nused in the church.\n\nBun. I said, Show me the place in the epistles where the Common Prayer\nBook is written, or one text of Scripture that commands me to read it,\nand I will use it. But yet, notwithstanding, said I, they that have a\nmind to use it, they have their liberty;[7] that is, I would not keep\nthem from it; but for our parts, we can pray to God without it. Blessed\nbe his name.\n\nWith that, one of them said, Who is your God? Beelzebub? Moreover, they\noften said that I was possessed with the spirit of delusion, and of the\ndevil. All which sayings I passed over; the Lord forgive them! And\nfurther, I said, blessed be the Lord for it, we are encouraged to meet\ntogether, and to pray, and exhort one another; for we have had the\ncomfortable presence of God among us. For ever blessed be his holy\nname!\n\nKeel. Justice Keelin called this pedlar\u2019s French, saying, that I must\nleave off my canting. The Lord open his eyes!\n\nBun. I said, that we ought to \u201cexhort one another daily, while it is\ncalled to-day,\u201d &c. (Heb 3:13).\n\nKeel. Justice Keelin said, that I ought not to preach; and asked me\nwhere I had my authority? with other such like words.\n\nBun. I said, that I would prove that it was lawful for me, and such as\nI am, to preach the Word of God.\n\nKeel. He said unto me, By what scripture?\n\nI said, By that in the first epistle of Peter, chapter 4, the 10th\nverse, and Acts 18 with other scriptures, which he would not suffer me\nto mention. But said, Hold; not so many, which is the first?\n\nBun. I said, this: \u201cAs every man hath received the gift, even so\nminister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold\ngrace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God,\u201d\n&c.\n\nKeel. He said, Let me a little open that scripture to you: \u2018As every\nman hath received the gift\u2019; that is, said he, as every one hath\nreceived a trade, so let him follow it. If any man have received a gift\nof tinkering, as thou hast done, let him follow his tinkering. And so\nother men their trades; and the divine his calling, &c.\n\nBun. Nay, Sir, said I, but it is most clear, that the apostle speaks\nhere of preaching the Word; if you do but compare both the verses\ntogether, the next verse explains this gift what it is, saying, \u2018If any\nman speak let him speak as the oracles of God.\u2019 So that it is plain,\nthat the Holy Ghost doth not so much in this place exhort to civil\ncallings, as to the exercising of those gifts that we have received\nfrom God. I would have gone on, but he would not give me leave.\n\nKeel. He said, We might do it in our families, but not otherwise.\n\nBun. I said, If it was lawful to do good to some, it was lawful to do\ngood to more. If it was a good duty to exhort our families, it is good\nto exhort others; but if they held it a sin to meet together to seek\nthe face of God, and exhort one another to follow Christ, I should sin\nstill; for so we should do.\n\nKeel. He said he was not so well versed in Scripture as to dispute, or\nwords to that purpose. And said, moreover, that they could not wait\nupon me any longer; but said to me, Then you confess the indictment, do\nyou not? Now, and not till now, I saw I was indicted.\n\nBun. I said, This I confess, we have had many meetings together, both\nto pray to God, and to exhort one another, and that we had the sweet\ncomforting presence of the Lord among us for our encouragement; blessed\nbe his name therefore. I confessed myself guilty no otherwise.\n\nKeel. Then, said he, hear your judgment. You must be had back again to\nprison, and there lie for three months following; and at three months\u2019\nend, if you do not submit to go to church to hear Divine service, and\nleave your preaching, you must be banished the realm: and if, after\nsuch a day as shall be appointed you to be gone, you shall be found in\nthis realm, &c., or be found to come over again without special license\nfrom the king, &c.,[8] you must stretch by the neck for it, I tell you\nplainly; and so bid my jailer have me away.\n\nBun. I told him, as to this matter, I was at a point with him; for if I\nwas out of prison to-day I would preach the gospel again to-morrow, by\nthe help of God.\n\nAnother. To which one made me some answer; but my jailer pulling me\naway to be gone, I could not tell what he said.\n\nThus I departed from them; and I can truly say, I bless the Lord Jesus\nChrist for it, that my heart was sweetly refreshed in the time of my\nexamination; and also afterwards, at my returning to the prison. So\nthat I found Christ\u2019s words more than bare trifles, where he saith, \u201cI\nwill give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not\nbe able to gainsay nor resist\u201d (Luke 21:15). And that his peace no man\ncan take from us.\n\nThus have I given you the substance of my examination. The Lord make\nthese profitable to all that shall read or hear them. Farewell.\n\nThe Substance of some Discourse had between the Clerk of the Peace and\nmyself, when he came to admonish me, according to the tenor of that Law\nby which I was in Prison.\n\nWhen I had lain in prison other twelve weeks, and now not knowing what\nthey intended to do with me, upon the 3rd of April 1661, comes Mr. Cobb\nunto me, as he told me, being sent by the justices to admonish me; and\ndemanded of me submittance to the Church of England, &c. The extent of\nour discourse was as followeth:\u2014\n\nCobb. When he was come into the house he sent for me out of my chamber;\nwho, when I was come unto him, he said, Neighbour Bunyan, how do you\ndo?\n\nBun. I thank you, Sir, said I, very well, blessed be the Lord.\n\nCobb. Saith he, I come to tell you that it is desired you would submit\nyourself to the laws of the land, or else at the next sessions it will\ngo worse with you, even to be sent away out of the nation, or else\nworse than that.\n\nBun. I said that I did desire to demean myself in the world, both as\nbecometh a man and a Christian.\n\nCobb. But, saith he, you must submit to the laws of the land, and leave\noff those meetings which you was wont to have; for the statute law is\ndirectly against it; and I am sent to you by the justices to tell you\nthat they do intend to prosecute the law against you if you submit not.\n\nBun. I said, Sir, I conceive that that law by which I am in prison at\nthis time doth not reach or condemn either me or the meetings which I\ndo frequent; that law was made against those that, being designed to do\nevil in their meetings, making the exercise of religion their pretence,\nto cover their wickedness. It doth not forbid the private meetings of\nthose that plainly and simply make it their only end to worship the\nLord, and to exhort one another to edification. My end in meeting with\nothers is simply to do as much good as I can, by exhortation and\ncounsel, according to that small measure of light which God hath given\nme, and not to disturb the peace of the nation.\n\nCobb. Every one will say the same, said he; you see the late\ninsurrection at London, under what glorious pretences they went; and\nyet, indeed, they intended no less than the ruin of the kingdom and\ncommonwealth.[9]\n\nBun. That practice of theirs I abhor, said I; yet it doth not follow\nthat, because they did so, therefore all others will do so. I look upon\nit as my duty to behave myself under the King\u2019s government, both as\nbecomes a man and a Christian, and if an occasion were offered me, I\nshould willingly manifest my loyalty to my Prince, both by word and\ndeed.\n\nCobb. Well, said he, I do not profess myself to be a man that can\ndispute; but this I say, truly, neighbour Bunyan, I would have you\nconsider this matter seriously, and submit yourself; you may have your\nliberty to exhort your neighbour in private discourse, so be you do not\ncall together an assembly of people; and, truly, you may do much good\nto the church of Christ, if you would go this way; and this you may do,\nand the law not abridge you of it. It is your private meetings that the\nlaw is against.\n\nBun. Sir, said I, if I may do good to one by my discourse, why may I\nnot do good to two? and if to two, why not to four, and so to eight?\n&c.\n\nCobb. Ay, saith he, and to a hundred, I warrant you.\n\nBun. Yes, Sir, said I, I think I should not be forbid to do as much\ngood as I can.\n\nCobb. But, saith he, you may but pretend to do good, and indeed,\nnotwithstanding, do harm, by seducing the people; you are, therefore,\ndenied your meeting so many together, lest you should do harm.\n\nBun. And yet, said I, you say the law tolerates me to discourse with my\nneighbour; surely there is no law tolerates me to seduce any one;\ntherefore, if I may, by the law, discourse with one, surely it is to do\nhim good; and if I, by discoursing, may do good to one, surely, by the\nsame law, I may do good to many.\n\nCobb. The law, saith he, doth expressly forbid your private meetings;\ntherefore they are not to be tolerated.\n\nBun. I told him that I would not entertain so much uncharitableness of\nthat Parliament in the 35th of Elizabeth, or of the Queen herself, as\nto think they did, by that law, intend the oppressing of any of God\u2019s\nordinances, or the interrupting any in the way of God; but men may, in\nthe wresting of it, turn it against the way of God; but take the law in\nitself, and it only fighteth against those that drive at mischief in\ntheir hearts and meetings, making religion only their cloak, colour, or\npretence; for so are the words of the statute: \u2018If any meetings, under\ncolour or pretence of religion,\u2019 &c.[10]\n\nCobb. Very good; therefore the king, seeing that pretences are usually\nin and among people, as to make religion their pretence only, therefore\nhe, and the law before him, doth forbid such private meetings, and\ntolerates only public; you may meet in public.\n\nBun. Sir, said I, let me answer you in a similitude: Set the case that,\nat such a wood corner, there did usually come forth thieves, to do\nmischief; must there therefore a law be made that every one that cometh\nout there shall be killed? May there not come out true men as well as\nthieves out from thence? Just thus it is in this case; I do think there\nmay be many that may design the destruction of the commonwealth; but it\ndoes not follow therefore that all private meetings are unlawful; those\nthat transgress, let them be punished. And if at any time I myself\nshould do any act in my conversation as doth not become a man and\nChristian, let me bear the punishment. And as for your saying I may\nmeet in public, if I may be suffered, I would gladly do it. Let me have\nbut meeting enough in public, and I shall care the less to have them in\nprivate. I do not meet in private because I am afraid to have meetings\nin public. I bless the Lord that my heart is at that point, that if any\nman can lay anything to my charge, either in doctrine or practice, in\nthis particular, that can be proved error or heresy, I am willing to\ndisown it, even in the very market place; but if it be truth, then to\nstand to it to the last drop of my blood. And, Sir, said I, you ought\nto commend me for so doing. To err and to be a heretic are two things;\nI am no heretic, because I will not stand refractorily to defend any\none thing that is contrary to the Word. Prove anything which I hold to\nbe an error, and I will recant it.\n\nCobb. But, Goodman Bunyan, said he, methinks you need not stand so\nstrictly upon this one thing, as to have meetings of such public\nassemblies. Cannot you submit, and, notwithstanding, do as much good as\nyou can, in a neighbourly way, without having such meetings?\n\nBun. Truly, Sir, said I, I do not desire to commend myself, but to\nthink meanly of myself; yet when I do most despise myself, taking\nnotice of that small measure of light which God hath given me, also\nthat the people of the Lord, by their own saying, are edified thereby.\nBesides, when I see that the Lord, through grace, hath in some measure\nblessed my labour, I dare not but exercise that gift which God hath\ngiven me for the good of the people. And I said further, that I would\nwillingly speak in public, if I might.\n\nCobb. He said, that I might come to the public assemblies and hear.\nWhat though you do not preach? you may hear. Do not think yourself so\nwell enlightened, and that you have received a gift so far above\nothers, but that you may hear other men preach. Or to that purpose.\n\nBun. I told him, I was as willing to be taught as to give instruction,\nand looked upon it as my duty to do both; for, saith I, a man that is a\nteacher, he himself may learn also from another that teacheth, as the\napostle saith: \u201cYe may all prophesy, one by one, that all may learn\u201d (1\nCor 14:31). That is, every man that hath received a gift from God, he\nmay dispense it, that others may be comforted; and when he hath done,\nhe may hear and learn, and be comforted himself of others.\n\nCobb. But, said he, what if you should forbear awhile, and sit still,\ntill you see further how things will go?\n\nBun. Sir, said I, Wicliffe saith, that he which leaveth off preaching\nand hearing of the Word of God for fear of excommunication of men, he\nis already excommunicated of God, and shall in the day of judgment be\ncounted a traitor to Christ.[11]\n\nCobb. Ay, saith he, they that do not hear shall be so counted indeed;\ndo you, therefore, hear.\n\nBun. But, Sir, said I, he saith, he that shall leave off either\npreaching or hearing, &c. That is, if he hath received a gift for\nedification, it is his sin, if he doth not lay it out in a way of\nexhortation and counsel, according to the proportion of his gift; as\nwell as to spend his time altogether in hearing others preach.\n\nCobb. But, said he, how shall we know that you have received a gift?\n\nBun. Said I, Let any man hear and search, and prove the doctrine by the\nBible.\n\nCobb. But will you be willing, said he, that two indifferent persons\nshall determine the case, and will you stand by their judgment?\n\nBun. I said, Are they infallible?\n\nCobb. He said, No.\n\nBun. Then, said I, it is possible my judgment may be as good as theirs.\nBut yet I will pass by either, and in this matter be judged by the\nScriptures; I am sure that is infallible, and cannot err.\n\nCobb. But, said he, who shall be judge between you, for you take the\nScriptures one way, and they another?\n\nBun. I said, The Scripture should, and that by comparing one scripture\nwith another; for that will open itself, if it be rightly compared. As,\nfor instance, if under the different apprehensions of the word\nMediator, you would know the truth of it, the Scriptures open it, and\ntell us that he that is a mediator must take up the business between\ntwo, and \u201ca mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one,\u201d and\n\u201cthere is one mediator between God and men, [even] the man Christ\nJesus\u201d (Gal 3:20; 1 Tim 2:5). So likewise the Scripture calleth Christ\na complete, or perfect, or able high priest. That is opened in that he\nis called man, and also God. His blood also is discovered to be\neffectually efficacious by the same things. So the Scripture, as\ntouching the matter of meeting together, &c., doth likewise\nsufficiently open itself and discover its meaning.\n\nCobb. But are you willing, said he, to stand to the judgment of the\nchurch?\n\nBun. Yes, Sir, said I, to the approbation of the church of God; the\nchurch\u2019s judgment is best expressed in Scripture. We had much other\ndiscourse which I cannot well remember, about the laws of the nation,\nand submission to government; to which I did tell him, that I did look\nupon myself as bound in conscience to walk according to all righteous\nlaws, and that whether there was a king or no; and if I did anything\nthat was contrary, I did hold it my duty to bear patiently the penalty\nof the law, that was provided against such offenders; with many more\nwords to the like effect. And said, moreover, that to cut off all\noccasions of suspicion from any, as touching the harmlessness of my\ndoctrine in private, I would willingly take the pains to give any one\nthe notes of all my sermons; for I do sincerely desire to live quietly\nin my country, and to submit to the present authority.\n\nCobb. Well, neighbour Bunyan, said he, but indeed I would wish you\nseriously to consider of these things, between this and the\nquarter-sessions, and to submit yourself. You may do much good if you\ncontinue still in the land; but alas, what benefit will it be to your\nfriends, or what good can you do to them, if you should be sent away\nbeyond the seas into Spain, or Constantinople, or some other remote\npart of the world? Pray be ruled.\n\nJailer. Indeed, Sir, I hope he will be ruled.\n\nBun. I shall desire, said I, in all godliness and honesty to behave\nmyself in the nation, whilst I am in it. And if I must be so dealt\nwithal, as you say, I hope God will help me to bear what they shall lay\nupon me. I know no evil that I have done in this matter, to be so used.\nI speak as in the presence of God.\n\nCobb. You know, saith he, that the Scripture saith, \u201cthe powers that be\nare ordained of God.\u201d\n\nBun. I said, yes, and that I was to submit to the king as supreme, also\nto the governors, as to them that are sent by him.\n\nCobb. Well then, said he, the King then commands you, that you should\nnot have any private meetings; because it is against his law, and he is\nordained of God, therefore you should not have any.\n\nBun. I told him that Paul did own the powers that were in his day, as\nto be of God; and yet he was often in prison under them for all that.\nAnd also, though Jesus Christ told Pilate, that he had no power against\nhim, but of God, yet he died under the same Pilate; and yet, said I, I\nhope you will not say that either Paul, or Christ, were such as did\ndeny magistracy, and so sinned against God in slighting the ordinance.\nSir, said I, the law hath provided two ways of obeying: The one to do\nthat which I, in my conscience, do believe that I am bound to do,\nactively; and where I cannot obey actively, there I am willing to lie\ndown, and to suffer what they shall do unto me. At this he sat still,\nand said no more; which, when he had done, I did thank him for his\ncivil and meek discoursing with me; and so we parted.\n\nO that we might meet in heaven!\n\nFarewell. J.B.\n\nHere followeth a discourse between my Wife and the Judges, with others,\ntouching my Deliverance at the Assizes following; the which I took from\nher own Mouth.\n\nAfter that I had received this sentence of banishing, or hanging, from\nthem, and after the former admonition, touching the determination of\nthe justices, if I did not recant; just when the time drew nigh, in\nwhich I should have abjured, or have done worse, as Mr. Cobb told me,\ncame the time in which the King was to be crowned.[12] Now, at the\ncoronation of kings, there is usually a releasement of divers\nprisoners, by virtue of his coronation; in which privilege also I\nshould have had my share; but that they took me for a convicted person,\nand therefore, unless I sued out a pardon, as they called it, I could\nhave no benefit thereby; notwithstanding, yet, forasmuch as the\ncoronation proclamation did give liberty, from the day the king was\ncrowned to that day twelvemonth, to sue them out; therefore, though\nthey would not let me out of prison, as they let out thousands, yet\nthey could not meddle with me, as touching the execution of their\nsentence; because of the liberty offered for the suing out of pardons.\nWhereupon I continued in prison till the next assizes, which are called\nMidsummer assizes, being then kept in August 1661.\n\nNow, at that assizes, because I would not leave any possible means\nunattempted that might be lawful, I did, by my wife, present a petition\nto the judges three times, that I might be heard, and that they would\nimpartially take my case into consideration.\n\nThe first time my wife went, she presented it to Judge Hale, who very\nmildly received it at her hand, telling her that he would do her and me\nthe best good he could; but he feared, he said, he could do none. The\nnext day, again, lest they should, through the multitude of business,\nforget me, we did throw another petition into the coach to Judge\nTwisdon; who, when he had seen it, snapt her up, and angrily told her\nthat I was a convicted person, and could not be released, unless I\nwould promise to preach no more, &c.\n\nWell, after this, she yet again presented another to Judge Hale, as he\nsat on the bench, who, as it seemed, was willing to give her audience.\nOnly Justice Chester being present, stept up and said, that I was\nconvicted in the court and that I was a hot-spirited fellow, or words\nto that purpose, whereat he waived it, and did not meddle therewith.\nBut yet, my wife being encouraged by the high sheriff, did venture once\nmore into their presence, as the poor widow did to the unjust judge, to\ntry what she could do with them for my liberty, before they went forth\nof the town. The place where she went to them was to the Swan Chamber,\nwhere the two judges, and many justices and gentry of the country, were\nin company together. She then, coming into the chamber with abashed\nface, and a trembling heart, began her errand to them in this manner:\u2014\n\nWoman. My Lord (directing herself to Judge Hale), I make bold to come\nonce again to your Lordship, to know what may be done with my husband.\n\nJudge Hale. To whom he said, Woman, I told thee before, I could do thee\nno good; because they have taken that for a conviction which thy\nhusband spoke at the sessions; and unless there be something done to\nundo that, I can do thee no good.\n\nWom. My Lord, said she, he is kept unlawfully in prison; they clapped\nhim up before there was any proclamation against the meetings; the\nindictment also is false. Besides, they never asked him whether he was\nguilty or no; neither did he confess the indictment.\n\nOne of the Justices. Then one of the justices that stood by, whom she\nknew not, said, My Lord, he was lawfully convicted.\n\nWom. It is false, said she; for when they said to him, Do you confess\nthe indictment? he said only this, that he had been at several\nmeetings, both where there was preaching the Word, and prayer, and that\nthey had God\u2019s presence among them.\n\nJudge Twisdon. Whereat Judge Twisdon answered very angrily, saying,\n\u2018What! you think we can do what we list; your husband is a breaker of\nthe peace, and is convicted by the law,\u2019 &c. Whereupon Judge Hale\ncalled for the Statute Book.\n\nWom. But, said she, my Lord, he was not lawfully convicted.\n\nChester. Then Justice Chester said, \u2018My Lord, he was lawfully\nconvicted.\u2019\n\nWom. It is false, said she; it was but a word of discourse that they\ntook for a conviction, as you heard before.\n\nChest. \u2018But it is recorded, woman, it is recorded,\u2019 said Justice\nChester; as if it must be of necessity true, because it was recorded.\nWith which words he often endeavoured to stop her mouth, having no\nother argument to convince her, but \u2018it is recorded, it is\nrecorded.\u2019[13]\n\nWom. My Lord, said she, I was a while since at London, to see if I\ncould get my husband\u2019s liberty; and there I spoke with my Lord\nBarkwood, one of the House of Lords, to whom I delivered a petition,\nwho took it of me and presented it to some of the rest of the House of\nLords, for my husband\u2019s releasement: who, when they had seen it, they\nsaid that they could not release him, but had committed his releasement\nto the judges, at the next assizes. This he told me; and now I come to\nyou to see if anything may be done in this business, and you give\nneither releasement nor relief. To which they gave her no answer, but\nmade as if they heard her not.[14]\n\nChest. Only Justice Chester was often up with this, \u2018He is convicted,\u2019\nand \u2018It is recorded.\u2019\n\nWom. If it be, it is false, said she.\n\nChest. My Lord, said Justice Chester, he is a pestilent fellow, there\nis not such a fellow in the country again.\n\nTwis. What, will your husband leave preaching? If he will do so, then\nsend for him.\n\nWom. My Lord, said she, he dares not leave preaching, as long as he can\nspeak.\n\nTwis. See here, what should we talk any more about such a fellow? Must\nhe do what he lists? He is a breaker of the peace.\n\nWom. She told him again, that he desired to live peaceably, and to\nfollow his calling, that his family might be maintained; and, moreover,\nsaid, My Lord, I have four small children that cannot help themselves,\nof which one is blind, and have nothing to live upon, but the charity\nof good people.\n\nHale. Hast thou four children? said Judge Hale; thou art but a young\nwoman to have four children.\n\nWom. My Lord, said she, I am but mother-in-law to them, having not been\nmarried to him yet full two years. Indeed, I was with child when my\nhusband was first apprehended; but being young, and unaccustomed to\nsuch things, said she, I being smayed[15] at the news, fell into\nlabour, and so continued for eight days, and then was delivered, but my\nchild died.[16]\n\nHale. Whereat, he looking very soberly on the matter, said, \u2018Alas, poor\nwoman!\u2019\n\nTwis. But Judge Twisdon told her, that she made poverty her cloak; and\nsaid, moreover, that he understood I was maintained better by running\nup and down a preaching, than by following my calling.\n\nHale. What is his calling? said Judge Hale.\n\nAnswer. Then some of the company that stood by said, \u2018A tinker, my\nLord.\u2019\n\nWom. Yes, said she, and because he is a tinker, and a poor man,\ntherefore he is despised, and cannot have justice.\n\nHale. Then Judge Hale answered, very mildly, saying, \u2018I tell thee,\nwoman, seeing it is so, that they have taken what thy husband spake for\na conviction; thou must either apply thyself to the King, or sue out\nhis pardon, or get a writ of error.\u2019\n\nChest. But when Justice Chester heard him give her this counsel; and\nespecially, as she supposed, because he spoke of a writ of error, he\nchafed,[17] and seemed to be very much offended; saying, \u2018My Lord, he\nwill preach and do what he lists.\u2019\n\nWom. He preacheth nothing but the Word of God, said she.\n\nTwis. He preach the Word of God! said Twisdon; and withal she thought\nhe would have struck her; he runneth up and down, and doth harm.\n\nWom. No, my Lord, said she, it is not so; God hath owned him, and done\nmuch good by him.\n\nTwis. God! said he; his doctrine is the doctrine of the devil.\n\nWom. My Lord, said she, when the righteous Judge shall appear, it will\nbe known that his doctrine is not the doctrine of the devil.\n\nTwis. My Lord, said he, to Judge Hale, do not mind her, but send her\naway.\n\nHale. Then said Judge Hale, \u2018I am sorry, woman, that I can do thee no\ngood; thou must do one of those three things aforesaid; namely, either\nto apply thyself to the King, or sue out his pardon, or get a writ of\nerror; but a writ of error will be cheapest.\u2019\n\nWom. At which Chester again seemed to be in a chafe, and put off his\nhat, and as she thought, scratched his head for anger: but when I saw,\nsaid she, that there was no prevailing to have my husband sent for,\nthough I often desired them that they would send for him, that he might\nspeak for himself, telling them, that he could give them better\nsatisfaction than I could in what they demanded of him, with several\nother things, which now I forget; only this I remember, that though I\nwas somewhat timorous at my first entrance into the chamber, yet before\nI went out, I could not but break forth into tears, not so much because\nthey were so hard-hearted against me and my husband, but to think what\na sad account such poor creatures will have to give at the coming of\nthe Lord, when they shall there answer for all things whatsoever they\nhave done in the body, whether it be good or whether it be bad.[18]\n\nSo, when I departed from them, the Book of Statute was brought, but\nwhat they said of it I know nothing at all, neither did I hear any more\nfrom them.\n\nSome Carriages of the Adversaries of God\u2019s Truth with me at the next\nAssizes, which was on the 19th of the First Month, 1662.\n\nI shall pass by what befell between these two assizes, how I had, by my\njailer, some liberty granted me, more than at the first, and how I\nfollowed my wonted course of preaching, taking all occasions that were\nput into my hand to visit the people of God; exhorting them to be\nsteadfast in the faith of Jesus Christ, and to take heed that they\ntouched not the Common Prayer, &c., but to mind the Word of God, which\ngiveth direction to Christians in every point, being able to make the\nman of God perfect in all things through faith in Jesus Christ, and\nthoroughly to furnish him unto all good works (2 Tim 3:17).[19] Also,\nhow I, having, I say, somewhat more liberty, did go to see Christians\nat London; which my enemies hearing of, were so angry, that they had\nalmost cast my jailer out of his place, threatening to indict him, and\nto do what they could against him. They charged me also, that I went\nthither to plot and raise division, and make insurrection, which, God\nknows, was a slander; whereupon my liberty was more straitened than it\nwas before: so that I must not look out of the door. Well, when the\nnext sessions came, which was about the 10th of the eleventh month, I\ndid expect to have been very roundly dealt withal; but they passed me\nby, and would not call me, so that I rested till the assizes, which was\nthe 19th of the first month following; and when they came, because I\nhad a desire to come before the judge, I desired my jailer to put my\nname into the calendar among the felons, and made friends of the judge\nand high sheriff, who promised that I should be called; so that I\nthought what I had done might have been effectual for the obtaining of\nmy desire; but all was in vain: for when the assizes came, though my\nname was in the calendar, and also though both the judge and sheriff\nhad promised that I should appear before them, yet the justices and the\nclerk of the peace did so work it about, that I, notwithstanding, was\ndeferred, and might not appear; and although, I say, I do not know of\nall their carriages towards me, yet this I know, that the clerk of the\npeace did discover himself to be one of my greatest opposers: for,\nfirst, he came to my jailer, and told him that I must not go down\nbefore the judge, and therefore must not be put into the calendar; to\nwhom my jailer said, that my name was in already. He bid him put me out\nagain; my jailer told him that he could not, for he had given the judge\na calendar with my name in it, and also the sheriff another. At which\nhe was very much displeased, and desired to see that calendar that was\nyet in my jailer\u2019s hand; who, when he had given it him, he looked on\nit, and said it was a false calendar; he also took the calendar and\nblotted out my accusation, as my jailer had writ it. Which accusation I\ncannot tell what it was, because it was so blotted out; and he himself\nput in words to this purpose: \u2018That John Bunyan was committed to\nprison, being lawfully convicted for upholding of unlawful meetings and\nconventicles,\u2019 &c. But yet, for all this, fearing that what he had\ndone, unless he added thereto, it would not do; he first run to the\nclerk of the assizes, then to the justices, and afterwards, because he\nwould not leave any means unattempted to hinder me, he comes again to\nmy jailer, and tells him, that if I did go down before the judge, and\nwas released, he would make him pay my fees, which, he said, was due to\nhim; and further told him, that he would complain of him at the next\nquarter sessions for making of false calendars; though my jailer\nhimself, as I afterwards learned, had put in my accusation worse than\nin itself it was by far. And thus was I hindered and prevented, at that\ntime also, from appearing before the judge, and left in prison.\nFarewell.\n\nJohn Bunyan.\n\n***\n\nA CONTINUATION OF MR. BUNYAN\u2019S LIFE, BEGINNING WHERE HE LEFT OFF, AND\nCONCLUDING WITH THE TIME AND MANNER OF HIS DEATH AND BURIAL, TOGETHER\nWITH HIS TRUE CHARACTER.\n\n\nReader, the painful and industrious author of this book has already\ngiven you a faithful and very moving relation of the beginning and\nmiddle of the days of his pilgrimage on earth; and since there yet\nremains somewhat worthy of notice and regard, which occurred in the\nlast scene of his life; the which, for want of time, or fear that some\nover-censorious people should impute it to him, as an earnest coveting\nof praise from men, he has not left behind him in writing. Wherefore,\nas a true friend and long acquaintance of Mr. Bunyan\u2019s, that his good\nend may be known as well as his evil beginning, I have taken upon me,\nfrom my knowledge, and the best account given by other of his friends,\nto piece this to the thread, too soon broke off, and so lengthen it out\nto his entering upon eternity.\n\nHe has told you at large of his birth and education; the evil habits\nand corruptions of his youth; the temptations he struggled and\nconflicted so frequently with; the mercies, comforts, and deliverances\nhe found; how he came to take upon him the preaching of the gospel; the\nslanders, reproaches, and imprisonments that attended him; and the\nprogress he notwithstanding made, by the assistance of God\u2019s grace, no\ndoubt to the saving of many souls. Therefore take these things as he\nhimself has methodically laid them down in the words of verity; and so\nI pass on as to what remains.\n\nAfter his being freed from his twelve years\u2019 imprisonment and upwards,\nfor nonconformity, wherein he had time to furnish the world with sundry\ngood books, &c.; and, by his patience, to move Dr. Barlow, the then\nBishop of Lincoln,[20] and other churchmen, to pity his hard and\nunreasonable sufferings, so far as to stand very much his friends in\nprocuring his enlargement, or there perhaps he had died by the\nnoisesomeness and ill usage of the place; being now, I say, again at\nliberty, and having, through mercy, shaken off his bodily fetters, for\nthose upon his soul were broken before, by the abounding grace that\nfilled his heart, he went to visit those that had been a comfort to him\nin his tribulation, with a Christian-like acknowledgment of their\nkindness and enlargement of charity; giving encouragement by his\nexample if it happened to be their hard haps to fall into affliction or\ntrouble, then to suffer patiently for the sake of a good conscience,\nand for the love of God in Jesus Christ towards their souls; and, by\nmany cordial persuasions, supported some whose spirits began to sink\nlow through the fear of danger that threatened their worldly\nconcernment, so that the people found a wonderful consolation in his\ndiscourse and admonitions.\n\nAs often as opportunity would admit, he gathered them together in\nconvenient places, though the law was then in force against meetings,\nand fed them with the sincere milk of the Word, that they might grow up\nin grace thereby. To such as were anywhere taken and imprisoned upon\nthese accounts, he made it another part of his business to extend his\ncharity, and gather relief for such of them as wanted.\n\nHe took great care to visit the sick, and strengthen them against the\nsuggestions of the tempter, which at such times are very prevalent; so\nthat they had cause for ever to bless God, who had put into his heart,\nat such a time, to rescue them from the power of the roaring lion, who\nsought to devour them; nor did he spare any pains or labour in travel,\nthough to the remote counties, where he knew, or imagined, any people\nmight stand in need of his assistance, insomuch that some of these\nvisitations that he made, which was two or three every year, some,\nthough in jeering manner, no doubt, gave him the epithet of Bishop\nBunyan, whilst others envied him for his so earnestly labouring in\nChrist\u2019s vineyard, yet the seed of the Word he, all this while, sowed\nin the hearts of his congregation, watered with the grace of God,\nbrought forth in abundance, in bringing in disciples to the church of\nChrist.\n\nAnother part of his time he spent in reconciling differences, by which\nhe hindered many mischiefs, and saved some families from ruin; and, in\nsuch fallings out, he was uneasy, till he found a means to labour a\nreconciliation, and become a peace maker, on whom a blessing is\npromised in Holy Writ: and, indeed, in doing this good office, he may\nbe said to sum up his days, it being the last undertaking of his life,\nas will appear in the close of this paper.\n\nWhen, in the late reign, liberty of conscience was unexpectedly given\nand indulged to Dissenters of all persuasions,[21] his piercing with\npenetrated the veil, and found that it was not for the Dissenters\u2019 sake\nthey were so suddenly freed from the prosecutions that had long lain\nheavy upon them, and set, in a manner, on an equal foot with the Church\nof England, which the Papists were undermining, and about to subvert.\nHe foresaw all the advantages that could have redounded to the\nDissenters, would have been no more than what Poliphemus, the monstrous\ngiant of Sicily, would have allowed Ulysses, viz., That he would eat\nhis men first, and do him the favour of being eaten last. For, although\nMr. Bunyan, following the examples of others, did lay hold of this\nliberty, as an acceptable thing in itself, knowing that God is the only\nlord of conscience, and that it is good at all times to do according to\nthe dictates of a good conscience, and that the preaching the glad\ntidings of the gospel is beautiful in the preacher; yet, in all this,\nhe moved with caution and a holy fear, earnestly praying for averting\nthe impendent judgments, which he saw, like a black tempest hanging\nover our heads, for our sins, and ready to break upon us, and that the\nNinevites\u2019 remedy was now highly necessary. Hereupon, he gathered his\ncongregation at Bedford, where he mostly lived, and had lived, and had\nspent the greatest part of his life; and there being no convenient\nplace to be had, for the entertainment of so great a confluence of\npeople as followed him, upon the account of his teaching, he consulted\nwith them, for the building of a meeting house; to which they made\ntheir voluntary contributions, with all cheerfulness and alacrity; and\nthe first time he appeared there to edify, the place was so thronged,\nthat many were constrained to stay without, though the house was very\nspacious, every one striving to partake of his instructions, that were\nof his persuasion; and show their good will towards him, by being\npresent at the opening of the place; and here he lived in much peace\nand quiet of mind, contenting himself with that little God had bestowed\nupon him, and sequestering himself from all secular employments, to\nfollow that of his call to the ministry; for, as God said to Moses, he\nthat made the lips and heart, can give eloquence and wisdom, without\nextraordinary acquirements in a university.\n\nDuring these things, there were regulators sent into all cities and\ntowns corporate, to new-model the government in the magistracy, &c., by\nturning out some, and putting in others. Against this, Mr. Bunyan\nexpressed his zeal with some weariness, as foreseeing the bad\nconsequence that would attend it, and laboured with his congregation to\nprevent their being imposed on in this kind; and when a great man in\nthose days, coming to Bedford upon some such errand, sent for him, as\nit is supposed, to give him a place of public trust, he would by no\nmeans come at him, but sent his excuse.\n\nWhen he was at leisure from writing and teaching, he often came up to\nLondon, and there went among the congregations of the nonconformists,\nand used his talent to the great good liking of the hearers; and even\nsome, to whom he had been misrepresented, upon the account of his\neducation, were convinced of his worth and knowledge in sacred things,\nas perceiving him to be a man of sound judgment, delivering himself\nplainly and powerfully; insomuch that many who came as mere spectators,\nfor novelty\u2019s sake, rather than to be edified and improved, went away\nwell satisfied with what they heard, and wondered, as the Jews did at\nthe apostles, viz., whence this man should have these things; perhaps\nnot considering that God more immediately assists those that make it\ntheir business industriously and cheerfully to labour in his vineyard.\n\nThus he spent his latter years, in imitation of his great Lord and\nMaster, the ever-blessed Jesus; he went about doing good, so that the\nmost prying critic, or even malice herself, is defied to find, even\nupon the narrowest search or observation, any sully or stain upon his\nreputation with which he may be justly charged; and this we note as a\nchallenge to those that have had the least regard for him, or them of\nhis persuasion, and have, one way or other, appeared in the front of\nthose that oppressed him, and for the turning whose hearts, in\nobedience to the commission and commandment given him of God, he\nfrequently prayed, and sometimes sought a blessing for them, even with\ntears, the effects of which they may, peradventure, though\nundeservedly, have found in their persons, friends, relations, or\nestates; for God will hear the prayers of the faithful, and answer\nthem, even for those that vex them, as it happened in the case of Job\u2019s\npraying for the three persons that had been grievous in their reproach\nagainst him, even in the day of his sorrow.\n\nBut yet let me come a little nearer to particulars and periods of time\nfor the better refreshing the memories of those that knew his labour\nand suffering, and for the satisfaction of all that shall read this\nbook.\n\nAfter he was sensibly convicted of the wicked state of his life, and\nconverted, he was baptized into the congregation and admitted a member\nthereof, viz., in the year 1655, and became speedily a very zealous\nprofessor; but, upon the return of King Charles to the crown, in 1660,\nhe was, on the 12th of November, taken, as he was edifying some good\npeople that were got together to hear the Word, and confined in Bedford\njail for the space of six years, till the Act of Indulgence to\nDissenters being allowed, he obtained his freedom by the intercession\nof some in trust and power that took pity of his sufferings; but within\nsix years afterwards [from his first imprisonment] he was again taken\nup, viz., in the year 1666, and was then confined for six years more,\nwhen even the jailer took such pity of his rigorous sufferings that he\ndid as the Egyptian jailer did to Joseph, put all the care and trust\ninto his hands. When he was taken this last time, he was preaching on\nthese words, viz., \u201cDost thou believe on the Son of God?\u201d and this\nimprisonment continued six years; and when this was over, another short\naffliction, which was an imprisonment of half a year, fell to his\nshare. During these confinements he wrote these following books, viz.:\nOf Prayer by the Spirit, The Holy City, Resurrection, Grace Abounding,\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress, the first part.\n\n[Defence of Justification by Jesus Christ.]\n\nIn the last year of his twelve years\u2019 imprisonment, the pastor of the\ncongregation at Bedford died, and he was chosen to that care of souls\non the 12th of December 1671. And in this his charge, he often had\ndisputes with scholars, that came to oppose him, as supposing him an\nignorant person, and though he argued plainly and by Scripture without\nphrases and logical expressions; yet he nonplussed one who came to\noppose him in his congregation, by demanding whether or no we had the\ntrue copies of the original Scriptures; and another, when he was\npreaching, accused him of uncharitableness, for saying, It was very\nhard for most to be saved; saying, by that, he went about to exclude\nmost of his congregation; but he confuted him and put him to silence\nwith the parable of the stony ground and other texts out of the 13th of\nMatthew, in our Saviour\u2019s sermon out of a ship, all his method being to\nkeep close to the Scriptures; and what he found not warranted there,\nhimself would not warrant nor determine, unless in such cases as were\nplain, wherein no doubts or scruples did arise.\n\nBut not to make any further mention of this kind, it is well known that\nthis person managed all his affairs with such exactness as if he had\nmade it his study, above all other things, not to give occasion of\noffence, but rather suffer many inconvencies to avoid; being never\nheard to reproach or revile any, what injury soever he received, but\nrather to rebuke those that did; and as it was in his conversation, so\nit is manifested on those books he has caused to be published to the\nworld; where, like the archangel disputing with Satan about the body of\nMoses, as we find it in the epistle of Jude, he brings no railing\naccusation, but leaves the rebukers, those that persecuted him, to the\nLord.\n\nIn his family he kept up a very strict discipline in prayer and\nexhortations; being in this like Joshua, as that good man expresses it,\nviz., Whatsoever others did, as for me and my house, we will serve the\nLord; and, indeed, a blessing waited on his labours and endeavours, so\nthat his wife, as the Psalmist says, was like a pleasant vine upon the\nwalls of his house, and his children like olive branches round his\ntable; for so shall it be with the man that fears the Lord; and though\nby reason of the many losses he sustained by imprisonment and spoil, of\nhis chargeable sickness, &c., his earthly treasures swelled not to\nexcess, he always had sufficient to live decently and creditably, and\nwith that he had the greatest of all treasures, which is content; for,\nas the wise man says, that is a continual feast.\n\nBut where content dwells, even a poor cottage is a kingly palace; and\nthis happiness he had all his life long, not so much minding this world\nas knowing he was here as a pilgrim and stranger, and had no tarrying\ncity, but looking for one not made with hands, eternal in the highest\nheavens; but at length, worn out with sufferings, age, and often\nteaching, the day of his dissolution drew near, and death, that unlocks\nthe prison of the soul, to enlarge it for a more glorious mansion, put\na stop to his acting his part on the stage of mortality; heaven, like\nearthly princes when it threatens war, being always so kind as to call\nhome its ambassadors before it be denounced; and even the last act or\nundertaking of his was a labour of love and charity; for it so falling\nout, that a young gentleman, a neighbour of Mr. Bunyan, happening into\nthe displeasure of his father, and being much troubled in mind upon\nthat account, as also for that he had heard his father purposed to\ndisinherit him, or otherwise deprive him of what he had to leave, he\npitched upon Mr. Bunyan as a fit man to make way for his submission,\nand prepare his father\u2019s mind to receive him; and he, as willing to do\nany good office as it could be requested, as readily undertook it; and\nso, riding to Reading, in Berkshire, he then there used such pressing\narguments and reasons against anger and passion, as also for love and\nreconciliation, that the father was mollified, and his bowels yearned\ntowards his returning son.\n\nBut Mr. Bunyan, after he had disposed all things to the best for\naccommodation, returning to London, and being overtaken with excessive\nrains, coming to his lodging extreme wet, fell sick of a violent fever,\nwhich he bore with much constancy and patience; and expressed himself\nas if he desired nothing more than to be dissolved, and to be with\nChrist, in that case esteeming death as gain, and life only a tedious\ndelaying of felicity expected; and finding his vital strength decay,\nhaving settled his mind and affairs, as well as the shortness of his\ntime and the violence of his disease would admit, with a constant and\nChristian patience, he resigned his soul into the hands of his most\nmerciful Redeemer, following his pilgrim from the City of Destruction\nto the New Jerusalem; his better part having been all along there, in\nholy contemplation, pantings, and breathings after the hidden manna,\nand water of life; as by many holy and humble consolations expressed in\nhis letters to several persons, in prison and out of prison, too many\nto be here inserted at present.[22] He died at the house of one Mr.\nStraddocks, a grocer, at the Star on Snowhill, in the parish of St.\nSepulchre, London, on the 12th of August 1688, and in the sixtieth year\nof his age, after ten days\u2019 sickness; and was buried in the new burying\nplace near the Artillery Ground; where he sleeps to the morning of the\nresurrection, in hopes of a glorious rising to an incorruptible\nimmortality of joy and happiness; where no more trouble and sorrow\nshall afflict him, but all tears be wiped away; when the just shall be\nincorrupted, as members of Christ their head, and reign with him as\nkings and priests for ever.[23]\n\nA BRIEF CHARACTER OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN.\n\n\nHe appeared in countenance to be of a stern and rough temper; but in\nhis conversation mild and affable, not given to loquacity or much\ndiscourse in company, unless some urgent occasion required it;\nobserving never to boast of himself, or his parts, but rather seem low\nin his own eyes, and submit himself to the judgment of others;\nabhorring lying and swearing, being just in all that lay in his power\nto his word, not seeming to revenge injuries, loving to reconcile\ndifferences, and make friendship with all; he had a sharp quick eye,\naccomplished with an excellent discerning of persons, being of good\njudgment and quick wit. As for his person, he was tall of stature,\nstrong-boned, though not corpulent, somewhat of a ruddy face, with\nsparkling eyes, wearing his hair on his upper lip, after the old\nBritish fashion; his hair reddish, but in his latter days, time had\nsprinkled it with grey; his nose well-set, but not declining or\nbending, and his mouth moderate large; his forehead something high, and\nhis habit always plain and modest. And thus have we impartially\ndescribed the internal and external parts of a person, whose death hath\nbeen much regretted; a person who had tried the smiles and frowns of\ntime; not puffed up in prosperity, nor shaken in adversity, always\nholding the golden mean.\n\nIn him at once did three great worthies shine,\nHistorian, poet, and a choice divine;\nThen let him rest in undisturbed dust,\nUntil the resurrection of the just.\n\nPOSTSCRIPT.\n\nIn this his pilgrimage, God blessed him with four children, one of\nwhich, named Mary, was blind, and died some years before; his other\nchildren are Thomas, Joseph, and Sarah; and his wife Elizabeth, having\nlived to see him overcome his labour and sorrow, and pass from this\nlife to receive the reward of his works, long survived him not, but in\n1692 she died; to follow her faithful pilgrim from this world to the\nother, whither he was gone before her; while his works, which consist\nof sixty books, remain for the edifying of the reader, and the praise\nof the author. _Vale_.\n\n***\n\nMR. JOHN BUNYAN\u2019S DYING SAYINGS.\n\nOF SIN.\n\n\nSin is the great block and bar to our happiness, the procurer of all\nmiseries to man, both here and hereafter: take away sin and nothing can\nhurt us: for death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, is the wages of\nit.\n\nSin, and man for sin, is the object of the wrath of God. How dreadful,\ntherefore, must his case be who continues in sin! For who can bear or\ngrapple with the wrath of God?\n\nNo sin against God can be little, because it is against the great God\nof heaven and earth; but if the sinner can find out a little God, it\nmay be easy to find out little sins.\n\nSin turns all God\u2019s grace into wantonness; it is the dare of his\njustice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer of his patience, the slight of\nhis power, and the contempt of his love.[24]\n\nTake heed of giving thyself liberty of committing one sin, for that\nwill lead thee to another; till, by an ill custom, it become natural.\n\nTo begin a sin, is to lay a foundation for a continuance; this\ncontinuance is the mother of custom, and impudence at last the issue.\n\nThe death of Christ giveth us the best discovery of ourselves, in what\ncondition we were, in that nothing could help us but that; and the most\nclear discovery of the dreadful nature of our sins. For if sin be so\ndreadful a thing as to wring the heart of the Son of God, how shall a\npoor wretched sinner be able to bear it?\n\nOF AFFLICTION.\n\n\nNothing can render affliction so insupportable as the load of sin:\nwould you, therefore, be fitted for afflictions, be sure to get the\nburden of your sins laid aside, and then what afflictions soever you\nmay meet with will be very easy to you.\n\nIf thou canst hear and bear the rod of affliction which God shall lay\nupon thee, remember this lesson\u2014thou art beaten that thou mayest be\nbetter.\n\nThe Lord useth his flail of tribulation to separate the chaff from the\nwheat.\n\nThe school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the\nworld\u2019s vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God\u2019s\nmind. Out of dark affliction comes a spiritual light.\n\nIn times of affliction we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences\nof the love of God.\n\nDid we heartily renounce the pleasures of this world, we should be very\nlittle troubled for our afflictions; that which renders an afflicted\nstate so insupportable to many is because they are too much addicted to\nthe pleasures of this life, and so cannot endure that which makes a\nseparation between them.\n\nOF REPENTANCE AND COMING TO CHRIST.\n\n\nThe end of affliction is the discovery of sin, and of that to bring us\nto a Saviour. Let us therefore, with the prodigal, return unto him, and\nwe shall find ease and rest.\n\nA repenting penitent, though formerly as bad as the worst of men, may,\nby grace, become as good as the best.\n\nTo be truly sensible of sin is to sorrow for displeasing of God; to be\nafflicted that he is displeased by us more than that he is displeased\nwith us.\n\nYour intentions to repentance, and the neglect of that soul-saving\nduty, will rise up in judgment against you.\n\nRepentance carries with it a Divine rhetoric, and persuades Christ to\nforgive multitudes of sins committed against him.\n\nSay not with thyself, To-morrow I will repent; for it is thy duty to do\nit daily.\n\nThe gospel of grace and salvation is above all doctrines the most\ndangerous, if it be received in word only by graceless men; if it be\nnot attended with a sensible need of a Saviour, and bring them to him.\nFor such men as have only the notion of it, are of all men most\nmiserable; for by reason of their knowing more than heathens, this\nshall only be their final portion, that they shall have greater\nstripes.\n\nOF PRAYER.\n\n\nBefore you enter into prayer, ask thy soul these questions\u20141. To what\nend, O my soul, art thou retired into this place? Art thou not come to\ndiscourse the Lord in prayer? Is he present; will he hear thee? Is he\nmerciful; will he help thee? Is thy business slight; is it not\nconcerning the welfare of thy soul? What words wilt thou use to move\nhim to compassion?\n\nTo make thy preparation complete, consider that thou art but dust and\nashes, and he the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that\nclothes himself with light as with a garment; that thou art a vile\nsinner, he a holy God; that thou art but a poor crawling worm, he the\nomnipotent Creator.\n\nIn all your prayers forget not to thank the Lord for his mercies.\n\nWhen thou prayest, rather let thy hearts be without words, than thy\nwords without a heart.\n\nPrayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to\ncease from prayer.\n\nThe spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and\nsilver.\n\nPray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and\na scourge for Satan.\n\nOF THE LORD\u2019S DAY, SERMONS, AND WEEK DAYS.\n\n\nHave a special care to sanctify the Lord\u2019s day; for as thou keepest it,\nso it will be with thee all the week long.\n\nMake the Lord\u2019s day the market for thy soul; let the whole day be spent\nin prayer, repetitions, or meditations; lay aside the affairs of the\nother part of the week; let thy sermon thou hast heard be converted\ninto prayer: Shall God allow thee six days, and wilt not thou afford\nhim one?\n\nIn the church, be careful to serve God; for thou art in his eyes, and\nnot in man\u2019s.\n\nThou mayest hear sermons often, and do well in practicing what thou\nhearest; but thou must not expect to be told thee in a pulpit all that\nthou oughtest to do, but be studious in searching the Scriptures, and\nreading good books; what thou hearest may be forgotten, but what thou\nreadest may better be retained.\n\nForsake not the public worship of God, lest God forsake thee, not only\nin public, but in private.\n\nIn the week days, when thou risest in the morning, consider, 1. Thou\nmust die. 2. Thou mayest die that minute. 3. What will become of thy\nsoul. Pray often. At night consider, 1. What sins thou hast committed.\n2. How often thou hast prayed. 3. What hath thy mind been bent upon. 4.\nWhat hath been thy dealing. 5. What thy conversation. 6. If thou\ncallest to mind the errors of the day, sleep not without a confession\nto God, and a hope of pardon. Thus every morning and evening make up\nthy accounts with Almighty God, and thy reckoning will be the less at\nlast.\n\nOF THE LOVE OF THE WORLD.\n\n\nNothing more hinders a soul from coming to Christ, than a vain love of\nthe world; and till a soul is freed from it, it can never have a true\nlove for God.\n\nWhat are the honours and riches of this world, when compared to the\nglories of a crown of life?\n\nLove not the world; for it [the love of the world] is a moth in a\nChristian\u2019s life.\n\nTo despise the world is the way to enjoy heaven; and blessed are they\nwho delight to converse with God by prayer.\n\nWhat folly can be greater than to labour for the meat that perisheth,\nand neglect the food of eternal life?\n\nGod or the world must be neglected at parting time, for then is the\ntime of trial.\n\nTo seek yourself in this world is to be lost; and to be humble is to be\nexalted.\n\nThe epicure that delighteth in the dainties of this world, little\nthinketh that those very creatures will one day witness against him.\n\nOF SUFFERING.\n\n\nIt is not every suffering that makes a martyr, but suffering for the\nWord of God after a right manner; that is, not only for righteousness,\nbut for righteousness\u2019 sake; not only for truth, but out of love to\ntruth; not only for God\u2019s Word, but according to it: to wit, in that\nholy, humble, meek manner, as the Word of God requireth.\n\nIt is a rare thing to suffer aright, and to have my spirit in suffering\nbent only against God\u2019s enemy, sin; sin in doctrine, sin in worship,\nsin in life, and sin in conversation.\n\nThe devil, nor men of the world, can kill thy righteousness, or love to\nit but by thy own hand; or separate that and thee asunder without thy\nown act. Nor will he that doth indeed suffer for the sake of it, or out\nof love he bears thereto, be tempted to exchange it, for the good will\nof all the world.\n\nI have often thought that the best of Christians are found in the worst\nof times. And I have thought again that one reason why we are no\nbetter, is because God purges us no more. Noah and Lot, who so holy as\nthey in the time of their afflictions? And yet who so idle as they in\nthe time of their prosperity?\n\nOF DEATH AND JUDGMENT.\n\n\nAs the devil labours by all means to keep out other things that are\ngood, so to keep out of the heart as much as in him lies, the thoughts\nof passing from this life into another world; for he knows if he can\nbut keep them from the serious thoughts of death, he shall the more\neasily keep them in their sins.\n\nNothing will make us more earnest in working out the work of our\nsalvation, than a frequent meditation of mortality; nothing hath\ngreater influence for the taking off our hearts from vanities, and for\nthe begetting in us desires after holiness.\n\nO sinner, what a condition wilt thou fall into when thou departest this\nworld; if thou depart unconverted, thou hadst better have been\nsmothered the first hour thou wast born; thou hadst better have been\nplucked one limb from another; thou hadst better have been made a dog,\na toad, a serpent, than to die unconverted, and this thou wilt find\ntrue if thou repent not.\n\nA man would be counted a fool to slight a judge, before whom he is to\nhave a trial of his whole estate.[25] The trial we have before God is\nof otherguise importance,[26] it concerns our eternal happiness or\nmisery; and yet dare we affront him?\n\nThe only way for us to escape that terrible judgment, is to be often\npassing a sentence of condemnation upon ourselves here. When the sound\nof the trumpet shall be heard, which shall summon the dead to appear\nbefore the tribunal of God, the righteous shall hasten out of their\ngraves with joy to meet their Redeemer in the clouds; others shall call\nto the hills and mountains to fall upon them, to cover them from the\nsight of their Judge; let us therefore in time be posing[27] ourselves\nwhich of the two we shall be.\n\nOF THE JOYS OF HEAVEN.\n\n\nThere is no good in this life but what is mingled with some evil;\nhonours perplex, riches disquiet, and pleasures ruin health. But in\nheaven we shall find blessings in their purity, without any ingredient\nto embitter, with everything to sweeten them.\n\nO! who is able to conceive the inexpressible, inconceivable joys that\nare there? None but they who have tasted of them. Lord, help us to put\nsuch a value upon them here, that in order to prepare ourselves for\nthem, we may be willing to forego the loss of all those deluding\npleasures here.\n\nHow will the heavens echo of joy, when the Bride, the Lamb\u2019s wife,\nshall come to dwell with her husband for ever?\n\nChrist is the desire of nations, the joy of angels, the delight of the\nFather; what solace then must that soul be filled with, that hath the\npossession of him to all eternity?\n\nO! what acclamations of joy will there be, when all the children of God\nshall meet together, without fear of being disturbed by the\nantichristian and Cainish brood!\n\nIs there not a time coming when the godly may ask the wicked what\nprofit they have in their pleasure? what comfort in their greatness?\nand what fruits in all their labour?\n\nIf you would be better satisfied what the beatifical vision means, my\nrequest is that you would live holily, and go and see.\n\nOF THE TORMENTS OF HELL.\n\n\nHeaven and salvation is not surely more promised to the godly than hell\nand damnation is threatened to, and shall be executed on, the wicked.\n\nWhen once a man is damned, he may bid adieu to all pleasures.\n\nOh! who knows the power of God\u2019s wrath? none but damned ones.\n\nSinners\u2019 company are the devil and his angels, tormented in everlasting\nfire with a curse.\n\nHell would be a kind of paradise if it were not worse than the worst of\nthis world.\n\nAs different as grief is from joy, as torment from rest, as terror from\npeace; so different is the state of sinners from that of saints in the\nworld to come.\n\n[Licensed, September 10, 1688.]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1. The text from which he intended to preach was \u2018Dost thou believe on\nthe Son of God?\u2019 (John 9:35). From this he intended to show the\nabsolute need of faith in Jesus Christ; and that it was also a thing of\nthe highest concern for men to inquire into, and to ask their own\nhearts, whether they had it or no. See Preface to his Confession of\nFaith.\u2014Ed.\n\n2. Justice Wingate.\n\n3. \u2018Chafe.\u2019 See 2 Sam 17:8.\u2014Ed.\n\n4. A right Judas.\u2014Ed.\n\n5. \u2018How little could Bunyan dream, that from the narrow cell in which\nhe was incarcerated, and cut off apparently from all usefulness, a\nglory would shine out, illustrating the government and grace of God,\nand doing more good to man, than all the prelates of the kingdom put\ntogether had accomplished.\u2019\u2014Dr. Cheever.\n\n6. It is easy to say a prayer, but difficult truly to pray. It is not\nlength, not eloquence, that makes prayer. Though there be no more than\n\u2018My Father!\u2019 if the heart rise with it, that is prayer. \u2018Prayer is an\noffering up of our DESIRES unto God.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n7. It is not the spirit of a Christian to persecute any for their\nreligion, but to pity them; and if they will turn, to instruct\nthem.\u2014Ed.\n\n8. The statute under which Bunyan suffered is the 35th Eliz., cap. 1,\nre-enacted with all its rigour in the 16th Charles II, cap. 4, 1662;\n\u2018That if any person, above sixteen years of age, shall forbear coming\nto church for one month, or persuade any other person to abstain from\nhearing Divine service, or receiving the communion according to law, or\ncome to any unlawful assembly, conventicle, or meeting\u2014every such\nperson shall be imprisoned, without bail, until he conform, and do in\nsome church make this open submission following:\u2014I do humbly confess\nand acknowledge that I have grievously offended God in contemning his\nMajesty\u2019s godly and lawful government and authority, by absenting\nmyself from church, and from hearing Divine service, contrary to the\ngodly laws and statutes of this realm. And in using and frequenting\ndisordered and unlawful conventicles and assemblies, under pretence and\ncolour of exercise of religion; and I am heartily sorry for the same.\nAnd I do promise and protest, that from henceforth I will, from time to\ntime, obey and perform his Majesty\u2019s laws and statutes, in repairing to\nthe church and Divine services, and do my uttermost endeavour to\nmaintain and defend the same. And for the third offence he shall be\nsent to the jail or house of correction, there to remain until the next\nsessions or assizes, and then to be indicted; and being thereupon found\nguilty, the court shall enter judgment of transportation against such\noffenders, to some of the foreign plantations (Virginia and New England\nonly excepted), there to remain seven years; and warrants shall issue\nto sequester the profits of their lands, and to distrain and sell their\ngoods to defray the charges of their transportation; and for want of\nsuch charges being paid, the sheriff may contract with any master of a\nship, or merchant, to transport them; and then such prisoner shall be a\nservant to the transporter or his assigns; that is, whoever he will\nsell him or her to, for five years. And if any under such judgment of\ntransportation shall escape, or being transported, return into any part\nof England, shall SUFFER DEATH as felons, without benefit of clergy.\u2019\nNotwithstanding this edict, mark well his words on the next leaf,\n\u2018Exhorting the people of God to take heed, and touch not the Common\nPrayer.\u2019 Englishmen, blush! This is now the law of the land we live in.\nRoman Catholics alone are legally exempted from its cruel operations,\nby an Act passed in 1844. The overruling hand of God alone saved the\npious and holy Bunyan from having been legally murdered.\u2014Ed.\n\n9. The contemptible and mad insurrection to which Mr. Cobb refers, was\nthe pretext for fearful sufferings to the Dissenters throughout the\nkingdom. It is thus narrated by Bishop Burnet, 1660:\u2014\u2018The king had not\nbeen many days at Whitehall, when one Venner, a violent fifth-monarchy\nman, who thought it was not enough to believe that Christ was to reign\non earth, and to put the saints in possession of the kingdom, but added\nto this that the saints were to take the kingdom themselves. He\ngathered some of the most furious of the party to a meeting in Coleman\nStreet. There they concerted the day and the manner of their rising, to\nset Christ on his throne, as they called it. But withal they meant to\nmanage the government in his name, and were so formal that they had\nprepared standards and colours, with their devices on them, and\nfurnished themselves with very good arms. But when the day came, there\nwas but a small appearance, not exceeding twenty. However, they\nresolved to venture out into the streets, and cry out, No king but\nChrist. Some of them seemed persuaded that Christ would come down and\nhead them. They scoured the streets before them, and made a great\nprogress. Some were afraid, and all were amazed at this piece of\nextravagance. They killed a great many, but were at last mastered by\nnumbers; and were all either killed or taken and executed.\u2014(Burnet\u2019s\nOwn Times, 1660, vol. i. p. 160).\u2014Ed.\n\n10. The third section of 16th Charles II, cap. 4, also enacts, \u2018That\nany person above sixteen years old, present at any meeting under\npretence of exercise of religion, in other manner than is allowed by\nthe liturgy or practice of the Church of England, where there shall be\npresent five persons or more above those of the household, upon proof\nthereof made, either by confession of the party, or oath of witness, or\nnotorious evidence of the fact; the offence shall be recorded under the\nhands of two justices, or the chief magistrate of the place, which\nshall be a perfect conviction.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n11. As Wicliffe wrote in Latin, and his words were of great rarity, it\nmay excite inquiry how poor Bunyan was conversant with is opinions.\nThis is easily solved. Foxe gives a translation of Wicliffe\u2019s doctrines\nin his Martyrology, the favourite book of Bunyan.\u2014Ed.\n\n12. April 23, 1661.\n\n13. See page 56, and note there.\n\n14. It is very probable that his persecutors knew the heroic spirit of\nthis young woman, and were afraid to proceed to extremities, lest their\nblood-guiltiness should be known throughout the kingdom, and public\nexecration be excited against them. Such a martyr\u2019s blood would\nindelibly and most foully have stained both them and their families to\nthe latest generation.\u2014Ed.\n\n15. \u2018Smayed,\u2019 an obsolete contraction of \u2018dismayed.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n16. Bunyan is silent upon the death of his first wife and marriage to\nthe second; in fact he forgets his own domestic affairs in his desire\nto record the Lord\u2019s gracious dealings with his soul. It is not his\nautobiography, but his religious feelings and experience, that he\nrecords.\u2014Ed.\n\n17. \u2018Chafed,\u2019 excited, inflamed, angry.\u2014Ed.\n\n18. This is a beautiful specimen of real Christian feeling; nothing\nvindictive, although such cruel wrongs had been perpetrated against her\nbeloved husband.\u2014Ed.\n\n19. Nothing daunted by the cruel Statute which was then in force,\nBunyan acted exactly as Peter and John did under similar circumstances,\n\u201cWe cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard\u201d (Acts\n4:20). If I suffer death for it, I am bound to speak the warning words\nof truth, \u201cTouch not the unclean thing.\u201d\u2014Ed.\n\n20. Application was made to Bishop Barlow, through Dr. Owen, to use his\npowerful influence in obtaining liberty for this Christian captive; but\nhe absolutely refused to interfere. See Preface to Owen\u2019s Sermons,\n1721. Bunyan, upon his petition, heard by the king in council, was\nincluded in the pardon to the imprisoned and cruelly-treated Quakers.\nWhitehead, the Quaker, was the honoured instrument in releasing\nhim.\u2014Introduction to Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, Hanserd Knollys Edition.\u2014Ed.\n\n21. See an authentic copy of this Royal Declaration, and observations\nupon it, in the Introduction to the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, published by\nthe Hanserd Knollys Society, 1847.\u2014Ed.\n\n22. All these letters, and nearly all his autographs, have disappeared.\nOf his numerous manuscripts, books, and letters, not a line is now\nknown to exist. If discovered, they would be invaluable.\u2014Ed.\n\n23. Strongly does the departure of Bunyan, on his ascent to the\ncelestial city, remind us of Rev 14:13, \u2018And I heard a voice from\nheaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the\nLord, from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from\ntheir labours; and their works do follow them.\u2019 What an exchange! From\nincessant anxious labour; from sighing and sorrow; from corruption and\ntemptation; to commence an endless life of holiness and purity, rest\nand peace. To be with and like his Lord! His works have followed, and\nwill follow him, till time shall be no more.\u2014Ed.\n\n24. Among these truly remarkable sayings, so characteristic of our\ngreat author, this of the fearful nature of sin is peculiarly striking;\nit is worthy of being imprinted on every Christian\u2019s heart, to keep\nalive a daily sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin.\u2014Ed.\n\n25. Judges in those days were often biased by personal feelings, and in\nsome cases even by bribes.\u2014Ed.\n\n26. \u2018Otherguise importance\u2019; another manner of importance.\u2014Ed.\n\n27. \u2018Posing,\u2019 questioning closely, putting to a stand.\u2014Imperial\nDictionary.\u2014Ed.\n\n***\n\nPRISON MEDITATIONS DIRECTED TO THE HEART OF SUFFERING SAINTS AND\nREIGNING SINNERS\n\n\nBy John Bunyan, in Prison, 1665\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR\n\n\nThese verses, like those called \u201cA Caution to watch against Sin,\u201d were\nfirst printed on a half sheet, and passed through several editions. The\nEditor possesses a copy published by the author, a short time before\nhis decease; it is in an exceedingly rare little volume, including his\npoems of \u201cOne thing needful\u201d and his \u201cEbal and Gerizzim\u201d; with \u201ca\ncatlogue of all his other books.\u201d London: printed for Nath, Ponder, at\nthe Peacock in the Poultry, 1688. On the reverse of the title is a\nsingular advertisement; \u201cThis author having published many books, which\nhave gone off very well, there are certain ballad sellers about\nNewgate, and on London Bridge, who have put the two first letters of\nthis author\u2019s name, and his effigies, to their rhymes and ridiculous\nbooks, suggesting to the world as if they were his. Now know that this\nauthor publisheth his name at large to all his books, and what you\nshall see otherwise he disowns.\u201d\n\nBunyan was imprisoned for teaching the gospel in its purity to the\npoor, and for refusing conformity to national creeds and ceremonies.\nThis was as absurd as it would be, to imprison such of the inhabitants\nof a country who refused to swear that all mankind were of one standard\nin height; sending those who had consciences to prison, until they\npretended that they had grown taller or shorter, and were willing to\ntake the oath. Mental decision must be formed on evidence. God can\nenlighten the mind to see that he alone can guide us to spiritual\nworship\u2014that his will must be personally consulted, and unreservedly\nobeyed. Such a man feels that his soul\u2019s salvation depends upon\nobedience to God, and not to man. If human laws send him to jail for\nrefusing to disobey God, he will write upon the prison wall as William\nPrynne did upon that in the Tower, \u201cThe Lord heareth the poor, and\ndespiseth not HIS prisoners.\u201d\n\n   \u2018Christ\u2019s presence hath my prison turn\u2019d into\n    A blessed heaven; what then will it do\n    In heaven hereafter, when it now creates\n    Heav\u2019n in a dungeon; goals to courts translates?\u2019\n\n   \u2018He is not bound whom Christ makes free; he,\n    Though shut close prisoner, chained, remains still free:\n    A godly man\u2019s at large in every place,\n    Still cheerful, well content, in blessed case,\n    Unconquered; he a sacred heaven still bears\n    About within his breast.\u2019\u2026\n\nThese were the feelings of all Christ\u2019s prisoners. Indomitable was the\nheroic spirit of Bunyan. He tells his persecutors their folly and their\nsin, even while suffering under their lash; and after more than twelve\nyears\u2019 incarceration, his free spirit is unsubdued. Again for sixteen\nyears he enjoyed the sweets of liberty, and then re-published at all\nrisks his proofs of the wickedness of persecution for conscience\u2019 sake.\nThere was no craft, nor guile, nor hypocrisy about his character, but a\nfearless devotion to the will of his God; and he became one of the most\nhonoured of his saints.\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nPRISON MEDIATIONS\n\n\n1. Friend, I salute thee in the Lord,\n           And wish thou may\u2019st abound\n       In faith, and have a good regard\n           To keep on holy ground.\n\n2. Thou dost encourage me to hold\n           My head above the flood,\n       Thy counsel better is than gold,\n           In need thereof I stood.\n\n    3. Good counsel\u2019s good at any time,\n    The wise will it receive,\n    Though fools count he commits a crime\n    Who doth good counsel give.\n\n    4. I take it kindly at thy hand\n    Thou didst unto me write,\n    My feet upon Mount Zion stand,\n    In that take thou delight.\n\n    5. I am, indeed, in prison now\n    In body, but my mind\n    Is free to study Christ, and how\n    Unto me he is kind.\n\n    6. For though men keep my outward man\n    Within their locks and bars,\n    Yet by the faith of Christ I can\n    Mount higher than the stars.\n\n    7. Their fetters cannot spirits tame,\n    Nor tie up God from me;\n    My faith and hope they cannot lame,\n    Above them I shall be.\n\n    8. I here am very much refreshed\n    To think when I was out,\n    I preached life, and peace, and rest\n    To sinners round about.\n\n    9. My business then was souls to save,\n    By preaching grace and faith;\n    Of which the comfort now I have,\n    And have it shall till death.\n\n    10. They were no fables that I taught,\n    Devised by cunning men,\n    But God\u2019s own Word, by which were caught\n    Some sinners now and then.\n\n    11. Whose souls by it were made to see\n    The evil of their sin;\n    And need of Christ to make them free\n    From death which they were in.\n\n    12. And now those very hearts that then\n    Were foes unto the Lord,\n    Embrace his Christ and truth, like men\n    Conquered by his word.\n\n    13. I hear them sigh and groan, and cry\n    For grace, to God above;\n    They loathe their sin, and to it die,\n    \u2019Tis holiness they love.\n\n    14. This was the work I was about\n    When hands on me they laid,\n    \u2019Twas this from which they pluck\u2019d me out,\n    And vilely to me said,\n\n    15. You heretic, deceiver, come,\n    To prison you must go;\n    You preach abroad, and keep not home,\n    You are the church\u2019s foe.\n\n    16. But having peace within my soul,\n    And truth on every side,\n    I could with comfort them control,\n    And at their charge deride.\n\n    17. Wherefore to prison they me sent,\n    Where to this day I lie,\n    And can with very much content\n    For my profession die.\n\n    18. The prison very sweet to me\n    Hath been since I came here,\n    And so would also hanging be,\n    If God would there appear.\n\n    19. Here dwells good conscience, also peace\n    Here be my garments white;\n    Here, though in bonds, I have release\n    From guilt, which else would bite.\n\n    20. When they do talk of banishment,\n    Of death, or such-like things;\n    Then to me God sends heart\u2019s content,\n    That like a fountain springs.\n\n    21. Alas! they little think what peace\n    They help me to, for by\n    Their rage my comforts do increase;\n    Bless God therefore do I.\n\n    22. If they do give me gall to drink,\n    Then God doth sweetn\u2019ning cast\n    So much thereto, that they can\u2019t think\n    How bravely it doth taste.\n\n    23. For, as the devil sets before\n    Me heaviness and grief,\n    So God sets Christ and grace much more,\n    Whereby I take relief.\n\n    24. Though they say then that we are fools\n    Because we here do lie,\n    I answer, goals are Christ his schools,\n    In them we learn to die.\n\n    25. \u2019Tis not the baseness of this state\n    Doth hide us from God\u2019s face,\n    He frequently, both soon and late,\n    Doth visit us with grace.\n\n    26. Here come the angels, here come saints,\n    Here comes the Spirit of God,\n    To comfort us in our restraints\n    Under the wicked\u2019s rod.\n\n    27. God sometimes visits prisons more\n    Than lordly palaces,\n    He often knocketh at our door,\n    When he their houses miss.\n\n    28. The truth and life of heavenly things\n    Lift up our hearts on high,\n    And carry us on eagles\u2019 wings,\n    Beyond carnality.\n\n    29. It take away those clogs that hold\n    The hearts of other men,\n    And makes us lively, strong and bold\n    Thus to oppose their sin.\n\n    30. By which means God doth frustrate\n    That which our foes expect;\n    Namely, our turning th\u2019 Apostate,\n    Like those of Judas\u2019 sect.\n\n    31. Here comes to our rememberance\n    The troubles good men had\n    Of old, and for our furtherance,\n    Their joys when they were sad.\n\n    32. To them that here for evil lie\n    The place is comfortless,\n    But not to me, because that I\n    Lie here for righteousness.\n\n    33. The truth and I were both here cast\n    Together, and we do\n    Lie arm in arm, and so hold fast\n    Each other; this is true.\n\n    34. This goal to us is as a hill,\n    From whence we plainly see\n    Beyond this world, and take our fill\n    Of things that lasting be.\n\n    35. From hence we see the emptiness\n    Of all this world contains;\n    And here we feel the blessedness\n    That for us yet remains.\n\n    36. Here we can see how all men play\n    Their parts, as on a stage,\n    How good men suffer for God\u2019s way,\n    And bad men at them rage.\n\n    37. Here we can see who holds that ground\n    Which they in Scripture find;\n    Here we see also who turns round\n    Like weathercocks with wind.\n\n    38. We can also from hence behold\n    How seeming friends appear\n    But hypocrites, as we are told\n    In Scripture every where.\n\n    39. When we did walk at liberty,\n    We were deceiv\u2019d by them,\n    Who we from hence do clearly see\n    Are vile deceitful men.\n\n    40. These politicians that profest\n    For base and worldly ends,\n    Do now appear to us at best\n    But Machiavellian friends.\n\n    41. Though men do say, we do disgrace\n    Ourselves by lying here\n    Among the rogues, yet Christ our face\n    From all such filth will clear.\n\n    42. We know there\u2019s neither flout nor frown\n    That we now for him bear,\n    But will add to our heavenly crown,\n    When he comes in the air.\n\n    43. When he our righteousness forth brings\n    Bright shining as the day,\n    And wipeth off those sland\u2019rous things\n    That scorners on us lay.\n\n    44. We sell our earthly happiness\n    For heavenly house and home;\n    We leave this world because \u2019tis less,\n    And worse than that to come.\n\n    45. We change our drossy dust for gold,\n    From death to life we fly:\n    We let go shadows, and take hold\n    Of immortality.\n\n    46. We trade for that which lasting is,\n    And nothing for it give,\n    But that which is already his\n    By whom we breath and live.\n\n    47. That liberty we lose for him,\n    Sickness might take away:\n    Our goods might also for our sin\n    By fire or thieves decay.\n\n    48. Again, we see what glory \u2019tis\n    Freely to bear our cross\n    For him, who for us took up his,\n    When he our servant was.\n\n    49. I am most free that men should see\n    A hole cut thro\u2019 mine ear;\n    If others will ascertain me,\n    They\u2019ll hang a jewel there.\n\n    50. Just thus it is we suffer here\n    For him a little pain,\n    Who, when he doth again appear,\n    Will with him let us reign.\n\n    51. If all must either die for sin\n    A death that\u2019s natural;\n    Or else for Christ, \u2019tis best with him\n    Who for the last doth fall.\n\n    52. Who now dare say we throw away\n    Our goods or liberty,\n    When God\u2019s most holy Word doth say\n    We gain thus much thereby?\n\n    53. Hark yet again, you carnal men,\n    And hear what I shall say\n    In your own dialect, and then\n    I\u2019ll you no longer stay.\n\n    54. You talk sometimes of valour much,\n    And count such bravely mann\u2019d,\n    That will not stick to have a touch\n    With any in the land.\n\n    55. If these be worth commending then,\n    That vainly show their might,\n    How dare you blame those holy men\n    That in God\u2019s quarrel fight?\n\n    56. Though you dare crack a coward\u2019s crown,\n    Or quarrel for a pin,\n    You dare not on the wicked frown,\n    Nor speak against their sin.\n\n    57. For all your spirits are so stout,\n    For matters that are vain;\n    Yet sin besets you round about,\n    You are in Satan\u2019s chain.\n\n    58. You dare not for the truth engage,\n    You quake at prisonment;\n    You dare not make the tree your stage\n    For Christ, that King, potent.\n\n    59. Know then, true valour there doth dwell\n    Where men engage for God,\n    Against the devil, death, and hell,\n    And bear the wicked\u2019s rod.\n\n    60. These be the men that God doth count\n    Of high and noble mind;\n    These be the men that do surmount\n    What you in nature find.\n\n    61. First they do conquer their own hearts,\n    All worldly fears, and then\n    Also the devil\u2019s fiery darts,\n    And persecuting men.\n\n    62. They conquer when they thus do fall,\n    They kill when they do die:\n    They overcome then most of all,\n    And get the victory.\n\n    63. The worldling understands not this,\n    \u2019Tis clear out of his sight;\n    Therefore he counts this world his bliss,\n    And doth our glory slight.\n\n    64. The lubber knows not how to spring\n    The nimble footman\u2019s stage;\n    Neither can owls or jackdaws sing\n    If they were in the cage.\n\n    65. The swine doth not the pearls regard,\n    But them doth slight for grains,\n    Though the wise merchant labours hard\n    For them with greatest pains.\n\n    66. Consider man what I have said,\n    And judge of things aright;\n    When all men\u2019s cards are fully played,\n    Whose will abide the light?\n\n    67. Will those, who have us hither cast?\n    Or they who do us scorn?\n    Or those who do our houses waste?\n    Or us, who this have borne?\n\n    68. And let us count those things the best\n    That best will prove at last;\n    And count such men the only blest,\n    That do such things hold fast.\n\n    69. And what though they us dear do cost,\n    Yet let us buy them so;\n    We shall not count our labour lost\n    When we see others\u2019 woe.\n\n    70. And let saints be no longer blam\u2019d\n    By carnal policy;\n    But let the wicked be asham\u2019d\n    Of their malignity.\n\n\n\n\nTHE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED;\n\nOR,\n\nGOOD NEWS FOR THE VILEST OF MEN;\n\nBEING A HELP FOR DESPAIRING SOULS, SHOWING THAT JESUS CHRIST WOULD HAVE\nMERCY IN THE FIRST PLACE OFFERED TO THE BIGGEST SINNERS.\n\nTHE THIRD EDITION,\n\nIN WHICH IS ADDED, AN ANSWER TO THOSE GRAND OBJECTIONS THAT LIE IN THE\nWAY OF THE THEM THAT WOULD BELIEVE: FOR THE COMFORT OF THEM THAT FEAR\nTHEY HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST.\n\nBY JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD.\n\n\nLondon: Printed for Elizabeth Smith, at the Hand and Bible, on London\nBridge, 1691.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nTHAT Bunyan, who considered himself one of the most notorious of\nJerusalem sinners, should write with the deepest earnestness upon this\nsubject, is not surprising. He had preached upon it with very peculiar\npleasure, and, doubtless, from many texts; and, as he says, \u2018through\nGod\u2019s grace, with great success.\u2019 It is not probable that, with his\ncharacteristic intensity of feeling, and holy fervour in preaching, he\never delivered the same sermon twice; but this was a subject so in\nunison with his own feelings and experience, that he must have dilated\nupon it with even unusual interest and earnestness. The marrow of all\nthese exercises he concentrated in this treatise; and when his judgment\nwas, by severe internal conflicts, fully matured\u2014upon the eve of the\nclose of his earthly pilgrimage, in the last year of his life, 1688\u2014he\npublished it in a pocket volume of eight sheets. It was soon translated\ninto several languages, and became so popular as to pass through ten\neditions in English by 1728. Like other favourite books, it was\nornamented with some very inferior wood-cuts.\n\nThe object of the author is fully explained in the title to his book.\nIt is to display the riches of Divine grace and mercy to the greatest\nsinners\u2014even to those whose conduct entitled them to be called \u2018Satan\u2019s\ncolonels, and captains, the leaders of his people; and to such as most\nstoutly make head against the Son of God.\u2019 It is to those who feel\nthemselves to be such, and who make a proper estimate of their own\ncharacters, as in the sight of God, that the gracious proclamations of\nthe gospel are peculiarly directed. They to whom much is forgiven, love\nmuch; and the same native energies which had been misdirected to\npromote evil, when sanctified and divinely guided, become a great\nblessing to the church, and to society at large.\n\nBunyan does not stoop to any attempt to reconcile the humbling\ndoctrines of grace to the self-righteous pride of those who,\nconsidering themselves but little sinners, would feel contaminated by\nthe company of those who had been such great sinners, although they\nwere pardoned and sanctified by God. His great effort was directed to\nrelieve the distress and despair of those who were suffering under deep\nconvictions; still, his whole treatise shows that the doctrine of\nsalvation by grace, of free gift, is no encouragement to sin that grace\nmay abound, as some have blasphemously asserted. It is degrading to the\npride of those who have not drunk so deeply of sin, to be placed upon a\nlevel with great sinners. But the disease is the same\u2014in breaking one\ncommandment, the whole law is violated; and, however in some the moral\nleprosy does not make such fearful ravages as in others, the slightest\ntaint conveys moral, spiritual, and eternal death. ALL, whether young\nor old, great or small, must be saved by grace, or fall into perdition.\nThe difference between the taint of sin, and its awfully developed\nleprosy, is given. Who so ready to fly to the physician as those who\nfeel their case to be desperate? and, when cured, they must love the\nSaviour most.\n\nComparatively little sins before conviction, when seen in the glass of\nGod\u2019s law, and in his holy presence, become great ones. Those who feel\nthemselves to be great sinners, are peculiarly invited to the arms of\nthe Saviour, who saves to the uttermost ALL that come unto him; and it\nis thus that peculiar consolation is poured in, and the broken heart is\nbound up. We are then called by name, as Bunyan forcibly describes it,\nas men called by name before a court. \u2018Who first cry out, \u201cHere, Sir\u201d;\nand then shoulder and crowd, and say, \u201cPray give way, I am called into\nthe court.\u201d This is thy case, wherefore say, \u201cStand away, devil, Christ\ncalls me; stand away, unbelief, Christ calls me; stand away, all ye my\ndiscouraging apprehensions, for my Saviour calls me to him to receive\nof his mercy.\u201d\u2019 \u2018Wherefore, since Christ says come, let the angels make\na lane, and let all men give place, that the Jerusalem sinner may come\nto Jesus Christ for mercy.\u2019 How characteristic is this of the\npeculiarly striking style of Bunyan! How solemn his warnings! \u2018The\ninvitations of the gospel will be, to those who refuse them, the\nhottest coals in hell.\u2019 His reasonings against despair are equally\nforcible: \u2018\u2019Tis a sin to begin to despair before one sets his foot over\nthe threshold of hell gate. What! despair of bread in a land that is\nfull of corn! despair of mercy, when our God is full of mercy! when he\ngoes about by his ministers, beseeching of sinners to be reconciled\nunto him! Thou scrupulous fool, where canst thou find that God was ever\nfalse to his promise, or that he ever deceived the soul that ventured\nitself upon him?\u2019 This whole treatise abounds with strong consolation\nto those who are beset with fears, and who, because of these, are ready\nto give way to despair; it ought to be put into the hands of all such,\nlet them belong to what party they may; for, like our author\u2019s other\nbooks, nothing of a sectarian nature can be traced in it, except we so\ncall the distinguishing truths of evangelical religion. There are some\nvery interesting references to Bunyan\u2019s experience and life, and one\nrather singular idea, in which I heartily concur; it is, that the\nglorified saints will become part of the heavenly hierarchy of angels,\nand take the places of those who fell from that exalted state (Rev\n22:8,9).\n\nTo those whose souls are invaded by despair, or who fear that they have\ncommitted the sin against the Holy Ghost\u2014to all who pant to have their\nfaith strengthened, and hopes brightened, this little work is most\nearnestly and affectionately commended.\n\nGEORGE OFFOR.\n\nTO THE READER.\n\nCOURTEOUS READER,\n\n\nONE reason which moved me to write and print this little book was,\nbecause, though there are many excellent heart-affecting discourses in\nthe world that tend to convert the sinner, yet I had a desire to try\nthis simple method of mine; wherefore I make bold thus to invite and\nencourage the worst to come to Christ for life.\n\nI have been vile myself, but have obtained mercy; and I would have my\ncompanions in sin partake of mercy too: and, therefore, I have writ\nthis little book.\n\nThe nation doth swarm with vile ones now, as ever it did since it was a\nnation. My little book, in some places, can scarce go from house to\nhouse, but it will find a suitable subject to spend itself upon. Now,\nsince Christ Jesus is willing to save the vilest, why should they not,\nby name, be somewhat acquainted with it, and bid come to him under that\nname?\n\nA great sinner, when converted, seems a booty to Jesus Christ; he gets\nby saving such an one; why then should both Jesus lose his glory and\nthe sinner lose his soul at once, and that for want of an invitation?\n\nI have found, through God\u2019s grace, good success in preaching upon this\nsubject, and perhaps, so I may by my writing upon it too.1 I have, as\nyou see, let down this net for a draught. The Lord catch some great\nfishes by it, for the magnifying of his truth. There are some most vile\nin all men\u2019s eyes, and some are so in their own eyes too; but some have\ntheir paintings, to shroud their vileness under; yet they are naked and\nopen unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do; and for all these,\nGod hath sent a Saviour, Jesus; and to all these the door is opened.\n\nWherefore, prithee, profane man, give this little book the reading.\nCome; pardon, and a part in heaven and glory, cannot be hurtful to\nthee. Let not thy lusts and folly drive thee beyond the door of mercy,\nsince it is not locked nor bolted up against thee. Manasseh was a bad\nman, and Magdalene a bad woman, to say nothing of the thief upon the\ncross, or of the murderers of Christ; yet they obtained mercy; Christ\nwillingly received them.\n\nAnd dost thou think that those, once so bad, now they are in heaven,\nrepent them there because they left their sins for Christ when they\nwere in the world? I cannot believe, but that thou thinkest they have\nverily got the best on\u2019t. Why, sinner, do thou likewise. Christ, at\nheaven gates, says to thee, Come hither; and the devil, at the gates of\nhell, does call thee to come to him. Sinner, what sayest thou? Whither\nwilt thou go? Don\u2019t go into the fire; there thou wilt be burned! Don\u2019t\nlet Jesus lose his longing, since it is for thy salvation, but come to\nhim and live.\n\nOne word more, and so I have done. Sinner, here thou dost hear of love;\nprithee, do not provoke it, by turning it into wantonness. He that dies\nfor slighting love, sinks deepest into hell, and will there be\ntormented by the remembrance of that evil, more than by the deepest\ncogitation of all his other sins. Take heed, therefore; do not make\nlove thy tormentor, sinner. Farewell.\n\nGOOD NEWS FOR THE VILEST OF MEN;\n\nOR,\n\nA HELP FOR DESPAIRING SOULS.\n\n\u2018BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM.\u2019\u2014LUKE 24:47.\n\n\nTHE whole verse runs thus: \u2018And that repentance and remission of sins\nshould be preached in his name among all nations, \u2018beginning at\nJerusalem.\u2019 The words were spoken by Christ, after he rose from the\ndead, and they are here rehearsed after an historical manner, but do\ncontain in them a formal commission, with a special clause therein. The\ncommission is, as you see, for the preaching of the gospel, and is very\ndistinctly inserted in the holy record by Matthew and Mark. \u2018Go-teach\nall nations,\u2019 &c. (Matt 28:19) \u2018Go ye into all the world, and preach\nthe gospel to every creature\u2019 (Mark 16:15). Only this clause is in\nspecial mentioned by Luke, who saith, that as Christ would have the\ndoctrine of repentance and remission of sins preached in his name among\nall nations, so he would have the people of Jerusalem to have the first\nproffer thereof. Preach it, saith Christ, in all nations, but begin at\nJerusalem.\n\nThe apostles, then, though they had a commission so large as to give\nthem warrant to go and preach the gospel in all the world, yet by this\nclause they were limited as to the beginning of their ministry; they\nwere to begin this work at Jerusalem. \u201cBeginning at Jerusalem.\u201d\n\nBefore I proceed to an observation upon the words, I must, but briefly,\ntouch upon two things: namely, FIRST, Show you what Jerusalem now was.\nSECOND, Show you what it was to preach the gospel to them.\n\nFIRST, Jerusalem is to be considered either, First, With respect to the\ndescent of her people; or, Second, With respect to her preference and\nexaltation; or, Third, With respect to her present state, as to her\ndecays.\n\nFirst, As to her descent, she was from Abraham, [by] the sons of Jacob,\na people that God singled out from the rest of the nations, to set his\nlove upon them.\n\nSecondly, As to her preference or exaltation, she was the place of\nGod\u2019s worship, and that which had in and with her the special tokens\nand signs of God\u2019s favour and presence, above any other people in the\nworld. Hence, the tribes went up to Jerusalem to worship; there was\nGod\u2019s house, God\u2019s high-priest, God\u2019s sacrifices accepted, and God\u2019s\neye, and God\u2019s heart perpetually (Psa 76:1,2, 122; 1 Kings 9:3). But,\n\nThirdly, We are to consider Jerusalem also in her decays; for, as she\nis so considered, she is the proper object of our text, as will be\nfurther showed by and by.\n\nJerusalem, as I told you, was the place and seat of God\u2019s worship, but\nnow decayed, degenerated, and apostatized.2 The Word, the rule of\nworship, was rejected of them, and in its place they had put and set up\ntheir own traditions: they had rejected, also, the most weighty\nordinances, and put in the room thereof their own little things (Matt\n15; Mark 7). Jerusalem was therefore now greatly backslidden, and\nbecome the place where the truth and true religion were much defaced.\n\nIt was also now become the very sink of sin and seat of hypocrisy, and\ngulf where true religion was drowned. Here also now reigned\npresumption, and groundless confidence in God, which is the bane of\nsouls. Amongst its rulers, doctors, and leaders, envy, malice, and\nblasphemy vented itself against the power of godliness, in all places\nwhere it was espied; as also against the promoters of it; yea, their\nLord and Maker could not escape them.\n\nIn a word, Jerusalem was now become the shambles, the very\nslaughter-shop for saints. This was the place wherein the prophets,\nChrist, and his people, were most horribly persecuted and murdered.\nYea, so hardened at this time was this Jerusalem in her sins, that she\nfeared not to commit the biggest, and to bind herself, by wish, under\nthe guilt and damning evil of it; saying, when she had murdered the Son\nof God, \u2018His blood be on us, and on our children.\u2019 And though Jesus\nChrist did, both by doctrine, miracles, and holiness of life, seek to\nput a stop to their villanies, yet they shut their eyes, stopped their\nears, and rested not, till, as was hinted before, they had driven him\nout of the world. Yea, that they might, if possible, have extinguished\nhis name, and exploded his doctrine out of the world, they, against all\nargument, and in despite of heaven, its mighty hand, and undeniable\nproof of his resurrection, did hire soldiers to invent a lie, saying,\nhis disciples stole him away from the grave; on purpose that men might\nnot count him the Saviour of the world, nor trust in him for the\nremission of sins.\n\nThey were, saith Paul, contrary to all men: for they did not only shut\nup the door of life against themselves, but forbade that it should be\nopened to any else. \u2018Forbidding us,\u2019 saith he, \u2018to speak to the\nGentiles, that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway\u2019 (1\nThess 2:14-16; Matt 23:35; 15:7-9; Mark 7:6-8; Matt 3:7-9; John\n8:33,41; Matt 27:18; Mark 3:30; Matt 23:37; Luke 13:33,34; Matt 27:25;\n20:11-16).\n\nThis is the city, and these are the people; this is their character,\nand these are their sins: nor can there be produced their parallel in\nall this world. Nay, what world, what people, what nation, for sin and\ntransgression, could or can be compared to Jerusalem? especially if you\njoin to the matter of fact the light they sinned against, and the\npatience which they abused. Infinite was the wickedness upon this\naccount which they committed.\n\nAfter all their abusings of wise men, and prophets, God sent unto them\nJohn Baptist, to reduce them, and then his Son, to redeem them; but\nthey would be neither reduced nor redeemed, but persecuted both to the\ndeath. Nor did they, as I said, stop here; the holy apostles they\nafterwards persecuted also to death, even so many as they could; the\nrest they drove from them unto the utmost corners.\n\nSECOND, I come not to show you what it was to preach the gospel to\nthem. It was, saith Luke, to preach to them \u2018repentance and remission\nof sins\u2019 in Christ\u2019s name; or, as Mark has it, to bid them \u2018repent and\nbelieve the gospel\u2019 (Mark 1:15). Not that repentance is a cause of\nremission, but a sign of our hearty reception thereof. Repentance is\ntherefore here put to intimate, that no pretended faith of the gospel\nis good that is not accompanied with it; and this he doth on purpose,\nbecause he would not have them deceive themselves: for with what faith\ncan he expect remission of sins in the name of Christ, that is not\nheartily sorry for them? Or how shall a man be able to give to others a\nsatisfactory account of his unfeigned subjection to the gospel, that\nyet abides in his impenitency?\n\nWherefore repentance is here joined with faith, in the way of receiving\nthe gospel. Faith is that without which it cannot be received at all;\nand repentance that without which it cannot be received unfeignedly.\nWhen, therefore, Christ says, he would have a repentance and remission\nof sins preached in his name among all nations, it is as much as to\nsay, I will that all men everywhere be sorry for their sins, and accept\nof mercy at God\u2019s hand through me, lest they fall under his wrath in\nthe judgment; for, as I have said, without repentance, what pretence\nsoever men have of faith, they cannot escape the wrath to come.\nWherefore Paul said, God commands \u2018all men everywhere to repent,\u2019 (in\norder to their salvation): \u2018because he hath appointed a day, in the\nwhich he shall judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he\nhath ordained\u2019 (Acts 17:31).\n\nAnd now, to come to this clause, \u2018Beginning at Jerusalem\u2019; that is,\nthat Christ would have Jerusalem have the first offer of the gospel. 1.\nThis cannot be so commanded because they had now any more right, of\nthemselves, thereto, than had any of the nations of the world; for\ntheir sins had divested them of all self-deservings. 2. Nor yet because\nthey stood upon the advance-ground with the worst of the sinners of the\nnations; nay, rather, the sinners of the nations had the advance-ground\nof them: for Jerusalem was, long before she had added this iniquity to\nher sin, worse than the very nations that God cast out before the\nchildren of Israel (2 Chron 33). 3. It must, therefore, follow, that\nthis cause, \u2018Beginning at Jerusalem,\u2019 was put into this commission of\nmere grace and compassion, even from the overflowings of the bowels of\nmercy; for indeed they were the worst, and so in the most deplorable\ncondition of any people under the heavens.3\n\nWhatever, therefore, their relation was to Abraham, Isaac, or\nJacob\u2014however they formerly had been the people among whom God had\nplaced his name and worship, they were now degenerated from God, more\nthan the nations were from their idols, and were become guilty of the\nhighest sins which the people of the world were capable of committing.\nNay, none can be capable of committing of such pardonable sins as they\ncommitted against their God, when they slew his Son, and persecuted his\nname and Word.\n\n[DOCTRINE.]\n\n\nFrom these words, therefore, thus explained, we gain this\nobservation:\u2014That Jesus Christ. would have mercy offered, in the first\nplace, to the biggest sinners\n\nThat these Jerusalem sinners were the biggest sinners that ever were in\nthe world, I think none will deny, that believes that Christ was the\nbest man that ever was in the world, and also was their Lord God. And\nthat they were to have the first offer of his grace, the text is as\nclear as the sun; for it saith, \u2018Beginning at Jerusalem.\u2019 \u2018Preach,\u2019\nsaith he, \u2018repentance and remission of sins\u2019 to the Jerusalem sinners:\nto the Jerusalem sinners in the first place. One would a-thought, since\nthe Jerusalem sinners were the worst and greatest sinners, Christ\u2019s\ngreatest enemies, and those that not only despised his person,\ndoctrine, and miracles, but that, a little before, had had their hands\nup to the elbows in his heart\u2019s blood, that he should rather have said,\nGo into all the world, and preach repentance and remission of sins\namong all nations; and, after that, offer the same to Jerusalem; yea,\nit had been infinite grace if he had said so. But what grace is this,\nor what name shall we give it, when he commands that this repentance\nand remission of sins, which is designed to be preached in all nations,\nshould first be offered to Jerusalem; in the first place to the worst\nof sinners!\n\nNor was this the first time that the grace, which was in the heart of\nChrist, thus showed itself to the world. For while he was yet alive,\neven while he was yet in Jerusalem, and perceived, even among these\nJerusalem sinners, which was the most vile among them, he still, in his\npreaching, did signify that he had a desire that the worst of these\nworst should, in the first place, come unto him. The which he showeth,\nwhere he saith to the better sort of them, \u2018The publicans and the\nharlots go into the kingdom of God before you\u2019 (Matt 21:31). Also when\nhe compared Jerusalem with the sinners of the nations, then he commands\nthat the Jerusalem sinners should have the gospel at present confined\nto them. \u2018Go not,\u2019 saith he, \u2018into the way of the Gentiles, and into\nany of the cities of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go rather to the\nlost sheep of the house of Israel\u2019 (Matt 10:5,6; 23:37). But go rather\nto them, for they were in the most fearful plight. These, therefore,\nmust have the cream of the gospel, namely, the first offer thereof, in\nhis lifetime; yea, when he departed out of the world, he left this as\npart of his last will with his preachers, that they also should offer\nit first to Jerusalem. He had a mind, a careful mind, as it seems, to\nprivilege the worst of sinners with the fist offer of mercy, and to\ntake from among them a people, to be the first fruits unto God and to\nthe Lamb.\n\nThe 15th of Luke also is famous for this, where the Lord Jesus takes\nmore care, as appears there by three parables, for the lost sheep, lost\ngroat, and the prodigal son, than for the other sheep, the other pence,\nor for the son that said he had never transgressed; yea, he shows that\nthere is joy in heaven, among the angels of God, at the repentance of\none sinner, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no\nrepentance. After this manner, therefore, the mind of Christ was set on\nthe salvation of the biggest sinners in his lifetime. But join to this,\nthis clause, which he carefully put into the apostles\u2019 commission to\npreach, when he departed hence to the Father, and then you shall see\nthat his heart was vehemently set upon it; for these were part of his\nlast words with them, Preach my gospel to all nations, but that you\nbegin at Jerusalem.\n\nNor did the apostles overlook this clause when their Lord was gone into\nheaven; they went first to them of Jerusalem, and preached Christ\u2019s\ngospel to them; they abode also there for a season and time, and\npreached it to nobody else, for they had regard to the commandment of\ntheir Lord. And it is to be observed, namely, that the first sermon\nwhich they preached after the ascension of Christ, it was preached to\nthe very worst of these Jerusalem sinners, even to those that were the\nmurderers of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:23), for these are part of the\nsermon: \u2018Ye took him, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain\nhim.\u2019 Yea, the next sermon, and the next, and also the next to that,\nwas preached to the self-same murderers, to the end they might be saved\n(Acts 3:14-16; 4:10,11; 5:30; 7:52).\n\nBut we will return to the first sermon that was preached to these\nJerusalem sinners, by which will be manifest more than great grace, if\nit be duly considered. For after that Peter, and the rest of the\napostles, had, in their exhortation, persuaded these wretches to\nbelieve that they had killed the Prince of life; and after they had\nduly fallen under the guilt of their murder, saying, \u2018Men and brethren,\nwhat shall we do?\u2019 he replies, by an universal tender to them all in\ngeneral, considering them as Christ\u2019s killers, that if they were sorry\nfor what they had done, and would be baptized for the remission of\ntheir sins in his name, they should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost\n(Acts 2:37,38).\n\nThis he said to them all, though he knew that they were such sinners.\nYea, he said it without the least stick or stop, or pause of spirit, as\nto whether he had best to say so or no. Nay, so far off was Peter from\nmaking an objection against one of them, that, by a particular clause\nin his exhortation, he endeavours, that not one of them may escape the\nsalvation offered. \u2018Repent,\u2019 saith he, \u2018and be baptized every one of\nyou.\u2019 I shut out never an one of you; for I am commanded by my Lord to\ndeal with you, as it were, one by one, by the word of his salvation.\nBut why speaks he so particularly? Oh! there were reasons for it. The\npeople with whom the apostles were now to deal, as they were murderers\nof our Lord, and to be charged in the general with his blood, so they\nhad their various and particular acts of villany in the guilt thereof,\nnow lying upon their consciences. And the guilt of these, their various\nand particular acts of wickedness, could not, perhaps, be reached to a\nremoval thereof but by this particular application. Repent, every one\nof you; be baptized, every one of you, in his name, for the remission\nof sins, and you shall, every one of you, receive the gift of the Holy\nGhost.\n\nObjector. \u2018But I was one of them that plotted to take away his life.\nMay I be saved by him?\u2019\n\nPeter. Every one of you.\n\nObjector. \u2018But I was one of them that bare false witness against him.\nIs there grace for me?\u2019\n\nPeter. For every one of you.\n\nObjector. \u2018But I was one of them that cried out, Crucify him, crucify\nhim; and desired that Barabbas, the murderer, might live, rather than\nhim. What will become of me, think you?\u2019\n\nPeter. I am to preach repentance and remission of sins to every one of\nyou, says Peter.\n\nObjector. \u2018But I was one of them that did spit in his face when he\nstood before his accusers. I also was one that mocked him, when in\nanguish he hanged bleeding on the tree. Is there room for me?\u2019\n\nPeter. For every one of you, says Peter.\n\nObjector. \u2018But I was one of them that, in his extremity, said, Give him\ngall and vinegar to drink. Why may not I expect the same when anguish\nand guilt is upon me?\u2019\n\nPeter. Repent of these your wickednesses, and here is remission of sins\nfor every one of you.\n\nObjector. \u2018But I railed on him, I reviled him, I hated him, I rejoiced\nto see him mocked at by others. Can there be hope for me?\u2019\n\nPeter. There is, for every one of you. \u2018Repent, and be baptized every\none of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and\nye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.\u2019 Oh! what a blessed \u2018Every\none of you,\u2019 is here! How willing was Peter, and the Lord Jesus, by his\nministry, to catch these murderers with the word of the gospel, that\nthey might be made monuments of the grace of God! How unwilling, I say,\nwas he, that any of these should escape the hand of mercy! Yea, what an\namazing wonder is it to think, that above all the world, and above\neverybody in it, these should have the first offer of mercy! \u2018Beginning\nat Jerusalem.\u2019\n\nBut was there not something of moment in this clause of the commission?\nDid not Peter, think you, see a great deal in it, that he should thus\nbegin with these men, and thus offer, so particularly, this grace to\neach particular man of them?\n\nBut, as I told you, this is not all; these Jerusalem sinners must have\nthis offer again and again; every one of them must be offered it over\nand over. Christ would not take their first rejection for a denial, nor\ntheir second repulse for a denial; but he will have grace offered once,\nand twice, and thrice, to these Jerusalem sinners. Is not this amazing\ngrace? Christ will not be put off. These are the sinners that are\nsinners indeed. They are sinners of the biggest sort; consequently,\nsuch as Christ can, if they convert and be saved, best serve his ends\nand designs upon. Of which more anon.\n\nBut what a pitch of grace is this! Christ is minded to amaze the world,\nand to show that he acteth not like the children of men. This is that\nwhich he said of old, \u2018I will not execute the fierceness of my wrath, I\nwill not return to destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man\u2019 (Hosea\n11:9).5 This is not the manner of men; men are shorter winded; men are\nsoon moved to take vengeance, and to right themselves in a way of wrath\nand indignation. But God is full of grace, full of patience, ready to\nforgive, and one that delights in mercy. All this is seen in our text.\nThe biggest sinners must first be offered mercy; they must, I say, have\nthe cream of the gospel offered unto them.\n\nBut we will a little proceed. In the third chapter we find, that they\nwho escaped converting by the first sermon, are called upon again to\naccept of grace and forgiveness, for their murder committed upon the\nSon of God. You have killed, yea, \u2018ye denied the Holy One and the Just,\nand desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of\nlife.\u2019 Mark, he falls again upon the very men that actually were, as\nyou have it in the chapters following, his very betrayers and murderers\n(Acts 3:14,15), as being loath that they should escape the mercy of\nforgiveness: and exhorts them again to repent, that their sins might\n\u2018be blotted out\u2019(verse 19,20).\n\nAgain, in the fourth chapter, he charges them afresh with this murder\n(verse 10), but withal tells them salvation is in no other. Then, like\na heavenly decoy, he puts himself also among them, to draw them the\nbetter under the net of the gospel; saying, \u2018There is none other name\nunder heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved\u2019 (verse 12).\n\nIn the fifth chapter, you find them railing at him, because he\ncontinued preaching among them salvation in the name of Jesus. But he\ntells them, that that very Jesus whom they had slain and hanged on a\ntree, him God had raised up, and exalted \u2018to be a Prince and a Saviour,\nto give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins\u2019 (verse 29-31).\nStill insinuating, that though they had killed him, and to this day\nrejected him, yet his business was to bestow upon them repentance and\nforgiveness of sins.\n\n\u2019Tis true, after they began to kill again, and when nothing but killing\nwould serve their turn, then they that were scattered abroad went\neverywhere preaching the word. Yet even some of them so hankered after\nthe conversion of the Jews, that they preached the gospel only to them.\nAlso the apostles still made their abode at Jerusalem, in hopes that\nthey might let down their net for another draught of these Jerusalem\nsinners. Neither did Paul and Barnabas, who were the ministers of God\nto the Gentiles, but offer the gospel, in the first place, to those of\nthem that, for their wickedness, were scattered, like vagabonds, among\nthe nations; yea, and when they rendered rebellion and blasphemy for\ntheir service and love, they replied it was necessary that the word of\nGod should first have been spoken to them (Acts 1:8; 13:46,47).\n\nNor was this their preaching unsuccessful among these people: but the\nLord Jesus so wrought with the word thus spoken, that thousands of them\ncame flocking to him for mercy. Three thousand of them closed with him\nat the first; and, afterwards, two thousand more; for now they were in\nnumber about five thousand; whereas, before sermons were preached to\nthese murderers, the number of the disciples was not above \u2018a hundred\nand twenty\u2019 (Acts 1:15; 2:41; 4:4).\n\nAlso among these people that thus flocked to him for mercy, there was a\n\u2018great company of the priests\u2019 (Acts 6:7). Now, the priests were they\nthat were the greatest of these biggest sinners; they were the\nringleaders, they were the inventors and ringleaders in the mischief.\nIt was they that set the people against the Lord Jesus, and that were\nthe cause why the uproar increased, until Pilate had given sentence\nupon him. \u2018The chief priests and elders,\u2019 says the text, \u2018persuaded\n(the people) the multitude, that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy\nJesus\u2019 (Matt 27:20). And yet, behold the priests, yea, a great company\nof the priests, became obedient to the faith.6\n\nOh, the greatness of the grace of Christ, that he should be thus in\nlove with the souls of Jerusalem sinners! that he should be thus\ndelighted with the salvation of the Jerusalem sinners! that he should\nnot only will that his gospel should be offered them, but that it\nshould be offered unto them first, and before other sinners were\nadmitted to a hearing of it. \u2018Begin at Jerusalem.\u2019\n\nWas this doctrine well believed, where would there be a place for a\ndoubt, or a fear of the damnation of the soul, if the sinner be\npenitent, how bad a life soever he has lived, how many soever in number\nare his sins? But this grace is hid from the eyes of men; the devil\nhides it from them; for he knows it is alluring, he knows it has an\nattracting virtue in it; for this is it that, above all arguments, can\ndraw the soul to God. I cannot help it, but must let drop another word.\nThe first church, the Jerusalem church, from whence the gospel was to\nbe sent into all the world, was a church made up of Jerusalem sinners.\nThese great sinners were here the most shining monuments of the\nexceeding grace of God.\n\nThus, you see, I have proved the doctrine; and that not only by showing\nyou that this was the practice of the Lord Jesus Christ in his\nlifetime, but his last will when he went up to God; saying, Begin to\npreach at Jerusalem. Yea, it is yet further manifested, in that when\nhis ministers first began to preach there, he joined his power to the\nword, to the converting of thousands of his betrayers and murderers,\nand also many of the ringleading priests, to the faith.\n\nI shall now proceed, and shall show you, FIRST, The reasons of the\npoint. SECOND, And then make some application of the whole.\n\n[THE REASONS OF THE POINT.]\n\n\nThe observation, you know, is this: Jesus Christ would have mercy\noffered, in the first place, to the biggest sinners, to the Jerusalem\nsinners: \u2018Preach repentance, and remission of sins, in my name, among\nall nations, beginning at Jerusalem.\u2019\n\nThe reasons of the point are:\u2014\n\nFirst, Because the biggest sinners have most need thereof.\n\nHe that has most need, reason says, should be helped first. I mean,\nwhen a helping hand is offered, and now it is; for the gospel of the\ngrace of God is sent to help the world (Act 16:9). But the biggest\nsinner has most need. Therefore, in reason, when mercy is sent down\nfrom heaven to men, the worst of men should have the first offer of it.\n\u2018Begin at Jerusalem.\u2019 This is the reason which the Lord Christ himself\nrenders, why, in his lifetime, he left the best, and turned him to the\nworst; why he sat so loose from the righteous, and stuck so close to\nthe wicked. \u2018The whole,\u2019 saith he, \u2018have no need of the physician, but\nthe sick. I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners to\nrepentance\u2019 (Mark 2:15-17).7\n\nAbove, you read that the scribes and Pharisees said to his disciples,\n\u2018How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?\u2019\nAlas! they did not know the reason; but the Lord renders them one, and\nsuch an one as is both natural and cogent, saying, These have need,\nmost need. Their great necessity requires that I should be most\nfriendly, and show my grace first to them.\n\nNot that the other were sinless, and so had no need of a Saviour; but\nthe publicans and their companions were the biggest sinners; they were,\nas to view, worse than the scribes; and, therefore, in reason, should\nbe helped first, because they had most need of a Saviour.\n\nMen that are at the point to die, have more need of the physician than\nthey that are but now and then troubled with a heart-fainting qualm.\nThe publicans and sinners were, as it were, in the mouth of death;\ndeath was swallowing of them down:8 and, therefore, the Lord Jesus\nreceives them first; offers them mercy first. \u2018The whole have no need\nof the physician, but the sick. I came not to call the righteous, but\nthe sinners to repentance.\u2019 The sick, as I said, is the biggest sinner,\nwhether he sees his disease or not. He is stained from head to foot,\nfrom heart to life and conversation. This man, in every man\u2019s judgment,\nhas the most need of mercy. There is nothing attends him from bed to\nboard, and from board to bed again, but the visible characters, and\nobvious symptoms, of eternal damnation. This, therefore, is the man\nthat has need, most need; and, therefore, in reason, should be helped\nin the first place. Thus it was with the people concerned in the text;\nthey were the worst of sinners, Jerusalem sinners, sinners of the\nbiggest size; and, therefore, such as had the greatest need; wherefore\nthey must have mercy offered to them, before it be offered to anywhere\nelse in the world. \u2018Begin at Jerusalem,\u2019 offer mercy first to a\nJerusalem sinner. This man has most need, he is furthest from God,\nnearest to hell, and so one that has most need. This man\u2019s sins are in\nnumber the most, in cry the loudest, in weight the heaviest, and,\nconsequently, will sink him soonest; wherefore he has most need of\nmercy. This man is shut up in Satan\u2019s hand, fastest bound in the cords\nof his sins: one that justice is whetting his sword to cut off; and,\ntherefore, has most need, not only of mercy, but that it should be\nextended to him in the first place.\n\nBut a little further to show you the true nature of this reason, to\nwit, That Jesus Christ would have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners.\n\nFirst, Mercy ariseth from the bowels and compassion, from pity, and\nfrom a feeling of the condition of those in misery. \u2018In his love, and\nin his pity, he redeemed them.\u2019 And again, \u2018The Lord is pitiful, very\npitiful, and of tender mercy\u2019 (Isa 63:9; James 5:11).\n\nNow, where pity and compassion is, there is yearning of bowels; and\nwhere there is that, there is a readiness to help. And, I say again,\nthe more deplorable and dreadful the condition is, the more directly\ndoth bowels and compassion turn themselves to such, and offer help and\ndeliverance. All this flows from our first scripture proof, I came to\ncall them that have need; to call them first, while the rest look on\nand murmur.\n\n\u2018How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?\u2019 Ephraim was a revolter from God, a\nman that had given himself up to devilism; a company of men, the ten\ntribes that worshipped devils, while Judah kept with his God. But \u2018how\nshall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How\nshall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? [and yet\nthou art worse than they, nor has Samaria committed half thy sins (Eze\n16:46-51)] Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled\ntogether\u2019 (Hosea 11:8).\n\nBut where do you find that ever the Lord did thus rowl9 in his bowels\nfor and after any self-righteous man? No, no; they are the publicans\nand harlots, idolaters and Jerusalem sinners, for whom his bowels thus\nyearn and tumble about within him: for, alas! poor worms, they have\nmost need of mercy.\n\nHad not the good Samaritan more compassion for that man that fell among\nthieves (though that fall was occasioned by his going from the place\nwhere they worshipped God, to Jericho, the cursed city), than we read\nhe had for any other besides? His wine was for him, his oil was for\nhim, his beast for him; his penny, his care, and his swaddling bands\nfor him; for, alas! wretch, he had most need (Luke 10:30-35).\n\nZaccheus the publican, the chief of the publicans, one that had made\nhimself the richer by wronging of others; the Lord at that time singled\nhim out from all the rest of his brother publicans, and that in the\nface of many Pharisees, and proclaimed in the audience of them all,\nthat that day salvation was come to his house (Luke 19:1-8).\n\nThe woman, also, that had been bound down by Satan for eighteen years\ntogether, his compassions putting him upon it, he loosed her, though\nthose that stood by snarled at him for so doing (Luke 13:11-13).\n\nAnd why the woman of Sarepta, and why Naaman the Syrian, rather than\nwidows and lepers of Israel, but because their conditions were more\ndeplorable; for that they were most forlorn, and furthest from help\n(Luke 4:25,27).\n\nBut I say, why all these, thus named? Why have we not a catalogue of\nsome holy men that were so in their own eyes, and in the judgment of\nthe world? Alas! if, at any time, any of them are mentioned, how\nseemingly coldly doth the record of scripture present them to us?\nNicodemus, a night professor, and Simon the Pharisee, with his fifty\npence, and their great ignorance of the methods of grace, we have now\nand then touched upon.\n\nMercy seems to be out of its proper channel when it deals with\nself-righteous men; but then it runs with a full stream when it extends\nitself to the biggest sinners. As God\u2019s mercy is not regulated by man\u2019s\ngoodness, nor obtained by man\u2019s worthiness, so not much set out by\nsaving of any such. But more of this anon.\n\nAnd here let me ask my reader a question: Suppose that, as thou art\nwalking by some pond side, thou shouldst espy in it four or five\nchildren, all in danger of drowning, and one in more danger than all\nthe rest; judge which has most need to be helped out first? I know thou\nwilt say, he that is nearest drowning. Why, this is the case; the\nbigger sinner, the nearer drowning; therefore, the bigger sinner, the\nmore need of mercy; yea, of help, by mercy, in the first place. And to\nthis our text agrees, when it saith, \u2018Beginning at Jerusalem.\u2019 Let the\nJerusalem sinner, says Christ, have the first offer, the first\ninvitation, the first tender of my grace and mercy; for he is the\nbiggest sinner, and so has most need thereof.\n\nSecond, Christ Jesus would have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners, because when they, any of them, receive it, it\nredounds most to the fame of his name.\n\nChrist Jesus, as you may perceive, has put himself under the term of a\nphysician, a doctor for curing of diseases; and you know that applause\nand fame are things that physicians much desire. That is it that helps\nthem to patients; and that, also, that will help their patients to\ncommit themselves to their skill, for cure, with the more confidence\nand repose of spirit. And the best way for a doctor or physician to get\nhimself a name, is, in the first place, to take in hand, and cure, some\nsuch as all others have given up for lost and dead. Physicians get\nneither name nor fame by pricking of wheals,10 or picking out thistles,\nor by laying of plasters to the scratch of a pin; every old woman can\ndo this. But if they would have a name and a fame, if they will have it\nquickly, they must, as I said, do some great and desperate cures. Let\nthem fetch one to life that was dead; let them recover one to his wits\nthat was mad; let them make one that was born blind to see; or let them\ngive ripe wits to a fool: these are notable cures, and he that can do\nthus, and if he doth thus first, he shall have the name and fame he\ndesires; he may lie a-bed till noon.\n\nWhy, Christ Jesus forgiveth sins for a name, and so begets for himself\na good report in the hearts of the children of men. And, therefore, in\nreason he must be willing, as, also, he did command, that his mercy\nshould be offered first to the biggest sinners. I will forgive their\nsins, iniquities, and transgressions, says he, \u2018And it shall be to me a\nname of joy, a praise and an honour, before all the nations of the\nearth\u2019 (Jer 33:8,9).\n\nAnd hence it is, that, at his first appearing, he took upon him to do\nsuch mighty works; he got a fame thereby, he got a name thereby (Matt\n4:23,24).\n\nWhen Christ had cast the legion of devils out of the man of whom you\nread (Mark 5), he bid him go home to his friends, and tell it. \u2018Go\nhome,\u2019 saith he, \u2018to thy friends, and tell them how great things God\nhath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee\u2019 (Mark 5:19).\nChrist Jesus seeks a name, and desireth a fame in the world; and,\ntherefore, or the better to obtain that, he commands that mercy should\nfirst be proffered to the biggest sinners; because, by the saving of\none of them, he makes all men marvel. As it is said of the man last\nmentioned, whom Christ cured towards the beginning of his ministry.\n\u2018And he departed,\u2019 says the text, \u2018and began to publish in Decapolis\nhow great things Jesus had done for him; and all men did marvel\u2019 (Mark\n5:20).\n\nWhen John told Christ, that they saw one casting out devils in his\nname, and they forbade him, because he followed not with them, what is\nthe answer of Christ? \u2018Forbid him not; for there is no man which shall\ndo a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me\u2019 (Mark\n9:39). No; they will rather cause his praise to be heard, and his name\nto be magnified, and so put glory on the head of Christ.\n\nBut we will follow, a little, our metaphor. Christ, as I said, has put\nhimself under the term of a physician; consequently, he desireth that\nhis fame, as to the salvation of sinners, may spread abroad, that the\nworld may see what he can do. And to this end, has not only commanded\nthat the biggest sinners should have the first offer of his mercy, but\nhas, as physicians do,11 put out his bills, and published his doings,\nthat things may be read and talked of. Yea, he has, moreover, in these,\nhis blessed bills, the holy scriptures I mean, inserted the very names\nof persons, the places of their abode, and the great cures that, by the\nmeans of his salvation, he has wrought upon them to this very end. Here\nis, Item, such an one, by my grace and redeeming blood, was made a\nmonument of everlasting life; and such an one, by my perfect obedience,\nbecame an heir of glory. And then he produceth their names. Item, I\nsaved Lot from the guilt and damnation that he had procured for himself\nby his incest. Item, I saved David from the vengeance that belonged to\nhim for committing of adultery and murder. Here is, also, Solomon,\nManasseh, Peter, Magdalene, and many others, made mention of in this\nbook. Yea, here are their names, their sins, and their salvations\nrecorded together, that you may read and know what a Saviour he is, and\ndo him honour in the world. For why are these things thus recorded, but\nto show to sinners what he can do, to the praise and glory of his\ngrace? And it is observable, as I said before, we have but very little\nof the salvation of little sinners mentioned in God\u2019s book, because\nthat would not have answered the design, to wit, to bring glory and\nfame to the name of the Son of God.\n\nWhat should be the reason, think you, why Christ should so easily take\na denial of the great ones that were the grandeur of the world, and\nstruggle so hard for hedge-creepers12 and highwaymen, as that parable\nseems to import he doth, but to show forth the riches of the glory of\nhis grace, to his praise? (Luke 14). This, I say, is one reason, to be\nsure. They that had their grounds, their yoke of oxen, and their\nmarriage joys, were invited to come; but they made the excuse, and that\nserved the turn. But when he comes to deal with the worst, he saith to\nhis servants, Go ye out and bring them in hither. \u2018Go out quickly-and\nbring in hither the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind.\u2019 And\nthey did so. And he said again, \u2018Go out into the highways and hedges,\nand compel them to come in, that my house may be filled\u2019 (Luke\n14:18,19,23). These poor, lame, maimed, blind, hedge-creepers, and\nhighwaymen, must come in, must be forced in. These, if saved, will make\nhis merit shine.\n\nWhen Christ was crucified, and hanged up between the earth and heavens,\nthere were two thieves crucified with him; and, behold, he lays hold of\none of them, and will have him away with him to glory. Was not this a\nstrange act, and a display of unthought-of grace? Were there none but\nthieves there, or were the rest of that company out of his reach? Could\nhe not, think you, have stooped from the cross to the ground, and have\nlaid hold on some honester man, if he would? Yes, doubtless. Oh! but\nthen he would not have displayed his grace, nor so have pursued his own\ndesigns, namely, to get to himself a praise and a name; but now he has\ndone it to purpose. For who that shall read this story, but must\nconfess, that the Son of God is full of grace; for a proof of the\nriches thereof, he left behind him, when, upon the cross, he took the\nthief away with him to glory. Nor can this one act of his be buried; it\nwill be talked of, to the end of the world, to his praise. \u2018Men shall\nspeak of the might of thy terrible acts; and I will declare thy\ngreatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great\ngoodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness-They shall speak of the\nglory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; to make known to the sons\nof men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom\u2019 (Psa\n145:6-12).\n\nWhen the Word of God came among the conjurors and those soothsayers,\nthat you read of (Acts 19), and had prevailed with some of them to\naccept of the grace of Christ, the Holy Ghost records it with a boast,\nfor that it would redound to his praise, saying, \u2018Many of them also\nwhich used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them\nbefore all men; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty\nthousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the Word of God, and\nprevailed\u2019 (Acts 19:19,20). It wrenched out of the clutches of Satan\nsome of those of whom he thought himself most sure. \u2018So mightily grew\nthe Word of God.\u2019 It grew mightily, it encroached upon the kingdom of\nthe devil. It pursued him, and took the prey; it forced him to let go\nhis hold! It brought away captive, as prisoners taken by force of arms,\nsome of the most valiant of his army. It fetched back from, as it were,\nthe confines of hell, some of those that were his most trusty, and\nthat, with hell, had been at an agreement. It made them come and\nconfess their deeds, and burn their books before all men. \u2018So mightily\ngrew the Word of God, and prevailed.\u2019 Thus, therefore, you see why\nChrist will have offered mercy, in the first place, to the biggest\nsinners; they have most need thereof; and this is the most ready way to\nextol his name \u2018that rideth upon the heavens\u2019 to our help. But,\n\nThird, Christ Jesus would have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners, because, by their forgiveness and salvation,\nothers, hearing of it, will be encouraged the more to come to him for\nlife.\n\nFor the physician, by curing the most desperate at the first, doth not\nonly get himself a name, but begets encouragement in the minds of other\ndiseased folk to come to him for help. Hence you read of our Lord, that\nafter, through his tender mercy, he had cured many of great diseases,\nhis fame was spread abroad: \u2018They brought unto him all sick people that\nwere taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were\npossessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had\nthe palsy, and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes\nof people from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and\nfrom beyond Jordan\u2019 (Matt 4:24,25). See here, he first, by working,\ngets himself a fame, a name, and renown; and now men take\nencouragement, and bring, from all quarters, their diseased to him,\nbeing helped, by what they had heard, to believe that their diseased\nshould be healed.\n\nNow, as he did with those outward cures, so he does in the proffers of\nhis grace and mercy; he proffers that, in the first place, to the\nbiggest sinners, that others may take heart to come to him to be saved.\nI will give you a scripture or two. I mean to show you that Christ, by\ncommanding that his mercy should, in the first place, be offered to the\nbiggest of sinners, has a design thereby to encourage and provoke\nothers to come also to him for mercy. \u2018God,\u2019 said Paul, \u2018who is rich in\nmercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead\nin sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are\nsaved); and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in\nheavenly places in Christ Jesus.\u2019 But why did he do all this? \u2018That in\nthe ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his\nkindness towards us through Christ Jesus\u2019 (Eph 2:4-7). See, here is a\ndesign; God lets out his mercy to Ephesus of design, even to show to\nthe ages to come the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness to\nthem through Christ Jesus. And why, to show, by these, the exceeding\nriches of his grace to the ages to come, through Christ Jesus? But to\nallure them, and their children also to come to him, and to partake the\nsame grace through Christ Jesus?13\n\nBut what was Paul, and the Ephesian sinners? (of Paul we will speak\nanon.) These Ephesian sinners, they were men dead in sins; men that\nwalked according to the dictates and motions of the devil; worshippers\nof Diana, that effeminate goddess; men far off from God, aliens and\nstrangers to all good things; such as were far off from that, as I\nsaid, and, consequently, in a most deplorable condition. As the\nJerusalem sinners were of the highest sort among the Jews, so these\nEphesian sinners were of the highest sort among the Gentiles (Eph\n2:1-3,11,12; Acts 19:35). Wherefore, as by the Jerusalem sinners, in\nsaving them first, he had a design to provoke others to come to him for\nmercy, so the same design is here set on foot again, in his calling and\nconverting the Ephesian sinners, \u2018That in the ages to come he might\nshow the exceeding riches of his grace,\u2019 says he, \u2018in his kindness\ntowards us through Christ Jesus.\u2019 There is yet one hint behind. It is\nsaid that God saved these \u2018for his great love\u2019; that is, as I think,\nfor the setting forth, for the commendation of his love, for the\nadvance of his love, in the hearts and minds of them that should come\nafter. As who should say, God has had mercy upon, and been gracious to\nyou, that he might show to others, for their encouragement, that they\nhave ground to come to him to be saved. When God saves one great\nsinner, it is to encourage another great sinner to come to him for\nmercy.\n\nHe saved the thief, to encourage thieves to come to him for mercy; he\nsaved Magdalene, to encourage other Magdalenes to come to him for\nmercy; he saved Saul, to encourage Sauls to come to him for mercy; and\nthis Paul himself doth say, \u2018For this cause,\u2019 saith he, \u2018I obtained\nmercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all\nlong-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on\nhim to life everlasting\u2019 (1 Tim 1:16). How plain are the words! Christ,\nin saving of me, has given to the world a pattern of his grace, that\nthey might see, and believe, and come, and be saved; that they that are\nto be born hereafter might believe on Jesus Christ to life everlasting.\n\nBut what was Paul? Why, he tells you himself; I am, says he, the chief\nof sinners. I was, says he, a blasphemer, a persecutor, an injurious\nperson; but I obtained mercy (1 Tim 1:13,14). Ay, that is well for you,\nPaul; but what advantage have we thereby? Oh, very much, saith he; for,\n\u2018for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might\nshow forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should\nhereafter believe on him to life everlasting\u2019 (verse 16). Thus,\ntherefore, you see that this third reason is of strength; namely, that\nJesus Christ would have mercy offered, in the first place, to the\nbiggest sinners, because, by their forgiveness and salvation, others,\nhearing of it, will be encouraged the more to come to him for mercy. It\nmay well, therefore, be said to God, Thou delightest in mercy, and\nmercy pleases thee (Micah 7:18).\n\nBut who believes that this was God\u2019s design in showing mercy of\nold\u2014namely, that we that come after might take courage to come to him\nfor mercy; or that Jesus Christ would have mercy offered, in the first\nplace, to the biggest sinners, to stir up others to come to him for\nlife? This is not the manner of men, O God! But David saw this betimes;\ntherefore he makes this one argument with God, that he would blot out\nhis transgressions, that he would forgive his adultery, his murders,\nand horrible hypocrisy. Do it, O Lord, saith he, do it, and \u2018then will\nI teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto\nthee\u2019 (Psa 2:7-13). He knew that the conversion of sinners would be a\nwork highly pleasing to God, as being that which he had designed before\nhe made mountain or hill: wherefore he comes, and he saith, Save me, O\nLord; if thou wilt but save me, I will fall in with thy design; I will\nhelp to bring what sinners to thee I can. And, Lord, I am willing to be\nmade a preacher myself, for that I have been a horrible sinner;\nwherefore, if thou shalt forgive my great transgressions, I shall be a\nfit man to tell of thy wondrous grace to others. Yea, Lord, I dare\npromise, that if thou wilt have mercy upon me, it shall tend to the\nglory of thy grace, and also to the increase of thy kingdom; for I will\ntell it, and sinners will hear on\u2019t. And there is nothing so suiteth\nwith the hearing sinner as mercy; and to be informed that God is\nwilling to bestow it upon him. \u2018I will teach transgressors thy ways;\nand sinners shall be converted unto thee.\u2019\n\nNor will Christ Jesus miss of his design in proffering of mercy, in the\nfirst place, to the biggest sinners. You know what work the Lord, by\nlaying hold of the woman of Samaria, made among the people there. They\nknew that she was a town sinner, an adulteress; yea, one that, after\nthe most audacious manner, lived in uncleanness with a man that was not\nher husband. But when she, from a turn upon her heart, went into the\ncity, and said to her neighbours, \u2018Come,\u2019 Oh, how they came! how they\nflocked out of the city to Jesus Christ! \u2018Then they went out of the\ncity, and came to him.\u2019 \u2018And many of the Samaritans of that city\n(people, perhaps, as bad as herself) believed on him for the saying of\nthe woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did\u2019 (John\n4:39). That word, \u2018He told me all that ever I did,\u2019 was a great\nargument with them; for by that they gathered, that though he knew her\nto be vile, yet he did not despise her, nor refuse to show how willing\nhe was to communicate his grace unto her; and this fetched over, first\nher, then them.\n\nThis woman, as I said, was a Samaritan sinner, a sinner of the worst\ncomplexion; for the Jews abhorred to have ought to do with them (verse\n9), wherefore none more fit than she to be made one of the decoys of\nheaven, to bring others of these Samaritan wild-fowls under the net of\nthe grace of Christ; and she did the work to purpose. Many, and many\nmore of the Samaritans believed on him (verse 40-42). The heart of man,\nthough set on sin, will, when it comes once to a persuasion that God is\nwilling to have mercy upon us, incline to come to Jesus Christ for\nlife. Witness those turn-aways from God that you also read of in\nJeremiah; for after they had heard, three or four times over, that God\nhad mercy for backsliders, they broke out, and said, \u2018Behold, we come\nunto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.\u2019 (Jer 3:22); or, as those in\nHosea did, \u2018For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy\u2019 (Hosea 14:1-3).\n\nMercy, and the revelation thereof, is the only antidote against sin.\n\u2019Tis of a thawing nature; \u2019twill loose the heart that is frozen up in\nsin; yea, \u2019twill make the unwilling willing to come to Jesus Christ for\nlife. Wherefore, do you think, was it that Jesus Christ told the\nadulterous woman, and that before so many sinners, that he had not\ncondemned her, but to allure her, with them there present, to hope to\nfind favour at his hands? As he also saith, in another place, \u2018I came\nnot to judge, but to save the world.\u2019 For might they not thence most\nrationally conclude, that if Jesus Christ had rather save than damn an\nharlot, there was encouragement for them [although great sinners] to\ncome to him for mercy.\n\nI heard once a story from a soldier, who, with his company, had laid\nsiege against a fort, that so long as the besieged were persuaded their\nfoes would show them no favour, they fought like madmen; but when they\nsaw one of their fellows taken, and received to favour, they all came\ntumbling down from their fortress, and delivered themselves into their\nenemies\u2019 hands. I am persuaded, did men believe that there is that\ngrace and willingness in the heart of Christ to save sinners, as the\nWord imports there is, they would come tumbling into his arms: but\nSatan has blinded their minds that they cannot see this thing. Howbeit,\nthe Lord Jesus has, as I said, that others might take heart and come to\nhim, given out a commandment, that mercy should, in the first place, be\noffered to the biggest sinners. \u2018Begin,\u2019 saith he, \u2018at Jerusalem\u2019; and\nthus I end the third reason.\n\nFourth, Jesus Christ would have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nbiggest sinners, because that is the way, if they receive it, most to\nweaken the kingdom of Satan, and to keep it lowest in every age of the\nworld.\n\nThe biggest sinners, they are Satan\u2019s colonels and captains, the\nleaders of his people, and they that most stoutly make head against the\nSon of God. Wherefore, let these first be conquered, and his kingdom\nwill be weak. When Ishbosheth had lost his Abner, the kingdom was made\nweak, nor did he sit but tottering then upon his throne. So, when Satan\nloseth his strong men, them that are mighty to work iniquity, and\ndexterous to manage others in the same, then is his kingdom weak (2 Sam\n3). Therefore, I say, Christ doth offer mercy, in the first place, to\nsuch, the more to weaken his kingdom. Christ Jesus was glad to see\nSatan fall like lightning from heaven; that is, suddenly, or head-long;\nand it was, surely, by casting of him out of strong possession, and by\nrecovering of some notorious sinners out of his clutches (Luke\n10:17-19).\n\nSamson, when he would pull down the Philistines\u2019 temple, took hold of\nthe two main pillars of it, and, breaking them, down came the house.\nChrist came to destroy the works of the devil, and to destroy by\nconverting grace, as well as by redeeming blood. Now, sin swarms, and\nlieth by legions, and whole armies, in the souls of the biggest\nsinners, as in garrisons;14 wherefore, the way, the most direct way, to\ndestroy it, is first to deal with such sinners by the word of his\ngospel, and by the merits of his passion.\n\nFor example, though I shall give you but a homely one; suppose a family\nto be very lousy, and one or two of the family to be in chief the\nbreeders, the way, the quickest way, to clean that family, or at least\nto weaken the so swarming of those vermin, is, in the first place, to\nsweeten the skin, head, and clothes of the chief breeders; and then,\nthough all the family should be apt to breed them, the number of them,\nand so the greatness of that plague there, will be the more impaired.\nWhy, there are some people that are in chief the devil\u2019s sin-breeders\nin the towns and places where they live. The place, town, or family\nwhere they live, must needs be horribly lousy, and, as it were, eaten\nup with vermin. Now, let the Lord Jesus, in the first place, cleanse\nthese great breeders, and there will be given a nip to those swarms of\nsins that used to be committed in such places throughout the town,\nhouse, or family, where such sin-breeding persons used to be.\n\nI speak by experience. I was one of these lousy ones, one of these\ngreat sin-breeders; I infected all the youth of the town where I was\nborn, with all manner of youthful vanities. The neighbours counted me\nso; my practice proved me so: wherefore Christ Jesus took me first; and\ntaking me first, the contagion was much allayed all the town over. When\nGod made me sigh, they would hearken, and inquiringly say, What\u2019s the\nmatter with John? They also gave their various opinions of me; but, as\nI said, sin cooled, and failed, as to his full career. When I went out\nto seek the bread of life, some of them would follow, and the rest be\nput into a muse 15 at home. Yea, almost the town, at first, at times\nwould go out to hear at the place where I found good; yea, young and\nold for a while had some reformation on them; also some of them,\nperceiving that God had mercy upon me, came crying to him for mercy\ntoo.\n\nBut what need I give you an instance of poor I; I will come to Manasseh\nthe king. So long as he was a ringleading sinner, the great idolater,\nand chief for devilism, the whole land flowed with wickedness; for he\nmade them to sin (2 Chron 33), and do worse than the heathen that dwelt\nround about them, or that was cast out from before them: but when God\nconverted him, the whole land was reformed. Down went the groves, the\nidols, and altars of Baal, and up went true religion in much of the\npower and purity of it. You will say, The king reformed by power. I\nanswer, doubtless, and by example too; for people observe their\nleaders; as their fathers did, so did they (2 Kings 17:41). This,\ntherefore, is another reason why Jesus would have mercy offered, in the\nfirst place, to the biggest sinners, because that is the best way, if\nthey receive it, most to weaken the kingdom of Satan, and to keep it\npoor and low.\n\nAnd do you not think now, that if God would but take hold of the hearts\nof some of the most notorious in your town, in your family, or country,\nthat this thing would be verified before your faces? It would, it\nwould, to the joy of you that are godly, to the making of hell to sigh,\nto the great suppressing of sin, the glory of Christ, and the joy of\nthe angels of God.16 And ministers, should, therefore, that this work\nmight go on, take advantages to persuade with the biggest sinners to\ncome into Christ, according to my text, and their commission,\n\u2018Beginning at Jerusalem.\u2019\n\nFifth, Jesus Christ would have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners, because such, when converted, are usually the best\nhelps in the church against temptations, and fittest for the support of\nthe feeble-minded there.\n\nHence, usually, you have some such in the first plantation of churches,\nor quickly upon it. Churches would do but sorrily, if Christ Jesus did\nnot put such converts among them; they are the monuments and mirrors of\nmercy. The very sight of such a sinner in God\u2019s house, yea, the very\nthought of him, where the sight of him cannot be had, is ofttimes\ngreatly for the help of the faith of the feeble.\n\nWhen the churches, saith Paul, that were in Judea, heard this\nconcerning me, that he which persecuted them in time past, now preached\nthe faith which once he destroyed, \u2018they glorified God in me\u2019 (Gal\n1:20-24). \u2018Glorified God.\u2019 How is that? Why, they praised him, and took\ncourage to believe the more in the mercy of God; for that he had had\nmercy on such a great sinner as he. They glorified God \u2018in me\u2019; they\nwondered that grace should be so rich, as to take hold of such a wretch\nas I was; and for my sake believed in Christ the more.\n\nThere are two things that great sinners are acquainted with, when they\ncome to divulge them to the saints, that are a great relief to their\nfaith. 1. The contests that they usually have with the devil at their\nparting with him. 2. Their knowledge of his secrets in his workings.\n\n1. For first, The biggest sinners17 have usually great contests with\nthe devil at their partings; and this is an help to saints: for\nordinary saints find afterwards what the vile ones find at first, but\nwhen, at the opening of hearts, the one finds himself to be as the\nother\u2014the one is a comfort to the other. The lesser sort of sinners\nfind but little of this, till after they have been some time in\nprofession; but the vile man meets with his at the beginning. Wherefore\nhe, when the other is down, is ready to tell that he has met with the\nsame before; for, I say, he has had it before. Satan is loath to part\nwith a great sinner. \u2018What, my true servant,\u2019 quoth he, \u2018my old\nservant, wilt thou forsake me now? Having so often sold thyself to me\nto work wickedness, wilt thou forsake me now? Thou horrible wretch,\ndost not know, that thou has sinned thyself beyond the reach of grace,\nand dost thou think to find mercy now? Art not thou a murderer, a\nthief, a harlot, a witch, a sinner of the greatest size, and dost thou\nlook for mercy now? Dost thou think that Christ will foul his fingers\nwith thee? It is enough to make angels blush, saith Satan, to see so\nvile an one knock at heaven-gates for mercy, and wilt thou be so\nabominably bold to do it?\u2019 18 Thus Satan dealt with me, says the great\nsinner, when at first I came to Jesus Christ. And what did you reply?\nsaith the tempted. Why, I granted the while charge to be true, says the\nother. And what, did you despair, or how? No, saith he, I said, I am\nMagdalene, I am Zaccheus, I am the thief, I am the harlot, I am the\npublican, I am the prodigal, and one of Christ\u2019s murderers; yea, worse\nthan any of these; and yet God was so far off from rejecting of me, as\nI found afterwards, that there was music and dancing in his house for\nme, and for joy that I was come home unto him. O blessed be God for\ngrace (says the other), for then, I hope, there is favour for me. Yea,\nas I told you, such an one is a continual spectacle in the church, for\nevery one by to behold God\u2019s grace and wonder by.\n\n2. And as for the secrets of Satan, such as are suggestions to question\nthe being of God, the truth of his Word, and to be annoyed with\ndevilish blasphemies; none more acquainted with these than the biggest\nsinners at their conversion; wherefore thus also they are prepared to\nbe helps in the church to relieve and comfort the other.\n\nI might also here tell you of the contests and battles that such are\nengaged in, wherein they find the buffetings of Satan, above any other\nof the saints. At which time Satan assaults the soul with darkness,\nfears, frightful thoughts of apparitions; now they sweat, pant, cry\nout, and struggle for life. The angels now come down to behold the\nsight, and rejoice to see a bit of dust and ashes to overcome\nprincipalities and powers, and might, and dominions. But, as I said,\nwhen these come a little to be settled, they are prepared for helps for\nothers, and are great comforts unto them. Their great sins give\nencouragement to the devil to assault them; and by these temptations\nChrist takes advantage to make them the more helpful to the churches.\n\nThe biggest sinner, when he is converted, and comes into the church,\nsays to them all, by his very coming in, Behold me, all you that are\nmen and women of a low and timorous spirit, you whose hearts are\nnarrow, for that you never had the advantage to know, because your sins\nare few, the largeness of the grace of God. Behold, I say, in me, the\nexceeding riches of his grace! I am a pattern set forth before your\nfaces, on whom you may look and take heart. This, I say, the great\nsinner can say, to the exceeding comfort of all the rest. Wherefore, as\nI have hinted before, when God intends to stock a place with saints,\nand to make that place excellently to flourish with the riches of his\ngrace, he usually begins with the conversion of some of the most\nnotorious thereabouts, and lays them, as an example, to allure others,\nand to build up when they are converted. It was Paul that must go to\nthe Gentiles, because Paul was the most outrageous of all the apostles,\nin the time of his unregeneracy. Yea, Peter must be he, that after his\nhorrible fall, was thought fittest, when recovered again, to comfort\nand strengthen his brethren (See Luke 22:31,32).\n\nSome must be pillars in God\u2019s house; and if they be pillars of cedar,\nthey must stand while they are stout and sturdy sticks in the forest,\nbefore they are cut down, and planted or placed there. No man, when he\nbuildeth his house, makes the principal parts thereof of weak or feeble\ntimber; for how could such bear up the rest? but of great and able\nwood. Christ Jesus also goeth this way to work; he makes of the biggest\nsinners bearers and supporters to the rest. This, then, may serve for\nanother reason, why Jesus Christ gives out in commandment, that mercy\nshould, in the first place, be offered to the biggest sinners, because\nsuch, when converted, are usually the best helps in the church against\ntemptations, and fittest for the support of the feeble-minded there.\n\nSixth, Another reason why Jesus Christ would have mercy offered, in the\nfirst place, to the biggest sinners, is, because they, when converted,\nare apt to love him most.\n\nThis agrees both with scripture and reason. Scripture says so. To whom\nmuch is forgiven, the same loveth much. \u2018To whom little is forgiven,\nthe same loveth little\u2019 (Luke 7:47). Reason says so: for as it would be\nthe unreasonablest thing in the world to render hatred for love, and\ncontempt for forgiveness; so it would be as ridiculous to think, that\nthe reception of a little kindness should lay the same obligations upon\nthe heart to love as the reception of a great deal. I would not\ndisparage the love of Christ; I know the least drachm of it, when it\nreaches to forgiveness, is great above all the world; but\ncomparatively, there are greater extensions of the love of Christ to\none than to another. He that has most sin, if. forgiven, is partaker of\nthe greatest love, of the greatest forgiveness.\n\nI know also, that there are some, that from this very doctrine say,\n\u2018Let us do evil that good may come\u2019; and that turn the grace of our God\ninto lasciviousness. But I speak not of these; these will neither be\nruled by grace nor reason. Grace would teach them, if they knew it, to\ndeny ungodly courses; and so would reason too, if it could truly sense\nthe love of God (Titus 2:11,12; Rom 12:1).\n\nDoth it look like what hath any coherence with reason or mercy, for a\nman to abuse his friend? Because Christ died for me, shall I therefore\nspit in his face? The bread and water that was given by Elisha to his\nenemies, that came into the land of Israel to take him, had so much\ninfluence upon their minds, though heathens, that they returned to\ntheir homes without hurting him; yea, it kept them from coming again in\na hostile manner into the coasts of Israel (2 Kings 6:19-23).\n\nBut to forbear to illustrate, till anon. One reason why Christ Jesus\nshows mercy to sinners, is, that he might obtain their love, that he\nmay remove their base affections from base objects to himself. Now, if\nhe loves to be loved a little, he loves to be loved much; but there is\nnot any that are capable of loving much, save those that have much\nforgiven them. Hence it is said of Paul, that he laboured more than\nthem all; to wit, with a labour of love, because he had been by sin\nmore vile against Christ than they all (1 Cor 15). He it was that\n\u2018persecuted the church of God, and wasted it\u2019 (Gal 1:13). He of them\nall was the only raving bedlam against the saints. \u2018And being exceeding\nmad,\u2019 says he, \u2018against them, I persecuted them even unto strange\ncities\u2019 (Acts 26:11). This raving bedlam, that once was so, is he that\nnow says, I laboured more than them all, more for Christ than them all.\nBut Paul, what moved thee thus to do? The love of Christ, says he. It\nwas not I, but the grace of God that was with me. As who should say, O\ngrace! It was such grace to save me! It was such marvellous grace for\nGod to look down from heaven upon me, and that secured me from the\nwrath to come, that I am captivated with the sense of the riches of it.\nHence I act, hence I labour; for how can I otherwise do, since God not\nonly separated me from my sins and companions, but separated all the\npowers of my soul and body to his service? I am, therefore, prompted on\nby this exceeding love to labour as I have done; yet not I, but the\ngrace of God with me. Oh! I shall never forget his love, nor the\ncircumstances under which I was, when his love laid hold upon me. I was\ngoing to Damascus with letters from the high-priest, to make havoc of\nGod\u2019s people there, as I had made havoc of them in other places. These\nbloody letters were not imposed upon me. I went to the high-priest and\ndesired them of him, and yet he saved me! (Acts 9:1,2). I was one of\nthe men, of the chief men, that had a hand in the blood of his martyr\nStephen; yet he had mercy upon me! When I was at Damascus, I stunk19 so\nhorribly like a blood-sucker, that I became a terror to all thereabout.\nYea, Ananias, good man, made intercession to my Lord against me; yet he\nwould have mercy upon me, yea, joined mercy to mercy, until he had made\nme a monument of grace. He made a saint of me, and persuaded me that my\ntransgressions were forgiven me.\n\nWhen I began to preach, those that heard me were amazed, and said, \u2018Is\nnot this he that destroyed them that called on this name in Jerusalem,\nand came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound to the\nhigh-priest?\u2019 Hell doth know that I was a sinner; heaven doth know that\nI was a sinner; the world also knows that I was a sinner, a sinner of\nthe greatest size; but I obtained mercy (Acts 9:20,21). Shall not this\nlay obligation upon me? Is not love of the greatest force to oblige? Is\nit not strong as death, cruel as the grave, and hotter than the coals\nof juniper? Hath it not a most vehement flame? Can the waters quench\nit? can the floods drown it? I am under the force of it, and this is\nmy continual cry, What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits\nwhich he has bestowed upon me?\n\nAye, Paul! this is something; thou speakest like a man, like a man\naffected, and carried away with the love and grace of God. Now, this\nsense, and this affection, and this labour, giveth to Christ the love\nthat he looks for. But he might have converted twenty little sinners,\nand yet not found, for grace bestowed, so much love in them all. I\nwonder how far a man might go among the converted sinners of the\nsmaller size, before he could find one that so much as looked anything\nthis way ward. Where is he that is thus under pangs of love for the\ngrace bestowed upon him by Jesus Christ? Excepting only some few, you\nmay walk to the world\u2019s end, and find none. But, as I said, some there\nare, and so there have been in every age of the church, great sinners,\nthat have had much forgiven them; and they love much upon this account.\nJesus Christ, therefore, knows what he doth, when he lays hold on the\nhearts of sinners of the biggest size. He knows that such an one will\nlove more than many that have not sinned half their sins.\n\nI will tell you a story that I have read of Martha and Mary; the name\nof the book I have forgot; I mean of the book in which I found the\nrelation; but the thing was thus:\u2014\n\nMartha, saith my author, was a very holy woman, much like Lazarus, her\nbrother; but Mary was a loose and wanton creature; Martha did seldom\nmiss good sermons and lectures, when she could come at them in\nJerusalem; but Mary would frequent the house of sports, and the company\nof the vilest of men for lust. And though Martha had often desired that\nher sister would go with her to hear her preachers, yea, had often\nentreated her with tears to do it, yet could she never prevail; for\nstill Mary would make her excuse, or reject her with disdain, for her\nzeal and preciseness in religion.\n\nAfter Martha had waited long, tried many ways to bring her sister to\ngood, and all proved ineffectual, at last she comes upon her thus:\n\u2018Sister,\u2019 quoth she, \u2018I pray thee go with me to the temple today, to\nhear one preach a sermon.\u2019 \u2018What kind of preacher is he?\u2019 said she.\nMartha replied, \u2018It is one Jesus of Nazareth; he is the handsomest man\nthat ever you saw with your eyes. Oh! he shines in beauty, and is a\nmost excellent preacher.\u2019\n\nNow, what does Mary, after a little pause, but goes up into her\nchamber, and, with her pins and her clouts,20 decks up herself as fine\nas her fingers could make her. This done, away she goes, not with her\nsister Martha, but as much unobserved as she could, to the sermon, or\nrather to see the preacher.\n\nThe hour and preacher being come, and she having observed whereabout\nthe preacher would stand, goes and sets herself so in the temple, that\nshe might be sure to have the full view of this excellent person. So he\ncomes in, and she looks, and the first glimpse of his person pleased\nher. Well, Jesus addresseth himself to his sermon, and she looks\nearnestly on him.\n\nNow, at that time, saith my author, Jesus preached about the lost\nsheep, the lost groat, and the prodigal child. And when he came to show\nwhat care the shepherd took for one lost sheep, and how the woman swept\nto find her piece which was lost, and what joy there was at their\nfinding, she began to be taken by the ears, and forgot what she came\nabout, musing what the preacher would make of it. But when he came to\nthe application, and showed, that by the lost sheep, was meant a great\nsinner; by the shepherd\u2019s care, was meant God\u2019s love for great sinners;\nand that by the joy of the neighbours, was showed what joy there was\namong the angels in heaven over one great sinner that repenteth; she\nbegan to be taken by the heart. And as he spake these last words, she\nthought he pitched his innocent eyes just upon her, and looked as if he\nspake what was now said to her: wherefore her heart began to tremble,\nbeing shaken with affection and fear; then her eyes ran down with tears\napace; wherefore she was forced to hide her face with her handkerchief,\nand so sat sobbing and crying all the rest of the sermon.\n\nSermon being done, up she gets, and away she goes, and withal inquired\nwhere this Jesus the preacher dined that day? and one told her, At the\nhouse of Simon the Pharisee. So away goes she, first to her chamber,\nand there strips herself of her wanton attire; then falls upon her\nknees to ask God forgiveness for all her wicked life. This done, in a\nmodest dress she goes to Simon\u2019s house, where she finds Jesus sat at\ndinner. So she gets behind him, and weeps, and drops her tears upon his\nfeet like rain, and washes them, and wipes them with the hair of her\nhead. She also kissed his feet with her lips, and anointed them with\nointment. When Simon the Pharisee perceived what the woman did, and\nbeing ignorant of what it was to be forgiven much (for he never was\nforgiven more than fifty pence), he began to think within himself, that\nhe had been mistaken about Jesus Christ, because he suffered such a\nsinner as this woman was, to touch him. Surely, quoth he, this man, if\nhe were a prophet, would not let this woman come near him, for she is a\ntown-sinner; so ignorant are all self-righteous men of the way of\nChrist with sinners. But, lest Mary should be discouraged with some\nclownish carriage of this Pharisee, and so desert her good beginnings,\nand her new steps which she now had begun to take towards eternal life,\nJesus began thus with Simon: \u2018Simon,\u2019 saith he, \u2018I have somewhat to say\nunto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was,\u2019 said Jesus, \u2018a\ncertain creditor which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred\npence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he\nfrankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love\nhim most? Simon answered, and said, I suppose that he, to whom he\nforgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he\nturned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I\nentered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she\nhath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her\nhead. Thou gavest me no kiss; but this woman, since the time I came in,\nhath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not\nanoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore,\nI say unto her, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved\nmuch; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he\nsaid unto her, Thy sins are forgiven\u2019(Luke 7:36-48).\n\nThus you have the story. If I come short in any circumstance, I beg\npardon of those that can correct me. It is three or four and twenty\nyears since I saw the book; yet I have, as far as my memory will admit,\ngiven you the relation of the matter. However, Luke, as you see, doth\nhere present you with the substance of the whole.21\n\nAlas! Christ Jesus has but little thanks for the saving of little\nsinners. \u2018To whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.\u2019 He gets\nnot water for his feet, by his saving of such sinners. There are\nabundance of dry-eyed Christians in the world, and abundance of\ndry-eyed duties too; duties that never were wetted with the tears of\ncontrition and repentance, nor ever sweetened with the great sinner\u2019s\nbox of ointment. And the reason is, such sinners have not great sins to\nbe saved from; or, if they have, they look upon them in the diminishing\nglass of the holy law of God.22 But, I rather believe, that the\nprofessors of our days want a due sense of what they are; for, verily,\nfor the generality of them, both before and since conversion, they have\nbeen sinners of a lusty size. But if their eyes be holden, if\nconvictions are not shown, if their knowledge of their sins is but like\nto the eye-sight in twilight; the heart cannot be affected with that\ngrace that has laid hold on the man; and so Christ Jesus sows much, and\nhas little coming in. Wherefore his way is ofttimes to step out of the\nway, to Jericho, to Samaria, to the country of the Gadarenes, to the\ncoasts of Tyre and Sidon, and also to Mount Calvary, that he may lay\nhold of such kind of sinners as will love him to his liking (Luke\n19:1-11; John 4:3-11; Mark 5:1-20; Matt 15:21-29; Luke 23:33-43).\n\nBut thus much for the sixth reason, why Christ Jesus would have mercy\noffered, in the first place, to the biggest sinners, to wit, because\nsuch sinners, when converted, are apt to love him most. The Jerusalem\nsinners were they that outstripped, when they were converted, in some\nthings, all the churches of the Gentiles. They \u2018were of one heart, and\nof one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he\npossessed was his own.\u2019 \u2018Neither was there any among them that lacked:\nfor as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and\nbrought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at\nthe apostles\u2019 feet,\u2019 &c. (Acts 4:32,35). Now, show me such another\npattern, if you can. But why did these do thus? Oh! they were Jerusalem\nsinners. These were the men that, but a little before, had killed the\nPrince of life; and those to whom he did, that notwithstanding, send\nthe first offer of grace and mercy. And the sense of this took them up\nbetwixt the earth and the heaven, and carried them on in such ways and\nmethods as could never be trodden by any since. They talk of the church\nof Rome, and set her, in her primitive state, as a pattern and mother\nof churches; when the truth is, they were the Jerusalem sinners, when\nconverts, that out-did all the churches that ever were.\n\nSeventh, Christ Jesus would have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners, because grace, when it is received by such, finds\nmatter to kindle upon more freely than it finds in other sinners.\n\nGreat sinners are like the dry wood, or like great candles, which burn\nbest and shine with biggest light. I lay not this down, as I did those\nreasons before, to show, that when great sinners are converted, they\nwill be encouragement to others, though that is true; but to show, that\nChrist has a delight to see grace, the grace we receive, to shine. We\nlove to see things that bear a good gloss; yea, we choose to buy such\nkind of matter to work upon, as will, if wrought up to what we intend,\ncast that lustre that we desire. Candles that burn not bright, we like\nnot; wood that is green will rather smother, and sputter, and smoke,\nand crack, and flounce, than cast a brave light and a pleasant heat;\nwherefore great folks care not much, not so much, for such kind of\nthings, as for them that will better answer their ends.\n\nHence Christ desires the biggest sinner; in him there is matter to work\nby, to wit, a great deal of sin; for as by the tallow of the candle,\nthe first takes occasion to burn the brighter; so, by the sin of the\nsoul, grace takes occasion to shine the clearer. Little candles shine\nbut little, for there wanteth matter for the fire to work upon; but in\nthe great sinner, here is more matter for grace to work by. Faith\nshines, when it worketh towards Christ, through the sides of many and\ngreat transgressions, and so does love, for that much is forgiven. And\nwhat matter can be found in the soul for humility to work by so well,\nas by a sight that I have been and am an abominable sinner? And the\nsame is to be said of patience, meekness, gentleness, self-denial, or\nof any other grace. Grace takes occasion, by the vileness of the man,\nto shine the more; even as by the ruggedness of a very strong distemper\nor disease, the virtue of the medicine is best made manifest. \u2018Where\nsin abounded, grace did much more abound\u2019 (Rom 5:20). A black string\nmakes the neck look whiter; great sins make grace burn clear. Some say,\nwhen grace and a good nature meet together, they do make shining\nChristians; but I say, when grace and a great sinner meet, and when\ngrace shall subdue that great sinner to itself, and shall operate after\nits kind in the soul of that great sinner, then we have a shining\nChristian; witness all those of whom mention was made before.\n\nAbraham was among the idolaters when in the land of Assyria, and served\nidols, with his kindred, on the other side of the flood (Josh 24:2; Gen\n11:31). But who, when called, was there in the world, in whom grace\nshone so bright as in him? The Thessalonians were idolaters before the\nWord of God came to them; but when they had received it, they became\nexamples to all that did believe in Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thess\n1:6-10).\n\nGod the Father, and Jesus Christ his Son, are for having things seen;\nfor having the Word of life held forth. They light not a candle that it\nmight be put under a bushel, or under a bed, but on a candlestick, that\nall that come in may see the light (Matt 5:15; Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16;\n11:33). and, I say, as I said before, in whom is it, light, like so to\nshine, as in the souls of great sinners?\n\nWhen the Jewish Pharisees dallied with the gospel, Christ threatened to\ntake it from them, and to give it to the barbarous heathens and\nidolaters. Why so? For they, saith he, will bring forth the fruits\nthereof in their season. 23 \u2018Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of\nGod shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the\nfruits thereof\u2019 (Matt 21:43).\n\nI have often marvelled at our youth, and said in my heart, What should\nbe the reason that they should be so generally at this day debauched as\nthey are? For they are now profane to amazement; and sometimes I have\nthought one thing, and sometimes another; that is, why God should\nsuffer it so to be? At last I have thought of this: How if the God,\nwhose ways are past finding out, should suffer it so to be now, that he\nmight make of some of them the more glorious saints hereafter. I know\nsin is of the devil, but it cannot work in the world without\npermission: and if it happens to be as I have thought, it will not be\nthe first time that God the Lord hath caught Satan in his own design.\nFor my part, I believe that the time is at hand, that we shall see\nbetter saints in the world than has been seen in it this many a day.\nAnd this vileness, that at present does so much swallow up our youth,\nis one cause of my thinking so; for out of them, for from among them,\nwhen God sets to his hand, as of old, you shall see what penitent ones,\nwhat trembling ones, and what admirers of grace, will be found to\nprofess the gospel to the glory of God by Christ.\n\nAlas! we are a company of worn-out Christians; our moon is in the wane;\nwe are much more black than white, more dark than light; we shine but a\nlittle; grace in the most of us is decayed. But I say, when they of\nthese debauched ones that are to be saved shall be brought in\u2014when\nthese that look more like devils than men shall be converted to Christ\n(and I believe several of them will), then will Christ be exalted,\ngrace adored, the Word prized, Zion\u2019s path better trodden, and men in\nthe pursuit of their own salvation, to the amazement of them that are\nleft behind.\n\nJust before Christ came into the flesh, the world was degenerated as it\nis now: the generality of the men in Jerusalem were become either high\nand famous for hypocrisy, or filthy, base in their lives. The devil\nalso was broke loose in hideous manner, and had taken possession of\nmany: yea, I believe, that there was never generation before nor since,\nthat could produce so many possessed with devils, deformed, lame,\nblind, and infected with monstrous diseases, as that generation could.\nBut what was the reason thereof, I mean the reason from God? Why,\none\u2014and we may sum up more in that answer that Christ gave to his\ndisciples concerning him that was born blind\u2014was, that \u2018the works of\nGod should be made manifest\u2019 in them, and \u2018that the Son of God might be\nglorified thereby\u2019 (John 9:2,3; 11:4).\n\nNow, if these devils and diseases, as they possessed men then, were to\nmake way and work for an approaching to Christ in person, and for the\ndeclaring of his power, why may we not think that now, even now also,\nhe is ready to come, by his Spirit in the gospel, to heal many of the\ndebaucheries of our age? I cannot believe that grace will take them\nall, for there are but few that are saved; but yet it will take some,\neven some of the worst of men, and make blessed ones of them. But, O\nhow these ringleaders in vice will then shine in virtue! They will be\nthe very pillars in churches, they will be as an ensign in the land.\n\u2018The Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his\npeople: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an\nensign upon his land\u2019 (Zech 9:16). But who are these? Even idolatrous\nEphraim, and backsliding Judah (verse 13).\n\nI know there is ground to fear, that the iniquity of this generation\nwill be pursued with heavy judgments; but that will not hinder that we\nhave supposed. God took him a glorious church out of bloody Jerusalem,\nyea, out of the chief of the sinners there, and left the rest to be\ntaken and spoiled, and sold, thirty for a penny, in the nations where\nthey were captives. The gospel working gloriously in a place, to the\nseizing upon many of the ringleading sinners thereof, promiseth no\nsecurity to the rest, but rather threateneth them with the heaviest and\nsmartest judgments; as in the instance now given, we have a full\ndemonstration; but in defending, the Lord will defend his people; and\nin saving, he will save his inheritance.\n\nNor does this speak any great comfort to a decayed and backsliding sort\nof Christian; for the next time God rides post with his gospel, he will\nleave such Christians behind him. But, I say, Christ is resolved to set\nup his light in the world; yea, he is delighted to see his graces\nshine; and therefore he commands that his gospel should, to that end,\nbe offered, in the first place, to the biggest sinners; for by great\nsins it shineth most; therefore he saith, \u2018Begin at Jerusalem.\u2019\n\nEighth, and lastly, Christ Jesus will have mercy to be offered, in the\nfirst place, to the biggest sinners, for that by that means the\nimpenitent that are left behind will be, at the judgment, the more left\nwithout excuse.\n\nGod\u2019s Word has two edges; it can cut back-stroke and fore-stroke. If it\ndoth thee no good, it will do thee hurt; it is \u2018the savour of life unto\nlife\u2019 to those that receive it, but of \u2018death unto death\u2019 to them that\nrefuse it (2 Cor 2:15,16). But this is not all; the tender of grace to\nthe biggest sinners, in the first place, will not only leave the rest,\nor those that refuse it, in a deplorable condition, but will also stop\ntheir mouths, and cut off all pretence to excuse at that day. \u2018If I had\nnot come and spoken unto them,\u2019 saith Christ, \u2018they had not had sin;\nbut now they have no cloke for their sin\u2019\u2014for their sin of persevering\nin impenitence (John 15:22). But what did he speak to them? Why, even\nthat which I have told you; to wit, That he has in special a delight in\nsaving the biggest sinners. He spake this in the way of his doctrine;\nhe spake this in the way of his practice, even to the pouring out of\nhis last breath before them (Luke 23:34).\n\nNow, since this is so, what can the condemned at the judgment say for\nthemselves, why sentence of death should not be passed upon them? I\nsay, what excuse can they make for themselves, when they shall be asked\nwhy they did not in the day of salvation come to Christ to be saved?\nWill they have ground to say to the Lord, Thou wast only for saving of\nlittle sinners; and, therefore, because they were great ones, they\ndurst not come unto him; or that thou hadst not compassion for the\nbiggest sinners, therefore I died in despair? Will these be excuses for\nthem, as the case now standeth with them? Is there not everywhere in\nGod\u2019s Book a flat contradiction to this, in multitudes of promises, of\ninvitations, of examples, and the like? Alas! alas! there will then be\nthere millions of souls to confute this plea; ready, I say, to stand\nup, and say, \u2018O! deceived world, heaven swarms with such as were, when\nthey were in the world, to the full as bad as you!\u2019 Now, this will kill\nall plea or excuse, why they should not perish in their sins; yea, the\ntext says they shall see them there. \u2018There shall be weeping-when ye\nshall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the\nkingdom of heaven, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come\nfrom the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the\nsouth, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God\u2019 (Luke 13:28,29). Out\nof which company, it is easy to pick such as sometimes were as bad\npeople as any [that] now breathe on the face of [the] earth. What think\nyou of the first man, by whose sins there are millions now in hell? And\nso I may say, What think you of ten thousand more besides?\n\nBut if the Word will not stifle and gag them up\u2014I speak now for\namplification\u2019s sake\u2014the view of those who are saved shall. There comes\nan incestuous person to the bar, and pleads, That the bigness of his\nsins was a bar to his receiving the promise. But will not his mouth be\nstopped as to that, when Lot, and the incestuous Corinthians, shall be\nset before him (Gen 19:33-37; 1 Cor 5:1,2).\n\nThere comes a thief, and says, Lord, my sin of thefts, I thought, was\nsuch as could not be pardoned by thee! But when he shall see the thief\nthat was saved on the cross stand by, as clothed with beauteous glory,\nwhat further can he be able to object? Yea, the Lord will produce ten\nthousand of his saints at his coming, who shall after this manner\n\u2018execute judgment upon all, and so convince all that are ungodly among\nthem\u2014of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken\nagainst him\u2019 (Jude 15). And these are hard speeches against him, to say\nthat he was not able or willing to save men, because of the greatness\nof their sins, or to say that they were discouraged by his Word from\nrepentance, because of the heinousness of their offences. These things,\nI say, shall then be confuted. He comes with ten thousand of his saints\nto confute them, and to stop their mouths from making objections\nagainst their own eternal damnation.\n\nHere is Adam, the destroyer of the world; here is Lot, that lay with\nboth his daughters; here is Abraham, that was sometime an idolater; and\nJacob, that was a supplanter; and Reuben, that lay with his father\u2019s\nconcubine; and Judah, that lay with his daughter-in-law; and Levi and\nSimeon, that wickedly slew the Shechemites; and Aaron, that made an\nidol to be worshipped, and that proclaimed a religious feast unto it.\nHere is also Rahab the harlot, and Bathsheba, that bare a bastard to\nDavid. Here is Solomon, that great backslider; and Manasseh, that man\nof blood and a witch. Time would fail to tell you of the woman of\nCanaan\u2019s daughter, of Mary Magdalene, of Matthew the publican, and of\nGideon and Samson, and many thousands more.\n\nAlas! alas! I say, what will these sinners do, that have, through their\nunbelief, eclipsed the glorious largeness of the mercy of God, and gave\nway to despair of salvation, because of the bigness of their sins? For\nall these, though now glorious saints in light, were sometimes sinners\nof the biggest size, who had sins that were of a notorious hue; yet\nnow, I say, they are in their shining and heavenly robes before the\nthrone of God and of the Lamb, blessing for ever and ever that Son of\nGod for their salvation, who died for them upon the tree; admiring that\never it should come into their hearts once to think of coming to God by\nChrist; but above all, blessing God for granting of them light to see\nthose encouragements in his Testament; without which, without doubt,\nthey had been daunted, and sunk down under guilt of sin and despair, as\ntheir fellow-sinners have done. But now they also are witnesses for\nGod, and for his grace, against an unbelieving world; for, as I said,\nthey shall come to convince the world of their speeches, their hard and\nunbelieving words, that they have spoken concerning the mercy of God,\nand the merits of the passion of his blessed Son, Jesus Christ.\n\nBut will it not, think you, strangely put to silence all such thoughts,\nand words, and reasons of the ungodly before the bar of God? Doubtless\nit will; yea, and will send them away from his presence also, with the\ngreatest guilt that possibly can fasten upon the consciences of men.\n\nFor what will sting like this?\u2014\u2018I have, through mine own foolish,\nnarrow, unworthy, undervaluing thoughts, of the love and ability of\nChrist to save me, brought myself to everlasting ruin. It is true, I\nwas a horrible sinner; not one in a hundred did live so vile a life as\nI. But this should not have kept me from closing with Jesus Christ. I\nsee now that there are abundance in glory that once were as bad as I\nhave been; but they were saved by faith, and I am damned by unbelief.\nWretch that I am! why did not I give glory to the redeeming blood of\nJesus? Why did I not humbly cast my soul at his blessed footstool for\nmercy? Why did I judge of his ability to save me by the voice of my\nshallow reason, and the voice of a guilty conscience? Why betook not I\nmyself to the holy Word of God? Why did I not read and pray that I\nmight understand, since now I perceive that God said then, He giveth\nliberally to them that pray, and upbraideth not\u2019 (James 1:5).\n\nIt is rational to think, that by such cogitations as these, the\nunbelieving world will be torn in pieces before the judgment of Christ;\nespecially those that have lived where they did or might have heard the\ngospel of the grace of God. Oh! that saying, \u2018It shall be more\ntolerable for Sodom at the judgment than for them,\u2019 will be better\nunderstood (Luke 10:8-12). This reason, therefore, standeth fast;\nnamely, that Christ, by offering mercy, in the first place, to the\nbiggest sinners now, will stop all the mouths of the impenitent at the\nday of judgment, and cut off all excuse that shall be attempted to be\nmade, from the thoughts of the greatness of their sins, why they came\nnot to him.\n\nI have often thought of the day of judgment, and how God will deal with\nsinners at that day; and I believe it will be managed with that\nsweetness, with that equitableness, with that excellent righteousness,\nas to every sin, and circumstance and aggravation thereof, that men\nthat are damned, shall, before the judgment is over, receive such\nconviction of the righteous judgment of God upon them, and of their\ndeserts of hell-fire, that they shall in themselves conclude, that\nthere is all the reason in the world that they should be shut out of\nheaven, and go to hell-fire: \u2018These shall go away into everlasting\npunishment\u2019 (Matt 25:46).24\n\nOnly this will tear [them,] that they have missed of mercy and glory,\nand obtained everlasting damnation, through their unbelief; but it will\ntear but themselves, but their own souls; they will gnash upon\nthemselves, for that mercy was offered to the chief of them in the\nfirst place, and yet they were damned for rejecting of it; they were\ndamned for forsaking what they had a propriety in; for forsaking their\nown mercy.\n\nAnd thus much for the reasons. Second, I will conclude with a word of\napplication.\n\nTHE APPLICATION.\n\n\nFirst, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners? Then this shows us how to make a right judgment of\nthe heart of Christ to men. Indeed, we have advantage to guess at the\ngoodness of his heart by many things; as by his taking our nature upon\nhim, his dying for us, his sending his Word and ministers to us, and\nall that we might be saved. But this of beginning to offer mercy to\nJerusalem, is that which heightens all the rest; for this doth not only\nconfirm to us, that love was the use of his dying for us, but it shows\nus yet more the depth of that love. He might have died for us, and yet\nhave extended the benefit of his death to a few, as one might call\nthem, of the best-conditioned sinners, to those who, though they were\nweak, and so could not but sin, yet made not a trade of sinning; to\nthose that sinned not lavishingly. There are in the world, as one may\ncall them, the moderate sinners; the sinners that mix righteousness\nwith their pollutions; the sinners that, though they be sinners, do\nwhat on their part lies\u2014some that are blind would think so\u2014that they\nmight be saved. I say, it had been love, great love, if he had died for\nnone but such, and sent his love to such; but that he should send out\nconditions of peace to the biggest of sinners; yea, that they should be\noffered to them first of all; (for so he means when he says, \u2018Begin at\nJerusalem\u2019;) this is wonderful! this shows his heart to purpose, as\nalso the heart of God his Father, who sent him to do thus.\n\nThere is nothing more incident to men that are awake in their souls,\nthan to have wrong thoughts of God\u2014thoughts that are narrow, and that\npinch and pen up his mercy to scanty and beggarly conclusions, and\nrigid legal conditions; supposing that it is rude, and an intrenching\nupon his majesty to come ourselves, or to invite others, until we have\nscraped and washed, and rubbed off as much of our dirt from us as we\nthink is convenient, to make us somewhat orderly and handsome in his\nsight.25 Such never knew what these words meant, \u2018Begin at Jerusalem.\u2019\nYea, such in their hearts have compared the Father and his Son to\nniggardly rich men, whose money comes from them like drops of blood.\nTrue, say such, God has mercy, but he is loath to part with it; you\nmust please him well, if you get any from him; he is not so free as\nmany suppose, nor is he so willing to save as some pretended gospellers\nimagine. But I ask such, if the Father and Son be not unspeakably free\nto show mercy, why was this clause put into our commission to preach\nthe gospel? Yea, why did he say, \u2018Begin at Jerusalem\u2019: for when men,\nthrough the weakness of their wits, have attempted to show other\nreasons why they would have the first proffer of mercy; yet I can\nprove, by many undeniable reasons, that they of Jerusalem, to whom the\napostles made the first offer, according as they were commanded, were\nthe biggest sinners that ever did breathe upon the face of God\u2019s earth\n(set the unpardonable sin aside); upon which [fact] my doctrine stands\nlike a rock, that Jesus the Son of God would have mercy, in the first\nplace, offered to the biggest sinners. And if this doth not show the\nheart of the Father and the Son to be infinitely free in bestowing\nforgiveness of sins, I confess myself mistaken.\n\nNeither is there, set this aside, another argument like it, to show us\nthe willingness of Christ to save sinners; for, as was said before, all\nthe rest of the signs of Christ\u2019s mercifulness might have been limited\nto sinners that are so and so qualified; but when he says, \u2018Begin at\nJerusalem,\u2019 the line is stretched out to the utmost; no man can imagine\nbeyond it; and it is folly here to pinch and spare, to narrow, and seek\nto bring it within scanty bounds; for he plainly saith, \u2018Begin at\nJerusalem,\u2019 the biggest sinner is the biggest sinner; the biggest is\nthe Jerusalem sinner.\n\nIt is true, he saith, that repentance and remission of sins must go\ntogether, but yet remission is sent to the chief, the Jerusalem sinner;\nnor doth repentance lessen at all the Jerusalem sinner\u2019s crimes; it\ndiminisheth none of his sins, nor causes that there should be so much\nas half an one the fewer; it only puts a stop to the Jerusalem sinner\u2019s\ncourse, and makes him willing to be saved freely by grace; and for time\nto come to be governed by that blessed word that has brought the\ntidings of good things to him. Besides, no man shows himself willing to\nbe saved that repenteth not of his deeds; for he that goes on still in\nhis trespasses, declares that he is resolved to pursue his own\ndamnation further.\n\nLearn then to judge of the largeness of God\u2019s heart, and of the heart\nof his Son Jesus Christ, by the Word; judge not thereof by feeling, nor\nby the reports of thy conscience; conscience is ofttimes here befooled,\nand made to go quite beside the Word. It was judging without the Word\nthat made David say, I am cast off from God\u2019s eyes, and \u2018shall perish\none day by the hand of Saul\u2019 (Psa 31:22; 1 Sam 27:1). The Word had told\nhim another thing; namely, that he should be king in his stead. Our\ntext says also, that Jesus Christ bids preachers, in their preaching\nrepentance and remission of sins, begin first at Jerusalem; thereby\ndeclaring most truly the infinite largeness of the merciful heart of\nGod and his Son, to the sinful children of men. Judge thou, I say,\ntherefore, of the goodness of the heart of God and his Son, by this\ntext, and by others of the same import; so shalt thou not dishonour the\ngrace of God, nor needlessly fright thyself, nor give away thy faith,\nnor gratify the devil, nor lose the benefit of God\u2019s Word. I speak now\nto weak believers.\n\nSecond, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners, to the Jerusalem sinners? Then, by this also, you\nmust learn to judge of the sufficiency of the merits of Christ; not\nthat the merits of Christ can be comprehended, for that they are beyond\nthe conceptions of the whole world, being called \u2018the unsearchable\nriches of Christ\u2019; but yet they may be apprehended to a considerable\ndegree. Now, the way to apprehend them most, is, to consider what\noffers, after his resurrection, he makes of his grace to sinners; for\nto be sure he will not offer beyond the virtue of his merits; because,\nas grace is the cause of his merits, so his merits are the basis and\nbounds upon and by which his grace stands good, and is let out to\nsinners. Doth he then command that his mercy should be offered, in the\nfirst place, to the biggest sinners? It declares, that there is a\nsufficiency in his blood to save the biggest sinners. \u2018The blood of\nJesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.\u2019 And again, \u2018Be it known unto you,\ntherefore, men and brethren, that through this man [this man\u2019s merits]\nis preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that\nbelieve are justified from all things, from which ye could not be\njustified by the law of Moses\u2019 (Acts 13:38).\n\nObserve, then, thy rule to make judgment of the sufficiency of the\nblessed merits of thy Saviour. If he had not been able to have\nreconciled the biggest sinners to his Father by his blood, he would not\nhave sent to them, have sent to them in the first place, the doctrine\nof remission of sins; for remission of sins is through faith in his\nblood. We are justified freely by the grace of God, through the\nredemption that is in the blood of Christ. Upon the square, as I may\ncall it, of the worthiness of the blood of Christ, grace acts, and\noffers forgiveness of sin to men (Eph 1:7; 2:13,14; Col 1:20-22).\nHence, therefore, we must gather, that the blood of Christ is of\ninfinite value, for that he offereth mercy to the biggest of sinners.\nNay, further, since he offereth mercy, in the first place, to the\nbiggest sinners, considering also, that this first act of his is that\nwhich the world will take notice of, and expect it should be continued\nunto the end. Also it is a disparagement to a man that seeks his own\nglory in what he undertakes, to do that for a spurt, which he cannot\ncontinue and hold out in. This is our Lord\u2019s own argument, He began to\nbuild, saith he, but was not able to finish (Luke 14:30).\n\nShouldst thou hear a man say, I am resolved to be kind to the poor, and\nshould begin with giving handfuls of guineas, you would conclude, that\neither he is wonderful rich, or must straiten his hand, or will soon be\nat the bottom of his riches. Why, this is the case: Christ, at his\nresurrection, gave it out that he would be good to the world; and first\nsends to the biggest sinners, with an intent to have mercy on them.\nNow, the biggest sinners cannot be saved but by abundance of grace; it\nis not a little that will save great sinners (Rom 5:17). And I say\nagain, since the Lord Jesus mounts thus high at the first, and sends to\nthe Jerusalem sinners, that they may come first to partake of his\nmercy, it follows, that either he has unsearchable riches of grace and\nworth in himself, or else he must straiten his hand, or his grace and\nmerits will be spent before the world is at an end. But let it be\nbelieved, as surely as spoken, he is still as full as ever. He is not a\njot the poorer for all the forgiveness that he has given away to great\nsinners. Also he is still as free as at first; for he never yet called\nback this word, Begin at the Jerusalem sinners. And, as I said, since\nhis grace is extended according to the worth of his merits. I conclude,\nthat there is the same virtue in his merits to save now, as there was\nat the very beginning, Oh! the riches of the grace of Christ! Oh! the\nriches of the blood of Christ!\n\nThird, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered in the first place to the\nbiggest sinners? Then here is encouragement for you that think, for\nwicked hearts and lives, you have not your fellows in the world, yet to\ncome to him.\n\nThere is a people that therefore fear lest they should be rejected of\nJesus Christ, because of the greatness of their sins; when, as you see\nhere, such are sent to, sent to by Jesus Christ, to come to him for\nmercy: \u2018Begin at Jerusalem.\u2019 Never did one thing answer another more\nfitly in this world, than this text fitteth such a kind of sinners. As\nface answereth face in a glass, so this text answereth the necessities\nof such sinners. What can a man say more, but that he stands in the\nrank of the biggest sinners? let him stretch himself whither he can,\nand think of himself to the utmost, he can but conclude himself to be\none of the biggest sinners. And what then? Why, the text meets him in\nthe very face, and saith, Christ offereth mercy to the biggest sinners,\nto the very Jerusalem sinners. What more can be objected? Nay, he doth\nnot only offer to such his mercy, but to them it is commanded to be\noffered in the first place: \u2018Begin at Jerusalem.\u2019 \u2018Preach repentance\nand remission of sins among all nations: beginning at Jerusalem.\u2019 Is\nnot here encouragement for those that think, for wicked hearts and\nlives, they have not their fellows in the world?\n\nObjection. But I have a heart as hard as a rock.\n\nAnswer. Well, but this doth but prove thee a biggest sinner.\n\nObjection. But my heart continually frets against the Lord.\n\nAnswer. Well, this doth but prove thee a biggest sinner.\n\nObjection. But I have been desperate in sinful courses.\n\nAnswer. Well, stand thou with the number of the biggest sinners.\n\nObjection. But my gray head is found in the way of wickedness.\n\nAnswer. Well, thou art in the rank of the biggest sinners.\n\nObjection. But I have not only a base heart, but I have lived a\ndebauched life.\n\nAnswer. Stand thou also among those that are called the biggest\nsinners. And what then? Why, the text swoops you all; you cannot object\nyourselves beyond the text. It has a particular message to the biggest\nsinners. I say, it swoops you all.26\n\nObjection. But I am a reprobate.\n\nAnswer. Now thou talkest like a fool, and meddlest with what thou\nunderstandest not: no sin, but the sin of final impenitence, can prove\na man a reprobate; and I am sure thou hast not arrived as yet unto\nthat; therefore thou understandest not what thou sayest, and makest\ngroundless conclusions against thyself. Say thou art a sinner, and I\nwill hold with thee; say thou art a great sinner, and I will say so\ntoo; yea, say thou art one of the biggest sinners, and spare not; for\nthe text yet is beyond thee, is yet betwixt hell and thee; \u2018Begin at\nJerusalem\u2019 has yet a smile upon thee; and thou talkest as if thou wast\na reprobate, and that the greatness of thy sins do prove thee so to be,\nwhen yet they of Jerusalem were not such, whose sins, I dare say, were\nsuch, both for bigness and heinousness, as thou art not capable of\ncommitting beyond them; unless now, after thou hast received conviction\nthat the Lord Jesus is the only Saviour of the world, thou shouldst\nwickedly and despitefully turn thyself from him, and conclude he is not\nto be trusted to for life, and so crucify him for a cheat afresh. This,\nI must confess, will bring a man under the black rod, and set him in\ndanger of eternal damnation (Heb 6:7,8; 10:8,9). This is trampling\nunder foot the Son of God, and counting his blood an unholy thing. This\ndid they of Jerusalem; but they did it ignorantly in unbelief, and so\nwere yet capable of mercy; but to do this against professed light, and\nto stand to it, puts a man beyond the text indeed (Acts 3:14-17; 1 Tim\n1:13).\n\nBut I say, what is this to him that would fain be saved by Christ? His\nsins did, as to greatness, never yet reach to the nature of the sins\nthat the sinners intended by the text had made themselves guilty of. He\nthat would be saved by Christ, has an honourable esteem of him; but\nthey of Jerusalem preferred a murderer before him; and as for him, they\ncried, Away, away with him, it is not fit that he should live. Perhaps\nthou wilt object, That thyself hast a thousand times preferred a\nstinking lust before him: I answer, Be it so; it is but what is common\nto men to do; nor doth the Lord Jesus make such a foolish life a bar to\nthee, to forbid thy coming to him, or a bond to his grace, that it\nmight be kept from thee; but admits of thy repentance, and offereth\nhimself unto thee freely, as thou standest among the Jerusalem sinners.\n\nTake therefore encouragement, man; mercy is, by the text, held forth to\nthe biggest sinners; yea, put thyself into the number of the worst, by\nreckoning that thou mayest be one of the first, and mayest not be put\noff till the biggest sinners are served; for the biggest sinners are\nfirst invited; consequently, if they come, they are like to be the\nfirst that shall be served. It was so with Jerusalem; Jerusalem sinners\nwere they that were first invited, and those of them that came\nfirst\u2014and there came three thousand of them the first day they were\ninvited; how many came afterwards none can tell\u2014they were first served.\n\nPut in thy name, man, among the biggest, lest thou art made to wait\ntill they are served. You have some men that think themselves very\ncunning, because they put up their names in their prayers among them\nthat feign it, saying, God, I thank thee I am not so bad as the worst.\nBut believe it, if they be saved at all, they shall be saved in the\nlast place. The first in their own eyes shall be served last; and the\nlast or worst shall be first. The text insinuates it, \u2018Begin at\nJerusalem\u2019; and reason backs it, for they have most need. Behold ye,\ntherefore, how God\u2019s ways are above ours; we are for serving the worst\nlast, God is for serving the worst first. The man at the pool, that to\nmy thinking was longest in his disease, and most helpless as to his\ncure, was first healed; yea, he only was healed; for we read that\nChrist healed him, but we read not then that he healed one more there!\n(John 5:1-10). Wherefore, if thou wouldst soonest be served, put in thy\nname among the very worst of sinners. Say, when thou art upon thy\nknees, Lord, here is a Jerusalem sinner! a sinner of the biggest size!\none whose burden is of the greatest bulk and heaviest weight! one that\ncannot stand long without sinking into hell, without thy supporting\nhand! \u2018Be not thou far from me, O Lord! O my strength, haste thee to\nhelp me!\u2019 (Psa 22:19).\n\nI say, put in thy name with Magdalene, with Manasseh, that thou mayest\nfare as the Magdalene and the Manasseh sinners do. The man in the\ngospel made the desperate condition of his child an argument with\nChrist to haste his cure: \u2018Sire, come down,\u2019 saith he, \u2018ere my child\ndie\u2019 (John 4:49), and Christ regarded his haste, saying, \u2018Go thy way;\nthy son liveth\u2019 (verse 50). Haste requires haste. David was for speed;\n\u2018Deliver me speedily\u2019; \u2018Hear me speedily\u2019; \u2018Answer me speedily\u2019 (Psa\n31:2; 69:17; 102:2). But why speedily? I am in \u2018the net\u2019; \u2018I am in\ntrouble\u2019; \u2018My days are consumed like smoke\u2019 (Psa 31:4; 69:17; 102:3).\nDeep calleth unto deep, necessity calls for help; great necessity for\npresent help. Wherefore, I say, be ruled by me in this matter; feign\nnot thyself another man, if thou hast been a filthy sinner, but go in\nthy colours to Jesus Christ, and put thyself among the most vile, and\nlet him alone to \u2018put thee among the children\u2019 (Jer 3:19). Confess all\nthat thou knowest of thyself; I know thou wilt find it hard work to do\nthus: especially if thy mind be legal; but do it, lest thou stay and be\ndeferred with the little sinners, until the great ones have had their\nalms. What do you think David intended when he said, his wounds stunk\nand were corrupted, but to hasten God to have mercy upon him, and not\nto defer his cure? \u2018Lord,\u2019 says he, \u2018I am troubled; I am bowed down\ngreatly; I go mourning all the day long.\u2019 \u2018I am feeble and sore broken:\nI have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart\u2019 (Psa 38:3-8).\nDavid knew what he did by all this; he knew that his making the worst\nof his case, was the way to speedy help, and that a feigning and\ndissembling the matter with God, was the next way to a demur as to his\nforgiveness.\n\nI have one thing more to offer for thy encouragement, who deemest\nthyself one of the biggest sinners; and that is, thou art as it were\ncalled by thy name, in the first place, to come in for mercy. Thou man\nof Jerusalem, hearken to thy call; men do so in courts of judicature,\nand presently cry out, \u2018Here, Sire\u2019; and then they shoulder and crowd,\nand say, \u2018Pray give way, I am called into the court.\u2019 Why, this is thy\ncase, thou great, thou Jerusalem sinner; be of good cheer, he calleth\nthee (Mark 10:46-49). Why sittest thou still? arise: why standest thou\nstill? come, man, thy call should give thee authority to come. \u2018Begin\nat Jerusalem,\u2019 is thy call and authority to come; wherefore up and\nshoulder it, man; say, \u2018Stand away, devil, Christ calls me; stand away\nunbelief, Christ calls me; stand away, all ye my discouraging\napprehensions, for my Saviour calls me to him to receive of his mercy.\u2019\nMen will do thus, as I said, in courts below; and why shouldst not thou\napproach thus to the court above? The Jerusalem sinner is first in\nthought, first in commission, first in the record of names; and\ntherefore should give attendance, with the expectation that he is first\nto receive mercy of God.\n\nIs not this an encouragement to the biggest sinners to make their\napplication to Christ for mercy? \u2018Come unto me, all ye that labour and\nare heavy laden,\u2019 doth also confirm this thing; that is, that the\nbiggest sinner, and he that has the biggest burden, is he who is first\ninvited. Christ pointeth over the heads of thousands, as he sits on the\nthrone of grace, directly to such a man; and says, \u2018Bring in hither the\nmaimed, the halt, and the blind; let the Jerusalem sinner that stands\nthere behind come to me.\u2019 Wherefore, since Christ says, \u2018Come,\u2019 to\nthee, let the angels make a lane, and let all men give place, that the\nJerusalem sinner may come to Jesus Christ for mercy.\n\nFourth, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners? Then come, thou profane wretch, and let me a\nlittle enter into an argument with thee. Why wilt thou not come to\nJesus Christ, since thou art a Jerusalem sinner? How canst thou find in\nthy heart to set thyself against grace, against such grace as offereth\nmercy to thee? What spirit possesseth thee, and holds thee back from a\nsincere closure with thy Saviour? Behold, God groaningly complains of\nthee, saying, \u2018But Israel would none of me.\u2019 \u2018When I called, none did\nanswer\u2019 (Psa 81:11; Isa 66:4).\n\nShall God enter this complaint against thee? Why dost thou put him off?\nWhy dost thou stop thine ear? Canst thou defend thyself? When thou art\ncalled to an account for thy neglects of so great salvation, what canst\nthou answer? or dost thou think that thou shalt escape the judgment?\n(Heb 2:3). No more such Christs! There will be no more such Christs,\nsinner! Oh, put not the day, the day of grace, away from thee! if it be\nonce gone, it will never come again, sinner.\n\nBut what is it that has got thy heart, and that keeps it from thy\nSaviour? \u2018Who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among\nthe sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?\u2019 (Psa 89:6). Hast\nthou, thinkest thou, found anything so good as Jesus Christ? Is there\nany among thy sins, thy companions, and foolish delights, that, like\nChrist, can help thee in the day of thy distress? Behold, the greatness\nof thy sins cannot hinder; let not the stubbornness of thy heart hinder\nthee, sinner.\n\nObjection. I am ashamed.\n\nAnswer. Oh! don\u2019t be ashamed to be saved, sinner.\n\nObjection. But my old companions will mock me.\n\nAnswer. Oh! don\u2019t be mocked out of eternal life, sinner.\n\nThy stubbornness affects, afflicts the heart of thy Saviour. Carest\nthou not for this? Of old, \u2018he beheld the city, and wept over it.\u2019\nCanst thou hear this, and not be concerned? (Luke 19:41,42). Shall\nChrist weep to see thy soul going on to destruction, and will though\nsport thyself in that way? Yea, shall Christ, that can be eternally\nhappy without thee, be more afflicted at the thoughts of the loss of\nthy soul, than thyself, who art certainly eternally miserable if thou\nneglectest to come to him. Those things that keep thee and thy Saviour,\non thy part, asunder, are but bubbles; the least prick of an affliction\nwill let out, as to thee, what now thou thinkest is worth the venture\nof heaven to enjoy.\n\nHast thou not reason? Canst thou not so much as once soberly think of\nthy dying hour, or of whither thy sinful life will drive thee then?\nHast thou no conscience? or having one, is it rocked so fast asleep by\nsin, or made so weary with an unsuccessful calling upon thee, that it\nis laid down, and cares for thee no more? Poor man! thy state is to be\nlamented. Hast no judgment? Art not able to conclude, that to be saved\nis better than to burn in hell? and that eternal life with God\u2019s\nfavour, is better than a temporal life in God\u2019s displeasure? Hast no\naffection but what is brutish? what, none at all? No affection for the\nGod that made thee? What! none for his loving Son that has showed his\nlove, and died for thee? Is not heaven worth thy affection? O poor man!\nwhich is strongest, thinkest thou, God or thee? If thou art not able to\novercome him, thou art a fool for standing out against him (Matt\n5:25,26). \u2018It is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the living\nGod\u2019 (Heb 10:29-31). He will gripe hard; his fist is stronger than a\nlion\u2019s paw; take heed of him, he will be angry if you despise his Son;\nand will you stand guilty in your trespasses, when he offereth you his\ngrace and favour? (Exo 34:6,7).\n\nNow we come to the text, \u2018Beginning at Jerusalem.\u2019 This text, though it\nbe now one of the brightest stars that shineth in the Bible, because\nthere is in it, as full, if not the fullest offer of grace that can be\nimagined, to the sons of men; yet, to them that shall perish from under\nthis word, even this text will be to such one of the hottest coals in\nhell. This text, therefore, will save thee or sink thee: there is no\nshifting of it; if it saves thee, it will set thee high; if it sinks\nthee, it will set thee low.\n\nBut, I say, why so unconcerned? Hast no soul? or dost think thou mayest\nlose thy soul, and save thyself? Is it not pity, had it otherwise been\nthe will of God, that ever thou wast made a man, for that thou settest\nso little by thy soul? Sinner, take the invitation; thou art called\nupon to come to Christ: nor art thou called upon but by order from the\nSon of God, though thou shouldst happen to come of the biggest sinners;\nfor he has bid us offer mercy, as to all the world in general, so, in\nthe first place, to the sinners of Jerusalem, or to the biggest\nsinners.\n\nFifth, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners? Then, this shows how unreasonable a thing it is\nfor men to despair of mercy; for those that presume, I shall say\nsomething to them afterward.\n\nI now speak to them that despair. There are four sorts of despair.\nThere is the despair of devils; there is the despair of souls in hell;\nthere is the despair that is grounded upon men\u2019s deficiency; and there\nis the despair that they are perplexed with that are willing to be\nsaved, but are too strongly borne down with the burden of their sins.\n\nThe despair of devils, the damned\u2019s despair, and that despair that a\nman has of attaining of life because of his own deficiency, are all\nreasonable. Why should not devils and damned souls despair? yea, why\nshould not man despair of getting to heaven by his own abilities? I,\ntherefore, am concerned only with the fourth sort of despair, to wit,\nwith the despair of those that would be saved, but are too strongly\nborne down with the burden of their sins. I say, therefore, to thee\nthat art thus, And why despair? Thy despair, if it was reasonable,\nshould flow from thee, because found in the land that is beyond the\ngrave; or because thou certainly knowest that Christ will not, or\ncannot save thee.\n\nBut, for the first, thou art yet in the land of the living; and, for\nthe second, thou hast ground to believe the quite contrary; Christ is\nable to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him; and if he\nwere not willing, he would not have commanded that mercy, in the first\nplace, should be offered to the biggest sinners. Besides, he hath said,\n\u2018And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the\nwater of life freely\u2019; that is, with all my heart. What ground now is\nhere for despair? If thou sayest, The number and burden of my sins; I\nanswer, Nay; that is rather a ground for faith; because such an one,\nabove all others, is invited by Christ to come unto him, yea, promised\nrest and forgiveness if they come (Matt 11:28). What ground then to\ndespair? Verily, none at all. Thy despair, then, is a thing\nunreasonable, and without footing in the Word.\n\nBut I have no experience of God\u2019s love; God hath given me no comfort,\nor ground of hope, though I have waited upon him for it many a day.\nThou hast experience of God\u2019s love, for that he has opened thine eyes\nto see thy sins: and for that he has given thee desires to be saved by\nJesus Christ. For by thy sense of sin thou art made to see thy poverty\nof spirit, and that has laid under thee a sure ground to hope that\nheaven shall be thine hereafter.\n\nAlso thy desires to be saved by Christ, has put thee under another\npromise, so there is two to hold thee up in hope, though thy present\nburden be never so heavy (Matt 5:3,6). As for what thou sayest as to\nGod\u2019s silence to thee, perhaps he has spoken to thee once or twice\nalready, but thou hast not perceived it (Job 33:14,15). However, thou\nhast Christ crucified set forth before thine eyes in the Bible, and an\ninvitation to come unto him, though thou be a Jerusalem sinner, though\nthou be a biggest sinner; and so no ground to despair. What if God will\nbe silent to thee, is that ground of despair? Not at all, so long as\nthere is a promise in the Bible, that God will in no wise cast away the\ncoming sinner, and so long as he invites the Jerusalem sinner to come\nunto him (John 6:37).\n\nBuild not, therefore, despair upon these things; they are no sufficient\nfoundation for it, such plenty of promises being in the Bible, and such\na discovery of his mercy to great sinners of old; especially since we\nhave withal a clause in the commission given to ministers to preach,\nthat they should begin with the Jerusalem sinners in their offering of\nmercy to the world. Besides, God says, \u2018They that wait upon the Lord\nshall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like\neagles\u2019; but, perhaps, it may be long first. I waited long, saith\nDavid, and did seek the Lord; and, at length, his cry was heard:\nwherefore he bids his soul wait on God, and says, For it is good so to\ndo before thy saints (Psa 40:1; 62:5; 52:9).\n\nAnd what if thou waitest upon God all thy days? Is it below thee? And\nwhat if God will cross his book, and blot out the handwriting that is\nagainst thee, and not let thee know it as yet? Is it fit to say unto\nGod, Thou art hard-hearted? Despair not; thou hast no ground to\ndespair, so long as thou livest in this world. \u2019Tis a sin to begin to\ndespair before one sets his foot over the threshold of hell-gates. For\nthem that are there, let them despair and spare not; but as for thee,\nthou hast no ground to do it. What! despair of bread in a land that is\nfull of corn! despair of mercy when our God is full of mercy! despair\nof mercy, when God goes about, by his ministers, beseeching of sinners\nto be reconciled unto him! (2 Cor 5:18-20). Thou scrupulous fool, where\ncanst thou find that God was ever false to his promise, or that he ever\ndeceived the soul that ventured itself upon him? He often calls upon\nsinners to trust him, though they walk in darkness, and have no light\n(Isa 50:10). They have his promise and oath for their salvation, that\nflee for refuge to the hope set before them (Heb 6:17,18).\n\nDespair! when we have a God of mercy, and a redeeming Christ alive! For\nshame, forbear; let them despair that dwell where there is no God, and\nthat are confined to those chambers of death which can be reached by no\nredemption. A living man despair when he is chid for murmuring and\ncomplaining! (Lam 3:39). Oh! so long as we are where promises swarm,\nwhere mercy is proclaimed, where grace reigns, and where Jerusalem\nsinners are privileged with the first offer of mercy, it is a base\nthing to despair. Despair undervalues the promise, undervalues the\ninvitation, undervalues the proffer of grace. Despair undervalues the\nability of God the Father, and the redeeming blood of Christ his Son.\nOh unreasonable despair! Despair makes man God\u2019s judge; it is a\ncontroller of the promise, a contradictor of Christ in his large offers\nof mercy: and one that undertakes to make unbelief the great manager of\nour reason and judgment, in determining about what God can and will do\nfor sinners. Despair! It is the devil\u2019s fellow, the devil\u2019s master;\nyea, the chains with which he is captivated and held under darkness for\never: and to give way thereto in a land, in a state and time that flows\nwith milk and honey, is an uncomely thing.\n\nI would say to my soul, \u2018O my soul! this is not the place of despair;\nthis is not the time to despair in; as long as mine eyes can find a\npromise in the Bible, as long as there is the least mention of grace,\nas long as there is a moment left me of breath or life in this world,\nso long will I wait or look for mercy, so long will I fight against\nunbelief and despair.\u2019 This is the way to honour God and Christ; this\nis the way to set the crown on the promise; this is the way to welcome\nthe invitation and inviter; and this is the way to thrust thyself under\nthe shelter and protection of the word of grace. Never despair so long\nas our text is alive, for that doth sound it out\u2014that mercy by Christ\nis offered, in the first place, to the biggest sinner.\n\nDespair is an unprofitable thing; it will make a man weary of waiting\nupon God (2 Kings 6:33). It will make a man forsake God, and seek his\nheaven in the good things of this world (Gen 4:13-18). It will make a\nman his own tormentor, and flounce and fling like \u2018a wild bull in a\nnet\u2019 (Isa 51:20). Despair! it drives a man to the study of his own\nruin, and brings him at last to be his own executioner (2 Sam 17:23;\nMatt 27:3-5).\n\nBesides, I am persuaded also, that despair is the cause that there are\nso many that would fain be Atheists in the world. For, because, they\nhave entertained a conceit that God will never be merciful to them,\ntherefore they labour to persuade themselves that there is no God at\nall, as if their misbelief would kill God, or cause him to cease to be.\nA poor shift for an immortal soul, for a soul who liketh not to retain\nGod in its knowledge! If this be the best that despair can do, let it\ngo, man, and betake thyself to faith, to prayer, to wait for God, and\nto hope, in despite of ten thousand doubts. And for thy encouragement,\ntake yet, as an addition to what has already been said, the following\nScripture: \u2018The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those\nthat hope in his mercy\u2019 (Psa 147:11). Whence note, They fear not God,\nthat hope not in his mercy; also, God is angry with them that hope not\nin his mercy; for he only taketh pleasure in them that hope. \u2018He that\nbelieveth,\u2019 or \u2018hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that\nGod is true\u2019 (John 3:33). But he that receiveth it not, \u2018hath made him\na liar,\u2019 and that is a very unworthy thing (1 John 5:10,11). \u2018Let the\nwicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let\nhim return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our\nGod, for he will abundantly\u2019 multiply \u2018pardon\u2019 (Isa 55:7). Perhaps thou\nart weary of thy ways, but art not weary of thy thoughts; of thy\nunbelieving and despairing thoughts; now, God also would have thee cast\naway these thoughts, as such which he deserveth not at thy hands; for\n\u2018he will have mercy upon thee, and he will abundantly pardon.\u2019\n\n\u2018O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have\nspoken!\u2019 (Luke 24:25). Mark you, here, slowness to believe is a piece\nof folly. Ay! but sayest thou, I do believe some, and I believe what\ncan make against me. Ay, but sinner, Christ Jesus here calls thee fool\nfor not believing all. Believe all, and despair if thou canst! He that\nbelieves all, believes that text that saith, Christ would have mercy\npreached first to the Jerusalem sinners. He that believeth all,\nbelieveth all the promises and consolations of the Word; and the\npromises and consolations of the Word weigh heavier than do all the\ncurses and threatenings of the law; and mercy rejoiceth against\njudgment. Wherefore believe all, and mercy will, to thy conscience,\nweigh judgment down, and so minister comfort to thy soul. The Lord take\nthe yoke from off thy jaws, since he has set meat before thee (Hosea\n11:4). And help thee to remember that he is pleased, in the first\nplace, to offer mercy to the biggest sinners.\n\nSixth, Since Jesus Christ would have mercy offered, in the first place,\nto the biggest sinners, let souls see that they lay right hold thereof,\nlest they, notwithstanding, indeed, come short thereof. Faith only\nknows how to deal with mercy; wherefore, put not in the place thereof\npresumption. I have observed, that, as there are herbs and flowers in\nour gardens, so there are their counterfeits in the field; only they\nare distinguished from the other by the name of wild ones. Why, there\nis faith, and wild faith; and wild faith is this presumption. I call it\nwild faith, because God never placed it in his garden\u2014his church; \u2019tis\nonly to be found in the field\u2014the world. I also call it wild faith,\nbecause it only grows up and is nourished where other wild notions\nabound. Wherefore, take heed of this, and all may be well; for this\npresumptuousness is a very heinous thing in the eyes of God. \u2018The\nsoul,\u2019 saith he, \u2018that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born\nin the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that\nsoul shall be cut off from among his people\u2019 (Num 15:30).\n\nThe thoughts of this made David tremble, and pray that God would hold\nhim back from presumptuous sins, and not suffer them to have dominion\nover him (Psa 19:13). Now, this presumption, then, puts itself in the\nplace of faith, when it tampereth with the promise for life, while the\nsoul is a stranger to repentance. Wherefore, you have in the text, to\nprevent doing thus, both repentance and remission of sins to be offered\nto Jerusalem; not remission without repentance, for all that repent not\nshall perish, let them presume on grace and the promise while they will\n(Luke 13:1-3).\n\nPresumption, then, is that which severeth faith and repentance;\nconcluding that the soul shall be saved by grace, though the man was\nnever made sorry for his sins, nor the love of the heart turned\ntherefrom. This is to be self-willed, as Peter has it; and this is a\ndespising the Word of the Lord, for that has put repentance and faith\ntogether (Mark 1:15). And \u2018because he hath despised the Word of the\nLord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut\noff: his iniquity shall be upon him\u2019 (Num 15:31). Let such, therefore,\nlook to it who yet are, and abide, in their sins; for such, if they\nhope, as they are, to be saved, presume upon the grace of God.27\nWherefore, presumption and not hearkening to God\u2019s Word are put\ntogether (Deu 17:12).\n\nAgain, THEN men presume, when they are resolved to abide in their sins,\nand yet expect to be saved by God\u2019s grace through Christ. This is as\nmuch as to say, God liketh of sin as well as I do, and careth not how\nmen live, if so be they lean upon his Son. Of this sort are they \u2018that\nbuild up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity\u2019; that \u2018judge for\nreward, and\u2014teach for hire, and\u2014divine for money, and lean upon the\nLord\u2019 (Micah 3:10,11). This is doing things, with an high hand, against\nthe Lord our God, and a taking him, as it were, at the catch.28 This\nis, as we say among men, to seek to put a trick upon God; as if he had\nnot sufficiently fortified his proposals of grace, by his holy Word,\nagainst all such kind of fools as these. But look to it! Such will be\nfound at the day of God, not among that great company of Jerusalem\nsinners that shall be saved by grace, but among those that have been\nthe great abusers of the grace of God in the world. Those that say, Let\nus sin that grace may abound, and let us do evil that good may come,\ntheir damnation is just. And if so, they are a great way off of that\nsalvation that is, by Jesus Christ, presented to the Jerusalem sinners.\n\nI have, therefore, these things to propound to that Jerusalem sinner\nthat would know, if he may be so bold [as] to venture himself upon this\ngrace. 1. Dost thou see thy sins? 2. Art thou weary of them? 3. Wouldst\nthou, with all thy heart, be saved by Jesus Christ? I dare say no less;\nI dare say no more. But if it be truly thus with thee, how great soever\nthy sins have been, how bad soever thou feelest thy heart, how far\nsoever thou art from thinking that God has mercy for thee, thou art the\nman, the Jerusalem sinner, that the Word of God has conquered, and to\nwhom it offereth free remission of sins, by the redemption that is in\nJesus Christ.\n\nWhen the jailor cried out, \u2018Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\u2019 the\nanswer was, \u2018Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be\nsaved.\u2019 He that sees his sins aright, is brought to his wit\u2019s end by\nthem; and he that is so, is willing to part from them, and to be saved\nby the grace of God. If this be thy case, fear not, give no way to\ndespair; thou presumest not, if thou believest to life everlasting in\nJesus Christ; yea, Christ is prepared for such as thou art. Therefore,\ntake good courage, and believe. The design of Satan is, to tell the\npresumptuous that their presuming on mercy is good; but to persuade the\nbeliever, that his believing is impudent, bold dealing with God. I\nnever heard a presumptuous man, in my life, say that he was afraid that\nhe presumed; but I have heard many an honest humble soul say, that they\nhave been afraid that their faith has been presumption. Why should\nSatan molest those whose ways he knows will bring them to him? And who\ncan think that he should be quiet, when men take the right course to\nescape his hellish snares? This, therefore, is the reason why the truly\nhumbled is opposed, while the presumptuous goes on by wind and tide.\nThe truly humble, Satan hates; but he laughs to see the foolery of the\nother.\n\nDoes thy hand and heart tremble? Upon thee the promise smiles. \u2018To this\nman will I look,\u2019 says God, \u2018even to him that is poor and of a contrite\nspirit, and trembleth at my word\u2019 (Isa 66:2). What, therefore, I have\nsaid of presumption, concerns not the humble in spirit at all. I\ntherefore am for gathering up the stones, and for taking the\nstumbling-blocks out of the way of God\u2019s people; and forewarning of\nthem, that they lay the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their\nfaces; and [of those] that are for presuming upon God\u2019s mercy; and let\nthem look to themselves (Eze 14:6-8).\n\nAlso, our text stands firm as ever it did, and our observation is still\nof force, that Jesus Christ would have mercy offered, in the first\nplace, to the biggest sinners. So them, let none despair, let none\npresume; let none despair that are sorry for their sins, and would be\nsaved by Jesus Christ; let none presume that abide in the liking of\ntheir sins, though they seem to know the exceeding grace of Christ; for\nthough the door stands wide open for the reception of the penitent, yet\nit is fast29 enough barred and bolted against the presumptuous sinner.\nBe not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a man sows, that he\nshall reap. It cannot be that God should be wheedled out of his mercy,\nor prevailed upon by lips of dissimulation; he knows them that trust on\nhim, and that sincerely come to him, by Christ, for mercy (Nahum 1:7).\n\nIt is, then, not the abundance of sins committed, but the not coming\nheartily to God, by Christ, for mercy, that shuts men out of doors. And\nthough their not coming heartily may be said to be but a sin, yet it is\nsuch a sin as causeth that all thy other sins abide upon thee\nunforgiven. God complains of this. \u2018They have not cried unto me with\ntheir heart\u2014they return, but not to the most High.\u2019 They turned\n\u2018feignedly\u2019 (Jer 3:10; Hosea 7:14,16). Thus doing, his soul hates\n[them]; but the penitent, humble, broken-hearted sinner, be his\ntransgressions red as scarlet, red like crimson, in number as the sand;\nthough his transgressions cry to heaven against him for vengeance, and\nseem there to cry louder than do his prayers, or tears, or groans for\nmercy; yet he is safe. To this man God will look (Isa 1:18; 66:2).\n\nSeventh, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners? Then here is ground for those that, as to\npractice, have not been such, to come to him for mercy.\n\nAlthough there is no sin little of itself, because it is a\ncontradiction of the nature and majesty of God, yet we must admit of\ndivers numbers, and, also, of aggravations. Two sins are not so many as\nthree; nor are three that are done in ignorance so big as one that is\ndone against light, against knowledge and conscience. Also, there is\nthe child in sin, and a man in sin that has his hairs gray and his skin\nwrinkled for very age. And we must put a difference betwixt these\nsinners also; for can it be that a child of seven, or ten, or sixteen\nyears old, should be such a sinner\u2014a sinner so vile in the eyes of the\nlaw as he is who has walked according to the course of this world,\nforty, fifty, sixty, or seventy years? Now, the youth, this stripling,\nthough he is a sinner, is but a little sinner, when compared with such.\nNow, I say, if there be room for the first sort, for those of the\nbiggest size, certainly there is room for the lesser size. If there be\na door wide enough for a giant to go in at, there is certainly room for\na dwarf. If Christ Jesus has grace enough to save great sinners, he has\nsurely grace enough to save little ones. If he can forgive five hundred\npence, for certain he can forgive fifty (Luke 7:41,42).\n\nBut you said before, that the little sinners must stand by until the\ngreat ones have received their grace, and that is discouraging! I\nanswer, there are two sorts of little sinners\u2014such as are so, and such\nas feign themselves so. There are those that feign themselves so, that\nI intended there, and not those that are, indeed, comparatively so.\nSuch as feign themselves so, may wait long enough before they obtain\nforgiveness.\n\nBut again, a sinner may be comparatively a little sinner, and sensibly\na great one. There are, then, two sorts of greatness in sin\u2014greatness\nby reason of number; greatness by reason of thoroughness of conviction\nof the horrible nature of sin. In this last sense, he that has but one\nsin, if such an one could be found, may, in his own eyes, find himself\nthe biggest sinner in the world. Let this man or this child, therefore,\nput himself among the great sinners, and plead with God as great\nsinners do, and expect to be saved with the great sinners, and as soon\nand as heartily as they. Yea, a little sinner, that, comparatively, is\ntruly so, if he shall graciously give way to conviction, and shall, in\nGod\u2019s light, diligently weigh the horrible nature of his own sin, may\nyet sooner obtain forgiveness for them at the hands of the heavenly\nFather, than he that has ten times his sins, and so cause to cry ten\ntimes harder to God for mercy.\n\nFor the grievousness of the cry is a great thing with God; for if he\nwill hear the widow, if she cries at all, how much more if she cries\nmost grievously? (Exo 22:22,23). It is not the number, but the true\nsense of the abominable nature of sin, that makes the cry for pardon\nlamentable. 30 He, as I said, that has many sins, may not cry so loud\nin the ears of God as he that has far fewer; he, in our present sense,\nthat is in his own eyes the biggest sinner, is he that soonest findeth\nmercy. The offer, then, is to the biggest sinner; to the biggest sinner\nfirst, and the mercy is first obtained by him that first confesseth\nhimself to be such an one.\n\nThere are men that strive at the throne of grace for mercy, by pleading\nthe greatness of their necessity. Now their plea, as to the prevalency\nof it, lieth not in their counting up of the number, but in the sense\nof the greatness of their sins, and in the vehemency of their cry for\npardon. And it is observable, that though the birthright was Reuben\u2019s,\nand, for his foolishness, given to the sons of Joseph, yet Judah\nprevailed above his brethren, and of him came the Messiah (1 Chron\n5:1,2). There is a heavenly subtilty to be managed in this matter. \u2018Thy\nbrother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.\u2019 The\nblessing belonged to Esau, but Jacob by his diligence made it his own\n(Gen 27:35). The offer is to the biggest sinner, to the biggest sinner\nfirst; but if he forbear to cry, the sinner that is a sinner less by\nfar than he, both as to number and the nature of transgression, may get\nthe blessing first, if he shall have grace to bestir himself well; for\nthe loudest cry is heard furthest, and the most lamentable pierces\nsoonest.\n\nI therefore urge this head, not because I would have little sinners go\nand tell God that they are little sinners, thereby to think to obtain\nhis mercy; for, verily, so they are never like to have it; for such\nwords declare, that such an one hath no true sense at all of the nature\nof his sins. Sin, as I said, in the nature of it, is horrible, though\nit be but one single sin as to act; yea, though it be but a sinful\nthought; and so worthily calls for the damnation of the soul. The\ncomparison, then, of little and great sinners, is to go for good sense\namong men. But to plead the fewness of thy sins, or the comparative\nharmlessness of their quantity before God, argueth no sound knowledge\nof the nature of thy sin, and so no true sense of the nature or need of\nmercy.\n\nLittle sinner! when therefore thou goest to God, though thou knowest in\nthy conscience that thou, as to acts, art no thief, no murderer, no\nwhore, no liar, no false swearer, or the like, and in reason must needs\nunderstand that thus thou art not so profanely vile as others; yet when\nthou goest to God for mercy, know no man\u2019s sins but thine own, make\nmention of no man\u2019s sins but thine own. Also labour not to lessen thy\nown, but magnify and greaten them by all just circumstances, and be as\nif there was never a sinner in the world but thyself. Also cry out, as\nif thou wast but the only undone man; and that is the way to obtain\nGod\u2019s mercy.\n\nIt is one of the comeliest sights in the world to see a little sinner\ncommenting upon the greatness of his sins, multiplying and multiplying\nthem to himself, till he makes them in his own eyes bigger and higher\nthan he seeth any other man\u2019s sins to be in the world; and as base a\nthing it is to see a man do otherwise, and as basely will come on it\n(Luke 18:10-14). As, therefore, I said to the great sinner before, let\nhim take heed lest he presume; I say now to the little sinner, let him\ntake heed that he do not dissemble; for there is as great an aptness in\nthe little sinner to dissemble, as there is in the great one. \u2018He that\nhideth his sins shall not prosper,\u201931 be he a sinner little or great\n(Prov 28:13).\n\nEighth, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners? Then this shows the true cause why Satan makes\nsuch head as he doth against him.\n\nThe Father and the Holy Spirit are well spoken of by all deluders and\ndeceived persons; Christ only is the rock of offence. \u2018Behold, I lay in\nZion a stumbling-stone and rock of offence\u2019 (Rom 9:33). Not that Satan\ncareth for the Father or the Spirit more than he careth for the Son;\nbut he can let men alone with their notions of the Father and the\nSpirit, for he knows they shall never enjoy the Father or the Spirit,\nif indeed they receive not the merits of the Son. \u2018He that hath the\nSon, hath life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not life,\u2019 however\nthey may boast themselves of the Father and the Spirit (1 John 5:12).\nAgain, \u2018Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of\nChrist, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he\nhath both the Father and the Son\u2019 (2 John 9). Christ, and Christ only,\nis he that can make us capable to enjoy God with life and joy to all\neternity. Hence he calls himself the way to the Father, the true and\nliving way (John 14:6). For we cannot come to the Father but by him\n(Heb 10:19,20). Satan knows this, therefore he hates him. Deluded\npersons are ignorant of this, and therefore, they are so led up and\ndown by Satan by the nose as they are.\n\nThere are many things by which Satan has taken occasion to greaten his\nrage against Jesus Christ. As, first, His love to man, and then, the\nmany expressions of that love. He hath taken man\u2019s nature upon him; he\nhath in that nature fulfilled the law to bring in righteousness for\nman; and hath spilt his blood for the reconciling of man to God; he\nhath broke the neck of death, put away sin, destroyed the works of the\ndevil, and got into his own hands the keys of death; and all these are\nheinous things to Satan. He cannot abide Christ for this. Besides, He\nhath eternal life in himself, and that to bestow upon us; and we in all\nlikelihood are to possess the very places from which the Satans by\ntransgression fell, if not places more glorious. Wherefore he must\nneeds be angry. And is it not a vexatious thing to him, that we should\nbe admitted to the throne of grace by Christ, while he stands bound\nover in chains of darkness, to answer for his rebellions against God\nand his Son, at the terrible day of judgment. Yea, we poor dust and\nashes must become his judges, and triumph over him for ever: and all\nthis long32 of Jesus Christ; for he is the meritorious cause of all\nthis.\n\nNow though Satan seeks to be revenged for this, yet he knows it is in\nvain to attack the person of Christ; He [Christ] has overcome him;\ntherefore he [Satan] tampers with a company of silly men; that he may\nvilify him by them. And they, bold fools as they are, will not spare to\nspit in his face. They will rail at his person, and deny the very being\nof it; they will rail at his blood, and deny the merit and worth of it.\nThey will deny the very end why he accomplished the law, and by jiggs,\nand tricks, and quirks, which he helpeth them to, they set up fond\nnames and images in his place, and give the glory of a Saviour to them.\nThus Satan worketh under the name of Christ; and his ministers under\nthe name of the ministers of righteousness.\n\nAnd by his wiles and stratagems he undoes a world of men; but there is\na seed, and they shall serve him, and it shall be counted to the Lord\nfor a generation. These shall see their sins, and that Christ is the\nway to happiness. These shall venture themselves, both body and soul,\nupon his worthiness. All this Satan knows, and therefore his rage is\nkindled the more. Wherefore, according to his ability and allowance, he\nassaulteth, tempteth, abuseth, and stirs up what he can to be hurtful\nto these poor people, that he may, while his time shall last, make it\nas hard and difficult for them to go to eternal glory as he can.\nOfttimes he abuses them with wrong apprehensions of God, and with wrong\napprehensions of Christ. He also casts them into the mire, to the\nreproach of religion, the shame of their brethren, the derision of the\nworld, and dishonour of God. He holds our hands while the world buffets\nus; he puts bear-skins upon us, and then sets the dogs at us. He\nbedaubeth us with his own foam, and then tempts us to believe that that\nbedaubing comes from ourselves.33\n\nOh! the rage and the roaring of this lion, and the hatred that he\nmanifests against the Lord Jesus, and against them that are purchased\nwith his blood! But yet, in the midst of all this, the Lord Jesus sends\nforth his herald to proclaim in the nations his love to the world, and\nto invite them to come in to him for life. Yea, his invitation is so\nlarge, that it offereth his mercy in the first place to the biggest\nsinners of every age, which augments the devil\u2019s rage the more.\nWherefore, as I said before, fret he, fume he, the Lord Jesus will\n\u2018divide the spoil\u2019 with this great one; yea, he shall divide the spoil\nwith the strong, \u2018because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and\nhe was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many,\nand made intercession for the transgressors\u2019 (Isa 53:12).\n\nNinth, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners? Let the tempted harp upon this string for their\nhelp and consolation.\n\nThe tempted, wherever he dwells, always thinks himself the biggest\nsinner, one most unworthy of eternal life. This is Satan\u2019s master\nargument; thou art a horrible sinner, a hypocrite, one that has a\nprofane heart, and one that is an utter stranger to a work of grace. I\nsay this is his maul, his club, 34 his masterpiece; he doth with this\nas some do with their most enchanting songs, sings them everywhere. I\nbelieve there are but few saints in the world that have not had this\ntemptation sounding in their ears. But were they but aware, Satan by\nall this does but drive them to the gap out at which they should go,\nand so escape his roaring. Saith he, thou art a great sinner, a\nhorrible sinner, a profane-hearted wretch, one that cannot be matched\nfor a vile one in the country. And all this while Christ says to his\nministers, offer mercy, in the first place, to the biggest sinners. So\nthat this temptation drives thee directly into the arms of Jesus\nChrist.\n\nWere therefore the tempted but aware, he might say, \u2018Ay, Satan, so I\nam, I am a sinner of the biggest size, and therefore have most need of\nJesus Christ; yea, because I am such a wretch, therefore Jesus Christ\ncalls me; yea, he calls me first; the first proffer of the gospel is to\nbe made to the Jerusalem sinner; I am he, wherefore stand back, Satan;\nmake a lane, my right is first to come to Jesus Christ.\u2019 This now would\nbe like for like. This would foil the devil; this would make him say, I\nmust not deal with this man thus; for then I put a sword into his hand\nto cut off my head.\n\nAnd this is the meaning of Peter, when he saith, \u2018Resist him steadfast\nin the faith\u2019 (1 Peter 5:9). And of Paul, when he saith, \u2018Take the\nshield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery\ndarts of the wicked\u2019 (Eph 6:16). Wherefore is it said, Begin at\nJerusalem, if the Jerusalem sinner is not to have the benefit of it?\nAnd if I am to have the benefit of it, let me call it to mind when\nSatan haunts me with continual remembrance of my sins, of my Jerusalem\nsins. Satan and my conscience say I am the biggest sinner:\u2014Christ\noffereth mercy, in the first place, to the biggest sinners! Nor is the\nmanner of the offer other but such as suiteth with my mind. I am sorry\nfor my sin; yea, sorry at my heart that ever sinful thought did enter,\nor find the least entertainment in my wicked mind: and might I obtain\nmy wish, I would never more that my heart should be a place for ought\nbut the grace, and spirit, and faith of the Lord Jesus. I speak not\nthis to lessen my wickedness; I would not for all the world but be\nplaced by mine own conscience in the very front of the biggest sinners,\nthat I might be one of the first that are beckoned, by the gracious\nhand of Jesus the Saviour, to come to him for mercy.\n\nWell, sinner, thou now speakest like a Christian; but say thus, in a\nstrong spirit, in the hour of temptation, and then thou wilt, to thy\ncommendation and comfort, quit thyself well. This improving of Christ,\nin dark hours, is the life, though the hardest part of our\nChristianity. We should neither stop at darkness nor at the raging of\nour lusts, but go on in a way of venturing, and casting the whole of\nour affairs for the next world at the foot of Jesus Christ. This is the\nway to make the darkness light, and also to allay the raging of\ncorruption.\n\nThe first time the Passover was eaten was in the night; and when Israel\ntook courage to go forward, though the sea stood in their way like a\ndevouring gulf, and the host of the Egyptians follow them at the heels;\nyet the sea gives place, and their enemies were as still as a stone\ntill they were gone over (Exo 12:8; 14:13,14,21,22; 15:16).\n\nThere is nothing like faith to help at a pinch; faith dissolves doubts\nas the sun drives away the mists. And that you may not be put out, know\nyour time, as I said, of believing is always. There are times when some\ngraces may be out of use, but there is no time wherein faith can be\nsaid to be so. Wherefore, faith must be always in exercise. Faith is\nthe eye, is the mouth, is the hand, and one of these is of use all day\nlong. Faith is to see, to receive, to work, or to eat; and a Christian\nshould be seeing, or receiving, or working, or feeding all day long.\nLet it rain, let it blow, let it thunder, let it lighten, a Christian\nmust still believe. At \u2018what time,\u2019 said the good man, \u2018I am afraid, I\nwill trust in thee\u2019 (Psa 56:2,3).\n\nNor can we have a better encouragement to do this than is, by the text,\nset before us; even an open heart for a Jerusalem sinner. And if for a\nJerusalem sinner to come, then for such an one when come. If for such\nan one to be saved, then for such an one that is saved. If for such an\none to be pardoned his great transgressions, then for such an one who\nis pardoned these to come daily to Jesus Christ too, to be cleansed and\nset free from his common infirmities, and from the iniquities of his\nholy things. Therefore, let the poor sinner that would be saved labour\nfor skill to make the best improvement of the grace of Christ to help\nhim against the temptations of the devil and his sins.\n\nTenth, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners? Let those men consider this that have, or may, in\na day of trial, spoken or done what their profession or conscience told\nthem they should not, and that have the guilt and burden thereof upon\ntheir consciences.\n\nWhether a thing be wrong or right, guilt may pursue him that doth\ncontrary to his conscience. But suppose a man should deny his God, or\nhis Christ, or relinquish a good profession, and be under the real\nguilt thereof, shall he, therefore, conclude he is gone for ever? Let\nhim come again with Peter\u2019s tears, and no doubt but he shall obtain\nPeter\u2019s forgiveness; for the text includes the biggest sinners. And it\nis observable, that before this clause was put into this commission,\nPeter was pardoned his horrible revolt from his Master. He that\nrevolteth in the day of trial, if he is not shot quite dead upon the\nplace, but is sensible of his wound, and calls out for a chirurgeon,\nshall find his Lord at hand to pour wine and oil into his wounds, that\nhe may again be healed, and to encourage him to think that there may be\nmercy for him; besides what we find recorded of Peter, you read in the\nActs, some were, through the violence of their trials, compelled to\nblaspheme, and yet are called saints (Acts 26:9-11).\n\nHence you have a promise or two that speak concerning such kind of men,\nto encourage us to think that, at least, some of them shall come back\nto the Lord their God. \u2018Shall they fall,\u2019 saith he, \u2018and not arise?\nShall he turn away, and not return?\u2019 (Jer 8:4). \u2018and in that day will I\nassemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out,\nand her that I have afflicted. And I will make her that halted a\nremnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation; and the Lord\nshall reign over them in Mount Zion\u2014for ever.\u2019 What we are to\nunderstand by her that halteth, is best expressed by the prophet Elijah\n(Micah 4:6,7; Zeph 3:19; 1 Kings 18:21).\n\nI will conclude, then, that for them that have halted, or may halt, the\nLord has mercy in the bank,35 and is willing to accept them if they\nreturn to him again. Perhaps they may never be after that of any great\nesteem in the house of God, but if the Lord will admit them to favour\nand forgiveness\u2014O exceeding and undeserved mercy! (See Ezekiel\n44:10-14). Thou, then, that mayest be the man, remember this, that\nthere is mercy also for thee. Return, therefore, to God, and to his\nSon, who hath yet in store for thee, and who will do thee good.\n\nBut, perhaps, thou wilt say, He doth not save all revolters, and,\ntherefore, perhaps not me. Answer. Art thou returning to God? If thou\nart returning, thou art the man; \u2018Return, ye backsliding children, and\nI will heal your backslidings\u2019 (Jer 3:22).\n\nSome, as I said, that revolt, are shot dead upon the place; and for\nthem, who can help them? But for them that cry out of their wounds it\nis a sign that they are yet alive, and, if they use the means in time,\ndoubtless they may be healed.\n\nChrist Jesus has bags of mercy that were never yet broken up or\nunsealed. Hence it is said, he has goodness laid up; things reserved in\nheaven for his. And if he breaks up one of these bags, who can tell\nwhat he can do? Hence his love is said to be such as passeth knowledge,\nand that his riches are unsearchable. He has, nobody knows what; for\nnobody knows who! He has by him, in store, for such as seem, in the\nview of all men, to be gone beyond recovery. For this, the text is\nplain. What man or angel could have thought that the Jerusalem sinners\nhad been yet on this side of an impossibility of enjoying life and\nmercy? Hadst thou seen their actions, and what horrible things they did\nto the Son of God; yea, how stoutly they backed what they did with\nresolves and endeavours to persevere, when they had killed his person,\nagainst his name and doctrine; and that there was not found among them\nall that while, as we read of, the least remorse or regret for these\ntheir doings; couldest though have imagined that mercy would ever have\ntook hold of them, at least so soon! Nay, that they should, of all the\nworld, be counted those only meet to have it offered to them in the\nvery first place! For so my text commands, saying, Preach repentance\nand remission of sins among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.\n\nI tell you the thing is a wonder, and must for ever stand for a wonder\namong the sons of men. It stands, also, for an everlasting invitation\nand allurement to the biggest sinners to come to Christ for mercy. Now\nsince, in the opinion of all men, the revolter is such an one; if he\nhas, as I said before, any life in him, let him take encouragement to\ncome again, that he may live by Christ.\n\nEleventh, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to\nthe biggest sinners? Then let God\u2019s ministers tell them so. There is an\nincidence36 in us, I know not how it doth come about, when we are\nconverted, to contemn them that are left behind. Poor fools as we are,\nwe forget that we ourselves were so (Titus 3:2,3).\n\nBut would it not become us better, since we have tasted that the Lord\nis gracious, to carry it towards them so, that we may give them\nconvincing ground to believe that we have found that mercy which also\nsets open the door for them to come and partake with us. Ministers, I\nsay, should do thus, both by their doctrine, and in all other respects.\nAusterity doth not become us, neither in doctrine nor in\nconversation.37 We ourselves live by grace; let us give as we receive,\nand labour to persuade our fellow-sinners, which God has left behind\nus, to follow after, that they may partake with us of grace. We are\nsaved by grace; let us live like them that are gracious. Let all our\nthings, to the world, be done in charity towards them; pity them, pray\nfor them, be familiar with them, for their good. Let us lay aside our\nfoolish, worldly, carnal grandeur; let us not walk the streets, and\nhave such behaviours as signify we are scarce for touching of the poor\nones that are left behind; no, not with a pair of tongs. It becomes not\nministers thus to do.\n\n[A gentle reproof.]\n\nRemember your Lord, he was familiar with publicans and sinners to a\nproverb: \u2018Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of\npublicans and sinners\u2019 (Matt 11:19). The first part, concerning his\ngluttonous eating and drinking, to be sure, was an horrible slander;\nbut for the other, nothing was ever spoke truer of him by the world.\nNow, why should we lay hands cross on this text; that is, choose good\nvictuals, and love the sweet wine better than the salvation of the poor\npublican? Why not familiar with sinners, provided we hate their spots\nand blemishes, and seek that they may be healed of them? Why not\nfellowly with our carnal neighbours? If we do take occasion to do so,\nthat we may drop, and be yet distilling some good doctrine upon their\nsouls? Why not go to the poor man\u2019s house, and give him a penny, and a\nScripture to think upon? Why not send for the poor to fetch away, at\nleast, the fragments of thy table, that the bowels of thy fellow-sinner\nmay be refreshed as well as thine?\n\nMinisters should be exemplary; but I am an inferior man, and must take\nheed of too much meddling. But might I, I would meddle with them, with\ntheir wives, and with their children too. I mean not this of all, but\nof them that deserve it, though I may not name them. But, I say, let\nministers follow the steps of their blessed Lord, who, by word and\ndeed, showed his love to the salvation of the world, in such a carriage\nas declared him to prefer their salvation before his own private\nconcern. For we are commanded to follow his steps, \u2018who did no sin,\nneither was guile found in his mouth.\u2019\n\nAnd as I have said concerning ministers, so I say to all the brethren,\nCarry it so, that all the world may see, that indeed you are the sons\nof love. Love your Saviour; yea, show one to another that you love him,\nnot only by a seeming love of affection, but with the love of duty.\nPractical love is best.38 Many love Christ with nothing but the lick of\nthe tongue. Alas! Christ Jesus the Lord must not be put off thus; \u2018He\nthat hath my commandments, and keepeth them,\u2019 saith he, \u2018he it is that\nloveth me\u2019 (John 14:21). Practical love, which stands in self-denial,\nin charity to my neighbour, and a patient enduring of affliction for\nhis name; this is counted love. Right love to Christ is that which\ncarries in it a provoking argument to others of the brethren (Heb\n10:24). Should a man ask me how he should know that he loveth the\nchildren of God? the best answer I could give him, would be in the\nwords of the apostle John; \u2018By this,\u2019 saith he, \u2018we know that we love\nthe children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments\u2019 (1\nJohn 5:2). Love to God and Christ is then shown, when we are tender of\nhis name; and then we show ourselves tender of his name, when we are\nafraid to break any, the least of his commandments. And when we are\nhere, then do we show our love to our brother also.\n\n[The Conclusion.]\n\nNow, we have obligation sufficient thus to do, for that our Lord loved\nus, and gave himself for us, to deliver us from death, that we might\nlive through him. The world, when they hear the doctrine that I have\nasserted and handled in this little book; to wit, that Jesus Christ\nwould have mercy offered, in the first place, to the biggest sinners,\nwill be apt, because themselves are unbelievers, to think that this is\na doctrine that leads to looseness, and that gives liberty to the\nflesh; but if you that believe love your brethren and your neighbours\ntruly, and as you should, you will put to silence the ignorance of such\nfoolish men, and stop their mouths from speaking evil of you. And, I\nsay, let the love of Christ constrain us to this. Who deserveth our\nheart, our mouth, our life, our goods, so much as Jesus Christ, who has\nbought us to himself by his blood, to this very end, that we should be\na peculiar people, zealous of good works?\n\nThere is nothing more seemly in the world than to see a Christian walk\nas becomes the gospel; nor anything more unbecoming a reasonable\ncreature, than to hear a man say, \u2018I believe in Christ,\u2019 and yet see in\nhis life debauchery and profaneness. Might I, such men should be\ncounted the basest of men; such men should be counted by all unworthy\nof the name of a Christian, and should be shunned by every good man, as\nsuch who are the very plague of profession. For so it is written, we\nshould carry it towards them. Whoso have a form of godliness, and deny\nthe power thereof, from such we must turn away.\n\nIt has ofttimes come into my mind to ask, By what means it is that the\ngospel profession should be so tainted39 with loose and carnal\ngospellers? and I could never arrive to better satisfaction in the\nmatter than this\u2014such men are made professors by the devil, and so by\nhim put among the rest of the godly. A certain man had a fruitless fig\ntree planted in his vineyard; but by whom was it planted there? even by\nhim that sowed the tares, his own children, among the wheat (Luke 13:6;\nMatt 13:37-40). And that was the devil. But why doth the devil do thus?\nNot of love to them, but to make of them offences and stumbling-blocks\nto others. For he knows that a loose professor in the church does more\nmischief to religion than ten can do to it that are in the world. Was\nit not, think you, the devil that stirred up the damsel that you read\nof in Acts 16 to cry out, \u2018These men are the servants of the most high\nGod, which show unto us the way of salvation?\u2019 Yes it was, as is\nevident, for Paul was grieved to hear it. But why did the devil stir up\nher to cry so, but because that was the way to blemish the gospel, and\nto make the world think that it came from the same hand as did her\nsoothsaying and witchery? (verse 16-18). \u2018Holiness, O Lord, becomes thy\nhouse for ever.\u2019 Let, therefore, whoever they be that profess the name\nof Christ, take heed that they scandal not that profession which they\nmake of him, since he has so graciously offered us, as we are sinners\nof the biggest size, in the first place, his grace to save us.\n\n[Answers to Objections.]\n\nHaving thus far spoken of the riches of the grace of Christ, and of the\nfreeness of his heart to embrace the Jerusalem sinners, it may not be\namiss to give you yet, as a caution, an intimation of one thing,\nnamely, that this grace and freeness of his heart, is limited to time\nand day; the which, whoso overstandeth, shall perish notwithstanding.\nFor, as a king, who, of grace, sendeth out to his rebellious people an\noffer of pardon, if they accept thereof by such a day, yet beheadeth or\nhangeth those that come not in for mercy until the day or time be past;\nso Christ Jesus has set the sinner a day, a day of salvation, an\nacceptable time; but he who standeth out, or goeth on in rebellion\nbeyond that time, is like to come off with the loss of his soul (2 Cor\n6:2; Heb 3:13-19; 4:7; Luke 19:41,42). Since, therefore, things are\nthus, it may be convenient here to touch a little upon these\nparticulars.\n\nFirst, That this day, or time thus limited, when it is considered with\nreference to this or that man, is ofttimes undiscerned by the person\nconcerned therein, and always is kept secret as to the shutting up\nthereof.\n\nAnd this, in the wisdom of God is thus, to the end no man, when called\nupon, should put off turning to God to another time. Now, and TODAY, is\nthat and only that which is revealed in holy Writ (Psa 50:22; Eccl\n12:1; Heb 3:13,15). And this shows us the desperate hazards which those\nmen run, who, when invitation or conviction attends them, put off\nturning to God to be saved till another, and, as they think, a more fit\nseason and time. For many, by so doing, defer this to do till the day\nof God\u2019s patience and long-suffering is ended; and then, for their\nprayers and cries after mercy, they receive nothing but mocks, and are\nlaughed at by the God of heaven (Prov 1:20-30; Isa 65:12-16; 66:4; Zech\n7:11-13).\n\nSecondly, Another thing to be considered is this, namely, That the day\nof God\u2019s grace with some men begins sooner, and also sooner ends, than\nit doth with others. Those at the first hour of the day, had their call\nsooner than they who were called upon to turn to God at the sixth hour\nof the day; yea, and they who were hired at the third hour, had their\ncall sooner than they who were called at the eleventh (Matt 20:1-6).\n\n1. The day of God\u2019s patience began with Ishmael, and also ended before\nhe was twenty years old. At thirteen years of age he was circumcised;\nthe next year after, Isaac was born; and then Ishmael was fourteen\nyears old. Now, that day that Isaac was weaned, that day was Ishmael\nrejected; and suppose that Isaac was three years old before he was\nweaned, that was but the seventeenth year of Ishmael; wherefore the day\nof God\u2019s grace was ended with him betimes (Gen 17:25; 21:2-11; Gal\n4:30).\n\n2. Cain\u2019s day ended with him betimes; for, after God had rejected him,\nhe lived to beget many children, and build a city, and to do many other\nthings. But, alas! all that while he was a fugitive and a vagabond. Nor\ncarried he anything with him after the day of his rejection was come,\nbut this doleful language in his conscience. \u2018From God\u2019s face shall I\nbe hid\u2019 (Gen 4:10-15).\n\n3. Esau, through his extravagancies, would needs go sell his\nbirthright, not fearing, as other confident fools, but that yet the\nblessing would still be his. After which, he lived many years; but all\nof them under the wrath of God, as was, when time came, made to appear\nto his destruction; for, \u2018when he would have inherited the blessing, he\nwas rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it\ncarefully with tears\u2019 (Heb 12:16,17).\n\nMany instances might be given as to such tokens of the displeasure of\nGod against such as fool away, as the wise man has it, the prize which\nis put into their hand (Prov 17:16).\n\nLet these things, therefore, be a further caution to those that sit\nunder the glorious sound of the gospel, and hear of the riches of the\ngrace of God in Christ to poor sinners. To slight grace, to despise\nmercy, and to stop the ear when God speaks, when he speaks such great\nthings, so much to our profit, is a great provocation. He offereth, he\ncalls, he woos, he invites, he prays, he beseeches us in this day of\nhis grace to be reconciled to him; yea, and has provided for us the\nmeans of reconciliation himself. Now, this despised must needs be\nprovoking; and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the\nliving God.\n\nObjection. But some man may say unto me, \u2018Fain I would be saved, fain I\nwould be saved by Christ; but I fear this day of grace is past, and\nthat I shall perish, notwithstanding the exceeding riches of the grace\nof God.\u2019\n\nAnswer. To this doubt I would answer several things. 1. With respect to\nthis day. 2. With respect to thy desires. 3. With respect to thy fears.\n\n1. With respect to this day; that is, whether it be ended with a man or\nno.\n\n(1.) Art thou jogged, and shaken, and molested at the hearing of the\nWord? Is thy conscience awakened and convinced then, that thou art at\npresent in a perishing state, and that thou hast need to cry to God for\nmercy? This is a hopeful sign that this day of grace is not past with\nthee. For, usually, they that are past grace, are also, in their\nconscience, \u2018past feeling,\u2019 being \u2018seared with a hot iron\u2019 (Eph\n4:18,19; 1 Tim 4:1,2). Consequently, those past grace must be such as\nare denied the awakening fruits of the Word preached. The dead that\nhear, says Christ, shall live; at least wise,40 Christ has not quite\ndone with them; the day of God\u2019s patience is not at an end with them\n(John 5:25).\n\n(2.) Is there, in thy more retired condition, arguings, strugglings,\nand strivings with thy spirit to persuade thee of the vanity of what\nvain things thou lovest, and to win thee in thy soul to a choice of\nChrist Jesus and his heavenly things? Take heed and rebel not, for the\nday of God\u2019s grace and patience will not be past with thee till he\nsaith, his \u2018Spirit shall strive no more\u2019 with thee; for then the woe\ncomes, when he shall depart from them; and when he says to the means of\ngrace, Let them alone (Hosea 4:17; 9:12).\n\n(3.) Art thou visited in the night seasons with dreams about thy state,\nand that thou art in danger of being lost? Hast thou heart-shaken\napprehensions when deep sleep is upon thee, of hell, death, and\njudgment to come? These are signs that God has not wholly left thee, or\ncast thee behind his back for ever. \u2018For God speaketh once, yea twice,\nyet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when\ndeep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he\nopeneth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may\nwithdraw man from his purpose,\u2019 his sinful purposes, \u2018and hide pride\nfrom man\u2019 (Job 33:14-17). All this while God has not left the sinner,\nnor is come to the end of his patience towards him, but stands, at\nleast, with the door of grace ajar in his hand, as being loath, as yet,\nto bolt it against him.\n\n(4.) Art thou followed with affliction, and dost thou hear God\u2019s angry\nvoice in thy afflictions? Doth he send with the affliction an\ninterpreter, to show thee thy vileness; and why, or wherefore, that\nhand of God is upon thee, and upon what thou hast; to wit, that it is\nfor thy sinning against him, and that thou mightest be turned to him?\nIf so, thy summer is not quite ended; thy harvest is not yet quite over\nand gone. Take heed, stand out no longer, lest he cause darkness, and\nlest thy feet stumble upon the dark mountains; and lest, while you look\nfor light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross\ndarkness (Jer 8:20; 13:15-17).\n\n(5.) Art thou crossed, disappointed, and waylaid, and overthrown in all\nthy foolish ways and doings? This is a sign God has not quite left\nthee, but that he still waits upon thee to turn thee. Consider, I say,\nhas he made a hedge and a wall to stop thee? Has he crossed thee in all\nthou puttest thy hand unto? Take it as a call to turn to him; for, by\nhis thus doing, he shows he has a mind to give thee a better portion.\nFor usually, when God gives up men, and resolves to let them alone in\nthe broad way, he gives them rope, and lets them have their desires in\nall hurtful things (Hosea 2:6-15; Psa 73:3-13; Rom 11:9). Therefore\ntake heed to this also, that thou strive not against this hand of God;\nbut betake thyself to a serious inquiry into the causes of this hand of\nGod upon thee, and incline to think, it is because the Lord would have\nthee look to that, which is better than what thou wouldst satisfy\nthyself withal. When God had a mind to make the prodigal go home to his\nfather, he sent a famine upon him, and denied him a bellyful of the\nhusks which the swine did eat. And observe it, now he was in a strait,\nhe betook him to consideration of the good that there was in his\nfather\u2019s house; yea, he resolved to go home to his father, and his\nfather dealt well with him; he received him with music and dancing,\nbecause he had received him safe and sound (Luke 15:14-32).\n\n(6.) Hast thou any enticing touches of the Word of God upon thy mind?\nDoth, as it were, some holy word of God give a glance upon thee, cast a\nsmile upon thee, let fall, though it be but one drop of its savour upon\nthy spirit; yea, though it stays but one moment with thee? O then the\nday of grace is not past! The gate of heaven is not shut! nor God\u2019s\nheart and bowels withdrawn from thee as yet. Take heed, therefore, and\nbeware that thou make much of the heavenly gift, and of that good word\nof God of the which he has made thee taste. Beware, I say, and take\nheed; there may be a falling away for all this; but, I say, as yet God\nhas not left thee, as yet he has not cast thee off (Heb 6:1-9).\n\n2. With respect to thy desires, what are they? Wouldst thou be saved?\nWouldst thou be saved with a thorough salvation? Wouldst thou be saved\nfrom guilt and filth too? Wouldst thou be the servant of thy Saviour?\nArt thou indeed weary of the service of thy old master the devil, sin,\nand the world? And have these desires put thy soul to the flight? Hast\nthou, through desires, betaken thyself to thy heels? Dost fly to him\nthat is a Saviour from the wrath to come, for life? If these be thy\ndesires, and if they be unfeigned, fear not! Thou are one of those\nrunaways which God has commanded our Lord to receive, and not to send\nthee back to the devil thy master again, but to give thee a place in\nhis house, even the place which liketh thee best. \u2018Thou shalt not\ndeliver unto his master,\u2019 says he, \u2018the servant which is escaped from\nhis master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that\nplace which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him\nbest: thou shalt not oppress him\u2019 (Deu 23:15,16).\n\nThis is a command to the church, consequently to the Head of the\nchurch; for all commands from God come to her through her Head. Whence\nI conclude, that as Israel of old was to receive the runaway servant\nwho escaped from a heathen master to them, and should not dare to send\nhim back to his master again; so Christ\u2019s church now, and consequently\nChrist himself, may not, will not, refuse that soul that has made his\nescape from sin, Satan, the world, and hell, unto him, but will\ncertainly let him dwell in his house, among his saints, in that place\nwhich he shall choose, even where it liketh him best. For he says, in\nanother place, \u2018And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.\u2019\nIn no wise, let his crimes be what they will, either for nature,\nmultitude, or the attendance of aggravating circumstances. Wherefore,\nif thy desires be firm, sound, and unfeigned to become the saved of\nChrist, and his servant, fear not, he will not, he will in no wise put\nthee away, or turn thee over to thy old master again.\n\n3. As to thy fears, whatever they are, let that be supposed which is\nsupposed before, and they are groundless, and so of no weight.\n\nObjection. But I am afraid I am not [of the] elect, or chosen to\nsalvation, though you called me fool a little before for so fearing.\n\nAnswer. Though election is, in order, before calling, as to God, yet\nthe knowledge of calling must go before the belief of my election, as\nto myself. Wherefore, souls that doubt of the truth of their effectual\ncalling, do but plunge themselves into a deeper labyrinth of confusion\nthat concern themselves with their election; I mean, while they labour\nto know it before they prove their calling. \u2018Make your calling, and so\nyour election sure\u2019 (2 Peter 1:4-10).\n\nWherefore, at present, lay the thoughts of thy election by, and ask\nthyself these questions: Do I see my lost condition? Do I see salvation\nis nowhere but in Christ? Would I share in this salvation by faith in\nhim? And would I, as was said before, be thoroughly saved, to wit, from\nthe filth as from the guilt? Do I love Christ, his Father, his saints,\nhis words, and ways? This is the way to prove we are elect. Wherefore,\nsinner, when Satan, or thine own heart, seeks to puzzle thee with\nelection, say thou, I cannot attend to talk of this point now, but stay\ntill I know that I am called of God to the fellowship of his Son, and\nthen I will show you that I am elect, and that my name is written in\nthe book of life.\n\nIf poor distressed souls would observe this order, they might save\nthemselves the trouble of an unprofitable labour under these\nunseasonable and soul-sinking doubts. 41\n\nLet us, therefore, upon the sight of our wretchedness, fly and\nventurously leap into the arms of Christ, which are now as open to\nreceive us into his bosom as they were when nailed to the cross. This\nis coming to Christ for life aright; this is right running away from\nthy [old] master to him, as was said before. And for this we have\nmultitudes of Scriptures to support, encourage, and comfort us in our\nso doing.\n\nBut now, let him that doth thus be sure to look for it, for Satan will\nbe with him tomorrow, to see if he can get him again to his old\nservice; and if he cannot do that, then will he enter into dispute with\nhim, to wit, about whether he be elect to life, and called indeed to\npartake of this Christ, to whom he is fled for succour, or whether he\ncomes to him of his own presumptuous mind. Therefore we are bid, as to\ncome, so to arm ourselves with that armour which God has provided; that\nwe may resist, quench, stand against, and withstand all the fiery darts\nof the devil (Eph 6:11-18). If, therefore, thou findest Satan in this\norder to march against thee, remember that thou hadst this item about\nit; and betake thyself to faith and good courage, and be sober, and\nhope to the end.\n\nObjection. But how if I should have sinned the sin unpardonable, or\nthat called the sin against the Holy Ghost?\n\nAnswer. If thou hast, thou art lost for ever; but yet before it is\nconcluded by thee that thou hast so sinned, know that they that would\nbe saved by Jesus Christ, through faith in his blood, cannot be counted\nfor such.\n\n1. Because of the promise, for that must not be frustrate: and that\nsays, \u2018And him that cometh to Christ, he will in no wise cast out.\u2019 And\nagain, \u2018Whoso will, let him take of the water of life freely\u2019 (John\n6:37; Rev 21:6; 22:17).\n\nBut, I say, how can these Scriptures be fulfilled, if he that would\nindeed be saved, as before said, has sinned the sin unpardonable? The\nScripture must not be made void, nor their truth be cast to the ground.\nHere is a promise, and here is a sinner; a promise that says he shall\nnot be cast out that comes; and the sinner comes, wherefore he must be\nreceived: consequently, he that comes to Christ for life, has not,\ncannot have sinned that sin for which there is no forgiveness. And this\nmight suffice for an answer to any coming soul, that fears, though he\ncomes, that he has sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost.\n\n2. But, again, he that has sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost cannot\ncome, has no heart to come, can by no means be made willing to come to\nJesus Christ for life; for that he has received such an opinion of him,\nand of his things, as deters and holds him back.\n\n(1.) He counteth this blessed person, this Son of God, a magician, a\nconjuror, a witch, or one that did, when he was in the world, what he\ndid, by the power and spirit of the devil (Matt 9:34; 12:24,25,&c.;\nMark 3:22-30). Now he that has this opinion of this Jesus, cannot be\nwilling to cast himself at his feet for life, or to come to him as the\nonly way to God and to salvation. And hence it is said again, that such\nan one puts him to open shame, and treadeth him under foot; that is, by\ncontemning, reproaching, vilifying, and despising of him, as if he were\nthe vilest one, or the greatest cheat in the world; and has, therefore,\nas to his esteem of him, called him accursed, crucified him to himself,\nor counted him one hanged, as one of the worst of malefactors (Heb 6:6;\n10:29; 1 Cor 12:3).\n\n(2.) His blood, which is the meritorious cause of man\u2019s redemption,\neven the blood of the everlasting covenant, he counteth \u2018an unholy\nthing,\u2019 or that which has no more virtue in it to save a soul from sin\nthan has the blood of a dog (Heb 10:29).42 For when the apostle says,\n\u2018he counts it an unholy thing,\u2019 he means, he makes it of less value\nthan that of a sheep or cow, which were clean according to the law;\nand, therefore, must mean, that his blood was of no more worth to him,\nin his account, than was the blood of a dog, an ass, or a swine, which\nalways was, as to sacrifices, rejected by the God of heaven, as unholy\nor unclean. Now he who has no better esteem of Jesus Christ, and of his\ndeath and blood, will not be persuaded to come to him for life, or to\ntrust in him for salvation.\n\n(3.) But further, all this must be done against manifest tokens to\nprove the contrary, or after the shining of gospel light upon the soul,\nor some considerable profession of him as the Messiah, or that he was\nthe Saviour of the world.\n\n(a.) It must be done against manifest tokens to prove the contrary; and\nthus the reprobate Jews committed it when they saw the works of God,\nwhich put forth themselves in him, and called them the works of the\ndevil and Beelzebub.\n\n(b.) It must be done against some shining light of the gospel upon\nthem. And thus it was with Judas, and with those who, after they were\nenlightened, and had tasted, and had felt something of the powers of\nthe world to come, fell away from the faith of him, and put him to open\nshame and disgrace (Heb 6:5,6).\n\n(c.) It must also be done after, and in opposition to one\u2019s own open\nprofession of him. For if, after they have escaped the pollution of the\nworld, through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they\nare again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with\nthem than the beginning; for it had been better for them not to have\nknow the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn\nfrom the holy commandment, which is the word of faith delivered unto\nthem.\n\n(d.) All this must be done openly, before witnesses, in the face,\nsight, and view of the world, by word and act. This is the sin that is\nunpardonable; and he that hath thus done, can never, it is impossible\nhe ever should, be renewed again to repentance, and that for a double\nreason; first, such an one doth say, he will not; and [second] of him\nGod says, he shall not have the benefit of salvation by him.\n\nObjection. But if this be the sin unpardonable, why is it called the\nsin against the Holy Ghost, and not rather the sin against the Son of\nGod?\n\nAnswer. It is called \u2018the sin against the Holy Ghost,\u2019 because such\ncount the works he did, which were done by the Spirit of God, the works\nof the spirit of the devil. Also because all such as so reject Christ\nJesus the Lord, they do it in despite of that testimony which the Holy\nGhost has given of him in the holy Scriptures; for the Scriptures are\nthe breathings of the Holy Ghost, as in all other things, so in that\ntestimony they bear of the person, of the works, sufferings,\nresurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.\n\nSinner, this is the sin against the Holy Ghost. What sayest thou? Hast\nthou committed it? Nay, I know thou hast not, if thou wouldst be saved\nby Christ. Yea, it is impossible that thou shouldst have done it, if\nindeed thou wouldst be saved by him. No man can desire to be saved by\nhim, who he yet judgeth to be an impostor, a magician, a witch. No man\ncan hope for redemption by that blood which he yet counteth an unholy\nthing. Nor will God ever suffer such an one to repent, who has, after\nlight and profession of him, thus horribly, and devil-like, contemned\nand trampled upon him.\n\nTrue, words, and wars, and blasphemies, against this Son of man, are\npardonable; but then they must be done \u2018ignorantly, and in unbelief.\u2019\nAlso, all blasphemous thoughts are likewise such as may be passed by,\nif the soul afflicted with them, indeed is sorry for them (1 Tim\n1:13-15; Mark 3:28).\n\nAll but this, sinner, all but this! If God had said, he will forgive\none sin, it had been undeserved grace; but when he says he will pardon\nall but one, this is grace to the height. Nor is that one unpardonable\notherwise, but because the Saviour that should save them is rejected\nand put away. Jacob\u2019s ladder; Christ is Jacob\u2019s ladder that reacheth up\nto heaven; and he that refuseth to go by this ladder thither, will\nscarce by other means get up so high. There is none other name given\nunder heaven, among men, whereby we must be saved. There is none other\nsacrifice for sin than this; he also, and he only, is the Mediator that\nreconcileth men to God. And, sinner, if thou wouldst be saved by him,\nhis benefits are thine; yea, though thou art a great and Jerusalem\ntransgressor.43\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1 Having preached many times, and from various texts, upon this\nsubject, the whole substance of many sermons is here published.\u2014Ed.\n\n2 The Jews, and their sacred city, are standing monuments of God\u2019s\ndreadful vengeance against unbelief in rejecting the Lord Christ, in\nwhom alone is salvation. The Lord give us grace to prize and improve\ngospel privileges, lest we also be cut off, through unbelief.\u2014Mason.\n\n3 The higher a people rise under the means, the lower will be their\nfall if they slight them. O highly-favoured England! Tyre and Sidon,\nSodom and Gomorrah, will have a milder hell than thy carnal,\nhypocritical, Christless children.\u2014Mason.\n\n4 All the objections are on the sinner\u2019s side, through unbelief. Christ\nanswers them all in one word, \u2018Whosoever will, let him come and take of\nthe water of life freely\u2019; and, \u2018Whosoever cometh, I will in no wise\ncast out.\u2019 Lord, put forth thy power, and give the will.\u2014Mason.\n\n5 In this quotation, Bunyan has followed the reading in the Genevan or\nPuritan version.\u2014Ed.\n\n6 An arrow, dipped in the blood of Jesus, will subdue the most obdurate\nheart it reaches, even those bitter enemies to Christ, the\npriests.\u2014Mason.\n\n7 This quotation is from the Genevan or Puritan version\u2014Ed.\n\n8 \u2018Death was swallowing of them down.\u2019 How very striking and full of\ntruth is this expression! For, in proportion as the sinner violates the\nDivine law, so he rushes into the jaws of death and destruction.\nObedience to the Divine law preserves health, bestows happiness, and\nprolongs life.\u2014Ed.\n\n9 \u2018Rowl in his bowels\u2019; intense affection: see Philemon 12.\u2014Ed.\n\n10 \u2018Wheals\u2019; pimples, or small swellings filled with matter.\u2014Ed.\n\n11 \u2018As physicians do\u2019 can now hardly be understood. In Bunyan\u2019s days,\nall physicians put forth their bills of \u2018wonderful cures.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n12 \u2018Hedge-creepers\u2019; footpads.\u2014Ed.\n\n13 O sinner, beseech the Lord to enable you to welcome the grace that\nis welcoming you; then you shall find it, in the Lord\u2019s time, that you\nshall be made as kindly welcome as ever a sinner was that is now a\nglorified saint.\u2014Mason.\n\n14 This idea is most ingeniously and admirably displayed in Bunyan\u2019s\nbeautiful allegory, \u2018The Holy War.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n15 \u2018A muse\u2019; deep thought. Vulgo` vocatum, \u2018a brown study.\u2019 Bunyan used\nthis word in the same sense in the first edition of \u2018The Pilgrim\u2019s\nProgress,\u2019 at the Interpreter\u2019s house: \u2018Now was Christian somewhat in a\nmuse.\u2019 It was afterwards altered, but not improved, by substituting the\nwords, \u2018in a maze.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n16 Among all the wondrous sights that angels witness, one gives them\npeculiar joy\u2014it is the poor penitent prodigal returning to God, Luke\n15:10.\u2014Ed.\n\n17 This was printed in the first edition, \u2018the biggest sin.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n18 How strongly does this dialogue bring to our recollection that\nbetween Christian and Apollyon in the \u2018The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress?\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n19 \u2018I stunck,\u2019 in the original edition, probably meant, \u2018I stuck\u2019; but\nall the later editions have, \u2018I stunk.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n20 \u2018Clouts\u2019; patches, Joshua 9:5\n\n21 I cannot discover in what book Bunyan read this legend; it is not in\nthe \u201cGolden Legend,\u201d or any of my monkish authors. It was a generally\nreceived opinion, among the ancients, that Mary Magdalene was sister to\nLazarus; but the means of her conversion is not known. The story here\nrelated is possible, and even probable; but it has no foundation in the\ninspired writings, nor in ancient authors.\u2014Ed.\n\n22 Thus Zaccheus said: \u2018Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to\nthe poor; and if I have taken anything from any man, by false\naccusation, I restore fourfold.\u2019 The law of God requires us,\ndim-sighted as we are, to see our sins in their real magnitude, but the\nperversity of man turns the telescope to diminish them.\u2014Ed.\n\n23 \u2018The friends thereof in their reason\u2019 were the words used in the\nfirst three editions by Bunyan. After his decease, they were altered,\nin 1697, in a second third edition, and this correction has been\ncontinued in every subsequent impression.\u2014Ed.\n\n24 Bunyan has some striking observations upon this word Go, in his work\non the day of judgment. Those who refused the invitation to \u2018come\u2019 and\nreceive life, when in the world, now irresistibly obey the awful\nmandate, \u2018Go,\u2019 and rush into eternal woe.\u2014Ed.\n\n25 How pointed and faithful are these words? How natural it is for a\npoor sinner to compare himself with his fellow-worm, and say, \u2018Lord, I\nthank thee that I am not as this publican,\u2019 or as that murderer\u2014instead\nof viewing himself in the gospel glass, in the presence of infinite\nholiness, and feeling that in his flesh there is no good thing, but\nputrefying sores, that he is vile and hell-deserving, and must fall\ninto the arms of Divine mercy, crying, Lord, save, or I perish.\u2014Ed.\n\n26 \u2018Swoop\u2019; to seize as a hawk does his prey.\u2014Ed.\n\n27 The convinced sinner is not content with the cry, \u2018Deliver me from\nthe wrath to come,\u2019 but, feeling sin to be his greatest enemy, he\nearnestly cries for deliverance from its dominion in this world (Psa\n143).\u2014Ed.\n\n28 \u2018At the catch.\u2019 See the dialogue between Faithful and Talkative in\n\u2018The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n29 Printed, \u2018far,\u2019 in the first and second editions; altered to \u2018fast,\u2019\nin third and subsequent editions.\u2014Ed.\n\n30 The blind men, who implored the mercy of Jesus, would not be checked\neven by the multitude, but cried so much the more. When a true sense of\nmisery urges, neither men nor devils can stop the cry for mercy, till\nJesus has compassion and heals their spiritual maladies.\u2014Mason.\n\n31 Quoted from the Puritan or Genevan version of the Bible; our\ntranslation has, \u2018He that covereth.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n32 \u2018Long of Jesus Christ\u2019; a provincial expression, meaning \u2018all this\nbelongs to us by Jesus Christ.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n33 How admirable an illustration is this of the Slough of Despond, into\nwhich Christian and Pliable fell in \u2018The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n34 This illustrates Bunyan\u2019s meaning of the Giant of Sophistry, named\nMaul, whose head was cut off by Great-heart, in the Second Part of \u2018The\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n35 The treasures of this bank are inexhaustible and unsearchable. Oh\nfor faith, that we may draw largely upon its infinite riches!\u2014Ed.\n\n36 \u2018Incidence\u2019; the direction with which one body strikes another; now\nobsolete.\u2014Ed.\n\n37 A sour, crabbed Christian, is a contradiction in terms. The precept\nis, \u2018Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another,\neven as God, for Christ\u2019s sake, hath forgiven you\u2019 (Eph 4:31).\u2014Mason\n\n38 The true branches in Christ, the heavenly vine, are made fruitful in\nlove, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,\nmeekness, and temperance. By these it will appear that Christ is formed\nwithin us. Mere \u2018lick of the tongue\u2019 love, without these, is an\nunsubstantial shadow.\u2014Ed.\n\n39 \u2018Be so taunted\u2019; in editions previous to 1697.\u2014Ed.\n\n40 \u2018At least wise\u2019; to say the least.\u2014Ed.\n\n41 This is the proper test for a perplexed soul, when troubled about\nhis election. If I love Christ, and am desirous to obey him, it is\nbecause he first loved me; and this is the surest proof of election.\nHear the voice of God, \u2018Whosoever believeth in me shall not perish, but\nhave eternal life\u2019; and so Paul, \u2018As many as were ordained to eternal\nlife believed\u2019 (Acts 13:48).\u2014Ed.\n\n42 How very forcible is this appeal to those who profess to believe the\ninspiration of the Bible, but yet reject the atonement of Christ. It is\nto make the typical sacrifice of the clean beasts, under the law, of\ngreater value than that of the great antitype\u2014the Son of God.\u2014Ed.\n\n43 The reason why those who are guilty of the blasphemy against the\nHoly Ghost are never forgiven, is not for want of any sufficiency in\nthe blood of Christ, or in the pardoning mercy of God, but because they\nnever repent of that sin, and never seek to God for mercy through\nChrist, but continue obstinate till death.\u2014Mason.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GREATNESS OF THE SOUL,\n\nAND\n\nUNSPEAKABLENESS 0F THE LOSS THEREOF;\n\nWITH THE CAUSES OF THE LOSING IT.\n\n\nFIRST PREACHED AT PINNER\u2019S HALL and now ENLARGED AND PUBLISHED FOR\nGOOD.\n\nBy JOHN BUNYAN,\n\nLondon: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the\nPoultry, 1682\n\nFaithfully reprinted from the Author\u2019s First Edition.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nOur curiosity is naturally excited to discover what a poor, unlettered\nmechanic, whose book-learning had been limited to the contents of one\nvolume, could by possibility know upon a subject so abstruse, so\nprofound, and so highly metaphysical, as that of the Soul\u2014its\ngreatness\u2014and the inconceivableness of its loss. Heathen philosophers,\nat the head of whose formidable array stand Plato and Aristotle, had\nexhausted their wit, and had not made the world a whit the wiser by all\ntheir lucubrations. The fathers plunged into the subject, and increased\nthe confusion; we are confounded with their subtle distinctions,\ndefinitions, and inquiries; such as that attributed to St. Aquinas, How\nmany disembodied spirits could dance upon the point of a fine needle\nwithout jostling each other? Learned divines had puzzled themselves and\ntheir hearers with suppositions and abstract principles. What, then,\ncould a travelling brasier, or tinker, have discovered to excite the\nattention of the Christian world, and to become a teacher to\nphilosophers, fathers, and learned divines? Bunyan found no access to\nthe polluted streams of a vain philosophy; he went at once to the\nfountain-head; and, in the pure light of Revelation, displays the human\nsoul\u2014infinitely great in value, although in a fallen state. He portrays\nit as drawn by the unerring hand of its Maker. He sets forth, by the\nglass of God\u2019s Word, the inconceivableness of its value, while\nprogressing through time; and, aided by the same wondrous glass, he\npenetrates the eternal world, unveils the joys of heaven and the\ntorments of hell\u2014so far as they are revealed by the Holy Ghost, and are\nconceivable to human powers. While he thus leads us to some kind of\nestimate of its worth, he, from the same source\u2014the only source from\nwhence such knowledge can be derived, makes known the causes of the\nloss of the soul, and leads his trembling readers to the only name\nunder heaven given among men, whereby they can be saved. In attempting\nto conceive the greatness and value of the soul, the importance of the\nbody is too often overlooked. The body, it is true, is of the earth;\nthe soul is the breath of God. The body is the habitation; the soul is\nthe inhabitant. The body returns to the dust; while the soul enters\ninto the intermediate state, waiting to be re-united to the body after\nits new creation, when death shall be swallowed up of life. In these\nviews, the soul appears to be vastly superior to the body. But let it\nnever be forgotten, that, as in this life, so it will be in the\neverlasting state; the body and soul are so intimately connected as to\nbecome one being, capable of exquisite happiness, or existing in the\npangs of everlasting death. He who felt and wrote as Bunyan does in\nthis solemn treatise, and whose tongue was as the pen of a ready\nwriter, must have been wise and successful in winning souls to Christ.\nHe felt their infinite value, he knew their strong and their weak\npoints, their riches and poverty. He was intimate with every street and\nlane in the town of Man-soul, and how and where the subtle Diabolians\nshifted about to hide themselves in the walls, and holes, and corners.\nHe sounds the alarm, and plants his engines against \u2018the eye as the\nwindow, and the ear as the door, for the soul to look out at, and to\nreceive in by.\u2019 He detects the wicked in speaking with his feet, and\nteaching with his fingers. His illustration of the punishment of a\nsinner, as set forth by the sufferings of the Saviour, is peculiarly\nstriking. The attempt to describe the torments of those who suffer\nunder the awful curse, \u2018Go ye wicked,\u2019 is awfully and intensely vivid.\n\nBunyan most earnestly exhorts the distressed sinner to go direct to the\ngreat Shepherd and Bishop of souls, and not to place confidence in\nthose who pretend to be his ministers; but \u2018who are false shepherds, in\nso many ugly guises, and under so many false and scandalous dressesl\u2019\n\u2018take heed of that shepherd that careth not for his own soul, that\nwalketh in ways, and doth such things, as have a direct tendency to\ndamn his own soul; come not near him. He that feeds his own soul with\nashes, will scarce feed thee with the bread of life.\u2019 Choose Christ to\nbe thy chief Shepherd, sit at his feet, and learn of him and he will\ndirect thee to such as shall feed thy soul with knowledge and\nunderstanding.\n\nReader, let me no longer keep thee upon the threshold but enter upon\nthis important treatise with earnest prayer; and may the blessed Spirit\nenable us to live under a sense of the greatness of the soul, the\nunspeakableness of the loss thereof, the causes of losing it, and the\nonly way in which its salvation can he found.\n\nGEORGE OFFOR. Hackney, April 1850\n\nTHE GREATNESS OF THE SOUL,\n\nAND UNSPEAKABLENESS OF THE LOSS THEREOF\n\n\u2018OR WHAT SHALL A MAN GIVE IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS SOUL?\u2019\u2014MARK 8:37.\n\n\nI HAVE chosen at this time to handle these words among you, and that\nfor several reasons:\u2014\n\nl. Because the soul, and the salvation of it, are such great, such\nwonderful great things; nothing is a matter of that concern as is, and\nshould be, the soul of each one of you. House and land, trades and\nhonours, places and preferments, what are they to salvation? to the\nsalvation of the soul?\n\n2. Because I perceive that this so great a thing, and about which\npersons should be so much concerned, is neglected to amazement, and\nthat by the most of men; yea, who is there of the many thousands that\nsit daily under the sound of the gospel that are concerned, heartily\nconcerned, about the salvation of their souls?\u2014that is, concerned, I\nsay, as the nature of the thing requireth. If ever a lamentation was\nfit to be taken up in this age about, for, or concerning anything, it\nis about, for, and concerning the horrid neglect that everywhere puts\nforth itself with reference to salvation. Where is one man in a\nthousand\u2014yea, where is there two of ten thousand that do show by their\nconversation, public and private, that the soul, their own souls, are\nconsidered by them, and that they are taking that care for the\nsalvation of them as becomes them\u2014to wit, as the weight of the work,\nand the nature of salvation requireth?\n\n3. I have therefore pitched upon this text at this time; to see, if\nperadventure the discourse which God shall help me to make upon it,\nwill awaken you, rouse you off your beds of ease, security, and\npleasure, and fetch you down upon your knees before Him, to beg of Him\ngrace to be concerned about the salvation of your souls. And then, in\nthe last place, I have taken upon me to do this, that I may deliver, if\nnot you, yet myself, and that I may be clear of your blood, and stand\nquit, as to you, before God, when you shall, for neglect, be damned,\nand wail to consider that you have lost your souls. \u2018When I say,\u2019 saith\nGod, \u2018unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou,\u2019 the prophet or\npreacher, \u2018givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from\nhis wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his\niniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn\nthe wicked, and he turn not front his wickedness, nor from his wicked\nway, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul\u2019\n(Eze 3:18, 19).\n\n\u2018Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019\n\nIn my handling of these words, I shall first speak to the occasion of\nthem, and then to the words themselves.\n\nThe occasion of the words was, for that the people that now were\nauditors to the Lord Jesus, and that followed him, did it without that\nconsideration as becomes so great a work\u2014that is, the generality of\nthem that followed Him were not for considering first with themselves,\nwhat it was to profess Christ, and what that profession might cost\nthem.\n\n\u2018And when he had called the people unto him,\u2019 the great multitude that\nwent with him (Luke14:25) \u2018with his disciples also, he said unto them,\n\u2018Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his\ncross, and follow me (Mark 8:34). Let him first sit down and count up\nthe cost, and the charge he is like to be at, if he follows me. For\nfollowing of me is not like following of some other masters. The wind\nsits always on my face, and the foaming rage of the sea of this world,\nand the proud and lofty waves thereof, do continually beat upon the\nsides of the bark of the ship that myself, my cause, and my followers\nare in; he therefore that will not run hazards, and that is afraid to\nventure a drowning, let him not set foot into this vessel. So whosever\ndoth not bear his cross, and come after me, he cannot be my disciple.\nFor which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first\nand counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it (Luke\n14:27-29).\n\nTrue, to reason, this kind of language tends to cast water upon weak\nand beginning desires, but to faith, it makes the things set before us,\nand the greatness, and the glory of them, more apparently excellent and\ndesirable. Reason will say, Then who will profess Christ that hath such\ncoarse entertainment at the beginning? but faith will say, Then surely\nthe things that are at the end of a Christian\u2019s race in this world must\nneeds be unspeakably glorious; since whoever hath had but the knowledge\nand due consideration of them, have not stuck to run hazards, hazards\nof every kind, that they might embrace and enjoy them. Yea, saith\nfaith, it must needs be so, since the Son himself, that best knew what\nthey were, even, \u2018for the joy that was set before Him endured the\ncross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the\nthrone of God\u2019 (Heb 12:2).\n\nBut, I say, there is not in every man this knowledge of things and so\nby consequence not such consideration as can make the cross and\nself-denial acceptable to them for the sake of Christ, and of the\nthings that are where He now sitteth at the right hand of God (Col\n3:2-4). Therefore our Lord Jesus doth even at the beginning give to His\nfollowers this instruction. And lest any of them should take distaste\nat His saying, He presenteth them with the consideration of three\nthings together\u2014namely, the cross, the loss of life, and the soul; and\nthen reasoneth with them from the same, saying, Here is the cross, the\nlife, and the soul.\n\n1. The cross, and that you must take up, if you will follow Me.\n\n2. The life, and that you may save for a time, if you cast Me off.\n\n3. And the soul, which will everlastingly perish if you come not to Me,\nand abide not with Me.\n\nNow consider what is best to be done. Will you take up the cross, come\nafter Me, and so preserve your souls from perishing? or will you shun\nthe cross to save your lives, and so run the danger of eternal\ndamnation? Or, as you have it in John, will you love your life till you\nlose it? or will you hate your life, and save it? \u2018He that loveth his\nlife shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall\nkeep it unto life eternal\u2019 (John 12:25). As who should say, He that\nloveth a temporal life, he that so loveth it, as to shun the profession\nof Christ to save it, shall lose it upon a worse account, than if he\nhad lost it for Christ and the gospel; but he that will set light by\nit, for the love that he hath to Christ, shall keep it unto life\neternal.\n\nChrist having thus discoursed with His followers about their denying of\nthemselves, their taking up their cross and following of Him, doth, in\nthe next place, put the question to them, and so leaveth it upon them\nfor ever, saying, \u2018For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the\nwhole world, and lose his own soul?\u2019 (Mark 8:36). As who should say, I\nhave bid you take heed that you do not lightly, and without due\nconsideration, enter into a profession of Me and of My gospel; for he\nthat without due consideration shall begin to profess Christ, will also\nwithout it forsake Him, turn from Him, and cast Him behind his back;\nand since I have even at the beginning, laid the consideration of the\ncross before you, it is because you should not be surprised and\novertaken by it unawares, and because you should know that to draw back\nfrom Me after you have laid your hand to My plough, will make you unfit\nfor the kingdom of heaven (Luke 9:62).\n\nNow, since this is so, there is no less lies at stake than salvation,\nand salvation is worth all the world, yea, worth ten thousand worlds,\nif there should be so many. And since this is so also, it will be your\nwisdom to begin to profess the gospel with expectation of the cross and\ntribulation, for to that are my gospellers1 in this world appointed\n(James 1:12; 1 Thess 3:3). And if you begin thus, and hold it, the\nkingdom and crown shall be yours; for as God counteth it a righteous\nthing to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, so to you who\nare troubled and endure it, for \u2018we count them happy,\u2019 says James,\n\u2018that endure,\u2019 (James 5:11), rest with saints, when the Lord Jesus\nshall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,\nto take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the\ngospel, etc. (2 Thess 1:7, 8). And if no less lies at stake than\nsalvation, then is a man\u2019s soul and his all at the stake; and if it be\nso, what will it profit a man if, by forsaking of Me, he should get the\nwhole world? \u2018For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the\nwhole world, and lose his own soul?\u2019\n\nHaving thus laid the soul in one balance, and the world in the other,\nand affirmed that the soul out-bids the whole world, and is\nincomparably for value and worth beyond it; in the next place, he\ndescends to a second question, which is that I have chosen at this time\nfor my text, saying, \u2018Or what shall a man give in exchange for his\nsoul?\u2019\n\nIn these words, we have first a supposition, and such an one as\nstandeth upon a double bottom. The supposition is this\u2014That the soul is\ncapable of being lost; or thus\u2014\u2019Tis possible for a man to lose his\nsoul. The double bottom that this supposition is grounded upon is,\nfirst, a man\u2019s ignorance of the worth of his soul, and of the danger\nthat it is in; and the second is, for that men commonly do set a higher\nprice upon present ease and enjoyments than they do upon eternal\nsalvation. The last of these doth naturally follow upon the first; for\nif men be ignorant of the value and worth of their souls, as by Christ\nin the verse before is implied, what should hinder but that men should\nset a higher esteem upon that with which their carnal desires are\ntaken, than upon that about which they are not concerned, and of which\nthey know not the worth.\n\nBut again, as this by the text is clearly supposed, so to here is also\nsomething implied; namely, that it is impossible to possess some men\nwith the worth of their souls until they are utterly and everlastingly\nlost. \u2018What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019 That is, men\nwhen their souls are lost, and shut down under the hatches in the pits\nand hells in endless perdition and destruction, then they will see the\nworth of their souls, then they will consider what they have lost, and\ntruly not till then. This is plain, not only to sense, but by the\nnatural scope of the words, \u2018What shall a man give in exchange for his\nsoul?\u2019 Or what would not those that are now for sin, made to see\nthemselves lost, by the light of hell fire\u2014for some will never be\nconvinced that they are lost till, with rich Dives, they see it in the\nlight of hell flames (Luke 16:22, 23). I say, what would not such, if\nthey had it, give in exchange for their immortal souls, or to recover\nthem again from that place and torment?2\n\nI shall observe two truths in the words.\n\nThe first is, That the loss of the soul is the highest, the greatest\nloss\u2014a loss that can never be repaired or made up. \u2018What shall a man\ngive in exchange for his soul?\u2019\u2014that is, to recover or redeem his lost\nsoul to liberty?\n\nThe second truth is this, That how unconcerned and careless soever some\nnow be, about the loss or salvation of their souls, yet the day is\ncoming; but it will then be too late, when men will be willing, had\nthey never so much, to give it all in exchange for their souls. For so\nthe question implies\u2014\u2018What will a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019\nWhat would he not give? What would he not part with at that day, the\nday in which he will see himself damned, if he had it, in exchange for\nhis soul?\n\nThe first observation, or truth, drawn from the words is cleared by the\ntext, \u2018What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019\u2014that is, there\nis not anything, nor all the things under heaven, were they all in one\nman\u2019s hand, and all at his disposal, that would go in exchange for the\nsoul, that would be of value to fetch back one lost soul, or that would\ncertainly recover it from the confines of hell. \u2018The redemption of\ntheir soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever\u2019 (Psa 49:8). And what\nsaith the words before the text but the same\u2014\u2018For what shall it profit\na man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?\u2019 What\nshall profit a man that has lost his soul? Nothing at all, though he\nhath by that loss gained the whole world; for all the world is not\nworth a soul, not worth a soul in the eye of God and judgment of the\nlaw. And it is from this consideration that good Elihu cautioneth Job\nto take heed, \u2018Because there is wrath,\u2019 saith he, \u2018beware lest He take\nthee away with His stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.\nWill He esteem thy riches? no, not gold, nor all the forces of\nstrength\u2019 (Job 36:18,19). Riches and power, what is there more in the\nworld? for money answereth all things\u2014that is, all but soul concerns.\nIt can neither be a price for souls while here, nor can that, with all\nthe forces of strength, recover one out of hell fire.\n\nDOCTRINE FIRST.\n\n\nSo then, the first truth drawn from the words stands firm\u2014namely,\n\nThat the loss of the soul is the highest, the greatest loss; a loss\nthat can never be repaired or made up.\n\nIn my discourse upon this subject, I shall observe this method:\u2014\n\nFIRST, I shall show you what the soul is.\n\nSECOND, I shall show you the greatness of it.\n\nTHIRD, I shall show you what it is to lose the soul.\n\nFOURTH, I shall show you the cause for which men lose their souls; and\nby this time the greatness of the loss will be manifest.\n\n[WHAT THE SOUL IS.]\n\n\nFIRST, I shall show you what the soul is, both as to the various names\nit goes under, as also, by describing of it by its powers and\nproperties, though in all I shall be but brief, for I intend no long\ndiscourse.3\n\n[Names of the Soul.]\n\n1. The soul is often called the heart of man, or that, in and by which\nthings to either good or evil, have their rise; thus desires are of the\nheart or soul; yea, before desires, the first conception of good or\nevil is in the soul, the heart. The heart understands, wills, affects,\nreasons, judges, but these are the faculties of the soul; wherefore,\nheart and soul are often taken for one and the same. \u2018My son, give me\nthine heart\u2019 (Prov 23:26). \u2018Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,\u2019\netc. (Matt 15:19; 1 Peter 3:15; Psa 26:2).\n\n2. The soul of man is often called the spirit of a man; because it not\nonly giveth being, but life to all things and actions in and done by\nhim. Hence soul and spirit are put together, as to the same notion.\n\u2018With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit\nwithin me will I seek thee early\u2019 (Isa 26:9). When he saith, \u2018Yea, with\nmy spirit\u2014will I seek thee,\u2019 he explaineth not only with what kind of\ndesires he desired God, but with what principal matter his desires were\nbrought forth. It was with my soul, saith he; to wit, with my spirit\nwithin me. So that of Mary, \u2018My soul,\u2019 saith she, \u2018doth magnify the\nLord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour\u2019 (Luke 1:46,47).\nNot that soul and spirit are, in this place, to be taken for two\nsuperior powers in man; but the same great soul is here put under two\nnames, or terms, to show that it was the principal part in Mary; to\nwit, her soul, that magnified God, even that part that could spirit and\nput life into her whole self to do it. Indeed, sometimes spirit is not\ntaken so largely, but is confined to some one power or faculty of the\nsoul, as \u2018the spirit of my understanding,\u2019 (Job 20:3) \u2018and be renewed\nin the spirit of your mind.\u2019 And sometime by spirit we are to\nunderstand other things; but many times by spirit we must understand\nthe soul, and also by soul the spirit.\n\n3. Therefore, by soul we understand the spiritual, the best, and most\nnoble part of man, as distinct from the body, even that by which we\nunderstand, imagine, reason, and discourse. And, indeed, as I shall\nfurther show you presently, the body is but a poor, empty vessel,\nwithout this great thing called the soul. \u2018The body without the\nspirit,\u2019 or soul, \u2018is dead\u2019 (James 2:26). Or nothing but (her soul\ndeparted from her, for she died). It is, therefore, the chief and most\nnoble part of man.\n\n4. The soul is often called the life of man, not a life of the same\nstamp and nature of the brute; for the life of man\u2014that is, of the\nrational creature\u2014is, that, as he is such, wherein consisteth and\nabideth the understanding and conscience etc. Wherefore, then, a man\ndieth, or the body ceaseth to act, or live in the exercise of the\nthoughts, which formerly used to be in him, when the soul departeth, as\nI hinted even now\u2014her soul departed from her, for she died; and, as\nanother good man saith, \u2018in that very day his thoughts perish,\u2019 etc.\n(Psa 146:4). The first text is more emphatical; Her soul was in\ndeparting (for she died). There is the soul of a beast, a bird, etc.,\nbut the soul of a man is another thing; it is his understanding, and\nreason, and conscience, etc. And this soul, when it departs, he dies.\nNor is this life, when gone out of the body, annihilate, as is the life\nof a beast; no, this, in itself, is immortal, and has yet a place and\nbeing when gone out of the body it dwelt in; yea, as quick, as lively\nis it in its senses, if not far more abundant, than when it was in the\nbody; but I call it the life, because so long as that remains in the\nbody, the body is not dead. And in this sense it is to be taken where\nhe saith \u2018He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it\u2019 unto life\neternal; and this is the soul that is intended in the text, and not the\nbreath, as in some other places is meant. And this is evident, because\nthe man has a being, a sensible being, after he has lost the soul. I\nmean not by the man a man in this world, nor yet in the body, or in the\ngrave; but by man we must understand, either the soul in hell, or body\nand soul there, after the judgment is over. And for this the text,\nalso, is plain, for therein we are presented with a man sensible of the\ndamage that he has sustained by losing of his soul. \u2018What shall a man\ngive in exchange for his soul?\u2019 But,\n\n5. The whole man goeth under this denomination; man, consisting of body\nand soul, is yet called by that part of himself that is most chief and\nprincipal. \u2018Let every soul,\u2019 that is, let every man, \u2018be subject unto\nthe higher powers\u2019 (Rom 13:1). \u2018Then sent Joseph, and called his father\nJacob to him, and all his kindred, three-score and fifteen souls (Acts\n7:14). By both these, and several other places, the whole man is meant,\nand is also so to be taken in the text; for whereas here he saith,\n\u2018What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose\nhis own soul?\u2019 It is said elsewhere, \u2018For what is a man advantaged if\nhe gain the whole world, and lose himself?\u2019 (Luke 9:25) and so,\nconsequently, or, \u2018What shall a man give in exchange (for himself) for\nhis soul?\u2019 His soul when he dies, and body and soul in and after\njudgment.\n\n6. The soul is called the good man\u2019s darling. \u2018Deliver,\u2019 Lord, saith\nDavid, \u2018my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog\u2019\n(Psa 22:20). So, again, in another place, he saith, \u2018Lord, how long\nwilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling\nfrom the [power of the] lions\u2019 (Psa 35:17). My darling\u2014this sentence\nmust not be applied universally, but only to those in whose eyes their\nsouls, and the redemption thereof, is precious. My darling\u2014most men do,\nby their actions, say of their soul, \u2018my drudge, my slave; nay, thou\nslave to the devil and sin; for what sin, what lust, what sensual and\nbeastly lust is there in the world that some do not cause their souls\nto bow before and yield unto? But David, here, as you see, calls it his\ndarling, or his choice and most excellent thing; for, indeed, the soul\nis a choice thing in itself, and should, were all wise, be every man\u2019s\ndarling, or chief treasure. And that it might be so with us, therefore,\nour Lord Jesus hath thus expressed the worth of the soul, saying, \u2018What\nshall a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019 But if this is true, one\nmay see already what misery he is like to sustain that has, or shall\nlose his soul; he has lost his heart, his spirit, his best part, his\nlife, his darling, himself, his whole self, and so, in every sense, his\nall. And now, \u2018what shall a man,\u2019 what would a man, but what can a man\nthat has lost his soul, himself, and his all, \u2018give in exchange for his\nsoul?\u2019 Yea, what shall the man that has sustained this loss do to\nrecover all again, since this man, or the man put under this question,\nmust needs be a man that is gone from hence, a man that is cast in the\njudgment, and one that is gone down the throat of hell?\n\nBut to pass this, and to proceed.\n\n[Powers and Properties of the Soul.]\n\nI come next to describe the soul unto you by such things as it is set\nout by in the Holy Scriptures, and they are, in general, three\u2014First,\nThe powers of the soul. Second, The senses, the spiritual senses of the\nsoul. Third, The passions of the soul.\n\nOf the powers of the soul.\n\nFirst, We will discourse of the powers, I may call them the members of\nthe soul; for, as the members of the body, being many, do all go to the\nmaking up of the body, so these do go to the completing of the soul.\n\n1. There is the understanding, which may be termed the head; because in\nthat is placed the eye of the soul; and this is that which, or by which\nthe soul, discerning things that are presented to it, and that either\nby God or Satan; this is that by which a man conceiveth and\napprehendeth things so deep and great that cannot, by mouth, or tongue,\nor pen, be expressed.\n\n2. There is, also, belonging to the soul, the conscience, in which I\nmay say, is placed the Seat of Judgment; for, as by the understanding\nthings are let into the soul, so by the conscience the evil or good of\nsuch things are tried; especially when in the\n\n3. Third place, there is the judgment, which is another part of this\nnoble creature, has passed, by the light of the understanding, his\nverdict upon what is let into the soul.4\n\n4. There is, also, the fancy or imagination, another part of this great\nthing, the soul: and a most curious thing this fancy is; it is that\nwhich presenteth to the man the idea, form, or figure of that, or any\nof those things, wherewith a man is either frighted or taken, pleased\nor displeased. And,\n\n5. The mind, another part of the soul, is that unto which this fancy\npresenteth its things to be considered of; because without the mind\nnothing is entertained in the soul.\n\n6. There is the memory too, another part of the soul; and that may be\ncalled the register of the soul; for it is the memory that receiveth\nand keepeth in remembrance what has passed, or has been done by the\nman, or attempted to be done unto him; and in this part of the soul, or\nfrom it, will be fed \u2018the worm that dieth not,\u2019 when men are cast into\nhell; also, from this memory will flow that peace at the day of\njudgment that saints shall have in their service for Christ in the\nworld.\n\n7. There are the affections too, which are, as I may call them, the\nhands and arms of the soul; for they are they that take hold of,\nreceive, and embrace what is liked by the soul, and it is a hard thing\nto make the soul of a man cast from it what its affections cleave to\nand have embraced. Hence the affections are called for, when the\napostle bids men \u2018seek the things above; set your affections upon\nthem,\u2019 saith he (Col 3), or, as you have it in another place, \u2018Lay\nhold\u2019 of them; for the affections are as hands to the soul, and they by\nwhich it fasteneth upon things.\n\n8. There is the will, which may be called the foot of the soul, because\nby that the soul, yea, the whole man, is carried hither and thither, or\nelse held back and kept from moving.5\n\nThese are the golden things of the soul, though, in carnal men, they\nare every one of them made use of in the service of sin and Satan. For\nthe unbelieving are throughout impure, as is manifest, because their\n\u2018mind and conscience (two of the masterpieces of the soul) is defiled\u2019\n(Titus 1:15). For if the most potent parts of the soul are engaged in\ntheir service, what, think you, do the more inferior do? But, I say, so\nit is the more is the pity; nor can any help it. \u2018This work ceaseth for\never,\u2019 unless the great God, who is over all, and that can save souls,\nshall himself take upon him to sanctify the soul, and to recover it,\nand persuade it to fall in love with another master.\n\nBut, I say, what is man without this soul, or wherein lieth this\npre-eminence over a beast? (Eccl 3:19-21). Nowhere that I know of; for\nboth, as to man\u2019s body, go to one place, only the spirit or soul of a\nman goes upward\u2014to wit, to God that gave it, to be by Him disposed of\nwith respect to things to come, as they have been, and have done in\nthis life, But,\n\nOf the senses of the soul.\n\nSecond, I come, in the next place, to describe the soul by its senses,\nits spiritual senses, for so I call them; for as the body hath senses\npertaining to it, and as it can see, hear, smell, feel, and taste, so\ncan the soul; I call, therefore, these the senses of the soul, in\nopposition to the senses of the body, and because the soul is the seat\nof all spiritual sense, where supernatural things are known and\nenjoyed; not that the soul of a natural man is spiritual in the\napostle\u2019s sense, for so none are, but those that are born from above (1\nCor 3:1-3) nor they so always neither. But to go forward.\n\nOf sight.\n\n1. Can the body see? hath it eyes? so hath the soul. \u2018The eyes of your\nunderstanding being enlightened\u2019 (Eph 1:18). As, then, the body can see\nbeasts, trees, men, and all visible things, so the soul can see God,\nChrist, angels, heaven, devils, hell, and other things that are\ninvisible; nor is this property only peculiar to the souls that are\nilluminate by the Holy Ghost, for the most carnal soul in the world\nshall have a time to see these things, but not to its comfort, but not\nto its joy, but to its endless woe and misery, it dying in that\ncondition. Wherefore, sinner, say not thou, \u2018I shall not see Him; for\njudgment is before Him,\u2019 and He will make thee see Him (Job 35:14).\n\nOf hearing.\n\n2. Can the body hear? hath it ears? so hath the soul (Job 4:12,13). It\nis the soul, not the body, that hears the language of things invisible.\nIt is the soul that hears God when He speaks in and by His Word and\nSpirit; and it is the soul that hears the devil when he speaks by his\nillusions and temptations. True, there is such an union between the\nsoul and the body, that ofttimes, if not always, that which is heard by\nthe ears of the body doth influence the soul, and that which is heard\nby the soul doth also influence the body; but yet as to the organ of\nhearing, the body hath one of its own, distinct from that of the soul,\nand the soul can hear and regard even then, when the body doth not nor\ncannot; as in time of sleep, deep sleep and trances, when the body\nlieth by as a thing that is useless. \u2018For God speaketh once, yea twice,\nyet man, (as to his body) perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of\nthe night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the\nbed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,\u2019\netc. (Job 33:14-16). This must be meant of the ears of the soul, not of\nthe body; for that at this time is said to be in deep sleep; moreover\nthis hearing, it is a hearing of dreams, and the visions of the night.\nJeremiah also tells us that he had the rare and blessed visions of God\nin his sleep (Jer 21:26). And so doth Daniel too, by the which they\nwere greatly comforted and refreshed; but that could not be, was not\nthe soul also capable of hearing. \u2018I heard the voice of His words,\u2019\nsaid Daniel, \u2018and when I heard the voice of His words, then was I in a\ndeep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground\u2019 (Dan 10:8,9).\n\nOf tasting.\n\n3. As the soul can see and hear, so it can taste and relish, even as\nreally as doth the palate belonging to the body.6 But then the things\nso tasted must be that which is suited to the temper and palate of the\nsoul. The soul\u2019s taste lieth not in, nor is exercised about meats, the\nmeats that are for the belly. Yet the soul of a saint can taste and\nrelish God\u2019s Word (Heb 6:5), and doth ofttimes find it sweeter than\nhoney (Psa 19:10) nourishing as milk (1 Peter 2:2), and strengthening\nlike to strong meat (Heb 5:12-14). The soul also of sinners, and of\nthose that are unsanctified, can taste and relish, though not the\nthings now mentioned, yet things that agree with their fleshly minds,\nand with their polluted, and defiled, and vile affections. They can\nrelish and taste that which delighteth them; yea, they can find\nsoul-delight in an alehouse, a whorehouse, a playhouse. Ay, they find\npleasure in the vilest things, in the things most offensive to God, and\nthat are most destructive to themselves. This is evident to sense, and\nis proved by the daily practice of sinners. Nor is the Word barren as\nto this: They \u2018feed on ashes\u2019 (Isa 44:20). They \u2018spend their money for\nthat which is not bread\u2019 (Isa 55:2). Yea, they eat and suck sweetness\nout of sin. \u2018They eat up the sin of My people\u2019 as they eat bread (Hosea\n4:8).\n\nOf smelling.\n\n4. As the soul can see, hear, and taste, so it can smell, and brings\nrefreshment to itself that way. Hence the church saith, \u2018My fingers\ndropped with sweet-smelling myrrhl\u2019 and again, she saith of her\nbeloved, that \u2018his lips dropped sweet-smelling-myrrh\u2019 (Song 5:5,13).\nBut how came the church to understand this, but because her soul did\nsmell that in it that was to be smelled in it, even in his word and\ngracious visits? The poor world, indeed, cannot smell, or savour\nanything of the good and fragrant scent and sweet that is in Christ;\nbut to them that believe, \u2018Thy name is as ointment poured forth,\ntherefore do the virgins love thee\u2019 (Song 1:3).\n\nOf feeling.\n\n5. As the soul can see, taste, hear, and smell, so it hath the sense of\nfeeling, as quick and as sensible as the body. He knows nothing that\nknows not this; he whose soul is \u2018past feeling,\u2019 has his \u2018conscience\nseared with a hot iron\u2019 (Eph 4:18, 19; 1 Tim 4:2). Nothing so sensible\nas the soul, nor feeleth so quickly the love and mercy, or the anger\nand wrath of God. Ask the awakened man, or the man that is under the\nconvictions of the law, if he doth not feel? and he will quickly tell\nyou that he faints and dies away by reason of God\u2019s hand, and His wrath\nthat lieth upon him. Read the first eight verses of the 38th Psalm; if\nthou knowest nothing of what I have told thee by experience; and there\nthou shalt hear the complaints of one whose soul lay at present under\nthe burden of guilt, and that cried out that without help from heaven\nhe could by no means bear the same. They also that know what the peace\nof God means, and what an eternal weight there is in glory know well\nthat the soul has the sense of feeling, as well as the senses of\nseeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling. But thus much for the senses of\nthe soul.\n\nOf the passions of the soul.\n\nThird, I come, in the next place, to describe the soul by the passions\nof the soul. The passions of the soul, I reckon, are these, and such\nlike\u2014to wit, love, hatred, joy, fear, grief, anger, etc. And these\npassions of the soul are not therefore good, nor therefore evil,\nbecause they are the passions of the soul, but are made so by two\nthings\u2014to wit, principle and object. The principle I count that from\nwhence they flow, and the object that upon which they are pitched. To\nexplain myself.\n\nOf love.\n\n1. For that of love. This is a strong passion; the Holy Ghost saith \u2018it\nis strong as death, and cruel as the grave\u2019 (Song 8:6,7). And it is\nthen good, when it flows from faith, and pitcheth itself upon God in\nChrist as the object, and when it extendeth itself to all that is good,\nwhether it be the good Word, the good work of grace, or the good men\nthat have it, and also to their good lives. But all soul-love floweth\nnot from this principle, neither hath these for its object. How many\nare there that make the object of their love the most vile of men, the\nmost base of things, because it flows from vile affections, and from\nthe lusts of the flesh? God and Christ, good laws and good men, and\ntheir holy lives, they cannot abide, because their love wanteth a\nprinciple that should sanctify it in its first motion, and that should\nsteer it to a goodly object. But that is the first.\n\nOf hatred.\n\n2. There is hatred, which I count another passion of the soul; and\nthis, as the other, is good or evil, as the principle from whence it\nflows and the object of it are. \u2018Ye that love the Lord, hate evil\u2019 (Psa\n97:10). Then, therefore, is this passion good, when it singleth out\nfrom the many thousand of things that are in the world that one filthy\nthing called sin; and when it setteth itself, the soul, and the whole\nman, against it, and engageth all the powers of the soul to seek and\ninvent its ruin.7 But, alas, where shall this hatred be found? What man\nis there whose soul is filled with this passion, thus sanctified by the\nlove of God, and that makes sin, which is God\u2019s enemy, the only object\nof its indignation? How many be there, I say, whose hatred is turned\nanother way, because of the malignity of their minds.\n\nThey hate knowledge (Prov 1:22). They hate God (Deu 7:10; Job 21:14).\nThey hate the righteous (2 Chron 29:2; Psa 34:21; Prov 29:10). They\nhate God\u2019s ways (Mal 3:14; Prov 8:12). And all is, because the grace of\nfilial fear is not the root and principle from whence their hatred\nflows. \u2018For the fear of the Lord is to hate evil:\u2019 wherefore, where\nthis grace is wanting for a root in the soul, there it must of\nnecessity swerve in the letting out of this passion; because the soul,\nwhere grace in wanting, is not at liberty to act simply, but is biased\nby the power of sin; that, while grace is absent, is present in the\nsoul. And hence it is that this passion, which, when acted well, is a\nvirtue, is so abused, and made to exercise its force against that for\nwhich God never ordained it, nor gave it license to act.\n\nOf joy.\n\n3. Another passion of the soul is joy; and when the soul rejoiceth\nvirtuously, it rejoiceth not in iniquity, \u2018but rejoiceth in the truth\u2019\n(1 Cor 13:6). This joy is a very strong passion, and will carry a man\nthrough a world of difficulties; it is a passion that beareth up, that\nsupporteth and strengtheneth a man, let the object of his joy be what\nit will. It is this that maketh the soul fat in goodness, if it have\nits object accordingly; and that which makes the soul bold in\nwickedness, if it indeed doth rejoice in iniquity.\n\nOf fear.\n\n4. Another passion of the soul is fear, natural fear; for so you must\nunderstand me of all the passions of the soul, as they are considered\nsimply and in their own nature. And, as it is with the other passions,\nso it is with this; it is made good or evil in its acts, as its\nprinciple and objects are; when this passion of the soul is good, then\nit springs from sense of the greatness, and goodness and majesty of\nGod; also God himself is the object of this fear\u2019\u2014I will forewarn you,\u2019\nsays Christ, \u2018whom ye shall fear. Fear him that can destroy both body\nand soul in hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him\u2019 (Matt 5:28; Luke 7:5).\nBut in all men this passion is not regulated and governed by these\nprinciples and objects, but is abused and turned, through the policy of\nSatan, quite into another channel. It is made to fear men (Num 14:9),\nto fear idols (2 Kings 17:7,38), to fear devils and witches, yea, it is\nmade to fear all the foolish, ridiculous, and apish fables that every\nold woman or atheistical fortune teller has the face to drop before the\nsoul. But fear is another passion of the soul.\n\nOf grief.\n\n5. Another passion of the soul is grief, and it, as those afore-named,\nacteth even according as it is governed. When holiness is lovely and\nbeautiful to the soul, and when the name of Christ is more precious\nthan life, then will the soul sit down and be afflicted, because men\nkeep not God\u2019s law. \u2018I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved;\nbecause they kept not Thy word\u2019 (Psa 119:158). So Christ; He looked\nround about with anger, \u2018being grieved for the hardness of their\nhearts\u2019 (Mark 3:5). But it is rarely seen that this passion of the soul\nis thus exercised. Almost everybody has other things for the spending\nof the heat of this passion upon. Men are grieved that they thrive no\nmore in the world; grieved that they have no more carnal, sensual, and\nworldly honour; grieved that they are suffered no more to range in the\nlusts and vanities of this life; but all this is because the soul is\nunaquainted with God, sees no beauty in holiness, but is sensual, and\nwrapt up in clouds and thick darkness.\n\nOf anger.\n\n6. And lastly, There is anger, which is another passion of the soul;\nand that, as the rest, is extended by the soul, according to the nature\nof the principle by which it is acted, and from whence it flows. And,\nin a word, to speak nothing of the fierceness and power of this\npassion, it is then cursed when it breaketh out beyond the bounds that\nGod hath set it, the which to be sure it doth, when it shall by its\nfierceness or irregular motion, run the soul into sin. \u2018Be ye angry,\nand sin not\u2019 (Eph 4:26), is the limitation wherewith God hath bounded\nthis passion; and whatever is more than this, is a giving place to the\ndevil. And one reason, among others, why the Lord doth so strictly set\nthis bound, and these limits to anger, is, for that it is so furious a\npassion, and for that it will so quickly swell up the soul with sin, as\nthey say a toad swells with its poison. Yea, it will in a moment so\ntransport the spirit of a man, that he shall quickly forget himself,\nhis God, his friend, and all good rule. But my business is not now to\nmake a comment upon the passions of the soul, only to show you that\nthere are such, and also which they are.\n\nAnd now, from this description of the soul, what follows but to put you\nin mind what a noble, powerful, lively, sensible thing the soul is,\nthat by the text is supposed may be lost, through the heedlessness, or\ncarelessness, or slavish fear of him whose soul it is; and also to stir\nyou up to that care of, and labour after, the salvation of your soul,\nas becomes the weight of the matter. If the soul were a trivial thing,\nor if a man, though he lost it, might yet himself be happy, it were\nanother matter; but the loss of the soul is no small loss, nor can that\nman that has lost his soul, had he all the world, yea, the whole\nkingdom of heaven, in his own power be but in a most fearful and\nmiserable condition. But of these things more in their place.\n\n[THE GREATNESS OF THE SOUL.]\n\n\nSECOND, Having thus given you a description of the soul, what it is, I\nshall, in the next place, show you the greatness of it.\n\n[Of the greatness of the soul, when compared with the body.]\n\nFirst, And the first thing that I shall take occasion to make this\nmanifest by, will be by showing you the disproportion that is betwixt\nthat and the body; and I shall do it in these following particulars:\u2014\n\nThe body a house for the soul.\n\n1. The body is called the house of the soul, a house for the soul to\ndwell in. Now everybody knows that the house is much inferior to him\nthat, by God\u2019s ordinance, is appointed to dwell therein; that it is\ncalled the house of the soul, you find in Paul to the Corinthians: \u2018For\nwe know,\u2019 saith he, \u2018that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were\ndissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands,\neternal in the heavens\u2019 (2 Cor 5:1). We have then, a house for our soul\nin this world, and this house is the body, for the apostle can mean\nnothing else; therefore he calls it an earthly house. \u2018If our earthly\nhouse\u2019\u2014our house. But who doth he personate if he says, This is a house\nfor the soul; for the body is part of him that says, Our house?\n\nIn this manner of language, he personates his soul with the souls of\nthe rest that are saved; and thus to do, is common with the apostles,\nas will be easily discerned by them that give attendance to reading.\nOur earthly houses; or, as Job saith, \u2018houses of clay,\u2019 for our bodies\nare bodies of clay:\n\n\u2018Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay\u2019\n(Job 4:19; 13:12). Indeed, he after maketh mention of a house in\nheaven, but that is not it about which he now speaks; now he speaks of\nthis earthly house which we have (we, our souls) to dwell in, while on\nthis side glory, where the other house stands, as ready prepared for us\nwhen we shall flit from this to that; or in case this should sooner or\nlater be dissolved. But that is the first; the body is compared to the\nhouse, but the soul to him that inhabiteth the house; therefore, as the\nman is more noble than the house he dwells in, so is the soul more\nnoble than the body. And yet, alas! with grief be it spoken, how common\nis it for men to spend all their care, all their time, all their\nstrength, all their wit and parts for the body and its honour and\npreferment, even as if the soul were some poor, pitiful, sorry,\ninconsiderable, and under thing, not worth the thinking of, or not\nworth the caring for. But,\n\nThe body clothing for the soul.\n\n2. The body is called the clothing and the soul that which is clothed\ntherewith. Now, everybody knows that \u2018the body is more than raiment,\u2019\neven carnal sense will teach us this. But read that pregnant place:\n\u2018For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened (that is,\nwith mortal flesh); not for that we should be unclothed, but clothed\nupon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life\u2019 (2 Cor 5:4). Thus\nthe greatness of the soul appears in the preference that it hath to the\nbody\u2014the body is its raiment. We see that, above all creatures, man,\nbecause he is the most noble among all visible ones, has, for the\nadorning of his body, that more abundant comeliness. \u2019Tis the body of\nman, not of beast, that is clothed with the richest ornaments. But now\nwhat a thing is the soul, that the body itself must be its clothing! No\nsuit of apparel is by God thought good enough for the soul, but that\nwhich is made by God himself, and that is that curious thing, the body.\nBut oh! how little is this considered\u2014namely, the greatness of the\nsoul. \u2019Tis the body, the clothes, the suit of apparel, that our foolish\nfancies are taken with, not at all considering the richness and\nexcellency of that great and more noble part, the soul, for which the\nbody is made a mantle to wrap it up in, a garment to clothe it withal.\nIf a man gets a rent in his clothes, it is little in comparison of a\nrent in his flesh; yea, he comforts himself when he looks on that rent,\nsaying, Thanks be to God, it is not a rent in my flesh. But ah! on the\ncontrary, how many are there in the world that are more troubled for\nthat they have a rent, a wound, or a disease in the body, than for that\nthey have for the souls that will be lost and cast away. A little rent\nin the body dejecteth and casteth such down, but they are not at all\nconcerned, though their soul is now, and will yet further be, torn in\npieces, \u2018Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest he tear you in\npieces, and there be none to deliver\u2019 (Psa 50:22). But this is the\nsecond thing whereby, or by which, the greatness of the soul appears\u2014to\nwit, in that the body, that excellent piece of God\u2019s workmanship, is\nbut a garment, or clothing for the soul.\n\nThe body a vessel for the soul.\n\n3. The body is called a vessel, or a case, for the soul to be put and\nkept in. \u2018That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel\nin sanctifcation and honour\u2019 (1 Thess 4:4). The apostle here doth\nexhort the people to abstain from fornication, which, in another place,\nhe saith, \u2018\u2026is a sin against the body\u2019 (1 Cor 6:18). And here again he\nsaith, \u2018This is the will of God, that ye should abstain from\nfornication:\u2019 that the body be not defiled, \u2018that every one of you\nshould know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.\u2019\nHis vessel, his earthen vessel, as he calls it in another place\u2014for \u2018we\nhave this treasure in earthen vessels.\u2019 Thus, then, the body is called\na vessel; yea, every man\u2019s body is his vessel. But what has God\nprepared this vessel for, and what has He put into it? Why, many things\nthis body is to be a vessel for, but at present God has put into it\nthat curious thing, the soul. Cabinets, that are very rich and costly\nthings of themselves, are not made nor designed to be vessels to be\nstuffed or filled with trumpery, and things of no value; no, these are\nprepared for rings and jewels, for pearls, for rubies, and things that\nare choice. And if so, what shall we then think of the soul for which\nis prepared, and that of God, the most rich and excellent vessel in the\nworld? Surely it must be a thing of worth, yea, of more worth than is\nthe whole world besides. But alas! who believes this talk? Do not even\nthe most of men so set their minds upon, and so admire, the glory of\nthis case or vessel, that they forget once with seriousness to think,\nand, therefore, must of necessity be a great way off, of those suitable\nesteems that becomes them to have of their souls. But oh, since this\nvessel, this cabinet, this body, is so curiously made, and that to\nreceive and contain, what thing is that for which God has made this\nvessel, and what is that soul that He hath put into it? Wherefore thus,\nin the third place, is the greatness of the soul made manifest, even by\nthe excellency of the vessel, the body, that God has made to put it in.\n\nThe body a tabernacle of the soul.\n\n4. The body is called a tabernacle for the soul. \u2018Knowing that shortly\nI must put off this my tabernacle\u2019 (2 Pet 1:14), that is, my body, \u2018by\ndeath\u2019 (John 21:18,19). \u2018For we know that if our earthly house of this\ntabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,\u2019 etc. (2 Cor\n5:1). In both these places, by \u2018tabernacle,\u2019 can be meant nothing but\nthe body; wherefore both the apostles, in these sentences do personate\ntheir souls, and speak as if the soul was THE ALL of a man; yea, they\nplainly tell us, that the body is but the house, clothes, vessel, and\ntabernacle for the soul. But what a famous thing therefore is the soul!\n\nThe tabernacle of old was a place erected for worship, but the\nworshippers were more excellent than the place; so our body is a\ntabernacle for the soul to worship God in, but must needs be accounted\nmuch inferior to the soul, forasmuch as the worshippers are always of\nmore honour than the place they worship in; as he that dwelleth in the\ntabernacle hath more honour than the tabernacle.8 \u2018I serve,\u2019 says Paul,\nGod and Christ Jesus \u2018with my spirit (or soul) in the gospel\u2019 (Rom\n1:9), but not with his spirit out of, but in, this tabernacle. The\ntabernacle had instruments of worship for the worshippers; so has the\nbody for the soul, and we are bid to \u2018yield our members as instruments\nof righteousness to God\u2019 (Rom 6:13). The hands, feet, ears, eyes, and\ntongue, which last is our glory when used right, are all of them\ninstruments of this tabernacle, and to be made use of by the soul, the\ninhabiter of this tabernacle, for the soul\u2019s performance of the service\nof God. I thus discourse, to show you the greatness of the soul. And,\nin mine opinion, there is something, if not very much, in what I say.\nFor all men admire the body, both for its manner of building, and the\ncurious way of its being compacted together. Yes, the further men, wise\nmen, do pry into the wonderful work of God that is put forth in framing\nthe body, the more still they are made to admire; and yet, as I said,\nthis body is but a house, a mantle, a vessel, a tabernacle for the\nsoul. What, then, is the soul itself?9 But thus much for the first\nparticular.\n\n[Other things that show the greatness of the soul.]\n\nSecond, We will now come to other things that show us the greatness of\nthe soul. And,\n\nThe soul is called God\u2019s breath.\n\n1. It is called God\u2019s breath of life. \u2018And the Lord God formed man,\u2019\nthat is, the body, \u2018of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his\nnostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul\u2019 (Gen 2:7).\nDo but compare these two together, the body and the soul; the body is\nmade of dust, the soul is the breath of God. Now, if God hath made this\nbody so famous, as indeed He has, and yet it is made but of the dust of\nthe ground, and we all do know what inferior matter it is, what is the\nsoul, since the body is not only its house and garment, but since\nitself is made of the breath of God? But, further, it is not only said\nthat the soul is of the breath of the Lord, but that the Lord breathed\ninto him the breath of life\u2014to wit, a living spirit, for so the next\nwords infer\u2014and \u2018man became a living soul.\u2019 Man, that is, the more\nexcellent part of him, which, for that which is principal, is called\nman, that bearing the denomination of the whole; or man, the spirit and\nnatural power, by which, as a reasonable creature, the whole of him is\nacted, \u2018became a living soul.\u2019 But I stand not here upon definition,\nbut upon demonstration. The body, that noble part of man, had its\noriginal from the dust; for so says the Word, \u2018Dust thou art (as to thy\nbody), and unto dust shalt thou return\u2019 (Gen 3:19). But as to thy more\nnoble part, thou art from the breath of God, God putting forth in that\na mighty work of creating power, and man \u2018was made a living soul\u2019 (1\nCor 15:45). Mark my reason. There is as great a disparity betwixt the\nbody and the soul, as is between the dust of the ground and that, here\ncalled, the breath of life of the Lord. And note further, that, as the\ndust of the ground did not lose, but gained glory by being formed into\nthe body of a man, so this breath of the Lord lost nothing neither by\nbeing made a living soul. O man! dost thou know what thou art?\n\nThe soul God\u2019s image.\n\n2. As the soul is said to be of the breath of God, so it is said to be\nmade after God\u2019s own image, even after the similitude of God. \u2018And God\nsaid, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.\u2014So God created\nman in His own image, in the image of God created He him\u2019 (Gen\n1:26,27). Mark, in His own image, in the image of God created He him;\nor, as James hath it, it is \u2018made after the similitude of God,\u2019 (James\n3:9); like Him, having in it that which beareth semblance with Him. I\ndo not read of anything in heaven, or earth, or under the earth, that\nis said to be made after this manner, or that is at all so termed, save\nonly the Son of God Himself. The angels are noble creatures, and for\npresent employ are made a little higher than man himself, (Heb 2); but\nthat any of them are said to be made \u2018after God\u2019s image,\u2019 after His own\nimage, even after the similitude of God, that I find not. This\ncharacter the Holy Ghost, in the Scriptures of truth, giveth only of\nman, of the soul of man; for it must not be thought that the body is\nhere intended in whole or in part. For though it be said that Christ\nwas made after the similitude of sinful flesh (Phil 2), yet it is not\nsaid that sinful flesh is made after the similitude of God; but I will\nnot dispute; I only bring these things to show how great a thing, how\nnoble a thing the soul is; in that, at its creation, God thought it\nworthy to be made, not like the earth, or the heavens, or the angels,\nseraphims, or archangels, but like Himself, His own self, saying, \u2018Let\nUs make man in Our own likeness. So He made man in His own image.\u2019\nThis, I say, is a character above all angels; for, as the apostle said,\n\u2018To which of the angels said He at anytime, \u2018Thou art my Son?\u2019 So, of\nwhich of them hath He at any time said, This is, or shall be, made in\nor after Mine image, Mine own image? O what a thing is the soul of man,\nthat above all the creatures in heaven or earth, being made in the\nimage and similitude of God.10\n\nThe soul God\u2019s desire.\n\n3. Another thing by which the greatness of the soul is made manifest is\nthis, it is that\u2014and that only, and to say this is more than to say, it\nis that above all the creatures\u2014that the great God desires communion\nwith. He \u2018hath set apart him that is godly for himself,\u2019 (Psa 4:3);\nthat is, for communion with his soul; therefore the spouse saith\nconcerning him, \u2018His desire is toward me,\u2019 (Song 7:10); and, therefore,\nhe saith again, \u2018I will dwell in them, and walk in them\u2019 (2 Cor 6:16).\nTo \u2018dwell in,\u2019 and \u2018walk in,\u2019 are terms that intimate communion and\nfellowship; as John saith, \u2018Our fellowship, truly our fellowship is\nwith the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ\u2019 (1 John 1:3). That is,\nour soul-fellowship; for it must not be understood of the body, though\nI believe that the body is much influenced when the soul has communion\nwith God; but it is the soul, and that only, that at present is capable\nof having and maintaining of this blessed communion. But, I say, what a\nthing is this, that God, the great God, should choose to have\nfellowship and communion with the soul above all. We read, indeed, of\nthe greatness of the angels, and how near also they are unto God; but\nyet there are not such terms that bespeak such familiar acts between\nGod and angels, as to demonstrate that they have such communion with\nGod as has, or as the souls of His people may have. Where has He called\nthem His love, His dove, His fair one? and where, when He speaketh of\nthem, doth He express a communion that they have with Him by the\nsimilitude of conjugal love? I speak of what is revealed; the secret\nthings belong to the Lord our God. Now by all this is manifest the\ngreatness of the soul. Men of greatness and honour, if they have\nrespect to their own glory, will not choose for their familiars the\nbase and rascally crew of this world; but will single out for their\nfellows, fellowship, and communion, those that are most like\nthemselves. True, the King has not an equal, yet He is for being\nfamiliar only with the nobles of the land: so God, with Him none can\ncompare; yet since the soul is by Him singled out for His walking mate\nand companion, it is a sign it is the highest born, and that upon which\nthe blessed Majesty looks, as upon that which is most meet to be\nsingled out for communion with Himself.\n\nShould we see a man familiar with the King, we would, even of\nourselves, conclude he is one of the nobles of the land; but this is\nnot the lot of every soul\u2014some have fellowship with devils, yet not\nbecause they have a more base original than those that lie in God\u2019s\nbosom, but they, through sin, are degenerate, and have chosen to be\ngreat with His enemy\u2014but all these things show the greatness of the\nsoul.\n\nThe soul a vessel for grace.\n\n4. The soul of men are such as God counts worthy to be the vessels to\nhold His grace, the graces of the Spirit, in. The graces of the\nSpirit\u2014what like them, or where here are they to be found, save in the\nsouls of men only? \u2018Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for\ngrace\u2019 (John 1:16). Received, into what? into \u2018the hidden part,\u2019 as\nDavid calls it (Psa 51:6). Hence the king\u2019s daughter is said to be \u2018all\nglorious within,\u2019 (Psa 45:15); because adorned and beautified with the\ngraces of the Spirit. For that which David calls the hidden part is the\ninmost part of the soul; and it is, therefore, called the hidden part,\nbecause the soul is invisible, nor can any one living infallibly know\nwhat is in the soul but God Himself. But, I say, the soul is the vessel\ninto which this golden oil is poured, and that which holds, and is\naccounted worthy to exercise and improve the same. Therefore the soul\nis it which is said to love God\u2014\u2018Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?\u2019 (Song\n3:3); and, therefore, the soul is that which exerciseth the spirit of\nprayer\u2014\u2018With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my\nspirit within me will I seek thee early\u2019 (Isa 26:9). With the soul also\nmen are said to believe and into the soul God is said to put His fear.\nThis is the vessel into which the virgins got oil, and out of which\ntheir lamps were supplied by the same. But what a thing, what a great\nthing therefore is the soul, that that above all things that God hath\ncreated should be the chosen vessel to put His grace in. The body is\nthe vessel for the soul, and the soul is the vessel for the grace of\nGod. But,\n\n5. The greatness of the soul is manifest by the greatness of the price\nthat Christ paid for it, to make it an heir of glory; and that was His\nprecious blood (1 Cor 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18,19). We do use to esteem of\nthings according to the price that is given for them, especially when\nwe are convinced that the purchase has not been made by the estimation\nof a fool. Now the soul is purchased by a price that the Son, the\nwisdom of God, thought fit to pay for the redemption thereof\u2014what a\nthing, then, is the soul? Judge of the soul by the price that is paid\nfor it, and you must needs confess, unless you count the blood that\nhath bought it an unholy thing, that it cannot but be of great worth\nand value. Suppose a prince, or some great man, should, on a sudden,\ndescend from his throne, or chair of state, to take up, that he might\nput in his bosom, something that he had espied lying trampled under the\nfeet of those that stand by; would you think that he would do this for\nan old horse shoe,11 or for so trivial a thing as a pin or a point? 12\nNay, would you not even of yourselves conclude that that thing for\nwhich the prince, so great a man, should make such a stoop, must needs\nbe a thing of very great worth? Why, this is the case of Christ and the\nsoul. Christ is the prince, His throne was in heaven, and, as He sat\nthere, He espied the souls of sinners trampled under the foot of the\nlaw and death for sin. Now, what doth He, but comes down from His\nthrone, stoops down to the earth, and there, since He could not have\nthe trodden-down souls without price, He lays down His life and blood\nfor them (2 Cor 8:9). But would He have done this for inconsiderable\nthings? No, nor for the souls of sinners neither, had He not valued\nthem higher than he valued heaven and earth besides. 13 This,\ntherefore, is another thing by which the greatness of the soul is\nknown.\n\nThe soul immortal.\n\n6. The soul is immortal, it will have a sensible being for ever, none\ncan kill the soul (Luke 12:4; Matt 10:28). If all the angels in heaven,\nand all the men on earth, should lay all their strength together, they\ncannot kill or annihilate one soul. No, I will speak without fear, if\nit may be said, God cannot do what He will not do; then He cannot\nannihilate the soul: but, notwithstanding all His wrath, and the\nvengeance that He will inflict on sinful souls, they yet shall abide\nwith sensible beings, yet to endure, yet to bear punishment. If\nanything could kill the soul, it would be death; but death cannot do\nit, neither first nor second; the first cannot, for when Dives was\nslain, as to his body by death, his soul was found alive in hell\u2014\u2018He\nlift up his eyes in hell, being in torment\u2019 (Luke 16:23). The second\ndeath cannot do it, because it is said their worm never dies, but is\nalways torturing them with his gnawing (Mark 9:44). But that could not\nbe, if time, or lying in hell fire for ever, could annihilate the soul.\nNow, this also shows the greatness of the soul, that it is that which\nhas an endless life, and that will, therefore, have a being endlessly.\nO what a thing is the soul!\n\nThe soul, then, is immortal, though not eternal. That is eternal that\nhas neither beginning nor end, and, therefore, eternal is properly\napplicable to none but God; hence He is called the \u2018eternal God\u2019 (Deu\n33:27). Immortal is that which, though it hath a beginning, yet hath no\nend, it cannot die, nor cease to be; and this is the state of the soul.\nIt cannot cease to have a being when it is once created; I mean, a\nliving, sensible being. For I mean by living, only such a being as\ndistinguishes it from annihilation or incapableness of sense and\nfeeling. Hence, as the rich man is after death said to \u2018lift up his\neyes in hell,\u2019 so the beggar is said, when he died, to be \u2018carried by\nthe angels, into Abraham\u2019s bosom\u2019 (Luke 16:22,23). And both these\nsayings must have respect to the souls of these men; for, as for their\nbodies, we know at present it is otherwise with them. The grave is\ntheir house, and so must be till the trumpet shall sound, and the\nheavens pass away like a scroll. Now, I say, the immortality of the\nsoul shows the greatness of it, as the eternity of God shows the\ngreatness of God. It cannot be said of any angel but that he is\nimmortal, and so it is, and ought to be said of the soul. This,\ntherefore, shows the greatness of the soul, in that it is as to abiding\nso like unto him.\n\n\u2019Tis the soul that acts the body.\n\n7. But a word or two more, and so to conclude this head. The soul!\u2014why,\nit is the soul that acteth the body in all these things, good or bad,\nthat seem good and reasonable, or amazingly wicked. True, the acts and\nmotions of the soul are only seen and heard in, and by the members and\nmotions of the body, but the body is but a poor instrument, soul is the\ngreat agitator and actor. \u2018The body without the spirit is dead\u2019 (James\n2:26). All those famous arts, and works, and inventions of works, that\nare done by men under heaven, they are all the intentions of the soul,\nand the body, as acting and labouring therein, doth it but as a tool\nthat the soul maketh use of to bring his invention into maturity (Eccl\n7:29). How many things have men found out to the amazing of one\nanother, to the wonderment of one another, to the begetting of endless\ncommendations of one another in the world, while, in the meantime, the\nsoul, which indeed is the true inventor of all, is overlooked, not\nregarded, but dragged up and down by every lust, and prostrate, and\nmade a slave to every silly and beastly thing. O the amazing darkness\nthat hath covered the face of the hearts of the children of men, that\nthey cannot deliver their soul, nor say, \u2018Is there not a lie in my\nright hand?\u2019 (Isa 44:20), though they are so cunning in all other\nmatters. Take man in matters that are abroad, and far from home, and he\nis the mirror of all the world; but take him at home, and put him upon\nthings that are near him, I mean, that have respect to the things that\nconcern his soul, and then you will find him the greatest fool that\never God made. But this must not be applied to the soul simply as it is\nGod\u2019s creature, but to the soul sinful, as it has willingly apostatized\nfrom God, and so suffered itself to be darkened, and that with such\nthick and stupifying darkness, that it is bound up and cannot\u2014it hath a\nnapkin of sin bound so close before its eyes that it is not able\u2014of\nitself\u2014to look to, and after those things which should be its chiefest\nconcern, and without which it will be most miserable for ever.\n\nThe soul capable of having to do with invisibles.\n\n8. Further, as the soul is thus curious about arts and sciences, and\nabout every excellent thing of this life, so it is capable of having to\ndo with invisibles, with angels, good or bad, yea, with the highest and\nSupreme Being, even with the holy God of heaven. I told you before that\nGod sought the soul of man to have it for His companion; and now I tell\nyou that the soul is capable of communion with Him, when the darkness\nthat sin hath spread over its face is removed. The soul is an\nintelligent power, it can be made to know and understand depths, and\nheights, and lengths, and breadths, in those high, sublime, and\nspiritual mysteries that only God can reveal and teach; yea, it is\ncapable of diving unutterably into them. And herein is God, the God of\nglory, much delighted and pleased\u2014to wit, that He hath made Himself a\ncreature that is capable of hearing, of knowing, and of understanding\nof His mind, when opened and revealed to it. I think I may say, without\noffence to God or man, that one reason why God made the world was, that\nHe might manifest Himself, not only by, but to the works which He made;\nbut, I speak with reverence, how could that be, if He did not also make\nsome of His creatures capable of apprehending of Him in those most high\nmysteries and methods in which He purposed to reveal Himself? But then,\nwhat are those creatures which He hath made (unto whom when these\nthings are shown) that are able to take them in and understand them,\nand so to improve them to God\u2019s glory, as He hath ordained and purposed\nthey should, but souls? for none else in the visible world are capable\nof doing this but they. And hence it is that to them, and them only, He\nbeginneth to reveal Himself in this world. And hence it is that they,\nand they only, are gathered up to Him where He is, for they are they\nthat are called \u2018the spirits of just men made perfect,\u2019 (Heb 12:23);\nthe spirit of a beast goeth downward to the earth, it is the spirit of\na man that goes upwards to God that gave it (Eccl 3:21;12:7). For that,\nand that only, is capable of beholding and understanding the glorious\nvisions of heaven; as Christ said, \u2018Father, I will that they also, whom\nthou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My\nglory, which thou hast given Me; for thou lovedst Me before the\nfoundation of the world\u2019 (John 17:24). And thus the greatness of the\nsoul is manifest. True, the body is also gathered up into glory, but\nnot simply for its own sake, or because that is capable of itself to\nknow and understand the glories of its Maker; but that has been a\ncompanion with the soul in this world, has also been its house, its\nmantle, its cabinet and tabernacle here; it has also been it by which\nthe soul hath acted, in which it hath wrought, and by which its\nexcellent appearances have been manifested; and it shall also there be\nits co-partner and sharer in its glory. Wherefore, as the body here did\npartake of soul excellencies, and was also conformed to its spiritual\nand regenerate principles; so it shall be hereafter a partaker of that\nglory with which the soul shall be filled, and also be made suitable by\nthat glory to become a partaker and co-partner with it of the eternal\nexcellencies which heaven will put upon it. In this world it is a\ngracious soul (I speak now of the regenerate), and in that world it\nshall be a glorious one. In this world the body was conformable to the\nsoul as it was gracious, and in that world it shall be conformable to\nit as it is glorious; conformable, I say, by partaking of that glory\nthat then the soul shall partake of; yea, it shall also have an\nadditional glory to adorn, and make it yet the more capable of being\nserviceable to it, and with it in its great acts before God in eternal\nglory. Oh, what great things are the souls of the sons of men!\n\nThe soul capable of diving into the depths and mysteries of hell.\n\n9. But again, as the soul is thus capable of enjoying God in glory, and\nof prying into these mysteries that are in him, so it is capable, with\ngreat profundity, to dive into the mysterious depths of hell. Hell is a\nplace and state utterly unknown to any in this visible world, excepting\nthe souls of men; nor shall any for ever be capable of understanding\nthe miseries thereof, save souls and fallen angels. Now, I think, as\nthe joys of heaven stand not only in speculation, or in beholding of\nglory, but in a sensible enjoyment and unspeakable pleasure which those\nglories will yield to the soul (Psa 16:11), so the torments of hell\nwill not stand in the present lashes and strokes which by the flames of\neternal fire God will scourge the ungodly with; but the torments of\nhell stand much, if not in the greatest part of them, in those deep\nthoughts and apprehensions, which souls in the next world will have of\nthe nature and occasions of sin; of God, and of separation from Him; of\nthe eternity of those miseries, and of the utter impossibility of their\nhelp, ease, or deliverance for ever. O! damned souls will have thoughts\nthat will clash with glory, clash with justice, clash with law, clash\nwith itself, clash with hell, and with the everlastingness of misery;\nbut the point, the edge, and the poison of all these thoughts will\nstill be galling, and dropping, and spewing out their stings into the\nsore, grieved, wounded, and fretted place, which is the conscience,\nthough not the conscience only; for I may say of the souls in hell,\nthat they all over are but one wound, one sore! Miseries as well as\nmercies sharpen and make quick the apprehensions of the soul. Behold\nSpira in his book, 14 Cain in his guilt, and Saul with the witch of\nEndor, and you shall see men ripened, men enlarged and greatened in\ntheir fancies, imaginations, and apprehensions though not about God,\nand heaven, and glory, yet about their loss, their misery, and their\nwoe, and their hells (Isa 33:14; Psa 1:4; Rev 14:10; Mark 9:44,46).\n\nThe ability of the soul to bear.\n\n10. Nor doth their ability to bear, if it be proper to say they bear\nthose dolors which there for ever they shall endure, a little\ndemonstrate their greatness. Everlasting burning, devouring fire,\nperpetual pains, gnawing worms, utter darkness, and the ireful souls,\nface, and strokes of Divine and infinite justice will not, cannot, make\nthis soul extinct, as I said before. I think it is not so proper to say\nthe soul that is damned for sin doth bear these things, as to say it\ndoth ever sink under them: and, therefore, their place of torment is\ncalled the bottomless pit, because they are ever sinking, and shall\nnever come there where they will find any stay. Yet they live under\nwrath, but yet only so as to be sensible of it, as to smart and be in\nperpetual anguish, by reason of the intolerableness of their burden.\nBut doth not their thus living, abiding, and retaining a being(or what\nyou will call it), demonstrate the greatness and might of the soul?\nAlas! heaven and earth are short of this greatness, for these, though\nunder less judgment by far, do fade and wax old like a moth-eaten\ngarment, and, in their time, will vanish away to nothing (Heb 1).\n\nAlso, we see how quickly the body, when the soul is under a fear of the\nrebukes of justice, how soon, I say, it wastes, moulders away, and\ncrumbleth into the grave; but the soul is yet strong, and abides\nsensible to be dealt withal for sin by everlasting burnings.\n\nThe might of the soul further shown.\n\n11. The soul, by God\u2019s ordinance, while this world lasts, has a time\nappointed it to forsake and leave the body to be turned again to the\ndust as it was, and this separation is made by death, (Heb 9:27);\ntherefore the body must cease for a time to have sense, or life, or\nmotion; and a little thing brings it now into this state; but in the\nnext world, the wicked shall partake of none of this; for the body and\nthe soul being at the resurrection rejoined, this death, that once did\nrend them asunder, is for ever overcome and extinct; so that these two\nwhich lived in sin must for ever be yoked together in hell. Now, there\nthe soul being joined to the body, and death, which before did separate\nthem, being utterly taken away, the soul retains not only its own\nbeing, but also continueth the body to be, and to suffer sensibly the\npains of hell, without those decays that it used to sustain.\n\nAnd the reason why this death shall then be taken away is, because\njustice in its bestowing its rewards for transgressions may not be\ninterrupted, but that body and soul, as they lived and acted in sin\ntogether, might be destroyed for sin in hell together (Matt 10:28 Luke\n12:5). Destroyed, I say, but with such a destruction, which, though it\nis everlasting, will not put a period to their sensible suffering the\nvengeance of eternal fire (2 Thess 1:8,9).\n\nThis death, therefore, though that also be the wages of sin, would now,\nwere it suffered to continue, be a hinderance to the making known of\nthe wrath of God, and also of the created power and might of the soul.\n(1.) It would hinder the making known of the wrath of God, for it would\ntake the body out of the way, and make it incapable of sensible\nsuffering for sin, and so removing one of the objects of vengeance the\npower of God\u2019s wrath would be so far undiscovered. (2.) It would also\nhinder the manifestation of the power and might of the soul, which is\ndiscovered much by its abiding to retain its own being while the wrath\nof God is grappling with it, and more by its continuing to the body a\nsensible being with itself.\n\nDeath, therefore, must now be removed, that the soul may be made the\nobject of wrath without molestation or interruption. That the soul, did\nI say? yea, that soul and body both might be so. Death would now be a\nfavour, though once the fruit of sin, and also the wages thereof, might\nit now be suffered to continue, because it would ease the soul of some\nof its burden: for a tormented body cannot but be a burden to a spirit,\nand so the wise man insinuates when he says, \u2018The spirit of a man will\nsustain his infirmityl\u2019 that is, bear up under it, but yet so as that\nit feels it a burden. We see that, because of the sympathy that is\nbetween body and soul, how one is burdened if the other be grieved. A\nsick body is a burden to the soul, and a wounded spirit is a burden to\nthe body; \u2018a wounded spirit who can bear?\u2019 (Prov 18:14). But death must\nnot remove this burden, but the soul must have the body for a burden,\nand the body must have the soul for a burden, and both must have the\nwrath of God for a burden. Oh, therefore, here will be burden upon\nburden, and all upon the soul, for the soul will be the chief seat of\nthis burden! But thus much to show you the greatness of the soul.\n\n[OF THE LOSS OF THE SOUL.]\n\n\nTHIRD, I shall now come to the third thing which was propounded to be\nspoken to; and that is, to show you what we are to understand by losing\nof the soul, or what the loss of the soul is\u2014\u2018What shall a man give in\nexchange for his soul?\u2019\n\n[He that loseth his soul loseth himself.]\n\nFirst, The loss of the soul is a loss, in the nature of it, peculiar to\nitself. There is no such loss, as to the nature of loss, as is the loss\nof the soul; for that he that hath lost his soul has lost himself. In\nall other losses, it is possible for a man to save himself, but he that\nloseth his soul, loseth himself\u2014\u2018For what is a man advantaged, if he\ngain the whole world, and lose himself?\u2019 (Luke 9:25). Wherefore, the\nloss of the soul is a loss that cannot be paralleled. He that loseth\nhimself, loseth his all, his lasting all; for himself is his all\u2014his\nall in the most comprehensive sense. What mattereth it what a man gets,\nif by the getting thereof he loseth himself? Suppose a man goeth to the\nIndies for gold, and he loadeth his ship therewith; but at his return,\nthat sea that carried him thither swallows him up\u2014now, what has he got?\nBut this is but a lean similitude with reference to the matter in\nhand\u2014to wit, to set forth the loss of the soul. Suppose a man that has\nbeen at the Indies for gold should, at his return, himself be taken by\nthem of Algiers, and there made a slave of, and there be hunger-bit,\nand beaten till his bones are broken, 15 what has he got? what is he\nadvantaged by his rich adventure? Perhaps, you will say, he has got\ngold enough to obtain his ransom. Indeed this may be; and therefore no\nsimilitude can be found that can fully amplify the matter, \u2018for what\nshall a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019 \u2019Tis a loss that standeth\nby itself, there is not another like it, or unto which it may be\ncompared. \u2019Tis only like itself\u2014\u2019tis singular, \u2019tis the chief of all\nlosses\u2014the highest, the greatest loss. \u2018For what shall a man give in\nexchange for his soul?\u2019 A man may lose his wife, his children, his\nestate, his liberty, and his life, and have all made up again, and have\nall restored with advantage, and may, therefore, notwithstanding all\nthese losses, be far enough off from losing of himself. (Luke 14:26;\nMark 8:35). For he may lose his life, and save it; yea, sometimes the\nonly way to save that, is to lose it; but when a man has lost himself,\nhis soul, then all is gone to all intents and purposes. There is no\nword says, \u2018he that loses his soul shall save itl\u2019 but contrariwise,\nthe text supposeth that a man has lost his soul, and then demands if\nany can answer it\u2014\u2018What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019\nAll, then, that he gains that loseth his soul is only this, he has\ngained a loss, he has purchased the loss of losses, he has nothing left\nhim now but his loss, but the loss of himself, of his whole self. He\nthat loseth his life for Christ, shall save it; but he that loseth\nhimself for sin, and for the world, shall lose himself to perfection of\nloss; he has lost himself, and there is the full point.\n\nThere are several things fall under this first head, upon which I would\ntouch a little.\n\nHe that has lost himself will never be more at his own dispose.\n\n(1.) He that has lost his soul has lost himself. Now, he that lost\nhimself is no more at his own dispose. While a man enjoys himself, he\nis at his own dispose. A single man, a free man, a rich man, a poor\nman, any man that enjoys himself, is at his own dispose. I speak after\nthe manner of men. But he that has lost himself is not at his own\ndispose. He is, as I may say, now out of his own hands: he has lost\nhimself, his soul-self, his own self, his whole self, by sin, and wrath\nand hell hath found him; he is, therefore, now no more at his own\ndispose, but at the dispose of justice, of wrath, and hell; he is\ncommitted to prison, to hell prison, there to abide, not at pleasure,\nnot as long and as little time as he will, but the term appointed by\nhis judge: nor may he there choose his own affliction, neither for\nmanner, measure, or continuance. It is God that will spread the fire\nand brimstone under him, it is God that will pile up wrath upon him,\nand it is God himself that will blow the fire. And \u2018the breathof the\nLord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it\u2019 (Isa 30:33). And thus\nit is manifest that he that has lost himself, his soul, is no more at\nhis own dispose, but at the dispose of them that find him.\n\nHe that hath lost himself, is not at liberty to dispose of what he\nhath.\n\n(2.) Again, as he that has lost himself is not at his own dispose, so\nneither is he at liberty to dispose of what he has; for the man that\nhas lost himself has something yet of his own. The text implies that\nhis soul is his when lost, yea, when that and his all, himself is lost;\nbut as he cannot dispose of himself, so he cannot dispose of what he\nhath. Let me take leave to make out my meaning. If he that is lost,\nthat has lost himself, has not, notwithstanding, something that in some\nsense may be called his own, then he that is lost is nothing. The man\nthat is in hell has yet the powers, the senses, and passions of his\nsoul; for not he nor his soul must be thought to be stripped of these;\nfor then he would be lower than the brute; but yet all these, since he\nis there, are by God improved against himself; or, if you will, the\npoint of this man\u2019s sword is turned against his own heart, and made to\npierce his own liver.\n\nThe soul by being in hell loseth nothing of its aptness to think, its\nquickness to pierce, to pry, and to understand; nay, hell has ripened\nit in all these things; but, I say, the soul with its improvements as\nto these, or anything else, is not in the hand of him that hath lost\nhimself to manage for his own advantage, but in the hand, and in the\npower, and to be disposed as is thought meet by him into whose\nrevenging hand by sin he has delivered himself\u2014to wit, in the hand of\nGod. So, then, God now has the victory, and disposeth of all the\npowers, senses, and passions of the soul for the chastising of him that\nhas lost himself. Now the understanding is only employed and improved\nin and about the apprehending of such things as will be like daggers at\nthe heart\u2014to wit, about justice, sin, hell, and eternity, to grieve and\nbreak the spirit of the damned; yea, to break, to wound, and to tear\nthe soul in pieces. The depths of sin which the man has loved, the good\nnature of God whom the man has hated, the blessings of eternity which\nthe soul has despised, shall now be understood by him more than ever,\nbut yet so only, as to increase grief and sorrow, by improving of the\ngood and of the evil of the things understood, to the greater wounding\nof the spirit; wherefore now, every touch that the understanding shall\ngive to the memory will be as a touch of a red-hot iron, or like a\ndraught of scalding lead poured down the throat. The memory also\nletteth those things down upon the conscience with no less terror and\nperplexity. And now the fancy or imagination doth start and stare like\na man by fears bereft of wits, and doth exercise itself, or rather is\nexercised by the hand of revenging justice, so about the breadth and\ndepth of present and future punishments, as to lay the soul as on a\nburning rack. Now also the judgment, as with a mighty maul, driveth\ndown the soul in the sense and pangs of everlasting misery into that\npit that has no bottom; yea, it turneth again, and, as with a hammer,\nit riveteth every fearful thought and apprehension of the soul so fast\nthat it can never be loosed again for ever and ever. Alas! now the\nconscience can sleep, be dull, be misled, or batter, no longer; no, it\nmust now cry out; understanding will make it, memory will make it,\nfancy or imagination will make it. Now, I say, it will cry out of sin,\nof justice, and of the terribleness of the punishment that hath\nswallowed him up that has lost himself. Here will be no forgetfulness;\nyet nothing shall be thought on but that which will wound and kill;\nhere will be no time, cause, or means for diversion; all will stick and\ngnaw like a viper. Now the memory will go out to where sin was\nheretofore committed, it will also go out to the word that did forbid\nit. The understanding also, and the judgment too, will now consider of\nthe pretended necessity that the man had to break the commandments of\nGod, and of the seasonableness of the cautions and of the convictions\nwhich were given him to forbear, by all which more load will be laid\nupon him that has lost himself; for here all the powers, senses, and\npassions of the soul must be made self-burners, self-tormentors,\nself-executioners, by the just judgment of God; also all that the will\nshall do in this place shall be but to wish for ease, but the wish\nshall only be such as shall only seem to lift up, for the cable rope of\ndespair shall with violence pull him down again. The will indeed will\nwish for ease, and so will the mind, etc., but all these wishers will\nby wishing arrive to no more advantage but to make despair which is the\nmost twinging stripe of hell, to cut yet deepeer into the whole soul of\nhim that has lost himself; wherefore, after all that can be wished for,\nthey return again to their burning chair, where they sit and bewail\ntheir misery. Thus will all the powers, senses, and passions of the\nsoul of him that has lost himself be out of his own power to dispose\nfor his advantage, and will be only in the hand and under the\nmanagement of the revenging justice of God. And herein will that state\nof the damned be worse than it is now with the fallen angels; for\nthough the fallen angels are now cast down to hell, in chains, and sure\nin themselves at last to partake of eternal judgment, yet at present\nthey are not so bound up as the damned sinner shall be; for\nnotwithstanding their chains, and their being the prisoners of the\nhorrible hells, yet they have a kind of liberty granted them, and that\nliberty will last till the time appointed, to tempt, to plot, to\ncontrive, and invent their mischiefs, against the Son of God and His\n(Job 1:7; 2:2). And though Satan knows that this at last will work for\nhis future condemnation, yet at present he finds it some diversion to\nhis trembling mind, and obtains, through his so busily employing of\nhimself against the gospel and its professors, something to sport and\nrefresh himself withal; yea, and doth procure to himself some small\ncrumbs of minutes of forgetfulness of his own present misery and of the\njudgment that is yet to pass upon him; but this privilege will then be\ndenied to him that has lost himself; there will be no cause nor matter\nfor diversion; there it will; as in the old world, rain day and night\nfire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven upon them (Rev\n14:10,11). Misery is fixed; the worm will be always sucking at and\ngnawing of, their soul; also, as I have said afore, all the powers,\nsenses, and passions of the soul will throw their darts inwards, yea,\nof God will be made to do it, to the utter, unspeakable, and endless\ntorment of him that has lost himself. Again,\n\nThey cannot sit down by the loss.\n\n(3.) All therefore that he that has lost himself can do is, to sit down\nby the loss. Do I say, he can do this?\u2014oh! if that could be, it would\nbe to such, a mercy; I must therefore here correct myself\u2014That they\ncannot do; for to sit down by the loss implies a patient enduring; but\nthere will be no such grace as patience in hell with him that has lost\nhimself; here, will also want a bottom for patience\u2014to wit, the\nprovidence of God; for a providence of God, though never so dismal, is\na bottom for patience to the afflicted; but men go not to hell by\nprovidence, but by sin. Now sin being the cause, other effects are\nwrought; for they that go to hell, and that there miserably perish,\nshall never say it was God by His providence that brought them hither,\nand so shall not have that on which to lean and stay themselves.\n\nThey shall justify God, and lay the fault upon themselves concluding\nthat it was sin with which their souls did voluntarily work\u2014yea, which\ntheir souls did suck in as sweet milk\u2014that is the cause of this their\ntorment. Now this will work after another manner, and will produce\nquite another thing than patience, or a patient enduring of their\ntorment; for their seeing that they are not only lost, but have lost\nthemselves, and that against the ordinary means that of God was\nprovided to prevent that loss; yea, when they shall see what a base\nthing sin is, how that it is the very worst of things, and that which\nalso makes all things bad, and that for the sake of that they have lost\nthemselves, this will make them fret, and, gnash, and gnaw with anger\nthemselves; this will set all the passions of the soul, save love, for\nthat I think will be stark dead, all in a rage, all in a\nself-tormenting fire. You know there is nothing that will sooner put a\nman into and manage his rage against himself than will a full\nconviction in his conscience that by his own only folly, and that\nagainst caution, and counsel, and reason to the contrary, he hath\nbrought himself into extreme distress and misery. But how much more\nwill it make this fire burn when he shall see all this is come upon him\nfor a toy, for a bauble, for a thing that is worse than nothing!\n\nWhy, this is the case with him that has lost himself; and therefore he\ncannot sit down by the loss, cannot be at quiet under the sense of his\nloss. For sharply and wonderful piercingly, considering the loss of\nhimself, and the cause thereof, which is sin, he falls to a tearing of\nhimself in pieces with thoughts as hot as the coals of juniper, and to\na gnashing upon himself for this; also the Divine wisdom and justice of\nGod helpeth on this self-tormentor in his self-tormenting work, by\nholding the justice of the law against which he has offended, and the\nunreasonableness of such offence, continually before his face. For if,\nto an enlightened man who is in the door of hope, the sight of all past\nevil practices will work in him \u2018vexation of spirit,\u2019 to see what fools\nwe were, (Eccl 1:14); how can it but be to them that go to hell a\nvexation only to understand the report, the report that God did give\nthem of sin, of His grace, of hell, and of everlasting damnation, and\nyet that they should be such fools to go thither? (Isa 28:19). But to\npursue this head no further, I will come now to the next thing.\n\n[The loss of the soul a double loss.]\n\nSecondly, As the loss of the soul is, in the nature of the loss, a loss\npeculiar to itself, so the loss of the soul is a double loss; it is, I\nsay, a loss that is double, lost both by man and God; man has lost it,\nand by that loss has lost himself; God has lost it, and by that loss it\nis cast away. And to make this a little plainer unto you, I suppose it\nwill be readily granted that men do lose their souls. But now how doth\nGod lose it? The soul is God\u2019s as well as man\u2019s\u2014man\u2019s because it is of\nthemselves; God\u2019s because it is His creature; God has made us this\nsoul, and hence it is that all souls are His (Jer 38:16; Eze 18:4).\n\nNow the loss of the soul doth not only stand in the sin of man, but in\nthe justice of God. Hence He says, \u2018What is a man advantaged, if he\ngain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away\u2019 (Luke 9:25).\nNow this last clause, \u2018or be cast away,\u2019 is not spoken to show what he\nthat has lost his soul has done, though a man may also be said to cast\naway himself; but to show what God will do to those that have lost\nthemselves, what God will add to that loss. God will not cast away a\nrighteous man, but God will cast away the wicked, such a wicked one as\nby the text is under our consideration (Job 8:20; Matt 13:50). This,\nthen, is that which God will add, and so make the sad state of them\nthat lose themselves double. The man for sin has lost himself, and God\nby justice will cast him away; according to that of Abigail to David,\n\u2018The soul of my lord,\u2019 said she, \u2018shall be bound in the bundle of life\nwith the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall He\nsling out, as out of the middle of a sling\u2019 (1 Sam 25:29). So that here\nis God\u2019s hand as well as man\u2019s; man\u2019s by sin, and God\u2019s by justice. God\nshall cast them away; wherefore in the text above mentioned he doth not\nsay, or cast away himself, as meaning the act of the man whose soul is\nlost; but, \u2018or be cast away\u2019 (Luke 9:25). Supposing a second person\njoining with the man himself in the making up of the greatness of the\nloss of the soul\u2014to wit, God himself, who will verily cast away that\nman who has lost himself. God shall cast them away\u2014that is, exclude\nthem His favour or protection, and deliver them up to the due reward of\ntheir deed! He shall shut them out of His heaven, and deliver them up\nto their hell; He shall deny them a share in his glory, and shall leave\nthem to their own shame; He shall deny them a portion in His peace, and\nshall deliver them up to the torments of the devil, and of their own\nguilty consciences; He shall cast them out of His affection, pity, and\ncompassion, and shall leave them to the flames that they by sin have\nkindled, and to the worm, or biting cockatrice, that they themselves\nhave hatched, nursed, and nourished in their bosoms. And this will make\ntheir loss double, and so a loss that is loss to the uttermost, a loss\nabove every loss. A man may cast away himself and not be cast away of\nGod; a man may be cast away by others, and not be cast away of God;\nyea, what way soever a man be cast away, if he be not cast away for\nsin, he is safe, he is yet found, and in a sure hand. But for a man so\nto lose himself as by that loss to provoke God to cast him away too,\nthis is fearful.\n\nThe casting away, then, mentioned in Luke, is a casting away by the\nhand of God, by the revenging hand of God; and it supposeth two\nthings\u20141. God\u2019s abhorrence of such a soul. 2. God\u2019s just repaying of it\nfor its wickedness by way of retaliation.\n\n1. It supposeth God\u2019s abhorrence of the soul. That which we abhor, that\nwe cast from us, and put out of our favour and respect with disdain,\nand a loathing thereof. So when God teacheth Israel to loathe and abhor\ntheir idols, He bids them \u2018to cast away their very covering as a\nstinking and menstruous cloth, and to say unto it, \u2018Get you hence\u2019 (Isa\n30:22), \u2018He shall gather the good into vessels, and cast the bad away\u2019\n(Matt 13:48; 25:41). Cast them out of My presence. Well, but whither\nmust they go? The answer is, Into hell, into utter darkness, into the\nfire that is prepared for the devil and his angels. Wherefore, to be\ncast away, to be cast away of God, it showeth unto us God\u2019s abhorrence\nof such souls, and how vile and loathsome such are in His divine eyes.\nAnd the similitude of Abigail\u2019s sling, mentioned before, doth yet\nfurther show us the greatness of this abhorrence\u2014\u2018The souls of thine\nenemies,\u2019 said she, \u2018God shall sling out as out of the middle of a\nsling.\u2019 When a man casts a stone away with a sling, then he casteth it\nfurthest from him, for with a sling he can cast a stone further than by\nhis hand. \u2018And he,\u2019 saith the text, \u2018shall cast them away as with a\nsling.\u2019 But that is not all, neither: for it is not only said that He\nshall sling away their souls, but that He shall sling them away as \u2018out\nof the middle of a sling.\u2019 When a stone is placed, to be cast away, in\nthe middle of a sling, then doth the slinger cast it furthest of all.\nNow God is the slinger, abhorrence is His sling, the lost soul is the\nstone, and it is placed in the very middle of the sling, and is from\nthence cast away. And, therefore, it is said again, that \u2018such shall go\ninto utter, outer darkness\u2019\u2014that is, furthest off of all. This\ntherefore shows us how God abhors that man that for sin has lost\nhimself. And well he may; for such an one has not only polluted and\ndefiled himself with sin; and that is the most offensive thing to God\nunder heaven; but he has abused the handiwork of God. The soul, as I\nsaid before, is the workmanship of God, yea, the top-piece that He\nhath made in all the visible world; also He made it for to be delighted\nwith it, and to admit it into communion with Himself. Now for man thus\nto abuse God; for a man to take his soul, which is God\u2019s, and prostrate\nit to sin, to the world, to the devil, and every beastly lust, flat\nagainst the command of God, and notwithstanding the soul was also His;\nthis is horrible, and calls aloud upon that God whose soul this is to\nabhor, and to show, by all means possible, His abhorrence of such an\none.\n\n2. As this casting of them away supposeth God\u2019s abhorrence of them, so\nit supposeth God\u2019s just repaying of them for their wickedness by way of\nretaliation.\n\nGod all the time of the exercise of His long-suffering and forbearance\ntowards them, did call upon them, wait upon them, send after them by\nHis messengers, to turn them from their evil ways; but they despised\nat, they mocked, the messengers of the Lord. Also they shut their eyes,\nand would not see; they stopped their ears, and would not understand;\nand did harden themselves against the beseeching of their God. Yea, all\nthat day long He did stretch out His hand towards them, but they chose\nto be a rebellious and gainsaying people; yea, they said unto God,\n\u2018Depart from usl\u2019 and \u2018what is the Almighty\u2019 that we should pray unto\nhim? (Hosea 6:2; Rev 16:21; Job 21:14,15; Mal 3:14).\n\nAnd of all these things God takes notice, writes them down, and seals\nthem up for the time to come, and will bring them out and spread them\nbefore them, saying, I have called, and you have refused; I have\nstretched out Mine hand, and no man regarded; I have exercised\npatience, and gentleness, and long-suffering towards you, and in all\nthat time you despised Me, and cast Me behind your back; and now the\ntime, and the exercise of My patience, when I waited upon you, and\nsuffered your manners, and did bear your contempts and scorns, is at an\nend; wherefore I will now arise, and come forth to the judgment that I\nhave appointed.\n\nBut, Lord, saith the sinner, we turn now.\n\nBut now; saith God, turning is out of season; the day of My patience is\nended.\n\nBut, Lord, says the sinner, behold our cries.\n\nBut you did not, says God, behold nor regard My cries.\n\nBut, Lord, saith the sinner, let our beseeching find place in Thy\ncompassions.\n\nBut, saith God, I also beseeched, and I was not heard.\n\nBut Lord, says the sinner, our sins lie hard upon us.\n\nBut I offered you pardon when time was, says God, and then you did\nutterly reject it.\n\nBut, Lord, says the sinner, let us therefore have it now.\n\nBut now the door is shut, saith God.\n\nAnd what then? Why, then, by way of retaliation, God will serve them as\nthey have served Him; and so the wind-up of the whole will be this\u2014they\nshall have like for like. Time was when they would have none of Him,\nand now will God have none of them. Time was when they cast God behind\ntheir back, and now He will cast away their soul. Time was when they\nwould not heed His calls, and now He will not heed their cries. Time\nwas when they abhorred Him, and now His soul also abhorreth them (Zech\n11:8). This is now by way of retaliation\u2014like for like, scorn for\nscorn, repulse for repulse, contempt for contempt; according to that\nwhich is written, \u2018Therefore it is come to pass, that as He cried, and\nthey would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the\nLord\u2019 (Zech 7:13). And thus I have also showed you that the loss of the\nsoul is double\u2014lost by man, lost by God.\n\nBut oh! who thinks of this? who, I say, that now makes light of God, of\nHis Word, His servants, and ways, once dreams of such retaliation,\nthough God to warn them hath even, in the day of His patience,\nthreatened to do it in the day of His wrath, saying, \u2018Because I have\ncalled, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man\nregarded; but ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of\nMy reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your\nfear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction\ncometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then\nshall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me\nearly, but they shall not find Me\u2019 (Prov 1:24-28). I will do unto them\nas they have done unto Me; and what unrighteousness is in all this?\nBut,\n\n[The loss of the soul most fearful.]\n\nThirdly, As the loss of the soul is a loss peculiar to itself, and a\nloss double, so, in the third place, it is a loss most fearful, because\nit is a loss attended with the most heavy curse of God. This is\nmanifest both in the giving of the rule of life, and also in, and at\nthe time of execution for, the breach of that rule. It is manifest at\nthe giving of the rule\u2014\u2018Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words\nof this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen\u2019 (Deu 27:26;\nGal 3:10). It is also manifest that it shall be so at the time of\nexecution\u2014\u2018Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared\nfor the devil and his angels\u2019 (Matt 25:41). What this curse is, none do\nknow so well as God that giveth it, and as the fallen angels, and the\nspirits of damned men that are now shut up in the prison of hell, and\nbear it. But certainly it is the chief and highest of all kind of\ncurses. To be cursed in the basket and in the store, in the womb and in\nthe barn, in my cattle and in my body, are but flea-bitings to this,\nthough they are also insupportable in themselves; only in general it\nmay be described thus. But to touch upon this curse, it lieth in\ndeprivation of all good, and in a being swallowed up of all the most\nfearful miseries that a holy, and just, and eternal God can righteously\ninflict, or lay upon the soul of a sinful man. Now let Reason here come\nin and exercise itself in the most exquisite manner; yea, let him now\ncount up all, and all manner of curses and torments that a reasonable\nand an immortal soul is, or can be made capable of, and able to suffer\nunder, and when he has done, he shall come infinitely short of this\ngreat anathema, this master curse which God has reserved amongst His\ntreasuries, and intends to bring out in that day of battle and war,\nwhich He purposeth to make upon damned souls in that day.16 And this\nGod will do, partly as a retaliation, as the former, and partly by way\nof revenge. 1. By way of retaliation: \u2018As he loved cursing, so let it\ncome unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from\nhim.\u2019 Again, \u2018As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his\ngarment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into\nhis bones; let it be unto him as a garment which covereth him, and for\na girdle wherewith he is girded continually\u2019 (Psa 109:17-19). \u2018Let\nthis,\u2019 saith Christ, 17 \u2018be the reward of mine adversaries from the\nLord\u2019 (vs. 20 etc). 2. As this curse comes by way of retaliation, so it\ncometh by way of revenge. God will right the wrongs that sinners have\ndone Him, will repay vengeance for the despite and reproach wherewith\nthey have affronted Him, and will revenge the quarrel of His covenant.\nAnd the beginning of revenges are terrible, (Deu 31:41,42); what, then,\nwill the whole execution be, when He shall come in flaming fire, taking\nvengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of\nJesus Christ? And, therefore, this curse is executed in wrath, in\njealousy, in anger, in fury; yea, the heavens and the earth shall be\nburned up with the fire of that jealousy in which the great God will\ncome, when He cometh to curse the souls of sinners, and when He cometh\nto defy the ungodly, (2 Thess 1: 7-9).\n\nIt is little thought of, but the manner of the coming of God to judge\nthe world declares what the souls of impenitent sinners must look for\nthen. It is common among men, when we see the form of a man\u2019s\ncountenance changed, when we see fire sparkle out of his eyes, when we\nread rage and fury in every cast of his face, even before he says\naught, or doth aught either, to conclude that some fearful thing is now\nto be done (Dan 3:19,23). Why, it is said of Christ when He cometh to\njudgment, that the heavens and the earth fly away, as not being able to\nendure His looks, (Rev 20:11,12); that His angels are clad in flaming\nfire, and that the elements melt with fervent heat; and all this is,\nthat the perdition of ungodly men might be completed, \u2018from the\npresence of the Lord, in the heat of His anger, from the glory of His\npower\u2019 (2 Pet 3:7; 2 Thess 1:8,9). Therefore, God will now be revenged,\nand so ease Himself of His enemies, when He shall cause curses like\nmillstones to fall as thick as hail on \u2018the hairy scalp of such a one\nas goeth on still in his trespasses\u2019 (Psa 68:2l). But,\n\n[The loss of the soul a loss everlasting.]\n\nFourthly, As the loss of the soul is a loss peculiar to itself, a loss\ndouble, and a loss most fearful, so it is a loss everlasting. The soul\nthat is lost is never to be found again, never to be recovered again,\nnever to be redeemed again, its banishment from God is everlasting; the\nfire in which it burns, and by which it must be tormented, is a fire\nthat is ever, everlasting fire, everlasting burnings; the adder, the\nsnake, the stinging worm, dieth not, nor is the fire quenched; and this\nis a fearful thing. A man may endure to touch the fire with a short\ntouch, and away; but to dwell with everlasting burnings, that is\nfearful. Oh, then, what is dwelling with them, and in them, for ever\nand ever! We use to say, light burdens far carried are heavy; what,\nthen, will it be to bear that burden, that guilt, that the law and the\njustice and wrath of God will lay upon the lost soul for ever? Now tell\nthe stars, now tell the drops of the sea, and now tell the blades of\ngrass that are spread upon the face of all the earth, if thou canst:\nand yet sooner mayest thou do this than count the thousands of millions\nof thousands of years that a damned soul shall lie in hell. Suppose\nevery star that is now in the firmament was to burn, by himself, one by\none, a thousand years apiece, would it not be a long while before the\nlast of them was burned out? and yet sooner might that be done than the\ndamned soul be at the end of punishment.\n\nThere are three things couched under this last head that will fill up\nthe punishment of a sinner. 1. The first is, that it is everlasting. 2.\nThe second is, that, therefore, it will be impossible for the souls in\nhell ever to say, Now we are got half way through our sorrows. 3. The\nthird is, and yet every moment they shall endure eternal punishment.\n\n1. The first I have touched upon already, and, therefore, shall not\nenlarge; only I would ask the wanton or unthinking sinner, whether\ntwenty, or thirty, or forty years of the deceitful pleasures of sin is\nso rich a prize, as that a man may well venture the ruin, that\neverlasting burnings will make upon his soul for the obtaining of them,\nand living a few moments in them. Sinner, consider this before I go any\nfurther, or before thou readest one line more. If thou hast a soul, it\nconcerns thee; if there be a hell, it concerns thee; and if there be a\nGod that can and will punish the soul for sin everlastingly in hell, it\nconcerns thee; because,\n\n2. In the second place, it will be impossible for the damned soul ever\nto say, I am now got half way through my sorrows. That which has no\nend, has no middle. Sinner, make a round circle, or ring, upon the\nground, of what bigness thou wilt; this done, go thy way upon that\ncircle, or ring, until thou comest to the end thereof; but that, sayest\nthou, I can never do; because it has no end. I answer, but thou mayest\nas soon do that as wade half way through the lake of fire that is\nprepared for impenitent souls. Sinner, what wilt thou take to make a\nmountain of sand that will reach as high as the sun is at noon? I know\nthat thou wilt not be engaged in such a work; because it is impossible\nthou shouldst ever perform it. But I dare say the task is greater when\nthe sinner has let out himself to sin for a servant; because the wages\nis everlasting burnings. I know thou mayest perform thy service; but\nthe wages, the judgment, the punishment is so endless, that thou, when\nthou hast been in it more millions of years than can be numbered, art\nnot, nor never yet shalt be, able to say, I am half way through it. And\nyet,\n\n3. That soul shall partake every moment of that punishment that is\neternal. \u2018Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like\nmanner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange\nflesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal\nfire\u2019 (Jude 7).\n\n(1.) They shall endure eternal punishment in the nature of punishment.\nThere is no punishment here wherewith one man can chastise another that\ncan deserve a greater title than that of transient, or temporary\npunishment; but the punishment there is eternal, even in every stripe\nthat is given, and in every moment that it grappleth with the soul;\neven every twinge, every gripe, and every stroke that justice\ninflicteth, leaveth anguish that, of their condition according as will\nbest stand with in the nature of punishment, is eternal behind it. It\nis eternal, because it is from God, and lasts for ever and ever. The\njustice that inflicts it has not a beginning, and it is this justice in\nthe operations of it that is always dealing with the soul.\n\n(2.) All the workings of the soul under this punishment are such as\ncause it, in its sufferings, to endure that which is eternal. It can\nhave no thought of the end of punishment, but it is presently recalled\nby the decreed gulf that bindeth them under perpetual punishment. The\ngreat fixed gulf, they know, will keep them in their present place, and\nnot suffer them to go to heaven (Luke 16:26). And now there is no other\nplace but heaven or hell to be in; for then the earth, and the works\nthat are therein, will be burned up. Read the text, \u2018But the day of the\nLord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass\naway with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat;\nthe earth also and all the works that are therein, shall be burned up\u2019\n(2 Peter 3:10). If, then, there will be no third place, it standeth in\ntheir minds, as well as in God\u2019s decree, that their punishments shall\nbe eternal; so, then, sorrows, anguish, tribulation, grief, woe, and\npain, will, in every moment of its abiding upon the soul, not only flow\nfrom thoughts of what has been, and what is, but also from what will\nbe, and that for ever and ever. Thus every thought that is truly\ngrounded in the cause and nature of their state will roll, toss, and\ntumble them up and down in the cogitations and fearful apprehensions of\nthe lastingness of their damnation. For, I say, their minds, their\nmemories, their understandings, and consciences, will all, and always,\nbe swallowed up with \u2018for everl\u2019 yea, they themselves will, by the\nmeans of these things, be their own tormentors for ever.\n\n(3.) There will not be spaces, as days, months, years, and the like, as\nnow; though we make bold so to speak, the better to present our\nthoughts to each other\u2019s capacities; for then there shall be time no\nlonger; also, day and night shall then be come to an end. \u2018He hath\ncompassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an\nend\u2019 (Job 26:10). Until the end of light with darkness. Now when time,\nand day, and night, are come to an end, then there comes in eternity,\nas there was before the day, and night, or time, was created; and when\nthis is come, punishment nor glory must none of them be measured by\ndays, or months, or years, but by eternity itself. Nor shall those\nconcerned either in misery or glory reckon of their now new state, as\nthey need to reckon of things in this world; but they shall be suited\nin their capacities, in their understandings and apprehensions, to\njudge and count of their condition according as will best stand with\ntheir state in eternity.18\n\nCould we but come to an understanding of things done in heaven and\nhell, as we understand how things are done in this world, we should be\nstrangely amazed to see how the change of places and of conditions has\nmade a change in the understandings of men, and in the manner of their\nenjoyment of things. But this we must let alone till the next world,\nand until our launching into it; and then, whether we be of the right\nor left hand ones, we shall well know the state and condition of both\nkingdoms. In the meantime, let us addict ourselves to the belief of the\nScriptures of truth, for therein is revealed the way to that of eternal\nlife, and how to escape the damnation of the soul (Matt 25:33). But\nthus much for the loss of the soul, unto which let me add, for a\nconclusion, these verses following:\u2014\n\nThese cry alas! But all in vain;\n    They stick fast in the mire;\nThey would be rid of present pain,\n    Yet set themselves on fire.\n\nDarkness is their perplexity,\n    Yet do they hate the light;\nThey always see their misery,\n    Yet are themselves, all night.\n\nThey are all dead, yet live they do,\n    Yet neither live nor die;\nThey die to weal, and live to woe\u201419\n    This is their misery.\n\nNow will confusion so possess,\n    These monuments of ire,\nAnd so confound them with distress,\n    And trouble their desire,\n\nThat what to think, or what to do,\n    Or where to lay their head,\nThey know not: \u2019tis the damned\u2019s woe,\n    To live, and yet be dead.\n\nThese castaways would fain have life,\n    But know they never shall;\nThey would forget their dreadful plight.\n    But that sticks fast\u2019st of all.\n\nGod, Christ, and heav\u2019n, they know are best,\n    Yet dare not on them think;\nThey know the saints enjoy their rest,\n    While they their tears do drink.\n\n[OF THE CAUSE OF THE LOSS OF THE SOUL.]\n\nFOURTH, And now I am come to the fourth thing\u2014that is, to show you the\ncause of the loss of the soul. That men have souls, that souls are\ngreat things, that souls may be lost, this I have showed you already;\nwherefore I now proceed to show you the cause of this loss. The cause\nis laid down in the 18th chapter of Ezekiel, in these words\u2014\u2018Behold,\nall souls,\u2019 says God, \u2018are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the\nsoul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die\u2019 (5:4).\n\n[Sin the cause of the loss of his soul.]\n\nFirst, It is sin, then, or sinning against God, that is the cause of\ndying, or damning in hell fire, for that must be meant by dying;\notherwise, to die, according to our ordinary acceptation of the notion,\nthe soul is not capable of, it being indeed immortal, as hath been\nafore asserted. So, then, the soul that sinneth\u2014that is, and\npersevering in the same\u2014that soul shall die, be cast away, or damned;\nyea, to ascertain us of the undoubted truth of this, the Holy Ghost\ndoth repeat it again, and that in this very chapter, saying, \u2018The soul\nthat sinneth, it shall die\u2019 (5:20). Now, the soul may divers ways be\nsaid to sin against God; as,\n\n1. In its receiving of sin into its bosom, and in its retaining and\nentertaining of it there. Sin must first be received before it can act\nin, or be acted by, the soul. Our first parents first received it in\nthe suggestion or motion, and then acted it. Now it is not here to be\ndisputed when sin was received by the soul, so much as whether ever the\nsoul received sin; for if the soul has indeed received sin into itself,\nthen it has sinned, and by doing so, has made itself an object of the\nwrath of God, and a fire brand of hell. I say, I will not here dispute\nwhen sin was received by the soul, but it is apparent enough that it\nreceived it betimes, because in old time every child that was brought\nunto the Lord was to be redeemed, and that at a month old, (Exo 13:13;\n34:20; Num 18:15, 16); which, to be sure, was very early, and implied\nthat then, even then, the soul in God\u2019s judgment stood before Him as\ndefiled and polluted with sin. But although I said I will not dispute\nat what time the soul may be said to receive sin, yet it is evident\nthat it was precedent to the redemption made mention of just before,\nand so before the person redeemed had attained the age of a month. And\nthat God might, in the language of Moses, give us to see cause of the\nnecessity of this redemption, he first distinguisheth, and saith, \u2018The\nfirstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a\ngoat,\u2019 did not need this redemption, for they were clean, or holy. But\nthe firstborn of men, who was taken in lieu of the rest of the\nchildren, and the \u2018firstling of unclean beasts, thou shalt surely\nredeem,\u2019 saith He. But why was the firstborn of men coupled with\nunclean beasts, but because they are both unclean? The beast was\nunclean by God\u2019s ordination, but the other was unclean by sin. Now,\nthen, it will be demanded, how a soul, before it was a month old, could\nreceive sin to the making of itself unclean? I answer, There are two\nways of receiving, one active, the other passive; this last is the way\nby which the soul at first receiveth sin, and by so receiving, becometh\nculpable, because polluted and defiled by it. And this passive way of\nreceiving is often mentioned in Scripture. Thus the pans received the\nashes, (Exo 27:3); thus the molten sea received three thousand baths,\n(2 Chron 4:5); thus the ground receiveth the seed, (Matt 13:20-23); and\nthis receiving is like that of the wool which receiveth the dye, either\nblack, white, or red; and as the fire that receiveth the water till it\nbe all quenched therewith: or as the water receiveth such stinking and\npoisonous matter into it, as for the sake of it, it is poured out and\nspilt upon the ground. But whence should the soul thus receive sin? I\nanswer, from the body, while it is in the mother\u2019s belly; the body\ncomes from polluted man, and therefore is polluted (Psa 51: 5). \u2018Who\ncan bring a clean thing out of an unclean?\u2019 (Job 14:4). The soul comes\nfrom God\u2019s hand, and therefore as so is pure and clean: but being put\ninto this body, it is tainted, polluted, and defiled with the taint,\nstench, and filth of sin; nor can this stench and filth be by man\npurged out, when once from the body got into the soul; sooner may the\nblackamoor change his skin, or the leopard his spots, than the soul,\nwere it willing, might purge itself of this pollution. \u2018Though thou\nwash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is\nmarked before Me, saith the Lord God\u2019 (Jer 2:22).\n\n2. But as I said, the soul has not only received sin, but retains it,\nholds it, and shows no kind of resistance. It is enough that the soul\nis polluted and defiled, for that is sufficient to provoke God to cast\nit away; for which of you would take a cloth annoyed with stinking,\nulcerous sores, to wipe your mouth withal, or to thrust it into your\nbosoms? and the soul is polluted with far worse pollution than any such\ncan be. But this is not all; it retains sin as the wool retains the\ndye, or as the infected water receives the stench or poisonous scent; I\nsay, it retains it willingly; for all the power of the soul is not only\ncaptivated by a seizure of sin upon the soul, but it willingly,\nheartily, unanimously, universally falleth in with the natural filth\nand pollution that is in sin, to the estranging of itself from God, and\nan obtaining of an intimacy and compliance with the devil.\n\nNow this being the state and condition of the soul from the belly,20\nyea, from before it sees the light of this world, what can be concluded\nbut that God is offended with it? For how can it otherwise be, since\nthere is holiness and justice in God? Hence those that are born of a\nwoman, whose original is by carnal conception with man, are said to be\nas serpents so soon as born. \u2018The wicked (and all at first are so) go\nastray as soon as they be born, speakings lies. Their poison is like\nthe poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder, that stoppeth\nher ear\u2019 (Psa 58:3,4). They go astray from the belly; but that they\nwould not do, if aught of the powers of their soul were unpolluted.\n\u2018But their poison is like the poison of a serpent.\u2019 Their poison\u2014what\nis that? Their pollution, their original pollution, that is as the\npoison of a serpent\u2014to wit, not only deadly, for so poison is, but also\nhereditary. It comes from the old one, from the sire and dam; yea, it\nis also now become connatural to and with them, and is of the same date\nwith the child as born into the world. The serpent has not her poison,\nin the original of it, either from imitation or from other infective\nthings abroad, though it may by such things be helped forward and\nincreased; but she brings it with her in her bowels, in her nature, and\nit is to her as suitable to her present condition as it is that which\nis most sweet and wholesome to other of the creatures. So, then, every\nsoul comes into the world as poisoned with sin; nay, as such which have\npoison connatural to them; for it has not only received sin as the wool\nhas received the dye, but it retaineth it. The infection is got so\ndeep, it has taken the black so effectually, that the tint, the very\nfire of hell, can never purge the soul therefrom.\n\nAnd that the soul has received this infection thus early, and that it\nretains it so surely, is not only signified by children coming into the\nworld besmeared in their mother\u2019s blood, and by the firstborn\u2019s being\nredeemed at a month old, but also by the first inclinations and actions\nof children when they are so come into the world (Exo 26). Who sees not\nthat lying, pride, disobedience to parents, and hypocrisy, do put forth\nthemselves in children before they know that they do either well or ill\nin so doing, or before they are capable to learn either of these arts\nby imitation, or seeing understandingly the same things done first by\nothers? He that sees not that they do it naturally from a principle,\nfrom an inherent principle, is either blinded, and has retained his\ndarkness by the same sin as they, or has suffered himself to be swayed\nby a delusion from him who at first infused this spawn of sin into\nman\u2019s nature.\n\nNor doth the averseness of children to morality a little demonstrate\nwhat has been said; for as it would make a serpent sick, should one\ngive it a strong antidote against his poison, so then are children, and\nnever more than then, disturbed in their minds, when a strict hand and\na stiff rein by moral discipline is maintained over and upon them.\nTrue, sometimes restraining grace corrects them, but that is not of\nthemselves; but more oft hypocrisy is the great and first moving wheel\nto all their seeming compliances with admonitions, which indulgent\nparents are apt to overlook, yea, and sometimes, through unadvisedness,\nto count for the principles of grace. I speak now of that which comes\nbefore conversion. But as I said before, I would not now dispute, only\nI have thought good thus to urge these things to make my assertion\nmanifest, and to show what is the cause of the damnation of the soul.\n\n3. Again; as the soul receives sin, and retains it, so it also doth\nentertain it\u2014that is, countenance, smile upon, and like its complexion\nand nature well. A man may detain\u2014that is, hold fast\u2014a thing which yet\nhe doth not regard; but when he entertains, then he countenances,\nlikes, and delights in the company. Sin, then, is first received by the\nsoul, as has been afore explained, and by that reception is polluted\nand defiled. This makes it hateful in the eyes of justice: it is now\npolluted. Then, secondly, this sin is not only received, but\nretained\u2014that is, it sticks so fast, abides so fixedly in the soul,\nthat it cannot be gotten out; this is the cause of the continuation of\nabhorrence; for if God abhors because there is a being of sin there, it\nmust needs be that he should continue to abhor, since sin continues to\nhave a being there. But then, in the third place, sin is not only\nreceived, detained, but entertained by the now defiled and polluted\nsoul; wherefore this must needs be a cause of the continuance of anger,\nand that with aggravation. When I say, entertained, I do not mean as\nmen entertain their enemies, with small and great shot, 21 but as they\nentertain those whom they like, and those that are got into their\naffections. 22 And therefore the wrath of God must certainly be let out\nupon the soul, to the everlasting damnation of it.\n\nNow that the soul doth thus entertain sin, is manifest by these several\nparticulars\u2014\n\n(1.) It hath admitted it with complacence and delight into every\nchamber of the soul; I mean, it has been delightfully admitted to an\nentertainment by all the powers or faculties of the soul. The soul hath\nchosen it rather than God: it also, at God\u2019s command, refuseth to let\nit go; yea, it chooseth that doctrine, and loveth it best, since it\nmust have a doctrine, that has most of sin and baseness in it (Isa\n65:12; 66:3). They \u2018say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets,\nProphesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things,\nprophesy deceits\u2019 (Isa 30:10). These are signs that the soul with\nliking hath entertained sin; and if there be at any time, as indeed\nthere is, a warrant issued out from the mouth of God to apprehend, to\ncondemn, and mortify sin, why then,\n\n(2.) These shifts the souls of sinners do presently make for the saving\nof sin from those things that by the Word men are commanded to do unto\nit\u2014\n\n(a) They will, if possible, hide it, and not suffer it to be\ndiscovered. \u2018He that hideth his sins23 shall not prosper\u2019 (Prov 28:13).\nAnd again, they hide it, and refuse to let it go (Job 20:12,13). This\nis an evident sign that the soul has a favour for sin, and that with\nliking it, entertains it.\n\n(b) As it will hide it, so it will excuse it, and plead that this and\nthat piece of wickedness is no such evil thing; men need not be so\nnice, and make such a pother24 about it, calling those that cry out so\nhotly against it, men more nice than wise. Hence the prophets of old\nused to be called madmen, and the world would reply against their\ndoctrine, Wherein have we been so wearisome to God, and what have we\nspoken so much against Him? (Mal 1:6,7; 3:8,13).\n\n(c) As the soul will do this, so to save sin, it will cover it with\nnames of virtue, either moral or civil; and of this God greatly\ncomplains, yea, breaks into anger for this, saying, \u2018Woe to them that\ncall evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light\nfor darkness; and put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter\u2019 (Isa\n5:20)!\n\n(d) If convictions and discovery of sin be so strong and so plain, that\nthe soul cannot deny but that it is sin, and that God is offended\ntherewith; then it will give flattering promises to God that it will\nindeed put it away; but yet it will prefix a time that shall be long\nfirst, if it also then at all performs it, saying, Yet a little sleep,\nyet a little slumber, yet a little folding of sin in mine arms, till I\nam older, till I am richer, till I have had more of the sweetness and\nthe delights of sin. Thus, \u2018their soul delighteth in their\nabominations\u2019 (Isa 66:3).\n\n(e) If God yet pursues, and will see whether this promise of putting\nsin out of doors shall be fulfilled by the soul, why then, it will be\npartial in God\u2019s law; it will put away some, and keep some; put away\nthe grossest, and keep the finest; put away those that can best be\nspared, and keep the most profitable for a help at a pinch (Mal 2:9).\n\n(f) Yes, if all sin must be abandoned, or the soul shall have no rest,\nwhy then, the soul and sin will part (with such a parting as it is),\neven as Phaltiel parted with David\u2019s wife, with an ill will and a\nsorrowful mind; or as Orpha left her mother, with a kiss (2 Sam 3:16;\nRuth 1:14).\n\n(g) And if at any time they can, or shall, meet with each other again,\nand nobody never the wiser, O, what courting will be betwixt sin and\nthe soul? And this is called doing of things in the dark (Eze 8:12).\n\nBy all these, and many more things that might be instanced, it is\nmanifest that sin has a friendly entertainment by the soul, and that\ntherefore the soul is guilty of damnation; for what do all these things\nargue, but that God, His Word, His ways, and graces, are out of favour\nwith the soul, and that sin and Satan are its only pleasant companions?\nBut,\n\n[How sin, by the help of the soul, destroys it.]\n\nSecondly, That I may yet show you what a great thing sin is with the\nsoul that is to be damned, I will show how sin, by the help of the\nsoul, is managed, from the motion of sin, even till it comes to the\nvery act; for sin cannot come to an act without the help of the soul.\nThe body doth little here, as I shall further show you anon.\n\nThere is then a motion of sin presented to the soul (and whether\npresented by sin itself or the devil, we will not at this time\ndispute); motions of sin, and motions to sin there are, and always the\nend of the motions of sin are to prevail with the soul to help that\nmotion into an act. But, I say, there is a motion to sin moved to the\nsoul; or, as James calls it, a conception. Now behold how the soul\ndeals with this motion in order to the finishing of sin, that death\nmight follow (Rom 7:5).\n\n1. This motion is taken notice of by the soul, but is not resisted nor\nstriven against, only the soul lifts up its eyes upon it, and sees that\nthere is present a motion to sin, a motion of sin presented to the\nsoul, that the soul might midwife it from the conception into the\nworld.\n\n2. Well, notice being taken that a motion to sin is present, what\nfollows but that the fancy or imagination of the soul taketh it home to\nit, and doth not only look upon it and behold it more narrowly, but\nbegins to trick and trim up the sin to the pleasing of itself and of\nall the powers of the soul. That this is true, is evident, because God\nfindeth fault with the imagination as with that which lendeth to sin\nthe first hand, and that giveth to it the first lift towards its being\nhelped forward to act. \u2018And God saw that the wickedness of man was\ngreat in the earth\u2019 (Gen 6:5,12,13). That is, many abominable actions\nwere done; for all flesh had corrupted God\u2019s way upon the earth. But\nhow came this to be so? Why, every imagination of the thoughts, or of\nthe motions that were in the heart to sin, was evil, only evil, and\nthat continuously. The imagination of the thoughts was evil\u2014that is,\nsuch as tended not to deaden or stifle, but such as tended to animate\nand forward the motions or thoughts of sin into action. Every\nimagination of the thoughts\u2014that which is here called a thought, by\nPaul to the Romans, called a motion. Now the imagination should, and\nwould, had it been on God\u2019s side, so have conceived of this motion of\nand to sins, all to have presented it in all its features so ugly, so\nill favoured, and so unreasonable a thing to the soul, that the soul\nshould forthwith have let down the sluice, and pulled up the\ndrawbridge, put a stop, with greatest defiance, to the motion now under\nconsideration; but the imagination being defiled, it presently, at the\nvery first view or noise of the motion of sin, so acted as to forward\nthe bringing the said motion or thought into act. So, then, the thought\nof sin, or motion thereto, is first of all entertained by the\nimagination and fancy of the soul, and thence conveyed to the rest of\nthe powers of the soul to be condemned, if the imagination be good; but\nto be helped forward to the act, if the imagination be evil. And thus\nthe evil imagination helpeth the motion of and to sin towards the act,\neven by dressing of it up in that guise and habit that may best delude\nthe understanding, judgment, and conscience; and that is done after\nthis manner: suppose a motion of sin to commit fornication, to swear,\nto steal, to act covetously, or the like, be propounded to the fancy\nand imagination; the imagination, if evil, presently dresseth up this\nmotion in that garb that best suiteth with the nature of the sin. As,\nif it be the lust of uncleanness, then is the motion to sin drest up in\nall the imaginable pleasurableness of that sin; if to covetousness,\nthen is the sin drest up in the profits and honours that attend that\nsin; and so of theft and the like; but if the motion be to swear,\nhector, or the like, then is that motion drest up with valour and\nmanliness; and so you may count of the rest of sinful motions; and thus\nbeing trimmed up like a Bartholomew baby, 25 it is presented to all the\nrest of the powers of the soul, where with joint consent it is admired\nand embraced, to the firing and inflaming all the powers of the soul.\n\nAnd hence it is that men are said to inflame themselves with their\nidols under every green tree. \u2018And to be as fed horses, neighing after\ntheir neighbour\u2019s wife\u2019 (Jer 5:8). For the imagination is such a\nforcible power, that if it putteth forth itself to dress up and present\na thing to the soul, whether that thing be evil or good, the rest of\nthe faculties cannot withstand it. Therefore, when David prayed for the\nchildren of Israel, he said, \u2018I have seen with joy thy people, which\nare present here, to offer willingly unto theel\u2019 that is, for\npreparations to build the temple. \u2018O Lord God,\u2019 saith he, \u2018keep this\nfor ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people,\nand prepare their heart unto Thee\u2019 (1 Chron 29:17, 18). He knew that as\nthe imagination was prepared, so would the soul be moved, whether by\nevil or good; therefore as to this, he prays that their imagination\nmight be engaged always with apprehensions of the beauteousness of the\ntemple, that they might always, as now, offer willingly for its\nbuilding.\n\nBut, as I said, when the imagination hath thus set forth sin to the\nrest of the faculties of the soul, they are presently entangled, and\nfall into a flame of love thereto; this being done, it follows that a\npurpose to pursue this motion, till it be brought unto act, is the next\nthing that is resolved on. Thus Esau, after he had conceived of that\nprofit that would accrue to him by murdering of his brother, fell the\nnext way into a resolve to spill Jacob\u2019s blood. And Rebecca sent for\nJacob, and said unto him, \u2018Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee,\ndoth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee\u2019 (Gen 27:42). See also\n(Jer 49:30). Nor is this purpose to do an evil without its fruit, for\nhe comforted himself in his evil purpose: \u2018Esau, as touching thee, doth\ncomfort himself, purposing to kill thee.\u2019\n\nThe purpose, therefore, being concluded, in the next place the\ninvention is diligently set to work to find out what means, methods,\nand ways, will be thought best to bring this purpose into practice, and\nthis motion to sin into action. Esau invented the death of his brother\nwhen his father was to be carried to his grave (Gen 27:41). David\npurposed to make Uriah father his bastard child by making of him drunk\n(2 Sam 11:13). Amnon purposed to ravish Tamar, and the means that he\ninvented to do it were by feigning himself sick. Absalom purposed to\nkill Amnon, and invented to do it at a feast (2 Sam13:32). Judas\npurposed to sell Christ, and invented to betray him in the absence of\nthe people (Luke 22:3-6). The Jews purposed to kill Paul, and invented\nto entreat the judge of a blandation26 to send for him, that they might\nmurder him as he went (Acts 23:12-15).\n\nThus you see how sin is, in the motion of it, handed through the\nsoul\u2014first, it comes into the fancy or imagination, by which it is so\npresented to the soul, as to inflame it with desire to bring it into\nact; so from this desire the soul proceedeth to a purpose of enjoying,\nand from a purpose of enjoying to inventing how, or by what means, it\nhad best to attempt the accomplishing of it.\n\nBut, further, when the soul has thus far, by its wickedness, pursued\nthe motion of sin to bring it into action, then to the last thing; to\nwit, to endeavours, to take the opportunity, which, by the invention,\nis judged most convenient; so to endeavours it goes, till it has\nfinished sin, and finished, in finishing of that, its own fearful\ndamnation. \u2018Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and\nsin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death\u2019 (James 1:15).\n\nAnd who knows, but God and the soul, how many lets, hindrances,\nconvictions, fears, frights, misgivings, and thoughts of the judgment\nof God, all this while are passing and repassing, turning and\nreturning, over the face of the soul? how many times the soul is made\nto start, look back, and tremble, while it is pursuing the pleasure,\nprofit, applause, or preferment that sin, when finished, promiseth to\nyield unto the soul? for God is such a lover of the soul, that He\nseldom lets it go on in sin, but He cries to it, by His Word and\nprovidences, \u2018Oh! do not this abominable thing that I hate!\u2019 (Jer 44:\n4); especially at first, until it shall have hardened itself, and so\nprovoked Him to give it up in sin-revenging judgment to its own ways\nand doings, which is the terriblest judgment under heaven; and this\nbrings me to the third thing, the which I now will speak to.\n\n3. As the soul receives, detains, entertains, and wilily worketh to\nbring sin from the motion into act, so it abhorreth to be controlled\nand taken off of this work\u2014\u2018My soul loathed them,\u2019 says God, \u2018and their\nsoul also abhorred Me\u2019 (Zech 6:8). My soul loathed them, because they\nwere so bad; and their souls abhorred Me, because I am so good. Sin,\nthen, is the cause of the loss of the soul; because it hath set the\nsoul, or, rather, because the soul of love to sin hath set itself\nagainst God. \u2018Woe unto their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto\nthemselves\u2019(Isa 3:9).\n\n[Through sin the soul sets itself against God.]\n\nThird, That you may the better perceive that the soul, through sin, has\nset itself against God, I will propose, and speak briefly to, these two\nthings:\u2014\n\nI. The law. II. The gospel.\n\nI. For the law. God has given it for a rule of life, either as written\nin their natures, or as inserted in the Holy Scriptures; I say, for a\nrule of life to all the children of men. But what have men done, or how\nhave they carried it to this law of their Creator; let us see, and that\nfrom the mouth of God himself.\n\n1. \u2018They have not hearkened unto My words\u2019 (Jer 6:19).\n\n2. \u2018They have forsaken My law\u2019 (Jer 9:13).\n\n3. They \u2018have forsaken Me, and have not kept My law\u2019 (Jer 16:11).\n\n4. They have not \u2018walked in My law, nor in My statutes\u2019 (Jer 44: 4).\n\n5. \u2018Her priests have violated My law\u2019 (Eze 22:26).\n\n6. And, saith God, \u2018I have written to him the great things of My law,\nbut they were counted as a strange thing.\u2019 (Hos 8:12).\n\nNow, whence should all this disobedience arise? Not from the\nunreasonableness of the commandment, but from the opposition that is\nlodged in us against God, and the enmity that it entertains against\ngoodness. Hence the apostle speaks of the emnity, and says, that men\nare enemies in their minds, their souls, as is manifest by wicked works\n(Col 1:21). This, if men went no further, must needs be highly\nprovoking to a just and holy God: yea, so highly offensive is it, that,\nto show the heat of His anger, He saith, \u2018Indignation and wrath,\ntribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil,\u2019 and\nthis evil with a witness, \u2018of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile,\u2019\nthat doth evil (Rom 2:8,9). That breaketh the law; for that evil He is\ncrying out against now. But,\n\nII. To speak of the gospel, and of the carriage of sinful souls towards\nGod under that dispensation.\n\nThe gospel is a revelation of a sovereign remedy, provided by God,\nthrough Christ, for the health and salvation of those that have made\nthemselves objects of wrath by the breach of the law of works; this is\nmanifest by all the Scripture. But how doth the soul carry it towards\nGod, when He offereth to deal with it under and by this dispensation of\ngrace? Why, just as it carried it under the law of works: they oppose,\nthey contradict, they blaspheme, and forbid that this gospel be\nmentioned (Acts 13:45; 27:6). What higher affront or contempt can be\noffered to God, and what greater disdain can be shown against the\ngospel? (2 Tim 2:25; 1 Thess 2:14-16). Yet all this the poor soul, to\nits own wrong, offereth against the way of its own salvation; as it is\nsaid in the Word of truth, \u2018He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own\nsoul: all they that hate Me love death\u2019 (Prov 8:36).\n\nBut, further, the soul despiseth not the gospel in that revelation of\nit only, but the great and chief bringer thereof, with the manner,\nalso, of His bringing of it. The Bringer, the great Bringer of the\ngospel, is the good Lord Jesus Christ himself; He \u2018came and preached\npeace to them that the law proclaimed war against; became and preached\npeace to them that were afar off, and to them that were nigh\u2019 (Eph\n2:17). And it is worth your observation to take notice how He came, and\nthat was, and still is, as He is set forth in the word of the gospel;\nto wit, first, as making peace Himself to God for us in and by the\nblood of His cross; and then, as bearing (as set out by the gospel) the\nvery characters of His sufferings before our faces in every tender of\nthe gospel of His grace unto us. And to touch a little upon the dress\nin which, by the gospel, Christ presenteth unto us while He offereth\nunto sinful souls His peace, by the tenders thereof.\n\n1. He is set forth as born for us, to save our souls (Isa 9:6; Luke\n2:9-12).\n\n2. He is set forth before us as bearing of our sins for us, and\nsuffering God\u2019s wrath for us (1 Cor 15:3; Gal 3:13).\n\n3. He is set forth before us as fulfilling the law for us, and as\nbringing of everlasting righteousness to us for our covering (Rom 5:4;\nDan 9:24).\n\nAgain, as to the manner of His working out the salvation of sinners for\nthem, that they might have peace and joy, and heaven and glory, for\never.\n\n(1.) He is set forth as sweating of blood while He was in His agony,\nwrestling with the thoughts of death, which He was to suffer for our\nsins, that He might save the soul (Luke 22:44).\n\n(2.) He is set forth as crying, weeping, and mourning under the lashes\nof justice that He put Himself under, and was willing to bear for our\nsins (Heb 5:7).\n\n(3.) He is set forth as betrayed, apprehended, condemned, spit on,\nscourged, buffeted, mocked, crowned with thorns, crucified, pierced\nwith nails and a spear, to save the soul from being betrayed by the\ndevil and sin; to save it from being apprehended by justice, and\ncondemned by the law; to save it from being spit on, in a way of\ncontempt, by holiness; to save it from being scourged with guilt of\nsins, as with scorpions; to save it from being continually buffeted by\nits own conscience; to save it from being mocked at by God; to save it\nfrom being crowned with ignominy and shame for ever; to save it from\ndying the second death; to save it from wounds and grief for ever.\n\nDost thou understand me, sinful soul? He wrestled with justice, that\nthou mightest have rest; He wept and mourned, that thou mightest laugh\nand rejoice; He was betrayed, that thou mightest go free; was\napprehended, that thou mightest escape; He was condemned, that thou\nmightest be justified; and was killed, that thou mightest live; He wore\na crown of thorns, that thou mightest wear a crown of glory; and was\nnailed to the cross, with His arms wide open, to show with what\nfreeness all His merits shall be bestowed on the coming soul; and how\nheartily He will receive it into His bosom?\n\nFurther, all this He did of mere good will, and offereth the benefit\nthereof unto thee freely; yea, He cometh unto thee, in the word of the\ngospel, with the blood running down from His head upon His face, with\nHis tears abiding upon His cheeks, with the holes as fresh in His hands\nand His feet, and as with the blood still bubbling out of His side, to\npray thee to accept of the benefit, and to be reconciled to God thereby\n(2 Cor 5). But what saith the sinful soul to this? I do not ask what he\nsaith with his lips, for he will assuredly flatter God with his mouth;\nbut what doth his actions and carriages declare as to his acceptance of\nthis incomparable benefit? For \u2018a wicked man speaketh with his feet,\nand teacheth with his fingers\u2019 (Prov 6:12,13). With his feet\u2014that is,\nby the way he goeth: and with his fingers\u2014that is, by his acts and\ndoings. So, then, what saith he by his goings, by his sets and doings,\nunto this incomparable benefit, thus brought unto him from the Father,\nby His only Son, Jesus Christ? What saith he? Why, he saith that he\ndoth not at all regard this Christ, nor value the grace thus tendered\nunto him in the gospel.\n\n1. He saith, that he regardeth not this Christ, that he seeth nothing\nin Him why he should admit Him to be entertained in his affections.\nTherefore the prophet, speaking in the person of sinners, says, \u2018He\n(Christ) hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there\nis no beauty that we should desire Himl\u2019 and then adds, to show what he\nmeaneth by his thus speaking, saying, \u2018he is despised and rejected of\nmen\u2019 (Isa 53:2,3). All this is spoken with reference to His person, and\nit was eminently fulfilled upon Him in the days of His flesh, when He\nwas hated, maligned, and persecuted to death by sinners; and is still\nfulfilled in the souls of sinners, in that they cannot abide to think\nof Him with thoughts that have a tendency in them to separate them and\ntheir lusts asunder, and to the making of them to embrace Him for their\ndarling, and the taking up of their cross to follow Him. All this\nsinners speak out with loud voices, in that they stop their ears and\nshut their eyes as to Him, but open them wide and hearken diligently to\nanything that pleaseth the flesh, and that is a nursery to sin. But,\n\n2. As they despise, and reject, and do not regard His person, so they\ndo not value the grace that He tendereth unto them by the gospel; this\nis plain by that indifferency of spirit that always attends them when,\nat any time, they hear thereof, or when it is presented unto them.\n\nI may safely say, that the most of men who are concerned in a trade,\nwill be more vigilant in dealing with a twelvepenny customer than they\nwill be with Christ when He comes to make unto them, by the gospel, a\ntender of the incomparable grace of God. Hence they are called fools,\nbecause a price is put into their hands to get wisdom, and they have no\nheart unto it (Prov 18:16). And hence, again, it is that that bitter\ncomplaint is made, \u2018But My people would not hearken to my voice; and\nIsrael would none of Me\u2019 (Psa 81:11). Now, these things being found, as\npractised by the souls of sinners, must needs, after a wonderful\nmanner, provoke; wherefore, no marvel that the heavens are bid to be\nastonished at this, and that damnation shall seize upon the soul for\nthis (Jer 2).\n\nAnd indeed, the soul that doth thus by practice, though with his\nmouth\u2014as who doth not? he shall show much love, he doth,\ninterpretatively, say these things:\u2014\n\n(1.) That he loveth sin better than grace, and darkness better than\nlight, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed, \u2018And this is the\ncondemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness\nmore than light (as is manifest), because their deeds were evil\u2019 (John\n3:19).\n\n(2.) They do, also, by their thus rejecting of Christ and grace, say,\nthat for what the law can do to them, they value it not; they regard\nnot its thundering threatenings, nor will they shrink when they come to\nendure the execution thereof; wherefore God, to deter them from such\nbold and desperate ways, that do, interpretatively, fully declare that\nthey make such desperate conclusions, insinuates that the burden of the\ncurse thereof is intolerable, saying, \u2018Can thine heart endure, or can\nthine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I, the\nLord, have spoken it, and will do it\u2019 (Eze 22:14).\n\n(3.) Yea, by their thus doing, they do as good as say that they will\nrun the hazard of a sentence of death at the day of judgment, and that\nthey will, in the meantime, join issue, and stand a trial at that day\nwith the great and terrible God. What else means their not hearkening\nto Him, their despising of His Son, and the rejecting of His grace; yea\nI say again, what else means their slighting of the curse of the law,\nand their choosing to abide in their sins till the day of death and\njudgment? And thus I have showed you the causes of the loss of the\nsoul; and, assuredly, these things are no fables.\n\nObjection. But some may object, and say, But you denounce all against\nthe soul; the soul, as if the body were in no fault at all; or, as if\nthere were no punishment assigned for the body.\n\nAnswer 1. The soul must be the part punished, because the soul is that\nwhich sins. \u2018Every sin that a man doeth is without the body,\u2019\nfornication or adultery excepted (1 Cor 6:18). \u2018Is without the body;\nthat is, as to the wilily inventing, contriving, and finding out ways\nto bring the motions of sin into action. For, alas! What can the body\ndo as to these? It is in a manner wholly passive; yea, altogether as to\nthe lusting and purposing to do the wickedness, excepting the sin\nbefore excepted; ay, and not excepting that, as to the rise of that\nsin; for even that, with all the rest, ariseth and proceedeth out of\nthe heart\u2014the soul; \u2018For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed\nevil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,\nwickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,\nfoolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the\nman\u2019 (Mark 7:21-23). That is, the outward man. But a difference must\nalways be put betwixt defiling and being defiled, that which defileth\nbeing the worst; not but that the body shall have its share of\njudgment, for body and soul must be destroyed in hell (Luke 12:4,5;\nMatt 10:28). The body as the instrument, the soul as the actor; but oh!\nthe soul, the soul, the soul is the sinner; and, therefore, the soul,\nas the principal, must be punished.\n\nAnd that God\u2019s indignation burneth most against the soul appears in\nthat death hath seized upon every soul already; for the Scripture\nsaith, that every natural or unconverted man is dead (Eph 2:1-3). Dead!\nHow? Is his body dead? No, verily; his body liveth, but his soul is\ndead (1 Tim 5:6). Dead! But with what death? Dead to God, and to all\nthings gospelly good, by reason of that benumbing, stupifying, and\nsenselessness, that, by God\u2019s just judgment for and by sin, hath\nswallowed up the soul. Yea, if you observe, you shall see that the soul\ngoeth first, or before, in punishment, not only by what has been said\nalready, in that the soul is first made a partaker of death, but in\nthat God first deals with the soul by convictions, yea, and terrors,\nperhaps, while the body is well; or, in that He giveth up the soul to\njudicial hardness and further blindness, while He leaveth the body to\ndo His office in the world; yea, and also when the day of death and\ndissolution is come, the body is spared, while the soul is tormented in\nunutterable torment in hell. And so, I say, it shall be spared, and the\nclods of the valley shall be sweet unto it, while the soul mourneth in\nhell for sin. It is true, at the day of judgment, because that is the\nlast and final judgment of God on men, then the body and soul shall be\nre-united, or joined together again, and shall then, together, partake\nof that recompence for their wickedness which is meet. When I say, the\nbody is spared and the soul tormented, I mean not that the body is not\nthen, at death, made to partake of the wages of sin, \u2018for the wages of\nsin is death\u2019 (Rom 3:23). But I mean, the body partakes then but of\ntemporal death, which, as to sense and feeling, is sometimes over\npresently, and then resteth in the grave, while the soul is tormenting\nin hell. Yea, and why is death suffered to slay the body? I dare say,\nnot chiefly for that the indignation of God most burneth against the\nbody; but the body being the house for the soul in this world, God even\npulls down this body, that the soul may be stript naked, and being\nstript, may be carried to prison, to the place where damned souls are,\nthere to suffer in the beginning of suffering, that punishment that\nwill be endless.\n\nAnswer 2. Therefore, the soul must be the part most sorely punished,\nbecause justice must be distributed with equity. God is a God of\nknowledge and judgment; by Him actions are weighed; actions in order to\njudgment (1 Sam 2). Now, by weighing of actions, since He finds the\nsoul to have the deepest hand in sin; and He says that He hath so, of\nequity the soul is to bear the burden of punishment. \u2018Shall not the\nJudge of all the earth do right\u2019 in His famous distributing of\njudgment? (Gen 18:25). \u2018He will not lay upon man more than right, that\nhe should enter into judgment with God\u2019 (Job 34:23). The soul, since\ndeepest in sin, shall also be deepest in punishment. \u2018Shall one man\nsin,\u2019 said Moses, \u2018and wilt Thou be wroth with all the congregation?\u2019\n(Num 1:22). He pleads here for equity in God\u2019s distributing of\njudgment; yea, and so exact is God in the distribution thereof, that He\nwill not punish heathens so as He will punish Jews; wherefore He saith,\n\u2018Of the Jew first,\u2019 or chiefly, \u2018and also of the Gentile\u2019 (Rom 2:9).\nYea, in hell He has prepared several degrees of punishment for the\nseveral sorts or degrees of offenders; And some \u2018shall receive greater\ndamnation\u2019 (Luke 22:47). And will it not be unmeet for us to think,\nsince God is so elect in all His doings, that He will, without His\nweights and measures, give to soul and body, as I may say, carelessly,\nnot severally, their punishments, according to the desert and merit of\neach?\n\nAnswer 3. The punishment of the soul in hell must needs, to be sure, as\nto degree, differ from the punishment of the body there. When I say,\ndiffer, I mean, must needs be greater, whether the body be punished\nwith the same fire with the soul, or fire of another nature. If it be\npunished with the same fire, yet not in the same way; for the fire of\nguilt, with the apprehensions of indignation and wrath, are most\nproperly felt and apprehended by the soul, and by the body by virtue of\nits union with the soul; and so felt by the body, if not only, yet, I\nthink, mostly, by way of sympathy with the soul; and the cause, we say,\nis worse than the disease; and if the wrath of God, and the\napprehensions of it, as discharging itself for sin, and the breach of\nthe law, be that with which the soul is punished, as sure it is: then\nthe body is punished by the effects, or by those influences that the\nsoul, in its torments, has upon the body, by virtue of that great\noneness and union that is between them.\n\nBut if there be a punishment prepared for the body distinct in kind\nfrom that which is prepared for the soul, yet it must be a punishment\ninferior to that which is prepared for the soul; not that the soul and\nbody shall be severed, but being made of things distinct, their\npunishments will be by that which is most suitable to each. I say, it\nmust be inferior, because nothing can be so hot, so tormenting, so\nintolerably insupportable, as the quickest apprehensions of, and the\nimmediate sinking under, that guilt and indignation that is\nproportional to the offence. Should all the wood, and brimstone, and\ncombustible matter on earth be gathered together for the tormenting of\none body, yet that cannot yield that torment to that which the sense of\nguilt and burning-hot application of the indignation of God will do to\nthe soul; yea, suppose the fire wherewith the body is tormented in hell\nshould be seven times hotter than any of our fire; yea, suppose it,\nagain, to be seven times hotter than that which is seven times hotter\nthan ours, yet it must, suppose it to be but created fire, be\ninfinitely short, as to tormenting operations, of the unspeakable wrath\nof God, when in the heat thereof He applieth it to, and doth punish the\nsoul for sin in hell therewith. So, then, whether the body be tormented\nwith the same fire wherewith the soul is tormented, or whether the fire\nbe of another kind, yet it is not possible that it should bear the same\npunishment as to degree, because, or for the causes I have showed. Nor,\nindeed, is it meet it should, because the body has not sinned so, so\ngrievously as the soul has done; and God proportioneth the punishment\nsuitable to the offence.\n\nAnswer 4. With the soul by itself are the most quick and suitable\napprehensions of God and His wrath; wherefore, that must needs be made\npartaker of the sorest punishment in hell; it is the soul that now is\nthe most subtle at discerning, and it is the soul that will be so; then\nconscience, memory, and understanding, and mind; these will be the seat\nof torment, since the understanding will let wrath immediately upon\nthese, from what it apprehends of that wrath; conscience will let the\nwrath of God immediately upon these, from what it fearfully feels of\nthat wrath; the memory will then, as a vessel, receive and retain up to\nthe brim of this wrath, even as it receiveth by the understanding and\nconscience, the cause of this wrath, and considers the durableness of\nit; so, then, the soul is the seat and the receiver of wrath, even as\nit was the receiver and seat of sin; here, then, is sin and wrath upon\nthe soul, the soul in the body, and so soul and body tormented in hell\nfire.\n\nAnswer 5. The soul will be most tormented, because strongest; the\nbiggest burden must lie upon the strongest part, especially since,\nalso, it is made capable of it by its sin. The soul must bear its own\npunishment, and a great part of the body\u2019s too, forasmuch as, so far as\napprehension goes, the soul will be quicker at the work than the body.\nTrue, the body, by the help of the soul, will see too, but the soul\nwill see yet abundantly further. And good reason that the soul should\nbear part of the punishment of the body, because it was through its\nallurements that the body yielded to help the soul to sin. The devil\npresented sin, the soul took it by the body, and now devil, and soul,\nand body, and all must be lost, cast away; that is, damned in hell for\nsin; but the soul must be the burden bearer.\n\nObjection. But you say, Doth not this give encouragement to sinners to\ngive way to the body to be in all its members loose, and vain, and\nwicked, as instruments to sin?\n\nAnswer. No; forasmuch as the body shall also have his share in\npunishment. For though I have said the soul shall have more punishment\nthan the body, yet I have not said, that the body shall at all be eased\nby that; no, the body will have its due. And for the better making out\nof my answer further, consider of these following particulars:\u2014\n\n(1.) The body will be the vessel to hold the tormented soul in; this\nwill be something; therefore man, damned man, is called a vessel of\nwrath, a vessel, and that in both body and soul (Rom 9:22). The soul\nreceiveth wrath unto itself, and the body holdeth that soul that has\nthus received, and is tormented with, the wrath of God. Now the body\nbeing a vessel to hold this soul that is thus possessed with the wrath\nof God, must needs itself be afflicted and tormented with that torment,\nbecause of its union with the body; therefore the Holy Ghost saith,\n\u2018His flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall\nmourn\u2019 (Job 14:22). Both shall have their torment and misery, for that\nboth joined hand in hand in sin, the soul to bring it to the birth, and\nthe body to midwife it into the world; therefore it saith again, with\nreference to the body, \u2018Let the curse come into his bowels like water,\nand like oil into his bones.\u2019 Let it be unto him as the garment which\ncovereth him, and for a girdle, etc. (Psa 109:17-19). The body, then,\nwill be tormented as well as the soul, by being a vessel to hold that\nsoul that is now possessed and distressed with the unspeakable wrath\nand indignation of the Almighty God, and this will be a great deal, if\nyou consider,\n\n(2.) That the body, as a body, will, by reason of its union with the\nsoul, be as sensible, and so as capable in its kind, to receive\ncorrection and torment as ever, nay, I think more; for if the quickness\nof the soul giveth quickness of sense to the body, as in some case, at\nleast, I am apt to think it doth, then forasmuch as the soul will now\nbe most quick, most sharp in apprehension, so the body, by reason of\nunion and sympathy with the soul, will be most quick and most sharp as\nto sense. Indeed, if the body should not receive and retain sense, yea,\nall its senses, by reason of its being a vessel to hold the soul, the\ntorment of the soul could not as torment, be ministered to the body, no\nmore than the fire tormented the king of Babylon\u2019s furnace (Dan 3). Or\nthan the king of Moab\u2019s lime kiln was afflicted because the king of\nEdom\u2019s bones were burnt therein. But now the body has received again\nits senses, now therefore it must, yea, it cannot choose but must feel\nthat wrath of God that is let out, yea, poured out like floods of water\ninto the soul. 27 Remember also, that besides what the body receiveth\nfrom the soul by reason of its union and sympathy therewith, there is a\npunishment, and instruments of punishment, though I will not pretend to\ntell you exactly what it is, prepared for the body for its joining with\nthe soul in sin, therewith to be punished; a punishment, I say, that\nshall fall immediately upon the body, and that such an one as will most\nfitly suit with the nature of the body, as wrath and guilt do most\nfitly suit the nature of the soul.\n\n(3.) Add to these, the durable condition that the body in this state is\nnow in with the soul. Time was when the soul died, and the body lived,\nand the soul was tormented while the body slept and rested in the dust;\nbut now these things are past; for at the day of judgment, as I said,\nthese two shall be re-united, and that which once did separate them, be\ndestroyed; then of necessity they must abide together, and, as\ntogether, abide the punishment prepared for them; and this will greaten\nthe torment of the body.\n\nDeath was once the wages of sin, and a grievous curse; but might the\ndamned meet with it in hell, they would count it a mercy, because it\nwould separate soul and body, and not only so, but take away all sense\nfrom the body, and make it incapable of suffering torment; yea, I will\nadd, and by that means give the soul some ease; for without doubt, as\nthe torments of the soul extend themselves to the body, so the torments\nof the body extend themselves to the soul; nor can it be otherwise,\nbecause of union and sympathy. But death, natural death, shall be\ndestroyed, and there shall be no more natural death, no, not in hell (1\nCor 15:26). And now it shall happen to men, as it hath done in less and\ninferior judgments. They shall seek death, and desire to die, and death\nshall not be found by them (Job 3:21; Rev 9:6). Thus therefore they\nmust abide together; death that used to separate them asunder is now\nslain\u20141. Because it was an enemy in keeping Christ\u2019s body in the grave;\nand, 2. Because a friend to carnal men in that, though it was a\npunishment in itself, yet while it lasted and had dominion over the\nbody of the wicked, it hindered them of that great and just judgment\nwhich for sin was due unto them; and this is the third discovery of the\nmanner and way of punishing of the body. But,\n\n(4.) There will then be such things to be seen and heard, which the eye\nand the ear\u2014to say no more than has been said of the sense of\nfeeling\u2014will see and hear, that will greatly aggravate the punishment\nof the body in hell; for though the eye is the window, and the ear a\ndoor for the soul to look out at, and also to receive in by, yet\nwhatever goeth in at the ear or the eye leaves influence upon the body,\nwhether it be that which the soul delighteth in, or that which the soul\nabhorreth; for as the eye affecteth the heart, or soul (Lam 3:51) so\nthe eye and ear, by hearing and beholding, doth ofttimes afflict the\nbody. \u2018When I heard, my belly trembled\u2014rottenness entered into my\nbones.\u2019 (Hab 3:16).\n\nNow, I say, as the body after its resurrection, to damnation, to\neverlasting shame and contempt (Dan 12:2; John 5:29) will receive all\nits senses again, so it will have matter to exercise them upon, not\nonly to the letting into the soul those aggravations which they by\nhearing, feeling, and seeing are capable to let in thither, but, I say,\nthey will have matter and things to exercise themselves upon for the\nhelping forward of the torment of the body. Under temporal judgments of\nold, the body as well as the soul had no ease, day or night, and that\nnot only by reason of what was felt, but by reason of what was heard\nand seen. \u2018In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! And\nat even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning!\u2019 (Deu 28:67). 1.\n\u2018For the fear of thine heart, wherewith thou shalt fearl\u2019 2. \u2018And for\nthe sight of thine eyes, which thou shalt see.\u2019 Nay, He tells them a\nlittle before, that they should be mad for the sight of their eyes\nwhich they should see (verse 34).\n\nSee! why, what shall they see? Why, themselves in hell, with others\nlike them; and this will be a torment to their body. There is bodily\ntorment, as I said, ministered to the body by the senses of the body.\nWhat think you? If a man saw himself in prison, in irons, upon the\nladder, with the rope about his neck, would not this be distress to the\nbody, as well as to the mind? To the body, doubtless. Witness the heavy\nlooks, the shaking legs, trembling knees, pale face, and beating and\naching heart; 28 how much more, then, when men shall see themselves in\nthe most dreadful place; it is a fearful place, doubtless, to all to\nbehold themselves in that shall come thither (Luke 16:28).\n\nAgain; they shall see others there, and shall by them see themselves.\nThere is an art by which a man may make his neighbour look so ghastly,\nthat he shall fright himself by looking on him, especially when he\nthinks of himself, that he is of the same show also. It is said\nconcerning men at the downfall of Babylon, that they shall be amazed\none at another, for \u2018their faces shall be as flames\u2019 (Isa 13:8). And\nwhat if one should say, that even as it is with a house set on fire\nwithin, where the flame ascends out at the chimneys, out at the\nwindows, and the smoke out at every chink and crevice that it can find,\nso it will be with the damned in hell. That soul will breathe hell fire\nand smoke, and coals will seem to hang upon its burning lips; yea, the\nface, eyes, and ears will seem all to be chimneys and vents for the\nflame and smoke of the burning which God by His breath hath kindled\ntherein, and upon them, which will be beheld one in another, to the\ngreat torment and distress of each other.\n\nWhat shall I say? Here will be seen devils, and here will be heard\nhowlings and mournings; here will the soul see itself at an infinite\ndistance from God; yea, the body will see it too. In a word, who knows\nthe power of God\u2019s wrath, the weight of sin, the torments of hell, and\nthe length of eternity? If none, then none can tell, when they have\nsaid what they can, the intolerableness of the torments that will\nswallow up the soul, the lost soul, when it is cast away by God, and\nfrom Him, into outer darkness for sin. But this much for the cause of\nthe loss of the soul.\n\nDOCTRINE SECOND,\n\n\nI now come to the second doctrine that I gathered from the\nwords\u2014namely, that how unconcerned and careless soever some now be\nabout the loss or salvation of their souls, the day is coming, but it\nwill then be too late, when men will be willing, had they never so\nmuch, to give it all in exchange for their souls. There are four things\nin the words that do prove this doctrine.\n\n1. There is an intimation of life and sense in the man that has lost,\nand that after he has lost, his soul in hell\u2014\u2018Or what shall a man give\nin exchange for his soul?\u2019 These words are by no means applicable to\nthe man that has no life or sense; for he that is dead according to our\ncommon acceptation of death, that is, deprived of life and sense, would\nnot give twopence to change his state; therefore the words do intimate\nthat the man is yet alive and sensible. Now were a man alive and\nsensible, though he was in none other place than the grave, there to be\nconfined, while others are at liberty, what would he give in exchange\nfor his place, and to be rid of that for a better! but how much more to\nbe delivered from hell, the present place and state of his soul!\n\n2. There is in the text an intimation of a sense of torment \u2018Or what\nshall a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019 I am tormented in this\nflame. Torment, then, the soul is sensible of, and that there is a\nplace of ease and peace. And from the sense and feeling of torment, he\nwould give, yea, what would he not give, in exchange for his soul?\n\n3. There is in the text an intimation of the intolerableness of the\ntorment, because that it supposeth that the man whose soul is swallowed\nup therewith would give all, were his all never so great, in exchange\nfor his soul.\n\n4. There is yet in the text an intimation that the soul is sensible of\nthe lastingness of the punishment, or else the question rather argues a\nman unwary than considerate in his offering, as is supposed by Christ,\nso largely, his all in exchange for his soul.\n\nBut we will, in this manner, proceed no further, but take it for\ngranted that the doctrine is good; wherefore I shall next inquire after\nwhat is contained in this truth. And,\n\nFIRST, That God has undertaken, and will accomplish, the breaking of\nthe spirits of all the world, either by His grace and mercy to\nsalvation, or by His justice and severity to damnation. The damned soul\nunder consideration is certainly supposed, as by the doctrine, so by\nthe text, to be utterly careless, and without regard of salvation, so\nlong as the acceptable time did last, and as the white flag, that\nsignifies terms of peace, did hang out; and, therefore, it is said to\nbe lost; but, behold, now it is careful, but now it is solicitous, but\nnow, \u2018what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019 He of whom you\nread in the gospel, that could tend to do nothing in the days of the\ngospel but to find out how to be clothed in purple and fine linen, and\nto fare sumptuously every day, was by God brought so down, and laid so\nlow at last, that he could crouch, and cringe, and beg for one small\ndrop of water to cool his tongue\u2014a thing, that but a little before he\nwould have thought scorn to have done, when he also thought scorn to\nstoop to the grace and mercy of the gospel (Luke 16:19,24). But God was\nresolved to break his spirit, and the pride of his heart, and to humble\nhis lofty looks, if not by His mercy, yet by His justice; if not by His\ngrace, yet by hell fire.\n\nThis he also threatens to bring upon the fool in the Proverbs\u2014\u2018They\nshall call, they shall seek, they shall cry\u2019 (Prov 1:22-32). Who shall\ndo so? The answer is, They that sometimes scorned either to seek, or\ncall, or cry; they that stopped their ears, that pulled away their\nshoulders, and that refused to seek, or call, or cry to God for mercy\n(Zech 7:11-13).\n\nSinner, careless sinner, didst thou take notice of this first inference\nthat I have drawn from my second doctrine? If thou didst, yet read it\nagain: it is this, \u2018God has undertaken, and will accomplish, the\nbreaking of the spirits of all the world, either by His grace and mercy\nunto salvation, or by His justice and severity to damnation.\u2019 The\nreason for this is this: God is resolved to have the mastery, He is\nresolved to have the victory. \u2018Who would set the briers and thorns\nagainst Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them\ntogether\u2019 (Isa 27:4). I will march against them. God is merciful, and\nis come forth into the world by His Son, tendering of grace unto\nsinners by the gospel, and would willingly make a conquest over them\nfor their good by His mercy. Now He being come out, sinners like briars\nand thorns do set themselves against Him, and will have none of His\nmercy. Well, but what says God? Saith He, Then I will march on, I will\ngo through them, and burn them together. I am resolved to have the\nmastery one way or another; if they will not bend to Me, and accept of\nMy mercy in the gospel, I will bend them and break them by My justice\nin hell fire. They say they will not bend; I say they shall; now they\n\u2018shall know whose words shall stand, Mine or theirs.\u2019 (Jer 44:25-28).\nWherefore the apostle, when he saw that some of the Corinthians began\nto be unruly, and to do those things that did begin to hazard them,\nsaith, \u2018Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than He?\u2019\n(1 Cor 5:22). As who should say, My brethren, are you aware what you\ndo? do you not understand that God is resolved to have the mastery one\nway or another? and are you stronger than He? if not, tremble before\nHim, or He will certainly have you under His feet\u2014\u2018I will tread them in\nMine anger, and trample them in My fury\u2019 (Isa 63:3). Thus He speaks of\nthem that set themselves against Him; therefore beware. Now the reason\nof this resolution of God, it flows from a determination in Him to make\nall His sayings good, and to verify them on the consciences of sinners.\nAnd since the incredulous world will not believe now, and fly from\nwrath, they shall shortly believe and cry under it; since they will not\nnow credit the Word, before they see, unto salvation, they shall be\nmade to credit it by sense and feeling unto damnation.\n\nSECOND, The second inference that I draw from my second doctrine is\nthis: \u2018That it is, and will be the lot of some to bow and break before\nGod, too late, or when it is too late.\u2019 God is resolved, as I said. to\nhave the mastery, and that not only in a way of dominion and lordship\nin general, for that He has now, but He is resolved to master, that is,\nto break the spirit of the world, to make all men cringe and crouch\nunto Him, even those that now say, \u2018There is no God,\u2019 (Psa 14:1); or if\nthere be, yet, \u2018What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?\u2019 (Job\n21:15; Mal 3:14).\n\nThis is little thought of by those that now harden their hearts in\nwickedness, and that turn their spirit against God; but this they shall\nthink of, this they must think of, this God will make them think of in\nthat day, at which day they also now do mock and deride, that the\nScripture might be fulfilled upon them (2 Peter 3:3,4). And, I say,\nthey shall think then of those things, and break at heart, and melt\nunder the hand, and power, and majesty of the Almighty; for, \u2018As I\nlive, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me; and every tongue\nshall confess to God\u2019 (Isa 45:23; Rom 14:11). And again, \u2018The nations\nshall see, and be confounded at all their might; they shall lay their\nhand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the\ndust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms,\u2019 or\ncreeping things, \u2018of the earth; they shall be afraid of the Lord our\nGod, and shall fear because of Thee\u2019 (Micah 7:16,17).\n\nFor then they, will they nill they, shall have to do with God, though\nnot with Him as merciful, or as one that may be intreated; yet with Him\nall just, and as devouring fire (Heb 7:29). Yea, they shall see that\nface, and hear that voice, from whom and from which the heavens and the\nearth will fly away, and find no place of stay. And by this appearance,\nand by such words of His mouth as He then will speak to them, they\nshall begin to tremble, and call for the rocks to fall upon them and\ncover them; for if these things will happen at the execution of\ninferior judgments, what will be done, what effects will the last, most\ndreadful, and eternal judgment, have upon men\u2019s souls?\n\nHence you find, that at the very first appearance of Jesus Christ, the\nwhole world begins to mourn and lament\u2014\u2018Every eye shall see Him, and\nthey also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail\nbecause of Him\u2019 (Rev 1:7). And, therefore, you also find them to stand\nat the door and knock, saying, \u2018Lord, Lord, open unto us\u2019 (Luke 14:25;\nMatt 25:11). Moreover, you find them also desiring, yea, also so humble\nin their desires as to be content with the least degree of mercy\u2014one\ndrop, one drop upon the tip of one\u2019s finger. What stooping, what\ncondescension, what humility is here! All, and every one of those\npassages declare, that the hand of God is upon them, and that the\nAlmighty has got the mastery of them, has conquered them, broke the\npride of their power, and laid them low, and made them cringe and\ncrouch unto him, bending the knee, and craving of kindness. Thus, then,\nwill God bow, and bend, and break them; yea, make them bow, and bend,\nand break before Him. And hence also it is they will weep, and mourn,\nand gnash their teeth, and cry, and repent that ever they have been so\nfoolish, so wicked, so traitorous to their souls, such enemies of their\nown eternal happiness, as to stand out in the day of their visitation\nin a way of rebellion against the Lord.\n\nBut here is their hard hap, their dismal lot and portion, that all\nthese things must be when it is too late. It is, and will be, the lot\nand hap of these to bow, bend, and break too late (Matt 25). You read\nthey come weeping and mourning, and with tears; they knock and they cry\nfor mercy; but what did tears avail? Why, nothing; for the door was\nshut. He answered and said, \u2018I know not whence you are.\u2019 But they\nrepeat and renew their suit, saying, \u2018We have eaten and drunk in Thy\npresence, and Thou hast taught in our streets.\u2019 What now? Why, He\nreturns upon them His first answer the second time, saying, \u2018I know not\nwhence ye are; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquityl\u2019 then He\nconcludes, \u2018There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall\nsee Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom\nof God, and you yourselves thrust out\u2019 (Luke 13:26,28). They come\nweeping, and go weeping away. They come to Him weeping, for they saw\nthat He had conquered them; but they departed weeping, for they saw\nthat He would damn them; yet, as we read in another place, they were\nvery loath to go from Him, by their reasoning and expostulating with\nHim\u2014\u2018Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or\nnaked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee?\u2019 But all\nwould not do; here is no place for change of mind\u2014\u2018These shall go away\ninto everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal\u2019 (Matt\n25:44-46). And now what would a man give in exchange for his soul? So\nthat, as I said before, all is too late; they mourn too late, they\nrepent too late, they pray too late, and seek to make an exchange for\ntheir soul too late. \u2018Or what shall a man give in exchange for his\nsoul?\u2019\n\nTwo or three things there may yet be gathered from these words; I mean,\nas to the desires of them that have lost their souls, to make for them\nan exchange; \u2018What shall a man give in exchange?\u2019\u2014what shall, what\nwould, yea, what would not a man, if he had it, give in exchange for\nhis soul?\n\nFirst, What would not a man\u2014I mean, a man that is in the condition that\nis by the text supposed some men are and will be in\u2014give in exchange to\nhave another man\u2019s virtue instead of their own vices? \u2018Let me die the\ndeath of the righteousl\u2019 let my soul be in the state of the soul of the\nrighteous\u2014that is, in reference to his virtues, when I die, \u2018and let my\nlast end be like his\u2019 (Num 23:10). It is a sport now to some to taunt,\nand squib, and deride at other men\u2019s virtues; but the day is coming\nwhen their minds will be changed, and when they shall be made to count\nthose that have done those righteous actions and duties which they have\nscoffed at, the only blessed men; yea, they shall wish their soul in\nthe blessed possession of those graces and virtues, that those whom\nthey hated were accompanied with, and would, if they had it, give a\nwhole world for this change; but it will not now do, it is now too\nlate. What then shall a man give in exchange for his soul? And this is\nmore than intimated in that 25th of Matthew, named before: for you find\nby that text how loath they were, or will be, to be counted for\nunrighteous people\u2014\u2018Lord,\u2019 say they, \u2018when did we see thee an hungred,\nor athirst, naked, or sick, and did not minister unto thee?\u2019 Now they\nare not willing to be of the number of the wicked, though hereto-fore\nthe ways of the righteous were an abomination to them. But, alas! they\nare before a just God, a just Judge, a Judge that will give every one\naccording to their ways; therefore, \u2018Woe unto (the soul of) the wicked\nnow, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be\ngiven him\u2019 (Isa 3:11). Thus, therefore, he is locked up as to this; he\ncannot now change his vice for virtues, nor put himself nor his soul in\nthe stead of the soul of the saved; so that it still, and will, for\never abide a question unresolved,\u2019 Or, what shall a man give in\nexchange for his soul?\u2019 I do not doubt but that a man\u2019s state may be\nsuch in this world, that if he had it he would give thousands of gold\nto be as innocent and guiltless in the judgment of the law of the land\nas is the state of such or such, heartily wishing that himself was not\nthat he, that he is; how much more then will men wish thus when they\nstand ready to receive the last, their eternal judgment. \u2018But what\nshall a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019\n\nSecond, As they would, for the salvation of their souls, be glad to\nchange away their vices for the virtues, their sins for the good deeds\nof others; so what would they not give to change places now, or to\nremove from where now they are, into paradise, into Abraham\u2019s bosom!\nBut neither shall this be admitted; the righteous must have their\ninheritance to themselves\u2014\u2018Neither,\u2019 said Abraham, \u2018can they pass to\nus, that would come from thence,\u2019 (Luke 16:26); neither can they dwell\nin heaven that would come from hell.\n\nThey then that have lost, or shall lose their souls are bound to their\nplace, as well as to their sins. When Judas went to hell, he went to\nhis home, \u2018to his own place\u2019 (Acts 1:25). And when the righteous go\nhence, they also go home to their house, to their own place; for the\nkingdom of heaven is prepared for them (Matt 25:34). Between heaven and\nhell \u2018there is a great gulf fixed\u2019 (Luke 26:26). That is a strange\npassage: \u2018There is a great gulf fixed.\u2019 What this gulf is, and how\nimpassable, they that shall lose their souls will know to their woe;\nbecause it is fixed there where it is, on purpose to keep them in their\ntormenting place, so that they that would pass from hell to heaven\ncannot. But, I say, \u2018Would they not change places? would they not have\na more comfortable house and home for their souls?\u2019 Yes, verily, the\ntext supposes it, and the 16th of Luke affirms it; yea, and could they\npurchase for their souls a habitation among the righteous, would they\nnot? Yes, they would give all the world to such a change. What shall,\nwhat shall not, a man, if he had it, if it would answer his design,\ngive in exchange for his soul?\n\nThird, As the damned would change their own vices for virtues, and the\nplace where they are for that into which they shall not come, so what\nwould they give for a change of condition? Yea, if an absolute change\nmay not be obtained, yet what would they give for the least degree of\nmitigation of that torment, which now they know will without any\nintermission be, and that for ever and ever. \u2018Tribulation and anguish,\nindignation and wrath\u2019 (Rom 2:8,9), the gnawing worm, and everlasting\ndestruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His\npower, cannot be borne but with great horror and grief (2 Thess\n1:7-10). No marvel, then, if these poor creatures would, for ease for\ntheir souls, be glad to change their conditions. Change!\u2014with whom?\nwith an angel, with a saint; ay, with a dog or a toad; 29 for they\nmourn not, they weep not, nor do they bear indignation of wrath; they\nare as if they had not been; only the sinful soul abides in its sins,\nin the place designed for lost souls, and in the condition that wrath\nand indignation for sin and transgression hath decreed them to abide\nfor ever. And this brings me to the conclusion, which is, \u2018that seeing\nthe ungodly do seek good things too late,\u2019 therefore, notwithstanding\ntheir seeking, they must still abide in their place, their sins, and\ntheir torment\u2014\u2018For what can a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019\nTherefore, God saith, that they there must still abide and dwell, no\nexchange can be made. \u2018This shall ye have of Mine hand, ye shall lie\ndown in sorrowl\u2019 they shall lie down in it, they shall make their bed\nthere, there they shall lie (Isa 50:11; Eze 32:25-27). And this is the\nbitter pill that they must swallow down at the last; for, after all\ntheir tears, their sorrows, their mournings, their repentings, their\nwishings and woundings, and all their inventings, and desires to change\ntheir state for a better, they must \u2018lie down in sorrow.\u2019 The poor\ncondemned man that is upon the ladder or scaffold has, if one knew\nthem, many a long wish and long desire that he might come down again\nalive, or that his condition was as one of the spectators that are not\ncondemned and brought thither to be executed as he. How carefully also\ndoth he look with his failing eyes, to see if some comes not from the\nking with a pardon for him, all the while endeavouring to fumble away\nas well as he can, and to prolong the minute of his execution! But at\nlast, when he has looked, when he has wished, when he has desired, and\ndone whatever he can, the blow with the axe, or turn with the ladder,\nis his lot, so he goes off the scaffold, so he goes from among men; and\nthus it will be with those that we have under consideration; when all\ncomes to all, and they have said, and wished, and done what they can,\nthe judgment must not be reversed\u2014they must \u2018lie down in sorrow.\u2019\n\nThey must, or shall lie down! Of old, when a man was to be chastised\nfor his fault, he was to lie down to receive his stripes; so here,\nsaith the Lord, they shall lie down\u2014\u2018And it shall be, if the wicked man\nbe worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and\nto be beaten before his face\u2019 (Deu 25:2). And this lying down was to be\nhis lot after he had pleaded for himself what be could\u2014and the judge\nshall cause him to be beaten before his face, while he is present to\nbehold the execution of judgment; and thus it shall be at the end of\nthe world; the wicked shall lie down, and shall be beaten with many\nstripes in the presence of Christ, \u2018and in the presence of the holy\nangels\u2019 (2 Thess 1; Rev 14:10). For there will be His presence, not\nonly at the trial as Judge, but to see execution done, nay, to do it\nHimself by the pouring out, like a river, His wrath as burning\nbrimstone upon the soul of the lost and cast away sinner.\n\nHe shall lie down! These words imply that, at last, the damned soul\nshall submit; for to lie down is an act that signifies submission,\nespecially to lie down to be beaten. \u2018The wicked shall be silent in\ndarkness\u2019 (1 Sam 2:9). When the malefactor has said and wished all that\nbe can, yet at last he submits, is silent, and, as it were, helps to\nput his head into the halter, or doth lay down his neck upon the block;\nso here it is said of the damned\u2014They shall lie down in sorrow. There\nis also a place that saith, \u2018These shall go away into everlasting\npunishment\u2019 (Matt 25:46). To go, to go to punishment, is also an act of\nsubmission. Now, submission to punishment doth, or should, flow from\nfull conviction of the merit of punishment; and I think it is so to be\nunderstood here\u2014For \u2018every mouth shall be stopped, and all the world\n(of soul losers) become guilty before God\u2019 (Rom 3:4,19; Luke 13:25-28;\nMatt 25:46). Every mouth shall be stopped, not at the beginning of the\njudgment, for then they plead, and pray, and also object against the\nJudge; but at the end, after that by a judicial proceeding He shall\nhave justified against them His sayings, and have overcome these His\njudges, then they shall submit, and also lie down in s orrow; yea, they\nshall go away to their punishment as those who know they deserve it;\nyea, they shall go away with silence.\n\nHow they shall behave themselves in hell, I will not here dispute;\nwhether in a way of rage and blasphemy, and in rending and tearing of\nthe name and just actions of God towards them, or whether by way of\nsubmission there; I say, though this is none of this task, yet a word\nor two, if you please.\n\nDoubtless they will not be mute there; they will cry and wail, and\ngnash their teeth, and, perhaps, too, sometimes at God; but I do not\nthink but that the justice that they have deserved, and the equal\nadministration of it upon them, will, for the most part, prevail with\nthem to rend and tear themselves, to acquit and justify God, and to add\nfuel to their fire, by concluding themselves in all the fault, and that\nthey have sufficiently merited this just damnation; for it would seem\nstrange to me that just judgment among men shall terminate in this\nissue, if God should not justify himself in the conscience of all the\ndamned. But as here on earth, so He will let them know that go to hell\nthat He hath not done without a cause, a sufficient cause, all that He\nhath done in damning of them (Eze 14:23).\n\n[USE AND APPLICATION.]\n\n\nI come now to make some use and application of the whole. And,\n\nUSE FIRST\u2014If the soul be so excellent a thing as we have made it appear\nto be, and if the loss thereof be so great a loss, then here you may\nsee who they are that are those extravagant ones; I mean, those that\nare such in the highest degree. Solomon tells us of \u2018a great waster,\u2019\nand saith also, that he that is slothful in his business is brother to\nsuch an one (Prov 18:9). Who Solomon had his eye upon, or who it was\nthat he counted so great a waster, I cannot tell; but I will challenge\nall the world to show me one, that for wasting and destroying, may be\ncompared to him that for the lusts and pleasures of this life will\nhazard the loss of his soul. Many men will be so profuse, and will\nspend at that prodigal rate, that they will bring a thousand pound a\nyear to five hundred, and five hundred to fifty, and some also will\nbring that fifty to less than ninepence; 30 but what is this to him\nthat shall never leave losing until he has lost his soul? I have heard\nof some who would throw away a farm, a good estate, upon the trundling\nof one single bowl;31 but what is this to the casting away of the soul?\nNothing can for badness be compared to sin; it is the vile thing, it\ncannot have a worse name than its own; it is worse than the vilest men,\nthan the vilest of beasts; yea, sin is worse than the devil himself,\nfor it is sin, and sin only, that hath made the devils devils; and yet\nfor this, for this vile, this abominable thing, some men, yea, most\nmen, will venture the loss of their soul; yea, they will mortgage,\npawn, and set their souls to sale for it (Jer 44:4). Is not this a\ngreat waster? doth not this man deserve to be ranked among the\nextravagant ones? What think you of him who, when he tempted the wench\nto uncleanness, said to her, If thou wilt venture thy body, I\u2019ll\nventure my soul? Was not here like to be a fine bargain, think you? or\nwas not this man like to be a gainer by so doing? This is he that\nprizes sin at a higher rate than he doth his immortal soul; yea, this\nis he that esteems a quarter of an hour\u2019s pleasure more than he fears\neverlasting damnation. What shall I say? This man is minded to give\nmore to be damned, than God requires he should give to be saved; is not\nthis an extravagant one? \u2018Be astonished, O ye heavens! at this, and be\nhorribly afraid!\u2019 (Jer 2:9-12). Yea, let all the angels stand amazed at\nthe unaccountable prodigality of such an one.\n\nObjection 1. But some may say, I cannot believe that God will be so\nsevere as to cast away into hell fire an immortal soul for a little\nsin.\n\nAnswer. I know thou canst not believe it, for if thou couldst, thou\nwouldst sooner eat fire than run this hazard; and hence all they that\ngo down to the lake of fire are called the unbelievers; and the Lord\nshall cut thee, that makest this objection, asunder, and shall appoint\nthee thy portion with such, except thou believe the gospel, and repent\n(Luke 12:46).\n\nObjection 2. But surely, though God should be so angry at the\nbeginning, it cannot in time but grieve Him to see and hear souls\nroaring in hell, and that for a little sin.\n\nAnswer. Whatsoever God doeth, it abideth for ever (Eccl 3:14). He doth\nnothing in a passion, or in an angry fit; He proceedeth with sinners by\nthe most perfect rules of justice; wherefore it would be injustice, to\ndeliver them whom the law condemneth, yea, He would falsify His word,\nif after a time He should deliver them from hell, concerning whom He\nhath solemnly testified, that they shall be there for ever.\n\nObjection 3. O but, as He is just, so He is merciful; and mercy is\npitiful, and very compassionate to the afflicted.\n\nAnswer. O, but mercy abused becomes most fearful in tormenting. Did you\nnever read that the Lamb turned lion, and that the world will tremble\nat the wrath of the Lamb, and be afflicted more at the thoughts of\nthat, than at the thoughts of anything that shall happen to them in the\nday when God shall call them to an account for their sins? (Rev\n6:16,17). The time of mercy will be then past, for now is that\nacceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation; the gate of mercy\nwill then be shut, and must not be opened again; for now is that gate\nopen, now it is open for a door of hope (2 Cor 6:2; Matt 25:10; Luke\n13:25).\n\nThe time of showing pity and compassion will then be at an end; for\nthat as to acting towards sinners will last but till the glass of the\nworld is run, and when that day is past, mark what God saith shall\nfollow, \u2018I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear\ncometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction\ncometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you\u2019 (Prov\n1:26,27). Mark you how many pinching expressions the Lord Jesus Christ\ndoth threaten the refusing sinner with; the sinner with, that refuseth\nHim now\u2014I will laugh at him, I will mock at him. But when, Lord, wilt\nthou laugh at, and mock at, the impenitent? The answer is, \u2018I will\nlaugh at their calamities, and mock when their fear cometh; when their\nfear cometh as desolation, and their destruction like a whirlwind; when\ndistress and anguish cometh upon them.\u2019\n\nObjection 4. But if God Almighty be at this point, and there be no\nmoving of Him to mercy at that day, yet we can but lie in hell till we\nare burnt out, as the log doth at the back of the fire.\n\nAnswer. Poor besotted sinner, is this thy last shift? wilt thou comfort\nthyself with this? Are thy sins so dear, so sweet, so desireable, so\nprofitable to thee, that thou wilt venture a burning in hell fire for\nthem till thou art burnt out? Is there nothing else to be done but to\nmake a covenant with death, and to maintain thy agreement with hell?\n(Isa 28:15). Is it not better to say now unto God, Do not condemn me?\nand to say now, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner? Would not tears, and\nprayers, and cries, in this acceptable time, to God for mercy, yield\nthee more benefit in the next world than to lie and burn out in hell\nwill do?\n\nBut to come more close to thee. Have not I told thee already that there\nis no such thing as a ceasing to be? that the damned shall never be\nburned out in hell? there shall be no more such death, or cause of\ndissolution for ever. This one thing, well considered, breaks not only\nthe neck of that wild conceit on which thy foolish objection is built,\nbut will break thy stubborn heart in pieces. For then it follows, that\nunless thou canst conquer God, or with ease endure to conflict with His\nsin-revenging wrath, thou wilt be made to mourn while under His\neverlasting wrath and indignation; and to know that there is not such a\nthing as a burning out in hell fire.\n\nObjection 5. But, if this must be my case, I shall have more fellows; I\nshall not go to hell, nor yet burn there, alone.\n\nAnswer. What, again; is there no breaking of the league that is betwixt\nsin and thy soul? What, resolved to be a self-murderer, a soul\nmurderer? what, resolved to murder thine own soul? But is there any\ncomfort in being hanged with company? in sinking into the bottom of the\nsea with company? or in going to hell, in burning in hell, and in\nenduring the everlasting pains of hell, with company? O besotted\nwretch! But I tell thee, the more company, the more sorrow; the more\nfuel, the more fire. Hence the damned man that we read of in Luke\ndesired that his brethren might be so warned and prevailed with as to\nbe kept out of that place of torment (Luke 16:27,28). But to hasten; I\ncome now to the second use.\n\nUSE SECOND.\u2014Is it so? Is the soul such an excellent thing, and the loss\nthereof so unspeakably great? Then here you may see who are the\ngreatest fools in the world\u2014to wit, those who, to get the world and its\npreferments, will neglect God till they lose their souls. The rich man\nin the gospel was one of these great fools, for that he was more\nconcerned about what he should do with his goods, than how his soul\nshould be saved (Luke 7:16-21). Some are for venturing their souls for\npleasures, and some are for venturing their souls for profits; they\nthat venture their souls for pleasures have but little excuse for their\ndoings; but they that venture their soul for profit seem to have much.\n\u2018And they all with one consent began to make excusel\u2019\u2014excuse for what?\nwhy, for the neglect of the salvation of their souls. But what was the\ncause of their making this excuse? Why, their profits came tumbling in.\n\u2018I have bought a piece of groundl\u2019 \u2018I have bought five yoke of oxenl\u2019\nand \u2018I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come\u2019 (Luke\n14:15-20).\n\nThus also it was with the fool first mentioned; his ground did bring\nforth plentifully, wherefore he must of necessity forget his soul, and,\nas he thought, all the reason of the world he should. Wherefore, he\nfalls to crying out, What shall I do? Now, had one said, Mind the good\nof thy soul, man; the answer would have been ready, But where shall I\nbestow my goods. If it had been replied, Stay till harvest; he returns\nagain, But I have no room where to bestow my goods. Now, tell him of\npraying, and he answers, he must go to building. Tell him, he should\nfrequent sermons, and he replies, he must mind his workmen. \u2018He cannot\ndeliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?\u2019 (Isa\n44:20).\n\nAnd see if, in the end, he did not become a fool; for though he\naccomplished the building of his barns, and put in there all his fruits\nand his goods, yet even till now his soul was empty, and void of all\nthat was good; nor did he, in singing of that requiem which he sung to\nhis soul at last, saying, \u2018Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be\nmerry,\u2019 show himself ever the wiser; for, in all his labours he had\nrejected to get that food that indeed is meat and drink for the soul.\nNay, in singing this song he did but provoke God to hasten to send to\nfetch his soul to hell; for so begins the conclusion of the\nparable\u2014\u2018Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then\nwhose shall those things be which thou hast provided?\u2019 So that, I say,\nit is the greatest folly in the world for a man, upon any pretence what\never, to neglect to make good the salvation of his soul.\n\nThere are six signs of a fool, and they do all meet in that same man\nthat concerns not himself, and that to good purpose, for the salvation\nof his soul. 1. A fool has not an heart, when the price is in his hand,\nto get wisdom. (Prov 17:16). 2. \u2018It is a sport to a fool to do\nmischief.\u2019 and to set light by the commission of sin (Prov 10:23). 3.\n\u2018Fools despise wisdoml\u2019 \u2018fools hate knowledge\u2019 (Prov 1:7,22). 4. \u2018A\nfool,\u2019 after restraint, \u2018returneth to his folly\u2019 (Prov 26:11). 5. \u2018The\nway of a fool is right in his own eyes\u2019 (Prov 7:15). 6. The fool goes\nmerrily \u2018to the correction of the stocks\u2019 (Prov 7:22).\n\nI might add many more, but these six shall suffice at this time, by\nwhich it appears that the fool has no heart for the heavenly prize, yet\nhe has to sport himself in sin; and when he despises wisdom, the way is\nyet right before him; yea, if he be for some time restrained from vice,\nhe greedily turneth again thereto, and will, when he has finished his\ncourse of folly and sin in this world, go as heedlessly, as carelessly,\nas unconcernedly, and quietly, down the steps to hell, as the ox goeth\nto the slaughter-house, This is a soul fool, a fool of the biggest\nsize; and so is every one also that layeth up treasure for himself on\nearth, \u2018and is not rich towards God\u2019 (Luke 7:21).\n\nObjection 1. But would you not have us mind our worldly concerns?\n\nAnswer. Mind them, but mind them in their place; mind thy soul first\nand most; the soul is more than the body, and eternal life better than\ntemporal; first seek the kingdom of God, and prosper in thy health and\nthy estate as thy soul prospers (Matt 6:33; 3 John 2). But as it is\nrare to see this command obeyed, for the kingdom of God shall be\nthought of last, so if John\u2019s wish was to light upon, or happen to some\npeople, they would neither have health nor wealth in this world. To\nprosper and be in health, as their soul prospers\u2014what, to thrive and\nmend in outwards no faster? then we should have them have consumptive\nbodies and low estates; for are not the souls of most as unthrifty, for\ngrace and spiritual health, as is the tree without fruit that is pulled\nup by the roots?\n\nObjection 2. But would you have us sit still and do nothing?\n\nAnswer. And must you needs be upon the extremes? must you mind this\nworld to the damning of your souls? or will you not mind your callings\nat all? Is there not a middle way? may you not, must you not, get your\nbread in a way of honest industry; that is, caring most for the next\nworld, and so using of this as not abusing the same? (1 Cor 7: 20-31).\nAnd then a man doth so, and never but then, when he sets this world and\nthe next in their proper places, in his thoughts, in his esteem, and\njudgment, and dealeth with both accordingly (2 Cor 4:18). And is there\nnot all the reason in the world for this? are not the things that are\neternal best? Will temporal things make thy soul to live? or art thou\nnone of those that should look after the salvation of their soul? (Deu\n8:3; Matt 5:4; Heb10:39).\n\nObjection 3. But the most of men do that which you forbid, and why may\nnot we?\n\nAnswer. God says, \u2018Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil\u2019 (Exo\n23:2). It is not what men do, but what God commands; it is not what\ndoth present itself unto us, but what is best, that we should choose\n(Matt 6:23; Luke 10:41,42). Now, \u2018He that refuseth instruction,\ndespiseth his own soull\u2019 and \u2018He that keepeth the commandment, keepeth\nhis own soul\u2019 (Prov 15:32; 19:16). Make not, therefore, these foolish\nobjections. But what saith the Word? how readest thou? That tells thee,\nthat the pleasures of sin are but for a season; that the things that\nare seen are but temporal; that he is a fool that is rich in this\nworld, and is not so towards God; \u2018and what shall it profit a man, if\nhe shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?\u2019\n\nObjection 4. But may one not be equally engaged for both?\n\nAnswer. A divided heart is a naughty one (Heb 10:2). \u2018You cannot serve\nGod and mammon\u2019 (Matt 6:24; Luke 16:13). \u2018If any man love the world,\nthe love of the Father is not in him,\u2019 (1 John 2:15); and yet this\nobjection bespeaks that thy heart is divided, that thou art a\nMammonist, or that thou lovest the world. But will riches profit in the\nday of wrath? (Prov 11:4). Yea, are they not hurtful in the day of\ngrace? do they not tend to surfeit the heart, and to alienate a man and\nhis mind from the things that are better? (Luke 21:34). Why, then, wilt\nthou set thy heart upon that which is not? yea, then what will become\nof them that are so far off of minding of their souls, that they, for\nwhole months, and years together, scarce consider whether they have\nsouls to save?\n\nUSE THIRD.\u2014But, thirdly, is it so? Is the soul such an excellent thing,\nand is the loss thereof so unspeakably great? Then this should teach\npeople to be very careful to whom they commit the teaching and guidance\nof their souls.\n\nThis is a business of the greatest concern; men will be careful to whom\nthey commit their children, who they make the executors of their will,\nin whose hand they trust the writing and evidences of their lands; but\nhow much more careful should we be, and yet the most are the least of\nall careful, unto whom they commit the teaching and guidance of their\nsouls. There are several sorts of soul shepherds in the world: 1. There\nare idol shepherds (Zech 6:5). 2. There are foolish shepherds (Zech\n11:15). 3. There are shepherds that feed themselves, and not their\nflock (Eze 34:2) 4. There are hard-hearted and pitiless shepherds (Zech\n9: 3). 5. There are shepherds that, instead of healing, smite, push,\nand wound the diseased (Eze 34:4,21). 6. There are shepherds that\n\u2018cause their flocks to go astray\u2019 (Jer 50:6). 7. And there are\nshepherds that feed their flock; these are the shepherds to whom thou\nshouldst commit thy soul for teaching and for guidance.\n\nQuestion. You may ask, How should I know those shepherds?\n\nAnswer. First, surrender up thy soul unto God, by Christ, and choose\nChrist to be the chief Shepherd of thy soul; and He will direct thee to\nHis shepherds, and He will, of His mercy, set such shepherds over thee\n\u2018as shall feed thee with knowledge and understanding\u2019 (1 Peter 2:25;\n4:19; John 10:4,5; Song 1:7, 8; Jer 3:15; 23:4). Before thou hast\nsurrendered up thy soul to Christ, that He may be thy chief Shepherd,\nthou canst not find out, nor choose to put thy soul under the teaching\nand guidance of His under shepherds, for thou canst not love them;\nbesides, they are so set forth by false shepherds, in so many ugly\nguises, and under so many false and scandalous dresses, that, should I\ndirect thee to them while thou art a stranger to Christ, thou wilt\ncount them deceivers, devourers, and wolves in sheeps\u2019 clothing, rather\nthan the shepherds that belong to the great and chief Shepherd, who is,\nalso, the Bishop of the soul.\n\nYet this I will say unto thee, take heed of that shepherd that careth\nnot for his own soul, that walketh in ways, and doth such things, as\nhave a direct tendency to damn his own soul; I say, take heed of such\nan one, come not near him, let him have nothing to do with thy soul;\nfor if he be not faithful to that which be his own soul, be sure he\nwill not be faithful to that which is another man\u2019s. He that feeds his\nown soul with ashes, will scarce feed thine with the bread of life;\nwherefore, take heed of such an one; and many such there are in the\nworld (Isa 44:20). \u2018By their fruits you shall know theml\u2019 they are for\nflattering of the worst, and frowning upon the best; they are for\npromising of life to the profane, and for slaying the souls that God\nwould have live; they are also men that hunt souls that fear God, but\nfor sewing pillows under those arm holes which God would have to lean\nupon that which would afflict them. These be them \u2018that, with lies, do\nmake the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sadl\u2019 saith\nGod; and that have \u2018strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he shall\nnot return from his wicked way, by promising of him life\u2019 (Eze\n13:18-22).\n\nAnd as thou shouldest, for thy soul\u2019s sake, choose for thyself good\nsoul shepherds, so also, for the same reason, you should choose for\nyourself a good wife, a good husband, a good master, a good servant;\nfor in all these things the soul is concerned. Abraham would not suffer\nIsaac to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, (Gen 24:3); nor would\nDavid suffer a wicked servant to come into his house, or to tarry in\nhis sight (Psa 101:7). Bad company is, also, very destructive to the\nsoul, and so is evil communication; wherefore, be diligent to shun all\nthese things, that thou mayest persevere in that way, the end of which\nwill be the saving of thy soul (Prov 13:20; 1 Cor 15:33).\n\nAnd since, under this head, I am fallen upon cautions, let me add these\nto those which I have presented to thee already:\n\nCaution 1. Take heed, take heed of learning to do evil of any that are\ngood. \u2019Tis possible for a good man to do things that are bad; but let\nnot his bad action embolden thee to run upon sin. Seest thou a good man\nthat stumbleth at a stone, or that slippeth into the dirt\u2014let that warn\nthee to take heed; let his stumble make thee wary, let his fall make\nthee look well to thy goings; \u2018ever follow that which is good\u2019 (1 Thess\n5:15). Thy soul is at stake.\n\nCaution 2. Take heed of the good things of bad men, for in them there\nlies a snare also; their \u2018good words and fair speeches\u2019 tend to deceive\n(Rom 16:17, 18). Learn to be good, by the Word of God and by the holy\nlives of them that be good; envy not the wicked, \u2018nor desire to be with\ntheml\u2019 \u2018choose none of his ways\u2019 (Prov 3:31; 24:1). Thy soul lies at\nstake.\n\nCaution 3. Take heed of playing the hypocrite in religion. What of God\nand His Word thou knowest, profess it honestly, conform to it heartily,\nserve Him faithfully; for what is the hypocrite bettered by all his\nprofession, \u2018when God taketh away his soul?\u2019 (Job 27:8).\n\nCaution 4. Take heed of delays to turn to God, and of choosing His ways\nfor the delight of thy heart, \u2018for the Lord\u2019s eye is upon them that\nfear Him, to deliver their souls\u2019 (Psa 33:18,19).\n\nCaution 5. Boast not thyself of thy flocks and thy herds, of thy gold\nand thy silver, of thy sons and of thy daughters. What is a house full\nof treasures, and all the delights of this world, if thou be empty of\ngrace, \u2018if thy soul be not filled with good?\u2019 (Eccl 6:3). But,\n\nUSE FOURTH.\u2014Is it so? Is the soul such an excellent thing, and is the\nloss thereof so unspeakably great? Then, I pray thee, let me inquire a\nlittle of thee, what provision thou hast made for thy soul? There be\nmany that, through their eagerness after the things of this life, do\nbereave their soul of good, even of that good the which if they had it\nwould be a good to them for ever (Eccl 4:8). But I ask not concerning\nthis; it is not what provision thou hast made for this life, but what\nfor the life, and the world to come. \u2018Lord, gather not my soul with\nsinners,\u2019 saith David, (Psa 26:9); not with men of this world: Lord,\nnot with them that have their portion in this life, whose belly Thou\nfillest with Thy hid treasures. Thus you see how Solomon laments some,\nand how his father prays to be delivered from their lot who have their\nportion in this life, and that have not made provision for their soul.\nWell, then, let me inquire of thee about this matter. What provision\nhast thou made for thy soul? And,\n\n1. What hast thou thought of thy soul? What ponderous thoughts hast\nthou had of the greatness and of the immortality of thy soul? This must\nbe the first inquiry: for he that hath not had his thoughts truly\nexercised, ponderously exercised, about the greatness and the\nimmortality of his soul, will not be careful, after an effectual\nmanner, to make provision for his soul, for the life and world to come.\nThe soul is a man\u2019s all, whether he knows it or no, as I have already\nshowed you. Now a man will be concerned about what he thinks is his\nall. We read of the poor servant that \u2018setteth his heart upon\u2019 his\nwages (Deu 24:14,15). But it is because it is his all, his treasure,\nand that wherein his worldly worth lieth. Why, thy soul is thy all; it\nis strange if thou dost not think so! and more strange if thou dost\nthink so, and yet hast light, seldom, and trivial thoughts about it.\nThese two seem to be inconsistent, therefore let thy conscience speak;\neither thou hast very great and weighty thoughts about the excellent\ngreatness of thy soul, or else thou dost not count that thy soul is so\ngreat a thing as it is, else thou dost not count it thy all.\n\n2. What judgment hast thou made of the present state of thy soul? I\nspeak now to the unconverted. Thy soul is under sin, under the curse,\nand an object of wrath; this is that sentence that by the Word is\npassed upon it\u2014\u2018Woe unto their soul,\u2019 saith God, \u2018for they have\nrewarded evil unto themselves.\u2019 (Isa 3:9). This is the sentence of God.\nWell, but what judgment hast thou passed upon it while thou livest in\nthy debaucheries? Is it not that which thy fellows have passed on\ntheirs before thee, saying, \u2018I shall have peace, though I walk in the\nimagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst\u2019 (Deu 29:19).\nIf so, know thy judgment is gross, thy soul is miserable, and turn, or\nin little time thine eyes will behold all this.\n\n3. What care hast thou had of securing of thy soul, and that it might\nbe delivered from the danger that by sin it is brought into? if a man\nhas a horse, a cow, or a swine that is sick, or in danger by reason of\nthis or that casualty, he will take care for his beast, that it may not\nperish; he will pull it out of the ditch on the Sabbath day. But, oh!\nthat is the day on which many men do put their soul into the ditch of\nsin; that is the day that they set apart to pursue wickedness in. 32\nBut, I say, what care hast thou taken to get thy soul out of this\nditch?\u2014a ditch out of which thou canst never get it without the aid of\nan omnipotent arm. In things pertaining to this life, when a man feels\nhis own strength fail, he will implore the help and aid of another; and\nno man can, by any means, deliver by his own arm his soul from the\npower of hell, which thou also wilt confess, if thou beest not a very\nbrute; but what hast thou done with God for help? hast thou cried? hast\nthou cried out? yea, dost thou still cry out, and that day and night\nbefore him\u2014\u2018Deliver my soul\u2019 (Psa 17:13) \u2018Save my soul, preserve my\nsoul\u2019 (Psa 25:20) \u2018Heal my soul,\u2019 (Psa 42:4), and, \u2018I pour out my soul\nunto thee?\u2019 (Psa 62:5). Yea, canst thou say, My soul, my soul waiteth\nupon God, my soul thirsteth for Him, my soul followeth hard after him?\n(Psa 63:1,8). I say, dost thou this, or dost thou hunt thine own soul\nto destroy it? The soul, with some, is the game, their lusts are the\ndogs, and they themselves are the huntsmen, and never do they more\nhalloo, and lure, and laugh, and sing, than when they have delivered up\ntheir soul, their darling, to these dogs\u2014a thing that David trembled to\nthink of, when he cried, \u2018Dogs have compassed me. Deliver my darling,\u2019\nmy soul, \u2018from the power of the dog\u2019 (Psa 22:16,20). Thus, I say, he\ncried, and yet these dogs were but wicked men. But, oh! how much is a\nsin, a lust, worst than a man to do us hurt; yea, worse than is a dog,\n(or) a lion, to hurt a lamb!\n\n4. What are the signs and tokens that thou bearest about thee,\nconcerning how it will go with thy soul at last? There are signs and\ntokens of a good, and signs and tokens of a bad end that the souls of\nsinners will have; there are signs of the salvation of the soul, (Heb\n6:9); evident tokens of salvation; and there are signs of the damnation\nof the soul, evident signs of damnation (Phil 1:27,28; Job 21:29,30; 1\nSam 3:9). Now, which of these hast thou? I cannot stand here to show\nthee which are which; but thy soul and its salvation lieth before thee,\nand thou hast the book [the Holy Bible] of signs about these matters by\nthee; thou hast also men of God to go to, and their assemblies to\nfrequent. Look to thyself; heaven and hell are hard by, and one of them\nwill swallow thee up; heaven, into unspeakable and endless glory, or\nhell, into unspeakable and endless torment. Yet,\n\n5. What are the pleasures and delights of thy soul now? Are they things\nDivine, or things natural? Are they things heavenly, or things earthly?\nAre they things holy, or things unholy? For look what things thou\ndelightest in now, to those things the great God doth count thee a\nservant, and for and of those thou shalt receive thy wages at the day\nof judgment\u2014\u2018His servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto\ndeath, or of obedience unto righteousness\u2019 (Rom 16:16).\n\nWicked men talk of heaven, and say they hope and desire to go to\nheaven, even while they continue wicked men; but, I say, what would\nthey do there? If all that desire to go to heaven should come thither,\nverily they would make a hell of heaven; for, I say, what would they do\nthere? why, just as they do here, scatter their filthiness quite over\nthe face of heaven, and make it as vile as the pit that the devils\ndwell in. 33 Take holiness away out of heaven, and what is heaven? I\nhad rather be in hell, were there none but holy ones there, than be in\nheaven itself with the children of iniquity. If heaven should be filled\nwith wicked men, God would quickly drive them out, or forsake the place\nfor their sakes. It is true, they have been sinners, and none but\nsinners, that go to heaven; but they are washed\u2014\u2018Such were some of you;\nbut ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the\nname of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God\u2019 (1 Cor 6:11).\nWhen the maidens were gathered together for the great king Ahasuerus,\nbefore they were brought to him into his royal presence, they were to\nbe had to the house of the women, there to be purifed with things for\npurification, and that for twelve months together\u2014to wit, six months\nwith oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and other things,\nand so came every maiden to the king (Esth 2:3,9,12,13). God also hath\nappointed that those that come into His royal presence should first go\nto the house of the women, the church, 34 and there receive of the\neunuchs things for purification, things to make us \u2018meet to be\npartakers of the inheritance of the saints in light\u2019 (Col 1:12). None\ncan go from a state of nature to glory but by a state of grace, the\nLord gives grace and glory; hence he that goeth to heaven is said to be\nwrought for it, fitted, prepared for it (1 Cor 5:5; Rom 19:23).\n\nUSE FIFTH, Again, fifthly, Is it so? is the soul such an excellent\nthing, and is the loss thereof so unspeakably great? Then this doctrine\ncommends those for the wise ones, that above all business concern\nthemselves with the salvation of their souls; those that make all other\nmatters but things by the by, and the salvation of their souls the one\nthing needful. But, but few comparatively will be concerned with this\nuse; for where is he that doth this? Solomon speaks of one man of a\nthousand (Eccl 7:28). However, some there be, and blessed be God for\nsome; but they are they that are wise, yea, wise in the wisdom of God.\n\n1. Because they reject what God hath rejected and that is sin. 2.\nBecause they esteem but little of that which, by the Word, is counted\nbut of little esteem, and that is the world. 3. Because they choose for\na portion that which God commendeth unto us for that which is the most\nexcellent thing\u2014viz., Himself, His Christ, His heaven, His Word, His\ngrace, and holiness; these are the great and most excellent things, and\nthe things that He has chosen that is truly wise for his soul (and all\nother wise men are fools in God\u2019s account, and in the judgment of His\nWord), and if it be so, glory and bliss must needs be their portion,\nthough others shall miss thereof\u2014\u2018The wise shall inherit glory, but\nshame shall be the promotion of fools\u2019 (Prov 3:35).\n\nLet me, then, encourage those that are of this mind to be strong, and\nhold on their way. Soul, thou hast pitched right; I will say of thy\nchoice as David said of Goliath\u2019s sword, \u2018There is none like that; give\nit me.\u2019 \u2018Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown\u2019\n(Rev 3:11). Oh! I admire this wisdom; this is by the direction of the\nLawgiver; this is by the teaching of the blessed Spirit of God: not the\nwisdom which this world teacheth, nor the wisdom which the world doth\nchoose, which comes to nought (1 Cor 2: 6). Surely thou hast seen\nsomething of the world to come, and of the glory of it, through faith;\nsurely God has made thee see emptiness in that wherein others find a\nfulness, and vanity in that which by others is counted for a darling.\nBlessed are thine eyes, for they see; and thine ears, for they hear.\n\nBut who told thee that thy soul was such an excellent thing as by thy\npractice thou declarest thou believest it to be? What! set more by thy\nsoul than by all the world? What! cast a world behind thy back for the\nwelfare of a soul? Is not this to play the fool, in the account of\nsinners, while angels wonder at and rejoice for thy wisdom? What a\nthing is this, that thy soul and its welfare should be more in thy\nesteem than all those glories wherewith the eyes of the world are\ndazzled! Surely thou hast looked upon the sun, and that makes gold look\nlike a clod of clay in thine eyesight.\n\nBut who put the thoughts of the excellencies of the things that are\neternal\u2014I say, who put the thoughts of the excellency of those things\ninto thy mind in this wanton age?\u2014in an age wherein the thoughts of\neternal life, and the salvation of the soul, are with and to many like\nthe Morocco ambassador and his men, men of strange faces, in strange\nhabit, with strange gestures and behaviour, monsters to behold. But\nwhere hadst thou that heart that gives entertainment to these thoughts,\nthese heavenly thoughts? These thoughts are like the French\nProtestants, banished thence where they willingly would have harbour.35\nHow came they to thy house, to thy heart, and to find entertainment in\nthy soul? The Lord keep them in every imagination of the thoughts of\nthy heart for ever, and incline thine heart to seek Him more and more.\n\nAnd since the whole world have slighted and despised, and counted\nfoolish the thoughts and cogitations wherewith thy soul is exercised,\nwhat strong and mighty supporter is it upon and with which thou bearest\nup thy spirit, and takest encouragement in this thy forlorn,\nunoccupied, and singular way? for so, I daresay, it is with the most;\nbut certainly it is something above thyself, and that is more mighty to\nuphold thee than is the power, rage, and malice of all the world to\ncast thee down, or else thou couldst not bear up, now wind and weather,\nnow the stream and the force thereof are against thee.\n\nObjection 1. \u2018I know my soul is an excellent thing, and that the world\nto come and its glories, even in the smallest glimpse thereof, do\nswallow up all the world that is here; my heart also doth greatly\ndesire to be exercised about the thoughts of eternity, and I count\nmyself never better than when my poor heart is filled with them; as for\nthe rage and fury of this world, it swayeth very little with me, for my\nheart is come to a point; but yet, for all that, I meet with many\ndiscouragements, and such things that indeed do weaken my strength in\nthe way.\u2019\n\nBut, brave soul, pray tell me what the things are that discourage thee,\nand that weaken thy strength in the way?\n\nWhy, the amazing greatness of this my enterprise, that is one thing. I\nam now pursuing things of the highest, the greatest, the most enriching\nnature, even eternal things; and the thoughts of the greatness of them\ndrowned me; for when the heat of my spirit in the pursuit after them is\na little returned and abated, methinks I hear myself talking thus to\nmyself: Fond fool! canst thou imagine that such a gnat, a flea, a\npismire as thou art, can take and possess the heavens, and mantle\nthyself up in the eternal glories? If thou makest first a trial of the\nsuccessfulness of thy endeavours upon things far lower, more base, but\nmuch more easy to obtain, as crowns, kingdoms, earldoms, dukedoms,\ngold, silver, or the like, how vain are these attempts of thine; and\nyet thou thinkest to possess thy soul of heaven! Away, away! by the\nheight thereof thou mayest well conclude it is far above out of thy\nreach; and by the breadth thereof it is too large for thee to grasp;\nand by the nature of the excellent glory thereof, too good for thee to\npossess. These are the thoughts that sometimes discourage me, and that\nweaken my strength in the way.\n\nAnswer. The greatness of thy undertaking does but show the nobleness of\nthy soul, in that it cannot, will not, be content with such low and dry\nas the baseborn spirits that are of the world can and do content\nthemselves withal. And as to the greatness of the things thou aimest\nat, though they be, as they are indeed, things that have not their\nlike, yet they are not too big for God to give, and He has promised to\ngive them to the soul that seeketh Him; yea, He hath prepared the\nkingdom, given the kingdom, and laid up in the kingdom of heaven, the\nthings that thy soul longeth for, presseth after, and cannot be content\nwithout (Luke 7:32; Matt 25:14; Col 1:5; 1 Peter 1:4). As for thy\nmaking a trial of the successfulness of thy endeavours upon things more\ninterim and base, that is but a trick of the old deceiver. God has\nrefused to give His children the great, the brave, and glorious things\nof this world, a few only excepted, because He has prepared some better\nthing for them (1 Cor 1:27; Heb 11:36-40). Wherefore faint not, but let\nthy hand be strong, for thy work shall be rewarded (Gal 6:9). And since\nthy soul is at work for soul-things, for divine and eternal things, God\nwill give them to thee; thou art not of the number of them that draw\nback unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the\nsoul; thou shalt receive the end of thy faith, the salvation of thy\nsoul (Heb 10:39; 1 Peter 1:8,9).\n\nObjection 2. But all my discouragement doth not lie in this. I see so\nmuch of the sinful vileness of my nature, and feel how ready it is to\nthrust itself forth at all occasions to the defiling of my whole man,\nand more. Now this added to the former, adds to my discouragement\ngreatly.\n\nAnswer. This should be cause of humiliation and of self-abasement, but\nnot of discouragement; for the best of saints have their weaknesses,\nthese their weaknesses. The ladies as well as she that grinds at the\nmill, know what doth attend that sex; and the giants in grace as well\nas the weak and shrubs, are sensible of the same things, which thou\nlayest in against thy exercising of hope, or as matter of thy\ndiscouragement. Poor David says (Psa 77:2) \u2018My soul refused to be\ncomforted,\u2019 upon this very account, and Paul cries out under sense of\nthis, \u2018O wretched man that I am!\u2019 and comes as it were to the borders\nof doubt, saying, \u2018Who shall deliver me?\u2019 (Rom 7:24). Only he was quick\nat remembering that Christ was his righteousness and price of\nredemption, and there he relieved himself.\n\nAgain; this should drive us to faith in Christ; for therefore are the\ncorruptions by Divine permission still left in us; they are not left in\nus to drive us to unbelief, but to faith\u2014that is, to look to the\nperfect righteousness of Christ for life. And for further help,\nconsider, that therefore Christ liveth in heaven, making intercession,\nthat thou mightest be saved by His life, not by thine, and by His\nintercessions, not by thy perfections (Rom 5: 6-9; Col 1:20). Let not\ntherefore thy weaknesses be thy discouragements; only let them put thee\nupon the duties required of thee by the gospel\u2014to wit, faith, hope,\nrepentance, humility, watchfulness, diligence, etc. (1 Peter 1:13; 5:5;\n2 Cor 7:11; Mark 13:37; 2 Peter 1:10).\n\nObjection 3. But I find, together with these things, weakness and\nfaintness as to my graces; my faith my hope, my love, and desires to\nthese and all other Christian duties are weak; I am like the man in the\ndream, that would have run, but could not; that would have fought, but\ncould not; and that would have fled, but could not.\n\nAnswer 1. Weak graces are graces, weak graces may grow stronger; but if\nthe iron be blunt, put to the more strength (Eccl 10:10). 2. Christ\nseems to be most tender of the weak: \u2018He shall gather the lambs with\nHis arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that\nare with young.\u2019 (Isa 40:11). And again, \u2018I will seek that which was\nlost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that\nwhich was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick\u2019 (Eze 34:16).\nOnly here will thy wisdom be manifested\u2014to wit, that thou grow in\ngrace, and that thou use lawfully and diligently the means to do it (2\nPeter 3:18; Phil 2:10,11; 1 Thess 3:11-13).\n\nUSE SIXTH, I come, in the next place, to a use of terror, and so I\nshall conclude. Is it so? is the soul such an excellent thing, and is\nthe loss thereof so unspeakably great? Then this showeth the sad state\nof those that lose their souls. We use to count those in a deplorable\ncondition, that by one only stroke, are stript of their whole estate;\nthe fire swept away all that he had; or all that he had was in such a\nship, and that ship sunk into the bottom of the sea; this is sad news,\nthis is heavy tidings, this is bewailed of all, especially if such were\ngreat in the world, and were brought by their loss from a high to a\nlow, to a very low condition; but alas! what is this to the loss about\nwhich we have been speaking all this while? The loss of an estate may\nbe repaired, or if not, a man may find friends in his present\ndeplorable condition to his support, though not recovery; but far will\nthis be from him that shall lose his soul. Ah! he has lost his soul,\nand can never be recovered again, unless hell fire can comfort him;\nunless he can solace himself in the fiery indignation of God; terrors\nwill be upon him, anguish and sorrow will swallow him up, because of\npresent misery; slighted and set at nought by God and His angels, he\nwill also be in this miserable state, and this will add to sorrow,\nsorrow, and to his vexation of spirit, howling.\n\nTo present you with emblems of tormented spirits, or to draw before\nyour eyes the picture of hell, are things too light for so ponderous a\nsubject as this; nor can any man frame or invent words, be they never\nso deep and profound, sufficient to the life to set out the torments of\nhell.\n\nAll those expressions of fire, brimstone, the lake of fire, a fiery\nfurnace, the bottomless pit, and a hundred more to boot, are all too\nshort to let forth the miseries of those that shall be damned souls.\n\u2018Who knoweth the power or God\u2019s anger?\u2019 (Psa 90:11). None at all; and\nunless the power of that can be known, it must abide as unspeakable as\nthe love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.\n\nWe hear it thunder, we see it lighten; yea, eclipses, comets, and\nblazing stars are all subject to smite us with terror; the thought of a\nghost, of the appearing of a dead wife, a dead husband, or the like,\nhow terrible are these things! 36 But alas, what are these? mere flea\nbitings, nay, not so bad, when compared with the torments of hell.\nGuilt and despair, what are they? Who understands them unto perfection?\nThe ireful looks of an infinite Majesty, what mortal in the land of the\nliving can tell us to the full, how dismal and breaking to the soul of\na man it is, when it comes as from \u2018the power of His anger,\u2019 and arises\nfrom the utmost indignation? Besides, who knows of all the ways by\nwhich the Almighty will inflict His just revenges upon the souls of\ndamned sinners? When Paul was caught up to the third heaven, he heard\nwords that were unspeakable; and he that goes down to hell shall hear\ngroans that are unutterable. Hear, did I say? they shall feel them,\nthey shall feel them burst from their wounded spirit as thunderclaps do\nfrom the clouds. Once I dreamed that I saw two (whom I knew) in hell,\nand methought I saw a continual dropping from heaven, as of great drops\nof fire lighting upon them, to their sore distress. Oh! words are\nwanting, thoughts are wanting, imagination and fancy are poor things\nhere; hell is another kind of place and state than any alive can think;\nand since I am upon this subject, I will here treat a little of hell as\nthe Scriptures will give me leave, and the rather because I am upon a\nuse of terror, and because hell is the place of torment (Luke 16).\n\n1. Hell is said to be beneath, as heaven is said to be above; because\nas above signifieth the utmost joy, triumph, and felicity, so beneath\nis a term most fit to describe the place of hell by, because of the\nutmost opposition that is between these two; hell being the place of\nthe utmost sorrow, despair, and misery; there are the underlings ever\ntrampled under the feet of God; they are beneath, below, under (Prov\n15:24)!\n\n2. Hell is said to be darkness, and heaven is said to be light; light,\nto show the pleasureableness and the desireableness of heaven; and\ndarkness, to show the dolesome and wearisomeness of hell; and how\nweary, oh! how weary and wearisomely, as I may say, will damned souls\nturn themselves from side to side, from place to place, in hell, while\nswallowed up in the thickest darkness, and griped with the burning\nthoughts of the endlessness of that most unutterable misery (Matt\n22:13)!\n\n3. Men are said to go up to heaven, but they are said to go down to\nhell; up, because of exaltation, and because they must abound in beauty\nand glory that go to heaven; down, because of those sad dejections,\nthat great deformity and vile contempt that sin hath brought them to\nthat go to hell (Eze 32:18).\n\n4. Heaven is called a hill or mount, (Heb 12); hell is called a pit, or\nhole, (Rev 9:2); heaven, a mount, the mount Zion, (Rev 14); to show how\nGod has, and will exalt them that loved Him in the world; hell, a pit\nor hole, to show how all the ungodly shall be buried in the yawning\npaunch and belly of hell, as in a hollow cave.\n\n5. Heaven! It is said of heaven, the height of heaven, (Job 22:12). and\nof hell, the bottomless pit, (Rev 9:2; 20:3). The height of heaven, to\nshow that the exaltation of them that do ascend up thither is both\nperfect and unsearchable; and hell, the bottomless pit, to show that\nthe downfall of them that descend in thither will never be at an\nend\u2014down, down, down they go, and nothing but down, down still!\n\n6. Heaven! It is called the paradise of God, (Rev 2:7); but hell, the\nburning lake (Rev 20:15). A paradise, to show how quiet, harmless,\nsweet, and beautiful heaven shall be to them that possess it, as the\ngarden was at the beginning of the creation; hell, the burning lake, to\nallude to Sodom, that since its destruction is turned into a stinking\nlake, and to show that as their distress was unutterable, and to the\nhighest amazement, full of confusion and horror, when that tempestuous\nstorm of fire and brimstone was rained from the Lord out of heaven upon\nthem, so, to the utmost degree, shall it be with the souls that are\nlost and cast into hell.\n\n7. It is said that there are dwelling houses, or places in the kingdom\nof heaven (John 14: 1-3; Zech 3:7; Isa 57:1,2). And also that there are\nthe cells or the chambers of death in hell (Prov 7:27). There are\nmansions or dwelling places in heaven, to show that every one of them\nthat go thither might have his reward, according to his work; and that\nthere is hell, and the lowest hell (Deu 32:22; Psa 86:13). And the\nchambers of death in hell to show there are places and states in hell\ntoo, for sinners to be imprisoned in, according to their faults; hence\nit is said of some, These shall receive greater damnation, (Luke\n20:47); and of others, That it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and\nGomorrah in the judgment than for them, etc. (Luke 10:12, 14).\n\nThe lowest hell. How many hells there are above that, or more tolerable\ntormenting places than the most exquisite torments there, God, and they\nthat are there, know best; but degrees without doubt there are; and the\nterm \u2018lowest\u2019 shows the utmost and most exquisite distress; so the\nchambers of death, the second death in hell, for so I think the words\nshould be understood\u2014\u2018Her house is the way to hell, going down to the\nchambers of death\u2019 (Prov 7:27). These are the chambers that the\nchambers in the temple, or that the dwelling places in the house in\nheaven, are opposed to: and this opposition shows, that as there will\nbe degrees of glory in heaven, so there will of torments in hell; and\nthere is all reason for it, since the punishment must be inflicted by\nGod, the infinitely just. Why should a poor, silly, ignorant man,\nthough damned, be punished with the same degree of torment that he that\nhas lived a thousand times worse shall be punished with? It cannot be;\njustice will not admit it; guilt, and the quality of the transgression,\nwill not admit it; yea, the tormenting fire of hell itself will not\nadmit it; for if hell fire can kindle upon nothing but sin, and the\nsinner for the sake of it, and if sin be as oil to that fire, as the\nHoly Ghost seems to intimate, saying, \u2018Let it come into his bowels like\nwater, and like oil into his bones\u2019 (Psa 109:18). Then as the quantity\nof the oil is, so will the fire burn, and so will the flaming flame\nascend, and the smoke of their torment, for ever and ever. Suppose a\npiece of timber a little bedaubed with oil, and another that has been\nsoaking in it many a year, which of these two, think you, would burn\nfiercest? and from whence would the flaming flame ascend highest, and\nmake the most roaring noise? Suppose two vessels filled with oil, one\ncontaining the quantity of a pint, the other containing the quantity of\na hogshead, and suppose that in one place they were both set on fire,\nyet so that they might not intermix flames; nay, though they did, yet\nall would conclude that the most amazing roaring flame would be upon\nthe biggest vessel, and would be the effect of the greatest quantity of\noil; so it will be with the wicked in hell. The lowest hell is for the\nbiggest sinners, and theirs will be the greater damnation, and the more\nintolerable torment, though he that has least of this oil of sin in his\nbones, and of the kindlings of hell fire upon him, will find he has\nhell enough, and will be weary enough thereof, for still he must\nstruggle with flames that are everlasting; for sin is such a thing,\nthat it can never be burned out of the soul and body of a damned\nsinner.\n\nBut again; having treated thus of hell, we will now speak a word or two\nof sin, for that is it upon which hell fire seizes, and so on the soul\nby that. Sin! it is the sting of hell\u2014the sting of death is sin (1 Cor\n15:56). By \u2018death\u2019 in this place we must not understand that which is\nnatural, but that which is in hell, the second death, even everlasting\ndamnation; for natural death the saints die, yea, and also many\nsinners, without the least touch of a sting from that; but here is a\ndeath that has a sting to hurt, to twinge, and wound the sinner with,\neven then when it has the utmost mastery of him. And this is the death\nthat the saved are delivered from; not that which is natural, for that\nis the end of them as of others (1 Cor 15:55; Eccl 2:15, 16). But the\nsecond death, the death in hell, for that is the portion of the damned,\nand it is from that that the saints have a promise of deliverance\u2014\u2018He\nthat overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death\u2019 (Rev 2:11). And\nagain, \u2018Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first\nresurrection; on such the second death hath no power\u2019 (Rev 20:6). It is\nthis death, then, that hath the chambers to hold each damned soul in:\nand sin is the twining, winding, biting, poisoning sting of this death,\nor of these chambers of hell, for sinners to be stricken, stung, and\npierced with. \u2018The sting of death is sin.\u2019 Sin, the general of it, 37\nis the sting of hell, for there would be no such thing as torment even\nthere, were it not that sin is there with sinners; for, as I have\nhinted already, the fire of hell, the indignation and wrath of God, can\nfasten and kindle upon nothing but for or because of sin; sin, then, as\nsin, is the sting and the hell of hells, of the lowest and upmost\nhells. Sin, I say, in the nature of it, simply as it is concluded both\nby God and the damned to be a breach of His holy law, so it is the\nsting of the second death, which is the worm of hell. But then, as sin\nis such a sting in itself, so it is heightened, sharpened, and made\nmore keen and sharp by those circumstances that as concomitants attend\nit in every act: for there is not a sin at any time committed by man,\nbut there is some circumstance or other attends it, that makes it, when\ncharged home by God\u2019s law, bigger and sharper, and more venom and\npoisonous to the soul than if it could be committed without them; and\nthis is the sting of the hornet, the great sting. I sinned without a\ncause to please a base lust, to gratify the devil; here is the sting!\nAgain, I preferred sin before holiness, death before life, hell before\nheaven, the devil before God, and damnation before a Saviour; here is\nthe sting! Again, I preferred moments before everlastings, temporals\nbefore eternals, to be racked and always slaying before the life that\nis blessed and endless; here is the sting! Also, this I did against\nlight, against convictions, against conscience, against persuasion of\nfriends, ministers, and the godly lives which I beheld in others; here\nis the sting! Also, this I did against warnings, forewarnings, yea,\nthough I saw others fall before my face by the mighty hand of God for\ncommitting of the same; here is the sting!\n\nSinners, would I could persuade you to hear me out! A man cannot commit\na sin, but, by the commission of it, he doth, by some circumstance or\nother, sharpen the sting of hell, and that to pierce himself through\nand through, and through, with many sorrows (1 Tim 6:10) Also, the\nsting of hell to some will be, that the damnation of others stand upon\ntheir score, for that by imitating of them, by being deluded by them,\npersuaded by them, drawn in by them, they perish in hell for ever; and\nhence it is that these principal sinners must die all these deaths in\nthemselves, that those damned ones that they have drawn into hell are\nalso to bear in their own souls for ever. And this God threatened to\nthe prince of Tyrus, that capital sinner, because by his pride, power,\npractice, and policy, he cast down others into the pit; therefore saith\nGod to him, \u2018They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die\nthe deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.\u2019 And again;\n\u2018Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of\nstrangers; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God\u2019 (Eze 28:8,10). Ah!\nthis will be the sting of them, of those that are principal, chief and,\nas I may call them, the captain and ringleading sinners. Vipers will\ncome out of other men\u2019s fire and flames, and settle upon, seize upon,\nand for ever abide upon their consciences; and this will be the sting\nof hell, the great sting of hell to them.\n\nI will yet add to all this; how will the fairness of some for heaven,\neven the thoughts of that, sting them when they come to hell! It will\nnot be so much their fall into the pit, as from whence they fell into\nit, that will be to them the buzzing noise and sharpened sting of the\ngreat and terrible hornet. \u2018How art thou fallen from heaven, O\nLucifer!\u2019 there is the sting (Isa 14:12). Thou that art exalted up to\nheaven shalt be thrust down to hell, though thou hast made \u2018thy nest\namong the stars,\u2019 from thence I will fetch thee down; there is a sting\n(Matt 11:23; Oba 4). To be pulled, for and through love to some vain\nlust, from the everlasting gates of glory, and caused to be swallowed\nup for it in the belly of hell, and made to lodge for ever in the\ndarksome chambers of death, there is the piercing sting!\n\nBut again, as there is the sting of hell, so there is the strength of\nthat sting; for a sting though never so sharp, or venom, yet if it\nwanteth strength to force it to the designed execution, it doth but\nlittle hurt. But this sting has strength to cause it to pierce into the\nsoul; \u2018the sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law\u2019\n(1 Cor 15:56). Here then is the strength of the stings of hell; it is\nthe law in the perfect penalty of it; \u2018for without the law, sin is\ndead\u2019 (Rom 7:8). Yea, again he saith, \u2018where no law is, there is no\ntransgression\u2019 (Rom 4:15). The law then followeth, in the executive\npart of it, the soul into hell, and there strengtheneth sin, that sting\nof hell, to pierce by its unutterable charging of it on the conscience,\nthe soul for ever and ever; nor can the soul justly murmur or repine at\nGod or at His law, for that then the sharply apprehensive soul will\nwell discern the justness, righteousness, reasonableness, and goodness\nof the law, and that nothing is done by the law unto it, but that which\nis just and equal. 38\n\nThis, therefore, will put great strength and force into sin to sting\nthe soul, and to strike it with the lashes of a scorpion. Add yet to\nthese the abiding life of God, the Judge and God of this law, will\nnever die. When princes die, the law may be altered by the which at\npresent transgressors are bound in chains; but oh! here is also that\nwhich will make this sting so sharp and keen, the God that executes it\nwill never die. \u2018It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the\nliving God\u2019 (Heb 10:30, 31).\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1 \u2018Gospellers,\u2019 a term of reproach given to our reformers under Henry\nVIII; changed to \u2018Puritan\u2019 under Elizabeth and the Stuarts; and to\n\u2018Methodist,\u2019 or \u2018Evangelical\u2019 in more recent times. All these terms\nwere adopted by the reformers as an honorable distinction from the\nopenly profane.\u2014Ed.\n\n2 Having the most solemn warnings mercifully given to us by God, whose\nword is truth itself, how strange it is, nay, how insane, to neglect\nthe Saviour. Our author, in his \u2018Grace Abounding to the Chief of\nSinners,\u2019 gives a solemn account of his own distracted feelings, when\nhe, by Divine warnings, contemplated the probable loss of his\nnever-dying soul; and, believing in the truth of God\u2019s revealed will,\nhe felt, with inexpressible horror, his dangerous state. He describes\nhis mental anguish, by comparing it with the acute bodily sufferings of\na criminal broken on the wheel. Can we wonder that he was in \u2018downright\nearnest\u2019 in seeking salvation. Oh! reader, may we be thus impelled to\nfly from the wrath to come.\u2014Ed.\n\n3 Many have been the attempts to define the qualities, nature, and\nresidence of the soul. The sinful body is the sepulchre in which it is\nentombed, until Christ giveth it life. The only safe guide, in such\ninquiries, is to follow Bunyan, and ascertain \u2018what saith the Lord\u2019\nupon a subject so momentous and so difficult for mortal eyes to\npenetrate.\u2014Ed.\n\n4 The poor soul, under the irresistible constraints of conscience,\nbears witness against itself; sits in judgment upon, and condemns\nitself; and goeth, without a jailor, to conduct it, into the dread\nprison, where it becomes its own tormentor. \u2018A wounded spirit (or\nconscience) who can bear?\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n5 My Lord Will-be-will was a very eminent captain in the town of\nMansoul, during the Holy War: wherefore Diabolus had a kindness for\nhim, and coveted to have him for one of his great ones, to act and do\nin matters of the highest concern. Bunyan represents him as having been\nwounded in the leg, during the seige. \u2018Some of the prince\u2019s army\ncertainly saw him limp, as he afterwards walked on the wall.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n6 To the unregenerate, unsanctified soul, the language of the Saviour\nin John 6:48-58, must appear, as it did to the Jews, perfectly\ninexplicable\u2014\u2018He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth\nin me, and I in him.\u2019 Blessed mystery! to be one with Christ, in\nobedience to His will, and in partaking of His inheritance. To be\nenabled to say, \u2018For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n7 Nothing short of a Divine influence can direct the passions of the\nsoul to a proper use of their energies. \u2018Godly sorrow worketh\nrepentance\u2014carefulness\u2014indignation\u2014fear\u2014a vehement\ndesire\u2014zeal\u2014revenge,\u2019 (2 Cor 7:11). Reader, has thy spirit been thus\nexcited against sin?\u2014Ed.\n\n8 This is perfectly true, but is only felt by those who are taught of\nthe Holy Spirit rightly to appreciate Divine worship. How many pay\nundue respect to buildings in which public prayer is offered up? It is\nthe worship that consecrates the place and solemnizes the mind. Very\nremarkably was this the case with Jacob while wandering in the open\nwilderness. He put stones for his pillow, and in a dream saw the angels\nvisiting the earth, and said, THIS is the house of God, and the gate of\nheaven.\u2014Ed.\n\n9 If the body, which is to return to dust, \u2018is fearfully and\nwonderfully made,\u2019 past our finding out in its exquisite formation, how\nmuch more so must be that immortal soul which we can only contemplate\nby its own powers, and study in the Bible. It never dies, although it\nmay be dead in sin, in time; and be ever dying\u2014ever in the agonies of\ndeath, in eternity. Solemn consideration! May our adorning be \u2018the\nhidden man of the heart, which is not corruptible; a meek and quiet\nspirit; that which is in the sight of God of great price\u2019 (1 Peter\n3:4).\u2014Ed.\n\n10 One of the first revelations to our race was, that \u2018God breathed\ninto his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.\u2019\nAnd this great and important fact has, by tradition, extended over the\nwhole of the human family.\u2014Ed.\n\n11 \u2018An old horse shoe\u2019 must be mentioned, to throw utter contempt upon\na custom, then very prevalent, and even now practised, of nailing an\nold horse shoe over the door of the house, to prevent a witch from\nentering. When will these absurd heathenish customs cease in Christian\nEngland?\u2014Ed.\n\n12 \u2018A point,\u2019 the tag at the end of a lace.\u2014Ed.\n\n13 Nothing can more fully display the transcendant worth and excellency\nof the soul, than these two considerations:\u2014first, That by the\noperation of the Eternal Spirit, it is made a habitation for God\nHimself, and susceptible of communion and converse with God, nay, of\nbeing even filled with all the fulness of God; and, second, The\ninfinite price that was paid for its redemption from sin and woe\u2014the\nprecious blood of the Son of God.\u2014Mason.\n\n14 \u2018A Relation of the Fearful Estate of Frances Spira.\u2019 He had been a\nProtestant, but, for some unworthy motives, became a Papist, and was\nvisited with the most awful compunctions of conscience. A poetical\nintroduction thus describes the guilty wretch:\u2014\n\n   \u2018Reader, wou\u2019dst see what, may you never feel,\n    Despair, racks, torments, whips of burning steel?\n    Behold this man, this furnace, in whose heart,\n    Sin hath created hell. Oh! In each part\n    What flames appear;\n    His thoughts all stings; words swords;\n    Brimstone his breath;\n    His eyes flames; wishes curses; life a death;\n    A thousand deaths live in him, he not dead;\n    A breathing corpse, in living scalding lead.\u2019\n\nIt is an awful account, and has added to it a narrative of the wretched\nend of John Child, a Bedford man, one of Bunyan\u2019s friends, who, to\navoid prosecution, conformed; was visited with black despair, and hung\nhimself. A copy of this curious little book is in the editor\u2019s\npossession.\u2014Ed.\n\n15 Nothing more properly excited horror throughout Christendom, than\nthe conduct of the Algerines in making slaves of their captives;\nbecause their victims had white skins, and were called Christians.\nHundreds of thousands of pounds sterling were paid to redeem the\nChristian captives, and thus the pirates were strengthened to continue\ntheir ferocious deeds. Many contributed to those funds the very money\nwhich they derived from the negro slave trade; who, while they\nprofessed to execrate white man slavery, perpetrated the same\nbarbarities upon their brethren of a different colour and caste. How\nstrangely does sin pervert the understandings of men, who arrogate to\nthemselves the highest grade of humanity and civilization!\u2014Ed.\n\n16 These awful denunciations are so many proofs of the immutablilty of\nthe justice and of the Word of God.\u2014Ed.\n\n17 \u2018Saith Christl\u2019 Peter in Acts i. 20, applies this Psalm to Christ,\nwhen the Jews cried, \u2018His blood be upon us and upon our childrenl\u2019 then\ndid they put on the envenomed garment which has tormented them ever\nsince. It is girded about their loins; the curse has penetrated like\nwater, and entered the very bones like oil. How awful will be the state\nof those who crucify Him afresh, and again put Him to open\nshame!\u2014Horsley.\n\n18 How awfully inconceivable is that eternal death that never dieth;\nthat final end that never endeth\u2014an immortal death\u2014a soul-murdering\nlife\u2014ever dying, but never dead; were the mountains and rocks to fall\nupon and and crush them, still eternity would intervene between them\nand death. Oh that grace may be given to ransom our souls from the doom\nwe have deserved!\u2014Ed.\n\n19 \u2018Weall\u2019 wealth, happiness, prosperity; \u2018wherefore taking comfort and\nboldness, partly of your grace and benevolent inclination toward the\nuniversal weal of your subjects, partly inflamed with zeal, I have now\nenterprized to describe, in our vulgar tongue, the form of a just\npublic weal.\u2019 Sir T. Elyot, Dedication of the Governor to Henry\nVIII.\u2014Ed.\n\n20 \u2018From the belly,\u2019: from its birth.\n\n21 Bunyan having been engaged in the civil war, accounts for his using\nthis military idea.\u2014Ed.\n\n22 God hates not the sinner, but the sin; the glorious provision made\nfor salvation, proves His good will to sinful souls. This will be \u2018the\nworm that dieth not,\u2019 to sinners to reflect, that, in rejecting the\ninviting promises of God, they have sealed their own\ncondemnation.\u2014Mason.\n\n23 \u2018Hideth his sins,\u2019 is quoted from the Genevan, or Puritan\nversion.\u2014Ed.\n\n24 \u2018Potherl\u2019 to be, or cause to be, as one involved in dust, in a\ncloud; to perplex, to puzzle, to confound.\u2014Ed.\n\n25 This is an allusion to a custom, nearly obsolete, originating in the\nfeast of tabernacles, of sacrificing to Vacina at the harvest home. The\nPapists substituted St. Bartholomew for the heathen goddess. Upon his\nday, the harvest being completed, an image of straw was carried about,\ncalled the corn, or Bartholomew, baby; and masters, mistresses, men,\nand maidens danced and rioted together; thus, under the guise of\nharmless joy, much evil was perpetrated.\u2014Ed.\n\n26 \u2018A blandation,\u2019 an obsolete word, which means wheedling, flattering\nspeech, soft words.\u2014Ed.\n\n27 Knowing the certainty that this wrath to the uttermost will be\npoured out, our blessed Lord exhorts all to \u2018fear God, who is able to\ndestroy both body and soul in hell.\u2019 In that doleful pit, the soul,\nre-united with the body, will suffer under the outpourings of Divine\nwrath.\u2014Mason.\n\n28 Bunyan probably here refers to his own experience when he was in\nprison, and was threatened by the judge to be hung for not going to\nparish church. \u2018I thought with myself, if I should make a scrabbling\nshift to clamber up the ladder, yet I should, either with quaking or\nother symptoms of faintings, give occasion to the enemy to reproach the\nway of God. I was ashamed to die with a pale face and tottering knees\nin such a cause as this.\u2019\u2014Grace Abounding, No. 334.\u2014Ed.\n\n29 This wish has been felt while in a desponding state, under the\nterrors of the law, and a fearful looking for of fiery indignation.\nThus Bunyan says, \u2018I blessed the condition of the dog and toad, and\ncounted the estate of everything that God had made far better than this\ndreadful state of mine.\u2019 Grace Abounding, No. 104.\u2014Ed.\n\n30 Alluding to the old proverb of bringing a noble to ninepence, and\nninepence to nothing.\u2014Ed.\n\n31 At the popular game of nine pins\u2014Ed.\n\n32 In our comparatively happy days, we have little if any conception of\nthe manner in which our forefathers desecrated the Sabbath. When Popery\nclouded the country, mass was attended on the Lord\u2019s day morning early;\nit was a recital of certain unknown words, after which parties of\npleasure, so called, spent the day in places attractive for the\nfrivolity or wantonness of their entertainments\u2014in dancing, and\ncarousing; the evening being devoted to the theatres or ball rooms.\nThis was afterwards encouraged by our English \u2018heads of the church,\u2019 in\na book of lawful sports to be used on Sundays. Even in our time a flood\nof iniquity continues to flow on those sacred days, which human laws\ncannot prevent. As the influence of the gospel spreads, the day will\nbecome sanctified and this will ever prove a correct standard of its\nprogress.\u2014Ed.\n\n33 How solemn, nay, awful is the thought that heaven\u2019s gates must be\nshut against all impurity. None who live and die in the love of sin can\nenter heaven, lest they should defile it\u2014\u2018And there shall in no wise\nenter into it anything that defileth, neither worketh abomination, or a\nlie\u2019 (Rev 21: 27).\u2014Ed.\n\n34 In \u2018The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress,\u2019 in the house called Beautiful, all the\ninmates, except the porter, are females.\u2014Ed.\n\n35 The edict of Nantes was issued April 1598; but in violation of it,\nRochelle was taken from the Protestants in 1628. From that time horrid\nbarbarities were practised upon them. In 1676, the elector of\nBrandenburg appealed to the French king on behalf of his Protestant\nsubjects, of whom multitudes fled for refuge to England and Germany. In\n1685, the edict of Nantes was revoked, and a frightful persecution\nensued.\u2014Ed.\n\n36 Great allowance must be made for the times in which Bunyan lived.\nBaxter, and all the great divines, Sir M. Hale, and the judges,\nbelieved in witches, ghosts, and other chimeras; in fact, any one\nprofessing unbelief in these wild fancies, would have been counted\namong infidels and atheists.\u2014Ed.\n\n37 Sin \u2018in the general of it,\u2019 or sin wherever it may be found.\n\n38 The law is a transcript of the mind of God, it is holy, just, and\ngood\u2014so that he that offendeth in one point is guilty of all. The law\nconvicts and shows the sinner that God is all eye to see, and all fire\nto consume, every unclean thing. Thus the law gives sin its strength,\nand death its warrant, to arrest and execute the sinner.\u2014Mason.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST AS AN ADVOCATE,\n\nCLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED,\n\nFOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS.\n\n\n1 John 2:1\u2014\u201cAnd if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,\nJesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\n\nBy JOHN BUNYAN, Author of \u201cThe Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\u201d\n\nLondon: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King\u2019s Arms, in the Poultry,\n1689.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nThis is one of the most interesting of Bunyan\u2019s treatises, to edit\nwhich required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my\nleft. It was very frequently republished; but in an edition by John\nMarshall, 1725, it became most seriously mutilated, many passages were\nomitted, and numerous errors were made. In this state, it was copied\ninto Mr. Whitefield\u2019s edition of his works, and it has been since\nrepublished with all those errors. It is now restored to its original\nstate; and we hope that it will prove a most acceptable addition to our\ntheological literature. Although Bunyan was shut up for more than\ntwelve years a prisoner for the truth, and his time was so fully\noccupied in preaching, writing, and labouring to provide for the\npressing wants of his family; still he managed to get acquainted, in a\nvery remarkable manner, with all those law terms which are connected\nwith the duties of a counsel, or advocate. He uses the words replevin,\nsupersedeas, term, demur, nonsuit, reference, title, in forma pauperis,\nking\u2019s bench, common pleas, as properly and familiarly as if he had\nbeen brought up to the bar. How extraordinary must have been his mental\npowers, and how retentive his memory! I examined this work with\napprehension, lest he had misapplied those hard words; but my surprise\nwas great, to find that he had used every one of them with as much\npropriety as a Lord Chief-Justice could have done.\n\nWe are indebted for this treatise to Bunyan\u2019s having heard a sermon\nwhich excited his attention to a common, a dangerous, and a fatal\nheresy, more frequently preached to crowned heads, mitred prelates,\nmembers of parliament, and convocations, than it is to the poor, to\nwhom the gospel is preached. In this sermon, the preacher said to his\nhearers, \u201csee that your cause be good, else Christ will not undertake\nit.\u201d p. 159. Bunyan heard, as all Christians ought to hear, with\ncareful jealousy, and at once detected the error. He exposes the\nfallacy, and uses his scriptural knowledge to confute it, by showing\nthat Christ pleads for the wicked, the lost; for those who feel\nthemselves so involved in a bad cause, that no advocate but Christ can\nbring them through. He manifests great anxiety that every inquirer\nshould clearly ascertain definite truths and not be contented with\ngeneral notions. See p. 189-199, and 201. This is very important\nadvice, and by following which, we shall be saved from many painful\ndoubts and fears. Our need of an advocate is proved by the fact, that\nChrist has undertaken the office. Some rely on their tears and sighs,\nas advocates for them with God; others on imperfect good works-from all\nthese the soul must be shaken, until it finds that there is no\nprevailing Advocate but the Saviour; and that he alone, with his\nmystical body, the church, is entitled to the inheritance. Then sincere\nrepentance, sighs, and tears, evidence our faith in him, and our godly\nsorrow for having occasioned him such inconceivable sufferings; tears\nof joy that we have such a Saviour and an Advocate, equally omnipotent\nto plead for, as to save us. The inheritance being Christ\u2019s, the\nmembers of his body cannot be cheated of it, or alienate it. p. 187.\nBunyan, with his fertile imagination, and profound scriptural\nknowledge, spiritualizes the day of jubilee as a type of the safety of\nthe inheritance of the saints. By our folly and sin we may lose sight\nfor a time of our title deeds; but the inheritance is safe.\n\nThe whole work is a rich treat to those who love experimental divinity,\nand are safe in Christ as Noah was in the ark; but, Oh! how woeful must\nthose be, who are without an interest in the Saviour; and that have\nnone to plead their cause. \u201cThey are left to be ground to powder\nbetween the justice of God and the sins which they have committed. It\nis sad to consider their plight. This is the man that is pursued by the\nlaw, and by sin, and by death, and has none to plead his cause. Terrors\ntake hold on him as waters; a stone hurleth him out of his place\u201d (Job\n27). p. 200. Reader, this is a soul-searching subject-may it lead us to\na solemn trial of our state, and to the happy conclusion, that the\nSaviour is our Advocate, and that our eternal inheritance is safe in\nheaven.\n\nHACKNEY. MAY 1850.\n\nGEORGE OFFOR.\n\nTHE EPISTLE TO THE READER.\n\nCOURTEOUS READER,\n\n\nOf all the excellent offices which God the Father has conferred upon\nJesus Christ our Lord, this of his being an Advocate with him for us is\nnot the least, though, to the shame of saints it may be spoken, the\nblessed benefits thereof have not with that diligence and fervent\ndesire been inquired after as they ought.\n\nChrist, as sacrifice, priest, and king, with the glories in, and that\nflow from, him as such, has, God be thanked, in this our day, been much\ndiscovered by our seers, and as much rejoiced in by those who have\nbelieved their words; but as he is an Advocate with the Father, an\nAdvocate for us, I fear the excellency of that doth still too much lie\nhid; though I am verily of opinion that the people of God in this age\nhave as much need of the knowledge thereof, if not more need, than had\ntheir brethren that are gone before them.\n\nThese words, \u201cif not more need,\u201d perhaps may seem to some to be\nsomewhat out of joint; but let the godly wise consider the decays that\nare among us as to the power of godliness, and what abundance of foul\nmiscarriages the generality of professors now stand guilty of, as also\nhow diligent their great enemy is to accuse them at the bar of God for\nthem, and I think they will conclude, that, in so saying, I indeed have\nsaid some truth. Wherefore, when I thought on this, and had somewhat\nconsidered also the transcendent excellency of the advocateship of this\nour Lord; and again, that but little of the glory thereof has by\nwriting been, in our day, communicated to the church, I adventured to\nwrite what I have seen thereof, and do, by what doth follow, present it\nunto her for good.\n\nI count not myself sufficient for this, or for any other truth as it is\nin Jesus; but yet, I say, I have told you somewhat of it, according to\nthe proportion of faith. And I believe that some will thank God for\nwhat I here have said about it; but it will be chiefly those, whose\nright and title to the kingdom of heaven and glory, doth seem to\nthemselves to be called in question by their enemy, at the bar of the\nJudge of all.\n\nThese, I say, will read, and be glad to hear, that they have an\nAdvocate at court that will stand up to plead for them, and that will\nyet secure to them a right to the heavenly kingdom. Wherefore, it is\nmore particularly for those that at present, or that hereafter, may be\nin this dreadful plight, that this my book is now made public; because\nit is, as I have showed, for such that Jesus Christ is Advocate with\nthe Father.\n\nOf the many and singular advantages, therefore, that such have by this\ntheir Advocate in his advocating for them, this book gives some\naccount; as, where he pleads, how he pleads, what he pleads, when he\npleads, with whom he pleads, for whom he pleads, and how the enemy is\nput to shame and silence before their God and all the holy angels.\n\nHere is also showed to those herein concerned, how they indeed may know\nthat Jesus is their Advocate; yea, and how their matters go before\ntheir God, the Judge; and particularly that they shall well come off at\nlast, yea, though their cause, as it is theirs, is such, in\njustification of which, themselves do not dare to show their heads.\n\nNor have I left the dejected souls without directions how to entertain\nthis Advocate to plead their cause; yea, I have also shown that he will\nbe with ease prevailed with, to stand up to plead for such, as one\nwould think, the very heavens would blush to hear them named by him.\nTheir comfort also is, that he never lost a cause, nor a soul, for whom\nhe undertook to be an Advocate with God.\n\nBut, reader, I will no longer detain thee from the perusal of the\ndiscourse. Read and think; read, and compare what thou readest with the\nWord of God. If thou findest any benefit by that thou readest, give the\nFather, and his Son the glory; and also pray for me. If thou findest me\nshort in this, or to exceed in that, impute all such things to my\nweakness, of which I am always full. Farewell. I am thine to serve thee\nwhat I may,\n\nJOHN BUNYAN.\n\nTHE CONTENTS OF THIS TREATISE\n\n\nThe apostle\u2019s Divine policy, to beget a due regard to his Divine\ndoctrine of eternal life.-The apostle\u2019s explication of this expression,\nviz., The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.-The apostle\u2019s\nexhortation to separation from sin, as a good effect of a good cause,\nviz., Forgiveness-The apostle\u2019s addition, to prevent misunderstanding,\nviz., We have an advocate with the Father\n\nThis brings to the text, in which are two great truths contained: I. A\nsupposition, viz., That men in Christ may sin. II. An expression, by\nway of consolation, in case of sin, viz., We have an Advocate with the\nFather\n\nTwo things for inquiry in these truths: First. An inquiry into what our\napostle means by sin; in which is considered, A difference in the\nperson and in the sin. And, Second, An inquiry into what it is for\nChrist to be an Advocate, viz., To plead for another in a court of\njudicature\n\nSeven things supposed in the office of an advocate: 1. That God, as\njudge, is on the throne of judgment. 2. That saints are concerned at\nthat bar. 3. That Christians have an accuser. 4. That sinning saints\ndare not appear at this bar to plead their own cause. 5. That\nChristians are apt to forget their Advocate, and remember their Judge.\n6. To remember our Advocate is the way to support faith and hope.-7.\nThat if our advocate plead our cause (though that be never so black) he\nis able to bring us off\n\nThe apostle\u2019s triumph in Christ on this account.-An exhortation to the\ndifficult task of believing.-Christ\u2019s advocateship declares us to be\nsorry creatures\n\nTHE METHOD OBSERVED IN THE DISCOURSE.\n\nFIRST, TO SPEAK OF THIS ADVOCATE\u2019S OFFICE\n\n\nFirst, By touching on the nature of this office\n\nSecond, By treating of the order or place of this office\n\nThird, The occasion of this office, viz., some great sin.-Christ, as\nAdvocate, pleads a bad cause.-A good cause will plead for itself.-A bad\nman may have a good cause, and a good man may have a bad cause.-Christ,\nthe righteous, pleading a bad cause, is a mystery.-The best saints are\nmost sensible of their sins.-A pestilent passage of a preacher\n\nSECOND, TO SHOW HOW CHRIST DOES MANAGE HIS OFFICE\n\n\nFirst, How he manages his office of Advocate with the Father.-1. ALONE,\nnot by any proxy or deputy.-2. Christ pleads at God\u2019s bar; the cause\ncannot be removed into another court.-If removed from heaven, we have\nno advocate on earth.-3. In pleading, Christ observes these rules: (1.)\nHe granteth what is charged on us.-(2.) He pleads his own goodness for\nus.-He payeth all our debts down.-All mouths stopped, who would not\nhave the sinner delivered.-(3.) Christ requires a verdict in order to\nour deliverance.-The sinner is delivered, God contented, Satan\nconfounded, and Christ applauded\n\nSecond, How Christ manages his office of an Advocate against the\nadversary by argument.-1. He pleads the pleasure of his Father in his\nmerits.-Satan rebuked for finding fault therewith.-2. He pleads God\u2019s\ninterest in his people.-Haman\u2019s mishap in being engaged against the\nking\u2019s queen.-N. B. It seems a weak plea, because of man\u2019s\nunworthiness; but it is a strong plea, because of God\u2019s worthiness.-The\nelect are bound to God by a sevenfold cord.-The weight of the plea\nweighed\n\nThird, Christ pleads his own interest in them.-A parallel between\ncattle in a pound and Christ\u2019s own sheep.-Six weighty reasons in this\nplea.-1. They are Christ\u2019s own.-2. They cost him dear.-3. He hath made\nthem near to himself.-(a.) They are his spouse, his love, his dove;\nthey are members of his body.-(b.) A man cannot spare a hand, a foot, a\nfinger.-Nor can Christ spare any member.-4. Christ pleads his right in\nheaven to give it to whom he will.-Christ will; Satan will not;\nChrist\u2019s will stands.-5. Christ pleads Satan\u2019s enmity against the\ngodly.-Satan is the cause of the crimes he accuses us of.-A simile of a\nweak-witted child.-6. Christ can plead those sins of saints for them\nfor which Satan would have them damned.-Eight considerations to clear\nthat.-Seven more considerations to the same end.-Men care most for\nchildren that are infirm.-A father offended hath been appeased by a\nbrother turning advocate\n\nTHIRD HEAD.\u2014TO SHOW WHO HAVE CHRIST FOR AN ADVOCATE; WHEREIN ARE THREE\nTHINGS CONTAINED\n\n\nFirst, This office of advocate differs from that of a priest.-1. They\ndiffer in name.-2. They differ in nature.-3. They differ as to their\nextent.-4. They differ as to the persons with whom they have to do.-5.\nThey differ as to the matter about which they are employed.-6. Christ,\nas Priest, precedes; Christ, as Advocate, succeeds\n\nSecond, How far this office of an advocate is extended; in five\nparticulars\n\nThird, Who have Christ for their Advocate.-1. In general, all adopted\nchildren.-Object. The text saith, \u201cIf any man sin.\u201d-Answ. \u201cAny man,\u201d is\nnot any of the world; but any of the children of God.-A difference in\nchildren; some bigger than some.-Christ an Advocate for strong men.-2.\nIn particular, to show if Christ be our Advocate-(1.) If one have\nentertained Christ to plead a cause.-Quest. How shall I know\nthat?-Answ. By being sensible of an action commenced against thee in\nthe high court of justice.-(2.) If one have revealed a cause to\nChrist.-An example of one revealing his cause to Christ, in a\ncloset.-In order to this, one must know Christ, (a.) To be a\nfriend.-(b.) To be faithful.-(3.) If one have committed a cause to\nChrist.-In order to this, one must be convinced, (a.) Of Christ\u2019s\nability to defend him.-(b.) Of Christ\u2019s courage to plead a cause.-(c.)\nOf Christ\u2019s will for this work.-(d.) Of Christ\u2019s tenderness in case of\nhis client\u2019s dullness.-(e.) Of Christ\u2019s unweariedness-(4.) If one wait\ntill things come to a legal issue.-Quest. What is it thus to\nwait?-Answ. (a.) To be of good courage; look for deliverance.-(b.) To\nkeep his way in waiting.-(c.) To observe his directions.-(d.) To\nhearken to further directions which may come from the advocate.-(e.) To\ncome to no ill conclusion in waiting, viz., that the cause is lost;\nbecause one hears not from court.-(f.) To wait waking, not\nsleeping.-Ordinances and ministers compared to a post house and\ncarriers of letters.-The client\u2019s comfortable conclusion about his\nadvocate and cause.-But yet doubting and desponding.-The author\u2019s reply\nto, and compliance with, the client\u2019s conclusion; and his counsel in\nthe case\n\nFOURTH HEAD\u2014TO SHOW THE CLIENT\u2019S PRIVILEGES, BY THE BENEFIT OF THIS\nOFFICE OF ADVOCATE\n\n\nFirst Privilege.-The Advocate pleads a price paid.-Of a rich brother\nand his poor brethren.-Of the ill-conditioned man, their enemy.-Further\ncleared by three considerations\n\nSecond Privilege.-The client\u2019s Advocate pleads for himself also; both\nconcerned in one bottom.-1. He pleads the price of his own blood.-2. He\npleads it for his own.-A simile of a lame horse.-Of men going to law\nfor a thing of little worth.-Object. I am but one.-Answ. Christ cannot\nlose one\n\nThird Privilege.-The plea of Satan is groundless.-Satan must be cast\nover the bar.-A simile of a widow owing a sum of money.-Of an old law\nnulled1 by a new law.-Satan pleads by the old law; Christ by the new\n\nFourth Privilege.-Is consequential; the client\u2019s accuser must needs be\noverthrown.-The client\u2019s solemn appeal to the Almighty.-In case the\naccused have no advocate, Satan prevails\n\nFifth Privilege.-The Advocate hath pity for his client, and indignation\nagainst the accuser.-Men choose an advocate who hath a quarrel against\ntheir adversary\n\nSixth Privilege.-The judge counts the accuser his enemy.-To procure the\njudge\u2019s son to plead, is desirable\n\nSeventh Privilege.-The client\u2019s Advocate hath good courage; he will set\nhis face like a flint.-He pleads before the God, and all the host, of\nheaven.-He is the old friend of publicans and sinners.-He pleads a\ncause bad enough to make angels blush.-Love will do, and bear, and\nsuffer much\n\nEighth Privilege.-The Advocate is always ready in court.-He appears NOW\nin the presence of God\n\nNinth Privilege.-The Advocate will not be blinded with bribes\n\nTenth Privilege.-The Advocate is judge in the client\u2019s cause.-Joseph\u2019s\nexaltation was Israel\u2019s advantage.-God\u2019s care of his people\u2019s welfare\n\nEleventh Privilege.-The Advocate hath all that is requisite for an\nadvocate to have\n\nFIFTH.\u2014LAST HEAD.\u2014TO SHOW THE NECESSITY OF CHRIST FOR OUR ADVOCATE\n\n\nFirst.-To vindicate the justice of God against the cavils of the\ndevil.-Satan charges God with unjust words and actions.-God is pleased\nwith his design to save sinners\n\nSecond.-There is law to be objected against us.-Christ appeals to the\nlaw itself.-Christ is not ashamed to own the way of salvation\n\nThird.-Many things give our accuser advantage.-1. Many things relating\nto the promises.-2. Many things relating to our lives.-3. The threats\nannexed to the gospel\n\nFourth.-To plead about our afflictions for sins.-A simile of a man\nindicted at the assizes, and his malicious adversary.-An allusion to\nAbishai and Shimei, who cursed David\n\nFifth.-To plead the efficacy of our old titles to our inheritance, if\nquestionable because of new sins-Saints do not sell their inheritance\nby sin\n\nSixth.-Our evidences are oft out of our hand, and we recover them by\nour Advocate\n\nSIXTH.\u2014OBJECTIONS REMOVED\n\n\nFirst Object.-What need all these offices or nice distinctions.-Answ.\nThe wisdom of God is not to be charged with folly.-God\u2019s people are\nbaffled with the devil for want of a distinct knowledge of Christ in\nall his offices\n\nSecond Object.-My cause being bad, Christ will desert me.-Answ. Sin is\ndeadly destruction to faith.-A five-fold order observed in the exercise\nof faith\n\nThird Object.-But who shall pay the Advocate his fee?-Answ. There is\nlaw, and lawyers too, without money.-Christ pleads for the\npoor.-David\u2019s strange gift to God\n\nFourth Object.-If Christ be my Advocate once, he will always be\ntroubled with me.-Answ. He is an Advocate to the utmost\n\nSEVENTH.\u2014USE AND APPLICATION\n\n\nUse First.-To consider the dignity God hath put upon Christ, by\noffices, places of trust, and titles of honour, in general\n\nUse Second.-To consider this office of an Advocate in particular; by\nwhich consideration these advantages come:-1. To see one is not\nforsaken for sin.-2. To take courage to contend with the devil.-3. It\naffords relief for discouraged faith.-4. It helps to put off the visor\nSatan puts on Christ.-A simile of a visor on the face of a\nfather.-Study this peculiar treasure of an advocate.-(1.) With\nreference to its peculiarity.-(2.) Study the nature of this\noffice.-(3.) Study its efficacy and prevalency.-(4.) Study Christ\u2019s\nfaithfulness in his office.-(5.) Study the need of a share therein\n\nUse Third.-To wonder at Christ\u2019s condescension, in being an Advocate\nfor the base and unworthy.-Christ acts in open court, 1. With a holy\nand just God.-2. Before all the heavenly host.-3. The client is\nunconcerned for whom the Advocate is engaged.-4. The majesty of the man\nthat is an Advocate\n\nUse Fourth.-Improve this doctrine to strengthen grace. 1.To strengthen\nfaith.-2. To encourage to prayer.-3. To keep humble.-4. To encourage to\nperseverance.-Object. I cannot pray; my mouth is stopped.-Answ. Satan\ncannot silence Christ.-5. Improve this doctrine, to drive difficulties\ndown\n\nUse Fifth.-If Christ pleads for us before God, we should plead for him\nbefore men.-Nine considerations to that end.-The last reserve for a\ndead lift\n\nUse Sixth.-To be wary of sin against God.-Christianity teaches\ningenuity. 2 Christ is our Advocate, on free cost.-A comely conclusion\nof a brute.-Three considerations added\n\nUse Seventh.-The strong are to tell the weak of an Advocate to plead\ntheir cause.-A word in season is good\n\nUse Eighth.-All is nothing to them that have none to plead their\ncause.-An instance of God\u2019s terrible judgment.-Object. There is grace,\nthe promise, the blood of Christ; cannot these save, except Christ be\nAdvocate?-Answ. These, and Advocate, and all, little enough.-Christ no\nAdvocate for such as have no sense of, and shame for sin.-Object. Is\nnot Christ an Advocate for his elect uncalled?-Answ. He died, and\nprayeth, for all his elect, as Priest; as Advocate, pleads for the\ncalled only\n\nTHE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST AS AN ADVOCATE.\n\n\u201cAND IF ANY MAN SIN, WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST\nTHE RIGHTEOUS.\u201d\u2014I JOHN 2:1.\n\n\nThat the apostle might obtain due regard from those to whom he wrote,\ntouching the things about which he wrote, he tells them that he\nreceived not his message to them at second or third hand, but was\nhimself an eye and ear witness thereof\u2014\u2018That which was from the\nbeginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which\nwe have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life,\n(for the life was manifested, and we have seen _it_, and bear witness\nand show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was\nmanifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard, declare we unto\nyou.[3] Having thus told them of his ground for what he said, he\nproceeds to tell them also the matter contained in his errand\u2014to wit,\nthat he brought them news of eternal life, as freely offered in the\nword of the gospel to them; or rather, that that gospel which they had\nreceived would certainly usher them in at the gates of the kingdom of\nheaven, were their reception of it sincere and in truth\u2014for, saith he,\nthen \u2018the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth you from all\nsin.\u2019\n\nHaving thus told them of his ground for what he said, he proceeds to\ntell them also the matter contained in his errand-to wit, that he\nbrought them news of eternal life, as freely offered in the word of the\ngospel to them; or rather, that that gospel which they had received\nwould certainly usher them in at the gates of the kingdom of heaven,\nwere their reception of it sincere and in truth\u2014for, saith he, then\n\u201cthe blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth you from all sin.\u201d\n\nHaving thus far told them what was his errand, he sets upon an\nexplication of what he had said, especially touching our being cleansed\nfrom all sin\u2014\u201cNot,\u201d saith he, \u201cfrom a being of sin; for should we say\nso, we should deceive ourselves,\u201d and should prove that we have no\ntruth of God in us, but by cleansing, I mean a being delivered from all\nsin, so as that none at all shall have the dominion over you, to bring\nyou down to hell; for that, for the sake of the blood of Christ, all\ntrespasses are forgiven you.\n\nThis done, he exhorts them to shun or fly sin, and not to consent to\nthe motions, workings, enticings, or allurements thereof, saying, \u201cI\nwrite unto you that ye sin not.\u201d Let not forgiveness have so bad an\neffect upon you as to cause you to be remiss in Christian duties, or as\nto tempt you to give, way to evil. Shall we sin because we are\nforgiven? or shall we not much matter what manner of lives we live,\nbecause we are set free from the law of sin and death? God forbid. Let\ngrace teach us another lesson, and lay other obligations upon our\nspirits. \u201cMy little children,\u201d saith he, \u201cthese things write I unto\nyou, that ye sin not.\u201d What things? Why, tidings of pardon and\nsalvation, and of that nearness to God, to which you are brought by the\nprecious blood of Christ. Now, lest also by this last exhortation he\nshould yet be misunderstood, he adds, \u201cAnd if any man sin, we have an\nAdvocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d I say, he addeth\nthis to prevent desponding in those weak and sensible Christians that\nare so quick of feeling and of discerning the corruptions of their\nnatures; for these cry out continually that there is nothing that they\ndo but it is attended with sinful weaknesses.\n\nWherefore, in the words we are presented with two great truths\u2014l. With\na supposition, that men in Christ, while in this world, may sin\u2014, \u201cIf\nany man sin;\u201d any man; none are excluded; for all, or any one of the\nall of them that Christ hath redeemed and forgiven, are incident to\nsin. By \u201cmay\u201d I mean, not a toleration, but a possibility; \u201cFor there\nis not a man, not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth\nnot\u201d (Eccl 7:20; 1 Kings 8:46). II. The other thing with which we are\npresented is, an Advocate\u2014, \u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate with\nthe Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\n\nNow there lieth in these two truths two things to be inquired into,\nas-First, What the apostle should here mean by sin. Second, And also,\nwhat he here doth mean by an advocate-\u201cIf any man sin, we have an\nAdvocate.\u201d There is ground to inquire after the first of these,\nbecause, though here he saith, they that sin have an advocate, yet in\nthe very next chapter he saith, \u201cSuch are of the devil, have not seen\nGod, neither know him, nor are of him.\u201d There is ground also to inquire\nafter the second, because an advocate is supposed in the text to be of\nuse to them that sin\u2014, \u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate.\u201d\n\nFirst, For the first of these\u2014to wit, what the apostle should here mean\nby sin\u2014, \u201cIf any man sin.\u201d\n\nI answer, since there is a difference in the persons, there must be a\ndifference in the sin. That there is a difference in the persons is\nshowed before; one is called a child of God, the other is said to be of\nthe wicked one. Their sins differ also, in their degree at least; for\nno child of God sins to that degree as to make himself incapable of\nforgiveness; \u201cfor he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that\nwicked one toucheth him not\u201d (I John 5:18). Hence, the apostle says,\n\u201cThere is a sin unto death\u201d (v. 16). See also Matthew 12:32. Which is\nthe sin from which he that is born of God is kept. The sins therefore\nare thus distinguished: The sins of the people of God are said to be\nsins that men commit, the others are counted those which are the sins\nof devils.\n\n1. The sins of God\u2019s people are said to be sins which men commit, and\nfor which they have an Advocate, though they who sin after the example\nof the wicked one have none. \u201cWhen a man or woman,\u201d saith Moses, \u201cshall\ncommit any sin that men commit\u2014they shall confess their sin\u2014and an\natonement shall be made for him\u201d (Num 5:5-7). Mark, it is when they\ncommit a sin which men commit; or, as Hosea has it, when they\ntransgress the commandment like Adam (Hosea 6:7). Now, these are the\nsins under consideration by the apostle, and to deliver us from which,\n\u201cwe have an Advocate with the Father.\u201d\n\n2. But for the sins mentioned in the third chapter, since the persons\nsinning go here under another character, they also must be of another\nstamp-to wit, a making head against the person, merits, and grace of\nJesus Christ. These are the sins of devils in the world, and for these\nthere is no remission. These, they also that are of the wicked one\ncommit, and therefore sin after the similitude of Satan, and so fall\ninto the condemnation of the devil.\n\nSecond, But what is it for Jesus to be an Advocate for these? \u201cIf any\nman sin, we have an Advocate.\u201d\n\nAn advocate is one who pleadeth for another at any bar, or before any\ncourt of judicature; but of this more in its place. So, then, we have\nin the text a Christian, as supposed, committing sin, and a declaration\nof an Advocate prepared to plead for him-\u201cIf any man sin, we have an\nAdvocate with the Father.\u201d\n\nAnd this leads me first to inquire into what, by these words the\napostle must, of necessity, presuppose? For making use here of the\nsimilitude or office of an advocate, thereby to show the preservation\nof the sinning Christian, he must,\n\n1. Suppose that God, as judge, is now upon the throne of his judgment;\nfor an advocate is to plead at a bar, before a court of judicature.\nThus it is among men; and forasmuch as our Lord Jesus is said to be an\n\u201cAdvocate with the Father,\u201d it is clear that there is a throne of\njudgment also. This the prophet Micaiah affirms, saying, \u201cI saw the\nLord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him\non his right hand and on his left\u201d (I Kings 22:19). Sitting upon a\nthrone for judgment; for from the Lord, as then sitting upon that\nthrone, proceeded that sentence against king Ahab, that he should go\nand fall at Ramoth-gilead; and he did go, and did fall there, as the\naward or fruit of that judgment. That is the first.\n\n2. The text also supposeth that the saints as well as sinners are\nconcerned at that bar; for the apostle saith plainly that there \u201cwe\nhave an Advocate.\u201d And the saints are concerned at that bar; because\nthey transgress as well as others, and because the law is against the\nsin of saints as well as against the sins of other men. If the saints\nwere not capable of committing of sin, what need would they have of an\nadvocate (I Chron 21:3-6. I Sam 12:13,14)?4 Yea, though they did sin,\nyet if they were by Christ so set free from the law as that it could by\nno means take cognizance of their sins, what need would they have of an\nadvocate? None at all. If there be twenty places where there are\nassizes kept in this land, yet if I have offended no law, what need\nhave I of an advocate? Especially if the judge be just, and knows me\naltogether, as the God of heaven does? But here is Judge that is just;\nand here is an Advocate also, an Advocate for the children, an Advocate\nto plead; for an advocate as such is not of use but before a bar to\nplead; therefore, here is an offence, and so a law broken by the saints\nas well as others. That is the second thing.\n\n3. As the text supposes that there is a judge, and crimes of saints, so\nit supposeth that there is an accuser, one that will carefully gather\nup the faults of good men, and that will plead them at this bar against\nthem. Hence we read of \u201cthe accuser of our brethren, that accused them\nbefore our God day and night\u201d (Rev 12:10-12). For Satan doth not only\ntempt the godly man to sin, but, having prevailed with him, and made\nhim guilty, he packs away to the court, to God the judge of all; and\nthere addresses himself to accuse that man, and to lay to his charge\nthe heinousness of his offence, pleading against him the law that he\nhas broken, the light against which he did it, and the like. But now,\nfor the relief and support of such poor people, the apostle, by the\ntext, presents them with an advocate; that is, with one to plead for\nthem, while Satan pleads against them; with one that pleads for pardon,\nwhile Satan, by accusing, seeks to pull judgment and vengeance upon our\nheads. \u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus\nChrist the righteous.\u201d That is the third thing.\n\n4. As the apostle supposeth a judge, crimes, and an accuser, so he also\nsupposeth that those herein concerned-to wit, the sinning\nchildren-neither can nor dare attempt to appear at this bar themselves\nto plead their own cause before this Judge and against this accuser;\nfor if they could or durst do this, what need they have an advocate?\nfor an advocate is of use to them whose cause themselves neither can\nnor dare appear to plead. Thus Job prayed for an advocate to plead his\ncause with God (Job 16:21); and David cries out, \u201cEnter not into\njudgment with thy servant,\u201d O God, \u201cfor in thy sight shall no man\nliving be justified\u201d (Psa 143:2). Wherefore, it is evident that saints\nneither can nor dare adventure to plead their cause. Alas! the Judge is\nthe almighty and eternal God; the law broken is the holy and perfect\nrule of God, in itself a consuming fire. The sin is so odious, and a\nthing so abominable, that it is enough to make all the angels blush to\nhear it but so much as once mentioned in so holy a place as that is\nwhere this great God doth sit to judge. This sin now hangs about the\nneck of him that hath committed it; yea, it covereth him as doth a\nmantle. The adversary is bold, cunning, and audacious, and can word a\nthousand of us into an utter silence in less than half a quarter of an\nhour. What, then, should the sinner, if he could come there, do at this\nbar to plead? Nothing; nothing for his own advantage. But now comes in\nhis mercy-he has an Advocate to plead his cause-\u201cIf any man sin, we\nhave an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d That is\nthe fourth thing. But again,\n\n5. The apostle also supposeth by the text there is an aptness in\nChristians when they have sinned, to forget that they \u201chave an Advocate\nwith the Father\u201d; wherefore this is written to put them in\nremembrance-\u201cIf any may sin, [let him remember] we have an Advocate.\u201d\nWe can think of all other things well enough-namely, that God is a just\njudge, that the law is perfectly holy, that my sin is a horrible and an\nabominable thing, and that I am certainly thereof accused before God by\nSatan.\n\nThese things, I say, we readily think of, and forget them not. Our\nconscience puts us in mind of these, our guilt puts us in mind of\nthese, the devil puts us in mind of these, and our reason and sense\nhold the knowledge and remembrance of these close to us. All that we\nforget is, that we have an Advocate, \u201can Advocate with the Father\u201d-that\nis, one that is appointed to take in hand in open court, before all the\nangels of heaven, my cause, and to plead it by such law and arguments\nas will certainly fetch me off, though I am clothed with filthy\ngarments; but this, I say, we are apt to forget, as Job when he said,\n\u201cO that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his\nneighbour!\u201d (Job 16:21). Such an one Job had, but he had almost at this\ntime forgot it; as he seems to intimate also where he wisheth for a\ndaysman that might lay his hand upon them both (Job 9:33). But our\nmercy is, we have one to plead our cause, \u201can Advocate with the Father,\nJesus Christ the righteous,\u201d who will not suffer our soul to be spilt\nand spoiled before the throne, but will surely plead our cause.\n\n6. Another thing that the apostle would have us learn from the words is\nthis, that to remember and to believe that Jesus Christ is an Advocate\nfor us when we have sinned, is the next way to support and strengthen\nour faith and hope. Faith and hope are very apt to faint when our sins\nin their guilt do return upon us; nor is there any more proper way to\nrelieve our souls than to understand that the Son of God is our\nAdvocate in heaven. True, Christ died for our sins as a sacrifice, and\nas a priest he sprinkleth with his blood the mercyseat; ay, but here is\none that has sinned after profession of faith, that has sinned\ngrievously, so grievously that his sins are come up before God; yea,\nare at his bar pleaded against him by the accuser of the brethren, by\nthe enemy of the godly. What shall he do now? Why, let him believe in\nChrist. Believe, that is true; but how now must he conceive in his mind\nof Christ for the encouraging of him so to do? Why, let him call to\nmind that Jesus Christ is an Advocate with the Father, and as such he\nmeeteth the accuser at the bar of God, pleads for this man that has\nsinned against this accuser, and prevaileth for ever against him. Here\nnow, though Satan be turned lawyer, though he accuseth, yea, though his\ncharge against us is true, (for suppose that we have sinned,) \u201cyet our\nAdvocate is with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d Thus is faith\nencouraged, thus is hope strengthened, thus is the spirit of the\nsinking Christian revived, and made to wait for a good deliverance from\na bad cause and a cunning adversary; especially if you consider,\n\n7. That the apostle doth also further suppose by the text that Jesus\nChrist, as Advocate, if he will but plead our cause, let that be never\nso black, is able to bring us off, even before God\u2019s judgment-seat, to\nour joy, and the confounding of our adversary; for when he saith, \u201cWe\nhave an Advocate,\u201d he speaks nothing if he means not thus. But he doth\nmean thus, he must mean thus, because he seeketh here to comfort and\nsupport the fallen. \u201cHas any man sinned? We have an Advocate.\u201d But what\nof that, if yet he be unable to fetch us off when charged for sin at\nthe bar, and before the face of a righteous judge?\n\nBut he is able to do this. The apostle says so, in that he supposes a\nman has sinned, as any man among the godly ever did; for we may\nunderstand it; and if he giveth us not leave to understand it so, he\nsaith nothing to the purpose neither, for it will be objected by\nsome-But can he fetch me off, though I have done as David, as Solomon,\nas Peter, or the like? It must be answered, Yes. The openness of the\nterms ANY MAN, the indefiniteness of the word SIN, doth naturally allow\nus to take him in the largest sense; besides, he brings in this saying\nas the chief, most apt, and fittest to relieve one crushed down to\ndeath and hell by the guilt of sin and a wounded conscience.\n\nFurther, methinks by these words the apostle seems to triumph in his\nChrist, saying, My brethren, I would have you study to be holy; but if\nyour adversary the devil should get the advantage of you, and besmear\nyou with the filth of sin, you have yet, besides all that you have\nheard already, \u201can Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the\nrighteous,\u201d who is as to his person, in interest with God, his wisdom\nand worth, able to bring you off, to the comforting of your souls.\n\nLet me, therefore, for a conclusion as to this, give you an exhortation\nto believe, to hope, and expect, that though you have sinned, (for now\nI speak to the fallen saint) that Jesus Christ will make a good end\nwith thee\u2014\u2018Trust,\u2019 I say, \u2018in him, and he shall bring it to pass.\u2019 I\nknow I put thee upon a hard and difficult task for believing and\nexpecting good, when my guilty conscience doth nothing but clog,\nburden, and terrify me with the justice of God, the greatness of thy\nsins, and the burning torments is hard and sweating work. But it must\nbe; the text calls for it, thy case calls for it, and thou must do it,\nif thou wouldst glorify Christ; and this is the way to hasten the issue\nof thy cause in hand, for believing daunts the devil, pleaseth Christ,\nand will help thee beforehand to sing that song of the church, saying,\n\u2018O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my\nlife\u2019 (Lam 3:58). Yea, believe, and hear thy pleading Lord say to thee,\n\u2018Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of\nhis people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of\ntrembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more\ndrink it again\u2019 (Isa 51:22). I am not here discoursing of the sweetness\nof Christ\u2019s nature, but of the excellency of his offices, and of his\noffice of advocateship in particular, which, as a lawyer for his\nclient, he is to execute in the presence of God for us. Love may be\nwhere there is no office, and so where no power is to do us good; but\nnow, when love and office shall meet, they will surely both combine in\nChrist to do the fallen Christian good. But of his love we have treated\nelsewhere; we will here discourse of the office of this loving one. And\nfor thy further information, let me tell thee that God thy Father\ncounteth that thou wilt be, when compared with his law, but a poor one\nall thy days; yea, the apostle tells thee so, in that he saith there is\nan Advocate provided for thee. When a father provides crutches for his\nchild, he doth as good as say, I count that my child will be yet\ninfirm; and when God shall provide an Advocate, he doth as good as say,\nMy people are subject to infirmities. Do not, therefore, think of\nthyself above what, by plain texts, and fair inferences drawn from\nChrist\u2019s offices, thou are bound to think. What doth it bespeak\nconcerning thee that Christ is always a priest in heaven, and there\never lives to make intercession for thee (Heb 7:24), but this, that\nthou art at the best in thyself, yea, and in thy best exercising of all\nthy graces too, but a poor, pitiful, sorry, sinful man; a man that\nwould, when yet most holy, be certainly cast away, did not thy high\npriest take away for thee the iniquity of thy holy things. The age we\nlive in is a wanton age; the godly are not so humble, and low, and base\nin their own eyes as they should, though their daily experience calls\nfor it, and the priesthood of Jesus Christ too.\n\nBut above all, the advocateship of Jesus Christ declares us to be sorry\ncreatures; for that office does, as it were, predict that some time or\nother we shall basely fall, and by falling be undone, if the Lord Jesus\nstand not up to plead. And as it shows this concerning us, so it shows\nconcerning God that he will not lightly or easily lose his people. He\nhas provided well for us-blood to wash us in; a priest to pray for us,\nthat we may be made to persevere; and, in case we foully fall, an\nadvocate to plead our cause, and to recover us from under, and out of\nall that danger, that by sin and Satan, we at any time may be brought\ninto.\n\nBut having thus briefly passed through that in the text which I think\nthe apostle must necessarily presuppose, I shall now endeavour to enter\ninto the bowels of it, and see what, in a more particular manner, shall\nbe found therein. And, for my more profitable doing of this work, I\nshall choose to observe this method in my discourse-\n\n[METHOD OF THE DISCOURSE.]\n\n\nFIRST, I shall show you more particularly of this Advocate\u2019s office, or\nwhat and wherein Christ\u2019s office as Advocate doth lie. SECOND, After\nthat, I shall also show you how Jesus Christ doth manage this office of\nan Advocate. THIRD, I shall also then show you who they are that have\nJesus Christ for their Advocate. FOURTH, I shall also show you what\nexcellent privileges they have, who have Jesus Christ for their\nAdvocate. FIFTH, And to silence cavillers, I shall also show the\nnecessity of this office of Jesus Christ. SIXTH, I shall come to answer\nsome objections; and, LASTLY, To the use and application.\n\n[WHEREIN CHRIST\u2019S OFFICE AS ADVOCATE DOTH LIE.]\n\n\nFIRST, To begin with the first of these-namely, to show you more\nparticularly of Christ\u2019s office as an Advocate, and wherein it lieth;\nthe which I shall do these three ways-First, Touch again upon the\nnature of this office; and then, Second, Treat of the order and place\nthat it hath among the rest of his offices; and, Third, Treat of the\noccasion of the execution of this office.\n\nFirst, To touch upon the nature of this office. It is that which\nempowereth a man to plead for a man, or one man to plead for another;\nnot in common discourses, and upon common occasions, as any man may do,\nbut at a bar, or before a court of judicature, where a man is accused\nor impleaded by his enemy; I say, this Advocate\u2019s office is such, both\nhere, and in the kingdom of heaven. An advocate is as one of our\nattorneys, at least in the general, who pleads according to law and\njustice for one or other that is in trouble by reason of some\nmiscarriage, or of the naughty temper of some that are about him, who\ntrouble and vex, and labour to bring him into danger of the law. This\nis the nature of this office, as I said, on earth; and this is the\noffice that Christ executeth in heaven. Wherefore he saith, \u201cIf any man\nsin, we have an Advocate\u201d; one to stand up for him, and to plead for\nhis deliverance before the bar of God. (Joel 3:2. Isa 66:16. Eze 38:22.\nJer 2.)\n\nFor though in some places of Scripture Christ is said to plead for his\nwith men, and that by terrible arguments, as by fire, and sword, and\nfamine, and pestilence, yet this is not that which is intended by this\ntext; for the apostle here saith, he is an Advocate with the Father, or\nbefore the Father, to plead for those that there, or that to the\nFather\u2019s face, shall be accused for their transgressions: \u201cIf any man\nsin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\nSo, then, this is the employ of Jesus Christ as he is for us, an\nAdvocate. He has undertaken to stand up for his people at God\u2019s bar,\nand before that great court, there to plead, by the law and justice of\nheaven, for their deliverance; when, for their faults, they are\naccused, indicted, or impleaded by their adversary.\n\nSecond. And now to treat of the order or place that this office of\nChrist hath among the rest of his offices, which he doth execute for us\nwhile we are here in a state of imperfection; and I think it is an\noffice that is to come behind as a reserve, or for a help at last, when\nall other means shall seem to fail. Men do not use to go to law upon\nevery occasion; or if they do, the wisdom of the judge, the jury, and\nthe court will not admit that every brangle and foolish quarrel shall\ncome before them; but an Advocate doth then come into place, and then\nto the exercise of his office, when a cause is counted worthy to be\ntaken notice of by the judge and by the court. Wherefore he, I say,\ncomes in the last place, as a reserve, or help at last, to plead; and,\nby pleading, to set that right by law which would otherwise have caused\nan increase to more doubts, and to further dangers.\n\nChrist, as priest, doth always works of service for us, because in our\nmost spiritual things there may faults and spots be found, and these he\ntaketh away of course, by the exercise of that office; for he always\nwears that plate of gold upon his forehead before the Father, whereon\nis written, \u201cHoliness to the Lord.\u201d But now, besides these common\ninfirmities, there are faults that are highly gross and foul, that oft\nare found in the skirts of the children of God. Now, these are they\nthat Satan taketh hold on; these are they that Satan draweth up a\ncharge against us for; and to save us from these, it is, that the Lord\nJesus is made an Advocate. When Joshua was clothed with filthy\ngarments, then Satan stood at his right hand to resist him; then the\nangel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus, pleaded for his help (Zech 3).\nBy all which it appears, that this office comes behind, is provided as\na reserve, that we may have help at a pinch, and then be lifted out,\nwhen we sink in mire, where there is no standing.\n\nThis is yet further hinted at by the several postures that Christ is\nsaid to be in, as he exerciseth his priestly and advocate\u2019s office. As\na Priest, he sits; as an Advocate, he stands (Isa 3:13). The Lord\nstands up when he pleads; his sitting is more constant and of course\n(Sit thou, Psa 110:1,4), but his standing is occasional, when Joshua is\nindicted, or when hell and earth are broken loose against his servant\nStephen. For as Joshua was accused by the devil, and as then the angel\nof the Lord stood by, so when Stephen was accused by men on earth, and\nthat charge seconded by the fallen angels before the face of God, it is\nsaid, \u201cthe Lord Jesus stood on the right hand of God,\u201d (Acts 7:55)-to\nwit, to plead; for so I take it, because standing is his posture as an\nAdvocate, not as a Priest; for, as a Priest, he must sit down; but he\nstandeth as an Advocate, as has been showed afore (Heb 10:12).\nWherefore,\n\nThird. The occasion of his exercising of this office of advocate is, as\nhath been hinted already, when a child of God shall be found guilty\nbefore God of some heinous sin, of some grievous thing in his life and\nconversation. For as for those infirmities that attend the best, in\ntheir most spiritual sacrifices; if a child of God were guilty of ten\nthousand of them, they are of course purged, through the much incense\nthat is always mixed with those sacrifices in the golden censer that is\nin the hand of Christ; and so he is kept clean, and counted upright,\nnotwithstanding those infirmities; and, therefore, you shall find that,\nnotwithstanding those common faults, the children of God are counted\ngood and upright in conversation, and not charged as offenders.\n\u201cDavid,\u201d saith the text, \u201cdid that which was right in the eyes of the\nLord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him, all\nthe days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite\u201d (I\nKings 15:5). But was David, in a strict sense, without fault in all\nthings else? No, verily; but that was foul in a higher degree than the\nrest, and therefore there God sets a blot; ay, and doubtless for that\nhe was accused by Satan before the throne of God; for here is adultery,\nand murder, and hypocrisy, in David\u2019s doings; here is notorious matter,\na great sin, and so a great ground for Satan to draw up an indictment\nagainst the king; and a thundering one, to be sure, shall be preferred\nagainst him. This is the time, then, for Christ to stand up to plead;\nfor now there is room for such a question-Can David\u2019s sin stand with\ngrace? Or, Is it possible that a man that has done as he has, should\nyet be found a saint, and so in a saved state? Or, Can God repute him\nso, and yet be holy and just? or, Can the merits of the Lord Jesus\nreach, according to the law of heaven, a man in this condition? Here is\na case dubious; here is a man whose salvation, by his foul offences, is\nmade doubtful; now we must to law and judgment, wherefore now let\nChrist stand up to plead! I say, now was David\u2019s case dubious; he was\nafraid that God would cast him away, and the devil hoped he would, and\nto that end charged him before God\u2019s face, if, perhaps, he might get\nsentence of damnation to pass upon his soul (Psa 51). But this was\nDavid\u2019s mercy, he had an Advocate to plead his cause, by whose wisdom\nand skill in matters of law and judgment he was brought off of those\nheavy charges, from those gross sins, and delivered from that eternal\ncondemnation, that by the law of sin and death, was due thereto.\n\nThis is then the occasion that Christ taketh to plead, as Advocate, for\nthe salvation of his people-to wit, the cause: He \u201cpleadeth the cause\nof his people\u201d (Is 51:22). Not every cause, but such and such a cause;\nthe cause that is very bad, and by the which they are involved, not\nonly in guilt and shame, but also in danger of death and hell. I say,\nthe cause is bad, if the text be true, if sin can make it bad, yea, if\nsin itself be bad-\u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate\u201d; an Advocate to\nplead for him; for him as considered guilty, and so, consequently, as\nconsidered in a bad condition. It is true, we must distinguish between\nthe person and the sin; and Christ pleads for the person, not the sin;\nbut yet He cannot be concerned with the person, but he must be with the\nsin; for though the person and the sin may be distinguished, yet they\ncannot be separated. He must plead, then, not for a person only, but\nfor a guilty person, for a person under the worst of circumstances-\u201cIf\nany man sin, we have an Advocate\u201d for him as so considered.\n\nWhen a man\u2019s cause is good, it will sufficiently plead for itself, yea,\nand for its master too, especially when it is made appear so to be,\nbefore a just and righteous judge. Here, therefore, needs no advocate;\nthe judge himself will pronounce him righteous. This is evidently seen\nin Job-\u201cThou movedst me against him (this said God to Satan), to\ndestroy him without cause\u201d (Job 2:3). Thus far Job\u2019s cause was good,\nwherefore he did not need an advocate; his cause pleaded for itself,\nand for its owner also. But if it was to plead good causes for which\nChrist is appointed Advocate, then the apostle should have written\nthus: If any man be righteous, we have an Advocate with the Father.\nIndeed, I never heard but one in all my life preach from this text, and\nhe, when he came to handle the cause for which he was to plead,\npretended it must be good, and therefore said to the people, See that\nyour cause be good, else Christ will not undertake it. But when I heard\nit, Lord, thought I, if this be true, what shall I do, and what will\nbecome of all this people, yea, and of this preacher too? Besides, I\nsaw by the text, the apostle supposeth another cause, a cause bad,\nexceeding bad, if sin can make it so. And this was one cause why I\nundertook this work.\n\nWhen we speak of a cause, we speak not of a person simply as so\nconsidered; for, as I said before, person and cause must be\ndistinguished; nor can the person make the cause good but as he\nregulates his action by the Word of God. If, then, a good, a righteous,\nman doth what the law condemns, that thing is bad; and if he be\nindicted for so doing, he is indicted for a bad cause; and he that will\nbe his advocate, must be concerned in and about a bad matter; and how\nhe will bring his client off, therein doth lie the mystery.\n\nI know that a bad man may have a good cause depending before the judge,\nand so also good men have (Job 31). But then they are bold in their own\ncause, and fear not to make mention of it, and in Christ to plead their\ninnocency before the God of heaven, as well as before men (Psa 71:3-5.\nII Cor 1:23. Gal 1:10. Phil 1:8). But we have in the text a cause that\nall men are afraid of-a cause that the apostle concludes so bad that\nnone but Jesus Christ himself can save a Christian from it. It is not\nonly sinful, but sin itself-\u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate with\nthe Father.\u201d\n\nWherefore there is in this place handled by the apostle, one of the\ngreatest mysteries under heaven-to wit, that an innocent and holy Jesus\nshould take in hand to plead for one before a just and righteous God,\nthat has defiled himself with sin; yea, that he should take in hand to\nplead for such an one against the fallen angels, and that he should\nalso by his plea effectually rescue, and bring them off from the crimes\nand curse whereof they were verily guilty by the verdict of the law,\nand approbation of the Judge.\n\nThis, I say, is a great mystery, and deserves to be pried into by all\nthe godly, both because much of the wisdom of heaven is discovered in\nit, and because the best saint is, or may be, concerned with it. Nor\nmust we by any means let this truth be lost, because it is the truth;\nthe text has declared it so, and to say otherwise is to belie the Word\nof God, to thwart the apostle, to soothe up hypocrites, to rob\nChristians of their privilege, and to take the glory from the head of\nJesus Christ (Luke 18:11,12).\n\nThe best saints are most sensible of their sins, and most apt to make\nmountains of their mole hills. Satan also, as has been already hinted,\ndoth labour greatly to prevail with them to sin, and to provoke their\nGod against them, by pleading what is true, or by surmising evilly of\nthem, to the end they may be accused by him (Job 2:9). Great is his\nmalice toward them, great is his diligence in seeking their\ndestruction; wherefore greatly doth he desire to sift, to try, and\nwinnow them, if perhaps he may work in their flesh to answer his\ndesign-that is, to break out in sinful acts, that he may have by law to\naccuse them to their God and Father. Wherefore, for their sakes this\ntext abides, that they may see that, when they have sinned, \u201cthey have\nan Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d And thus have\nI showed you the nature, the order, and occasion of this office of our\nblessed Lord Jesus.\n\n[HOW CHRIST MANAGES THE OFFICE OF AN ADVOCATE.]\n\n\nII. I come now to show you how Jesus Christ doth manage this his office\nof an Advocate for us. And that I may do this to your edification, I\nshall choose this method for the opening of it-First. Show you how he\nmanages this office with his Father. Second. I shall show you how he\nmanages it before him against our adversary.\n\nFirst. How he manages this his office of Advocate with his Father.\n\n1. He doth it by himself, by no other as deputy under him, no angel, no\nsaint; no work has place here but Jesus, and Jesus only. This the text\nimplies: \u201cWe have an Advocate\u201d; speaking of one, but one, one alone;\nwithout an equal or an inferior. We have but one, and he is Jesus\nChrist. Nor is it for Christ\u2019s honour, nor for the honour of the law,\nor of the justice of God, that any but Jesus Christ should be an\nAdvocate for a sinning saint. Besides, to assert the contrary, what\ndoth it but lessen sin, and make the advocateship of Jesus Christ\nsuperfluous? It would lessen sin should it be removed by a saint or\nangel; it would make the advocateship of Jesus Christ superfluous, yea,\nneedless, should it be possible that sin could be removed from us by\neither saint or angel.\n\nAgain; if God should admit of more advocates than one, and yet make\nmention of never an one but Jesus Christ; or if John should allow\nanother, and yet speak nothing but of Jesus only; yea, that an advocate\nunder that title should be mentioned but once, but once only in all the\nbook of God, and yet that divers should be admitted, stands neither\nwith the wisdom or love of God, nor with the faithfulness of the\napostle. But saints have but one Advocate, if they will use him, or\nimprove their faith in that office for their help, so; if not, they\nmust take what follows. This I thought good to hint at, because the\ntimes are corrupt, and because ignorance and superstition always wait\nfor a countenance with us, and these things have a natural tendency to\ndarken all truth, so especially this, which bringeth to Jesus Christ so\nmuch glory, and yieldeth to the godly so much help and relief.\n\n2. As Jesus Christ alone is Advocate, so God\u2019s bar, and that alone, is\nthat before which he pleads, for God is judge himself (Deut 32:36. Heb\n12:23). Nor can the cause which now he is to plead be removed into any\nother court, either by appeals or otherwise.\n\nCould Satan remove us from heaven, to another court, he would certainly\nbe too hard for us, because there we should want our Jesus, our\nAdvocate, to plead our cause. Indeed, sometimes he impleads us before\nmen, and they are glad of the occasion, for they and he are often one;\nbut then we have leave to remove our cause, and to pray for a trial in\nthe highest court, saying, \u201cLet my sentence come forth from thy\npresence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal\u201d (Psa 17:2).\nThis wicked world doth sentence us for our good deeds, but how then\nwould they sentence us for our bad ones? But we will never appeal from\nheaven to earth for right, for here we have no Advocate; \u201cour Advocate\nis with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\n\n3. As he pleadeth by himself alone, and nowhere else but in the court\nof heaven with the Father, so as he pleadeth with the Father for us, he\nobserveth this rule-\n\n(1.) He granteth and confesseth whatever can rightly be charged upon\nus; yet so as that he taketh the whole charge upon himself,\nacknowledging the crimes to be his own. \u201cO God,\u201d says he, \u201cthou knowest\nmy foolishness, and my sins\u201d; my guiltiness \u201cis not hid from thee\u201d (Psa\n69:5). And this he must do, or else he can do nothing. If he hides the\nsin, or lesseneth it, he is faulty; if he leaves it still upon us, we\ndie. He must, then, take our iniquity to himself, make it his own, and\nso deliver us; for having thus taken the sin upon himself, as lawfully\nhe may, and lovingly doth, \u201cfor we are members of his body\u201d (\u2019tis his\nhand, \u2019tis his foot, \u2019tis his ear hath sinned), it followeth that we\nlive if he lives; and who can desire more? 5This, then, must be\nthoroughly considered, if ever we will have comfort in a day of trouble\nand distress for sin.\n\nAnd thus far there is, in some kind, a harmony betwixt his being a\nsacrifice, a priest, and an Advocate. As a sacrifice, our sins were\nlaid upon him (Isa 53). As a priest, he beareth them (Exo 28:38). And\nas an Advocate, he acknowledges them to be his own (Psa 69:5). Now,\nhaving acknowledged them to be his own, the quarrel is no more betwixt\nus and Satan, for the Lord Jesus has espoused our quarrel, and made it\nhis. All, then, that we in this matter have to do, is to stand at the\nbar by faith among the angels, and see how the business goes. O blessed\nGod! what a lover of mankind art thou! and how gracious is our Lord\nJesus, in his thus managing matters for us.\n\n(2.) The Lord Jesus having thus taken our sins upon himself, next\npleads his own goodness to God on our behalf, saying, \u201cLet not them\nthat wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not\nthose that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel:\nbecause for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face\u201d\n(Psa 69:6,7). Mark, let them not be ashamed for my sake, let them not\nbe confounded for my sake. Shame and confusion are the fruits of guilt,\nor of a charge for sin, (Jer 3:25), and are but an entrance into\ncondemnation (Dan 12:2. John 5:29). But behold how Christ pleads,\nsaying, Let not that be for my sake, for the merit of my blood, for the\nperfection of my righteousness, for the prevalency of my intercession.\nLet them not be ashamed for my sake, O Lord God of hosts. And let no\nman object, because this text is in the Psalms, as if it were not\nspoken by the prophet of Christ; for both John and Paul, yea, and\nChrist himself, do make this psalm a prophecy of him. Compare verse 9\nwith John 2:17, and with Romans 15:3; and verse 21 with Matthew 27:48,\nand Mark 15:25. But is not this a wonderful thing, that Christ should\nfirst take our sins, and account them his own, and then plead the value\nand worth of his whole self for our deliverance? For by these words,\n\u201cfor my sake,\u201d he pleads his own self, his whole self, and all that he\nis and has; and thus he put us in good estate again, though our cause\nwas very bad.\n\nTo bring this down to weak capacities. Suppose a man should be indebted\ntwenty thousand pounds, but has not twenty thousand farthings wherewith\nto pay; and suppose also that this man be arrested for this debt, and\nthat the law also, by which he is sued, will not admit of a penny bate;\nthis man may yet come well enough off, if his advocate or attorney will\nmake the debt his own, and will, in the presence of the judges, out\nwith his bags, and pay down every farthing. Why, this is the way of our\nAdvocate. Our sins are called debts (Matt 6:12). We are sued for them\nat the law (Luke 12:59). And the devil is our accuser; but behold the\nLord Jesus comes out with his worthiness, pleads it at the bar, making\nthe debt his own (Mark 10:45. II Cor 3:5). And saith, Now let them not\nbe ashamed for my sake, O Lord God of hosts: let them not be confounded\nfor my sake, O God of Israel. And hence, as he is said to be an\nAdvocate, so he is said to be a propitiation, or amends-maker, or one\nthat appeaseth the justice of God for our sins-\u201cIf any man sin, we have\nan Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the\npropitiation for our sins.\u201d\n\nAnd who can now object against the deliverance of the child of God? God\ncannot; for he, for Christ\u2019s sake, according as he pleaded, hath\nforgiven us all trespasses (Col 2:13, Eph 4:32). The devil cannot; his\nmouth is stopped, as is plain in the case of Joshua (Zech 3). The law\ncannot; for that approveth of what Christ has done. This, then, is the\nway of Christ\u2019s pleading. You must know, that when Christ pleads with\nGod, he pleads with a just and righteous God, and therefore he must\nplead law, and nothing but law; and this he pleaded in both these\npleas-First, in confessing of the sin he justified the sentence of the\nlaw in pronouncing of it evil; and then in his laying of himself, his\nwhole self, before God for that sin, he vindicated the sanction and\nperfection of the law. Thus, therefore, he magnifies the law, and makes\nit honourable, and yet brings off his client safe and sound in the view\nof all the angels of God.\n\n(3). The Lord Jesus having thus taken our sins upon himself, and\npresented God with all the worthiness that is in his whole self for\nthem, in the next place he calleth for justice, or a just verdict upon\nthe satisfaction he hath made to God and to his law. Then proclamation\nis made in open court, saying, \u201cTake away the filthy garments from\nhim,\u201d from him that hath offended, and clothe him with change of\nraiment (Zech 3).\n\nThus the soul is preserved that hath sinned; thus the God of heaven is\ncontent that he should be saved; thus Satan is put to confusion, and\nJesus applauded and cried up by the angels of heaven, and by the saints\non earth. Thus have I showed you how Christ doth advocate it with God\nand his Father for us; and I have been the more particular in this,\nbecause the glory of Christ, and the comfort of the dejected, are\ngreatly concerned and wrapped up in it. Look, then, to Jesus, if thou\nhast sinned; to Jesus, as an Advocate pleading with the Father for\nthee. Look to nothing else; for he can tell how, and that by himself,\nto deliver thee; yea, and will do it in a way of justice, which is a\nwonder; and to the shame of Satan, which will be his glory; and also to\nthy complete deliverance, which will be thy comfort and salvation.\n\nSecond, But to pass this and come to the second thing, which is, to\nshow you how the Lord Jesus manages this his office of an Advocate\nbefore his Father against the adversary; for he pleadeth with the\nFather, but pleadeth against the devil; he pleadeth with the Father law\nand justice, but against the adversary he letteth out himself.\n\nI say, as he pleads against the adversary, so he enlargeth himself with\narguments over and besides those which he pleadeth with God his Father.\n\nNor is it meet or needful that our advocate, when he pleads against\nSatan, should so limit himself to matter of law, as when he pleadeth\nwith his Father. The saint, by sinning, oweth Satan nothing; no law of\nhis is broken thereby; why, then, should he plead for the saving of his\npeople, justifying righteousness to him?\n\nChrist, when he died, died not to satisfy Satan, but his Father; not to\nappease the devil, but to answer the demands of the justice of God; nor\ndid he design, when he hanged on the tree, to triumph over his Father,\nbut over Satan; \u201cHe redeemed us,\u201d therefore, \u201cfrom the curse of the\nlaw,\u201d by his blood (Gal 3:13). And from the power of Satan, by his\nresurrection (Heb 2:14). He delivered us from righteous judgment by\nprice and purchase; but from the rage of hell by fight and conquest.\n\nAnd as he acted thus diversely in the work of our redemption, even so\nhe also doth in the execution of his Advocate\u2019s office. When he\npleadeth with God, he pleadeth so; and when he pleadeth against Satan,\nhe pleadeth so; and how he pleadeth with God when he dealeth with law\nand justice I have showed you. And now I will show you how he pleadeth\nbefore him against the \u201caccuser of the brethren.\u201d\n\n1. He pleads against him the well-pleasedness that his Father has in\nhis merits, saying, This shall please the Lord, or this doth or will\nplease the Lord, better than anything that can be propounded (Psa\n69:31). Now this plea being true, as it is, being established upon the\nliking of God Almighty; whatever Satan can say to obtain our\neverlasting destruction is without ground, and so unreasonable. \u201cI am\nwell pleased,\u201d saith God (Matt 3:17); and again, \u201cThe Lord is well\npleased for his (Christ\u2019s) righteousness\u2019 sake\u201d (Isa 42:21). All that\nenter actions against others, pretend that wrong is done, either\nagainst themselves or against the king. Now Satan will never enter an\naction against us in the court above, for that wrong by us has been\ndone to himself; he must pretend, then, that he sues us, for that wrong\nhas, by us, been done to our king. But, behold, \u201cWe have an Advocate\nwith the Father,\u201d and he has made compensation for our offences. He\ngave himself for our offences. But still Satan maintains his suit; and\nour God, saith Christ, is well pleased with us for this\ncompensation-sake, yet he will not leave off his clamour. Come, then,\nsays the Lord Jesus, the contention is not now against my people, but\nmyself, and about the sufficiency of the amends that I have made for\nthe transgressions of my people; but he is near that justifieth me,\nthat approveth and accepteth of my doings, therefore shall I not be\nconfounded. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me! Behold, \u201cthe\nLord God will help me\u201d (Isa 50:7-9). Who is he that condemneth me? Lo,\nthey all shall, were there ten thousand times as many more of them, wax\nold as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. Wherefore, if the Father\nsaith Amen to all this, as I have showed already that he hath and doth,\nthe which also further appeareth, because the Lord God has called him\nthe Saviour, the Deliverer, and the Amen; what follows, but that a\nrebuke should proceed from the throne against him? And this, indeed,\nour Advocate calls for from the hand of his Father, saying, O enemy,\n\u201cthe Lord rebuke thee\u201d; yea, he doubles this request to the judge, to\nintimate his earnestness for such a conclusion, or to show that the\nenemy shall surely have it, both from our Advocate, and from him before\nwhom Satan has so grievously accused us (Zech 3).\n\nFor what can be expected to follow from such an issue in law as this\nis, but sound and severe snibs from the judge upon him that hath thus\ntroubled his neighbour, and that hath, in the face of the country, cast\ncontempt upon the highest act of mercy, justice, and righteousness,\nthat ever the heavens beheld? 6 And all this is true with reference to\nthe case in hand, wherefore, \u201cThe Lord rebuke thee,\u201d is that which, in\nconclusion, Satan must have for the reward of his works of malice\nagainst the children, and for his contemning of the works of the Son of\nGod. Now, our Advocate having thus established, by the law of heaven,\nhis plea with God for us against our accuser, there is way made for him\nto proceed upon a foundation that cannot be shaken; wherefore, he\nproceedeth in his plea, and further urges against this accuser of the\nbrethren.\n\n2. God\u2019s interest in this people; and prayeth that God would remember\nthat: \u201cThe Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; the Lord that hath chosen\nJerusalem, rebuke thee.\u201d True, the church, the saints, are despicable\nin the world; wherefore men do think to tread them down; the saints\nare, also, weak in grace, but have corruptions that are strong, and,\ntherefore, Satan, the god of this world, doth think to tread them down;\nbut the saints have a God, the living, the eternal God, and, therefore,\nthey shall not be trodden down; yea, they \u201cshall be holden up, for God\nis able to make them stand\u201d (Rom 14:4).\n\nIt was Haman\u2019s mishap to be engaged against the queen, and the kindred\nof the queen; it was that that made him he could not prosper; that\nbrought him to contempt and the gallows. Had he sought to ruin another\npeople, probably he might have brought his design to a desired\nconclusion; but his compassing the death of the queen spoiled all.\nSatan, also, when he fighteth against the church, must be sure to come\nto the worst, for God has a concern in that; therefore, it is said,\n\u201cThe gates of hell shall not prevail against it\u201d; but this hindereth\nnot but that he is permitted to make almost what spoils he will of\nthose that belong not to God. Oh, how many doth he accuse, and soon get\nout from God, against them, a license to destroy them! as he served\nAhab, and many more. But this, I say, is a very great block in his way\nwhen he meddles with the children; God has an interest in them-\u201cHath\nGod cast away his people? God forbid!\u201d (Rom 11:1,2). The text intimates\nthat they for sin had deserved it, and that Satan would fain have had\nit been so; but God\u2019s interest in them preserved them-\u201cGod hath not\ncast away his people, which he foreknew.\u201d Wherefore, when Satan\naccuseth them before God, Christ, as he pleadeth his own worth and\nmerit, pleadeth also against him, that interest that God has in them.\n\nAnd though this, to some, may seem but an indifferent plea; for what\nengagement lieth, may they say, upon God to be so much concerned with\nthem, for they sin against him, and often provoke him most bitterly?\nBesides, in their best state, they are altogether vanity, and a very\nthing of nought-\u201cWhat is man (sorry man), that thou art mindful of\nhim,\u201d or that thou shouldest be so?\n\nI answer, Though there lieth no engagement upon God for any worthiness\nthat is in man, yet there lieth a great deal upon God for the\nworthiness that is in himself. God has engaged himself with his having\nchosen them to be a people to himself; and by this means they are so\nsecured from all that all can do against them, that the apostle is\nbold, upon this very account, to challenge all despite to do its worst\nagainst them, saying, \u201cWho shall lay anything to the charge of God\u2019s\nelect?\u201d (Rom 8:33). Who? saith Satan; why, that will I. Ay, saith he,\nbut who can do it, and prevail? \u201cIt is God that justifieth, who is he\nthat condemneth?\u201d (ver. 34). By which words the apostle clearly\ndeclareth that charges against the elect, though they may be brought\nagainst them, must needs prove ineffectual as to their condemnation;\nbecause their Lord God still will justify, for that Christ has died for\nthem. Besides, a little to enlarge, the elect are bound to God by a\nsevenfold cord, and a threefold one is not quickly broken.\n\n(1.) Election is eternal as God himself, and so without variableness or\nshadow of change, and hence it is called \u201can eternal purpose,\u201d and a\n\u201cpurpose of God\u201d that must stand (Eph 3:11; Rom 9:11). (2.) Election is\nabsolute, not conditional; and, therefore, cannot be overthrown by the\nsin of the man that is wrapped up therein. No works foreseen to be in\nus was the cause of God\u2019s choosing us; no sin in us shall frustrate or\nmake election void-\u201cWho shall lay anything to the charge of God\u2019s\nelect? It is God that justifieth\u201d (Rom 8:33; 9:11). (3.) By the act of\nelection the children are involved, wrapped up, and covered in Christ;\nhe hath chosen us in him; not in ourselves, not in our virtues, no, not\nfor or because of anything, but of his own will (Eph 1:4-11). (4.)\nElection includeth in it a permanent resolution of God to glorify his\nmercy on the vessels of mercy, thus foreordained unto glory (Rom\n9:15,18,23). (5.) By the act of electing love, it is concluded that all\nthings whatsoever shall work together for the good of them whose call\nto God is the fruit of this purpose, this eternal purpose of God (Rom\n8:28-30). (6.) The eternal inheritance is by a covenant of free and\nunchangeable grace made over to those thus chosen; and to secure them\nfrom the fruits of sin, and from the malice of Satan, it is sealed by\nthis our Advocate\u2019s blood, as he is Mediator of this covenant, who also\nis become surety to God for them; to wit, to see them forthcoming at\nthe great day, and to set them then safe and sound before his Father\u2019s\nface after the judgment is over (Rom 9:23; Heb 7:22; 9:15,17-24; 13:20;\nJohn 10:28,29). (7.) By this choice, purpose, and decree, the elect,\nthe concerned therein, have allotted them by God, and laid up for them,\nin Christ, a sufficiency of grace to bring them through all\ndifficulties to glory; yea, and they, every one of them, after the\nfirst act of faith-the which also they shall certainly attain, because\nwrapped up in the promise for them-are to receive the earnest and first\nfruits thereof into their souls (II Tim 1:9; Acts 14:22; Eph\n1:4,5,13,14).\n\nNow, put all these things together, and then feel if there be not\nweight in this plea of Christ against the devil. He pleads God\u2019s choice\nand interest in his saints against him-an interest that is secured by\nthe wisdom of heaven, by the grace of heaven, by the power, will, and\nmercy of God, in Christ-an interest in which all the three Persons in\nthe Godhead have engaged themselves, by mutual agreement and operation,\nto make good when Satan has done his all. I know there are some that\nobject against this doctrine as false; but such, perhaps, are ignorant\nof some things else as well as of this. However, they object against\nthe wisdom of God, whose truth it is, and against Christ our Advocate,\nwhose argument, as he is such, it is; yea, they labour, what in them\nlieth, to wrest that weapon out of his hand, with which he so\ncudgelleth the enemy when, as Advocate, he pleadeth so effectually\nagainst him for the rescuing of us from the danger of judgment, saying,\n\u201cThe Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen\nJerusalem, rebuke thee.\u201d\n\nThird. As Christ, as Advocate, pleads against Satan the interest that\nhis Father hath in his chosen, so also he pleads against him by no less\nauthority-his own interest in them. \u201cHoly Father,\u201d saith he, \u201ckeep\nthrough thine own name those whom thou hast given me\u201d (John 17:11).\nKeep them while in the world from the evil, the soul-damning evil of\nit. These words are directed to the Father, but they are leveled\nagainst the accusations of the enemy, and were spoken here to show what\nChrist will do for his, against our foe, when he is above. How, I say,\nhe will urge before his Father his own interest in us against Satan,\nand against all his accusations, when he brings them to the bar of\nGod\u2019s tribunal, with design to work our utter ruin. And is there not a\ngreat deal in it? As if Christ should say, Father, my people have an\nadversary who will accuse them for their faults before thee; but I will\nbe their Advocate, and as I have bought them of thee, I will plead my\nright against him (John 10:28). Our English proverb is, Interest will\nnot lie; interest will make a man do that which otherwise he would not.\nHow many thousands are there for whom Christ doth not so much as once\nopen his mouth, but leaves them to the accusations of Satan, and to\nAhab\u2019s judgment, nay, a worse, because there is none to plead their\ncause? And why doth he not concern himself with them? but because he is\nnot interested in them-\u201cI pray not for the world, but for them which\nthou hast given me, for they are thine; and all mine are thine, and I\nam glorified in them\u201d (John 17:9,10).\n\nSuppose so many cattle in such a pound, and one goes by whose they are\nnot, doth he concern himself? No; he beholds them, and goes his way.\nBut suppose that at his return he should find his own cattle in that\npound, would he now carry it toward them as he did unto the other? No,\nno; he has interest here, they are his that are in the pound; now he is\nconcerned, now he must know who put them there, and for what cause too\nthey are served as they are; and if he finds them rightfully there, he\nwill fetch them by ransom; but if wrongfully, he will replevy7 them,\nand stand a trial at law with him that has thus illegally pounded his\ncattle. And thus it is betwixt Jesus Christ and his. He is interested\nin them; the cattle are his own, \u201chis own sheep,\u201d (John 10:3,4), but\npounded by some other, by the law, or by the devil. If pounded by the\nlaw, he delivereth them by ransom; if pounded by the devil, he will\nreplevy them, stand a trial at law for them, and will be, against their\naccuser, their Advocate himself. Nor can Satan withstand his plea,\nthough he should against them join argument with the law; forasmuch, as\nhas been proved before, he can and will, by what he has to produce and\nplead of his own, save his from all trespasses, charges, and\naccusations. Besides, all men know that a man\u2019s proper goods are not\ntherefore forfeited, because they commit many, and them too great\ntransgressions-\u201cAnd if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the\nFather, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d Now, the strength of this plea\nthus grounded upon Christ\u2019s interest in his people is great, and hath\nmany weighty reasons on its side; as-\n\n1. They are mine; therefore in reason at my dispose, not at the dispose\nof an adversary; for while a thing can properly be called mine, no man\nhas therewith to do but myself; nor doth (a man, nor) Christ close his\nright to what he has by the weakness of that thing which is his proper\nright. He, therefore, as an Advocate, pleadeth interest, his own\ninterest, in his people, and right must, with the Judge of all the\nearth, take place-\u201cShall not the Judge of all the earth do right?\u201d (Gen\n18:25).\n\n2. They cost him dear; and that which is dear bought is not easily\nparted with (I Cor. 6:20). They were bought with \u201chis blood\u201d (Eph 1:7;\nI Peter 1:18,19). They were given him for his blood, and therefore are\n\u201cdear children\u201d (Eph 5:1); for they are his by the highest price; and\nthis price he, as Advocate, pleadeth against the enemy of our\nsalvation; yea, I will add, they are his, because he gave his all for\nthem (II Cor 8:9). When a man shall give his all for this or that, then\nthat which he so hath purchased is become his all. Now Christ has given\nhis all for us; he made himself poor for us, wherefore we are become\nhis all, his fullness; and so the church is called (Eph 1:23). Nay,\nfurther, Christ likes well enough of his purchase, though it hath cost\nhim his all-\u201cThe lines,\u201d says he, \u201care fallen to me in pleasant places;\nI have a goodly heritage\u201d (Psa 16:6). Now, put all these things\ntogether, and there is a strong plea in them. Interest, such an\ninterest, will not be easily parted with. But this is not all; for,\n\n3. As they cost him dear, so he hath made them near to himself, near by\nway of relation. Now that which did not only cost dear, but that by way\nof relation is made so, that a man will plead heartily for. Said David\nto Abner, \u201cThou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal,\nSaul\u2019s daughter, when thou comest to see my face\u201d (II Sam 3:13,14).\nSaul\u2019s daughter cost me dear; I bought her with the jeopardy of my\nlife; Saul\u2019s daughter is near to me; she is my beloved wife. He pleaded\nhard for her, because she was dear and near to him. Now, I say, the\nsame is true in Christ; his people cost him dear, and he hath made them\nnear unto him; wherefore, to plead interest in them, is to hold by an\nargument that is strong. (a.) They are his spouse, and he hath made\nthem so; they are his love, his dove, his darling, and he accounts them\nso. Now, should a wretch attempt, in open court, to take a man\u2019s wife\naway from him, how would this cause the man to plead! Yea, and what\njudge that is just, and knows that the man has this interest in the\nwoman pleaded for, would yield to, or give a verdict for the wretch,\nagainst the man whose wife the woman is? Thus Christ, in pleading\ninterest-in pleading \u201cthou gavest them me\u201d-pleads by a strong argument,\nan argument that the enemy cannot invalidate. True, were Christ to\nplead this before a Saul (I Sam 25;44), or before Samson\u2019s wife\u2019s\nfather, the Philistine (Judg 14:20), perhaps such treacherous judges\nwould give it against all right. But, I have told you, the court in\nwhich Christ pleads is the highest and the justest, and that from which\nthere can be no appeal; wherefore Christ\u2019s cause, and so the cause of\nthe children of God, must be tried before their Father, from whose\nface, to be sure, just judgment shall proceed. But,\n\n(b.) As they are called his spouse, so they are called his flesh, and\nmembers of his body. Now, said Paul to the church, \u201cYe are the body of\nChrist, and members in particular\u201d (I Cor 12:27; Eph 5:30). This\nrelation also makes a man plead hard. Were a man to plead for a limb,\nor a member of his own, how would he plead? What arguments would he\nuse? And what sympathy and feeling would his arguments flow from? I\ncannot lose a hand, I cannot lose a foot, cannot lose a finger; why,\nsaints are Christ\u2019s members, his members are of himself. With what\nstrength of argument would a man plead the necessariness of his members\nto him, and the unnaturalness of his adversary in seeking the\ndestruction of his members, and the deformity of his body! Yea, a man\nwould shuck and cringe, and weep, and entreat, and make demurs, and\nhalts, and delays, to a thousand years, if possible, before he would\nlose his members, or any one of them.\n\nBut, I say, how would he plead and advocate it for his members, if\njudge, and law, and reason, and equity, were all on his side, and if,\nby the adversary, there could be nothing urged, but that against which\nthe Advocate had long before made provision for the effectual overthrow\nthereof? And all this is true as to the case that lies before us. Thus\nwe see what strength there lieth in this second argument, that our\nAdvocate bringeth for us against the enemy. They are his flesh and\nbones, his members; he cannot spare them; he cannot spare this,\nbecause, nor that, because, nor any, because, they are his members. As\nsuch, they are lovely to him; as such, they are useful to him; as such,\nthey are an ornament to him; yea, though in themselves they are feeble,\nand through infirmity weak, much disabled from doing as they should.\nThus, \u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus\nChrist the righteous.\u201d But,\n\n4. As Christ, as Advocate, pleads for us, against Satan, his Father\u2019s\ninterest in us and his own; so he pleadeth against him that right and\nproperty that he hath in heaven, to give it to whom he will. He has a\nright to heaven as Priest and King; it is his also by inheritance; and\nsince he will be so good a benefactor as to bestow this house on\nsomebody, but not for their deserts, but not for their goodness, and\nsince, again, he has to that end spilt his blood for, and taken a\ngeneration into covenant relation to him, that it might be bestowed on\nthem; it shall be bestowed on them; and he will plead this, if there be\nneed, if his people sin, and if their accuser seeks, by their sin,\ntheir ruin and destruction: \u201cFather,\u201d saith he, \u201cI will that they also,\nwhom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my\nglory, which thou hast given me\u201d (John 17:24). Christ\u2019s will is the\nwill of heaven, the will of God. Shall not Christ, then, prevail?\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d saith Christ; \u201cI will,\u201d saith Satan; but whose will shall\nstand? It is true, Christ in the text speaks more like an arbitrator\nthan an Advocate; more like a judge than one pleading at a bar. I will\nhave it so; I judge that so it ought to be, and must. But there is also\nsomething of plea in the words both before his Father, and against our\nenemy; and therefore he speaketh like one that can plead and determine\nalso; yea, like one that has power so to do. But shall the will of\nheaven stoop to the will of hell? Or the will of Christ to the will of\nSatan? Or the will of righteousness to the will of sin? Shall Satan,\nwho is God\u2019s enemy, and whose charge wherewith he chargeth us for sin,\nand which is grounded, not upon love to righteousness, but upon malice\nagainst God\u2019s designs of mercy, against the blood of Christ, and the\nsalvation of his people-I say, shall this enemy and this charge prevail\nwith God against the well-grounded plea of Christ, and against the\nsalvation of God\u2019s elect, and so keep us out of heaven? No, no; Christ\nwill have it otherwise, he is the great donator, 8 and his eye is good.\nTrue, Satan was turned out of heaven for that he sinned there, and we\nmust be taken into heaven, though we have sinned here; this is the will\nof Christ, and, as Advocate, he pleads it against the face and\naccusation of our adversary. Thus, \u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate\nwith the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d But,\n\n5. As Christ, as Advocate, pleadeth for us, against Satan, his Father\u2019s\ninterest in us, and his own, and pleadeth also what right he has to\ndispose of the kingdom of heaven; so he pleadeth against this enemy,\nthat malice and enmity that is in him, and upon which chiefly his\ncharge against us is grounded, to the confusion of his face. This is\nevident from the title that our Advocate bestows upon him, while he\npleads for us against him: \u201cThe Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, O enemy,\u201d\nsaith he; for Satan is an enemy, and this name given him signifies so\nmuch. And lawyers, in their pleas, can make a great matter of such a\ncircumstance as this; saying, My lord, we can prove that what is now\npleaded against the prisoner at the bar is of mere malice and hatred,\nthat has also a long time lain burning and raging in his enemy\u2019s breast\nagainst him. This, I say, will greatly weaken the plea and accusation\nof an enemy. But, says Jesus Christ, \u201cFather, here is a plea brought in\nagainst my Joshua, that clothes him with filthy garments, but it is\nbrought in against him by an enemy, by an enemy in the superlative or\nhighest degree. One that hates goodness worse than he, and that loveth\nwickedness more than the man against whom at this time he has brought\nsuch a heinous charge.\u201d Then leaving with the Father the value of his\nblood for the accused, he turneth him to the accuser, and pleads\nagainst him as an enemy: \u201cO Satan, thou that accusest my spouse, my\nlove, my members, art SATAN, an enemy.\u201d But it will be objected that\nthe things charged are true. Grant it; yet what law takes notice of the\nplea of one who doth professedly act as an enemy? because it is not\ndone of love to truth, and justice, and righteousness, nor intended for\nthe honour of the king, nor for the good of the prosecuted; but to\ngratify malice and rage, and merely to kill and destroy. There is,\ntherefore, a great deal of force and strength in an Advocate\u2019s pleading\nof such a circumstance against an accuser; especially when the crimes\nnow charged are those, and only those for which the law, in the due\nexecution of it, has been satisfied before; wherefore now a lawyer has\ndouble and treble ground or matter to plead for his client against his\nenemy. And this advantage against him has Jesus Christ.\n\nBesides, it is well known that Satan, as to us, is the original cause\nof those very crimes for which he accuses us at the bar of God\u2019s\ntribunal. Not to say anything of how he cometh to us, solicits us,\ntempts us, flatters us, and always, in a manner, lies at us to do those\nwicked things for which he so hotly pursues us to the bar of the\njudgment of God. For though it is not meet for us thus to plead,-to\nwit, laying that fault upon Satan, but rather upon ourselves,-yet our\nadvocate will do it, and make work of it too before God. \u201cSimon, Simon,\nbehold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as\nwheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not\u201d (Luke\n22:31,32). He maketh here mention of Satan\u2019s desires, by way of\nadvantage against him; and, doubtless, so he did in his prayer with God\nfor Peter\u2019s preservation. And what he did here, while on earth, as a\nSaviour in general, that he doth now in heaven as a Priest and an\nAdvocate in special.\n\nI will further suppose that which may be supposed, and that which is\nsuitable to our purpose. Suppose, therefore, that a father that has a\nchild whom he loveth, but the child has not half that wit that some of\nthe family hath, and I am sure that we have less wit than angels; and\nsuppose, also, that some bad-minded neighbour, by tampering with,\ntempting of, and by unwearied solicitations, should prevail with this\nchild to steal something out of his father\u2019s house or grounds, and give\nit unto him; and this he doth on purpose to set the father against the\nchild; and suppose, again, that it comes to the father\u2019s knowledge that\nthe child, through the allurements of such an one, has done so and so\nagainst his father; will he therefore disinherit this child? Yea,\nsuppose, again, that he that did tempt this child to steal, should be\nthe first that should come to accuse this child to its father for so\ndoing, would the father take notice of the accusation of such an\none?-No, verily, we that are evil can do better than so; how then\nshould we think that the God of heaven should do such a thing, since\nalso we have a brother that is wise, and that will and can plead the\nvery malice of our enemy that doth to us all these things against him\nfor our advantage?-I say, this is the sum of this fifth plea of Christ\nour Advocate, against Satan. O Satan, says he, thou art an enemy to my\npeople; thou pleadest not out of love to righteousness, not to reform,\nbut to destroy my beloved and inheritance. The charge wherewith thou\nchargest my people is thine own (Job 8:4-6). Not only as to a matter of\ncharge, but the things that thou accusest them of are thine, thine in\nthe nature of them. Also, thou hast tempted, allured, flattered, and\ndaily laboured with them, to do that for which now thou so willingly\nwould have them destroyed. Yea, all this hast thou done of envy to my\nFather, and to godliness; of hatred to me and my people; and that thou\nmightest destroy others besides (I Chron 21:1). And now, what can this\naccuser say? Can he excuse himself? Can he contradict our Advocate? He\ncannot; he knows that he is a Satan, an enemy, and as an adversary has\nhe sown his tares among the wheat, that it might be rooted up; but he\nshall not have his end; his malice has prevented9 him, and so has the\ncare and grace of our Advocate. The tares, therefore, he shall have\nreturned unto him again; but the wheat, for all this, shall be gathered\ninto God\u2019s barn (Matt 13:25-30).\n\nThus, therefore, our Advocate makes use, in his plea against Satan, of\nthe rage and malice that is the occasion of the enemy\u2019s charge\nwherewith he accuseth the children of God. Wherefore, when thou readest\nthese words, \u201cO Satan,\u201d say with thyself, thus Christ our Advocate\naccuseth our adversary of malice and envy against God and goodness,\nwhile he accuseth us of the sins which we commit, for which we are\nsorry, and Christ has paid a price of redemption-\u201cAnd (thus) if any man\nsin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\nBut,\n\n6. Christ, when he pleads as an Advocate for his people, in the\npresence of God against Satan, he can plead those very weaknesses of\nhis people for which Satan would have them damned, for their relief and\nadvantage. \u201cIs not this a brand plucked out of the fire?\u201d This is part\nof the plea of our Advocate against Satan for his servant Joshua, when\nhe said, \u201cThe Lord rebuke thee, O Satan\u201d (Zech3:2). Now, to be a brand\nplucked out of the fire is to be a saint, impaired, weakened, defiled,\nand made imperfect by sin; for so also the apostle means when he saith,\n\u201cAnd others save with fear, pulling them our of the fire; hating even\nthe garment spotted by the flesh\u201d (Jude 23). By fire, in both these\nplaces, we are to understand sin; for that it burns and consumes as\nfire (Rom 1:27). Wherefore a man is said to burn when his lusts are\nstrong upon him; and to burn in lusts to others, when his wicked heart\nruns wickedly after them (I Cor 7:9).\n\nAlso, when Abraham said, \u201cI am but dust and ashes,\u201d (Gen 18:27), he\nmeans he was but what sin had left; yea, he had something of the smutch\nand besmearings of sin yet upon him. Wherefore it was a custom with\nIsrael, in days of old, when they set days apart for confession of sin,\nand humiliation for the same, to sprinkle themselves with, or to wallow\nin dust and ashes, as a token that they did confess they were but what\nsin had left, and that they also were defiled, weakened, and polluted\nby it (Esth 4:1,3; Jer 6:26; Job 30:19, 42:6).\n\nThis, then, is the next plea of our goodly Advocate for us: O Satan,\nthis is \u201ca brand plucked out of the fire.\u201d As who should say, Thou\nobjected against my servant Joshua that he is black like a coal, or\nthat the fire of sin at times is still burning in him. And what then?\nThe reason why he is not totally extinct, as tow; is not thy pity, but\nmy Father\u2019s mercy to him; I have plucked him out of the fire, yet not\nso out but that the smell thereof is yet upon him; and my Father and I,\nwe consider his weakness, and pity him; for since he is as a brand\npulled out, can it be expected by my Father or me that he should appear\nbefore us as clear, and do our biddings as well, as if he had never\nbeen there? This is \u201ca brand plucked out of the fire,\u201d and must be\nconsidered as such, and must be borne with as such. Thus, as\nMephibosheth pleaded for his excuse, his lameness,(II Sam 19:24-26), so\nChrist pleads the infirm and indigent condition of his people, against\nSatan, for their advantage. Wherefore Christ, by such pleas as these\nfor his people, doth yet further show the malice of Satan (for all this\nburning comes through him), yea, and by it he moveth the heart of God\nto pity us, and yet to be gentle, and long-suffering, and merciful to\nus; for pity and compassion are the fruits of the yearning of God\u2019s\nbowels towards us, while he considereth us as infirm and weak, and\nsubject to slips, and stumbles, and falls, because of weakness.\n\nAnd that Christ our Advocate, by thus pleading, doth turn things to our\nadvantage, consider, (1.) That God is careful, that through our\nweakness, our spirits do not fail before him when he chides (Isa\n57:16-18). (2.) \u201cHe stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east\nwind,\u201d and debates about the measure of affliction, when, for sin, we\nshould be chastened, lest we should sink thereunder (Isa 27:7-9). (3.)\nHe will not strictly mark what is done amiss, because if he should, we\ncannot stand (Psa 130:3). (4.) When he threateneth to strike, his\nbowels are troubled, and his repentings are kindled together (Hosea\n11:8,9). (5.) He will spin out his patience to the utmost length,\nbecause he knows we are such bunglers at doing (Jer 9:24). (6.) He will\naccept of the will for the deed, because he knows that sin will make\nour best performances imperfect (II Cor 8:12). (7.) He will count our\nlittle a very great deal, for that he knows we are so unable to do\nanything at all (Job 1:21). (8.) He will excuse the souls of his\npeople, and lay the fault upon their flesh, which has greatest affinity\nwith Satan, if through weakness and infirmity we do not do as we should\n(Matt 26:41; Rom 7). Now, as I said, all these things happen unto us,\nboth infirmities and pity, because and for that we were once in the\nfire, and for that the weakness of sin abides upon us to this day. But\nnone of this favour could come to us, nor could we, by any means, cause\nthat our infirmities should work for us thus advantageously; but that\nChrist our Advocate stands our friend, and pleads for us as he doth.\n\nBut again, before I pass this over, I will, for the clearing of this,\npresent you with a few more considerations, which are of another\nrank-to wit, that Christ our Advocate, as such, makes mention of our\nweaknesses so, against Satan, and before his Father, as to turn all to\nour advantage.\n\n(1.) We are therefore to be saved by grace, because by reason of sin we\nare disabled from keeping of the law (Deut 9:5; Isa 64:6). (2.) We have\ngiven unto us the Spirit of grace to help, because we can do nothing\nthat is good without it (Eph 2:5; Rom 8:26). (3.) God has put Christ\u2019s\nrighteousness upon us to cover our nakedness with, because we have none\nof our own to do it withal (Phil 3:7,8; Eze 16:8). (4.) God alloweth us\nto ride in the bosom of Christ to the grave, and from thence in the\nbosom of angels to heaven, because our own legs are not able to carry\nus thither (Isa 40:11, 46:4; Psa 48:14; Luke 16:22). (5.) God has made\nhis Son our Head, our Priest, our Advocate, our Saviour, our Captain,\nthat we may be delivered from all the infirmities and all the fiends\nthat attend us, and that plot to do us hurt (Eph 1:22; Col 1:18; Heb\n7:21). (6.) God has put the fallen angels into chains, (II Peter 2:4;\nRev 20:1,2), that they might not follow us too fast, and has enlarged\nus, (Psa 4:1), and directed our feet in the way of his steps, that we\nmay haste us to the strong tower and city of refuge for succour and\nsafety, and has given good angels a charge to look to us (Heb 1:14; Psa\n34:7). (7.) God has promised that we, at our counting days, shall be\nspared, \u201cas a man spareth his own son that serveth him\u201d (Mal 3:17).\n\nNow, from all these things, it appears that we have indulgence at God\u2019s\nhand, and that our weaknesses, as our Christ manages the matter for us,\nare so far off from laying a block or bar in the way to the enjoyment\nof favour, that they also work for our good; yea, and God\u2019s foresight\nof them has so kindled his bowels and compassion to us, as to put him\nupon devising of such things for our relief, which by no means could\nhave been, had not sin been with us in the world, and had not the best\nof saints been \u201cas a brand plucked out of the burning.\u201d\n\nI have seen men (and yet they are worse than God) take most care of,\nand, also, best provide for, those of their children that have been\nmost infirm and helpless; 10 and our Advocate \u201cshall gather his lambs\nwith his arms, and carry them in his bosom\u201d; yea, and I know that there\nis such an art in showing and making mention of weaknesses as shall\nmake the tears stand in a parent\u2019s eyes, and as shall make him search\nto the bottom of his purse to find out what may do his weakling good.\nChrist, also, has that excellent art, as he is an Advocate with the\nFather for us; he can so make mention of us and of our infirmities,\nwhile he pleads before God, against the devil, for us, that he can make\nthe bowels of the Almighty yearn towards us, and to wrap us up in their\ncompassions. You read much of the pity, compassion, and of the yearning\nof the bowels of the mighty God towards his people; all which, I think,\nis kindled and made burn towards us, by the pleading of our Advocate. I\nhave seen fathers offended with their children; but when a brother had\nturned a skillful advocate, the anger has been appeased, and the means\nhave been concealed. We read but little of this Advocate\u2019s office of\nJesus Christ, yet much of the fruit of it is extended to the churches;\nbut as the cause of smiles, after offences committed, is made manifest\nafterwards, so at the day when God will open all things, we shall see\nhow many times our Lord, as an Advocate, pleaded for us, and redeemed\nus by his so pleading, unto the enjoyments of smiles and embraces, who,\nfor sin, but a while before, were under frowns and chastisements. And\nthus much for the making out how Christ doth manage his office of being\nan Advocate for us with the Father-\u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate\nwith the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\n\n[WHO HAVE CHRIST FOR AN ADVOCATE]\n\n\nTHIRDLY, And I shall come now to the third head; to wit, to show you\nmore particularly who they are that have Jesus Christ for their\nAdvocate.\n\nIn my handling of this head, I shall show, First, That this office of\nan advocate differeth from that of a priest, and how. Second, I shall\nshow you how far Christ extendeth this his office of advocateship-I\nmean, in matters concerning the people of God, And then, Third, I shall\ncome more directly to show who they are that have Christ for their\nAdvocate.\n\nFirst, For the first of these, That this office of Christ, as an\nAdvocate, differeth from that of a Priest. That he is a Priest, a\nPriest for ever, I heartily acknowledge; but that his priesthood and\nadvocateship should be one and the self-same office, I cannot believe.\n\n1. Because they differ in name. We may as well say a father, as such,\nis a son, or that father and son is the self-same relation, as say a\npriest and an advocate, as to office, are but one and the same thing.\nThey differ in name as much as priest and sacrifice do: a priest is\none, and a sacrifice is another; and though Christ is Priest and\nSacrifice too, yet, as a Priest, he is not a Sacrifice, nor, as a\nSacrifice, a Priest.\n\n2. As they differ in name, so they differ in the nature of office. A\npriest is to slay a sacrifice; an advocate is to plead a cause; a\npriest is to offer his sacrifice, to the end that, by the merit\nthereof, he may appease; an advocate is to plead, to plead according to\nlaw; a priest is to make intercession, by virtue of his sacrifice; an\nadvocate is to plead law, because amends is made.\n\n3. As they differ in name and nature, so they also differ as to their\nextent. The priesthood of Christ extendeth itself to the whole of God\u2019s\nelect, whether called or in their sins; but Christ, as Advocate,\npleadeth only for the children.\n\n4. As they differ in name, in nature, and extent, so they differ as to\nthe persons with whom they have to do. We read not anywhere that\nChrist, as Priest, has to do with the devil as an antagonist, but, as\nan Advocate, he hath.\n\n5. As they differ in these, so they differ as to the matters about\nwhich they are employed. Christ, as Priest, concerns himself with every\nwry thought, and, also, with the least imperfection or infirmity that\nattends our most holy things; but Christ, as Advocate, doth not so, as\nI have already showed.\n\n6. So that Christ, as Priest, goes before, and Christ, as an Advocate,\ncomes after; Christ, as Priest, continually intercedes; Christ, as\nAdvocate, in case of great transgressions, pleads: Christ, as Priest,\nhas need to act always, but Christ, as Advocate, sometimes only.\nChrist, as Priest, acts in times of peace; but Christ, as Advocate, in\ntimes of broils, turmoils, and sharp contentions; wherefore, Christ, as\nAdvocate, is, as I may call him, a reserve, and his time is then to\narise, to stand up and plead, when HIS are clothed with some filthy sin\nthat of late they have fallen into, as David, Joshua, or Peter. When\nsome such thing is committed by them, as ministereth to the enemy a\nshow of ground to question the truth of their grace; or when it is a\nquestion, and to be debated, whether it can stand with the laws of\nheaven, with the merits of Christ, and the honour of God, that such a\none should be saved. Now let an advocate come forth, now let him have\ntime to plead, for this is a fit occasion for the saints\u2019 Advocate to\nstand up to plead for the salvation of his people. But,\n\nSecond, I come next to show you how far this office of an Advocate is\nextended. I hinted at this before, so now shall be the more brief. 1.\nBy this office he offereth no sacrifice; he only, as to matter of\njustice, pleads the sacrifice offered. 2. By this office he obtains the\nconversion of none; he only thereby secureth the converted from the\ndamnation which their adversary, for sins after light and profession,\nendeavoureth to bring them to. 3. By this office he prevents not\ntemporal punishment, but by it he chiefly preserveth the soul from\nhell. 4. By this office he brings in no justifying righteousness for\nus, he only thereby prevaileth to have the dispose of that brought in\nby himself, as Priest, for the justifying of those, by a new and fresh\nact, who had made their justification doubtful by new falls into sin.\nAnd this is plain in the history of our Joshua, so often mentioned\nbefore (Zech 3). 5. As Priest, he hath obtained eternal redemption for\nus; and as Advocate, he by law, maintaineth our right thereto, against\nthe devil and his angels.\n\nThird, I come now to show you who they are that have Jesus Christ for\ntheir Advocate. And this I shall do-first, more generally, and then\nshall be more particular and distinct about it.\n\n1. More generally. They are all the truly gracious; those that are the\nchildren by adoption; and this the test affirmeth-\u201cMy little children,\nthese things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we\nhave an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d They\nare, then, the children, by adoption, that are the persons concerned in\nthe advocateship of Jesus Christ. The priesthood of Christ extendeth\nitself to the whole body of the elect, but the advocateship of Christ\ndoth not so. This is further cleared by this apostle; and in this very\ntext, if you consider what immediately follows-\u201cWe have an Advocate,\u201d\nsays he, \u201cand he is the propitiation for our sins.\u201d He is our Advocate,\nand also our Priest. As an Advocate, ours only; but as a propitiation,\nnot ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world; to be sure,\nfor the elect throughout the world, and they that will extend it\nfurther, let them.\n\nAnd I say again, had he not intended that there should have been a\nstraiter limit put to the Advocateship of Christ than he would have us\nput to his priestly office, what needed he, when he speaketh of the\npropitiation which relates to Christ as Priest, have added-\u201cAnd not for\nours only\u201d? As an Advocate, then, he engageth for us that are children;\nand as a Priest, too, he hath appeased God\u2019s wrath for our sins; but as\nan Advocate his offices are confined to the children only, but as a\nPriest he is not so. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for\nours only. The sense, therefore, of the apostle should, I think, be\nthis-That Christ, as a Priest, hath offered a propitiatory sacrifice\nfor all; but as an Advocate he pleadeth only for the children.\nChildren, we have an Advocate to ourselves, and he is also our Priest;\nbut as he is a Priest, he is not ours only, but maketh, as such, amends\nfor all that shall be saved. The elect, therefore, have the Lord Jesus\nfor their Advocate then, and then only, when they are by calling put\namong the children; because, as Advocate, he is peculiarly the\nchildren\u2019s-\u201cMy little children, WE have an Advocate.\u201d\n\nObjection. But he also saith, \u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate\u201d;\nany man that sinneth seems, by the text, notwithstanding what you say,\n\u201cto have an Advocate with the Father.\u201d\n\nAnswer. By any man, must not be meant any of the world, nor any of the\nelect, but any man in faith and grace; for he still limits this general\nterm, \u201cany man,\u201d with this restriction, \u201cwe\u201d-Children, \u201cif any man sin,\nwe have an Advocate.\u201d We, any man of us. And this is yet further made\nappear, since he saith that it is to them he writes, not only here, but\nfurther in this chapter-\u201cI write unto YOU, little children; I write\nunto you, fathers; I write unto you, young men\u201d (I John 2: 12,13).\nThese are the persons intended in the text, for under these three heads\nare comprehended all men; for they are either children, and so men in\nnature, or young men, and so men in strength; or else they are fathers,\nand so aged, and of experience. Add to this, by \u201cany man,\u201d that the\napostle intendeth not to enlarge himself beyond the persons that are in\ngrace; but to supply what was wanting by that term \u201clittle children\u201d;\nfor since the strongest saint may have heed of an Advocate, as well as\nthe most feeble of the flock, why should the apostle leave it to be so\nunderstood as if the children, and the children only, had an interest\nin that office? Wherefore, after he had said, \u201cMy little children, I\nwrite unto you, that ye sin not\u201d; he then adds, with enlargement, \u201cIf\nany man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.\u201d Yet the little\nchildren may well be mentioned first, since they most want the\nknowledge of it, are most feeble, and so by sin may be forced most\nfrequently to act faith on Christ, as Advocate. Besides, they are most\nready, through temptation, to question whether they have so good a\nright to Christ in all his offices as have better and more well-grown\nsaints; and, therefore, they, in this the apostle\u2019s salutation, are\nfirst set down in the catalogue of names-\u201cMy little children, I write\nunto you, that ye sin not. If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the\nFather, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d So, then, the children of God are\nthey who have the Lord Jesus, an Advocate for them with the Father. The\nleast and biggest, the oldest and youngest, the feeblest and the\nstrongest; ALL the children have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus\nChrist the righteous.\n\n(1.) Since, then, the children have Christ for their advocate, art thou\na child? Art thou begotten of God by his Word? (James 1:18). Hast thou\nin thee the spirit of adoption? (Gal 4:1-6). Canst thou in faith say,\nFather, Father, to God? Then is Christ thy Advocate, thine Advocate,\n\u201cnow to appear in the presence of God for thee\u201d (Heb 9:24). To appear\nthere, and to plead there, in the face of the court of heaven, for\nthee; to plead there against thine adversary, whose accusations are\ndreadful, whose subtlety is great, whose malice is inconceivable, and\nwhose rage is intolerable; to plead there before a just God, a\nrighteous God, a sin-revenging God: before whose face thou wouldst die\nif thou wast to show thyself, and at his bar to plead thine own cause.\nBut,\n\n(2.) There is a difference in children; some are bigger than some;\nthere are children and little children-\u201cMy little children, I write\nunto you.\u201d Little children; some of the little children can neither say\nFather, nor so much as know that they themselves are children.\n\nThis is true in nature, and so it is in grace; wherefore,\nnotwithstanding what was said under the first head, it doth not follow,\nthat if I be a child I must certainly know it, and also be able to call\nGod, Father. Let the first, then, serve to poise and balance the\nconfident ones, and let this be for the relief of those more feeble;\nfor they that are children, whether they know it or no, have Jesus\nChrist for their Advocate, for Christ is assigned to be our Advocate by\nthe Judge, by the King, by our God and Father, although we have not\nknown it. True, at present, there can come from hence, to them that are\nthus concerned in the advocateship of Christ, but little comfort; but\nyet it yields them great security; they have \u201can Advocate with the\nFather, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d God knows this, the devil feels\nthis, and the children shall have the comfort of it afterwards. I say,\nthe time is coming when they shall know that even then, when they knew\nit not, they had an Advocate with the Father; an Advocate who was\nneither loath, nor afraid, nor ashamed, to plead for their defense\nagainst their proudest foe. And will not this, when they know it, yield\nthem comfort? Doubtless it will; yea, more, and of a better kind, than\nthat which flows from the knowledge that one is born to crowns and\nkingdoms.\n\nAgain; as he is an Advocate for the children, so he is also, as before\nwas hinted, for the strong and experienced; for no strength in this\nworld secureth from the rage of hell; nor can any experience, while we\nare here, fortify us against his assaults. There is also an incidency\nin the best to sin; and the bigger man, the bigger fall; for the more\nhurt, the greater damage. Wherefore it is of absolute necessity that an\nadvocate be provided for the strong as for the weak. \u201cAny man\u201d; he that\nis most holy, most reformed, most refined, and most purified, may as\nsoon be in the dirt as the weakest Christian; and, so far as I can see,\nSatan\u2019s design is against them most. I am sure the greatest sins have\nbeen committed by the biggest saints. This wayfaring man came to\nDavid\u2019s house, and when he stood up against Israel, he provoked David\nto number the people (II Sam 12:4,7; I Chron 21:1). Wherefore they have\nas much need of an advocate as have the youngest and most feeble of the\nflock. What a mind had he to try a fall with Peter! And how quickly did\nhe break the neck of Judas! The like, without doubt, he had done to\nPeter, had not Jesus, by stepping in, prevented. As long as sin is in\nour flesh, there is danger. Indeed, he saith of the young men that they\nare strong, and that they have overcome the wicked one; but he doth not\nsay they have killed him. As long as the devil is alive there is\ndanger; and though a strong Christian may be too hard for, and may\novercome him in one thing, he may be too hard for, yea, and may\novercome him two for one afterwards. Thus he served David, and thus he\nserved Peter, and thus he, in our day, has served many more. The\nstrongest are weak, the wisest are fools, when suffered to be sifted as\nwheat in Satan\u2019s sieve; yea, and have often been so proved, to the\nwounding of their great hearts, and the dishonour of religion. To\nconclude this: God of his mercy hath sufficiently declared the truth of\nwhat I say, by preparing for the best, the strongest, and most\nsanctified, as well as for the least, weakest, and most feeble saint,\nas Advocate-\u201cMy little children, I write unto you, that ye sin not. And\nif any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the\nrighteous.\u201d\n\n2. But some may object, that what has been said as to discovering for\nwhom Christ is an Advocate has been too general, and, therefore, would\nhave me come more to particulars, else they can get no comfort. Well,\ninquiring soul, so I will; and, therefore, hearken to what I say.\n\n(1.) Wouldest thou know whether Christ is thine Advocate or no? I ask,\nHast thou entertained him so to be? When men have suits of law\ndepending in any of the king\u2019s courts above, they entertain their\nattorney or advocate to plead their cause, and so he pleads for them. I\nsay, hast thou entertained Jesus Christ for thy lawyer to plead thy\ncause? \u201cPlead my cause, O Lord,\u201d said David (Psa 35:1); and again,\n\u201cJudge me, O God, and plead my cause\u201d (Psa 43:1). This, therefore, is\nthe first thing that I would propound to thee: Hast thou, with David,\nentertained him for thy lawyer, or, with good Hezekiah, cried out, \u201cO\nLord, I am oppressed; undertake for me\u201d (Isa 38:14). What sayest thou,\nsoul? Hast thou been with him, and prayed him to plead thy cause, and\ncried unto him to undertake for thee? This I call entertaining of him\nto be thy advocate, and I choose to follow the similitude, both because\nthe Scripture seems to smile upon such a way of discourse, and because\nthy question doth naturally lead me to it. Wherefore, I ask again, hast\nthou been with him? Hast thou entertained him? Hast thou desired him to\nplead thy cause?\n\nQuestion. Thou wilt say unto me, How should I know that I have done so?\n\nAnswer. I answer, Art thou sensible that thou hast an action commenced\nagainst thee in that high court of justice that is above? I say, Art\nthou sensible of this? For the defendants-and all God\u2019s people are\ndefendants-do not use to entertain their lawyers, but from knowledge,\nthat an action either is, or may be, commenced against them before the\nGod of heaven. If thou sayest yea, then I ask, Who told thee that thou\nstandest accused for transgression before the judgment-seat of God? I\nsay, Who told thee so? Hath the Holy Ghost, hath the world, or hath thy\nconscience? For nothing else, as I know of, can bring such tidings to\nthy soul.\n\nAgain; Hast thou found a failure in all others that might have been\nentertained to plead thy cause? Some make their sighs, their tears,\ntheir prayers, and their reformations, their advocates-\u201cHast thou tried\nthese, and found them wanting?\u201d Hast thou seen thy state to be\ndesperate, if the Lord Jesus doth not undertake to plead thy cause? for\nJesus is not entertained so long as men can make shift without him. But\nwhen it comes to this point I perish for ever, notwithstanding the help\nof all, if the Lord Jesus steps not in. Then Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus,\ngood Lord Jesus! undertake for me. Hast thou therefore been with Jesus\nChrist as concerned in thy soul, as heartily concerned about the action\nthat thou perceivest to be commenced against thee?\n\nQuestion. You will say, How should I know that?\n\nAnswer. I answer, Hast thou well considered the nature of the crime\nwherewith thou standest charged at the bar of God? Hast thou also\nconsidered the justness of the Judge? Again I ask, Hast thou considered\nwhat truth, as to matter of fact, there is in the things whereof thou\nstandest accused? Also, Hast thou considered the cunning, the malice,\nand diligence of thy adversary, with the greatness of the loss thou art\nlike to sustain, shouldst thou with Ahab, in the book of Kings, (I\nKings 22:17-23), or with the hypocrites in Isaiah, (Isa 6:5-10), have\nthe verdict of the Lord God go out from the throne against thee? I ask\nthee these questions, because if thou art in the knowledge of these\nthings to seek, or if thou art not deeply concerned about the greatness\nof the damage that will certainly overtake thee, and that for ever,\nshouldest thou be indeed accused before God, and have none to plead thy\ncause, thou hast not, nor canst not, let what will come upon thee, have\nbeen with Jesus Christ to plead thy cause; and so, let thy case be\nnever so desperate, thou standest alone, and hast no helper (Job 30:13,\n9:13) Or if thou hast, they, not being the advocate of God\u2019s\nappointing, must needs fall with thee, and with thy burden. Wherefore,\nconsider of this seriously, and return thy answer to God, who can tell\nif truth shall be found in thy answers, better by far than any; for it\nis he that tries the reins and the heart, and therefore to him I refer\nthee. But,\n\n(2.) Wouldst thou know whether Jesus Christ is thine advocate? Then I\nask again, Hast thou revealed thy cause unto him?-I say, Hast thou\nrevealed thy cause unto him? For he that goeth to law for his right,\nmust not only go to a lawyer, and say, Sir, I am in trouble, and am to\nhave a trial at law with mine enemy, pray undertake my cause; but he\nmust also reveal to his lawyer his cause. He must go to him and tell\nhim what is the matter, how things stand, where the shoe pinches, and\nso. Thus did the church of old, and thus doth every true Christian now;\nfor though nothing can be hid from him, yet he will have things out of\nthine own mouth; he will have thee to reveal thy matters unto him (Matt\n20:32). \u201cO Lord of hosts,\u201d said Jeremiah, \u201cthat judgest righteously,\nthat triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them:\nfor unto thee have I revealed my cause\u201d (Jer 11:20). And again; \u201cBut, O\nLord of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the\nheart, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I opened my\ncause\u201d (Jer 20:12). Seest thou here, how saints of old were wont to do?\nhow they did, not only in a general way, entreat Christ to plead their\ncause, but in a particular way, go to him and reveal, or open their\ncause unto him?\n\nO! it is excellent to behold how some sinners will do this when they\nget Christ and themselves in a closet alone; when they, upon their bare\nknees, are pouring out of their souls before him; or, like the woman in\nthe gospel, telling him all the truth (Mark 5). O! saith the soul,\nLord, I am come to thee upon an earnest business; I am arrested by\nSatan; the bailiff was mine own conscience, and I am like to be accused\nbefore the judgment-seat of God. My salvation lies at stake; I am\nquestioned for my interest in heaven; I am afraid of the Judge; my\nheart condemns me (I John 3:20). Mine enemy is subtle, and wanteth not\nmalice to prosecute me to death, and then to hell. Also, Lord, I am\nsensible that the law is against me, for indeed I have horribly sinned,\nand thus and thus have I done. Here I lie open to law, and there I lie\nopen to law; here I have given the adversary advantage, and there he\nwill surely have a hank11 against me. Lord, I am distressed, undertake\nfor me! And there are some things that thou must be acquainted with\nabout thine Advocate, before thou wilt venture to go thus far with him.\nAs,\n\n(a.) Thou must know him to be a friend, and not an enemy, unto whom\nthou openest thy heart; and until thou comest to know that Christ is a\nfriend to thee, or to souls in thy condition, thou wilt never reveal\nthy cause unto him, not thy whole cause unto him. And it is from this\nthat so many that have soul causes hourly depending before the throne\nof God, and that are in danger every day of eternal damnation, forbear\nto entertain Jesus Christ for their Advocate, and so wickedly conceal\ntheir matters from him; but \u201che that hideth his sins shall not prosper\u201d\n(Prov 28:13)\n\nFOOTNOTE: Quoted from the Genevan, or Puritan translation.-ED. This,\ntherefore, must first be believed by thee before thou wilt reveal thy\ncause unto him.\n\n(b.) A man, when his estate is called in question, I mean his right and\ntitle thereto, will be very cautious, especially if he also questions\nhis title to it himself, unto whom he reveals that affair; he must know\nhim to be one that is not only friendly, but faithful, to whom he\nreveals such a secret as this. Why, thus it is with Christ and the\nsoul. If the soul is not somewhat persuaded of the faithfulness of\nChrist-to wit, that if he can do him no good, he will do him no harm,\nhe will never reveal his cause unto him, but will seek to hide his\ncounsel from the Lord. This, therefore, is another thing by which thou\nmayest know that thou hast Christ for thine Advocate, if thou hast\nheartily and in very deed revealed thy cause unto him. Now, they that\ndo honestly reveal their cause to their lawyer, will endeavour to\npossess him, as I hinted before, with the worst; they will, with words,\nmake it as bad as they may; for, think they, by that means I shall\nprepare him for the worst that mine enemy can do. And thus souls deal\nwith Jesus Christ; see Psalms 51 and 38, with several others that might\nbe named, and see if God\u2019s people have not done so. \u201cI said,\u201d saith\nDavid, \u201cI will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou\nforgavest the iniquity of my sin.\u201d But,\n\n(3.) Hast thou Jesus Christ for thine Advocate? or wouldst thou know if\nthou hast? Then I ask again, Hast thou committed thy cause to him? When\na man entertains12 his lawyer to stand for him and to plead his cause,\nhe doth not only reveal, but commit his cause unto him. \u201cI would seek\nunto God,\u201d says Eliphaz to Job, \u201cand unto God would I commit my cause\u201d\n(Job 5:8). Now there is a difference betwixt revealing my cause and\ncommitting of it to a man. To reveal my cause is to open it to one; and\nto commit it to him is to trust it in his hand. Many a man will reveal\nhis cause to him unto whom he will yet be afraid to commit it; but now,\nhe that entertains a lawyer to plead his cause, doth not only reveal\nbut commit his cause into him. As, suppose right to his estate be\ncalled in question; why, then, he not only reveals his cause to his\nlawyer, but puts into his hands his evidences, deeds, leases,\nmortgages, bonds, or what else he hath, to show a title to his estate\nby. And thus doth Christians deal with Christ; they deliver up all unto\nhim-to wit, all their signs, evidences, promises, and assurances, which\nthey have thought they had for heaven and the salvation of their souls,\nand have desired him to peruse, to search, and try them every one. \u201cAnd\nsee if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way\neverlasting\u201d (Psa 139:23-24). This is committing of thy cause to\nChrist, and this is the hardest task of all, for the man that doth\nthus, he trusteth Christ with all; and it implieth, that he will live\nand die, stand and fall, lose and win, according as Christ will manage\nhis business. Thus did Paul, (II Tim 1:12), and thus Peter admonishes\nus to do. Now he that doth this must be convinced,\n\n(a.) Of the ability of Jesus Christ to defend him; for a man will not\ncommit so great a concern as his all is to his friend. No; not to his\nfriend, be he never so faithful, if he perceives not in him ability to\nsave him, and to preserve what he hath, against all the cavils of an\nenemy. And hence it is that the ability of Jesus Christ, as to the\nsaving of his people, is so much insisted on in the Scripture; as, \u201cI\nhave laid help upon one that is mighty\u201d (Psa 89:19). \u201cI that speak in\nrighteousness, mighty to save\u201d (Isa 63:1). And again, \u201cHe shall send\nthem a Saviour, and a great one\u201d (Isa 19:20).\n\n(b.) As they must be convinced of his ability to help them, so they\nmust of his courage; a man that has parts sufficient may yet fail his\nfriend for want of courage; wherefore, the courage and greatness of\nChrist\u2019s Spirit, as to his undertaking of the cause of his people, is\nalso amply set out in Scripture. \u201cHe shall not fail nor be discouraged,\ntill he have set judgment in the earth,\u201d \u201ctill he send forth judgment\nunto victory\u201d (Isa 42:4; Matt 12:20).\n\n(c.) They must also be convinced of his willingness to do this for\nthem; for though one be able and of courage sufficient, yet if he is\nnot willing to undertake one\u2019s cause, what is it the better? Wherefore,\nhe declareth his willingness also, and how ready he is to stand up to\nplead the cause of the poor and of them that are in want. \u201cThe Lord\nwill plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them\u201d\n(Prov 22:23).\n\n(d.) They must also be convinced of this-that Christ is tender, and\nwill not be offended at the dullness of his client. Some men can reveal\ntheir cause to their lawyers better than some, and are more serviceable\nand handy in that affair than others. But, saith the Christian, I am\ndull and stupid that way, will not Christ be shuff13 and shy with me\nbecause of this? Honest heart! He hath a supply of thy defects14 in\nhimself, and knoweth what thou wantest, and where the shoe pinches,\nthough thou art not able distinctly to open matters to him. The child\nis pricked with a pin, and lies crying in the mother\u2019s lap, but cannot\nshow its mother where the pin is; but there is pity enough in the\nmother to supply this defect of the child; wherefore she undresses it,\nopens it, searches every clout from head to the foot of the child, and\nso finds where the pin is. Thus will thy lawyer do; he will search and\nfind out thy difficulties, and where Satan seeketh an advantage of\nthee, accordingly will provide his remedy.\n\n(e.) O, but will he not be weary? The prophet complains of some, \u201cthat\nthey weary God\u201d (Isa 7:13). And mine is a very cross and intricate\ncause; I have wearied many a good man while I have been telling my tale\nunto him, and I am afraid that I shall also weary Jesus Christ. Answer.\nSoul, he suffered and did bear with the manners of Israel forty years\nin the wilderness; and hast thou tried him half so long? (Acts 13:18).\nThe good souls that have gone before thee have found him \u201ca tried\nstone,\u201d a sure one to be trusted to as to this (Isa 28:16). And the\nprophet saith positively that \u201che fainteth not, neither is weary\u201d; and\nthat \u201cthere is no searching of his understanding\u201d (Isa 40:28). Let all\nthese things prevail with thee to believe, that if thou hast committed\nby cause unto him, he will bring it to pass, to a good pass, to so good\na pass as will glorify God, honour Christ, save thee, and shame the\ndevil. But,\n\n(4.) Wouldst thou know whether Jesus Christ is thine Advocate, whether\nhe has taken in hand to plead thy cause? Then, I ask, dost thou,\ntogether with what has been mentioned before, wait upon him according\nto his counsel, until things shall come to a legal issue? Thus must\nclients do. There is a great many turnings and windings about suits and\ntrials at law; the enemy, also, with his supersedeas15 cavils, and\nmotions, often defers a speedy issue; wherefore, the man whose is the\nconcern must wait; as the prophet said, \u201cI will look,\u201d said he, \u201cunto\nthe Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation.\u201d But how long,\nprophet, wilt thou wait? Why, says he, \u201cuntil he plead my cause, and\nexecute judgment for me\u201d (Micah 7:7-10).\n\nPerhaps when thy cause is tried, things for the present are upon this\nissue; thy adversary, indeed, is cast, but whether thou shalt have an\nabsolute discharge, as Peter had, or a conditional one, as David, and\nas the Corinthians had, that is the question (II Sam 12:10-14). True,\nthou shalt be completely saved at last; but yet whether it is not best\nto leave to thee a memento of God\u2019s displeasure against thy sin, by\nawarding that the sword shall never depart from thy house, or that some\nsore sickness or other distresses shall haunt thee as long as thou\nlivest, or, perhaps, that thou shalt walk without the light of God\u2019s\ncountenance for several years and a day. Now, if any of these three\nthings happen unto thee, thou must exercise patience, and wait; thus\ndid David-\u201cI waited patiently\u201d; and again he exercises his soul in this\nvirtue, saying \u201cMy soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is\nfrom him\u201d (Psa 62:5). For now we are judged of the Lord, that we may\nnot be condemned with the world. And by this judgment, though it sets\nus free from their damnation, yet we are involved in many troubles,\nand, perhaps, must wait many a day before we can know that, as to the\nmain, the verdict hath gone on our side. Thus, therefore, in order to\nthy waiting upon him without fainting, it is meet that thou shouldest\nknow the methods of him that manages thy cause for thee in heaven; and\nsuffer not mistrust to break in and bear sway in thy soul, for \u201che\nwill\u201d at length \u201cbring thee forth to the light, and thou shalt behold\nhis righteousness. She, also, that is thine enemy shall see it, and\nshame shall cover her which saith unto thee, Where is the Lord thy\nGod?\u201d (Micah 7: 9-10).\n\nQuestion. But what is it to wait upon him according to his counsel?\n\nAnswer. (a.) To wait is to be of good courage, to live in expectation,\nand to look for deliverance, though thou hast sinned against thy God.\n\u201cWait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine\nheart; wait, I say, on the Lord\u201d (Psa 27:14).\n\n(b.) To wait upon him is to keep his way, to walk humbly in his\nappointments. \u201cWait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt\nthee to inherit the land\u201d (Psa 37:34).\n\n(c.) To wait upon him is to observe and keep those directions which he\ngiveth thee; to observe even while he stands up to plead thy cause; for\nwithout this, or not doing this, a man may mar his cause in the hand of\nhim that is to plead it; wherefore, keep thee far from an evil matter,\nhave no correspondence with thine enemy, walk humbly for the wickedness\nthou hast committed, and loathe and abhor thyself for it, in dust and\nashes. To these things doth the Scripture everywhere direct us.\n\n(d.) To wait, is also to incline, to hearken to those further\ndirections which thou mayest receive from the mouth of thine advocate,\nas to any fresh matters that may forward and expedite a good issue of\nthine affair in the court of heaven. The want of this was the reason\nthat the deliverance of Israel did linger so long in former times. \u201cO,\u201d\nsays he, \u201cthat my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked\nin my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my\nhand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have\nsubmitted themselves unto him; but their time should have endured for\never\u201d (Psa 81:13-15).\n\n(e.) Also, if it tarry long, wait for it. Do not conclude that thy\ncause is lost because at present thou dost not hear from court. Cry, if\nthou wilt, O, when wilt thou come unto me? But never let such a wicked\nthought pass through thy heart, saying, \u201cThis evil is of the Lord; what\nshould I wait for the Lord any longer?\u201d (II Kings 6:33).\n\n(f.) But take heed that thou turnest not thy waiting into sleeping.\nWait thou must, and wait patiently too; but yet wait with much longing\nand earnestness of spirit, to see or hear how matters go above. You may\nobserve, that when a man that dwells far down in the country, and has\nsome business at the term, in this or another of the king\u2019s courts,\nthough he will wait his lawyer\u2019s time and convenience, yet he will so\nwait as still to inquire at the post house, or at the carrier\u2019s, or if\na neighbour comes down from term, at his mouth, for letters, or any\nother intelligence, if possibly he may arrive to know how his cause\nspeeds, and whether his adversary, or he, has the day. Thus, I say,\nthou must wait upon thine Advocate. His ordinances are his post house,\nhis ministers are his carriers, where tidings from heaven are to be\nhad, and where those that are sued in that court by the devil may, at\none time or another, hear from their lawyer, their advocate, how things\nare like to go. Wherefore, I say, wait at the posts of wisdom\u2019s house,\ngo to ordinances with expectation to hear from thy Advocate there; for\nhe will send in due time; \u201cthough it tarry, wait for it; because it\nwill surely come, it will not tarry\u201d (Hab 2:1-3). And now, soul, I have\nanswered thy request, and let me hear what thou sayest unto me.\n\nSoul.-Truly, says the soul, methinks that by what you have said, I may\nhave this blessed Jesus to be mine Advocate; for I think, verily, I\nhave entertained him to be mine Advocate. I have also revealed my cause\nunto him, yea, committed both it and myself unto him; and, as you say,\nI wait; oh! I wait! and my eyes fail with looking upward. Fain would I\nhear how my soul standeth in the sight of God, and whether my sins,\nwhich I have committed since light and grace were given unto me, be by\nmine Advocate, taken out of the hand of the devil, and by mine Advocate\nremoved as far from me as the ends of the earth are asunder; whether\nthe verdict has gone on my side, and what a shout there was among the\nangels when they saw it went well with me! But alas! I have waited, and\nthat a long time, and have, as you advise, run from ordinance to\nminister, and from minister to ordinance, or, as you phrase it, from\nthe post to the carrier, and from the carrier to the post house, to see\nif I could hear aught from heaven how matters went about my soul there.\nI have also asked those that pass by the way, \u201cif they saw him whom my\nsoul loveth,\u201d and if they had anything to communicate to me? But\nnothing can I get or find but generals; as, that I have an Advocate\nthere, and that he pleadeth the cause of his people, and that he will\nthoroughly plead their cause. But what he has done for ME, of that as\nyet I am ignorant. I doubt if my soul shall by him be effectually\nsecured, that yet a conditional verdict will be awarded concerning me,\nand that much bitter will be mixed with my sweet, and that I must drink\ngall and wormwood for my folly; for if David, and Asa, and Hezekiah and\nsuch good men, were so served for their sins, (II Chron 16:7,12), why\nshould I look for other dealing at the hand of God? But as to this, I\nwill endeavour to \u201cbear the indignation of the Lord, because I have\nsinned against him,\u201d (Micah 7:9), and shall count it an infinite mercy,\nif this judgment comes to me from him, that I may \u201cnot be condemned\nwith the world\u201d (I Cor 11:32). I know it is dreadful walking in\ndarkness; but if that also shall be the Lord\u2019s lot upon me; I pray God\nI may have faith enough to stay upon him till death, and then will the\nclouds blow over, and I shall see him in the light of the living.\n\nMine, enemy, the devil, as you see, is of an inveigling temper; and\nthough he has accused my before the judgment-seat of God, yet when he\ncomes to me at any time, he glavers16 and flatters as if he never did\nmean me harm; but I think it is that he might get further advantage\nagainst me. But I carry it now at a greater distance than formerly; and\nO that I was at the remotest distance, not only from him, but also from\nthat self of mine, that laboureth with him for my undoing!\n\nBut although I say these things now, and to you, yet I have my solitary\nhours, and in them I have other strange thoughts; for thus I think, my\ncause is bad, I have sinned, and I have been vile. I am ashamed myself\nof mine own doings, and have given mine enemy the best end of the\nstaff. The law, and reason, and my conscience, plead for him against\nme, and all is true; he puts into his charge against me, that I have\nsinned more times than there be hairs on my head. I know not anything\nthat ever I did in my life but it had flaw, or wrinkle, or spot, or\nsome such thing in it. Mine eyes have seen vileness in the best of my\ndoings; what, then, think you, must God needs see in them? Nor can I do\nanything yet, for all I know that I am accused by my enemy before the\njudgment-seat of God, better than what already is imperfect. \u201cI lie\ndown in my shame, and my confusion covers my face.\u201d \u201cI have sinned,\nwhat shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men\u201d (Jer 3:25, Job\n7:20).\n\nReply.-Well, soul, I have heard what thou hast said, and if all be true\nwhich thou hast said, it is good, and gives me ground of hope that\nJesus Christ is become thine Advocate; and if that be so, no doubt but\nthy trial will come to a good conclusion. And be not afraid because of\nthe holiness of God; for thine Advocate has this for his advantage,\nthat he pleads before a judge that is just, and against an enemy that\nis unholy and rejected. Nor let the thoughts of the badness of thy\ncause terrify thee overmuch. Cause thou hast indeed to be humble, and\nthou dost well to cover thy face with shame; and it is no matter how\nbase and vile thou art in thine own eyes, provided that it comes not by\nrenewed acts of rebellion, but through a spiritual sight of thine\nimperfections. Only let me advise thee here to stop. Let not thy shame\nnor thy self-abasing apprehension of thyself, drive thee from the firm\nand permanent ground of hope, which is the promise, and the doctrine of\nan Advocate with the Father. No; let not the apprehension of the\nbadness of thy cause do it, forasmuch as he did never yet take cause in\nhand that was good, perfectly good of itself; and his excellency is, to\nmake a man stand that has a bad cause; yea, he can make a bad cause\ngood, in a way of justice and righteousness.\n\n[THE PRIVILEGES OF THOSE WHO HAVE CHRIST FOR AN ADVOCATE.]\n\n\nFOURTHLY, And for thy further encouragement in this matter, I will here\nbring in the fourth chief head-to wit, to show what excellent privilege\n(I mean over and above what has already been spoken of) they have that\nare made partakers of the benefit of this office:-\u201cIf any man sin, we\nhave an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\n\nFirst Privilege. Thy Advocate pleads to a price paid, to a propitiation\nmade; and this is a great advantage; yea, he pleads to a satisfaction\nmade for all wrongs done, or to be done, by his elect-\u201cFor by one\noffering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified\u201d (Heb\n10:10,14; 9:26). \u201cBy one offering\u201d-that is, by the offering of\nhimself-by one offering once offered, once offered in the end of the\nworld. This, I say, thine Advocate pleads. When Satan brings in fresh\naccusations for more transgressions against the law of God, he forces\nnot Christ to shift his first plea. I say, he puts him not to his\nshifts at all; for the price once paid hath in it sufficient value,\nwould God impute it to that end, to take away the sin of the whole\nworld. There is a man that hath brethren; he is rich, and they are poor\n(and this is the case betwixt Christ and us), and the rich brother\ngoeth to his father, and saith, Thou art related to my brethren with\nme, and out of my store, I pray thee, let them have sufficient, and for\nthy satisfaction I will put into thy hand the whole of what I have,\nwhich perhaps is worth an hundred thousand pounds by the year; and this\nother sum I also give, that they be not disinherited. Now, will not\nthis last his poor brethren to spend upon a great while? But Christ\u2019s\nworth can never be drawn dry.\n\nNow, set the case again, that some ill-conditioned man should take\nnotice that these poor men live all upon the spend (and saints do so),\nand should come to the good man\u2019s house, and complain to him of the\nspending of his sons, and that while their elder brother stands by,\nwhat do you think the elder brother would reply, if he was as\ngood-natured as Christ? Why, he would say, I have yet with my father in\nstore for my brethren, wherefore then seekest thou to stop his hand? As\nhe is just, he must give them for their convenience; yea, and as for\ntheir extravagances, I have satisfied for them so well, that, however\nhe afflicteth them, he will not disinherit them. I hope you will read\nand hear this, not like them that say, \u201cLet us do evil that good may\ncome,\u201d but like those whom the love of Christ constrains to be better.\nHowever, this is the children\u2019s bread, that which they have need of,\nand without which they cannot live; and they must have it, though Satan\nshould put pins into it, therewith to choke the dogs.17 And for the\nfurther clearing of this, I will present you with these few\nconsiderations:\n\n1. Those that are most sanctified have yet a body of sin and death in\nthem, and so also it will be, while they continue in this world (Rom\n7:24). 2. This body of sin strives to break out, and will break out, to\nthe polluting of the conversation, if saints be not the more watchful\n(Rom 6:12). Yea, it has broken out in a most sad manner, and that in\nthe strongest saints (Gal 5:17). 3. Christ offereth no new sacrifice\nfor the salvation of these his people. \u201cFor, being raised from the\ndead, he dieth no more\u201d (Rom 6:9). So then, if saints sin, they must be\nsaved, if saved at all, by virtue of the offering already offered; and\nif so, then all Christ\u2019s pleas, as an Advocate, are grounded upon that\none offering which before, as a Priest, he presented God with, for the\ntaking away of sin. So then, Christians live upon this old stock; their\ntransgressions are forgiven for the sake of the worth, that yet God\nfinds in the offering that Christ hath offered. And all Christ\u2019s\npleadings, as an Advocate, are grounded upon the sufficiency and worth\nof that one sacrifice; I mean, all his pleadings with his Father, as to\nthe charge which the accuser brings in against them. For though thou\nart a man of infirmity, and so incident to nothing [so much] as to\nstumble and fall, if grace doth not prevent, and it doth not always\nprevent; yet the value and worth of the price that was once paid for\nthee is not yet worn out; and Christ, as an Advocate, still pleadeth,\nas occasion is given, that, with success, to thy salvation. And this\nprivilege they have, who indeed have Christ for their Advocate; and I\nput it here, in the first place, because all other do depend upon it.\n\nSecond Privilege. Thine Advocate, as he pleadeth a price already paid,\nso, and therefore, he pleads for himself as for thee. We are all\nconcerned in one bottom; if he sinks, we sink; if we sink, he sinks. 18\nGive me leave to make out my meaning.\n\n1. Christ pleads the value and virtue of the price of his blood and\nsacrifice for us. And admit of this horrible supposition a little, for\nargument\u2019s sake, that though Christ pleads the worth of what, as\nPriest, he offereth, yet the soul for whom he so pleads perishes\neternally. Now, where lieth the fault? In sin, you say: true; but it is\nbecause there was more virtue in sin to damn, than there was in the\nblood pleaded by Christ to save; for he pleaded his merit, he put it\ninto the balance against sin; but sin hath weighed down the soul of the\nsinner to hell, notwithstanding the weight of merit that he did put in\nagainst it. Now, what is the result, but that the Advocate goes down,\nas well as we; we to hell, and he in esteem? Wherefore, I say, he is\nconcerned with us; his credit, his honour, his glory and renown, flies\nall away, if those for whom he pleads as an Advocate perish for want of\nworth in his sacrifice pleaded. But shall this ever be said of Christ?\nOr will it be found that any, for whom Christ as Advocate pleads, yet\nperish for want of worth in the price, or of neglect in the Advocate to\nplead it? No, no; himself is concerned, and that as to his own\nreputation and honour, and as to the value and virtue of his blood; nor\nwill he lose these for want of pleading for them concerned in this\noffice.\n\n2. I argue again; Christ, as Advocate, must needs be concerned in his\nplea; for that every one, for whose salvation he advocates, is his own;\nso, then, if he loses, he loses his own-his substance and inheritance.\nThus, if he lose the whole, and if he lose a part, one, any one of his\nown, he loseth part of his all, and of his fullness; wherefore we may\nwell think, that Christ, as Advocate, is concerned, even concerned with\nhis people, and therefore will thoroughly plead their cause.\n\nSuppose a man should have a horse, though lame, and a piece of ground,\nthough somewhat barren, yet if any should attempt to take these away,\nhe would not sit still, and so lose his own; no, saith he, \u201csince they\nare mine own, they shall cost me five times more than they are worth,\nbut I will maintain my right.\u201d I have seen men sometimes strongly\nengaged in law for that which, when considered by itself, one would\nthink was not worth regarding; but when I have asked them, why so\nconcerned for a thing of so little esteem, they have answered, O, it is\nsome of that by which I hold a title of honour, or my right to a\ngreater income, and therefore I will not lose it. Why, thus is Christ\nengaged; what he pleads for is his own, his all, his fullness; yea, it\nis that by which he holds his royalty, for he is \u201cKing of saints\u201d (Rev\n15:3, John 6:37-39, Psa 16:5,6). It is part of his estate, and that by\nwhich he holds some of his titles of honour (Eph 5:23, Jer 50:34, Rom\n11:26, Heb 2:10). Saviour, Redeemer, Deliverer, and Captain, are some\nof his titles of honour; but if he loseth any of those, upon whose\naccount he weareth those titles of honour, for want of virtue in his\nplea, or for want of worth in his blood, he loseth his own, and not\nonly so, but part of his royalty, and does also diminish and lay a blot\nupon his glorious titles of honour; and he is jealous of his honour;\nhis honour he will not give to another.\n\nWherefore he will not, be not afraid, he never will leave nor forsake\nthose who have given themselves unto him, and for whom he is become an\nAdvocate with the Father, to plead their cause; even because thou art\none, one of his own, one by whom he holdeth his glorious titles of\nhonour.\n\nObjection. O, but I am but one, and a very sorry one, too; and what is\none, especially such an one as I am? Can there be a miss of the loss of\nsuch an one?\n\nAnswer. One and one makes two, and so ad infinitum. Christ cannot lose\none, but as he may lose more, and so, in conclusion, lose all: but of\nall that God has given him, he will lose nothing (John 6:38,39).\nBesides, to lose one would encourage Satan, disparage his own wisdom,\nmake him incapable of giving in, at the day of account, the whole\ntale19 to God of those that he has given him. Further, this would\ndishearten sinners, and make them afraid of venturing their cause and\ntheir souls in his hand; and would, as I said before, either prove his\npropitiation in some sense ineffectual, or else himself defective in\nhis pleading on it; but none of these things must be supposed. He will\nthoroughly plead the cause of his people, execute judgment for them,\nbring them out to the light, and cause them to behold his righteousness\n(Micah 7:9).\n\nThird Privilege. The plea of Satan is groundless, and that is another\nprivilege: for albeit thou hast sinned, yet since Christ before has\npaid thy debt, and also paid for more; since thou hast not yet run\nbeyond the price of thy redemption; it must be concluded that Satan\nwants a good bottom to ground his plea upon, and therefore must, in\nconclusion, fail of his design. True, there is sin committed, there is\na law transgressed, but there is also a satisfaction for this\ntransgression, and that which superabounds; so, though there be sin,\nyet there wants a foundation for a plea. Joshua was clothed with filthy\ngarments, but Christ had other garments provided for him, change of\nraiment: wherefore iniquity, as to the charge of Satan, vanishes. \u201cAnd\nthe angel answered and said, Take away the filthy garments from him\u201d\n[this intimates that there was no ground, no sufficient ground, for\nSatan\u2019s charge]; \u201cand unto him he said, Behold I have caused thine\niniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of\nraiment\u201d (Zech 3:4). 20\n\nNow, if there be no ground, no sound and sufficient ground, to build a\ncharge against the child upon, I mean, as to eternal condemnation; for\nthat is the thing contended for; then, as I said, Satan must fall \u201clike\nlightning to the ground,\u201d and be cast over the bar, as a corrupt and\nillegal pleader. But this is so, as in part is proved already, and will\nbe further made out by that which follows. They that have indeed Christ\nto be their Advocate, are themselves, by virtue of another law than\nthat against which they have sinned, secured from the charge that Satan\nbrings in against them. I granted before, that the child of God has\nsinned, and that there is a law that condemneth for this sin; but here\nis the thing, this child is removed by an act of grace into and under\nanother law: \u201cFor we are not under the law,\u201d and so, consequently,\n\u201cthere is now no condemnation for them\u201d (Rom 6:14, 8:1). Wherefore,\nwhen God speaketh of his dealing with his, he saith, It shall \u201cnot be\nby their covenant,\u201d that is, not by that of the law, they then being\nnot under the law (Eze 16:61). What if a plea be commenced against\nthem, a plea for sin, and they have committed sin; a plea grounded upon\nthe law, and the law takes cognizance of their sin? Yet, I say, the\nplea wants a good bottom, for that the person thus accused is put under\nanother law; hence, he says, \u201cSin shall not have dominion over you, for\nye are not under the law.\u201d If the child was under the law, Satan\u2019s\ncharge would be good, because it would have a substantial ground of\nsupport; but since the child is dead to the law, (Gal 2:19), and that\nalso dead to him, for both are true as to condemnation, (Rom 7:6), how\ncan it be that Satan should have a sufficient ground for his charge,\nthough he should have matter of fact, sufficient matter of fact, that\nis sin? For by his change of relation, he is put out of the reach of\nthat law. There is a woman, a widow, that oweth a sum of money, and she\nis threatened to be sued for the debt; now what doth she but marrieth;\nso, when the action is commenced against her as a widow, the law finds\nher a married woman; what now can be done? Nothing to her; she is not\nwho she was; she is delivered from that state by her marriage; if\nanything be done, it must be done to her husband. But if Satan will sue\nChrist for my debt, he oweth him nothing; and as for what the law can\nclaim of me while I was under it, Christ has delivered me by redemption\nfrom that curse, \u201cbeing made a curse for me\u201d (Gal 3:13).\n\nNow the covenant into which I am brought by grace, by which also I am\nsecured from the law, is not a law of sin and death, as that is from\nunder which I am brought, (Rom 8:2), but a law of grace and life; so\nthat Satan cannot come at me by that law; and by grace, I am by that\nsecured also from the hand, and mouth, and sting of all other; I mean\nstill, as to an eternal concern. Wherefore God saith, \u201cIf we break his\nlaw, the law of works, he will visit our sin with a rod, and our\niniquity with stripes; but his covenant, his new covenant, will he not\nbreak,\u201d but will still keep close to that, and so secure us from\neternal condemnation (Psa 89:30-37).\n\nChrist also is made the mediator of that covenant, and therefore an\nAdvocate by that; for his priestly office and advocateship are included\nby his mediation; wherefore when Satan pleads by the old, Christ pleads\nby the new covenant, for the sake of which the old one is removed. \u201cIn\nthat he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that\nwhich decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away\u201d (Heb 8:13). So,\nthen, the ground of plea is with Jesus Christ, and not with our\naccuser. Now, what doth Christ plead, and what is the ground of his\nplea? Why, he pleads for exemption and freedom from condemnation,\nthough by the law of works his children have deserved it; and the\nground for this his plea, as to law, is the matter of the covenant\nitself, for thus it runs: \u201cFor I will be merciful to their\nunrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no\nmore\u201d (Heb 8:12). Now here is a foundation-a foundation in law, for our\nAdvocate to build his plea upon; a foundation in a law not to be moved,\nor removed, or made to give place, as that is forced to do, upon which\nSatan grounds his plea against us. Men, when they plead before a judge,\nuse to plead matter of law. Now, suppose there is an old law in the\nrealm, by which men deserve to be condemned to death, and there is a\nnew law in this realm that secureth men from that condemnation which\nbelongs to them by the old; and suppose also, that I am completely\ncomprehended by all the provisos of the new law, and not by any tittle\nthereof excluded from a share therein; and suppose, again, that I have\na brangling adversary that pursues me by the old law, which yet cannot\nin right touch me, because I am interested in the new; my advocate also\nis one that pleads by the new law, where only there is a ground of\nplea; shall not now mine adversary feel the power of his plea to the\ndelivering of me, and the putting of him to shame? Yes, verily;\nespecially since the plea is good, the judge just; nor can the enemy\nfind any ground for a demur21 to be put in against my present discharge\nin open court, and that by proclamation; especially since my Advocate\nhas also, by his blood, fully satisfied the old law, that he might\nestablish the new (Heb 10: 9, 11, 12).\n\nFourth Privilege. Since that which goeth before is true, it follows,\nthat he that entereth his plea against the children must needs be\noverthrown; for always before just judges it is the right that taketh\nplace. Judge the right, O Lord, said David; or, \u201clet my sentence come\nforth from thy presence,\u201d according to the law of grace. And he that\nknows what strong ground, or bottom, our Advocate has for his\npleadings, and how Satan\u2019s accusations are without sound foundation,\nwill not be afraid, he speaking in Christ, to say, I appeal to God\nAlmighty, since Christ is my Advocate by the new law, whether I ought\nto be condemned to death and hell for what Satan pleads against me by\nthe old. Satan urgeth that we have sinned, but Christ pleads to his\npropitiatory sacrifice; and so Satan is overthrown. Satan pleads the\nlaw of works, but Christ pleads the law of grace. Further, Satan pleads\nthe justice and holiness of God against us; and there the accuser is\noverthrown again. And to them Christ appeals, and his appeal is good,\nsince the law testifies to the sufficiency of the satisfaction that\nChrist has made thereto by his obedience (Rom 3:22, 23). And also,\nsince by another covenant, God himself has given us to Jesus Christ,\nand so delivered us from the old. Wherefore you read nothing as an\neffect of Satan\u2019s pleading against us, but that his mouth is stopped,\nas appears by Zechariah 3; and that he is cast; yea, cast down, as you\nhave it in Revelation 12.\n\nIndeed, when God admits not, when Christ wills not to be an Advocate,\nand when Satan is bid stand at the right hand of one accused, to\nenforce, by pleading against him, the things charged on him by the law,\nthen he can prevail-prevail for ever against such a wretched one (Psa\n109: 6, 7). But when Christ stands up to plead, when Christ espouses\nthis or that man\u2019s cause, then Satan must retreat, then he must go\ndown. And this necessarily flows from the text, \u201cWe have an Advocate,\u201d\na prevailing one, one that never lost cause, one that always puts the\nchildren\u2019s enemy to the rout before the judgment-seat of God. 22\n\nThis, therefore, is another privilege that they have, who have Jesus\nChrist for their Advocate; their enemy must needs be overthrown,\nbecause both law and justice are on their side.\n\nFifth Privilege. Thine advocate has pity for thee, and great\nindignation against thine accuser: and these are two excellent things.\nWhen a lawyer hath pity for a man whose cause he pleadeth, it will\nengage him much; but when he has indignation also against the man\u2019s\naccuser, this will yet engage him more. Now, Christ has both these, and\nthat not of humour, but by grace and justice; grace to us, and justice\nto our accuser. He came down from heaven that he might be a Priest, and\nreturned thither again to be Priest and Advocate for his; and in both\nthese offices he levelleth his whole force and power against thine\naccuser: \u201cFor this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might\ndestroy the works of the devil\u201d (I John 3:8).\n\nCunning men will, if they can, retain such an one to be their Advocate,\nwho has a particular quarrel against their adversary; for thus, think\nthey, he that is such, will not only plead for me, but for himself, and\nto right his own wrongs also; and since, if it be so, and it is so\nhere, my concerns and my Advocate\u2019s are interwoven, I am like to fare\nmuch the better for the anger that is conceived in his heart against\nhim. And this, I say, is the children\u2019s case; their Advocate counteth\ntheir accuser his greatest enemy, and waiteth for a time to take\nvengeance, and he usually then takes the opportunity when he has aught\nto do for his people against him. Hence he says, \u201cThe day of vengeance\nis in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come\u201d (Isa 63:3, 4).\n\nI do not say that this revenge of Christ is, as ofttimes is a man\u2019s, of\nspite, prejudice, or other irregular lettings out of passions; but it\nariseth from righteousness and truth; nor can it be but that Jesus must\nhave a desire to take vengeance on his enemy and ours, since holiness\nis in him, to the utmost bounds of perfection. And I say again, that in\nall his pleading as an Advocate, as well as in his offering as a\nPriest, he has a hot and flaming desire and design to right himself\nupon his foe and ours; hence he triumphed over him when he died for us\nupon the cross, and designed the spoiling of his principality, while he\npoured out his blood for us before God. We then have this advantage\nmore, in that Christ is our Advocate, our enemy is also his, and the\nLord Jesus counts him so (Col 2:14, 15).\n\nSixth Privilege. As thine Advocate, so thy judge holdeth thine accuser\nfor his enemy also; for it is not of love to righteousness and justice\nthat Satan accuseth us to God, but that he may destroy the workmanship\nof God. Wherefore he also fighteth against God when he accuseth the\nchildren; and this thy Father knows right well. He must therefore needs\ndistinguish between the charge and the mind that brings it; especially\nwhen what is charged upon us is under the gracious promise of a pardon,\nas I have showed it is. Shall not the Judge then hear his Son-for our\nAdvocate is his Son-in the cause of one that he favours, and that he\njustly can, against an enemy who seeks his dishonour, and the\ndestruction of his eternal dishonour, and the destruction of his\neternal designs of grace?\n\nA mention of the judge\u2019s son goes far with countrymen; and great\nstriving there is with them who have great enemies and bad causes to\nget the judge\u2019s son to plead, promising themselves that the judge is as\nlike to hear him, and to yield a verdict to his plea, as to any other\nlawyer. But what now shall we say concerning our Judge\u2019s Son, who takes\npart, not only with his children, but with him, and with law and\njustice, in pleading against our accuser? Yea, what shall we say when\nboth Judge, and Advocate, and law, are all bent to make our persons\nstand and escape, whatever, and how truly soever, the charge and\naccusation is by which we are assaulted of the devil. And yet all this\nis true; wherefore, here is another privilege of them that have Jesus\nfor their Advocate.\n\nSeventh Privilege. Another privilege that they have who have Jesus\nChrist for their Advocate is, that he is undaunted, and of a good\ncourage, as to the cause that he undertakes; for that is a requisite\nqualification for a lawyer, to be bold and undaunted in a man\u2019s cause.\nSuch an one is coveted, especially by him that knows he has a\nbrazen-faced antagonist. Wherefore, he saith that \u201che will set his face\nlike a flint,\u201d when he stands up to plead the cause of his people (Isa\n50:5-7). Lawyers, of all men, need this courage, and to be above\nothers, men of hard foreheads, because of the affronts that sometimes\nthey meet with, be their cause never so good, in the face sometimes, of\nthe chief of a kingdom. Now Christ is our lawyer, and stands up to\nplead, not only sometimes, but always, for his people, before the God\nof gods, and that not in a corner, but while all the host of heaven\nstands by, both on the right hand and on the left. Nor is it to be\ndoubted but that our accuser brings many a sore charge against us into\nthe court; but, however, we have an Advocate that is valiant and\ncourageous, one that will not fail nor be discouraged till he has\nbrought judgment unto victory. Hence John asserts his name, saying, \u201cIf\nany man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ.\u201d\n\nMen love to understand a man before they commit their cause unto him-to\nwit, whether he be fitly qualified for their business. Well, here is an\nAdvocate propounded, an Advocate to plead our cause against our foe.\nBut what is he? What is his name? Is he qualified for my business? The\nanswer is, It is Jesus Christ. How? Jesus Christ, what! That old friend\nof publicans and sinners? Jesus Christ! He used never to fail, he used\nto set his face like a flint against Satan when he pleaded the cause of\nhis people. Is it Jesus Christ? says the knowing soul; then he shall be\nmine Advocate.\n\nFor my part, I have often wondered, when I have considered what sad\ncauses Jesus Christ sometimes takes in hand, and for what sad souls he\nsometimes pleads with God his Father. He had need of a face as hard as\nflint, else how could he bear up in that work in which for us sometimes\nhe is employed-a work enough to make angels blush. Some, indeed, will\nlightly put off this, and say, \u201cIt is his office\u201d; but, I say, his\noffice, notwithstanding the work in itself is hard, exceeding hard,\nwhen he went to die, had he not despised the shame, he had turned his\nback upon the cross, and left us in our blood. And now it is his turn\nto plead, the case would be the same, only he can make argument upon\nthat which to us seems to yield no argument at all, to take courage to\nplead for a Joshua, for a Joshua clothed, clothed with filthy garments.\nHe, saith he, that \u201cshall be ashamed of me and of my words in this\nadulterous and sinful generation: of him shall the Son of man be\nashamed,\u201d &C (Mark 8:38). Hence it follows that Christ will be ashamed\nof some; but why not ashamed of others? It is not because their cause\nis good, but because they are kept from denying of him professedly;\nwherefore, for such he will force himself, and will set his face like a\nflint, and will, without shame, own, plead, and improve his interest\nwith God for them, even for them whose cause is so horribly bad and\ngross that themselves do blush while they think thereof. But what will\nnot love do? What will not love bear with? And what will not love\nsuffer? Of all the offices of Jesus Christ, I think this trieth him as\nmuch as any! True, his offering himself in sacrifice tried him greatly,\nbut that was but for awhile; his grappling, as a captain, with the\ncurse, death, and hell, tried him much, but that also was but for\nawhile; but this office of being an Advocate, though it meeteth not\nwith such sudden depths of trouble, yet what is wants in shortness it\nmay meet with in length of time. I know Christ, being raised from the\ndead, dies no more; yet he has not left off, though in heaven, to do\nsome works of service for his saints on earth; for there he pleads as\nan Advocate or lawyer for his people (Heb 8:1, 2). And let it be that\nhe has no cause of shame when he standeth thus up to plead for so vile\na wretch as I, who have so vilely sinned, yet I have cause to think\nthat well he may, and to hold my hands before my face for shame, and to\nbe confounded with shame, while he, to fetch me off from condemnation\nfor my transgressions, sets his face like a flint to plead for me with\nGod, and against my accuser. But thus much for the seventh privilege\nthat they have by Christ who have him for their Advocate.\n\nEighth Privilege. Another privilege that they have who have Jesus\nChrist to be their Advocate is this, He is always ready, always in\ncourt, always with the judge, then and there to oppose, if our accuser\ncomes, and to plead against him what is pleadable for his children. And\nthis the text implies where it saith, \u201cWe have an Advocate with the\nFather,\u201d always with the Father. Some lawyers, though they are\notherwise able and shrewd, yet not being always in court and ready, do\nsuffer their poor clients to be baffled and nonsuited23 by their\nadversary; yea, it so comes to pass because of this neglect, that a\njudgment is got out against them for whom they have undertaken to\nplead, to their great perplexity and damage: but no such opportunity\ncan Satan have of our Advocate, for he is with the Father, always with\nthe Father; as to be a Priest, so to be an Advocate-\u201cWe have an\nAdvocate with the Father.\u201d It is said of the priests, they wait at the\naltar, and that they give attendance there, (I Cor 9:13); also of the\nmagistrate, that as to his office, he should attend \u201ccontinually on\nthis very thing\u201d (Rom 13:6). And as these, so Christ, as to his office\nof an Advocate, attends continually upon that office with his Father.\n\u201cWe have an Advocate with the Father,\u201d always with the Father. And\ntruly such an Advocate becomes the children of God, because of the\nvigilance of their enemy; for it is said of him, that \u201che accuseth us\nday and night,\u201d so unweariedly doth he both seek and pursue our\ndestruction (Rev 12:10). But behold how we are provided for him-\u201cWe\nhave an Advocate with the Father.\u201d If he come a-days, our Advocate is\nwith the Father; if he come a-nights, our Advocate is with the Father24\n\nThus, then, is our Advocate ready to put check to Satan, come he when\nhe will or can, to accuse us to the Father. Wherefore these two texts\nare greatly to be minded, one of them, for that it shows us the\nrestlessness of our enemy, the other, for that it shows us the\ndiligence of our Advocate.\n\nThat, also, in the Hebrews shows us the carefulness of our Advocate,\nwhere it saith, He is gone \u201cinto heaven itself, now to appear in the\npresence of God for us\u201d (Heb 9:24). Now, just the time present; NOW,\nthe time always present; NOW, let Satan come when he will! Nor is it to\nbe omitted that this word that thus specifies the time, the present\ntime, doth also conclude it to be that time in which we are imperfect\nin grace, in which we have many failings, in which we are tempted and\naccused of the devil to God; this is the time, and in it, and every\nwhit of it, he now appeareth in the presence of God for us. Oh, the\ndiligence of our enemy; oh, the diligence of our friend!-the one\nagainst us, the other for us, and that continually-\u201cIf any man sin, we\nhave an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d This,\nthen, that Jesus Christ is always an Advocate with the Father for us,\nand so continually ready to put a check to every accusation that Satan\nbrings into the presence of God against us, is another of the\nprivileges that they have, who have Jesus Christ for their Advocate.\n\nNinth Privilege. Another privilege that they have who have Jesus Christ\nto be their Advocate is this, he is such an one that will not, by\nbribes, by flattery, nor fair pretenses, be turned aside from pursuing\nof his client\u2019s business. This was the fault of lawyers in old time,\nthat they would wrest judgment for a bribe. Hence the Holy One\ncomplained, that a bribe did use to blind the eyes of the wise, and\npervert the judgment of the righteous (I Sam 12:3; Amos 5:12; Deut\n16:19).\n\nThere are three things in judgment that a lawyer must take heed of-one\nis the nature of the offence, the other is the meaning and intendment\nof the law-makers, and a third is to plead for them in danger, without\nrespect to affection or reward; and this is the excellency of our\nAdvocate, he will not, cannot be biased to turn aside from doing\njudgment. And this the apostle intendeth when he calleth our Advocate\n\u201cJesus Christ the righteous.\u201d \u201cWe have an Advocate with the Father,\nJesus Christ the righteous\u201d; or, as another prophet calls him, to wit,\n\u201cThe just Lord-one that will not do iniquity\u201d-that is, no\nunrighteousness in judgment (Zeph 3:5). He will not be provoked to do\nit, neither by the continual solicitations of thine enemy; nor by thy\ncontinual provocations wherewith, by reason of thy infirm condition,\nthou dost often tempt him to do it. And remember that thy Advocate\npleads by the new covenant, and thine adversary accuses by the old; and\nagain, remember that the new covenant is better and more richly\nprovided with grounds of pleading for our pardon and salvation, than\nthe old can be with grounds for a charge to be brought in by the devil\nagainst us, suppose our sin be never so heinous. It is a better\ncovenant, established upon better promises.\n\nNow, put these two together-namely, that Jesus Christ is righteous, and\nwill not swerve in judgment; also, that he pleads for us by the new\nlaw, with which Satan hath nothing to do, nor, had he, can he by it\nbring in a plea against us, because that law, in the very body of it,\nconsists in free promises of giving grace unto us, and of an\neverlasting forgiveness of our sin (Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:25-30; Heb\n8:8-13) O children, your Advocate will stick to the law, to the new\nlaw, to the new and everlasting covenant, and will not admit that\nanything should be pleaded by our foe that is inconsistent with the\npromise of the gift of grace, and of the remission of all sin. This,\ntherefore, is another privilege that they are made partakers of who\nhave Jesus Christ to be their Advocate. He is just, he is righteous, he\nis \u201cJesus Christ the righteous\u201d; he will not be turned aside to judge\nawry, either of the crime or the law, for favour or affection. Nor is\nthere any sin but what is pardonable committed by those that have\nchosen Jesus Christ to be their Advocate.\n\nTenth Privilege. Another privilege that they have who have Jesus Christ\nto be their Advocate, is this, the Father has made him, even him that\nis thine Advocate, the umpire and judge in all matters that have, do,\nor shall fall out betwixt him and us. Mark this well; for when the\njudge himself, before whom I am accused, shall make mine Advocate, the\njudge of the nature of the crime for which I am accused, and of matter\nof law by which I am accused-to wit, whether it is in force against me\nto condemnation, or whether by the law of grace I am set free,\nespecially since my Advocate has espoused my cause, promised me\ndeliverance, and pleaded my right to the state of eternal life-must it\nnot go well with me? Yes, verily. The judge, then, making thine\nAdvocate the judge, for he \u201chath committed all judgment unto the Son,\u201d\nhath done it also for thy sake who hast chosen him to be thine Advocate\n(John 5:22) It was a great thing that happened to Israel when Joseph\nwas become their advocate, and when Pharaoh had made him a judge.\n\u201cThou,\u201d says he, \u201cshalt be over my house, and according unto thy word\nshall all my people be ruled. See, I have set thee over all the land of\nEgypt-and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the\nland of Egypt-only in the throne will I be greater than thou\u201d (Gen\n41:40,44). Joseph in this was a type of Christ, and his government here\nof the government of Christ for his church. Kings seldom make a man\u2019s\njudge his advocate; they seldom leave the issue of the whole affair to\nthe arbitration of the poor man\u2019s lawyer; but when they do, methinks it\nshould even go to the heart\u2019s desire of the client whose the advocate\nis, especially when, as I said before, the cause of the client is\nbecome the concern of the advocate, and that they are both wrapped up\nin the self-same interest; yea, when the judge himself also is therein\nconcerned; and yet thus it is with that soul who has Jesus Christ for\nhis Advocate. What sayest thou, poor heart, to this? The judge-to wit,\nthe God of heaven, has made thy Advocate, arbitrator in thy business;\nhe is to judge; God has referred the matter to him, and he has a\nconcern in thy concern, an interest in thy good speed. Christian man,\ndost thou hear? Thou hast put thy cause into the hand of Jesus Christ,\nand hast chosen him to be thine Advocate to plead for thee before God\nand against thy adversary; and God has referred the judgment of that\nmatter to thy Advocate, so that he has power to determine the matter. I\nknow Satan is not pleased with this. He had rather things should have\nbeen referred to himself, and then woe had been to the child of God;\nbut, I say, God has referred the business to Jesus Christ, has made him\numpire and judge in thine affair. Art thou also willing that he should\ndecide the matter? Canst thou say unto him as David, \u201cJudge me, O God,\nand plead my cause\u201d (Psa 43:1)? Oh, the care of God towards his people,\nand the desire of their welfare! He has provided them an Advocate, and\nhe has referred all causes and things that may by Satan be objected and\nbrought in against us, to the judgment and sentence of Christ our\nAdvocate. But to come to a conclusion for this; and therefore,\n\nEleventh Privilege. The advantage that he has that has the Lord Jesus\nfor his Advocate is very great. Thy Advocate has the cause, has the\nlaw, has the judge, has the purse, and so consequently has all that is\nrequisite for an Advocate to have, since together with these he has\nheart, he has wisdom, he has courage, and loves to make the best\nimprovement of his advantages for the benefit of his client; and that\nwhich adds to all is, he can prove the debt paid, about which Satan\nmakes such ado-a price given for the ransom of my soul and for the\npardon of my sins. Lawyers do use to make a great matter of it, when\nthey can prove, that that very debt is paid for which their client is\nsued at law. Now this Christ Jesus himself is witness to; yea, he\nhimself has paid it, and that out of his own purse, for us, with his\nown hands, before and upon the mercy-seat, according as the law\nrequireth (Lev 16:13-15; Heb 9:11-24). What then can accrue to our\nenemy? or what advantage can he get by his thus vexing and troubling\nthe children of the Most High? Certainly nothing, but, as has been said\nalready, to be cast down; for the kingdom of our God, which is a\nkingdom of grace, and the power of his Christ will prevail. Samson\u2019s\npower lay in his hair, but Christ\u2019s power, his power to deliver us from\nthe accusation and charge of Satan, lieth in the worth of his\nundertakings. And hence it is said again, \u201cAnd they overcame him by the\nblood of the Lamb,\u201d and he was cast out and down (Rev 12:10-12). And\nthus much for the privileges that those are made partakers of, who have\nJesus Christ to be their Advocate.\n\n[THE NECESSITY OF HAVING CHRIST FOR OUR ADVOCATE.]\n\n\nFifthly, I come now to the fifth thing, which is, to show you what\nnecessity there is that Christ should be our Advocate.\n\nThat Christ should be a Priest to offer sacrifice, a King to rule, and\na Prophet to teach, all seeing men acknowledge is of necessity; but\nthat he should be an Advocate, a pleader for his people, few see the\nreason of it. But he is an Advocate, and as an Advocate has a work and\nemploy distinct from his priestly, kingly, or prophetical offices. John\nsays, \u201cHe is our Advocate,\u201d and signifieth also the nature of his work\nas such, in that very place where he asserteth his office; as also I\nhave showed you in that which goes before. But having already showed\nyou the nature, I will now show you the necessity of this office.\n\nFirst. It is necessary for the more full and ample vindication of the\njustice of God against all the cavils of the infernal spirits. Christ\ndied on earth to declare the justice of God to men in his justifying\nthe ungodly. God standeth upon the vindication of his justice, as well\nas upon the act thereof. Hence the Holy Ghost, by the prophets and\napostles, so largely disputeth for the vindication thereof, while it\nasserteth the reality of the pardon of sin, the justification of the\nunworthy, and their glorification with God (Rom 3:24; Isa, Jer, Mal;\nRom 3, 4, 8; Gal 3,4). I say, while it disputeth the justness of this\nhigh act of God against the cavils of implacable sinners. Now the\nprophets and apostles, in those disputes by which they seek to\nvindicate the justice of God in the salvation of sinners, are not only\nministers of God to us, but advocates for him; since, as Elihu has it,\nthey \u201cspeak on God\u2019s behalf,\u201d or, as the margin has it, \u201cI will show\nthee that there are yet words for God,\u201d words to be spoken and pleaded\nagainst his enemies for the justification of his actions (Job 36:2).\nNow, as it is necessary that there should be advocates for God on earth\nto plead for his justice and holiness, while he saveth sinners, against\nthe cavils of an ungodly people, so it is necessary that there should\nbe an Advocate also in heaven, that may there vindicate the same\njustice and holiness of God from all those charges that the fallen\nangels are apt to charge it with, while it consenteth that we, though\nungodly, should be saved.\n\nThat the fallen angels are bold enough to charge God to his face with\nunjustness of language, is evident in the 1st and 2nd of Job; and that\nthey should not be as bold to charge him with unjustness of actions,\nnothing can be showed to the contrary. Further, that God seeks to clear\nhimself of this unjust charge of Satan is as manifest; for all the\ntroubles of his servant Job were chiefly for that purpose. And why he\nshould have one also in heaven to plead for the justness of his doing\nin the forgiveness and salvation of sinners appears also as necessary,\neven because there is one, even an Advocate with the Father, or on the\nFather\u2019s side, seeking to vindicate his justice, while he pleadeth with\nhim for us, against the devil and his objections. God is wonderfully\npleased with his design in saving of sinners; it pleases him at the\nheart. And since he also is infinitely just, there is need that an\nAdvocate should be appointed to show how, in a way of justice as well\nas mercy, a sinner may be saved.\n\nThe good angels did not at first see so far into the mysteries of the\ngospel of the grace of God, but that they needed further light therein\nfor the vindication of their Lord as servants. Wherefore they yet did\npry and look narrowly into it further, and also bowed their heads and\nhearts to learn yet more, by the church, of \u201cthe manifold wisdom of\nGod\u201d (I Peter 1:12; Eph 3:9,10). And if the standing angels were not\nyet, to the utmost, perfect in the knowledge of this mystery, and yet\nsurely they must know more thereof than those that fell could do, no\nwonder if those devils, whose enmity could not but animate their\nignorance, made, and do make, their cavils against justice, insinuating\nthat it is not impartial and exact, because it, as it is just,\njustifieth the ungodly.\n\nThat Satan will quarrel with God I have showed you, and that he will\nalso dispute against his works with the holy angels, is more than\nintimated by the apostle Jude, verse 9, and why not quarrel with, and\naccuse the justice of God as unrighteous, for consenting to the\nsalvation of sinners, since his best qualifications are most profound\nand prodigious attempts to dethrone the Lord God of his power and\nglory.\n\nNay, all this is evident, since \u201cwe have an Advocate with the Father,\nJesus Christ the righteous.\u201d And again, I say, it is evident that one\npart of his work as an Advocate, is to vindicate the justice of God\nwhile he pleadeth for our salvation, because he pleadeth a\npropitiation; for a propitiation respects God as well as us; the\nappeasing his wrath, and the reconciling of his justice to us, as well\nas the redeeming us from death and hell; yea, it therefore doth the\none, because it doth the other. Now, if Christ, as an Advocate,\npleadeth a propitiation with God, for whose conviction doth he plead\nit? Not for God\u2019s; for he has ordained it, allows it, and gloriously\nacquiesces therein, because he knows the whole virtue thereof. It is\ntherefore for the conviction of the fallen angels, and for the\nconfounding of all those cavils that can be invented and objected\nagainst our salvation by those most subtle and envious ones. But,\n\nSecond. There is matter of law to be objected, and that both against\nGod and us; at least, there seems to be so, because of the sanction\nthat God has put upon the law, and also because we have sinned against\nit. God has said, \u201cIn the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely\ndie\u201d; and, \u201cthe soul that sinneth, it shall die.\u201d God also standeth\nstill upon the vindication of his justice, he also saveth sinners. Now,\nin comes our accuser, and chargeth us of sin, of being guilty of sin,\nbecause we have transgressed the law. God also will not be put out of\nhis way, or steps of grace, to save us; also he will say, he is just\nand righteous still. Ay, but these are but say-so\u2019s. How shall this be\nproved? Why, now, here is room for an advocate that can plead to matter\nof law, that can preserve the sanction of the law in the salvation of\nthe sinner-\u201cHe will magnify the law, and make it honourable\u201d (Isa\n42:21). The margin saith, \u201cand make him honourable25\u201d\u2014that is, he shall\nsave the sinner, and preserve the holiness of the law, and the honour\nof his God. But who is this that can do this? \u201cIt is the servant of\nGod,\u201d saith the prophet, (Isa 42:1, 13), \u201cthe Lord, a man of war.\u201d But\nhow can this be done by him? The answer is, It shall be done, \u201cfor God\nis well pleased for his righteousness\u2019 sake\u201d; for it is by that he\nmagnifies the law, and makes his Father honourable-that is, he, as a\npublic person, comes into the world under the law, fulfills it, and\nhaving so done, he gives that righteousness away, for he, as to his own\nperson, never had need thereof; I say, he gives that righteousness to\nthose that have need, to those that have none of their own, that\nrighteousness might be imputed to them. This righteousness, then, he\npresenteth to God for us, and God, for this righteousness\u2019 sake, is\nwell pleased that we should be saved, and for it can save us, and\nsecure his honour, and preserve the law in its sanction. And this\nChrist pleadeth against Satan as an Advocate with the Father for us; by\nwhich he vindicates his Father\u2019s justice, holdeth the child of God,\nnotwithstanding his sins, in a state of justification, and utterly\noverthroweth and confoundeth the devil.\n\nFor Christ, in pleading thus, appeals to the law itself, if he has not\ndone it justice, saying, \u201cMost mighty law, what command of thine have I\nnot fulfilled? What demand of thine have I not fully answered? Where is\nthat jot or tittle of the law that is able to object against my doings\nfor want of satisfaction?\u201d Here the law is mute; it speaketh not one\nword by way of the least complaint, but rather testifies of this\nrighteousness that it is good and holy, (Rom 3:22, 23; 5:15-19). Now,\nthen, since Christ did this as a public person, it follows that others\nmust be justified thereby; for that was the end and reason of Christ\u2019s\ntaking on him to do the righteousness of the law. Nor can the law\nobject against the equity of this dispensation of heaven; for why might\nnot that God, who gave the law his being and his sanction, dispose as\nhe pleases of the righteousness which it commendeth? Besides, if men be\nmade righteous, they are so; and if by a righteousness which the law\ncommendeth, how can fault be found with them by the law? Nay, it is\n\u201cwitnessed by the law and the prophets,\u201d who consent that it should be\nunto all, and upon all them that believe, for their justification (Rom\n3:20,21).\n\nAnd that the mighty God suffereth the prince of the devils to do with\nthe law what he can, against this most wholesome and godly doctrine; it\nis to show the truth, goodness, and permanency thereof; for this is as\nwho should say, Devil, do thy worst! When the law is in the hand of an\neasy pleader, though the cause that he pleadeth be good, a crafty\nopposer may overthrow the right; but here is the salvation of the\nchildren in debate, whether it can stand with law and justice; the\nopposer of this is the devil, his argument against it is the law; he\nthat defends the doctrine is Christ the Advocate, who, in his plea,\nmust justify the justice of God, defend the holiness of the law, and\nsave the sinner from all the arguments, pleas, stops and demurs that\nSatan is able to put in against it. And this he must do fairly,\nrighteously, simply, pleading the voice of the self-same law for the\njustification of what he standeth for, which Satan pleads against it;\nfor though it is by the new law that our salvation comes, yet by the\nold law is the new law approved of and the way of salvation thereby by\nit consented to.\n\nThis shows, therefore, that Christ is not ashamed to own the way of our\njustification and salvation, no, not before men and devils. It shows\nalso that he is resolved to dispute and plead for the same, though the\ndevil himself shall oppose it. And since our adversary pretends a plea\nin law against it, it is meet that there should be an open hearing\nbefore the Judge of all about it; but, forasmuch as we neither can nor\ndare appear to plead for ourselves, our good God has thought fit we\nshould do it by an advocate: \u201cWe have an Advocate with the Father,\nJesus Christ the righteous.\u201d This, therefore, is the second thing that\nshows the need that we have of an Advocate-to wit, our adversary\npretends that he has a plea in law against us, and that by law we\nshould be otherwise disposed of than to be made possessors of the\nheavenly kingdom. But,\n\nThird. There are many things relating to the promise, to our life, and\nto the threatenings, that minister matter of question and doubt, and\ngive the advantage of objections unto him that so eagerly desireth to\nbe putting in cavils against our salvation, all which it hath pleased\nGod to repel by Jesus Christ our Advocate.\n\n1. There are many things relating to the promises, as to the largeness\nand straitness of words, as to the freeness and conditionality of them,\nwhich we are not able so well to understand; and, therefore, when Satan\ndealeth with us about them, we quickly fall to the ground before him;\nwe often conclude that the words of the promise are too narrow and\nstrait to comprehend us; we also think, verily, that the conditions of\nsome promises do utterly shut us out from hope of justification and\nlife; but our Advocate, who is for us with the Father, he is better\nacquainted with, and learned in, this law than to be baffled out with a\nbold word or two, or with a subtle piece of hellish sophistication (Isa\n50:4). He knows the true purport, intent, meaning, and sense of every\npromise, and piece of promise that is in the whole Bible, and can tell\nhow to plead it for advantage against our accuser, and doth so. And I\ngather it not only from his contest with Satan for Joshua, (Zech 3),\nand from his conflict with him in the wilderness, (Matt 4), and in\nheaven, (Rev 14), but also from the practice of Satan\u2019s emissaries\nhere; for what his angels do, that doth he. Now there is here nothing\nmore apparent than that the instruments of Satan do plead against the\nchurch, from the pretended intricacy, ambiguity, and difficulty of the\npromise; whence I gather, so doth Satan before the tribunal of God; but\nthere we have one to match him; \u201cwe have an Advocate with the Father,\u201d\nthat knows law and judgment better than Satan, and statute and\ncommandment better than all his angels; and by the verdict of our\nAdvocate, all the words, and limits, and extensions of words, with all\nconditions of the promises, are expounded and applied! And hence it is\nthat it sometimes so falleth out that the very promise we have thought\ncould not reach us, to comfort us by any means, has at another time\nswallowed us up with joy unspeakable. Christ, the true Prophet, has the\nright understanding of the Word as an Advocate, has pleaded it before\nGod against Satan, and having overcome him at the common law, he hath\nsent to let us know it by his good Spirit, to our comfort, and the\nconfusion of our enemy. Again,\n\n2. There are many things relating to our lives that minister to our\naccuser occasions of many objections against our salvation; for,\nbesides our daily infirmities, there are in our lives gross sins, many\nhorrible backslidings; also we ofttimes suck and drink in many\nabominable errors and deceitful opinions, of all which Satan accuseth\nus before the judgment-seat of God, and pleadeth hard that we may be\ndamned for ever for them. Besides, some of these things are done after\nlight received, against present convictions and dissuasions to the\ncontrary, against solemn engagements to amendment, when the bonds of\nlove were upon us (Jer 2:20). These are crying sins; they have a loud\nvoice in themselves against us, and give to Satan great advantage and\nboldness to sue for our destruction before the bar of God; nor doth he\nwant skill to aggravate and to comment profoundly upon all occasions\nand circumstances that did attend us in these our miscarriages-to wit,\nthat we did it without a cause, also, when we had, had we had grace to\nhave used them, many things to have helped us against such sins, and to\nhave kept us clean and upright. \u201cThere is also a sin unto death,\u201d (I\nJohn 5:16), and he can tell how to labour, by argument and sleight of\nspeech, to make our transgressions, not only to border upon, but to\nappear in the hue, shape, and figure of that, and thereto make his\nobjection against our salvation. He often argueth thus with us, and\nfasteneth the weight of his reasons upon our consciences, to the almost\nutter destruction of us, and the bringing of us down to the gates of\ndespair and utter destruction; the same sins, with their aggravating\ncircumstances, as I said, he pleadeth against us at the bar of God. But\nthere he meeteth with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Advocate, who entereth\nhis plea against him, unravels all his reasons and arguments against\nus, and shows the guile and falsehood of them. He also pleadeth as to\nthe nature of sin, as also to all those high aggravations, and proveth\nthat neither the sin in itself, nor yet as joined with all its\nadvantageous circumstances, can be the sin unto death, (Col 2:19),\nbecause we hold the head, and have not \u201cmade shipwreck of faith,\u201d (I\nTim 1:19), but still, as David and Solomon, we confess, and are sorry\nfor our sins. Thus, though we seem, through our falls, to come short of\nthe promise, with Peter, (Heb 4:1-3), and leave our transgressions as\nstumbling blocks to the world, with Solomon, and minister occasion of a\nquestion of our salvation among the godly, yet our Advocate fetches us\noff before God, and we shall be found safe and in heaven at last, by\nthem in the next world, who were afraid they had lost us in this.\n\nBut all these points must be managed by Christ for us, against Satan,\nas a lawyer, an advocate, who to that end now appears in the presence\nof God for us, and wisely handleth the very crisis of the word, and of\nthe failings of his people, together with all those nice and critical\njuggles by which our adversary laboureth to bring us down, to the\nconfusion of his face.\n\n3. There are also the threatenings that are annexed to the gospel, and\nthey fall now under our consideration. They are of two sorts-such as\nrespect those who altogether neglect and reject the gospel, or those\nthat profess it, yet fall in or from the profession thereof.\n\nThe first sort of threatening cannot be pleaded against the professors\nof the gospel as against those that never professed it; wherefore he\nbetaketh himself to manage those threatenings against us that belong to\nthose that have professed, and that have fallen from it (Psa 109:1-6).\nJoshua fell in it (Zech 3:1, 2). Judas fell from it, and the accuser\nstands at the right hand of them before the judgment of God, to resist\nthem, by pleading the threatenings against them-to wit, that God\u2019s soul\nshould have no pleasure in them. \u201cIf any man draw back, my soul shall\nhave no pleasure in him.\u201d Here is a plea for Satan, both against the\none and the other; they are both apostatized, both drawn back, and he\nis subtle enough to manage it.\n\nAy, but Satan, here is also matter sufficient for a plea for our\nAdvocate against thee, forasmuch as the next words distinguish betwixt\ndrawing back, and drawing back \u201cunto perdition\u201d; every one that draws\nback, doth not draw back unto perdition (Heb 10:38, 39). Some of them\ndraw back from, and some in the profession of, the gospel. Judas drew\nback from, and Peter in the profession of his faith; wherefore Judas\nperishes, but Peter turns again, because Judas drew back unto\nperdition, but Peter yet believed to the saving of the soul.26 Nor doth\nJesus Christ, when he sees it is to no boot, at any time step in to\nendeavour to save the soul. Wherefore, as for Judas, for his\nbacksliding from the faith, Christ turns him up to Satan, and leaveth\nhim in his hand, saying, \u201cWhen he shall be judged, let him be\ncondemned: and let his prayer become sin\u201d (Psa 109:7) But he will not\nserve Peter so-\u201cThe Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn\nhim when he is judged\u201d (Psa 37:33). He will pray for him before, and\nplead for him after, he hath been in the temptation, and so secure him,\nby virtue of his advocation, from the sting and lash of the threatening\nthat is made against final apostasy. But,\n\nFourth. The necessity of the Advocate\u2019s office in Jesus Christ appears\nplainly in this-to plead about the judgments, distresses, afflictions,\nand troubles that we meet withal in this life for our sins. For though,\nby virtue of this office, Christ fully takes us off from the\ncondemnation that the unbelievers go down to for their sins, yet he\ndoth not thereby exempt us from temporal punishments, for we see and\nfeel that they daily overtake us; but for the proportioning of the\npunishment, or affliction for transgression, seeing that comes under\nthe sentence of the law, it is fit that we should have an Advocate that\nunderstands both law and judgment, to plead for equal distribution of\nchastisement, according, I say, to the law of grace; and this the Lord\nJesus doth.\n\nSuppose a man for transgression be indicted at the assizes; his\nadversary is full of malice, and would have him punished sorely beyond\nwhat by the law is provided for such offence; and he pleads that the\njudge will so afflict and punish as he in his malicious mind desireth.\nBut the man has an advocate there, and he enters his plea against the\ncruelty of his client\u2019s accuser, saying, My lord, it cannot be as our\nenemy would have it; the punishment for these transgressions is\nprescribed by that law that we here ground our plea upon; nor may it be\ndeclined to satisfy his envy; we stand here upon matters of law, and\nappeal to the law. And this is the work of our Advocate in heaven.\nPunishments for the sin of the children come not headlong, not without\nmeasure, as our accuser would have them, nor yet as they fall upon\nthose who have none to plead their cause.27 Hath he smote the children\naccording to the stroke wherewith he hath smitten others? No; \u201cin\nmeasure when it shooteth forth,\u201d or seeks to exceed due bounds, \u201cthou\nwilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east\nwind\u201d (Isa 27:8). \u201cThou wilt debate with it,\u201d inquiring and reasoning\nby the law, whether the shootings forth of the affliction (now going\nout for the offence committed) be not too strong, too heavy, too hot,\nand of too long a time admitted to distress and break the spirit of\nthis Christian; and if it be, he applies himself to the rule to measure\nit by, he fetches forth his plumb line, and sets it in the midst of his\npeople, (Amos 7:8; Isa 28:17), and lays righteousness to that, and will\nnot suffer it to go further; but according to the quality of the\ntransgression, and according to the terms, bounds, limits, and measures\nwhich the law of grace admits, so shall the punishment be. Satan often\nsaith of us when we have sinned, as Abishai said of Shimei after he had\ncursed David, Shall not this man die for this? (II Sam 19:21). But\nJesus, our Advocate, answers as David, What have I to do with thee, O\nSatan? Thou this day art an enemy to me; thou seekest for a punishment\nfor the transgressions of my people above what is allotted to them by\nthe law of grace, under which they are, and beyond what their relation\nthat they stand in to my Father and myself will admit. Wherefore, as\nAdvocate, he pleadeth against Satan when he brings in against us a\ncharge for sins committed, for the regulating of punishments, both as\nto the nature, degree, and continuation of punishment; and this is the\nreason why, when we are judged, we are not condemned, but chastened,\n\u201cthat we should not be condemned with the world\u201d (I Cor 11:32). Hence\nking David says, the Lord hath not given him over to the will of his\nenemy (Psa 27:12). And again, \u201cThe Lord hath chastened me sore; but he\nhath not given me over unto death\u201d (Psa 118:18). Satan\u2019s plea was, that\nthe Lord would give David over to his will, and to the tyranny of\ndeath. No, says our Advocate, that must not be; to do so would be an\naffront to the covenant under which grace has put them; that would be\nto deal with them by a covenant of works, under which they are not.\nThere is a rod for children; and stripes for those of them that\ntransgress. This rod is in the hand of a Father, and must be used\naccording to the law of that relation, not for the destruction, but\ncorrection of the children; not to satisfy the rage of Satan, but to\nvindicate the holiness of my Father; not to drive them further from,\nbut to bring them nearer to their God. But,\n\nFifth. The necessity of the advocateship of Jesus Christ is also\nmanifest in this, for that there is need of one to plead the efficacy\nof old titles to our eternal inheritance, when our interest thereunto\nseems questionable by reason of new transgressions. That God\u2019s people\nmay, by their new and repeated sins, as to reason at least, endanger\ntheir interest in the eternal inheritance, is manifest by such\ngroanings of theirs as these-\u201cWhy dost thou cast me off?\u201d (Psa 43:2).\n\u201cCast me not away from thy presence\u201d (Psa 51:11). And, \u201cO God, why hast\nthou cast us off for ever?\u201d (Psa 74:1). Yet I find in the book of\nLeviticus, that though any of the children of Israel should have sold,\nmortgaged, or made away with their inheritance, they did not thereby\nutterly make void their title to an interest therein, but it should\nagain return to them, and they again enjoy the possession of it, in the\nyear of jubilee. In the year of jubilee, saith God, you shall return\nevery man to his possession; \u201cthe land shall not be sold for ever,\u201d nor\nbe quite cut off, \u201cfor the land is mine; for ye are strangers and\nsojourners with me. And in all the land of your possession, ye shall\ngrant a redemption for the land\u201d (Lev 25:23,24).\n\nThe man in Israel that, by waxing poor, did sell his land in Canaan,\nwas surely a type of the Christian who, by sin and decays in grace, has\nforfeited his place and inheritance in heaven; but as the ceremonial\nlaw provided that the poor man in Canaan should not, by his poverty,\nlose his portion in Canaan for ever, but that it should return to him\nin the year of jubilee; so the law of grace has provided that the\nchildren shall not, for their sin, lose their inheritance in heaven for\never, but that it shall return to them in the world to come (I Cor\n11:32)28\n\nAll therefore that happeneth in this case is, they may live without the\ncomfort of it here, as he that had sold his house in Canaan might live\nwithout the enjoyment of it till the jubilee. They may also seem to\ncome short of it when they die, as he in Canaan did that deceased\nbefore the year of jubilee; but as certainly as he that died in Canaan\nbefore the jubilee did yet receive again his inheritance by the hand of\nhis relative survivor when the jubilee came, so certainly shall he that\ndieth, and that seemeth in his dying to come short of the celestial\ninheritance now, be yet admitted, at his rising again, to the\nrepossession of his old inheritance at the day of judgment. But now\nhere is room for a caviler to object, and to plead against the\nchildren, saying, They have forfeited their part of paradise by their\nsin; what right, then, shall they have to the kingdom of heaven? Now\nlet the Lord stand up to plead, for he is Advocate for the children;\nyea, let them plead the sufficiency of their first title to the\nkingdom, and that it is not their doings can sell the land for ever.\nThe reason why the children of Israel could not sell the land for ever\nwas, because the Lord, their head, reserved to himself a right\ntherein-\u201cThe land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine.\u201d\nSuppose two or three children have a lawful title to such an estate,\nbut they are all profuse and prodigal, and there is a brother also that\nhas by law a chief right to the same estate: this brother may hinder\nthe estate from being sold for ever, because it is his inheritance, and\nhe may, when the limited time that his brethren had sold their share\ntherein is out, if he will, restore it to them again. And in the\nmeantime, if any that are unjust should go about utterly and for ever\nto deprive his brethren, he may stand up and plead for them; that in\nlaw the land cannot be sold for ever, for that it is his as well as\ntheirs, he being resolved not to part with his right. O my brethren!\nChrist will not part with his right of the inheritance unto which you\nare also born; your profuseness and prodigality shall not make him let\ngo his hold that he hath for you of heaven; nor can you, according to\nlaw, sell the land for ever, since it is his, and he hath the principal\nand chief title thereto. This also gives him ground to stand up to\nplead for you against all those that would hold the kingdom from you\nfor ever; for let Satan say what he can against you, yet Christ can\nsay, \u201cThe land is mine,\u201d and consequently that his brethren could not\nsell it. Yes, says Satan, if the inheritance be divided.\n\nO but, says Christ, the land is undivided; no man has his part set out\nand turned over to himself; besides, my brethren yet are under age, and\nI am made their guardian; they have not power to sell the land for\never; the land is mine; also my Father has made me feoffee in trust for\nmy brethren, that they may have what is allotted them when they are all\ncome to a perfect man, \u201cunto the measure of the stature of the fulness\nof Christ\u201d (Eph 4:13). And not before, and I will reserve it for them\ntill then; and thus to do is the will of my Father, the law of the\nJudge, and also my unchangeable resolution. And what can Satan say\nagainst this plea? Can he prove that Christ has no interest in the\nsaints\u2019 inheritance? Can he prove that we are at age, or that our\nseveral parts of the heavenly house are already delivered into our own\npower? And if he goes about to do this, is not the law of the land\nagainst him? Doth it not say that our Advocate is \u201cLord of all,\u201d (Acts\n10:36), that the kingdom is Christ\u2019s, that it is laid up in heaven for\nus, (Eph 5:5, Col 1:5); yea, that the \u201cinheritance which is\nincorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, is reserved in\nheaven for us, who are kept by the power of God, through faith unto\nsalvation\u201d (I Peter 1:4, 5). Thus therefore is our heavenly inheritance\nmade good by our Advocate against the thwartings and branglings29 of\nthe devil; nor can our new sins make it invalid, but it abideth safe to\nus at last, notwithstanding our weaknesses; though, if we sin, we may\nhave but little comfort of it, or but little of its present profits,\nwhile we live in this present world. A spendthrift, though he loses not\nhis title, may yet lose the present benefit, but the principal will\ncome again at last; for \u201cwe have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus\nChrist the righteous.\u201d\n\nSixth. The necessity of the advocateship of Jesus Christ for us further\nappears in this-to wit, for that our evidences, which declare that we\nhave a right to the eternal inheritance, are often out of our own hand,\nyea, and also sometimes kept long from us, the which we come not at the\nsight or comfort of again but by our Advocate, especially when our\nevidences are taken from us, because of a present forfeiture of this\ninheritance to God by this or that most foul offence. Evidences, when\nthey are thus taken away, as in David\u2019s case they were, (Psa 51:12),\nwhy then they are in our God\u2019s hand, laid up, I say, from the sight of\nthem to whom they belong, till they even forget the contents thereof\n(II Peter 1:5-9).30\n\nNow when writings and evidences are out of the hand of the owners, and\nlaid up in the court, where in justice they ought to be kept, they are\nnot ordinarily got thence again but by the help of a lawyer-an\nAdvocate. Thus it is with the children of God. We do often forfeit our\ninterest in eternal life, but the mercy is, the forfeit falls into the\nhand of God, not of the law nor of Satan, wherefore he taketh away also\nour evidences, if not all, yet some of them, as he saith-\u201cI have taken\naway my peace from this people, even loving-kindness and mercies\u201d (Jer\n16:5). This he took from David, and he entreats for the restoration of\nit, saying, \u201cRestore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me\nwith thy free Spirit\u201d (I Chron 17:13; Psa 51:12). And, \u201cLord, turn us\nagain, cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved\u201d (Psa 80:3, 7,\n19.)\n\nSatan now also hath an opportunity to plead against us, and to help\nforward the affliction, as his servants did of old, when God was but a\nlittle angry (Zech 1:15); but Jesus Christ our Advocate is ready to\nappear against him, and to send us from heaven our old evidences again,\nor to signify to us that they are yet good and authentic, and cannot be\ngainsaid. \u201cGabriel,\u201d saith he, \u201cmake this man to understand the vision\u201d\n(Dan 8:16). And again, saith he to another, \u201cRun, speak to this young\nman, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls\u201d (Zech\n2:4). Jerusalem had been in captivity, had lost many evidences of God\u2019s\nfavour and love by reason of her sin, and her enemy stepped in to\naugment her sin and sorrow; but there was a man [the angel of the Lord]\n\u201camong the myrtle trees\u201d that were in the bottom that did prevail with\nGod to say, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; and then commands\nit to be proclaimed that his \u201ccities through prosperity shall yet be\nspread abroad\u201d (Zech 1:11-17). Thus, by virtue of our Advocate, we are\neither made to receive our old evidences for heaven again, or else are\nmade to understand that they yet are good, and stand valid in the court\nof heaven; nor can they be made ineffectual, but shall abide the test\nat last, because our Advocate is also concerned in the inheritance of\nthe saints in light. Christians know what it is to lose their evidences\nfor heaven, and to receive them again, or to hear that they hold their\ntitle by them; but perhaps they know not how they come at this\nprivilege; therefore the apostle tells them \u201cthey have an Advocate\u201d;\nand that by him, as Advocate, they enjoy all these advantages is\nmanifest, because his Advocate\u2019s office is appointed for our help when\nwe sin-that is, commit sins that are great and heinous-\u201cIf any man sin,\nwe have an Advocate.\u201d31\n\nBy him the justice of God is vindicated, the law answered, the\nthreatenings taken off, the measure of affliction that for sin we\nundergo determined, our titles to eternal life preserved, and our\ncomfort of them restored, notwithstanding the wit, and rage, and envy\nof hell. So, then, Christ gave himself for us as a priest, died for us\nas a sacrifice, but pleadeth justice and righteousness in a way of\njustice and righteousness; for such is his sacrifice, for our salvation\nfrom the death that is due to our foul or high transgressions-as an\nAdvocate. Thus have I given you thus far, an account of the nature,\nend, and necessity of the Advocateship of Jesus Christ, and should now\ncome to the use and application, only I must first remove an objection\nor two.\n\n[OBJECTIONS REMOVED.]\n\n\nSIXTHLY, [I now come to answer some objections.]\n\nFirst Objection. But what need all these offices of Jesus Christ? or,\nwhat need you trouble us with these nice distinctions? It is enough for\nus to believe in Christ in the general, without considering him under\nthis and that office.\n\nAnswer. The wisdom of God is not to be charged with needless doing when\nit giveth to Jesus Christ such variety of offices, and calleth him to\nso many sundry employments for us; they are all thought necessary by\nheaven, and therefore should not be counted superfluous by earth. And\nto put a question upon thy objection-What is a sacrifice without a\npriest, and what is a priest without a sacrifice? And the same I say of\nhis Advocate\u2019s office-What is an advocate without the exercise of his\noffice? And what need of an Advocate\u2019s office to be exercised, if\nChrist, as sacrifice and Priest, was thought sufficient by God? Each of\nthese offices is sufficient for the perfecting the work for which it is\ndesigned; but they are not all designed for the self-same particular\nthing. Christ as sacrifice offereth not himself; it is Christ as Priest\ndoes that. Christ as Priest dieth not for our sins; it is Christ as\nsacrifice does so. Again, Christ as a sacrifice and a Priest limits\nhimself to those two employs, but as an Advocate he launches out into a\nthird. And since these are not confounded in heaven, nor by the\nScriptures, they should not be confounded in our apprehension, nor\naccounted useless.\n\nIt is not, therefore, enough for us that we exercise our thoughts upon\nChrist in an indistinct and general way, but we must learn to know him\nin all his offices, and to know the nature of his offices also; our\ncondition requires this, it requireth it, I say, as we are guilty of\nsin, as we have to do with God, and with our enemy the devil. As we are\nguilty of sin, so we need a sacrifice; and as we are also sinners, we\nneed one perfect to present our sacrifice to God for us. We have need\nalso of him as priest to present our persons and services to God. And\nsince God is just, and upon the judgment-seat, and since also we are\nsubject to sin grievously, and again, since we have an accuser who will\nby law plead at this bar of God our sins against us, to the end we\nmight be condemned, we have need of, and also \u201chave an Advocate with\nthe Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\n\nAlas! How many of God\u2019s precious people, for want of a distinct\nknowledge of Christ in all his offices, are at this day sadly baffled\nwith the sophistications of the devil? To instance no more than this\none thing-when they have committed some heinous sin after light\nreceived, how are they, I say, tossed and tumbled and distressed with\nmany perplexities! They cannot come to any anchor in this their\ntroubled sea; they go from promise to promise, from providence to\nprovidence, from this to that office of Jesus Christ, but forget that\nhe is, or else understand not what it is for this Lord Jesus to be an\nAdvocate for them. Hence they so oft sink under the fears that their\nsin is unpardonable, and that therefore their condition is desperate;\nwhereas, if they could but consider that Christ is their Advocate, and\nthat he is therefore made an Advocate to save them from those high\ntransgressions that are committed by them, and that he waits upon this\noffice continually before the judgment-seat of God, they would conceive\nrelief, and be made to hold up their head, and would more strongly\ntwist themselves from under that guilt and burden, those ropes and\ncords wherewith by their folly they have so strongly bound themselves,\nthan commonly they have done, or do.\n\nSecond Objection. But notwithstanding what you have said, this sin is a\ndeadly stick in my way; it will not out of my mind, my cause being bad,\nbut Christ will desert me.\n\nAnswer. It is true, sin is, and will be, a deadly stick and stop to\nfaith, attempt to exercise it on Christ as considered under which of\nhis offices or relations you will; and, above all, the sin of unbelief\nis \u201cthe sin that doth so,\u201d or most \u201ceasily beset us\u201d (Heb 12:1, 2). And\nno marvel; for it never acteth alone, but is backed, not only with\nguilt and ignorance, but also with carnal sense and reason. He that is\nignorant of this knows but little of himself, or what believing is. He\nthat undertakes to believe sets upon the hardest task that ever was\nproposed to man; not because the things imposed upon us are\nunreasonable or unaccountable, but because the heart of man, the more\ntrue anything is, the more it sticks and stumbles thereat; and, says\nChrist, \u201cBecause I tell you the truth, ye believe me not\u201d (John 8:45).\nHence believing is called labouring, (Heb 4:11); and it is the sorest\nlabour, at times that any man can take in hand, because assaulted with\nthe greatest oppositions; but believe thou must, be the labour never so\nhard, and that not only in Christ in a general way, but in him as to\nhis several offices, and to this of his being an Advocate in\nparticular, else some sins and some temptations will not, in their\nguilt or vexatious trouble, easily depart from thy conscience; no, not\nby promise, nor by thy attempts to apply the same by faith. And this\nthe text insinuateth by its setting forth of Christ as Advocate, as the\nonly or best and most speedy way of relief to the soul in certain\ncases.\n\nThere is, then, an order that thou must observe in exercising of thy\nsoul in a way of believing.\n\n1. Thou must believe unto justification in general; and for this thou\nmust direct thy soul to the Lord Christ as he is a sacrifice for sin;\nand as a Priest offering that sacrifice, so as a sacrifice thou shalt\nsee him appeasing Divine displeasure for thy sin, and as a Priest\nspreading the skirt of his garment over thee, for the covering of thy\nnakedness; thus being clothed, thou shalt not be found naked.\n\n2. This, when thou hast done as well as thou canst, thou must, in the\nnext place, keep thine eye upon the Lord Christ as improving, as Priest\nin heaven, the sacrifice which he offered on earth for the continuing\nthee in a state of justification in thy lifetime, notwithstanding those\ncommon infirmities that attend thee, and to which thou art incident in\nall thy holy services or best performances (Rom 5:10; Exo 28:31-38).\nFor therefore is he a Priest in heaven, and by his sacrifices\ninterceding for thee.\n\n3. But if thy foot slippeth, if it slippeth greatly, then know thou it\nwill not be long before a bill be in heaven preferred against thee by\nthe accuser of the brethren; wherefore then thou must have recourse to\nChrist as Advocate, to plead before God thy judge against the devil\nthine adversary for thee.\n\n4. And as to the badness of thy cause, let nothing move thee, save to\nhumility and self-abasement, for Christ is glorified by being concerned\nfor thee; yea, the angels will shout aloud to see him bring thee off.\nFor what greater glory can we conceive Christ to obtain as Advocate,\nthan to bring off his people when they have sinned, notwithstanding\nSatan so charging of them for it as he doth?\n\nHe gloried when he was going to the cross to die; he went up with a\nshout and the sound of a trumpet, to make intercession for us; and\nshall we think that by his being an Advocate he receives no additional\nglory? It is glory to him, doubtless, to bear the title of an Advocate,\nand much more to plead and prosper for us against our adversary, as he\ndoth.\n\n5. And, I say again, for thee to think that Christ will reject thee for\nthat thy cause is bad, is a kind of thinking blasphemy against this his\noffice and his Word; for what doth such a man but side with Satan,\nwhile Christ is pleading against him? I say, it is as the devil would\nhave it, for it puts strength into his plea against us, by increasing\nour sin and wickedness. But shall Christ take our cause in hand, and\nshall we doubt of good success?\n\nThis is to count Satan stronger than Christ; and that he can longer\nabide to oppose, than Christ can to plead for us. Wherefore, away with\nit, not only as to the notion, but also as to the heart and root\nthereof. Oh! When shall Jesus Christ our Lord be honoured by us as he\nought? This dastardly heart of ours, when shall it be more subdued and\ntrodden under foot of faith? When shall Christ ride Lord, and King, and\nAdvocate, upon the faith of his people, as he should? He is exalted\nbefore God, before angels, and above all the power of the enemy; there\nis nothing comes behind but the faith of his people.\n\nThird Objection. But since you follow the metaphor so close, I will\nsuppose, if an advocate be entertained, some recompense must be given\nhim. His fee-who shall pay him his fee? I have nothing. Could I do\nanything to make this advocate part of amends, I could think I might\nhave benefit from him; but I have nothing. What say you to this?32\n\nAnswer. Similitudes must not be strained too far; but yet I have an\nanswer for this objection. There is, in some cases, law for them that\nhave no money; ay, law and lawyers too; and this is called a suing in\nforma pauperis;33 and such lawyers are appointed by authority for that\npurpose. Indeed, I know not that it is thus in every nation, but it is\nsometimes so with us in England; and this is the way altogether in the\nkingdom of heaven before the bar of God. All is done there for us in\nforma pauperis, on free cost; for our Advocate or lawyer is thereto\ndesigned and appointed of his Father.\n\nHence Christ is said to plead the cause, not of the rich and wealthy,\nbut of the poor and needy; not of those that have many friends, but of\nthe fatherless and widow; not of them that are fat and strong, but of\nthose under sore afflictions (Prov 22:22, 23; 23:10, 11; 31:9). \u201cHe\nshall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that\ncondemn his soul,\u201d or, as it is in the margin, \u201cfrom the judges of his\nsoul\u201d (Psa 109:31). This, then, is the manner of Jesus Christ with men;\nhe doth freely what he doth, not for price nor reward. \u201cI have raised\nhim up,\u201d says God, \u201cand I will direct all his ways; he shall build my\ncity, and he shall let go my captives, not for a price nor reward\u201d (Isa\n45:13). [This scripture speaks of Cyrus, a type of Christ.]\n\nThis, I say, is the manner of Jesus Christ with men; he pleads, he sues\nin forma pauperis, gratis, and of mere compassion; and hence it is that\nyou have his clients give him thanks; for that is all the poor can\ngive. \u201cI will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise\nhim among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the\npoor, to save him from those that condemn his soul\u201d (Psa 109:30,31).\n\nThey know but little that talk of giving to Christ, except they mean\nthey would give him blessing and praise. He bids us come freely, take\nfreely, and tells us that he will give and do freely (Rev 22:17; 21:6).\nLet him have that which is his own-to wit, thyself; for thou art the\nprice of his blood. David speaks very strangely of giving to God for\nmercy bestowed on him; I call it strangely, because indeed it is so to\nreason. \u201cWhat,\u201d says he, \u201cshall I render to the Lord for all his\nbenefits? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of\nthe Lord\u201d for more (Psa 116:12, 13). God has no need of thy gift, nor\nChrist of thy bribe, to plead thy cause; take thankfully what is\noffered, and call for more; that is the best giving to God. God is rich\nenough; talk not then of giving, but of receiving, for thou art poor.\nBe not too high, nor think thyself too good to live by the alms of\nheaven; and since the Lord Jesus is willing to serve thee freely, and\nto maintain thy right to heaven against thy foe, to the saving of thy\nsoul, without price or reward, \u201clet the peace of God rule in your\nhearts, to the which also ye are called,\u201d as is the rest of \u201cthe body,\nand be ye thankful\u201d (Col 3:15). This, then, is the privilege of a\nChristian-\u201cWe have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the\nrighteous\u201d; one that pleadeth the cause of his people against those\nthat rise up against them, of his love, pity, and mere good-will. Lord,\nopen the eyes of dark readers, of disconsolate saints, that they may\nsee who is for them, and on what terms!\n\nFourth Objection. But if Christ doth once begin to plead for me, and\nshall become mine Advocate, he will always be troubled with me, unless\nI should, of myself, forsake him; for I am ever in broils and suits of\nlaw, action after action is laid upon me, and I am sometimes ten times\nin a day summoned to answer my doings before God.\n\nAnswer. Christ is not an Advocate to plead a cause or two; nor to\ndeliver the godly from an accusation or two. \u201cHe delivereth Israel out\nof all his troubles\u201d (Psa 25:22; II Sam 22:28); and chooses to be an\nAdvocate for such; therefore, the godly of old did use to make, from\nthe greatness of their troubles, and the abundance of their troublers,\nan argument to the Lord Christ to send and lend them help-\u201cHave mercy\nupon me,\u201d saith David; \u201cconsider my trouble which I suffer of them that\nhate me\u201d (Psa 9:13). And again, \u201cMany are they that rise up against me;\nmany there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God\u201d\n(Psa 3:1,2). Yea the troubles of this man were so many and great, that\nhis enemies began to triumph over him, saying, \u201cThere is no help for\nhim in God.\u201d But could he not deliver him, or did the Lord forsake him?\nNo, no; \u201cThou hast smitten,\u201d saith he, \u201call mine enemies upon the cheek\nbone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.\u201d And as he delivereth\nthem from their troublers, so also he pleadeth all their causes; \u201cO\nLord,\u201d saith the church, \u201cthou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou\nhast redeemed my life\u201d (Lam 3:58). Mark, troubled Christian, thou\nsayest thou hast been arrested ofttimes in a day, and as often summoned\nto appear at God\u2019s bar, there to answer to what shall be laid to thy\ncharge. And here, for thy encouragement, thou readest that the church\nhath an Advocate that pleadeth the causes of her soul; that is, all her\ncauses, to deliver her. He knows that, so long as we are in this world,\nwe are subject to temptation and weakness, and through them made guilty\nof many bad things; wherefore, he hath prepared himself to our service,\nand to abide with the Father, an Advocate for us. As Solomon saith of a\nman of great wrath, so it may be said of a man of great weakness, and\nthe best of saints are such-he must be delivered again and again, (Prov\n19:19); yea, \u201cmany a time,\u201d saith David, \u201cdid he deliver them,\u201d (Psa\n106:43); to wit, more than once or twice; and he will do so for thee,\nif thou entertain him to be thine Advocate. Thou talkest of leaving\nhim, but then whither wilt thou go? All else are vain things, things\nthat cannot profit; and he will not forsake his people, (I Sam\n12:20-23), \u201cthough their land be filled with sin against the Holy One\nof Israel\u201d (Jer 51:5). I know the modest saint is apt to be abashed to\nthink what a troublesome one he is, and what a make-work he has been in\nGod\u2019s house all his days; and let him be filled with holy blushing; but\nlet him not forsake his Advocate.\n\n[THE USE AND APPLICATION.]\n\n\nSEVENTHLY, Having thus spoken to these objections, let us now come to\nmake some use of the whole. And,\n\nUse First. I would exhort the children to consider the dignity that God\nhath put upon Jesus Christ their Saviour; for by how much God hath\ncalled his Son to offices and places of trust, by so much he hath\nheaped dignities upon him. It is said of Mordecai, that he was next to\nthe king Ahasuerus. And what then? Why, then the greatness of Mordecai,\nand his high advance, must be written in the book of the Chronicles of\nthe kings of Media and Persia, to the end his fame might not be buried\nnor forgotten, but remembered and talked of in generations to come\n(Esth 10). Why, my brethren, God exalted Jesus of Nazareth, hath made\nhim the only great one, having given him a name above every name-a\nname, did I say?-a name and glory beyond all names, and above all\nnames, as doth witness both his being set above all, and the many\noffices which he executeth for God on behalf of his people. It is\ncounted no little addition to honour when men are not only made near to\nthe king, but also entrusted with most, if not almost with all the most\nweighty affairs of the kingdom. Why, this is the dignity of Christ; he\nis, it is true, the natural Son of God, and so high, and one that\nabounds with honour. But this is not all; God has conferred upon him,\nas man, all the most mighty honours of heaven; he hath made him Lord\nMediator betwixt him and the world. This in general. And particularly,\nhe hath called him to be his High Priest for ever, and hath sworn he\nshall not be changed for another (Heb 7:21-24). He hath accepted of his\noffering once for ever, counting that there is wholly enough in what he\ndid once \u201cto perfect for ever them that are sanctified\u201d; to wit, set\napart to glory (Heb 10:11-14).\n\nHe is Captain-general of all the forces that God hath in heaven and\nearth, the King and Commander of his people (ch. 9:25, 28). He is Lord\nof all, and made \u201chead over all things to the church,\u201d and is our\nAdvocate with the Father (Eph 1:22). O, the exaltation of Jesus Christ!\nLet Christians, therefore, in the first place, consider this. Nor can\nit be but profitable to them, if withal they consider that all this\ntrust and honour is put and conferred upon him in relation to the\nadvantage and advancement of Christians. If Christians do but consider\nthe nearness that is betwixt Christ and them, and, withal, consider how\nhe is exalted, it must needs be matter of comfort to them. He is my\nflesh and my bone that is exalted; he is my friend and brother that is\nthus set up and preferred. It was something to the Jews when Mordecai\nwas exalted to honour; they had, thereby, ground to rejoice and be\nglad, for that one of themselves was made lord-chief by the king, and\nthe great governor of the land, for the good of his kindred. True, when\na man thinks of Christ as severed from him, he sees but little to his\ncomfort in Christ\u2019s exaltation; but when he looks upon Christ, and can\nsay, My Saviour, my Priest, or the chief Bishop of my soul, then he\nwill see much in his being thus promoted to honour. Consider, then, of\nthe glories to which God has exalted our Saviour, in that he hath made\nhim so high. It is comely, also, when thou speakest of him, that thou\nname his name with some additional title, thereby to call thy mind to\nthe remembrance, and so to the greater reverence of the person of thy\nJesus; as, our Lord Jesus, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, \u201cthe\nApostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus\u201d (II Peter\n2:20; Heb 3:1, &c). Men write themselves by their titles; as, John,\nearl of such a place, Anthony, earl of such a place, Thomas, lord, &c.\nIt is common, also, to call men in great places by their titles rather\nthan by their names; yea, it also pleaseth such great ones well; as, My\nlord high chancellor of England, My lord privy seal, My lord high\nadmiral, &c. And thus should Christians make mention of Jesus Christ\nour Lord, adding to his name some of his titles of honour; especially\nsince all places of trust and titles of honour conferred on him are of\nspecial favour to us. I did use to be much taken with one sect of\nChristians; for that it was usually their way, when they made mention\nof the name of Jesus, to call him \u201cThe blessed King of Glory.\u201d\nChristians should do thus; it would do them good; for why doth the Holy\nGhost, think you, give him all these titles but that we should call him\nby them, and so make mention of him one to another; for the very\ncalling of him by this or that title, or name, belonging to this or\nthat office of his, giveth us occasion, not only to think of him as\nexercising that office, but to inquire, by the Word, by meditation, and\none of another, what there is in that office and what, by his\nexercising of that, the Lord Jesus profiteth his church.\n\nHow will men stand for that honour that, by superiors, is given to\nthem, expecting and using all things; to wit, actions and carriages, so\nas that thereby their grandeur may be maintained; and saith Christ, \u201cYe\ncall me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am\u201d (John 13:13).\nChrist Jesus our Lord would have us exercise ourselves in the knowledge\nof his glorious offices and relative titles, because of the advantage\nthat we get by the knowledge of them, and the reverence of, and love\nto, him that they beget in our hearts. \u201cThat disciple,\u201d saith the text,\n\u201cwhom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon\nPeter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher\u2019s coat unto him\n(for he was naked), and did cast himself into the sea. And the other\ndisciples came in a little ship\u201d: to wit, to shore, to wait upon their\nLord (John 21). The very naming of him under the title of Lord, bowed\ntheir hearts forthwith to come with joint readiness to wait upon him.\nLet this also teach us to distinguish Christ\u2019s offices and titles, not\nto confound them, for he exerciseth those offices, and beareth those\ntitles, for great reason, and to our commodity. Every circumstance\nrelating both to Christ\u2019s humiliation and exaltation ought to be duly\nweighed by us, because of that mystery of God, and of man\u2019s redemption\nthat is wrapped therein; for as there was not a pin, nor a loop, nor a\ntack in the tabernacle but had in it use of instruction to the children\nof Israel, so there is not any part, whether more near or more remote\nto Christ\u2019s suffering and exaltation, but is, could we get into it,\nfull of spiritual advantage to us.\n\nTo instance the water that came out of Christ\u2019s side, a thing little\ntaken notice of either by preachers or hearers, and yet John makes it\none of the witnesses of the truth of our redemption, and a confirmation\nof the certainty of that record that God, to the world, hath given of\nthe sufficiency that is in his Son to save (John 19:34; I John 3:5-9;\n5:5-9; I John 4:9-12).\n\nWhen I have considered that the very timing of Scripture expressions,\nand the season of administering ordinances, have been argumentative to\nthe promoting of the faith and way of justification by Christ, it has\nmade think that both myself and most of the people of God look over the\nScriptures too slightly, and take too little notice of that or of those\nmany honours that God, for our good, has conferred upon Christ. Shall\nhe be called a King, a Priest, a Prophet, a Sacrifice, an Altar, a\nCaptain, a Head, a Husband, a Father, a Fountain, a Door, a Rock, a\nLion, a Saviour, &c., and shall we not consider these things? And shall\nGod to all these add, moreover, that he is an Advocate, and shall we\ntake no notice thereof, or jumble things so together, that we lose some\nof his titles and offices; or so be concerned with one as not to think\nwe have need of the benefit of the rest? Let us be ashamed thus to do\nor think, and let us give to him that is thus exalted the glory due\nunto his name.\n\nUse Second. As we should consider the titles and offices of Christ in\ngeneral, so we should consider this of his being an Advocate in\nparticular; for this is one of the reasons which induced the apostle to\npresent him here under that very notion to us-namely, that we should\nhave faith about it, and consider of it to our comfort-\u201cIf any man sin,\nwe have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d \u201cAn\nadvocate\u201d-an advocate, as I said, is one that hath power to plead for\nanother in this, or that, or any court of judicature. Be much therefore\nin the meditation of Christ, as executing of this his office for thee,\nfor many advantages will come to thee thereby. As,\n\n1. This will give thee to see that thou art not forsaken when thou hast\nsinned; and this has not in it a little relief only, but yieldeth\nconsolation in time of need. There is nothing that we are more prone\nunto than to think we are forsaken when we have sinned, when for this\nvery thing-to wit, to keep us from thinking so, is the Lord Jesus\nbecome our Advocate-\u201cIf any man sin, we have an Advocate.\u201d Christian,\nthou that hast sinned, and that with the guilt of thy sin art driven to\nthe brink of hell, I bring thee news from God-thou shalt not die, but\nlive, for thou hast \u201can Advocate with the Father.\u201d Let this therefore\nbe considered by thee, because it yieldeth this fruit.\n\n2. The study of this truth will give thee ground to take courage to\ncontend with the devil concerning the largeness of grace by faith,\nsince thy Advocate is contending for thee against him at the bar of\nGod. It is a great encouragement for a man to hold up his head in the\ncountry, when he knows he has a special friend at court. Why, our\nAdvocate is a friend at court, a friend there ready to give the onset\nto Satan, come he when he will. \u201cWe have an Advocate with the Father\u201d;\nan Advocate, or one to plead against Satan for us.\n\n3. This consideration will yield relief, when, by Satan\u2019s abuse of some\nother of the offices of Christ, thy faith is discouraged and made\nafraid. Christ as a prophet pronounces many a dreadful sentence against\nsin; and Christ as a king is of power to execute them; and Satan as an\nenemy has subtlety enough to abuse both these, to the almost utter\noverthrow of the faith of the children of God. But what will he do with\nhim as he is an Advocate? Will he urge that he will plead against us?\nHe cannot; he has no such office. \u201cWill he plead against me with his\ngreat power? No, but he would put strength into me\u201d(Job 23:6).\nWherefore Satan doth all he may to keep thee ignorant of this office;\nfor he knows that as Advocate, when he is so apprehended, the saints\nare greatly relieved by him, even by a believing thought of that\noffice.\n\n4. This consideration, or the consideration of Christ as exercising of\nthis office, will help thee to put by that visor wherewith Christ by\nSatan is misrepresented to thee, to the weakening and affrighting of\nthee. There is nothing more common among saints than thus to be wronged\nby Satan; for as he will labour to fetch fire out of the offices of\nChrist to burn us, so to present him to us with so dreadful and so\nireful a countenance, that a man in temptation, and under guilt, shall\nhardly be able to lift up his face to God. But now, to think really\nthat he is my Advocate, this heals all! Put a visor upon the face of a\nfather, and it may perhaps for a while fright the child; but let the\nfather speak, let him speak in his own fatherly dialect to the child,\nand the visor is gone, if not from the father\u2019s face, yet from the\nchild\u2019s mind; yea, the child, notwithstanding that visor, will\nadventure to creep into its father\u2019s bosom. Why, thus it is with the\nsaints when Satan deludes and abuses them by disfiguring the\ncountenance of Christ to their view. Let them but hear their Lord speak\nin his own natural dialect (and then he doth so indeed when we hear him\nspeak as an Advocate), and their minds are calmed, their thoughts\nsettled, their guilt made to vanish, and their faith to revive.\n\nIndeed, the advocateship of Jesus Christ is not much mentioned in the\nWord, and because it is no oftener made mention of, therefore perhaps\nit is that some Christians do so lightly pass it over; when, on the\ncontrary, the rarity of the thing should make it the more admirable;\nand perhaps it is therefore so little made mention of in the Bible,\nbecause it should not by the common sort be abused, but is as it were\nprivately dropped in a corner, to be found by them that are for finding\nrelief for their soul by a diligent search of the Scriptures; for\nChrist in this office of advocateship is only designed for the child of\nGod, the world hath nothing therewith to do.34 Methinks that which\nalone is proper to saints, and that which by God is peculiarly designed\nfor them, they should be mightily taken withal; the peculiar treasure\nof kings, the peculiar privilege of saints, oh, this should be\naffecting to us!-why, Christ, as an Advocate, is such. \u201cRemember me, O\nLord,\u201d said the Psalmist, \u201cwith the favour that thou bearest unto thy\npeople: O visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the good of thy\nchosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may\nglory with thine inheritance\u201d (Psa 106:4, 5). The Psalmist, you see\nhere, is crying out for a share in, and the knowledge of, the peculiar\ntreasure of saints; and this of Christ as Advocate is such; wherefore\nstudy it, and prize it so much the more, this Advocate is ours.\n\n(1.) Study it with reference to its peculiarity. It is for the\nchildren, and nobody else; for the children, little and great. This is\nchildren\u2019s bread; this is a mess for Benjamin; this is to be eaten in\nthe holy place. Children use to make much of that which, by way of\nspecialty, is by their relations bestowed on them-\u201cAnd Naboth said to\nAhab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my\nfathers to thee\u201d (I Kings 21:3). No, truly will I not. Why so? Because\nit was my father\u2019s gift, not in common to all, but to me in special.\n\n(2.) Study this office in the nature of it; for therein lies the\nexcellency of anything, even in the nature of it. Wrong thoughts of\nthis or that abuses it, and takes its natural glory from it. Take heed,\ntherefore, of misapprehending, while thou art seeking to apprehend\nChrist as thy Advocate. Men judge of Christ\u2019s offices while they are at\ntoo great a distance from them; but \u201clet them come near,\u201d says God,\n\u201cthen let them speak,\u201d (Isa 41:1); or as Elihu said to his friends,\nwhen he had seen them judge amiss, \u201cLet us choose to us judgment, let\nus know among ourselves what is good\u201d (Job 34:4). So say I; study to\nknow, rightly to know, the Advocate-office of Jesus Christ. It is one\nof the easiest things in the world to miss of the nature, while we\nspeak of the name and offices of Jesus Christ; wherefore look to it,\nthat thou study the nature of the office of his advocateship, of his\nadvocateship for, for so you ought to consider it. There is an Advocate\nfor, not against, the children of God-\u201cJesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\n\n(3.) Study this office with reference to its efficacy and prevalency.\nJob says, \u201cAfter my words, they spake not again\u201d (Job 29:22). And when\nChrist stands up to plead, all must keep silence before him. True,\nSatan had the first word, but Christ the last, in the business of\nJoshua, and such a last as brought the poor man off well, though\n\u201cclothed with filthy garments\u201d (Zech 3). Satan must be speechless after\na plea of our Advocate, how rampant soever he is afore; or as Elihu has\nit, \u201cThey were amazed; they answered no more; they left off speaking.\u201d\nShall he that speaks in righteousness give place, and he who has\nnothing but envy and deceit be admitted to stand his ground? Behold,\nthe angels cover their faces when they speak of his glory, how then\nshall not Satan bend before him? In the days of his humiliation, he\nmade him cringe and creep, how much more, then, now he is exalted to\nglory, to glory to be an Advocate, an Advocate for his people! \u201cIf any\nman sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the\nrighteous.\u201d\n\n(4.) Study the faithfulness of Christ in his execution of this office,\nfor he will not fail nor forsake them that have entertained him for\ntheir Advocate: \u201cHe will thoroughly plead their cause\u201d (Jer 50:34).\nFaithful and true, is one of his titles; and you shall be faithfully\nserved by him; you may boldly commit your cause unto him, nor shall the\nbadness of it make him fail, or discourage him in his work; for it is\nnot the badness of a cause that can hinder him from prevailing, because\nhe hath wherewith to answer for all thy sins, and a new law to plead\nby, through which he will make thee a conqueror. He is also for\nsticking to a man to the end, if he once engages for him (John 13:1,\n2). He will threaten and love, he will chastise and love, he will kill\nand love, and thou shalt find it so. And he will make this appear at\nthe last; and Satan knows it is so now, for he finds the power of his\nrepulses while he pleadeth for him at the bar against him. And all this\nis in very faithfulness.\n\n(5.) Study also the need that thou hast of a share in the execution of\nthe advocateship of Jesus Christ. Christians find that they have need\nof washing in the blood of Christ, and that they have need of being\nclothed with the righteousness of Christ; they also find that they have\nneed that Christ should make intercession for them, and that by him, of\nnecessity, they must approach God, and present their prayers and\nservices to him; but they do not so well see that they need that Christ\nshould also be their Advocate. And the reason thereof is this: they\nforget that their adversary makes it his business to accuse them before\nthe throne of God; they consider not the long scrolls and many crimes\nwherewith he chargeth them in the presence of the angels of God. I say,\nthis is the cause that the advocateship of Christ is so little\nconsidered in the churches; yea, many that have been relieved by that\noffice of his, have not understood what he has thereby done for them.\nBut perhaps this is to be kept from many till they come to behold his\nface, and till all things shall be revealed, that Christ might have\nglory given him in the next world for doing of that for them which they\nso little thought of in this. But do not thou be content with this\nignorance, because the knowledge of his advocating it for thee will\nyield thee present relief. Study, therefore, thine own weakness, the\nholiness of the judge, the badness of thy cause, the subtlety, malice,\nand rage, of thine enemy; and be assured that whenever thou sinnest, by\nand by thou art for it accused before God at his judgment seat. These\nthings will, as it were, by way of necessity, instill into thy heart\nthe need that thou hast of an advocate, and will make thee look as to\nthe blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ to justify thee, so to\nChrist as an Advocate to plead thy cause, as did holy Job in his\ndistresses (Job 16:21).\n\nUse Third. Is Christ Jesus not only a priest of, and a King over, but\nan Advocate for his people? Let this make us stand and wonder, and be\namazed at his humiliation and condescension. We read of his humiliation\non earth when he put himself into our flesh, took upon him our sins,\nand made them as his own unto condemnation and death. And to be an\nadvocate is an office reproachful to the malicious, if any man be such\nan one, for those that are base and unworthy. Yea, and the higher and\nmore honourable the person is that pleads for such, the more he humbles\nhimself. The word doth often in effect account him now in heaven as a\nservant for us, and acts of service are acts of condescension; and I am\nsure some acts of service have more of that in them than some; and I\nthink when all things are considered, that Christ neither doth nor can\ndo anything for us there, of a more condescending nature, than to\nbecome our Advocate. True, he glories in it; but that doth not show\nthat the work is excellent in itself. It is also one of his titles of\nhonour; but that is to show how highly God esteems of, and dignifies\nall his acts; and though this shall tend at last to the greatening of\nhis honour and glory in his kingdom, yet the work itself is amazingly\nmean.\n\nI speak after the manner of men. It is accounted so in this world. How\nignoble and unrespectful doth a man make himself, especially to his\nenemy, when he undertakes to plead a bad cause, if it happeneth to be\nthe cause of the base and unworthy! And I am sure we are, every one, so\nin ourselves, for whom he is become an Advocate with the Father. True,\nwe are made worthy in him, but that is no thanks to us; as to ourselves\nand our cause, both are bad enough. And let us now leave off disputing,\nand stand amazed at his condescension; \u201cWho humbleth himself to behold\nthe things that are in heaven\u201d (Psa 113:6). And men of old did use to\nwonder to think that God should so much stoop, as to open his eyes to\nlook upon man, or once so much as to mind him (Job 7:17; 14:1-3; Psa\n8:4; 144:3, 4). And if these be acts that speak a condescension, what\nwill you count of Christ\u2019s standing up as an Advocate to plead the\ncause of his people? Must not that be much more so accounted? O, the\ncondescension of Christ in heaven! While cavillers quarrel at such kind\nof language, let the saints stay themselves and wonder at it, and be so\nmuch the more affected with his grace. The persons are base, the crimes\nare base, with which the persons are charged; wherefore one would think\nthat has but the reason to think, that it is a great condescension of\nChrist, now in heaven, to take upon him to be an Advocate for such a\npeople, especially if you consider the openness of this work of Christ;\nfor this thing is not done in a corner. This is done in open court.\n\n1. With a holy and just God; for he is the judge of all, and his eyes\nare purer than to behold iniquity; yea, his very essence and presence\nis a consuming fire; yet, before and with this God, and that for such a\npeople, Jesus Christ, the King, will be an Advocate. For one mean man\nto be an Advocate for the base, with one that is not considerable, is\nnot so much; but for Christ to be an Advocate for the base, and for the\nbase, too, under the basest consideration, this is to be wondered at.\nWhen Bathsheba, the queen became an advocate for Adonijah unto king\nSolomon, you see how he flounced at her, for that his cause was bad.\n\u201cAnd why,\u201d saith he, \u201cdost thou ask Abishag for Adonijah? Ask for him\nthe kingdom also\u201d (I Kings 2:16-23). I told you before, that to be an\nadvocate did run one upon hazards of reproach; and it may easily be\nthought that the queen did blush, when, from the king, her son, she\nreceived such a repulse; nor do we hear any more of her being an\nadvocate; I believe she had enough of this. But oh! This Christ of God,\nwho himself is greater that Solomon, he is become an Advocate, \u201can\nAdvocate with the Father,\u201d who is the eternally just, and holy, and\nrighteous God; and that for a people, with respect to him, far worse\nthan could be Adonijah in the eyes of his brother Solomon. Majesty and\njustice are dreadful in themselves, and much more so when approached by\nany, especially when the cause, as to matter of fact, is bad, that the\nman is guilty of who is concerned in the advocateship of his friend;\nand yet Jesus Christ is still an Advocate for us, \u201can Advocate with the\nFather.\u201d\n\n2. Consider, also, before whom Jesus Christ doth plead as an Advocate,\nand that is before, or in the presence and observation of, all the\nheavenly host; for whilst Christ pleadeth with God for his people, all\nthe host of heaven stand by on the right hand and on the left (Matt\n10:32). And though as yet there may seem to be but little in this\nconsideration, yet Christ would have us know, and account it an\ninfinite kindness of his to us that he will confess, and not be ashamed\nof us before the angels of his Father (Mark 8:38). Angels are holy and\nglorious creatures, and, in some respect, may have a greater knowledge\nof the nature and baseness of sin than we while here are capable of;\nand so may be made to stand and wonder while the Advocate pleads with\nGod for a people, from head to foot, clothed therewith. But Christ will\nnot be ashamed to stand up for us before them, though they know how bad\nwe are, and what vile things we have done. Let this, therefore, make us\nwonder.\n\n3. Add to these, how unconcerned ofttimes those are with themselves,\nand their own desolate condition, for whom Christ, as an Advocate,\nlaboureth in heaven with God. Alas! The soul is as far off of knowing\nwhat the devil is doing against it at God\u2019s bar as David was when Saul\nwas threatening to have his blood, while he was hid in the field (I Sam\n20:26-34). But, O true Jonathan! How didst thou plead for David! Only\nhere thou hadst the advantage of our Advocate, thou hadst a good cause\nto plead; for when Saul, thy father, said, \u201cDavid shall surely die,\u201d\nthy reply was, \u201cWherefore shall he be slain? What [evil] hath he done?\u201d\nBut Christ cannot say thus when he pleadeth for us at God\u2019s bar; nor is\nour present senselessness and unconcernedness about his pleading but an\naggravation to our sin. Perhaps David was praying while Jonathan was\nplaying the advocate for him before the king his father; but perhaps\nthe saint is sleeping, yea, sinning more, whilst Christ is pleading for\nhim in heaven. Oh! This should greatly affect us; this should make us\nwonder; this should be so considered by us, as to heighten our souls to\nadmiration of the grace and kindness of Christ.\n\n4. Join to these the greatness and gravity, the highness and glorious\nmajesty of the Man that is become our Advocate. Says the text, it is\nJesus Christ-\u201cWe have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ.\u201d Now,\nthat he should become an Advocate, that he should embrace such an\nemploy as this of his advocateship, let this be a wonderment, and so be\naccounted. But let us come to the fourth use.\n\nUse Fourth. Is it so? Is Jesus Christ the Saviour also become our\nAdvocate? Then let us labour to make that improvement of this doctrine\nas tendeth to strengthen our graces, and us, in the management of them.\nIndeed, this should be the use that we should make of all the offices\nof Christ; but let us, at this time, concern ourselves about this; let,\nI say, the poor Christian thus expostulate with himself-\n\n1. Is Christ Jesus the Lord mine Advocate with the Father? Then awake,\nmy faith, and shake thyself like a giant; stir up thyself, and be not\nfaint; Christ is the Advocate of his people, and pleadeth the cause of\nthe poor and needy. And as for sin, which is one great stumble to thy\nactings, O my faith, Christ has not only died for that as a sacrifice,\nnor only carried his sacrifice unto the Father, in the holiest of all,\nbut is there to manage that offering as an Advocate, pleading the\nefficacy and worth thereof before God, against the devil, for us. Thus,\nI say, we should strengthen our faith; for faith has to do not only\nwith the Word, but also with the offices of Christ. Besides,\nconsidering how many the assaults are that are made upon our faith, we\nfind all little enough to support it against all the wiles of the\ndevil.\n\nChristians too little concern themselves, as I have said, with the\noffices of Jesus Christ; and therefore their knowledge of him is so\nlittle, and their faith in him so weak. We are bid to have our\nconversation in heaven, and then a man so hath, when he is there, in\nhis spirit, by faith, observing how the Lord Jesus doth exercise his\noffices there for him. Let us often, by faith, go to the bar of God,\nthere to hear our Advocate plead our cause; we should often have our\nfaith to God\u2019s judgment-seat, because we are concerned there; there we\nare accused of the devil, there we have our crimes laid open, and there\nwe have our Advocate to plead; and this is suggested in the text, for\nit saith, \u201cWe have an Advocate with the Father\u201d; therefore, thither our\nfaith should go for help and relief in the day of our straits. I say,\nwe should have our faith to God\u2019s judgment-seat, and show it there, by\nthe glass of our text,35 what Satan is doing against, and the Lord\nJesus for, our souls. We should also show it how the Lord Jesus carries\naway every cause from the devil, and from before the judgment-seat, to\nthe comfort of the children, the joy of angels, and the shame of the\nenemy. This would strengthen and support our faith indeed, and would\nmake us more able than, for the most part, we are to apply the grace of\nGod to ourselves, and hereafter to give more strong repulses to Satan.\nIt is easy with a man, when he knows that his advocate has overthrown\nhis enemy at the King\u2019s Bench bar or Court of Common Pleas, less to\nfear him the next time he sees him, and more boldly to answer him when\nhe reneweth his threats on him. Let faith, then, be strengthened, from\nits being exercised about the advocateship of Jesus Christ.\n\n2. As we should make use of Christ\u2019s advocateship for the strengthening\nof our faith, so we should also make use thereof to the encouraging us\nto prayer. As our faith is, so is our prayer; to wit, cold, weak, and\ndoubtful, if our faith be so. When faith cannot apprehend that we have\naccess to the Father by Christ, or that we have an Advocate, when\ncharged before God for our sins by the devil, then we flag and faint in\nour prayer; but when we begin to take courage to believe-and then we do\nso when most clearly we apprehend Christ-then we get up in prayer. And\naccording as a man apprehends Christ in his undertakings and offices,\nso he will wrestle with and supplicate God. As, suppose a man believes\nthat Christ died for his sins; why, then, he will plead that in prayer\nwith God. Suppose, also, that a man understands that Christ rose again\nfor his justification; why, then, he will also plead that in prayer;\nbut if he knows no more, no further will he go. But when he shall know\nthat there is also for him an Advocate with the Father, and that that\nAdvocate is Jesus Christ; and when the glory of this office of Christ\nshall shine in the face of this man\u2019s soul; oh, then, he takes courage\nto pray with that courage he had not before; yea, then is his faith so\nsupported and made strong, that his prayer is more fervent, and\nimportuning abundance. So that, I say, the knowledge of the\nadvocateship of Christ is very useful to strengthen our graces; and, as\nof graces in general, so of faith and prayer in particular. Wherefore,\nour wisdom is, so to improve this doctrine that prayer may be\nstrengthened thereby.\n\n3. As we should make use of this doctrine to strengthen faith and\nprayer, so we should make use of it to keep us humble; for the more\noffices Christ executeth for us with the Father, the greater sign that\nwe are bad; and the more we see our badness, the more humble should we\nbe. Christ gave for us the price of blood; but that is not all; Christ\nas a Captain has conquered death and the grave for us, but that is not\nall: Christ as a Priest intercedes for us in heaven; but that is not\nall. Sin is still in us, and with us, and mixes itself with whatever we\ndo, whether what we do be religious or civil; for not only our prayers\nand our sermons, our hearings and preaching, and so; but our houses,\nour shops, our trades, and our beds, are all polluted with sin. Nor\ndoth the devil, our night and day adversary, forbear to tell our bad\ndeeds to our Father, urging that we might for ever be disinherited for\nthis. But what should we now do, if we had not an Advocate; yea, if we\nhad not one who would plead in forma pauperis; yea, if we had not one\nthat could prevail, and that would faithfully execute that office for\nus? Why, we must die. But since we are rescued by him, let us, as to\nourselves, lay our hand upon our mouth, and be silent, and say, \u201cNot\nunto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.\u201d And, I say\nagain, since the Lord Jesus is fain to run through so many offices for\nus before he can bring us to glory, oh! how low, how little, how vile\nand base in our own eyes should we be.\n\nIt is a shame for a Christian to think highly of himself, since Christ\nis fain to do so much for him, and he again not at all able to make him\namends; but some, whose riches consist in nothing but scabs and lice,\nwill yet have lofty looks. But are not they much to blame who sit\nlifting up of lofty eyes in the house, and yet know not how to turn\ntheir hand to do anything so, but that another, their betters, must\ncome and mend their work? I say, is it not more meet that those that\nare such, should look and speak, and act as such that declare their\nsense of their unhandiness, and their shame, and the like, for their\nunprofitableness? Yea, is it not meet that to every one they should\nconfess what sorry ones they are? I am sure it should be thus with\nChristians, and God is angry when it is otherwise. Nor doth it become\nthese helpless ones to lift up themselves on high. Let Christ\u2019s\nadvocateship therefore teach us to be humble.\n\n4. As we should improve this doctrine to strengthen faith, to encourage\nprayer, and keep us humble, so we should make use of it to encourage\nperseverance-that is, to hold on, to hold out to the end; for, for all\nthose causes the apostle setteth Christ before us as an Advocate. There\nis nothing more discourages the truly godly than the sense of their own\ninfirmities, as has been hinted all along; consequently, nothing can\nmore encourage them to go on than to think that Christ is an Advocate\nfor them. The services, also, that Christ has for us to do in this\nworld are full of difficulty, and so apt to discourage: but when a\nChristian shall come to understand that-if we do what we can-it is not\na failing either in matter or manner that shall render it wholly\nunserviceable, or give the devil that advantage as to plead thereby to\nprevail for our condemnation and rejection; but that Christ, by being\nour Advocate, saves us from falling short, as also from the rage of\nhell. This will encourage us to hold on, though we do but hobble in all\nour goings, and fumble in all our doings; for we have Christ for an\nAdvocate in case we sin in the management of any duty-\u201cIf any man sin,\nwe have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d Let\nus, therefore, go on in all God\u2019s ways as well as we can for our\nhearts; and when our foot slips, let us tell God of it, and his mercy\nin Christ shall hold us up (Psa 84:9-12).\n\nDarkness, and to be shut up in prison, is also a great discouragement\nto us; but our Advocate is for giving us light, and for fetching us out\nof our prison. True, he that Joseph chose to be his Advocate with\nPharaoh remembered not Joseph, but forgat him (Gen 40:14, 23); but he\nthat has Jesus Christ to be his Advocate shall be remembered before\nGod, (Micah 7:8-10).-\u201cHe remembered us in our low estate; for his mercy\nendureth for ever\u201d (Psa 136:23). Yea, he will say to the prisoners,\nShow yourselves; and to them that are in the prison-house, Go forth.\nSatan sometimes gets the saints into the prison when he has taken them\ncaptive by their lusts (Rom 7:23). But they shall not be always there;\nand this should encourage us to go on in godly ways; for \u201cwe must\nthrough much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.\u201d\n\nObjection. But I cannot pray, says one, therefore how should I\npersevere? When I go to prayer, instead of praying, my mouth is\nstopped. What would you have me do?\n\nAnswer. Well, soul, though Satan may baffle thee, he cannot so serve\nthine Advocate; if thou must not speak for thyself, Christ thine\nAdvocate can speak for thee. Lemuel was to open his mouth for the\ndumb-to wit, for the sons of destruction, and to plead the cause of the\npoor and needy (Prov 31:8, 9). If we knew the grace of our Lord Jesus\nChrist, so as the Word reveals it, we would believe, we would hope, and\nwould, notwithstanding all discouragements, wait for the salvation of\nthe Lord. But there are many things that hinder, wherefore faith,\nprayer, and perseverance, are made difficult things unto us-\u201cBut if any\nman sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the\nrighteous\u201d: and, God \u201cshall fight for you, and you shall hold your\npeace,\u201d was once a good word to me when I could not pray.\n\n5. As we should improve this doctrine for the improvement and\nencouragement of these graces, so we should improve it to the driving\nof difficulties down before us, to the getting of ground upon the\nenemy-\u201cResist the devil,\u201d drive him back; this is it for which thy Lord\nJesus is an Advocate with God in heaven; and this is it for the sake of\nwhich thou art made a believer on earth (I Peter 5:9; Heb 12:4).\nWherefore has God put this sword, WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE, into thy hand,\nbut to fight thy way through the world? \u201cFight the good fight of faith,\nlay hold on eternal life,\u201d and say, \u201cI will go in the strength of the\nLord God.\u201d And since I have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ\nthe righteous, I will not despair, though \u201cthe iniquity of my heels\nshall compass me about\u201d (Psa 49:5).\n\nUse Fifth. Doth Jesus Christ stand up to plead for us with God, to\nplead with him for us against the devil? Let this teach us to stand up\nto plead for him before men, to plead for him against the enemies of\nhis person and gospel. This is but reasonable; for if Christ stands up\nto plead for us, why should not we stand up to plead for him? He also\nexpects this at our hands, saying, \u201cWho will rise up for me against the\nevil doers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?\u201d\n(Psa 94:16). The apostle did it, and counted himself engaged to do it,\nwhere he saith, he preached \u201cthe gospel of God with much contention\u201d (I\nThess 2:2). Nor is this the duty of apostles or preachers only, but\nevery child of God should \u201cearnestly contend for the faith which was\nonce delivered unto the saints\u201d (Jude 3).\n\nAnd, as I said, there is reason why we should do this; he standeth for\nus. And if we, (1.) Consider the disparity of persons to plead, it will\nseem far more reasonable. He stands up to plead with God, we stand up\nto plead with men. The dread of God is great, yea, greater than the\ndread of men. (2.) If we consider the persons pleaded for. He pleads\nfor sinners, for the inconsiderable, vile, and base; we plead for\nJesus, for the great, holy, and honourable. It is an honour for the\npoor to stand up for the great and mighty; but what honour is it for\nthe great to plead for the base? Reason, therefore, requireth that we\nstand up to plead for him, though there can be but little rendered why\nhe should stand up to plead for us. (3.) He standeth up to plead for us\nin the most holy place, though we are vile; and why should we not stand\nup for him in this vile world, since he is holy? (4.) He pleads for us,\nthough our cause is bad; why should not we plead for him, since his\ncause is good? (5.) He pleads for us, against fallen angels; why should\nwe not plead for him against sinful vanities? (6.) He pleads for us to\nsave our souls; why should not we plead for him to sanctify his name?\n(7.) He pleads for us before the holy angels; why should not we plead\nfor him before princes? (8.) He is not ashamed of us, though now in\nheaven; why should we be ashamed of him before this adulterous and\nsinful generation? (9.) He is unwearied in his pleading for us; why\nshould we faint and be dismayed while we plead for him?\n\nMy brethren, is it not reasonable that we should stand up for him in\nthis world? Yea, is it not reason that in all things we should study\nhis exaltation here, since he in all things contrives our honour and\nglory in heaven? A child of God should study in every of his relations\nto serve the Lord Christ in this world, because Christ, by the\nexecution of every one of his offices, seeks our promotion hereafter.\nIf these be not sufficient arguments to bow us to yield up our members,\nourselves, our whole selves to God, that we may be servants of\nrighteousness unto him; yea, if by these and such like we are not made\nwilling to stand up for him before men, it is a sign that there is but\nlittle, if any, of the grace of God in our hearts.\n\nYea, further, that we should have now at last in reserve Christ as\nauthorized to be our Advocate to plead for us; for this is the last of\nhis offices for us while we are here, and is to be put in practice for\nus when there are more than ordinary occasions. This is to help, as we\nsay, at a dead lift, even then when a Christian is taken for a captive,\nor when he sinks in the mire where is no standing, or when he is\nclothed with filthy garments, or when the devil doth desperately plead\nagainst us our evil deeds, or when by our lives we have made our\nsalvation questionable, and have forfeited our evidences for heaven.\nAnd why then should not we have also in reserve for Christ? And when\nprofession and confession will not do, when loss of goods and a prison\nwill not do, when loss of country and of friends will not do, then to\nbring it in, then to bring it in as the reserve, and as that which will\ndo-to wit, willingly to lay down our lives for his name; and since he\ndoth his part without grudging for us, let us do ours with rejoicing\nfor him (Isa 24:15; John 21:19).\n\nUse Sixth. Doth Jesus Christ stand up to plead for us, and that of his\nmere grace and love? Then this should teach Christians to be watchful\nand wary how they sin against God. This inference seems to run\nretrograde; but whoso duly considers it, will find it fairly fetched\nfrom the premises. Christianity teaches ingenuity, 36 and aptness to be\nsensible of kindnesses, and doth instruct us to a loathness to be\noverhard upon him from whom we have all at free cost. \u201cShall we-sin\nthat grace may abound? God forbid. Shall we do evil that good may come?\nGod forbid. Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under\ngrace? God forbid\u201d (Rom 6:1, 2, 15).\n\nIt is the most disingenuous thing in the world not to care how\nchargeable we are to that friend that bestows all upon us gratis. When\nMephibosheth had an opportunity to be yet more chargeable to David, he\nwould not, because he had his life and his all from the mere grace of\nthe king (II Sam 19:24-28). Also David thought it too much for all his\nhousehold to go to Absalom\u2019s feast, because it was made of free cost.\nWhy, Christ is our Advocate of free cost, we pay him neither fee nor\nincome for what he doth; nor doth he desire aught of us, but to accept\nof his free doing for us thankfully; wherefore let us put him upon this\nwork as little as may be, and by so doing we shall show ourselves\nChristians of the right make and stamp. We count him but a fellow of a\nvery gross spirit that will therefore be lavishing of what is his\nfriend\u2019s, because it is prepared of mere kindness for him; Esau himself\nwas loath to do this; and shall Christians be disingenuous?\n\nI dare say, if Christians were sober, watchful, and of a more\nself-denying temper, they need not put the Lord Jesus to that to which\nfor the want of these things they do so often put him. I know he is not\nunwilling to serve us, but I know also that the love of Christ should\nconstrain us to live not to ourselves, but to him that loved us, that\ndied for us, and rose again (II Cor 5:14, 15). We shall do that which\nis naught too much, even then when we watch and take care what we can\nto prevent it. Our flesh, when we do our utmost diligence to resist, it\nwill defile both us and our best performances. We need not lay the\nreins on its neck and say, What care we? the more sin the more grace,\nand the more we shall see the kindness of Christ, and what virtue there\nis in his Advocate\u2019s office to save us. And should there be any such\nhere, I would present them with a scripture or two; the first is this,\n\u201cDo ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise?\u201d (Deut\n32:6). And if this gentle check will not do, then read the other, Shall\nwe say, Let us do evil that good may come? their damnation is just (Rom\n3:8). Besides, as nothing so swayeth with us as love, so there is\nnothing so well pleasing to God as it. Let a man love, though he has\nopportunity to do nothing, it is accepted of the God of heaven. But\nwhere there is no love, let a man do what he will, it is not at all\nregarded (I Cor 13:1-3). Now to be careless and negligent, and that\nfrom a supposed understanding of the grace of Christ in the exercise of\nhis advocateship for us in heaven, is as clear sign as can be, that in\nthy heart there is no love to Christ, and that consequently thou art\njust a nothing, instead of being a Christian. Talk, then, what thou\nwilt, and profess never so largely, Christ is no Advocate of thine, nor\nshalt thou, thou so continuing, be ever the better for any of those\npleas that Christ, at God\u2019s bar, puts in against the devil, for his\npeople.\n\nChristians, Christ Jesus is not unwilling to lay out himself for you in\nheaven, nor to be an Advocate for you in the presence of his Father;\nbut yet he is unwilling that you should render him evil for good; I\nsay, that you should do so by your remissness and carelessness for want\nof such a thinking of things as may affect your hearts therewith. It\nwould be more comely in you, would please him better, would agree with\nyour profession, and also better would prove you gracious, to be found\nin the power and nature of these conclusions. \u201cHow shall we that are\ndead to sin, live any longer therein?\u201d (Rom 6:2).\u201d If ye be risen with\nChrist, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the\nright hand of God; for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in\nGod. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also\nappear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon\nthe earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil\nconcupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things\u2019\nsake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience\u201d (Col\n3:1-6).\n\nI say, it would be more comely for Christians to say, We will not sin\nbecause God will pardon; we will not commit iniquity because Christ\nwill advocate for us. \u201cI write unto you that ye sin not; though if any\nman sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.\u201d Why, the brute would\nconclude, I will not do so, because my master will beat me; I will do\nthus, for then my master will love me. And Christians should be above\n[such] men, brutish men.\n\nAnd for a conclusion as to this, let me present you with three\nconsiderations-(1.) Know that it is the nature of grace to draw holy\narguments to move to goodness of life from the love and goodness of\nGod, but not thence to be remiss (II Cor 5:14). (2.) Know therefore\nthat they have no grace that find not these effects of the discoveries\nof the love and goodness of God. (3.) Know also that among all the\nswarms of professors that from age to age make mention of the name of\nChrist, they only must dwell with him in heaven that do part from\niniquity, and are zealous of good works (II Tim 2:19). He gave himself\nfor these (Titus 2:11-14). Not that they were so antecedent to this\ngift. But those that he hath redeemed to himself are thus sanctified by\nthe faith of him (Acts 26:18).\n\nUse Seventh. Is it so? Is Jesus Christ an Advocate with the Father for\nus? Then this should encourage strong Christians to tell the weak ones\nwhere, when they are in their temptations and fears through sin, they\nmay have one to plead their cause. Thus the apostle doth by the text;\nand thus we should do one to another. Mark, he telleth the weak of an\nAdvocate: \u201cMy little children, I write unto you that ye sin not; though\nif any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.\u201d\n\nChristians, when they would comfort their dejected brethren, talk too\nmuch at rovers37 or in generals; they should be more at the mark: \u201cA\nword spoken in season, how good is it?\u201d I say, Christians should\nobserve and inquire, that they may observe the cause or ground of their\nbrother\u2019s trouble; and having first taken notice of that, in the next\nplace consider under which of the offices of Jesus Christ this sin or\ntrouble has cast this man; and so labour to apply Christ in the word of\nthe gospel to him. Sometimes we are bid to consider him as an Apostle\nand High Priest, and sometimes as a forerunner and an Advocate. And he\nhas, as was said afore, these divers offices, with others, that we by\nthe consideration of him might be relieved under our manifold\ntemptations. This, as I said, as I perceive John teaches us here, as he\ndoth a little before of his being a sacrifice for us; for he presenteth\nthem that after conversion shall sin with Christ as an Advocate with\nthe Father. As who should say, My brethren, are you tempted, are you\naccused, have you sinned, has Satan prevailed against you? \u201cWe have an\nAdvocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\n\nThus we should do, and deliver our brother from death. There is nothing\nthat Satan more desires than to get good men in his sieve to sift them\nas wheat, that if possible he may leave them nothing but bran; no\ngrace, but the very husk and shell of religion. And when a Christian\ncomes to know this, should Christ as Advocate be hid, what could bear\nhim up? But let him now remember and believe that \u201cwe have an Advocate\nwith the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,\u201d and he forthwith\nconceiveth comfort; for an advocate is to plead for me according as has\nbeen showed afore, that I may be delivered from the wrath and\naccusation of my adversary, and still be kept safe under grace.\n\nFurther, by telling of my brother that he hath an Advocate, I put\nthings into his mind that he has not known, or do bring them into\nremembrance which he has forgotten-to wit, that though he hath sinned,\nhe shall be saved in a way of justice; for an advocate is to plead\njustice and law, and Christ is to plead these for a saint that has\nsinned; yea, so to plead them that he may be saved. This being so, he\nis made to perceive that by law he must have his sins forgiven him;\nthat by justice he must be justified. For Christ as an Advocate\npleadeth for justice, justice to himself; and this saint is of\nhimself-a member of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.\n\nNor has Satan so good a right to plead justice against us, though we\nhave sinned, that we might be damned, as Christ has to plead it, though\nwe have sinned, that we might be saved; for sin cannot cry so loud to\njustice as can the blood of Christ; and he pleads his blood as\nAdvocate, by which he has answered the law; wherefore the law having\nnothing to object, must needs acquit the man for whom the Lord Jesus\npleads. I conclude this with that of the Psalmist, \u201cSurely his\nsalvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.\nMercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed\neach other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness\nshall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is\ngood; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go\nbefore him; and shall set us in the way of his steps\u201d (Psa 85:9-13).\n\nUse Eighth. But what is all this to you that are not concerned in this\nprivilege? The children, indeed, have the advantage of an advocate; but\nwhat is this to them that have none to plead their cause? (Jer 30:12,\n13); they are, as we say, left to the wide world, or to be ground to\npowder between the justice of God and the sins which they have\ncommitted. This is the man that none but the devil seeks after; that is\npursued by the law, and sin, and death, and has none to plead his\ncause. It is sad to consider the plight that such an one is in. His\naccuser is appointed, yea, ordered to bring in a charge against\nhim-\u201cLet Satan stand at his right hand,\u201d in the place where accusers\nstand. \u201cAnd when he shall be judged, let him be condemned,\u201d let there\nbe none to plead for his deliverance. If he cries, or offereth to cry\nout for mercy or forgiveness, \u201clet his prayer become sin\u201d (Psa\n109:6-7). This is the portion of a wicked man: \u201cterrors take hold on\nhim as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night, the east wind\ncarrieth him away, and he departeth, and as a storm hurleth him out of\nhis place; for God shall cast upon him, and not spare; he would fain\nflee out of his hand. Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss\nhim out of his place\u201d (Job 27:20-23). And what shall this man do? Can\nhe overstand the charge, the accusation, the sentence, and\ncondemnation? No, he has none to plead his cause. I remember that\nsomewhere I have read, as I think, concerning one who, when he was\nbeing carried upon men\u2019s shoulders to the grave, cried out as he lay\nupon the bier, I am accused before the just judgment of God; and a\nwhile after, I am condemned before the just judgment of God. Nor was\nthis man but strict as the religion that was then on foot in the world;\nbut all the religion of the world amounts to no more than nothing. I\nmean as to eternal salvation, if men be denied an Advocate to plead\ntheir cause with God. Nor can any advocate save Jesus Christ the\nrighteous avail anything at all, because there is none appointed but\nhim to that work, and therefore not to be admitted to enter a plea for\ntheir client at the bar of God.\n\nObjection. But some may say, There is God\u2019s grace, the promise,\nChrist\u2019s blood, and his second part of priesthood now in heaven. Can\nnone of these severally, nor all of them jointly, save a man from hell,\nunless Christ also become our Advocate?\n\nAnswer. All these, his Advocate\u2019s office not excluded, are few enough,\nand little enough, to save the saints from hell; for the righteous\nshall scarcely be saved (I Peter 4:18). There must, then, be the\npromise, God\u2019s grace, Christ\u2019s blood, and him to advocate too, or we\ncannot be saved. What is the promise without God\u2019s grace, and what is\nthat grace without a promise to bestow it on us? I say, what benefit\nhave we thereby? Besides, if the promise and God\u2019s grace, without\nChrist\u2019s blood, would have saved us, wherefore then did Christ die?\nYea, and again I say, if all these, without his being an Advocate,\nwould have delivered us from all those disadvantages that our sins and\ninfirmities would bring us to and into; surely in vain and to no\npurpose was Jesus made an Advocate. But, soul, there is need of all;\nand therefore be not thou offended that the Lord Jesus is of the Father\nmade so much to his, but rather admire and wonder that the Father and\nthe Son should be so concerned with so sorry a lump of dust and ashes\nas thou art. And I say again, be confounded to think that sin should be\na thing so horrible, of power to pollute, to captivate, and detain us\nfrom God, that without all this ado (I would speak with reverence of\nGod and his wisdom) we cannot be delivered from the everlasting\ndestruction that it hath brought upon the children of men.\n\nBut, I say, what is this to them that are not admitted to a privilege\nin the advocate-office of Christ? Whether he is an Advocate or no, the\ncase to them is the same. True, Christ as a Saviour is not divided; he\nthat hath him not in all, shall have him in none at all of his offices\nin a saving manner. Therefore, he for whom he is not an Advocate, he is\nnothing as to eternal life.\n\nIndeed, Christ by some of his offices is concerned for the elect,\nbefore by some others of them he is; but such shall have the blessing\nof them all before they come to glory. Nor hath man ground to say\nChrist is here or there mine, before he hath ground to say, he also is\nmine Advocate; though that office of his, as has been already showed,\nstands in the last place, and comes in as a reserve. But can any\nimagine that Christ will pray for them as Priest for whom he will not\nplead as Advocate? or that he will speak for them to God for whom he\nwill not plead against the devil? No, no; they are his own, that he\nloveth to the end, (John 13:1), to the end of their lives, to the end\nof their sins, to the end of their temptations, to the end of their\nfears, and of the exercise of the rage and malice of Satan against\nthem. To the end may also be understood, even until he hath given them\nthe profit and benefit of all his offices in their due exercise and\nadministration. But, I say, what is all this to them that have him not\nfor their Advocate?\n\nYou may remember that I have already told you that there are several\nwho have not the Lord Jesus for their Advocate-to wit, those that are\nstill in their sins, pursuing of their lusts; those that are ashamed of\nhim before men; and those that are never otherwise but lukewarm in\ntheir profession. And let us now, for a conclusion, make further\ninquiry into this matter.\n\nIs it likely that those should have the Lord Jesus for their Advocate\nto plead their cause; who despise and reject his person, his Word, and\nways? or those either who are so far off from sense of, and shame for,\nsin, that it is the only thing they hug and embrace? True, he pleadeth\nthe cause of his people both with the Father and against the devil, and\nall the world besides; but open profaneness, shame of good, and without\nheart or warmth in religion, are no characters of his people. It is\nirrational to think that Christ is an Advocate for, or that he pleadeth\nthe cause of such, who, in the self-same hour, and before his enemies,\nare throwing dirt in his face by their profane mouths and unsanctified\nlives and conversations.\n\nIf he pleads as an Advocate for any, he must plead against Satan for\nthem, and so consequently must have some special bottom to ground his\nplea upon; I say, a bottom better than that upon which the carnal man\nstands; which bottom is either some special relation that this man\nstands in to God, or some special law he hath privilege by, that he may\nhave some ground for an appeal, if need be, to the justice and\nrighteousness of God; but none of these things belong to them that are\ndead in trespasses and sins; they stand in no special relation to God:\nthey are not privileged by the law of grace.\n\nObjection.-But doth not Christ as Advocate plead for his elect, though\nnot called as yet?\n\nAnswer.-He died for all his elect, he prayeth for all his elect as a\nPriest, but as an Advocate he pleadeth only for the children, the\ncalled only. Satan objecteth not against God\u2019s election, for he knows\nit not; but he objecteth against the called-to wit, whether they be\ntruly godly or no, or whether they ought not to die for their\ntransgressions (Job 1:9, 10; Zech 3). And for these things he has some\ncolour to frame an accusation against us, and now it is time enough for\nChrist to stand up to plead. I say, for these things he has some colour\nto frame a plea against us; for there is sin and a law of works, and a\njudge too, that has not respect of persons. Now to overthrow this plea\nof Satan, is Jesus Christ our Advocate; yea, to overthrow it by\npleading law and justice; and this must be done with respect to the\nchildren only-\u201cMy little children, these things write I unto you, that\nye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,\nJesus Christ the righteous.\u201d\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1 \u201cNulled\u201d; repealed or annulled.-ED.\n\n2 \u201cIngenuity\u201d; ingenuousness, frankness, sincerity.-ED.\n\n3 How deeply important is this essential doctrine of Christianity-a\npersonal investigation. We must hear and see for ourselves, handle the\nword of life, and not trust to others, however holy and capable they\nmay appear to be; we must search the Scriptures, and pray for\nourselves, or we have not the slightest claim to the name of\nChristian.\u2014ED.\n\n4 The sin here referred to was numbering the people of Israel; see I\nChronicles 21:1-ED..\n\n5 This is the great mystery of godliness-God manifest in the flesh,\nmaking sinful creatures the members of his own body, and becoming a\nsin-offering for them. It is a holy, a heavenly, a soul-comforting\nmystery, which should influence the Christian to an intense hatred to\nsin, as the cause of his Saviour\u2019s sufferings; and a still more intense\nlove to him, who redeemed us at such a sacrifice.-ED.\n\n6 Altered, by a typographical error, in editions after the author\u2019s\ndeath, to \u201cthe heathens beheld.\u201d-ED.\n\n7 \u201cReplevy\u201d: a form of law by which goods that are proved to have been\nwrongfully seized are re-delivered to the owner.-ED.\n\n8 \u201cDonator\u201d; giver, donor; now obsolete.-ED.\n\n9 \u201cPrevented\u201d; gone before, so as to be seen. \u201cLet thy grace, O Lord,\nalways prevent and follow us.\u201d-Common Prayer.-ED.\n\n10This may refer to Bunyan\u2019s own feelings, which are so passionately\nexpressed in his Grace Abounding, No. 327, when he was dragged from his\nhome, his wife, and his children, to be shut up in Bedford jail, for\nobedience to God. He exclaims, \u201cMy poor blind child, who lay nearer my\nheart than all I had besides, thou must be beaten, must beg, suffer\nhunger, cold, nakedness, and a thousand calamities, though I cannot now\nendure that the wind should blow upon thee. I thought this would break\nmy heart to pieces.\u201d-ED.\n\n11 \u201cA hank\u201d; a check, an influence over; obsolete.-ED.\n\n12 \u201cEntertains his lawyer\u201d; hires or retains. So Shakespeare-\u201cSweet\nlady, entertain him, To be my fellow-servant to your ladyship.\u201d\nGentleman of Verona, Scene IV.-ED.\n\n13 \u201cShuff\u201d; from the old Saxon word schufan, to reject, cast away.-ED.\n\n14 \u201cSupply of thy defects\u201d; a sufficiency in himself to supply all thy\ndefects and deficiencies.-ED.\n\n15 \u201cSupersedeas\u201d; a writ to stay proceedings, for reasons expressed in\nit. \u201cCavils and motions\u201d; quibbles or quirks of special pleading, and\nmoving a court of law to occasion delay and weary out an honest suitor;\nmuch of this nuisance has been abated, but enough remains to render a\nlawsuit uncertain, vexatious, tedious, and expensive.-ED.\n\n16 \u201cGlaver;\u201d to wheedle, flatter, or fawn upon; now obsolete.-ED.\n\n17 This sentence at first sight seems obscure. The children\u2019s bread is\nthe superabounding riches of Divine grace. Satan putting pins into it,\nmay refer to those who profanely pervert the grace of God to evil, by\nsaying, \u201cLet us do evil, that good may come. Whose damnation is just.\u201d\nThese are the dogs who are without, but never were within the fold of\nChrist. (Phil 3:2, Rev 22:15)-ED.\n\n18 Dr. Watts beautifully illustrates this soul-supporting truth in his\nhymn (116, verse 2):-\u201cHow can I sink with such a prop, As my eternal\nGod, Who bears the earth\u2019s huge pillars up, And spreads the heavens\nabroad?\u201d-ED.\n\n19 \u201cThe whole tale\u201d; the whole number as reckoned and ascertained;\nnothing being lost.-ED.\n\n20 In the first edition of this treatise, this quotation is from Joshua\n3:4, an error which has been continued through every edition to the\npresent one.-ED.\n\n21 \u201cA demur\u201d; now called a demurrer, is when a defect or legal\ndifficulty is discovered, which must first be settled by the judge\nbefore the action or proceedings can be carried on.-ED.\n\n22 How consoling a reflection is this to the distressed soul, \u201cChrist\nnever lost a cause.\u201d \u201cHim that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast\nout.\u201d \u201cThey shall never perish; nor shall any pluck them out of my\nhand\u201d (John 10:28)-ED.\n\n23 \u201cNonsuit\u201d; the giving up a suit upon the discovery of some fatal\nerror or defect in the cause.-ED.\n\n24 There is no night in heaven; it is one eternal day; no need of rest\nor sleep. Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us.-ED.\n\n25 The marginal readings which are found in our venerable version of\nthe Bible are very interesting, both to the unlearned and to the\nscholar. They often throw a light upon the Scripture. For \u201cand make him\nhonourable,\u201d see Bishop Patrick and Dr. Gill\u2019s annotations.-ED.\n\n26 To draw back from, or in, our dependence upon Christ for salvation,\nis a distinction which every despairing backslider should strive to\nunderstand. The total abandonment of Christianity is perdition, while\nhe who is overcome of evil may yet repent to the salvation of the\nsoul.-ED.\n\n27 \u201cLike as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them\nthat fear him.\u201d He punishes but to restore them in his own time to the\npaths of peace.-ED.\n\n28 How full of sweet consolation is this spiritual exposition of the\nLevitical law. It was a type or shadow of good things which were to\ncome. Bunyan possessed a heavenly store of these apt illustrations.-ED.\n\n29 \u201cBranglings\u201d; noisy quarrels or squabbles. \u201cThe payment of tithes is\nsubject to many brangles.\u201d-Swift. It is now obsolete, and is\nsubstituted by wranglings.-ED.\n\n30 The poor backslider \u201cis blind and cannot see afar off\u201d; this does\nnot affect his title, but is fatal to any present prospect of the\nenjoyment of his inheritance.-ED.\n\n31 Every sin, however comparatively small, drives us to the mediation\nof Christ, but it is under a sense of great sins that we feel how\nprecious he is as an Advocate.-ED.\n\n32 What can we render to the Lord? is an inquiry perpetually fostered\nby the pride that clings to every believer. The world, and all things\nin it, are his already. We must, as poor trembling beggars, \u201ctake the\ncup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord,\u201d-rely upon his\nfree gift of a full salvation. All must be done for us gratis, or we\nmust perish. Yes, proud sinner, you must sue as a pauper, or you can\nnever succeed.-ED.\n\n33 In the form of a pauper, one who has nothing to pay with, but is\nliving upon alms.-ED.\n\n34 This Greek word is only once translated \u201cadvocate\u201d in the New\nTestament; but it is used in the Gospel by John (14, 15, 16), and\ntranslated Comforter, and applied to the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Holy\nGhost is to the Christian [the Greek word ] a monitor or comforter; and\nour ascended Lord is [the Greek word ] the advocate before his Father\u2019s\nthrone. Both are our counsel-the Spirit to guide, the Saviour to\ndefend, the saints.-ED.\n\n35 The Bible is the only perspective glass by which we can know\nfuturity, and see things that, to carnal eyes, are invisible.-ED.\n\n36 \u201cIngenuity\u201d; ingenuousness, frankness, candour, generosity: now\nobsolete in this sense.-ED.\n\n37 \u201cRovers\u201d; without any definite aim. \u201cNature shoots not at\nrovers.\u201d-Glanville.-ED\n\n\n\n\nCHRIST A COMPLETE SAVIOUR:\n\nOR,\n\nTHE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST, AND WHO ARE PRIVILEGED IN IT.\n\nBY JOHN BUNYAN\n\n\nAdvertisement by the Editor.\n\nHowever strange it may appear, it is a solemn fact, that the heart of\nman, unless prepared by a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin,\nrejects Christ as a complete Saviour. The pride of human nature will\nnot suffer it to fall, as helpless and utterly undone, into the arms of\nDivine mercy. Man prefers a partial Saviour; one who had done so much,\nthat, with the sinner\u2019s aid, the work might be completed. No such were\nthe opinions of John Bunyan; the furnace of sharp conviction had burnt\nup this proud dross; he believed the testimony of Scripture, that from\nthe crown of the head to the soles of the feet all nature is corrupted;\nso that out of the unsanctified heart of man proceed evil thoughts,\nmurders, and the sad catalogue of crimes which our Lord enumerates, and\nwhich defile our best efforts after purity of heart and life. No sinner\nwill ever totally rely upon the Saviour until he is sensible of his own\nperishing state; hanging by the brittle thread of life over the yawning\ngulf of perdition; sinking in that sin which will swallow him up in\nthose awful torments which await the transgressor; feeling that sin has\nfitted him as stubble for the fire; then it is that the cry proceeds\nfrom his heart, Lord, save, I perish; and then, and not till then, are\nwe made willing to receive \u2018Christ as a complete Saviour\u2019 to the\nuttermost, not of his ability, but of our necessity. This was the\nsubject of all Mr. Bunyan\u2019s writings, and, doubtless, of all his\npreaching. It was to direct sinners to the Lamb of God, who alone can\ntake away sin. This little treatise was one of those ten \u2018excellent\nmanuscripts\u2019 which, at Bunyan\u2019s decease, were found prepared for the\npress. It was first published in 1692, by his friends E. Chandler, J.\nWilson, and C. Doe.\n\nIt is limited to a subject which is too often lost sight of, because it\nis within the veil\u2014the intercession of Christ as the finishing work of\na sinner\u2019s salvation. Many persons limit the \u2018looking unto Jesus\u2019 to\nbeholding him upon the cross, a common popish error; but this is not\nenough; we must, in our minds, follow him to the unseen world, and thus\nascend to a risen Saviour, at the right hand of the Father, making\nintercession for our daily sins. And he is our ONLY Intercessor, and it\nis a rejection of him, for us to seek the aid of another. Who ever was\nmad enough to ask Moses to intercede for him, and surely he is as able\nas Mary or any other saint? To atone for sin calls for the amazing\nprice of the blood of Christ, who was \u2018God manifest in the flesh.\u2019 He\nundertook the work by covenant; and all the \u2018saved\u2019 form part of his\nmystical body; thus perfectly obeying the law in him. He poured out his\nlife to open a fountain for sin and uncleanness; and as they are liable\nto pollution in their passage through the world, he only is able, and\nhe ever liveth, to make intercession for their transgressions. Thus he\nbecomes a complete Saviour, and will crown, with an eternal weight of\nglory, all those that put their trust in him. Beautiful, and\nsoul-softening, and heart-warming thoughts abound in this little work,\nwhich cannot fail to make a lasting impression upon the reader. Bunyan\ndisclaims \u2018the beggarly art of complimenting\u2019 in things of such\nsolemnity. He describes the heart as unweldable, a remarkable\nexpression, drawn from his father\u2019s trade of a blacksmith; nothing but\ngrace can so heat it as to enable the hammer of conviction to weld it\nto Christ; and when thus welded, it becomes one with him. There is hope\nfor a returning backslider in a complete Saviour; he combines the\nevidence of two men, the coming and the returning sinner; he has been,\nlike Jonah, in the belly of hell; his sins, like talking devils, have\ndriven him back to the Saviour. Sin brings its own punishment, from\nwhich we escape by keeping in the narrow path. Good works save us from\ntemporal miseries, which ever follow an indulgence in sin; but if we\nfall, we have an Advocate and Intercessor to lift us up; still, if thou\nlovest thy soul, slight not the knowledge of hell, for that, with the\nlaw, are the spurs which Christ useth to prick souls forward to\nhimself. O gather up thy heels and mend thy pace, or those spurs will\nbe in thy sides. Take heed, O persecutor; like Saul, thou art exceeding\nmad, and hell is thy bedlam. Take heed of a false faith; none is true\nbut that which is acquired by a kneeling, searching, seeking for truth\nas for hid treasure. Death is God\u2019s bailiff, he will seize thee without\nwarning; but with the saints, the grave\u2019s mouth is the final parting\nplace between grace and sin. Forget not that a good improvement will\nmake your little grace to thrive. Reader, may Divine grace indelibly\nfix these wholesome truths upon our minds.\n\nGEORGE OFFOR.\n\nCHRIST A COMPLETE SAVIOUR.\n\n\u2018WHEREFORE HE IS ABLE ALSO TO SAVE THEM TO THE UTTERMOST THAT COME UNTO\nGOD BY HIM, SEEING HE EVER LIVETH TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR\nTHEM.\u2019\u2014HEBREWS 7:25.\n\n\nThe apostle, in this chapter, presenteth us with two things; that is,\nwith the greatness of the person and of the priesthood of our Lord\nJesus.\n\nFirst, He presenteth us with the greatness of his person, in that he\npreferreth him before Abraham, who is the father of us all; yea, in\nthat he preferreth him before Melchisedec, who was above Abraham, and\nblessed him who had the promises.\n\nSecond, As to his priesthood, he showeth the greatness of that, in that\nhe was made a priest, not by the law of a carnal commandment, but by\nthe power of an endless life. Not without, but with an oath, by him\nthat said, \u2018The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for\never, after the order of Melchisedec\u2019; wherefore, \u2018this man, because he\ncontinueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.\u2019 Now my text is drawn\nfrom this conclusion, namely, that Christ abideth a priest continually.\n\u2018Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto\nGod by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.\u2019\n\nIn the words, I take notice of four things: FIRST, Of the intercession\nof Christ\u2014He maketh intercession. SECOND, Of the benefit of his\nintercession\u2014\u2018Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost,\u2019 &c.\nTHIRD, We have also here set before us the persons interested in this\nintercession of Christ\u2014And they are those \u2018that come unto God by him.\u2019\nFOURTH, We have also here the certainty of their reaping this benefit\nby him; to wit, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for\nthem\u2014\u2018Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come\nunto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.\u2019\n1\n\n[I. OF THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.]\n\n\nFIRST, We will begin with HIS INTERCESSION, and will show you, First,\nWhat that is; Second, For what he intercedes; and, Third, What is also\nto be inferred from Christ\u2019s making intercession for us.\n\nFirst, I begin, then, with the first; that is, to show you what\nintercession is. Intercession is prayer; but all prayer is not\nintercession. Intercession, then, is that prayer that is made by a\nthird person about the concerns that are between two. And it may be\nmade either to set them at further difference, or to make them friends;\nfor intercession may be made against, as well as for, a person or\npeople. \u2018Wot ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh\nintercession to God against Israel.\u2019 (Rom 11:2) But the intercession\nthat we are now to speak of is not an intercession of this kind, not an\nintercession against, but an intercession for a people. \u2018He ever liveth\nto make intercession for them.\u2019 The high priest is ordained for, but\nnot to be against the people. \u2018Every high priest taken from among men\nis ordained for men in things pertaining to God,\u2019 to make\nreconciliation for the sins of the people; or \u2018that he may offer both\ngifts and sacrifices for sins.\u2019 (Heb 5:1) This, then, is intercession;\nand the intercession of Christ is to be between two, between God and\nman, for man\u2019s good. And it extendeth itself unto these: 1. To pray\nthat the elect may be brought all home to him; that is, to God. 2. To\npray that their sins committed after conversion may be forgiven them.\n3. To pray that their graces which they receive at conversion may be\nmaintained and supplied. 4. To pray that their persons may be preserved\nunto his heavenly kingdom.\n\nSecond, This is the intercession of Christ, or that for which he doth\nmake intercession.\n\n1. He prays for all the elect, that they may be brought home to God,\nand so into the unity of the faith, &c. this is clear, for that he\nsaith, \u2018Neither pray I for these alone\u2019; that is, for those only that\nare converted; \u2018but for them also which shall believe on me through\ntheir word\u2019; for all them that shall, that are appointed to believe;\nor, as you have it a little above, \u2018for them which thou hast given me.\u2019\n(John 17:9,20, Isa 53:12) And the reason is, for that he hath paid a\nransom for them. Christ, therefore, when he maketh intercession for the\nungodly, and all the unconverted elect are such, doth but petitionarily\nask for his own, his purchased ones, those for whom he died before,\nthat they might be saved by his blood.\n\n2. When any of them are brought home to God, he yet prays for them;\nnamely, that the sins which through infirmity they, after conversion,\nmay commit, may also be forgiven them.\n\nThis is showed us by the intercession of the high priest under the law,\nthat was to bear away the iniquities of the holy things of the children\nof Israel; yea, and also by his atonement for them that sinned; for\nthat it saith, \u2018And the priest shall make an atonement for him, for his\nsin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.\u2019 (Lev 5:10)\nThis also is intimated even where our Lord doth make intercession,\nsaying, \u2018I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world,\nbut that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.\u2019 (John 17:15) That\nChrist prayed that the converted should be kept from all manner of\ncommission of sin, must not be supposed, for that is the way to make\nhis intercession, at least in some things, invalid, and to contradict\nhimself; for, saith he, \u2018I know that thou hearest me always.\u2019 (John\n11:42) But the meaning is, I pray that thou wouldest keep them from\nsoul-damning delusions, such as are unavoidably such; also that thou\nwouldest keep them from the soul-destroying evil of every sin, of every\ntemptation. Now this he doth by his prevailing and by his pardoning\ngrace.\n\n3. In his intercession he prayeth also that those graces which we\nreceive at conversion may be maintained and supplied. This is clear\nwhere he saith, \u2018Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you,\nthat he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy\nfaith fail not.\u2019 (Luke 22:31,32) Ay, may some say, he is said to pray\nhere for the support and supply of faith, but doth it therefore follow\nthat he prayed for the maintaining and supply of all our graces? Yes,\nin that he prayed for the preservation of our faith, he prayed for the\npreservation of all our graces; for faith is the mother grace, the root\ngrace, the grace that hath all others in the bowels of it, and that\nfrom the which all others flow; yea, it is that which gives being to\nall our other graces, and that by which all the rest do live. Let,\nthen, faith be preserved, and all graces continue and live\u2014that is,\naccording to the present state, health, and degree of faith. So, then,\nChrist prayed for the preservation of every grace when he prayed for\nthe preservation of faith. That text also is of the same tendency where\nhe saith, \u2018Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given men.\u2019\n(John 17:11) Keep them in thy fear, in the faith, in the true religion,\nin the way of life by thy grace, by thy power, by thy wisdom, &c. This\nmust be much of the meaning of this place, and he that excludes this\nsense will make but poor work of another exposition.\n\n4. He also in his intercession prayeth that our persons be preserved,\nand brought safe unto his heavenly kingdom. And this he doth, (1.) By\npleading interest in them. (2.) By pleading that he had given, by\npromise, glory to them. (3.) By pleading his own resolution to have it\nso. (4.) By pleading the reason why it must be so.\n\n(1.) He prays that their persons may come to glory, for that they are\nhis, and that by the best of titles: \u2018Thine they were, and thou gavest\nthem me.\u2019 (John 17:6) Father, I will have them; Father, I will have\nthem, for they are mine: \u2018Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.\u2019\nWhat is mine, my wife, or my child, or my jewel, or my joy, sure I may\nhave it with me. Thus, therefore, he pleads or cries in his\nintercession, that our persons might be preserved to glory: They are\nmine, \u2018and thou gavest them me.\u20192\n\n(2.) He also pleads that he had given\u2014given already, that is, in the\npromise\u2014glory to them, and therefore they must not go without it. \u2018And\nthe glory which thou gavest me I have given them.\u2019 (John 17:22)\nRighteous men, when they give a good thing by promise, they design the\nperformance of that promise; nay, they more than design it, they\npurpose, they determine it. As the mad prophet also saith of God, in\nanother case, \u2018Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken,\nand shall he not make it good?\u2019 (Num 23:19) Hath Christ given us glory,\nand shall we not have it? Yea, hath the truth itself bestowed it upon\nus, and shall those to whom it is given, even given by Scripture of\ntruth, be yet deprived thereof?\n\n(3.) He pleads in his interceding that they might have glory; his own\nresolution to have it so. \u2018Father, I will that they also, whom thou\nhast given me, be with me where I am.\u2019 (John 17:24) Behold ye here, he\nis resolved to have it so. It must be so. It shall be so. I will have\nit so. We read of Adonijah, that his father never denied him in\nanything. He never said to him, \u2018Why hast thou done so?\u2019 (1 Kings 1:6)\nIndeed, he denied him the kingdom; for his brother was heir of that\nfrom the Lord. How much more will our Father let our Lord Jesus have\nhis mind and will in this, since he also is as willing to have it so as\nis the Son himself. \u2018Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father\u2019s\ngood pleasure to give you the kingdom.\u2019 (Luke 12:32) Resolution will\ndrive things far, especially resolution to do that which none but they\nthat cannot hinder shall oppose. Why this is the case, the resolution\nof our Intercessor is, that we be preserved to glory; yea, and this\nresolution he pleads in his intercession: \u2018Father, I will that they\nalso, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am,\u2019 &c. (John 17:24)\nMust it not, therefore, now be so?\n\n(4.) He also, in the last place, in this his intercession, urges a\nreason why he will have it so, namely, \u2018That they may behold my glory,\nwhich thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of\nthe world.\u2019 (verse 24) And this is a reason to the purpose; it is as if\nhe had said, Father, these have continued with me in my temptations;\nthese have seen me under all my disadvantages; these have seen me in my\npoor, low, contemptible condition; these have seen what scorn,\nreproach, slanders, and disgrace I have borne for thy sake in the\nworld; and now I will have them also be where they shall see me in my\nglory. I have told them that I am thy Son, and they have believed that;\nI have told them that thou lovest me, and they have believed that; I\nhave also told them that thou wouldest take me again to glory, and they\nhave believed that; but they have not seen my glory, nor can they but\nbe like the Queen of Sheba, they will but believe by the halves unless\ntheir own eyes do behold it. Besides, Father, these are they that love\nme, and it will be an increase of their joy if they may but see me in\nglory; it will be as a heaven to their hearts to see their Saviour in\nglory. I will, therefore, that those which \u2018thou hast given me be with\nme where I am, that they may behold my glory.\u2019 This, therefore, is a\nreason why Christ Jesus our Lord intercedes to have his people with him\nin glory.\n\nThird, I come now to the third thing, namely, to show you what is to be\ninferred from Christ\u2019s making intercession for us.\n\n1. This is to be inferred from hence, that saints\u2014for I will here say\nnothing of those of the elect uncalled\u2014do ofttimes give occasion of\noffence to God, even they that have received grace; for intercession is\nmade to continue one in the favour of another, and to make up those\nbreaches that, at any time, shall happen to be made by one to the\nalienating of the affections of the other. And thus he makes\nreconciliation for iniquity; for reconciliation may be made for\niniquity two ways: first, by paying of a price; secondly, by insisting\nupon the price paid for the offender by way of intercession. Therefore\nyou read that as the goat was to be killed, so his blood was, by the\npriest, to be brought within the veil, and, in a way of intercession,\nto be sprinkled before and upon the mercy-seat: \u2018Then shall he kill the\ngoat of the sin-offering, that is, for the people, and bring his blood\nwithin the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the\nbullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the\nmercy-seat; and he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because\nof the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their\ntransgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle\nof the congregation that remaineth among them, in the midst of their\nuncleanness.\u2019 (Lev 16:15,16) This was to be done, as you see, that the\ntabernacle, which was the place of God\u2019s presence and graces, might yet\nremain among the children of Israel, notwithstanding their\nuncleannesses and transgressions. This, also, is the effect of Christ\u2019s\nintercession; it is that the signs of God\u2019s presence and his grace\nmight remain among his people, notwithstanding they have, by their\ntransgressions, so often provoked God to depart from them.\n\n2. By Christ\u2019s intercession I gather, that awakened men and women, such\nas the godly are, dare not, after offence given, come in their own\nnames to make unto God an application for mercy. God, in himself, is a\nconsuming fire, and sin has made the best of us as stubble is to fire;\nwherefore, they may not, they cannot, they dare not approach God\u2019s\npresence for help but by and through a mediator and intercessor. When\nIsrael saw the fire, the blackness and darkness, and heard the thunder,\nand lightning, and the terrible sound of the trumpet, \u2018they said unto\nMoses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with\nus, lest we die.\u2019 (Exo 20:19, Deut 18:16) Guilt, and sense of the\ndisparity that is betwixt God and us, will make us look out for a man\nthat may lay his hand upon us both, and that may set us right in the\neyes of our Father again. This, I say, I infer from the intercession of\nChrist; for, if there had been a possibility of our ability to have\napproached God with advantage without, what need had there been of the\nintercession of Christ?\n\nAbsalom durst not approach\u2014no, not the presence of his father\u2014by\nhimself, without a mediator and intercessor; wherefore, he sends to\nJoab to go to the king and make intercession for him. (2 Sam 13,\n14:32,33) Also, Joab durst not go upon that errand himself, but by the\nmediation of another. Sin is a fearful thing, it will quash and quail\nthe courage of a man, and make him afraid to approach the presence of\nhim whom he has offended, though the offended is but a man. How much\nmore, then, shall it discourage a man, when once loaden with guilt and\nshame, from attempting to approach the presence of a holy and a\nsin-avenging God, unless he can come to him through, and in the name\nof, an intercessor? But here now is the help and comfort of the people\nof God\u2014there is to help them under all their infirmities an intercessor\nprepared, and at work. \u2018He ever liveth to make intercession.\u2019\n\n3. I also infer from hence, that should we, out of an ignorant boldness\nand presumption, attempt, when we have offended, by ourselves to\napproach the presence of God, God would not accept us. He told Eliphaz\nso. What Eliphaz thought, or was about to do, I know not; but God said\nunto him, \u2018My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two\nfriends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my\nservant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks, and seven\nrams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves [that is,\nby him] a burnt-offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you; for\nhim will I accept; lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye\nhave not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.\u2019\nSee here, an offence is a bar and an obstruction to acceptance with\nGod, but by a mediator, but by an intercessor. He that comes to God by\nhimself, God will answer him by himself\u2014that is, without an\nintercessor; and I will tell you, such are not like to get any pleasant\nor comfortable answer-I will answer him that so cometh according to the\nmultitude of his idols. \u2018And I will set my face against that man, and\nwill make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the\nmidst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.\u2019 (Eze 14:7,8)\n\nHe that intercedes for another with a holy and just God had need be\nclean himself, lest he with whom he so busieth himself say to him,\nFirst clear thyself, and then come and speak for thy friend. Wherefore,\nthis is the very description and qualification of this our High Priest\nand blessed Intercessor, \u2018For such an high priest became us, who is\nholy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than\nthe heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up\nsacrifice, first for his own sins,\u2019 &c. (Heb 7:26,27) Had we not had\nsuch an Intercessor, we had been but in a very poor case; but we have\none that becomes us; one that fits us to the purpose; one against whom\nour God hath nothing, can object nothing; one in whose mouth no guile\ncould be found.3\n\n4. Since Christ is an Intercessor, I infer that he has wherewithal in\nreadiness to answer to any demands that may be propounded by him that\nhath been by us offended, in order to a renewing of peace and letting\nout of that grace to us that we have sinned away, and yet have need of.\nOfttimes the offended saith to the intercessor, Well, thou comest to me\nabout this man; what interest he has in thee is one thing, what offence\nhe has committed against me is another. I speak now after the manner of\nmen. Now, what can an intercessor do, if he is not able to answer this\nquestion? But now, if he be able to answer this question\u2014that is,\naccording to law and justice, no question but he may prevail with the\noffended, for him for whom he makes intercession.\n\nWhy, this is our case; to be sure, thus far it is, we have offended a\njust and a holy God, and Jesus Christ is become Intercessor. He also\nknows full well, that for our parts, if it would save us from hell, we\ncannot produce towards a peace with God so much as poor two farthings;\nthat is, not anything that can by law and justice be esteemed worth a\nhalfpenny; yet he makes intercession. It follows, therefore, that he\nhas wherewith of his own, if that question afore is propounded, to\nanswer to every reasonable demand. Hence, it is said, that he has gifts\nas well as sacrifice for sin. \u2018Every high priest is ordained to offer\ngifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have\nsomewhat also to offer.\u2019 (Heb 8:3) And, observe it, the apostle speaks\nhere of Christ as in heaven, there ministering in the second part of\nhis office; \u2018For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest.\u2019\n(verse 4) These gifts, therefore, and this sacrifice, he now offereth\nin heaven by way of intercession, urging and pleading as an\nIntercessor, the valuableness of his gifts for the pacifying of that\nwrath that our Father hath conceived against us for the disobediences\nthat we are guilty of. \u2018A gift in secret pacifieth anger; and a reward\nin the bosom strong wrath.\u2019 (Prov 21:14)\n\nWhat gifts these are the Scripture everywhere testifies. He gave\nhimself, he gave his life, he gave his all for us. (John 6, Gal 1:4, 1\nTim 2:6, Matt 20:28) These gifts, as he offered them up at the demand\nof justice on Mount Calvary for us, so now he is in heaven he\npresenteth them continually before God, as gifts and sacrifice valuable\nfor the sins, for all the sins that we, through infirmity, do commit,\nfrom the day of our conversion to the day of our death. And these gifts\nare so satisfactory, so prevalent with God, that they always prevail\nfor a continual remission of our sins with him. Yea, they prevail with\nhim for more than for the remission of sins; we have, through their\nprocurement, our graces often renewed, the devil often rebuked, the\nsnare often broken, guilt often taken away from the conscience, and\nmany a blessed smile from God, and love-look from his life-creating\ncountenance. (Eph 3:12)\n\n5. Since Christ is an Intercessor, I infer that believers should not\nrest at the cross for comfort; justification they should look for\nthere; but, being justified by his blood, they should ascend up after\nhim to the throne. At the cross you will see him in his sorrows and\nhumiliations, in his tears and blood; but follow him to where he is\nnow, and then you shall see him in his robes, in his priestly robes,\nand with his golden girdle about his paps. Then you shall see him\nwearing the breastplate of judgment, and with all your names written\nupon his heart. Then you shall perceive that the whole family in heaven\nand earth is named by him, and how he prevaileth with God the Father of\nmercies, for you. Stand still awhile and listen; yea, enter with\nboldness into the holiest, and see your Jesus as he now appears in the\npresence of God for you; what work he makes against the devil and sin,\nand death and hell, for you. (Heb 10:9) Ah! it is brave following of\nJesus Christ to the holiest, the veil is rent, you may see with open\nface as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. This, then, is our High\nPriest, this his intercession, these the benefits of it! It lieth on\nour part to improve it; and wisdom to do that also comes from the\nmercy-seat, or throne of grace, where he, even our High Priest, ever\nliveth to make intercession for us; to whom be glory for ever and ever.\n\n[II. OF THE BENEFITS OF CHRIST\u2019S INTERCESSION.]\n\n\n[SECOND.] And thus have I spoken to the first thing\u2014to wit, of the\nintercession of Christ; and now I come more particularly to speak to\nthe second, THE BENEFITS OF HIS INTERCESSION; namely, that we are saved\nthereby. Wherefore he is able also to save them, seeing he maketh\nintercession for them. \u2018He is able to save them to the uttermost.\u2019\n\nIn my handling of this head, I must show you, First, What the apostle\nmeans here by \u2018save\u2019\u2014\u2018Wherefore he is able to save.\u2019 Second, What he\nmeans here by saving to the \u2018uttermost\u2019\u2014\u2018He is able to save to the\nuttermost.\u2019 Third, And then, thirdly, we shall do as we did in the\nforegoing\u2014to wit, gather some inferences from the whole, and speak to\nthem.\n\nFirst, What doth the apostle mean here by \u2018save\u2019\u2014\u2018He is able to save\nthem.\u2019\n\nTo \u2018save\u2019 may be taken two ways. In the general, I know it may be taken\nmany ways, for there are many salvations that we enjoy; yea, that we\nnever knew of, nor can know, until we come thither, where all secret\nthings shall be seen, and where that which has been done in darkness\nshall be proclaimed upon the housetops. But I say there are two ways\nthat this word may be taken\u20141. To save in a way of justification. 2. Or\nto save in a way of preservation. Now, Christ saves both these ways.\nBut which of these, or whether both of them are intended in this place,\nof that I shall tell you my thoughts anon; meanwhile, I will show you,\n\n1. What it is to be saved in the first sense, [namely, in a way of\njustification,] and also how that is brought to pass.\n\nTo be saved is to be delivered from guilt of sin that is by the law, as\nit is the ministration of death and condemnation; or, to be set free\ntherefrom before God. This is to be saved; for he that is not set free\ntherefrom, whatever he may think of himself, or whatever others may\nthink concerning him, he is a condemned man. It saith not, he shall be,\nbut, he is condemned already. (John 3:18) The reason is, for that he\nhas deserved the sentence of the ministration of condemnation, which is\nthe law. Yea, that law has already arraigned, accused, and condemned\nhim before God, for that it hath found him guilty of sin. Now he that\nis set free from this, or, as the phrase is, \u2018being made free from\nsin,\u2019 (Rom 6:22); that is, from the imputation of guilt, there can, to\nhim, be no condemnation, no condemnation to hell fire; but the person\nthus made free may properly be said to be saved. Wherefore, as\nsometimes it saith, we shall be saved, respecting saving in the second\nsense, or the utmost completing of salvation; so sometimes it saith, we\nare saved, as respecting our being already secured from guilt, and so\nfrom condemnation to hell for sin, and so set safe, and quit from the\nsecond death before God. (1 Cor 1:18, Eph 2:5)\n\nNow, saving thus comes to us by what Christ did for us in this world,\nby what Christ did for us as suffering for us. I say, it comes to us\nthus; that is, it comes to us by grace through the redemption that is\nin Christ. And thus to be saved is called justification, justification\nto life, because one thus saved is, as I said, acquitted from guilt,\nand that everlasting damnation to which for sin he had made himself\nobnoxious by the law. (1 Cor 15:1-4, Rom 5:8-10)\n\nHence we are said to be saved by his death, justified by his blood, and\nreconciled to God by the death of his Son; all which must respect his\noffering of himself on the day he died, and not his improving of his so\ndying in a way of intercession, because in the same place the apostle\nreserveth a second, or an additional salvation, and applieth that to\nhis intercession, \u2018Much more then, being now,\u2019 or already, \u2018justified\nby his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him\u2019; that is,\nthrough what he will further do for us. \u2018For if, when we were enemies,\nwe were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, being\nreconciled,\u2019 that is, by his death, \u2018we shall be saved by his life,\u2019\nhis intercession, which he ever liveth to complete. (verse 9,10)\n\nSee here, we are said to be justified, reconciled already, and\ntherefore we shall be saved, justified by his blood and death, and\nsaved through him by his life.\n\n2. Now the saving intended in the text is saving in this second sense;\nthat is, a saving of us by preserving us, by delivering of us from all\nthose hazards that we run betwixt our state of justification and our\nstate of glorification. Yea, such a saving of us as we that are\njustified need to bring us into glory. Therefore,\n\nWhen he saith he is able to save, seeing he ever liveth to make\nintercession, he addeth saving to saving; saving by his life to saving\nby his death; saving by his improving of his blood to saving by his\nspilling of his blood. He gave himself a ransom for us, and now\nimproves that gift in the presence of God by way of intercession. For,\nas I have hinted already, the high priests under the law took the blood\nof the sacrifices that were offered for sin, and brought it within the\nveil, and there sprinkled it before and upon the mercy-seat, and by it\nmade intercession for the people to an additional way of saving them;\nthe sum of which Paul thus applies to Christ when he saith, \u2018He can\nsave, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession.\u2019\n\nThat also in the Romans is clear to this purpose, \u2018Who is he that\ncondemneth? It is Christ that died.\u2019 (Rom 8:31-39) That is, who is he\nthat shall lay anything to the charge of God\u2019s elect to condemnation to\nhell, since Christ has taken away the curse by his death from before\nGod? Then he adds, that there is nothing that shall yet happen to us,\nshall destroy us, since Christ also liveth to make intercession for us.\n\u2018Who shall condemn? It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that is risen\nagain, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh\nintercession for us.\u2019\n\nChrist, then, by his death saveth us as we are sinners, enemies, and in\na state of condemnation by sin; and Christ by his life saveth us as\nconsidered justified, and reconciled to God by his blood. So, then, we\nhave salvation from that condemnation that sin had brought us unto, and\nsalvation from those ruins that all the enemies of our souls would yet\nbring us unto, but cannot; for the intercession of Christ preventeth. 4\n(Rom 6:7-10)\n\nChrist hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Whatever the law can\ntake hold of to curse us for, that Christ has redeemed us from, by\nbeing made a curse for us. But this curse that Christ was made for us,\nmust be confined to his sufferings, not to his exaltation, and,\nconsequently, not to his intercession, for Christ is made no curse but\nwhen he suffered; not in his intercession: so then, as he died he took\naway the curse, and sin that was the cause thereof, by the sacrifice of\nhimself, (Gal 3:13), and by his life, his intercession, he saveth us\nfrom all those things that attempt to bring us into that condemnation\nagain.\n\nThe salvation, then, that we have by the intercession of Christ, as was\nsaid\u2014I speak now of them that are capable of receiving comfort and\nrelief by this doctrine\u2014is salvation that follows upon, or that comes\nafter, justification. We that are saved as to justification of life,\nneed yet to be saved with that that preserveth to glory; for though by\nthe death of Christ we are saved from the curse of the law, yet\nattempts are made by many that we may be kept from the glory that\njustified persons are designed for; and from these we are saved by his\nintercession.\n\nA man, then, that must be eternally saved is to be considered, (a.) As\nan heir of wrath. (b.) As an heir of God. An heir of wrath he is in\nhimself by sin; an heir of God he is by grace through Christ. (Eph 2:3,\nGal 4:7) Now, as an heir of wrath he is redeemed, and as an heir of God\nhe is preserved; as an heir of wrath he is redeemed by blood, and as an\nheir of God he is preserved by this intercession. Christ by his death,\nthen, puts me, I being reconciled to God thereby, into a justified\nstate, and God accepts me to grace and favour through him. But this\ndoth not hinder but that, all this notwithstanding, there are, that\nwould frustrate me of the end to which I am designed by this\nreconciliation to God, by redemption through grace; and from the\naccomplishing of this design I am saved by the blessed intercession of\nour Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nObject. 1. Perhaps some may say, we are not saved from all punishment\nof sin by the death of Christ; and if so, so not from all danger of\ndamnation by the intercession of Christ.\n\nAnsw. We are saved from all punishment in hell fire by the death of\nChrist. Jesus has \u2018delivered us from the wrath to come.\u2019 (1 Thess 1:10)\nSo that as to this great punishment, God for his sake has forgiven us\nall trespasses. (Col 2:13) But we being translated from being slaves to\nSatan to be sons of God, God reserveth yet this liberty in his hand to\nchastise us if we offend, as a father chastiseth his son. (Deut 8:5)\nBut this chastisement is not in legal wrath, but in fatherly affection;\nnot to destroy us, but that still we might be made to get advantage\nthereby, even be made partakers of his holiness. This is, that we might\n\u2018not be condemned with the world.\u2019 (Heb 12:5-11, 1 Cor 11:32) As to the\nsecond part of the objection; there do, as we say, many things happen\nbetwixt or between the cup and the lip; many things attempt to\noverthrow the work of God, and to cause that we should perish through\nour weakness, notwithstanding the price that hath by Christ been paid\nfor us. But what saith the Scripture? \u2018Who shall separate us from the\nlove of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or\nfamine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy\nsake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the\nslaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through\nhim that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,\nnor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor\nthings to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be\nable to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our\nLord.\u2019 (Rom 8:35-39)\n\nThus the apostle reckoneth up all the disadvantages that a justified\nperson is incident to in this life, and by way of challenge declares,\nthat not any one of them, nor all together, shall be able to separate\nus from the love of God, that is towards us by Christ, his death, and\nhis intercession.\n\nObject. 2. It may be further objected, that the apostle doth here leave\nout sin, unto which we know the saints are subject, after\njustification. And sin of itself, we need no other enemies, is of that\nnature as to destroy the whole world.\n\nAnsw. Sin is sin, in the nature of sin, wherever it is found. But sin\nas to the damning effects thereof is taken away from them unto whom\nrighteousness is imputed for justification. Nor shall any or all the\nthings aforementioned, though there is a tendency in every one of them\nto drive us unto sin, drown us, through it, in perdition and\ndestruction. I am persuaded, says Paul, they shall never be able to do\nthat. The apostle, therefore, doth implicitly, though not expressly,\nchallenge sin, yea, sin by all its advantages; and then glorieth in the\nlove of God in Christ Jesus, from which he concludeth it shall never\nseparate the justified. Besides, it would now have been needless to\nhave expressly here put in sin by itself, seeing before, he had argued\nthat those he speaks of were freely justified therefrom.\n\nOne word more before I go to the second head. The Father, as I told\nyou, has reserved to himself a liberty to chastise his sons, to wit,\nwith temporal chastisements, if they offend. This still abideth to us,\nnotwithstanding God\u2019s grace, Christ\u2019s death, or blessed intercession.\nAnd this punishment is so surely entailed to the transgressions that we\nwho believe shall commit, that it is impossible that we should be\nutterly freed therefrom; insomuch that the apostle positively\nconcludeth them to be bastards, what pretences to sonship soever they\nhave, that are not, for sin, partakers of fatherly chastisements.\n\nFor the reversing of this punishment it is that we should pray, if\nperhaps God will remit it, when we are taught to say, \u2018Our Father,\nforgive us our trespasses.\u2019 And he that admits of any other sense as to\nthis petition, derogates from the death of Christ, or faith, or both.\nFor either he concludes that for some of his sins Christ did not die,\nor that he is bound to believe that God, though he did, has not yet,\nnor will forgive them, till from the petitioner some legal work be\ndone; forgive us, as we forgive them that trespass against us. (Matt\n6:14,15) But now, apply this to temporal punishments, and then it is\ntrue that God has reserved a liberty in his hand to punish even the\nsins of his people upon them; yea, and will not pardon their sin, as to\nthe remitting of such punishment, unless some good work by them be\ndone; \u2018If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father\nforgive your trespasses.\u2019 (Matt 6:15, 18:28-35)\n\nAnd this is the cause why some that belong to God are yet so under the\nafflicting hand of God; they have sinned, and God, who is their Father,\npunisheth; yea, and this is the reason why some who are dear to God\nhave this kind of punishment never forgiven, but it abides with them to\ntheir lives\u2019 end, goes with them to the day of their death, yea, is the\nvery cause of their death. By this punishment they are cut off out of\nthe land of the living. But all this is that they might \u2018not be\ncondemned with the world.\u2019 (1 Cor 11:32)\n\nChrist died not to save from this punishment; Christ intercedes not to\nsave from this punishment. Nothing but a good life will save from this\npunishment; nor always that either.\n\nThe hidings of God\u2019s face, the harshness of his providences, the severe\nand sharp chastisements that ofttimes overtake the very spirits of his\npeople, plainly show that Christ died not to save from temporal\npunishments, prays not to save from temporal punishments\u2014that is,\nabsolutely. God has reserved a power to punish, with temporal\npunishments, the best and dearest of his people, if need be.5 And\nsometimes he remits them, sometimes not, even as it pleases him. I come\nnow to the second thing.\n\n[Christ saves to the uttermost.]\n\nSecond, I shall now show you something of what it is for Christ, by his\nintercession, to save to the \u2018uttermost.\u2019 \u2018He is able to save them to\nthe uttermost.\u2019\n\nThis is a great expression, and carrrieth with it much. \u2018Uttermost\u2019\nsignifieth to the outside, to the end, to the last, to the furthest\npart. And it hath respect both to persons and things. (Gen 49:26, Deut\n30:4, Matt 5:26, Mark 13:27, Luke 15)\n\n1. To persons. Some persons are in their own apprehensions even further\nfrom Christ than anybody else; afar off, a great way off, yet a-coming,\nas the prodigal was. Now, these many times are exceedingly afraid; the\nsight of that distance that they think is betwixt Christ and them makes\nthem afraid. As it is said in another case, \u2018They that dwell in the\nuttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens.\u2019 (Psa 65:8) So these are\nafraid they shall not speed, not obtain that for which they come to\nGod. But the text says, He is able to save to the uttermost, to the\nvery hindermost, them that come to God by him.\n\nTwo sorts of men seem to be far, very far from God. (1.) The town\nsinner. (2.) The great backslider. (Neh 1:9) But both these, if they\ncome, he is able to save to the uttermost. He is able to save them from\nall those dangers that they fear will prevent their obtaining of that\ngrace and mercy they would have to help them in time of need. The\npublicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven.\n\n2. As this text respecteth persons, so it respecteth things. There are\nsome things with which some are attended that are coming to God, by\nChrist, that make their coming hard and very difficult.\n\n(1.) There is a more than ordinary breaking up of the corruptions of\ntheir nature. It seems as if all their lusts and vile passions of the\nflesh were become masters, and might now do what they will with the\nsoul. Yea, they take this man and toss and tumble him like a ball in a\nlarge place. This man is not master of himself, of his thoughts, nor of\nhis passions\u2014\u2018His iniquities, like the wind, do carry him away.\u2019 (Isa\n64:6) He thinks to go forward, but this wind blows him backward; he\nlaboureth against this wind, but cannot find that he getteth ground; he\ntakes what advantage opportunity doth minister to him, but all he gets\nis to be beat out of heart, out of breath, out of courage. He stands\nstill, and pants, and gapeth as for life. \u2018I opened my mouth, and\npanted,\u2019 said David, \u2018for I longed for thy commandments.\u2019 (Psa 119:131)\nHe sets forward again, but has nothing but labour and sorrow.\n\n(2.) Nay, to help forward his calamity, Satan [and his] angels will not\nbe wanting, both to trouble his head with the fumes of their stinking\nbreath, nor to throw up his heels in their dirty places\u2014\u2018And as he was\nyet a-coming, the devil threw him down and tare him.\u2019 (Luke 9:42) How\nmany strange, hideous, and amazing blasphemies have those, some of\nthose, that are coming to Christ, had injected and fixed upon their\nspirits against him. Nothing so common to such, as to have some hellish\nwish or other against God they are coming to, and against Christ, by\nwhom they would come to him. These blasphemies are like those frogs\nthat I have heard of, that will leap up, and catch hold of, and hang by\ntheir claws. Now help, Lord; now, Lord Jesus, what shall I do? Now, Son\nof David, have mercy upon me! I say, to say these words is hard work\nfor such an one. But he is able to save to the uttermost this comer to\nGod by him.\n\n(3.) There are also the oppositions of sense and reason hard at work\nfor the devil, against the soul; the men of his own house are risen up\nagainst him. One\u2019s sense and reason, one would think, should not fall\nin with the devil against ourselves, and yet nothing more common,\nnothing more natural, than for our own sense and reason to turn the\nunnatural, and are both against our God and us. And now it is hard\ncoming to God. Better can a man hear and deal with any objections\nagainst himself, than with those that himself doth make against\nhimself. They lie close, stick fast, speak aloud, and will be heard;\nyea, will haunt and hunt him, as the devil doth some, in every hole and\ncorner. But come, man, come; for he is able to save to the uttermost!\n\n(4.) Now guilt is the consequence and fruit of all this; and what so\nintolerable a burden as guilt! They talk of the stones, and of the\nsands of the sea; but it is guilt that breaks the heart with its\nburden. And Satan has the art of making the uttermost of every sin; he\ncan blow it up, make it swell, make every hair of its head as big as a\ncedar. He can tell how to make it a heinous offence, and unpardonable\noffence, an offence of that continuance, and committed against so much\nlight, that, says he, it is impossible it should ever be forgiven. But,\nsoul, Christ is able to save to the uttermost, he can \u2018do exceeding\nabundantly above all that we ask or think.\u2019 (Eph 3:20)\n\n(5.) Join to all this the rage and terror of men, which thing of itself\nis sufficient to quash and break to pieces all desires to come to God\nby Christ; yea, and it doth do so to thousands that are not willing to\ngo to hell. Yet thou art kept, and made to go panting on; a whole world\nof men, and devils, and sin, are not able to keep thee from coming. But\nhow comes it to pass that thou art so hearty, that thou settest thy\nface against so much wind and weather? I dare say it arises not from\nthyself, nor from any of thine enemies. This comes from God, though\nthou art not aware thereof; and is obtained for thee by the\nintercession of the blessed Son of God, who is also able to save thee\nto the uttermost, that comest to God by him.\n\n(6.) And for a conclusion as to this, I will add, that there is much of\nthe honour of the Lord Jesus engaged as to the saving of the coming man\nto the uttermost: \u2018I am glorified in them,\u2019 saith he. (John 17:10) He\nis exalted to be a Saviour. (Acts 5:31) And if the blessed One doth\ncount it an exaltation to be a Saviour, surely it is an exaltation to\nbe a Saviour, and a great one. \u2018They shall cry unto the Lord because of\nthe oppressors, and he shall send them a Saviour, and a great one, and\nhe shall deliver them.\u2019 (Isa 19:20) If it is a glory to be a Saviour, a\ngreat Saviour, then it is a glory for a Saviour, a great one, to save,\nand save, and save to the uttermost\u2014to the uttermost man, to the\nuttermost sin, to the uttermost temptation. And hence it is that he\nsaith again, speaking of the transgressions, sins, and iniquities that\nhe would pardon, that it should turn to him for \u2018a name of joy, a\npraise, and an honour before all nations.\u2019 (Jer 33:9) He therefore\ncounts it an honour to be a great Saviour, to save men to the\nuttermost.\n\nWhen Moses said, \u2018I beseech thee, show me thy glory,\u2019 the answer was,\n\u2018I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the\nname of the Lord before thee.\u2019 (Exo 33:18,19) And when he came indeed\nto make proclamation, then he proclaimed, \u2018The Lord, The Lord God,\nmerciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and\ntruth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and\ntransgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.\u2019\n(Exo 34:6,7) That will by no means clear them that will not come to me\nthat they may be saved.\n\nSee here, if it is not by himself accounted his glory to make his\ngoodness, all his goodness, pass before us. And how can that be, if he\nsaveth not to the uttermost them that come unto God by him? For\ngoodness is by us noways seen but by those acts by which it expresseth\nitself to be so. And, I am sure, to save, to save to the uttermost, is\none of the most eminent expressions by which we understand it is great\ngoodness. I know goodness has many ways to express itself to be what it\nis to the world; but then it expresseth its greatness when it pardons\nand saves, when it pardons and saves to the uttermost. My goodness,\nsays Christ, extends not itself to my Father, but to my saints. (Psa\n16:2,3) My Father has no need of my goodness, but my saints have, and\ntherefore it shall reach forth itself for their help, in whom is all my\ndelight. And, \u2018Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up\nfor them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in\nthee before the sons of men\u2019! (Psa 31:19) It is therefore that which\ntendeth to get Christ a name, a fame, and glory, to be able to save to\nthe uttermost them that come to God by him.\n\n[In Christ\u2019s ability to save, lieth our safety.]\n\nBut some may say, What is the meaning of this word able? \u2018Wherefore he\nis able to save.\u2019 He is able to save the uttermost. How comes it to\npass that his power to save is rather put in than his willingness; for\nwillingness, saith the soul, would better have pleased me. I will speak\ntwo or three words to this question. And,\n\nFirst, By this word able is suggested to us the sufficiency of his\nmerit, the great worthiness of his merit; for, as Intercessor, he\nsticks fast by his merit; all his petitions, prayers, or supplications\nare grounded upon the worthiness of his person as Mediator, and on the\nvalidity of his offering as priest. This is the more clear, if you\nconsider the reason why those priests and sacrifices under the law\ncould not make the worshippers perfect. It was, I say, because there\nwanted in them worthiness and merit in their sacrifices. But this man,\nwhen he came and offered his sacrifice, he did by that one act \u2018perfect\nfor ever them that are sanctified,\u2019 or set apart for glory. \u2018But this\nman, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on\nthe right hand of God.\u2019 (Heb 10:1-12)\n\nWhen Moses prayed for the people of Israel, thus he said, \u2018And now, I\nbeseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast\nspoken.\u2019 But what had he spoken? \u2018The Lord is long-suffering, and of\ngreat mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means\nclearing the guilty\u2014Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people\naccording unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven\nthis people, from Egypt even until now.\u2019 (Num 14:17-19)\n\nSecond, Has he but power, we know he is willing, else he would not have\npromised; it is also his glory to pardon and save. So, then, in his\nability lies our safety. What if he were never so willing, if he were\nnot of ability sufficient, what would his willingness do? But he has\nshowed, as I said, his willingness by promising: \u2018Him that cometh to me\nI will in no wise cast out.\u2019 (John 6:37) So that now our comfort lies\nin his power, in that he is able to make good his word. (Rom 4:20,21)\nAnd this also will then be seen, when he hath saved them that come to\nGod by him, when he hath saved them to the uttermost; not to the\nuttermost of his ability, but to the uttermost of our necessity; for to\nthe uttermost of his ability I believe he will never be put to it to\nsave his church; not for that he is loath so to save, but because there\nis no need so to save; he shall not need to put out all his power, and\nto press the utmost of his merit for the saving of his church. Alas!\nthere is sufficiency of merit in him to save a thousand times as many\nmore as are like to be saved by him; \u2018he is able to do exceeding\nabundantly above all that we ask or think.\u2019\n\nMeasure not, therefore, what he can do by what he has, doth, or will\ndo; neither do thou interpret this word, to the uttermost, as if it\nrelated to the uttermost of his ability, but rather as it relateth, for\nso it doth indeed, to the greatness of thy necessity. For as he is able\nto save thee, though thy condition be, as it may be supposed to be, the\nworst that ever man was in that was saved, so he is able to save thee,\nthough thy condition were ten times worse than it is.\n\nWhat! shall not the worthiness of the Son of God be sufficient to save\nfrom the sin of man? or shall the sin of the world be of that weight to\ndestroy, that it shall put Christ Jesus to the uttermost of the worth\nof his person and merit to save therefrom? I believe it is blasphemy to\nthink so. We can easily imagine that he can save all the world\u2014that is,\nthat he is of ability to do it; but we cannot imagine that he can do no\nmore than we can think he can. But our imagination and thoughts set no\nbound to his ability. \u2018He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all\nthat we ask or think.\u2019 But what that is, I say, no man can think, no\nman can imagine. So, then, Jesus Christ can do more than ever any man\nthought he could do as to saving; he can do we know not what. This,\ntherefore, should encourage comers to come to him; and them that come,\nto hope. This, I say, should encourage them to let out, to lengthen,\nand heighten their thoughts by the word, to the uttermost, seeing he\ncan \u2018save to the uttermost them that come to God by him.\u20196\n\n[Inferences from the benefits of Christ\u2019s intercession.]\n\nThird. And now I come to the third thing that I told you I should speak\nto, and that is, to those inferences that may be gathered from these\nwords.\n\n1. Are they that are justified by Christ\u2019s blood such as have need yet\nto be saved by his intercession? Then from hence it follows that\njustification will stand with imperfection. It doth not therefore\nfollow that a justified man is without infirmity; for he that is\nwithout infirmity\u2014that is, perfect with absolute perfection, has no\nneed to be yet saved by an act yet to be performed by a mediator and\nhis mediation.\n\nWhen I say, justification will stand with imperfection, I do not mean\nthat it will allow, countenance, or approve thereof; but I mean there\nis no necessity of our perfection, of our personal perfection, as to\nour justification, and that we are justified without it; yea, that\nthat, in justified persons, remains. Again; when I say that\njustification will stand with imperfection, I do not mean that in our\njustification we are imperfect; for in that we are complete; \u2018we are\ncomplete in him\u2019 who is our justice. (Col 2:10) If otherwise, the\nimperfection is in the matter that justifieth us, which is the\nrighteousness of Christ. Yea, and to say so would conclude that wrong\njudgment proceedeth from him that imputeth that righteousness to us to\njustification, since an imperfect thing is imputed to us for\njustification. But far be it from any that believe that God is true to\nimagine such a thing; all his works are perfect, there is nothing\nwanting in them as to the present design.\n\n[Quest.] But what then do we mean when we say, justification will stand\nwith a state of imperfection?\n\nAnsw. Why, I mean that justified men are yet sinners in themselves, are\nyet full of imperfections; yea, sinful imperfections. Justified Paul\nsaid, \u2018I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good\nthing.\u2019 (Rom 7:18) While we are yet sinners, we are justified by the\nblood of Christ. Hence, again, it is said, \u2018he justifieth the ungodly.\u2019\n(Rom 4:5, 5:8,9) Justification, then, only covereth our sin from the\nsight of God; it maketh us not perfect with inherent perfection. But\nGod, for the sake of that righteousness which by his grace is imputed\nto us, declareth us quit and discharged from the curse, and sees sin in\nus no more to condemnation.\n\n[WHY THE JUSTIFIED NEED AN INTERCESSOR.]\n\n\nAnd this is the reason, or one reason, why they that are justified have\nneed of an intercessor\u2014to wit, to save us from the evil of the sin that\nremains in our flesh after we are justified by grace through Christ,\nand set free from the law as to condemnation. Therefore, as it is said,\nwe are saved; so it is said, \u2018He is able also to save them to the\nuttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make\nintercession for them.\u2019 The godly, for now we will call them the godly,\nthough there is yet abundance of sin in them, feel in themselves many\nthings even after justification by which they are convinced they are\nstill attended with personal, sinful imperfections.\n\n[Imperfect in their feelings and inclinations.]\u2014(1.) They feel\nunbelief, fear, mistrust, doubting, despondings, murmurings,\nblasphemies, pride, lightness, foolishness, avarice, fleshly lusts,\nheartlessness to good, wicked desires, low thoughts of Christ, too good\nthoughts of sin, and, at times, too great an itching after the worst of\nimmoralities.\n\n(2.) They feel in themselves an aptness to incline to errors, as to\nlean to the works of the law for justification; to question the truth\nof the resurrection and judgment to come; to dissemble and play the\nhypocrite in profession and in performance of duties; to do religious\nduties rather to please man than God, who trieth the heart.\n\n(3.) They feel an inclination in them, in times of trial, to faint\nunder the cross, to seek too much to save themselves, to dissemble the\nknown truth for the obtaining a little favour with men, and to speak\nthings that they ought not, that they may sleep in a whole skin.\n\n(4.) They feel wearisomeness in religious duties, but a natural\npropensity to things of the flesh. They feel a desire to go beyond\nbounds both at board, and bed, and bodily exercise, and in all lawful\nrecreation.\n\n(5.) They feel in themselves an aptness to take the advantage of using\nof things that are lawful, as food, raiment, sleep, talk, estates,\nrelations, beauty, wit, parts, and graces, to unlawful ends. These\nthings, with many more of the like kind, the justified man finds and\nfeels in himself, to his humbling and often casting down; and to save\nhim from the destroying evil of these, Christ ever liveth to make\nintercession for him.\n\n[Imperfect in their graces.]\u2014Again; the justified man is imperfect in\nhis graces, and therefore needeth to be saved by the intercession of\nChrist from the bad fruit that that imperfection yields.\n\nJustifying righteousness is accompanied with graces\u2014the graces of the\nSpirit. Though these graces are not that matter by and through which we\nare justified, nor any part thereof, that being only the obedience of\nChrist imputed to us of mere pleasure and good will; but, I say, they\ncome when justification comes. (Rom 9) And though they are not so\neasily discerned at the first, they show forth themselves afterwards.\nBut I say, how many soever they are, and how fast soever they grow,\ntheir utmost arrivement here is but a state short of perfection. None\nof the graces of God\u2019s Spirit in our hearts can do their work in us\nwithout shortness, and that because of their own imperfections, and\nalso because of the oppositions that they meet with from our flesh.\n\n(1.) Faith, which is the root-grace, the grand grace, its shortness is\nsufficiently manifest by its shortness of apprehension of things\npertaining to the person, offices, relations, and works of Christ, now\nin the heavenly place for us. It is also very defective in its fetching\nof comfort from the Word to us, and in continuing of it with us, when\nat any time we attain unto it; in its receiving of strength to subdue\nsin, and in its purifyings of the heart, though indeed it doth what it\ndoth in reality, yet how short is it of doing of it thoroughly?\nOftentimes, were it not for supplies by virtue of the intercession of\nChrist, faith would fail of performing its office in any measure. (Luke\n22:31,32)\n\n(2.) There is hope, another grace of the Spirit bestowed upon us; and\nhow often is that also, as to the excellency of working, made to flag?\n\u2018I shall perish,\u2019 saith David; \u2018I am cut off from before thine eyes,\u2019\nsaid he. (Psa 31:22) And now where was his hope, in the right gospel\ndiscovery of it? Also all our fear of men, and fears of death, and\nfears of judgment, they arise from the imperfections of hope. But from\nall those faults Christ saves us by his intercessions.\n\n(3.) There is love, that should be in us as hot as fire. It is compared\nto fire, to fire of the hottest sort; yea, it is said to be hotter than\nthe coals of juniper. (Cant 8:6,7) But who finds this heat in love so\nmuch as for one poor quarter of an hour together? Some little flashes,\nperhaps, some at some times may feel, but where is that constant\nburning of affection that the Word, the love of God, and the love of\nChrist call for? yea, and that the necessities of the poor and\nafflicted members of Christ call for also. Ah! love is cold in these\nfrozen days, and short when it is at the highest.\n\n(4.) The grace of humility, when is it? who has a thimbleful thereof?\nWhere is he that is \u2018clothed with humility,\u2019 and that does what he is\ncommanded \u2018with all humility of mind\u2019? (1 Peter 5:5, Acts 20:19)\n\n(5.) For zeal, where is that also? Zeal for God against sin,\nprofaneness, superstition, and idolatry. I speak now to the godly, who\nhave this zeal in the root and habit; but oh, how little of it puts\nforth itself into actions in such a day as this is!\n\n(6.) There is reverence, fear, and standing in awe of God\u2019s Word and\njudgments, where are the excellent workings thereof to be found? And\nwhere it is most, how far short of perfect acts is it?\n\n(7.) Simplicity and godly sincerity also, with how much dirt is it\nmixed in the best; especially among those of the saints that are rich,\nwho have got the poor and beggarly art of complimenting? For the more\ncompliment, the less sincerity. Many words will not fill a bushel. But\n\u2018in the multitude of words there wanteth not sin.\u2019 (Prov 10:19) Plain\nmen are thin come up in this day; to find a mouth without fraud and\ndeceit now is a rare thing. Thus might one count up all the graces of\nthe Spirit, and show wherein every one of them are scanty and wanting\nof perfection. Now look, what they want of perfection is supplied with\nsin and vanity; for there is a fullness of sin and flesh at hand to\nmake up all the vacant places in our souls. There is no place in the\nsouls of the godly but it is filled up with darkness when the light is\nwanting, and with sin so far forth as grace is wanting. Satan, also,\ndiligently waiteth to come in at the door, if Careless has left it a\nlittle achare.7 But, oh! the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ever\nliveth to make intercession for us, and that, by so doing, saves us\nfrom all the imperfect acts and workings of our graces, and from all\nthe advantages that flesh, and sin, and Satan getteth upon us thereby.\n\n[Imperfect in their Duties.]\u2014Further, as Christ Jesus our Lord doth\nsave us, by his intercession, from that hurt that would unavoidably\ncome upon us by these, so also, by that we are saved from the evil that\nis at any time found in any or all our holy duties and performances\nthat is our duty daily to be found in. That our duties are imperfect,\nfollows upon what was discoursed before; for if our graces be\nimperfect, how can our duties but be so too?\n\n(1.) Our prayers, how imperfect are they! With how much unbelief are\nthey mixed! How apt is our tongue to run, in prayer, before our hearts!\nWith how much earnestness do our lips move, while our hearts lie within\nas cold as a clod! Yea, and ofttimes, it is to be feared, we ask for\nthat with our mouth that we care not whether we have or no. Where is\nthe man that pursues with all his might what but now he seemed to ask\nfor with all his heart? Prayer is become a shell, a piece of formality,\na very empty thing, as to the spirit and life of prayer at this day. I\nspeak now of the prayers of the godly. I once met with a poor woman\nthat, in the greatest of her distresses, told me she did use to rise in\nthe night, in cold weather, and pray to God, while she sweat with fears\nof the loss of her prayers and desires that her soul might be saved. I\nhave heard of many that have played, but of few that have prayed, till\nthey have sweat, by reason of their wrestling with God for mercy in\nthat duty.\n\n(2.) There is the duty of almsgiving, another gospel performance; but\nhow poorly is it done in our days! We have so many foolish ways to lay\nout money, in toys and fools\u2019 baubles for our children, that we can\nspare none, or very little, for the relief of the poor. Also, do not\nmany give that to their dogs, yea, let it lie in their houses until it\nstinks so vilely that neither dog nor cat will eat it; which, had it\nbeen bestowed well in time, might have been a succour and nourishment\nto some poor member of Christ?\n\n(3.) There is hearing of the Word; but, alas! the place of hearing is\nthe place of sleeping with many a fine professor. I have often observed\nthat those that keep shops can briskly attend upon a twopenny customer;\nbut when they come themselves to God\u2019s market, they spend their time\ntoo much in letting their thoughts to wander from God\u2019s commandments,\nor in a nasty drowsy way. The heads, also, and hearts of most hearers\nare to the Word as the sieve is to water; they can hold no sermons,\nremember no texts, bring home no proofs, produce none of the sermon to\nthe edification and profit of others. And do not the best take up too\nmuch in hearing, and mind too little what, by the Word, God calls for\nat their hands, to perform it with a good conscience?\n\n(4.) There is faithfulness in callings, faithfulness to brethren,\nfaithfulness to the world, faithfulness to children, to servants, to\nall, according to our place and capacity. Oh! how little of it is there\nfound in the mouths and lives, to speak nothing of the hearts, of\nprofessors.\n\nI will proceed no further in this kind of repetition of things; only\nthus much give me leave to say over again, even many of the truly godly\nare very faulty here. But what would they do if there were not one\nalways at the right hand of God, by intercession, taking away these\nkind of iniquities?\n\n2. Are those that are justified by the blood of Christ such, after\nthat, as have need also of saving by Christ\u2019s intercession? From hence,\nthen, we may infer, that as sin, so Satan will not give over from\nassaulting the best of the saints.\n\nIt is not justification that can secure us from being assaulted by\nSatan: \u2018Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you.\u2019 (Luke 22:31,32)\nThere are two things that do encourage the devil to set upon the people\nof God:\u2014\n\n(1.) He knows not who are elect; for all that profess are not, and,\ntherefore, he will make trial, if he can get them into his sieve,\nwhether he can cause them to perish. And great success he hath had this\nway. Many a brave professor has he overcome; he has cast some of the\nstars from heaven to earth; he picked one out from among the apostles,\nand one, as it is thought, from among the seven deacons,8 and many from\namong Christ\u2019s disciples; but how many, think you, nowadays, doth he\nutterly destroy with his net?\n\n(2.) If it so happeneth that he cannot destroy, because Christ, by his\nintercession, prevaileth, yet will he set upon the church to defile and\nafflict it. For (a), If he can but get us to fall, with Peter, then he\nhas obtained that dishonour be brought to God, the weak to be stumbled,\nthe world offended, and the gospel vilified and reproached. Or (b), If\nhe cannot throw up our heels, yet, by buffeting of us, he can grieve\nus, afflict us, put us to pain, fright us, drive us to many doubts, and\nmake our life very uncomfortable unto us, and make us go groaning to\nour Father\u2019s house. But blessed be God for his Christ, and for that \u2018he\never liveth to make intercession for us.\u2019\n\n3. Are those that are justified by the blood of Christ such as, after\nthat, have need to be saved by Christ\u2019s intercession? Then, hence I\ninfer that it is dangerous going about anything in our own name and\nstrength. If we would have helps from the intercession of Christ, let\nus have a care that we do what we do according to the word of Christ.\nDo what he bids us as well as we can, as he bids us, and then we need\nnot doubt to have help and salvation in those duties by the\nintercession of Christ. \u2018Do all,\u2019 says the apostle, \u2018in the name of the\nLord Jesus.\u2019 (Col 3:17) Oh, but then the devil and the world will be\nmost of all offended! Well, well, but if you do nothing but as in his\nfear, by his Word, in his name, you may be sure of what help his\nintercession can afford you, and that can afford you much help, not\nonly to begin, but to go through with your work in some good measure,\nas you should; and by that also you shall be secured from those\ndangers, if not temptations to dangers, that those that go out about\nbusiness in their own names and strength shall be sure to meet withal.\n\n4. Are those that are justified by the blood of Christ such as, after\nthat, have need of being saved by Christ\u2019s intercession? Then, hence I\ninfer again, that God has a great dislike of the sins of his own\npeople, and would fall upon them in judgment and anger much more\nseverely than he doth, were it not for Christ\u2019s intercession. The\ngospel is not, as some think, a loose and licentious doctrine, nor\nGod\u2019s discipline of his church a negligent and careless discipline;\nfor, though those that believe already have also an intercessor, yet\nGod, to show his detestation against sin, doth often make them feel to\npurpose the weight of his fingers. The sincere, that fain would walk\noft with God, have felt what I say, and that to the breaking of their\nbones full oft. The loose ones, and those that God loves not, may be\nutter strangers as to this; but those that are his own indeed do know\nit is otherwise.9\n\n\u2018You only have I known\u2019 above all others, says God, \u2018therefore I will\npunish you for all your iniquities.\u2019 (Amos 3:2) God keeps a very strict\nhouse among his children. David found it so, Haman found it so, Job\nfound it so, and the church of God found it so; and I know not that his\nmind is ever the less against sin, notwithstanding we have an\nIntercessor. True, our Intercessor saves us from damning evils, from\ndamning judgments; but he neither doth nor will secure us from temporal\npunishment, from spiritual punishment, unless we watch, deny ourselves,\nand walk in his fear. I would to God that those who are otherwise\nminded did but feel, for three or four months, something of what I have\nfelt for several years together for base sinful thoughts! I wish it, I\nsay, if it might be for their good, and for the better regulating of\ntheir understandings. But whether they obtain my wish or no, sure I am\nthat God is no countenancer of sin; no, not in his own people; nay, he\nwill bear it least of all in them. And as for others, however he may\nfor a while have patience towards them, if, perhaps, his goodness may\nlead them to repentance; yet the day is coming when he will pay the\ncarnal and hypocrites\u2019 home with devouring fire for their offences.\n\nBut if our holy God will not let us go altogether unpunished, though we\nhave so able and blessed an Intercessor, that has always to present God\nwith, on our behalf, so valuable a price of his own blood, now before\nthe throne of grace, what should we have done if there had been no\nday\u2019s-man, none to plead for us, or to make intercession on our behalf?\nRead that text, \u2018For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee;\nthough I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee,\nyet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in\nmeasure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.\u2019 (Jer 30:11) If\nit be so, I say, what had become of us, if we had had no Intercessor?\nAnd what will become of them concerning whom the Lord has said already,\n\u2018I will not take up their names into my lips\u2019? (Psa 16:4) \u2018I pray not\nfor the world.\u2019 (John 17:9)\n\n5. Are those that are already justified by the blood of Christ yet such\nas have need of being saved by his intercession? Then, hence, I infer\nthat Christ is not only the beginner, but the completer of our\nsalvation; or, as the Holy Ghost calls him, \u2018the author and finisher of\nour faith,\u2019 (Heb 12:2); or, as it calls him again, \u2018the author of\neternal salvation.\u2019 (Heb 5:9) Of salvation throughout, from the\nbeginning to the end, from first to last. His hands have laid the\nfoundation of it in his own blood, and his hands shall finish it by his\nintercession. (Zech 4:9) As he has laid the beginning fastly, so he\nshall bring forth the headstones with shoutings, and we shall cry,\nGrace, grace, at the last, salvation only belongeth to the Lord. (Zech\n4:7, Psa 3:8, Isa 43:11)\n\nMany there be that begin with grace, and end with works, and think THAT\nis the only way. Indeed works will save from temporal punishments, when\ntheir imperfections are purged from them by the intercession of Christ;\nbut to be saved and brought to glory, to be carried through this\ndangerous world, from my first moving after Christ till I set my foot\nwithin the gates of paradise, this is the work of my Mediator, of my\nhigh priest and intercessor; it is he that fetches us again when we are\nrun away; it is he that lifteth us up when the devil and sin has thrown\nus down; it is he that quickeneth us when we grow cold; it is he that\ncomforteth us when we despair; it is he that obtains fresh pardon when\nwe have contracted sin; and he that purges our consciences when they\nare loaden with guilt. (Eze 34:16, Psa 145:14)\n\nI know also, that rewards do wait for them in heaven that do believe in\nChrist, and shall do well on earth; but this is not a reward of merit,\nbut of grace. We are saved by Christ; brought to glory by Christ; and\nall our works are no otherwise made acceptable to God but by the person\nand personal excellencies and works of Christ; therefore, whatever the\njewels are, and the bracelets, and the pearls, that thou shalt be\nadorned with as a reward of service done to God in the world, for them\nthou must thank Christ, and, before all, confess that he was the\nmeritorious cause thereof. (1 Peter 2:5, Heb 13:15) He saves us, and\nsaves our services too. (Rev 5:9-14) They would be all cast back as\ndung in our faces, were they not rinsed and washed in the blood, were\nthey not sweetened and perfumed in the incense, and conveyed to God\nhimself through the white hand of Jesus Christ; for that is his\ngolden-censer; from thence ascends the smoke that is in the nostrils of\nGod of such a sweet savour. (Rev 7:12-14, 8:3,4)\n\n6. Are those that are already justified by the blood of Christ, such as\ndo still stand in need of being saved by his intercession? Then hence I\ninfer again, that we that have been saved hitherto, and preserved from\nthe dangers that we have met with since our first conversion to this\nmoment, should ascribe the glory to Jesus Christ, to God by Jesus\nChrist. \u2018I have prayed that thy faith fail not: I pray that thou\nwouldest keep them from the evil,\u2019 is the true cause of our standing,\nand of our continuing in the faith and holy profession of the gospel to\nthis very day. Wherefore we must give the glory of all to God by\nChrist: \u2018I will not trust in my bow,\u2019 said David, \u2018neither shall my\nsword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put\nthem to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and\npraise thy name for ever. Selah\u2019! \u2018He always causeth us to triumph in\nChrist.\u2019 \u2018We rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the\nflesh.\u2019 (Psa 44:6-8, 2 Cor 2:14, Phil 3:3) Thus you see that, both in\nthe Old and New Testament, all the glory is given to the Lord, as well\nfor preservation to heaven as for justification of life. And he that is\nwell acquainted with himself will do this readily; though light heads,\nand such as are not acquainted with the desperate evil that is in their\nnatures, will sacrifice to their own net. But such will so sacrifice\nbut a while. Sir Death is coming, and he will put them into the view of\nwhat they see not now, and will feed sweetly upon them, because they\nmade not the Lord their trust. And therefore, ascribe thou the glory of\nthe preservation of thy soul in the faith hitherto, to that salvation\nwhich Christ Jesus our Lord obtaineth for thee by his intercession.\n\n7. Are those that are already justified by the blood of Christ such as\ndo still stand in need of being saved by his intercession? Then is this\nalso to be inferred from hence, that saints should look to him for that\nsaving that they shall yet have need of betwixt this and the day of\ntheir dissolution; yea, from henceforward, even to the day of judgment.\nI say, they should still look to him for the remaining part of their\nsalvation, or for that of their salvation which is yet behind; and let\nthem look for it with confidence, for that it is in a faithful hand;\nand for thy encouragement to look and hope for the completing of thy\nsalvation in glory, let me present thee with a few things\u2014\n\n(1.) The hardest or worst part of the work of thy Saviour is over; his\nbloody work, his bearing of thy sin and curse, his loss of the light of\nhis Father\u2019s face for a time; his dying upon the cursed tree, that was\nthe worst, the sorest, the hardest, and most difficult part of the work\nof redemption; and yet this he did willingly, cheerfully, and without\nthy desires; yea, this he did, as considering those for whom he did it\nin a state of rebellion and enmity to him.\n\n(2.) Consider, also, that he has made a beginning with thy soul to\nreconcile thee to God, and to that end has bestowed his justice upon\nthee, put his Spirit within thee, and began to make the unweldable\nmountain and rock,10 thy heart, to turn towards him, and desire after\nhim; to believe in him, and rejoice in him.\n\n(3.) Consider, also, that some comfortable pledges of his love thou\nhast already received, namely, as to feel the sweetness of his love, as\nto see the light of his countenance, as to be made to know his power in\nraising of thee when thou wast down, and how he has made thee stand,\nwhile hell has been pushing at thee, utterly to overthrow thee.\n\n(4.) Thou mayest consider, also, that what remains behind of the work\nof thy salvation in his hands, as it is the most easy part, so the most\ncomfortable, and that part which will more immediately issue in his\nglory, and therefore he will mind it.\n\n(5.) That which is behind is also more safe in his hand than if it were\nin thine own; he is wise, he is powerful, he is faithful, and therefore\nwill manage that part that is lacking to our salvation well, until he\nhas completed it. It is his love to thee that has made him that \u2018he\nputteth no trust in thee\u2019; he knows that he can himself bring thee to\nhis kingdom most surely; and therefore has not left that work to thee,\nno, not any part thereof. (Job 5:18, 15:15)\n\nLive in hope, then, in a lively hope, that since Christ is risen from\nthe dead, he lives to make intercession for thee, and that thou shalt\nreap the blessed benefit of this twofold salvation that is wrought, and\nthat is working out for thee, by Jesus Christ our Lord. And thus have\nwe treated of the benefit of his intercession, in that he is able to\nsave to the uttermost. And this leads me to the third particular.\n\n[III. THE PERSONS INTERESTED IN THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.]\n\n\nTHIRD, The third particular is to show WHO ARE THE PERSONS INTERESTED\nIN THIS INTERCESSION OF CHRIST; and they are those that come to God by\nhim. The words are very concise, and distinctly laid down; they are\nthey that come, that come to God, that come to God by him. \u2018Wherefore\nhe is able also to save them, to save to the uttermost them that come\nto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.\u2019\n\n[Of coming to God by Christ.]\u2014A little, first, to comment upon the\norder of the words, \u2018that come unto God by him.\u2019\n\nThere are that come unto God, but not \u2018by him\u2019; and these are not\nincluded in this text, have not a share in this privilege. Thus the\nJews came to God, the unbelieving Jews, \u2018who had a zeal of God, but not\naccording to knowledge.\u2019 (Rom 9:30-34, 10:1-4) These submitted not to\nChrist, the righteousness of God, but thought to come to him by works\nof their own, or at least, as it were, by them, and so came short of\nsalvation by grace, for that reigns to salvation only in Christ. To\nthese Christ\u2019s person and undertaking were a stumbling stone; for at\nhim they stumbled, and did split themselves to pieces, though they\nindeed were such as came to God for life.\n\nAs there are that come to God, but not by Christ, so there are that\ncome to Christ, but not to God by him:11 of this sort are they, who\nhearing that Christ is Saviour, therefore come to him for pardon, but\ncannot abide to come to God by him, for that he is holy, and so will\nsnub their lusts, and will change their hearts and natures. Mind me\nwhat I say. There are a great many that would be saved by Christ, but\nlove not to be sanctified by God through him. These make a stop at\nChrist, and will go no further. Might such have pardon, they care not\nwhether ever they went to heaven or no. Of this kind of coming to\nChrist I think it is, of which he warneth his disciples when he saith,\n\u2018In that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,\nWhatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.\u2019\n(John 16:23) As who should say, when you ask for anything, make not a\nstop at me, but come to my Father by me; for they that come to me, and\nnot to my Father, through me, will have nothing of what they come for.\nRighteousness shall be imputed to us, \u2018if we believe on him that raised\nup Jesus our Lord from the dead.\u2019 (Rom 4:24,25) To come to Christ for a\nbenefit, and stop there, and not come to God by him, prevaileth\nnothing. Here the mother of Zebedee\u2019s children erred; and about this it\nwas that the Lord Jesus cautioned her. Lord, saith she, \u2018Grant that\nthese my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on\nthe left, in thy kingdom.\u2019 But what is the answer of Christ? \u2018To sit on\nmy right hand and on my left, is not mine to give, but for whom it is\nprepared of my Father.\u2019 (Matt 20:21-23) As who should say, Woman, of\nmyself I do nothing, my Father worketh with me. Go therefore to him by\nme, for I am the way to him; what thou canst obtain of him by me thou\nshalt have; that is to say, what of the things that pertain to eternal\nlife, whether pardon or glory.\n\nIt is true, the Son has power to give pardon and glory, but he gives it\nnot by himself, but by and according to the will of his Father. (Matt\n9:6, John 17:22) They, therefore, that come to him for an eternal good,\nand look not to the Father by him, come short thereof; I mean, now,\npardon and glory. And hence, though it be said the Son of man hath\npower on earth to forgive sins\u2014to wit, to show the certainty of his\nGodhead, and of the excellency of his mediation; yet forgiveness of sin\nis said to lie more particularly in the hand of the Father, and that\nGod for Christ\u2019s sake forgiveth us. (Eph 4:32)\n\nThe Father, as we see, will not forgive unless we come to him by the\nSon. Why, then, should we conceit that the Son will forgive these that\ncome not to the Father by him?\n\nSo then, justifying righteousness is in the Son, and with him also is\nintercession; but forgiveness is with the Father; yea, the gift of the\nHoly Ghost, yea, and the power of imputing of the righteousness of\nChrist is yet in the hand of the Father. Hence Christ prays to the\nFather to forgive, prays to the Father to send the Spirit, and it is\nGod that imputeth righteousness to justification to us. (Luke 23:34,\nJohn 14:16, Rom 4:6) The Father, then, doth nothing but for the sake of\nand through the Son; the Son also doth nothing derogating from the\nglory of the Father. But it would be a derogation to the glory of the\nFather if the Son should grant to save them that come not to the Father\nby him; wherefore you that cry Christ, Christ, delighting yourselves in\nthe thoughts of forgiveness, but care not to come by Christ to the\nFather for it, you are not at all concerned in this blessed text, for\nhe only saves by his intercession them that come to God by him.\n\nThere are three sorts of people that may be said to come to Christ, but\nnot to God by him.\n\n1. They whose utmost design in coming is only that guilt and fear of\ndamning may be removed from them. And there are three signs of such an\none\u2014(1.) He that takes up in a belief of pardon, and so goes on in his\ncourse of carnality as he did before. (2.) He whose comfort in the\nbelief of pardon standeth alone, without other fruits of the Holy\nGhost. (3.) He that, having been washed, can be content to tumble in\nthe mire, as the sow again, or as the dog that did spue to lick up his\nvomit again.\n\n2. They may be said to come to Christ, but not to God by him, who do\npick and choose doctrines, itching only after that which sounds of\ngrace,12 but secretly abhorring of that which presseth to moral\ngoodness. These did never see God, what notions soever they may have of\nthe Lord Jesus, and of forgiveness from him. (Matt 5:8)\n\n3. They surely did never come to God by Christ, however they may boast\nof the grace of Christ, that will from the freeness of gospel grace\nplead an indulgence for sin.\n\n[Manner of coming to God.]\u2014And now to speak a few words of coming to\nGod, or coming as the text intends. And in speaking to this, I must\ntouch upon two things\u20141. Concerning God. 2. Concerning the frame of the\nheart of him that comes to him.\n\n1. Of God. God is the chief good. Good so as nothing is but himself. He\nis in himself most happy; yea, all good; and all true happiness is only\nto be found in God, as that which is essential to his nature; nor is\nthere any good or any happiness in or with any creature or thing but\nwhat is communicated to it by God. God is the only desirable good,\nnothing without him is worthy of our hearts. Right thoughts of God are\nable to ravish the heart; how much more happy is the man that has\ninterest in God. God alone is able by himself to put the soul into a\nmore blessed, comfortable, and happy condition than can the whole\nworld; yea, and more than if all the created happiness of all the\nangels of heaven did dwell in one man\u2019s bosom. God is the upholder of\nall creatures, and whatever they have that is a suitable good to their\nkind, it is from God; by God all things have their subsistence, and all\nthe good that they enjoy. I cannot tell what to say; I am drowned! The\nlife, the glory, the blessedness, the soul-satisfying goodness that is\nin God is beyond all expression.\n\n2. Now there must be in us something of a suitableness of spirit to\nthis God before we can be willing to come to him.\n\nBefore, therefore, God has been with a man, and has left some\nimpression of his glory upon him, that man cannot be willing to come to\nhim aright. Hence it is said concerning Abraham, that, in order to his\ncoming to God, and following of him aright, the Lord himself did show\nhimself unto him\u2014\u2018Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory\nappeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he\ndwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and\nfrom thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.\u2019\n(Acts 7:2,3, Gen 12:1)\n\nIt was this God of glory, the sight and visions of this God of glory,\nthat provoked Abraham to leave his country and kindred to come after\nGod. The reason why men are so careless of, and so indifferent about,\ntheir coming to God, is because they have their eyes blinded, because\nthey do not perceive his glory. God is so blessed a one, that did he\nnot hide himself and his glory, the whole world would be ravished with\nhim. But he has, I will not say reasons of state, but reasons of glory,\nglorious reasons why he hideth himself from the world, and appeareth\nbut to particular ones. Now by his thus appearing to Abraham, down fell\nAbraham\u2019s vanity, and his idolatrous fancies and affections, and his\nheart began to turn unto God, for that there was in this appearance an\nalluring and soul-instructing voice. Hence that which Moses calls here\nan appearing, Christ calls a hearing, and a teaching, and a\nlearning\u2014\u2018It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught\nof God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the\nFather, cometh unto me,\u2019 that is, to God by me. But, I say, what must\nthey hear and learn of the Father but that Christ is the way to glory,\nthe way to the God of glory. This is a drawing doctrine; wherefore that\nwhich in this verse is called teaching and learning, is called, in the\nverse before, the drawing of the Father\u2014\u2018No man can come to me except\nthe Father which hath sent me draw him\u2019; that is, with powerful\nproposals, and alluring conclusions, and heart-subduing influences.\n(John 6:44,45)\n\nHaving thus touched upon this, we will now proceed to show you what\nkind of people they are that come to God by Christ; and then shall draw\nsome inferences from this also.\n\n[Who are the people that come to Christ.]\n\nThere are, therefore, three sorts of people that come to God by Christ.\nFirst, Men newly awakened. Second, Men turned from backsliding. Third,\nThe sincere and upright man.\n\n[Of the newly awakened coming to Christ.]\n\nFirst, Men newly awakened. By awakened, I mean awakened thoroughly. So\nawakened as to be made to see themselves, what they are; the world,\nwhat it is; the law, what it is; hell, what it is; death, what it is;\nChrist, what he is; and God, what he is; and also what judgment is.\n\nA man that will come to God by Christ aright must needs, precedent to\nhis so coming, have a competent knowledge of things of this kind.\n\n1. He must know himself, what a wretched and miserable sinner he is,\nbefore he will take one step forward in order to his coming to God by\nChrist. This is plain from a great many scriptures; as that of the\nparable of the prodigal, (Luke 15); that of the three thousand, (Acts\n2); that of the jailer, (Acts 16), and those of many more besides. The\nwhole have no need of the physician. They were not the sound and whole,\nbut the lame and diseased that came to him to be cured of their\ninfirmities; and it is not the righteous, but the sinners that do well\nknow themselves to be such, that come to God by Christ.\n\nIt is not in the power of all the men on earth to make one man come to\nGod by Christ, because it is not in their power to make men see their\nstate by nature. And what should a man come to God for, that can live\nin the world without him? Reason says so, experience says so, the\nScripture beareth witness that so it is of a truth. It is a sight of\nwhat I am that must unroost me, that must shake my soul, and make me\nleave my present rest. No man comes to God by Christ but he that knows\nhimself, and what sin hath done to him; that is the first. (Job\n21:7-15)\n\n2. As he must know himself, and what a wretch he is, so he must know\nthe world, and what an empty thing it is. Cain did see himself, but saw\nnot the emptiness of this world; and therefore instead of going to God\nby Christ, he went to the world, and there did take up to his dying\nday. (Gen 4:16) The world is a great snare to the soul, even to the\nsouls of awakened sinners, by reason of its big looks, and the fair\npromises that it makes to those that will please to entertain it. It\nwill also make as though it could do as much to the quieting of the\nspirit as either sermon, Bible, or preacher. Yea, and it has its\nfollowers ready at its heels continually to blow its applause abroad,\nsaying, \u2018Who will show us any [other] good?\u2019 (Psa 4:6) and though \u2018this\ntheir way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings.\u2019\n(Psa 49:13) So that unless a man, under some awakenings, sees the\nemptiness of the world, he will take up in the good things thereof, and\nnot come to God by Christ. Many there be now in hell that can seal to\nthis for truth. It was the world that took awakened Cain, awakened\nJudas, awakened Demas. Yea, Balaam, though he had some kind of visions\nof God, yet was kept by the world from coming to him aright. See with\nwhat earnestness the young man in the gospel came to Jesus Christ, and\nthat for eternal life. He ran to him, he kneeled down to him, and\nasked, and that before a multitude, \u2018Good master, what shall I do that\nI may inherit eternal life?\u2019 (Mark 10:17-24) And yet when he was told\nhe could not come, the world soon stepped betwixt that life and him,\nand persuaded him to take up in itself; and so, for aught we know, he\nnever looked after life more.\n\nThere are four things in the world that have a tendency to lull an\nawakened man asleep, if God also makes him not afraid of the world.\n\n(1.) There is the bustle and cumber of the world, that will call a man\noff from looking after the salvation of his soul. This is intimated by\nthe parable of the thorny ground. (Luke 8:14) Worldly cumber is a\ndevilish thing; it will hurry a man from his bed without prayer; to a\nsermon, and from it again, without prayer; it will choke prayer, it\nwill choke the Word, it will choke convictions, it will choke the soul,\nand cause that awakening shall be to no saving purpose.\n\n(2.) There is the friendship of this world, to which, if a man is not\nmortified, there is no coming for him to God by Christ. And a man can\nnever be mortified to it unless he shall see the emptiness and vanity\nof it. Whosoever makes himself a friend of this world is the enemy of\nGod. And how, then, can he come to him by Christ? (James 4:4)\n\n(3.) There are the terrors of the world, if a man stands in fear of\nthem, he also will not come to God by Christ. The fear of man brings a\nsnare. How many have, in all ages, been kept from coming to God aright\nby the terrors of the world? Yea, how many are there to one\u2019s thinking\nhave almost got to the gates of heaven, and have been scared and driven\nquite back again by nothing but the terrors of this world? This is that\nwhich Christ so cautioneth his disciples about, for he knew it was a\ndeadly thing. Peter also bids the saints beware of this as of a thing\nvery destructive. (Luke 12:4-6, 1 Peter 3:14,15)\n\n(4.) There is also the glory of the world, an absolute hindrance to\nconvictions and awakenings, to wit, honours, and greatness, and\npreferments: \u2018How can ye believe,\u2019 said Christ, \u2018which receive honour\none of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only.\u2019\n(John 5:44) If therefore a man is not in his affections crucified to\nthese, it will keep him from coming to God aright.\n\n3. As a man must know himself, how vile he is, and know the world, how\nempty it is, so he must know the law, how severe it is; else he will\nnot come to God by Jesus Christ our Lord.\n\nA man that is under awakenings, is under a double danger of falling\nshort of coming to God by Christ. If he knows not the severity of the\nlaw, he is either in danger of slighting its penalty, or of seeking to\nmake amends to it by doing of good works; and nothing can keep him from\nsplitting his soul upon one of these two rocks, but a sound knowledge\nof the severity of the law.\n\n(1.) He is in danger of slighting the penalty. This is seen by the\npractice of all the profane in the world. Do they not know the law?\nVerily, many of them can say the Ten Commandments without book. But\nthey do not know the severity of the law; and therefore when at any\ntime awakenings come upon their consciences, they strive to drive away\nthe guilt of one sin, by wallowing in the filth of another.\n\nBut would they do thus if they knew the severity of the law? they would\nas soon eat fire. The severity of the law would be an intolerable,\ninsupportable burden to their consciences; it would drive them, and\nmake them fly for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them.\n\n(2.) Or if he slights not the penalty, he will seek to make amends to\nit by doing of good works for the sins he has committed. This is\nmanifest by the practice of the Jews and Turks, and all that swerve on\nthat hand\u2014to wit, to seek life and happiness by the law. Paul also was\nhere before he meet with Jesus in the way. This is natural to\nconsciences that are awakened, unless also they have given to them to\nsee the true severity of the law; the which that thou mayest do, if my\nmite will help, I will cast in for thy conviction these four things\u2014\n\n(a.) The law charges thee with its curse, as well for the pollution of\nthy nature, as for the defilements of thy life; yea, and if thou hadst\nnever committed sinful act, thy pollution of nature must stand in thy\nway to life, if thou comest not to God for mercy by Christ.\n\n(b.) The law takes notice of, and chargeth thee with its curse, as well\nfor sinful thoughts as for vile and sinful actions. \u2018The [very] thought\nof foolishness is sin,\u2019 (Prov 24:9), though it never breaks out into\nact, and will as surely merit the damnation of the soul as will the\ngreatest transgression in the world.\n\n(c.) If now thou couldst keep all the commandments, that will do thee\nno good at all, because thou hast sinned first: \u2018The soul that sinneth\nshall die.\u2019 Unless, then, thou canst endure the curse, and so in a\nlegal way overcome it for the sins that thou hast committed, thou art\ngone, if thou comest not to God by Christ for mercy and pardon.\n\n(d.) And never think of repentance, thereby to stop the mouth of the\nlaw; for the law calleth not for repentance, but life; nor will it\naccept of any, shouldst thou mourn and weep for thy sins till thou hast\nmade a sea of blood with tears. This, I say, thou must know, or thou\nwilt not come to God by Christ for life. For the knowledge of this will\ncause that thou shalt neither slight the severity of the law, nor trust\nto the works thereof for life. Now, when thou doest neither of these,\nthou canst not but speed thee to God by Christ for life; for now thou\nhast no stay; pleasures are gone, all hope in thyself is gone. Thou now\ndiest, and that is the way to love; for this inward death is, or feels\nlike, a hunger-bitten stomach, that cannot but crave and gape for meat\nand drink. Now it will be as possible for thee to sleep with thy finger\nin the fire, as to forbear craving of mercy so long as this knowledge\nremains.\n\n4. As a man must know himself, the emptiness of this world, and the\nlaw, so it is necessary for him to know that there is a hell, and how\ninsupportable the torments of it are; for all threatenings, curses, and\ndeterminations to punish in the next world will prove but fictions and\nscarecrows, if there be no woeful place, no woeful state, for the\nsinner to receive his wages in for sin, when his days are ended in this\nworld. Wherefore, this word \u2018saved\u2019 supposeth such a place and state.\nHe is able to save from hell, from the woeful place, from the woeful\nstate of hell, them that come unto God by him.\n\nChrist, therefore, often insinuated the truth of a hell in his\ninvitations to the sinners of this world to come to him; as where he\ntells them they shall be saved if they do, they shall be damned if they\ndo not. As if he had said, there is a hell, a terrible hell, and they\nthat come to me I will save them from it; but they that come not, the\nlaw will damn them in it. Therefore, that thou mayest indeed come to\nGod by Christ for mercy, believe there is a hell, a woeful, terrible\nplace. Hell is God\u2019s creature, \u2018he hath made it deep and large\u2019! The\npunishments are by the lashes of his wrath, which will issue from his\nmouth like a stream of burning brimstone, ever kindling itself upon the\nsoul. (Isa 30:33) Thou must know this by the Word, and fly from it, or\nthou shalt know it by thy sins, and lie and cry in it.\n\nI might enlarge, but if I did, I should be swallowed up; for we are\nwhile here no more able to set forth the torments of hell, than we are\nwhile here to set forth the joys of heaven; only this may, and ought to\nbe said, that God is able, as to save, so to cast into hell. (Luke\n12:5) And as he is able to make heaven sweet, good, pleasurable, and\nglorious beyond thought; so he is able to make the torments of hell so\nexquisite, so hot, so sharp, so intolerable, that no tongue can utter\nit, no, not the damned in hell themselves. (Isa 64:4) If thou lovest\nthy soul, slight not the knowledge of hell, for that, with the law, are\nthe spurs which Christ useth to prick souls forward to himself withal.\nWhat is the cause that sinners can play so delightfully with sin? It is\nfor that they forget there is a hell for them to descend into for their\nso doing, when they go out of this world. For here usually he gives our\nstop to a sinful course; we perceive that hell hath opened her mouth\nbefore us. Lest thou shouldst forget, I beseech thee, another time, to\nretain the knowledge of hell in thine understanding, and apply the\nburning-hot thoughts thereof to thy conscience; this is one way to make\nthee gather up thy heels, and mend thy pace in thy coming to Jesus\nChrist, and to God the Father by him.13\n\n5. It is also necessary that he that cometh to God by the Lord Jesus,\nshould know what death is, and the uncertainty of its approaches upon\nus. Death is, as I may call it, the feller, the cutter down. Death is\nthat that puts a stop to a further living here, and that which lays man\nwhere judgment finds him. If he is in the faith in Jesus, it lays him\ndown there to sleep till the Lord comes; if he be not in the faith, it\nlays him down in his sins till the Lord comes. (Heb 11:13, 1 Thess\n4:14, Job 20:11) Again; if thou hast some beginnings that look like\ngood, and death should overtake thee before those beginnings are ripe,\nthy fruit will wither, and thou wilt fall short of being gathered into\nGod\u2019s barn. Some men are \u2018cut off as the tops of the ears of corn,\u2019 and\nsome are even nipped by death in the very bud of their spring; but the\nsafety is when a man is ripe, and shall be gathered to his grave, as a\nshock of corn to the barn in its season. (Job 24:20-24, 5:26)\n\nNow if death should surprise and seize thee before thou art fit to die,\nall is lost; for there is no repentance in the grave, or rather, as the\nwise man has it, \u2018Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy\nmight; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in\nthe grave, whither thou goest.\u2019 (Eccl 9:10)\n\nDeath is God\u2019s sergeant, God\u2019s bailiff, and he arrests in God\u2019s name\nwhen he comes, but seldom gives warning before he clappeth us on the\nshoulder; and when he arrests us, though he may stay a little while,\nand give us leave to pant, and tumble, and toss ourselves for a while\nupon a bed of languishing, yet at last he will prick our bladder, and\nlet out our life, and then our soul will be poured upon the ground,\nyea, into hell, if we are not ready and prepared for the life\neverlasting. He that doth not watch for, and is not afraid lest death\nshould prevent him, will not make haste to God by Christ. What Job said\nof temporal afflictions, such an one will death be if thou art not\naware\u2014\u2018When I looked for good, then evil came\u2014The days of affliction\nprevented me.\u2019 (Job 30:26,27) If thou lookest, or beginnest to look for\ngood, and the day of death shall cut thee off before thou hast found\nthat good thou lookest for, all is lost, soul, and life, and heaven,\nand all. Wherefore it is convenient that thou conclude the grave is thy\nhouse, and that thou make thy bed once a day in the grave; also that\nthou say unto corruption, \u2018Thou art my father; to the worm, thou art my\nmother and my sister.\u2019 (Job 17:13,14) I say, be acquainted with the\ngrave and death. The fool puts the evil day far away, but the wise man\nbrings it nigh. Better be ready to die seven years before death comes,\nthan want one day, one hour, one moment, one tear, one sorrowful sigh\nat the remembrance of the ill-spent life that I have lived. This, then,\nis that which I admonish thee of; namely, that thou know death, what it\nis, what it doth when it comes. Also, that thou consider well of the\ndanger that death leaves that man in, to whom he comes before he is\nready and prepared to be laid by it in the grave.\n\n6. Thou must also be made by thy awakenings to see what Christ is. This\nis of absolute necessity; for how can or shall a man be willing to come\nto Christ that knows not what he is, what God has appointed him to do?\nHe is the Saviour, every man will say so; but to sense, smell, and\ntaste, what saving is, and so to understand the nature of the office\nand work of a Saviour, is a rare thing, kept close from most, known but\nby some. Jesus of Nazareth is the Saviour or the reconciler of men to\nGod in the body of his flesh through death. (Col 1:19-21) This is he\nwhose business in coming from heaven to earth was to save his people\nfrom their sins. Now, as was said, to know how he doth this, is that\nwhich is needful to be inquired into; for some say he doth it one way,\nsome, he doth it another; and it must be remembered that we are now\nspeaking of the salvation of that man that from new or first\nawakenings, is coming to God by Christ for life. (1.) Some say he doth\nit, by giving of us precepts and laws to keep, that we might be\njustified thereby. (2.) Some say that he doth it, by setting himself a\npattern for us to follow him.(3.) Some again hold, that he doth it by\nour following the light within.\n\nBut thou must take heed of all these, for he justifies us by none of\nthese means, and thou dost need to be justified. I say, he justifieth\nus, not either by giving laws unto us, or by becoming our example, or\nby our following of him in any sense, but by his blood shed for us. His\nblood is not laws, nor ordinances, nor commandments, but a price, a\nredeeming price. (Rom 5:7-9, Rev 1:5) He justifies us by bestowing upon\nus, not by expecting from us; he justifies us by his grace, not by our\nworks. (Eph 1:7) In a word, thou must be well grounded in the knowledge\nof what Christ is, and how men are justified by him, or thou wilt not\ncome unto God by him.\n\nAs thou must know him, and how men are justified by him, so thou must\nknow the readiness that is in him to receive and to do for those what\nthey need that come unto God by him. Suppose his merits were never so\nefficacious, yet if it could be proved that there is a loathness in him\nthat these merits should be bestowed upon the coming ones, there would\nbut few adventure to wait upon him. But now, as he is full, he is free.\nNothing pleases him better than to give what he has away; than to\nbestow it upon the poor and needy. And it will be convenient that thou\nwho art a coming soul shouldst know this for thy comfort to encourage\nthee to come to God by him. Take two or three sayings of his, for the\nconfirming of what is now said. \u2018Come unto me, all ye that labour and\nare heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\u2019 (Matt 11:28) \u2018All that the\nFather giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in\nno wise cast out.\u2019 (John 6:37) \u2018I came not to call the righteous, but\nsinners to repentance.\u2019 (Mark 2:17) \u2018This is a faithful saying, and\nworthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to\nsave sinners; of whom I am chief.\u2019 (1 Tim 1:15)\n\n7. As a man that would come to God by Christ must, antecedent to his so\ncoming, know himself, what he is; the world, how empty it is; the law,\nhow severe it is; death, and what it is; and Christ, and what he is; so\nalso he must know God. \u2018He that cometh to God must believe that he is,\nand that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.\u2019 (Heb 11:6)\nGod must be known, else how can the sinner propound him as his end, his\nultimate end? For so doth every one that indeed doth come to Christ\naright; he comes to Christ because he is the way; he comes to God\nbecause he is the end. But, I say, if he knows him not, how can he\npropound him as the end? The end is that for the sake of which I\npropound to myself anything, and for the sake of which I use any means.\nNow, then, I would be saved; but why? Even because I would enjoy God. I\nuse the means to be saved; and why? Because I would enjoy God. I am\nsensible that sin has made me come short of the glory of God, and that\nChrist Jesus is he, the only he, that can put me into a condition of\nobtaining the glory of God; and, therefore, I come to God by him. (Rom\n3:23, 5:1,2)\n\nBut, I say again, who will propound God for his end that knows him not,\nthat knows him not aright? yea, that knows him not, to be worth being\npropounded as my end in coming to Jesus Christ; and he that thus knows\nhim must know him to be above all, best of all, and him in whom the\nsoul shall find that content, that bliss, that glory and happiness that\ncan by no means be found elsewhere. And, I say, if this be not found in\nGod, the soul will never propound him to itself as the only, highest,\nand ultimate end in its coming to Jesus Christ. But it will propound\nsomething else, even what it shall imagine to be the best good; perhaps\nheaven, perhaps ease from guilt, perhaps to be kept out of hell, or the\nlike. I do not say but a man may propound all these to himself, in his\ncoming to Jesus Christ; but if he propound these as his ultimate end,\nas the chiefest good that he seeks; if the presence and enjoyment of\nGod, of God\u2019s glorious majesty, be not his chief design, he is not\nconcerned in the salvation that is propounded in our text\u2014\u2018He is able,\u2019\nand so will \u2018save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him.\u2019\n\nWhat is heaven without God? what is ease without the peace and\nenjoyment of God? what is deliverance from hell without the enjoyment\nof God? The propounding, therefore, these, and only these, to thyself\nfor thy happiness in thy coming to Jesus Christ is a proposal not a\nhair\u2019s breadth higher than what a man without grace can propound. What\nor who is he that would not go to heaven? What or who is he that would\nnot also have ease from the guilt of sin? And where is the man that\nchooseth to go to hell? But many there be that cannot abide God; no,\nthey like not to go to heaven, because God is there. If the devil had a\nheaven to bestow upon men, a vicious and a beastly heaven, if it be\nlawful thus to speak, I durst pawn my soul upon it, were it a thousand\ntimes better than it is, that, upon a bare invitation, the foul fiend\nwould have twenty to God\u2019s one. They, I say, cannot abide God; nay, for\nall, the devil has nothing but a hell for them; yet how thick men go to\nhim, but how thinly to God Almighty. The nature of God lieth cross to\nthe lusts of men. A holy God, a glorious holy God, an infinitely holy\nGod, this spoils all. But to the soul that is awakened, and that is\nmade to see things as they are; to him God is what he is in himself,\nthe blessed, the highest, the only eternal good, and he without the\nenjoyment of whom all things would sound but emptily in the ears of\nthat soul.\n\nNow, then, I advise thee that hast a mind to come to God by Christ,\nthat thou seek the knowledge of God\u2014\u2018If thou seekest wisdom as silver,\nand searchest for her as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand\nthe fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.\u2019 (Prov 2:4,5) And\nto encourage thee yet further, he is so desirous of communion with men,\nthat he pardoneth sins for that. Hence he is called not only loving,\nbut love. \u2018God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God,\nand God in him.\u2019 (1 John 4:16)\n\nMethinks, when I consider what glory there is at times upon the\ncreatures, and that all their glory is the workmanship of God; O Lord,\nsay I, what is God himself? He may well be called the God of glory, as\nwell as the glorious Lord; for as all glory is from him, so in him is\nan inconceivable well-spring of glory, of glory to be communicated to\nthem that come by Christ to him. Wherefore, let the glory, and love,\nand bliss, and eternal happiness that is in God allure thee to come to\nhim by Christ.\n\n8. As thou shouldst, nay, must, have a good knowledge of all these, so\nthou must have it of judgment to come. They that come to God by Christ\nare said to \u2018flee from the wrath to come\u2019; to \u2018flee for refuge, to lay\nhold on the hope set before them.\u2019 (Matt 3:7, Heb 6:18)\n\nThis judgment to come is a warm thing to be thought of, an awakening\nthing to be thought of; it is called the eternal judgment, because it\nis and will be God\u2019s final conclusion with men. This day is called the\n\u2018great and notable day of the Lord,\u2019 (Acts 2:20); the day \u2018that shall\nburn like an oven,\u2019 (Mal 4:1); the day in which the angels shall gather\nthe wicked together, as tares, into bundles, to burn them; but the\nrest, into his kingdom and glory. This day will be it in which all the\nbowels of love and compassion shall be shut up to the wicked, and that\nin which the floodgates of wrath shall be opened, by which shall a\nplentiful reward be given to evil-doers, but glory to the righteous.\n(Psa 31:23) This is the day in which men, if they could, would creep\ninto the ground for fear; but because they cannot, therefore, they will\ncall and cry to the mountains to fall upon them, but they shall not;\ntherefore, they stand bound to bear their judgment.\n\nThis day will be the day of breaking up of closet-councils,\ncabinet-councils, secret purposes, hidden thoughts; yea, \u2018God shall\nbring every work into judgment, with every secret thing.\u2019 (Eccl 12:14)\nI say he shall do it then; for he will both \u2018bring to light the hidden\nthings of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart.\u2019\n(1 Cor 4:5) This is the day that is appointed to put them to shame and\ncontempt in that have, in this world, been bold and audacious in their\nvile and beastly ways. At this day, God will cover all such bold and\nbrazen faces with shame. Now they will blush till the blood is ready to\nburst through their cheeks. (Dan 12:2) Oh! the confusion and shame that\nwill cover their faces while God is discovering to them what a nasty,\nwhat a beastly, what an uncomely, and what an unreasonable life they\nlived in the world. They shall now see they contemned God, that fed\nthem, that clothed them, that gave them life and limb, and that\nmaintained their breath in their nostrils. But, oh, when they see the\ngulf before them, and all things ready to receive them in thither;\nthen, then they will know what sinning against God means!\n\nAnd, I say, thou that art for coming to God by Christ must know this,\nand be well assured of this, or thou wilt never come to God by him.\n\nWhat of the glory of God shall be put upon them that do indeed come to\nhim will also help in this spiritual journey, if it be well considered\nby thee. But, perhaps, terror and unbelief will suffer thee to consider\nbut little of that. However, the things afore-mentioned will be goads,\nand will serve to prick thee forward; and if they do so, they will be\nGod\u2019s great blessing unto thee, and that for which thou wilt give him\nthy thanks for ever. (Eccl 12:10,11)\n\nThus I have, in few words, spoken something as to the first sort of\ncomers to God by Christ, namely, of the coming of the newly-awakened\nman. And I say again, if any of the things afore-named be wanting, and\nare not with his heart, it is a question whether, notwithstanding all\nthe noise that he may make about religion, he will ever come to God by\nChrist. 1. If he knows not himself and the badness of his condition,\nwherefore should he come? 2. If he knows not the world, and the\nemptiness and vanity thereof, wherefore should he come? 3. If he knows\nnot the law, and the severity thereof, wherefore should he come? 4. If\nhe knows not hell, and the torments thereof, wherefore should he come?\n5. If he knows not what death is, wherefore should he come? 6. And if\nhe knows not the Father and the Son, how can he come? 7. And to know\nthat there is a judgment to come is as necessary to his coming as most\nof the rest of the things propounded. Coming to God by Christ is for\nshelter, for safety, for advantage, and everlasting happiness. But he\nthat knows not, that understands not the things afore-mentioned, sees\nnot his need of taking shelter, of flying for safety, of coming for\nadvantage to God by Christ. I know there are degrees of this knowledge,\nand he that has it most warm upon him, in all likelihood, will make\nmost haste; or, as David saith, will hasten his escape \u2018from the windy\nstorm and tempest\u2019; and he that sees least is in most danger of being\nthe loiterer, and so of losing the prize; for all that run do not\nobtain it; all that fight do not win it; and ALL that strive for it\nhave it not. (Psa 55:8, 1 Cor 9:24-26, 2 Tim 2:4,5)\n\n[Of the backslider\u2019s return to Christ.]\n\nSecond, I shall now come to the second man mentioned; to wit, the man\nthat is turning back from his backsliding, and speak something also\nabout his coming again to God by Christ.\n\nThere are two things remarkable in the returning of a backslider to God\nby Christ. 1. The first is, he gives a second testimony to the truth of\nall things spoken of before. 2. He also gives a second testimony of the\nnecessity of coming to God by Christ. Of the manner of his coming to\nGod by Christ perhaps I may also speak a word or two. But,\n\n1. The returning again of the backslider gives a second testimony to\nthe truth of man\u2019s state being by nature miserable, of the vanity of\nthis world, of the severity of the law, certainty of death, and\nterribleness of judgment to come. His first coming told them so, but\nhis second coming tells them so with a double confirmation of the\ntruth. It is so, saith his first coming. Oh! it is so, saith his\nsecond. The backsliding of a Christian comes through the overmuch\npersuading of Satan and lust, that the man was mistaken, and that there\nwas no such horror in the things from which he fled, nor so much good\nin the things to which he hasted. Turn again, fool, says the devil,\nturn again to thy former course; I wonder what frenzy it was that drove\nthee to thy heels, and that made thee leave so much good behind thee,\nas other men find in the lusts of the flesh and the good of the world.\nAs for the law, and death, and an imagination of the day of judgment,\nthey are but mere scarecrows, set up by politic heads, to keep the\nignorant in subjection. Well, says the backslider, I will go back again\nand see; so, fool as he is, he goes back, and has all things ready to\nentertain him; his conscience sleeps, the world smiles, flesh is sweet,\ncarnal company compliments him, and all that can be got is presented to\nthis backslider to accommodate him. But, behold, he doth again begin to\nsee his own nakedness, and he perceives that the law is whetting his\naxe. As for the world, he perceives it is a bubble; he also smells the\nsmell of brimstone, for God hath scattered it upon his tabernacle, and\nit begins to burn within him. (Job 18:15) Oh! saith he, I am deluded;\noh! I am ensnared. My first sight of things was true. I see it is so\nagain. Now he begins to be for flying again to his first refuge; O God,\nsaith he, I am undone, I have turned from thy truth to lies! I believed\nthem such at first, and find them such at last. Have mercy upon me, O\nGod!\n\nThis, I say, is a testimony, a second testimony, by the same man, as to\nthe miserable state of man, the severity of the law, the emptiness of\nthe world, the certainty of death, and the terribleness of judgment.\nThis man hath seen it, and seen it again.\n\nA returning backslider is a great blessing, I mean intended to be so,\nto two sorts of men\u20141. To the elect uncalled. 2. To the elect that are\ncalled, and that at present stand their ground. The uncalled are made\nto hear him, and consider; the called are made to hear him, and are\nafraid of falling. Behold, therefore, the mystery of God\u2019s wisdom, and\nhow willing he is that spectators should be warned and made take heed.\nYea, he will permit that some of his own shall fall into the fire, to\nconvince the world that hell is hot, and to warn their brethren to take\nheed that they slip not with their feet. I have often said in my heart\nthat this was the cause why God suffered so many of the believing Jews\nto fall; to wit, that the Gentiles might take heed. (Rom 11:21) O,\nbrethren! saith the backslider that is returned, did you see how I left\nmy God? did you see how I turned again to those vanities from which\nsome time before I fell? O! I was deluded, I was bewitched, I was\ndeceived; for I found all things from which I fled at first still worse\nby far when I went to them the second time. Do not backslide. Oh! do\nnot backslide. the first ground of your departing from them was good;\nnever tempt God a second time.\n\n2. And as he gives us a second testimony, that the world and himself\nare so as at first he believed they were, so by this his returning he\ntestifies that God and Christ are the same, and much more than ever he\nbelieved at first they were. This man has made a proof before and a\nproof after conviction of the evil of the one and good of the other.\nThis man has made a proof by feeling and seeing, and that before and\nafter grace received. This man God has set up to be a witness; this man\nis two men, has the testimony of two men, must serve in the place of\ntwo men. He knows what it is to be fetched from a state of nature by\ngrace; but this all Christians know as well as he. Ay, but he knows\nwhat it is to be fetched from the world, from the devil, and hell, the\nsecond time; and that but few professors know, for few that fall away\nreturn to do again. (Heb 6:4-8) Ay, but this man is come again,\nwherefore there is news in his mouth, sad news, dreadful news, and news\nthat is to make the standing saint to take heed lest he fall. The\nreturning backslider, therefore, is a rare man, a man of worth and\nintelligence, a man to whom the men of the world should flock, and of\nwhom they should learn to fear the Lord God. He also is a man of whom\nthe saints should receive both caution, counsel, and strength in their\npresent standing; and they should, by his harms, learn to serve the\nLord with fear, and to rejoice with trembling. (1 Cor 10:6-13, Isa\n51:11-13, Luke 22:32)\n\nThis man has the second time also had a proof of God\u2019s goodness in his\nChrist unto him, a proof which the standing Christian has not\u2014I would\nnot tempt him that stands to fall; but the good that a returning\nbackslider has received at God\u2019s hands, and at the hand of Christ, is a\ndouble good, he has been converted twice, fetched from the world, and\nfrom the devil, and from himself twice; oh, grace! and has been made to\nknow the stability of God\u2019s covenant, the unchangeableness of God\u2019s\nmind, the sure and lasting truth of his promise in Christ, and of the\nsufficiency of the merits of Christ, over and over.\n\n[The manner of a backslider\u2019s return.]\u2014Of the manner of this man\u2019s\ncoming to God by Christ I shall also speak a word or two. He comes as\nthe newly-awakened sinner comes, and that from the same motives and the\nknowledge of things as he hath over and above (which he had as good\nhave been without), that which the newly-awakened sinner has not; to\nwit, the guilt of his backsliding, which is a guilt of a worse\ncomplexion, of a deeper dye, and of a heavier nature than is any guilt\nelse in the world. He is also attended with fears and doubts that arise\nfrom other reasons and considerations than do the doubts and fears of\nthe newly-awakened man; doubts builded upon the vileness of his\nbacksliding. He has also more dreadful scriptures to consider of, and\nthey will look more wishfully in his face, yea, and will also make him\ntake notice of their grim physiognomy, than has the newly-awakened man.\nBesides, as a punishment of his backsliding, God seems to withdraw the\nsweet influences of his Spirit, and as if he would not suffer him to\npray, nor to repent any more, (Psa 51:11), as if he would now take all\naway from him, and leave him to those lusts and idols that he left his\nGod to follow. Swarms of his new rogueries shall haunt him in every\nplace, and that not only in the guilt, but in the filth and pollution\nof them. (Prov 14:14) None know the things that haunt a backslider\u2019s\nmind, his new sins are all turned talking devils, threatening devils,\nroaring devils, within him. Besides, he doubts of the truth of his\nfirst conversion, consequently he has it lying upon him as a strong\nsuspicion that there was nothing of truth in all his first experience;\nand this also adds lead to his heels, and makes him come, as to sense\nand feeling, more heavy and with the greater difficulty to God by\nChrist. As faithfulness of other men kills him, he cannot see an\nhonest, humble, holy, faithful servant of God, but he is pierced and\nwounded at the heart. Ay, says he within himself, that man fears God,\nthat man hath faithfully followed God, that man, like the elect angels,\nhas kept his place; but I am fallen from my station like a devil. That\nman honoureth God, edifieth the saints, convinceth the world, and\ncondemneth them, and is become heir of the righteousness which is by\nfaith. But I have dishonoured God, stumbled and grieved saints, made\nthe world blaspheme, and, for aught I know, been the cause of the\ndamnation of many! These are the things, I say, together with many more\nof the same kind, that come with him; yea, they will come with him,\nyea, and will stare him in the face, will tell him of his baseness, and\nlaugh him to scorn, all the way that he is coming to God by Christ\u2014I\nknow what I say!\u2014and this makes his coming to God by Christ hard and\ndifficult to him. Besides, he thinks saints will be aware of him, will\nbe shy of him, will be afraid to trust him, yea, will tell his Father\nof him, and make intercession against him, as Elias did against Israel,\n(Rom 11:2), or as the men did that were fellow-servants with him that\ntook his brother by the throat. (Matt 18:31) Shame covereth his face\nall the way he comes; he doth not know what to do; the God he is\nreturning to, is the God that he has slighted, the God before whom he\nhas preferred the vilest lust; and he knows God knows it, and has\nbefore him all his ways. The man that has been a backslider, and is\nreturning to God, can tell strange stories, and yet such as are very\ntrue. No man was in the whale\u2019s belly, and came out again alive, but\nbacksliding and returning Jonah; consequently, no man could tell how he\nwas there, what he felt there, what he saw there, and what workings of\nheart he had when he was there, so well as he.\n\n[The sincere Christian\u2019s coming to God by Christ.]\n\nThird, I come now to the third man\u2014to wit, to the sincere and upright\nman that cometh to God by Christ. And although this may, in some sense,\nbe applicable to the two former, for his coming is not worthy to be\ncounted coming to God, that is, not in sincerity and uprightness, yet\nby such an one I now mean, one that has been called to the faith, and\nthat has in some good measure of sincerity and uprightness therein\nabode with God.\n\nThis man also comes to God by Christ; but his coming is to be\ndistinguished, I mean in the main of it, from the coming of the other\ntwo. The other come for the knowledge of forgiveness, a thing that the\nupright and faithful Christian for the most part has a comfortable\nfaith of, and that for which he is often helped to give thanks to God.\nI do not say he doubteth not, or that he has not his evidences\nsometimes clouded; nor do I say that the knowledge of his\nreconciliation to God by Christ Jesus is so high, so firm, so fixed,\nand steadfast, that it cannot be shaken, or that he needs no more. I\nwill then explain myself. He comes not to God as an unconverted sinner\ncomes; he comes not as a backslider comes when he is returning to God\nfrom his backslidings; but he comes as a son, as one of the household\nof God, and he comes as one that has not, since correction, wickedly\ndeparted from his God.\n\n1. He then comes to God with that access and godly boldness that is\nonly proper to such as himself, that is, to them that walk with God.\n(Rom 5:2) Thus every one that shall be saved doth not do; thus every\none that shall be saved cannot do\u2014to instance the two spoken of before.\n\n2. He comes to God by Christ constantly by prayer, by meditation, by\nevery ordinance. For therefore he maketh use of ordinances, because by\nthem through Christ he getteth into the presence of God. (Psa 27:4)\n\n3. He comes to God through Christ, because he judgeth that God only is\nthat good, that blessedness, that happiness, that is worth looking\nafter; that good and that blessedness that alone can fill the soul to\nthe brim; that good and that happiness that is worthy of our hearts and\nsouls and spirits. Hence David expresseth his coming to God by panting,\nby thirsting, by tears, saying, \u2018My soul panteth after thee, O God.\u2019\nAnd again, \u2018My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God, when shall I\ncome and appear before God?\u2019 (Psa 42:1,2) And again, \u2018I will go to the\naltar of God, unto God, my exceeding joy.\u2019 (Psa 43:4) And hence it was\nthat he so envied the swallow and sparrow, even because they could come\nto the altar of God, where he had promised to give his presence, when\nhe, as I think, by the rage of Saul, was forced to abide remote. \u2018My\nsoul longeth,\u2019 saith he, \u2018yea, even fainteth for the courts of the\nLord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the\nsparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where\nshe may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and\nmy God: Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still\npraising thee.\u2019 Then after a few more words he saith, \u2018For a day in thy\ncourts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper,\u2019 I\nwould choose rather to sit at the threshold of thy house, \u2018than to\ndwell in the tents of wickedness\u2019; and then renders the reason\u2014\u2018For the\nLord is a sun and shield: the Lord gives grace and glory,\u2019 &c. (Psa 84)\n\nThe presence of God, and the glory and soul-ravishing goodness of that\npresence, is a thing that the world understands not, nor can they as\nsuch desire to know what it is.\n\n4. These good men come to God upon other accounts also; for so it is\nthat they have many concerns with God.\n\n[Concern for themselves.]\u2014(1.) They come to him for a more clear\ndiscovery of themselves to themselves, for they desire to know how\nfrail they are, because the more they know that, the more they are\nengaged in their souls to take heed to their ways, and to fear lest\nthey should tempt their God to leave them. (Psa 39:1-8)\n\n(2.) They come to God by Christ for the weakening of their lusts and\ncorruptions; for they are a sore, yea, a plague to a truly sanctified\nsoul. Those, to be rid of which, if it might be, a godly man chooseth\nrather to die than to live. This David did mean when he cried. \u2018Create\nin me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,\u2019 (Psa\n51:10); and Paul, when he cried out, \u2018O wretched man that I am, who\nshall deliver me from the body of this death?\u2019 (Rom 7:24)\n\n(3.) They come to God by Christ for the renewing and strengthening of\ntheir graces. The graces that the godly have received are, and they\nfeel they are, subject to decay; yea, they cannot live without a\ncontinual supply of grace. This is the meaning of that, \u2018Let us have\ngrace,\u2019 and, \u2018Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,\nthat we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.\u2019 (Heb\n4:16)\n\n(4.) They come to God by Christ to be helped against those temptations\nthat they may meet withal. (Matt 6:13) They know that every new\ntemptation has a new snare and a new evil in it; but what snare and\nwhat evil, that at present they know not; but they know their God\nknows, and can deliver out of temptation when we are in, and keep us\nout while we are out.\n\n(5.) They come to God by Christ for a blessing upon that means of grace\nwhich God has afforded for the succour of the soul, and the building of\nit up in the faith; knowing that as the means, so a blessing upon it,\nis from God. (2 Thess 3:1) And for this they have encouragement,\nbecause God has said, \u2018I will abundantly bless her provision: I will\nsatisfy her poor with bread.\u2019 (Psa 132:15)\n\n(6.) They come to God by Christ for the forgiveness of daily\ninfirmities, (Psa 19:12), and for the continuing them in the light of\nhis countenance notwithstanding. Thus he also would always accept them\nand their services, and grant that an answer of peace may be returned\nfrom their Father into their bosoms; for this is the life of their\nsouls. There are a great many such things that the sincere and upright\nman comes to God for, too many here to mention. But again,\n\n[Concern for the church and others.]\u2014(1.) This man also comes to God to\nbeseech him for the flourishing of Christ\u2019s kingdom, which he knows\nwill never be until Antichrist is dead, and till the Spirit be more\nplentifully poured upon us from on high. Therefore he also cries to God\nfor the downfall of the first, and for the pouring out of the other.\n\n(2.) He comes to God for the hastening the gathering in of his elect;\nfor it is an affliction to him to think that so many of those for whom\nChrist died should be still in a posture of hostility against him. (Psa\n122:6)\n\n(3.) He comes to God for a spirit of unity to be poured out among\nbelievers, for, for the divisions of Reuben he has great thoughts of\nheart.\n\n(4.) He comes to God to pray for magistrates, and that God would make\nspeed to set them all to that work that is so desirable to his\nchurch\u2014that is, to \u2018hate the whore,\u2019 \u2018to eat her flesh,\u2019 to \u2018make her\ndesolate,\u2019 \u2018and burn her with fire.\u2019 (1 Tim 2:1, Rev 17:16)\n\n(5.) He comes to God to beg that he would hasten that great and notable\nday, the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus, for he knows that Christ\nwill never be exalted as he must be till then; yea, he also knows that\nGod\u2019s church will never be as she would, and shall, till then. (Rev\n22:20)\n\n(6.) But the main meaning, if I may so call it, of this high text is\nthis, that they that come to God by him\u2014that is, by Christ, are those\nthat come by Christ to God to enjoy him by faith and spirit here, and\nby open vision and unspeakable possession of him in the next world.\nThis is the great design of the soul in its coming to God by Jesus\nChrist, and it comes to him by Jesus Christ because it dares not come\nby itself, and because God himself has made him the way, the new and\nliving way. Here, as I said, the Father meets with that which pleaseth\nhim, and the soul with that which saveth her. Here is righteousness and\nmerits to spare, even righteousness that can justify the ungodly. Here\nis always, how empty soever we be, a fullness of merit always presented\nto God by Christ for my obtaining of that which at any time I want,\nwhether wisdom, grace, Spirit, or any good thing soever; only, since I\nwas upon this subject, I thought a little to touch upon things in this\norder, for the enlarging of thy thoughts, for the conviction of thy\nspirit, for the stirring of thee up to God, and for the showing of thee\nthe good signs of grace where it is, where is abused, and where any are\nseeking after it.\n\n[Inferences from thus coming to God by Christ.]\n\nAnd now I come to draw some inferences from this point also, as I have\nalready done from those going before it. You see that I have now been\nspeaking to you of the man that cometh to God, both with respect to the\nway he comes, as also with respect to the manner of spirit in which he\ncomes; and hence I may well infer,\n\nFirst, That he is no fool, no fool according to the best judgment, that\ncometh to God by Christ. The world indeed will count him one; for the\nthings that be of the Spirit of God are foolishness to them; but\nindeed, and in the verdict of true judgment, he is not so.\n\n1. For that he now seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. He has\nchosen to be concerned with the very head and fountain of wisdom; for\nChrist is the wisdom of God, and the way to the Father by Christ, is\nthe greatest of mysteries; and to choose to walk in that way, the\nfruits of the most sage advice; wherefore he is not a fool that thus\nconcerns himself. (Prov 18:1, 1 Cor 1)\n\n2. It is not a sign of foolishness timely to prevent ruin, is it? They\nare the prudent men that foresee an evil, and hide themselves; and the\nfools, that go on, and are punished. (Prov 18:8, 27:12) Why, this man\nforesees an evil, the greatest evil, sin, and the punishment of the\nsoul for sin in hell; and flies to Christ, who is the refuge that God\nhas provided for penitent sinners; and is this a sign of a fool? God\nmake me such a fool, and thee that readest these lines such a fool, and\nthen we shall be wiser than all men that are counted wise by the wisdom\nof this world. Is it a sign of a fool to agree with one\u2019s adversary\nwhile we are in the way with him, even before he delivereth us to the\njudge? Yea, it is a piece of the highest wisdom.\n\nIs he a fool that chooseth for himself long lasters, or he whose best\nthings will rot in a day? Sinners, \u2018before your pots can feel the\nthorns [before you can see where you are], God shall take you away as\nwith a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.\u2019 (Psa 58:9) But this\nman has provided for things; like the tortoise, he has got a shell on\nhis back, so strong and sound that he fears not to suffer a loaden cart\nto go over him. The Lord is his rock, his defence, his refuge, his high\ntower, unto which he doth continually resort.\n\nWas the unjust steward a fool in providing for himself for hereafter?\nfor providing friends to receive him to harbour when others should turn\nhim out of their doors? (Luke 16:8,9) No more is he that gets another\nhouse for his harbour before death shall turn him out of doors here.\n\n3. As he that cometh to God by Christ is no fool, so he is no\nlittle-spirited fellow. There are a generation of men in this world\nthat count themselves men of the largest capacities, when yet the\ngreatness of their desires lift themselves no higher than to things\nbelow. If they can, with their net of craft and policy, encompass a\nbulky lump of earth, oh what a treasure have they engrossed to\nthemselves! Meanwhile, the man in the text has laid siege to heaven,\nhas found out the way to get into the city, and is resolved, in and by\nGod\u2019s help, to make that his own. Earth is a drossy thing in this man\u2019s\naccount; earthly greatness and splendours are but like vanishing\nbubbles in this man\u2019s esteem. None but God, as the end of his desires,\nnone but Christ, as the means to accomplish this his end, are things\ncounted great by this man. No company now is acceptable to this man but\nthe Spirit of God, Christ and angels, and saints, as fellow-heirs with\nhimself. All other men and things he deals with as strangers and\npilgrims were wont to do. This man\u2019s mind soars higher than the eagle\nor stork of the heavens. He is for musing about things that are above,\nand their glory, and for thinking what shall come to pass hereafter.\n\n4. But as I have showed you what he is not, so now let me, by a few\nwords, tell you what he is.\n\n(1.) Then he is a man concerned for his soul, for his immortal soul.\nThe soul is a thing, though of most worth, least minded by most. The\nsouls of most lie waste while all other things are enclosed. But this\nman has got it by the end, that his soul is of more value than the\nworld, wherefore he is concerned for his soul. Soul concerns are\nconcerns of the highest nature, and concerns that arise from thoughts\nmost deep and ponderous. He never yet knew what belonged to great and\ndeep thoughts that is a stranger to soul concerns. Now the man that\ncomes to God by Christ, is a man that is engaged in soul concerns.\n\n(2.) He is a man whose spirit is subjected to a suitableness to\nspiritual things, for a carnal mind cannot suit with and be delighted\nin these things: \u2018The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is\nnot subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.\u2019 (Rom 8:7) This\nis the man that God has tamed, and keeps tame by himself, while all\nother run wild, as the asses upon the mountains. If birds could speak,\nsurely they would tell that those that are kept in the cage have with\nthem another temper than they that range the air, and fly in the fields\nand woods. Yea, and could those kept tame express themselves to the\nrest, they would tell that they have white bread and milk, and sugar;\nwhile those without make a life out of maggots and worms. They are also\nin place where there are better things, and their companions are the\nchildren of men; besides, they learn such notes, and can whistle such\ntunes, as other birds are strangers to. Oh! the man whose spirit is\nsubjected to God, betwixt whom and God there is a reconciliation, not\nonly as to a difference made up, but also as to a oneness of heart;\nnone knows what lumps of sugar God gives that man, nor what notes and\ntunes God learns that man: \u2018He hath put a new song in my mouth,\u2019 saith\nDavid, \u2018even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and\nshall trust in the Lord.\u2019 (Psa 40:3)\n\nSecond. Is there a man that comes to God by Christ? Thence I infer that\nthere is that believes there is a world to come. No man looks after\nthat which yet he believes is not; faith must be before coming to\nChrist will be; coming is the fruit of faith. He that comes must\nbelieve antecedent to his coming; wherefore it is said, \u2018we walk by\nfaith\u2019\u2014that is, we come to God through Christ by faith. (Heb 11:7, 2\nCor 5:7) And hence I learn two things:\u20141. That faith is of a strong and\nforcible quality. 2. That they who come not to God by Christ have no\nfaith.\n\n1. Faith is of a strong and forcible quality, and that whether it be\ntrue or false.\n\n(1.) A false faith has done great things; it has made men believe lies,\nplead for them, and stand to them, to the damnation of their souls.\n\u2018God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,\u2019\nto their damnation. (2 Thess 2:11,12) Hence it is said, men make lies\n\u2018their refuge.\u2019 Why? Because they \u2018trust in a lie.\u2019 (Jer 28:15) A lie,\nif believed, if a man has faith in it, it will do great things, because\nfaith is of a forcible quality. Suppose thyself to be twenty miles from\nhome, and there some man comes and possesses thee that thy house, thy\nwife and children, are all burned with the fire. If thou believest it,\nthough indeed there should be nothing of truth in what thou hast heard,\nyet will this lie \u2018drink up thy spirit,\u2019 even as if the tidings were\ntrue. How many are there in the world whose heart Satan hath filled\nwith a belief that their state and condition for another world is good?\nand these are made to live by lying hope that all shall be well with\nthem, and so are kept from seeking for that which will make them happy\nindeed. Man is naturally apt and willing to be deceived, and therefore\na groundless faith is the more taking and forcible. Fancy will help to\nconfirm a false faith, and so will conceit and idleness of spirit.\nThere is also in man a willingness to take things upon trust, without\nsearching into the ground and reason of them. Nor will Satan be behind\nhand to prompt and encourage to thy believing of a lie, for that he\nknows will be a means to bring thee to that end to which he greatly\ndesireth thou shouldst come. Wherefore let men beware, and, oh, that\nthey would, of a false and lying faith!\n\n(2.) But if a false faith is so forcible, what is a true? What force, I\nsay, is there in a faith that is begotten by truth, managed by truth,\nfed by truth, and preserved by the truth of God? This faith will make\ninvisible things visible; not fantastically so, but substantially\nso\u2014\u2018Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of\nthings not seen.\u2019 (Heb 11:1) True faith carrieth along with it an\nevidence of the certainty of what it believeth, and that evidence is\nthe infallible Word of God. There is a God, a Christ, a heaven, saith\nthe faith that is good, for the Word of God doth say so. The way to\nthis God and this heaven is by Christ, for the Word of God doth say so.\nIf I run not to this God by this Christ, this heaven shall never be my\nportion, for the Word of God doth say so. So, then, thus believing\nmakes the man come to God by him. His thus believing, then, it is that\ncarries him away from this world, that makes him trample upon this\nworld, and that gives him the victory over this world. \u2018For whatsoever\nis born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that\novercometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the\nworld, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he\nthat came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but\nby water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because\nthe Spirit is truth.\u2019 (1 John 5:4-6)\n\n2. Now if this be true, that faith, true faith, is so forcible a thing\nas to take a man from his seat of ease, and make him to come to God by\nChrist as afore, then, is it not truly inferred from hence that they\nthat come not to God by Christ have no faith. What! is man such a fool\nas to believe things, and yet not look after them? to believe great\nthings, and yet not to concern himself with them? Who would knowingly\ngo over a pearl, and yet not count it worth stooping for? Believe thou\nart what thou art; believe hell is what it is; believe death and\njudgment are coming, as they are; and believe that the Father and the\nSon are, as by the Holy Ghost in the Word they are described, and sit\nstill in thy sins if thou canst. Thou canst not sit still; faith is\nforcible. Faith is grounded upon the voice of God in the Word, upon the\nteaching of God in the Word. And it pleases God by the foolishness of\npreaching to save them that believe; for believing makes them heartily\nclose in with, and embrace what by the Word is set before them, because\nit seeth the reality of them.\n\nShall God speak to man\u2019s soul, and shall not man believe? Shall man\nbelieve what God says, and nothing at all regard it? It cannot be.\n\u2018Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.\u2019 And we know\nthat when faith is come, it purifies the heart of what is opposite to\nGod, and the salvation of the soul.\n\nSo, then, those men that are at ease in a sinful course, or that come\nnot to God by Christ, they are such as have no faith, and must\ntherefore perish with the vile and unbelievers. (Rev 21:8)\n\nThe whole world is divided into two sorts of men\u2014believers and\nunbelievers. The godly are called believers; and why believers, but\nbecause they are they that have given credit to the great things of the\ngospel of God? These believers are here in the text called also comers,\nor they that come to God by Christ, because whoso believes will come;\nfor coming is a fruit of faith in the habit, or, if you will, it is\nfaith in exercise; yet faith must have a being in the soul before the\nsoul can put it into act.\n\nThis therefore further evidences that they that come not, have no\nfaith, are not believers, belong not to the household of faith, and\nmust perish\u2014\u2018For he that believes not, shall be damned.\u2019\n\nNor will it be to any boot14 to say, I believe there is a God and a\nChrist, for still thy sitting still doth demonstrate that either thou\nliest in what thou sayest, or that thou believest with a worse than a\nfalse faith. But the object of my faith is true. I answer, so is the\nobject of the faith of devils; for they believe that there is one God\nand one Christ, yet their faith, as to the root and exercise of it, is\nnotwithstanding no such faith as is that faith that saves, or that is\nintended in the text, and that by which men come to God through Christ.\nWherefore still, oh, thou slothful one, thou deceivest thyself! Thy not\ncoming to God by Christ declareth to thy face that thy faith is not\ngood, consequently, that thou feedest on ashes, and thy deceived heart\nhas turned thee aside, that thou canst not deliver thy soul, nor say,\n\u2018Is there not a lie in my right hand?\u2019 (Isa 44:20)\n\nThird. Is there a man that comes to God by Christ? Thence I infer that\nthe world to come is better than this; yea, so much better as to quit\ncost and bear charges of coming to God, from this, by Christ, to that.\nThough there is a world to come, yet if it were no better than this,\none had as good stay here as seek that, or if it were better than this,\nand would bear charges if a man left this for that, and that was all,\nstill the one would be as good as the other. But the man that comes to\nGod by Christ, has chosen the world that is infinitely good; a world,\nbetwixt which and this there can be no comparison. This must be\ngranted, because he that comes to God by Christ is said to have made\nthe best choice, even chose a city that has foundations. (Heb 11:10)\nThere are several things that make it manifest enough that he that\ncomes to God by Christ has made the best market, or chose the best\nworld.\n\n1. That is the world which God commendeth, but this that that he\nslighteth and contemneth. (2 Thess 1:5,6) Hence that is called the\nkingdom of God, but this an \u2018evil world.\u2019 (Gal 1:4) Now let us\nconclude, that since God made both, he is able to judge which of the\ntwo are best; yea, best able so to judge thereof. I choose the rather\nto refer you to the judgment of God in this matter, for should I put\nyou upon asking of him as to this, that is, coming to God by Christ,\nperhaps you would say, he is as little able to give an account of this\nmatter as yourselves. But I hope you think God knows, and therefore I\nrefer you to the judgment of God, which you have in the Scriptures of\ntruth\u2014\u2018Heaven is his throne, and the earth is his footstool.\u2019 I hope\nyou will say here is some difference. The Lord is the God of that, the\ndevil the god and prince of this. Thus also it appears there is some\ndifference between them.\n\n2. That world, and those that are counted worthy of it, shall all be\neverlasting; but so shall not this, nor the inhabiters of it. The earth\nwith the works thereof shall be burned up, and the men that are of it\nshall die in like manner. (2 Peter 3) \u2018But Israel shall be saved in the\nLord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor\nconfounded world without end.\u2019 (Isa 45:17) This world, with the lovers\nof it, will end in a burning hell; but the world to come fadeth not\naway. (1 Peter 1:3,4)\n\n3. The world that we are now in, has its best comforts mixed either\nwith crosses or curses; but that to come with neither. There shall be\nno more curse: and as for crosses, all tears shall be wiped from the\neyes of them that dwell there. There will be nothing but ravishing\npleasures, and holy; there will be no cessation of joys, nor any speck\nof pollution. \u2018In thy presence is fullness of joy, at thy right hand\nthere are pleasures for evermore.\u2019 (Psa 16:11)\n\n4. There men shall be made like angels, \u2018neither can they die any\nmore.\u2019 (Luke 20:35,36) There shall they behold the face of God and his\nSon, and swim in the enjoyment of them for ever.\n\n5. There men shall see themselves beyond all misery, and shall know\nthat it will be utterly impossible that either anything like sorrow, or\ngrief, or sickness, or discontent, should touch them more.\n\n6. There men shall be rewarded of God for what they have done and\nsuffered according to his will for his sake; there they shall eat and\ndrink their comforts, and wear them to their everlasting consolation.\n\n7. They are all kings that go to that world, and so shall be proclaimed\nthere. They shall also be crowned with crowns, and they shall wear\ncrowns of life and glory, crowns of everlasting joy, crowns of\nlovingkindness; yea, \u2018In that day the Lord of hosts himself shall be\nfor a crown of glory to those that are his people.\u2019 (Heb 2:7, Isa 28:5,\n35:10, Psa 103:4) Now, if this world, though no more could be said of\nit than is said in these few lines, is not infinitely far better than\nwhat the present world is, I have missed it in my thoughts. But the\ncoming man, the man that comes to God by Christ, is satisfied, knows\nwhat he does; and if his way, all his way thither, were strewed with\nburning coals, he would choose, God helping him, to tread that path\nrather than to have his portion with them that perish.\n\nFourth, If there be a world to come, and such a way to it so safe and\ngood, and if God is there to be enjoyed by them that come to him by\nChrist; then this shows the great madness of the most of men, madness,\nI say, of the highest degree, for that they come not to God by Christ\nthat they may be inheritors of the world to come. It is a right\ncharacter which Solomon gives of them, \u2018The heart,\u2019 saith he, \u2018of the\nsons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they\nlive, and after that they go to the dead.\u2019 (Eccl 9:3) A madman is\nintent upon his toys, upon anything but that about which he should be\nintent; and so are they that come not to God by Jesus Christ. A madman\nhas neither ears to hear, nor a heart to do, what they that are in\ntheir right wits advise him for the best, no more have they that come\nnot to God by Christ. A madman sets more by the straws and cock\u2019s\nfeathers by which he decks himself, than he does by all the pearls and\njewels in the world. And they that come not to God by Christ set more\nby the vanishing bubbles of this life than they do by that glory that\nthe wise man shall inherit; \u2018The wise shall inherit glory, but shame,\u2019\nsays Solomon, \u2018shall be the promotion of fools.\u2019 What a shame it is to\nsee God\u2019s jewels lie unregarded of them that yet think none are wiser\nthan themselves.\n\nI know the wise men of this world will scorn one should think of them\nthat they are mad; but verily it is so, the more wise for this world,\nthe more fool in God\u2019s matters; and the more obstinately they stand in\ntheir way, the more mad. When Solomon gave himself to backsliding, he\nsaith he gave himself to folly and madness. (Eccl 1:17, 2:12) And when\nhe went about to search out what man is since the fall, he went about\nto search out foolishness and madness. (Eccl 7:25-29) And is it not\nsaid, that when the Jews were angry with Jesus for that he did good on\nthe Sabbath, that that anger did flow from their being filled with\nmadness? Doth not Paul also, while he opposed himself against Christ,\nthe gospel, and professors thereof, plainly tell us that he did it even\nfrom the highest pitch of madness? \u2018And being exceedingly mad against\nthem, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.\u2019 (Acts 26:11) Now if\nit is exceeding madness to do thus, how many at this day must be\ncounted exceeding mad, who yet count themselves the only sober men?\nThey oppose themselves, they stand in their own light, they are against\ntheir own happiness, they cherish and nourish cockatrices in their own\nbosoms; they choose to themselves those paths which have written upon\nthem in large characters, These are the ways of death and damnation.\nThey are offended with them that endeavour to pull them out of their\nditch, and choose rather to lie and die there than to go to God by\nChrist that they may be saved from wrath through him; yea, so mad are\nthey, that they count the most sober, the most godly, the most holy\nman, the mad one; the more earnest for life, the more mad; the more in\nthe Spirit, the more mad; the more desirous to promote the salvation of\nothers, the more mad. But is not this a sign of madness, of madness\nunto perfection? And yet thus mad are many, and mad are all they that\nwhile it is called to-day, while their door is open, and while the\ngolden sceptre of the golden grace of the blessed God is held forth,\nstand in their own light, and come not to God by Christ. (John 10:20,\nActs 26:24) That is the fourth inference.\n\nFifth, A fifth inference that I gather from this text is, that the end\nthat God will make with men will be according as they come or come not\nto God by Christ. They that come to God by Christ have taken shelter\nand have hid themselves; but they that come not to God by Christ lay\nthemselves open to the windy storm and tempest that will be in that\nday. And the wind then will be high, and the tempest strong, that will\nblow upon them that shall be found in themselves; \u2018Our God shall come,\nand shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it\nshall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens\nfrom above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.\u2019 (Psa\n50:3,4) And now, what will be found in that day to be the portion of\nthem that in this day do not come to God by Christ? None knows but God,\nwith whom the reward of unbelievers is.\n\nBut writing and preaching is in vain as to such; let men say what they\nwill, what they can, to persuade to come, to dissuade from neglecting\nto come, they are resolved not to stir. They will try if God will be so\nfaithful to himself and to his Word, as to dare to condemn them to hell\nfire that have refused to hear and comply with the voice of him that\nspeaketh from heaven.\n\nBut this is but a desperate venture. Several things declare that He is\ndetermined to be at a point in this matter\u2014\n\n1. The gallows are built\u2014hell is prepared for the wicked. 2. There are\nthose already in chains, and stand bound over to the judgment of that\nday, that are, as to creation, higher and greater than men, to wit, the\nangels that sinned. (2 Peter 2:4) Let sinners, then, look to\nthemselves. 3. The Judge is prepared and appointed, and it hath fallen\nout to be HE that thou hast refused to come to God by; and that\npredicts no good to thee; for then will he say of all such, \u2018Those mine\nenemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither,\nand slay them before me.\u2019 (Luke 19:27)\n\nBut what a surprise will it be to them that now have come to God by\nChrist to see themselves in heaven indeed, saved indeed, and possessed\nof everlasting life indeed. For alas! what is faith to possession?\nFaith that is mixed with many fears, that is opposed with many\nassaults, and that seems sometimes to be quite extinguished; I say,\nwhat is that to a seeing of myself in heaven? Hence it is said, that he\nshall then come to be admired in them that now believe, because they\ndid here believe the testimony; then they shall admire that it was\ntheir lot to believe when they were in the world. (2 Thess 1:10) They\nshall also admire to think, to see, and behold, what believing has\nbrought them to, while the rest, for refusing to come to God by Christ,\ndrink their tears mixed with burning brimstone.\n\nRepentance will not be found in heaven among them that come to God by\nChrist; no, hell is the place of untimely repentance; it is there where\nthe tears will be mixed with gnashing of teeth, while they consider how\nmad, and worse, they were in not coming to God by Jesus Christ.\n\nThen will their hearts and mouths be full of, \u2018Lord, Lord, open unto\nus.\u2019 But the answer will be, Ye shut me out of doors; \u2018I was a\nstranger, and ye took me not in\u2019; besides, you refused to come to my\nFather by me, wherefore now you must go from my Father by me. (Matt 25)\n\nThey that will not be saved by Christ, must be damned by Christ; no man\ncan escape one of the two. Refuse the first they may, but shun the\nsecond they cannot. And now they that would not come unto God by Christ\nwill have leisure and time enough, if I may call it time, to consider\nwhat they have done in refusing to come to God by Christ. Now they will\nmeditate warmly on this thing, now their thoughts will be burning hot\nabout it, and it is too late, will be, in each thought, such a sting,\nthat, like a bow of steel, it will continually strike him through.\n\nNow they will bless those whom formerly they have despised, and commend\nthose they once contemned. Now would the rich man willingly change\nplaces with poor Lazarus, though he preferred his own condition before\nhis in the world. The day of judgment will bring the worst to rights in\ntheir opinions; they will not be capable of misapprehending any more.\nThey will never after that day put bitter for sweet, or darkness for\nlight, or evil for good any more. Their madness will now be gone. Hell\nwill be the unbeliever\u2019s bedlam house, and there God will tame them as\nto all those bedlam tricks and pranks which they played in this world,\nbut not at all to their profit nor advantage; the gulf that God has\nplaced and fixed betwixt heaven and hell will spoil all as to that.\n(Luke 16:23-26)\n\nBut what a joy will it be to the truly godly to think now that they are\ncome to God by Christ! It was their mercy to begin to come, it was\ntheir happiness that they continued coming; but it is their glory that\nthey are come, that they are come to God by Christ. To God! why, he is\nall! all that is good, essentially good, and eternally good. To God!\nthe infinite ocean of good. To God, in friendly-wise, by the means of\nreconciliation; for the other now will be come to him to receive his\nanger, because they come not to him by Jesus Christ. Oh! that I could\nimagine; oh! that I could think, that I might write more effectually to\nthee of the happy estate of them that come to God by Christ.\n\nBut thus have I passed through the three former things, namely, 1. That\nof the intercession of Christ. 2. That of the benefit of intercession.\n3. That of the persons that are interested in this intercession.\n\n[IV. EVERY SINCERE COMER CERTAIN OF SALVATION.]\n\n\nWherefore now I come to the fourth and last head, and that is, TO SHOW\nYOU THE CERTAINTY OF THEIR REAPING THE BENEFIT OF HIS INTERCESSION.\n\u2018Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto\nGod by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.\u2019\n\n[Christ ever living is the safety of comers.]\n\nThe certainty of their reaping the benefit of being saved that come\nunto God by Christ is thus expressed: \u2018Seeing he ever liveth to make\nintercession for them.\u2019 The intercession of Christ, and the lastingness\nof it, is a sure token of the salvation of them that come unto God by\nhim.\n\nOf his intercession, what it is, and for whom, we have spoken already;\nof the success and prevalency of it, we have also spoken before; but\nthe reason of its successfulness of that we are to speak now. And that\nreason, as the apostle suggesteth, lies in the continuance of it,\n\u2018Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession.\u2019 The apostle also makes\nvery much of the continuation of the priesthood of Christ in other\nplaces of this epistle: he abides a priest continually, \u2018Thou art a\npriest for ever.\u2019 He \u2018hath an unchangeable priesthood.\u2019 (Heb\n7:3,17,21,24) And here he \u2018ever liveth to make intercession.\u2019\n\nNow, by the text is showed the reason why he so continually harpeth\nupon the durableness of it, namely, for that by the unchangeableness of\nthis priesthood we are saved; nay, saved demonstratively, apparently;\nit is evident we are. \u2018He is also able to save them to the uttermost\nthat come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession\nfor them.\u2019 For,\n\nFirst, The durableness of his intercession proves that the covenant in\nwhich those who come to God by him are concerned and wrapt up is not\nshaken, broken, or made invalid by all their weaknesses and\ninfirmities.\n\nChrist is a priest according to covenant, and in all his acts of\nmediation he has regard to that covenant; so long as that covenant\nabides in its strength, so long Christ\u2019s intercession is of worth.\nHence, when God cast the old high priest out of doors, he renders this\nreason for his so doing: \u2018Because they continued not in my covenant\u2019;\nthat is, neither priests nor people. Therefore were they cast out of\nthe priesthood, and the people pulled down as to a church state. (Heb\n7:6-9) Now, the covenant by which Christ acteth, as a priest, so far as\nwe are concerned therein, he also himself acteth our part, being,\nindeed, the Head and Mediator of the body; wherefore, God doth not\ncount that the covenant is broken, though we sin, if Christ Jesus our\nLord is found to do by it what by law is required of us. Therefore he\nsaith, \u2018If his children break my law, and keep not my commandments, I\nwill visit their sins with a rod,\u2019 &c. But their sins shall not shake\nmy covenant with my Beloved, nor cause that I for ever should reject\nthem. \u2018My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone\nout of my lips. His seed will I make to endure for ever, his seed shall\nendure for ever.\u2019 (Psa 89:30-36) Hence, it is clear that the covenant\nstands good to us as long as Christ stands good to God, or before his\nface; for he is not only our Mediator by covenant, but he himself is\nour conditions to God-ward; therefore he is said to be \u2018a covenant of\nthe people,\u2019 or that which the holy God, by law, required of us. (Isa\n42:6) Hence, again, he is said to be our justice or righteousness; to\nwit, which answereth to what is required of us by the law. He is made\nunto us of God so, and in our room and in our stead presenteth himself\nto God. So, then, if any ask me by what Christ\u2019s priesthood is\ncontinued, I answer, by covenant; for that the covenant by which he is\nmade priest abideth of full force. If any ask whether the church is\nconcerned in that covenant, I answer, yea; yet so as that all points\nand parts thereof, that concern life and death everlasting, is laid\nupon his shoulders, and he alone is the doer of it. He is the Lord our\nrighteousness, and he is the Saviour of the body, so that my sins break\nnot the covenant; but them15 notwithstanding, God\u2019s covenant stands\nfast with him, with him for evermore. And good reason, if no fault can\nbe found with Christ, who is the person that did strike hands with his\nFather upon our account and for us; to wit, to do what was meet should\nbe found upon us when we came to appear before God by him.\n\nAnd that God himself doth so understand this matter is evident; because\nhe also, by his own act, giveth and imputeth to us that good that we\nnever did, that righteousness which we never wrought out; yea, and for\nthe sake of that transmitteth our sins unto Christ, as to one that had\nnot only well satisfied for them, but could carry them so far, both\nfrom us and from God, that they should never again come to be charged\non the committers, to death and damnation. (Rom 4:1-5) The Scriptures\nare so plentiful for this, that he must be a Turk, or a Jew, or an\natheist that denies it. Besides, God\u2019s commanding that men should\nbelieve in his Son unto righteousness well enough proveth this thing,\nand the reason of this command doth prove it with an over and above; to\nwit, \u2018For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we\nmight be made the righteousness of God in him.\u2019 (2 Cor 5:19-21) Hence\ncomes out that proclamation from God, at the rising again of Christ\nfrom the dead: \u2018Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that\nthrough this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by\nhim all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could\nnot be justified by the law of Moses.\u2019 (Acts 13:38,39)\n\nIf this be so, as indeed it is, then here lieth a great deal of this\nconclusion, \u2018he ever liveth to make intercession,\u2019 and of the\ndemonstration of the certain salvation of him that cometh to God by\nhim, \u2018seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.\u2019 For if\nChrist Jesus is a priest by covenant, and so abides as the covenant\nabides, and if, since the covenant is everlasting, his priesthood is\nunchangeable, then the man that cometh to God by him must needs be\ncertainly saved; for if the covenant, the covenant of salvation, is not\nbroken, none can show a reason why he that comes to Christ should be\ndamned, or why the priesthood of Jesus Christ should cease. Hence,\nafter the apostle had spoken of the excellency of his person and\npriesthood, he then shows that the benefit of the covenant of God\nremaineth with us, namely, that grace should be communicated unto us\nfor his priesthood\u2019s sake, and that our sins and iniquities God would\nremember no more. (Heb 8:10-12; 10:16-22) Now, as I also have already\nhinted, if this covenant, of which the Lord Jesus is Mediator and High\nPriest, has in the bowels of it, not only grace and remission of sins,\nbut a promise that we shall be partakers thereof, through the blood of\nhis priesthood, for so it comes to us; then, why should not we have\nboldness, not only to come to God by him, but to enter also \u2018into the\nholiest by the blood of Jesus, by that new and living way,\u2019 &c.\n\nSecond, But, further, this priesthood, as to the unchangeableness of\nit, is confirmed unto him \u2018with an oath, by him that said unto him, the\nLord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever.\u2019 This oath\nseems to me to be for the confirmation of the covenant, as it is worded\nbefore by Paul to the Galatians, (Gal 3:15-17), when he speaks of it\nwith respect to that establishment that it also had on Christ\u2019s part by\nthe sacrifice which he offered to God for us; yea, he then speaks of\nthe mutual confirmation of it both by the Father and the Son. Now, I\nsay, since, by this covenant he stands and abides a Priest, and since\n\u2018the Lord sware, and will not repent, saying, Thou art a priest for\never,\u2019 we are still further confirmed in the certain salvation of him\nthat cometh to God by Christ.\n\nThe Lord, by swearing, confirmeth to Christ, and so to us in him, the\nimmutability of his counsel, (Heb 6:16-18), and that he is utterly\nunchangeable in his resolutions \u2018to save them to the uttermost that\ncome to God by Christ.\u2019 And this also shows that this covenant, and so\nthe promise of remission of sins, is steadfast and unmovable. And it is\nworth your noting the manner and nature of this oath, \u2018The Lord sware,\nand will not repent.\u2019 It is as much as to say, What I have now sworn I\nbind me for ever to stand to, or, I determine never to revoke; and that\nis, \u2018That thou art a priest for ever.\u2019 Now, as was said before, since\nhis priesthood stands by covenant, and this covenant of his priesthood\nis confirmed by this oath, it cannot be but that he that comes by him\nto God must be accepted of him; for should such a one be rejected, it\nmust be either for the greatness of his sins, or for want of merit in\nthe sacrifice he presented and urged, as to the merit of it, before the\nmercy-seat. But let the reason specified be what it will, the\nconsequence falls harder upon the sacrifice of Christ than it can do\nanywhere else, and so also upon the covenant, and at last upon God\nhimself, who has sworn, and will not repent, that he is a Priest for\never. I thus discourse, to show you what dangerous conclusions follow\nfrom a conceit that some that come to God by Christ shall not be saved,\nthough \u2018he ever liveth to make intercession for them.\u2019 And this I have\nfurther to say, that the Lord\u2019s swearing, since the manner of the oath\nis such as it is, and that it also tended to establish to Christ his\npriesthood to be unchangeable, it declareth that, as to the excellency\nof his sacrifice, he is eternally satisfied in the goodness and merit\nof it; and that he will never deny him anything that he shall ask for\nat his hands for his sufferings\u2019 sake. For this oath doth not only show\nGod\u2019s firm resolution to keep his part of the covenant, in giving to\nChrist that which was covenanted for by him, but it declareth that, in\nthe judgment of God, Christ\u2019s blood is able to save any sinner, and\nthat he will never put stop nor check to his intercession, how great\nsoever the sinners be that at any time he shall intercede for; so that\nthe demonstration is clearer and clearer, \u2018He is able to save them to\nthe uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make\nintercession for them.\u2019\n\nThird, This unchangeableness of the priesthood of Christ dependeth also\nupon his own life: \u2018This man, because he continueth ever, hath an\nunchangeable priesthood.\u2019 (Heb 7:24) Now although, perhaps, at first\nmuch may not appear in this text, yet the words that we are upon take\ntheir ground from them. \u2018This man, because he continueth ever, hath an\nunchangeable priesthood: wherefore he is able also\u2019\u2014that is, by his\nunchangeable priesthood\u2014\u2018to save them to the uttermost that come unto\nGod by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.\u2019\n\nThe life of Christ, then, is a ground of the lastingness of his\npriesthood, and so a ground of the salvation of them that come unto God\nby him: \u2018We shall be saved by his life.\u2019 (Rom 5:10) Wherefore, in\nanother place, this his life is spoken of with great emphasis\u2014the power\nof an endless life. \u2018He is made [a priest], not after the law of a\ncarnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.\u2019 (Heb 7:16)\nAn endless life is, then, a powerful thing; and indeed two things are\nvery considerable in it\u20141. That it is above death, and so above him\nthat hath the power of death, the devil. 2. In that it capacitates him\nto be the last in his own cause, and so to have the casting voice.\n\n1. We will speak to the first, and for the better setting of it forth\nwe will show what life it is of which the apostle here speaks; and then\nhow, as to life, it comes to be so advantageous, both with respect to\nhis office of priesthood and us.\n\nWhat life is it that is thus the ground of his priesthood? It is a life\ntaken, his own life rescued from the power of the grave; a life that we\nhad forfeited, he being our surety; and a life that he recovered again,\nhe being the Captain of our salvation: I lay down my life that I may\ntake it again: \u2018this commandment have I received of my Father.\u2019 (John\n10:18) It is a life, then, that was once laid down as the price of\nman\u2019s redemption, and a life won, gained, taken, or recovered again, as\nthe token or true effect of the completing, by so dying, that\nredemption; wherefore it is said again, \u2018In that he died, he died unto\nsin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.\u2019 (Rom 6:10) He\nliveth as having pleased God by dying for our sins, as having merited\nhis life by dying for our sins. Now if this life of his is a life\nmerited and won by virtue of the death that he died, as Acts 2:24 doth\nclearly manifest; and if this life is the ground of the\nunchangeableness of this part of his priesthood, as we see it is, then\nit follows that this second part of his priesthood, which is called\nhere intercession, is grounded upon the demonstrations of the virtue of\nhis sacrifice, which is his life taken to live again; so, then, he\nholds this part of his priesthood, not by virtue of a carnal\ncommandment, but by the power of an endless life; but by the power of a\nlife rescued from death, and eternally exalted above all that any ways\nwould yet assault it; for \u2018Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no\nmore; death hath no more dominion over him.\u2019 (Rom 6:9) Hence Christ\nbrings in his life, the life that he won to himself by his death, to\ncomfort John withal when he fainted under the view of that overcoming\nglory that he saw upon Christ in his vision of him at Patmos: \u2018And he\nlaid his right hand upon me,\u2019 said he, \u2018saying unto me, Fear not; I am\nthe first and the last: I am he that liveth and was dead, and, behold,\nI am alive for evermore. Amen.\u2019 (Rev 1:17,18) Why should Christ bring\nin his life to comfort John, if it was not a life advantageous to him?\nBut the advantageousness of it doth lie not merely in the being of\nlife, but in that it was a life laid down for his sins, and a life\ntaken up again for his justification; a life lost to ransom him, and a\nlife won to save him; as also the text affirmeth, saying, \u2018He is able\nto save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him, seeing he ever\nliveth to make intercession for them.\u2019\n\nAgain; it is yet more manifest that Christ receiving of his life again\nwas the death and destruction of the enemy of his people; and to\nmanifest that it was so, therefore he adds (after he had said, \u2018And,\nbehold, I am alive for evermore. Amen\u2019), \u2018And I have the keys of hell\nand of death.\u2019 I have the power over them; I have them under me; I\ntread them down by being a victor, a conqueror, and one that has got\nthe dominion of life (for he now is the Prince of life), one that lives\nfor evermore. Amen. Hence it is said again, He \u2018hath abolished death,\nand brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.\u2019 (2 Tim\n1:10) He hath abolished death by his death (by death he destroyed him\nthat had the power of death, that is, the devil), and brought life (a\nvery emphatical expression); and brought it from whence? From God, who\nraised him from the dead; and brought it to light, to our view and\nsight, by the word of the truth of the gospel.\n\nSo, then, the life that he now hath is a life once laid down as the\nprice of our redemption; a life obtained and taken to him again as the\neffect of the merit that was in the laying down thereof; a life by the\nvirtue of which death, and sin, and the curse is overcome; and so a\nlife that is above them for ever. This is the life that he liveth\u2014to\nwit, this meriting, purchasing, victorious life\u2014and that he improveth\nwhile he ever so lives to make intercession for us.\n\nThis life, then, is a continual plea and argument with God for them\nthat come to him by Christ, should he make no other intercession, but\nonly show to God that he liveth; because his thus living saith, that he\nhas satisfied for the sins of them that come unto God by him. It\ntestifies, moreover, that those\u2014to wit, death, the grave, and hell\u2014are\novercome by him for them; because indeed he liveth, and hath their\nkeys. But now, add to life, to a life meritorious, intercession, or an\nurging of this meritorious life by way of prayer for his, and against\nall those that seek to destroy them, since they themselves also have\nbeen already overcome by his death, and what an encouraging\nconsideration is here for all them that come to God by him, to hope for\nlife eternal. But,\n\n2. Let us speak a word to the second head\u2014namely, for that his living\nfor ever capacitates him to be the last in his own cause, and to have\nthe casting voice, and that is an advantage next to what is chiefest.\n\nHis cause; what is his cause? but that the death that he died when he\nwas in the world was and is of merit sufficient to secure all those\nfrom hell, or, as the text has it, to save them that come unto God by\nhim, to save them to the uttermost. Now, if this cause be faulty, why\ndoth he live? yea, he liveth by the power of God, by the power of God\ntowards us; or with a respect to our welfare, for he liveth to make\nintercession, intercession against Satan our accuser, for us. (2 Cor\n13:4) Besides, he liveth before God, and to God, and that after he had\ngiven his life a ransom for us. What can follow more clearly from this,\nbut that amends were made by him for those souls for whose sins he\nsuffered upon the tree? Wherefore, since his Father has given him his\nlife and favour, and that after he died for our sins, it cannot be\nthought but that the life he now liveth, is a life that he received as\nthe effect of the merit of his passion for us.\n\nGod is just, and yet Christ liveth, and yet Christ liveth in heaven!\nGod is just, and yet Christ our passover liveth there, do what our foes\ncan to the contrary!\n\nAnd this note, by the way, that though the design of Satan against us,\nin his labouring continually to accuse us to God, and to prevail\nagainst our salvation, seems to terminate here, yet indeed it is also\nlaid against the very life of Christ, and that his priesthood might be\nutterly overthrown; and, in conclusion, that God also might be found\nunjust in receiving of such whose sins have not been satisfied for, and\nso whose souls are yet under the power of the devil. For he that\nobjects against him for whom Christ intercedes, objects against Christ\nand his merits; and he that objects against Christ\u2019s intercession,\nobjects against God, who has made him a priest for ever. Behold you,\ntherefore, how the cause of God, of Christ, and of the souls that come\nto God by him are interwoven; they are all wrapt up in one bottom.\nMischief one, and you mischief all; overthrow that soul, and you\noverthrow his intercessor; and overthrow him, and you overthrow even\nhim that made him a priest for ever. For the text is without\nrestriction: \u2018He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto\nGod by him.\u2019 He saith not, now and then one, or sinners of an inferior\nrank in sin, but them that come to God by him, how great soever their\ntransgressions are, as is clear in that it addeth this clause, \u2018to the\nuttermost.\u2019 \u2018He is able to save them to the uttermost.\u2019 But if he were\nnot, why did the King send, yea, come and loose him, and let him go\nfree; yea, admit him into his presence; yea, make him Lord over all his\npeople, and deliver all things into his hand?\n\nBut he liveth, he ever liveth, and is admitted to make intercession,\nyea, is ordained of God so to do; therefore he is \u2018able to save to the\nuttermost them that come unto God by him.\u2019 This, therefore, that he\nliveth, seeing he liveth to God and his judgment, and in justice is\nmade so to do, it is chiefly with reference to his life as Mediator for\ntheir sakes for whom he makes intercession. He liveth to make\nintercession. And in that it is said he liveth ever, what is it but\nthat he must live, and outlive all his enemies; for he must live, yea,\nreign, till all his enemies are put under his feet. (1 Cor 15:25) Yea,\nhis very intercessions must live till they are all dead and gone. For\nthe devil and sin must not live for ever, not for ever to accuse. Time\nis coming when due course of law will have an end, and all cavillers\nwill be cast over the bar. But then and after that, Christ our high\npriest shall live, and so shall his intercessions; yea, and also all\nthem for whom he makes intercession, seeing they come unto God by him.\n\nNow if he lives, and outlives all, and if his intercession has the\ncasting voice, since also he pleadeth in his prayers a sufficient merit\nbefore a just God, against a lying, malicious, clamorous, and envious\nadversary, he must needs carry the cause, the cause for himself and his\npeople, to the glory of God and their salvation. So, then, his life and\nintercession must prevail, there can be no withstanding of it. Is not\nthis, then, a demonstration clear as the sun, that they that come to\nGod by him shall be saved, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession\nfor them?\n\nFourth, The duration of Christ\u2019s intercession, as it is grounded upon a\ncovenant betwixt God and him, upon an oath also, and upon his life, so\nit is grounded upon the validity of his merits. This has been\npromiscuously touched before, but since it is an essential to the\nlastingness of his intercession, it will be to the purpose to lay it\ndown by itself.\n\nIntercession, then, I mean Christ\u2019s intercession, is, that those for\nwhom he died with full intention to save them, might be brought into\nthat inheritance which he hath purchased for them. Now, then, his\nintercession must, as to length and breadth, reach no further than his\nmerits, for he may not pray for those for whom he died not. Indeed, if\nwe take in the utmost extent of his death, then we must beware, for his\ndeath is sufficient to save the whole world. But his intercessions are\nkept within a narrower compass. The altar of burnt-offerings was a\ngreat deal bigger than the altar of incense, which was a figure of\nChrist\u2019s intercession. (Exo 27:1, 30:1, Rev 8:3) But this, I say, his\nintercession is for those for whom he died with full intention to save\nthem; wherefore it must be grounded upon the validity of his\nsufferings. And, indeed, his intercession is nothing else, that I know\nof, but a presenting of what he did in the world for us unto God, and\npressing the value of it for our salvation. The blood of sprinkling is\nthat which speaketh meritoriously, (Heb 12:24); it is by the value of\nthat that God measureth out and giveth unto us grace and life eternal;\nwherefore Christ\u2019s intercessions also must be ordered and governed by\nmerit; \u2018By his own blood he entered into the holy place, having [before\nby it] obtained eternal redemption for us,\u2019 for our souls. (Heb 9:12)\n\nNow, if by blood he entered in thither, by blood he must also make\nintercession there. His blood made way for his entrance thither, his\nblood must make way for our entrance thither. Though here, again, we\nmust beware; for his blood did make way for him as Priest to intercede;\nhis blood makes way for us, as for those redeemed by it, that we might\nbe saved. This, then, shows sufficiently the worth of the blood of\nChrist, even his ever living to make intercession for us; for the merit\nof his blood lasts all the while that he doth, and for all them for\nwhom he ever liveth to make intercession. Oh, precious blood! oh,\nlasting merit!\n\nBlood must be pleaded in Christ\u2019s intercession, because of justice, and\nto stop the mouth of the enemy, and also to encourage us to come to God\nby him. Justice, since that is of the essence of God, must concur in\nthe salvation of the sinner; but how can that be, since it is said at\nfirst, \u2018In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,\u2019 unless\na plenary16 satisfaction be made for sin to the pleasing of the mighty\nGod. The enemy also would else never let go his objecting against our\nsalvation. But now God has declared that our salvation is grounded on\njustice, because merited by blood. And though God needed not to have\ngiven his Son to die for us that he might save us, and stop the mouth\nof the devil in so doing, yet this way of salvation has done both, and\nso it is declared, we are \u2018justified freely by his grace, through the\nredemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a\npropitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness\nfor the remission of sins that are past\u2014to declare, I say, at this time\nhis righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him\nwhich believeth in Jesus.\u2019 (Rom 3:24,25) So, then, here is also a\nground of intercession, even the blood shed for us before.\n\nAnd that you may see it yet more for your comfort, God did, at Christ\u2019s\nresurrection, to show what a price he set upon his blood, bid him ask\nof him the heathen, and he would give him the uttermost parts of the\nearth for his possession. (Psa 2:8) His blood, then, has value enough\nin it to ground intercession upon; yea, there is more worth in it than\nChrist will plead or improve for men by way of intercession. I do not\nat all doubt but that there is virtue enough in the blood of Christ,\nwould God Almighty so apply it, to save the souls of the whole world.\nBut it is the blood of Christ, his own blood; and he may do what he\nwill with his own. It is also the blood of God, and he also may\nrestrain its merits, or apply it as he sees good. But the coming soul,\nhe shall find and feel the virtue thereof, even the soul that comes to\nGod by Christ; for he is the man concerned in its worth, and he ever\nliveth to make intercession for him. Now, seeing the intercession of\nChrist is grounded upon a covenant, an oath, a life, and also upon the\nvalidity of his merits, it must of necessity be prevalent, and so drive\ndown all opposition before it. This, therefore, is the last part of the\ntext, and that which demonstrateth that he that comes to God by Christ\nshall be saved, seeing \u2018he ever liveth to make intercession for him.\u2019\n\nI have now done what I intend upon this subject when I have drawn a few\ninferences from this also.\n\n[Inferences from the certainty of benefit from Christ\u2019s Intercession.]\n\nFirst, then, hence I infer that the souls saved by Christ are in\nthemselves in a most deplorable condition. Oh, what ado, as I may say,\nis here before one sinner can be eternally saved! Christ must die; but\nthat is not all; the Spirit of grace must be given to us; but that is\nnot all;\u2014but Christ must also ever live to make intercession for us.\nAnd as he doth this for all, so he doth it for each one. He interceded\nfor me, before I was born, that I might in time, at the set time, come\ninto being. After that, he also made intercession for me, that I might\nbe kept from hell in the time of my unregenerate state, until the time\nof my call and conversion. Yet again, he then intercedes that the work\nnow begun in my soul may be perfected, not only to the day of my\ndissolution, but unto the day of Christ; that is, until he comes to\njudgment. (Phil 1:6) So that, as he began to save me before I had\nbeing, so he will go on to save me when\n\nI am dead and gone, and will never leave off to save me until he has\nset me before his face for ever.\n\nBut, I say, what a deplorable condition has our sin put us into, that\nthere must be all this ado to save us. Oh, how hardly is sin got out of\nthe soul when once it is in! Blood takes away the guilt; inherent grace\nweakens the filth; but the grave is the place, at the mouth of which,\nsin, as to the being of sin, and the saved, must have a perfect and\nfinal parting. (Isa 38:10) Not that the grave of itself is of a\nsin-purging quality, but God will follow Satan home to his own door;\nfor the grave is the door or gate of hell, and will there, where the\ndevil thought to have swallowed us up, even there by the power of his\nmercy make us, at our coming thence, shine like the sun, and look like\nangels. Christ, all this while, ever liveth to make intercession for\nus.\n\nSecond, Hence, also, I infer that as Satan thought he struck home at\nfirst, when he polluted our nature, and brought our souls to death, so\nhe is marvellous loath to lose us, and to suffer his lawful captives\nnow to escape his hands. He is full of fire against us, full of the\nfire of malice, as is manifest\u2014\n\n1. Not only by his first attempt upon our first parents, but behold,\nwhen the Deliverer came into the world, how he roared. He sought his\ndeath while he was an infant; he hated him in his cradle; he persecuted\nhim while he was but a bud and blossom. (Matt 2) When he was come to\nriper years, and began to manifest his glory, yet, lest the world\nshould be taken with him, how politicly did this old serpent, called\nthe Devil and Satan, work? He possessed people that he had a devil, and\nwas mad, and a deceiver; that he wrought his miracles by magic art and\nby the devil; that the prophets spake nothing of him, and that he\nsought to overthrow the government which was God\u2019s ordinance. And, not\nbeing contented with all this, he pursued him to the death, and could\nnever rest until he had spilt his blood upon the ground like water.\nYea, so insatiable was his malice, that he set the soldiers to forge\nlies about him to the denial of his resurrection, and so managed that\nmatter that what they said has become a stumblingblock to the Jews to\nthis very day. (John 10:20, 7:12, Matt 9:34, John 7:52, Luke 23:2, Matt\n28:11-15)\n\n2. When he was ascended to God, and so was out of his reach, yet how\nbusily went he about to make war with his people. (Rev 12) Yea, what\nhorrors and terrors, what troubles and temptations, has God\u2019s church\nmet with from that day till now! Nor is he content with persecutions\nand general troubles; but oh! how doth he haunt the spirits of the\nChristians with blasphemies and troubles, with darkness and frightful\nfears; sometimes to their distraction, and often to the filling the\nchurch with outcries.\n\n3. Yet his malice is in the pursuit, and now his boldness will try what\nit can do with God, either to tempt him to reject his Son\u2019s mediation,\nor to reject them that come to God by him for mercy. And this is one\ncause among many why \u2018he ever liveth to make intercession for them that\ncome to God by him.\u2019\n\n4. And if he cannot overthrow, if he knows he cannot overthrow them,\nyet he cannot forbear but vex and perplex them, even as he did their\nLord, from the day of their conversion to the day of their ascension to\nglory.\n\nThird, Hence I infer that the love of Christ to his, is an unwearied\nlove, and it must needs be so; an undaunted love, and it must needs be\nso. Who but Jesus Christ would have undertaken such a task as the\nsalvation of the sinner is, if Jesus Christ had passed us by? It is\ntrue which is written of him, \u2018He shall not fail, nor be discouraged,\ntill he have set judgment in the earth,\u2019 &c. If he had not set his\n\u2018face like a flint,\u2019 the greatness of this work would surely have\ndaunted his mind. (Isa 42:1, 50:6-7)\n\nFor do but consider what sin is from which they must be saved; do but\nconsider what the devil and the curse is from which they must be saved;\nand it will easily be concluded by you that it is he that full rightly\ndeserveth to have his name called Wonderful, and his love such as\nverily passeth knowledge.\n\nConsider, again, by what means these souls are saved, even with the\nloss of his life, and, together with it, the loss of the light of his\nFather\u2019s face. I pass by here and forbear to speak of the matchless\ncontradiction of sinners which he endured against himself, which could\nnot but be a great grief, or, as himself doth word it, a breaking of\nheart unto him; but all this did not, could not, hinder.\n\nJoin to all this, his everlasting intercession for us, and the\neffectual management thereof with God for us; and, withal, the infinite\nnumber of times that we by sin provoke him to spue us out of his mouth,\ninstead of interceding for us, and the many times also that his\nintercession is repeated by the repeating of our faults, and this love\nstill passes knowledge, and is by us to be wondered at. What did, or\nwhat doth, the Lord Jesus see in us to be at all this care, and pains,\nand cost to save us? What will he get of us by the bargain but a small\npittance of thanks and love? for so it is, and ever will be, when\ncompared with his matchless and unspeakable love and kindness towards\nus.\n\nOh, how unworthy are we of this love! How little do we think of it!\nBut, most of all, the angels may be astonished to see how little we are\naffected with that of which we pretend to know. But neither can this\nprevail with him to put us out of the scroll in which all the names of\nthem are written for whom he doth make intercession to God. Let us cry,\nGrace, grace unto it.\n\nFourth, Hence again I infer that they shall be saved that come to God\nby Christ, when the devil and sin have done what they can to hinder it.\nThis is clear, for that the strife is now, who shall be lord of all,\nwhether Satan, the prince of this world, or Christ Jesus, the Son of\nGod; or which can lay the best claim to God\u2019s elect, he that produceth\ntheir sins against them, or he that laid down his heart\u2019s blood a price\nof redemption for them. Who, then, shall condemn when Christ has died,\nand doth also make intercession? Stand still, angels, and behold how\nthe Father divideth his Son \u2018a portion with the great\u2019; and how he\ndivideth \u2018the spoil with the strong: because he hath poured out his\nsoul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors, and bare the\nsin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.\u2019 (Isa 53:12)\nThe grace of God and blood of Christ will, before the end of the world,\nmake brave work among the sons of men! They shall come to a wonderment\nto God by Christ, and be saved by a wonderment for Christ\u2019s\nsake\u2014\u2018Behold these shall come from far: and lo, these from the north\nand from the west, and these from the land of Sinim.\u2019 (Isa 49:12)\n\nBehold, these, and these, and these shall come, and lo, these, and\nthese, and these from the land of Sinim! This is to denote the\nabundance that shall come in to God by Christ towards the latter end of\nthe world\u2014namely, when Antichrist is gone to bed in the sides of the\npit\u2019s mouth; then shall nations come in and be saved, and shall walk in\nthe light of the Lord.17 But, I say, what encouragement would there be\nfor sinners thus to do if that the Lord Jesus by his intercession were\nnot able to save \u2018even to the uttermost\u2019 them that come unto God by\nhim.\n\nFifth, hence again I infer that here is ground for confidence to them\nthat come to God by Christ. Confidence to the end becomes us who have\nsuch a High Priest, such an Intercessor as Jesus Christ; who would\ndishonour such a Jesus by doubting that, that all the devils in hell\ncannot discourage by all their wiles? He is a tried stone, he is a sure\nfoundation; a man may confidently venture his soul in his hand, and not\nfear but he will bring him safe home. Ability, love to the person, and\nfaithfulness to trust committed to him, will do all; and all these are\nwith infinite fullness in him. He has been a Saviour these four\nthousand years already\u2014two thousand before the law, two thousand in the\ntime of the law\u2014besides the sixteen hundred years he has in his flesh\ncontinued to make intercession for them that come unto God by him. Yet\nthe day is to come, yea, will never come, that he can be charged with\nany fault, or neglect of the salvation of any of them that at any time\nhave come unto God by him. What ground, then, is here for confidence\nthat Christ will make a good end with me, since I come unto God by him,\nand since he ever liveth to make intercession for me. Let me, then,\nhonour him, I say, by setting on his head the crown of his undertakings\nfor me, by the believing that he is able to save me \u2018even to the\nuttermost, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for me.\u2019\n\nSixth, Hence also I infer that Christ ought to bear and wear the glory\nof our salvation for ever. He has done it, he has wrought it out. \u2018Give\nunto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory\nand strength.\u2019 Do not sacrifice to your own inventions, do not give\nglory to the work of your own hands. Your reformations, your works,\nyour good deeds, and all the glory of your doing, cast them at the feet\nof this High Priest, and confess that glory belongs unto him\u2014\u2018Worthy is\nthe Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and\nstrength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.\u2019 (Rev 5:12) \u2018And they\nshall hang upon him all the glory of his Father\u2019s house, and offspring\nand the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups,\neven to all the vessels of flagons.\u2019 (Isa 22:24) Oh! the work of our\nredemption by Christ is such as wanteth not provocation to us to bless,\nand praise, and glorify Jesus Christ. Saints, set to the work and\nglorify him in your body and in your souls; him who has bought us with\na price, and glorify God and the Father by him. (1 Cor 6:20)\n\nTHE USE.\n\n\nI come now to make some use of this discourse; and,\n\nUSE FIRST, Let me exhort you to the study of this, as of other the\ntruths of our Lord Jesus Christ. The priestly office of Christ is the\nfirst and great thing that is presented to us in the gospel\u2014namely, how\nthat he died for our sins, and gave himself to the cross, that the\nblessing of Abraham might come upon us through him. (1 Cor 15:1-6, Gal\n3:13-16) But now because this priestly office of his is divided into\ntwo parts, and because one of them\u2014to wit, this of his intercession\u2014is\nto be accomplished for us within the veil, therefore, as we say among\nmen, out of sight out of mind, he is too much as to this forgotten by\nus. We satisfy ourselves with the slaying of the sacrifice; we look not\nenough after our Aaron as he goes into the holiest, there to sprinkle\nthe mercy-seat with blood upon our account. God forbid that the least\nsyllable of what I say should be intended by me, or construed by\nothers, as if I sought to diminish the price paid by Christ for our\nredemption in this world. But since his dying is his laying down his\nprice, and his intercession the urging and managing the worthiness of\nit in the presence of God against Satan, there is glory to be found\ntherein, and we should look after him into the holy place. The second\npart of the work of the high priests under the law, had great glory and\nsanctity put upon it; forasmuch as the holy garments were provided for\nhim to officiate in within the veil, also it was there that the altar\nstood on which he offered incense; also there was the mercy-seat and\nthe cherubims of glory, which were figures of the angels, that love to\nbe continually looking and prying into the management of this second\npart of the priesthood of Christ in the presence of God; for although\nthemselves are not the persons so immediately concerned therein as we,\nyet the management of it, I say, is with so much grace, and glory, and\nwisdom, and effectualness, that it is a heaven to the angels to see it.\nOh! to enjoy the odorous scent, and sweet memorial, the\nheart-refreshing perfumes, that ascend continually from the mercy-seat\nto the \u2018above\u2019 where God is; and also to behold how effectual it is to\nthe end for which it is designed, is glorious; and he that is not\nsomewhat let into this by the grace of God, there is a great thing\nlacking to his faith, and he misseth of many a sweet bit that he might\notherwise enjoy. Wherefore, I say, be exhorted to the study of this\npart of Christ\u2019s work in the managing of our salvation for us. And the\nceremonies of the law may be a great help to you as to this, for though\nthey be out of use now as to practice, yet the signification of them is\nrich, and that from which many gospellers18 have got much. Wherefore I\nadvise that you read the five books of Moses often; yea, read, and read\nagain, and do not despair of help to understand something of the will\nand mind of God therein, though you think they are fast locked up from\nyou. Neither trouble your heads though you have not commentaries and\nexpositions; pray and read, and read and pray; for a little from God is\nbetter than a great deal from men. Also, what is from men is uncertain,\nand is often lost and tumbled over and over by men; but what is from\nGod is fixed as a nail in a sure place. I know there are [peculiar]\ntimes of temptation, but I speak now as to the common course of\nChristianity. There is nothing that so abides with us as what we\nreceive from God; and the reason why Christians at this day are at such\na loss as to some things is, because they are content with what come\nfrom men\u2019s mouths, without searching and kneeling before God, to know\nof him the truth of things. Things that we receive at God\u2019s hand come\nto us as things from the minting house, though old in themselves, yet\nnew to us. Old truths are always new to us if they come to us with the\nsmell of heaven upon them. I speak not this because I would have people\ndespise their ministers, but to show that there is nowadays so much\nidleness among professors as hinders them from a diligent search after\nthings, and makes them take up short of that that is sealed by the\nSpirit of testimony to the conscience. Witness the great decays at this\nday among us, and that strange revolting from truth once professed by\nus.\n\nUSE SECOND, As I would press you to an earnest study and search after\nthis great truth, so I would press you to a diligent improvement of it\nto yourselves and to others. To know truth for knowledge sake is short\nof a gracious disposition of soul; and to communicate truth out of a\ndesire of praise and vain-glory for so doing is also a swerving from\ngodly simplicity; but to improve what I know for the good of myself and\nothers is true Christianity indeed. Now truths received may be improved\nwith respect to myself and others, and that several ways\u2014\n\n1. To myself, when I search after the power that belongs to those\nnotions that I have received of truth. There belongs to every true\nnotion of truth a power; the notion is the shell\u2014the power is the\nkernel and life. Without this last, truth doth me no good, nor those to\nwhom I communicate it. Hence Paul said to the Corinthians, \u2018When I come\nto you again, I will know not the speech of them that are puffed up,\nbut the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.\u2019 (1\nCor 4:19,20) Search, then, after the power of what thou knowest, for it\nis the power that will do thee good. Now this will not be got but by\nearnest prayer, and much attending upon God; also there must not be\nadmitted by thee that thy heart be stuffed with cumbering cares of this\nworld, for they are of a choking nature.\n\nTake heed of slighting that little that thou hast; a good improvement\nof little is the way to make that little thrive, and the way to obtain\nadditions thereto: \u2018He that is faithful in that which is least is\nfaithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust\nalso in much.\u2019 (Luke 16:10)\n\n2. Improve them to others, and that, (1.) By labouring to instill them\nupon their hearts by good and wholesome words, presenting all to them\nwith the authority of the Scriptures. (2.) Labour to enforce those\ninstillings on them by showing them by thy life the peace, the glorious\neffects that they have upon thy soul.\n\nLastly, Let this doctrine give thee boldness to come to God. Shall\nJesus Christ be interceding in heaven? Oh, then, be thou a praying man\non earth; yea, take courage to pray. Think thus with thyself\u2014I go to\nGod, to God, before whose throne the Lord Jesus is ready to hand my\npetitions to him; yea, \u2018he ever lives to make intercession for me.\u2019\nThis is a great encouragement to come to God by prayers and\nsupplications for ourselves, and by intercessions for our families, our\nneighbours, and enemies. Farewell.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1: Coming unto God by Christ, essentially involves in it walking in\nconformity to his image; and all such comers must be perfectly and\neternally saved. Why then, O child of God, should you suffer under\nGiant Despair, in his doubting, fearing castle.\u2014Ed.\n\n2 What indescribable consolations flow into the Christian\u2019s soul from\ncommunion with God, especially to the most deeply afflicted. Thus the\nwisdom casts her care upon her heavenly Father\u2014her Creator, Christ; for\nall things were made by him. He is her husband, ever living to\nintercede for her. Wondrous privileges!\u2014Ed.\n\n3 The infinite perfection of the Mediatorial work of Jesus, God\nmanifest in the flesh, is the ground of our hope. He alone can\neffectually plead with God. O my soul! if, in thy holiest and happiest\nmoments, thou art found \u2018looking unto Jesus,\u2019 how much more intensely\nought thy trembling eye to be directed to him, when thou art wounded by\nsin!!\u2014Ed.\n\n4 What can withstand the will of Christ, that all his should behold and\npartake of his glory? He is the Captain of salvation, has subdued all\nour enemies for us, and will destroy their power in us, and, ere long,\nput our last enemy, death, under his feet.\u2014Mason.\n\n5 One proof of a future state of rewards is, that many of God\u2019s dearest\nsaints have been most bitterly persecuted all their lives, and martyred\nwith extreme cruelty. Thus it was with the greatest man this country\never saw\u2014William Tyndale, to whom the world is indebted for our\ntranslation of the Bible. See his letters, in his Memoir by the Editor,\nprefixed to a reprint of the first English New Testament.\u2014Ed.\n\n6 \u2018The uttermost.\u2019 How boundless! It includes all that wondrous extent\nof Divine love which we shall be ever learning, and never be able to\ncomprehend, the breadth, length, depth, and height of the love of\nChrist, which passeth knowledge.\u2014Ed.\n\n7 \u2018Achare,\u2019 from to chare, to turn about, or backwards and forwards;,\nas achare woman, one who takes her turn at work; a door achare, or\najar, turning to and fro on its hinges, or standing partly open.\u2014Ed.\n\n8 It is supposed by some that \u2018Nicolas\u2019 was the founder of the sect of\nthe Nicolaitanes, mentioned in Revelation 2:6, 15; but of this there is\nmuch doubt. See Dr. Gill, and Matthew Henry on Acts 6:5.\u2014Ed.\n\n9 A godly man\u2019s prayers are sometimes answered by terrible things in\nrighteousness. He prays to be quickened in his walk with God; and the\nanswer, dictated by wisdom and love, is the loss of some temporal\nblessing, that he may be kept \u2018looking unto Jesus.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n10 The heart \u2018unweldable.\u2019 This homely allusion, drawn from Bunyan\u2019s\ntrade of blacksmith, is worthy of remark. The heart a mountain of iron,\nso hard that no heat in nature can soften it so as to weld it to\nChrist. To weld is to hammer into firm union two pieces of iron, when\nheated almost to fusion, so as to become one piece. The heart of man is\nby nature \u2018unweldable,\u2019 until God the Spirit softens it; and then the\nunion is such that Christ becomes THE LIFE of his saints. Reader, has\nthy heart passed through this process?\u2014Ed.\n\n11 This is a solemn and heart-searching consideration. It is not enough\nthat we fear eternal wrath, but we must love heaven, for the sake of\nits purity. It is not sufficient that we go to Christ for pardon, but\nwe must go through him to the infinitely holy God, for holiness and\nfitness for heaven.\u2014Ed.\n\n12 There have been, in every age, professors who, instead of gratefully\nreceiving and obeying the whole truth, have indulged in favourite\ndoctrines. Happy is that Christian who equally loves to hear Christ set\nforth as a priest and sacrifice, or to dwell upon his power and\nauthority as king and lawgiver; who delights as much in holy obedience\nas in electing love. The saints are bound to bear with each other,\nnever forgetting that they are members of one family, and must cherish\nand comfort one another, as we hope to enjoy fellowship with heaven and\nthe smiles of the great Head of the church.\u2014Ed.\n\n13 Nothing can be more solemn and awful than are these warnings. O that\nwe may feel the spurs, the condemning curse of a broken law, and a\nsense of the jaws of hell, urging us on in coming to, and cleaving to\nChrist.\u2014Ed.\n\n14\n\n   \u2018To any boot,\u2019 to any profit.\n        \u2018What boots it at one gate to make defence,\n        and at another to let in the foe!\u2019\n\nMilton\u2019s Samson Agonistes\u2014Ed.\n\n15 \u2018Them.\u2019 As Christ is the Saviour of both body and soul,\nnotwithstanding the sins of the body, they break not the covenant;\nbecause it is God\u2019s covenant, and stands fast in Christ for\nevermore.\u2014Ed.\n\n16 \u2018Plenary\u2019; full, perfect, or complete.\u2014Ed.\n\n17 Bunyan saw that time very far off, which much more nearly approaches\nus: when Antichrist will find a grave in the side of the pit\u2019s mouth;\nwhen no national barriers, either Pagan, Popish, or Protestant, shall\nexist to prevent the glorious spread of pure and vital Christianity.\nAnd, however abundant that harvest of souls shall be, there will prove\na superabundance of grace in Christ to supply all their wants. He was,\nis now, and ever will be, \u2018a complete Saviour.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n18 \u2018Gospellers,\u2019 a nickname given to the Reformers, when first a holy\nband determined, at the imminent risk of life, to read the New\nTestament or Gospels in English. It was like the term Methodist, a few\nyears ago. The gospel has now so much spread, that these terms of\nreproach are only used by fanatics.\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nCOME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST;\n\nOR,\n\nA PLAIN AND PROFITABLE DISCOURSE ON JOHN 6:37\n\nSHOWING THE CAUSE, TRUTH, AND MANNER OF THE COMING OF A SINNER TO JESUS\nCHRIST; WITH HIS HAPPY RECEPTION AND BLESSED ENTERTAINMENT.\n\nWRITTEN BY JOHN BUNYAN, AUTHOR OF \u201cTHE PILGRIM\u2019S PROGRESS.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cAnd they shall come which were ready to perish.\u201d\u2014Isaiah 27:13.\n\nLondon, 1681.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\n\u201cCome and welcome to Jesus Christ,\u201d is a subject peculiarly fitted to\nthe deep and searching experience of John Bunyan. He knew all the wiles\nof sin and Satan, in placing stumblingblocks in the way of a sincere\npenitent; all the human craft employed in keeping the soul from a\nsimple and entire reliance upon Christ for salvation. This little work\nsoon became most deservedly popular, passing through four large\neditions during the last seven years of the author\u2019s life. It is an\nenlightened display of the dealings of the Father in giving sinners to\nChrist; the Son in saving them by his atonement, mediation, and\nintercession; and the Holy Spirit in sanctifying and fitting them for\nglory. Here is no Calvinism, Lutheranism, or Arminianism; no\nEpiscopacy, Presbytery, or Independency; nothing but Christism and\nBibleism. The gracious invitation is addressed to all who feel their\nmisery, Come unto me, and I will make you happy and blessed. All who\nfeel the leprosy of sin are invited to this spiritual Physician, and he\nonly can and will heal them. All who suffer under the slavery of sin\nand Satan, Christ alone can make you free. Come to him, and you shall\nbe free indeed. The analysis of Bunyan\u2019s treatise shows that ALL\nmankind are born in sin. ALL sinners are invited to Christ. None will\ncome but such as feel the plague, and see the leprosy of sin. Those who\ncome are drawn in a variety of ways\u2014some terrified with the horrors of\nhell, others allured by the gracious voice of the Saviour, and the\nprospects of heavenly felicity. ALL who sincerely come, attain the same\nend, a sincere and total reliance upon the Saviour as the only refuge\nfrom the roaring lion.\n\nEvery other way to life is guarded by the flaming swords of the\ncherubim. Christ opens his golden arms wider than all our miseries. But\nhe suffers no rival on his throne, no partnership with Moses or John\nBaptist. The personification of \u201cshall come,\u201d and of \u201cignorance,\u201d is\nstrikingly illustrative; as is \u201csin, the winding-sheet of the soul;\u201d\n\u201cunbelief, the white devil;\u201d the sinner being a counsellor for Satan;\nand the two ways of taking our own likeness. His appeal to persecutors\nis most forcible. But I must not detain the reader longer from the\npleasure and profit he will receive from an attentive perusal of these\npages.\n\nHACKNEY, 1850. GEORGE OFFOR.\n\nCOME AND WELCOME TO JESUS CHRIST.\n\n\u201cALL THAT THE FATHER GIVETH ME SHALL COME TO ME; AND HIM THAT COMETH TO\nME I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT.\u201d\u2014JOHN 6:37.\n\n\nA little before, in this chapter, you may read that the Lord Jesus\nwalked on the sea to go to Capernaum, having sent his disciples before\nin a ship, but the wind was contrary; by which means the ship was\nhindered in her passage. Now, about the fourth watch of the night,\nJesus came walking upon the sea, and overtook them; at the sight of\nwhom they were afraid.\n\nNote, When providences are black and terrible to God\u2019s people, the Lord\nJesus shows himself to them in wonderful manner; the which sometimes\nthey can as little bear, as they can the things that were before\nterrible to them. They were afraid of the wind and the water; they were\nalso afraid of their Lord and Saviour, when he appeared to them in that\nstate.\n\nBut he said, \u201cBe not afraid, it is I.\u201d\n\nNote, That the end of the appearing of the Lord Jesus unto his people,\nthough the manner of his appearing be never so terrible, is to allay\ntheir fears and perplexities.\n\nThen they received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at\nland whither it went.\n\nNote, When Christ is absent from his people, they go on but slowly, and\nwith great difficulty; but when he joineth himself unto them, oh! how\nfast they steer their course! how soon are they at their journey\u2019s end!\n1\n\nThe people now among whom he last preached, when they saw that both\nJesus was gone and his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to\nCapernaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him, they\nwonderingly asked him, \u201cRabbi, when camest thou hither?\u201d but the Lord\nJesus, slighting their compliment, answered, \u201cVerily, verily, ye seek\nme, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the\nloaves, and were filled.\u201d\n\nNote, A people may follow Christ far for base ends, as these went after\nhim beyond sea for loaves. A man\u2019s belly will carry him a great way in\nreligion; yea, a man\u2019s belly will make him venture far for Christ.\n\nNote again, They are not feigning compliments, but gracious intentions,\nthat crown the work in the eye of Christ; or thus, it is not the toil\nand business of professors, 2 but their love to him, that makes him\napprove of them.\n\nNote again, When men shall look for friendly entertainment at Christ\u2019s\nhand, if their hearts be rotten, even then will they meet with a check\nand rebuke. \u201cYe seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because\nye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.\u201d\n\nYet observe again, He doth not refuse to give, even to these, good\ncounsel: he bids them labour for the meat that endureth to eternal\nlife. Oh! how willingly would Jesus Christ have even those professors\nthat come to him with pretences only, come to him sincerely, that they\nmay be saved.\n\nThe text, you will find, is, after much more discourse with and about\nthis people, and it is uttered by the Lord Jesus as the conclusion of\nthe whole, and intimateth that, since they were professors in pretence\nonly, and therefore such as his soul could not delight in, as such,\nthat he would content himself with a remnant that his Father had\nbestowed upon him. As who should say, I am not like to be honoured in\nyour salvation; but the Father hath bestowed upon me a people, and they\nshall come to me in truth, and in them will I be satisfied. The text,\ntherefore, may be called Christ\u2019s repose; in the fulfilling whereof he\nresteth himself content, after much labour and many sermons spent, as\nit were, in vain. As he saith by the prophet, \u201cI have laboured in vain,\nI have spent my strength for nought, and in vain\u201d (Isa 49:4).\n\nBut as there he saith, \u201cMy judgment is with the LORD, and my work with\nmy God;\u201d so in the text he saith, \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall\ncome to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d By\nthese words, therefore, the Lord Jesus comforteth himself under the\nconsideration of the dissimulation of some of his followers. He also\nthus betook himself to rest under the consideration of the little\neffect that his ministry had in Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida: \u201cI\nthank thee, O Father,\u201d said he, \u201cLord of heaven and earth, because thou\nhas hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them\nunto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight\u201d (Matt\n11:25; Luke 10:21).\n\nThe text, in the general, standeth of TWO PARTS, and hath special\nrespect to the Father and the Son; as also to their joint management of\nthe salvation of the people: \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall come\nto me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d The first\npart of the text, as is evident, respecteth the Father and his gift;\nthe other part the Son and his reception of that gift.\n\nFIRST, For the gift of the Father there is this to be considered, to\nwit, the gift itself; and that is the gift of certain persons to the\nSon. The Father giveth, and that gift shall come: \u201cAnd him that\ncometh.\u201d The gift, then, is of persons; the Father giveth persons to\nJesus Christ.\n\nSECOND, Next you have the Son\u2019s reception of this gift, and that\nshoweth itself in these particulars:\u20141. In his hearty acknowledgement\nof it to be a gift: \u201cThe Father giveth me.\u201d 2. In his taking notice,\nafter a solemn manner, of all and every part of the gift: \u201cAll that the\nFather giveth me.\u201d 3. In his resolution to bring them to himself: \u201cAll\nthat the Father giveth me shall come to me.\u201d 4. And in his determining\nthat not anything shall make him dislike them in their coming: \u201cAnd him\nthat cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nThese things might be spoken to at large, as they are in this method\npresented to view: but I shall choose to speak to the words, FIRST, BY\nWAY OF EXPLICATION. SECOND, BY WAY OF OBSERVATION.\n\n[FIRST, THE TEXT TREATED BY WAY OF EXPLICATION.]\n\n[THE EXTENT OF THE GIFT.]\n\n\n\u201cAll that the Father giveth me.\u201d This word all, is often used in\nScripture, and is to be taken more largely, or more strictly, even as\nthe truth or argument, for the sake of which it is made use of, will\nbear. Wherefore, that we may the better understand the mind of Christ\nin the use of it here, we must consider, that it is limited and\nrestrained only to those that shall be saved, to wit, to those that\nshall come to Christ; even to those whom he will \u201cin no wise cast out.\u201d\nThus, also, the words all Israel, is sometimes to be taken, although\nsometimes it is taken for the whole family of Jacob. \u201cAnd so all Israel\nshall be saved\u201d (Rom 11:26). By all Israel here, he intendeth not all\nof Israel, in the largest sense; \u201cfor they are not all Israel which are\nof Israel;\u201d \u201cneither because they are of the seed of Abraham, are they\nall children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they\nwhich are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God;\nbut the children of the promise are counted for the seed\u201d (Rom 9:6-8).\n\nThis word ALL, therefore, must be limited and enlarged, as the truth\nand argument, for the sake of which it is used, will bear; else we\nshall abuse Scripture, and readers, and ourselves, and all. \u201cAnd I, if\nI be lifted up from the earth,\u201d said Christ, \u201cwill draw ALL men unto\nme\u201d (John 12:32). Can any man imagine, that by ALL, in this place, he\nshould mean all and every individual man in the world, and not rather\nthat all that is consonant to the scope of the place? And if, by being\n\u201clifted up from the earth,\u201d he means, as he should seem, his being\ntaken up into heaven; and if, by \u201cdrawing ALL men after him,\u201d he meant\na drawing them unto that place of glory; then must he mean by ALL men,\nthose, and only those, that shall in truth be eternally saved from the\nwrath to come. \u201cFor God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he\nmight have mercy upon all\u201d (Rom 11:32). Here again you have all and\nall, two alls; but yet a greater disparity between the all made mention\nof in the first place, and that all made mention of the second. Those\nintended in this text are the Jews, even all of them, by the first all\nthat you find in the words. The second all doth also intend the same\npeople; but yet only so many of them as God will have mercy upon. \u201cHe\nhath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon\nall.\u201d The all also in the text, is likewise to be limited and\nrestrained to the saved, and to them only. But again;\u2014\n\nThe word \u201cgiveth,\u201d or \u201chath given,\u201d must be restrained, after the same\nmanner, to the same limited number. \u201cAll that the Father giveth me.\u201d\nNot all that are given, if you take the gift of the Father to the Son\nin the largest sense; for in that sense there are many given to him\nthat shall never come unto him; yea, many are given unto him that he\nwill \u201ccast out.\u201d I shall, therefore, first show you the truth of this;\nand then in what sense the gift in the text must be taken.\n\nFirst, [ALL cannot be intended in its largest sense.] That ALL that are\ngiven to Christ, if you take the gift of the Father to him in the\nlargest sense, cannot be intended in the text, is evident\u2014\n\n1. Because, then, all the men, yea, all the things in the world, must\nbe saved. \u201cAll things,\u201d saith he, \u201care delivered unto me of my Father\u201d\n(Matt 11:27). This, I think, no rational man in the world will\nconclude. Therefore, the gift intended in the text must be restrained\nto some, to a gift that is given by way of speciality by the Father to\nthe Son.\n\n2. It must not be taken for ALL, that in any sense are given by the\nFather to him, because the Father hath given some, yea, many to him, to\nbe dashed in pieces by him. \u201cAsk of me,\u201d said the Father to him, \u201cand I\nshall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost\nparts of the earth for thy possession.\u201d But what must be done with\nthem? must he save them all? No. \u201cThou shalt break them with a rod of\niron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter\u2019s vessel\u201d (Psa 2).\nThis method he useth not with them that he saveth by his grace, but\nwith those that himself and saints shall rule over in justice and\nseverity (Rev 2:26,27). Yet, as you see, \u201cthey are given to him.\u201d\nTherefore, the gift intended in the text must be restrained to some, to\na gift that is given by way of speciality by the Father to the Son.\n\nIn Psalm 18 he saith plainly, that some are given to him that he might\ndestroy them. \u201cThou hast given me the necks of mine enemies; that I\nmight destroy them that hate me\u201d (verse 40). These, therefore, cannot\nbe of the number of those that are said to be given in the text; for\nthose, even ALL of them, shall come to him, \u201cand he will in no wise\ncast them out.\u201d\n\n3. Some are given to Christ, that he by them might bring about some of\nhis high and deep designs in the world. Thus Judas was given to Christ,\nto wit, that by him, even as was determined before, he might bring\nabout his death, and so the salvation of his elect by his blood. Yea,\nand Judas must so manage this business, as that he must lose himself\nfor ever in bringing it to pass. Therefore the Lord Jesus, even in his\nlosing of Judas, applies himself to the judgment of his Father, if he\nhad not in that thing done that which was right, even in suffering of\nJudas so to bring about his Master\u2019s death, as that he might, by so\ndoing, bring about his own eternal damnation also.\n\n\u201cThose,\u201d said he, \u201cthat thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them\nis lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be\nfulfilled\u201d (John 17:12). Let us, then, grant that Judas was given to\nChrist, but not as others are given to him, not as those made mention\nof in the text; for then he should have failed to have been so received\nby Christ, and kept to eternal life. Indeed, he was given to Christ;\nbut he was given to him to lose him, in the way that I have mentioned\nbefore; he was given to Christ, that he by him might bring about his\nown death, as was before determined; and that in the overthrow of him\nthat did it. Yea, he must bring about his own death, as was before\ndetermined, and that in the overthrow of him that did it. Yea, he must\nbring about his dying for us in the loss of the instrument that\nbetrayed him, that he might even fulfil the Scripture in his\ndestruction, as well as in the salvation of the rest. \u201cAnd none of them\nis lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be\nfulfilled.\u201d\n\n[Second, Those intended as the gift.]\u2014The gift, therefore, in the text,\nmust not be taken in the largest sense, but even as the words will\nbear, to wit, for such a gift as he accepteth, and promiseth to be an\neffectual means of eternal salvation to. \u201cAll that the Father giveth me\nshall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast\nout.\u201d Mark! they shall come that are in special given to me; and they\nshall by no means be rejected. For this is the substance of the text.\n\nThose, therefore, intended as the gift in the text, are those that are\ngiven by covenant to the Son; those that in other places are called\n\u201cthe elect,\u201d \u201cthe chosen,\u201d \u201cthe sheep,\u201d and \u201cthe children of the\npromise,\u201d &c. These be they that the Father hath given to Christ to\nkeep them; those that Christ hath promised eternal life unto; those to\nwhom he hath given his word, and that he will have with him in his\nkingdom to behold his glory.\n\n\u201cThis is the Father\u2019s will which hath sent me, that of all which he\nhath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at\nthe last day\u201d (John 6:39). \u201cAnd I give unto them eternal life; and they\nshall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My\nFather which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to\npluck them out of my Father\u2019s hand\u201d (John 10:28). \u201cAs thou hast given\nhim power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many\nas thou hast given him. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and\nthey have kept thy word; I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but\nfor them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are\nthine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.\u201d \u201cKeep through\nthine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as\nwe are.\u201d \u201cFather, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be\nwith me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast\ngiven me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world\u201d (John\n17:1,6,9,10,24).\n\nAll these sentences are of the same import with the text; and the alls\nand manies, those, they, &c., in these several sayings of Christ, are\nthe same with all the given in the text. \u201cAll that the Father giveth.\u201d\n\nSo that, as I said before, the word ALL, as also other words, must not\nbe taken in such sort as our foolish fancies or groundless opinions\nwill prompt us to, but do admit of an enlargement or a restriction,\naccording to the true meaning and intent of the text. We must therefore\ndiligently consult the meaning of the text, by comparing it with other\nthe sayings of God; so shall we be better able to find out the mind of\nthe Lord, in the word which he has given us to know it by.\n\n[THE PERSON GIVING, THE FATHER.]\n\n\n\u201cAll that the Father giveth.\u201d By this word \u201cFather,\u201d Christ describeth\nthe person giving; by which we may learn several useful things.\n\nFirst, That the Lord God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is\nconcerned with the Son in the salvation of his people. True, his acts,\nas to our salvation, are diverse from those of the Son; he was not\ncapable of doing that, or those things for us, as did the Son; he died\nnot, he spilt not blood for our redemption, as the Son; but yet he hath\na hand, a great hand, in our salvation too. As Christ saith, \u201cThe\nFather himself loveth you,\u201d and his love is manifest in choosing of us,\nin giving of us to his Son; yea, and in giving his Son also to be a\nransom for us. Hence he is called, \u201cThe Father of mercies, and the God\nof all comfort.\u201d For here even the Father hath himself found out, and\nmade way for his grace to come to us through the sides and the\nheart-blood of his well-beloved Son (Col 1:12-14). The Father,\ntherefore, is to be remembered and adored, as one having a chief hand\nin the salvation of sinners. We ought to give \u201cthanks unto the Father,\nwhich hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the\nsaints in light\u201d (Col 1:12). For \u201cthe Father sent the Son to be the\nSaviour of the world\u201d (John 4:14). As also we see in the text, the\n\u201cFather giveth\u201d the sinner to Christ to save him.\n\nSecond, Christ Jesus the Lord, by this word \u201cFather,\u201d would familiarize\nthis giver to us. Naturally the name of God is dreadful to us,\nespecially when he is discovered to us by those names that declare his\njustice, holiness, power, and glory; but now this word \u201cFather\u201d is a\nfamiliar word, it frighteth not the sinner, but rather inclineth his\nheart to love, and be pleased with the remembrance of him. Hence Christ\nalso, when he would have us to pray with godly boldness, puts this word\n\u201cFather\u201d into our mouths; saying, \u201cWhen ye pray, say, Our Father which\nart in heaven;\u201d concluding thereby, that by the familiarity that by\nsuch a word is intimated, the children of God may take more boldness to\npray for, and ask great things. I myself have often found, that when I\ncan say but this word Father, it doth me more good than when I call him\nby any other Scripture name. It is worth your noting, that to call God\nby his relative title was rare among the saints in Old Testament times.\nSeldom do you find him called by this name; no, sometimes not in three\nor four books: but now in New Testament times, he is called by no name\nso often as this, both by the Lord Jesus himself, and by the apostles\nafterwards. Indeed, the Lord Jesus was he that first made this name\ncommon among the saints, and that taught them, both in their\ndiscourses, their prayers, and in their writings, so much to use it; it\nbeing more pleasing to, and discovering more plainly our interest in,\nGod, than any other expression; for by this one name we are made to\nunderstand that all our mercies are the offspring of God, and that we\nalso that are called are his children by adoption.\n\n[Import of the word GIVETH.]\u2014\u201cAll that the Father giveth.\u201d\n\nThis word \u201cgiveth\u201d is out of Christ\u2019s ordinary dialect, and seemeth to\nintimate, at the first sound, as if the Father\u2019s gift to the Son was\nnot an act that is past, but one that is present and continuing; when,\nindeed, this gift was bestowed upon Christ when the covenant, the\neternal covenant, was made between them before all worlds. Wherefore,\nin those other places, when this gift is mentioned, it is still spoken\nof, as of an act that is past; as, \u201cAll that he hath given me; to as\nmany as thou hast given me; thou gavest them me; and those which thou\nhast given me.\u201d Therefore, of necessity, this must be the first and\nchief sense of the text; I mean of this word \u201cgiveth,\u201d otherwise the\ndoctrine of election, and of the eternal covenant which was made\nbetween the Father and the Son, in which covenant this gift of the\nFather is most certainly comprised, will be shaken, or at leastwise\nquestionable, by erroneous and wicked men: for they may say, That the\nFather gave not all those to Christ that shall be saved, before the\nworld was made; for that this act of giving is an act of continuation.\n3 But again, this word \u201cgiveth\u201d is not to be rejected, for it hath its\nproper use, and may signify to us\u2014\n\n1. That though the act of giving among men doth admit of the time past,\nor the time to come, and is to be spoken of with reference to such\ntime; yet with God it is not so. Things past, or things to come, are\nalways present with God, and with his Son Jesus Christ: He \u201ccalleth\nthose things which be not,\u201d that is, to us, \u201cas though they were\u201d (Rom\n4:17). And again, \u201cKnown unto God are all his works from the beginning\nof the world.\u201d All things to God are present, and so the gift of the\nFather to the Son, although to us, as is manifest by the word, it is an\nact that is past (Acts 15:16).\n\n2. Christ may express himself thus, to show, that the Father hath not\nonly given him this portion in the lump, before the world was, but that\nthose that he had so given, he will give him again; that is, will bring\nthem to him at the time of their conversion; for the Father bringeth\nthem to Christ (John 6:44). As it is said, \u201cShe shall be brought unto\nthe king in raiment of needle-work;\u201d that is, in the righteousness of\nChrist; for it is God that imputeth that to those that are saved (Psa\n45:14; 1 Cor 1). A man giveth his daughter to such a man, first in\norder to marriage, and this respects the time past, and he giveth her\nagain at the day appointed in marriage. And in this last sense,\nperhaps, the text may have a meaning; that is, that all that the Father\nhath, before the world was given to Jesus Christ, he giveth them again\nto him in the day of their espousals.\n\nThings that are given among men, are ofttimes best at first; to wit,\nwhen they are new; and the reason is, because all earthly things wax\nold; but with Christ it is not so. This gift of the Father is not old\nand deformed, and unpleasant in his eyes; and therefore to him it is\nalways new. When the Lord spake of giving the land of Canaan to the\nIsraelites, he saith not, that he had given, or would give it to them,\nbut thus: \u201cThe Lord thy God giveth thee\u2014this good land\u201d (Deut 9:6). Not\nbut that he had given it to them, while they were in the loins of their\nfathers, hundreds of years before. Yet he saith now he giveth it to\nthem; as if they were now also in the very act of taking possession,\nwhen as yet they were on the other side Jordan. What then should be the\nmeaning? Why, I take it to be this. That the land should be to them\nalways as new; as new as if they were taking possession thereof but\nnow. And so is the gift of the Father, mentioned in the text, to the\nSon; it is always new, as if it were always new.\n\n\u201cAll that the Father giveth me.\u201d In these words you find mention made\nof two persons, the Father and the Son; the Father giving, and the Son\nreceiving or accepting of this gift. This, then, in the first place,\nclearly demonstrateth, that the Father and the Son, though they, with\nthe Holy Ghost, are one and the same eternal God; yet, as to their\npersonality, are distinct. The Father is one, the Son is one, the Holy\nSpirit is one. But because there is in this text mention made but of\ntwo of the three, therefore a word about these two. The giver and\nreceiver cannot be the same person in a proper sense, in the same act\nof giving and receiving. He that giveth, giveth not to himself, but to\nanother; the Father giveth not to the Father, to wit, to himself, but\nto the Son: the Son receiveth not of the Son, to wit, of himself, but\nof the Father: so when the Father giveth commandment, he giveth it not\nto himself, but to another; as Christ saith, \u201cHe gave me a commandment\u201d\n(John 12:49). So again, \u201cI am one that bear witness of myself, and the\nFather that sent me beareth witness of me\u201d (John 8:18).\n\nFurther, here is something implied that is not expressed, to wit, that\nthe Father hath not given all men to Christ; that is, in that sense as\nit is intended in this text, though in a larger, as was said before, he\nhath given him every one of them; for then all should be saved: he\nhath, therefore, disposed of some another way. He gives some up to\nidolatry; he gives some up to uncleanness, to vile affections, and to a\nreprobate mind. Now these he disposeth of in his anger, for their\ndestruction, that they may reap the fruit of their doings, and be\nfilled with the reward of their own ways (Acts 7:42; Rom 1:24,26,28).\nBut neither hath he thus disposed of all men; he hath even of mercy\nreserved some from these judgments, and those are they that he will\npardon, as he saith, \u201cFor I will pardon them whom I reserve\u201d (Jer\n50:20). Now these he hath given to Jesus Christ, by will, as a legacy\nand portion. Hence the Lord Jesus says, \u201cThis is the Father\u2019s will\nwhich hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose\nnothing, but should raise it up again at the last day\u201d (John 6:39).\n\n[THE FATHER\u2019S INTENT IN GIVING.]\n\n\nThe Father, therefore, in giving of them to him to save them, must\nneeds declare unto us these following things:\u2014\n\nFirst, That he is able to answer this design of God, to wit, to save\nthem to the uttermost sin, the uttermost temptation, &c. (Heb 7:25).\nHence he is said to lay \u201chelp upon one that is mighty,\u201d \u201cmighty to\nsave\u201d (Psa 89:19; Isa 63:1) and hence it is again, that God did even of\nold promise to send his people \u201ca Saviour, a great one\u201d (Isa 19:20). To\nsave is a great work, and calls for almightiness in the undertaker:\nhence he is called the \u201cMighty God, the wonderful Counsellor,\u201d &c. Sin\nis strong, Satan is also strong, death and the grave are strong, and so\nis the curse of the law; therefore it follows, that this Jesus must\nneeds be, by God the Father, accounted almighty, in that he hath given\nhis elect to him to save them, and deliver them from these, and that in\ndespite of all their force and power.\n\nAnd he gave us testimony of this his might, when he was employed in\nthat part of our deliverance that called for a declaration of it. He\nabolished death; he destroyed him that had the power of death; he was\nthe destruction of the grave; he hath finished sin, and made an end of\nit, as to its damning effects upon the persons that the Father hath\ngiven him; he hath vanquished the curse of the law, nailed it to his\ncross, triumphed over them upon his cross, and made a show of these\nthings openly (2 Tim 1:10; Heb 2:14,15; Hosea 13:14; Dan 9:24; Gal\n3:13; Col 2:14,15). Yea, and even now, as a sign of his triumph and\nconquest, he is alive from the dead, and hath the keys of hell and\ndeath in his own keeping (Rev 1:18).\n\nSecond, The Father\u2019s giving of them to him to save them, declares unto\nus that he is and will be faithful in his office of Mediator, and that\ntherefore they shall be secured from the fruit and wages of their sins,\nwhich is eternal damnation, by his faithful execution of it. And,\nindeed, it is said, even by the Holy Ghost himself, That he \u201cwas\nfaithful to him that appointed him,\u201d that is, to this work of saving\nthose that the Father hath given him for that purpose; as \u201cMoses was\nfaithful in all his house.\u201d Yea, and more faithful too, for Moses was\nfaithful in God\u2019s house but as a servant; \u201cbut Christ as a Son over his\nown house\u201d (Heb 3). And therefore this man is counted worthy of more\nglory than Moses, even upon this account, because more faithful than\nhe, as well as because of the dignity of his person. Therefore in him,\nand in his truth and faithfulness, God resteth well pleased, and hath\nput all the government of this people upon his shoulders. Knowing that\nnothing shall be wanting in him, that may any way perfect this design.\nAnd of this he, to wit, the Son, hath already given a proof. For when\nthe time was come, that his blood was, by Divine justice, required for\ntheir redemption, washing, and cleansing, he as freely poured it out of\nhis heart, as if it had been water out of a vessel; not sticking to\npart with his own life, that the life which was laid up for his people\nin heaven might not fail to be bestowed upon them. And upon this\naccount, as well as upon any other, it is that God calleth him \u201cmy\nrighteous servant\u201d (Isa 53:11). For his righteousness could never have\nbeen complete, if he had not been to the uttermost faithful to the work\nhe undertook; it is also, because he is faithful and true, that in\nrighteousness he doth judge and make work for his people\u2019s deliverance.\nHe will faithfully perform this trust reposed in him. The Father knows\nthis, and hath therefore given his elect unto him.\n\nThird, The Father\u2019s giving of them to him, to save them, declares that\nhe is, and will be gentle, and patient towards them, under all their\nprovocations and miscarriages. It is not to be imagined, the trials and\nprovocations that the Son of God hath all along had with these people\nthat have been given to him that saves them: indeed he is said to be \u201ca\ntried stone;\u201d for he has been tried, not only by the devil, guilt of\nsin, death, and the curse of the law, but also by his people\u2019s\nignorance, unruliness, falls into sin, and declining to errors in life\nand doctrine. Were we but capable of seeing how this Lord Jesus has\nbeen tried even by his people, ever since there was one of them in the\nworld, we should be amazed at his patience and gentle carriages to\nthem. It is said, indeed, \u201cThe Lord is very pitiful, slow to anger, and\nof great mercy.\u201d And, indeed, if he had not been so, he could never\nhave endured their manners as he has done from Adam hitherto. Therefore\nis his pity and bowels towards his church preferred above the pity and\nbowels of a mother towards her child. \u201cCan a woman forget her sucking\nchild, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea,\nthey may forget, yet will I not forget thee,\u201d saith the Lord (Isa\n49:15).\n\nGod did once give Moses, as Christ\u2019s servant, an handful of his people,\nto carry them in his bosom, but no further than from Egypt to Canaan;\nand this Moses, as is said of him by the Holy Ghost, was the meekest\nman that was then to be found in the earth; yea, and he loved the\npeople at a very great rate; yet neither would his meekness nor love\nhold out in this work; he failed and grew passionate, even to the\nprovoking his God to anger under this work. \u201cAnd Moses said unto the\nLord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?\u201d But what was the\naffliction? Why, the Lord had said unto him, \u201cCarry this people in thy\nbosom as a nursing father beareth the suckling child, unto the land\nwhich thou swarest unto their fathers.\u201d And how then? Not I, says\nMoses, \u201cI am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too\nheavy for me. If thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of\nhand, and let me not see my wretchedness\u201d (Num 11:11-15).\n\nGod gave them to Moses, that he might carry them in his bosom, that he\nmight show gentleness and patience towards them, under all the\nprovocations wherewith they would provoke him from that time till he\nhad brought them to their land; but he failed in the work; he could not\nexercise it, because he had not that sufficiency of patience towards\nthem. But now it is said of the person speaking in the text, \u201cThat he\nshall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and\nshall gently lead those that are with young\u201d (Isa 40:11). Intimating,\nthat this was one of the qualifications that God looked for, and knew\nwas in him, when he gave his elect to him to save them.\n\nFourth, The Father giving of him to save them, declares that he hath a\nsufficiency of wisdom to wage with all those difficulties that would\nattend him in his bringing of his sons and daughters unto glory. He\nmade him to us to be wisdom; yea, he is called wisdom itself (1 Cor\n1:30). And God saith, moreover, That \u201che shall deal prudently\u201d (Isa\n52:13). And, indeed, he that shall take upon him to be the Saviour of\nthe people, had need be wise, because their adversaries are subtle\nabove any. Here they are to encounter with the serpent, who for his\nsubtilty outwitted our father and mother, when their wisdom was at\nhighest (Gen 3). But if we talk of wisdom, our Jesus is wise, wiser\nthan Solomon, wiser than all men, wiser than all angels; he is even the\nwisdom of God. \u201cChrist is the wisdom of God\u201d (1 Cor 1:24). And hence it\nis that he turneth sin, temptations, persecutions, falls, and all\nthings, for good unto his people (Rom 8:28).\n\nNow these things thus concluded on do show us also the great and\nwonderful love of the Father, in that he should choose out one every\nway so well prepared for the work of man\u2019s salvation.\n\nHerein, indeed, perceive we the love of God. Huram gathered, that God\nloved Israel because he had given them such a king as Solomon (2 Chron\n2:11). But how much more may we behold the love that God hath bestowed\nupon us, in that he hath given us to his Son, and also given his Son\nfor us?\n\n[THE SON\u2019S RECEPTION OF THE GIFT.]\n\n\n\u201cAll that the Father giveth me SHALL COME.\u201d In these last words there\nis closely inserted an answer unto the Father\u2019s end in giving of his\nelect to Jesus Christ. The Father\u2019s end was, that they might come to\nhim, and be saved by him; and that, says the Son, shall be done;\nneither sin nor Satan, neither flesh nor world, neither wisdom nor\nfolly, shall hinder their coming to me. \u201cThey shall come to me; and him\nthat cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nHere, therefore, the Lord Jesus positively determineth to put forth\nsuch a sufficiency of all grace as shall effectually perform this\npromise. \u201cThey shall come;\u201d that is, he will cause them to come, by\ninfusing of an effectual blessing into all the means that shall be used\nto that end. As was said to the evil spirit that was sent to persuade\nAhab to go and fall at Ramoth-Gilead; Go: \u201cThou shalt persuade him, and\nprevail also: go forth, and do so\u201d (1 Kings 22:22). So will Jesus\nChrist say to the means that shall be used for the bringing of those to\nhim that the Father hath given him. I say, he will bless it effectually\nto this very end; it shall persuade them, and shall prevail also; else,\nas I said, the Father\u2019s end would be frustrate; for the Father\u2019s will\nis, that \u201cof all which he hath given him, he should lose nothing, but\nshould raise it up at the last day,\u201d (John 6:39); in order next unto\nhimself, Christ the first-fruits, afterwards those that are his at his\ncoming (1 Cor 15). But this cannot be done if there should fail to be a\nwork of grace effectually wrought, though but in any one of them. But\nthis shall not fail to be wrought in them, even in all the Father hath\ngiven him to save. \u201cAll that the Father hath given me shall come unto\nme,\u201d &c.\n\nBut to speak more distinctly to the words, THEY \u201cSHALL COME,\u201d two\nthings I would show you from these words\u2014FIRST, What it is to come to\nChrist. SECOND, What force there is in this promise, to make them come\nto him.\n\n[WHAT IT IS TO COME TO CHRIST.]\n\n\nFIRST, I would show you WHAT IT IS TO COME TO CHRIST. This word come\nmust be understood spiritually, not carnally; for many came to him\ncarnally, or bodily, that had no saving advantage by him. Multitudes\ndid thus come unto him in the days of his flesh; yea, innumerable\ncompanies. There is also at this day a formal customary coming to his\nordinances and ways of worship, which availeth not anything; but with\nthem I shall not now meddle, for they are not intended in the text. The\ncoming, then, intended in the text is to be understood of the coming of\nthe mind to him, even the moving of the heart towards him. I say the\nmoving of the heart towards him, from a sound sense of the absolute\nwant that a man hath of him for his justification and salvation.\n\nThis description of coming to Christ divideth itself into two heads:\nFirst, That coming to Christ is a moving of the mind towards him.\nSecond, That it is a moving of the mind towards him, from a sound sense\nof the absolute want that a man hath of him for his justification and\nsalvation.\n\n[First.] To speak to the first, that it is a moving of the mind towards\nhim. This is evident; because coming hither or thither, if it be\nvoluntary, is by an act of the mind or will; so coming to Christ is\nthrough the inclining of the will. \u201cThy people shall be willing\u201d (Psa\n110:3). This willingness of heart is it which sets the mind a-moving\nafter or towards him. The church expresseth this moving of her mind\ntowards Christ by the moving of her bowels. \u201cMy beloved put in his hand\nby the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him\u201d (Can 5:4).\n\u201cMy bowels;\u201d the passions of my mind and affections; which passions of\nthe affections are expressed by the yearning and sounding of the\nbowels, the yearning or passionate working of them, the sounding of\nthem, or their making a noise for him (Gen 43:30; 1 Kings 3:26; Isa\n16:11).\n\nThis, then, is the coming to Christ, even a moving towards him with the\nmind. 4 \u201cAnd it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which\nmoveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live\u201d (Eze 47:9).\nThe water in this text is the grace of God in the doctrine of it. The\nliving things are the children of men, to whom the grace of God, by the\ngospel, is preached. Now, saith he, every living thing which moveth,\nwhithersoever the water shall come, shall live. And see how this word\nmoveth is expounded by Christ himself, in the book of the Revelations:\n\u201cThe Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,\nCome. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will,\u201d that is,\nwilling, \u201clet him take the water of life freely\u201d (Rev 22:17).\n\nSo that to move in thy mind and will after Christ, is to be coming to\nhim. There are many poor souls that are coming to Christ, that yet\ncannot tell how to believe it, because they think that coming to him is\nsome strange and wonderful thing; and, indeed, so it is. But I mean,\nthey overlook the inclination of their will, the moving of their mind,\nand the sounding of their bowels after him; and count these none of\nthis strange and wonderful thing; when, indeed, it is a work of\ngreatest wonder in this world, to see a man who was sometimes dead in\nsin possessed of the devil, an enemy to Christ and to all things\nspiritually good; I say, to see this man moving with his mind after the\nLord Jesus Christ, is one of the highest wonders in the world.\n\nSecond, It is a moving of the mind towards him, from a sound sense of\nthe absolute want that a man hath of him for his justification and\nsalvation. Indeed, without this sense of a lost condition without him,\nthere will be no moving of the mind towards him. A moving of their\nmouth there may be; \u201cWith their mouth they show much love\u201d (Eze 33:31).\nSuch a people as this will come as the true people cometh; that is, in\nshow and outward appearance. And they will sit before God\u2019s ministers,\nas his people sit before them; and they will hear his words too, but\nthey will not do them; that is, will not come inwardly with their\nminds. \u201cFor with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart,\u201d or\nmind, \u201cgoeth after their covetousness.\u201d Now, all this is because they\nwant an effectual sense of the misery of their state by nature; for not\ntill they have that will they, in their mind, move after him.\nTherefore, thus it is said concerning the true comers, At \u201cthat day the\ngreat trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to\nperish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt,\nand shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem\u201d (Isa 27:13).\nThey are then, as you see, the outcasts, and those that are ready to\nperish, that, indeed, have their minds effectually moved to come to\nJesus Christ. This sense of things was that which made the three\nthousand come, that made Saul come, that made the jailer come, and\nthat, indeed, makes all others come, that come effectually (Acts\n2:8,18).\n\nOf the true coming to Christ, the four lepers were a famous semblance,\nof whom you read, (2 Kings 7:3), &c. The famine in those days was sore\nin the land, there was no bread for the people; and as for that\nsustenance that was, which was asses\u2019 flesh and doves\u2019 dung, that was\nonly in Samaria, and of these the lepers had no share, for they were\nthrust without the city. Well, now they sat in the gate of the city,\nand hunger was, as I may say, making his last meal of them; and being,\ntherefore, half dead already, what do they think of doing? Why, first\nthey display the dismal colours of death before each other\u2019s faces, and\nthen resolve what to do, saying, \u201cIf we say we will enter into the\ncity, then famine is in the city, and we shall die there: if we sit\nstill here, we die also. Now, therefore, come, let us fall unto the\nhost of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; if they kill\nus, we shall but die.\u201d Here, now, was necessity at work, and this\nnecessity drove them to go thither for life, whither else they would\nnever have gone for it. Thus it is with them that in truth come to\nJesus Christ. Death is before them, they see it and feel it; he is\nfeeding upon them, and will eat them quite up, if they come not to\nJesus Christ; and therefore they come, even of necessity, being forced\nthereto by that sense they have of their being utterly and\neverlastingly undone, if they find not safety in him. These are they\nthat will come. Indeed, these are they that are invited to come. \u201cCome\nunto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you\nrest\u201d (Matt 11:28).\n\nTake two or three things to make this more plain; to wit, That coming\nto Christ floweth from a sound sense of the absolute need that a man\nhath of him, as afore.\n\n1. \u201cThey shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead\nthem; I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight\nway wherein they shall not stumble\u201d (Jer 31:9). Mind it; they come with\nweeping and supplication; they come with prayers and tears. Now prayers\nand tears are the effects of a right sense of the need of mercy. Thus a\nsenseless sinner cannot come, he cannot pray, he cannot cry, he cannot\ncome sensible of what he sees not, nor feels. \u201cIn those days, and in\nthat time\u2014the children of Israel shall come; they and the children of\nJudah together, going and weeping: they shall go and seek the Lord\ntheir God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward,\nsaying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual\ncovenant that shall not be forgotten\u201d (Jer 1:4,5).\n\n2. This coming to Christ, it is called a running to him, as flying to\nhim; a flying to him from wrath to come. By all which terms is set\nforth the sense of the man that comes; to wit, That he is affected with\nthe sense of his sin, and the death due thereto; that he is sensible\nthat the avenger of blood pursues him, and that, therefore, he is thus\noff, if he makes not speed to the Son of God for life (Matt 3:7; Psa\n143:9). Flying is the last work of a man in danger; all that are in\ndanger do not fly; no, not all that see themselves in danger; flying is\nthe last work of a man in danger; all that hear of danger will not fly.\nMen will consider if there be no other way of escape before they fly.\nTherefore, as I said, flying is the last thing. When all refuge fails,\nand a man is made to see that there is nothing left him but sin, death,\nand damnation, unless he flies to Christ for life; then he flies, and\nnot till then.\n\n3. That the true coming is from a sense of an absolute need of Jesus\nChrist to save, &c., is evident by the outcry that is made by them to\ncome, even as they are coming to him, \u201cLord, save me,\u201d or I perish;\n\u201cMen and brethren, what shall we do?\u201d \u201cSirs, what must I do to be\nsaved?\u201d and the like (Matt 14:30; Acts 2:37; 16:30). This language doth\nsufficiently discover that the truly-coming souls are souls sensible of\ntheir need of salvation by Jesus Christ; and, moreover, that there is\nnothing else that can help them but Christ.\n\n4. It is yet further evident by these few things that follow: It is\nsaid that such are \u201cpricked in their heart,\u201d that is, with the sentence\nof death by the law; and the least prick in the heart kills a man (Acts\n2:37). Such are said, as I said before, to weep, to tremble, and to be\nastonished in themselves at the evident and unavoidable danger that\nattends them, unless they fly to Jesus Christ (Acts 9:16).\n\n5. Coming to Christ is attended with an honest and sincere forsaking of\nall for him. \u201cIf any man come to me, and hate not his father and\nmother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his\nown life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear\nhis cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple\u201d (Luke 14:26,27).\n\nBy these and the like expressions elsewhere, Christ describeth the true\ncomer, or the man that indeed is coming to him; he is one that casteth\nall behind his back; he leaveth all, he forsaketh all, he hateth all\nthings that would stand in his way to hinder his coming to Jesus\nChrist. There are a great many pretended comers to Jesus Christ in the\nworld; and they are much like to the man you read of in Matthew 21:30,\nthat said to his father\u2019s bidding, \u201cI go, Sir,\u201d and went not. I say,\nthere are a great many such comers to Jesus Christ; they say, when\nChrist calls by his gospel, I come, Sir; but still they abide by their\npleasures and carnal delights. They come not at all, only they give him\na courtly compliment; but he takes notice of it, and will not let it\npass for any more than a lie. He said, \u201cI go, Sir, and went not;\u201d he\ndissembled and lied. Take heed of this, you that flatter yourselves\nwith your own deceivings. Words will not do with Jesus Christ. Coming\nis coming, and nothing else will go for coming with him.\n\n[Objections that usually lie in the way of coming to Christ.]\n\nBefore I speak to the other head, I shall answer some objections that\nusually lie in the way of those that in truth are coming to Jesus\nChrist.\n\nObjection 1. Though I cannot deny but my mind runs after Christ, and\nthat too as being moved thereto from a sight and consideration of my\nlost condition, for I see without him I perish; yet I fear my ends are\nnot right in coming to him.\n\nQuest. Why, what is thine end in coming to Christ?\n\nAnsw. My end is, that I might have life, and be saved by Jesus Christ.\n\nThis is the objection; well, let me tell thee, that to come to Christ\nfor life, and to be saved, although at present thou hast no other end,\nis a lawful and good coming to Jesus Christ. This is evident, because\nChrist propoundeth life as the only argument to prevail with sinners to\ncome to him, and so also blameth them because they come not to him for\nlife. \u201cAnd ye will not come to me, that ye might have life\u201d (John\n5:40). Besides, there are many other scriptures whereby he allureth\nsinners to come to him, in which he propoundeth nothing to them but\ntheir safety. As, \u201cwhosoever believeth in him should not perish;\u201d he\nthat believeth is \u201cpassed from death unto life.\u201d \u201cHe that\nbelieveth\u2014shall be saved.\u201d \u201cHe that believeth on him is not condemned.\u201d\nAnd believing and coming are all one. So that you see, to come to\nChrist for life, is a lawful coming and good. In that he believeth,\nthat he alone hath made atonement for sin (Rom 2). And let me add over\nand above, that for a man to come to Christ for life, though he comes\nto him for nothing else but life, it is to give much honour to him.\n\n1. He honoureth the word of Christ, and consenteth to the truth of it;\nand that in these two general heads. (1.) He consenteth to the truth of\nall those sayings that testify that sin is most abominable in itself,\ndishonourable to God, and damnable to the soul of man; for thus saith\nthe man that cometh to Jesus Christ (Jer 44:4; Rom 2:23; 6:23; 2 Thess\n2:12). (2.) In that he believeth, as the word hath said, that there is\nin the world\u2019s best things, righteousness and all, nothing but death\nand damnation; for so also says the man that comes to Jesus Christ for\nlife (Rom 7:24,25; 8:2,3; 2 Cor 3:6-8).\n\n2. He honoureth Christ\u2019s person, in that he believeth that there is\nlife in him, and that he is able to save him from death, hell, the\ndevil, and damnation; for unless a man believes this, he will not come\nto Christ for life (Heb 7:24,25).\n\n3. He honoureth him, in that he believeth that he is authorized of the\nFather to give life to those that come to him for it (John 5:11,12;\n17:1-3).\n\n4. He honoureth the priesthood of Jesus Christ. (1.) In that he\nbelieveth that Christ hath more power to save from sin by the sacrifice\nthat he hath offered for it, than hath all law, devils, death, or sin\nto condemn. He that believes not this, will not come to Jesus Christ\nfor life (Acts 13:38; Heb 2:14,15; Rev 1:17,18). (2.) In that he\nbelieveth that Christ, according to his office, will be most faithful\nand merciful in the discharge of his office. This must be included in\nthe faith of him that comes for life to Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1-3; Heb\n2:17,18).\n\n5. Further, He that cometh to Jesus Christ for life, taketh part with\nhim against sin, and against the ragged and imperfect righteousness of\nthe world; yea, and against false Christs, and damnable errors, that\nset themselves against the worthiness of his merits and sufficiency.\nThis is evident, for that such a soul singleth Christ out from them\nall, as the only one that can save.\n\n6. Therefore as Noah, at God\u2019s command, thou preparest this ark, for\nthe saving of thyself, by which also thou condemnest the world, and art\nbecome heir of the righteousness which is by faith (Heb 11:7).\nWherefore, coming sinner, be content; he that cometh to Jesus Christ,\nbelieveth too that he is willing to show mercy to, and have compassion\nupon him, though unworthy, that comes to him for life. And therefore\nthy soul lieth not only under a special invitation to come, but under a\npromise too of being accepted and forgiven (Matt 11:28).\n\nAll these particular parts and qualities of faith are in that soul that\ncomes to Jesus Christ for life, as is evident to any indifferent\njudgment. For, will he that believeth not the testimony of Christ\nconcerning the baseness of sin, and the insufficiency of the\nrighteousness of the world, come to Christ for life? No. He that\nbelieveth not this testimony of the word, comes not. He that believeth\nthat there is life anywhere else, comes not. He that questions whether\nthe Father hath given Christ power to forgive, comes not. He that\nthinketh that there is more in sin, in the law, in death, and the\ndevil, to destroy, than there is in Christ to save, comes not. He also\nthat questions his faithful management of his priesthood for the\nsalvation of sinners, comes not.\n\nThou, then, that art indeed the coming sinner, believest all this.\nTrue, perhaps thou dost not believe with that full assurance, nor hast\nthou leisure to take notice of thy faith as to these distinct acts of\nit; but yet all this faith is in him coming to Christ for life. And the\nfaith that thus worketh, is the faith of the best and purest kind;\nbecause this man comes alone as a sinner, and as seeing that life is,\nand is to be had only in Jesus Christ.\n\nBefore I conclude my answer to this objection, take into thy\nconsideration these two things.\n\n1st. [Consider] that the cities of refuge were erected for those that\nwere dead in law, and that yet would live by grace; even for those that\nwere to fly thither for life from the avenger of blood that pursueth\nafter them. And it is worth your noting, that those that were upon\ntheir flight thither, are in a peculiar manner called the people of\nGod: \u201cCast ye up, cast ye up,\u201d saith God; \u201cprepare the way; take up the\nstumblingblock out of the way of my people\u201d (Isa 57:14). This is meant\nof preparing the way to the city of refuge, that the slayers might\nescape thither; which flying slayers are here, by way of specialty,\ncalled the people of God; even those of them that escaped thither for\nlife.\n\n2dly. [Consider] that of Ahab, when Benhadad sent to him for life,\nsaying, \u201cThus saith thy servant Benhadad, I pray thee let me live.\u201d\nThough Benhadad had sought the crown, kingdom, yea, and also the life\nof Ahab, yet how effectually doth Benhadad prevail with him! Is\nBenhadad yet alive? saith Ahab; He is my brother; yea, go ye, bring him\nto me. So he made him ride in his chariot (1 Kings 20).\n\nComing sinner, what thinkest thou? If Jesus Christ had as little\ngoodness in him as Ahab, he might grant an humble Benhadad life; thou\nneither beggest of him his crown and dignity; life, eternal life, will\nserve thy turn. How much more then shalt thou have it, since thou hast\nto deal with him who is goodness and mercy itself! yea, since thou art\nalso called upon, yea, greatly encouraged by a promise of life, to come\nunto him for life! Read also these Scriptures, Numbers 35:11,14,15,\nJoshua 20:1-6, Hebrews 6:16-21.\n\nObject. 2. When I say I only seek myself, I mean I do not find that I\ndo design God\u2019s glory in mine own salvation by Christ, and that makes\nme fear I do not come aright.\n\nAnsw. Where doth Christ Jesus require such a qualification of those\nthat are coming to him for life? Come thou for life, and trouble not\nthy head with such objections against thyself, and let God and Christ\nalone to glorify themselves in the salvation of such a worm as thou\nart. The Father saith to the Son, \u201cThou art my servant, O Israel, in\nwhom I will be glorified.\u201d God propoundeth life to sinners, as the\nargument to prevail with them to come to him for life; and Christ says\nplainly, \u201cI am come that they might have life\u201d (John 10:10). He hath no\nneed of thy designs, though thou hast need of his. Eternal life, pardon\nof sin, and deliverance from wrath to come, Christ propounds to thee,\nand these be the things that thou hast need of; besides, God will be\ngracious and merciful to worthless, undeserving wretches; come then as\nsuch an one, and lay no stumblingblocks in the way to him, but come to\nhim for life, and live (John 5:34; 10:10; 3:36; Matt 1:21; Prov\n8:35,36; 1 Thess 1:10; John 11:25,26).\n\nWhen the jailer said, \u201cSirs, What must I do to be saved?\u201d Paul did not\nso much as once ask him, What is your end in this question? do you\ndesign the glory of God, in the salvation of your soul? He had more\nwit; he knew that such questions as these would have been but fools\u2019\nbabbles about, instead of a sufficient salve5 \u201cWhich Cambell seeing,\nthough he could not salve, to so weighty a question as this. Wherefore,\nsince this poor wretch lacked salvation by Jesus Christ, I mean to be\nsaved from hell and death,\u201d which he knew, now, was due to him for the\nsins that he had committed, Paul bids him, like a poor condemned sinner\nas he was, to proceed still in this his way of self-seeking, saying,\n\u201cBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved\u201d (Acts\n16:30-32). I know that afterwards thou wilt desire to glorify Christ by\nwalking in the way of his precepts; but at present thou wantest life;\nthe avenger of blood is behind thee, and the devil like a roaring lion\nis behind thee; well, come now, and obtain life from these; and when\nthou hast obtained some comfortable persuasion that thou art made\npartaker of life by Christ, then, and not till then, thou wilt say,\n\u201cBless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy\nname. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 6 who\nforgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases; who\nredeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with\nlovingkindness and tender mercies\u201d (Psa 103:1-4).\n\nObject. 3. But I cannot believe that I come to Christ aright, because\nsometimes I am apt to question his very being and office to save.\n\nThus to do is horrible; but mayest thou not judge amiss in this matter?\nHow can I judge amiss, when I judge as I feel? Poor soul! Thou mayest\njudge amiss for all that. Why, saith the sinner, I think that these\nquestionings come from my heart. Let me answer. That which comes from\nthy heart, comes from thy will and affections, from thy understanding,\njudgment, and conscience, for these must acquiesce in thy questioning,\nif thy questioning be with thy heart. And how sayest thou, for to name\nno more, dost thou with thy affection and conscience thus question?\nAnsw. No, my conscience trembles when such thoughts come into my mind;\nand my affections are otherwise inclined.\n\nThen I conclude, that these things are either suddenly injected by the\ndevil, or else are the fruits of that body of sin and death that yet\ndwells within thee, or perhaps from both together.\n\nIf they come wholly from the devil, as they seem, because thy\nconscience and affections are against them, or if they come from that\nbody of death that is in thee, and be not thou curious in inquiring\nfrom whether of them they come, the safest way is to lay enough at thy\nown door; nothing of this should hinder thy coming, nor make thee\nconclude thou comest not aright. 7 And before I leave thee, let me a\nlittle query with thee about this matter.\n\n1. Dost thou like these wicked blasphemies? Answ. No, no, their\npresence and working kills me.\n\n2. Dost thou mourn for them, pray against them, and hate thyself\nbecause of them? Answ. Yes, yes; but that which afflicts me is, I do\nnot prevail against them.\n\n3. Dost thou sincerely choose, mightest thou have thy choice, that thy\nheart might be affected and taken with the things that are best, most\nheavenly, and holy? Answ. With all my heart, and death the next hour,\nif it were God\u2019s will, rather than thus to sin against him.\n\nWell then, thy not liking of them, thy mourning for them, thy praying\nagainst them, and thy loathing thyself because of them, with thy\nsincere choosing of those thoughts for thy delectation that are\nheavenly and holy, clearly declares, that these things are not\ncountenanced either with thy will, affections, understanding, judgment,\nor conscience; and so, that thy heart is not in them, but that rather\nthey come immediately from the devil, or arise from the body of death\nthat is in thy flesh, of which thou oughtest thus to say, \u201cNow, then,\nit is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me\u201d (Rom 7:17).\n\nI will give thee a pertinent instance. In Deuteronomy 22, thou mayest\nread of a betrothed damsel, one betrothed to her beloved, one that had\ngiven him her heart and mouth, as thou hast given thyself to Christ;\nyet was she met with as she walked in the field, by one that forced\nher, because he was stronger than she. Well, what judgment now doth\nGod, the righteous judge, pass upon the damsel for this? \u201cThe man only\nthat lay with her,\u201d saith God, \u201cshall die. But unto the damsel thou\nshalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death. For,\nas when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is\nthis matter; for he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel\ncried, and there was none to save her\u201d (Deut 22:25-27).\n\nThou art this damsel. The man that forced thee with these blasphemous\nthoughts, is the devil; and he lighteth upon thee in a fit place, even\nin the field, as thou art wandering after Jesus Christ; but thou criest\nout, and by thy cry did show, that thou abhorrest such wicked lewdness.\nWell, the Judge of all the earth will do right; he will not lay the sin\nat thy door, but at his that offered the violence. And for thy comfort\ntake this into consideration, that he came to heal them \u201cthat were\noppressed of the devil\u201d (Acts 10:38).\n\nObject. 4. But, saith another, I am so heartless, so slow, and, as I\nthink, so indifferent in my coming, that, to speak truth, I know not\nwhether my kind of coming ought to be called a coming to Christ.\n\nAnsw. You know that I told you at first, that coming to Christ is a\nmoving of the heart and affections towards him.\n\nBut, saith the soul, my dullness and indifferency in all holy duties,\ndemonstrate my heartlessness in coming; and to come, and not with the\nheart, signifies nothing at all.\n\n1. The moving of the heart after Christ is not to be discerned, at all\ntimes, by thy sensible affectionate performance of duties, but rather\nby those secret groanings and complaints which thy soul makes to God\nagainst that sloth that attends thee in duties.\n\n2. But grant it to be even as thou sayest it is, that thou comest so\nslowly, &c., yet, since Christ bids them come that come not at all,\nsurely they may be accepted that come, though attended with those\ninfirmities which thou at present groanest under. He saith, \u201cand him\nthat cometh;\u201d he saith not, If they come sensible; so fast; but, \u201cand\nhim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d He saith also in the\nninth of Proverbs, \u201cAs for him that wanteth understanding,\u201d that is, an\nheart (for oftentimes the understanding is taken for the heart), \u201ccome,\neat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.\u201d\n\n3. Thou mayest be vehement in thy spirit in coming to Jesus Christ, and\nyet be plagued with sensible sloth; so was the church when she cried,\n\u201cDraw me, we will run after thee;\u201d and Paul, when he said, \u201cWhen I\nwould do good, evil is present with me\u201d (Song 14; Rom 7; Gal 5:19). The\nworks, strugglings, and oppositions of the flesh, are more manifest\nthan are the works of the Spirit in our hearts, and so are sooner felt\nthan they. What then? Let us not be discouraged at the sight and\nfeeling of our own infirmities, but run the faster to Jesus Christ for\nsalvation.\n\n4. Get thy heart warmed with the sweet promise of Christ\u2019s acceptance\nof the coming sinner, and that will make thee make more haste unto him.\nDiscouraging thoughts they are like unto cold weather, they benumb the\nsenses, and make us go ungainly about our business; but the sweet and\nwarm gleads8 of promise are like the comfortable beams of the sun,\nwhich liven and refresh. 9 You see how little the bee and fly do play\nin the air in winter; why, the cold hinders them from doing it; but\nwhen the wind and sun is warm, who so busy as they?\n\n5. But again, he that comes to Christ, flies for his life. Now, there\nis no man that flies for his life, that thinks he speeds fast enough on\nhis journey; no, could he, he would willingly take a mile at a step. O\nmy sloth and heartlessness, sayest thou! \u201cOh that I had wings like a\ndove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. I would hasten my\nescape from the windy storm and tempest\u201d (Psa 55:6,8).\n\nPoor coming soul, thou art like the man that would ride full gallop,\nwhose horse will hardly trot! Now, the desire of his mind is not to be\njudged of by the slow pace of the dull jade he rides on, but by the\nhitching, and kicking, and spurring, as he sits on his back. Thy flesh\nis like this dull jade; it will not gallop after Christ; it will be\nbackward, though thy soul and heaven lie at stake. 10 But be of good\ncomfort, Christ judgeth not according to the fierceness of outward\nmotion (Mark 10:17) but according to the sincerity of the heart and\ninward parts (John 1:47; Psa 51:6; Matt 26:41).\n\n6. Ziba, in appearance, came to David much faster than did\nMephibosheth; but yet his heart was not so upright in him to David as\nwas his. It is true, Mephibosheth had a check from David; for, said he,\n\u201cWhy wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?\u201d But when David came to\nremember that Mephibosheth was lame, for that was his plea\u2014\u201cthy servant\nis lame\u201d (2 Sam 19), he was content, and concluded, he would have come\nafter him faster than he did; and Mephibosheth appealed to David, who\nwas in those days as an angel of God, to know all things that are done\nin the earth, if he did not believe that the reason of his backwardness\nlay in his lameness, and not in his mind. Why, poor coming sinner, thou\ncanst not come to Christ with that outward swiftness of a courier as\nmany others do; but doth the reason of thy backwardness lie in thy mind\nand will, or in the sluggishness of the flesh? Canst thou say\nsincerely, \u201cThe spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak\u201d (Matt\n26:41). Yea, canst thou appeal to the Lord Jesus, who knoweth perfectly\nthe very inmost thought of thy heart, that this is true? Then take this\nfor thy comfort, he hath said, \u201cI will assemble her that halteth\u2014I will\nmake her that halted a remnant,\u201d (Micah 4:6), \u201cand I will save her that\nhalteth\u201d (Zeph 3:19). What canst thou have more from the sweet lips of\nthe Son of God? But,\n\n7. I read of some that are to follow Christ in chains; I say, to come\nafter him in chains. \u201cThus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and\nmerchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come\nover unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee: in\nchains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee: they\nshall make supplication unto thee, saying\u2014Surely there is none else\u201d to\nsave (Isa 45:14). Surely they that come after Christ in chains, come to\nhim in great difficulty, because their steps, by the chains, are\nstraitened. And what chains are so heavy as those that discourage thee?\nThy chain, which is made up of guilt and filth, is heavy; it is a\nwretched bond about thy neck, by which thy strength doth fail (Lam\n1:14; 3:18). But come, though thou comest in chains; it is glory to\nChrist that a sinner comes after him in chains. The chinking of thy\nchains, though troublesome to thee, are not, nor can be obstruction to\nthy salvation; it is Christ\u2019s work and glory to save thee from thy\nchains, to enlarge thy steps, and set thee at liberty. The blind man,\nthough called, surely could not come apace to Jesus Christ, but Christ\ncould stand still, and stay for him (Mark 10:49). True, \u201cHe rideth upon\nthe wings of the wind;\u201d but yet he is long-suffering, and his\nlong-suffering is salvation to him that cometh to him (2 Peter 3:9).\n\n8. Hadst thou seen those that came to the Lord Jesus in the days of his\nflesh, how slowly, how hobblingly, they came to him, by reason of their\ninfirmities; and also how friendly, and kindly, and graciously, he\nreceived them, and gave them the desire of their hearts, thou wouldest\nnot, as thou dost, make such objections against thyself, in thy coming\nto Jesus Christ.\n\nObject. 5. But, says another, I fear I come too late; I doubt I have\nstaid too long; I am afraid the door is shut.\n\nAnsw. Thou canst never come too late to Jesus Christ, if thou dost\ncome. This is manifest by two instances.\n\n1. By the man that came to him at the eleventh hour. This man was idle\nall the day long. He had a whole gospel day to come in, and he played\nit all away save only the last hour thereof. But at last, at the\neleventh hour, he came, and goes into the vineyard to work with the\nrest of the labourers, that had borne the burden and heat of the day.\nWell, but how was he received by the lord of the vineyard? Why, when\npay-day came, he had even as much as the rest; yea, had his money\nfirst. True, the others murmured at him; but what did the Lord Jesus\nanswer them? \u201cIs thine eye evil, because I am good? I will give unto\nthis last, even as unto thee\u201d (Matt 20:14,15).\n\n2. The other instance is, the thief upon the cross. He came late also,\neven as at an hour before his death; yea, he stayed from Jesus Christ\nas long as he had liberty to be a thief, and longer too; for could he\nhave deluded the judge, and by lying words have escaped his just\ncondemnation, for ought I know, he had not come as yet to his Saviour;\nbut being convicted, and condemned to die, yea, fastened to the cross,\nthat he might die like a rogue, as he was in his life; behold the Lord\nJesus, when this wicked one, even now, desireth mercy at his hands,\ntells him, and that without the least reflection upon him, for his\nformer misspent life, \u201cTo-day shalt thou be with me in paradise\u201d (Luke\n23:43). Let no man turn this grace of God into wantonness. My design is\nnow to encourage the coming soul.\n\nObject. But is not the door of mercy shut against some before they die?\n\nAnsw. Yea; and God forbids that prayers should be made to him for them\n(Jer 6:16; Jude 22).\n\nQuest. Then, why may not I doubt that I may be one of these?\n\nAnsw. By no means, if thou art coming to Jesus Christ; because when God\nshuts the door upon men, he gives them no heart to come to Jesus\nChrist. \u201cNone come but those to whom it is given of the Father.\u201d But\nthou comest, therefore it is given to thee of the Father.\n\nBe sure, therefore, if the Father hath given thee an heart to come to\nJesus Christ, the gate of mercy yet stands open to thee. For it stands\nnot with the wisdom of God to give strength to come to the birth, and\nyet to shut up the womb, (Isa 66:9); to give grace to come to Jesus\nChrist, and yet shut up the door of his mercy upon thee. \u201cIncline your\near,\u201d saith he, \u201cand come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and\nI will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of\nDavid\u201d (Isa 55:3).\n\nObject. But it is said, that some knocked when the door was shut.\n\nAnsw. Yes; but the texts in which these knockers are mentioned, are to\nbe referred unto the day of judgment, and not to the coming of the\nsinner to Christ in this life. See the texts, Matthew 15:11, Luke\n13:24,25. These, therefore, concern thee nothing at all, that art\ncoming to Jesus Christ, thou art coming NOW! \u201cNow is the accepted time;\nbehold, now is the day of salvation\u201d (2 Cor 6:2). Now God is upon the\nmercy-seat; now Christ Jesus sits by, continually pleading the victory\nof his blood for sinners; and now, even as long as this world lasts,\nthis word of the text shall still be free, and fully fulfilled; \u201cAnd\nhim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nSinner, the greater sinner thou art, the greater need of mercy thou\nhast, and the more will Christ be glorified thereby. Come then, come\nand try; come, taste and see how good the Lord is to an undeserving\nsinner!\n\nObject. 6. But, says another, I am fallen since I began to come to\nChrist; therefore I fear I did not come aright, and so consequently\nthat Christ will not receive me.\n\nAnsw. Falls are dangerous, for they dishonour Christ, wound the\nconscience, and cause the enemies of God to speak reproachfully. But it\nis no good argument, I am fallen, therefore I was not coming aright to\nJesus Christ. If David, and Solomon, and Peter, had thus objected\nagainst themselves, they had added to their griefs; and yet, at least\nthey had as much cause as thou. A man whose steps are ordered by the\nLord, and whose goings the Lord delights in, may yet be overtaken with\na temptation that may cause him to fall 11 (Psa 37:23,24). Did not\nAaron fall; yea, and Moses himself? What shall we say of Hezekiah and\nJehoshaphat? There are, therefore, falls and falls; falls pardonable and\nfalls unpardonable. Falls unpardonable are falls against light, from\nthe faith, to the despising of, and trampling upon Jesus Christ and his\nblessed undertakings (Heb 6:2-5; 10:28,29). Now, as for such, there\nremains no more sacrifice for sin. Indeed, they have no heart, no mind,\nno desire to come to Jesus Christ for life, therefore they must perish.\nNay, says the Holy Ghost, \u201cIt is impossible that they should be renewed\nagain unto repentance.\u201d Therefore these God had no compassion for,\nneither ought we; but for other falls though they be dreadful, and God\nwill chastise his people for them, they do not prove thee a graceless\nman, one not coming to Jesus Christ for life.\n\nIt is said of the child in the gospel, that while \u201che was yet a coming,\nthe devil threw him down, and tare him\u201d (Luke 9:42). Dejected sinner,\nit is no wonder that thou hast caught a fall in coming to Jesus Christ.\nIs it not rather to be wondered at, that thou hast not caught before\nthis a thousand times a thousand falls? considering, 1. What fools we\nare by nature. 2. What weaknesses are in us. 3. What mighty powers the\nfallen angels, our implacable enemies, are. 4. Considering also how\noften the coming man is benighted in his journey; and also what\nstumblingblocks do lie in his way. 5. Also his familiars, that were so\nbefore, now watch for his halting, and seek by what means they may to\ncause him to fall by the hand of their strong ones.\n\nWhat then? Must we, because of these temptations, incline to fall? No.\nMust we not fear falls? Yes. \u201cLet him that thinketh he standeth take\nheed lest he fall\u201d (1 Cor 10:12). Yet let him not utterly be cast down;\n\u201cThe Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up those that are bowed\ndown.\u201d Make not light of falls! Yet, hast thou fallen? \u201cYe have,\u201d said\nSamuel, \u201cdone all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following\nthe Lord,\u201d but serve him with a perfect heart, and turn not aside, \u201cfor\nthe Lord will not forsake his people,\u201d and he counteth the coming\nsinner one of them, \u201cbecause it hath pleased the Lord to make you his\npeople\u201d (1 Sam 12:20-22).\n\n[WHAT FORCE THERE IS IN THE PROMISE TO MAKE THEM COME TO CHRIST.]\n\n\nSECOND, \u201cShall come to me.\u201d Now we come to show WHAT FORCE THERE IS IN\nTHIS PROMISE TO MAKE THEM COME TO HIM. \u201cAll that the Father giveth me\nshall come to me.\u201d I will speak to this promise, First, In general.\nSecond, In particular.\n\n[First], In general. This word SHALL is confined to these ALL that are\ngiven to Christ. \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall come to me.\u201d\nHence I conclude,\n\n1. That coming to Jesus Christ aright is an effect of their being, of\nGod, given to Christ before. Mark, They shall come. Who? Those that are\ngiven. They come, then, because they were given, \u201cthine they were, and\nthou gavest them me.\u201d Now, this is indeed a singular comfort to them\nthat are coming in truth to Christ, to think that the reason why they\ncome is, because they were given of the Father before to him. Thus,\nthen, may the coming soul reason with himself as he comes. Am I coming,\nindeed, to Jesus Christ? This coming of mine is not to be attributed to\nme or my goodness, but to the grace and gift of God to Christ. God gave\nfirst my person to him, and, therefore, hath now given me a heart to\ncome.\n\n2. This word, shall come, maketh thy coming not only the fruit of the\ngift of the Father, but also of the purpose of the Son; for these words\nare a Divine purpose; they show us the heavenly determination of the\nSon. \u201cThe Father hath given them to me, and they shall; yea, they shall\ncome to me.\u201d Christ is as full in his resolution to save those given to\nhim as is the Father in giving of them. Christ prizeth the gift of his\nFather; he will lose nothing of it; he is resolved to save it every\nwhit by his blood, and to raise it up again at the last day; and thus\nhe fulfills his Father\u2019s will, and accomplisheth his own desires (John\n6:39).\n\n3. These words, shall come, make thy coming to be also the effect of an\nabsolute promise; coming sinner, thou art concluded in a promise; thy\ncoming is the fruit of the faithfulness of an absolute promise. It was\nthis promise, by the virtue of which thou at first receivedst strength\nto come; and this is the promise, by the virtue of which thou shalt be\neffectually brought to him. It was said to Abraham, \u201cAt this time will\nI come, and Sarah shall have a son.\u201d This son was Isaac. Mark! \u201cSarah\nshall have a son;\u201d there is the promise. And Sarah had a son; there was\nthe fulfilling of the promise; and, therefore, was Isaac called the\nchild of the promise (Gen 17:19; 18:10; Rom 9:9).\n\nSarah shall have a son. But how, if Sarah be past age? Why, still the\npromise continues to say, Sarah shall have a son. But how, if Sarah be\nbarren? Why, still the promise says, Sarah shall have a son. But\nAbraham\u2019s body is now dead? Why, the promise is still the same, Sarah\nshall have a son. Thus, you see what virtue there is in an absolute\npromise; it carrieth enough in its own bowels to accomplish the thing\npromised, whether there be means or no in us to effect it. Wherefore,\nthis promise in the text, being an absolute promise, by virtue of it,\nnot by virtue of ourselves, or by our own inducements, do we come to\nJesus Christ: for so are the words of the text: \u201cAll that the Father\ngiveth me shall come to me.\u201d\n\nTherefore is every sincere comer to Jesus Christ called also a child of\nthe promise. \u201cNow we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of\npromise,\u201d (Gal 4:28); that is, we are the children that God hath\npromised to Jesus Christ, and given to him; yea, the children that\nJesus Christ hath promised shall come to him. \u201cAll that the Father\ngiveth me shall come.\u201d\n\n4. This word, shall come, engageth Christ to communicate all manner of\ngrace to those thus given him to make them effectually to come to him.\n\u201cThey shall come;\u201d that is, not if they will, but if grace, all grace,\nif power, wisdom, a new heart, and the Holy Spirit, and all joining\ntogether, can make them come. I say, this word, shall come, being\nabsolute, hath no dependence upon our own will, or power, or goodness;\nbut it engageth for us even God himself, Christ himself, the Spirit\nhimself. When God had made that absolute promise to Abraham, that Sarah\n\u201cshould have a son,\u201d Abraham did not at all look at any qualification\nin himself, because the promise looked at none; but as God had, by the\npromise, absolutely promised him a son; so he considered now not his\nown body now dead, nor yet the barrenness of Sarah\u2019s womb. \u201cHe\nstaggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in\nfaith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what he had\npromised he was able also to perform\u201d (Rom 4:20,21). He had promised,\nand had promised absolutely, Sarah shall have a son. Therefore, Abraham\nlooks that he, to wit, God, must fulfil the condition of it. Neither is\nthis expectation of Abraham disapproved by the Holy Ghost, but\naccounted good and laudable; it being that by which he gave glory to\nGod. The Father, also, hath given to Christ a certain number of souls\nfor him to save; and he himself hath said, \u201cThey shall come to him.\u201d\nLet the church of God then live in a joyful expectation of the utmost\naccomplishment of this promise; for assuredly it shall be fulfilled,\nand not one thousandth part of a tittle thereof shall fail. \u201cThey SHALL\ncome to me.\u201d\n\n[Second, In particular.] And now, before I go any further, I will more\nparticularly inquire into the nature of an absolute promise.\n\n1. We call that an absolute promise that is made without any condition;\nor more fully thus: That is an absolute promise of God, or of Christ,\nwhich maketh over to this or that man any saving, spiritual blessing,\nwithout a condition to be done on our part for the obtaining thereof.\nAnd this we have in hand is such an one. Let the best Master of Arts on\nearth show me, if he can, any condition in this text depending upon any\nqualification in us, which is not by the same promise concluded, shall\nbe by the Lord Jesus effected in us.\n\n2. An absolute promise therefore is, as we say, without if or and; that\nis, it requireth nothing of us, that itself might be accomplished. It\nsaith not, They shall, if they will; but they shall: not, they shall,\nif they use the means; but, they shall. You may say, that a will and\nthe use of the means is supposed, though not expressed. But I answer,\nNo, by no means; that is, as a condition of this promise. If they be at\nall included in the promise, they are included there as the fruit of\nthe absolute promise, not as if it expected the qualification to arise\nfrom us. \u201cThy people shall be willing in the day of thy power\u201d (Psa\n110:3). That is another absolute promise. But doth that promise suppose\na willingness in us, as a condition of God\u2019s making us willing? They\nshall be willing, if they are willing; or, they shall be willing, if\nthey will be willing. This is ridiculous; there is nothing of this\nsupposed. The promise is absolute as to us; all that it engageth for\nits own accomplishment is, the mighty power of Christ and his\nfaithfulness to accomplish.\n\n3. The difference, therefore, betwixt the absolute and conditional\npromise is this:\n\n(1.) They differ in their terms. The absolute promises say, I will, and\nyou shall: the other, I will, if you will; or, Do this, and thou shalt\nlive (Jer 4:1; 31:31-33; Eze 18:30-32; 36:24-34; Heb 8:7-13; Matt\n19:21).\n\n(2.) They differ in their way of communicating of good things to men;\nthe absolute ones communicate things freely, only of grace; the other,\nif there be that qualification in us, that the promise calls for, not\nelse.\n\n(3.) The absolute promises therefore engage God, the other engage us: I\nmean, God only, us only.\n\n(4.) Absolute promises must be fulfilled; conditional may, or may not\nbe fulfilled. The absolute ones must be fulfilled, because of the\nfaithfulness of God; the other may not, because of the unfaithfulness\nof men.\n\n(5.) Absolute promises have therefore a sufficiency in themselves to\nbring about their own fulfilling; the conditional have not so. The\nabsolute promise is therefore a big-bellied promise, because it hath in\nitself a fullness of all desired things for us; and will, when the time\nof that promise is come, yield to us mortals that which will verily\nsave us; yea, and make us capable of answering of the demands of the\npromise that is conditional.\n\n4. Wherefore, though there be a real, yea, an eternal difference, in\nthese things, with others, betwixt the conditional and absolute\npromise; yet again, in other respects, there is a blessed harmony\nbetwixt them; as may be seen in these particulars. The conditional\npromise calls for repentance, the absolute promise gives it (Acts\n5:31). The conditional promise calls for faith, the absolute promise\ngives it (Zeph 3:12; Rom 15:12). The conditional promise calls for a\nnew heart, the absolute promise gives it (Eze 36:25,26). The\nconditional promise calleth for holy obedience, the absolute promise\ngiveth it, or causeth it (Eze 36:27).\n\n5. And as they harmoniously agree in this, so again the conditional\npromise blesseth the man, who by the absolute promise is endued with\nits fruit. As, for instance, the absolute promise maketh men upright;\nand then the conditional follows, saying, \u201cBlessed are the undefiled in\nthe way, who walk in the law of the Lord\u201d (Psa 119:1). The absolute\npromise giveth to this man the fear of the Lord; and then the\nconditional followeth, saying, \u201cBlessed is every one that feareth the\nLord\u201d (Psa 128:1). The absolute promise giveth faith, and then this\nconditional follows, saying, \u201cBlessed is she that believed\u201d (Zeph 3:12;\nLuke 1:45). The absolute promise brings free forgiveness of sins; and\nthen says the condition, \u201cBlessed are they whose iniquities are\nforgiven, and whose sins are covered\u201d (Rom 4:7). The absolute promise\nsays, that God\u2019s elect shall hold out to the end; then the conditional\nfollows with his blessings, \u201cHe that shall endure unto the end, the\nsame shall be saved\u201d (1 Peter 1:4-6; Matt 24:13).\n\nThus do the promises gloriously serve one another and us, in this their\nharmonious agreement.\n\nNow, the promise under consideration is an absolute promise. \u201cAll that\nthe Father giveth me shall come to me.\u201d\n\nThis promise therefore is, as is said, a big-bellied promise, and hath\nin itself all those things to bestow upon us that the conditional\ncalleth for at our hands. They shall come! Shall they come? Yes, they\nshall come. But how, if they want those things, those graces, power,\nand heart, without which they cannot come? Why, Shall-come answereth\nall this, and all things else that may in this manner be objected. And\nhere I will take the liberty to amplify things.\n\n[Objections to the absoluteness of this promise (the force of\nSHALL-COME) answered.]\n\nObject. 1. But they are dead, dead in trespasses and sins, how shall\nthey then come?\n\nAnsw. Why, Shall-come can raise them from this death. \u201cThe hour is\ncoming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of\nGod, and they that hear shall live.\u201d Thus, therefore, is this\nimpediment by Shall-come removed out of the way. They shall heal, they\nshall live.\n\nObject. 2. But they are Satan\u2019s captives; he takes them captive at his\nwill, and he is stronger than they: how then can they come?\n\nAnsw. Why, Shall-come hath also provided an help for this. Satan had\nbound that daughter of Abraham so, that she could by no means lift up\nherself; but yet Shall-come set her free both in body and soul. Christ\nwill have them turned from the power of Satan to God. But what! Must it\nbe, if they turn themselves, or do something to merit of him to turn\nthem? No, he will do it freely, of his own good will. Alas! Man, whose\nsoul is possessed by the devil, is turned whithersoever that governor\nlisteth, is taken captive by him, notwithstanding its natural powers,\nat his will; but what will he do? Will he hold him when Shall-come puts\nforth itself, will he then let12 him, for coming to Jesus Christ? No,\nthat cannot be! His power is but the power of a fallen angel, but\nShall-come is the Word of God. Therefore Shall-come must be fulfilled;\n\u201cand the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.\u201d\n\nThere were seven devils in Mary Magdalene, too many for her to get from\nunder the power of; but when the time was come that Shall-come was to\nbe fulfilled upon her, they give place, fly from her, and she comes\nindeed to Jesus Christ, according as it is written, \u201cAll that the\nFather giveth me shall come to me.\u201d\n\nThe man that was possessed with a legion, (Mark 5), was too much by\nthem captivated for him by human force to come; yea, had he had, to\nboot, all the men under heaven to help him, had he that said, He shall\ncome, withheld his mighty power: but when this promise was to be\nfulfilled upon him, then he comes; nor could all their power hinder his\ncoming. It was also this Shall-come that preserved him from death; when\nby these evil spirits he was hurled hither and thither; and it was by\nthe virtue of Shall-come that at last he was set at liberty from them,\nand enabled indeed to come to Christ. \u201cAll that the Father giveth me\nshall come to me.\u201d\n\nObject. 3. They shall, you say; but how if they will not; and, if so,\nthen what can Shall-come do?\n\nAnsw. True, there are some men say, \u201cWe are lords; we will come no more\nunto thee\u201d (Jer 2:31). But as God says in another case, if they are\nconcerned in Shall-come to me, they \u201cshall know whose words shall\nstand, mine or theirs\u201d (Jer 41:28). Here, then, is the case; we must\nnow see who will be the liar, he that saith, I will not; or he that\nsaith, He shall come to me. You shall come, says God; I will not come,\nsaith the sinner. Now, as sure as he is concerned in this Shall-come,\nGod will make that man eat his own words; for I will not, is the\nunadvised conclusion of a crazy-headed sinner; but Shall-come was\nspoken by him that is of power to perform his word. \u201cSon, go work\nto-day in my vineyard,\u201d said the Father. But he answered, and said, I\nwill not come. What now? will he be able to stand to his refusal? will\nhe pursue his desperate denial? No, \u201che afterwards repented and went.\u201d\nBut how came he by that repentance? Why, it was wrapped up for him in\nthe absolute promise; and therefore, notwithstanding he said, \u201cI will\nnot, he afterwards repented and went.\u201d By this parable Jesus Christ\nsets forth the obstinacy of the sinners of the world, as touching their\ncoming to him; they will not come, though threatened: yea, though life\nbe offered them upon condition of coming.\n\nBut now, when Shall-come, the absolute promise of God, comes to be\nfulfilled upon them, then they come; because by that promise a cure is\nprovided against the rebellion of their will. \u201cThy people shall be\nwilling in the day of thy power\u201d(Psa 110:3). Thy people, what people?\nWhy, the people that thy Father hath given thee. The obstinacy and\nplague that is in the will of that people, shall be taken away; and\nthey shall be made willing; Shall-come will make them willing to come\nto thee.\n\nHe that had seen Paul in the midst of his outrages against Christ, his\ngospel, and people, would hardly have thought that he would ever have\nbeen a follower of Jesus Christ, especially since he went not against\nhis conscience in his persecuting of them. He thought verily that he\nought to do what he did. But we may see what Shall-come can do, when it\ncomes to be fulfilled upon the soul of a rebellious sinner: he was a\nchosen vessel, given by the Father to the Son; and now the time being\ncome that Shall-come was to take him in hand, behold, he is\nover-mastered, astonished, and with trembling and reverence, in a\nmoment becomes willing to be obedient to the heavenly call (Acts 9).\n\nAnd were not they far gone, that you read of, (Acts 2) who had their\nhands and hearts in the murder of the Son of God; and to show their\nresolvedness never to repent of that horrid fact, said, \u201cHis blood be\non us and on our children?\u201d But must their obstinacy rule? Must they be\nbound to their own ruin, by the rebellion of their stubborn wills? No,\nnot those of these the Father gave to Christ; wherefore, at the times\nappointed, Shall-come breaks in among them; the absolute promise takes\nthem in hand; and then they come indeed, crying out to Peter, and the\nrest of the apostles, \u201cMen and brethren, what shall we do?\u201d No\nstubbornness of man\u2019s will can stand, when God hath absolutely said the\ncontrary; Shall-come can make them come \u201cas doves to their windows,\u201d\nthat had afore resolved never to come to him.\n\nThe Lord spake unto Manasseh, and to his people, by the prophets, but\nwould he hear? No, he would not. But shall Manasseh come off thus? No,\nhe shall not. Therefore, he being also one of those whom the Father had\ngiven to the Son, and so falling within the bounds and reach of\nShall-come, at last Shall-come takes him in hand, and then he comes\nindeed. He comes bowing and bending; he humbles himself greatly, and\nmade supplication to the Lord, and prayed unto him; and he was\nentreated of him, and had mercy upon him (2 Chron 30:10).\n\nThe thief upon the cross, at first, did rail with his fellow upon Jesus\nChrist; but he was one that the Father had given to him, and,\ntherefore, Shall-come must handle him and his rebellious will. And\nbehold, so soon as he is dealt withal, by virtue of that absolute\npromise, how soon he buckleth, leaves his railing, falls to\nsupplicating of the Son of God for mercy; \u201cLord,\u201d saith he, \u201cRemember\nme when thou comest into thy kingdom\u201d (Matt 27:44; Luke 23:40-42).\n\nObject. 4. They shall come, say you, but how if they be blind, and see\nnot the way? For some are kept off from Christ, not only by the\nobstinacy of their will, but by the blindness of their mind. Now, if\nthey be blind, how shall they come?\n\nAnsw. The question is not, Are they blind? But, Are they within the\nreach and power of Shall-come? If so, that Christ that said, they shall\ncome, will find them eyes, or a guide or both, to bring them to\nhimself. \u201cMust is for the king.\u201d If they shall come, they shall come.\nNo impediment shall hinder.\n\nThe Thessalonians\u2019 darkness did not hinder them from being the children\nof light; \u201cI am come,\u201d said Christ, \u201cthat they which see not might\nsee.\u201d And if he saith, See, ye \u201cblind that have eyes,\u201d who shall hinder\nit? (Eph 5:8; John 9:39; Isa 29:18; 43:8).\n\nThis promise, therefore, is, as I said, a big-bellied promise, having\nin the bowels of it, all things that shall occur to the complete\nfulfilling of itself. They shall come. But it is objected, that they\nare blind. Well, Shall-come is still the same, and continueth to say,\n\u201cThey shall come to me.\u201d Therefore he saith again, \u201cI will bring the\nblind by a way that they know not, I will lead them in paths that they\nhave not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked\nthings straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake\nthem\u201d (Isa 42:16).\n\nMark, I will bring them, though they be blind; I will bring them by a\nway they know not; I will\u2014I will; and therefore \u201cthey shall come to\nme.\u201d\n\nObject. 5. But how, if they have exceeded many in sin, and so made\nthemselves far more abominable? They are the ringleading sinners in the\ncounty, the town, or family.\n\nAnsw. What then? Shall that hinder the execution of Shall-come? It is\nnot transgressions, nor sins, nor all their transgressions in all their\nsins, if they by the Father are given to Christ to save them, that\nshall hinder this promise, that it should not be fulfilled upon them.\n\u201cIn those days, and in that time,\u201d saith the Lord, \u201cthe iniquity of\nIsrael shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of\nJudah, and they shall not be found\u201d (Jer 50:20). Not that they had\nnone, for they abounded in transgression, (2 Chron 33:9; Eze 16:48),\nbut God would pardon, cover, hide, and put them away, by virtue of his\nabsolute promise, by which they are given to Christ to save them. \u201cAnd\nI will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned\nagainst me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have\ntransgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise,\nand an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall bear all\nthe good that I do unto them; and they shall fear and tremble for all\nthe goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it\u201d (Jer\n33:8,9).\n\nObject. 6. But how, if they have not faith and repentance? How shall\nthey come then?\n\nAnsw. Why, he that saith, They shall come, shall he not make it good?\nIf they shall come, they shall come; and he that hath said, they shall\ncome, if faith and repentance be the way to come, as indeed they are,\nthen faith and repentance shall be given to them! for Shall-come must\nbe fulfilled on them.\n\n1. Faith shall be given them. \u201cI will also leave in the midst of thee\nan afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the\nLord.\u201d \u201cThere shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign\nover the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust\u201d (Zeph 3:12; Rom\n15:12).\n\n2. They shall have repentance. He is exalted to give repentance. \u201cThey\nshall come weeping, and seeking the Lord their God.\u201d And again, \u201cWith\nweeping and supplication will I lead them\u201d (Acts 5:31; Jer 31:9).\n\nI told you before, that an absolute promise hath all conditional ones\nin the belly of it, and also provision to answer all those\nqualifications, that they propound to him that seeketh for their\nbenefit. And it must be so; for if Shall-come be an absolute promise,\nas indeed it is, then it must be fulfilled upon every of those\nconcerned therein. I say, it must be fulfilled, if God can by grace,\nand his absolute will, fulfil it. Besides, since coming and believing\nis all one, according to John 6:35, \u201cHe that cometh to me shall never\nhunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst,\u201d then, when he\nsaith they shall come, it is as much as to say, they shall believe, and\nconsequently repent, to the saving of the soul.\n\nSo then the present want of faith and repentance cannot make this\npromise of God of none effect; because that this promise hath in it to\ngive what others call for and expect. I will give them an heart, I will\ngive them my Spirit, I will give them repentance, I will give them\nfaith. Mark these words: \u201cIf any man be in Christ, he is a new\ncreature.\u201d But how came he to be a \u201cnew creature,\u201d since none can\ncreate but God? Why, God indeed doth make them \u201cnew creatures.\u201d\n\u201cBehold,\u201d saith he, \u201cI make all things new.\u201d And hence it follows, even\nafter he had said they are \u201cnew creatures,\u201d \u201cand all things are of\nGod;\u201d that is, all this new creation standeth in the several\noperations, and special workings of the Spirit of grace, who is God (2\nCor 5:17,18).\n\nObject. 7. But how shall they escape all those dangerous and damnable\nopinions, that, like rocks and quicksands, are in the way in which they\nare going?\n\nAnsw. Indeed this age is an age of errors, if ever there was an age of\nerrors in the world; but yet the gift of the Father, laid claim to by\nthe Son in the text, must needs escape them, and in conclusion come to\nhim. There are a company of Shall-comes in the Bible that doth secure\nthem; not but that they may be assaulted by them; yea, and also for the\ntime entangled and detained by them from the Bishop of their souls, but\nthese Shall-comes will break those chains and fetters, that those given\nto Christ are entangled in, and they shall come, because he hath said\nthey shall come to him.\n\nIndeed, errors are like that whore of whom you read in the Proverbs,\nthat sitteth in her seat in the high places of the city, \u201cto call\npassengers who go right on their ways\u201d (Prov 9:13-16). But the persons,\nas I said, that by the Father are given to the Son to save them, are,\nat one time or other, secured by \u201cshall come to me.\u201d\n\nAnd therefore of such it is said, God will guide them with his eye,\nwith his counsels, by his Spirit, and that in the way of peace; by the\nsprings of water, and into all truth (Psa 32:8; 73:24; John 16:13; Luke\n1:79; Isa 49:10). So then he that hath such a guide, and all that the\nFather giveth to Christ shall have it, he shall escape those dangers,\nhe shall not err in the way; yea, though he be a fool, he shall not err\ntherein, (Isa 35:8), for of every such an one it is said, \u201cThine ears\nshall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it,\nwhen ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left\u201d (Isa\n30:21).\n\nThere were thieves and robbers before Christ\u2019s coming, as there are\nalso now; but, said he, \u201cThe sheep did not hear them.\u201d And why did they\nnot hear them, but because they were under the power of Shall-come,\nthat absolute promise, that had that grace in itself to bestow upon\nthem, as could make them able rightly to distinguish of voices, \u201cMy\nsheep hear my voice.\u201d But how came they to hear it? Why, to them it is\ngiven to know and to hear, and that distinguishingly (John 10:8,16;\n5:25; Eph 5:14).\n\nFurther, The very plain sentence of the text makes provision against\nall these things; for, saith it, \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall\ncome to me;\u201d that is, shall not be stopped, or be allured to take up\nanywhere short of ME, nor shall they turn aside, to abide with any\nbesides ME.\n\n[Import of the words TO ME.]\n\n\u201cShall come TO ME.\u201d\u2014To me. By these words there is further insinuated,\nthough not expressed, a double cause of their coming to him. First.\nThere is in Christ a fullness of all-sufficiency of that, even of all\nthat which is needful to make us happy. Second. Those that indeed come\nto him, do therefore come to him that they may receive it at his hand.\n\nFirst. For the first of these, there is in Christ a fullness of\nall-sufficiency of all that, even of all that which is needful to make\nus happy. Hence it is said, \u201cFor it pleased the Father that in him\nshould all fullness dwell\u201d (Col 1:19). And again, \u201cOf his fullness have\nall we received, and grace for grace\u201d (John 1:16). It is also said of\nhim, that his riches are unsearchable\u2014\u201cthe unsearchable riches of\nChrist\u201d (Eph 3:8). Hear what he saith of himself, \u201cRiches and honour\nare with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better\nthan gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. I\nlead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of\njudgment; that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance. And\nI will fill their treasures\u201d (Prov 8:18-21).\n\nThis in general. But, more particularly,\n\n1. There is that light in Christ, that is sufficient to lead them out\nof, and from all that darkness, in the midst of which all others, but\nthem that come to him, stumble, and fall and perish: \u201cI am the light of\nthe world,\u201d saith he, \u201che that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,\nbut shall have the light of life\u201d (John 8:12). Man by nature is in\ndarkness, and walketh in darkness, and knows not whither he goes, for\ndarkness hath blinded his eyes; neither can anything but Jesus Christ\nlead men out of this darkness. Natural conscience cannot do it; the ten\ncommandments, though in the heart of man, cannot do it. This\nprerogative belongs only to Jesus Christ.\n\n2. There is that life in Christ, that is to be found nowhere else (John\n5:40). Life, as a principle in the soul, by which it shall be acted and\nenabled to do that which through him is pleasing to God. \u201cHe that\nbelieveth in,\u201d or cometh to, \u201cme,\u201d saith he, as the Scripture hath\nsaid, \u201cout of his belly shall flow rivers of living water\u201d (John 7:38).\nWithout this life a man is dead, whether he be bad, or whether he be\ngood; that is, good in his own, and other men\u2019s esteem. There is no\ntrue and eternal life but what is in the ME that speaketh in the text.\n\nThere is also life for those that come to him, to be had by faith in\nhis flesh and blood. \u201cHe that eateth me, even he shall live by me\u201d\n(John 6:57). And this is a life against that death that comes by the\nguilt of sin, and the curse of the law, under which all men are, and\nfor ever must be, unless they eat the ME that speaks in the text.\n\u201cWhoso findeth ME,\u201d saith he, \u201cfindeth life;\u201d deliverance from that\neverlasting death and destruction, that, without me, he shall be\ndevoured by (Prov 8:35). Nothing is more desirable than life, to him\nthat hath in himself the sentence of condemnation; and here only is\nlife to be found. This life, to wit, eternal life, this life is in his\nSon; that is, in him that saith in the text, \u201cAll that the Father hath\ngiven me shall come to me\u201d (1 John 5:10).\n\n3. The person speaking in the text, is he alone by whom poor sinners\nhave admittance to, and acceptance with the Father, because of the\nglory of his righteousness, by and in which he presenteth them amiable\nand spotless in his sight; neither is there any way besides him so to\ncome to the Father: \u201cI am the way,\u201d says he, \u201cand the truth, and the\nlife; no man cometh to the Father but by me\u201d (John 14:6). All other\nways to God are dead and damnable; the destroying cherubim stand with\nflaming swords, turning every way to keep all others from his presence\n(Gen 3:24). I say, all others but them that come by him. \u201cI am the\ndoor; by me,\u201d saith he, \u201cif any man enter in, he shall be saved\u201d (John\n10:9).\n\nThe person speaking in the text is HE, and only HE, that can give\nstable and everlasting peace; therefore, saith he, \u201cMy peace I give\nunto you.\u201d My peace, which is a peace with God, peace of conscience,\nand that of an everlasting duration. My peace, peace that cannot be\nmatched, \u201cnot as the world giveth, give I unto you;\u201d for the world\u2019s\npeace is but carnal and transitory, but mine is Divine and eternal.\nHence it is called the peace of God, and that passeth all\nunderstanding.\n\n4. The person speaking in the text hath enough of all things truly\nspiritually good, to satisfy the desires of every longing soul. \u201cJesus\nstood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and\ndrink.\u201d And to him that is athirst, \u201cI will give of the fountain of the\nwater of life freely\u201d (John 7:37, Rev 21:6).\n\n5. With the person speaking in the text is power to perfect and defend,\nand deliver those that come to him for safe-guard. \u201cAll power,\u201d saith\nhe, \u201cis given unto me in heaven and earth\u201d (Matt 28:18).\n\nThus might I multiply instances in this nature in abundance. But,\n\nSecond. They that in truth do come to him, do therefore come to him\nthat they might receive it at his hand. They come for light, they come\nfor life, they come for reconciliation with God: they also come for\npeace, they come that their soul may be satisfied with spiritual good,\nand that they may be protected by him against all spiritual and eternal\ndamnation; and he alone is able to give them all this, to the filling\nof their joy to the full, as they also find when they come to him. This\nis evident,\n\n1. From the plain declaration of those that already are come to him.\n\u201cBeing justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord\nJesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace\nwherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God\u201d (Rom 5:1,2).\n\n2. It is evident also, in that while they keep their eyes upon him,\nthey never desire to change him for another, or to add to themselves\nsome other thing, together with him, to make up their spiritual joy.\n\u201cGod forbid,\u201d saith Paul, \u201cthat I should glory, save in the cross of\nour Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d \u201cYea, doubtless, and I count all things but\nloss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for\nwhom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but\ndung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own\nrighteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith\nof Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith\u201d (Phil 3:8,9).\n\n3. It is evident also, by their earnest desires that others might be\nmade partakers of their blessedness. \u201cBrethren,\u201d said Paul, \u201cmy heart\u2019s\ndesire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.\u201d That\nis, that way that he expected to be saved himself. As he saith also to\nthe Galatians, \u201cBrethren,\u201d saith he, \u201cI beseech you, be as I am; for I\nam as ye are;\u201d that is, I am a sinner as you are. Now, I beseech you,\nseek for life, as I am seeking of it; as who should say, For there is a\nsufficiency in the Lord Jesus both for me and you.\n\n4. It is evident also, by the triumph that such men make over all their\nenemies, both bodily and ghostly: \u201cNow thanks be unto God,\u201d said Paul,\n\u201cwhich always causeth us to triumph in Christ.\u201d And, \u201cwho shall\nseparate us from the love of Christ\u201d our Lord? and again, \u201cO death,\nwhere is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death\nis sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, which\ngiveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (2 Cor 2:14; Rom\n8:35; 1 Cor 15:55,56).\n\n5. It is evident also, for that they are made by the glory of that\nwhich they have found in him, to suffer and endure what the devil and\nhell itself hath or could invent, as a means to separate them from him.\nAgain, \u201cWho shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall\ntribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or\nperil, or sword? as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the\nday long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all\nthese things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us.\nFor I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor\nprincipalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor\nheight, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us\nfrom the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord\u201d (Rom 8:35-39).\n\n\u201cShall come TO ME.\u201d Oh! the heart-attracting glory that is in Jesus\nChrist, when he is discovered, to draw those to him that are given to\nhim of the Father; therefore those that came of old, rendered this as\nthe cause of their coming to him: \u201cAnd we beheld his glory, as of the\nonly begotten of the Father\u201d (John 1:14). And the reason why others\ncome not, but perish in their sins, is for want of a sight of his\nglory: \u201cIf our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom\nthe God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not,\nlest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of\nGod, should shine unto them\u201d (2 Cor 4:3,4).\n\nThere is therefore heart-pulling glory in Jesus Christ, which, when\ndiscovered, draws the man to him; wherefore by shall come to me, Christ\nmay mean, when his glory is discovered, then they must come, then they\nshall come to me. Therefore, as the true comers come with weeping and\nrelenting, as being sensible of their own vileness, so again it is\nsaid, that \u201cthe ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion\nwith songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy\nand gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.\u201d That is, at the\nsight of the glory of that grace that shows itself to them now in the\nface of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the hopes that they now have of\nbeing with him in the heavenly tabernacles. Therefore it saith again,\n\u201cWith gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought; they shall enter\ninto the King\u2019s palace\u201d (Isa 35:10; 51:11; Psa 45:15). There is\ntherefore heart-attracting glory in the Lord Jesus Christ, which, when\ndiscovered, subjects the heart to the Word, and makes us come to him.\n\nIt is said of Abraham, that when he dwelt in Mesopotamia, \u201cthe God of\nglory appeared unto him,\u201d saying, \u201cGet thee out of thy country.\u201d And\nwhat then? Why, away he went from his house and friends, and all the\nworld could not stay him. \u201cNow,\u201d as the Psalmist says, \u201cWho is this\nKing of glory?\u201d he answers, \u201cThe Lord, mighty in battle\u201d (Psa 24:8).\nAnd who was that, but he that \u201cspoiled principalities and powers,\u201d when\nhe did hang upon the tree, triumphing over them thereon? And who was\nthat but Jesus Christ, even the person speaking in the text? Therefore\nhe said of Abraham, \u201cHe saw his day. Yea,\u201d saith he to the Jews, \u201cyour\nfather Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad\u201d\n(Col 2:15; James 2:23; John 8:56).\n\nIndeed, the carnal man says, at least in his heart, \u201cThere is no form\nor comeliness in Christ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty\nthat we should desire him,\u201d (Isa 53:2); but he lies. This he speaks, as\nhaving never seen him. But they that stand in his house, and look upon\nhim through the glass of his Word, by the help of his Holy Spirit, they\nwill tell you other things. \u201cBut we all,\u201d say they, \u201cwith open face,\nbeholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the\nsame image from glory to glory\u201d (2 Cor 3:18). They see glory in his\nperson, glory in his undertakings, glory in the merit of his blood, and\nglory in the perfection of his righteousness; yea, heart-affecting,\nheart-sweetening, and heart-changing glory!\n\nIndeed, his glory is veiled, and cannot be seen but as discovered by\nthe Father (Matt 11:27). It is veiled with flesh, with meanness of\ndescent from the flesh, and with that ignominy and shame that attended\nhim in the flesh; but they that can, in God\u2019s light, see through these\nthings, they shall see glory in him; yea, such glory as will draw and\npull their hearts unto him.\n\nMoses was the adopted son of Pharaoh\u2019s daughter; and for aught I know,\nhad been king at last, had he now conformed to the present vanities\nthat were there at court; but he could not, he would not do it. Why?\nWhat was the matter? Why! he saw more in the worst of Christ (bear with\nthe expression), than he saw in the best of all the treasures of the\nland of Egypt. He \u201crefused to be called the son of Pharaoh\u2019s daughter;\nchoosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to\nenjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of\nChrist greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect\nunto the recompence of the reward. He forsook Egypt, not fearing the\nwrath of the king.\u201d But what emboldened him thus to do? Why, \u201che\nendured;\u201d for he had a sight of the person speaking in the text. \u201cHe\nendured, as seeing him who is invisible.\u201d But I say, would a sight of\nJesus have thus taken away Moses\u2019 heart from a crown, and a kingdom,\n&c., had he not by that sight seen more in him than was to be seen in\nthem? (Heb 11:24-26).\n\nTherefore, when he saith, shall come to me, he means, they shall have a\ndiscovery of the glory of the grace that is in him; and the beauty and\nglory of that is of such virtue, that it constraineth, and forceth,\nwith a blessed violency, the hearts of those that are given to him.\n\nMoses, of whom we spake before, was no child when he was thus taken\nwith the beauteous glory of his Lord. He was forty years old, and so\nconsequently was able, being a man of that wisdom and opportunity as he\nwas, to make the best judgment of the things, and of the goodness of\nthem that was before him in the land of Egypt. But he, even he it was,\nthat set that low esteem upon the glory of Egypt, as to count it not\nworth the meddling with, when he had a sight of this Lord Jesus Christ.\nThis wicked world thinks, that the fancies of a heaven, and a happiness\nhereafter, may serve well enough to take the heart of such, as either\nhave not the world\u2019s good things to delight in; or that are fools, and\nknow not how to delight themselves therein. But let them know again,\nthat we have had men of all ranks and qualities, that have been taken\nwith the glory of our Lord Jesus, and have left all to follow him. As\nAbel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David,\nSolomon; and who not, that had either wit or grace, to savour heavenly\nthings? Indeed none can stand off from him, nor any longer hold out\nagainst him to whom he reveals the glory of his grace.\n\n[THE PROMISE TO THOSE COMING TO CHRIST.]\n\n\n\u201cAND HIM THAT COMETH TO ME I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nBy these words our Lord Jesus doth set forth yet more amply the great\ngoodness of his nature towards the coming sinner. Before, he said, They\nshall come; and here he declareth, That with heart and affections he\nwill receive them. But, by the way, let me speak one word or two to the\nseeming conditionality of this promise with which now I have to do.\n\u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d Where it is\nevident, may some say, that Christ\u2019s receiving us to mercy depends upon\nour coming, and so our salvation by Christ is conditional. If we come,\nwe shall be received; if not, we shall not; for that is fully intimated\nby the words. The promise of reception is only to him that cometh. \u201cAnd\nhim that cometh.\u201d I answer, that the coming in these words mentioned,\nas a condition of being received to life, is that which is promised,\nyea, concluded to be effected in us by the promise going before. In\nthose latter words, coming to Christ is implicitly required of us; and\nin the words before, that grace that can make us come is positively\npromised to us. \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and\nhim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out\u201d thence. We come to\nChrist, because it is said, We shall come; because it is given to us to\ncome. So that the condition which is expressed by Christ in these\nlatter words is absolutely promised in the words before. And, indeed,\nthe coming here intended is nothing else but the effect of \u201cshall come\nto me. They shall come, and I will not cast them out.\u201d\n\n\u201cAND HIM THAT COMETH.\u201d\n\n\nHe saith not, and him that is come, but him that cometh. To speak to\nthese words, First, In general. Second, More particularly.\n\n[First.] In general. They suggest unto us these four things:\u2014\n\n1. That Jesus Christ doth build upon it, that since the Father gave his\npeople to him, they shall be enabled to come unto him. \u201cAnd him that\ncometh.\u201d As who should say, I know that since they are given to me,\nthey shall be enabled to come unto me. He saith not, if they come, or I\nsuppose they will come; but, \u201cand him that cometh.\u201d By these words,\ntherefore, he shows us that he addresseth himself to the receiving of\nthem whom the Father gave to him to save them. I say, he addresseth\nhimself, or prepareth himself to receive them. By which, as I said, he\nconcludeth or buildeth upon it, that they shall indeed come to him. He\nlooketh that the Father should bring them into his bosom, and so stands\nready to embrace them.\n\n2. Christ also suggesteth by these words, that he very well knoweth who\nare given to him; not by their coming to him, but by their being given\nto him. \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that\ncometh,\u201d &c. This him he knoweth to be one of them that the Father hath\ngiven him; and, therefore, he received him, even because the Father\nhath given him to him (John 10). \u201cI know my sheep,\u201d saith he. Not only\nthose that already have knowledge of him, but those, too, that yet are\nignorant of him. \u201cOther sheep I have,\u201d said he, \u201cwhich are not of this\nfold,\u201d (John 10:16); not of the Jewish church, but those that lie in\ntheir sins, even the rude and barbarous Gentiles. Therefore, when Paul\nwas afraid to stay at Corinth, from a supposition that some mischief\nmight befall him there; \u201cBe not afraid,\u201d said the Lord Jesus to him,\n\u201cbut speak, and hold not thy peace\u2014for I have much people in this city\u201d\n(Acts 18:9,10). The people that the Lord here speaks of were not at\nthis time accounted his, by reason of a work of conversion that already\nhad passed upon them, but by virtue of the gift of the Father; for he\nhad given them unto him. Therefore was Paul to stay here, to speak the\nword of the Lord to them, that, by his speaking, the Holy Ghost might\neffectually work over their souls, to the causing them to come to him,\nwho was also ready, with heart and soul, to receive them.\n\n3. Christ, by these words, also suggesteth, that no more come unto him\nthan, indeed, are given him of the Father. For the him in this place is\none of the all that by Christ was mentioned before. \u201cAll that the\nFather giveth me shall come to me;\u201d and every him of that all, \u201cI will\nin no wise cast out.\u201d This the apostle insinuateth, where he saith, \u201cHe\ngave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and\nsome, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the\nwork of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we\nall come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of\nGod, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the\nfullness of Christ\u201d (Eph 4:11-13).\n\nMark, as in the text, so here he speaketh of all. \u201cUntil we all come.\u201d\nWe all! all who? Doubtless, \u201cAll that the Father giveth to Christ.\u201d\nThis is further insinuated, because he called this ALL the body of\nChrist; the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. By which\nhe means the universal number given; to wit, the true elect church,\nwhich is said to be his body and fullness (Eph 1:22,23).\n\n4. Christ Jesus, by these words, further suggesteth, that he is well\ncontent with this gift of the Father to him. \u201cAll that the Father\ngiveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise\ncast out.\u201d I will heartily, willingly, and with great content of mind,\nreceive him.\n\nThey show us, also, that Christ\u2019s love in receiving is as large as his\nFather\u2019s love in giving, and no larger. Hence, he thanks him for his\ngift, and also thanks him for hiding of him and his things from the\nrest of the wicked (Matt 11:25; Luke 10:21). But,\n\nSecondly, and more particularly, \u201cAnd HIM that cometh.\u201d\n\n[Import of the word HIM.]\n\n\u201cAnd him.\u201d This word him; by it Christ looketh back to the gift of the\nFather; not only in the lump and whole of the gift, but to the every\nhim of that lump. As who should say, I do not only accept of the gift\nof my Father in the general, but have a special regard to every of them\nin particular; and will secure not only some, or the greatest part, but\nevery him, every dust. Not a hoof of all shall be lost or left behind.\nAnd, indeed, in this he consenteth to his Father\u2019s will, which is that\nof all that he hath given him, he should lose nothing (John 6:39).\n\n\u201cAnd him.\u201d Christ Jesus, also, by his thus dividing the gift of his\nFather into hims, and by his speaking of them in the singular number,\nshows what a particular work shall be wrought in each one, at the time\nappointed of the Father. \u201cAnd it shall come to pass in that day,\u201d saith\nthe prophet, \u201cthat the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the\nriver unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O\nye children of Israel.\u201d Here are the hims, one by one, to be gathered\nto him by the Father (Isa 27:12).\n\nHe shows also hereby that no lineage, kindred, or relation, can at all\nbe profited by any outward or carnal union with the person that the\nFather hath given to Christ. It is only him, the given HIM, the coming\nhim, that he intends absolutely to secure. Men make a great ado with\nthe children of believers; and oh the children of believers! 13 But if\nthe child of the believer is not the him concerned in this absolute\npromise, it is not these men\u2019s great cry, nor yet what the parent or\nchild can do, that can interest him in this promise of the Lord Christ,\nthis absolute promise.\n\nAND HIM. There are divers sorts of persons that the Father hath given\nto Jesus Christ; they are not all of one rank, of one quality; some are\nhigh, some are low; some are wise, some fools; some are more civil, and\ncomplying with the law; some more profane, and averse to him and his\ngospel. Now, since those that are given to him are, in some sense, so\ndiverse; and again, since he yet saith, \u201cAnd him that cometh,\u201d &c., he,\nby that, doth give us to understand that he is not, as men, for picking\nand choosing, to take a best and leave a worst, but he is for him that\nthe Father hath given him, and that cometh to him. \u201cHe shall not alter\nit, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good,\u201d (Lev 27:10);\nbut will take him as he is, and will save his soul.\n\nThere is many a sad wretch given by the Father to Jesus Christ; but not\none of them all is despised or slighted by him. It is said of those\nthat the Father hath given to Christ that they have done worse than the\nheathen; that they were murderers, thieves, drunkards, unclean persons,\nand what not; but he has received them, washed them, and saved them. A\nfit emblem of this sort is that wretched instance mentioned in the 16th\nof Ezekiel, that was cast out in a stinking condition, to the loathing\nof its person, in the days that it was born; a creature in such a\nwretched condition, that no eye pitied, to do any of the things there\nmentioned unto it, or to have compassion upon it; no eye but his that\nspeaketh in the text.\n\nAND HIM. Let him be as red as blood, let him be as red as crimson. Some\nmen are blood-red sinners, crimson-sinners, sinners of a double die;\ndipped and dipped again, before they come to Jesus Christ. Art thou\nthat readest these lines such an one? Speak out, man! Art thou such an\none? and art thou now coming to Jesus Christ for the mercy of\njustification, that thou mightest be made white in his blood, and be\ncovered with his righteousness? Fear not; forasmuch as this thy coming\nbetokeneth that thou art of the number of them that the Father hath\ngiven to Christ; for he will in no wise cast thee out. \u201cCome now,\u201d\nsaith Christ, \u201cand let us reason together; though your sins be as\nscarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like\ncrimson, they shall be as wool\u201d (Isa 1:18).\n\nAND HIM. There was many a strange HIM came to Jesus Christ, in the days\nof his flesh; but he received them all, without turning any away;\nspeaking unto them \u201cof the kingdom of God, and healed them that had\nneed of healing\u201d (Luke 9:11; 4:40). These words, AND HIM, are therefore\nwords to be wondered at. That not one of them who, by virtue of the\nFather\u2019s gift, and drawing, are coming to Jesus Christ, I say, that not\none of them, whatever they have been, whatever they have done, should\nbe rejected or set by, but admitted to a share in his saving grace. It\nis said in Luke, that the people \u201cwondered at the gracious words which\nproceeded out of his mouth\u201d (4:22). Now this is one of his gracious\nwords; these words are like drops of honey, as it is said, \u201cPleasant\nwords are as an honey-comb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones\u201d\n(Prov 16:24). These are gracious words indeed, even as full as a\nfaithful and merciful High-priest could speak them. Luther saith, \u201cWhen\nChrist speaketh, he hath a mouth as wide as heaven and earth.\u201d That is,\nto speak fully to the encouragement of every sinful him that is coming\nto Jesus Christ. And that his word is certain, hear how himself\nconfirms it: \u201cHeaven and earth,\u201d saith he, \u201cshall pass away; but my\nwords shall not pass away\u201d (Isa 51:6; Matt 24:35).\n\nIt is also confirmed by the testimony of the four evangelists, who gave\nfaithful relation of his loving reception of all sorts of coming\nsinners, whether they were publicans, harlots, thieves, possessed of\ndevils, bedlams, and what not (Luke 19:1-10; Matt 21:31; Luke 15;\n23:43; Mark 16:9; 5:1-9).\n\nThis, then, shows us, 1. \u201cThe greatness of the merits of Christ.\u201d 2.\nThe willingness of his heart to impute them for life to the great, if\ncoming, sinners.\n\n1. This shows us the greatness of the merits of Christ; for it must not\nbe supposed, that his words are bigger than his worthiness. He is\nstrong to execute his word. He can do, as well as speak. He can do\nexceeding abundantly more than we ask or think, even to the uttermost,\nand outside of his word (Eph 3:20). Now, then, since he concludeth any\ncoming HIM; it must be concluded, that he can save to the uttermost\nsin, any coming HIM.\n\nDo you think, I say, that the Lord Jesus did not think before he spake?\nHe speaks all in righteousness, and therefore by his word we are to\njudge how mighty he is to save (Isa 63:1). He speaketh in\nrighteousness, in very faithfulness, when he began to build this\nblessed gospel-fabric, the text; it was for that he had first sat down,\nand counted the cost; and for that, he knew he was able to finish it!\nWhat, Lord, any him? any him that cometh to thee? This is a Christ\nworth looking after, this is a Christ worth coming to!\n\nThis, then, should learn us diligently to consider the natural force of\nevery word of God; and to judge of Christ\u2019s ability to save, not by our\nsins, or by our shallow apprehensions of his grace; but by his word,\nwhich is the true measure of grace. And if we do not judge thus, we\nshall dishonour his grace, lose the benefit of his word, and needlessly\nfright ourselves into many discouragements though coming to Jesus\nChrist. Him, any him that cometh, hath sufficient from this word of\nChrist, to feed himself with hopes of salvation. As thou art therefore\ncoming, O thou coming sinner, judge thou, whether Christ can save thee\nby the true sense of his words: judge, coming sinner, of the efficacy\nof his blood, of the perfection of his righteousness, and of the\nprevalency of his intercession, by his word. \u201cAnd him,\u201d saith he, \u201cthat\ncometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d \u201cIn no wise,\u201d that is, for no\nsin. Judge therefore by his word, how able he is to save thee. It is\nsaid of God\u2019s sayings to the children of Israel, \u201cThere failed not\naught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of\nIsrael; all came to pass\u201d (Josh 21:45). And again, \u201cNot one thing hath\nfailed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning\nyou, all are come to pass unto you; and not one thing hath failed\nthereof\u201d (Josh 23:14).\n\nComing sinner, what promise thou findest in the word of Christ, strain\nit whither thou canst, so thou dost not corrupt it, and his blood and\nmerits will answer all; what the word saith, or any true consequence\nthat is drawn therefrom, that we may boldly venture upon. As here in\nthe text he saith, \u201cAnd him that cometh,\u201d indefinitely, without the\nleast intimation of the rejection of any, though never so great, if he\nbe a coming sinner. Take it then for granted, that thou, whoever thou\nart, if coming, art intended in these words; neither shall it injure\nChrist at all, if, as Benhadad\u2019s servants served Ahab, thou shalt catch\nhim at his word. \u201cNow,\u201d saith the text, \u201cthe man did diligently observe\nwhether anything would come from him,\u201d to wit, any word of grace; \u201cand\ndid hastily catch it.\u201d And it happened that Ahab had called Benhadad\nhis brother. The man replied, therefore, \u201cThy brother Benhadad!\u201d (1\nKings 20:33), catching him at his word. Sinner, coming sinner, serve\nJesus Christ thus, and he will take it kindly at thy hands. When he in\nhis argument called the Canaanitish woman dog, she catched him at it,\nand saith, \u201cTruth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from\ntheir master\u2019s table.\u201d I say, she catched him thus in his words, and he\ntook it kindly, saying, \u201cO woman great is thy faith; be it unto thee\neven as thou wilt\u201d (Matt 15:28). Catch him, coming sinner, catch him in\nhis words, surely he will take it kindly, and will not be offended at\nthee.\n\n2. The other thing that I told you is showed from these words, is this:\nThe willingness of Christ\u2019s heart to impute his merits for life to the\ngreat, if coming sinner. \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will in no wise\ncast out.\u201d\n\nThe awakened coming sinner doth not so easily question the power of\nChrist, as his willingness to save him. Lord, \u201cif thou wilt, thou\ncanst,\u201d said one (Mark 1:40). He did not put the if upon his power, but\nupon his will. He concluded he could, but he was not as fully of\npersuasion that he would. But we have the same ground to believe he\nwill, as we have to believe he can; and, indeed, ground for both is the\nWord of God. If he was not willing, why did he promise? Why did he say\nhe would receive the coming sinner? Coming sinner, take notice of this;\nwe use to plead practices with men, and why not with God likewise? I am\nsure we have no more ground for the one than the other; for we have to\nplead the promise of a faithful God. Jacob took him there: \u201cThou\nsaidst,\u201d said he, \u201cI will surely do thee good\u201d (Gen 32:12). For, from\nthis promise he concluded, that it followed in reason, \u201cHe must be\nwilling.\u201d\n\nThe text also gives some ground for us to draw the same conclusion.\n\u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d Here is his\nwillingness asserted, as well as his power suggested. It is worth your\nobservation, that Abraham\u2019s faith considered rather God\u2019s power than\nhis willingness; that is, he drew his conclusion, \u201cI shall have a\nchild,\u201d from the power that was in God to fulfil the promise to him.\nFor he concluded he was willing to give him one, else he would not have\npromised one. \u201cHe staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief;\nbut was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded\nthat what he had promised he was able also to perform\u201d (Rev 4:20,21).\nBut was not his faith exercised, or tried, about his willingness too?\nNo, there was no show of reason for that, because he had promised it.\nIndeed, had he not promised it, he might lawfully have doubted it; but\nsince he had promised it, there was left no ground at all for doubting,\nbecause his willingness to give a son was demonstrated in his promising\nhim a son. These words, therefore, are sufficient ground to encourage\nany coming sinner that Christ is willing to his power to receive him;\nand since he hath power also to do what he will, there is no ground at\nall left to the coming sinner any more to doubt; but to come in full\nhope of acceptance, and of being received unto grace and mercy. \u201cAnd\nhim that cometh.\u201d He saith not, and him that is come; but, and him that\ncometh; that is, and him whose heart begins to move after me, who is\nleaving all for my sake; him who is looking out, who is on his journey\nto me. We must, therefore, distinguish betwixt coming, and being come\nto Jesus Christ. He that is come to him has attained of him more\nsensibly what he felt before that he wanted, than he has that but yet\nis coming to him.\n\n[Advantages to the man that is come to Christ.]\n\nA man that is come to Christ hath the advantage of him that is but\ncoming to him; and that in seven things.\n\n1. He that is come to Christ is nearer to him than he that is but\ncoming to him; for he that is but coming to him is yet, in some sense,\nat a distance from him; as it is said of the coming prodigal, \u201cAnd\nwhile he was yet a great way off\u201d (Luke 15:20). Now he that is nearer\nto him hath the best sight of him; and so is able to make the best\njudgment of his wonderful grace and beauty, as God saith, \u201cLet them\ncome near, then let them speak\u201d (Isa 41:1). And as the apostle John\nsaith, \u201cAnd we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to\nbe the Saviour of the world\u201d (1 John 4:14). He that is not yet come,\nthough he is coming, is not fit, not being indeed capable to make that\njudgment of the worth and glory of the grace of Christ, as he is that\nis come to him, and hath seen and beheld it. Therefore, sinner, suspend\nthy judgment till thou art come nearer.\n\n2. He that is come to Christ has the advantage of him that is but\ncoming, in that he is eased of his burden; for he that is but coming is\nnot eased of his burden (Matt 11:28). He that is come has cast his\nburden upon the Lord. By faith he hath seen himself released thereof;\nbut he that is but coming hath it yet, as to sense and feeling, upon\nhis own shoulders. \u201cCome unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy\nladen,\u201d implies, that their burden, though they are coming, is yet upon\nthem, and so will be till indeed they are come to him.\n\n3. He that is come to Christ has the advantage of him that is but\ncoming in this also, namely, he hath drank of the sweet and soul\nrefreshing water of life; but he that is but coming hath not. \u201cIf any\nman thirst, let him come unto me and drink\u201d (John 7:37).\n\nMark, He must come to him before he drinks: according to that of the\nprophet, \u201cHo! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.\u201d He\ndrinketh not as he cometh, but when he is come to the waters (Isa\n55:1).\n\n4. He that is come to Christ hath the advantage of him that as yet is\nbut coming in this also, to wit, he is not so terrified with the noise,\nand, as I may call it, hue and cry, which the avenger of blood makes at\nthe heels of him that yet is but coming to him. When the slayer was on\nhis flight to the city of his refuge, he had the noise or fear of the\navenger of blood at his heels; but when he was come to the city, and\nwas entered thereinto, that noise ceased. Even so it is with him that\nis but coming to Jesus Christ, he heareth many a dreadful sound in is\near; sounds of death and damnation, which he that is come is at present\nfreed from. Therefore he saith, \u201cCome, and I will give you rest.\u201d And\nso he saith again, \u201cWe that have believed, do enter into rest,\u201d as he\nsaid, &c. (Heb 4).\n\n5. He, therefore, that is come to Christ, is not so subject to those\ndejections, and castings down, by reason of the rage and assaults of\nthe evil one, as is the man that is but coming to Jesus Christ, though\nhe has temptations too. \u201cAnd as he was yet a-coming, the devil threw\nhim down, and tare him\u201d (Luke 9:42). For he has, though Satan still\nroareth upon him, those experimental comforts and refreshments, to wit,\nin his treasury, to present himself with, in times of temptation and\nconflict; which he that is but coming has not.\n\n6. He that is come to Christ has the advantage of him that is but\ncoming to him, in this also, to wit, he hath upon him the wedding\ngarment, &c., but he that is coming has not. The prodigal, when coming\nhome to his father, was clothed with nothing but rags, and was\ntormented with an empty belly; but when he was come, the best robe is\nbrought out, also the gold ring, and the shoes, yea, they are put upon\nhim, to his great rejoicing. The fatted calf was killed for him; the\nmusic was struck up to make him merry; and thus also the Father himself\nsang of him, \u201cThis my son was dead, and is alive again; was lost and is\nfound\u201d (Luke 15:18,19).\n\n7. In a word, he that is come to Christ, his groans and tears, his\ndoubts and fears, are turned into songs and praises; for that he hath\nnow received the atonement, and the earnest of his inheritance; but he\nthat is but yet a-coming, hath not those praises nor songs of\ndeliverance with him; nor has he as yet received the atonement and\nearnest of his inheritance, which is, the sealing testimony of the Holy\nGhost, through the sprinkling of the blood of Christ upon his\nconscience, for he is not come (Rom 5:11; Eph 1:13; Heb 12:22-24).\n\n[Import of the word COMETH.]\n\n\u201cAnd him that COMETH.\u201d There is further to be gathered from this word\ncometh, these following particulars:\u2014\n\n1. That Jesus Christ hath his eye upon, and takes notice of, the first\nmoving of the heart of a sinner after himself. Coming sinner, thou\ncanst not move with desires after Christ, but he sees the working of\nthose desires in thy heart. \u201cAll my desire,\u201d said David, \u201cis before\nthee; and my groaning is not hid from thee\u201d (Psa 38:9). This he spake,\nas he was coming, after he had backslidden, to the Lord Jesus Christ.\nIt is said of the prodigal, that while he was yet a great way off, his\nfather saw him, had his eye upon him, and upon the going out of his\nheart after him (Luke 15:20).\n\nWhen Nathanael was come to Jesus Christ, the Lord said to them that\nstood before him, \u201cBehold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.\u201d\nBut Nathanael answered him, \u201cWhence knowest thou me?\u201d Jesus answered,\n\u201cBefore that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I\nsaw thee.\u201d There, I suppose, Nathanael was pouring out of his soul to\nGod for mercy, or that he would give him good understanding about the\nMessias to come; and Jesus saw all the workings of his honest heart at\nthat time (John 1:47,48).\n\nZaccheus also had some secret movings of heart, such as they were,\ntowards Jesus Christ, when he ran before, and climbed up the tree to\nsee him; and the Lord Jesus Christ had his eye upon him: therefore,\nwhen he was come to the place, he looked up to him, bids him come down,\n\u201cFor today,\u201d said he, \u201cI must abide at thy house;\u201d to wit, in order to\nthe further completing the work of grace in his soul (Luke 19:1-9).\nRemember this, coming sinner.\n\n2. As Jesus Christ hath his eye upon, so he hath his heart open to\nreceive, the coming sinner. This is verified by the text: \u201cAnd him that\ncometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d This is also discovered by\nhis preparing of the way, in his making of it easy (as may be) to the\ncoming sinner; which preparation is manifest by those blessed words, \u201cI\nwill in no wise cast out;\u201d of which more when we come to the place. And\nwhile \u201che was yet a great way off, his Father saw him, and had\ncompassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him\u201d (Luke\n15:20). All these expressions do strongly prove that the heart of\nChrist is open to receive the coming sinner.\n\n3. As Jesus Christ has his eye upon, and his heart open to receive, so\nhe hath resolved already that nothing shall alienate his heart from\nreceiving the coming sinner. No sins of the coming sinner, nor the\nlength of the time that he hath abode in them, shall by any means\nprevail with Jesus Christ to reject him. Coming sinner, thou art coming\nto a loving Lord Jesus!\n\n4. These words therefore are dropped from his blessed mouth, on purpose\nthat the coming sinner might take encouragement to continue on his\njourney, until he be come indeed to Jesus Christ. It was doubtless a\ngreat encouragement to blind Bartimeus, that Jesus Christ stood still\nand called him, when he was crying, \u201cJesus, thou Son of David, have\nmercy on me;\u201d therefore, it is said, he cast away his garment, \u201crose,\nand came to Jesus\u201d (Mark 10:46). Now, if a call to come hath such\nencouragement in it, what is a promise of receiving such, but an\nencouragement much more? And observe it, though he had a call to come,\nyet not having a promise, his faith was forced to work upon a mere\nconsequence, saying, He calls me; and surely since he calls me, he will\ngrant me my desire. Ah! but coming sinner, thou hast no need to go so\nfar about as to draw (in this matter) consequences, because thou hast\nplain promises: \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\nHere is full, plain, yea, what encouragement one can desire; for,\nsuppose thou wast admitted to make a promise thyself, and Christ should\nattest that he would fulfil it upon the sinner that cometh to him,\nCouldst thou make a better promise? Couldst thou invent a more full,\nfree, or larger promise? a promise that looks at the first moving of\nthe heart after Jesus Christ? a promise that declares, yea, that\nengageth Christ Jesus to open his heart to receive the coming sinner?\nyea, further, a promise that demonstrateth that the Lord Jesus is\nresolved freely to receive, and will in no wise cast out, nor means to\nreject, the soul of the coming sinner! For all this lieth fully in this\npromise, and doth naturally flow therefrom. Here thou needest not make\nuse of far-fetched consequences, nor strain thy wits, to force\nencouraging arguments from the text. Coming sinner, the words are\nplain: \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\n[TWO SORTS OF SINNERS COMING TO CHRIST.]\n\n\n\u201cAnd him that COMETH.\u201d There are two sorts of sinners that are coming\nto Jesus Christ. First, Him that hath never, while of late, 14 at all\nbegan to come. Second, Him that came formerly, and after that went\nback; but hath since bethought himself, and is now coming again. Both\nthese sorts of sinners are intended by the HIM in the text, as is\nevident; because both are now the coming sinners. \u201cAnd him that\ncometh.\u201d\n\nFirst. [The newly-awakened comer.]\u2014For the first of these: the sinner\nthat hath never, while of late, began to come, his way is more easy; I\ndo not say, more plain and open to come to Christ than is the\nother\u2014those last not having the clog of a guilty conscience, for the\nsin of backsliding, hanging at their heels. But all the encouragement\nof the gospel, with what invitations are therein contained to coming\nsinners, are as free and as open to the one as to the other; so that\nthey may with the same freedom and liberty, as from the Word, both\nalike claim interest in the promise. \u201cAll things are ready;\u201d all things\nfor the coming backsliders, as well as for the others: \u201cCome to the\nwedding.\u201d \u201cAnd let him that is athirst come\u201d (Matt 22:1-4; Rev 22:17).\n\nSecond. [The returning backslider.]\u2014But having spoke to the first of\nthese already, I shall here pass it by; and shall speak a word or two\nto him that is coming, after backsliding, to Jesus Christ for life. Thy\nway, O thou sinner of a double dye, thy way is open to come to Jesus\nChrist. I mean thee, whose heart, after long backsliding, doth think of\nturning to him again. Thy way, I say, is open to him, as is the way of\nthe other sorts of comers; as appears by what follows:\u2014\n\n1. Because the text makes no exception against thee. It doth not say,\nAnd any him but a backslider, any him but him. The text doth not thus\nobject, but indefinitely openeth wide its golden arms to every coming\nsoul, without the least exception; therefore thou mayest come. And take\nheed that thou shut not that door against thy soul by unbelief, which\nGod has opened by his grace.\n\n2. Nay, the text is so far from excepting against thy coming, that it\nstrongly suggesteth that thou art one of the souls intended, O thou\ncoming backslider; else what need that clause have been so inserted, \u201cI\nwill in no wise cast out?\u201d As who should say, Though those that come\nnow are such as have formerly backslidden, I will in \u201cno wise\u201d cast\naway the fornicator, the covetous, the railer, the drunkard, or other\ncommon sinners, nor yet the backslider neither.\n\n3. That the backslider is intended is evident,\n\n(1.) For that he is sent to by name, \u201cGo, tell his disciples and Peter\u201d\n(Mark 16:7). But Peter was a godly man. True, but he was also a\nbackslider, yea, a desperate backslider: he had denied his Master once,\ntwice, thrice, cursing and swearing that he knew him not. If this was\nnot backsliding, if this was not an high and eminent backsliding, yea,\na higher backsliding than thou art capable of, I have thought amiss.\n\nAgain, when David had backslidden, and had committed adultery and\nmurder in his backsliding, he must be sent to by name: \u201cAnd,\u201d saith the\ntext, \u201cthe Lord sent Nathan unto David.\u201d And he sent him to tell him,\nafter he had brought him to unfeigned acknowledgment, \u201cThe Lord hath\nalso put away, or forgiven thy sin\u201d (2 Sam 12:1,13).\n\nThis man also was far gone: he took a man\u2019s wife, and killed her\nhusband, and endeavoured to cover all with wicked dissimulation. He did\nthis, I say, after God had exalted him, and showed him great favour;\nwherefore his transgression was greatened also by the prophet with\nmighty aggravations; yet he was accepted, and that with gladness, at\nthe first step he took in his returning to Christ. For the first step\nof the backslider\u2019s return is to say, sensibly and unfeignedly, \u201cI have\nsinned;\u201d but he had no sooner said thus, but a pardon was produced,\nyea, thrust into his bosom: \u201cAnd Nathan said unto David, The Lord hath\nalso put away thy sin.\u201d\n\n(2.) As the person of the backslider is mentioned by name, so also is\nhis sin, that, if possible, thy objections against thy returning to\nChrist may be taken out of thy way; I say, thy sin also is mentioned by\nname, and mixed, as mentioned, with words of grace and favour: \u201cI will\nheal their backsliding, I will love them freely\u201d (Hosea 14:4). What\nsayest thou now, backslider?\n\n(3.) Nay, further, thou art not only mentioned by name, and thy sin by\nthe nature of it, but thou thyself, who art a returning backslider,\nput, (a) Amongst God\u2019s Israel, \u201cReturn, thou backsliding Israel, saith\nthe Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am\nmerciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever\u201d (Jer\n3:12). (b) Thou art put among his children; among his children to whom\nhe is married. \u201cTurn, O backsliding children, for I am married unto\nyou\u201d (verse 14). (c) Yea, after all this, as if his heart was so full\nof grace for them, that he was pressed until he had uttered it before\nthem, he adds, \u201cReturn, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your\nbackslidings\u201d (verse 22).\n\n(4.) Nay, further, the Lord hath considered, that the shame of thy sin\nhath stopped thy mouth, and made thee almost a prayerless man; and\ntherefore he saith unto thee, \u201cTake with you words, and turn to the\nLord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously.\u201d\nSee his grace, that himself should put words of encouragement into the\nheart of a backslider; as he saith in another place, \u201cI taught Ephraim\nto go, taking him by the arms.\u201d This is teaching him to go indeed, to\nhold him up by the arms; by the chin, as we say (Hosea 14:2; 11:3).\n\nFrom what has been said, I conclude, even as I said before, that the\nhim in the text, and him that cometh, includeth both these sorts of\nsinners, and therefore both should freely come.\n\nQuest. 1. But where doth Jesus Christ, in all the word of the New\nTestament, expressly speak to a returning backslider with words of\ngrace and peace? For what you have urged as yet, from the New\nTestament, is nothing but consequences drawn from this text. Indeed it\nis a full text for carnal ignorant sinners that come, but to me, who am\na backslider, it yieldeth but little relief.\n\nAnsw. How! but little encouragement from the text, when it is said, \u201cI\nwill in no wise cast out\u201d! What more could have been said? What is here\nomitted that might have been inserted, to make the promise more full\nand free? Nay, take all the promises in the Bible, all the freest\npromises, with all the variety of expressions of what nature or extent\nsoever, and they can but amount to the expressions of this very\npromise, \u201cI will in no wise cast out;\u201d I will for nothing, by no means,\nupon no account, however they have sinned, however they have\nbackslidden, however they have provoked, cast out the coming sinner.\nBut,\n\nQuest. 2. Thou sayest, Where doth Jesus Christ, in all the words of the\nNew Testament, speak to a returning backslider with words of grace and\npeace, that is under the name of a backslider?\n\nAnsw. Where there is such plenty of examples in receiving backsliders,\nthere is the less need for express words to that intent; one promise,\nas the text is, with those examples that are annexed, are instead of\nmany promises. And besides, I reckon that the act of receiving is of as\nmuch, if not of more encouragement, than is a bare promise to receive;\nfor receiving is as the promise, and the fulfilling of it too; so that\nin the Old Testament thou hast the promise, and in the New, the\nfulfilling of it; and that in divers examples.\n\n1. In Peter. Peter denied his master, once, twice, thrice, and that\nwith open oath; yet Christ receives him again without any the least\nhesitation or stick. Yea, he slips, stumbles, falls again, in downright\ndissimulation, and that to the hurt and fall of many others; but\nneither of this doth Christ make a bar to his salvation, but receives\nhim again at his return, as if he knew nothing of the fault (Gal 2).\n\n2. The rest of the disciples, even all of them, did backslide and leave\nthe Lord Jesus in his greatest straits. \u201cThen all the disciples forsook\nhim and fled,\u201d (Matt 26:56), they returned, as he had foretold, every\none to his own, and left him alone; but this also he passes over as a\nvery light matter. Not that it was so indeed in itself, but the\nabundance of grace that was in him did lightly roll it away; for after\nhis resurrection, when first he appeared unto them, he gives them not\nthe least check for their perfidious dealings with him, but salutes\nthem with words of grace, saying, \u201cAll hail! be not afraid, peace be to\nyou; all power in heaven and earth is given unto me.\u201d True, he rebuked\nthem for their unbelief, for the which also thou deservest the same.\nFor it is unbelief that alone puts Christ and his benefits from us\n(John 16:52; Matt 28:9-11; Luke 24:39; Mark 16:14).\n\n3. The man that after a large profession lay with his father\u2019s wife,\ncommitted a high transgression, even such a one that at that day was\nnot heard of, no, not among the Gentiles. Wherefore this was a\ndesperate backsliding; yet, at his return, he was received, and\naccepted again to mercy (1 Cor 5:1,2; 2 Cor 2:6-8).\n\n4. The thief that stole was bid to steal no more; not at all doubting\nbut that Christ was ready to forgive him this act of backsliding (Eph\n4:28).\n\nNow all these are examples, particular instances of Christ\u2019s readiness\nto receive the backsliders to mercy; and, observe it, examples and\nproofs that he hath done so are, to our unbelieving hearts, stronger\nencouragements than bare promises that so he will do.\n\nBut again, the Lord Jesus hath added to these, for the encouragement of\nreturning backsliders, to come to him. (1.) A call to come, and he will\nreceive them (Rev 2:1-5; 14-16; 20-22; 3:1-3; 15-22). Wherefore New\nTestament backsliders have encouragement to come. (2.) A declaration of\nreadiness to receive them that come, as here in the text, and in many\nother places, is plain. Therefore, \u201cSet thee up waymarks, make thee\nhigh heaps,\u201d of the golden grace of the gospel, \u201cset thine heart toward\nthe highway, even the way which thou wentest.\u201d When thou didst\nbackslide; \u201cturn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy\ncities\u201d (Jer 31:21).\n\n\u201cAnd him that cometh.\u201d He saith not, and him that talketh, that\nprofesseth, that maketh a show, a noise, or the like; but, him that\ncometh. Christ will take leave to judge, who, among the many that make\na noise, they be that indeed are coming to him. It is not him that\nsaith he comes, nor him of whom others affirm that he comes; but him\nthat Christ himself shall say doth come, that is concerned in this\ntext. When the woman that had the bloody issue came to him for cure,\nthere were others as well as she, that made a great bustle about him,\nthat touched, yea, thronged him. Ah, but Christ could distinguish this\nwoman from them all; \u201cAnd he looked round about\u201d upon them all, \u201cto see\nher that had done this thing\u201d (Mark 5:25-32). He was not concerned with\nthe thronging, or touchings of the rest; for theirs were but\naccidental, or at best, void of that which made her touch acceptable.\nWherefore Christ must be judge who they be that in truth are coming to\nhim; Every man\u2019s ways are right in his own eyes, \u201cbut the Lord weigheth\nthe spirits\u201d (Prov 16:2). It standeth therefore every one in hand to be\ncertain of their coming to Jesus Christ; for as thy coming is, so shall\nthy salvation be. If thou comest indeed, thy salvation shall be indeed;\nbut if thou comest but in outward appearance, so shall thy salvation\nbe; but of coming, see before, as also afterwards, in the use and\napplication.\n\n\u201cAnd him that cometh TO ME.\u201d These words to me are also well to be\nheeded; for by them, as he secureth those that come to him, so also he\nshows himself unconcerned with those that in their coming rest short,\nto turn aside to others; for you must know, that every one that comes,\ncomes not to Jesus Christ; some that come, come to Moses, and to his\nlaw, and there take up for life; with these Christ is not concerned;\nwith these his promise hath not to do. \u201cChrist is become of no effect\nunto you; whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from\ngrace\u201d (Gal 5:4). Again, some that came, came no further than to gospel\nordinances, and there stay; they came not through them to Christ; with\nthese neither is he concerned; nor will their \u201cLord, Lord,\u201d avail them\nanything in the great and dismal day. A man may come to, and also go\nfrom the place and ordinances of worship, and yet not be remembered by\nChrist. \u201cSo I saw the wicked buried,\u201d said Solomon, \u201cwho had come and\ngone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city\nwhere they had so done; this is also vanity\u201d (Eccl 8:10).\n\n\u201cTO ME.\u201d These words, therefore, are by Jesus Christ very warily put\nin, and serve for caution and encouragement; for caution, lest we take\nup in our coming anywhere short of Christ; and for encouragement to\nthose that shall in their coming, come past all; till they come to\nJesus Christ. \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nReader, if thou lovest thy soul, take this caution kindly at the hands\nof Jesus Christ. Thou seest thy sickness, thy wound, thy necessity of\nsalvation. Well, go not to king Jareb, for he cannot heal thee, nor\ncure thee of thy wound (Hosea 5:13). Take the caution, I say, lest\nChrist, instead of being a Saviour unto thee, becomes a lion, a young\nlion, to tear thee, and go away (Hosea 5:14).\n\nThere is a coming, but not to the Most High; there is a coming, but not\nwith the whole heart, but as it were feignedly; therefore take the\ncaution kindly (Jer 3:10; Hosea 7:16).\n\n\u201cAnd him that cometh TO ME;\u201d Christ as a Saviour will stand alone,\nbecause his own arm alone hath brought salvation unto him. He will not\nbe joined with Moses, nor suffer John Baptist to be tabernacled by him.\nI say they must vanish, for Christ will stand alone (Luke 9:28-36).\nYea, God the Father will have it so; therefore they must be parted from\nhim, and a voice from heaven must come to bid the disciples hear only\nthe beloved Son. Christ will not suffer any law, ordinance, statute, or\njudgment, to be partners with him in the salvation of the sinner. Nay,\nhe saith not, and him that cometh to my WORD; but, and him that cometh\nto ME. The words of Christ, even his most blessed and free promises,\nsuch as this in the text, are not the Saviour of the world; for that is\nChrist himself, Christ himself only. The promises, therefore, are but\nto encourage the coming sinner to come to Jesus Christ, and not to rest\nin them, short of salvation by him. \u201cAnd him that cometh TO ME.\u201d The\nman, therefore, that comes aright, casts all things behind his back,\nand looketh at, nor hath his expectations from ought, but the Son of\nGod alone; as David said, \u201cMy soul, wait thou only upon God; for my\nexpectation is from him. He only is my rock, and my salvation; he is my\ndefence; I shall not be moved\u201d (Psa 62:5,6). His eye is to Christ, his\nheart is to Christ, and his expectation is from him, from him only.\n\nTherefore the man that comes to Christ, is one that hath had deep\nconsiderations of his own sins, slighting thoughts of his own\nrighteousness, and high thoughts of the blood and righteousness of\nJesus Christ; yea, he sees, as I have said, more virtue in the blood of\nChrist to save him, than there is in all his sins to damn him. He\ntherefore setteth Christ before his eyes; there is nothing in heaven or\nearth, he knows, that can save his soul and secure him from the wrath\nof God, but Christ; that is, nothing but his personal righteousness and\nblood.\n\n[Import of the words IN NO WISE.]\n\n\u201cAnd him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.\u201d IN NO WISE: by\nthese words there is [First,] Something expressed; and [Second,]\nSomething implied.\n\nFirst, That which is expressed is Christ Jesus, his unchangeable\nresolution to save the coming sinner; I will in no wise reject him, or\ndeny him the benefit of my death and righteousness. This word,\ntherefore, is like that which he speaks of the everlasting damnation of\nthe sinner in hell-fire; \u201cHe shall by no means depart thence;\u201d that is,\nnever, never come out again, no, not to all eternity (Matt 5:26;\n25:46). So that as he that is condemned into hell-fire hath no ground\nof hope for his deliverance thence; so him that cometh to Christ, hath\nno ground to fear he shall ever be cast in thither.\n\n\u201cThus saith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, and the\nfoundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all\nthe seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord\u201d (Jer\n31:37). \u201cThus saith the Lord, If my covenant be not with day and night,\nand if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then\nwill I cast away the seed of Jacob\u201d (Jer 33:25,26). But heaven cannot\nbe measured, nor the foundations of the earth searched out beneath; his\ncovenant is also with day and night, and he hath appointed the\nordinances of heaven; therefore he will not cast away the seed of\nJacob, who are the coming ones, but will certainly save them from the\ndreadful wrath to come (Jer 50:4,5). By this, therefore, it is\nmanifest, that it was not the greatness of sin, nor the long\ncontinuance in it, no, nor yet the backsliding, nor the pollution of\nthy nature, that can put a bar in against, or be an hindrance of, the\nsalvation of the coming sinner. For, if indeed this could be, then\nwould this solemn and absolute determination of the Lord Jesus, of\nitself, fall to the ground, and be made of none effect. But his\n\u201ccounsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure;\u201d that is, his\npleasure in this; for his promise, as to this irreversible conclusion,\nariseth of his pleasure; he will stand to it, and will fulfil it,\nbecause it is his pleasure (Isa 46:10,11).\n\nSuppose that one man had the sins, or as many sins as an hundred, and\nanother should have an hundred times as many as he; yet, if they come,\nthis word, \u201cI will in no wise cast out,\u201d secures them both alike.\n\nSuppose a man hath a desire to be saved, and for that purpose is coming\nin truth to Jesus Christ; but he, by his debauched life, has damned\nmany in hell; why, the door of hope is by these words set as open for\nhim, as it is for him that hath not the thousandth part of his\ntransgressions. \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nSuppose a man is coming to Christ to be saved, and hath nothing but\nsin, and an ill-spent life, to bring with him; why, let him come, and\nwelcome to Jesus Christ, \u201cAnd he will in no wise cast him out\u201d (Luke\n7:42). Is not this love that passeth knowledge? Is not this love the\nwonderment of angels? And is not this love worthy of all acceptation at\nthe hands and hearts of all coming sinners?\n\n[Hindrances in coming to Christ.]\n\nSecond, That which is implied in the words is, 1. The coming souls have\nthose that continually lie at Jesus Christ15 to cast them off. 2. The\ncoming souls are afraid that those will prevail with Christ to cast\nthem off. For these words are spoken to satisfy us, and to stay up our\nspirits against these two dangers: \u201cI will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\n1. For the first, Coming souls have those that continually lie at Jesus\nChrist to cast them off. And there are three things that thus bend\nthemselves against the coming sinner.\n\n(1.) There is the devil, that accuser of the brethren, that accuses\nthem before God, day and night (Rev 12:10). This prince of darkness is\nunwearied in this work; he doth it, as you see, day and night; that is,\nwithout ceasing. He continually puts in his caveats against thee, if so\nbe he may prevail. How did he ply16 it against that good man Job, if\npossibly he might have obtained his destruction in hell-fire? He\nobjected against him, that he served not God for nought, and tempted\nGod to put forth his hand against him, urging, that if he did it, he\nwould curse him to his face; and all this, as God witnesseth, \u201che did\nwithout a cause\u201d (Job 1:9-11; 2:4,5). How did he ply it with Christ\nagainst Joshua the high-priest? \u201cAnd he showed me Joshua,\u201d said the\nprophet, \u201cthe high-priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and\nSatan standing at his right hand to resist him\u201d (Zech 3:1).\n\nTo resist him; that is, to prevail with the Lord Jesus Christ to resist\nhim; objecting the uncleanness and unlawful marriage of his sons with\nthe Gentiles; for that was the crime that Satan laid against them (Ezra\n10:18). Yea, and for aught I know, Joshua was also guilty of the fact;\nbut if not of that, of crimes no whit inferior; for he was clothed with\nfilthy garments, as he stood before the angel. Neither had he one word\nto say in vindication of himself, against all that this wicked one had\nto say against him. But notwithstanding that, he came off well; but he\nmight for it thank a good Lord Jesus, because he did not resist him,\nbut contrariwise, took up his cause, pleaded against the devil,\nexcusing his infirmity, and put justifying robes upon him before his\nadversary\u2019s face.\n\n\u201cAnd the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the\nLord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. Is not this a brand\nplucked out of the fire? And he answered and spoke to those that stood\nbefore him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him; and unto\nhim he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee,\nand I will clothe thee with change of raiment\u201d (Zech 3:2-4).\n\nAgain, how did Satan ply it against Peter, when he desired to have him,\nthat he might sift him as wheat? that is, if possible, sever all grace\nfrom his heart, and leave him nothing but flesh and filth, to the end\nthat he might make the Lord Jesus loathe and abhor him. \u201cSimon, Simon,\u201d\nsaid Christ, \u201cSatan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as\nwheat.\u201d But did he prevail against him? No: \u201cBut I have prayed for\nthee, that thy faith fail not.\u201d As who should say, Simon, Satan hath\ndesired me that I would give thee up to him, and not only thee, but all\nthe rest of thy brethren\u2014for that the word you imports\u2014but I will not\nleave thee in his hand: I have prayed for thee, thy faith shall not\nfail; I will secure thee to the heavenly inheritance (Luke 22:30-32).\n\n(2.) As Satan, so every sin of the coming sinner, comes in with a voice\nagainst him, if perhaps they may prevail with Christ to cast off the\nsoul. When Israel was coming out of Egypt to Canaan, how many times had\ntheir sins thrown them out of the mercy of God, had not Moses, as a\ntype of Christ, stood in the breach to turn away his wrath from them!\n(Psa 106:23). Our iniquities testify against us, and would certainly\nprevail against us, to our utter rejection and damnation, had we not an\nadvocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1,2).\n\nThe sins of the old world cried them down to hell; the sins of Sodom\nfetched upon them fire from heaven, which devoured them; the sins of\nthe Egyptians cried them down to hell, because they came not to Jesus\nChrist for life. Coming sinner, thy sins are no whit less than any;\nnay, perhaps, they are as big as all theirs. Why is it then, that thou\nlivest when they are dead, and that thou hast a promise of pardon when\nthey had not? \u201cWhy, thou art coming to Jesus Christ;\u201d and therefore sin\nshall not be thy ruin.\n\n(3.) As Satan and sin, so the law of Moses, as it is a perfect holy\nlaw, hath a voice against you before the face of God. \u201cThere is one\nthat accuseth you, even Moses,\u201d his law (John 5:45). Yea, it accuseth\nall men of transgression that have sinned against it; for as long as\nsin is sin, there will be a law to accuse for sin. But this accusation\nshall not prevail against the coming sinner; because it is Christ that\ndied, and that ever lives, to make intercession for them that \u201ccome to\nGod by him\u201d (Rom 8; Heb 7:25).\n\nThese things, I say, do accuse us before Christ Jesus; yea, and also to\nour own faces, if perhaps they might prevail against us. But these\nwords, \u201cI will in no wise cast out,\u201d secureth the coming sinner from\nthem all.\n\nThe coming sinner is not saved, because there is none that comes in\nagainst him; but because the Lord Jesus will not hear their\naccusations, will not cast out the coming sinner. When Shimei came down\nto meet king David, and to ask for pardon for his rebellion, up starts\nAbishai, and puts in his caveat, saying, Shall not Shimei die for this?\nThis is the case of him that comes to Christ. He hath this Abishai, and\nthat Abishai, that presently steps in against him, saying, Shall not\nthis rebel\u2019s sins destroy him in hell? Read further. But David\nanswered, \u201cWhat have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye\nshould this day be adversaries unto me? Shall there any man be put to\ndeath this day in Israel, for do not I know, that I am king this day\nover Israel?\u201d (2 Sam 19:16-22). That is Christ\u2019s answer by the text, to\nall that accuse the coming Shimeis. What have I to do with you, that\naccuse the coming sinners to me? I count you adversaries, that are\nagainst my showing mercy to them. Do not I know that I am exalted this\nday to be king of righteousness, and king of peace? \u201cI will in no wise\ncast them out.\u201d\n\n2. But again, these words do closely imply, that the coming souls are\nafraid that these accusers will prevail against them, as is evident,\nbecause the text is spoken for their relief and succour. For that need\nnot be, if they that are coming were not subject to fear and despond\nupon this account. Alas, there is guilt, and the curse lies upon the\nconscience of the coming sinner!\n\nBesides, he is conscious to himself what a villain, what a wretch he\nhath been against God and Christ. Also he now knows, by woeful\nexperience, how he hath been at Satan\u2019s beck, and at the motion of\nevery lust. He hath now also new thoughts of the holiness and justice\nof God. Also he feels, that he cannot forbear sinning against him. For\nthe motions of sins, which are by the law, doth still work in his\nmembers, to bring forth fruit unto death (Rom 7:5). But none of this\nneeds be [a discouragement] since we have so good, so tender-hearted,\nand so faithful a Jesus to come to, who will rather overthrow heaven\nand earth, than suffer a tittle of this text to fail. \u201cAnd him that\ncometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\n[Import of the words TO CAST OUT.]\n\nNow, we have yet to inquire into two things that lie in the words, to\nwhich there hath yet been nothing said. As, FIRST, What it is to cast\nout. SECOND, How it appears that Christ hath power to save or cast out?\n\n[WHAT IT IS TO CAST OUT.]\n\n\nFIRST. For the first of these, What it is to cast out. To this I will\nspeak, First, Generally. Second, More particularly.\n\n[First, Generally.]\n\n1. To cast out, is to slight and despise, and contemn; as it is said of\nSaul\u2019s shield, \u201cit was vilely cast away,\u201d (2 Sam 1:21), that is,\nslighted and contemned. Thus it is with the sinners that come not to\nJesus Christ. He slights, despises, and contemns them; that is, \u201ccasts\nthem away.\u201d\n\n2. Things cast away are reputed as menstruous cloths, and as the dirt\nof the street (Isa 3:24; Psa 18:42; Matt 5:13; 15:17). And thus it\nshall be with the men that come not to Jesus Christ, they shall be\ncounted as menstruous, and as the dirt in the streets.\n\n3. To be cast out, or off, it is to be abhorred, not to be pitied; but\nto be put to perpetual shame (Psa 44:9; 89:38; Amos 1:11). But,\n\nSecond, More particularly, to come to the text. The casting out here\nmentioned is not limited to this or the other evil: therefore it must\nbe extended to the most extreme and utmost misery. Or thus: He that\ncometh to Christ shall not want anything that may make him\ngospelly-happy in this world, or that which is to come; nor shall he\nwant anything that cometh not, that may make him spiritually and\neternally miserable. But further, As it is to be generally taken [as\nrespecteth the things that are now], so it respecteth things that shall\nbe hereafter.\n\nI. For the things that are now, they are either, 1. More general: Or,\n2. More particular.\n\n1. More general, thus:\n\n(1.) It is \u201cto be cast out\u201d of the presence and favour of God. Thus was\nCain cast out: \u201cThou has driven,\u201d or cast \u201cme out this day; from thy\nface,\u201d that is, from thy favour \u201cshall I be hid.\u201d A dreadful complaint!\nBut the effect of a more dreadful judgment! (Gen 4:14; Jer 23:39; 1\nChron 28:9).\n\n(2.) \u201cTo be cast out,\u201d is to be cast out of God\u2019s sight. God will look\nafter them no more, care for them no more; nor will he watch over them\nany more for good (2 Kings 17:20; Jer 7:15). Now they that are so, are\nleft like blind men, to wander and fall into the pit of hell. This,\ntherefore, is also a sad judgment! therefore here is the mercy of him\nthat cometh to Christ. He shall not be left to wander at uncertainties.\nThe Lord Jesus Christ will keep him, as a shepherd doth his sheep (Psa\n23). \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\n(3.) \u201cTo be cast out,\u201d is to be denied a place in God\u2019s house, and to\nbe left as fugitives and vagabonds, to pass a little time away in this\nmiserable life, and after that to go down to the dead (Gal 4:30; Gen\n4:13,14; 21:10). Therefore here is the benefit of him that cometh to\nChrist, he shall not be denied a place in God\u2019s house. They shall not\nbe left like vagabonds in the world. \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in\nno wise cast out.\u201d See Proverbs 14:26, Isaiah 56:3-5, Ephesians 1:1922,\n1 Corinthians 3:21-23.\n\n(4.) In a word, \u201cTo be cast out,\u201d is to be rejected as are the fallen\nangels. For their eternal damnation began at their being cast down from\nheaven to hell. So then, not to be cast out, is to have a place, a\nhouse, and habitation there; and to have a share in the privileges of\nelect angels.\n\nThese words, therefore, \u201cI will not cast out,\u201d will prove great words\none day to them that come to Jesus Christ (2 Peter 2:4; John 20:31;\nLuke 20:35).\n\n2. Second, and more particularly,\n\n(1.) Christ hath everlasting life for him that cometh to him, and he\nshall never perish; \u201cFor he will in no wise cast him out;\u201d but for the\nrest, they are rejected, \u201ccast out,\u201d and must be damned (John\n10:27,28).\n\n(2.) Christ hath everlasting righteousness to clothe them with that\ncome to him, and they shall be covered with it as with a garment, but\nthe rest shall be found in the filthy rags of their own stinking\npollutions, and shall be wrapt up in them, as in a winding-sheet, and\nso bear their shame before the Lord, and also before the angels (Dan\n9:27; Isa 57:20; Rev 3:4-18, 15, 16).\n\n(3.) Christ hath precious blood, that, like an open fountain, stands\nfree for him to wash in, that comes to him for life; \u201cAnd he will in no\nwise cast him out;\u201d but they that come not to him are rejected from a\nshare therein, and are left to ireful vengeance for their sins (Zech\n13:1; 1 Peter 1:18,19; John 13:8; 3:16).\n\n(4.) Christ hath precious promises, and they shall have a share in them\nthat come to him for life; for \u201che will in no wise cast them out.\u201d But\nthey that come not can have no share in them, because they are true\nonly in him; for in him, and only in him, all the promises are yea and\namen. Wherefore they that come not to him, are no whit the better for\nthem (Psa 50:16; 2 Cor 1:20,21).\n\n(5.) Christ hath also fullness of grace in himself for them that come\nto him for life: \u201cAnd he will in no wise cast them out.\u201d But those that\ncome not unto him are left in their graceless state; and as Christ\nleaves them, death, hell, and judgment finds them. \u201cWhoso findeth me,\u201d\nsaith Christ, \u201cfindeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But\nhe that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me\nlove death\u201d (Prov 8:35,36).\n\n(6.) Christ is an Intercessor, and ever liveth to make intercession for\nthem that come to God by him: \u201cBut their sorrows shall be multiplied,\nthat hasten after another,\u201d or other gods, their sins and lusts. \u201cTheir\ndrink-offerings will I not offer, nor take up their names into his\nlips\u201d (Psa 16:4; Heb 7:25).\n\n(7.) Christ hath wonderful love, bowels, and compassions, for those\nthat come to him; for \u201che will in no wise cast them out.\u201d But the rest\nwill find him a lion rampant; he will one day tear them all to pieces.\n\u201cNow consider this,\u201d saith he, \u201cye that forget God, lest I tear you in\npieces, and there be none to deliver\u201d (Psa 50:22).\n\n(8.) Christ is one by and for whose sake those that come to him have\ntheir persons and performances accepted of the Father: \u201cAnd he will in\nno wise cast them out;\u201d but the rest must fly to the rocks and\nmountains for shelter, but all in vain, to hide them from his face and\nwrath (Rev 6:15-17).\n\nII. But again, These words, CAST OUT, have a special look to what will\nbe hereafter, even at the day of judgment. For then, and not till then,\nwill be the great anathema and casting out made manifest, even manifest\nby execution. Therefore here to speak to this, and that under these two\nheads. As, First, Of the casting out itself. Second, Of the place into\nwhich they shall be cast, that shall then be cast out.\n\nFirst, The casting out itself standeth in two things. 1. In a\npreparatory work. 2. In the manner of executing the act.\n\n1. The preparatory work standeth in these three things.\n\n(1.) It standeth in their separation that have not come to him, from\nthem that have, at that day. Or thus: At the day of the great casting\nout, those that have not NOW come to him, shall be separated from them\nthat have; for them that have \u201che will not cast out.\u201d \u201cWhen the Son of\nman shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then\nshall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be\ngathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a\nshepherd divideth his sheep from the goats\u201d (Matt 25:31,32). This\ndreadful separation, therefore, shall then be made betwixt them that\nNOW come to Christ, and them that come not. And good reason; for since\nthey would not with us come to him now they have time, why should they\nstand with us when judgment is come?\n\n(2.) They shall be placed before him according to their condition: they\nthat have come to him, in great dignity, even at his right hand; \u201cFor\nhe will in no wise cast them out\u201d: but the rest shall be set at his\nleft hand, the place of disgrace and shame; for they did not come to\nhim for life. Distinguished also shall they be by fit terms: these that\ncome to him he calleth the sheep, but the rest are frowish goats, \u201cand\nhe shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his\nsheep from the goats;\u201d and the sheep will be set on the right hand\u2014next\nheaven gate, for they came to him\u2014but the goats on his left, to go from\nhim into hell, because they are not of his sheep.\n\n(3.) Then will Christ proceed to conviction of those that came not to\nhim, and will say, \u201cI was a stranger, and ye took me not in,\u201d or did\nnot come unto me. Their excuse of themselves he will slight as dirt,\nand proceed to their final judgment.\n\n2. Now when these wretched rejecters of Christ shall thus be set before\nhim in their sins, and convicted, this is the preparatory work upon\nwhich follows the manner of executing the act which will be done.\n\n(1.) In the presence of all the holy angels.\n\n(2.) In the presence of all them that in their lifetime came to him, by\nsaying unto them, \u201cDepart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,\nprepared for the devil and his angels\u201d: with the reason annexed to it.\nFor you were cruel to me and mine, particularly discovered in these\nwords, \u201cFor I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty,\nand ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in;\nnaked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me\nnot\u201d (Matt 25:41-43).\n\nSecond, Now it remains that we speak of the place into which these\nshall be cast, which, in the general, you have heard already, to wit,\nthe first prepared for the devil and his angels. But, in particular, it\nis thus described:\u2014\n\n1. It is called Tophet: \u201cFor Tophet is ordained of old, yea, for the\nking,\u201d the Lucifer, \u201cit is prepared; he hath made it deep and large;\nthe pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a\nstream of brimstone, doth kindle it\u201d (Isa 30:32).\n\n2. It is called hell. \u201cIt is better for thee to enter halt\u201d or lame\n\u201cinto life, than having two feet to be cast into hell\u201d (Mark 9:45).\n\n3. It is called the wine-press of the wrath of God. \u201cAnd the angel\nthrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the\nearth,\u201d that is, them that did not come to Christ, \u201cand cast it into\nthe great wine-press of the wrath of God\u201d (Rev 14:19).\n\n4. It is called a lake of fire. \u201cAnd whosoever was not found written in\nthe book of life was cast into the lake of fire\u201d (Rev 20:15).\n\n5. It is called a pit. \u201cThou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into\nheaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also\nupon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. Yet thou\nshalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit\u201d (Isa 14:13-15).\n\n6. It is called a bottomless pit, out of which the smoke and the locust\ncame, and into which the great dragon was cast; and it is called\nbottomless, to show the endlessness of the fall that they will have\ninto it, that come not, in the acceptable time, to Jesus Christ (Rev\n9:1,2; 20:3). . 7. It is called outer darkness. \u201cBind him hand and\nfoot\u2014and cast him into outer darkness,\u201d \u201cand cast ye the unprofitable\nservant into outer darkness,\u201d \u201cthere shall be weeping and gnashing of\nteeth\u201d (Matt 22:13; 25:30).\n\n8. It is called a furnace of fire. \u201cAs therefore the tares are gathered\nand burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The\nSon of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of\nhis kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and\nshall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and\ngnashing of teeth.\u201d And again, \u201cSo shall it be at the end of the world:\nthe angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,\nand shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing\nand gnashing of teeth\u201d (Matt 13:40-51).\n\n9. Lastly, It may not be amiss, if, in the conclusion of this, I show\nin few words to what the things that torment them in this state are\ncompared. Indeed, some of them have been occasionally mentioned\nalready; as that they are compared,\n\n(1.) To wood that burneth.\n\n(2.) To fire.\n\n(3.) To fire and brimstone: But,\n\n(4.) It is compared to a worm, a gnawing worm, a never-dying gnawing\nworm; They are cast into hell, \u201cwhere their worm dieth not\u201d (Mark\n9:44).\n\n(5.) It is called unquenchable fire; \u201cHe will gather his wheat into the\ngarner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire\u201d (Matt\n3:12; Luke 3:17).\n\n(6.) It is called everlasting destruction; \u201cThe Lord Jesus shall be\nrevealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking\nvengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of\nour Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting\ndestruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his\npower\u201d (2 Thess 1:7-9).\n\n(7.) It is called wrath without mixture, and is given them in the cup\nof his indignation. \u201cIf any man worship the beast, and his image, and\nreceive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink\nof the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture,\ninto the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire\nand brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence\nof the Lamb\u201d (Rev 14:9,10).\n\n(8.) It is called the second death. \u201cAnd death and hell were cast into\nthe lake of fire. This is the second death. Blessed and holy is he that\nhath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no\npower\u201d (Rev 20:6,14).\n\n(9.) It is called eternal damnation. \u201cBut he that shall blaspheme\nagainst the Holy Ghost, hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of\neternal damnation.\u201d Oh! these three words! Everlasting punishment!\nEternal damnation! And For ever and ever! How will they gnaw and eat up\nall the expectation of the end of the misery of the cast-away sinners.\n\u201cAnd the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and\nthey have no rest day nor night,\u201d &c., (Rev 14:11).\n\nTheir behaviour in hell is set forth by four things as I know of;\u2014(a.)\nBy calling for help and relief in vain; (b.) By weeping; (c.) By\nwailing; (d.) By gnashing of teeth.\n\n[THE POWER OF CHRIST TO SAVE, OR TO CAST OUT.]\n\n\nSECOND. And now we come to the second thing that is to be inquired\ninto, namely, How it appears that Christ hath power to save, or to cast\nout. For by these words, \u201cI will in no wise cast out,\u201d he declareth\nthat he hath power to do both. Now this inquiry admits us to search\ninto the things: First, How it appears that he hath power to save;\nSecond, How it appears that he hath power to cast out.\n\nFirst, That he hath power to save, appears by that which follows:\u2014\n\n1. To speak only of him as he is mediator: he was authorized to this\nblessed work by his Father, before the world began. Hence the apostle\nsaith, \u201cHe hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world\u201d\n(Eph 1:4). With all those things that effectually will produce our\nsalvation. Read the same chapter, with 2 Timothy 1:9.\n\n2. He was promised to our first parents, that he should, in the\nfullness of time, bruise the serpent\u2019s head; and, as Paul expounds it,\nredeem them that were under the law. Hence, since that time, he hath\nbeen reckoned as slain for our sins. By which means all the fathers\nunder the first testament were secured from the wrath to come; hence he\nis called, \u201cThe Lamb slain from the foundation of the world\u201d (Rev 13:8;\nGen 3:15; Gal 4:4,5).\n\n3. Moses gave testimony of him by the types and shadows, and bloody\nsacrifices, that he commanded from the mouth of God to be in use for\nthe support of his people\u2019s faith, until the time of reformation; which\nwas the time of this Jesus his death (Heb 9, 10).\n\n4. At the time of his birth it was testified of him by the angel, \u201cThat\nhe should save his people from their sins\u201d (Matt 1:21).\n\n5. It is testified of him in the days of his flesh, that he had power\non earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-12).\n\n6. It is testified also of him by the apostle Peter, that \u201cGod hath\nexalted him with his own right hand, to be a prince and a Saviour, for\nto give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins\u201d (Acts 5:31).\n\n7. In a word, this is everywhere testified of him, both in the Old\nTestament and the New. And good reason that he should be acknowledged\nand trusted in, as a Saviour.\n\n(1.) He came down from heaven to be a Saviour (John 6:38-40).\n\n(2.) He was anointed when on earth to be a Saviour (Luke 3:22).\n\n(3.) He did the works of a Saviour. As, (a.) He fulfilled the law, and\nbecame the end of it for righteousness, for them that believe in him\n(Rom 10:3,4). (b.) He laid down his life as a Saviour; he gave his life\nas \u201ca ransom for many\u201d (Matt 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Tim 2:6). (c.) He\nhath abolished death, destroyed the devil, put away sin, got the keys\nof hell and death, is ascended into heaven; is there accepted of God,\nand bid sit at the right hand as a Saviour; and that because his\nsacrifice for sins pleased God (2 Tim 1:10; Heb 2:14,15; 10:12,13; Eph\n4:7,8; John 16:10,11; Acts 5:30,31).\n\n(4.) God hath sent out and proclaimed him as a Saviour, and tells the\nworld that we have redemption through his blood, that he will justify\nus, if we believe in his blood, and that he can faithfully and justly\ndo it. Yea, God doth beseech us to be reconciled to him by his Son;\nwhich could not be, if he were not anointed by him to this very end,\nand also if his works and undertakings were not accepted of him\nconsidered as a Saviour (Rom 3:24,25; 2 Cor 5:18-21).\n\n(5.) God hath received already millions of souls into his paradise,\nbecause they have received this Jesus for a Saviour; and is resolved to\ncut them off, and to cast them out of his presence, that will not take\nhim for a Saviour (Heb 12:22-26).\n\nI intend brevity here; therefore a word to the second, and so conclude.\n\nSecond, How it appears that he hath power to cast out. This appears\nalso by what follows:\u2014\n\n1. The Father, for the service that he hath done him as Saviour, hath\nmade him Lord of all, even Lord of quick and dead. \u201cFor to this end\nChrist both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of\nthe dead and living\u201d (Rom 14:9).\n\n2. The Father hath left it with him to quicken whom he will, to wit,\nwith saving grace, and to cast out whom he will, for their rebellion\nagainst him (John 5:21).\n\n3. The Father hath made him judge of quick and dead, hath committed all\njudgment unto the Son, and appointed that all should honour the Son,\neven as they honour the Father (John 5:22,23).\n\n4. God will judge the world by this man: the day is appointed for\njudgment, and he is appointed for judge. \u201cHe hath appointed a day in\nthe which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man\u201d (Acts\n17:31). Therefore we must all appear before the judgment seat of\nChrist, that every one may receive for the things done in the body,\naccording to what they have done. If they have closed with him, heaven\nand salvation; if they have not, hell and damnation! And for these\nreasons he must be judge:\u2014\n\n(1.) Because of his humiliation, because of his Father\u2019s word he\nhumbled himself, and he became obedient unto death, even the death of\nthe cross. \u201cWherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a\nname which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee\nshould bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under\nthe earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is\nLord, to the glory of God the Father.\u201d This hath respect to his being\njudge, and his sitting in judgment upon angels and men (Phil 2:7-11;\nRom 14:10,11).\n\n(2.) That all men might honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.\n\u201cFor the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto\nthe Son; that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the\nFather\u201d (John 5:22,23).\n\n(3.) Because of his righteous judgment, this work is fit for no\ncreature; it is only fit for the Son of God. For he will reward every\nman according to his ways (Rev 22:12).\n\n(4.) Because he is the Son of man. He \u201chath given him authority to\nexecute judgment also, because he is the Son of man\u201d (John 5:27).\n\n[SECOND, THE TEXT TREATED BY WAY OF OBSERVATION.]\n\n\nThus have I in brief passed through this text by way of explications.\nMy next work is to speak to it by way of observation. But I shall be\nalso as brief in that as the nature of the thing will admit. \u201cAll that\nthe Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will\nin no wise cast out\u201d (John 6:37).\n\nAnd now I come to some observations, and a little briefly to speak to\nthem, and then conclude the whole. The words thus explained afford us\nmany, some of which are these. 1. That God the Father, and Christ his\nSon, are two distinct persons in the Godhead. 2. That by them, not\nexcluding the Holy Ghost, is contrived and determined the salvation of\nfallen mankind. 3. That this contrivance resolved itself into a\ncovenant between these persons in the Godhead, which standeth in giving\non the Father\u2019s part, and receiving on the Son\u2019s. \u201cAll that the Father\ngiveth me,\u201d &c. 4. That every one that the Father hath given to Christ,\naccording to the mind of God in the text, shall certainly come to him.\n5. That coming to Jesus Christ is therefore not by the will, wisdom, or\npower of man; but by the gift, promise, and drawing of the Father. \u201cAll\nthat the Father giveth me shall come.\u201d 6. That Jesus Christ will be\ncareful to receive, and will not in any wise reject those that come, or\nare coming to him. \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast\nout.\u201d There are, besides these, some other truths implied in the words.\nAs, 7. They that are coming to Jesus Christ are ofttimes heartily\nafraid that he will not receive them. 8. Jesus Christ would not have\nthem that in truth are coming to him once think that he will cast them\nout.\n\nThese observations lie all of them in the words, and are plentifully\nconfirmed by the Scriptures of truth; but I shall not at this time\nspeak to them all, but shall pass by the first, second, third, fourth,\nand sixth, partly because I design brevity, and partly because they are\ntouched upon in the explicatory part of the text. I shall therefore\nbegin with the fifth observation, and so make that the first in order,\nin the following discourse.\n\n[COMING TO CHRIST NOT BY THE POWER OF MAN, BUT BY THE DRAWING OF THE\nFATHER.]\n\n\nOBSERVATION FIRST. First, then, coming to Christ is not by the will,\nwisdom, or power of man, but by the gift, promise, and drawing of the\nFather. This observation standeth of two parts. First, The coming to\nChrist is not by the will, wisdom, or power of man; Second, But by the\ngift, promise, and drawing of the Father.\n\nThat the text carrieth this truth in its bosom, you will find if you\nlook into the explication of the first part thereof before. I shall,\ntherefore, here follow the method propounded, viz: show,\n\nFirst, That coming to Christ is not by the will, wisdom, or power of\nman. This is true, because the Word doth positively say it is not.\n\n1. It denieth it wholly to be by the will of man. \u201cNot of blood, nor of\nthe will of the flesh, nor of the will of man\u201d (John 1:13). And again,\n\u201cIt is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth\u201d (Rom 9:16).\n\n2. It denieth it to be of the wisdom of man, as is manifest from these\nconsiderations:\n\n(1.) In the wisdom of God it pleased him, that the world by wisdom\nshould not know him. Now, if by their wisdom they cannot know him, it\nfollows, by that wisdom, they cannot come unto him; for coming to him\nis not before, but after some knowledge of him (1 Cor 1:21; Acts 13:27;\nPsa 9:10).\n\n(2.) The wisdom of man, in God\u2019s account, as to the knowledge of\nChrist, is reckoned foolishness. \u201cHath not God made foolish the wisdom\nof this world?\u201d (1 Cor 1:20). And again, The wisdom of this world is\nfoolishness with God (2:14). If God hath made foolish the wisdom of\nthis world; and again, if the wisdom of this world is foolishness with\nhim, then verily it is not likely, that by that a sinner should become\nso prudent as to come to Jesus Christ, especially if you consider,\n\n(3.) That the doctrine of a crucified Christ, and so of salvation by\nhim, is the very thing that is counted foolishness to the wisdom of the\nworld. Now, if the very doctrine of a crucified Christ be counted\nfoolishness by the wisdom of this world, it cannot be that, by that\nwisdom, a man should be drawn out in his soul to come to him (1 Cor\n3:19; 1:18,23).\n\n(4.) God counted the wisdom of this world one of his greatest enemies;\ntherefore, by that wisdom no man can come to Jesus Christ. For it is\nnot likely that one of God\u2019s greatest enemies should draw a man to that\nwhich best of all pleaseth God, as coming to Christ doth. Now, that God\ncounteth the wisdom of this world one of his greatest enemies, is\nevident, (a.) For that it casteth the greatest contempt upon his Son\u2019s\nundertakings, as afore is proved, in that it counts his crucifixion\nfoolishness; though that be one of the highest demonstrations of Divine\nwisdom (Eph 1:7,8). (b.) Because God hath threatened to destroy it, and\nbring it to nought, and cause it to perish; which surely he would not\ndo, was it not an enemy, would it direct men to, and cause them to\nclose with Jesus Christ (Isa 29:14; 1 Cor 1:19). (c.) He hath rejected\nit from helping in the ministry of his Word, as a fruitless business,\nand a thing that comes to nought (1 Cor 2:4,6,12,13). (d.) Because it\ncauseth to perish, those that seek it, and pursue it (1 Cor 1:18,19).\n(e.) And God has proclaimed, that if any man will be wise in this\nworld, he must be a fool in the wisdom of this world, and that is the\nway to be wise in the wisdom of God. \u201cIf any man seemeth to be wise in\nthis world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom\nof this world is foolishness with God\u201d (1 Cor 3:18-20).\n\n3. Coming to Christ is not by the power of man. This is evident partly,\n\n(1.) From that which goeth before. For man\u2019s power in the putting forth\nof it, in this matter, is either stirred up by love, or sense of\nnecessity; but the wisdom of this world neither gives man love to, or\nsense of a need of, Jesus Christ; therefore, his power lieth still, as\nfrom that.\n\n(2.) What power has he that is dead, as every natural man spiritually\nis, even dead in trespasses and sins? Dead, even as dead to God\u2019s New\nTestament things as he that is in his grave is dead to the things of\nthis world. What power hath he, then, whereby to come to Jesus Christ?\n(John 5:25; Eph 2:1; Col 2:13).\n\n(3.) God forbids the mighty man\u2019s glorying in his strength; and says\npositively, \u201cBy strength shall no man prevail;\u201d and again, \u201cNot by\nmight, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord\u201d (Jer 9:23,24; 1\nSam 2:9; Zech 4:6; 1 Cor 1:27-31).\n\n(4.) Paul acknowledgeth that man, nay, converted man, of himself, hath\nnot a sufficiency of power in himself to think a good thought; if not\nto do that which is least, for to think is less than to come; then no\nman, by his own power, can come to Jesus Christ (2 Cor 2:5).\n\n(5.) Hence we are said to be made willing to come, by the power of God;\nto be raised from a state of sin to a state of grace, by the power of\nGod; and to believe, that is to come, through the exceeding working of\nhis mighty power (Psa 110:3; Col 2:12; Eph 1:18,20; Job 23:14). But\nthis needed not, if either man had power or will to come; or so much as\ngraciously to think of being willing to come, of themselves, to Jesus\nChrist.\n\nSecond, I should now come to the proof of the second part of the\nobservation [namely, the coming to Christ is by the gift, promise, and\ndrawing of the Father], but that is occasionally done already, in the\nexplicatory part of the text, to which I refer the reader; for I shall\nhere only give thee a text or two more to the same purpose, and so come\nto the use and application.\n\n1. It is expressly said, \u201cNo man can come to me, except the Father\nwhich hath sent me draw him\u201d (John 6:44). By this text, there is not\nonly insinuated that in man is want of power, but also of will, to come\nto Jesus Christ: they must be drawn; they come not if they be not\ndrawn. And observe, it is not man, no, nor all the angels in heaven,\nthat can draw one sinner to Jesus Christ. No man cometh to me, except\nthe Father which hath sent me draw him.\n\n2. Again, \u201cNo man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my\nFather\u201d (John 6:65). It is an heavenly gift that maketh man come to\nJesus Christ.\n\n3. Again, \u201cIt is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught\nof God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath learned of the\nFather, cometh unto me\u201d (John 6:45).\n\nI shall not enlarge, but shall make some use and application, and so\ncome to the next observation.\n\n[Use and Application of Observation First.]\n\nUse First. Is it so? Is coming to Jesus Christ not by the will, wisdom,\nor power of man, but by the gift, promise, and drawing of the Father?\nThen they are to blame that cry up the will, wisdom, and power of man,\nas things sufficient to bring men to Christ.\n\nThere are some men who think they may not be contradicted, when they\nplead for the will, wisdom, and power of man in reference to the things\nthat are of the kingdom of Christ; but I will say to such a man, he\nnever yet came to understand, that himself is what the Scripture\nteacheth concerning him; neither did he ever know what coming to Christ\nis, by the teaching, gift, and drawing of the Father. He is such a one\nthat hath set up God\u2019s enemy in opposition to him, and that continueth\nin such acts of defiance; and what his end, without a new birth, will\nbe, the Scripture teacheth also; but we will pass this.\n\nUse Second. Is it so? Is coming to Jesus Christ by the gift, promise,\nand drawing of the Father? Then let saints here learn to ascribe their\ncoming to Christ to the gift, promise, and drawing of the Father.\nChristian man, bless God, who hath given thee to Jesus Christ by\npromise; and again, bless God for that he hath drawn thee to him. And\nwhy is it thee? Why not another? O that the glory of electing love\nshould rest upon thy head, and that the glory of the exceeding grace of\nGod should take hold of thy heart, and bring thee to Jesus Christ!\n\nUse Third. Is it so, that coming to Jesus Christ is by the Father, as\naforesaid? Then this should teach us to set a high esteem upon them\nthat indeed are coming to Jesus Christ; I say, an high esteem on them,\nfor the sake of him by virtue of whose grace they are made to come to\nJesus Christ.\n\nWe see that when men, by the help of human abilities, do arrive at the\nknowledge of, and bring to pass that which, when done, is a wonder to\nthe world, how he that did it, is esteemed and commended; yea, how are\nhis wits, parts, industry, and unweariedness in all admired, and yet\nthe man, as to this, is but of the world, and his work the effect of\nnatural ability; the things also attained by him end in vanity and\nvexation of spirit. Further, perhaps in the pursuit of these his\nachievements, he sins against God, wastes his time vainly, and at\nlong-run loses his soul by neglecting of better things; yet he is\nadmired! But I say, if this man\u2019s parts, labour, diligence, and the\nlike, will bring him to such applause and esteem in the world, what\nesteem should we have of such an one that is by the gift, promise, and\npower of God, coming to Jesus Christ?\n\n1. This is a man with whom God is, in whom God works and walks; a man\nwhose motion is governed and steered by the mighty hand of God, and the\neffectual working of his power. Here is a man!\n\n2. This man, by the power of God\u2019s might, which worketh in him, is able\nto cast a whole world behind him, with all the lusts and pleasures of\nit, and to charge through all the difficulties that men and devils can\nset against him. Here is a man.\n\n3. This man is travelling to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the\ncity of the living God, and to an innumerable company of angels, and\nthe spirits of just men made perfect, to God the Judge of all, and to\nJesus. Here is a man!\n\n4. This man can look upon death with comfort, can laugh at destruction\nwhen it cometh, and longs to hear the sound of the last trump, and to\nsee his Judge coming in the clouds of heaven. Here is a man indeed!\n\nLet Christians, then, esteem each other as such. I know you do it; but\ndo it more and more. And that you may, consider these two or three\nthings. (1.) These are the objects of Christ\u2019s esteem (Matt 12:48,49;\n15:22-28; Luke 7:9). (2.) These are the objects of the esteem of angels\n(Dan 9:12; 10:21,22; 13:3,4; Heb 2:14). (3.) These have been the\nobjects of the esteem of heathens, when but convinced about them (Dan\n5:10,11; Acts 5:15; 1 Cor 14:24,25). \u201cLet each [of you, then,] esteem\n[each] other better than themselves\u201d (Phil 2:2).\n\nUse Fourth. Again, Is it so, that no man comes to Jesus Christ by the\nwill, wisdom, and power of man, but by the gift, promise, and drawing\nof the Father? Then this shows us how horribly ignorant of this such\nare, who make the man that is coming to Christ the object of their\ncontempt and rage. These are also unreasonable and wicked men; men in\nwhom is no faith (2 Thess 3:2). Sinners, did you but know what a\nblessed thing it is to come to Jesus Christ, and that by the help and\ndrawing of the Father, they do indeed come to him; you would hang and\nburn in hell a thousand years, before you would turn your spirits as\nyou do, against him that God is drawing to Jesus Christ, and also\nagainst the God that draws him.\n\nBut, faithless sinner, let us a little expostulate the matter. What\nhath this man done against thee, that is coming to Jesus Christ? Why\ndost thou make him the object of thy scorn? doth his coming to Jesus\nChrist offend thee? doth his pursuing of his own salvation offend thee?\ndoth his forsaking of his sins and pleasures offend thee?\n\nPoor coming man! \u201cShall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians\nbefore their eyes, and will they not stone us?\u201d (Exo 8:26).\n\nBut, I say, why offended at this? Is he ever the worse for coming to\nJesus Christ, or for his loving and serving of Jesus Christ? Or is he\never the more a fool, for flying from that which will drown thee in\nhell-fire, and for seeking eternal life? Besides, pray, Sirs, consider\nit; this he doth, not of himself, but by the drawing of the Father.\nCome, let me tell thee in thine ear, thou that wilt not come to him\nthyself, and him that would, thou hinderest\u2014\n\n1. Thou shalt be judged for one that hath hated, maligned, and\nreproached Jesus Christ, to whom this poor sinner is coming.\n\n2. Thou shalt be judged, too, for one that hath hated the Father, by\nwhose powerful drawing this sinner doth come.\n\n3. Thou shalt be taken and judged for one that has done despite to the\nSpirit of grace in him that is, by its help, coming to Jesus Christ.\nWhat sayest thou now? Wilt thou stand by thy doings? Wilt thou continue\nto contemn and reproach the living God? Thinkest thou that thou shalt\nweather it out well enough at the day of judgment? \u201cCan thine heart\nendure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal\nwith thee,\u201d saith the Lord? (Eze 22:14, John 15:18-25; Jude 15; 1 Thess\n4:8).\n\nUse Fifth. Is it so, that no man comes to Jesus Christ by the will,\nwisdom, and power of man, but by the gift, promise, and drawing of the\nFather? Then this showeth us how it comes to pass, that weak means are\nso powerful as to bring men out of their sins to a hearty pursuit after\nJesus Christ. When God bid Moses speak to the people, he said, \u201cI will\ngive thee counsel, and God shall be with thee\u201d (Exo 18:19). When God\nspeaks, when God works, who can let it? None, none; then the work goes\non! Elias threw his mantle upon the shoulders of Elisha; and what a\nwonderful work followed! When Jesus fell in with the crowing of a cock,\nwhat work was there! O when God is in the means, then shall that\nmeans\u2014be it never so weak and contemptible in itself\u2014work wonders (1\nKings 19:19; Matt 26:74,75; Mark 14:71,72; Luke 22:60-62). The world\nunderstood not, nor believed, that the walls of Jericho should fall at\nthe sound of rams\u2019 horns; but when God will work, the means must be\neffectual. A word weakly spoken, spoken with difficulty, in temptation,\nand in the midst of great contempt and scorn, works wonders, if the\nLord thy God will say so too.\n\nUse Sixth. Is it so? Doth no man come to Jesus Christ by the will,\nwisdom, and power of man, but by the gift, promise, and drawing of the\nFather? Then here is room for Christians to stand and wonder at the\neffectual working of God\u2019s providences, that he hath made use of, as\nmeans to bring them to Jesus Christ.\n\nFor although men are drawn to Christ by the power of the Father, yet\nthat power putteth forth itself in the use of means: and these means\nare divers, sometimes this, sometimes that; for God is at liberty to\nwork by which, and when, and how he will; but let the means be what\nthey will, and as contemptible as may be, yet God that commanded the\nlight to shine out of darkness, and that out of weakness can make\nstrong, can, nay, doth oftentimes make use of very unlikely means to\nbring about the conversion and salvation of his people. Therefore, you\nthat are come to Christ\u2014and that by unlikely means\u2014stay yourselves, and\nwonder, and, wondering, magnify almighty power, by the work of which\nthe means hath been made effectual to bring you to Jesus Christ.\n\nWhat was the providence that God made use of as a means, either more\nremote or more near, to bring thee to Jesus Christ? Was it the removing\nof thy habitation, the change of thy condition, the loss of relations,\nestate, or the like? Was it thy casting of thine eye upon some good\nbook, thy hearing of thy neighbours talk of heavenly things, the\nbeholding of God\u2019s judgments as executed upon others, or thine own\ndeliverance from them, or thy being strangely cast under the ministry\nof some godly man? O take notice of such providence or providences!\nThey were sent and managed by mighty power to do thee good. God\nhimself, I say, hath joined himself unto this chariot: yea, and so\nblessed it, that it failed not to accomplish the thing for which he\nsent it.\n\nGod blesseth not to every one his providences in this manner. How many\nthousands are there in this world, that pass every day under the same\nprovidences! but God is not in them, to do that work by them as he hath\ndone for thy poor soul, by his effectually working with them. O that\nJesus Christ should meet thee in this providence, that dispensation, or\nthe other ordinance! This is grace indeed! At this, therefore, it will\nbe thy wisdom to admire, and for this to bless God.\n\nGive me leave to give you a taste of some of those providences that\nhave been effectual, through the management of God, to bring salvation\nto the souls of his people.\n\n(1.) The first shall be that of the woman of Samaria. It must happen,\nthat she must needs go out of the city to draw water, not before nor\nafter, but just when Jesus Christ her Saviour was come from far, and\nset to rest him, being weary, upon the well. What a blessed providence\nwas this! Even a providence managed by the almighty wisdom, and\nalmighty power, to the conversion and salvation of this poor creature.\nFor by this providence was this poor creature and her Saviour brought\ntogether, that that blessed work might be fulfilled upon the woman,\naccording to the purpose before determined by the Father (John 4).\n\n(2.) What providence was it that there should be a tree in the way for\nZaccheus to climb, thereby to give Jesus opportunity to call that chief\nof the publicans home to himself, even before he came down therefrom\n(Luke 19).\n\n(3.) Was it not also wonderful that the thief, which you read of in the\ngospel, should, by the providence of God, be cast into prison, to be\ncondemned even at that session that Christ himself was to die; nay, and\nthat it should happen, too, that they must be hanged together, that the\nthief might be in hearing and observing of Jesus in his last words,\nthat he might be converted by him before his death! (Luke 23).\n\n(4.) What a strange providence was it, and as strangely managed by God,\nthat Onesimus, when he was run away from his master, should be taken,\nand, as I think, cast into that very prison where Paul lay bound for\nthe Word of the gospel; that he might there be by him converted, and\nthen sent home again to his master Philemon! Behold \u201call things work\ntogether for good to them that love God, to them who are the called\naccording to his purpose\u201d (Rom 8:28).\n\nNay, I have myself known some that have been made to go to hear the\nWord preached against their wills; others have gone not to hear, but to\nsee and to be seen; nay, to jeer and flout others, as also to catch and\ncarp at things. Some also to feed their adulterous eyes with the sight\nof beautiful objects; and yet God hath made use even of these things,\nand even of the wicked and sinful proposals of sinners, to bring them\nunder the grace that might save their souls.\n\nUse Seventh. Doth no man come to Jesus Christ but by the drawing, &c.,\nof the Father? Then let me here caution those poor sinners, that are\nspectators of the change that God hath wrought in them that are coming\nto Jesus Christ, not to attribute this work and change to other things\nand causes.\n\nThere are some poor sinners in the world that plainly see a change, a\nmighty change, in their neighbours and relations that are coming to\nJesus Christ. But, as I said, they being ignorant, and not knowing\nwhence it comes and whither it goes, for \u201cso is every one that is born\nof the Spirit,\u201d (John 3:8), therefore they attribute this change to\nother causes: as melancholy; to sitting alone; to overmuch reading; to\ntheir going to too many sermons; to too much studying and musing on\nwhat they hear.\n\nAlso they conclude, on the other side, that it is for want of merry\ncompany; for want of physic; and therefore they advise them to leave\noff reading, going to sermons, the company of sober people; and to be\nmerry, to go a gossiping, to busy themselves in the things of this\nworld, not to sit musing alone, &c. But come, poor ignorant sinner, let\nme deal with thee. It seems thou art turned counsellor for Satan: I\ntell thee thou knowest not what thou dost. Take heed of spending thy\njudgment after this manner; thou judgest foolishly, and sayest in this,\nto every one that passeth by, thou art a fool. What! count convictions\nfor sin, mournings for sin, and repentance for sin, melancholy? This is\nlike those that on the other side said, \u201cThese men are [drunk with]\nfull of new wine,\u201d &c. Or as he that said Paul was mad (Acts 2:13,\n26:24). Poor ignorant sinner! canst thou judge no better? What! is\nsitting alone, pensive under God\u2019s hand, reading the Scriptures, and\nhearing of sermons, &c., the way to be undone? The Lord open thine\neyes, and make thee to see thine error! Thou hast set thyself against\nGod, thou hast despised the operation of his hands, thou attemptest to\nmurder souls. What! canst thou give no better counsel touching those\nwhom God hath wounded, than to send them to the ordinances of hell for\nhelp? Thou biddest them be merry and lightsome; but dost thou not know\nthat \u201cthe heart of fools is in the house of mirth?\u201d (Eccl 7:4).\n\nThou biddest them shun the hearing of thundering preachers; but is it\nnot \u201cbetter to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the\nsong of fools?\u201d (Eccl 7:5). Thou biddest them busy themselves in the\nthings of this world; but dost thou not know that the Lord bids, \u201cSeek\nfirst the kingdom of God, and his righteousness?\u201d (Matt 6:33). Poor\nignorant sinner! hear the counsel of God to such, and learn thyself to\nbe wiser. \u201cIs any afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing\npsalms\u201d (James 5:13). \u201cBlessed is the man that heareth me\u201d (Prov 8:32).\nAnd hear for time to come, \u201cSave yourselves from this untoward\ngeneration\u201d (Acts 2:40). \u201cSearch the Scriptures\u201d (John 5:39). \u201cGive\nattendance to reading\u201d (1 Tim 4:13). \u201cIt is better to go to the house\nof mourning\u201d (Eccl 7:2,3).\n\nAnd wilt thou judge him that doth thus? Art thou almost like Elymas the\nsorcerer, that sought to turn the deputy from the faith? Thou seekest\nto pervert the right ways of the Lord. Take heed lest some heavy\njudgment overtake thee (Acts 13:8-13). What! teach men to quench\nconvictions; take men off from a serious consideration of the evil of\nsin, of the terrors of the world to come, and how they shall escape the\nsame? What! teach men to put God and his Word out of their minds, by\nrunning to merry company, by running to the world, by gossiping? &c.\nThis is as much as to bid them to say to God, \u201cDepart from us, for we\ndesire not the knowledge of thy ways;\u201d or, \u201cWhat is the Almighty that\nwe should serve him? or what profit have we if we keep his ways?\u201d Here\nis a devil in grain! What! bid man walk \u201caccording to the course of\nthis world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit\nthat now worketh in the children of disobedience\u201d (Eph 2:2).\n\n[Two objections answered.]\n\nObject. 1. But we do not know that such are coming to Jesus Christ;\ntruly we wonder at them, and think they are fools.\n\nAnsw. Do you not know that they are coming to Jesus Christ? then they\nmay be coming to him, for aught you know; and why will ye be worse than\nthe brute, to speak evil of the things you know not? What! are ye made\nto be taken and destroyed? must ye utterly perish in your own\ncorruptions? (2 Peter 2:12). Do you not know them? Let them alone then.\nIf you cannot speak good of them, speak not bad. \u201cRefrain from these\nmen, and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it\nwill come to nought; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest\nhaply ye be found even to fight against God\u201d (Acts 5:38,39). But why do\nyou wonder at a work of conviction and conversion? Know you not that\nthis is the judgment of God upon you, \u201cye despisers, to behold, and\nwonder, and perish?\u201d (Acts 13:40,41). But why wonder, and think they\nare fools? Is the way of the just an abomination to you? See that\npassage, and be ashamed, \u201cHe that is upright in the way is abomination\nto the wicked\u201d (Prov 29:27). Your wondering at them argues that you are\nstrangers to yourselves, to conviction for sin, and to hearty desires\nto be saved; as also to coming to Jesus Christ.\n\nObject. 2. But how shall we know that such men are coming to Jesus\nChrist?\n\nAnsw. Who can make them see that Christ has made blind? (John 2:8,9).\nNevertheless, because I endeavour thy conviction, conversion, and\nsalvation, consider: Do they cry out of sin, being burthened with it,\nas of an exceeding bitter thing? Do they fly from it, as from the face\nof a deadly serpent? Do they cry out of the insufficiency of their own\nrighteousness, as to justification in the sight of God? Do they cry out\nafter the Lord Jesus, to save them? Do they see more worth and merit in\none drop of Christ\u2019s blood to save them, than in all the sins of the\nworld to damn them? Are they tender of sinning against Jesus Christ? Is\nhis name, person, and undertakings, more precious to them, than is the\nglory of the world? Is this word more dear unto them? Is faith in\nChrist (of which they are convinced by God\u2019s Spirit of the want of, and\nthat without it they can never close with Christ) precious to them? Do\nthey savour Christ in his Word, and do they leave all the world for his\nsake? And are they willing, God helping them, to run hazards for his\nname, for the love they bear to him? Are his saints precious to them?\nIf these things be so, whether thou seest them or no, these men are\ncoming to Jesus Christ (Rom 7:914; Psa 38:3-8; Heb 6:18-20; Isa 64:6;\nPhil 3:7,8; Psa 54:1; 109:26; Acts 16:30; Psa 51:7,8; 1 Peter 1:18,19;\nRom 7:24; 2 Cor 5:2; Acts 5:41; James 2:7; Song 5:10-16; Psa 119; John\n13:35; 1 John 4:7; 3:14; John 16:9; Rom 14:23; Heb 11:6; Psa 19:10,11;\nJer 15:16; Heb 11:24-27; Acts 20:22-24; 21:13; Titus 3:15; 2 John 1;\nEph 4:16; Phile 7; 1 Cor 16:24).\n\n[COMERS OFTTIMES AFRAID THAT CHRIST WILL NOT RECEIVE THEM.]\n\n\nOBSERVATION SECOND.\u2014I come now to the second observation propounded to\nbe spoken to, to wit, That they that are coming to Jesus Christ, are\nofttimes heartily afraid that Jesus Christ will not receive them.\n\nI told you that this observation is implied in the text; and I gather\nit,\n\nFirst, From the largeness and openness of the promise: \u201cI will in no\nwise cast out.\u201d For had there not been a proneness in us to \u201cfear\ncasting out,\u201d Christ needed not to have, as it were, waylaid our fear,\nas he doth by this great and strange expression, \u201cIn no wise;\u201d \u201cAnd him\nthat cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d There needed not, as I\nmay say, such a promise to be invented by the wisdom of heaven, and\nworded at such a rate, as it were on purpose to dash in pieces at one\nblow all the objections of coming sinners, if they were not prone to\nadmit of such objections, to the discouraging of their own souls. For\nthis word, \u201cin no wise,\u201d cutteth the throat of all objections; and it\nwas dropped by the Lord Jesus for that very end; and to help the faith\nthat is mixed with unbelief. And it is, as it were, the sum of all\npromises; neither can any objection be made upon the unworthiness that\nthou findest in thee, that this promise will not assoil.\n\nBut I am a great sinner, sayest thou. \u201cI will in no wise cast out,\u201d\nsays Christ. But I am an old sinner, sayest thou. \u201cI will in no wise\ncast out,\u201d says Christ. But I am a hard-hearted sinner, sayest thou. \u201cI\nwill in no wise cast out,\u201d says Christ. But I am a backsliding sinner,\nsayest thou. \u201cI will in no wise cast out,\u201d says Christ. But I have\nserved Satan all my days, sayest thou. \u201cI will in no wise cast out,\u201d\nsays Christ. But I have sinned against light, sayest thou. \u201cI will in\nno wise cast out,\u201d says Christ. But I have sinned against mercy, sayest\nthou. \u201cI will in no wise cast out,\u201d says Christ. But I have no good\nthing to bring with me, sayest thou. \u201cI will in no wise cast out,\u201d says\nChrist.\n\nThus I might go on to the end of things, and show you, that still this\npromise was provided to answer all objections, and doth answer them.\nBut I say, what need it be, if they that are coming to Jesus Christ are\nnot sometimes, yea, oftentimes, heartily afraid, \u201cthat Jesus Christ\nwill cast them out?\u201d\n\nSecond, I will give you now two instances that seem to imply the truth\nof this observation.\n\nIn the ninth of Matthew, at the second verse, you read of a man that\nwas sick of the palsy; and he was coming to Jesus Christ, being borne\nupon a bed by his friends: he also was coming himself, and that upon\nanother account than any of his friends were aware of; even for the\npardon of sins, and the salvation of his soul. Now, so soon as ever he\nwas come into the presence of Christ, Christ bids him \u201cbe of good\ncheer.\u201d It seems then, his heart was fainting; but what was the cause\nof his fainting? Not his bodily infirmity, for the cure of which his\nfriends did bring him to Christ; but the guilt and burden of his sins,\nfor the pardon of which himself did come to him; therefore he proceeds,\n\u201cBe of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee.\u201d I say, Christ saw him\nsinking in his mind, about how it would go with his most noble part;\nand therefore, first, he applies himself to him upon that account. For\nthough his friends had faith enough as to the cure of the body, yet he\nhimself had little enough as to the cure of his soul: therefore Christ\ntakes him up as a man falling down, saying, \u201cSon, be of good cheer, thy\nsins be forgiven thee.\u201d\n\nThat about the Prodigal seems pertinent also to this matter: \u201cWhen he\ncame to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father\u2019s have\nbread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and\ngo to my father.\u201d Heartily spoken; but how did he perform his promise?\nI think not so well as he promised to do; and my ground for my thoughts\nis, because his father, so soon as he was come to him, fell upon his\nneck and kissed him; implying, methinks, as if the prodigal by this\ntime was dejected in his mind; and therefore his father gives him the\nmost sudden and familiar token of reconciliation. And kisses were of\nold time often used to remove doubts and fears. Thus Laban and Esau\nkiss Jacob. Thus Joseph kissed his brethren; and thus also David kissed\nAbsalom (Gen 31:55; 33:1-4; 48:9,10; 2 Sam 14:33). It is true, as I\nsaid, at first setting out, he spake heartily, as sometimes sinners\nalso do in their beginning to come to Jesus Christ; but might not he,\nyea, in all probability he had, between the first step he took, and the\nlast, by which he accomplished that journey, many a thought, both this\nway and that; as whether his father would receive him or no? As thus: I\nsaid, \u201cI would go to my Father.\u201d But how, if when I come at him he\nshould ask me, Where I have all this while been? What must I say then?\nAlso, if he ask me, What is become of the portion of goods that he gave\nme? What shall I say then? If he asks me, Who have been my companions?\nWhat shall I say then? If he also shall ask me, What hath been my\npreferment in all the time of my absence from him? What shall I say\nthen? Yea, and if he ask me, Why I came home no sooner? What shall I\nsay then? Thus, I say, might he reason with himself, and being\nconscious to himself, that he could give but a bad answer to any of\nthese interrogatories, no marvel if he stood in need first of all of a\nkiss from his father\u2019s lips. For had he answered the first in truth, he\nmust say, I have been a haunter of taverns and ale-houses; and as for\nmy portion, I spent it in riotous living; my companions were whores and\ndrabs; as for my preferment, the highest was, that I became a hog-herd;\nand as for my not coming home till now, could I have made shift to have\nstaid abroad any longer, I had not lain at thy feet for mercy now.\n\nI say, these things considered, and considering, again, how prone poor\nman is to give way, when truly awakened, to despondings and heart\nmisgivings, no marvel if he did sink in his mind, between the time of\nhis first setting out, and that of his coming to his Father.\n\nThird, But, thirdly, methinks I have for the confirmation of this truth\nthe consent of all the saints that are under heaven, to wit, That they\nthat are coming to Jesus Christ, are ofttimes heartily afraid that he\nwill not receive them.\n\nQuest. But what should be the reason? I will answer to this question\nthus:\n\n1. It is not for want of the revealed will of God, that manifesteth\ngrounds for the contrary, for of that there is a sufficiency; yea, the\ntext itself hath laid a sufficient foundation for encouragement, for\nthem that are coming to Jesus Christ. \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will\nin no wise cast out.\u201d\n\n2. It is not for want of any invitation to come, for that is full and\nplain. \u201cCome unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I\nwill give you rest\u201d (Matt 11:28).\n\n3. Neither is it for want of a manifestation of Christ\u2019s willingness to\nreceive, as those texts above named, with that which follows,\ndeclareth, \u201cIf any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink\u201d (John\n7:37).\n\n4. It is not for want of exceeding great and precious promises to\nreceive them that come. \u201cWherefore come out from among them, and be ye\nseparate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will\nreceive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and\ndaughters, saith the Lord Almighty\u201d (2 Cor 6:17,18).\n\n5. It is not for want of solemn oath and engagement to save them that\ncome. \u201cFor\u2014because he could swear by no greater, he sware by\nhimself\u2014that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for\nGod to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for\nrefuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us\u201d (Heb 6:13-18).\n\n6. Neither is it for want of great examples of God\u2019s mercy, that have\ncome to Jesus Christ, of which we read most plentifully in the Word.\nTherefore, it must be concluded, it is for want of that which follows.\n\n[What it is that prevents the coming to Christ.]\n\nFirst, It is for want of the knowledge of Christ. Thou knowest but\nlittle of the grace and kindness that is in the heart of Christ; thou\nknowest but little of the virtue and merit of his blood; thou knowest\nbut little of the willingness that is in his heart to save thee; and\nthis is the reason of the fear that ariseth in thy heart, and that\ncauseth thee to doubt that Christ will not receive thee. Unbelief is\nthe daughter of Ignorance. Therefore Christ saith, \u201cO fools, and slow\nof heart to believe\u201d (Luke 24:25).\n\nSlowness of heart to believe, flows from thy foolishness in the things\nof Christ; this is evident to all that are acquainted with themselves,\nand are seeking after Jesus Christ. The more ignorance, the more\nunbelief. The more knowledge of Christ, the more faith. \u201cThey that know\nthy name will put their trust in thee\u201d (Psa 9:10). He, therefore, that\nbegan to come to Christ but the other day, and hath yet but little\nknowledge of him, he fears that Christ will not receive him. But he\nthat hath been longer acquainted with him, he \u201cis strong, and hath\novercome the wicked one\u201d (1 John 2:13). When Joseph\u2019s brethren came\ninto Egypt to buy corn, it is said, \u201cJoseph knew his brethren, but his\nbrethren knew not him.\u201d What follows? Why, great mistrust of heart\nabout their speeding well; especially, if Joseph did but answer them\nroughly, calling them spies, and questioning their truth and the like.\nAnd observe it, so long as their ignorance about their brother remained\nwith them, whatsoever Joseph did, still they put the worse sense upon\nit. For instance, Joseph upon a time bids the steward of his house\nbring them home, to dine with him, to dine even in Joseph\u2019s house. And\nhow is this resented by them? Why, they are afraid. \u201cAnd the men were\nafraid, because they were brought unto\u201d their brother \u201cJoseph\u2019s house.\u201d\nAnd they said, He seeketh occasion against us, and will fall upon us,\nand take us for bondmen, and our asses (Gen 42, 43). What! afraid to go\nto Joseph\u2019s house? He was their brother; he intended to feast them; to\nfeast them, and to feast with them. Ah! but they were ignorant that he\nwas their brother. And so long as their ignorance lasted, so long their\nfear terrified them. Just thus it is with the sinner that but of late\nis coming to Jesus Christ. He is ignorant of the love and pity that is\nin Christ to coming sinners. Therefore he doubts, therefore he fears,\ntherefore his heart misgives him.\n\nComing sinner, Christ inviteth thee to dine and sup with him. He\ninviteth thee to a banquet of wine, yea, to come into his wine-cellar,\nand his banner over thee shall be love (Rev 3:20; Song 2:5). But I\ndoubt it, says the sinner: but, it is answered, he calls thee, invites\nthee to his banquet, flagons, apples; to his wine, and to the juice of\nhis pomegranate. \u201cO, I fear, I doubt, I mistrust, I tremble in\nexpectation of the contrary!\u201d Come out of the man, thou dastardly\nignorance! Be not afraid, sinner, only believe; \u201cHe that cometh to\nChrist he will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nLet the coming sinner, therefore, seek after more of the good knowledge\nof Jesus Christ. Press after it, seek it as silver, and dig for it as\nfor hid treasure. This will embolden thee; this will make thee wax\nstronger and stronger. \u201cI know whom I have believed,\u201d I know him, said\nPaul; and what follows? Why, \u201cand I am persuaded that he is able to\nkeep that which I have committed unto him, against that day\u201d (2 Tim\n1:12). What had Paul committed to Jesus Christ? The answer is, He had\ncommitted to him his soul. But why did he commit his soul to him? Why,\nbecause he knew him. He knew him to be faithful, to be kind. He knew he\nwould not fail him, nor forsake him; and therefore he laid his soul\ndown at his feet, and committed it to him, to keep against that day.\nBut,\n\nSecond, Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee may be also a\nconsequent of thy earnest and strong desires after thy salvation by\nhim. For this I observe, that strong desires to have, are attended with\nstrong fears of missing. What man most sets his heart upon, and what\nhis desires are most after, he ofttimes most fears he shall not obtain.\nSo the man, the ruler of the synagogue, had a great desire that his\ndaughter should live; and that desire was attended with fear, that she\nshould not. Wherefore, Christ saith unto him, \u201cBe not afraid\u201d (Mark\n5:36).\n\nSuppose a young man should have his heart much set upon a virgin to\nhave her to wife, if ever he fears he shall not obtain her, it is when\nhe begins to love; now, thinks he, somebody will step in betwixt my\nlove and the object of it; either they will find fault with my person,\nmy estate, my conditions, or something! Now thoughts begin to work; she\ndoth not like me, or something. And thus it is with the soul at first\ncoming to Jesus Christ, thou lovest him, and thy love produceth\njealousy, and that jealousy ofttimes begets fears.\n\nNow thou fearest the sins of thy youth, the sins of thine old age, the\nsins of thy calling, the sins of thy Christian duties, the sins of\nthine heart, or something; thou thinkest something or other will\nalienate the heart and affections of Jesus Christ from thee; thou\nthinkest he sees something in thee, for the sake of which he will\nrefuse thy soul. But be content, a little more knowledge of him will\nmake thee take better heart; thy earnest desires shall not be attended\nwith such burning fears; thou shalt hereafter say, \u201cThis is my\ninfirmity\u201d (Psa 77:10).\n\nThou art sick of love, a very sweet disease, and yet every disease has\nsome weakness attending of it: yet I wish this distemper, if it be\nlawful to call it so, was more epidemical. Die of this disease I would\ngladly do; it is better than life itself, though it be attended with\nfears. But thou criest, I cannot obtain: well, be not too hasty in\nmaking conclusions. If Jesus Christ had not put his finger in at the\nhole of the lock, thy bowels would not have been troubled for him (Song\n5:4). Mark how the prophet hath it, \u201cThey shall walk after the Lord; he\nshall roar like a lion; when he shall roar, then the children shall\ntremble from the west, they shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and\nas a dove out of the land of Assyria\u201d (Hosea 11:10,11). When God roars\n(as ofttimes the coming soul hears him roar), what man that is coming\ncan do otherwise than tremble? (Amos 3:8). But trembling he comes: \u201cHe\nsprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas\u201d\n(Acts 16:29).\n\nShould you ask him that we mentioned but now, How long is it since you\nbegan to fear you should miss of this damsel you love so? The answer\nwill be, Ever since I began to love her. But did you not fear it\nbefore? No, nor should I fear it now, but that I vehemently love her.\nCome, sinner, let us apply it: How long is it since thou began to fear\nthat Jesus Christ will not receive thee? Thy answer is, Ever since I\nbegan to desire that he would save my soul. I began to fear, when I\nbegan to come; and the more my heart burns in desires after him, the\nmore I feel my heart fear I shall not be saved by him. See now, did not\nI tell thee that thy fears were but the consequence of strong desires?\nWell, fear not, coming sinner, thousands of coming souls are in thy\ncondition, and yet they will get safe into Christ\u2019s bosom: \u201cSay,\u201d says\nChrist, \u201cto them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not; your\nGod will come and save you\u201d (Isa 35:4; 63:1).\n\nThird, Thy fear that Christ will not receive thee may arise from a\nsense of thine own unworthiness. Thou seest what a poor, sorry,\nwretched, worthless creature thou art; and seeing this, thou fearest\nChrist will not receive thee. Alas, sayest thou, I am the vilest of all\nmen; a town-sinner, a ringleading sinner! I am not only a sinner\nmyself, but have made others twofold worse the children of hell also.\nBesides, now I am under some awakenings and stirrings of mind after\nsalvation, even now I find my heart rebellious, carnal, hard,\ntreacherous, desperate, prone to unbelief, to despair: it forgetteth\nthe Word; it wandereth; it runneth to the ends of the earth. There is\nnot, I am persuaded, one in all the world that hath such a desperate\nwicked heart as mine is; my soul is careless to do good, but none more\nearnest to do that which is evil.\n\nCan such a one as I am, live in glory? Can a holy, a just, and a\nrighteous God, once think (with honour to his name) of saving such a\nvile creature as I am? I fear it. Will he show wonders to such a dead\ndog as I am? I doubt it. I am cast out to the loathing of my person,\nyea, I loath myself; I stink in mine own nostrils. How can I then be\naccepted by a holy and sin-abhorring God? (Psa 38:5-7; Eze 11;\n20:42,44). Saved I would be; and who is there that would not, were they\nin my condition? Indeed, I wonder at the madness and folly of others,\nwhen I see them leap and skip so carelessly about the mouth of hell!\nBold sinner, how darest thou tempt God, by laughing at the breach of\nhis holy law? But alas! they are not so bad one way, but I am worse\nanother: I wish myself were anybody but myself; and yet here again, I\nknow not what to wish. When I see such as I believe are coming to Jesus\nChrist, O I bless them! But I am confounded in myself, to see how\nunlike, as I think, I am to every good man in the world. They can read,\nhear, pray, remember, repent, be humble, do everything better than so\nvile a wretch as I. I, vile wretch, am good for nothing but to burn in\nhell-fire, and when I think of that, I am confounded too!\n\nThus the sense of unworthiness creates and heightens fears in the\nhearts of them that are coming to Jesus Christ; but indeed it should\nnot; for who needs the physician but the sick? or who did Christ come\ninto the world to save, but the chief of sinners? (Mark 2:17; 1 Tim\n1:15). Wherefore, the more thou seest thy sins, the faster fly thou to\nJesus Christ. And let the sense of thine own unworthiness prevail with\nthee yet to go faster. As it is with the man that carrieth his broken\narm in a sling to the bone-setter, still as he thinks of his broken\narm, and as he feels the pain and anguish, he hastens his pace to the\nman. And if Satan meets thee, and asketh, Whither goest thou? tell him\nthou art maimed, and art going to the Lord Jesus. If he objects thine\nown unworthiness, tell him, That even as the sick seeketh the\nphysician; as he that hath broken bones seeks him that can set them; so\nthou art going to Jesus Christ for cure and healing for thy sin sick\nsoul. But it ofttimes happeneth to him that flies for his life, he\ndespairs of escaping, and therefore delivers himself up into the hand\nof the pursuer. But up, up, sinner; be of good cheer, Christ came to\nsave the unworthy ones: be not faithless, but believe. Come away, man,\nthe Lord Jesus calls thee, saying, \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will in\nno wise cast out.\u201d\n\nFourth. Thy fear that Christ will not receive thee, may arise from a\nsense of the exceeding mercy of being saved; sometimes salvation is in\nthe eyes of him that desires so great, so huge, so wonderful a thing,\nthat the very thoughts of the excellency of it, engenders unbelief\nabout obtaining it, in the heart of those that unfeignedly desire it.\n\u201cSeemeth it to you,\u201d saith David, \u201ca light thing to be a king\u2019s\nson-in-law?\u201d (1 Sam 18:23). So the thoughts of the greatness and glory\nof the thing propounded, as heaven, eternal life, eternal glory, to be\nwith God, and Christ, and angels; these are great things, things too\ngood, saith the soul that is little in his own eyes; things too rich,\nsaith the soul that is truly poor in spirit, for me.\n\nBesides, the Holy Ghost hath a way to greaten heavenly things to the\nunderstanding of the coming sinner; yea, and at the same time to\ngreaten, too, the sin and unworthiness of that sinner. Now the soul\nstaggeringly wonders, saying, What! to be made like angels, like\nChrist, to live in eternal bliss, joy, and felicity! This is for\nangels, and for them that can walk like angels! If a prince, a duke, an\nearl, should send (by the hand of his servant) for some poor, sorry,\nbeggarly scrub, to take her for his master to wife, and the servant\nshould come and say, My lord and master, such an one hath sent me to\nthee, to take thee to him to wife; he is rich, beautiful, and of\nexcellent qualities; he is loving, meek, humble, well-spoken, &c. What\nnow would this poor, sorry, beggarly creature think? What would she\nsay? or how would she frame an answer? When king David sent to Abigail\nupon this account, and though she was a rich woman, yet she said,\n\u201cBehold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the\nservants of my lord\u201d (1 Sam 25:40,41). She was confounded, she could\nnot well tell what to say, the offer was so great, beyond what could in\nreason be expected.\n\nBut suppose this great person should second his suit, and send to this\nsorry creature again, what would she say now? Would she not say, You\nmock me? But what if he affirms that he is in good earnest, and that\nhis lord must have her to wife; yea, suppose he should prevail upon her\nto credit his message, and to address herself for her journey; yet,\nbehold every thought of her pedigree confounds her; also her sense of\nwant of beauty makes her ashamed; and if she doth but think of being\nembraced, the unbelief that is mixed with that thought whirls her into\ntremblings; and now she calls herself fool, for believing the\nmessenger, and thinks not to go; if she thinks of being bold, she\nblushes; and the least thought that she shall be rejected, when she\ncomes at him, makes her look as if she would give up the ghost.\n\nAnd is it a wonder, then, to see a soul that is drowned in the sense of\nglory and a sense of its own nothingness, to be confounded in itself,\nand to fear that the glory apprehended is too great, too good, and too\nrich, for such an one? That thing, heaven and eternal glory, is so\ngreat, and I that would have it, so small, so sorry a creature, that\nthe thoughts of obtaining it confounds me.\n\nThus, I say, doth the greatness of the things desired, quite dash and\noverthrow the mind of the desirer. O, it is too big! it is too big! it\nis too great a mercy! But, coming sinner, let me reason with thee. Thou\nsayest, it is too big, too great. Well, will things that are less\nsatisfy thy soul? Will a less thing than heaven, than glory and eternal\nlife, answer thy desires? No, nothing less; and yet I fear they are too\nbig, and too good for me, ever to obtain. Well, as big and as good as\nthey are, God giveth them to such as thou; they are not too big for God\nto give; no, not too big to give freely. Be content; let God give like\nhimself; he is that eternal God, and giveth like himself. When kings\ngive, they do not use to give as poor men do. Hence it is said, that\nNabal made a feast in his house like the feast of a king; and again,\n\u201cAll these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto David\u201d (1 Sam\n25:36; 2 Sam 24:23). Now, God is a great king, let him give like a\nking; nay, let him give like himself, and do thou receive like thyself.\nHe hath all, and thou hast nothing. God told his people of old, that he\nwould save them in truth and in righteousness, and that they should\nreturn to, and enjoy the land, which before, for their sins, had spewed\nthem out; and then adds, under a supposition of their counting the\nmercy too good, or too big, \u201cIf it be marvellous in the eyes of the\nremnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in\nmine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts\u201d (Zech 8:6).\n\nAs who should say, they are now in captivity, and little in their own\neyes; therefore they think the mercy of returning to Canaan is a mercy\ntoo marvellously big for them to enjoy; but if it be so in their eyes,\nit is not so in mine; I will do for them like God, if they will but\nreceive my bounty like sinners. Coming sinner, God can give his\nheavenly Canaan, and the glory of it, unto thee; yea, none ever had\nthem but as a gift, a free gift. He hath given us his Son, \u201cHow shall\nhe not with him also freely give us all things?\u201d (Rom 8:32).\n\nIt was not the worthiness of Abraham, or Moses, or David or Peter, or\nPaul, but the mercy of God, that made them inheritors of heaven. If God\nthinks thee worthy, judge not thyself unworthy; but take it, and be\nthankful. And it is a good sign he intends to give thee, if he hath\ndrawn out thy heart to ask. \u201cLord, thou hast heard the desire of the\nhumble; thou wilt prepare their heart; thou wilt cause thine ear to\nhear\u201d (Psa 10:17).\n\nWhen God is said to incline his ear, it implies an intention to bestow\nthe mercy desired. Take it therefore; thy wisdom will be to receive,\nnot sticking at thy own unworthiness. It is said, \u201cHe raiseth up the\npoor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to\nset them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.\u201d\nAgain, \u201cHe raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy\nout of the dunghill, that he may set him with princes, even with the\nprinces of his people\u201d (1 Sam 2:8; Psa 113:7,8). You see also when God\nmade a wedding for his Son, he called not the great, nor the rich, nor\nthe mighty; but the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind (Matt 12;\nLuke 14).\n\nFifth. Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee may arise from the\nhideous roaring of the devil, who pursues thee. He that hears him roar,\nmust be a mighty Christian, if he can at that time deliver himself from\nfear. He is called a roaring lion; and then to allude to that in\nIsaiah, \u201cIf one look\u201d into them, they have \u201cdarkness and sorrow, and\nthe light is darkened in the heavens thereof\u201d (1 Peter 5:8; Isa 5:3).\n\n[Two of the devil\u2019s objections.]\u2014There are two things among many that\nSatan useth to roar out after them that are coming to Jesus Christ. 1.\nThat they are not elected. Or, 2. That they have sinned the sin against\nthe Holy Ghost. To both these I answer briefly\u2014\n\n1. [Election.]\u2014Touching election, out of which thou fearest thou art\nexcluded. Why, coming sinner, even the text itself affordeth thee help\nagainst this doubt, and that by a double argument.\n\n(1.) That coming to Christ is by virtue of the gift, promise, and\ndrawing of the Father; but thou art a-coming; therefore God hath given\nthee, promised thee, and is drawing thee to Jesus Christ. Coming\nsinner, hold to this; and when Satan beginneth to roar again, answer,\nBut I feel my heart moving after Jesus Christ; but that would not be,\nif it were not given by promise, and drawing to Christ by the power of\nthe Father.\n\n(2.) Jesus Christ hath promised, \u201cThat him that cometh to him he will\nin no wise cast out.\u201d And if he hath said it, will he not make it good,\nI mean even thy salvation? For, as I have said already, not to cast\nout, is to receive and admit to the benefit of salvation. If then the\nFather hath given thee, as is manifest by thy coming; and if Christ\nwill receive thee, thou coming soul, as it is plain he will, because he\nhath said, \u201cHe will in no wise cast out;\u201d then be confident, and let\nthose conclusions, that as naturally flow from the text as light from\nthe sun, or water from the fountain, stay thee.\n\nIf Satan therefore objecteth, But thou art not elected; answer, But I\nam coming, Satan, I am coming; and that I could not be, but that the\nFather draws me; and I am coming to such a Lord Jesus, as will in no\nwise cast me out. Further, Satan, were I not elect, the Father would\nnot draw me, nor would the Son so graciously open his bosom to me. I am\npersuaded, that not one of the nonelect shall ever be able to say, no,\nnot in the day of judgment, I did sincerely come to Jesus Christ. Come\nthey may, feignedly, as Judas and Simon Magus did; but that is not our\nquestion. Therefore, O thou honest-hearted coming sinner, be not\nafraid, but come.\n\n2. [Of the sin against the Holy Ghost.]\u2014As to the second part of the\nobjection, about sinning the sin against the Holy Ghost, the same\nargument overthrows that also. But I will argue thus:\n\n(1.) Coming to Christ is by virtue of a special gift of the Father; but\nthe Father giveth no such gift to them that have sinned that sin;\ntherefore thou that art coming hast not committed that sin. That the\nFather giveth no such gift to them that have sinned that sin is\nevident\u2014(a.) Because such have sinned themselves out of God\u2019s favour;\n\u201cThey shall never have forgiveness\u201d (Matt 12:32). But it is a special\nfavour of God to give unto a man, to come to Jesus Christ; because\nthereby he obtaineth forgiveness. Therefore he that cometh hath not\nsinned that sin. (b.) They that have sinned the sin against the Holy\nGhost, have sinned themselves out of an interest in the sacrifice of\nChrist\u2019s body and blood; \u201cThere remaineth [for such] no more sacrifice\nfor sins\u201d (Heb 10:26). But God giveth not grace to any of them to come\nto Christ, that have no share in the sacrifice of his body and blood.\nTherefore, thou that art coming to him, hast not sinned that sin.\n\n(2.) Coming to Christ is by the special drawing of the Father; \u201cNo man\ncan come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him\u201d (John\n6:44). But the Father draweth not him to Christ, for whom he hath not\nallotted forgiveness by his blood; therefore they that are coming to\nJesus Christ have not committed that sin, because he hath allotted them\nforgiveness by his blood. That the Father cannot draw them to Jesus\nChrist, for whom he hath not allotted forgiveness of sins, is manifest\nto sense: for that would be a plain mockery, a flam, 17 neither\nbecoming his wisdom, justice, holiness, nor goodness.\n\n(3.) Coming to Jesus Christ lays a man under the promise of forgiveness\nand salvation. But it is impossible that he that hath sinned that sin\nshould ever be put under a promise of these. Therefore, he that hath\nsinned that sin can never have heart to come to Jesus Christ.\n\n(4.) Coming to Jesus Christ lays a man under his intercession. \u201cFor he\never liveth to make intercession for them that come\u201d (Heb 7:25).\nTherefore, he that is coming to Jesus Christ cannot have sinned that\nsin. Christ has forbidden his people to pray for them that have sinned\nthat sin; and, therefore, will not pray for them himself, but he prays\nfor them that come.\n\n(5.) He that hath sinned that sin, Christ is to him of no more worth\nthan is a man that is dead; \u201cFor he hath crucified to himself the Son\nof God;\u201d yea, and hath also counted his precious blood as the blood of\nan unholy thing. (Heb 6, 10) Now, he that hath this low esteem of\nChrist will never come to him for life; but the coming man has an high\nesteem of his person, blood, and merits. Therefore, he that is coming\nhas not committed that sin.\n\n(6.) If he that has sinned this sin might yet come to Jesus Christ,\nthen must the truth of God be overthrown; which saith in one place, \u201cHe\nhath never forgiveness;\u201d and in another, \u201cI will in no wise cast him\nout.\u201d Therefore, that he may never have forgiveness, he shall never\nhave heart to come to Jesus Christ. It is impossible that such an one\nshould be renewed, either to or by repentance (Heb 6). Wherefore, never\ntrouble thy head nor heart about this matter; he that cometh to Jesus\nChrist cannot have sinned against the Holy Ghost.\n\nSixth, Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee may arise from thine\nown folly, in inventing, yea, in thy chalking out to God, a way to\nbring thee home to Jesus Christ. Some souls that are coming to Jesus\nChrist are great tormentors of themselves upon this account; they\nconclude, that if their coming to Jesus Christ is right, they must\nneeds be brought home thus and thus.\n\nAs to instance: 1. Says one, If God be bringing of me to Jesus Christ,\nthen will he load me with the guilt of sin till he makes me roar again.\n2. If God be indeed a-bringing me home to Jesus Christ, then must I be\nassaulted with dreadful temptations of the devil. 3. If God be indeed\na-bringing me to Jesus Christ, then, even when I come at him, I shall\nhave wonderful revelations of him.\n\nThis is the way that some sinners appoint for God; but, perhaps, he\nwill not walk therein; yet will he bring them to Jesus Christ. But now,\nbecause they come not the way of their own chalking out, therefore they\nare at a loss. They look for heavy load and burden; but, perhaps, God\ngives them a sight of their lost condition, and addeth not that heavy\nweight and burden. They look for fearful temptations of Satan; but God\nsees that yet they are not fit for them, nor is the time come that he\nshould be honoured by them in such a condition. They look for great and\nglorious revelations of Christ, grace, and mercy; but, perhaps, God\nonly takes the yoke from off their jaws, and lays meat before them. And\nnow again they are at a loss, yet a-coming to Jesus Christ; \u201cI drew\nthem,\u201d saith God, \u201cwith cords of a man, with bands of love\u2014I took the\nyoke from off their jaws, and laid meat unto them\u201d (Hosea 11:4).\n\nNow, I say, If God brings thee to Christ, and not by the way that thou\nhast appointed, then thou art at a loss; and for thy being at a loss,\nthou mayest thank thyself. God hath more ways than thou knowest of to\nbring a sinner to Jesus Christ; but he will not give thee beforehand an\naccount by which of them he will bring thee to Christ (Isa 40:13; Job\n33:13). Sometimes he hath his ways in the whirlwind; but sometimes the\nLord is not there (Nahum 1:3; 1 Kings 19:11). If God will deal more\ngently with thee than with others of his children, grudge not at it;\nrefuse not the waters that go softly, lest he bring upon thee the\nwaters of the rivers, strong and many, even these two smoking\nfirebrands, the devil and guilt of sin (Isa 8:6,7). He saith to Peter,\n\u201cFollow me.\u201d And what thunder did Zaccheus hear or see? Zaccheus, \u201cCome\ndown,\u201d said Christ; \u201cand he came down,\u201d says Luke, \u201cand received him\njoyfully.\u201d\n\nBut had Peter or Zaccheus made the objection that thou hast made, and\ndirected the Spirit of the Lord as thou hast done, they might have\nlooked long enough before they had found themselves coming to Jesus\nChrist. Besides, I will tell thee, that the greatness of sense of sin,\nthe hideous roaring of the devil, yea, and abundance of revelations,\nwill not prove that God is bringing thy soul to Jesus Christ; as\nBalaam, Cain, Judas, and others, can witness.\n\nFurther, consider that what thou hast not of these things here, thou\nmayest have another time, and that to thy distraction. Wherefore,\ninstead of being discontent, because thou art not in the fire, because\nthou hearest not the sound of the trumpet and alarm of war, \u201cPray that\nthou enter not into temptation;\u201d yea, come boldly to the throne of\ngrace, and obtain mercy, and find grace to help in that time of need\n(Psa 88:15; Matt 26:41; Heb 4:16).\n\nPoor creature! thou criest, if I were tempted, I could come faster and\nwith more confidence to Christ. Thou sayest thou knowest not what. What\nsays Job? \u201cWithdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make\nme afraid. Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and\nanswer thou me\u201d (Job 13:21,22). It is not the overheavy load of sin,\nbut the discovery of mercy; not the roaring of the devil, but the\ndrawing of the Father, that makes a man come to Jesus Christ; I myself\nknow all these things.\n\nTrue, sometimes, yea, most an end, 18 they that come to Jesus Christ\ncome the way that thou desirest; the loading, tempted way; but the Lord\nalso leads some by the waters of comfort. If I was to choose when to go\na long journey, to wit, whether I would go it in the dead of winter or\nin the pleasant spring, though, if it was a very profitable journey, as\nthat of coming to Christ is, I would choose to go it through fire and\nwater before I would choose lose the benefit. But, I say, if I might\nchoose the time, I would choose to go it in the pleasant spring,\nbecause the way would be more delightsome, the days longer and warmer,\nthe nights shorter and not so cold. And it is observable, that that\nvery argument that thou usest to weaken thy strength in the way, that\nvery argument Christ Jesus useth to encourage his beloved to come to\nhim: \u201cRise up,\u201d saith he, \u201cmy love, my fair one, and come away.\u201d Why?\n\u201cFor lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers\nappear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the\nvoice of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig-tree putteth forth\nher green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.\nArise, my love, my fair one, and come away\u201d (Song 2:10-13).\n\nTrouble not thyself, coming sinner. If thou seest thy lost condition by\noriginal and actual sin; if thou seest thy need of the spotless\nrighteousness of Jesus Christ; if thou art willing to be found in him,\nand to take up thy cross and follow him; then pray for a fair wind and\ngood weather, and come away. Stick no longer in a muse and doubt about\nthings, but come away to Jesus Christ. Do it, I say, lest thou tempt\nGod to lay the sorrows of a travailing woman upon thee. Thy folly in\nthis thing may make him do it. Mind what follows: \u201cThe sorrows of a\ntravailing woman shall come upon him.\u201d Why? \u201cHe is an unwise son; for\nhe should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children\u201d\n(Hosea 13:13).\n\nSeventh, Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee may arise from\nthose decays that thou findest in thy soul, even while thou art coming\nto him. Some, even as they are coming to Jesus Christ, do find\nthemselves grow worse and worse; and this is indeed a sore trial to the\npoor coming sinner.\n\n[Fears that we do not run fast enough.]\n\nTo explain myself. There is such an one a coming to Jesus Christ who,\nwhen at first he began to look out after him, was sensible,\naffectionate, and broken in spirit; but now is grown dark, senseless,\nhard-hearted, and inclining to neglect spiritual duties, &c. Besides,\nhe now finds in himself inclinations to unbelief, atheism, blasphemy,\nand the like; now he finds he cannot tremble at God\u2019s Word, his\njudgment, nor at the apprehension of hell fire; neither can he, as he\nthinketh, be sorry for these things. Now, this is a sad dispensation.\nThe man under the sixth head complaineth for want of temptations, but\nthou hast enough of them; art thou glad of them, tempted, coming\nsinner? They that never were exercised with them may think it a fine\nthing to be within the range, but he that is there is ready to sweat\nblood for sorrow of heart, and to howl for vexation of spirit! This man\nis in the wilderness among wild beasts. Here he sees a bear, there a\nlion, yonder a leopard, a wolf, a dragon; devils of all sorts, doubts\nof all sorts, fears of all sorts, haunt and molest his soul. Here he\nsees smoke, yea, feels fire and brimstone, scattered upon his secret\nplaces. He hears the sound of an horrible tempest. O! my friends, even\nthe Lord Jesus, that knew all things, even he saw no pleasure in\ntemptations, nor did he desire to be with them; wherefore, one text\nsaith, \u201che was led,\u201d and another, \u201che was driven,\u201d of the Spirit into\nthe wilderness, to be tempted of the devil (Matt 4:1; Mark 1:12).\n\nBut to return. Thus it happeneth sometimes to them that are coming to\nJesus Christ. A sad hap indeed! One would think that he that is flying\nfrom wrath to come has little need of such clogs as these. And yet so\nit is, and woeful experience proves it. The church of old complained\nthat her enemies overtook her between the straits; just between hope\nand fear, heaven and hell (Lam 1).\n\nThis man feeleth the infirmity of his flesh, he findeth a proneness in\nhimself to be desperate. Now, he chides with God, flings and tumbles\nlike a wild bull in a net, and still the guilt of all returns upon\nhimself, to the crushing of him to pieces. Yet he feeleth his heart so\nhard, that he can find, as he thinks, no kind falling under any of his\nmiscarriages. Now, he is a lump of confusion in his own eyes, whose\nspirit and actions are without order.\n\nTemptations serve the Christian as the shepherd\u2019s dog serveth the silly\nsheep; that is, coming behind the flock, he runs upon it, pulls it\ndown, worries it, wounds it, and grievously bedabbleth it with dirt and\nwet, in the lowest places of the furrows of the field, and not leaving\nit until it is half dead, nor then neither, except God rebuke.\n\nHere is now room for fears of being cast away. Now I see I am lost,\nsays the sinner. This is not coming to Jesus Christ, says the sinner;\nsuch a desperate, hard, and wretched heart as mine is, cannot be a\ngracious one, saith the sinner. And bid such an one be better, he says,\nI cannot; no, I cannot.\n\n[Why temptations assail God\u2019s people.]\n\nQuest. But what will you say to a soul in this condition?\n\nAnsw. I will say, That temptations have attended the best of God\u2019s\npeople. I will say, That temptations come to do us good; and I will say\nalso, That there is a difference betwixt growing worse and worse, and\nthy seeing more clearly how bad thou art.\n\nThere is a man of an ill-favoured countenance, who hath too high a\nconceit of his beauty; and, wanting the benefit of a glass, he still\nstands in his own conceit; at last a limner is sent unto him, who\ndraweth his ill-favoured face to the life; now looking thereon, he\nbegins to be convinced that he is not half so handsome as he thought he\nwas. Coming sinner, thy temptations are these painters; they have drawn\nout thy ill-favoured heart to the life, and have set it before thine\neyes, and now thou seest how ill-favoured thou art. Hezekiah was a good\nman, yet when he lay sick, for aught I know, he had somewhat too good\nan opinion of his heart; and for aught I know also, the Lord might,\nupon his recovery, leave him to a temptation, that he might better know\nall that was in his heart. Compare Isaiah 38:1-3, with 2 Chronicles\n32:31.\n\nAlas! we are sinful out of measure, but see it not to be the full,\nuntil an hour of temptation comes. But when it comes, it doth as the\npainter doth, draweth out our heart to the life: yet the sight of what\nwe are should not keep us from coming to Jesus Christ. There are two\nways by which God lets a man into a sight of the naughtiness of his\nheart; one is, by the light of the Word and Spirit of God; and the\nother is, by the temptations of the devil. But, by the first, we see\nour naughtiness one way; and, by the second, another. By the light of\nthe Word and Spirit of God, thou hast a sight of thy naughtiness; and\nby the light of the sun, thou hast a sight of the spots and defilements\nthat are in thy house or raiment. Which light gives thee to see a\nnecessity of cleansing, but maketh not the blemishes to spread more\nabominably. But when Satan comes, when he tempts, he puts life and rage\ninto our sins, and turns them, as it were, into so many devils within\nus. Now, like prisoners, they attempt to break through the prison of\nour body; they will attempt to get out at our eyes, mouth, ears, any\nways, to the scandal of the gospel, and reproach of religion, to the\ndarkening of our evidences, and damning of our souls.\n\nBut I shall say, as I said before, this hath ofttimes been the lot of\nGod\u2019s people. And, \u201cThere hath no temptation overtaken you but such as\nis common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be\ntempted above that ye are able\u201d (1 Cor 10:13). See the Book of Job, the\nBook of Psalms, and that of the Lamentations. And remember further,\nthat Christ himself was tempted to blaspheme, to worship the devil, and\nto murder himself, (Matt 4; Luke 4); temptations worse than which thou\ncanst hardly be overtaken with. But he was sinless, that is true. And\nhe is thy Saviour, and that is as true! Yea, it is as true also, that\nby his being tempted, he became the conqueror of the tempter, and a\nsuccourer of those that are tempted (Col 2:14,15; Heb 2:15; 4:15,16).\n\nQuest. But what should be the reason that some that are coming to\nChrist should be so lamentably cast down and buffeted with temptations?\n\nAnsw. It may be for several causes.\n\n1. Some that are coming to Christ cannot be persuaded, until the\ntemptation comes, that they are so vile as the Scripture saith they\nare. True, they see so much of their wretchedness as to drive them to\nChrist. But there is an over and above of wickedness which they see\nnot. Peter little thought that he had had cursing, and swearing, and\nlying, and an inclination in his heart to deny his Master, before the\ntemptation came; but when that indeed came upon him, then he found it\nthere to his sorrow (John 13:36-38; Mark 14:36-40; 68-72).\n\n2. Some that are coming to Jesus Christ are too much affected with\ntheir own graces, and too little taken with Christ\u2019s person; wherefore\nGod, to take them off from doting upon their own jewels, and that they\nmight look more to the person, undertaking, and merits of his Son,\nplunges them into the ditch by temptations. And this I take to be the\nmeaning of Job, \u201cIf I wash myself,\u201d said he, \u201cwith snow-water, and make\nmy hands never so clean, yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and\nmine own clothes shall abhor me\u201d (Job 9:30). Job had been a little too\nmuch tampering with his own graces, and setting his excellencies a\nlittle too high; as these texts make manifest: Job 33:8-13, 34:5-10,\n35:2,3, 38:1,2, 40:105, 42:3-6. But by that the temptations were ended,\nyou find him better taught.\n\nYea, God doth ofttimes, even for this thing, as it were, take our\ngraces from us, and so leave us almost quite to ourselves and to the\ntempter, that we may learn not to love the picture more than the person\nof his Son. See how he dealt with them in the 16th of Ezekiel, and the\nsecond of Hosea.\n\n3. Perhaps thou hast been given too much to judge thy brother, to\ncondemn thy brother, because a poor tempted man. And God, to bring down\nthe pride of thy heart, letteth the tempter loose upon thee, that thou\nalso mayst feel thyself weak. For \u201cpride goeth before destruction, and\nan haughty spirit before a fall\u201d (Prov 16:18).\n\n4. It may be thou hast dealt a little too roughly with those that God\nhath this way wounded, not considering thyself, lest thou also be\ntempted. And therefore God hath suffered it to come unto thee (Gal\n6:1).\n\n5. It may be thou wast given to slumber and sleep, and therefore these\ntemptations were sent to awake thee. You know that Peter\u2019s temptation\ncame upon him after his sleeping; then, instead of watching and\npraying, then he denied, and denied, and denied his Master (Matt 26).\n\n6. It may be thou hast presumed too far, and stood too much in thine\nown strength, and therefore is a time of temptation come upon thee.\nThis was also one cause why it came upon Peter\u2014Though all men forsake\nthee, yet will not I. Ah! that is the way to be tempted indeed (John\n13:36-38).\n\n7. It may be God intends to make thee wise, to speak a word in season\nto others that are afflicted; and therefore he suffereth thee to be\ntempted. Christ was tempted that he might be able to succour them that\nare tempted (Heb 2:18).\n\n8. It may be Satan hath dared God to suffer him to tempt thee;\npromising himself, that if he will but let him do it, thou wilt curse\nhim to his face. Thus he obtained leave against Job; wherefore take\nheed, tempted soul, lest thou provest the devil\u2019s sayings true (Job\n1:11).\n\n9. It may be thy graces must be tried in the fire, that that rust that\ncleaveth to them may be taken away, and themselves proved, both before\nangels and devils, to be far better than of gold that perisheth; it may\nbe also, that thy graces are to receive special praises, and honour,\nand glory, at the coming of the Lord Jesus to judgment, for all the\nexploits that thou hast acted by them against hell, and its infernal\ncrew, in the day of thy temptation (1 Peter 1:6,7).\n\n10. It may be God would have others learn by thy sighs, groans, and\ncomplaints, under temptation, to beware of those sins for the sake of\nwhich thou art at present delivered to the tormentors.\n\nBut to conclude this, put the worst to the worst\u2014and then things will\nbe bad enough\u2014suppose that thou art to this day without the grace of\nGod, yet thou art but a miserable creature, a sinner, that hath need of\na blessed Saviour; and the text presents thee with one as good and kind\nas heart can wish; who also for thy encouragement saith, \u201cAnd him that\ncometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\n[Application of Observation Second.]\n\nTo come, therefore, to a word of application. Is it so, that they that\nare coming to Jesus Christ are ofttimes heartily afraid that Jesus\nChrist will not receive them? Then this teacheth us these things\u2014\n\n1. That faith and doubting may at the same time have their residence in\nthe same soul. \u201cO thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?\u201d\n(Matt 14:31). He saith not, O thou of no faith! but, O thou of little\nfaith! because he had a little faith in the midst of his many doubts.\nThe same is true even of many that are coming to Jesus Christ. They\ncome, and fear they come not, and doubt they come not. When they look\nupon the promise, or a word of encouragement by faith, then they come;\nbut when they look upon themselves, or the difficulties that lie before\nthem, then they doubt. \u201cBid me come,\u201d said Peter; \u201cCome,\u201d said Christ.\nSo he went down out of the ship to go to Jesus, but his hap was to go\nto him upon the water; there was the trial. So it is with the poor\ndesiring soul. Bid me come, says the sinner; Come, says Christ, and I\nwill in no wise cast thee out. So he comes, but his hap is to come upon\nthe water, upon drowning difficulties; if, therefore, the wind of\ntemptations blow, the waves of doubts and fears will presently arise,\nand this coming sinner will begin to sink, if he has but little faith.\nBut you shall find here in Peter\u2019s little faith, a twofold act; to wit,\ncoming and crying. Little faith cannot come all the way without crying.\nSo long as its holy boldness lasts, so long it can come with peace; but\nwhen it is so, it can come no further, it will go the rest of the way\nwith crying. Peter went as far as his little faith would carry him: he\nalso cried as far as his little faith would help, \u201cLord, save me, I\nperish!\u201d And so with coming and crying he was kept from sinking, though\nhe had but a little faith. \u201cJesus stretched forth his hand, and caught\nhim, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou\ndoubt?\u201d\n\n2. Is it so, that they that are coming to Jesus Christ are ofttimes\nheartily afraid that Jesus Christ will not receive them? Then this\nshows us a reason of that dejection, and those castings down, that very\noften we perceive to be in them that are coming to Jesus Christ. Why,\nit is because they are afraid that Jesus Christ will not receive them.\nThe poor world they mock us, because we are a dejected people; I mean,\nbecause we are sometimes so: but they do not know the cause of our\ndejection. Could we be persuaded, even then, when we are dejected, that\nJesus Christ would indeed receive us, it would make us fly over their\nheads, and would put more gladness into our hearts than in the time in\nwhich their corn, wine, and oil increases (Psa 4:6,7). But,\n\n3. It is so, That they that are coming to Jesus Christ are ofttimes\nheartily afraid that he will not receive them. Then this shows that\nthey that are coming to Jesus Christ are an awakened, sensible,\nconsidering people. For fear cometh from sense, and consideration of\nthings. They are sensible of sin, sensible of the curse due thereto;\nthey are also sensible of the glorious majesty of God, and of what a\nblessed, blessed thing it is to be received of Jesus Christ. The glory\nof heaven, and the evil of sin, these things they consider, and are\nsensible of. \u201cWhen I remember, I am afraid.\u201d \u201cWhen I consider, I am\nafraid\u201d (Job 21:6; 23:15).\n\nThese things dash their spirits, being awake and sensible. Were they\ndead, like other men, they would not be afflicted with fear as they\nare. For dead men fear not, feel not, care not, but the living and\nsensible man, he it is that is ofttimes heartily afraid that Jesus\nChrist will not receive him. I say, the dead and senseless are not\ndistressed. They presume; they are groundlessly confident. Who so bold\nas blind Bayard? These indeed should fear and be afraid, because they\nare not coming to Jesus Christ. O! the hell, the fire, the pit, the\nwrath of God, and torment of hell, that are prepared for poor\nneglecting sinners! \u201cHow shall we escape if we neglect so great\nsalvation?\u201d (Heb 3:3). But they want sense of things, and so cannot\nfear.\n\n4. Is it so, that they that are coming to Jesus Christ are ofttimes\nheartily afraid that he will not receive them? Then this should teach\nold Christians to pity and pray for young comers. You know the heart of\na stranger; for you yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt. You\nknow the fears, and doubts, and terrors, that take hold of them; for\nthat they sometimes took hold of you. Wherefore pity them, pray for\nthem, encourage them; they need all this: guilt hath overtaken them,\nfears of the wrath of God hath overtaken them. Perhaps they are within\nthe sight of hell-fire; and the fear of going thither is burning hot\nwithin their hearts. You may know, how strangely Satan is suggesting\nhis devilish doubts unto them, if possible he may sink and drown them\nwith the multitude and weight of them. Old Christians, mend up the path\nfor them, take the stumblingblocks out of the way; lest that which is\nfeeble and weak be turned aside, but let it rather be healed (Heb 12).\n\n[CHRIST WOULD HAVE COMERS NOT ONCE THINK THAT HE WILL CAST THEM OUT.]\n\n\nOBSERVATION THIRD.\u2014I come now to the next observation, and shall speak\na little to that; to wit, That Jesus Christ would not have them, that\nin truth are coming to him, once think that he will cast them out.\n\nThe text is full of this: for he saith, \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I\nwill in no wise cast out.\u201d Now, if he saith, I will not, he would not\nhave us think he will. This is yet further manifest by these\nconsiderations.\n\nFirst, Christ Jesus did forbid even them that as yet were not coming to\nhim, once to think him such an one. \u201cDo not think,\u201d said he, \u201cthat I\nwill accuse you to the Father\u201d (John 5:45).\n\nThese, as I said, were such, that as yet were not coming to him. For he\nsaith of them a little before, \u201cAnd ye will not come to me;\u201d for the\nrespect they had to the honour of men kept them back. Yet, I say, Jesus\nChrist gives them to understand, that though he might justly reject\nthem, yet he would not, but bids them not once to think that he would\naccuse them to the Father. Now, not to accuse, with Christ, is to plead\nfor: for Christ in these things stands not neuter between the Father\nand sinners. So then, if Jesus Christ would not have them think, that\nyet will not come to him, that he will accuse them; then he would not\nthat they should think so, that in truth are coming to him. \u201cAnd him\nthat cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nSecond, When the woman taken in adultery, even in the very act, was\nbrought before Jesus Christ, he so carried it both by words and\nactions, that he evidently enough made it manifest, that condemning and\ncasting out were such things, for the doing of which he came not into\nthe world. Wherefore, when they had set her before him, and had laid to\nher charge her heinous fact, he stooped down, and with his finger wrote\nupon the ground, as though he heard them not. Now what did he do by\nthis his carriage, but testify plainly that he was not for receiving\naccusations against poor sinners, whoever accused by? And observe,\nthough they continue asking, thinking at last to force him to condemn\nher; yet then he so answered, so that he drove all condemning persons\nfrom her. And then he adds, for her encouragement to come to him;\n\u201cNeither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more\u201d (John 8:1-11).\n\nNot but that he indeed abhorred the fact, but he would not condemn the\nwoman for the sin, because that was not his office. He was not sent\n\u201cinto the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him\nmight be saved\u201d (John 3:17). Now if Christ, though urged to it, would\nnot condemn the guilty woman, though she was far at present from coming\nto him, he would not that they should once think that he will cast them\nout, that in truth are coming to him. \u201cAnd him that cometh to me I will\nin no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nThird, Christ plainly bids the turning sinner come; and forbids him to\nentertain any such thought as that he will cast him out. \u201cLet the\nwicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let\nhim return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our\nGod, for he will abundantly pardon\u201d (Isa 4:7). The Lord, by bidding the\nunrighteous forsake his thoughts, doth in special forbid, as I have\nsaid, viz., those thoughts that hinder the coming man in his progress\nto Jesus Christ, his unbelieving thoughts.\n\nTherefore he bids him not only forsake his ways, but his thoughts. \u201cLet\nthe wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.\u201d It\nis not enough to forsake one if thou wilt come to Jesus Christ; because\nthe other will keep thee from him. Suppose a man forsakes his wicked\nways, his debauched and filthy life; yet if these thoughts, that Jesus\nChrist will not receive him, be entertained and nourished in his heart;\nthese thoughts will keep him from coming to Jesus Christ.\n\nSinner, coming sinner, art thou for coming to Jesus Christ? Yes, says\nthe sinner. Forsake thy wicked ways then. So I do, says the sinner.\n\nWhy comest thou then so slowly? Because I am hindered. What hinders?\nHas God forbidden thee? No. Art thou not willing to come faster? Yes,\nyet I cannot. Well, prithee be plain with me, and tell me the reason\nand ground of thy discouragement. Why, says the sinner, though God\nforbids me not, and though I am willing to come faster, yet there\nnaturally ariseth this, and that, and the other thought in my heart,\nthat hinders my speed to Jesus Christ. Sometimes I think I am not\nchosen; sometimes I think I am not called; sometimes I think I am come\ntoo late; and sometimes I think I know not what it is to come. Also one\nwhile I think I have no grace; and then again, that I cannot pray; and\nthen again, I think that I am a very hypocrite. And these things keep\nme from coming to Jesus Christ.\n\nLook ye now, did not I tell you so? There are thoughts yet remaining in\nthe heart, even of those who have forsaken their wicked ways; and with\nthose thoughts they are more plagued than with anything else; because\nthey hinder their coming to Jesus Christ; for the sin of unbelief,\nwhich is the original of all these thoughts, is that which besets a\ncoming sinner more easily, than doth his ways (Heb 12:1-4). But now,\nsince Jesus Christ commands thee to forsake these thoughts, forsake\nthem, coming sinner; and if thou forsake them not, thou transgressest\nthe commands of Christ, and abidest thine own tormentor, and keepest\nthyself from establishment in grace. \u201cIf ye will not believe, surely ye\nshall not be established\u201d (Isa 7:9). Thus you see how Jesus Christ\nsetteth himself against such thoughts, that any way discourage the\ncoming sinner; and thereby truly vindicates the doctrine we have in\nhand; to wit, that Jesus Christ would not have them, that in truth are\ncoming to him, once think that he will cast them out. \u201cAnd him that\ncometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\n[Reasons of Observation Third.]\n\nI come now to the reasons of the observation.\n\n1. If Jesus Christ should allow thee once to think that he will cast\nthee out, he must allow thee to think that he will falsify his word;\nfor he hath said, \u201cI will in no wise cast out.\u201d But Christ would not\nthat thou shouldst count him as one that will falsify his word; for he\nsaith of himself, \u201cI am the truth;\u201d therefore he would not that any\nthat in truth are coming to him, should once think that he will cast\nthem out.\n\n2. If Jesus Christ should allow the sinner that in truth is coming to\nhim, once to think that he will cast him out, then he must allow, and\nso countenance the first appearance of unbelief; the which he counteth\nhis greatest enemy, and against which he has bent even his holy\ngospel. Therefore Jesus Christ would not that they that in truth are\ncoming to him, should once think that he will cast them out. See\nMatthew 14:31, 21:21, Mark 11:23, Luke 24:25.\n\n3. If Jesus Christ should allow the coming sinner once to think that he\nwill cast him out; then he must allow him to make a question,\n\nWhether he is willing to receive his Father\u2019s gift; for the coming\nsinner is his Father\u2019s gift; as also says the text; but he testifieth,\n\u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to\nme I will in no wise cast out.\u201d Therefore Jesus Christ would not have\nhim, that in truth is coming to him, once to think that he will cast\nhim out.\n\n4. If Jesus Christ should allow them once to think, that indeed are\ncoming to him, that he will cast them out, he must allow them to think\nthat he will despise and reject the drawing of his Father. For no man\ncan come to him but whom the Father draweth. But it would be high\nblasphemy, and damnable wickedness once to imagine thus. Therefore,\nJesus Christ would not have him that cometh once think that he will\ncast him out.\n\n5. If Jesus Christ should allow those that indeed are coming to him,\nonce to think that he will cast them out, he must allow them to think\nthat he will be unfaithful to the trust and charge that his Father hath\ncommitted to him; which is to save, and not to lose anything of that\nwhich he hath given unto him to save (John 6:39). But the Father hath\ngiven him a charge to save the coming sinner; therefore it cannot be,\nthat he should allow, that such an one should once think that he will\ncast him out.\n\n6. If Jesus Christ should allow that they should once think that are\ncoming to him, that he will cast them out, then he must allow them to\nthink that he will be unfaithful to his office of priesthood; for, as\nby the first part of it, he paid price for, and ransomed souls, so by\nthe second part thereof, he continually maketh intercession to God for\nthem that come (Heb 7:25). But he cannot allow us to question his\nfaithful execution of his priesthood. Therefore he cannot allow us once\nto think that the coming sinner shall be cast out.\n\n7. If Jesus Christ should allow us once to think that the coming sinner\nshall be cast out, then he must allow us to question his will, or\npower, or merit to save. But he cannot allow us once to question any of\nthese; therefore not once to think, that the coming sinner shall be\ncast out. (1.) He cannot allow them to question his will; for he saith\nin the text, \u201cI WILL in no wise cast out.\u201d (2.) He cannot allow us to\nquestion his power; for the Holy Ghost saith HE IS ABLE to save to the\nuttermost them that come. (3.) He cannot allow them to question the\nefficacy of his merit; for the blood of Christ cleanseth the comer from\nall sin, (1 John 1:7), therefore he cannot allow that he that is coming\nto him should once think that he will cast them out.\n\n8. If Jesus Christ should allow the coming sinner once to think that he\nwill cast him out, he must allow him to give the lie to the manifest\ntestimony of the Father, Son, and Spirit; yea, to the whole gospel\ncontained in Moses, the prophets, the book of Psalms, and that commonly\ncalled the New Testament. But he cannot allow of this; therefore, not\nthat the coming sinner should once think that he will cast him out.\n\n9. Lastly, If Jesus Christ should allow him that is coming to him, once\nto think that he will cast him out, he must allow him to question his\nFather\u2019s oath, which he in truth and righteousness hath taken, that\nthey might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to Jesus\nChrist. But he cannot allow this; therefore he cannot allow that the\ncoming sinner should once think that he will cast him out (Heb 6).\n\n[USE AND APPLICATION.]\n\n\nI come now to make some GENERAL USE AND APPLICATION OF THE WHOLE, and\nso to draw towards a conclusion.\n\nUSE FIRST.\u2014The first use\u2014A USE OF INFORMATION; and,\n\nFirst, It informeth us that men by nature are far off from Christ. Let\nme a little improve this use, by speaking to these three questions. 1.\nWhere is he that is coming [but has not come], to Jesus Christ? 2. What\nis he that is not coming to Jesus Christ? 3. Whither is he to go that\ncometh not to Jesus Christ?\n\n1. Where is he?\n\n[Answ.] (1.) He is far from God, he is without him, even alienate from\nhim both in his understanding, will, affections, judgment, and\nconscience (Eph 2:12; 4:18). (2.) He is far from Jesus Christ, who is\nthe only deliverer of men from hell fire (Psa 73:27). (3.) He is far\nfrom the work of the Holy Ghost, the work of regeneration, and a second\ncreation, without which no man shall see the kingdom of heaven (John\n3:3). (4.) He is far more righteous, 19 from that righteousness that\nshould make him acceptable in God\u2019s sight (Isa 46:12,13). (5.) He is\nunder the power and dominion of sin; sin reigneth in and over him; it\ndwelleth in every faculty of his soul, and member of his body; so that\nfrom head to foot there is no place clean (Isa 1:6; Rom 3:9-18). (6.)\nHe is in the pest-house with Uzziah and excluded the camp of Israel\nwith the lepers (2 Chron 26:21; Num 5:2; Job 36:14). (7.) His \u201clife is\namong the unclean.\u201d He is \u201cin the gall of bitterness, and in the bond\nof iniquity\u201d (Acts 8:28). (8.) He is \u201cin sin,\u201d \u201cin the flesh,\u201d \u201cin\ndeath,\u201d \u201cin the snare of the devil,\u201d and is \u201ctaken captive by him at\nhis will\u201d (1 Cor 15:17; Rom 8:8; 1 John 3:14; 2 Tim 2:26). (9.) He is\nunder the curse of the law, and the devil dwells in him, and hath the\nmastery of him (Gal 3:13; Eph 2:2,3; Acts 26:18). (10.) He is in\ndarkness, and walketh in darkness, and knows not whither he goes; for\ndarkness has blinded his eyes. (11.) He is in the broad way that\nleadeth to destruction; and holding on, he will assuredly go in at the\nbroad gate, and so down the stairs to hell.\n\n2. What is he that cometh not to Jesus Christ?\n\n[Answ.] (1.) He is counted one of God\u2019s enemies (Luke 19:14; Rom 8:7).\n(2.) He is a child of the devil, and of hell; for the devil begat him,\nas to his sinful nature, and hell must swallow him at last, because he\ncometh not to Jesus Christ (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8; Matt 23:15; Psa\n9:17). (3.) He is a child of wrath, an heir of it; it is his portion,\nand God will repay it him to his face (Eph 2:1-3; Job 21:29-31). (4.)\nHe is a self-murderer; he wrongeth his own soul, and is one that loveth\ndeath (Prov 1:18; 8:36). (5.) He is a companion for devils and damned\nmen (Prov 21:16; Matt 25:41).\n\n3. Whither is he like to go that cometh not to Jesus Christ?\n\n[Answ.] (1.) He that cometh not to him, is like to go further from him;\nso every sin is a step further from Jesus Christ (Hosea 11). (2.) As he\nis in darkness, so he is like to go on in it; for Christ is the light\nof the world, and he that comes not to him, walketh in darkness (John\n8:12). (3.) He is like to be removed at last as far from God, and\nChrist, and heaven, and all felicity, as an infinite God can remove him\n(Matt 12:41). But,\n\nSecond, This doctrine of coming to Christ informeth us where poor\ndestitute sinners may find life for their souls, and that is in Christ.\nThis life is in his Son; he that hath the Son, hath life. And again,\n\u201cWhoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord\u201d\n(Prov 8:35). Now, for further enlargement, I will also here propound\nthree more questions: 1. What life is in Christ? 2. Who may have it? 3.\nUpon what terms?\n\n1. What life is in Jesus Christ?\n\n[Answ.] (1.) There is justifying life in Christ. Man by sin is dead in\nlaw; and Christ only can deliver him by his righteousness and blood\nfrom this death into a state of life. \u201cFor God sent his Son into the\nworld, that we might live through him\u201d (1 John 4:9). That is, through\nthe righteousness which he should accomplish, and the death that he\nshould die. (2.) There is eternal life in Christ; life that is endless;\nlife for ever and ever. \u201cHe hath given us eternal life, and this life\nis in his Son\u201d (1 John 5:11). Now, justification and eternal salvation\nbeing both in Christ, and nowhere else to be had for men, who would not\ncome to Jesus Christ?\n\n2. Who may have this life?\n\nI answer, Poor, helpless, miserable sinners. Particularly, (1.) Such as\nare willing to have it. \u201cWhosoever will, let him take the water of\nlife\u201d (Rev 22:17). (2.) He that thirsteth for it. \u201cI will give unto him\nthat is athirst of the fountain of the water of life\u201d (Rev 21:6). (3.)\nHe that is weary of his sins. \u201cThis is the rest wherewith ye may cause\nthe weary to rest; and this is the refreshing\u201d (Isa 28:12). (4.) He\nthat is poor and needy. \u201cHe shall spare the poor and needy, and shall\nsave the souls of the needy\u201d (Psa 72:13). (5.) He that followeth after\nhim, crieth for life. \u201cHe that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,\nbut shall have the light of life\u201d (John 8:12).\n\n3. Upon what terms may he have this life?\n\n[Answ.] Freely. Sinner, dost thou hear. Thou mayest have it freely. Let\nhim take the water of life freely. I will give him of the fountain of\nthe water of life freely. \u201cAnd when they had nothing to pay, he frankly\nforgave them both\u201d (Luke 7:42). Freely, without money, or without\nprice. \u201cHo! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he\nthat hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk\nwithout money and without price\u201d (Isa 55:1). Sinner, art thou thirsty?\nart thou weary? art thou willing? Come, then, and regard not your\nstuff; for all the good that is in Christ is offered to the coming\nsinner, without money and without price. He has life to give away to\nsuch as want it, and that hath not a penny to purchase it; and he will\ngive it freely. Oh what a blessed condition is the coming sinner in!\nBut,\n\nThird, This doctrine of coming to Jesus Christ for life, informeth us,\nthat it is to be had nowhere else. Might it be had anywhere else, the\ntext, and him that spoke it, would be but little set by; for what\ngreater matter is there in \u201cI will in no wise cast out,\u201d if another\nstood by that could receive them? But here appears the glory of Christ,\nthat none but he can save. And here appears his love, that though none\ncan save but he, yet he is not coy in saving. \u201cBut him that comes to\nme,\u201d says he, \u201cI will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n\nThat none can save but Jesus Christ, is evident from Acts 4:12:\n\u201cNeither is there salvation in any other;\u201d and \u201che hath given to us\neternal life, and this life is in his Son\u201d (1 John 5:11). If life could\nhave been had anywhere else, it should have been in the law. But it is\nnot in the law; for by the deeds of the law, no man living shall be\njustified; and if not justified, then no life. Therefore life is\nnowhere to be had but in Jesus Christ (Gal 3).\n\n[Quest.] But why would God so order it, that life should be had nowhere\nelse but in Jesus Christ?\n\n[Answ.] There is reason for it, and that both with respect to God and\nus.\n\n1. With respect to God.\n\n(1.) That it might be in a way of justice as well as mercy. And in a\nway of justice it could not have been, if it had not been by Christ;\nbecause he, and he only, was able to answer the demand of the law, and\ngive for sin what the justice thereof required. All angels had been\ncrushed down to hell for ever, had that curse been laid upon them for\nour sins, which was laid upon Jesus Christ; but it was laid upon him,\nand he bare it; and answered the penalty, and redeemed his people from\nunder it, with that satisfaction to Divine justice that God himself\ndoth now proclaim, That he is faithful and just to forgive us, if by\nfaith we shall venture to Jesus, and trust to what he has done for life\n(Rom 3:24-26; John 1:4). (2.) Life must be by Jesus Christ, that God\nmight be adored and magnified, for finding out this way. This is the\nLord\u2019s doings, that in all things he might be glorified through Jesus\nChrist our Lord. (3.) It must be by Jesus Christ, that life might be at\nGod\u2019s dispose, who hath great pity for the poor, the lowly, the meek,\nthe broken in heart, and for them that others care not for (Psa 34:6;\n138:6; 25; 51:17; 147:3). (4.) Life must be in Christ, to cut off\nboasting from the lips of men. This also is the apostle\u2019s reason in\nRomans 3:19,27 (Eph 2:8-10).\n\n2. Life must be in Jesus Christ with respect to us.\n\n(1.) That we might have it upon the easiest terms, to wit, freely: as a\ngift, not as wages. Was it in Moses\u2019 hand, we should come hardly at it.\nWas it in the pope\u2019s hand, we should pay soundly for it. 20 But thanks\nbe to God, it is in Christ, laid up in him, and by him to be\ncommunicated to sinners upon easy terms, even for receiving, accepting,\nand embracing with thanksgiving; as the Scriptures plainly declare\n(John 1:11,12; 2 Cor 11:4; Heb 11:13; Col 3:13-15). (2.) Life is in\nChrist FOR US, that it might not be upon so brittle a foundation, as\nindeed it would had it been anywhere else. The law itself is weak\nbecause of us, as to this. But Christ is a tried stone, a sure\nfoundation, one that will not fail to bear thy burden, and to receive\nthy soul, coming sinner. (3.) Life is in Christ, that it might be sure\nto all the seed. Alas! the best of us, was life left in our hand, to be\nsure we should forfeit it, over, and over, and over; or, was it in any\nother hand, we should, by our often backslidings, so offend him, that\nat last he would shut up his bowels in everlasting displeasure against\nus. But now it is in Christ, it is with one that can pity, pray for,\npardon, yea, multiply pardons; it is with one that can have compassion\nupon us, when we are out of the way; with one that hath an heart to\nfetch us again, when we are gone astray; with one that can pardon\nwithout upbraiding. Blessed be God, that life is in Christ! For now it\nis sure to all the seed. But,\n\nFourth, This doctrine of coming to Jesus Christ for life informs us of\nthe evil of unbelief; that wicked thing that is the only or chief\nhindrance to the coming sinner. Doth the text say, \u201cCome?\u201d Doth it say,\n\u201cand him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out?\u201d Then what an\nevil is that that keepeth sinners from coming to Jesus Christ! And that\nevil is unbelief: for by faith we come; by unbelief we keep away.\nTherefore it is said to be that by which a soul is said to depart from\nGod; because it was that which at first caused the world to go off from\nhim, and that also that keeps them from him to this day. And it doth it\nthe more easily, because it doth it with a wile.\n\n[Of the Sin of Unbelief.]\u2014This sin may be called the white devil, for\nit oftentimes, in its mischievous doings in the soul, shows as if it\nwas an angel of light: yea, it acteth like a counsellor of heaven.\nTherefore a little to discourse of this evil disease.\n\n1. It is that sin, above all others, that hath some show of reason in\nits attempts. For it keeps the soul from Christ by pretending its\npresent unfitness and unpreparedness; as want of more sense of sin,\nwant of more repentance, want of more humility, want of a more broken\nheart.\n\n2. It is the sin that most suiteth with the conscience: the conscience\nof the coming sinner tells him that he hath nothing good; that he\nstands inditeable for ten thousand talents; that he is a very ignorant,\nblind, and hard-hearted sinner, unworthy to be once taken notice of by\nJesus Christ. And will you, says Unbelief, in such a case as you now\nare, presume to come to Jesus Christ?\n\n3. It is the sin that most suiteth with our sense of feeling. The\ncoming sinner feels the workings of sin, of all manner of sin and\nwretchedness in his flesh; he also feels the wrath and judgment of God\ndue to sin, and ofttimes staggers under it. Now, says Unbelief, you may\nsee you have no grace; for that which works in you is corruption. You\nmay also perceive that God doth not love you, because the sense of his\nwrath abides upon you. Therefore, how can you bear the face to come to\nJesus Christ?\n\n4. It is that sin, above all others, that most suiteth with the wisdom\nof our flesh. The wisdom of our flesh thinks it prudent to question\nawhile, to stand back awhile, to hearken to both sides awhile; and not\nto be rash, sudden, or unadvised, in too bold a presuming upon Jesus\nChrist. And this wisdom unbelief falls in with.\n\n5. It is that sin, above all other, that continually is whispering the\nsoul in the ear with mistrusts of the faithfulness of God, in keeping\npromise to them that come to Jesus Christ for life. It also suggests\nmistrust about Christ\u2019s willingness to receive it, and save it. And no\nsin can do this so artificially as unbelief.\n\n6. It is also that sin which is always at hand to enter an objection\nagainst this or that promise that by the Spirit of God is brought to\nour heart to comfort us; and if the poor coming sinner is not aware of\nit, it will, by some evasion, slight, trick, or cavil, quickly wrest\nfrom him the promise again, and he shall have but little benefit of it.\n\n7. It is that, above all other sins, that weakens our prayers, our\nfaith, our love, our diligence, our hope, and expectations: it even\ntaketh the heart away from God in duty.\n\n8. Lastly, This sin, as I have said even now, it appeareth in the soul\nwith so many sweet pretences to safety and security, that it is, as it\nwere, counsel sent from heaven; bidding the soul be wise, wary,\nconsiderate, well-advised, and to take heed of too rash a venture upon\nbelieving. Be sure, first, that God loves you; take hold of no promise\nuntil you are forced by God unto it; neither be you sure of your\nsalvation; doubt it still, though the testimony of the Lord has been\noften confirmed in you. Live not by faith, but by sense; and when you\ncan neither see nor feel, then fear and mistrust, then doubt and\nquestion all. This is the devilish counsel of unbelief, which is so\ncovered over with specious pretences, that the wisest Christian can\nhardly shake off these reasonings.\n\n[Qualities of unbelief as opposed to faith.]\u2014But to be brief. Let me\nhere give thee, Christian reader, a more particular description of the\nqualities of unbelief, by opposing faith unto it, in these twenty-five\nparticulars:\u2014\n\n1. Faith believeth the Word of God; but unbelief questioneth the\ncertainty of the same (Psa 106:24).\n\n2. Faith believeth the Word, because it is true; but unbelief doubteth\nthereof, because it is true (1 Tim 4:3; John 8:45).\n\n3. Faith sees more in a promise of God to help, than in all other\nthings to hinder; but unbelief, notwithstanding God\u2019s promise, saith,\nHow can these things be? (Rom 4:19-21; 2 Kings 7:2; John 3:11,12).\n\n4. Faith will make thee see love in the heart of Christ, when with his\nmouth he giveth reproofs; but unbelief will imagine wrath in his heart,\nwhen with his mouth and Word he saith he loves us (Matt 15:22,28; Num\n13; 2 Chron 14:3).\n\n5. Faith will help the soul to wait, though God defers to give; but\nunbelief will take huff and throw up all, if God makes any tarrying\n(Psa 25:5; Isa 8:17; 2 Kings 6:33; Psa 106:13,14).\n\n6. Faith will give comfort in the midst of fears; but unbelief causeth\nfears in the midst of comfort (2 Chron 20:20,21; Matt 8:26; Luke\n24:26,27).\n\n7. Faith will suck sweetness out of God\u2019s rod; but unbelief can find no\ncomfort in his greatest mercies (Psa 23:4; Num 21).\n\n8. Faith maketh great burdens light; but unbelief maketh light ones\nintolerably heavy (2 Cor 4:1; 14-18; Mal 1:12,13).\n\n9. Faith helpeth us when we are down; but unbelief throws us down when\nwe are up (Micah 7:8-10; Heb 4:11).\n\n10. Faith bringeth us near to God when we are far from him; but\nunbelief puts us far from God when we are near to him (Heb 10:22;\n3:12,13).\n\n11. Where faith reigns, it declareth men to be the friends of God; but\nwhere unbelief reigns, it declareth them to be his enemies (John 3:23;\nHeb 3:18; Rev 21:8).\n\n12. Faith putteth a man under grace; but unbelief holdeth him under\nwrath (Rom 3:24-26; 14:6; Eph 2:8; John 3:36; 1 John 5:10; Heb 3:17;\nMark 16:16).\n\n13. Faith purifieth the heart; but unbelief keepeth it polluted and\nimpure (Acts 15:9; Titus 1:15,16).\n\n14. By faith, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us; but by\nunbelief, we are shut up under the law to perish (Rom 4:23,24; 11:32;\nGal 3:23).\n\n15. Faith maketh our work acceptable to God through Christ; but\nwhatsoever is of unbelief is sin. For without faith it is impossible to\nplease him (Heb 11:4; Rom 14:23; Heb 6:6).\n\n16. Faith giveth us peace and comfort in our souls; but unbelief\nworketh trouble and tossings, like the restless waves of the sea (Rom\n5:1; James 1:6).\n\n17. Faith maketh us to see preciousness in Christ; but unbelief sees no\nform, beauty, or comeliness in him (1 Peter 2:7; Isa 53:2,3).\n\n18. By faith we have our life in Christ\u2019s fullness; but by unbelief we\nstarve and pine away (Gal 2:20).\n\n19. Faith gives us the victory over the law, sin, death, the devil, and\nall evils; but unbelief layeth us obnoxious to them all (1 John 5:4,5;\nLuke 12:46).\n\n20. Faith will show us more excellency in things not seen, than in them\nthat are; but unbelief sees more in things that are seen, than in\nthings that will be hereafter;. (2 Cor 4:18; Heb 11:24-27; 1 Cor\n15:32).\n\n21. Faith makes the ways of God pleasant and admirable; but unbelief\nmakes them heavy and hard (Gal 5:6; 1 Cor 12:10,11; John 6:60; Psa\n2:3).\n\n22. By faith Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob possessed the land of promise;\nbut because of unbelief, neither Aaron, nor Moses, nor Miriam could get\nthither (Heb 11:9; 3:19).\n\n23. By faith the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea; but by\nunbelief the generality of them perished in the wilderness (Heb 11:29;\nJude 5).\n\n24. By faith Gideon did more with three hundred men, and a few empty\npitchers, than all the twelve tribes could do, because they believed\nnot God (Judg 7:16-22; Num 14:11,14).\n\n25. By faith Peter walked on the water; but by unbelief he began to\nsink (Matt 14:28-30).\n\nThus might many more be added, which, for brevity\u2019s sake, I omit;\nbeseeching every one that thinketh he hath a soul to save, or be\ndamned, to take heed of unbelief; lest, seeing there is a promise left\nus of entering into his rest, any of us by unbelief should indeed come\nshort of it.\n\nUSE SECOND. The second use\u2014A USE OF EXAMINATION.\n\nWe come now to a use of examination. Sinner, thou hast heard of the\nnecessity of coming to Christ; also of the willingness of Christ to\nreceive the coming soul; together with the benefit that they by him\nshall have that indeed come to him. Put thyself now upon this serious\ninquiry, Am I indeed come to Jesus Christ?\n\nMotives plenty I might here urge, to prevail with thee to a\nconscientious performance of this duty. As, 1. Thou art in sin, in the\nflesh, in death, in the snare of the devil, and under the curse of the\nlaw, if you are not coming to Jesus Christ. 2. There is no way to be\ndelivered from these, but by coming to Jesus Christ. 3. If thou comest,\nJesus Christ will receive thee, and will in no wise cast thee out. 4.\nThou wilt not repent it in the day of judgment, if now thou comest to\nJesus Christ. 5. But thou wilt surely mourn at last, if now thou shalt\nrefuse to come. 6. And lastly, Now thou hast been invited to come; now\nwill thy judgment be greater, and thy damnation more fearful, if thou\nshalt yet refuse, than if thou hadst never heard of coming to Christ.\n\nObject. But we hope we are come to Jesus Christ.\n\nAnsw. It is well if it proves so. But lest thou shouldst speak without\nground, and so fall unawares into hell-fire, let us examine a little.\n\nFirst, Art thou indeed come to Jesus Christ? What hast thou left behind\nthee? What didst thou come away from, in thy coming to Jesus Christ?\n\nWhen Lot came out of Sodom, he left the Sodomites behind him (Gen 19).\nWhen Abraham came out of Chaldea, he left his country and kindred\nbehind him (Gen 12; Acts 7). When Ruth came to put her trust under the\nwings of the Lord God of Israel, she left her father and mother, her\ngods, and the land of her nativity, behind her (Ruth 1:15-17; 2:11,12).\nWhen Peter came to Christ, he left his nets behind him (Matt 4:20).\nWhen Zaccheus came to Christ, he left the receipt of custom behind him\n(Luke 19). When Paul came to Christ, he left his own righteousness\nbehind him (Phil 3:7,8). When those that used curious arts came to\nJesus Christ, they took their curious books and burned them; though, in\nanother man\u2019s eye, they were counted worth fifty thousand pieces of\nsilver (Acts 19:18-20).\n\nWhat sayest thou, man? Hast thou left thy darling sins, thy Sodomitish\npleasures, thy acquaintance and vain companions, thy unlawful gain, thy\nidol-gods, thy righteousness, and thy unlawful curious arts, behind\nthee? If any of these be with thee, and thou with them, in thy heart\nand life, thou art not yet come to Jesus Christ.\n\nSecond, Art thou come to Jesus Christ? Prithee tell me what moved thee\nto come to Jesus Christ?\n\nMen do not usually come or go to this or that place, before they have a\nmoving cause, or rather a cause moving them thereto. No more do they\ncome to Jesus Christ\u2014I do not say, before they have a cause, but\u2014before\nthat cause moveth them to come. What sayest thou? Hast thou a cause\nmoving thee to come? To be at present in a state of condemnation, is\ncause sufficient for men to come to Jesus Christ for life. But that\nwill not do, except the cause move them; the which it will never do,\nuntil their eyes be opened to see themselves in that condition. For it\nis not a man\u2019s being under wrath, but his seeing it, that moveth him to\ncome to Jesus Christ. Alas! all men by sin are under wrath; yet but few\nof that all come to Jesus Christ. And the reason is, because they do\nnot see their condition. \u201cWho hath warned you to flee from the wrath to\ncome?\u201d (Matt 3:7). Until men are warned, and also receive the warning,\nthey will not come to Jesus Christ.\n\nTake three or four instances for this. Adam and Eve came not to Jesus\nChrist until they received the alarm, the conviction of their undone\nstate by sin. (Gen 3) The children of Israel cried not out for a\nmediator before they saw themselves in danger of death by the law (Exo\n20:18,19). Before the publican came, he saw himself lost and undone\n(Luke 18:13). The prodigal came not, until he saw death at the door,\nready to devour him (Luke 15:17,18). The three thousand came not, until\nthey knew not what to do to be saved (Acts 2:37-39). Paul came not,\nuntil he saw himself lost and undone (Acts 9:3-8,11). Lastly, Before\nthe jailer came, he saw himself undone (Acts 16:29-31). And I tell\nthee, it is an easier thing to persuade a well man to go to the\nphysician for cure, or a man without hurt to seek for a plaster to cure\nhim, than it is to persuade a man that sees not his soul-disease, to\ncome to Jesus Christ. The whole have no need of the physician; then why\nshould they go to him? The full pitcher can hold no more; then why\nshould it go to the fountain? And if thou comest full, thou comest not\naright; and be sure Christ will send thee empty away. \u201cBut he healeth\nthe broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds\u201d (Mark 2:17; Psa\n147:3; Luke 1:53).\n\nThird, Art thou coming to Jesus Christ? Prithee tell me, What seest\nthou in him to allure thee to forsake all the world, to come to him?\n\nI say, What hast thou seen in him? Men must see something in Jesus\nChrist, else they will not come to him. 1. What comeliness hast thou\nseen in his person? thou comest not, if thou seest no form nor\ncomeliness in him (Isa 53:1-3). 2. Until those mentioned in the Song\nwere convinced that there was more beauty, comeliness, and\ndesirableness in Christ, than in ten thousand, they did not so much as\nask where he was, nor incline to turn aside after him (Song 5, 6).\n\nThere be many things on this side heaven that can and do carry away the\nheart; and so will do, so long as thou livest, if thou shalt be kept\nblind, and not be admitted to see the beauty of the Lord Jesus.\n\nFourth, Art thou come to the Lord Jesus? What hast thou found in him,\nsince thou camest to him?\n\nPeter found with him the word of eternal life (John 6:68). They that\nPeter makes mention of, found him a living stone, even such a living\nstone as communicated life to them (1 Peter 2:4,5). He saith himself,\nthey that come to him, &c., shall find rest unto their souls; hast thou\nfound rest in him for thy soul? (Matt 11:28).\n\nLet us go back to the times of the Old Testament.\n\n1. Abraham found THAT in him, that made him leave his country for him,\nand become for his sake a pilgrim and stranger in the earth (Gen 12;\nHeb 11).\n\n2. Moses found THAT in him, that made him forsake a crown, and a\nkingdom for him too.\n\n3. David found so much in him, that he counted to be in his house one\nday was better than a thousand; yea, to be a door-keeper therein was\nbetter, in his esteem, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness (Psa\n84:10).\n\n4. What did Daniel and the three children find in him, to make them run\nthe hazards of the fiery furnace, and the den of lions, for his sake?\n(Dan 3, 6).\n\nLet us come down to martyrs.\n\n1. Stephen found that in him that made him joyful, and quietly yield up\nhis life for his name (Acts 7).\n\n2. Ignatius found that in Christ that made him choose to go through the\ntorments of the devil, and hell itself, rather than not to have\nhim.\u2014Fox\u2019s Acts and Monuments, vol. 1, p. 52, Anno. 111. Edit. 1632.\n\n3. What saw Romanus in Christ, when he said to the raging Emperor, who\nthreatened him with fearful torments, Thy sentence, O Emperor, I\njoyfully embrace, and refuse not to be sacrificed by as cruel torments\nas thou canst invent?\u2014Fox, vol. 1, p. 116.\n\n4. What saw Menas, the Egyptian, in Christ, when he said, under most\ncruel torments, There is nothing in my mind that can be compared to the\nkingdom of heaven; neither is all the world, if it was weighed in a\nbalance, to be preferred with the price of one soul? Who is able to\nseparate us from the love of Jesus Christ our Lord? And I have learned\nof my Lord and King not to fear them that kill the body, &c. P. 117.\n\n5. What did Eulalia see in Christ, when she said, as they were pulling\nher one joint from another, Behold, O Lord, I will not forget thee.\nWhat a pleasure it is for them, O Christ! that remember thy triumphant\nvictory? P. 121.\n\n6. What think you did Agnes see in Christ, when rejoicingly she went to\nmeet the soldier that was appointed to be her executioner. I will\nwillingly, said she, receive into my paps the length of this sword, and\ninto my breast will draw the force thereof, even to the hilts; that\nthus I, being married to Christ my spouse, may surmount and escape all\nthe darkness of this world? P. 122.\n\n7. What do you think did Julitta see in Christ, when, at the Emperor\u2019s\ntelling of her, that except she would worship the gods, she should\nnever have protection, laws, judgments, nor life, she replied, Farewell\nlife, welcome death; farewell riches, welcome poverty: all that I have,\nif it were a thousand times more, would I rather lose, than to speak\none wicked and blasphemous word against my Creator? P. 123.\n\n8. What did Marcus Arethusius see in Christ, when after his enemies had\ncut his flesh, anointed it with honey, and hanged him up in a basket\nfor flies and bees to feed on, he would not give, to uphold idolatry,\none halfpenny to save his life? P. 128.\n\n9. What did Constantine see in Christ, when he used to kiss the wounds\nof them that suffered for him? P. 135.\n\n10. But what need I give thus particular instances of words and smaller\nactions, when by their lives, their blood, their enduring hunger,\nsword, fire, pulling asunder, and all torments that the devil and hell\ncould devise, for the love they bare to Christ, after they were come to\nhim?\n\nWhat hast THOU found in him, sinner?\n\nWhat! come to Christ, and find nothing in him!\u2014when all things that are\nworth looking after are in him!\u2014or if anything, yet not enough to wean\nthee from thy sinful delights, and fleshly lusts! Away, away, thou art\nnot coming to Jesus Christ.\n\nHe that has come to Jesus Christ, hath found in him, that, as I said,\nthat is not to be found anywhere else. As,\n\n1. He that is come to Christ hath found God in him reconciling the\nworld unto himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. And so God\nis not to be found in heaven and earth besides (2 Cor 5:19,20).\n\n2. He that is come to Jesus Christ hath found in him a fountain of\ngrace, sufficient, not only to pardon sin, but to sanctify the soul,\nand to preserve it from falling, in this evil world.\n\n3. He that is come to Jesus Christ hath found virtue in him; THAT\nvirtue, that if he does but touch thee with his Word, or thou him by\nfaith, life is forthwith conveyed into thy soul. It makes thee wake as\none that is waked out of his sleep; it awakes all the powers of the\nsoul (Psa 30:11,12; Song 6:12).\n\n4. Art thou come to Jesus Christ? Thou hast found glory in him, glory\nthat surmounts and goes beyond. \u201cThou art more glorious\u2014than the\nmountains of prey\u201d (Psa 76:4).\n\n5. What shall I say? Thou hast found righteousness in him; thou hast\nfound rest, peace, delight, heaven, glory, and eternal life.\n\nSinner, be advised; ask thy heart again, saying, Am I come to Jesus\nChrist? For upon this one question, Am I come, or, am I not? hangs\nheaven and hell as to thee. If thou canst say, I am come, and God shall\napprove that saying, happy, happy, happy man art thou! But if thou art\nnot come, what can make thee happy? yea, what can make that man happy\nthat, for his not coming to Jesus Christ for life, must be damned in\nhell?\n\nUSE THIRD.\u2014The third use\u2014A USE OF ENCOURAGEMENT.\n\nComing sinner, I have now a word for thee; be of good comfort, \u201cHe will\nin no wise cast out.\u201d Of all men, thou art the blessed of the Lord; the\nFather hath prepared his Son to be a sacrifice for thee, and Jesus\nChrist, thy Lord, is gone to prepare a place for thee (John 1:29; Heb\n10). What shall I say to thee?\n\n[First,] Thou comest to a FULL Christ; thou canst not want anything for\nsoul or body, for this world or that to come, but it is to be had in or\nby Jesus Christ. As it is said of the land that the Danites went to\npossess, so, and with much more truth, it may be said of Christ; he is\nsuch an one with whom there is no want of any good thing that is in\nheaven or earth. A full Christ is thy Christ.\n\n1. He is full of grace. Grace is sometimes taken for love; never any\nloved like Jesus Christ. Jonathan\u2019s love went beyond the love of women;\nbut the love of Christ passes knowledge. It is beyond the love of all\nthe earth, of all creatures, even of men and angels. His love prevailed\nwith him to lay aside his glory, to leave the heavenly place, to clothe\nhimself with flesh, to be born in a stable, to be laid in a manger, to\nlive a poor life in the world, to take upon him our sicknesses,\ninfirmities, sins, curse, death, and the wrath that was due to man. And\nall this he did for a base, undeserving, unthankful people; yea, for a\npeople that was at enmity with him. \u201cFor when we were yet without\nstrength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a\nrighteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would\neven dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while\nwe were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more, then, being now\njustified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For\nif, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his\nSon, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life\u201d (Rom\n5:6-10).\n\n2. He is full of truth. Full of grace and truth. Truth, that is,\nfaithfulness in keeping promise, even this of the text, with all other,\n\u201cI will in no wise cast out\u201d (John 14:6). Hence it is said, that his\nwords be true, and that he is the faithful God, that keepeth covenant.\nAnd hence it is also that his promises are called truth: \u201cThou wilt\nfulfil thy truth unto Jacob, and thy mercy unto Abraham, which thou\nhast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.\u201d Therefore it is said\nagain, that both himself and words are truth: \u201cI am the truth, the\nScripture of truth\u201d (Dan 10:21). \u201cThy word is truth,\u201d (John 17:17; 2\nSam 7:28); \u201cthy law is truth,\u201d (Psa 119:142); and \u201cmy mouth,\u201d saith he,\n\u201cshall speak truth,\u201d (Prov 8:7); see also Ecclesiastes 12:10, Isaiah\n25:1, Malachi 2:6, Acts 26:25, 2 Timothy 2:12,13. Now, I say, his word\nis truth, and he is full of truth to fulfil his truth, even to a\nthousand generations. Coming sinner, he will not deceive thee; come\nboldly to Jesus Christ.\n\n3. He is full of wisdom. He is made unto us of God wisdom; wisdom to\nmanage the affairs of his church in general, and the affairs of every\ncoming sinner in particular. And upon this account he is said to be\n\u201chead over all things,\u201d (1 Cor 1; Eph 1), because he manages all things\nthat are in the world by his wisdom, for the good of his church; all\nmen\u2019s actions, all Satan\u2019s temptations, all God\u2019s providences, all\ncrosses, and disappointments; all things whatever are under the hand of\nChrist\u2014who is the wisdom of God\u2014and he ordereth them all for good to\nhis church. And can Christ help it\u2014and be sure he can\u2014nothing shall\nhappen or fall out in the world, but it shall, in despite of all\nopposition, have a good tendency to his church and people.\n\n4. He is full of the Spirit, to communicate it to the coming sinner; he\nhath therefore received it without measure, that he may communicate it\nto every member of his body, according as every man\u2019s measure thereof\nis allotted him by the Father. Wherefore he saith, that he that comes\nto him, \u201cOut of his belly shall flow rivers of living water\u201d (John\n3:34; Titus 3:5,6; Acts 2; John 7:33-39).\n\n5. He is indeed a storehouse full of all the graces of the Spirit. \u201cOf\nhis fullness have all we received, and grace for grace\u201d (John 1:16).\nHere is more faith, more love, more sincerity, more humility, more of\nevery grace; and of this, even more of this, he giveth to every lowly,\nhumble, penitent coming sinner. Wherefore, coming soul, thou comest not\nto a barren wilderness when thou comest to Jesus Christ.\n\n6. He is full of bowels and compassion: and they shall feel and find it\nso that come to him for life. He can bear with thy weaknesses, he can\npity thy ignorance, he can be touched with the feeling of thy\ninfirmities, he can affectionately forgive they transgressions, he can\nheal thy backslidings, and love thee freely. His compassions fail not;\n\u201cand he will not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax; he\ncan pity them that no eye pities, and be afflicted in all thy\nafflictions\u201d (Matt 26:41; Heb 5:2; 2:18; Matt 9:2; Hosea 14:4; Eze\n16:5,6; Isa 63:9; Psa 78:38; 86:15; 111:4; 112:4; Lam 3:22; Isa 42:3).\n\n7. Coming soul, the Jesus that thou art coming to, is full of might and\nterribleness for thy advantage; he can suppress all thine enemies; he\nis the Prince of the kings of the earth; he can bow all men\u2019s designs\nfor thy help; he can break all snares laid for thee in the way; he can\nlift thee out of all difficulties wherewith thou mayest be surrounded;\nhe is wise in heart, and mighty in power. Every life under heaven is in\nhis hand; yea, the fallen angels tremble before him. And he will save\nthy life, coming sinner (1 Cor 1:24; Rom 8:28; Matt 28:18; Rev 4; Psa\n19:3; 27:5,6; Job 9:4; John 17:2; Matt 8:29; Luke 8:28; James 2:19).\n\n8. Coming sinner, the Jesus to whom thou art coming is lowly in heart,\nhe despiseth not any. It is not thy outward meanness, nor thy inward\nweakness; it is not because thou art poor, or base, or deformed, or a\nfool, that he will despise thee: he hath chosen the foolish, the base,\nand despised things of this world, to confound the wise and mighty. He\nwill bow his ear to thy stammering prayers he will pick out the meaning\nof thy inexpressible groans; he will respect thy weakest offering, if\nthere be in it but thy heart (Matt 11:20; Luke 14:21; Prov 9:4-6; Isa\n38:14,15; Song 5:15; John 4:27; Mark 12:33,34; James 5:11). Now, is not\nthis a blessed Christ, coming sinner? Art thou not like to fare well,\nwhen thou hast embraced him, coming sinner? But,\n\nSecond. Thou hast yet another advantage by Jesus Christ, thou art\ncoming to him, for he is not only full, BUT FREE. He is not sparing of\nwhat he has; he is open-hearted and open-handed. Let me in a few\nparticulars show thee this:\n\n1. This is evident, because he calls thee; he calls upon thee to come\nunto him; the which he would not do, was he not free to give; yea, he\nbids thee, when come, ask, seek, knock. And for thy encouragement, adds\nto every command a promise, \u201cSeek, and ye shall find; ask, and ye shall\nhave; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.\u201d If the rich man should\nsay thus to the poor, would not he be reckoned a free-hearted man? I\nsay, should he say to the poor, Come to my door, ask at my door, knock\nat my door, and you shall find and have; would he not be counted\nliberal? Why, thus doth Jesus Christ. Mind it, coming sinner (Isa 55:3;\nPsa 50:15; Matt 7:7-9).\n\n2. He doth not only bid thee come, but tells thee, he will heartily do\nthee good; yea, he will do it with rejoicing; \u201cI will rejoice over\nthem, to do them good\u2014with my whole heart, and with my whole soul\u201d (Jer\n32:41).\n\n3. It appeareth that he is free, because he giveth without twitting. 21\n\u201cHe giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not\u201d (James 1, 5).\nThere are some that will not deny to do the poor a pleasure, but they\nwill mix their mercies with so many twits, that the persons on whom\nthey bestow their charity shall find but little sweetness in it. But\nChrist doth not do so, coming sinner; he casteth all thine iniquities\nbehind his back (Isa 38:17). Thy sins and iniquities he will remember\nno more (Heb 8:12).\n\n4. That Christ is free, is manifest by the complaints that he makes\nagainst them that will not come to him for mercy. I say, he complains,\nsaying, \u201cO Jerusalem, Jerusalem! how often would I have gathered thy\nchildren together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her\nwings, and ye would not!\u201d (Matt 23:37). I say, he speaks it by way of\ncomplaint. He saith also in another place, \u201cBut thou hast not called\nupon me, O Jacob\u201d (Isa 43:22). Coming sinner, see here the willingness\nof Christ to save; see here how free he is to communicate life, and all\ngood things, to such as thou art. He complains, if thou comest not; he\nis displeased, if thou callest not upon him. Hark, coming sinner, once\nagain; when Jerusalem would not come to him for safeguard, \u201che beheld\nthe city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at\nleast in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace; but now\nthey are hid from thine eyes\u201d (Luke 19:41,42).\n\n5. Lastly, He is open and free-hearted to do thee good, as is seen by\nthe joy and rejoicing that he manifesteth at the coming home of poor\nprodigals. He receives the lost sheep with rejoicing; the lost goat\nwith rejoicing; yea, when the prodigal came home, what joy and mirth,\nwhat music and dancing, was in his father\u2019s house! (Luke 15).\n\nThird. Coming sinner, I will add another encouragement for thy help.\n\n1. God hath prepared a mercy-seat, a throne of grace to sit on; that\nthou mayest come thither to him, and that he may from thence hear thee,\nand receive thee. \u201cI will commune with thee,\u201d saith he, \u201cfrom above the\nmercy-seat\u201d (Exo 25:22). As who shall say, sinner, When thou comest to\nme, thou shalt find me upon the mercy-seat, where also I am always\nfound of the undone coming sinner. Thither I bring my pardons; there I\nhear and receive their petitions, and accept them to my favour.\n\n2. God hath also prepared a golden altar for thee to offer thy prayers\nand tears upon. A golden altar! It is called a \u201cgolden altar,\u201d to show\nwhat worth it is of in God\u2019s account: for this golden altar is Jesus\nChrist; this altar sanctifies thy gift, and makes thy sacrifice\nacceptable. This altar, then, makes thy groans golden groans; thy tears\ngolden tears; and thy prayers golden prayers, in the eye of that God\nthou comest to, coming sinner (Rev 8; Matt 23:19; Heb 10:10; 1 Peter\n2:5).\n\n3. God hath strewed all the way, from the gate of hell, where thou\nwast, to the gate of heaven, whither thou art going, with flowers out\nof his own garden. Behold how the promises, invitations, calls, and\nencouragements, like lilies, lie round about thee! take heed that thou\ndost not tread them under foot, sinner. With promises, did I say? Yea,\nhe hath mixed all those with his own name, his Son\u2019s name; also, with\nthe name of mercy, goodness, compassion, love, pity, grace,\nforgiveness, pardon, and what not, that may encourage the coming\nsinner.\n\n4. He hath also for thy encouragement laid up the names, and set forth\nthe sins, of those that have been saved. In this book they are fairly\nwritten, that thou, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures,\nmightest have hope. (1.) In this book is recorded Noah\u2019s maim and sin;\nand how God had mercy upon him. (2.) In this record is fairly written\nthe name of Lot, and the nature of his sin; and how the Lord had mercy\nupon him. (3.) In this record thou hast also fairly written the names\nof Moses, Aaron, Gideon, Samson, David, Solomon, Peter, Paul, with the\nnature of their sins; and how God had mercy upon them; and all to\nencourage thee, coming sinner.\n\nFourth. I will add yet another encouragement for the man that is coming\nto Jesus Christ. Art thou coming? Art thou coming, indeed? Why,\n\n1. Then this thy coming is by virtue of God\u2019s call. Thou art called.\nCalling goes before coming. Coming is not of works, but of him that\ncalleth. \u201cHe goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he\nwould; and they came unto him\u201d (Mark 3:13).\n\n2. Art thou coming? This is also by virtue of illumination. God has\nmade thee see; and, therefore, thou art coming. So long as thou wast\ndarkness, thou lovedst darkness, and couldst not abide to come, because\nthy deeds were evil; but being now illuminated and made to see what and\nwhere thou art, and also what and where thy Saviour is, now thou art\ncoming to Jesus Christ; \u201cBlessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and\nblood hath not revealed it unto thee,\u201d saith Christ, \u201cbut my Father\nwhich is in heaven\u201d (Matt 16:17).\n\n3. Art thou coming? This is because God hath inclined thine heart to\ncome. God hath called thee, illuminated thee, and inclined thy heart to\ncome; and, therefore, thou comest to Jesus Christ. It is God that\nworketh in thee to will, and to come to Jesus Christ. Coming sinner,\nbless God for that he hath given thee a will to come to Jesus Christ.\nIt is a sign that thou belongest to Jesus Christ, because God has made\nthee willing to come to him (Psa 110:3). Bless God for slaying the\nenmity of thy mind; had he not done it, thou wouldst as yet have hated\nthine own salvation.\n\n4. Art thou coming to Jesus Christ? It is God that giveth thee power:\npower to pursue thy will in the matters of thy salvation, is the gift\nof God. \u201cIt is God which worketh in you both to will and to do\u201d (Phil\n2:13). Not that God worketh will to come, where he gives no power; but\nthou shouldest take notice, that power is an additional mercy. The\nchurch saw that will and power were two things, when she cried, \u201cDraw\nme, we will run after thee\u201d (Song 1:4). And so did David too, when he\nsaid, \u201cI will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge\nmy heart\u201d (Psa 119:32). Will to come, and power to pursue thy will, is\ndouble mercy, coming sinner.\n\n5. All thy strange, passionate, sudden rushings forward after Jesus\nChrist, coming sinners know what I mean, they also are thy helps from\nGod. Perhaps thou feelest at some times more than at others, strong\nstirrings up of heart to fly to Jesus Christ; now thou hast at this\ntime a sweet and stiff gale of the Spirit of God, filling thy sails\nwith the fresh gales of his good Spirit; and thou ridest at those times\nas upon the wings of the wind, being carried out beyond thyself, beyond\nthe most of thy prayers, and also above all thy fear and temptations.\n\n6. Coming sinner, hast thou not now and then a kiss of the sweet lips\nof Jesus Christ, I mean some blessed word dropping like a honey-comb\nupon thy soul to revive thee, when thou art in the midst of thy dumps?\n\n7. Does not Jesus Christ sometimes give thee a glimpse of himself,\nthough perhaps thou seest him not so long a time as while one may tell\ntwenty.\n\n8. Hast thou not sometimes as it were the very warmth of his wings\novershadowing the face of thy soul, that gives thee as it were a\ngload22 upon thy spirit, as the bright beams of the sun do upon thy\nbody, when it suddenly breaks out of a cloud, though presently all is\ngone away? Well, all these things are the good hand of thy God upon\nthee, and they are upon thee to constrain, to provoke, and to make thee\nwilling and able to come, coming sinner, that thou mightest in the end\nbe saved.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1 \u201cMy grace is sufficient for thee,\u201d and the language of the church,\nconscious of its own weakness and the Lord\u2019s all-sufficiency, is, \u201cDraw\nme, we will run after thee\u201d (Song 1:4).\u2014Mason.\n\n2 No outward profession is accepted, except it springs from inward love\nto Christ.\u2014Ed.\n\n3 How clearly is every seeming difficulty explained by Bunyan. The\nFather entered into covenant with the Son, in eternity, to save his\nelect; and, in time, as they appear upon earth, the Father giveth them\nto Christ by effectual calling, and he brings them to eternal\nglory.\u2014Ed.\n\n4 To come unto Christ, in its proper sense, is to receive him as he is\noffered to us in the Word; to believe in him, as a suitable and\nall-sufficient Saviour; to submit to his government, in both suffering\nand doing his will, with all lowly-mindedness and humility; and this by\nthe powerful operation of the Holy Spirit upon the soul.\u2014Mason.\n\n5 \u201cSalve;\u201d relief, aid, or help.\n\n   \u2018Which Cambell seign, though he could not salve,\n        He done undoe, yet for to salve his name\n    And purchase honour to his friend\u2019s behalve,\n        This goodly counterfesaunce he did frame.\u201d\n\n\u2014Spenser\u2019s Faery Queen.\n\n6 We cannot remember all God\u2019s benefits, but how prone we are to forget\nthem all!\u2014Ed.\n\n7 Christian, in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, was thus exercised:\n\u2014\u201cI took notice that now poor Christian was so confounded that he did\nnot know his own voice; and thus I perceived it:\u2014Just when he was come\nover against the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got\nbehind him, and stepped up softly to him, and whisperingly suggested\nmany grievous blasphemies to him, which he verily thought had proceeded\nfrom his own mind.\u201d See also Grace Abounding, No. 100-102.\u2014Ed.\n\n8 \u201cWarm gleads;\u201d from Saxon glow, anything heated or hot.\n\n   \u201cMy destiny to behold her doth me leade,\n    And yet I know I runne into the gleade.\u201d\u2014Wyatt.\u2014Ed.\n\n9 Many misspend their time in poring upon their own hearts, to find out\nsome evidence of their interest in Christ, when they should rather be\nemployed in receiving Christ, and walking in him, by a confident faith\ngrounded on the Divine testimony.\u2014Mason.\n\n10 How striking are Bunyan\u2019s illustrations! The devil, as a roaring\nlion, is in pursuit of the flying sinner; he would flee faster than his\ninfirmities will let him. We cannot wonder that modern preachers\nborrowed so vivid and truthful a figure.\u2014Ed.\n\n11 A Christian is \u201cnever safe but when watchful;\u201d he should keep a\njealous eye on his own weakness, and a believing eye on the promise and\npower of Christ, and he shall be preserved from falling.\u2014Mason.\n\n12 \u201cLet him;\u201d hinder him. See 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Obsolete.\u2014Imperial\nDictionary.\u2014Ed.\n\n13 \u201cThe Scripture contains many gracious promises in behalf of the\nchildren of believing parents; but grace is not hereditary. It is the\nparent\u2019s part to pray with and for, admonish, and piously train up his\nchildren; but, after all, must recommend them to the tender mercies of\nGod, which the children of many prayers often happily\nexperience.\u201d\u2014Mason. O that all persons may solemnly consider this\nsearching truth! especially the children of believers. The coming of\nyour father or mother to Christ cannot be imputed to you; come for\nyourself, or you must perish. As you love your souls, believe not that\nawful delusion, that any ceremony could make you a child of God.\u2014Ed.\n\n14 \u201cWhile of late;\u201d until of late.\u2014Ed.\n\n15 \u201cLie at Jesus Christ;\u201d to lay down, lie at the feet of Jesus Christ,\nto persevere like the Syrophenician woman, Mark 7:25.\u2014Ed.\n\n16 \u201cPly;\u201d to solicit importunately.\u2014Ed.\n\n17 \u201cA flam;\u201d a fable, an imposition.\n\n18 \u201cMost an end;\u201d continually, perpetually.\n\n19 How awful is the confidence of the self-righteous pharisee; he\nconsiders himself more righteous than the poor penitent, who is clothed\nin Christ\u2019s righteousness, the garments of salvation.\n\nThe self-righteous says:\u2014\u201cStand by, I am holier than thou. Thank God, I\nam not like this publican.\u201d While in God\u2019s sight, poor wretched\nboaster, thou art clothed in filthy rags.\u2014Ed.\n\n20 This nation now pays some eight or ten millions sterling a year. Had\nGod sanctioned this diabolical trade in souls, all Christendom would\nhave been divided into two classes-priests and slaves.\u2014Ed.\n\n21 \u201cTwitting;\u201d taunting, or rebuking.\u2014Ed.\n\n22 \u201cA gload;\u201d a warm, eager, passionate gazing: now obsolete.\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nJUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS;\n\nOR,\n\nNO WAY TO HEAVEN BUT BY JESUS CHRIST.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nThis is one of those ten excellent manuscripts which were found among\nBunyan\u2019s papers after his decease in 1688. It had been prepared by him\nfor publication, but still wanted a few touches of his masterly hand,\nand a preface in his characteristic style. He had, while a prisoner for\nnonconformity, in 1672, published a treatise upon this subject, in\nreply to Mr. Fowler, who was soon after created Bishop of Gloucester;\nbut that was more peculiarly intended to prove that those who are\njustified by faith in Christ are placed in a safer, more honourable,\nand more glorious state than that possessed by Adam before his fall.\nMr. Fowler took the popular view, that the sufferings of the Saviour\nwere intended to replace man in a similar position to that of Adam when\nin a state of innocence; and to give him powers, which, if properly\nused, would enable him to save himself.\n\nIt is of importance that we should understand the meaning of the term\n\u2018justification\u2019 as here used. It is an acquittal, on being tried by the\nlaw; or a proof that, upon the most penetrating scrutiny, we have,\nthrough life, fulfilled and performed all its requirements in word,\nthought, and deed, without the slightest deviation or taint of error.\nThis is essential to salvation, and must be done, either personally, or\nby the imputation of the Saviour\u2019s obedience to us. Multitudes vainly\nimagine that this can be attained by our partial obedience, aided,\nwhere we fail, by the imputation of so much of the Saviour\u2019s obedience\nas, being placed to our account, will make up the deficiency. Upon\njustification must depend the salvation of the soul. Bunyan was\nconvinced that the sinner\u2019s only hope was by the imputation of Christ\u2019s\nrighteousness, which alone could justify him from ALL things, and\nwithout which he must perish.\n\nAs \u2018by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified,\u2019 it\nbecomes an important inquiry whether the law, by which all must be\ntried, and justified or condemned, is opposed to the gospel or glad\ntidings of salvation? God forbid that we should for a moment entertain\nsuch a thought! they both proceed from the same Divine source, and the\ngospel confirms and establishes the law. This is clearly shown in the\nfollowing treatise. Every Christian forms a part of that one mystical\nbody, of which Christ is the head, and in which alone can be fulfilled\nevery jot and tittle of the law. Bunyan\u2019s controversy is with an\nopinion, held by many, that a man may, in his own person, by an\nimperfect obedience to some of the requirements of the law, procure, or\naid in obtaining, justification.\n\nThere can be no subject more intensely interesting than the means of a\nsinner\u2019s justification before that God whose law is perfect, and who is\nof purer eyes than to behold iniquity except with abhorrence; nor is\nthere one upon which more fatal mistakes have been made.\n\nThe great delusion which like a deadly leprosy, has involved man in\nuncertainty and darkness in all his conceptions of purity and holiness,\nis the fallacious hope of producing some good works to blot out\ntransgressions; or that man is not so polluted, but that he may justify\nhimself by works performed through some kind of ability communicated by\nthe Saviour\u2014an ability which he might or might not use, but upon the\nproper use of which he considers that his salvation depends; leaving\nhim in the most distressing uncertainty and doubt upon this\nall-important subject. All these Bunyan considered to be specious and\nmost dangerous devices of Satan, unscriptural, and contrary to the\nsimplicity and design of the gospel.\n\nIn this treatise very powerful arguments are used to counteract these\nerrors, and to place the doctrine of justification in all its glorious\npurity. It is essentially the source of the glad tidings of great joy\nmade known by the Christian dispensation; showing that the redemption\nof believers is perfect and finished, neither needing nor suffering any\nhuman additions. The righteousness of Christ fully justifies all that\nbelieve, while the fountain that he opened washes away all their\ndefilements, and presents them at the judgment-seat, without spot or\nblemish, their robes being washed and made white in the blood of the\nLamb.\n\nTo prevent this doctrine from being impeached with a tendency to weaken\nman in the discharge of his moral duties, the same Divine power which\nthus pardoned sin has decreed that a sense of pardoning love should\nimpel the redeemed to walk in newness of life\u2014and that it is only while\nthus walking in holy obedience that they have an evidence of being\nmembers of Christ\u2019s mystical body. For, \u2018whom he did foreknow, he also\ndid predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son; whom he did\npredestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also\njustified.\u2019 So full is this of consolation and felicity that the\napostle exclaims, \u2018If God be for us, who can be against us?\u2019 Thus,\nsalvation by free grace is inseparably connected with good works. The\nrighteousness of the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, imputed to his\nmembers, justifies them, in the same manner as the disobedience of the\nfirst Adam, imputed to all his members or posterity, makes them\nsinners. To use the expressive words of Bunyan, \u2018The sinner is\njustified from the curse, in the sight of God, while a sinner in\nhimself.\u2019 This is a startling fact. That Rahab or Mary Magdalene, and\neven Saul, the murderous persecutor, were, in the sight and purposes of\nGod, justified, while they were, in the esteem of God\u2019s saints, in a\nstate of the vilest sin, is a doctrine revolting to the pride of human\nnature. But we should recollect that, in the sight of God, a thousand\nyears are but as one day; while one day may be magnified into a\nthousand years; and that the purposes of God are concealed to us while\nsin blinds our eyes. Rahab and Magdalene were wretched before their\nconversion, nor could Saul have been much less wretched, while carrying\nmisery into the hearts and families of God\u2019s saints.\n\nThere can be no real happiness without spiritual life\u2014holy obedience to\nthe Divine will, and a scriptural hope of justification before God and\nhis law. These are the means he uses to make known to us his secret\npurposes. No man has lived in the world, since the inspired writers,\nmore capable of detecting the devil\u2019s sophistry upon this subject than\nJohn Bunyan. He had passed through a furnace of experience while\nseeking justification. He well knew that, upon keeping the moral law of\nGod, the peace of the world and our personal happiness depended. How is\nthis great object to be accomplished? If we attempt to keep it, in\norder to gain eternal life, we shall fail, as all others have done. In\nevery attempt thus to keep it, to use Bunyan\u2019s expression \u2018The guilt of\nsin, which is by the law, makes such a noise and horror in my\nconscience that I can neither hear nor see the word of peace, unless it\nis spoken with a voice from heaven!\u2019 Our polluted nature leads to sin;\na mist is before our eyes; we \u2018go astray speaking lies.\u2019 The strong\nnatural bias to break the law will prevail; we see its effects in the\ngreat bulk of those who are taught to rely upon ceremonies and upon\nkeeping the law. Who are so lawless, so little advanced in\ncivilization, as the poor Irish, Spaniards, or Italians? while those\nwho seek justification as the free gift of God, influenced by gratitude\nand love, are found walking in obedience to the Divine law; their only\nregret is, that they cannot live more to the glory of their Saviour.\nThe doctrines of grace, as exhibited in this treatise, have ever\nproduced glory to God, on earth peace, and goodwill to men; although\nthat spirit which called Christ a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber,\nstill charges these doctrines as having a tendency to licentiousness.\n\nChristian, be not offended with the humbling, but scriptural views,\nwhich Bunyan entertained of every church of Christ \u2018An hospital of\nsick, wounded, and afflicted people.\u2019 None but such as feel their need\nof the Physician of souls are fit for church membership, or are safely\non the road to heaven. Leaving this solemn and interesting subject to\nthe prayerful attention of the reader, I shall conclude my\nadvertisement by quoting from a characteristic specimen of Bunyan\u2019s\nstyle of writing, and it was doubtless his striking mode of\npreaching:\u2014\u2018Faith doth the same against the devil that unbelief doth to\nGod. Doth unbelief count God a liar? Faith counts the devil a liar.\nDoth unbelief hold the soul from the mercy of God? Faith holds the soul\nfrom the malice of the devil. Doth unbelief quench thy graces? Faith\nkindleth them even into a flame. Doth unbelief fill the soul full of\nsorrow? Faith fills it full of the joy of the Holy Ghost. In a word,\nDoth unbelief bind down thy sins upon thee? Why, faith in Jesus Christ\nreleaseth thee of them all.\u2019\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nJUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS\n\n\nJUSTIFICATION is to be diversly taken in the Scripture. Sometimes it is\ntaken for the justification of persons; sometimes for the justification\nof actions; and sometimes for the justification of the person and\naction too.\n\nIt is taken for the justification of persons, and that, as to\njustification with God; or, as to justification with men.\n\nAs to justification with God; that is, when a man stands clear, quit,\nfree, or, in a saved condition before him, in the approbation of his\nholy law.\n\nAs to justification with men; that is, when a man stands clear and quit\nfrom just ground of reprehension with them.\n\nJustification also is to be taken with reference to actions; and that\nmay be when they are considered, as flowing from true faith; or,\nbecause the act done fulfils some transient law.[1]\n\nAs actions flow from faith, so they are justified, because done before\nGod in, and made complete through, the perfections of Jesus Christ (1\nPeter 2:5; Heb 13:15; Rev 8:1-4).\n\nAs by the doing of the act some transient law is fulfilled; as when\nJehu executed judgment upon the house of Ahab. \u2018Thou hast done well,\u2019\nsaid God to him, \u2018in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and\nhast done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart\u2019\n(2 Kings 10:30). As to such acts, God may or may not look at the\nqualification of those that do them; and it is clear that he had not\nrespect to any good that was in Jehu in the justifying of this action;\nnor could he; for Jehu stuck close yet to the sins of Jeroboam, but\n\u2018took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel\u2019 (2 Kings\n10:29,31).\n\nI might hence also show you that a man may be justified even then when\nhis action is condemned; also that a man may be in a state of\ncondemnation when his action may be justified. But with these\ndistinctions I will not take up time, my intention being to treat of\njustification as it sets a man free or quit from sin, the curse and\ncondemnation of the law in the sight of God, in order to eternal\nsalvation.\n\nAnd that I may with the more clearness handle this point before you, I\nwill lay down and speak to this\n\nPROPOSITION.\n\nTHAT THERE IS NO OTHER WAY FOR SINNERS TO BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE\nOF THE LAW IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, THAN BY THE IMPUTATION OF THAT\nRIGHTEOUSNESS LONG AGO PERFORMED BY, AND STILL RESIDING WITH, THE\nPERSON OF JESUS CHRIST.\n\n\nThe terms of this proposition are easy; yet if it will help, I will\nspeak a word or two for explication. First. By a sinner, I mean one\nthat has transgressed the law; \u2018for sin is the transgression of the\nlaw\u2019 (1 John 3:4). Second. By the curse of the law, I mean that\nsentence, judgment, or condemnation which the law pronounceth against\nthe transgressor (Gal 3:10). Third. By justifying righteousness, I mean\nthat which stands in the doing and suffering of Christ when he was in\nthe world (Rom 5:19). Fourth. By the residing of this righteousness in\nChrist\u2019s person, I mean it still abides with him as to the action,\nthough the benefit is bestowed upon those that are his. Fifth. By the\nimputation of it to us, I mean God\u2019s making of it ours by an act of his\ngrace, that we by it might be secured from the curse of the law. Sixth.\nWhen I say there is no other way to be justified. I cast away TO THAT\nEND the law, and all the works of the law as done by us.[2]\n\nThus I have opened the terms of the proposition.\n\nFirst and Second. Now the two first\u2014to wit, what sin and the curse\nis\u2014stand clear in all men\u2019s sight, unless they be atheists or\ndesperately heretical. I shall, therefore, in few words, clear the\nother four.\n\nThird. Therefore justifying righteousness is the doing and suffering of\nChrist when he was in the world. This is clear, because we are said to\nbe \u2018justified by his obedience,\u2019 by his obedience to the law (Rom\n5:19). Hence he is said again to be the end of the law for that very\nthing\u2014\u2018Christ is the end of the law for righteousness,\u2019 &c. (Rom 10:4).\nThe end, what is that? Why, the requirement or demand of the law. But\nwhat are they? Why, righteousness, perfect righteousness (Gal 3:10).\nPerfect righteousness, what to do? That the soul concerned might stand\nspotless in the sight of God (Rev 1:5). Now this lies only in the\ndoings and sufferings of Christ; for \u2018by his obedience many are made\nrighteous\u2019; wherefore as to this, Christ is the end of the law, that\nbeing found in that obedience, that becomes to us sufficient for our\njustification. Hence we are said to be made righteous by his obedience;\nyea, and to be washed, purged, and justified by his blood (Heb 9:14;\nRom 5:18,19).\n\nFourth. That this righteousness still resides in and with the person of\nChrist, even then when we stand just before God thereby, is clear, for\nthat we are said, when justified, to be justified \u2018in him.\u2019 \u2018In the\nLord shall all the seed of Israel be justified.\u2019 And again, \u2018Surely,\nshall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness,\u2019 &c. (Isa 45:24,25).\nAnd again, \u2018But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto\nus\u2014righteousness\u2019 (1 Cor 1:30).\n\nMark, the righteousness is still \u2018in him,\u2019 not \u2018in us,\u2019 even then when\nwe are made partakers of the benefit of it; even as the wing and\nfeathers still abide in the hen when the chickens are covered, kept,\nand warmed thereby.\n\nFor as my doings, though my children are fed and clothed thereby, are\nstill my doings, not theirs; so the righteousness wherewith we stand\njust before God from the curse, still resides in Christ, not in us. Our\nsins, when laid upon Christ, were yet personally ours, not his; so his\nrighteousness, when put upon us, is yet personally his, not ours. What\nis it, then? Why, \u2018he was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that\nwe might be made the righteousness of God in him\u2019 (2 Cor 5:21).[3]\n\nFifth. It is, therefore, of a justifying virtue, only by imputation, or\nas God reckoneth it to us; even as our sins made the Lord Jesus a\nsinner\u2014nay, \u2018sin,\u2019 by God\u2019s reckoning of them to him.\n\nIt is absolutely necessary that this be known of us; for if the\nunderstanding be muddy as to this, it is impossible that such should be\nsound in the faith; also in temptation, that man will be at a loss that\nlooketh for a righteousness for justification in himself, when it is to\nbe found nowhere but in Jesus Christ. The apostle, who was his\ncraftsmaster as to this, was always \u2018looking to Jesus,\u2019 that he \u2018might\nbe found in him,\u2019 knowing that nowhere else could peace or safety be\nhad (Phil 3:6-9). And, indeed, this is one of the greatest mysteries in\nthe world; namely, that a righteousness that resides with a person in\nheaven should justify me, a sinner, on earth!\n\nSixth. Therefore the law and the works thereof, as to this, must by us\nbe cast away; not only because they here are useless, but also they\nbeing retained are a hindrance. That they are useless is evident, for\nthat salvation comes by another name (Acts 4:12). And that they are a\nhindrance, it is clear; for the very adhering to the law, though it be\nbut a little, or in a little part, prevents justification by the\nrighteousness of Christ (Rom 9:31,32).\n\nWhat shall I say? As to this, the moral law is rejected, the ceremonial\nlaw is rejected, and man\u2019s righteousness is rejected, for that they are\nhere both weak and unprofitable (Rom 8:2,3; Gal 3:21; Heb 10:1-12). Now\nif all these and their works as to our justification, are rejected,\nwhere, but in Christ, is righteousness to be found?\n\nThus much, therefore, for the explication of the proposition\u2014namely,\nthat there is no other way for sinners to be justified from the curse\nof the law in the sight of God, than by the imputation of that\nrighteousness long ago performed by, and still residing with, the\nperson of Jesus Christ.\n\n[Two Positions.]\n\nNow, from this proposition I draw these two positions\u2014FIRST. THAT MEN\nARE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW BEFORE GOD WHILE SINNERS IN\nTHEMSELVES. SECOND. THAT THIS CAN BE DONE BY NO OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS\nTHAN THAT LONG AGO PERFORMED BY, AND RESIDING WITH, THE PERSON OF JESUS\nCHRIST.\n\n[FIRST POSITION]\n\n\nFIRST. Let us, then, now enter into the consideration of the first of\nthese\u2014namely, THAT MEN ARE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW BEFORE\nGOD WHILE SINNERS IN THEMSELVES. This I shall manifest, FIRST, By\ntouching upon the mysterious acts of our redemption; SECOND, By giving\nof you plain texts which discover it; and, THIRD, By reasons drawn from\nthe texts.\n\nFIRST. For the first of these; to wit, the mysterious act of our\nredemption: and that I shall speak to under these two heads\u2014First, I\nshall show you what that is; and, Second, How we are concerned therein.\n\nFirst. [What that is.] That which I call, and that rightly, the\nmysterious act of our redemption, is Christ\u2019s sufferings as a\ncommon,[4] though a particular person and as a sinner, though always\ncompletely righteous.\n\nThat he suffered as a common person is true. By common, I mean a public\nperson, or one that presents the body of mankind in himself. This a\nmultitude of scriptures bear witness to, especially that fifth chapter\nto the Romans, where, by the apostle, he is set before us as the head\nof all the elect, even as Adam was once head of all the world. Thus he\nlived, and thus he died; and this was a mysterious act. And that he\nshould die as a sinner, when yet himself did \u2018no sin,\u2019 nor had any\n\u2018guile found in his mouth,\u2019 made this act more mysterious (1 Pet 1:19,\n2:22, 3:18). That he died as a sinner is plain\u2014\u2018He hath made him to be\nsin. And the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all\u2019 (Isa 53). That,\nthen, as to his own person he was completely sinless is also as truly\nmanifest, and that by a multitude of scriptures. Now, I say, that\nChrist Jesus should be thus considered, and thus die, was the great\nmystery of God. Hence Paul tells us, that when he preached \u2018Christ\ncrucified,\u2019 he preached not only the \u2018wisdom of God,\u2019 but the \u2018wisdom\nof God in a mystery,\u2019 even his \u2018hidden wisdom,\u2019 for, indeed, this\nwisdom is hidden, and kept close from the \u2018fowls of the air\u2019 (1 Cor\n1:24, 2:7,8; Job 28:20,21).\n\nIt is also so mysterious, that it goes beyond the reach of all men,\nexcept those to whom an understanding is given of God to apprehend it\n(1 John 5:20). That one particular man should represent all the elect\nin himself, and that the most righteous should die as a sinner, yea, as\na sinner by the hand of a just and holy God, is a mystery of the\ngreatest depth!\n\nSecond. And now I come to show you how the elect are concerned therein;\nthat is, in this mysterious act of this most blessed One; and this will\nmake this act yet more mysterious to you.\n\nNow, then, we will speak of this first, as to how Christ prepared\nhimself thus mysteriously to act. He took hold of our nature. I say, he\ntook hold of us, by taking upon him flesh and blood. The Son of God,\ntherefore, took not upon him a particular person, though he took to him\na human body and soul; but that which he took was, as I may call it, a\nlump of the common nature of man; and by that, hold of the whole elect\nseed of Abraham; \u2018For verily he took not on him the nature of angels,\nbut he took on him the seed of Abraham\u2019 (Heb 2:16) Hence he, in a\nmystery, became us, and was counted as all the men that were or should\nbe saved. And this is the reason why we are said to do, when only Jesus\nChrist did do. As for instance\u2014\n\n1. When Jesus Christ fulfilled the righteousness of the law, it is said\nit was fulfilled in us, because indeed fulfilled in our nature: \u2018For\nwhat the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God\nsending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,\ncondemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be\nfulfilled in us,\u2019 &c. (Rom 8:3,4). But because none should appropriate\nthis unto themselves that have not had passed upon them a work of\nconversion, therefore he adds, \u2018Who walk not after the flesh, but after\nthe Spirit\u2019 (v. 4). For there being a union between head and members,\nthough things may be done by the head, and that for the members, the\nthings are counted to the members, as if not done only by the head.\n\u2018The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us\u2019; and that truly,\nbecause fulfilled in that common nature which the Son of God took of\nthe Virgin. Wherefore, in this sense we are said to do what only was\ndone by him; even as the client doth by his lawyer, when his lawyer\npersonates him; the client is said to do, when it is the lawyer only\nthat does; and to overcome by doing, when it is the lawyer that\novercomes; the reason is, because the lawyer does in the client\u2019s name.\nHow much more then may it be said we do, when only Christ does; since\nhe does what he does, not in our name only, but in our nature too; \u2018for\nthe law of the spirit of life in Christ.\u2019 not in me, \u2018hath made me free\nfrom the law of sin and death\u2019 (Rom 8:2); he doing in his common flesh\nwhat could not be done in my particular person, that so I might have\nthe righteousness of the law fulfilled in me, [that is, in] my flesh\nassumed by Christ; though impossible to be done [by me], because of the\nweakness of my person. The reason of all this is, because we are said\nto be in him in his doing, in him by our flesh, and also by the\nelection of God. So, then, as all men sinned when Adam fell, so all the\nelect did righteousness when Christ wrought and fulfilled the law; \u2018for\nas in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive\u2019 (1 Cor\n15:22).\n\n2. As we are said to do by Christ, so we are said to suffer by him, to\nsuffer with him. \u2018I am crucified with Christ,\u2019 said Paul. And again,\n\u2018Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm\nyourselves likewise with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in\nthe flesh hath ceased from sin\u2019 (1 Peter 4:1). Mark how the apostle\nseems to change the person. First he says, it is Christ that suffered;\nand that is true; but then he insinuates that it is us that suffered,\nfor the exhortation is to believers, to \u2018walk in newness of life\u2019 (Rom\n6:4). And the argument is, because they have suffered in the flesh,\n\u2018For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he\nno longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of\nmen, but to the will of God\u2019 (1 Peter 4:1,2). We then suffered, when\nChrist suffered; we then suffered in his flesh, and also our \u2018old man\nwas crucified with him\u2019 (Rom 6:6); that is, in his crucifixion; for\nwhen he hanged on the cross, all the elect hanged there in their common\nflesh which he assumed, and because he suffered there as a public man.\n\n3. As we are said to suffer with him, so we are said to die, to be dead\nwith him; with him, that is, by the dying of his body. \u2018Now, if we be\ndead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him\u2019 (Rom\n6:8). Wherefore he saith in other places, \u2018Brethren, ye are become dead\nto the law by the body of Christ\u2019; for indeed we died then to it by\nhim. To the law\u2014that is, the law now has nothing to do with us; for\nthat it has already executed its curse to the full upon us by its\nslaying of the body of Christ; for the body of Christ was our flesh:\nupon it also was laid our sin. The law, too, spent that curse that was\ndue to us upon him, when it condemned, killed, and cast him into the\ngrave. Wherefore, it having thus spent its whole curse upon him as\nstanding in our stead, we are exempted from its curse for ever; we are\nbecome dead to it by that body (Rom 7:4). It has done with us as to\njustifying righteousness. Nor need we fear its damning threats any\nmore; for by the death of this body we are freed from it, and are for\never now coupled to a living Christ.\n\n4. As we are said thus to be dead, so we are said also to rise again by\nhim\u2014\u2018Thy dead men,\u2019 saith he to the Father, \u2018shall live, together with\nmy dead body shall they arise\u2019 (Isa 26:19).[5] And again, \u2018After two\ndays he will revive us; in the third day\u2014we shall live in his sight\u2019\n(Hosea 6:2).\n\nBoth these scriptures speak of the resurrection of Christ, of the\nresurrection of his body on the third day; but behold, as we were said\nbefore to suffer and be dead with him, so now we are said also to rise\nand live in God\u2019s sight by the resurrection of his body. For, as was\nsaid, the flesh was ours; he took part of our flesh when he came into\nthe world; and in it he suffered, died, and rose again (Heb 2:14). We\nalso were therefore counted by God, in that God-man, when he did this;\nyea, he suffered, died, and rose as a common head.[6]\n\nHence also the New Testament is full of this, saying, \u2018If ye be dead\nwith Christ\u2019 (Col 2:20). \u2018If ye be risen with Christ\u2019 (3:1). And again,\n\u2018He hath quickened us together with him\u2019 (2:13). \u2018We are quickened\ntogether with him.\u2019 \u2018Quickened,\u2019 and \u2018quickened together with him.\u2019 The\napostle hath words that cannot easily be shifted or evaded. Christ then\nwas quickened when he was raised from the dead. Nor is it proper to say\nthat he was ever quickened either before or since. This text also\nconcludes that we\u2014to wit, the whole body of God\u2019s elect, were also\nquickened then, and made to live with him together. True, we also are\nquickened personally by grace the day in the which we are born unto God\nby the gospel; yet afore that, we are quickened in our Head; quickened\nwhen he was raised from the dead, quickened together with him.\n\n5. Nor are we thus considered\u2014to wit, as dying and rising, and so left;\nbut the apostle pursues his argument, and tells us that we also reap by\nhim, as being considered in him, the benefit which Christ received,\nboth in order to his resurrection, and the blessed effect thereof.\n\n(1.) We received, by our thus being counted in him, that benefit which\ndid precede his rising from the dead; and what was that but the\nforgiveness of sins? For this stands clear to reason, that if Christ\nhad our sins charged upon him at his death, he then must be discharged\nof them in order to his resurrection. Now, though it is not proper to\nsay they were forgiven to him, because they were purged from him by\nmerit; yet they may be said to be forgiven us, because we receive this\nbenefit by grace. And this, I say, was done precedent to his\nresurrection from the dead. \u2018He hath quickened us together with him,\nHAVING forgiven us all trespasses.\u2019 He could not be \u2018quickened\u2019 till we\nwere \u2018discharged\u2019; because it was not for himself, but for us, that he\ndied. Hence we are said to be at that time, as to our own personal\nestate, dead in our sins, even when we are \u2018quickened together with\nhim\u2019 (Col 2:13).\n\nTherefore both the \u2018quickening\u2019 and \u2018forgiveness\u2019 too, so far as we are\nin this text concerned, is to him, as we are considered in him, or to\nhim, with respect to us. \u2018Having forgiven you ALL trespasses.\u2019 For\nnecessity so required; because else how was it possible that the pains\nof death should be loosed in order to his rising, so long as one sin\nstood still charged to him, as that for the commission of which God had\nnot received a plenary satisfaction? As therefore we suffered, died,\nand rose again by him, so, in order to his so rising, he, as presenting\nof us in his person and suffering, received for us remission of all our\ntrespasses. A full discharge therefore was, in and by Christ, received\nof God of all our sins afore he rose from the dead, as his resurrection\ntruly declared; for he \u2018was delivered for our offences, and was raised\nagain for our justification\u2019 (Rom 4:25). This therefore is one of the\nprivileges we receive by the rising again of our Lord, for that we were\nin his flesh considered, yea, and in his death and suffering too.\n\n(2.) By this means also we have now escaped death. \u2018Knowing that Christ\nbeing raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion\nover him. For in that he died, he died unto,\u2019 or for, \u2018sin once; but in\nthat he liveth, he liveth unto God\u2019 (Rom 6:9,10). Now in all this,\nconsidering what has been said before, we that are of the elect are\nprivileged, for that we also are raised up by the rising of the body of\nChrist from the dead. And thus the apostle bids us reckon: \u2018Likewise\nreckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto\nGod through Jesus Christ\u2019 (Rom 6:11). Hence Christ says, \u2018I am the\nresurrection and the life,\u2019 for that all his are safe in him,\nsuffering, dying, and rising. He is the life, \u2018our life\u2019; yea, so our\nlife, that by him the elect do live before God, even then when as to\nthemselves they yet are dead in their sins. Wherefore, hence it is that\nin time they partake of quickening grace from this their Head, to the\nmaking of them also live by faith, in order to their living hereafter\nwith him in glory; for if Christ lives, they cannot die that were\nsharers with him in his resurrection.[7] Hence they are said to \u2018live,\u2019\nbeing \u2018quickened together with him.\u2019 Also, as sure as at his\nresurrection they lived by him, so sure at his coming shall they be\ngathered to him; nay, from that day to this, all that, as aforesaid,\nwere in him at his death and resurrection, are already, in the\n\u2018dispensation of the fulness of times,\u2019 daily \u2018gathering to him.\u2019 For\nthis he hath purposed, wherefore none can disannul it\u2014\u2018In the\ndispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one\nall things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth;\neven in him\u2019 (Eph 1:10).\n\n(3.) To secure this the more to our faith that believe, as we are said\nto be \u2018raised up together\u2019 with him, so we are said to be \u2018made to sit\ntogether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus\u2019 (Eph 2:6). We died by him,\nwe rose by him, and are together, even all the elect, set down\n\u2018together\u2019 in \u2018heavenly places in Christ Jesus\u2019; for still, even now he\nis on the right hand of God, he is to be considered as our public man,\nour Head, and so one in whom is concluded all the elect of God. We then\nare by him already in heaven; in heaven, I say, by him; yea, set down\nthere in our places of glory by him. Hence the apostle, speaking of us\nagain, saith, That as we are predestinate, we are called, justified,\nand glorified; called, justified, glorified; all is done, already done,\nas thus considered in Christ (Rom 8:30). For that in his public work\nthere is nothing yet to do as to this. Is not HE called? Is not HE\njustified? Is not HE glorified? And are we not in him, in him, even as\nso considered?\n\nNor doth this doctrine hinder or forestal the doctrine of regeneration\nor conversion; nay, it lays a foundation for it; for by this doctrine\nwe gather assurance that Christ will have his own; for if already they\nlive in their head, what is that but a pledge that they shall live in\ntheir persons with him? and, consequently, that to that end they shall,\nin the times allotted for that end, be called to a state of faith,\nwhich God has ordained shall precede and go before their personal\nenjoyment of glory. Nor doth this hinder their partaking of the symbol\nof regeneration,[8] and of their other privileges to which they are\ncalled in the day of grace; yea, it lays a foundation for all these\nthings; for if I am dead with Christ, let me be like one dead with him,\neven to all things to which Christ died when he hanged on the tree; and\nthen he died to sin, to the law, and to the rudiments of this world\n(Rom 6:10, 7:4; Col 2:20). And if I be risen with Christ, let me live,\nlike one born from the dead, in newness of life, and having my mind and\naffections on the things where Christ now sitteth on the right hand of\nGod. And indeed he professes in vain that talketh of these things, and\ncareth not to have them also answered in himself. This was the\napostle\u2019s way, namely, to covet to \u2018know him, and the power of his\nresurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made\nconformable unto his death\u2019 (Phil 3:10). And when we are thus, that\nthing is true both in him and us. Then as is the heavenly, such are\nthey that are heavenly; for he that saith he is in him, and by being in\nhim, a partaker of these privileges by him, \u2018ought himself also so to\nwalk, even as he walked\u2019 (1 Cor 15:48; 1 John 2:6).\n\nBut to pass this digression, and to come to my argument, namely, that\nmen are justified from the curse of the law, before God, while sinners\nin themselves; this is evident by what hath already been said; for if\nthe justification of their persons is by, in, and through Christ; then\nit is not by, in, and through their own doings. Nor was Christ engaged\nin this work but of necessity, even because else there had not been\nsalvation for the elect. \u2018O my father,\u2019 saith he, \u2018if it be possible,\nlet this cup pass from me\u2019 (Matt 26:39). If what be possible? Why, that\nmy elect may be saved, and I not spill my blood. Wherefore he saith\nagain, Christ ought to suffer (Luke 24:26). \u2018Christ must needs have\nsuffered,\u2019 for \u2018without shedding of blood is no remission\u2019 of sin (Acts\n17:3; Heb 9:22).[9]\n\n[Proofs of the first position.]\n\nSECOND. We will now come to the present state and condition of those\nthat are justified; I mean with respect to their own qualifications,\nand so prove the truth of this our great position. And this I will do,\nby giving of you plain texts that discover it, and that consequently\nprove our point. And after that, by giving of you reasons drawn from\nthe texts.\n\nFirst. \u2018Speak not thou in thine heart,\u2019 no, not in thine heart, \u2018after\nthat the Lord thy God hath cast them out [thine enemies] before thee,\nsaying, For my righteousness\u2014do I possess this land.\u2014Not for thy\nrighteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to\npossess their land.\u2014Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth\nthee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou\nart a stiff-necked people\u2019 (Deut 9:4-6).\n\nIn these words, very pat for our purpose, two things are worthy our\nconsideration. 1. The people here spoken to were the people of God; and\nso by God himself are they here twice acknowledged to be\u2014\u2018The Lord thy\nGod, the Lord thy God.\u2019 So then, the righteousness here intended is not\nthe righteousness that is in the world, but that which the people of\nGod perform. 2. The righteousness here intended is not some, but all,\nand every whit of that the church performs to God: Say not in thine\nheart, after the Lord hath brought thee in, It was for my\nrighteousness. No, all thy righteousness, from Egypt to Canaan, will\nnot purchase Canaan for thee.\n\nThat this is true is evident, because it is thrice rejected\u2014Not for thy\nrighteousness\u2014not for thy righteousness\u2014not for thy righteousness, dost\nthou possess the land. Now, if the righteousness of the people of God\nof old could not merit for them Canaan, which was but a type of heaven,\nhow can the righteousness of the world now obtain heaven itself? I say\nagain, if godly men, as these were, could not by their works purchase\nthe type of heaven, then must the ungodly be justified, if ever they be\njustified from the curse and sentence of the law, while sinners in\nthemselves. The argument is clear; for if good men, by what they do,\ncannot merit the less, bad men, by what they do, cannot merit more.\n\nSecond. \u2018Remember me, O my God, concerning this; and wipe not out my\ngood deeds that I have done\u2019 (Neh 13:14).\n\nThese words were spoken by holy Nehemiah, and that at the end of all\nthe good that we read he did in the world. Also, the deeds here spoken\nof were deeds done for God, for his people, for his house, and for the\noffices thereof. Yet godly Nehemiah durst not stand before God in\nthese, nor yet suffer them to stand to his judgment by the law; but\nprays to God to be merciful both to him and them, and to spare him\n\u2018according to the greatness of his mercy\u2019 (v 22).\n\nGod blots out no good but for the sake of sin;[10] and forasmuch as\nthis man prays God would not blot out his, it is evident that he was\nconscious to himself that in his good works were sin. Now, I say, if a\ngood man\u2019s works are in danger of being overthrown because there is in\nthem a tang of sin, how can bad men think to stand just before God in\ntheir works, which are in all parts full of sin? Yea, if the works of a\nsanctified man are blameworthy, how shall the works of a bad man set\nhim clear in the eyes of Divine justice?\n\nThird. \u2018But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses\nare as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities,\nlike the wind, have taken us away\u2019 (Isa 64:6).\n\nIn these words we have a relation both of persons and things. 1. Of\npersons. And they are a righteous people, a righteous people put all\ntogether\u2014\u2018We, we all are,\u2019 &c. 2. The condition of this people, even of\nALL of them, take them at the best, are, and that by their own\nconfession, \u2018as an unclean thing.\u2019 3. Again; the things here attending\nthis people are their good things, put down under this large character,\n\u2018Righteousnesses, ALL our righteousnesses.\u2019\n\nThese expressions therefore comprehend all their religious duties, both\nbefore and after faith too. But what are all these righteousnesses?\nWhy, they are all as \u2018filthy rags\u2019 when set before the justice of the\nlaw; yea, it is also confessed, and that by these people, that their\niniquities, notwithstanding all their righteousnesses, like the wind,\nif grace prevent not, would \u2018carry them away.\u2019 This being so, how is it\npossible for one that is in his sins, to work himself into a spotless\ncondition by works done before faith, by works done by natural\nabilities? or to perform a righteousness which is able to look God in\nthe face, his law in the face, and to demand and obtain the forgiveness\nof sins, and the life that is eternal? It cannot be: \u2018men must\ntherefore be justified from the curse, in the sight of God while\nsinners in themselves,\u2019 or not at all.[11]\n\nFourth. \u2018There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and\nsinneth not\u2019 (Eccl 7:20; 1 Kings 8:46).\n\nAlthough the words before are large, yet these seem far larger; there\nis not a man, not a just man, not a just man upon the earth, that doeth\ngood, and sinneth not. Now, if no good man, if no good man upon earth\ndoth good, and sinneth not; then no good man upon earth can set himself\nby his own actions justified in the sight of God, for he has sin mixed\nwith his good. How then shall a bad man, any bad man, the best bad man\nupon earth, think to set himself by his best things just in the sight\nof God? And if the tree makes the fruit either good or evil, then a bad\ntree\u2014and a bad man is a bad tree\u2014can bring forth no good fruit, how\nthen shall such an one do that that shall \u2018cleanse him from his sin,\u2019\nand set him as \u2018spotless before the face of God?\u2019 (Matt 7:16).\n\nFifth. \u2018Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from\nrighteousness: I bring near my righteousness,\u2019 &c. (Isa 46:12-13).\n\n1. This call is general, and so proves, whatever men think of\nthemselves, that in the judgment of God there is none at all righteous.\nMen, as men, are far from being so. 2. This general offer of\nrighteousness, of the righteousness of God, declares that it is in vain\nfor men to think to be set just and righteous before God by any other\nmeans. 3. There is here also insinuated, that for him that thinks\nhimself the worst, God has prepared a righteousness, and therefore\nwould not have him despair of life that sees himself far from\nrighteousness. From all these scriptures, therefore, it is manifest,\n\u2018that men must be justified from the curse of the law, in the sight of\nGod, while sinners in themselves.\u2019\n\nSixth. \u2018Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I\nwill give you rest\u2019 (Matt 11:28).\n\nHere we have a labouring people, a people labouring for life; but by\nall their labour, you see, they cannot ease themselves; their burden\nstill remains upon them; they yet are heavy laden. The load here is,\ndoubtless, guilt of sin, such as David had when he said by reason\nthereof, he was not able to look up (Psa 38:3-5). Hence, therefore, you\nhave an experiment set before you of those that are trying what they\ncan do for life; but behold, the more they stir, the more they sink\nunder the weight of the burden that lies upon them.[12] And the\nconclusion\u2014to wit, Christ\u2019s call to them to come to him for\nrest\u2014declares that, in his judgment, rest was not to be had elsewhere.\nAnd I think, one may with as much safety adhere to Christ\u2019s judgment as\nto any man\u2019s alive; wherefore, \u2018men must be justified from the curse,\nin the sight of God, while sinners in themselves.\u2019\n\nSeventh. \u2018There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that\nunderstandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone\nout of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none\nthat doeth good, no, not one\u2019 (Rom 3:10-12).\n\nThese words have respect to a righteousness which is justified by the\nlaw; and they conclude that none by his own performances is righteous\nwith such a righteousness; and it is concluded from five reasons\u20141.\nBecause they are not good; for a man must be good before he doth good,\nand perfectly good before he doth good and sinneth not. 2. Because they\nunderstand not. How then should they do good? for a man must know\nbefore he does, else how should he divert[13] himself to do? 3. Because\nthey want a heart; they seek not after God according to the way of his\nown appointment. 4. They are all gone out of the way; how then can they\nwalk therein? 5. They are together become unprofitable. What worth or\nvalue then can there be in any of their doings? These are the reasons\nby which he proveth that there is \u2018none righteous, no, not one.\u2019 And\nthe reasons are weighty, for by them he proves the tree is not good;\nhow then can it yield good fruit?\n\nNow, as he concludes from these five reasons that not one indeed is\nrighteous, so he concludes by five more that none can do good to make\nhim so\u20141. For that internally they are as an open sepulchre, as full of\ndead men\u2019s bones. Their minds and consciences are defiled; how then can\nsweet and good proceed from thence? (v 13). 2. Their throat is filled\nwith this stink; all their vocal duties therefore smell thereof. 3.\nTheir mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; how then can there be\nfound one word that should please God? 4. Their tongue, which should\npresent their praise to God, has been used to work deceit; how then,\nuntil it is made a new one, should it speak in righteousness? 5. The\npoison of asps is under their lips; therefore whatever comes from them\nmust be polluted (Rom 3:11-14; Matt 23:27; Titus 1:15; Jer 44:17,\n17:9). Thus, you see, he sets forth their internal part, which being a\ntrue report, as to be sure it is, it is impossible that any good should\nso much as be framed in such an inward part, or come clean out of such\na throat, by such a tongue, through such lips as these.\n\nAnd yet this is not all. He also proves, and that by five reasons more,\nthat it is not possible they should do good\u20141. \u2018Their feet are swift to\nshed blood\u2019 (Rom 3:15). This implies an inclination, an inward\ninclination to evil courses; a quickness of motion to do evil, but a\nbackwardness to do good. 2. \u2018Destruction and misery are in their ways\u2019\n(v16). Take \u2018ways\u2019 for their \u2018doings,\u2019 and in the best of them\ndestruction lurks, and misery yet follows them at the heels. 3. \u2018The\nway of peace have they not known\u2019; that is far above out of their sight\n(v 17). Wherefore the labour of these foolish ones will weary every one\nof them, because they know not the way that goes to the city (Eccl\n10:15). 4. \u2018There is no fear of God before their eyes\u2019 (v 18). How then\ncan they do anything with that godly reverence of his holy Majesty that\nis and must be essential to every good work? for to do things, but not\nin God\u2019s fear, to what will it amount? will it avail? 5. All this while\nthey are under a law that calls for works that are perfectly good; that\nwill accept of none but what are perfectly good; and that will\ncertainly condemn them because they neither are nor can be perfectly\ngood. \u2018For what things soever the law saith, it saith it to them who\nare under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world\nmay become guilty before God\u2019 (v 19).\n\nThus you see that Paul here proves, by fifteen reasons, that none are,\nnor can be, righteous before God by works that they can do; therefore\n\u2018men must be justified from the curse, in the sight of God, while\nsinners in themselves.\u2019\n\nEighth. \u2018But now the righteousness of God without the law is\nmanifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets\u2019 (v 21).\n\nThis text utterly excludes the law\u2014what law? The law of works, the\nmoral law, (v 27)\u2014and makes mention of another righteousness, even a\nrighteousness of God; for the righteousness of the law is the\nrighteousness of men, men\u2019s \u2018own righteousness\u2019 (Phil 3:9). Now, if the\nlaw, as to a justifying righteousness, is rejected; then the very\nmatter upon and by which man should work is rejected; and if so, then\nhe must be justified by the righteousness of God, or not at all; for he\nmust be justified by a righteousness that is without the law; to wit,\nthe righteousness of God. Now, this righteousness of God, whatever it\nis, to be sure it is not a righteousness that flows from men; for that,\nas I said, is rejected, and the righteousness of God opposed unto it,\nbeing called a righteousness that is without the law, without our\npersonal obedience to it. The righteousness of God, or a righteousness\nof God\u2019s completing, a righteousness of God\u2019s bestowing, a\nrighteousness that God also gives unto, and puts upon all them that\nbelieve (Rom 3:22), a righteousness that stands in the works of Christ,\nand that is imputed both by the grace and justice of God (v 24-26).\nWhere, now, is room for man\u2019s righteousness, either in the whole, or as\nto any part thereof? I say, where, as to justification with God?\n\nNinth. \u2018What shall we then say that Abraham, our father as pertaining\nto the flesh, hath found?\u2019 (Rom 4:1)\n\nNow, the apostle is at the root of the matter; for Abraham is counted\nthe father of the faithful; consequently, the man whose way of\nattaining justification must needs be exemplary to all the children of\nAbraham. Now, the question is, how Abraham found? how he found that\nwhich some of his children sought and missed? (Rom 9:32); that is, how\nhe found justifying righteousness; for it was that which Israel sought\nand attained not unto (11:7). \u2018Did he find it,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018by the\nflesh?\u2019 or, as he was in the flesh? or, by acts and works of the flesh?\nBut what are they? why, the next verse tells you \u2018they are the works of\nthe law\u2019 (Rom 4).\n\n\u2018If Abraham was justified by works\u2019; that is, as pertaining to the\nflesh; for the works of the law are none other but the best sort of the\nworks of the flesh. And so Paul calls all they that he had before his\nconversion to Christ: \u2018If any other man,\u2019 saith he, \u2018thinketh he hath\nwhereof he might trust in the flesh, I more.\u2019 And then he counteth up\nseveral of his privileges, to which he at last adjoineth the\nrighteousness of the moral law, saying, \u2018Touching the righteousness\nwhich is in the law, [I was] blameless\u2019 (Phil 3:4-6). And it is proper\nto call the righteousness of the law the work of the flesh, because it\nis the work of a man, of a man in the flesh; for the Holy Ghost doth\nnot attend the law, or the work thereof, as to this, in man, as man;\nthat has confined itself to another ministration, whose glorious name\nit bears (2 Cor 3:8). I say it is proper to call the works of the law\nthe works of the flesh, because they are done by that self-same nature\nin and out of which comes all those things that are more grossly so\ncalled (Gal 5:19,20); to wit, from the corrupt fountain of fallen man\u2019s\npolluted nature (James 3:10).\n\nThis, saith Paul, was not the righteousness by which Abraham found\njustification with God\u2014\u2018For if Abraham was justified by works, he hath\nwhereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the Scripture?\nAbraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness\u2019 (Rom\n4:2-3). This \u2018believing\u2019 is also set in flat opposition to \u2018works,\u2019 and\nto the \u2018law of works\u2019; wherefore, upon pain of great contempt to God,\nit must not be reckoned as a work to justify withal, but rather as that\nwhich receiveth and applieth that righteousness. From all this,\ntherefore, it is manifest \u2018that men must be justified from the curse of\nthe law, in the sight of God, while sinners in themselves.\u2019 But,\n\nTenth. \u2018Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,\nbut of debt\u2019 (Rom 4:4).\n\nThese words do not only back what went before, as to the rejection of\nthe law for righteousness as to justification with God, but supposing\nthe law was of force to justify, life must not be admitted to come that\nway, because of the evil consequences that will unavoidably flow\ntherefrom. 1. By this means, grace, and justification by grace, would\nbe rejected; and that would be a foul business; it would not be\nreckoned of grace. 2. By this, God would become the debtor, and so the\nunderling; and so we in this the more honourable.\n\nIt would not be reckoned of grace, but of debt; and what would follow\nfrom hence? Why, (1.) By this we should frustrate the design of Heaven,\nwhich is, to justify us freely by grace, through a redemption brought\nin by Christ (Rom 3:24-26; Eph 2:8-13). (2.) By this we should make\nourselves the saviours, and jostle Christ quite out of doors (Gal\n5:2-4). (3.) We should have heaven at our own dispose, as a debt, not\nby promise, and so not be beholden to God for it (Gal 3:18). It must,\nthen, be of grace, not of works, for the preventing of these evils.\n\nAgain, it must not be of works, because if it should, then God would be\nthe debtor, and we the creditor. Now, much blasphemy would flow from\nhence; as, (1.) God himself would not be his own to dispose of; for the\ninheritance being God, as well as his kingdom (for so it is written,\n\u2018heirs of God\u2019 (Rom 8:17)), himself, I say, must needs be our purchase.\n(2.) If so, then we have right to dispose of him, of his kingdom and\nglory, and all\u2014\u2018Be astonished, O heavens, at this!\u2019\u2014for if he be ours\nby works, then he is ours of debt; if he be ours of debt, then he is\nours by purchase; and then, again, if so, he is no longer his own, but\nours, and at our disposal.\n\nTherefore, for these reasons, were there sufficiency in our personal\nworks to justify us, it would be even inconsistent with the being of\nGod to suffer it. So then, \u2018men are justified from the curse, in the\nsight of God, while sinners in themselves.\u2019\n\nEleventh. \u2018But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that\njustifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness\u2019 (Rom\n4:5).\n\nThese words show how we must stand just in the sight of God from the\ncurse of the law, both as it respecteth justification itself, as also\nthe instrument or means that receiveth that righteousness which\njustifieth.\n\n1. As for that righteousness that justifieth, it is not personal\nperformances in us; for the person here justified stands, in that\nrespect, as one that worketh not, as one that is ungodly. 2. As it\nrespecteth the instrument that receiveth it, that faith, as in the\npoint of justifying righteousness, will not work, but believe, but\nreceive the works and righteousness of another; for works and faith in\nthis are set in opposition. He doth not work, he doth believe\u2019 (Gal\n3:12). He worketh not, but believeth on him who justifieth us, ungodly.\nAs Paul also saith in another place, The law is not of faith (Rom\n10:5,6). And again, Works saith on this wise; faith, far different. The\nlaw saith, Do this, and live. But the doctrine of faith saith, \u2018If thou\nshalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine\nheart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For\nwith the heart man believeth unto righteousness,\u2019 &c. (Rom 10:9,10).\n\nObject. But faith is counted for righteousness.\n\nAnsw. True, but yet consider, that by faith we do oft understand the\ndoctrine of remission of sins, as well as the act of believing.\n\nBut again; faith when it hath received the Lord Jesus, it hath done\nthat which pleaseth God; therefore, the very act of believing is the\nmost noble in the world; believing sets the crown upon the head of\ngrace; it seals to the truth of the sufficiency of the righteousness of\nChrist, and giveth all the glory to God (John 3:33). And therefore it\nis a righteous act; but Christ himself, he is the Righteousness that\njustifieth\u2019 (Rom 4:20,25). Besides, faith is a relative, and hath its\nrelation as such. Its relation is the righteousness that justifieth,\nwhich is therefore called the righteousness of faith, or that with\nwhich faith hath to do (Rom 10:6). Separate these two, and\njustification cannot be, because faith now wants his righteousness. And\nhence it is you have so often such sayings as these\u2014\u2018He that believeth\nin me; he that believeth on him; believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and\nthou shalt be saved\u2019 (John 6:35,40). Faith, then, as separate from\nChrist, doth nothing; nothing, neither with God nor man; because it\nwants its relative; but let it go to the Lord Jesus\u2014let it behold him\nas dying, &c., and it fetches righteousness, and life, and peace out of\nthe virtue of his blood, &c. (Acts 10:29,31,33). Or rather, sees it\nthere as sufficient for me to stand just thereby in the sight of\nEternal Justice For him \u2018God hath set forth to be a propitiation\nthrough faith [belief] in his blood,\u2019 with intent to justify him that\nbelieveth in Jesus (Rom 3:25,26).\n\nTwelfth. \u2018Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man to\nwhom God imputeth righteousness without works\u2019 (Rom 4:6).\n\nDid our adversaries understand this one text, they would not so boldly\naffirm, as they do, that the words, \u2018impute, imputed, imputeth,\nimputing,\u2019 &c., are not used in scripture but to express men really and\npersonally to be that which is imputed unto them; for men are not\nreally and personally faith, yet faith is imputed to men; nay, they are\nnot really and personally sin, nor really and personally righteousness,\nyet these are imputed to men: so, then, both good things and bad may\nsometimes be imputed to men, yet themselves be really and personally\nneither. But to come to the point: what righteousness hath that man\nthat hath no works? Doubtless none of his own; yet God imputeth\nrighteousness to him. Yea, what works of that man doth God impute to\nhim that he yet justifies as ungodly?\n\nFurther, He that hath works as to justification from the curse before\nGod, not one of them is regarded of God; so, then, it mattereth not\nwhether thou hast righteousness of thine own, or none. \u2018Blessed is the\nman to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works.\u2019 Man\u2019s\nblessedness, then, the blessedness of justification from the curse in\nthe sight of God, lieth not in good works done by us, either before or\nafter faith received, but in a righteousness which God imputeth without\nworks; as we \u2018work not\u2019 as we \u2018are ungodly.\u2019 \u2018Blessed are they whose\niniquities are forgiven, and whose sin is covered\u2019 (v 7). To forgive\nand to cover are acts of mercy, not the cause of our merit. Besides,\nwhere sin is real, there can be no perfect righteousness; but the way\nof justification must be through perfect righteousness, therefore by\nanother than our own, \u2018Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not\nimpute sin\u2019 (v 8). The first cause, then, of justification before God,\ndependeth upon the will of God, who will justify because he will;\ntherefore the meritorious cause must also be of his own providing, else\nhis will cannot herein be absolute; for if justification depend upon\nour personal performances, then not upon the will of God. He may not\nhave mercy upon whom he will, but on whom man\u2019s righteousness will give\nhim leave. But his will, not ours, must rule here; therefore his\nrighteousness, and his only (Rom 9:15,18). So, then, \u2018men are justified\nfrom the curse, in the sight of God, while sinners in themselves.\u2019\n\nHaving passed over these few scriptures, I shall come to particular\ninstances of persons who have been justified; and shall briefly touch\ntheir qualifications in the act of God\u2019s justifying them. First, By the\nOld Testament types. Second, By the New.\n\n[First Position illustrated by Scripture types.]\n\nFirst. By the Old [Testament types]. First. \u2018Unto Adam also and to his\nwife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them\u2019 (Gen\n3:21).\n\nIn the beginning of this chapter you find these two persons reasoning\nwith the serpent, the effect of which discourse was, they take of the\nforbidden fruit, and so break the command of God (vv 7-15). This done,\nthey hide themselves, and cover their nakedness with aprons. But God\nfinds out their sin, from the highest branch even to the roots thereof.\nWhat followeth? Not one precept by which they should by works obtain\nthe favour of God, but the promise of a Saviour; of which promise this\ntwenty-first verse is a mystical interpretation: \u2018The Lord God made\nthem coats of skins, and clothed them.\u2019\n\nHence observe\u20141. That these coats were made, not before, but after they\nhad made themselves aprons; a plain proof their aprons were not\nsufficient to hide their shame from the sight of God. 2. These coats\nwere made, not of Adam\u2019s inherent righteousness, for that was lost\nbefore by sin, but of the skins of the slain, types of the death of\nChrist, and of the righteousness brought in thereby\u2014\u2018By whose stripes\nwe are healed\u2019 (Isa 53).[14] 3. This is further manifest; for the\ncoats, God made them; and for the persons, God clothed them therewith;\nto show that as the righteousness by which we must stand just before\nGod from the curse is a righteousness of Christ\u2019s performing, not of\ntheirs; so he, not they, must put it on them also, for of God we are in\nChrist, and of God his righteousness is made ours (1 Cor 1:30).\n\nBut, I say, if you would see their antecedent qualifications, you find\nthem under two heads\u2014rebellion [and] hypocrisy. Rebellion, in breaking\nGod\u2019s command; hypocrisy, in seeking how to hide their faults from God.\nExpound this by gospel language, and then it shows \u2018that men are\njustified from the curse, in the sight of God, while sinners in\nthemselves.\u2019\n\nSecond. \u2018The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering\u2019 (Gen 4:4).\n\nBy these words we find the person first accepted: \u2018The Lord had respect\nunto Abel.\u2019 And indeed, where the person is not first accepted, the\noffering will not be pleasing; the altar sanctifies the gift, and the\ntemple sanctifieth the gold; so the person, the condition of the\nperson, is that which makes the offering either pleasing or despising\n(Matt 23:16-21). In the epistle to the Hebrews it is said, \u2018By faith\nAbel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he\nobtained witness that he was righteous\u2019 (Heb 11:4). Righteous before he\noffered his gift, as his sacrifice testified; for God accepted of it.\n\n\u2018By faith he offered.\u2019 Wherefore faith was precedent, or before he\noffered. Now faith hath to do with God through Christ; not with him\nthrough our works of righteousness. Besides, Abel was righteous before\nhe offered, before he did do good, otherwise God would not have\ntestified of his gift. \u2018By faith he obtained witness that he was\nrighteous,\u2019 for God approved of his gifts. Now faith, I say, as to our\nstanding quit before the Father, respects the promise of forgiveness of\nsins through the undertaking of the Lord Jesus. Wherefore Abel\u2019s faith\nas to justifying righteousness before God looked not forward to what\nshould be done by himself, but back to the promise of the seed of the\nwoman, that was to destroy the power of hell, and \u2018to redeem them that\nwere under the law\u2019 (Gen 3:15; Gal 4:4,5). By this faith he shrouds\nhimself under the promise of victory, and the merits of the Lord Jesus.\nNow being there, God finds him righteous; and being righteous, \u2018he\noffered to God a more excellent sacrifice than his brother\u2019; for Cain\u2019s\nperson was not first accepted through the righteousness of faith going\nbefore, although he seemed foremost as to personal acts of\nrighteousness (Gen 4). Abel therefore was righteous before he did good\nworks; but that could not be but alone through that respect God had to\nhim for the sake of the Messias promised before (3:15). But the Lord\u2019s\nso respecting Abel presupposeth that at that time he stood in himself\nby the law a sinner, otherwise he needed not to be respected for and\nupon the account of another. Yea, Abel also, forasmuch as he acted\nfaith before he offered sacrifice, must thereby entirely respect the\npromise, which promise was not grounded upon a condition of works to be\nfound in Abel, but in and for the sake of the seed of the woman, which\nis Christ; which promise he believed, and so took it for granted that\nthis Christ should break the serpent\u2019s head\u2014that is, destroy by himself\nthe works of the devil; to wit, sin, death, the curse, and hell (Gal\n4:4). By this faith he stood before God righteous, because he had put\non Christ; and being thus, he offered; by which act of faith God\ndeclared he was pleased with him, because he accepted of his sacrifice.\n\nThird. \u2018And the Lord said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger\u2019\n(Gen 25:23).\n\nThese words, after Paul\u2019s exposition, are to be understood of\njustification in the sight of God, according to the purpose and decree\nof electing love, which had so determined long before, that one of\nthese children should be received to eternal grace; but mark, not by\nworks of righteousness which they should do, but \u2018before they had done\neither good or evil\u2019; otherwise \u2018the purpose of God according to\nelection,\u2019 not of works, but of him that calleth, \u2018could not stand,\u2019\nbut fall in pieces (Rom 9:10-12). But none are received into eternal\nmercy but such as are just before the Lord by a righteousness that is\ncomplete; and Jacob having done no good, could by no means have that of\nhis own, and therefore it must be by some other righteousness, \u2018and so\nhimself be justified from the curse, in the sight of God, while a\nsinner in himself.\u2019\n\nFourth. The same may be said concerning Solomon, whom the Lord loved\nwith special love, as soon as born into the world; which he also\nconfirmed with signal characters. \u2018He sent,\u2019 saith the Holy Ghost, \u2018by\nthe hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah,\nbecause the Lord loved him (2 Sam 12:24,25).[15] Was this love of God\nextended to him because of his personal virtues? No, verily; for he was\nyet an infant.[16] He was justified then in the sight of God from the\ncurse by another than his own righteousness.\n\nFifth. \u2018And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own\nblood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said\nunto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live\u2019 (Eze 16:6).\n\nThe state of this people you have in the former verses described, both\nas to their rise and practice in the world (vv 1-5). 1. As to their\nrise. Their original was the same with Canaan, the men of God\u2019s curse\n(Gen 9:25). \u2018Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan\u2019; the\nsame with other carnal men (Rom 3:9). \u2018Thy father was an Amorite, and\nthy mother an Hittite\u2019 (Eze 16:3). Their condition, that is showed us\nby this emblem\u2014(1.) They had not been washed in water. (2.) They had\nnot been swaddled. (3.) They had not been salted. (4.) They brought\nfilth with them into the world. (5.) They lay stinking in their cradle.\n(6.) They were without strength to help themselves. Thus they appear\nand come by generation. 2. Again, as to their practice\u2014(1.) They\npolluted themselves in their own blood. (2.) They so continued till God\npassed by\u2014\u2018And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine\nown blood\u2019;\u2014\u2018in thy blood, in thy blood\u2019; it is doubled. Thus we see\nthey were polluted born, they continued in their blood till the day\nthat the Lord looked upon them; polluted, I say, to the loathing of\ntheir persons, &c. Now this was the time of love\u2014\u2018And when I passed by\nthee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when\nthou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in\nthy blood, Live\u2019 (Eze 16:6).\n\nQuest. But how could a holy God say, \u2018Live,\u2019 to such a sinful people?\n\nAnsw. Though they had nought but sin, yet he had love and\nrighteousness. He had love to pity them; righteousness to cover\nthem\u2014\u2018Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time\nwas the time of love\u2019 (Eze 16:8). What follows? (1) \u2018I spread my skirt\nover thee\u2019; and (2) \u2018Covered thy nakedness\u2019; yea, (3) \u2018I sware unto\nthee\u2019; and (4) \u2018Entered into covenant with thee\u2019; and (5) \u2018Thou\nbecamest mine.\u2019 My love pitied thee; my skirt covered thee. Thus God\ndelivered them from the curse in his sight. \u2018Then I washed thee with\nwater, after thou wast justified; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy\nblood from thee, and anointed thee with oil\u2019 (v 9).\n\nSanctification, then, is consequential, justification goes before. The\nHoly Ghost by this scripture setteth forth to the life, free grace to\nthe sons of men, while they themselves are sinners. I say, while they\nare unwashed, unswaddled, unsalted, but bloody sinners; for by these\nwords, \u2018not washed, not salted, not swaddled,\u2019 he setteth forth their\nunsanctified state; yea, they were not only unsanctified, but also cast\nout, without pity, to the loathing of their persons; yea, \u2018no eye\npitied them, to do any of these things for them\u2019; no eye but his, whose\nglorious grace is unsearchable; no eye but his, who could look and\nlove; all others looked and loathed; but blessed be God that hath\npassed by us in that day that we wallowed in our own blood; and blessed\nbe God for the skirt of his glorious righteousness wherewith he covered\nus when we lay before him naked in blood. It was when we were in our\nblood that he loved us; when we were in our blood he said, Live.\nTherefore, \u2018men are justified from the curse, in the sight of God,\nwhile sinners in themselves.\u2019\n\nSixth. \u2018Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before\nthe angel\u2019 (Zech 3:3).\n\nThe standing of Joshua here is as men used to stand that were arraigned\nbefore a judge. \u2018Joshua stood before the angel of the Lord, and Satan\nstanding at his right hand to resist him\u2019 (v 1). The same posture as\nJudas stood in when he was to be condemned. \u2018Set thou,\u2019 said David, \u2018a\nwicked man over him; and let Satan stand at his right hand\u2019 (Psa\n109:6). Thus, therefore, Joshua stood. Now Joshua was clothed, not with\nrighteousness, but with filthy rags! Sin upon him, and Satan by him,\nand this before the angel! What must he do now? Go away? No; there he\nmust stand! Can he speak for himself? Not a word; guilt had made him\ndumb! (Isa 53:12). Had he no place clean? No; he was clothed with\nfilthy garments! But his lot was to stand before Jesus Christ, that\nmaketh intercession for transgressors. \u2018And the Lord said unto Satan,\nThe Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen\nJerusalem, rebuke thee\u2019 (Zech 3:2). Thus Christ saveth from present\ncondemnation those that be still in their sin and blood.[17]\n\nBut is he now quit? No; he standeth yet in filthy garments; neither can\nhe, by aught that is in him, or done by him, clear himself from him.\nHow then? Why, the Lord clothes him with change of raiment. The\niniquities were his own, the raiment was the Lord\u2019s. \u2018This is the\nheritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me,\nsaith the Lord\u2019 (Isa 54:17). We will not here discourse of Joshua\u2019s\nsin, what it was, or when committed; it is enough to our purpose that\nhe was clothed with filthy garments; and that the Lord made a change\nwith him, by causing his iniquity to pass from him, and by clothing him\nwith change of raiment. But what had Joshua antecedent to this glorious\nand heavenly clothing? The devil at his right hand to resist him, and\nhimself in filthy garments. \u2018Now Joshua was clothed with filthy\ngarments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto\nthose that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from\nhim. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass\nfrom thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment\u2019 (Zech 3:\n3,4).\n\nSecond. But to pass [from] the Old Testament types, and to come to the\nNew.\n\nFirst. \u2018And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed\nwith the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus\nsuffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell\nthem how great things God hath done for thee, and hath had compassion\non thee\u2019 (Mark 5:18,19).\n\nThe present state of this man is sufficiently declared in these\nparticulars\u20141. He was possessed with a devil; with devils, with many;\nwith a whole legion, which some say is six thousand, or thereabouts\n(Matt 8). 2. These devils had so the mastery of him as to drive him\nfrom place to place into the wilderness among the mountains, and so to\ndwell in the tombs among the dead (Luke 8). 3. He was out of his wits;\nhe would cut his flesh, break his chains; nay, \u2018no man could tame him\u2019\n(Mark 5:4-5). 4. When he saw Jesus, the devil in him, as being lord and\ngovernor there, cried out against the Lord Jesus (v 7). In all this,\nwhat qualification shows itself as precedent to justification? None but\nsuch as devils work, or as rank bedlams have. Yet this poor man was\ndispossessed, taken into God\u2019s compassion, and was bid to show it to\nthe world. \u2018Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the\nLord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee\u2019 (v 19); which\nlast words, because they are added over and above his being\ndispossessed of the devils, I understand to be the fruit of electing\nlove. \u2018I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion,\u2019 which\nblesseth us with the mercy of a justifying righteousness; and all this,\nas by this is manifest, without the least precedent qualification of\nours.\n\nSecond. \u2018And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them\nboth\u2019 (Luke 7:42).\n\nThe occasion of these words was, for that the Pharisee murmured against\nthe woman that washed Jesus\u2019 feet, because \u2018she was a sinner\u2019; for so\nsaid the Pharisee, and so saith the Holy Ghost (v 37). But, saith\nChrist, Simon, I will ask thee a question, \u2018A certain man had two\ndebtors: the one owed him five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And\nwhen they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both\u2019 (v 38).\n\nHence I gather these conclusions\u20141. That men that are wedded to their\nown righteousness understand not the doctrine of the forgiveness of\nsins. This is manifested by the poor Pharisee; he objected against the\nwoman because she was a sinner. 2. Let Pharisees murmur still, yet\nChrist hath pity and mercy for sinners. 3. Yet Jesus doth not usually\nmanifest mercy until the sinner hath nothing to pay. \u2018And when they had\nnothing to pay, he frankly,\u2019 or freely, or heartily, \u2018forgave them\nboth.\u2019 If they had nothing to pay, then they were sinners; but he\nforgiveth no man but with respect to a righteousness; therefore that\nrighteousness must be another\u2019s; for in the very act of mercy they are\nfound sinners. They had nothing but debt, nothing but sin, nothing to\npay [with]. Then they were \u2018justified freely by his grace, through the\nredemption that is in Christ Jesus.\u2019 So, then, \u2018men are justified from\nthe curse, in the sight of God, while sinners in themselves.\u2019\n\nThird. \u2018And when he saw their faith, he said unto the man, Thy sins are\nforgiven thee\u2019 (Luke 5:20).\n\nThis man had not righteousness to stand just before God withal, for his\nsins as yet remained unforgiven; wherefore, seeing guilt remained until\nChrist remitted him, he was discharged while ungodly. And observe it,\nthe faith here mentioned is not to be reckoned so much the man\u2019s, as\nthe faith of them that brought him; neither did it reach to the\nforgiveness of sins, but to the miracle of healing; yet this man, in\nthis condition, had his sins forgiven him.\n\nBut again; set the case, the faith was only his, as it was not, and\nthat it reached to the doctrine of forgiveness, yet it did it without\nrespect to righteousness in himself; for guilt lay still upon him, he\nhad now his sins forgiven him. But this act of grace was a surprisal;\nit was unlooked for. \u2018I am found of them that sought me not\u2019 (Isa\n65:1). They came for one thing, he gave them another; they came for a\ncure upon his body, but, to their amazement, he cured first his soul.\n\u2018Thy sins are forgiven thee.\u2019 Besides, to have his sins forgiven\nbetokeneth an act of grace; but grace and works as to this are opposite\n(Rom 11:6). Therefore \u2018men are justified from the curse, in the sight\nof God, while sinners in themselves.\u2019\n\nFourth. \u2018Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am\nno more worthy to be called thy son\u2019 (Luke 15:21).\n\nWhat this man was is sufficiently declared in verse 13, &c. As 1. A\nriotous spender of all\u2014of time, talent, body, and soul. 2. He added to\nthis his rebellion, great contempt of his father\u2019s house\u2014he joined\nhimself to a stranger, and became an associate with swine (vv 15,17).\nAt last, indeed, he came to himself. But then observe\u2014(1.) He sought\nnot justification by personal performances of his own; (2.) Neither did\nhe mitigate his wickedness; (3.) Nor excuse himself before his father;\nbut first resolveth to confess his sin; and coming to his father, did\nconfess it, and that with aggravating circumstances. \u2018I have sinned\nagainst heaven; I have sinned against thee; I am no more worthy to be\ncalled thy son\u2019 (v 18). Now what he said was true or false. If true,\nthen he had not righteousness. If false, he could not stand just in the\nsight of his father by virtue of his own performances. And, indeed, the\nsequel of the parable clears it. His \u2018father said to his servant, Bring\nforth the best robe,\u2019 the justifying righteousness, \u2018and put it on him;\nand put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet\u2019 (v 22). This best\nrobe, then, being in the father\u2019s house, was not in the prodigal\u2019s\nheart; neither stayed the father for further qualifications, but put it\nupon him as he was, surrounded with sin and oppressed with guilt.\nTherefore \u2018men are justified from the curse, in the sight of God, while\nsinners in themselves.\u2019\n\nFifth. \u2018For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was\nlost\u2019 (Luke 19:10).\n\nThe occasion of these words was, for that the Pharisees murmured\nbecause \u2018Jesus was gone to be guest to one that was a sinner,\u2019 yea, a\nsinner of the publicans, and are most fitly applied to the case in\nhand. For though Zaccheus climbed the tree, yet Jesus Christ found him\nfirst, and called him down by his name; adding withal, \u2018For to-day I\nmust abide at thy house\u2019 (v 5); which being opened by verse 9, is as\nmuch as to say, I am come to be thy salvation. Now this being believed\nby Zaccheus, \u2018he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully.\u2019\nAnd not only so, but to declare to all the simplicity of his faith, and\nthat he unfeignedly accepted of this word of salvation, he said unto\nthe Lord, and that before all present, \u2018Behold, Lord, the half of my\ngoods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by\nfalse accusation,\u2019 a supposition intimating an affirmative, \u2018I restore\nhim fourfold.\u2019[18] This being thus, Christ doubleth his comfort, saying\nto him also, and that before the people, \u2018This day is salvation come to\nthis house.\u2019 Then, by adding the next words, he expounds the whole of\nthe matter, \u2018For I am come to seek and save that which was lost\u2019; to\nseek it till I find it, to save it when I find it. He finds them that\nsought him not (Rom 10:20); and saith, Zaccheus, Behold me! to a people\nthat asked not after him. So, then, seeing Jesus findeth this publican\nfirst, preaching salvation to him before he came down from the tree, it\nis evident he received this as he was a sinner; from which faith flowed\nhis following words and works as a consequence.\n\nSixth. \u2018Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou\nbe with me in paradise\u2019 (Luke 23:43).\n\nThis was spoken to the thief upon the cross, who had lived in\nwickedness all his days; neither had he so much as truly repented\u2014no,\nnot till he came to die; nay, when he first was hanged he then fell to\nrailing on Christ; for though Luke leaves it out, beginning but at his\nconversion; yet by Matthew\u2019s relating the whole tragedy, we find him at\nfirst as bad as the other (Matt 27:44). This man, then, had no moral\nrighteousness, for he had lived in the breach of the law of God.\nIndeed, by faith he believed Christ to be King, and that when dying\nwith him. But what was this to a personal performing the commandments?\nor of restoring what he had oft taken away? Yea, he confesseth his\ndeath to be just for his sin; and so leaning upon the mediation of\nChrist he goeth out of the world. Now he that truly confesseth and\nacknowledgeth his sin, acknowledgeth also the curse to be due thereto\nfrom the righteous hand of God. So then, where the curse of God is due,\nthat man wanteth righteousness. Besides, he that makes to another for\nhelp, hath by that condemned his own, had he any, of utter\ninsufficiency. But all these did this poor creature; wherefore he must\nstand \u2018just from the law in the sight of God, while sinful in himself.\u2019\n\nSeventh. \u2018Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?\u2019 (Acts 9:6).\n\nWhat wilt thou have me to do? Ignorance is here set forth to the full.\nPaul hitherto knew not Jesus, neither what he would have him to do; yet\na mighty man for the law of works, and for zeal towards God according\nto that. Thus you see that he neither knew that Christ was Lord, nor\nwhat was his mind and will\u2014\u2018I did it ignorantly, in unbelief\u2019 (1 Tim\n1:13-15). I did not know him; I did not believe he was to save us; I\nthought I must be saved by living righteously, by keeping the law of\nGod. This thought kept me ignorant of Jesus, and of justification from\nthe curse by him. Poor Saul! how many fellows hast thou yet\nalive!\u2014every man zealous of the law of works, yet none of them know the\nlaw of grace; each of them seeking for life by doing the law, when life\nis to be had by nought but believing in Jesus Christ.\n\nEighth. \u2018Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved\u2019\n(Acts 16:31).\n\nA little before, we find Paul and Silas in the stocks for preaching of\nJesus Christ; in the stocks, in the inward prison, by the hands of a\nsturdy jailer; but at midnight, while Paul and his companion sang\npraises to God, the foundations of the prison shook, and every man\u2019s\nbands were loosed. Now the jailer being awakened by the noise of this\nshaking, and supposing he had lost his prisoners, drew his sword, with\nintent to kill himself; \u2018But Paul cried out, Do thyself no harm; for we\nare all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came\ntrembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out,\nand said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\u2019\n\nIn all this relation here is not aught that can justify the jailer.\nFor, 1. His whole life was idolatry, cruelty, and enmity to God. Yea,\n2. Even now, while the earthquake shook the prison, he had murder in\nhis heart\u2014yea, and in his intentions too; murder, I say, and that of a\nhigh nature, even to have killed his own body and soul at once.[19]\nWell, 3. When he began to shake under the fears of everlasting\nburnings, yet then his heart was wrapped up in ignorance as to the way\nof salvation by Jesus Christ: \u2018What must I do to be saved?\u2019 He knew not\nwhat; no, not he. His condition, then, was this: he neither had\nrighteousness to save him, nor knew he how to get it. Now, what was\nPaul\u2019s answer? Why, \u2018Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,\u2019 look for\nrighteousness in Christ, \u2018and then thou shalt be saved.\u2019 This, then,\nstill holdeth true, \u2018men are justified from the curse, in the sight of\nGod, whilst sinners in themselves.\u2019\n\n[Reasons for the first position drawn from the texts.]\n\nTHIRD. I should now come to the second conclusion, viz., that this can\nbe done by no other righteousness than that long ago performed by, and\nremaining with, the person of Christ. But before I speak to that, I\nwill a little further press this, by urging for it several reasons.\n\nThe First Reason.\u2014Men must be justified from the curse while sinners in\nthemselves, because by nature all are under sin\u2014\u2018All have sinned, and\ncome short of the glory of God. He hath concluded all in unbelief; he\nhath concluded all under sin\u2019 (Rom 3:23, 11:32; Gal 3:22). Now having\nsinned, they are in body and soul defiled, and become an unclean thing.\nWherefore, whatever they touch, with an intent to work out\nrighteousness thereby, they defile that also (Titus 1:15; Lev 15:11;\nIsa 64:6). And hence, as I have said, all the righteousness they seek\nto accomplish is but as a menstruous cloth and filthy rags; therefore\nthey are sinners still.\u2019 Indeed, to some men\u2019s thinking, the Pharisee\nis holier than the Publican; but in God\u2019s sight, in the eyes of Divine\njustice, they stand alike condemned. \u2018All have sinned\u2019; there is the\npoison! Therefore, as to God, without Christ, all throats are an open\nsepulchre (Matt 23:27; Rom 3:13).\n\nThe world in general is divided into two sorts of sinners\u2014the open\nprofane, and the man that seeks life by the works of the law. The\nprofane is judged by all; but the other by a few. Oh! but God judgeth\nhim.\n\n1. For a hypocrite; because that notwithstanding he hath sinned, he\nwould be thought to be good and righteous. And hence it is that Christ\ncalls such kind of holy ones, \u2018Pharisees, hypocrites! Pharisees\nhypocrites!\u2019 because by their gay outside they deceived those that\nbeheld them. But, saith he, God sees your hearts; you are but like\npainted sepulchres, within you are full of dead men\u2019s bones (Prov\n30:12; Matt 23:27-30; Luke 11:26, 16:15). Such is the root from whence\nflows all their righteousness. But doth the blind Pharisee think his\nstate is such? No; his thoughts of himself are far otherwise\u2014\u2018God, I\nthank thee,\u2019 saith he, \u2018I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust,\nadulterers, or even like this publican\u2019 (Luke 18:11,12). Aye, but still\nGod judgeth him for a hypocrite.\n\n2. God judgeth him for one that spurneth against Christ, even by every\nsuch work he doth. And hence it is, when Paul was converted to Jesus\nChrist, that he calls the righteousness he had before, madness,\nblasphemy, injury; because what he did to save himself by works was in\ndirect opposition to grace by Jesus Christ (Phil 3:7,8; Acts 22:3,4,\n26:4; 1 Tim 1:14,15). Behold, then, the evil that is in a man\u2019s own\nrighteousness! (1.) It curseth and condemneth the righteousness of\nChrist. (2.) It blindeth the man from seeing his misery. (3.) It\nhardeneth his heart against his own salvation.\n\n3. But again, God judgeth such, for those that condemn him of\nfoolishness\u2014\u2018The preaching of the cross,\u2019 that is, Christ crucified,\n\u2018is to them that perish foolishness\u2019 (1 Cor 1:18,23). What, saith the\nmerit-monger, will you look for life by the obedience of another man?\nWill you trust to the blood that was shed upon the cross, that run down\nto the ground, and perished in the dust? Thus deridingly they scoff at,\nstumble upon, and are taken in the gin that attends the gospel; not to\nsalvation, but to their condemnation, because they have condemned the\nJust, that they might justify their own filthy righteousness (Isa\n8:14).\n\nBut, I say, if all have sinned, if all are defiled, if the best of a\nman\u2019s righteousness be but madness, blasphemy, injury; if for their\nrighteousness they are judged hypocrites, condemned as opposers of the\ngospel, and as such have counted God foolish for sending his Son into\nthe world; then must the best of \u2018men be justified from the curse in\nthe sight of God while sinners in themselves\u2019; because they still stand\nguilty in the sight of God, their hearts are also still filthy\ninfected\u2014\u2018Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap,\nyet thine iniquity is marked before ME, saith the Lord God\u2019 (Jer 2:22).\nIt stands marked still before God. So, then, what esteem soever men\nhave of the righteousness of the world, yet God accounts it horrible\nwickedness, and the greatest enemy that Jesus hath. Wherefore, this\nvine is the vine of Sodom; these clusters are the clusters of Gomorrah;\nthese grapes are grapes of gall; these clusters are bitter, they are\nthe poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps (Matt 3:7; 23). No\nmarvel, then, if John in his ministry gives the first rebuke and jostle\nto such, still calling them serpents and vipers, and concluding it is\nalmost impossible they should escape the damnation of hell; for of all\nsin, man\u2019s own righteousness, in special, bids defiance to Jesus\nChrist.\n\nThe Second Reason.\u2014A second reason why men must stand just in the sight\nof God from the curse, while sinners in themselves, is, because of the\nexactions of the law. For were it granted that men\u2019s good works arose\nfrom a holy root, and were perfect in their kind, yet the demand of the\nlaw\u2014for that is still beyond them\u2014would leave them sinners before the\njustice of God. And hence it is that holy men stand just in the sight\nof God from the curse; yet dare not offer their gifts by the law, but\nthrough Jesus Christ; knowing that not only their persons, but their\nspiritual service also, would else be rejected of the heavenly Majesty\n(1 Peter 2:5; Rev 7:14-16; Heb 8:7,8).[20]\n\nFor the law is itself so perfectly holy and good as not to admit of the\nleast failure, either in the matter or manner of obedience\u2014\u2018Cursed is\nevery one that continueth not in all things that are written in the\nbook of the law to do them\u2019 (Gal 3:10). For they that shall keep the\nwhole law, and yet offend in one point, are guilty of all, and\nconvicted of the law as transgressors (James 2:9,10). \u2018Tribulation,\u2019\ntherefore, \u2018and anguish, upon every soul of man that doth evil, of the\nJew first, and also of the Gentile\u2019 (Rom 2:9). And observe, the law\nleaveth thee not to thy choice, when, or when not, to begin to keep it;\nbut requireth thy obedience so soon as concerned, exactly, both as to\nthe matter and manner, and that before thou hast sinned against it; for\nthe first sin breaks the law. Now, if thou sinnest before thou\nbeginnest to do, thou art found by the law a transgressor, and so\nstandest by that convicted of sin; so, then, all thy after-acts of\nrighteousness are but the righteousness of a sinner, of one whom the\nlaw hath condemned already (John 3:18). \u2018The law is spiritual, but thou\nart carnal, sold under sin\u2019 (Rom 7:14).\n\nBesides, the law being absolutely perfect, doth not only respect the\nmatter and manner as to outward acts, but also the rise and root, the\nheart, from whence they flow; and an impediment there spoils all, were\nthe executive part never so good\u2014\u2018Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with\nALL thy heart, with ALL thy soul, with ALL thy mind, and with ALL thy\nstrength\u2019 (Mark 12:30). Mark the repetition, with all, with all, with\nall, with all; with all thy heart, with all thy soul, in all things, at\nall times, else thou hadst as good do nothing. But \u2018every imagination\nof the thought of the heart of man is only evil continually\u2019 (Gen 6:5).\nThe margin hath it, \u2018the whole imagination, the purposes, and desires\u2019;\nso that a good root is here wanting. \u2018The heart is deceitful above all\nthings, and desperately wicked: who can know it?\u2019 (Jer 17:9). What\nthoughts, words, or actions can be clean, sufficiently to answer a\nperfect law that flows from this original? It is impossible. \u2018Men must\ntherefore be justified from the curse, in the sight of God, while\nsinners in themselves.\u2019 But further yet to open the case. There are\nseveral things that make it impossible that a man should stand just in\nthe sight of God but while sinful in himself.\n\n1. Because the law under which he at present stands, holds him under\nthe dominion of sin; for sin by the law hath dominion over all that are\nunder the law (Rom 6:14). Dominion, I say, both as to guilt and filth.\nGuilt hath dominion over him, because he is under the curse: and filth,\nbecause the law giveth him no power, neither can he by it deliver his\nsoul. And for this cause it is that it is called beggarly, weak,\nunprofitable; imposing duty, but giving no strength (Gal 3:2, 4:9).\nExpecting the duty should be complete, yet bendeth not the heart to do\nthe work; to do it, I say, as is required (Rom 8:3). And hence it is\nagain that it is called a \u2018voice of words\u2019 (Heb 12:19);[21] for as\nwords that are barely such are void of spirit and quickening life, so\nare the impositions of the law of works. Thus far, therefore, the man\nremains a sinner. But,\n\n2. The law is so far from giving life or strength to do it, that it\ndoth quite the contrary.[22]\n\n(1.) It weakeneth, it discourageth, and dishearteneth the sinner,\nespecially when it shows itself in its glory; for then it is the\nministration of death, and killeth all the world. When Israel saw this,\nthey fled from the face of God; they could not endure that which was\ncommanded (Exo 20:18,19); yea, so terrible was the sight, that Moses\nsaid, \u2018I exceedingly fear and quake\u2019 (Heb 12:20,21). Yea, almost forty\nyears after, Moses stood amazed to find himself and Israel yet alive,\n\u2018Did ever people,\u2019 said he, \u2018hear the voice of God speaking out of the\nmidst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?\u2019 (Deut 4:32,33). Alas!\nhe who boasteth himself in the works of the law, he doth not hear the\nlaw; when that speaks, it shakes Mount Sinai, and writeth death upon\nall faces, and makes the church itself cry out, A mediator! else we die\n(Exo 20:19; Deut 5:25-27, 18:15,19).\n\n(2.) It doth not only thus discourage, but abundantly increaseth every\nsin. Sin takes the advantage of being by the law; the motions of sin\nare by the law. Where no law is, there is no transgression (Rom 4:15,\n7:5). Sin takes an occasion to live by the law: \u2018When the commandment\ncame, sin revived; for without the law, sin was dead\u2019 (Rom 7:8,9). Sin\ntakes an occasion to multiply by the law: \u2018The law entered, that the\noffence might abound\u2019 (Rom 5:20). \u2018And the strength of sin is the law\u2019\n(1 Cor 15:56). \u2018That sin by the commandment might become\u2019 outrageous,\n\u2018exceeding sinful\u2019 (Rom 7:13). \u2018What shall we say then? Is the law sin?\nGod forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not\nknown lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin,\ntaking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of\nconcupiscence. For without the law, sin was dead\u2019 (Rom 7:7,8)\n\nThese things, then, are not infused or operated by the law from its own\nnature or doctrine, but are occasioned by the meeting of, and having to\ndo with, a thing directly opposite. \u2018The law is spiritual, I am\ncarnal\u2019; therefore every imposition is rejected and rebelled against.\nStrike a steel against a flint, and the fire flies about you; strike\nthe law against a carnal heart, and sin appears, sin multiplies, sin\nrageth, sin is strengthened! And hence ariseth all these doubts,\nmurmurings, and sinful complainings that are found in the hearts of the\npeople of God; they have too much to do with the law; the law of works\nis now in the conscience, imposing duty upon the carnal part. This is\nthe reason of the noise that you hear, and of the sin that you see, and\nof the horror that you feel in your own souls when tempted. But to pass\nthis digression.\n\nThe law, then, having to do with carnal men, by this they become worse\nsinners than before; for their heart now recoileth desperately,\nopposeth blasphemously; it giveth way to despair; and then to conclude\nthere is no hope for hereafter; and so goeth on in a sordid, ungodly\ncourse of life, till his time is come to die and be damned, unless a\nmiracle of grace prevent. From all this I conclude, that \u2018a man cannot\nstand just from the curse, in the sight of God but while sinful in\nhimself.\u2019 But,\n\n3. As the law giveth neither strength nor life to keep it, so it\nneither giveth nor worketh repentance unto life if thou break it. Do\nthis and live, break it and die; this is the voice of the law. All the\nrepentance that such men have, it is but that of themselves, the sorrow\nof the world, that endeth in death, as Cain\u2019s and Judas\u2019 did, even such\na repentance as must be repented of either here or in hell-fire (2 Cor\n7:10).\n\n4. As it giveth none, so it accepteth none of them that are under the\nlaw (Gal 5:4). Sin and die, is for ever its language; there is no\nmiddle way in the law; they must bear their judgment, whosoever they\nbe, that stand and fall to the law. Therefore Cain was a vagabond\nstill, and Judas hangeth himself; their repentance could not save them,\nthey fell headlong under the law. The law stays no man from the due\nreward of his deeds; it hath no ears to hear nor heart to pity its\npenitent ones (Gen 4:9-11; Matt 27:3).\n\n5. By the law, God will show no mercy; for, \u2018I will be merciful to\ntheir unrighteousness,\u2019 is the tenor of another covenant (Heb\n8:9,10,12). But by the law I regard them not, saith the Lord. For,\n\n6. All the promises annexed to the law are, by the first sin, null and\nvoid. Though, then, a man should live a thousand years twice told, and\nall that while fulfil the law, yet having sinned first, he is not at\nall the better. Our legalists, then, begin to talk too soon of having\nlife by the law; let them first begin without sin, and so throughout\ncontinue to death, and then if God will save them, not by Christ, but\nworks, contrary to the covenant of grace, they may hope to go to\nheaven.\n\n7. But, lastly, to come close to the point. Thou hast sinned; the law\nnow calls for passive as well as active obedience; yea, great\ncontentedness in all thou sufferest for thy transgressing against the\nlaw. So, then, wilt thou live by the law? Fulfil it, then, perfectly\ntill death, and afterwards go to hell and be damned, and abide there\ntill the law and curse for thy sin be satisfied for; and then, but not\ntill then, thou shalt have life by the law. Tell me, now, you that\ndesire to be under the law, can you fulfil all the commands of the law,\nand after answer all its demands? Can you grapple with the judgment of\nGod? Can you wrestle with the Almighty? Are you stronger than he that\nmade the heavens, and that holdeth angels in everlasting chains? \u2018Can\nthine heart endure, or can thy hands be strong in the day that I shall\ndeal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it\u2019 (Eze 22:14).\nO, it cannot be! \u2018These must go away into everlasting punishment\u2019 (Matt\n25:46). So, then, men must stand just from the curse, in the sight of\nGod, while sinners in themselves, or not at all.\n\nObjection [to the second reason]. But the apostle saith, \u2018That the\ndoers of the law shall be justified\u2019 (Rom 2). Plainly intimating that,\nnotwithstanding all you say, some by doing the law may stand just\nbefore God thereby; and if so, then Christ fulfilled it for us but as\nour example.\n\nAnswer. The consequences are not true; for by these words, \u2018The doers\nof the law shall be justified,\u2019 there is no more proof of a possibility\nof saving thyself by the law than there is by these: \u2018For by the works\nof the law shall no man living be justified in his sight\u2019 (Gal 2:16).\nThe intent, then, of the text objected, is not to prove a possibility\nof man\u2019s salvation by the law, but to insinuate rather an\nimpossibility, by asserting what perfections the law requireth. And\nwere I to argue against the pretended sufficiency of man\u2019s own\nrighteousness, I would choose to frame mine argument upon such a place\nas this\u2014\u2018The hearers of the law are not just before God\u2019; therefore the\nbreakers of the law are not just before God; not just, I say, by the\nlaw; but all have sinned and broken the law; therefore none by the law\nare just before God. For if all stand guilty of sin by the law, then\nthat law that judgeth them sinners cannot justify them before God. And\nwhat if the apostle had said, \u2018Blessed are they that continue in all\nthings,\u2019 instead of pronouncing a curse for the contrary, the\nconclusion had been the same; for where the blessing is pronounced, he\nis not the better that breaks the condition; and where the curse is\npronounced, he is not the worse that keeps it. But neither doth the\nblessing nor curse in the law intend a supposition that men may be just\nby the law, but rather to show the perfection of the law, and that\nthough a blessing be annexed thereto, no man by it can obtain that\nblessing; for not the hearers of the law are justified before God, but\nthe doers, when they do it, shall be justified. None but doers can by\nit be just before God: but none do the law, no, not one, therefore none\nby it can stand just before God (Rom 3:10,11).\n\nAnd whereas it is said Christ kept the law as our example, that we by\nkeeping it might get to heaven, as he; it is false, as before was\nshowed\u2014\u2018He is the end of the law,\u2019 or, hath perfectly finished it, \u2018for\nrighteousness to every one that believeth\u2019 (Rom 10:4). But a little to\ntravel with this objection; no man can keep the moral law as Christ,\nunless he be first without sin, as Christ; unless he be God and man, as\nChrist. And again; Christ cannot be our pattern in keeping the law for\nlife, because of the disproportion that is between him and us; for if\nwe do it as he, when yet we are weaker than he; what is this but to\nout-vie, outdo, and go beyond Christ? Wherefore we, not he, have our\nlives exemplary: exemplary, I say, to him; for who doth the greatest\nwork, they that take it in hand in full strength, as Christ; or he that\ntakes it in hand in weakness, as we? Doubtless the last, if he fulfils\nit as Christ. So, then, by this doctrine, while we call ourselves his\nscholars, we make ourselves indeed the masters. But I challenge all the\nangels in heaven, let them but first sin as we have done, to fulfil the\nlaw, as Christ, if they can!\n\nBut again; if Christ be our pattern in keeping the law for life from\nthe curse before God, then Christ fulfilled the law for himself; if so,\nhe was imperfect before he fulfilled it. And how far short this is of\nblasphemy let sober Christians judge; for the righteousness he\nfulfilled was to justify from sin; but if it was not to justify us from\nours, you know what remaineth (Dan 9:26; Isa 53:8-10).\n\nBut when must we conclude we have kept the law? Not when we begin,\nbecause we have sinned first; nor when we are in the middle, for we may\nafterwards miscarry. But what if a man in this his progress hath one\nsinful thought? I query, is it possible to come up to the pattern for\njustification with God? If yea, then Christ had such; if no, then who\ncan fulfil the law as he? But should I grant that which is indeed\nimpossible\u2014namely, that thou art justified by the law; what then? Art\nthou now in the favour of God? No, thou art fallen by this thy\nperfection, from the love and mercy of God: \u2018Whosoever of you are\njustified by the law are fallen from grace\u2019 (Gal 5:4). He speaks not\nthis to them that are doing, but to such as think they have done it,\nand shows that the blessing that these have got thereby is to fall from\nthe favour of God. Being fallen from grace, Christ profits them\nnothing, and so they still stand debtors to do the whole law. So, then,\nthey must not be saved by God\u2019s mercy, nor Christ\u2019s merits, but alone\nby the works of the law! But what should such men do in that kingdom\nthat comes by gift, where grace and mercy reigns? Yea, what should they\ndo among that company that are saved alone by grace, through the\nredemption that is in Jesus Christ? Let them go to that kingdom that\nGod hath prepared for them that are fallen from grace. \u2018Cast out the\nbond-woman and her son; for he shall not be heir with the son of the\nfree-woman\u2019 and of promise (Gal 4:30).[23]\n\nBut to pass this objection. Before I come to the next reason, I shall\nyet for the further clearing of this, urge these scriptures more.\n\n[Further scriptures to prove the second reason.]\n\n1. The first is that in Galatians 3:10, \u2018As many as are of the works of\nthe law are under the curse.\u2019\n\nBehold how boldly Paul asserts it! And observe it, he saith not here,\nso many as sin against the law\u2014though that be true\u2014but, \u2018As many as are\nof the works of the law.\u2019 But what, then, are the works of the law? Not\nwhoredom, murder, theft, and the like; but works that are holy and\ngood, the works commanded in the ten commandments, as to love God,\nabhor idols, reverence the name of God, keeping the Sabbath, honouring\nthy parents, abstaining from adultery, murder, theft, false-witness,\nand not to covet what is thy neighbour\u2019s\u2014these are the works of the\nlaw. Now he, saith Paul, that is of these is under the curse of God.\nBut what is it then to be of these? Why, to be found in the practice of\nthem, and there resting; this is the man that is under the curse: not\nbecause the works of the law are wicked in themselves, but because the\nman that is in the practice of them comes short of answering the\nexactness of them, and therefore dies for his imperfections (Rom 2:17).\n\n2. The second scripture is that of the eleventh verse of the same\nchapter, \u2018But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God,\nit is evident; for, The just shall live by faith.\u2019\n\nThese words, \u2018the just shall live by faith,\u2019 are taken out of the Old\nTestament, and are thrice used by this apostle in the New. (1.) To show\nthat nothing of the gospel can be apprehended but by faith: \u2018For\ntherein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.\u2019 \u2018As\nit is written, The just shall live by faith\u2019 (Rom 1:17). (2.) To show\nthat the way to have relief and succour under temptation is then to\nlive by faith: \u2018Now the just shall live by faith\u2019 (Heb 10:38) (3.) But\nin this of the Galatians it is urged to show that how holy and just\nsoever men be in themselves, yet as such they are dead, and condemned\nto death by the law before God. But that no man is justified by the\nlaw, in the sight of God, is evident; for, \u2018the just shall live by\nfaith.\u2019\n\nThe word \u2018just,\u2019 therefore, in this place in special, respecteth a man\nthat is just, or that so esteems himself by the law, and is here\nconsidered in a double capacity; first, what he is before men;\nsecondly, what he is before God. (1.) As he stands before men, he is\njust by the law; as Paul before his conversion (Phil 3:4). (2.) As he\nstands in the sight of God; so, without the faith of Christ, he cannot\nbe just, as is evident; for \u2018the just shall live,\u2019 not by his justice\nor righteousness by the law.\n\nThis is the true intent of this place. Because they carry with them a\nsupposition that the just here intended may be excluded life, he\nfalling within the rejection asserted within the first part of the\nverse. No man is just by the law in the sight of God; for \u2018the just\nshall live by faith\u2019: his justice cannot make him live, he must live by\nthe faith of Christ.[24] Again, the words are a reason dissuasive,\nurged to put a stop to those that are seeking life by the law; as if\nthe apostle had said, Ye Galatians! what are you doing? Would you be\nsaved by keeping the law? Would you stand just before God thereby? Do\nyou not hear the prophets, how they press faith in Jesus, and life by\nfaith in him? Come, I will reason with you, by way of supposition. Were\nit granted that you all loved the law, yet that for life, will avail\nyou nothing; for, \u2018the just shall live by faith.\u2019\n\nWere it granted that you kept the law, and that no man on earth could\naccuse you; were you therefore just before God? No; neither can you\nlive by works before him; for \u2018the just shall live by faith.\u2019 Why not\nlive before him? Because when we have done our best, and are applauded\nof all the world for just, yet then God sees sin in our hearts: \u2018He\nputteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his\nsight\u2019 (Job 15:15, 4:18). There is then a just man that perisheth in\nhis righteousness, if he want the faith of Christ, for that no man is\njustified by the law, in the sight of God, is evident; for, \u2018the just\nshall live by faith\u2019; and the law is not of faith.\n\n3. The third Scripture is this\u2014\u2018We who are Jews by nature, and not\nsinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the\nworks of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have\nbelieved in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of\nChrist, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law\nshall no flesh be justified\u2019 (Gal 2:15,16).\n\nThese words are the result of the experienced Christians in the\nprimitive times; yea, of those among them that had given up themselves\nbefore to the law, to get life and heaven thereby; the result, I say,\nof believing Jews\u2014We who are Jews by nature. But how are they\ndistinguished from the Gentiles? Why, they are such that rest in the\nlaw, and make their boast of God; that know his will, and approve the\nthings that are excellent; that are guides to the blind, and a light to\nthem that are in darkness; that are instructors of the foolish,\nteachers of babes, and which have the form of knowledge, and of the\ntruth of the law (Rom 2:17-19). How far these attained we find by that\nof the Pharisee\u2014I pray, I fast, I give tithes of all (Luke 18:11,12);\nand by the young man in the gospel\u2014\u2018All these have I kept from my youth\nup\u2019; and by that of Paul\u2014\u2018Touching the righteousness which is in the\nlaw, blameless\u2019 (Phil 3:6). This was the Jew by nature, to do and trust\nin this.[25] Now these attaining afterwards the sound knowledge of sin,\nthe depravedness of nature, and the exactions of the law, fled from the\ncommand of the law to the Lord Jesus for life. \u2018We knowing\u2019 is\u2014We that\nare taught of God, and that have found it by sad experience, we, even\nwe, have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the\nfaith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. Surely, if\nrighteousness had come by the law, Paul and the Jews had found it, they\nbeing by many privileges far better than the sinners of the Gentiles;\nbut these, when they received the word of the gospel, even these now\nfly to Christ from the law, that they might be justified by the faith\nof Christ, and not by the works of the law.\n\nTo conclude this. If righteous men, through the knowledge of the\ngospel, are made to leave the law of God, as despairing of life\nthereby, surely righteousness is not to be found in the law; I mean\nthat which can justify thee before God from the curse who livest and\nwalkest in the law. I shall, therefore, end this second reason with\nwhat I have said before\u2014\u2018Men must be justified from the curse in the\nsight of God while sinful in themselves.\u2019\n\nThe Third Reason.\u2014Another reason why not one under heaven can be\njustified by the law, or by his own personal performances to it, is,\nbecause since sin was in the world, God hath rejected the law and the\nworks thereof for life (Rom 7:10).\n\nIt is true, before man had sinned, it was ordained to be unto life; but\nsince, and because of sin, the God of love gave the word of grace. Take\nthe law, then, as God hath established it; to wit, to condemn all flesh\n(Gal 3:21); and then there is room for the promise and the law, the one\nto kill, the other to heal; and so the law is not against the promises;\nbut make the law a justifier, and faith is made void, and the promise\nis made of none effect (Rom 4:14); and the everlasting gospel, by so\ndoing, thou endeavourest to root out of the world. Methinks, since it\nhath pleased God to reject the law and the righteousness thereof for\nlife, such dust and ashes as we are should strive to consent to his\nholy will, especially when in the room of this [covenant] of works\nthere is established a better covenant, and that upon better promises.\nThe Lord hath rejected the law, for the weakness and unprofitableness\nthereof; for, finding fault with them of the law, \u2018The days come, saith\nthe Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel,\u2019\n&c. (Heb 8:8). Give God leave to find fault with us, and to condemn our\npersonal performances to death, as to our justification before him\nthereby; let him do it, I say; and the rather, because he doth by the\ngospel present us with a better. And certainly, if ever he be pleased\nwith us, it will be when he findeth us in that righteousness that is of\nhis own appointing.\n\n[Six things that incline the heart to seek to the law for life.]\n\nTo conclude. Notwithstanding all that hath or can be said, there are\nsix things that have great power with the heart to bend it to seek life\nbefore God by the law; of all which I would caution that soul to\nbeware, that would have happiness in another world.\n\nFirst. Take heed thou be not made to seek to the law for life, because\nof that name and majesty of God which thou findest upon the doctrine of\nthe law (Exo 20:1). God indeed spake all the words of the law, and\ndelivered them in that dread and majesty to men that shook the hearts\nof all that heard it. Now this is of great authority with some, even to\nseek for life and bliss by the law. \u2018We know,\u2019 said some, \u2018that God\nspake to Moses\u2019 (John 9:29). And Saul rejected Christ even of zeal\ntowards God (Acts 22:3). What zeal? Zeal towards God according to the\nlaw, which afterwards he left and rejected, because he had found out a\nbetter way. The life that he once lived, it was by the law; but\nafterwards, saith he, \u2018The life which I now live,\u2019 it is by faith, \u2018by\nthe faith of Jesus Christ\u2019 (Gal 2:20). So that though the law was the\nappointment of God, and had also his name and majesty upon it, yet now\nhe will not live by the law. Indeed, God is in the law, but yet only as\njust and holy, not as gracious and merciful; so he is only in Jesus\nChrist. \u2018The law,\u2019 the word of justice, \u2018was given by Moses, but grace\nand truth came by Jesus Christ\u2019 (John 1:17). Wherefore, whatever of God\nthou findest in the law, yet seeing grace and mercy is not there, let\nneither the name of God, nor that majesty that thou findest of him in\nthe law, prevail with thee to seek life by all the holy commandments of\nthe law.\n\nSecond. Take heed that the law, by taking hold on thy conscience, doth\nnot make thee seek life by the law (Rom 2:13-15). The heart of man is\nthe seat of the law. This being so, the understanding and conscience\nmust needs be in danger of being bound by the law. Man is a law unto\nhimself, and showeth that the works of the law are written in his\nheart. Now, the law being thus nearly related to man, it easily takes\nhold of the understanding and conscience; by which hold, if it be not\nquickly broken off by the promise and grace of the gospel, it is\ncaptivated to the works of the law; for conscience is such a thing,\nthat if it once be possessed with a doctrine, yea, though but with the\ndoctrine of an idol, it will cleave so fast thereto that nothing but a\nhand from heaven can loosen it; and if it be not loosed, no gospel can\nbe there embraced (1 Cor 8:7). Conscience is Little-ease, if men resist\nit, whether it be rightly or wrongly informed.[26] How fast, then, will\nit hold when it knows it cleaves to the law of God! Upon this account,\nthe condition of the unbeliever is most miserable; for not having faith\nin the gospel of grace, through which is tendered the forgiveness of\nsins, they, like men a-drowning, hold fast that they have found; which\nbeing the law of God, they follow it; but because righteousness flies\nfrom them, they at last are found only accursed and condemned to hell\nby the law. Take heed, therefore, that thy conscience be not entangled\nby the law (Rom 9:31,32).\n\nThird. Take heed of fleshly wisdom. Reasoning suiteth much with the\nlaw. \u2018I thought verily that I ought to do many things against the name\nof Jesus,\u2019 and so to have sought for life by the law; my reason told me\nso. For thus will reason say: Here is a righteous law, the rule of life\nand death; besides, what can be better than to love God, and my\nneighbour as myself? Again; God hath thus commanded, and his commands\nare just and good; therefore, doubtless, life must come by the law.\nFurther, to love God and keep the law are better than to sin and break\nit; and seeing men lost heaven by sin, how should they get it again but\nby working righteousness? Besides, God is righteous, and will therefore\nbless the righteous. O the holiness of the law! It mightily swayeth\nwith reason when a man addicteth himself to religion; the light of\nnature teacheth that sin is not the way to heaven; and seeing no word\ndoth more condemn sin than the words of the ten commandments, it must\nneeds be, therefore, the most perfect rule for holiness; wherefore,\nsaith reason, the safest way to life and glory is to keep myself close\nto the law. But a little here to correct. Though the law indeed be\nholy, yet the mistake as to the matter in hand is as wide as the east\nfrom the west; for therefore the law can do thee no good, because it is\nholy and just; for what can he that hath sinned expect from a law that\nis holy and just? Nought but condemnation. Let them lean to it while\nthey will, \u2018there is one that accuseth you,\u2019 saith Christ, \u2018even Moses,\nin whom you trust\u2019 (John 5:45).\n\nFourth. Man\u2019s ignorance of the gospel suiteth well with the doctrine of\nthe law; they, through their being ignorant of God\u2019s righteousness,\nfall in love with that (Rom 10:1-4). Yea, they do not only suit, but,\nwhen joined in act, the one strengtheneth the other; that is, the law\nstrengtheneth our blindness, and bindeth the veil more fast about the\nface of our souls. The law suiteth much our blindness of mind; for\nuntil this day remains the veil untaken away in the reading of the Old\nTestament; especially in the reading of that which was written and\nengraven on stones; to wit, the ten commandments, that perfect rule for\nholiness; which veil was done away in Christ (2 Cor 3:15,16). But \u2018even\nto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is over their hearts\u2019; they\nare blinded by the duties enjoined by the law from the sight and hopes\nof forgiveness of sins by grace. \u2018Nevertheless when IT,\u2019 the heart,\n\u2018shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.\u2019 The law, then,\ndoth veil the heart from Christ, and holds the man so down to doing and\nworking for the kingdom of heaven, that he quite forgets the\nforgiveness of sins by mercy through Christ. Now this veiling or\nblinding by the law is occasioned\u2014\n\n1. By reason of the contrariety of doctrine that is in the law to that\nwhich was in the gospel. The law requireth obedience to all its demands\nupon pain of everlasting burnings; the gospel promiseth forgiveness of\nsins to him that worketh not, but believeth. Now the heart cannot\nreceive both these doctrines; it must either let go doing or believing.\nIf it believe, it is dead to doing; if it be set to doing for life, it\nis dead to believing.[27] Besides, he that shall think both to do and\nbelieve for justification before God from the curse, he seeks for life\nbut as it were by the law, he seeks for life but as it were by Christ;\nand he being not direct in either, shall for certain be forsaken of\neither. Wherefore? Because he seeks it not by faith, but as it were by\nthe works of the law\u2019 (Rom 9:32).\n\n2. The law veils and blinds by that guilt and horror for sin that\nseizeth the soul by the law; for guilt, when charged close upon the\nconscience, is attended with such aggravations, and that with such\npower and evidence, that the conscience cannot hear, nor see, nor feel\nanything else but that. When David\u2019s guilt for murder and blood did\nroar by the law in his conscience, notwithstanding he knew much of the\ngrace of the gospel, he could hear nothing else but terror, the sound\nof blood; the murder of Uriah was the only noise that he heard;\nwherefore he crieth to God that he would make him hear the gospel.\n\u2018Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast\nbroken may rejoice\u2019 (Psa 51:8). And as he could not hear, so neither\ncould he see; the law had struck him deaf and blind. \u2018I am,\u2019 saith he,\n\u2018not able to look up\u2019; not up to Christ for mercy. As if David had\nsaid, O Lord, the guilt of sin, which is by the law, makes such a noise\nand horror in my conscience, that I can neither hear nor see the word\nof peace unless it is spoken with a voice from heaven! The serpents\nthat bit the people in the days of old were types of guilt and sin (Num\n21:6). Now, these were fiery serpents, and such as, I think, could fly\n(Isa 14:29). Wherefore, in my judgment, they stung the people about\ntheir faces, and so swelled up their eyes, which made it the more\ndifficult for them to look up to the brazen serpent, which was the type\nof Christ (John 3:14). Just so doth sin by the law do now. It stings\nthe soul, the very face of the soul, which is the cause that looking up\nto Jesus, or believing in him, is so difficult a task in time of terror\nof conscience.[28]\n\n3. This is not only so at present, but so long as guilt is on the\nconscience, so long remains the blindness; for guilt standing before\nthe soul, the grace of God is intercepted, even as the sun is hid from\nthe sight of mine eyes by the cloud that cometh between. \u2018My sin,\u2019 said\nDavid, \u2018is ever before me,\u2019 and so kept other things out of his sight;\nsin, I say, when applied by the law (Psa 51:3). When the law came to\nPaul, he remained without sight until the good man came unto him with\nthe word of forgiveness of sins (Acts 9).\n\n4. Again; where the law comes with power, there it begetteth many\ndoubts against the grace of God; for it is only a revealer of sin, and\nthe ministration of death; that is, a doctrine that sheweth sin, and\ncondemneth for the same; hence, therefore, as was hinted before, the\nlaw being the revealer of sin, where that is embraced, there sin must\nneeds be discovered and condemned, and the soul for the sake of that.\nFurther, it is not only a revealer of sin, but that which makes it\nabound; so that the closer any man sticks to the law for life, the\nfaster sin doth cleave to him. \u2018That law,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018which was\nordained to be unto life, I found to be unto death,\u2019 for by the law I\nbecame a notorious sinner; I thought to have obtained life by obeying\nthe law, \u2018but sin taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and\nby it slew me\u2019 (Rom 7:10-14). A strange way of deceivableness, and it\nis hid from the most of men; but, as I have already told you, you see\nhow it comes to pass. (1.) Man by nature is carnal, and the law itself\nis spiritual: now betwixt these two ariseth great difference; the law\nis exceeding good, the heart exceeding bad; these two opposites,\ntherefore, the heart so abiding, can by no means agree. (2.) Therefore,\nat every approach of the law to the heart with intent to impose duty,\nor to condemn for the neglect thereof; at every such approach the heart\nstarteth back, especially when the law comes home indeed, and is heard\nin his own language. This being thus, the conscience perceiving this is\na fault, begins to tremble at the sense of judgment; the law still\ncontinueth to command to duty, and to condemn for the neglect thereof.\nFrom this struggling of these two opposites ariseth, I say, those\ndoubts and fears that drive the heart into unbelief, and that make it\nblind to the word of the gospel, that it can neither see nor understand\nanything but that it is a sinner, and that the law must be fulfilled by\nit, if ever it be saved.\n\n[Fifth.] But again; another thing that hath great influence upon the\nheart to make it lean to the law for life is, the false names that\nSatan and his instruments have put upon it; such as these\u2014to call the\nlaw the gospel; conscience, the Spirit of Christ; works, faith; and the\nlike: with these, weak consciences have been mightily pestered; yea,\nthousands deluded and destroyed. This was the way whereby the enemy\nattempted to overthrow the church of Christ of old; as, namely, those\nin Galatia and at Corinth, &c. (2 Cor 11:3,4,13,14). I say, by the\nfeigned notion that the law was the gospel, the Galatians were removed\nfrom the gospel of Christ; and Satan, by appropriating to himself and\nhis ministers the names and titles of the ministers of the Lord Jesus,\nprevailed with many at Corinth to forsake Paul and his doctrine. Where\nthe Lord Jesus hath been preached in truth, and something of his\ndoctrine known, it is not there so easy to turn people aside from the\nsound of the promise of grace, unless it be by the noise and sound of a\ngospel. Therefore, I say, the false apostles came thus among the\nchurches: \u2018another gospel, another gospel\u2019; which, in truth, saith\nPaul, \u2018is not another; but some would pervert the gospel of Christ,\u2019\nand thrust that out of doors, by gilding the law with that glorious\nname (Gal 1:6-8).[29] So again, for the ministers of Satan, they must\nbe called the apostles of Christ, and ministers of righteousness; which\nthing, I say, is of great force, especially being accompanied with so\nholy and just a doctrine as the word of the law is; for what better to\nthe eye of reason than to love God above all, and our neighbour as\nourselves, which doctrine, being the scope of the ten words given on\nSinai, no man can contradict; for, in truth, they are holy and good.\n\nBut here is the poison; to set this law in the room of a mediator, as\nthose do that seek to stand just before God thereby; and then nothing\nis so dishonourable to Christ, nor of so soul-destroying a nature as\nthe law; for that, thus placed, hath not only power when souls are\ndeluded, but power to delude, by its real holiness, the understanding,\nconscience, and reason of a man; and by giving the soul a semblance of\nheaven, to cause it to throw away Christ, grace, and faith. Wherefore\nit behoveth all men to take heed of names, and of appearances of\nholiness and goodness.\n\n[Sixth.] Lastly, Satan will yet go further; he will make use of\nsomething that may be at a distance from a moral precept, and therewith\nbring souls under the law. Thus he did with some of old; he did not\nmake the Galatians fall from Christ by virtue of one of the ten words,\nbut by something that was aloof off; by circumcision, days, and months,\nthat were Levitical ceremonies; for he knows it is no matter, nor in\nwhat Testament he found it, if he can therewith hide Christ from the\nsoul\u2014\u2018Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ\nshall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is\ncircumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law\u2019 (Gal 5:2,3). Why\nso, seeing circumcision is not one of the ten words [commandments]?\nWhy, because they did it in conscience to God, to stand just before him\nthereby. Now here we may behold much cunning of the devil; he begins\nwith some at a distance from that law which curseth, and so by little\nand little bringeth them under it; even as by circumcision the\nGalatians were at length brought under the law that condemneth all men\nto the wrath and judgment of God. I have often wondered when I have\nread how God crieth out against the Jews, for observing his own\ncommandment (Isa 1:11-14). But I perceive by Paul that by these things\na man may reject and condemn the Lord Jesus; which those do, that for\nlife set up aught, whether moral or other institution, besides the\nfaith of Jesus. Let men therefore warily distinguish betwixt names and\nthings, betwixt statute and commandment, lest they by doing the one\ntransgress against the other (2 Cor 1:19,20). Study, therefore, the\nnature and end of the law with the nature and end of the gospel; and if\nthou canst keep them distinct in thy understanding and conscience,\nneither names nor things, neither statutes nor commandments, can draw\nthee from the faith of the gospel. And that thou mayest yet be helped\nin this matter, I shall now come to speak to the second conclusion.\n\n[THE SECOND POSITION.]\n\nSECOND. THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD, WHILE\nSINNERS IN THEMSELVES, BY NO OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN THAT LONG AGO\nPERFORMED BY, AND REMAINING WITH, THE PERSON OF CHRIST.\n\n\nFor the better prosecuting of this position I shall observe two\nthings\u2014FIRST, That the righteousness by which we stand just before God,\nfrom the curse, was performed by the person of Christ. SECOND, That\nthis righteousness is inherent only in him.\n\nFIRST. As to the first of these, I shall be but brief. Now, that the\nrighteousness that justifieth us was performed long ago by the person\nof Christ, besides what hath already been said, is further manifest\nthus\u2014\n\nFirst. He is said to have purged our sins by himself\u2014\u2018When he had by\nhimself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of God\u2019 (Heb\n1:3). I have showed that in Christ, for the accomplishing of\nrighteousness, there was both doing and suffering; doing, to fulfil all\nthe commands of the law; suffering, to answer its penalty for sin. This\nsecond is that which in this to the Hebrews is in special intended by\nthe apostle, where he saith he hath purged our sins, that is, by his\nprecious blood; for it is that alone can purge our sins, either out of\nthe sight of God or out of the sight of the soul (Heb 9:14). Now this\nwas done by himself, saith the apostle; that is, in or by his personal\ndoings and sufferings. And hence it is that when God had rejected the\nofferings of the law, he said, \u2018Lo, I come. A body hast thou prepared\nme,\u2014to do thy will, O God\u2019 (Heb 10:5-8). Now by this will of God, saith\nthe Scripture, we are sanctified. By what will? Why, by the offering up\nof the body of Jesus Christ; for that was God\u2019s will, that thereby we\nmight be a habitation for him; as he saith again\u2014\u2018Jesus also, that he\nmight sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the\ngate\u2019 (Heb 13:12).\n\nSecond. As it is said, he hath purged our sins by himself, so it was by\nhimself at once\u2014\u2018For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them\nthat are sanctified\u2019 (10:14). Now by this word \u2018at once,\u2019 or by \u2018one\noffering,\u2019 is cut off all those imaginary sufferings of Christ which\nfoolish men conceive of; as that he in all ages hath suffered or\nsuffereth for sin in us.[30] No; he did this work but once. \u2018Nor yet\nthat he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into\nthe holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often\nhave suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the\nend of the world,\u2019 in the time of Pilate, \u2018hath he appeared to put away\nsin by the sacrifice of himself\u2019 (Heb 9:25,26). Mark how to the purpose\nthe Holy Ghost expresseth it: he hath suffered but once; and that once,\nnow; now once; now he is God and man in one person; now he hath taken\nthe body that was prepared of God; now once in the end of the world\nhath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; by the\noffering up of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.\n\nThird. It further appears, in that by his resurrection from the dead\nthe mercies of God are made sure to the soul, God declaring by that, as\nwas said before, how well pleased he is by the undertaking of his Son\nfor the salvation of the world: \u2018And as concerning that he raised him\nup from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this\nwise, I will give you the sure mercies of David\u2019 (Acts 13:34). For\nChrist being clothed with man\u2019s flesh, and undertaking for man\u2019s sins,\ndid then confirm all sure to us by his resurrection from the dead. So\nthat by the rising of that man again, mercy and grace are made sure to\nhim that hath believed on Jesus. Wherefore, from these things, together\nwith what hath been discovered about his addressing himself to the\nwork, I conclude \u2018that men can be justified from the curse, before God,\nwhile sinners in themselves, by no other righteousness than that long\nago performed by the person of Christ.\u2019 Now the conclusion is true from\nall show of contradiction; for the Holy Ghost saith he hath done it;\nhath done it by himself, and that by the will of God, at once, even\nthen when he took the prepared body upon him\u2014\u2018By the will of God we are\nsanctified, through the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ once\nfor all.\u2019\n\n[SECOND.] This being so, the second position is also manifest\u2014namely,\nthat the righteousness by which we stand just from the curse, before\nGod, is only inherent in Jesus Christ. For if he hath undertaken to\nbring in a justifying righteousness, and that by works and merits of\nhis own, then that righteousness must of necessity be inherent in him\nalone, and ours only by imputation; and hence it is called, in that\nfifth to the Romans, the gift, the \u2018gift of righteousness\u2019; because\nneither wrought nor obtained by works of ours, but bestowed upon us, as\na garment already prepared, by the mercy of God in Christ (Rom 5:17;\nIsa 61:10). There are four things that confirm this for a truth\u2014\n\nFirst. This righteousness is said to be the righteousness of one, not\nof many; I mean of one properly and personally, as his own particular\npersonal righteousness. The gift of grace, which is the gift of\nrighteousness, it is \u2018by one man, Jesus Christ.\u2019 \u2018Much more they which\nreceive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign\nin life by ONE, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offence of one,\njudgment came upon all to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of\nONE, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as\nby one man\u2019s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience\nof ONE shall many be made righteous\u2019 (Rom 5:15-19). Mark, the\nrighteousness of one, the obedience of one; the righteousness of one\nman, of one man, Jesus.[31] Wherefore, the righteousness that\njustifieth a sinner, it is personally and inherently the righteousness\nof that person only who, by works and acts of obedience, did complete\nit, even the obedience of one, of one man, Jesus Christ; and so ours\nonly by imputation. It is improper to say, Adam\u2019s eating of the\nforbidden fruit was personally and inherently an act of mine. It was\npersonally his, and imputatively mine; personally his, because he did\nit; imputatively mine, because I was then in him. Indeed, the effects\nof his personal eating is found in my person; to wit, defilement and\npravity. The effects also of the imputation of Christ\u2019s personal\nrighteousness are truly found in those that are in him by electing love\nand unfeigned faith, even holy and heavenly dispositions; but a\npersonal act is one thing, and the effects of that another. The act may\nbe done by, and be only inherent in one; the imputation of the merit of\nthe act, as also the effects of the same, may be in a manner universal,\nextending itself unto the most, or all. This the case of Adam and\nChrist doth manifest. The sin of one is imputed to his posterity; the\nrighteousness of the other is reckoned the righteousness of those that\nare his.\n\nSecond. The righteousness by which we stand just before God from the\ncurse is called, \u2018The righteousness of the Lord\u2014the righteousness of\nGod\u2014the righteousness of Jesus Christ,\u2019 &c. (Phil 3:6-9); and that by\nway of opposition to the righteousness of God\u2019s own holy law\u2014\u2018That I\nmight be found in him, not having on my own righteousness, which is of\nthe law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the\nrighteousness which is of God by faith.\u2019 Now, by this opposition, as by\nwhat was said before, the truth is made exceeding clear; for by these\nwords, \u2018not having my own righteousness,\u2019 are not only excluded what\nqualifications we suppose to be in us, but the righteousness through\nwhich we stand just in the sight of God by them is limited and confined\nto a person absolutely distinct. Distinct, I say, as to his person and\nperformances, who here is called God and Jesus Christ; as he saith also\nin the prophet Isaiah, \u2018In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be\njustified, and shall glory\u2019 (Isa 45:25). In the Lord, not in the law;\nin the Lord, not in themselves. \u2018And their righteousness is of me,\nsaith the Lord.\u2019 Of me, not of themselves; of me, not of the law\n(54:17). And again; \u2018Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I\nrighteousness and strength\u2019 (45:24). Now, as I have already said, all\nthis is to be understood of the righteousness that was fulfilled by\nacts and works of obedience, which the person of the Son of God\naccomplished in the days of his flesh in the world; by that man, I say,\n\u2018The Lord our righteousness\u2019 (Jer 23:5). Christ, indeed, is naturally\nand essentially righteousness; but as he is simply such, so he\njustifieth no man; for then he need not to bear our sins in his flesh,\nand become obedient in all points of the law for us; but the\nrighteousness by which we stand just before God is righteousness\nconsisting of works and deeds, of the doings and sufferings, of such a\nperson who also is essentially righteousness. And hence, as before I\nhave hinted, we are said to be justified by the obedience and blood of\nthe Lord Jesus Christ, by the doings and sufferings of the Son of God.\nAnd hence, again, it is that he first is called King of righteousness;\nthat is, a King of righteousness as God-man, which of necessity\nsupposeth his personal performances; and after that, \u2018King of peace\u2019\n(Heb 7:1-3). For what he is naturally and eternally in his Godhead, he\nis not to us, but himself; but what he is actively and by works, he is\nnot to himself, but to us; so, then, he is neither King of\nrighteousness nor of peace to us, as he is only the eternal Son of the\nFather, without his being considered as our priest and undertaker. He\nhath \u2018obtained,\u2019 by works of righteousness, \u2018eternal redemption for us\u2019\n(Heb 9:12). So then, the righteousness by which we stand just before\nGod is a righteousness inherent only in Christ, because a righteousness\nperformed by him alone.\n\nNow, that righteousness by which we stand just before God must be a\nrighteousness consisting of personal performances; the reason is,\nbecause persons had sinned; this the nature of justice requireth, that\n\u2018since by man came death, by man\u2019 should come \u2018also the resurrection\nfrom the dead\u2019 (1 Cor 15:21). The angels, therefore, for this very\nreason, abide under the chains of everlasting darkness, because he\n\u2018took not hold on them\u2019 (Heb 2:16,17); that is, by fulfilling\nrighteousness for them in their nature. That is a blessed word, to you.\n\u2018To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is\nChrist the Lord.\u2019 To YOU, not to angels; to you is born a Saviour (Luke\n2:11).\n\nThird. It is yet further evident that the righteousness by which we\nstand just before God from the curse, is a righteousness inherent, not\nin us, but Christ; because it is a righteousness besides, and without\nthe law itself. Now take away the law, and you take away the rule of\nrighteousness. Again; take away the rule, and the act as to us must\ncease. \u2018But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,\nbeing witnessed by the law and the prophets\u2019 (Rom 3:21). So then, by\nsuch a righteousness we are justified as is not within the power of the\nlaw to command of us.\n\nQuest. But what law is that which hath not power to command our\nobedience in the point of our justification with God?\n\nAnsw. The moral law, or that called the ten commandments. Therefore we\nare neither commanded to love God, or our neighbour, as the means or\npart of our justifying righteousness; nay, he that shall attempt to do\nthese things to be delivered from the curse thereby, by the scripture\nis holden accursed of God. \u2018As many as are of the works,\u2019 or duties,\n\u2018of the law, are under the curse,\u2019 &c. (Gal 3:10). Because we are\njustified not by that of the law, but by the righteousness of God\nwithout the law; that is, without its commanding of us, without our\nobedience to it\u2014\u2018Freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in\nChrist Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through\nfaith in his blood\u2019 (Rom 3:24,25). This is the righteousness of God\nwithout the law; that is, without any of our obedience to the law.\nWherefore the righteousness by which we stand just, in the sight of\nGod, cannot be inherent in us, but in Christ the King thereof.\n\nFourth. This is further made apparent, by the capacity that God will\nconsider that soul in, to whom he imputeth justifying righteousness;\nand that is, \u2018as one that worketh not,\u2019 as one that stands ungodly in\nthe judgment of the law (Rom 4:4,5). But this I have handled before,\nand therefore shall pass it here.\n\nFifth. To conclude. If any works of ours could justify us before God,\nthey would be works after faith received; but it is evident that these\ndo not; therefore the righteousness that justifies us from the curse\nbefore God is a righteousness inherent only in Christ.\n\nThat works after faith do not justify us from the curse, in the sight\nof God, is evident\u2014\n\n1. Because no works of the saints can be justified by the moral law,\nconsidering it as the law of works for life (Gal 3:10). For this must\nstand a truth for ever\u2014Whatsoever justifieth us must be justified by\nthe moral law, for that is it that pronounceth the curse; unless, then,\nthat curse be taken away by the work, the work cannot justify us before\nGod (Rom 3:21). But the curse cannot be taken away but by a\nrighteousness that is first approved of by that law that so curseth;\nfor if that shall yet complain for want of a full satisfaction, the\npenalty remaineth. This is evident to reason, and confirmed by the\nauthority of God\u2019s Word, as hath been already proved; because the law,\nonce broken, pronounceth death, expecteth death, and executeth the same\non him that will stand to the judgment of the law; but no work of a\nbeliever is capable of answering this demand of the law; therefore none\nof his works can justify him before God; for the law, that\nnotwithstanding, complaineth.\n\n2. No works of faith can justify us from the curse before God, because\nof the want of perfection that is in the greatest faith in us. Now, if\nfaith be not perfect, the work cannot be perfect; I mean with that\nperfection as to please Divine justice. Consider the person, one that\nhath to do with God immediately by himself. Now, that faith is not\ncapable of this kind of perfection, it is evident, because when men\nhere know most, they know but in part. Now he that knows but in part,\ncan do but in part; and he that doth but in part, hath a part wanting\nin the judgment of the justice of God. So then, when thou hast done all\nthou canst, thou hast done but part of thy duty, and so art short of\njustification from the curse by what thou hast done (1 Cor 8:2, 13:12).\n\n3. Besides, it looks too like a monster that the works of faith should\njustify us before God; because then faith is turned, as it were, with\nits neck behind it.[32] Faith, in its own nature and natural course,\nrespecteth the mercy of God through the Mediator, Jesus Christ; and as\nsuch, its virtue and excellency is to expect justification by grace\nthrough him; but by this doctrine faith is turned round about, and now\nmakes a life out of what itself hath done; but, methinks, faith should\nbe as noble as its fruits, that being the first, and they but the\nfruits of that.\n\nBesides, seeing the work is only good because it floweth from faith\n(for faith purifieth the heart), therefore faith is it that justifies\nall its works (Acts 15:9). If, then, we be justified by either, it is\nby faith, and not by his works; unless we will say there is more virtue\nin the less than in the greater. Now, what is faith but a believing, a\ntrusting, or relying act of the soul? What, then, must it rely upon or\ntrust in? Not in itself; that is, without Scripture; not in its works,\nthey are inferior to itself; besides, this is the way to make even the\nworks of faith the mediator between God and the soul, and so by them\nthrust Christ out of doors; therefore it must trust in Christ; and if\nso, then no man can be justified from the curse, before God, by the\nworks that flow from faith.\n\n4. To put all out of doubt; the saint, when he hath done what he can to\nbring forth good works by faith, yet he dares not show these works\nbefore God but as they pass through the Mediator Christ, but as they\nare washed in the blood of the Lamb. And therefore Peter saith, those\nsacrifices of ours that are truly spiritual are only then accepted of\nGod, when offered up by Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). And therefore it is\nsaid again, that the prayers of the saints, which are the fruits of\nfaith, come up before the throne of God through the angel\u2019s hand; that\nis, through the hand of Christ, through his golden censer, perfumed\nwith his incense, made acceptable by his intercession (Rev 8:3,4). It\nis said in the Book of Revelation, that it is granted to the bride, the\nLamb\u2019s wife, that she should be \u2018arrayed in fine linen, clean and\nwhite; which white linen is the righteousness of saints.\u2019 This fine\nlinen, in my judgment, is the works of godly men, their works that\nsprang from faith. But how came they clean? How came they white? Not\nsimply because they were the works of faith. But mark, they \u2018washed\ntheir robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.\u2019 And\n\u2018therefore they stand before the throne of God\u2019 (Rev 7:14,15). Yea,\ntherefore it is that their good works stand there too.\n\nI conclude, then, \u2018our persons are justified while we are sinners in\nourselves.\u2019 Our works, even the works of faith, are no otherwise\naccepted but as they come through Jesus Christ, even through his\nintercession and blood. So then, Christ doth justify both our person\nand works, not by way of approbation, as we stand in ourselves or works\nbefore God, but by presenting of us to his Father by himself, washing\nwhat we are and have from guilt in his blood, and clothing us with his\nown performances. This is the cause of our acceptance with God, and\nthat our works are not cast forth of his presence.\n\nTHE USE.\n\n\nUSE FIRST.\u2014Is justifying righteousness to be found in the person of\nChrist only? Then this should admonish us to take heed of seeking it in\nourselves; that is, of working righteousness, thereby to appease the\njustice of God, lest by so doing we affront and blaspheme the\nrighteousness of Christ. He that shall go about to establish his own\nrighteousness, he, as yet, doth defiance to that which is of God, of\nGod\u2019s appointing, of God\u2019s providing; and that only wherewith the\njustice of the law must be well pleased. Wherefore take heed, I say, of\ndoing such a thing, lest it provoke the eyes of the Lord\u2019s glory\u2014\u2018When\nI shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to\nhis own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses\nshall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed,\nhe shall die for it\u2019 (Eze 33:13). Mark, though he be righteous, yea,\nthough he have a promise of life, yet he shall die. But why? Because he\nsinned against the Lord by trusting to his own righteousness, therefore\nhe must die for it. There are some things that will preserve a man from\nsplitting upon this rock. As,\n\nFirst. Get good acquaintance with the covenant of grace, and of the\npersons concerned in the conditions of that covenant. The conditions of\nthat covenant are, that a righteousness shall be brought into the world\nthat shall please the justice of God, and answer and so remove the\ncurse of the law. Now he that doth perform this condition is Christ;\ntherefore the covenant is not immediately with man, but with him that\nwill be the Mediator betwixt God and man: \u2018As for thee also, by the\nblood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners,\u2019 speaking of\nChrist (Zech 9:11). So then, Christ, the Man Christ, is he who was to\nbring in these conditions; to wit, everlasting righteousness. And hence\nit is that God hath said, Christ shall be the covenant of the\npeople\u2014that is, he shall be our conditions to Godward (Dan 9:23,24).\nHe, therefore, is all our righteousness as to the point of our\njustification before God; he is the covenant of the people, as well as\nthe light of the Gentiles; for as no man can see but in the light of\nhis Spirit, so no man can stand but in and by him; he is the covenant\nof the people, the conditions and qualifications of the people (Isa\n52:6). So that to Godward Christ is all in all, and no man anything at\nall. He hath made with me an everlasting covenant; with me, as I stand\nin my head, Christ, who, because he hath brought in everlasting\nrighteousness, therefore hath removed the curse of the law; wherefore\nhe adds, this covenant \u2018is ordered in all things, and sure,\u2019 because\nall points that concern me, as to redemption from the curse, are taken\naway by Christ, as before is discoursed (2 Sam 23:5). Look, then, upon\nChrist as the man, the mediator, undertaker, and accomplisher of that\nrighteousness in himself, wherein thou must stand just before God; and\nthat he is the covenant or conditions of the people to Godward, always\nhaving in himself the righteousness that the law is well pleased with,\nand always presenting himself before God as our only righteousness.\n\nSecond. That this truth may be the more heartily inquired into by thee,\nconsider thine own perfections;[33] I say, study how polluted thou art,\neven from the heart throughout. No man hath a high esteem of the Lord\nJesus that is a stranger to his own sore. Christ\u2019s church is an\nhospital of sick, wounded, and afflicted people; even as when he was in\nthe world, the afflicted and distressed set the highest price upon\nJesus Christ. Why? They were sick, and he was the Physician; but the\nwhole had no need of him. And just thus it is now: Christ is offered to\nthe world to be the righteousness and life of sinners, but no man will\nregard him save he that seeth his own pollution; he that seeth he\ncannot answer the demands of the law, he that sees himself from top to\ntoe polluted, and that therefore his service cannot be clean as to\njustify him from the curse before God\u2014he is the man that must needs die\nin despair and be damned, or must trust in Jesus Christ for life.\n\nFurther, This rule I would have all receive that come to Jesus Christ\nfor life and salvation\u2014\n\n1. Not to stick at the acknowledgment of sin, but to make that of it\nwhich the law makes of it: \u2018Acknowledge thine iniquity,\u2019 saith the Lord\n(Jer 3:13). This is a hard pinch, I know what I say, for a man to fall\ndown under the sense of sins by acknowledging them to be what the Lord\nsaith they are; to acknowledge them, I say, in their own defiling and\npolluting nature; to acknowledge them in their unreasonable and\naggravating circumstances; to acknowledge them in their God-offending\nand soul-destroying nature, especially when the conscience is burdened\nwith the guilt of them. Yet this is duty: \u2018If we confess our sins, he\nis faithful and just to forgive\u2019 (1 John 1:9). Yea, to this is annexed\nthe promise, \u2018He that confesseth and forsaketh them shall find mercy.\u2019\nThis made David, as it were, lay claim to the mercy of God\u2014\u2018Wash me\nthoroughly,\u2019 said he, \u2018from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin;\nfor I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me.\u2019\nThough, then, thou art to blush and be ashamed when thou rememberest\nthy sins and iniquities, yet do not hide them\u2014\u2018He that covereth his\nsins shall not prosper.\u2019 Do not lessen them; do not speak of them\nbefore God after a mincing way\u2014\u2018Acknowledge thine iniquities, that thou\nhast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways\nto the strangers under every green tree; and ye have not obeyed my\nvoice, saith the Lord\u2019 (Jer 3:13).\n\n2. If we would come to Christ aright, we must only acknowledge our\nsins; we must ONLY acknowledge them, and there stop; stop, I say, from\nattempting to do aught to present us good before God, but only to\nreceive the mercy offered. \u2018Only acknowledge thine iniquities.\u2019 Men are\nsubject to two extremes, either to confess sins notionally and by the\nhalves; or else, together with the confession of them, to labour to do\nsome holy work, thereby to ease their burdened consciences, and beget\nfaith in the mercy of God (Hosea 5:15). Now both these are dangerous,\nand very ungodly\u2014dangerous, because the wound is healed falsely; and\nungodly, because the command is transgressed: \u2018Only acknowledge thy\nsin,\u2019 and there stand, as David, \u2018till thy guilt is taken away.\u2019 Joshua\nstood before the angel, from top to toe in filthy garments, till the\nLord put other clothes upon him (Zech 3:3-5). In the matter of thy\njustification thou must know nothing, see nothing, hear nothing, but\nthine own sins and Christ\u2019s righteousness\u2014\u2018Only acknowledge thine\niniquities.\u2019 Now the Saviour and the soul comes rightly together; the\nSaviour to do his work, which is to spread his skirt over the sinner;\nand the sinner to receive, by believing this blessed imputed\nrighteousness. And hence the church, when she came to God, lieth down\nin her shame, and her confusion covereth her; and so lieth till pardon\ncomes (Jer 3:25).\n\nUSE SECOND.\u2014I come now to the second use\u2014Have faith in Christ.\n\nBut what are we to understand by faith?\n\nAnsw. Faith importeth as much as to say, Receive, embrace, accept of,\nor trust in, the benefit offered. All which are, by holy men of God,\nwords used on purpose to show that the mercy of God, the forgiveness of\nsins, and eternal life, are not to be had by doing, or by the law; but\nby receiving, embracing, accepting, or trusting to the mercy of God\nthrough Christ: \u2018We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus\nChrist we shall be saved, even as they\u2019 (Acts 15:11; John 1:12; 2 Cor\n4:1, 11:4; Col 2:6; Heb 11:13; 1 Tim 1:15; Eph 1:12-13). Thus you see\nwhat the gospel is, and what faith doth do in the salvation of the\nsoul. Now, that faith might be helped in this work, for great are they\nthat oppose it, therefore the Scriptures, the Word of truth, hath\npresented us with the invitation in most plain and suitable sentences:\nas, \u2018That Christ came into the world to save sinners\u2014Christ died for\nour sins\u2014Christ gave himself for our sins\u2014Christ bare our sins in his\nbody on the tree\u2014and that God, for Christ\u2019s sake, hath forgiven you.\u2019\nFurther, as the invitations are plain and easy, so the threatenings to\nthe opposers are sore and astonishing: \u2018He that believeth not shall be\ndamned\u2014Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might\nbe saved, God gave them up to strong delusions, that they all might be\ndamned\u2019 (Mark 16:16; 2 Thess 2:10-12).\n\nObject. But faith is said to be an act of obedience.\n\nAnsw. And well it may, for it is the most submitting act that a man can\ndo; it throweth out all our righteousness; it makes the soul poor in\nitself; it liveth upon God and Christ, as the almsman doth upon his\nlord; it consenteth to the gospel that it is true; it giveth God and\nChrist the glory of their mercy and merit; it loveth God for his mercy,\nand Jesus Christ for his service; whatever good it doth, it still\ncrieth, Hereby am I not justified, but he that justifieth me is the\nLord. Well, but is there in truth such a thing as the obedience of\nfaith? Then let Christians labour to understand it, and distinguish it\naright, and to separate it from the law and all man\u2019s righteousness;\nand remember that it is a receiving of mercy, an embracing of\nforgiveness, an accepting of the righteousness of Christ, and a\ntrusting to these for life. Remember, again, that it putteth the soul\nupon coming to Christ as a sinner, and to receive forgiveness as a\nsinner, as such. We now treat of justification.\n\nBut a little to insert at large a few more of the excellencies of it,\nand so draw towards a conclusion. The more thou believest for remission\nof sins, the more of the light of the glorious gospel of Christ thou\nreceivest into thy soul\u2014\u2018For therein is the righteousness of God\nrevealed from faith to faith\u2019 (Rom 1:17). That is, according to the\ndegree of faith. Little faith seeth but little but great faith seeth\nmuch; and therefore he saith again, that by faith we have \u2018access into\nthe grace of God\u2019 (Rom 5:2). The reason is,\n\n1. Because faith, having laid hold upon Christ, hath found him \u2018in whom\nare hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge\u2019 (Col 2:3). In him\ntherefore it finds and sees those heights and depths of gospel\nmysteries that are nowhere else to be found; nay, let a man be\ndestitute of faith, and it is not possible he should once think of some\nof them.\n\n2. By this means the Holy Spirit is plentifully received (Gal 3:1-3).\nNow the Spirit of God is a spirit of wisdom and revelation; but yet so\nas in the knowledge of Christ; otherwise the Spirit will show to man\nnot any mighty thing, its great delight being to open Christ and to\nreveal him unto faith (Eph 1:17). Faith indeed can see him, for that is\nthe eye of the soul; and the Spirit alone can reveal him, that being\nthe searcher of the deep things of God; by these therefore the\nmysteries of heaven are revealed and received. And hence it is that the\nmystery of the gospel is called the \u2018mystery of faith,\u2019 or the mystery\nwith which faith only hath to do (1 Tim 3:9).\n\nWouldst thou, then, know the greatest things of God? Accustom thyself\nto the obedience of faith,[34] live upon thy justifying righteousness,\nand never think that to live always on Christ for justification is a\nlow and beggarly thing, and as it were a staying at the foundation; for\nlet me tell you, depart from a sense of the meritorious means of your\njustification with God, and you will quickly grow light, and frothy,\nand vain. Besides, you will always be subject to errors and delusions;\nfor this is not to hold the head from or through which nourishment is\nadministered (Col 2:19). Further, no man that buildeth forsakes the\ngood foundation; that is the ground of his encouragement to work, for\nupon that is laid the stress of all; and without it nothing that is\nframed can be supported, but must inevitably fall to the ground.\n\nAgain; why not live upon Christ alway? and especially as he standeth\nthe mediator between God, and the soul, defending thee with the merit\nof his blood, and covering thee with his infinite righteousness from\nthe wrath of God and curse of the law. Can there be any greater comfort\nministered to thee than to know thy person stands just before God? Just\nand justified from all things that would otherwise swallow thee up? Is\npeace with God and assurance of heaven of so little respect with thee\nthat thou slightest the very foundation thereof, even faith in the\nblood and righteousness of Christ? and are notions and whimsies of such\ncredit with thee that thou must leave the foundation to follow them?\nBut again; what mystery is desirable to be known that is not to be\nfound in Jesus Christ, as Priest, Prophet, or King of saints? In him\nare hid all the treasures of them, and he alone hath the key of David\nto open them (Col 2:1,2; Rev 3:7). Paul was so taken with Jesus Christ,\nand the knowledge of this, that he was crucified for us, that he\ndesired, nay, determined not to know any thing else among the\nCorinthians, that itched after other wisdom (1 Cor 2:2).\n\nObject. But I see not that in Christ now, that I have seen in him in\nformer days. Besides, I find the Spirit lead me forth to study other\nthings.\n\nAnsw. To the first part of this objection I would answer several\nthings.\u2014The cause why thou seest not that in Christ now, which thou\nhast seen in him in former days, is not in Christ, but in thy faith; he\nis the same, as fresh, and as good, and as full of blessedness, as when\nthou didst most rejoice in him (Heb 1:11,12). And why not now, as well\nas formerly? God is never weary of being delighted with Jesus Christ;\nhis blood is always precious with God; his merits being those in which\njustice hath everlasting rest, why shouldst thou wander or go about to\nchange thy way? (Prov 8:30; Jer 2:36). Sin is the same as ever, and so\nis the curse of the law. The devil is as busy as ever; and beware of\nthe law in thy members. Return, therefore, to thy rest, O soul! for he\nis thy life, and the length of thy days. Guilt is to be taken off now,\nas it was years ago; and whether thou seest it or no, thou sinnest in\nall thy works. How, then, canst thou stand clear from guilt in thy soul\nwho neglectest to act faith in the blood of the Lamb? There thou must\nwash thy robes, and there thou must make them white (Rev 7:14,15). I\nconclude, then, thou art a polluted, surfeited, corrupted, hardened\ncreature, whosoever thou art, that thus objectest.\n\nBut I find, sayest thou, as if the Spirit led me forth to study other\nmatters.\n\nAnsw.\u2014First. What other matters? What matters besides, above, or beyond\nthe glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, and of our acceptance with God\nthrough him? What spirit, or doctrine, or wisdom soever it be that\ncentres not in, that cometh not from, and that terminates not within,\nthe bonds of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is not worthy the study of the\nsons of God; neither is it food for the faith of Jesus Christ, for that\nis the flesh of Christ, and that is eternal life (John 6:5). Whither\nwill you go? Beware of the spirit of Antichrist; for \u2018many false\nspirits are gone out into the world.\u2019 I told you before, that the\nSpirit of God is \u2018the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge\nof Christ,\u2019 and that without and besides the Lord Jesus it discovereth\nnothing (Eph 1:17). It is sent to testify of him; it is sent to bring\nhis words to our remembrance; it is sent to take of his things and show\nthem unto us (John 14,15,16). Wherefore, never call that the Spirit of\nJesus which leads you away from the blood and righteousness of Christ;\nthat is but the spirit of delusion and of the devil, whose teachings\nend in perdition and destruction. Tempt not Christ as they of old did.\nBut how did they tempt him? Why, in loathing the manna, which was the\ntype of his flesh and blood, which we are to eat of by believing. I\nsay, tempt him not, lest you be destroyed by the serpents, by the\ngnawing guilt of sin; for, take away Christ, and sin remains, and there\nis no more sacrifice for sin: if so, thou wilt be destroyed by the\ndestroyer (Num 21:5-7; 1 Cor 10:10). But again\u2014\n\nSecond. Living by faith begets in the heart a son-like boldness and\nconfidence to God-ward in all our gospel duties, under all our\nweaknesses, and under all our temptations. It is a blessed thing to be\nprivileged with a holy boldness and confidence God-ward, that he is on\nour side, that he taketh part with us and that he will plead our cause\n\u2018with them that rise up against us\u2019 (2 Cor 2:14, 4:17,18; Gal 2:20).\nBut this boldness faith helpeth us to do, and also manageth in our\nheart. This is that which made Paul always triumph and rejoice in God\nand the Lord Jesus (Phil 3:3; Rom 5:11). He lived the life of faith;\nfor faith sets a man in the favour of God by Christ, and makes a man\nsee that what befals him in this life, it shall, through the wisdom and\nmercy of God, not only prove for his forwarding to heaven, but to\naugment his glory when he comes there. This man now stands on high, he\nlives, he is rid of slavish fears and carking cares, and in all his\nstraits he hath a God to go to! Thus David, when all things looked awry\nupon him, \u2018encouraged himself in the Lord his God\u2019 (1 Sam 30:6). Daniel\nalso believed in his God, and knew that all his trouble, losses, and\ncrosses, would be abundantly made up in his God (Dan 6:23). And David\nsaid, \u2018I had fainted unless I had believed\u2019 (Psa 27:13). Believing,\ntherefore, is a great preservative against all such impediments, and\nmakes us confident in our God, and with boldness to come into his\npresence, claiming privilege in what he is and hath (Jonah 3:4,5). For\nby faith, I say, he seeth his acceptance through the Beloved, and\nhimself interested in the mercy of God, and riches of Christ, and glory\nin the world to come (Heb 10:22,23; Eph 1:4-7). This man can look upon\nall the dangers in hell and earth without paleness of countenance; he\nshall meditate terror with comfort, \u2018because he beholds the King in his\nbeauty\u2019 (Isa 33:17,18). Again\u2014\n\nThird. Living by faith makes a man exercise patience and quietness\nunder all his afflictions; for faith shows him that his best part is\nsafe, that his soul is in God\u2019s special care and protection, purged\nfrom sin in the blood of Christ. Faith also shows him that after a\nlittle while he shall be in the full enjoyment of that which now he\nbelieves is coming: \u2018We, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of\nrighteousness by faith\u2019 (Gal 5:5). Wherefore, upon this ground it is\nthat James exhorteth the saints to whom he wrote, to patience, because\nthey knew the harvest would in due time come (James 5:7-11). Faith\nlodgeth the soul with Christ: \u2018I know,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018on whom I have\nbelieved,\u2019 and to whom I have committed my soul, \u2018and am persuaded,\u2019 I\nbelieve it, \u2018that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto\nhim against that day\u2019; therefore it were no shame to him to wear a\nchain for his name and sake (2 Tim 1:12). O! it is a blessed thing to\nsee, I say, by the faith of the Lord Jesus, that we are embarked in the\nsame ship with him; this will help us greatly \u2018both to hope and quietly\nwait for the salvation of the Lord\u2019 (Psa 46:1-6; Lam 3:26). Further\u2014\n\nFourth. I might add, that living by faith is the way to receive fresh\nstrength from heaven, thereby to manage thine every day\u2019s work with\nlife and vigour; yea, every look by faith upon Jesus Christ, as thine,\ndoth this great work. It is said, when Paul saw the brethren that came\nto meet him, \u2018he thanked God, and took courage\u2019 (Acts 28:15). O! how\nmuch more, then, shall the Christian be blessed with fresh strength and\ncourage even at the beholding of Christ; whom \u2018beholding as in a\nglass,\u2019 we \u2018are changed,\u2019 even by beholding of him by faith in the\nword, \u2018into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit\nof the Lord\u2019 (2 Cor 3:18). But to be brief.\n\nFifth. Make conscience of the duty of believing, and be as afraid of\nfalling short here as in any other command of God. \u2018This is his\ncommandment, that you believe\u2019 (1 John 3:23). Believe, therefore, in\nthe name of the Lord Jesus. This is the will of God, that you believe.\nBelieve, therefore, to the saving of the soul (John 6:46). Unbelief is\na fine-spun thread, not so easily discerned as grosser sins; and\ntherefore that is truly \u2018The sin that doth so easily beset us\u2019 (Heb\n12:1). The light of nature will show those sins that are against the\nlaw of nature; but the law of faith is a command beyond what flesh or\nnature teacheth; therefore to live by faith is so much the harder work;\nyet it must be done, otherwise thine other duties profit thee nothing.\nFor if a man give way to unbelief, though he be most frequent in all\nother duties besides, so often as he worshippeth God in these, he yet\nsaith, God is a liar in the other, even because he hath not believed:\n\u2018He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar; because he believeth\nnot the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that\nGod hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son\u2019 (1 John\n5:10,11). So then, when thou givest way to unbelief; when thou dost not\nventure the salvation of thy soul upon the justifying life that is in\nChrist\u2014that is, in his blood, &c.,\u2014at once, thou givest the lie to the\nwhole testament of God; yea, thou tramplest upon the promise of grace,\nand countest this precious blood an unholy and unworthy thing (Heb\n10:29). Now how, thou doing thus, the Lord should accept of thy other\nduties, of prayer, alms, thanksgiving, self-denial, or any other, will\nbe hard for thee to prove. In the meantime remember, that faith\npleaseth God; and that without faith it is impossible to please him.\nRemember also, that for this cause it was that the offering of Cain was\nnot accepted: \u2018By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent\nsacrifice than Cain\u2019; for by faith Abel first justified the promise of\nthe Messias, by whom a conquest should be obtained over the devil, and\nall the combination of hell against us: then he honoured Christ by\nbelieving that he was able to save him; and in token that he believed\nthese things indeed, he presented the Lord with the firstlings of his\nflock, as a remembrance before God that he believed in his Christ (Heb\n11:4). And therefore it is said, \u2018By faith he offered\u2019; by which means\nthe offering was accepted of God; for no man\u2019s offering can be accepted\nwith God but his that stands righteous before him first. But unbelief\nholdeth men under their guilt, because they have not believed in\nChrist, and by that means put on his righteousness. Again; he that\nbelieveth not, hath made invalid\u2014what in him lies\u2014the promise of God\nand merits of Christ, of whom the Father hath spoken so worthily;\ntherefore what duties or acts of obedience soever he performeth, God by\nno means can be pleased with him.\n\nBy this, therefore, you see the miserable state of the people that have\nnot faith\u2014\u2018Whatever they do, they sin\u2019; if they break the law, they\nsin; if they endeavour to keep it, they sin. They sin, I say, upon a\ndouble account: first, because they do it but imperfectly; and,\nsecondly, because they yet stay upon that, resisting that which is\nperfect, even that which God hath appointed. It mattereth not, as to\njustification from the curse, therefore; men wanting faith, whether\nthey be civil or profane, they are such as stand accursed of the law,\nbecause they have not believed, and because they have given the lie to\nthe truth, and to the God of truth. Let all men, therefore, that would\nplease God make conscience of believing; on pain, I say, of displeasing\nhim; on pain of being, with Cain, rejected, and on pain of being damned\nin hell. \u2018He that believeth not shall be damned\u2019 (Mark 16:16). Faith is\nthe very quintessence of all gospel obedience, it being that which must\ngo before other duties, and that which also must accompany whatever I\ndo in the worship of God, if it be accepted of him.[35] Here you may\nsee a reason why the force and power of hell is so bent against\nbelieving. Satan hateth all the parts of our Christian obedience, but\nthe best and chiefest most. And hence the apostle saith to the\nThessalonians, that he sent to know their faith, lest by some means the\ntempter have tempted them, and so his labour had been in vain (1 Thess\n3:5). Indeed, where faith is wanting, or hath been destroyed, all the\nlabour is in vain, nothing can profit any man, neither as to peace with\nGod, nor the acceptance of any religious duty; and this, I say, Satan\nknows, which makes him so bend his force against us.\n\nThere are three things in the act of believing which make this grace\ndispleasing to the wicked one\u2014\n\n1. Faith discovereth the truth of things to the soul; the truth of\nthings as they are, whether they be things that are of this world, or\nof that which is to come; the things and pleasures above, and also\nthose beneath. Faith discovereth to the soul the blessedness, and\ngoodness, and durableness of the one; the vanity, foolishness, and\ntransitoriness of the other. Faith giveth credit to all things that are\nwritten in the law and in the prophets (Acts 24:14), both as to the\nbeing, nature, and attributes of God; the blessed undertaking of the\nLord Jesus Christ; the glory of heaven and torments of hell; the\nsweetness of the promise and terror of the threatenings and curses of\nthe Word; by which means Satan is greatly frustrated in his assaults\nwhen he tempteth either to love this world or slight that which is to\ncome, for he can do no great matter in these things to any but those\nwho want the faith. \u2018In vain is the snare laid in the sight of any\nbird\u2019 (Prov 1:17); therefore he must first blind, and hold blind, the\nminds of men, \u2018that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is\nthe image of God, should not shine unto them,\u2019 else he can do no harm\nto the soul (2 Cor 4:4). Now, faith is the eye of the godly man, and\nthat sees the truth of things, whatever Satan suggests, either about\nthe glory of this world, the sweetness of sin, the uncertainty of\nanother world, or the like (1 John 5:4,5; Heb. 11:27).\n\n2. Faith wraps the soul up in the bundle of life with God; it encloseth\nit in the righteousness of Jesus, and presents it so perfect in that,\nthat whatever he can do, with all his cunning, cannot render the soul\nspotted or wrinkled before the justice of the law; yea, though the man,\nas to his own person and acts, be full of sin from top to toe, Jesus\nChrist covereth all; faith sees it, and holds the soul in the godly\nsense and comfort of it. The man, therefore, standing here, stands\nshrouded under that goodly robe that makes him glisten in the eye of\njustice. Yea, all the answer that Satan can get from God against such a\nsoul is, that he \u2018doth not see iniquity in Jacob, nor behold\nperverseness in Israel\u2019; for here \u2018Israel hath not been forsaken, nor\nJudah of his God, of the Lord of hosts, though,\u2019 as to their own\npersons, \u2018their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of\nIsrael\u2019 (Num 23:21-23; Jer 51:5; Rom 6:14; Deut 33:12). Thus,\ntherefore, the soul believing, is hid from all the power of the enemy,\nand dwells safely under the dominion of grace.\n\n3. Faith keeps the soul from giving credit to any of his insinuations;\nfor whatever Satan saith, either about the acceptance of my person or\nperformances, so long as I believe that both are accepted of God for\nChrist\u2019s sake, he suggesteth to the wind; wherefore faith doth the same\nagainst the devil that unbelief doth to God. Doth unbelief count God a\nliar? Faith counts the devil a liar. Doth unbelief hold the soul from\nthe mercy of God? Faith holds the soul from the malice of the devil.\nDoth unbelief quench thy graces? Faith kindleth them even into a flame.\nDoth unbelief fill the soul full of sorrow? Faith fills it full of the\njoy of the Holy Ghost. In a word, doth unbelief bind down thy sins upon\nthee? Why, faith in Jesus Christ releaseth thee of them all.\n\n4. As faith keeps the soul from giving credit to the insinuations of\nSatan, so, when he makes his assaults, it over-masters him, and makes\nhim retreat; \u2018Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.\u2014Whom resist\nsteadfast in the faith\u2019 (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9). Believe, as I have\nalready said, that God loveth you, that the blood of Christ was shed\nfor you, that your person is presented complete before him, through the\nrighteousness of Christ, and Satan must give place; thy crediting of\nthe gospel makes him fly before thee; but thou must do it steadfast in\nthe faith; every waverer giveth him advantage. And, indeed, this is the\nreason that the godly are so foiled with his assaults, they do not\nresist him steadfast in the faith; they often stagger through unbelief.\nNow, at every stagger he recovereth lost ground again, and giveth\nbattle another time. Besides, by this and the other stagger he taketh\nheart to attempt by other means, and so doubleth the affliction with\nmanifold temptations. This is, I say, for want of being steadfast.\n\u2018Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to\nquench all the fiery darts of the wicked\u2019 (Eph 6:16). To quench them,\nthough they come from him as kindled with the very fire of hell. None\nknows, save him that feels it, how burning hot the fiery darts of Satan\nare; and how, when darted, they kindle upon our flesh and unbelief;\nneither can any know the power and worth of faith to quench them but he\nthat hath it, and hath power to act it.\n\n5. Lastly, if justifying righteousness be alone to be found in the\nperson of Jesus Christ, then this shows us the sad condition of two\nsorts of men\u20141. Of those that hang in doubt betwixt Christ and the law.\n2. Of those that do professedly make denial of the sufficiency of this\nmost blessed righteousness.\n\nFirst. The first sort, though they may seek life, yet, thus continuing,\nare never like to find it. Wherefore? Because they seek it not by\nfaith, but, as it were, by the works of the law. Indeed, they will not\nbe merit-mongers; they will not wholly trust to the law; they will\npartly venture on Christ, and partly trust to the law. Well, but\ntherefore they shall be damned, because they trust to Christ but in\npart, and in part, as it were, to the works of the law; for such\nsinners make Christ but a Saviour in part\u2014why, then, should he be their\nSaviour in whole? No; because they halt between Christ and the law,\ntherefore they shall fall between Christ and the law; yea, because they\nwill trust to their works in part, they shall be but almost saved by\nChrist. Let not that man think that he shall obtain any thing from the\nLord. What man? Why, he that doubteth or wavereth in his mind about the\ntruth of the mercy of God in Christ. Therefore the exhortation is, \u2018But\nlet him ask in faith.\u2014For he that wavereth,\u2019 or, that halteth between\nthe law and Christ for life, \u2018is like a wave of the sea, driven of the\nwind and tossed\u2019 (James 1:6). In conclusion, he resteth nowhere\u2014\u2018a\ndouble-minded man is unstable in all his ways\u2019 (v 8). This man,\ntherefore, must miscarry; he must not see the good land that flows with\nmilk and honey; no, let him not have a thought of life in his heart;\nlet not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.[36]\n\nThis was the case of many in the primitive times, for whose sake this\ncaution was written; for the devout and religious Jew and proselyte,\nwhen they fell away from the word of the gospel, they did not fall to\nthose gross and abominable pollutions in which the open profane, like\nsows and swine, do wallow, but they fell from the grace of God to the\nlaw; or, at least, did rest betwixt them both, doubting of the\nsufficiency of either; and thus, being fearful, they distrust;\nwherefore, being found at length unbelieving, they are reputed of God\nabominable, as murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolators, and\nliars, and so must have their portion in the lake, with them, that\nburns with fire and brimstone (Rev 21:8). The reason is, because where\nChrist is rejected sin remaineth, and so the wrath of God for sin.\nNeither will he be a Saviour in part; he must be all thy salvation, or\nnone. \u2018Let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the\nLord\u2019 (James 1:7; John 3:36). Not any thing. There is no promise for\nhim, no pardon for him, no heaven for him, no salvation for him, no\nescaping of his fire! What condition is this man in? Yet he is a\nreligious man, for he prays; he is a seeking man, a desiring man, for\nhe prays; but he halts between two, he leaneth to his righteousness,\nand committeth iniquity. He is afraid to venture all upon the Lord\nJesus Christ. Let not that man think of receiving any thing from the\nLord!\n\nYet the words suggest that he is apt to think he shall receive\nsomething, because God is merciful, because his promise is great; but\nthis expectation is by this word cut off, and this sinner is cast away.\nLet not that man think, let him forbear to think, of having anything at\nthe hand of God. The Israelites thought to go up to the land the day\nafter they had despised it. Agag thought the bitterness of death was\npast even that day in which he was hewn to pieces. Rechab and Baanah\nhis brother thought to have received reward of David that day they were\nhanged over the pool in Hebron. Let not that man think that he shall\nreceive anything of the Lord\u2019 (Num 14:40-45; 1 Sam 15:32,33; 2 Sam\n4:12).\n\nSecond. As for those that do professedly make denial of the sufficiency\nof this most blessed righteousness, the whole book is conviction to\nthem, and shall assuredly, if it comes to their hands, rise up in\njudgment against them. They have rejected the wisdom and mercy of God;\nthey have rejected the means of their salvation; they have trampled\nupon the blood of the Son of God; wherefore judgment waiteth for them,\nand fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.\n\n[A word to neglecters of Christ.]\n\nTo conclude. One word also to you that are neglecters of Jesus Christ:\n\u2018How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?\u2019 Here then, we\nmay see how we ought to judge of all such persons as neglect the Lord\nJesus, under what guise, name, or notion soever they be. We ought, I\nsay, to judge of such, that they are at present in a state of\ncondemnation; of condemnation, \u2018because they have not believed in the\nonly-begotten Son of God\u2019 (John 3:18). It is true, there is no man more\nat ease in his mind, with such ease as it is, than the man that hath\nnot closed with the Lord Jesus, but is shut up in unbelief. O! but that\nis the man that stands convict before God, and that is bound over to\nthe great assize; that is the man whose sins are still his own, and\nupon whom the wrath of God abideth (v 36); for the ease and peace of\nsuch, though it keep them far from fear, is but like to that of the\nsecure thief, that is ignorant that the constable standeth at the door;\nthe first sight of an officer makes his peace to give up the ghost (1\nJohn 5:12). Ah, how many thousands that can now glory that they never\nwere troubled for sin against God; I say, how many be there that God\nwill trouble worse than he troubled cursed Achan, because their peace,\nthough false, and of the devil, was rather chosen by them than peace by\nJesus Christ, than \u2018peace with God by the blood of his cross\u2019 (Col\n1:20). Awake, careless sinners, awake! and arise from the dead, and\nChrist shall give you light. Content not yourselves either with sin or\nrighteousness, if you be destitute of Jesus Christ, but cry, cry, O cry\nto God for light to see your condition by; for light in the Word of\nGod, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed (Eph 5:14). Cry,\ntherefore, for light to see this righteousness by; it is a\nrighteousness of Christ\u2019s finishing, of God\u2019s accepting, and that which\nalone can save the soul from the stroke of eternal justice! (Rom 1:17).\n\nThere are six things that on man\u2019s part are the cause he receiveth not\nthe gospel of Christ, and so life by him\u20141. They see not their state by\nnature, how polluted they are with original sin (Eph 2:2). 2. They see\nnot the justice of God against sin; they know not him that hath said,\n\u2018Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense\u2019 (Heb 10:30). 3. They\ncannot see the beauty of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:4). 4. Unbelief being\nmighty in them, they dare not venture their souls with Jesus Christ.\nThey dare not trust to his righteousness, and to that only (Rev 21:8).\nFor, 5. Their carnal reason also sets itself against the word of faith,\nand cannot stoop to the grace of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 2:14). 6. They\nlove to have honour one of another, they love to be commended for their\nown vain-glorious righteousness; and the fools think that because they\nare commended of men, they shall be commended of God also: \u2018How can ye\nbelieve, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour\nthat cometh from God only?\u2019 (John 5:44). This last thing\u2014to wit, desire\nof vain-glory, is the bane of thousands; it is the legalist\u2019s bane, it\nis the civilian\u2019s[37] bane, it is the formalist\u2019s bane, yea, which yet\nis stranger, it is the bane of the vicious and debauched also;[38] for\nthough there be a generation that, to one\u2019s thinking, have not regard\nto righteousness, yet watch them narrowly, and they have their times of\ndoing something that looks like good, and though possibly it be but\nseldom, yet this wretch counteth that, for the sake of that, God\naccepteth him, and counteth his, glorious righteousness. I might add a\nseventh cause, which is, want of serious meditation upon eternal\njudgment, and what shall follow. This consideration, did it take a deep\nplace in the heart, would doubtless produce these workings of spirit\nafter Jesus Christ for justification that now are wanting in the most\nof men. This made Felix, yea, it makes the devils, tremble; and would,\nI say, couldst thou deeply meditate, make thee start and turn thy\nwanton thoughts into heavy sighs after God\u2019s mercy in Jesus Christ,\nlest thou also come into their place of torment.\n\nBefore I conclude this use, I would lay down a few motives, if so be\nthou mayest be prevailed with to look after thine own everlasting\nstate.\n\n1. Consider, God hath put man above all the creatures in this visible\nworld, into a state of abiding for ever; they cannot be annihilated,\nthey shall never again be turned into nothing, but must live with God\nor the devil for ever and ever. And though the scripture saith, \u2018Man\nhath not pre-eminence over a beast in his death,\u2019 yet the beast hath\npre-eminence above many men, for he shall not rise again to come into\njudgment as man must, nor receive that dismal sentence for sin and\ntransgression as man shall; this, therefore, is worthy to be considered\nwith seriousness of all that have souls to be saved or damned\u2014\u2018They\nmust one day come to judgment,\u2019 there to stand before that Judge of all\nthe earth whose eyes are like a flame of fire, from the sight of which\nthou canst not hide one of thy words, or thoughts, or actions, because\nthou wantest the righteousness of God. The fire of his justice shall\nburn up all thy rags of righteousness wherewith by the law thou hast\nclothed thyself, and will leave thee nothing but a soul full of sin to\nbemoan, and eternal burnings to grapple with. O the burnings that will\nthen beset sinners on every side, and that will eat their flesh and\ntorment their spirit with far more terror than if they were stricken\nwith scorpions! And observe it, the torment will there be higher than\nother where there is the guilt of neglecting Jesus Christ, he being\nindeed the Saviour, and him that was sent on purpose to deliver men\nfrom the wrath to come.\n\n2. Consider, once past grace, and ever past grace. When the door is\nshut against thee, it will open no more, and then repentings, desires,\nwishings, and wouldings, come all too late (Luke 13). Good may be done\nto others, but to thee, none; and this shall be because, even because\nthou hast withstood the time of thy visitation, and not received grace\nwhen offered: \u2018My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken\nunto him\u2019 (Luke 19:41-43; Hosea 9:17). Cain was driven out from the\npresence of God, for aught I know, some hundreds of years before his\ndeath; Ishmael was cast away after seventeen years of age; Esau lived\nthirty or forty years after he had sold his birthright. O! many, very\nmany are in this condition! for though God be gracious, yet he will not\nbe slighted nor abused always; there are plenty of sinners in the\nworld\u2014if one will not, another will. Christ was soon repulsed by and\nsent away from the country of the Gadarenes; but on the other side of\nthe sea there were many ready with joy to receive him (Luke 8:37,40).\nSo, when the Jews contradicted and blasphemed, \u2018the Gentiles gladly\nreceived the word\u2019 (Acts 13:46-48). Look to it, sinner, here is life\nand death set before thee; life, if it be not too late to receive it;\nbut if it be, it is not too late for death to swallow thee up. And tell\nme, will it not be dreadful to be carried from under the gospel to the\ndamned, there to lie in endless torment, because thou wouldst not be\ndelivered therefrom?[39] Will it be comfort to thee to see the Saviour\nturn Judge? to see him that wept and died for the sin of the world now\nease his mind on Christ-abhorring sinners by rendering to them the just\njudgment of God? For all their abominable filthiness, had they closed\nwith Christ, they had been shrouded from the justice of the law, and\nshould not have come into condemnation. \u2018But had been passed from death\nto life\u2019; but they would not take shelter there; they would venture to\nmeet the justice of God in its fury, wherefore now it shall swallow\nthem up for ever and ever. And let me ask further, is not he a madman\nwho, being loaded with combustible matter, will run headlong into the\nfire upon a bravado? or that, being guilty of felony or murder, will\ndesperately run himself into the hand of the officer, as if the law,\nthe judge, the sentence, execution, were but a jest, or a thing to be\nplayed withal? And yet thus mad are poor, wretched, miserable sinners,\nwho, flying from Christ as if he were a viper, they are overcome, and\ncast off for ever by the just judgment of the law. But ah! how poorly\nwill these be able to plead the virtues of the law to which they have\ncleaved, when God shall answer them, \u2018Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go\ndown, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised\u2019 (Eze 32:19). Go down to\nhell, and there be laid with those that refused the grace of God.\n\nSinners, take my advice, with which I shall conclude this use\u2014Call\noften to remembrance that thou hast a precious soul within thee; that\nthou art in the way to thine end, at which thy precious soul will be in\nspecial concerned, it being then time to delay no longer, the time of\nreward being come. I say again, bring thy end home; put thyself in thy\nthoughts into the last day thou must live in this world, seriously\narguing thus\u2014How if this day were my last? How if I never see the sun\nrise more? How if the first voice that rings to-morrow morning in my\nheavy ears be, \u2018Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment?\u2019 Or how, if the\nnext sight I see with mine eyes be the Lord in the clouds, with all his\nangels, raining floods of fire and brimstone upon the world? Am I in a\ncase to be thus near mine end? to hear this trump of God? or to see\nthis great appearance of this great God, and the Lord Jesus Christ?\nWill my profession, or the faith I think I have, carry me through all\nthe trials of God\u2019s tribunal? Cannot his eyes, which are as a flame of\nfire, see in my words, thoughts, and actions enough to make me culpable\nof the wrath of God? O how serious should sinners be in this work of\nremembering things to come, of laying to their heart the greatness and\nterror of that notable day of God Almighty, and in examining\nthemselves, how it is like to go with their souls when they shall stand\nbefore the Judge indeed! To this end, God make this word effectual.\nAmen.[40]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1. These are most important distinctions, upon which depends a right\nunderstanding of this doctrine. God sees the soul either in Christ or\nin sin. He may see apparently good works arising from the foulest\nmotives. Uriah doubtless thought himself highly honoured as a\nconfidential messenger of great king David; God saw the murder and\nadultery in David\u2019s heart. He was justified in the sight of man for the\nvery act that condemned him in the sight of God; and for which he was\nsorely punished in this world, although saved by the blood of\natonement.\u2014Ed.\n\n2. Let not a scoffer say, \u2018See how Christians cast away the law of\nGod!\u2019 They are under the law to Christ; bound by the most sacred\nobligations to obey all its requirements; not to merit pardon, but to\nprove, to the comfort of their souls, that they have received pardon,\nand are living under a sense of the unmerited grace of God in\nChrist.\u2014Ed.\n\n3. This is a clear statement of a most important truth. The sins of\nbelievers were laid upon Christ, or imputed to him, and he bore them\naway, but was undefiled. His righteousness covers us, and we are\njustified, but it is still HIS. Not unto us, but unto his name, be all\nthe glory.\u2014Ed.\n\n4. By \u2018common,\u2019 is here meant that Christ is the federal head of all\nhis saints; they have an equal or common right equally to participate\nin his merits.\u2014Ed.\n\n5. How full of consolation is this voice from the tomb! Lowth\u2019s\ntranslation is very striking\u2014\u2018Thy dead shall live, my deceased; they\nSHALL arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is\nas the dew of the dawn! But the earth shall cast forth, as an abortion,\nthy deceased tyrants.\u2019 Antichrist shall \u2018cease from troubling,\u2019 and be\nonly seen afar off in torments.\u2014Ed.\n\n6. Christ (amazing love!) \u2018was made a curse for us,\u2019 and thereby\nredeemed us from the curse of the law. He subjected himself to the law\nin active as well as passive obedience, and his obedience even to death\nwas for our justification.\u2014Mason.\n\n7. Those whom God justifies, he also glorifies; and because Christ\nlives, blessed be God! we shall live also. Nevertheless, the strongest\nbeliever has as much need to come to Christ every day for fresh\nstrength, as if he had never believed before; and if he were to depend\non his own faithfulness, and not on the faithfulness of the Son of God,\nhe would soon desert the Lord Jesus Christ.\u2014Mason.\n\n8. The symbol of regeneration, or water baptism. Although the\nregenerate believer feels an assurance that he forms part of Christ\u2019s\nmystical body, and is saved by grace, and loves God because God first\nloved him, this does not prevent, but approves, his following the\nexample of his Redeemer, in a symbolical or water baptism. Thus he\npublicly puts on Christ; he is buried with him in baptism, and rises to\nnewness of life. Colossians 2:12, 13.\u2014Ed.\n\n9. Believer, if thou art rejoicing in this great and finished\nsalvation, never forget that thine only evidence is\u2014sorrow for thy\nsins, which caused the shedding of this precious blood, and a love of\nholiness. If sin be deplored, not only art thou redeemed from its\ncurse, but also delivered from its power. The grace that justifies\nquickens us to good works, that we may walk therein.\u2014Ed.\n\n10. Because it is tainted by sin.\u2014Ed.\n\n11. The best righteousness that can be produced by fallen man is\nimpressively designated by Isaiah, \u2018A bed shorter than a man can\nstretch himself on, and a covering narrower than he can wrap himself\nin.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n12. The way of salvation by works was blasted by the curse upon Adam\u2019s\nsin, so that it cannot work life in us, or holiness, but only\ndeath.\u2014Ed.\n\n13. To divert or turn aside from an intended course; not to divert or\namuse.\u2014Ed.\n\n14. Bunyan, in his Creation Spiritualized, or Exposition on Genesis,\nhas shown that the fig-leaf aprons are a type of man\u2019s attempt to cover\nhis sins by his own good works, which soon fade, become dung, or are\nburned up. But the righteousness that God provides endureth for ever.\nSee vol. i., p. 440.\u2014Ed.\n\n15. The marginal notes to the Bible are exceedingly valuable,\nespecially to the unlearned. There we find that Jedidiah means \u2018beloved\nof the Lord.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n16. The birth of a babe is a period of excitement. Parents should hope\nthat the new comer is a Jedidiah. On such occasions, it is a delightful\nservice when the father, mother, and family specially attend public\nworship, to bless God for his mercies, and to beseech grace that they\nmay train up the child for heaven. Such is the practice among the\nBaptists. But even in this, watchfulness is requisite, lest it\ndegenerate into mere parade.\u2014Ed.\n\n17. The non-imputation of sin, and the imputation of Christ\u2019s\nrighteousness, always go together. David knew this; while he describes\nthe blessedness of the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, he, at\nthe same time, describes the blessedness of the man to whom God\nimputeth Christ\u2019s righteousness.\u2014Mason.\n\n18. However excellent the conduct of Zaccheus, still he was a sinner,\nand under the curse. His curiosity leads him to climb a tree to see\nJesus, and most unexpectedly salvation is brought to one who sought it\nnot. Christ called, and he instantly obeyed. O may our hearts be so\ninclined to receive the invitations of his gospel!.\u2014Ed.\n\n19. We are all, by nature and practice, in a spiritual sense, robbers,\nidolaters, and murderers. God make us to know and feel it! We may adopt\nthe language of the poet, and say\u2014\n\n   \u2018Sinful soul, what hast thou done?\n    Murder\u2019d God\u2019s eternal Son!\u2019\u2014Mason.\n\n20. Works justify us from such accusations of men as will deny us to\nhave justification by faith\u2014not as being our righteousness, or\nconditions of our having Christ\u2019s righteousness, or as qualifying us\nfor it.\u2014Mason.\n\n21. Every edition of Bunyan\u2019s works calls this a \u2018void of words,\u2019 and\ngives a false reference to Hebrews 12:14.\u2014Ed.\n\n22. The law condemns all sinners, and strikes them dead as with a\nthunderbolt; adjudging them to shame and misery, instead of glory and\nhappiness. None can fulfil its strict terms, neither Jew nor Gentile.\nThere is no hope, if free grace restore them not. Romans 3:20, 2:6-29;\n8:7.\u2014Mason.\n\n23. Hagar, by which is meant the law or covenant of works. This is said\nto gender unto bondage, because it makes them bondmen who look to be\nsaved and justified thereby. It is called the \u2018ministration of death\u2019\n(2 Cor 3:6). Whereas the gospel and new covenant is a dispensation of\nliberty and life.\u2014Mason.\n\n24. We will hold and extol this faith which doubteth not of God, nor of\nthe Divine promises, nor of the forgiveness of sins through Christ;\nthat we may dwell sure and safe in this our object Christ, and may keep\nstill before our eyes the passion and blood of the Mediator and all his\nbenefits.\u2014Luther on Galatians 3:11.\n\n25. Multitudes of professors set up their rest in outward duties, and\nrepose a carnal confidence in ordinances, without endeavouring after\nany lively communion with Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, in the exercise\nof faith and love.\u2014Mason.\n\n26. Conscience, if resisted, is little ease, whether rightly or wrongly\ninformed. By little ease, is meant a prison not large enough either to\nlie down or stand upright in, with spikes in the walls; places of\ntorment well known in former times of persecution for conscience\nsake.\u2014Ed.\n\n27. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. We must either, as lost sinners,\nfall into the arms of Divine mercy, and receive pardon as a free gift\nthrough the merits of the Saviour, or we must perish. It is a solemn,\nsearching consideration.\u2014Ed.\n\n28. Difficult at any time, and impossible without Divine power; but\nmost difficult when all the faculties of the soul become harrowed by a\n\u2018certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation\u2019 (Heb\n10:27).\u2014Ed.\n\n29. If we seek salvation by works, such as sincere obedience or\nChristian perfection, we thereby bring ourselves under the law, and\nbecome debtors to fulfil all its requirements, though we intended to\nengage ourselves to fulfil it only in part (Gal 5:3). Let this be\nseriously considered.\u2014Mason.\n\n30. These \u2018foolish men\u2019 were a sect which sprung up in Bunyan\u2019s time,\nand soon became extinct. They believed that the sufferings of Christ,\nto his death on Calvary, were only typical of what he suffers in the\nbody of every believer. This was as contrary to the express declaration\nof Holy Writ, \u2018He was ONCE offered\u2019 (Heb 9:28), as is the absurd notion\nof the Papists in the mass, or continual sacrifice of Christ. What\nimpious mortal dares pretend to offer up Christ to his Father.\u2014Ed.\n\n31. As the carnal Adam, having lost his original righteousness, imparts\na corrupt nature to all his descendants; so the spiritual Adam, Christ\nJesus, by his obedience unto death, conveys spiritual life to us;\nbelievers are made \u2018the righteousness of God in him.\u2019\u2014Mason.\n\n32. \u2018Neck\u2019 is from hniga, to bend or incline. In Bunyan\u2019s time, these\nancient words were well understood by the peasantry. To have the neck\nturned, so as to bend the back of the head towards the back of the\nbody, would be as absurd as for faith to look to its own works for\njustification. This would indeed be bowing backward, instead of bending\nbefore, and looking to Jesus and his finished work for\njustification.\u2014Ed.\n\n33. Modern editors have altered this to \u2018imperfections,\u2019 but Bunyan\nwould have us look to the most perfect of our works, and see how\npolluted they are.\u2014Ed.\n\n34. Faith looks at things which be not, as though they were. Sense\njudges from what it sees and feels, faith from what God says; sense\nlooks inward to self, faith looks outward to Christ and his\nfullness.\u2014Mason.\n\n35. How strangely does the world mistake the source of good works! The\ncommon and fatal error is, that if salvation is all of faith, then good\nworks will fail; whereas faith is the prolific fountain, yea, the only\nsource of really good works and holy obedience.\u2014Ed.\n\n36. How universal to fallen nature is that soul-destroying heresy\u2014the\nattempt to justify ourselves partly by our own good works, and to make\nup the deficiency by the merits of the Saviour! Ye might as well\nattempt to serve God and mammon, as to unite our impure works with\nthose of the pure and holy Jesus. We must, as perishing sinners, fall\ninto the arms of Divine mercy, and receive pardon as a free gift,\nwholly through the merits of the Saviour, or we must for ever perish.\nIt is an awful consideration.\u2014Ed.\n\n37. \u2018The civilian\u2019; one who is versed in law and government. See\nImperial Dictionary.\u2014Ed.\n\n38. When the pilgrims Christian and Hopeful had wandered in By-path\nMeadow, one that walked before them said that the way led to the\ncelestial gate. \u2018He therefore that went before, Vain-confidence by\nname, not seeing the way before him, fell into a deep pit, which was on\npurpose there made by Giant Despair to catch vain-glorious fools\nwithal, and was dashed in pieces with his fall.\u2019 Beware, O legalist,\ncivilian, or formalist!\u2014Ed.\n\n39. How deplorably and inexcusably they will perish, who perish by\ntheir own willful unbelief under the gospel! It will be dreadful indeed\nto be driven, as it were, from the very gate of heaven to the lowermost\nand hottest hell. Lord, send forth thy light, truth, and power, that\nsinners may be saved and comforted by coming unto thee for life and\npeace!\u2014Mason.\n\n40. This is a striking and soul-searching appeal. O that the Holy\nSpirit may \u2018search me and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in\nme, and lead me in the way everlasting,\u2019 before we go hence into the\neternal state!\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nSAVED BY GRACE;\n\nOR,\n\nA DISCOURSE OF THE GRACE OF GOD:\n\nSHOWING\u2014\n\nI. WHAT IT IS TO BE SAVED. II. WHAT IT IS TO BE SAVED BY GRACE. III.\nWHO THEY ARE THAT ARE SAVED BY GRACE. IV. HOW IT APPEARS THAT THEY ARE\nSAVED BY GRACE. V. WHAT SHOULD BE THE REASON THAT GOD SHOULD CHOOSE TO\nSAVE SINNERS BY GRACE RATHER THAN BY ANY OTHER MEANS.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nTHIS admirable Treatise upon the most important of all subjects, that\nof the soul\u2019s salvation, was first published in a pocket volume, in the\nyear 1675. This has become very rare, but it is inserted in every\nedition of the author\u2019s collected works. Our copy is reprinted from the\nfirst edition published after the author\u2019s decease, in a small folio\nvolume of his works, 1691. Although it is somewhat encumbered with\nsubdivisions, it is plain, practical, and written in Bunyan\u2019s strong\nand energetic style; calculated to excite the deepest attention, and to\nfix the mind upon those solemn realities which alone can unite earth\nwith heaven.\n\nHow extensive is the meaning of that little sentance, \u2018Saved by Grace!\u2019\nIt includes in it redemption from the curse of sin, which oppresses the\npoor sinner with the fears of everlasting burnings; while it elevates\nthe body, soul, and spirit, to an eternal and an exceeding weight of\nglory\u2014to the possession of infinite treasures, inconceivable, and that\nnever fade away.\n\nBunyan, in opening and deeply investigating this subject, shows his\nmaster hand in every page. It was a subject which, from his first\nconviction of sin, while playing a gat at cat on a Sunday, had excited\nhis feelings to an intense degree, absorbing all the powers of his\nsoul. It was eminently to him the one thing needful\u2014the sum and\nsubstance of human happiness. He felt that it included the preservation\nand re-structure of the body\u2014raised from filth and vileness\u2014from\nsickness, pain, and disease\u2014from death and the grave\u2014to be perfected\nin immortality like the Saviour\u2019s glorious body. That included in this\nsalvation, is the death of death, and the swallowing up of the grave,\nto be no more seen for ever. The soul will be perfect, and, re-united\nwith the body, be filled \u2018with bliss and glory, as much as ever it can\nholdl\u2019 all jars and discord between soul and body will be finished;\nand the perfect man be clothed with righteousness; in a word, be like\nChrist and with him. All this is the work of grace, performed by the\never-blessed Trinity.\n\nIn displaying the feelings and experience of the inquiring, alarmed,\nquickened sinner, we are instructed by a continual illustration of the\nGrace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. He manifests profound\nknowledge of the devices of Satan\u2014the workings of unbelief\u2014the\ndifficulties thrown by the wicked one in the way of the sinner, to\nprevent his approach to Christ. He fastens conviction upon\nconviction\u2014gives blow upon blow to human pride; proving that there can\nbe found nothing in our fallen nature to recommend the sinner to\nGod\u2014all is of grace\u2014from the foundation to the top-stone of a sinner\u2019s\nsalvation. And above all, he clearly shows that salvation by grace is\nthe most sin-killing doctrine in the world, as well as the most\nconsoling tidings that can be brought to a sin-sick soul. \u2018O, when a\nGod of grace is upon a throne of grace, and a poor sinner stands by and\nbegs for grace, and that in the name of a gracious Christ, in and by\nthe help of the Spirit of grace, can it be otherwise but that such a\nsinner must obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need? O, then,\nCOME BOLDLY!\u2019 p. 360.\n\nBut I must not detain the reader from entering upon this solemn\nsubject; only for a moment, while I quote another passage conceived in\nall the ardour of Bunyan\u2019s feelings:\u2014\u2018O Son of God! grace was in all\nthy tears\u2014grace came out where the. whip smote thee, where the thorns\npricked thee, where the nails and spear pierced thee! O blessed Son of\nGod! Here is grace indeed!\u2019 Unsearchable riches of grace! Grace to make\nangels wonder, grace to make sinners happy, grace to astonish devils!\nAnd what will become of them that trample under foot this Son of God?\u2019\n\nReader, may this searching, comforting, reviving subject be blessed to\nour well-grounded consolation!\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nTO THE READER.\n\nCOURTEOUS READER,\n\n\nIn this little book thou art presented with a discourse of the GRACE of\nGod, and of salvation by that grace. In which discourse, thou shalt\nfind how each Person in the Godhead doth his part in the salvation of\nthe sinner. I. The Father putteth forth his grace, thus. II. The Son\nputteth forth his grace, thus. III. And the Spirit putteth forth his\ngrace, thus. Which things thou shalt find here particularly handled.\n\nThou shalt also find, in this small treatise, the way of God with the\nsinner, as to his CONVERSATION, 1 and the way of the sinner with God in\nthe same; where[in] the grace of God, and the wickedness of the sinner,\ndo greatly show themselves.\n\nIf thou findest me short in things, impute that [to] my love to\nbrevity. If thou findest me besides the truth in aught, impute that to\nmine infirmity. But if thou findest anything here that serveth to thy\nfurtherance and joy of faith, impute that to the mercy of God bestowed\non thee and me.\n\nThine to serve thee with that little I have,\n\nJ.B.\n\nSAVED BY GRACE.\n\n\u201cBY GRACE YE ARE SAVED.\u201d\u2014EPHESIANS 2:5.\n\n\nIn the first chapter, from the fourth to the twelfth verse, the apostle\nis treating of the doctrine of election, both with respect to the act\nitself, the end, and means conducing thereto. The act, he tells us, was\nGod\u2019s free choice of some (verse 4,5,11). The end was God\u2019s glory in\ntheir salvation (verse 6,14). The means conducing to that end was Jesus\nChrist himself\u2014\u201cIn whom we have redemption through his blood, the\nforgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace\u201d (verse 7).\nThis done, he treateth of the subjection of the Ephesians to the faith,\nas it was held forth to them in the Word of the truth of the gospel, as\nalso of their being sealed by the Holy Spirit of God unto the day of\nredemption (verse 12-14). Moreover, he telleth them how he gave thanks\nto God for them, making mention of them in his prayers, even that he\nwould make them see \u201cwhat is the hope of his calling, and what the\nriches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the\nexceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to\nthe working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he\nraised him from the dead,\u201d &c. (verse 15-20).\n\nAnd lest the Ephesians, at the hearing of these their so many\nprivileges, should forget how little they deserved them, he tells them\nthat in time past they were dead in trespasses and sins, and that then\nthey walked in them \u201caccording to the course of this world, according\nto the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in\nthe children of disobedience\u201d (Eph 2:2,3).\n\nHaving thus called them back to the remembrance of themselves\u2014to wit,\nwhat they were in their state of unregeneracy, he proceedeth to show\nthem that their first quickening was by the resurrection of Christ\ntheir Head, in whom they before were chosen, and that by him they were\nalready set down in heavenly places, (verse 5,6); inserting, by the\nway, the true cause of all this blessedness, with what else should be\nby us enjoyed in another world; and that is, the love and grace of God:\n\u201cBut God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved\nus, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with\nChrist [by grace ye are saved].\u201d These last words seen to be the\napostle\u2019s conclusion rightly drawn from the premises; as who should\nsay, If you Ephesians were indeed dead in trespasses and sins; if\nindeed you were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, then\nyou deserve no more than others. 2\n\nAgain, if God hath chosen you, if God hath justified and saved you by\nhis Christ, and left others as good as you by nature to perish in their\nsins, then the true cause of this your blessed condition is, the free\ngrace of God. But just thus it is, therefore by grace ye are saved;\ntherefore all the good which you enjoy more than others, it is of mere\ngoodwill.\n\n\u201cBY GRACE YE ARE SAVED.\u201d\n\n\nThe method that I shall choose to discourse upon these words shall be\nthis\u2014I will propound certain questions upon the words, and direct\nparticular answers to them; in which answers I hope I shall answer\nalso, somewhat at least, the expectation of the godly and conscientious\nreader, and so shall draw towards a conclusion.\n\nTHE QUESTIONS ARE\u2014\n\n\nI. What is it to be saved? II. What is it to be saved by grace? III.\nWho are they that are saved by grace? IV. How it appears that they that\nare saved, are saved by grace? V. What might be the reasons which\nprevailed with God to save us by grace, rather than by any other means?\n\nNow the reason why I propound these five questions upon the words, it\nis, because the words themselves admit them; the first three are\ngrounded upon the several phrases in the text, and the two last are to\nmake way for demonstration of the whole.\n\nQUEST. I.\u2014WHAT IS IT TO BE SAVED?\n\n\nThis question supposeth that there is such a thing as damnation due to\nman for sin; for to save supposeth the person to be saved to be at\npresent in a sad condition; saving, to him that is not lost, signifies\nnothing, neither is it anything in itself. \u201cTo save, to redeem, to\ndeliver,\u201d are in the general terms equivalent, and they do all of them\nsuppose us to be in a state of thraldom and misery; therefore this word\n\u201csaved,\u201d in the sense that the apostle here doth use it, is a word of\ngreat worth, forasmuch as the miseries from which we are saved is the\nmisery of all most dreadful.\n\nThe miseries from which they that shall be saved shall by their\nsalvation be delivered, are dreadful; they are no less than sin, the\ncurse of God, and flames of hell for ever. What more abominable than\nsin? What more insupportable than the dreadful wrath of an angry God?\nAnd what more fearful than the bottomless pit of hell? I say, what more\nfearful than to be tormented there for ever with the devil and his\nangels? Now, to \u201csave,\u201d according to my text, is to deliver the sinner\nfrom these, with all things else that attend them. And although sinners\nmay think that it is no hard matter to answer this question, yet I must\ntell you there is no man, that can feelingly know what it is to be\nsaved, that knoweth not experimentally something of the dread of these\nthree things, as is evident, because all others do even by their\npractice count it a thing of no great concern, when yet it is of all\nother of the highest concern among men; \u201cFor what is a man profited if\nhe shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?\u201d (Matt 16:26).\n\nBut, I say, if this word \u201csaved\u201d concludeth our deliverance from sin,\nhow can he tell what it is to be saved that hath not in his conscience\ngroaned under the burden of sin? yea, it is impossible else that he\nshould ever cry out with all his heart, \u201cMen and brethren, what shall\nwe do?\u201d\u2014that is, do to be saved (Acts 2:37). The man that hath no sores\nor aches cannot know the virtue of the salve; I mean, not know it from\nhis own experience, and therefore cannot prize, nor have that esteem of\nit, as he that hath received cure thereby. Clap a plaster to a well\nplace, and that maketh not its virtue to appear; neither can he to\nwhose flesh it is so applied, by that application understand its worth.\nSinners, you, I mean, that are not wounded with guilt, and oppressed\nwith the burden of sin, you cannot\u2014I will say it again\u2014you cannot know,\nin this senseless condition of yours, what it is to be saved.\n\nAgain; this word \u201csaved,\u201d as I said, concludeth deliverance from the\nwrath of God. How, then, can he tell what it is to be saved that hath\nnot felt the burden of the wrath of God? He\u2014he that is astonished with,\nand that trembleth at, the wrath of God\u2014he knows best what it is to be\nsaved (Acts 16:29).\n\nFurther, this word \u201csaved,\u201d it concludeth deliverance from death and\nhell. How, then, can he tell what it is to be saved that never was\nsensible of the sorrows of the one, nor distressed with the pains of\nthe other? The Psalmist says, \u201cThe sorrows of death compassed me, and\nthe pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then\ncalled I upon the name of the Lord\u201d\u2014(mark, then), \u201cthen called I upon\nthe name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul,\u201d\u2014then,\nin my distress. When he knew what it was to be saved, then he called,\nbecause, I say, then he knew what it was to be saved (Psa 18:4,5;\n116:3,4). I say, this is the man, and this only, that knows what it is\nto be saved. And this is evident, as is manifest by the little regard\nthat the rest have to saving, or the little dread they have of\ndamnation. Where is he that seeks and groans for salvation? I say,\nwhere is he that hath taken his flight for salvation, because of the\ndread of the wrath to come? \u201cO generation of vipers, who hath warned\nyou to flee from the wrath to come?\u201d (Matt 3:7). Alas! do not the most\nset light by salvation?\u2014as for sin, how do they love it, embrace it,\nplease themselves with it, hide it still within their mouth, and keep\nit close under their tongue. Besides, for the wrath of God, they feel\nit not, they fly not from it; and for hell, it is become a doubt to\nmany if there be any, and a mock to those whose doubt is resolved by\natheism.\n\nBut to come to the question\u2014What is it to be saved? To be saved may\neither respect salvation in the whole of it, or salvation in the parts\nof it, or both. I think this text respecteth both\u2014to wit, salvation\ncompleting, and salvation completed; for \u201cto save\u201d is a work of many\nsteps; or, to be as plain as possible, \u201cto save\u201d is a work that hath\nits beginning before the world began, and shall not be completed before\nit is ended.\n\nFirst, then, we may be said to be saved in the purpose of God before\nthe world began. The apostle saith that \u201che saved us, and called us\nwith an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his\nown purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the\nworld began\u201d (2 Tim 1:9). This is the beginning of salvation, and\naccording to this beginning all things concur and fall out in\nconclusion\u2014\u201cHe hath saved us according to his eternal purpose, which he\npurposed in Christ Jesus.\u201d God in thus saving may be said to save us by\ndetermining to make those means effectual for the blessed completing of\nour salvation; and hence we are said \u201cto be chosen in Christ to\nsalvation.\u201d And again, that he hath in that choice given us that grace\nthat shall complete our salvation. Yea, the text is very full, \u201cHe hath\nblessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,\naccording as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the\nworld\u201d (Eph 1:3,4).\n\nSecond. As we may be said to be saved in the purpose of God before the\nfoundation of the world, so we may be said to be saved before we are\nconverted, or called to Christ. And hence \u201csaved\u201d is put before\n\u201ccalled\u201d; \u201che hath saved us, and called us\u201d; he saith not, he hath\ncalled us, and saved us; but he puts saving before calling (2 Tim 1:9).\nSo again, we are said to be \u201cpreserved in Christ and called\u201d; he saith\nnot, called and preserved (Jude 1). And therefore God saith again, \u201cI\nwill pardon them whom I reserve\u201d\u2014that is, as Paul expounds it, those\nwhom I have \u201celected and kept,\u201d and this part of salvation is\naccomplished through the forbearance of God (Jer 50:20; Rom 11:4,5).\nGod beareth with his own elect, for Christ\u2019s sake, all the time of\ntheir unregeneracy, until the time comes which he hath appointed for\ntheir conversion. The sins that we stood guilty of before conversion,\nhad the judgment due to them been executed upon us, we had not now been\nin the world to partake of a heavenly calling. But the judgment due to\nthem hath been by the patience of God prevented, and we saved all the\ntime of our ungodly and unconverted state, from that death, and those\nmany hells, that for our sins we deserved at the hands of God.\n\nAnd here lies the reason that long life is granted to the elect before\nconversion, and that all the sins they commit and all the judgments\nthey deserve, cannot drive them out of the world before conversion.\nManasseh, you know, was a great sinner, and for the trespass which he\ncommitted he was driven from his own land, and carried to Babylon; but\nkill him they could not, though his sins had deserved death ten\nthousand times. But what was the reason? Why, he was not yet called;\nGod had chosen him in Christ, and laid up in him a stock of grace,\nwhich must be given to Manasseh before he dies; therefore Manasseh must\nbe convinced, converted, and saved. That legion of devils that was in\nthe possessed, with all the sins which he had committed in the time of\nhis unregeneracy, could not take away his life before his conversion\n(Mark 5). How many times was that poor creature, as we may easily\nconjecture, assaulted for his life by the devils that were in him, yet\ncould they not kill him, yea, though his dwelling was near the\nsea-side, and the devils had power to drive him too, yet could they not\ndrive him further than the mountains that were by the sea-side; yea,\nthey could help him often to break his chains and fetters, and could\nalso make him as mad as a bedlam, 3 they could also prevail with him to\nseparate from men, and cut himself with stones, but kill him they could\nnot, drown him they could not; he was saved to be called; he was,\nnotwithstanding all this, preserved in Christ, and called. As it is\nsaid of the young lad in the gospel, he was by the devil cast oft into\nthe fire, and oft into the water, to destroy him, but it could not be;\neven so hath he served others, but they must be \u201csaved to be called\u201d\n(Mark 9:22). How many deaths have some been delivered from and saved\nout of before conversion! Some have fallen into rivers, some into\nwells, some into the sea, some into the hands of men; yea, they have\nbeen justly arraigned and condemned, as the thief upon the cross, but\nmust not die before they have been converted. They were preserved in\nChrist, and called.\n\nCalled Christian, how many times have thy sins laid thee upon a\nsick-bed, and, to thine and others\u2019 thinking, at the very mouth of the\ngrave? yet God said concerning thee, Let him live, for he is not yet\nconverted. Behold, therefore, that the elect are saved before they are\ncalled. 4 \u201cGod, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he\nloved us, even when we were dead in sins,\u201d hath preserved us in Christ,\nand called us (Eph 2:4,5).\n\nNow this \u201csaving\u201d of us arises from six causes. 1. God hath chosen us\nunto salvation, and therefore will not frustrate his own purposes (1\nThess 5:9). 2. God hath given us to Christ; and his gift, as well as\nhis calling, is without repentance (Rom 11:29; John 6:37). 3. Christ\nhath purchased us with his blood (Rom 5:8,9). 4. They are, by God,\ncounted in Christ before they are converted (Eph 1:3,4). 5. They are\nordained before conversion to eternal life; yea, to be called, to be\njustified, to be glorified, and therefore all this must come upon them\n(Rom 8:29,30). 6. For all this, he hath also appointed them their\nportion and measure of grace, and that before the world began;\ntherefore, that they may partake of all these privileges, they are\nsaved and called, preserved in Christ, and called.\n\nThird. To be saved is to be brought to, and helped to lay hold on,\nJesus Christ by faith. And this is called saving by grace through\nfaith. \u201cFor by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of\nyourselves, it is the gift of God\u201d (Eph 2:8).\n\n1. They must be brought unto Christ, yea, drawn unto him; for \u201cno man,\u201d\nsaith Christ, \u201ccan come to me, except the Father which hath sent me\ndraw him\u201d (John 6:44). Men, even the elect, have too many infirmities\nto come to Christ without help from heaven; inviting will not do. \u201cAs\nthey called them, so they went from them,\u201d therefore he \u201cdrew them with\ncords\u201d (Hosea 11:2,4).\n\n2. As they must be brought to, so they must be helped to lay hold on\nChrist by faith; for as coming to Christ, so faith, is not in our own\npower; therefore we are said to be raised up with him \u201cthrough the\nfaith of the operation of God.\u201d And again, we are said to believe,\n\u201caccording to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in\nChrist, when he raised him from the dead\u201d (Col 2:12; Eph 1:19,20). Now\nwe are said to be saved by faith, because by faith we lay hold of,\nventure upon, and put on Jesus Christ for life. For life, I say,\nbecause God having made him the Saviour, hath given him life to\ncommunicate to sinners, and the life that he communicates to them is\nthe merit of his flesh and blood, which whoso eateth and drinketh by\nfaith, hath eternal life, because that flesh and blood hath merit in it\nsufficient to obtain the favour of God. Yea, it hath done so [since]\nthat day it was offered through the eternal Spirit a sacrifice of a\nsweet-smelling savour to him; wherefore God imputeth the righteousness\nof Christ to him that believeth in him, by which righteousness he is\npersonally justified, and saved from that just judgment of the law that\nwas due unto him (John 5:26, 6:53-58; Eph 4:32; 5:2; Rom 4:23-25).\n\n\u201cSaved by faith.\u201d For although salvation beginneth in God\u2019s purpose,\nand comes to us through Christ\u2019s righteousness, yet is not faith\nexempted from having a hand in saving of us. Not that it meriteth\naught, but is given by God to those which he saveth, that thereby they\nmay embrace and put on that Christ by whose righteousness they must be\nsaved. Wherefore this faith is that which here distinguisheth them that\nshall be saved from them that shall be damned. Hence it is said, \u201cHe\nthat believeth not, shall be damned\u201d; and hence again it is that the\nbelievers are called \u201cthe children, the heirs, and the blessed with\nfaithful Abraham;\u201d that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be\ngiven to them that believe (Gal 3:6-9,26; Rom 4:13,14).\n\nAnd here let Christians warily distinguish betwixt the meritorious and\nthe instrumental cause of their justification. Christ, with what he\nhath done and suffered, is the meritorious cause of our justification;\ntherefore he is said to be made to us of God, \u201cwisdom and\nrighteousness;\u201d and we are said to be \u201cjustified by his blood, and\nsaved from wrath through him,\u201d for it was his life and blood that were\nthe price of our redemption (1 Cor 1:30; Rom 5:9,10). \u201cRedeemed,\u201d says\nPeter, \u201cnot with corruptible things, as silver and gold,\u201d alluding to\nthe redemption of money under the law, \u201cbut with the precious blood of\nChrist.\u201d Thou art, therefore, as I have said, to make Christ Jesus the\nobject of thy faith for justification; for by his righteousness thy\nsins must be covered from the sight of the justice of the law. \u201cBelieve\non the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.\u201d \u201cFor he shall save\nhis people from their sins\u201d (Acts 16:31; Matt 1:21).\n\nFourth. To be saved is to be preserved in the faith to the end. \u201cHe\nthat shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved\u201d (Matt 24:13).\nNot that perseverance is an accident in Christianity, or a thing\nperformed by human industry; they that are saved \u201care kept by the power\nof God, through faith unto salvation\u201d (1 Peter 1:3-6).\n\nBut perseverance is absolutely necessary to the complete saving of the\nsoul, because he that falleth short of the state that they that are\nsaved are possessed of, as saved, cannot arrive to that saved state. He\nthat goeth to sea with a purpose to arrive at Spain, cannot arrive\nthere if he be drowned by the way; wherefore perseverance is absolutely\nnecessary to the saving of the soul, and therefore it is included in\nthe complete saving of us\u2014\u201cIsrael shall be saved in the Lord with an\neverlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world\nwithout end\u201d (Isa 45:17). Perseverance is here made absolutely\nnecessary to the complete saving of the soul.\n\nBut, as I said, this part of salvation dependeth not upon human power,\nbut upon him that hath begun a good work in us (Phil 1:6). This part,\ntherefore, of our salvation is great, and calleth for no less than the\npower of God for our help to perform it, as will be easily granted by\nall those that consider\u2014\n\n1. That all the power and policy, malice and rage, of the devils and\nhell itself are against us. Any man that understandeth this will\nconclude that to be saved is no small thing. The devil is called a god,\na prince, a lion, a roaring lion; it is said that he hath death and the\npower of it, &c. But what can a poor creature, whose habitation is in\nflesh, do against a god, a prince, a roaring lion, and the power of\ndeath itself? Our perseverance, therefore, lieth in the power of God;\n\u201cthe gates of hell shall not prevail against it.\u201d\n\n2. All the world is against him that shall be saved. But what is one\npoor creature to all the world, especially if you consider that with\nthe world is terror, fear, power, majesty, laws, jails, gibbets,\nhangings, burnings, drownings, starvings, banishments, and a thousand\nkinds of deaths? (1 John 5:4,5; John 16:33).\n\n3. Add to this, that all the corruptions that dwell in our flesh are\nagainst us, and that not only in their nature and being, but they lust\nagainst us, and war against us, to \u201cbring us into captivity to the law\nof sin and death\u201d (Gal 5:17; 1 Peter 2:11; Rom 7:23).\n\n4. All the delusions in the world are against them that shall be saved,\nmany of which are so cunningly woven, so plausibly handled, so rarely5\npolished with Scripture and reason, that it is ten thousand wonders\nthat the elect are not swallowed up with them; and swallowed up they\nwould be, were they not elect, and was not God himself engaged, either\nby power to keep them from falling, or by grace to pardon if they fall,\nand to lift them up again (Matt 24:24; Eph 4:14; Rom 3:12).\n\n5. Every fall of the saved is against the salvation of his soul; but a\nChristian once fallen riseth not but as helped by Omnipotent power\u2014\u201cO\nIsrael, thou hast fallen by thine iniquity,\u201d \u201cbut in me is thy help,\u201d\nsays God (Hosea 13:9; 14:1; Psa 37:23).\n\nChristians, were you awake, here would be matter of wonder to you, to\nsee a man assaulted with all the power of hell, and yet to come off a\nconqueror! Is it not a wonder to see a poor creature, who in himself is\nweaker than the moth, to stand against and overcome all devils, all the\nworld, all his lusts and corruptions? (Job 4:19). Or if he fall, is it\nnot a wonder to see him, when devils and guilt are upon him, to rise\nagain, stand upon his feet again, walk with God again, and persevere\nafter all this in the faith and holiness of the gospel? He that knows\nhimself, wonders; he that knows temptation, wonders; he that knows what\nfalls and guilt mean, wonders; indeed, perseverance is a wonderful\nthing, and is managed by the power of God; for he only \u201cis able to keep\nyou from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of\nhis glory with exceeding joy\u201d (Jude 24). Those of the children of\nIsrael that went from Egypt, and entered the land of Canaan, how came\nthey thither? Why, the text says, that \u201cas an eagle spreadeth abroad\nher wings, so the Lord alone did lead them.\u201d And again, \u201che bore them,\nand carried them all the days of old\u201d (Deu 32:11,12; Isa 63:9). David\nalso tells us that mercy and goodness should follow him all the days of\nhis life, and so he should dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (Psa\n23:6).\n\nFifth. To be saved calls for more than all this; he that is saved,\nmust, when this world can hold him no longer, have a safe-conduct to\nheaven, for that is the place where they that are saved must to the\nfull enjoy their salvation. This heaven is called \u201cthe end of our\nfaith,\u201d because it is that which faith looks at; as Peter says,\n\u201cReceiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.\u201d\nAnd again, \u201cBut we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of\nthem that believe to the saving of the soul\u201d (1 Peter 1:9; Heb 10:39).\nFor, as I said, heaven is the place for the saved to enjoy their\nsalvation in, with that perfect gladness that is not attainable here.\nHere we are saved by faith and hope of glory; but there, we that are\nsaved shall enjoy the end of our faith and hope, even the salvation of\nour souls. There is \u201cMount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the general\nassembly and church of the firstborn;\u201d there is the \u201cinnumerable\ncompany of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect;\u201d there is\n\u201cGod the judge of all, and Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant;\u201d\nthere shall our soul have as much of heaven as it is capable of\nenjoying, and that without intermission; wherefore, when we come there\nwe shall be saved indeed! But now for a poor creature to be brought\nhither, this is the life of the point. But how shall I come hither?\nthere are heights and depths to hinder (Rom 8:38,39).\n\nSuppose the poor Christian is now upon a sick-bed, beset with a\nthousand fears, and ten thousand at the end of that; sick-bed fears!\nand they are sometimes dreadful ones; fears that are begotten by the\nreview of the sin, perhaps, of forty years\u2019 profession; fears that are\nbegotten by dreadful and fearful suggestions of the devil, the sight of\ndeath, and the grave, and it may be of hell itself; fears that are\nbegotten by the withdrawing and silence of God and Christ, and by, it\nmay be, the appearance of the devil himself; some of these made David\ncry, \u201cO spare me\u201d a little, \u201cthat I may recover strength before I go\nhence, and be no more\u201d (Psa 39:13). \u201cThe sorrows of death,\u201d said he,\n\u201ccompassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me; I found trouble\nand sorrow\u201d (Psa 116:3). These things, in another place, he calls the\nbands that the godly have in their death, and the plagues that others\nare not aware of. \u201cThey are not in trouble as other men; neither are\nthey plagued like other men\u201d (Psa 73:9). But now, out of all these, the\nLord will save his people; not one sin, nor fear, nor devil shall\nhinder; nor the grave nor hell disappoint thee. But how must this be?\nWhy, thou must have a safe-conduct to heaven? 6 What conduct? A conduct\nof angels: \u201cAre they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to\nminister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?\u201d (Heb 1:14).\n\nThese angels, therefore, are not to fail them that are the saved; but\nmust, as commissioned of God, come down from heaven to do this office\nfor them; they must come, I say, and take the care and charge of our\nsoul, to conduct it safely into Abraham\u2019s bosom. It is not our meanness\nin the world, nor our weakness of faith, that shall hinder this; nor\nshall the loathsomeness of our diseases make these delicate spirits shy\nof taking this charge upon them. Lazarus the beggar found this a truth;\na beggar so despised of the rich glutton that he was not suffered to\ncome within his gate; a beggar full of sores and noisome putrefaction;\nyet, behold, when he dies, the angels come from heaven to fetch him\nthither: \u201cAnd it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by\nthe angels into Abraham\u2019s bosom\u201d (Luke 16:22). True, sick-bed\ntemptations are ofttimes the most violent, because then the devil plays\nhis last game with us, he is never to assault us more; besides, perhaps\nGod suffereth it thus to be, that the entering into heaven may be the\nsweeter, and ring of this salvation the louder! O it is a blessed thing\nfor God to be our God and our guide even unto death, and then for his\nangels to conduct us safely to glory; this is saving indeed. And he\nshall save Israel \u201cout of all his troubles;\u201d out of sick-bed troubles\nas well as others (Psa 25:22; 34:6; 48:14).\n\nSixth. To be saved, to be perfectly saved, calls for more than all\nthis; the godly are not perfectly saved when their soul is possessed of\nheaven. True, their spirit is made perfect, and hath as much of heaven\nas at present it can hold, but man, consisting of body and soul, cannot\nbe said to be perfectly saved so long as but part of him is in the\nheavens; his body is the price of the blood of Christ as well as his\nspirit; his body is the temple of God, and a member of the body, and of\nthe flesh, and of the bones of Christ; he cannot, then, be completely\nsaved until the time of the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 6:13-19;\nEph 5:30). Wherefore, when Christ shall come the second time, then will\nhe save the body from all those things that at present make it\nincapable of the heavens. \u201cFor our conversation is in heaven; from\nwhence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall\nchange\u201d this \u201cour vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his\nglorious body\u201d (Phil 3:20,21). O what a great deal of good God hath put\ninto this little word \u201csaved\u201d! We shall not see all the good that God\nhath put into this word \u201csaved\u201d until the Lord Jesus comes to raise the\ndead. \u201cIt doth not yet appear what we shall be\u201d (1 John 3:2). But till\nit appears what we shall be, we cannot see the bottom of this word\n\u201csaved.\u201d True, we have the earnest of what we shall be, we have the\nSpirit of God, \u201cwhich is the earnest of our inheritance until the\nredemption of the purchased possession\u201d (Eph 1:14). The possession is\nour body\u2014it is called \u201ca purchased possession,\u201d because it is the price\nof blood; now the redemption of this purchased possession is the\nraising of it out of the grave, which raising is called the redemption\nof our body (Rom 8:23). And when this vile body is made like unto his\nglorious body, and this body and soul together possessed of the\nheavens, then shall we be every way saved.\n\nThere are three things from which this body must be saved\u20141. There is\nthat sinful filth and vileness that yet dwells in it, under which we\ngroan earnestly all our days (2 Cor 5:1-3). 2. There is mortality, that\nsubjecteth us to age, sickness, aches, pains, diseases, and death. 3.\nAnd there is the grave and death itself, for death is the last enemy\nthat is to be destroyed. \u201cSo when this corruptible shall have put on\nincorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall\nbe brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in\nvictory\u201d (1 Cor 15:54). So then, when this comes to pass, then we shall\nbe saved; then will salvation, in all the parts of it, meet together in\nour glory; then we shall be every way saved\u2014saved in God\u2019s decree,\nsaved in Christ\u2019s undertakings, saved by faith, saved in perseverance,\nsaved in soul, and in body and soul together in the heavens, saved\nperfectly, everlastingly, gloriously.\n\n[Of the state of our body and soul in heaven.]\n\nBefore I conclude my answer to the first question, I would discourse a\nlittle of the state of our body and soul in heaven, when we shall enjoy\nthis blessed state of salvation.\n\nFirst. Of the soul; it will then be filled in all the faculties of it\nwith as much bliss and glory as ever it can hold.\n\n1. The understanding shall then be perfect in knowledge\u2014\u201cNow we know\nbut in part;\u201d we know God, Christ, heaven, and glory, but in part; \u201cbut\nwhen that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be\ndone away\u201d (1 Cor 13:10). Then shall we have perfect and everlasting\nvisions of God, and that blessed one his Son Jesus Christ, a good\nthought of whom doth sometimes so fill us while in this world, that it\ncauseth \u201cjoy unspeakable and full of glory.\u201d 2. Then shall our will and\naffections be ever in a burning flame of love to God and his Son Jesus\nChrist; our love here hath ups and downs, but there it shall be always\nperfect with that perfection which is not possible in this world to be\nenjoyed. 3. Then will our conscience have that peace and joy that\nneither tongue nor pen of men or angels can express. 4. Then will our\nmemory be so enlarged to retain all things that happened to us in this\nworld, so that with unspeakable aptness we shall call to mind all God\u2019s\nprovidences, all Satan\u2019s malice, all our own weaknesses, all the rage\nof men, and how God made all work together for his glory and our good,\nto the everlasting ravishing of our hearts.\n\nSecond. For our body; it shall be raised in power, in incorruption, a\nspiritual body and glorious (1 Cor 15:44). The glory of which is set\nforth by several things\u20141. It is compared to \u201cthe brightness of the\nfirmament,\u201d and to the shining of the stars \u201cfor ever and ever\u201d (Dan\n12:3; 1 Cor 15:41,42). 2. It is compared to the shining of the\nsun\u2014\u201cThen shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of\ntheir Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear\u201d (Matt 13:43). 3.\nTheir state is then to be equally glorious with angels; \u201cBut they which\nshall be counted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from\nthe dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; neither can they\ndie any more, for they are equal unto the angels\u201d (Luke 20:35,36). 4.\nIt is said that then this our vile body shall be like the glorious body\nof Jesus Christ (Phil 3:20,21; 1 John 3:2,3). 5. And now, when body and\nsoul are thus united, who can imagine what glory they both possess?\nThey will now be both in capacity, without jarring, to serve the Lord\nwith shouting thanksgivings, and with a crown of everlasting joy upon\ntheir head. 8\n\nIn this world there cannot be that harmony and oneness of body and soul\nas there will be in heaven. Here the body sometimes sins against the\nsoul, and the soul again vexes and perplexes the body with dreadful\napprehensions of the wrath and judgment of God. While we be in this\nworld, the body oft hangs this way, and the soul the quite contrary;\nbut there, in heaven, they shall have that perfect union as never to\njar more; but now the glory of the body shall so suit with the glory of\nthe soul, and both so perfectly suit with the heavenly state, that it\npasseth words and thoughts.\n\nThird. Shall I now speak of the place that this saved body and soul\nshall dwell in?\n\nWhy, 1. It is a city (Heb 11:16; Eph 2:19,22). 2. It is called heaven\n(Heb 10:34). 3. It is called God\u2019s house (John 14:1-3). 4. It is called\na kingdom (Luke 12:32). 5. It is called glory (Col 3:4; Heb 2:10). 6.\nIt is called paradise (Rev 2:7). 7. It is called everlasting\nhabitations (Luke 16:9).\n\nFourth. Shall I speak of their company?\n\nWhy, 1. They shall stand and live in the presence of the glorious God,\nthe Judge of all (Heb 12:23). 2. They shall be with the Lamb, the Lord\nJesus. 3. They shall be with an innumerable company of holy angels (Heb\n12:22). 4. They shall be with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the\nprophets, in the kingdom of heaven (Luke 13:28).\n\nFifth. Shall I speak of their heavenly raiment?\n\n1. It is salvation; they shall be clothed with the garment of salvation\n(Psa 132:16; 149:4; Isa 61:10). 2. This raiment is called white\nraiment, signifying their clean and innocent state in heaven. \u201cAnd\nthey,\u201d says Christ, \u201cshall walk with me in white, for they are worthy\u201d\n(Rev 3:4; 19:8; Isa 57:2). 3. It is called glory\u2014\u201cWhen he shall appear,\nwe shall appear with him in glory\u201d (Col 3:4). 4. They shall also have\ncrowns of righteousness, everlasting joy and glory (Isa 35:10; 2 Tim\n4:8; 1 Peter 5:4).\n\nSixth. Shall I speak of their continuance in this condition?\n\n1. It is for ever and ever. \u201cAnd they shall see his face, and his name\nshall be in their foreheads; and they shall reign for ever and ever\u201d\n(Rev 22:4,5). 2. It is everlasting. \u201cAnd this is the will of him that\nsent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may\nhave everlasting life\u201d (John 6:40,47). 3. It is life eternal. \u201cMy sheep\nhear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto\nthem eternal life\u201d (John 10:27,28). 4. It is world without end. \u201cBut\nIsrael shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation; ye\nshall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end\u201d (Isa 45:17; Eph\n3:20,21).\n\nO sinner! what sayest thou? How dost thou like being saved? Doth not\nthy mouth water? Doth not thy heart twitter at being saved? Why, come\nthen: \u201cThe Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth\nsay, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let\nhim take the water of life freely\u201d (Rev 22:17).\n\nQUEST. II.\u2014WHAT IS IT TO BE SAVED BY GRACE?\n\n\nNow I come to the second question\u2014to wit, What is it to be saved by\ngrace? For so are the words of the text, \u201cBy grace ye are saved.\u201d But,\n\nFirst. I must touch a little upon the word GRACE, and show you how\ndiversely it is taken. Sometimes it is taken for the goodwill and\nfavour of men (Esth 2:17: Ruth 2:2: 1 Sam 1:18: 2 Sam 16:4). Sometimes\nit is taken for those sweet ornaments that a life according to the Word\nof God putteth about the neck 9 (Prov 1:9; 3:22). Sometimes it is taken\nfor the charity of the saints, as 2 Corinthians 9:6-8.\n\nBut \u201cgrace\u201d in the text is taken for God\u2019s goodwill, \u201cthe goodwill of\nhim that dwelt in the bush;\u201d and is expressed variously. Sometimes it\nis called \u201chis good pleasure.\u201d Sometimes, \u201cthe good pleasure of his\nwill,\u201d which is all one with \u201cthe riches of his grace\u201d (Eph 1:7).\nSometimes it is expressed by goodness, pity, love, mercy, kindness, and\nthe like (Rom 2:4; Isa 63:9; Titus 3:4,5). Yea, he styles himself, \u201cThe\nLord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant\nin goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity\nand transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty\u201d\n(Exo 34:6,7).\n\nSecond. As the word \u201cgrace\u201d signifieth all these, so it intimates to us\nthat all these are free acts of God, free love, free mercy, free\nkindness; hence we have other hints in the Word about the nature of\ngrace, as, 1. It is an act of God\u2019s will, which must needs be free; an\nact of his own will, of the good pleasure of his will; by each of these\nexpressions is intimated that grace is a free act of God\u2019s goodness\ntowards the sons of men. 2. Therefore it is expressly said\u2014\u201cBeing\njustified freely by his grace\u201d (Rom 3:24). 3. \u201cAnd when they had\nnothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both\u201d (Luke 7:42). 4. And\nagain, \u201cNot for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known\nunto you\u201d (Eze 36:32; Deu 9:5). 5. And therefore \u201cgrace,\u201d and the\ndeservings of the creature, are set in flat opposition one to\nanother\u2014\u201cAnd if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace\nis no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace;\notherwise work is no more work\u201d (Rom 11:6).\n\nThe word \u201cgrace,\u201d therefore, being understood, doth most properly set\nforth the true cause of man\u2019s happiness with God, not but that those\nexpressions, love, mercy, goodness, pity, kindness, &c., and the like,\nhave their proper place in our happiness also. Had not God loved us,\ngrace had not acted freely in our salvation; had not God been merciful,\ngood, pitiful, kind, he would have turned away from us when he saw us\nin our blood (Eze 16).\n\nSo then, when he saith, \u201cBy grace ye are saved,\u201d it is all one as if he\nhad said, By the goodwill, free mercy, and loving-kindness of God ye\nare saved; as the words conjoined with the text do also further\nmanifest: \u201cBut God,\u201d saith Paul, \u201cwho is rich in mercy, for his great\nlove wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath\nquickened us together with Christ [by grace ye are saved].\u201d\n\n[Third.] The words thus understood admit us these few conclusions\u20141.\nThat God, in saving of the sinner, hath no respect to the sinner\u2019s\ngoodness; hence it is said he is frankly forgiven, and freely justified\n(Luke 7:42; Rom 3:24). 2. That God doth this to whom and when he\npleases, because it is an act of his own good pleasure (Gal 1:15,16).\n3. This is the cause why great sinners are saved, for God pardoneth\n\u201caccording to the riches of his grace\u201d (Eph 1:7). 4. This is the true\ncause that some sinners are so amazed and confounded at the\napprehension of their own salvation; his grace is unsearchable; and by\nunsearchable grace God oft puzzles and confounds our reason (Eze\n16:62,63; Acts 9:6). 5. This is the cause that sinners are so often\nrecovered from their backslidings, healed of their wounds that they get\nby their falls, and helped again to rejoice in God\u2019s mercy. Why, he\nwill be gracious to whom he will be gracious, and he will have\ncompassion on whom he will have compassion (Rom 9:15).\n\n[Fourth.] But I must not here conclude this point. We are here\ndiscoursing of the grace of God, and that by it we are saved; saved, I\nsay, by the grace of God.\n\nNow, God is set forth in the Word unto us under a double\nconsideration\u20141. He is set forth in his own eternal power and Godhead;\nand as thus set forth, we are to conceive of him by his attributes of\npower, justice, goodness, holiness, everlastingness, &c. 2. But then,\nwe have him set forth in the Word of truth as consisting of Father,\nSon, and Spirit; and although this second consideration containeth in\nit the nature of the Godhead, yet the first doth not demonstrate the\npersons in the Godhead. We are saved by the grace of God\u2014that is, by\nthe grace of the Father, who is God; by the grace of the Son, who is\nGod; and by the grace of the Spirit, who is God.\n\nNow, since we are said to be \u201csaved by grace,\u201d and that the grace of\nGod; and since also we find in the Word that in the Godhead there are\nFather, Son, and Holy Ghost, we must conclude that it is by the grace\nof the Father, Son, and Spirit that we are saved; wherefore grace is\nattributed to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost distinctly. 1. Grace is\nattributed to the Father, as these scriptures testify; Romans 7:25, 1\nCorinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2,\nPhilippians 1:2, Colossians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians\n1:2, 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:2, Titus 1:4, Philemon 3. 2. Grace is\nalso attributed to the Son, and I first manifest it by all those texts\nabove-mentioned, as also by these that follow: 2 Corinthians 8:9,\n13:14, Galatians 6:18, Philippians 4:23, 1 Thessalonians 5:28, 2\nThessalonians 3:18, Philemon 25, Revelation 22:21. 3. It is also\nattributed to the Holy Ghost. Now, he is here called the Spirit of\ngrace, because he is the author of grace as the Father, and the Son\n(Zech 12:10; Heb 10:29).\n\nSo then, it remaineth that I show you, FIRST, How we are saved by the\ngrace of the Father. SECOND, How we are saved by the grace of the Son.\nAnd, THIRD, How we are saved by the grace of the Spirit.\n\nOf the Father\u2019s grace.\n\nFIRST. How we are saved by the grace of the Father. Now this will I\nopen unto you thus\u2014\n\n1. The Father by his grace hath bound up them that shall go to heaven\nin an eternal decree of election; and here, indeed, as was showed at\nfirst, is the beginning of our salvation (2 Tim 1:9). And election is\nreckoned not the Son\u2019s act, but the Father\u2019s\u2014\u201cBlessed be the God and\nFather of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual\nblessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us\nin him before the foundation of the world\u201d (Eph 1:3,4). Now this\nelection is counted an act of grace\u2014\u201cSo then, at this present time\nalso, there is a remnant according to the election of grace\u201d (Rom\n11:5).\n\n2. The Father\u2019s grace ordaineth and giveth the Son to undertake for us\nour redemption. The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the\nworld\u2014\u201cIn whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of\nsins, according to the riches of his grace; that in the ages to come he\nmight shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us\nthrough Christ Jesus\u201d (Eph 1:7; 2:7; 1 John 4:14; John 3:16; 6:32,33;\n12:49).\n\n3. The Father\u2019s grace giveth us to Christ to be justified by his\nrighteousness, washed in his blood, and saved by his life. This Christ\nmentioneth, and tells us it is his Father\u2019s will that they should be\nsafe-coming at the last day, and that he had kept them all the days of\nhis life, and they shall never perish (John 6:37-39; 17:2,12).\n\n4. The Father\u2019s grace giveth the kingdom of heaven to those that he\nhath given to Jesus Christ\u2014\u201cFear not, little flock, for it is your\nFather\u2019s good pleasure to give you the kingdom\u201d (Luke 12:32).\n\n5. The Father\u2019s grace provideth and layeth up in Christ, for those that\nhe hath chosen, a sufficiency of all spiritual blessings, to be\ncommunicated to them at their need, for their preservation in the\nfaith, and faithful perseverance through this life; \u201cnot according to\nour works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given\nus in Christ Jesus before the world began\u201d (2 Tim 1:9; Eph 1:3,4).\n\n6. The Father\u2019s grace saveth us by the blessed and effectual call that\nhe giveth us to the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ (1 Col 1:9; Gal\n1:15).\n\n7. The Father\u2019s grace saveth us by multiplying pardons to us, for\nChrist\u2019s sake, day by day\u2014\u201cIn whom we have redemption through his\nblood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace\u201d\n(Eph 1:7).\n\n8. The Father\u2019s grace saves us by exercising patience and forbearance\ntowards us all the time of our unregeneracy (Rom 3:24).\n\n9. The Father\u2019s grace saveth us by holding of us fast in his hand, and\nby keeping of us from all the power of the enemy\u2014\u201cMy Father,\u201d said\nChrist, \u201cthat gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to\npluck them out of my Father\u2019s hand\u201d (John 10:29).\n\n10. What shall I say? The Father\u2019s grace saveth us by accepting of our\npersons and services, by lifting up the light of his countenance upon\nus, by manifesting of his love unto us, and by sending of his angels to\nfetch us to himself, when we have finished our pilgrimage in this\nworld.\n\nOf the grace of the Son.\n\nSECOND. I come now to speak of the grace of the Son; for as the Father\nputteth forth his grace in the saving of the sinner, so doth the Son\nput forth his\u2014\u201cFor ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that,\nthough he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through\nhis poverty might be rich\u201d (2 Cor 8:9).\n\nHere you see also that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is brought in\nas a partner with the grace of his Father in the salvation of our\nsouls. Now this is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; he was rich, but\nfor our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made\nrich.\n\nTo inquire, then, into this grace, this condescending grace of Christ,\nand that by searching out how rich Jesus Christ was, and then how poor\nhe made himself, that we through his poverty might have the riches of\nsalvation.\n\nFirst. How rich was Jesus Christ? To which I answer\u20141. Generally; 2.\nParticularly.\n\n1. Generally. He was rich as the Father\u2014\u201cAll things that the Father\nhath,\u201d saith he, \u201care mine.\u201d Jesus Christ is the Lord of all, God over\nall, blessed for ever. \u201cHe thought it not robbery to be equal with\nGod,\u201d being naturally and eternally God, as the Father, but of his\nGodhead he could not strip himself (John 10:30; 16:15; Acts 10:36; Phil\n2:6; Rom 9:4,5).\n\n2. Particularly. Jesus Christ had glory with the Father; yea, a\nmanifold glory with him, which he stripped himself of.\n\n(1.) He had the glory of dominion, he was Lord of all the creatures;\nthey were under him upon a double account\u2014(a) as he was their Creator\n(Col 1:16); (b) as he was made the heir of God (Heb 1:2).\n\n(2.) Therefore the glory of worship, reverence, and fear from all\ncreatures, was due unto him; the worship, obedience, subjection, and\nservice of angels were due unto him; the fear, honour, and glory of\nkings, and princes, and judges of the earth were due unto him; the\nobedience of the sun, moon, stars, clouds, and all vapours, were due\nunto him; all dragons, deeps, fire, hail, snow, mountains and hills,\nbeasts, cattle, creeping things, and flying fowls, the service of them\nall, and their worship, were due unto him (Psa 148).\n\n(3.) The glory of the heavens themselves was due unto him; in a word,\nheaven and earth were his.\n\n(4.) But above all, the glory of communion with his Father was his; I\nsay, the glory of that unspeakable communion that he had with the\nFather before his incarnation, which alone was worth ten thousand\nworlds, that was ever his.\n\n(5.) But again; as Jesus Christ was possessed with this, so, besides,\nhe was Lord of life; this glory also was Jesus Christ\u2019s: \u201cIn him was\nlife,\u201d therefore he is called the Prince of it; because it was in him\noriginally as in the Father (Acts 3:15). He gave to all life and\nbreath, and all things; angels, men, beasts, they had all their life\nfrom him.\n\n(6.) Again, as he was Lord of glory, and Prince of life, so he was also\nPrince of peace, (Isa 9:6); and by him was maintained that harmony and\ngoodly order which were among things in heaven and things on earth.\n\nTake things briefly in these few particulars\u2014(a.) The heavens were his,\nand he made them. (b.) Angels were his, and he made them. (c.) The\nearth was his, and he made it. (d.) Man was his, and he made him.\n\n[Second. How poor he made himself.] Now this heaven he forsook for our\nsakes\u2014\u201cHe came into the world to save sinners\u201d (1 Tim 1:15).\n\n[1.] He was made lower than the angels, for the suffering of death (Heb\n2:9). When he was born, he made himself, as he saith, a worm, or one of\nno reputation; he became the reproach and byword of the people; he was\nborn in a stable, laid in a manger, earned his bread with his labour,\nbeing by trade a carpenter (Psa 22:6; Phil 2:7; Luke 2:7; Mark 6:3).\nWhen he betook himself to his ministry, he lived upon the charity of\nthe people; when other men went to their own houses, Jesus went to the\nMount of Olives. Hark what himself saith for the clearing of\nthis\u2014\u201cFoxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of\nman hath not where to lay his head.\u201d He denied himself of this world\u2019s\ngood (Luke 8:2,3; 9:58; John 7:35; 8:1).\n\n[2.] Again, as he was Prince of life, so he for our sakes laid down\nthat also; for so stood the matter, that he or we must die; but the\ngrace that was in his heart wrought with him to lay down his life: \u201cHe\ngave his life a ransom for many.\u201d He laid down his life that we might\nhave life; he gave his flesh and blood for the life of the world; he\nlaid down his life for his sheep.\n\n[3.] Again; he was Prince of peace, but he forsook his peace also. (1.)\nHe laid aside peace with the world, and chose upon that account to be a\nman of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and therefore was persecuted\nfrom his cradle to his cross, by kings, rulers, &c. (2.) He laid aside\nhis peace with his Father, and made himself the object of his Father\u2019s\ncurse, insomuch that the Lord smote, struck, and afflicted him; and, in\nconclusion, hid his face from him (as he expressed, with great crying)\nat the hour of his death.\n\n[Object.] But perhaps some may say, What need was there that Jesus\nChrist should do all this? Could not the grace of the Father save us\nwithout this condescension of the Son?\n\nAnsw. As there is grace, so there is justice in God; and man having\nsinned, God concluded to save him in a way of righteousness; therefore\nit was absolutely necessary that Jesus Christ should put himself into\nour very condition, sin only excepted. 1. Now by sin we had lost the\nglory of God, therefore Jesus Christ lays aside the glory that he had\nwith the Father (Rom 3:23; John 17:5). 2. Man by sin had shut himself\nout of an earthly paradise, and Jesus Christ will leave his heavenly\nparadise to save him (Gen 3:24; 1 Tim 1:15; John 6:38,39). 3. Man by\nsin had made himself lighter than vanity, and this Lord God, Jesus\nChrist, made himself lower than the angels to redeem him (Isa 40:17;\nHeb 2:7). 4. Man by sin lost his right to the creatures, and Jesus\nChrist will deny himself of a whole world to save him (Luke 9:58). 5.\nMan by sin had made himself subject to death; but Jesus Christ will\nlose his life to save him (Rom 6:23). 6. Man by sin had procured to\nhimself the curse of God; but Jesus Christ will bear that curse in his\nown body to save him (Gal 3:13). 7. Man by sin had lost peace with God;\nbut this would Jesus Christ lose also, to the end man might be saved.\n8. Man should have been mocked of God, therefore Christ was mocked of\nmen. 9. Man should have been scourged in hell; but, to hinder that,\nJesus was scourged on earth. 10. Man should have been crowned with\nignominy and shame; but, to prevent that, Jesus was crowned with\nthorns. 11. Man should have been pierced with the spear of God\u2019s wrath;\nbut, to prevent that, Jesus was pierced both by God and men. 12. Man\nshould have been rejected of God and angels; but, to prevent that,\nJesus was forsaken of God, and denied, hated, and rejected of men (Isa\n48:22; Prov 1:24-26; Matt 27:26,39,46; Psa 9:17; 11:6; 22:7; Dan 12:2;\nJohn 19:2-5,37; Num 24:8; Zech 12:10; Luke 9:22).\n\nI might thus enlarge, and that by authority from this text\u2014\u201cHe became\npoor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.\u201d All the riches he\nstripped himself of, it was for our sakes; all the sorrows he\nunderwent, it was for our sakes; to the least circumstance of the\nsufferings of Christ there was necessity that so it should be, all was\nfor our sakes: \u201cFor our sakes he became poor, that ye through his\npoverty might be rich.\u201d\n\nAnd you see the argument that prevailed with Christ to do this great\nservice for man, the grace that was in his heart; as also the prophet\nsaith, \u201cIn his love and in his pity he redeemed them.\u201d According to\nthis in the Corinthians, \u201cYe know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ\u201d;\nboth which agree with the text, \u201cBy grace ye are saved.\u201d\n\nI say, this was the grace of the Son, and the exercise thereof. The\nFather therefore shows his grace one way, and the Son his another. It\nwas not the Father, but the Son, that left his heaven for sinners; it\nwas not the Father, but the Son, that spilt his blood for sinners. The\nFather indeed gave the Son, and blessed be the Father for that; and the\nSon gave his life and blood for us, and blessed be the Son for that.\n\nBut methinks we should not yet have done with this grace of the Son.\nThou Son of the Blessed, what grace was manifest in thy condescension!\nGrace brought thee down from heaven, grace stripped thee of thy glory,\ngrace made thee poor and despicable, grace made thee bear such burdens\nof sin, such burdens of sorrow, such burdens of God\u2019s curse as are\nunspeakable. O Son of God! grace was in all thy tears, grace came\nbubbling out of thy side with thy blood, grace came forth with every\nword of thy sweet mouth (Psa 45:2; Luke 4:22). Grace came out where the\nwhip smote thee, where the thorns pricked thee, where the nails and\nspear pierced thee. O blessed Son of God! Here is grace indeed!\nUnsearchable riches of grace! Unthought-of riches of grace! Grace to\nmake angels wonder, grace to make sinners happy, grace to astonish\ndevils. And what will become of them that trample under foot this Son\nof God?\n\nOf the grace of the Spirit. THIRD. I come now to speak of the grace of\nthe Spirit; for he also saveth us by his grace. The Spirit, I told you,\nis God, as the Father and the Son, and is therefore also the author of\ngrace; yea, and it is absolutely necessary that he put forth his grace\nalso, or else no flesh can be saved. The Spirit of God hath his hand in\nsaving of us many ways; for they that go to heaven, as they must be\nbeholding to the Father and the Son, so also to the Spirit of God. The\nFather chooseth us, giveth us to Christ, and heaven to us, and the\nlike. The Son fulfills the law for us, takes the curse of the law from\nus, bears in his own body our sorrows, and sets us justified in the\nsight of God. The Father\u2019s grace is showed in heaven and earth; the\nSon\u2019s grace is showed on the earth, and on the cross; and the Spirit\u2019s\ngrace must be showed in our souls and bodies, before we come to heaven.\n\nQuest. But some may say, Wherein doth the saving grace of the Spirit\nappear?\n\nAnsw. In many things.\n\nIn taking possession of us for his own, in his making of us his house\nand habitation, so that though the Father and the Son have both\ngloriously put forth gracious acts in order to our salvation, yet the\nSpirit is the first that makes seizure of us (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; Eph\n2:21,22). Christ, therefore, when he went away, said not that he would\nsend the Father, but the Spirit, and that he should be in us for\never\u2014\u201cIf I depart,\u201d said Christ, \u201cI will send him, the Spirit of truth,\nthe Comforter\u201d (John 14:16; 16:7,13).\n\nThe Holy Spirit coming into us, and dwelling in us, worketh out many\nsalvations for us now, and each of them in order also to our being\nsaved for ever.\n\n1. He saveth us from our darkness by illuminating of us; hence he is\ncalled \u201cthe Spirit of revelation,\u201d because he openeth the blind eyes,\nand so consequently delivereth us from that darkness which else would\ndrown us in the deeps of hell (Eph 1:17,19).\n\n2. He it is that convinceth us of the evil of our unbelief, and that\nshows us the necessity of our believing in Christ; without the\nconviction of this we should perish (John 16:9).\n\n3. This is that finger of God by which the devil is made to give place\nunto grace, by whose power else we should be carried headlong to hell\n(Luke 11:20-22).\n\n4. This is he that worketh faith in our hearts, without which neither\nthe grace of the Father nor the grace of the Son can save us, \u201cFor he\nthat believeth not, shall be damned\u201d (Mark 16:16; Rom 15:13).\n\n5. This is he by whom we are born again; and he that is not so born can\nneither see nor inherit the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3-7).\n\n6. This is he that setteth up his kingdom in the heart, and by that\nmeans keepeth out the devil after he is cast out, which kingdom of the\nSpirit, whoever wanteth, they lie liable to a worse possession of the\ndevil than ever (Matt 12:43-45; Luke 11:24,25).\n\n7. By this Spirit we come to see the beauty of Christ, without a sight\nof which we should never desire him, but should certainly live in the\nneglect of him, and perish (John 16:14; 1 Cor 2:9-13; Isa 53:1,2).\n\n8. By this Spirit we are helped to praise God acceptably, but without\nit, it is impossible to be heard unto salvation (Rom 8:26; Eph 6:18; 1\nCor 14:15).\n\n9. By this blessed Spirit the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts,\nand our hearts are directed into the love of God (Rom 5:5; 2 Thess\n2:13).\n\n10. By this blessed Spirit we are led from the ways of the flesh into\nthe ways of life, and by it our mortal body, as well as our immortal\nsoul, is quickened in the service of God (Gal 5:18,25; Rom 8:11).\n\n11. By this good Spirit we keep that good thing, even the seed of God,\nthat at the first by the Word of God was infused into us, and without\nwhich we are liable to the worst damnation (1 John 3:9; 1 Peter 1:23; 2\nTim 1:14).\n\n12. By this good Spirit we have help and light against all the wisdom\nand cunning of the world, which putteth forth itself in its most cursed\nsophistications to overthrow the simplicity that is in Christ (Matt\n10:19,20; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11,12).\n\n13. By this good Spirit our graces are maintained in life and vigour,\nas faith, hope, love, a spirit of prayer, and every grace (2 Cor 4:13;\nRom 15:13; 2 Tim 1:7; Eph 6:18; Titus 3:5).\n\n14. By this good Spirit we are sealed to the day of redemption (Eph\n1:14).\n\n15. And by this good Spirit we are made to wait with patience until the\nredemption of the purchased possession comes (Gal 5:5).\n\nNow all these things are so necessary to our salvation, that I know not\nwhich of them can be wanting; neither can any of them be by any means\nattained but by this blessed Spirit.\n\nAnd thus have I in few words showed you the grace of the Spirit, and\nhow it putteth forth itself towards the saving of the soul. And verily,\nSirs, it is necessary that you know these things distinctly\u2014to wit, the\ngrace of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the grace of the Holy\nGhost; for it is not the grace of one, but of all these three, that\nsaveth him that shall be saved indeed.\n\nThe Father\u2019s grace saveth no man without the grace of the Son; neither\ndoth the Father and the Son save any without the grace of the Spirit;\nfor as the Father loves, the Son must die, and the Spirit must\nsanctify, or no soul must be saved.\n\nSome think that the love of the Father, without the blood of the Son,\nwill save them, but they are deceived; for \u201cwithout shedding of blood\nis no remission\u201d (Heb 9:22).\n\nSome think that the love of the Father and blood of the Son will do,\nwithout the holiness of the Spirit of God; but they are deceived also;\nfor \u201cif any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his\u201d; and\nagain, \u201cwithout holiness no man shall see the Lord\u201d (Rom 8:9; Heb\n12:14).\n\nThere is a third sort, that think the holiness of the Spirit is\nsufficient of itself; but they (if they had it) are deceived also; for\nit must be the grace of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the grace\nof the Spirit, jointly, that must save them.\n\nBut yet, as these three do put forth grace jointly and truly in the\nsalvation of a sinner, so they put it forth, as I also have showed you\nbefore, after a diverse manner. The Father designs us for heaven, the\nSon redeems from sin and death, and the Spirit makes us meet for\nheaven; not by electing, that is the work of the Father; not by dying,\nthat is the work of the Son; but by his revealing Christ, and applying\nChrist to our souls, by shedding the love of God abroad in our hearts,\nby sanctifying of our souls, and taking possession of us as an earnest\nof our possession of heaven.\n\nQUEST. III.\u2014WHO ARE THEY THAT ARE TO BE SAVED BY GRACE?\n\n\nI come now to the third particular\u2014namely, to show you who they are\nthat are to be saved by grace.\n\n[Who are not saved.]\n\nFirst. Not the self-righteous, not they that have no need of the\nphysician. \u201cThe whole have no need of the physician,\u201d saith Christ. \u201cI\ncame not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance\u201d (Mark 2:17).\nAnd again, \u201cHe hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he\nhath sent empty away\u201d (Luke 1:53). Now when I say not the\nself-righteous nor the rich, I mean not that they are utterly excluded;\nfor Paul was such an one; but he saveth not such without he first\nawaken them to see they have need to be saved by grace.\n\nSecond. The grace of God saveth not him that hath sinned the\nunpardonable sin. There is nothing left for him \u201cbut a certain fearful\nlooking for of judgment,\u2014which shall devour the adversaries\u201d (Heb\n10:26,27).\n\nThird. That sinner that persevereth in final impenitency and unbelief\nshall be damned (Luke 13:3,5; Rom 2:2-5; Mark 16:15,16).\n\nFourth. That sinner whose mind the god of this world hath blinded, that\nthe glorious light of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,\ncan never shine into him, is lost, and must be damned (2 Cor 4:3,4).\n\nFifth. The sinner that maketh religion his cloak for wickedness, he is\na hypocrite, and, continuing so, must certainly be damned (Psa 125:5;\nIsa 33:14; Matt 24:50,51).\n\nSixth. In a word, every sinner that persevereth in his wickedness,\nshall not inherit the kingdom of heaven\u2014\u201cKnow ye not that the\nunrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:\nneither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor\nabusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor\ndrunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of\nGod.\u201d \u201cLet no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these\nthings cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience\u201d (1\nCor 6:9-12; Eph 5:5,6).\n\n[Who are saved.] Question. But what kind of sinners shall then be\nsaved?\n\nAnsw. Those of all these kinds that the Spirit of God shall bring [to]\nthe Father by Jesus Christ; these, I say, and none but these, can be\nsaved, because else the sinners might be saved without the Father, or\nwithout the Son, or without the Spirit.\n\nNow, in all that I have said, I have not in the least suggested that\nany sinner is rejected because his sins, in the nature of them, are\ngreat; Christ Jesus came into the world to save the chief of sinners.\nIt is not, therefore, the greatness of, but the continuance in, sins\nthat indeed damneth the sinner. But I always exclude him that hath\nsinned against the Holy Ghost. That it is not the greatness of sin that\nexcludeth the sinner is evident\u2014\n\n1. From the words before the text, which doth give an account of what\nkind of sinners were here saved by grace, as namely, they that were\ndead in trespasses and sins, those that walked in these sins,\n\u201caccording to the course of this world, according to the prince of the\npower of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of\ndisobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past\nin the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of\nthe mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others\u201d\n(Eph 2:2,3).\n\n2. It is evident also from the many sinners that we find to be saved,\nby the revealed will of God. For in the Word we have mention made of\nthe salvation of great sinners, where their names and their sins stand\nrecorded for our encouragement; as, (1.) You read of Manasseh, who was\nan idolater, a witch, a persecutor, yea, a rebel against the word of\nGod, sent unto him by the prophets; and yet this man was saved (2 Chron\n33:2-13; 2 Kings 21:16). (2.) You read of Mary Magdalene, in whom were\nseven devils; her condition was dreadful, yet she was saved (Luke 8:2;\nJohn 20). (3.) You read of the man that had a legion of devils in him.\nO how dreadful was his condition! and yet by grace he was saved (Mark\n5:1-10). (4.) You read of them that murdered the Lord Jesus, and how\nthey were converted and saved (Acts 2:23). (5.) You read of the\nexorcists, how they closed with Christ, and were saved by grace (Acts\n19:13). (6.) You read of Saul the persecutor, and how he was saved by\ngrace (Acts 9:15).\n\nObject. But, thou sayest, I am a backslider.\n\nAnsw. So was Noah, and yet he found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Gen\n9:21,22). So was Lot, and yet God saved him by grace (Gen 19:35; 2\nPeter 2:7-9). So was David, yet by grace he was forgiven his iniquities\n(2 Sam 12:7-13). So was Solomon, and a great one too; yet by grace his\nsoul was saved (Psa 89:28-34). So was Peter, and that a dreadful one;\nyet by grace he was saved (Matt 26:69-74; Mark 16:7; Acts 15:7-11).\nBesides, for further encouragement, read Jeremiah 3, 33:25,26, 51:5,\nEzekiel 36:25, Hosea 14:1-4; and stay thyself, and wonder at the riches\nof the grace of God.\n\nQuest. But how should we find out what sinners shall be saved? All, it\nseems, shall not. Besides, for aught can be gathered by what you have\nsaid, there is as bad saved as damned, set him that hath sinned the\nunpardonable sin aside.\n\nAnsw. True, there are as bad saved as damned; but to this question:\nThey that are effectually called, are saved. They that believe on the\nSon of God shall be saved. They that are sanctified and preserved in\nChrist shall be saved. They that take up their cross daily, and follow\nChrist, shall be saved.\n\nTake a catalogue of them thus: \u201cBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and\nthou shalt be saved\u201d (Mark 16:16; Acts 16:31). \u201cIf thou shalt confess\nwith thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that\nGod hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved\u201d (Rom 10:9). Be\njustified by the blood of Christ, and thou shalt be saved (Rom 5:9). Be\nreconciled to God by the death of his Son, and thou shalt be saved by\nhis life (Rom 5:10). \u201cAnd it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall\ncall on the name of the Lord shall be saved\u201d (Acts 2:21).\n\nSee some other scriptures. \u201cHe shall save the humble person\u201d (Job\n22:29). \u201cThou wilt save the afflicted people\u201d (Psa 18:27). \u201cHe shall\nsave the children of the needy\u201d (Psa 72:4). \u201cHe shall save the souls of\nthe needy\u201d (Psa 72:13). \u201cO thou, my God, save thy servant that trusteth\nin thee\u201d (Psa 86:2). \u201cHe will fulfill the desire of them that fear him,\nhe also will hear their cry, and will save them\u201d (Psa 145:19).\n\n[Caution.] But, sinner, if thou wouldst indeed be saved, beware of\nthese four things\u2014\n\n1. Beware of delaying repentance; delays are dangerous and damnable;\nthey are dangerous, because they harden the heart; they are damnable,\nbecause their tendency is to make thee outstand the time of grace (Psa\n95:7; Heb 3-12).\n\n2. Beware of resting in the word of the kingdom, without the spirit and\npower of the kingdom of the gospel; for the gospel coming in word only\nsaves nobody, for the kingdom of God or the gospel, where it comes to\nsalvation, is not in word but in power (1 Thess 1:4-6; 1 Cor 4:19).\n\n3. Take heed of living in a profession, a life that is provoking to\nGod; for that is the way to make him cast thee away in his anger.\n\n4. Take heed that thy inside and outside be alike;, and both\nconformable to the Word of his grace; labour to be like the living\ncreatures which thou mayest read of in the book of the prophet Ezekiel,\nwhose appearance and themselves were one 10 (Eze 10:22).\n\nIn all this, I have advertised you not to be content without the power\nand Spirit of God in your hearts, for without him you partake of none\nof the grace of the Father or Son, but will certainly miss of the\nsalvation of the soul.\n\nQUEST. IV.\u2014HOW IT APPEARS THAT THEY THAT ARE SAVED, ARE SAVED BY GRACE?\n\n\nThis fourth question requireth that some demonstration be given of the\ntruth of this doctrine\u2014to wit, that they that are saved are saved by\ngrace.\n\nWhat hath been said before hath given some demonstration of the truth;\nwherefore, first repeating in few words the sum of what hath been said\nalready, I shall come to further proof. 1. That this is true, the\nScriptures testify, because God chose them to salvation before they had\ndone good (Rom 9:11). 2. Christ was ordained to be their Saviour before\nthe foundation of the world (Eph 1:4; 1 Peter 1:19-21). 3. All things\nthat concur and go to our salvation were also in the same laid up in\nChrist, to be communicated in the dispensation of the fullness of\ntimes, to them that shall be saved (Eph 1:3,4; 2 Tim 1:9; Eph 1:10;\n3:8-11; Rom 8:30).\n\n[That salvation is by grace appears in its contrivance.] Again, as\ntheir salvation was contrived by God, so, as was said, this salvation\nwas undertaken by one of the three; to wit, the Son of the Father (John\n1:29; Isa 48:16).\n\nHad there been a contrivance in heaven about the salvation of sinners\non earth, yet if the result of that contrivance had been that we should\nbe saved by our own good deeds, it would not have been proper for an\napostle, or an angel, to say, \u201cBy grace ye are saved.\u201d But now, when a\ncouncil is held in eternity about the salvation of sinners in time, and\nwhen the result of that council shall be, that the Father, the Son, and\nthe Holy Ghost will themselves accomplish the work of this salvation,\nthis is grace, this is naturally grace, grace that is rich and free;\nyea, this is unthought-of grace. I will say it again, this is\nunthought-of grace; for who could have thought that a Saviour had been\nin the bosom of the Father, or that the Father would have given him to\nbe the Saviour of men, since he refused to give him to be the Saviour\nof angels? (Heb 2:16,17).\n\n[Grace appears in the Son\u2019s undertaking this work.] Again; could it\nhave been thought that the Father would have sent his Son to be the\nSaviour, we should, in reason, have thought also that he would never\nhave taken the work wholly upon himself, especially that fearful,\ndreadful, soul-astonishing, and amazing part thereof! Who could once\nhave imagined that the Lord Jesus would have made himself so poor as to\nstand before God in the nauseous rags of our sins, and subject himself\nto the curse and death that were due to our sin? but thus he did to\nsave us by grace.\n\n\u201cBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath\nblessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:\naccording as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the\nworld, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:\nhaving predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ\nto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise\nof the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the\nBeloved; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness\nof sins, according to the riches of his grace\u201d (Eph 1:3-7).\n\n[Grace appears in the terms and conditions on which salvation is made\nover.] Again; if we consider the terms and conditions upon which this\nsalvation is made over to them that are saved, it will further appear\nwe are saved by grace.\n\n1. The things that immediately concern our justification and salvation,\nthey are offered, yea, given to us freely, and we are commanded to\nreceive them by faith. Sinner, hold up thy lap. God so loved the world,\nthat he giveth his Son, that he giveth his righteousness, that he\ngiveth his Spirit, and the kingdom of heaven (John 3:16; Rom 5:17; 2\nCor 1:21,22; Luke 12:32).\n\n2. He also giveth repentance, he giveth faith, and giveth everlasting\nconsolation, and good hope through grace (Acts 5:30,31; Phil 1:29; 2\nThess 2:16).\n\n3. He giveth pardon, and giveth more grace, to keep us from sinking\ninto hell, than we have sin to sink us in thither (Acts 5:31; Prov\n3:34; John 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).\n\n4. He hath made all these things over to us in a covenant of grace. We\ncall it a covenant of grace, because it is set in opposition to the\ncovenant of works, and because it is established to us in the doings of\nChrist, founded in his blood, established upon the best promises made\nto him, and to us by him. \u201cFor all the promises of God in him are yea,\nand in him amen, to the glory of God by us\u201d (2 Cor 1:20).\n\nBut to pass these, and to come to some other demonstrations for the\nclearing of this\u2014\n\nLet us a little consider,\n\nWhat man is, upon whom the Father, the Son, and the Spirit bestows this\ngrace.\n\n1. [An enemy to God.] By nature he is an enemy to God, an enemy in his\nmind. \u201cThe carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to\nthe law of God, neither indeed can be\u201d (Rom 8:7; Col 1:21).\n\n2. [A slave to sin.] So that the state of man was this\u2014he was not only\nover persuaded on a sudden to sin against God, but he drank this sin,\nlike water, into his very nature, mingled it with every faculty of his\nsoul and member of his body; by the means of which he became alienated\nfrom God, and an enemy to him in his very heart; and wilt thou, O Lord,\nas the Scripture hath it, \u201cAnd dost thou open thine eyes upon such an\none?\u201d (Job 14:3). Yea, open thy heart, and take this man, not into\njudgment, but into mercy with thee?\n\n3. [In covenant with death and hell.] Further, man by his sin had not\nonly given himself to be a captive slave to the devil, but, continuing\nin his sin, he made head against his God, struck up a covenant with\ndeath, and made an agreement with hell; but for God to open his eyes\nupon such an one, and to take hold of him by riches of grace, this is\namazing (Isa 28:16-18).\n\nSee where God found the Jew when he came to look upon him to save\nhim\u2014\u201cAs for thy nativity,\u201d says God, \u201cin the day thou wast born thy\nnavel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee;\nthou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee,\nto do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou\nwast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the\nday that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee\npolluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy\nblood, Live; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood,\nLive.\u2014Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time\nwas the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy\nnakedness; yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with\nthee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine.\u201d Sinner, see further\ninto the chapter, Ezekiel 16. All this is the grace of God; every word\nin this text smells of grace.\n\nBut before I pass this, let us a little take notice of\n\nThe carriage of God to man, and again of man to God, in his conversion.\n\nFIRST. OF GOD\u2019S CARRIAGE TO MAN. He comes to him while he is in his\nsins, in his blood; he comes to him now, not in the heat and fire of\nhis jealousy, but \u201cin the cool of the day,\u201d in unspeakable gentleness,\nmercy, pity, and bowels of love; not in clothing himself with\nvengeance, but in a way of entreaty, and meekly beseecheth the sinner\nto be reconciled unto him (2 Cor 5:19,20).\n\nIt is expected among men that he which giveth the offence should be the\nfirst in seeking peace; but, sinner, betwixt God and man it is not so;\nnot that we loved God, not that we chose God; but \u201cGod was in Christ,\nreconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto\nthem.\u201d God is the first that seeketh peace; and, as I said, in a way of\nentreaty he bids his ministers pray you in Christ\u2019s stead; \u201cas though\nGod did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ\u2019s stead, be ye\nreconciled to God.\u201d O sinner, wilt thou not open? Behold, God the\nFather and his Son Jesus Christ stand both at the door of thy heart,\nbeseeching there for favour from thee, that thou wilt be reconciled to\nthem, with promise, if thou wilt comply, to forgive thee all thy sins.\nO grace! O amazing grace! To see a prince entreat a beggar to receive\nan alms would be a strange sight; to see a king entreat the traitor to\naccept of mercy would be a stranger sight than that; but to see God\nentreat a sinner, to hear Christ say, \u201cI stand at the door and knock,\u201d\nwith a heart full and a heaven full of grace to bestow upon him that\nopens, this is such a sight as dazzles the eyes of angels. What sayest\nthou now, sinner? Is not this God rich in mercy? Hath not this God\ngreat love for sinners? Nay, further, that thou mayest not have any\nground to doubt that all this is but complementing, thou hast also here\ndeclared that God hath made his Christ \u201cto be sin for us, who knew no\nsin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.\u201d If God\nwould have stuck at anything, he would have stuck at the death of his\nSon; but he \u201cdelivered him up for us\u201d freely; \u201chow shall he not with\nhim also freely give us all things?\u201d (Rom 8:32). 11\n\nBut this is not all. God doth not only beseech thee to be reconciled to\nhim, but further, for thy encouragement, he hath pronounced, in thy\nhearing, exceeding great and precious promises; \u201cand hath confirmed it\nby an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible\nfor God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for\nrefuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us\u201d (Heb 6:18,19; Isa 1:18;\n55:6,7; Jer 51:5).\n\nSECOND. OF MAN\u2019S CARRIAGE TO GOD. Let us come now to the carriage of\nthese sinners to God, and that from the first day he beginneth to deal\nwith their souls, even to the time that they are to be taken up into\nheaven. And,\n\nFirst. To begin with God\u2019s ordinary dealing with sinners, when at first\nhe ministereth conviction to them by his Word, how strangely do they\nbehave themselves! They love not to have their consciences touched;\nthey like not to ponder upon what they have been, what they are, or\nwhat is like to become of them hereafter; such thoughts they count\nunmanly, hurtful, disadvantageous; therefore \u201cthey refused to hearken,\nand pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should\nnot hear\u201d (Zech 7,11). And now they are for anything rather than the\nWord; an alehouse, a whorehouse, a playhouse, sports, pleasures, sleep,\nthe world, and what not so they may stave12 off the power of the word\nof God.\n\nSecond. If God now comes up closer to them, and begins to fasten\nconviction upon the conscience, though such conviction be the first\nstep to faith and repentance, yea, and to life eternal, yet what shifts\nwill they have to forget them, and wear them off! Yea, although they\nnow begin to see that they must either turn or burn, 13 yet oftentimes\neven then they will study to wave a present conversion: they object,\nthey are too young to turn yet; seven years hence time enough, when\nthey are old, or come upon a sick-bed. O what an enemy is man to his\nown salvation! I am persuaded that God hath visited some of you often\nwith his Word, even twice and thrice, and you have thrown water as fast\nas he hath by the Word cast fire upon your conscience. 14\n\nChristian, what had become of thee if God had taken thy denial for an\nanswer, and said, Then will I carry the word of salvation to another,\nand he will hear it? Sinner, turn, says God. Lord, I cannot tend15 it,\nsays the sinner. Turn or burn, says God. I will venture that, says the\nsinner. Turn, and be saved, says God. I cannot leave my pleasures, says\nthe sinner: sweet sins, sweet pleasures, sweet delights, says the\nsinner. But what grace is it in God thus to parley with the sinner! O\nthe patience of God to a poor sinner! What if God should now say, Then\nget thee to thy sins, get thee to thy delights, get thee to thy\npleasures, take them for thy portion, they shall be all thy heaven, all\nthy happiness, and all thy portion?\n\nThird. But God comes again, and shows the sinner the necessity of\nturning now; now or not at all; yea, and giveth the sinner this\nconviction so strongly, that he cannot put it off. But behold, the\nsinner has one spark of enmity still. If he must needs turn now, he\nwill either turn from one sin to another, from great ones to little\nones, from many to few, or from all to one, and there stop. But perhaps\nconvictions will not thus leave him. Why, then, he will turn from\nprofaneness to the law of Moses, and will dwell as long as God will let\nhim upon his own seeming goodness. And now observe him, he is a great\nstickler for legal performance; now he will be a good neighbour, he\nwill pay every man his own, will leave off his swearing, the alehouse,\nhis sports, and carnal delights; he will read, pray, talk of Scripture,\nand be a very busy one in religion, such as it is; now he will please\nGod, and make him amends for all the wrong he hath done him, and will\nfeed him with chapters, and prayers, and promises, and vows, and a\ngreat many more such dainty dishes as these, persuading himself that\nnow he must needs be fair for heaven, and thinks besides that he\nserveth God as well as any man in England can. 16\n\nBut all this while he is as ignorant of Christ as the stool he sits on,\nand no nearer heaven than was the blind Pharisee; only he has got in a\ncleaner way to hell than the rest of his neighbours are in\u2014\u201cThere is a\ngeneration that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from\ntheir filthiness\u201d (Prov 30:12).\n\nMight not God now cut off this sinner, and cast him out of his sight;\nmight he not leave him here to his own choice, to be deluded by, and to\nfall in his own righteousness, because he \u201ctrusteth to it, and commits\niniquity\u201d? (Eze 33:13). But grace, preventing grace, preserves him. It\nis true, this turn of the sinner, as I said, is a turning short of\nChrist; but,\n\nFourth. God in this way of the sinner will mercifully follow him, and\nshow him the shortness of his performances, the emptiness of his\nduties, and the uncleanness of his righteousness (Isa 28:20; 64:6).\nThus I speak of the sinner, the salvation of whose soul is graciously\nintended and contrived of God; for he shall by gospel light be wearied\nout of all; he shall be made to see the vanity of all, and that the\npersonal righteousness of Jesus Christ, and that only, is it which of\nGod is ordained to save the sinner from the due reward of his sins. But\nbehold, the sinner now, at the sight and sense of his own nothingness,\nfalleth into a kind of despair; for although he hath it in him to\npresume of salvation, through the delusiveness of his own good opinion\nof himself, yet he hath it not in himself to have a good opinion of the\ngrace of God in the righteousness of Christ; wherefore he concludeth,\nthat if salvation be alone of the grace of God, through the\nrighteousness of Christ, and that all of a man\u2019s own is utterly\nrejected, as to the justification of his person with God, then he is\ncast away. Now the reason of this sinking of heart is the sight that\nGod hath given him, a sight of the uncleanness of his best performance;\nthe former sight of his immoralities did somewhat distress him, and\nmake him betake himself to his own good deeds to ease his conscience,\nwherefore this was his prop, his stay; but behold, now God hath taken\nthis from under him, and now he falls; wherefore his best doth also now\nforsake him, and flies away like the morning dew, or a bird, or as the\nchaff that is driven with the whirlwind, and the smoke out of a chimney\n(Hosea 9:11; 13:3). Besides, this revelation of the emptiness of his\nown righteousness, brings also with it a further discovery of the\nnaughtiness of his heart, in its hypocrisies, pride, unbelief, hardness\nof heart, deadness, and backwardness to all gospel and new-covenant\nobedience, which sight of himself lies like millstones upon his\nshoulders, and sinks him yet further into doubts and fears of\ndamnation. For, bid him now receive Christ, he answers he cannot, he\ndares not. Ask him why he cannot, he will answer he has no faith, nor\nhope in his heart. Tell him that grace is offered him freely, he says,\nbut I have no heart to receive it; besides, he finds not, as he thinks,\nany gracious disposition in his soul, and therefore concludes he doth\nnot belong to God\u2019s mercy, nor hath an interest in the blood of Christ,\nand therefore dares not presume to believe; wherefore, as I said, he\nsinks in his heart, he dies in his thoughts, he doubts, he despairs,\nand concludes he shall never be saved.\n\nFifth. But behold, the God of all grace leaveth him not in this\ndistress, but comes up now to him closer than ever; he sends the Spirit\nof adoption, the blessed Comforter, to him, to tell him, \u201cGod is love,\u201d\nand therefore not willing to reject the broken in heart; bids him cry\nand pray for an evidence of mercy to his soul, and says, \u201cPeradventure\nyou may be hid in the day of the Lord\u2019s anger.\u201d At this the sinner\ntakes some encouragement, yet he can get no more than that which will\nhang upon a mere probability, which by the next doubt that ariseth in\nthe heart is blown quite away, and the soul left again in his first\nplight, or worse, where he lamentably bewails his miserable state, and\nis tormented with a thousand fears of perishing, for he hears not a\nword from heaven, perhaps for several weeks together. Wherefore\nunbelief begins to get the mastery of him, and takes off the very edge\nand spirit of prayer, and inclination to hear the Word any longer; yea,\nthe devil also claps in with these thoughts, saying that all your\nprayers, and hearing, and reading, and godly company which you\nfrequent, will rise up in judgment against you at last; therefore\nbetter it is, if you must be damned, to choose as easy a place in hell\nas you can. The soul at this, being quite discouraged, thinks to do as\nit hath been taught, and with dying thoughts it begins to faint when it\ngoeth to prayer or to hear the word; but behold, when all hope seems to\nbe quite gone, and the soul concludes, I DIE, I PERISH, in comes, on a\nsudden, the Spirit of God again, with some good word of God, which the\nsoul never thought of before, which word of God commands a calm in the\nsoul, makes unbelief give place, encourageth to hope and wait upon God\nagain; perhaps it gives some little sight of Christ to the soul, and of\nhis blessed undertaking for sinners. But behold, so soon as the power\nof things does again begin to wear off the heart, the sinner gives\nplace to unbelief, questions God\u2019s mercy, and fears damning again; he\nalso entertains hard thoughts of God and Christ, and thinks former\nencouragements were fancies, delusions, or mere think-so\u2019s. And why\ndoth not God now cast the sinner to hell for his thus abusing his mercy\nand grace. O no! \u201cHe will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he\nwill have compassion on whom he will have compassion\u201d; wherefore\n\u201cgoodness and mercy shall follow him all the days of his life, that he\nmay dwell in the house of the Lord for ever\u201d (Psa 23:6).\n\nSixth. God, therefore, after all these provocations, comes by his\nSpirit to the soul again, and brings sealing grace and pardon to the\nconscience, testifying to it that its sins are forgiven, and that\nfreely, for the sake of the blood of Christ; and now has the sinner\nsuch a sight of the grace of God in Christ as kindly breaks his heart\nwith joy and comfort; now the soul knows what it is to eat promises; it\nalso knows what it is to eat and drink the flesh and blood of Jesus\nChrist by faith; now it is driven by the power of his grace to its\nknees, to thank God for forgiveness of sins and for hopes of an\ninheritance amongst them that are sanctified by faith which is in\nChrist; now it hath a calm and sunshine; now \u201che washeth his steps with\nbutter, and the rock pours him out rivers of oil\u201d (Job 29:6).\n\nSeventh. But after this, perhaps the soul grows cold again, it also\nforgets this grace received, and waxeth carnal, begins again to itch\nafter the world, loseth the life and savour of heavenly things, grieves\nthe Spirit of God, woefully backslides, casteth off closet duties\nquite, or else retains only the formality of them, is a reproach to\nreligion, grieves the hearts of them that are awake, and tender of\nGod\u2019s name, &c. But what will God do now? Will he take this advantage\nto destroy the sinner? No. Will he let him alone in his apostasy? No.\nWill he leave him to recover himself by the strength of his now\nlanguishing graces? No. What then? Why, he will seek this man out till\nhe finds him, and bring him home to himself again: \u201cFor thus saith the\nLord God, Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them\nout. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among\nthe sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will\ndeliver them out of all places where they have been scattered.\u2014I will\nseek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away,\nand will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which\nwas sick\u201d (Eze 34:11,16).\n\nThus he dealt with the man that went down from Jerusalem to Jericho,\nand fell among thieves; and thus he dealt with the prodigal you read of\nalso (Luke 10:30-35; 15:20).\n\nOf God\u2019s ordinary way of fetching the backslider home I will not now\ndiscourse\u2014namely, whether he always breaketh his bones for his sins, as\nhe broke David\u2019s; or whether he will all the days of their life, for\nthis, leave them under guilt and darkness; or whether he will kill them\nnow, that they may not be damned in the day of judgment, as he dealt\nwith them at Corinth (1 Cor 11:30-32). He is wise, and can tell how to\nembitter backsliding to them he loveth. He can break their bones, and\nsave them; he can lay them in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deep,\nand save them; he can slay them as to this life, and save them. And\nherein again appears wonderful grace, that \u201cIsrael is not forsaken, nor\nJudah of his God, though their land was filled with sin against the\nHoly One of Israel\u201d (Jer 51:5).\n\nEighth. But suppose God deals not either of these ways with the\nbackslider, but shines upon him again, and seals up to him the\nremission of his sins a second time, saying, \u201cI will heal their\nbackslidings, and love them freely,\u201d what will the soul do now? Surely\nit will walk humbly now, and holily all its days. It will never\nbackslide again, will it? It may happen it will not, it may happen it\nwill; it is just as his God keeps him; for although his sins are of\nhimself, his standing is of God; I say, his standing, while he stands,\nand his recovery, if he falls, are both of God; wherefore, if God\nleaves him a little, the next gap he finds, away he is gone again. \u201cMy\npeople,\u201d says God, \u201care bent to backsliding from me.\u201d How many times\ndid David backslide; yea, Jehoshaphat and Peter! (2 Sam 11,24; 2 Chron\n19:1-3; 20:1-5; Matt 26:69-71; Gal 2:11-13). As also in the third of\nJeremiah it is said, \u201cBut thou hast played the harlot with many lovers,\nyet return unto me, saith the Lord\u201d (verse 1). Here is grace! So many\ntimes as the soul backslides, so many times God brings him again\u2014I mean,\nthe soul that must be saved by grace\u2014he renews his pardons, and\nmultiplies them. \u201cLo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man\u201d\n(Job 33:29).\n\nNinth. But see yet more grace. I will speak here of heart-wanderings,\nand of daily miscarriages\u2014I mean, of these common infirmities that are\nincident to the best of saints, and that attend them in their best\nperformances; not that I intend, for I cannot, mention them\nparticularly, that would be a task impossible; but such there are,\nworldly thoughts, unclean thoughts, too low thoughts of God, of Christ,\nof the Spirit, words, ways, and ordinances of God, by which a Christian\ntransgresses many times; may I not say, sometimes many hundred times a\nday; yea, for aught I know, there are some saints, and them not\nlong-lived either, that must receive, before they enter into life,\nmillions of pardons from God for these; and every pardon is an act of\ngrace, through the redemption that is in Christ\u2019s blood. 17\n\nSeventy times seven times a day we sometimes sin against our brother;\nbut how many times, in that day, do we sin against God? Lord, \u201cwho can\nunderstand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults\u201d [sins], said\nDavid. And again, \u201cIf thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord,\nwho shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be\nfeared\u201d (Matt 18:21,22; Psa 19:12; 130:3,4).\n\nBut to mention some of them. Sometimes they question the very being of\nGod, or foolishly ask how he came to be at first; sometimes they\nquestion the truth of his Word, and suspect the harmony thereof,\nbecause their blind hearts and dull heads cannot reconcile it; yea, all\nfundamental truths lie open sometimes to the censure of their unbelief\nand atheism; as, namely, whether there be such an one as Christ, such a\nthing as the day of judgment, or whether there will be a heaven or hell\nhereafter, and God pardons all these by his grace. When they believe\nthese things, even then they sin, by not having such reverent, high,\nand holy thoughts of them as they ought; they sin also by having too,\ntoo good thoughts of themselves, of sin, and the world; sometimes, let\nme say, often, they wink too much at known sin, they bewail not, as\nthey should, the infirmities of the flesh; the itching inclinations\nwhich they find in their hearts after vanity go too often from them\nunrepented of. I do not say but they repent them in the general. But\nall these things, O how often doth God forgive, through the riches of\nhis grace!\n\nThey sin by not walking answerably to mercies received; yea, they come\nshort in their thanks to God for them, even then when they most\nheartily acknowledge how unworthy they are of them; also, how little of\nthe strength of them is spent to his praise, who freely poureth them\ninto their bosoms; but from all these sins are they saved by grace.\nThey sin in their most exact and spiritual performance of duties; they\npray not, they hear not, they read not, they give not alms, they come\nnot to the Lord\u2019s table, or other holy appointments of God, but in and\nwith much coldness, deadness, wanderings of heart, ignorance,\nmisapprehensions, &c. They forget God while they pray unto him; they\nforget Christ while they are at his table; they forget his Word even\nwhile they are reading of it.\n\nHow often do they make promises to God, and afterwards break them! Yea,\nor if they keep promise in show, how much doth their heart even grudge\nthe performing of them; how do they shuck18 at the cross; and how\nunwilling are they to lose that little they have for God, though all\nthey have was given them to glorify him withal! 19\n\nAll these things, and a thousand times as many more, dwell in the flesh\nof man; and they may as soon go away from themselves as from these\ncorruptions; yea, they may sooner cut the flesh from their bones than\nthese motions of sin from their flesh; these will be with them in every\nduty\u2014I mean, some or other of them; yea, as often as they look, or\nthink, or hear, or speak. These are with them, especially when the man\nintends good in so doing: \u201cWhen I would do good,\u201d says Paul, \u201cevil is\npresent with me.\u201d And God himself complains that \u201cevery imagination of\nthe thoughts of the heart of man is only evil,\u201d and that \u201ccontinually\u201d\n(Rom 7:21; Gen 6:5).\n\nBy these things, therefore, we continually defile ourselves, and every\none of our performances\u2014I mean, in the judgment of the law\u2014even mixing\niniquity with those things which we hallow unto the Lord. \u201cFor from\nwithin, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,\nfornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,\nlasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these\nevil things come from within, and defile the man\u201d (Mark 7:21-23). Now\nwhat can deliver the soul from these but grace? \u201cBy grace ye are\nsaved.\u201d QUEST. V.\u2014WHAT MIGHT BE THE REASON MOVED GOD TO ORDAIN AND\nCHOOSE TO SAVE THOSE THAT HE SAVETH BY HIS GRACE, RATHER THAN BY ANY\nOTHER MEANS?\n\nI come now to answer the fifth question; namely, to show why God saveth\nthose that he saveth by grace, rather than by any other means.\n\nFirst. God saveth us by grace, because since sin is in the world, he\ncan save us no other way; sin and transgression cannot be removed but\nby the grace of God through Christ; sin is the transgression of the law\nof God, who is perfectly just. Infinite justice cannot be satisfied\nwith the recompence that man can make; for if it could, Christ Jesus\nhimself needed not to have died; besides, man having sinned, and\ndefiled himself thereby, all his acts are the acts of a defiled man;\nnay, further, the best of his performances are also defiled by his\nhands; these performances, therefore, cannot be a recompence for sin.\nBesides, to affirm that God saveth defiled man for the sake of his\ndefiled duties\u2014for so, I say, is every work of his hand\u2014what is it but\nto say, God accepteth of one sinful act as a recompence and\nsatisfaction for another? (Hag 2:14). But God, even of old, hath\ndeclared how he abominates imperfect sacrifices, therefore we can by no\nmeans be saved from sin but by grace (Rom 3:24).\n\nSecond. To assert that we may be saved any other way than by the grace\nof God, what is it but to object against the wisdom and prudence of\nGod, wherein he aboundeth towards them whom he hath saved by grace?\n(Eph 1:5-8). His wisdom and prudence found out no other way, therefore\nhe chooseth to save us by grace.\n\nThird. We must be saved by grace, because else it follows that God is\nmutable in his decrees, for so hath he determined before the foundation\nof the world; therefore he saveth us not, nor chooseth to save us by\nany other way, than by grace (Eph 1:3,4; 3:8-11; Rom 9:23).\n\nFourth. If man should be saved any other way than by grace, God would\nbe disappointed in his design to cut off boasting from his creature;\nbut God\u2019s design to cut off boasting from his creature cannot be\nfrustrated or disappointed; therefore he will save man by no other\nmeans than by grace; he, I say, hath designed that no flesh should\nglory in his presence, and therefore he refuseth their works; \u201cNot of\nworks, lest any man should boast.\u201d \u201cWhere is boasting then? It is\nexcluded. By what law? of works? Nay; but by the law of faith\u201d (Eph\n2:8,9; Rom 3:24-28).\n\nFifth. God hath ordained that we should be saved by grace, that he\nmight have the praise and glory of our salvation; that we should be \u201cto\nthe praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted\nin the Beloved\u201d (Eph 1:6). Now God will not lose his praise, and his\nglory he will not give to another; therefore God doth choose to save\nsinners but by his grace.\n\nSixth. God hath ordained, and doth choose to save us by grace, because,\nwere there another way apparent, yet this is the way that is safest,\nand best secureth the soul. \u201cTherefore it is of faith, that it might be\nby grace; to the end the promise [the promise of eternal inheritance,\n(Heb 9:14-16)] might be sure to all the seed\u201d (Rom 4:16). No other way\ncould have been sure. This is evident in Adam, the Jews, and, I will\nadd, the fallen angels, who being turned over to another way than\ngrace, you see in short time what became of them.\n\nTo be saved by grace supposeth that God hath taken the salvation of our\nsouls into his own hand; and to be sure it is safer in God\u2019s hand than\nours. Hence it is called the salvation of the Lord, the salvation of\nGod, and salvation, and that of God.\n\nWhen our salvation is in God\u2019s hand, himself is engaged to accomplish\nit for us. 1. Here is the mercy of God engaged for us (Rom 9:15). 2.\nHere is the wisdom of God engaged for us (Eph 1:7,8). 3. Here is the\npower of God engaged for us (1 Peter 1:3-5). 4. Here is the justice of\nGod engaged for us (Rom 3:24,25). 5. Here is the holiness of God\nengaged for us (Psa 89:30-35). 6. Here is the care of God engaged for\nus, and his watchful eye is always over us for our good (1 Peter 5:7;\nIsa 27:1-3).\n\nWhat shall I say? Grace can take us into favour with God, and that when\nwe are in our blood (Eze 16:7,8). Grace can make children of us, though\nby nature we have been enemies to God (Rom 9:25,26). Grace can make\nthem God\u2019s people which were not God\u2019s people (1 Peter 2:9,10). Grace\nwill not trust our own salvation in our own hands\u2014\u201cHe putteth no trust\nin his saints\u201d (Job 15:15). Grace can pardon our ungodliness, justify\nus with Christ\u2019s righteousness; it can put the spirit of Jesus Christ\nwithin us, it can help us up when we are down, it can heal us when we\nare wounded, it can multiply pardons, as we, through frailty, multiply\ntransgressions.\n\nWhat shall I say? Grace and mercy are everlasting. They are built up\nfor ever. They are the delight of God. They rejoice against judgment.\nAnd therefore it is the most safe and secure way of salvation, and\ntherefore hath God chosen to save us by his grace and mercy rather than\nany other way (Isa 43:25; Rom 3:24,25; Isa 44:2,4; Psa 37:23; Luke\n10:33,34; Isa 55:7,8; Psa 136; 89:2; Mal 3:18; James 2:13).\n\nSeventh. We must be saved by the grace of God, or else God will not\nhave his will. They that are saved are \u201cpredestinated unto the adoption\nof children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure\nof his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace\u201d (Eph 1:5,6).\n\n1. But if it be his will that men should be saved by grace, then to\nthink of another way is against the will of God. Hence they that seek\nto establish their own righteousness are such as are accounted to stand\nout in defiance against, and that do not submit to, the righteousness\nof God\u2014that is, to the righteousness that he hath willed to be that\nthrough which alone we are saved by grace (Rom 10:3).\n\n2. If it be his will that men should be saved through grace, then it is\nhis will that men should be saved by faith in that Christ who is the\ncontrivance of grace; therefore they that have sought to be justified\nanother way have come short of, and perished notwithstanding, that\nsalvation that is provided of God for men by grace (Rom 9:31-33).\n\n3. God is not willing that faith should be made void, and the promise\nof none effect; therefore they of the righteousness of the law are\nexcluded: \u201cfor if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of\npromise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise\u201d (Rom 4:14 Gal 3:18).\n\n4. God is not willing that men should be saved by their own natural\nabilities; but all the works of the law which men do to be saved by,\nthey are the works of men\u2019s natural abilities, and are therefore called\nthe work of the flesh, but God is not willing that men should be saved\nby these, therefore no way but by his grace (Rom 4:1; Gal 3:1-3; Phil\n3:3).\n\nEighth. We must be saved by grace, or else the main pillars and\nfoundations of salvation are not only shaken, but overthrown\u2014to wit,\nelection, the new covenant, Christ, and the glory of God; but these\nmust not be overthrown; therefore we must be saved by grace.\n\n1. Election, which layeth hold of men by the grace of God, God hath\npurposed that that shall stand\u2014the election of God standeth sure;\ntherefore men must be saved by virtue of the election of grace (Rom\n9:11; 2 Tim 2:19).\n\n2. The covenant of grace, that must stand\u2014\u201cBrethren, I speak after the\nmanner of men. Though it be but a man\u2019s covenant, yet if it be\nconfirmed [as this is, by the death of the testator, (Heb 9:16,17)] no\nman disannulleth, or addeth thereto\u201d; therefore man must be saved by\nvirtue of a covenant of grace (Gal 3:15).\n\n3. Christ, who is the gift of the grace of God to the world, he must\nstand, because he is a sure foundation, \u201cthe same yesterday, to-day,\nand for ever\u201d; therefore men must be saved by grace, through the\nredemption that is in Christ (Isa 28:16; Heb 13:8).\n\n4. God\u2019s glory, that also must stand; to wit, the glory of his grace;\nfor that he will not give to another; therefore men must so be saved\nfrom the wrath to come, that in their salvation praise may redound to\nthe glory of his grace.\n\nNinth. There can be but one will the master in our salvation; but that\nshall never be the will of man, but of God; therefore man must be saved\nby grace (John 1:13; Rom 9:16).\n\nTenth. There can be but one righteousness that shall save a sinner; but\nthat shall never be the righteousness of men, but of Christ (therefore\nmen must be saved by grace), that imputeth this righteousness to whom\nhe will.\n\nEleventh. There can be but one covenant by which men must be saved; but\nthat shall never be the covenant of the law, for the weakness and\nunprofitableness thereof; therefore men must be saved by the covenant\nof grace, by which God will be merciful to our unrighteousnesses, and\nour sins and iniquities will remember no more (Heb 8:6-13).\n\nPOSTSCRIPT.\n\n\nA few words by way of use, and so I shall conclude.\n\nTHE FIRST USE.\n\n\nFirst. Is the salvation of the sinner by the grace of God? Then here\nyou see the reason why God hath not respect to the personal virtues of\nmen in the bringing of them to glory. Did I say, personal virtues? How\ncan they have any to Godward that are enemies to him in their minds by\nwicked works? Indeed, men one to another seem to be, some better, some\nworse, by nature, but to God they are all alike, dead in trespasses and\nsins. 20\n\nWe will, therefore, state it again\u2014Are men saved by grace? Then here\nyou may see the reason why conversion runs at that rate among the sons\nof men, that none are converted for their good deeds, nor rejected for\ntheir bad, but even so many of both, and only so many, are brought home\nto God as grace is pleased to bring home to him.\n\n1. None are received for their good deeds; for then they would not be\nsaved by grace, but by works. Works and grace, as I have showed, are in\nthis matter opposite each to other; if he be saved by works, then not\nby grace; if by grace, then not by works (Rom 11). That none are\nreceived of God for their good deeds is evident, not only because he\ndeclares his abhorrence of the supposition of such a thing, but hath\nalso rejected the persons that have at any time attempted to present\nthemselves to God in their own good deeds for justification. This I\nhave showed you before.\n\n2. Men are not rejected for their bad deeds. This is evident by\nManasseh, by the murderers of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the men that\nyou read of in the nineteenth of the Acts, with many others, whose sins\nwere of as deep a dye as the sins of the worst of men (2 Chron 33:2,13;\nActs 2:23,41; 19:19).\n\nGrace respecteth, in the salvation of a sinner, chiefly the purpose of\nGod; wherefore those that it findeth under that purpose, those it\njustifies freely, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. At\nSaul\u2019s conversion, Ananias of Damascus brought in a most dreadful\ncharge against him to the Lord Jesus Christ, saying, \u201cLord, I have\nheard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at\nJerusalem; and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind\nall that call on thy name.\u201d But what said the Lord unto him? \u201cGo thy\nway, for he is a chosen vessel unto me\u201d (Acts 9:13-15). This man\u2019s\ncruelty and outrage must not hinder his conversion, because he was a\nchosen vessel. Men\u2019s good deeds are no argument with God to convert\nthem; men\u2019s bad deeds are no argument with him to reject them. I mean,\nthose that come to Christ, by the drawings of the Father; besides,\nChrist also saith, \u201cI will in no wise cast\u201d such \u201cout.\u201d (John 6:37-44).\n\nSecond. Is the salvation of the sinner by the grace of God? Then here\nyou see the reason why some sinners, that were wonderfully averse to\nconversion by nature, are yet made to stoop to the God of their\nsalvation. Grace takes them to do, because grace hath designed them to\nthis very thing. Hence some of the Gentiles were taken from among the\nrest; God granted them repentance unto life, because he had taken them\nfrom among the rest, both by election and calling, for his name (Acts\n11:18; 15:14). These men that were not a people, are thus become the\npeople of God; these men that were not beloved for their works, were\nyet beloved by the grace of God. \u201cI will call them my people which were\nnot my people; and her beloved which was not beloved.\u201d But their minds\nare averse. But are they the people on whom God doth magnify the riches\nof his grace? Why, then, they shall be, in the day of his power, made\nwilling, and be able to believe through grace (Psa 110:3; Rom 9:25;\nActs 18:27). But doth the guilt and burden of sin so keep them down\nthat they can by no means lift up themselves? Why, God will, by the\nexceeding greatness of that power by which he raised Christ from the\ndead, work in their souls also by the Spirit of grace, to cause them to\nbelieve and to walk in his ways (Eph 1:18-20).\n\nPaul tells us, in that epistle of his to the Corinthians, that it was\nby grace he was what he was\u2014\u201cBy the grace of God I am what I am,\u201d says\nhe, \u201cand his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain\u201d (1 Cor\n15:10). This man kept always in his mind a warm remembrance of what he\nwas formerly by nature, and also how he had added to his vileness by\npractice; yea, moreover, he truly concluded in his own soul, that had\nnot God, by unspeakable grace, put a stop to his wicked proceedings, he\nhad perished in his wickedness; hence he lays his call and conversion\nat the door of the grace of God\u2014\u201cWhen it pleased God,\u201d says he, \u201cwho\nseparated me from my mother\u2019s womb, and called me by his grace, to\nreveal his Son in me\u201d (Gal 1:15,16). and hence it is, again, that he\nsaith, \u201cHe obtained grace and apostleship\u201d; grace to convert his soul,\nand the gifts and authority of an apostle, to preach the gospel of the\ngrace of God.\n\nThis blessed man ascribes all to the grace of God. 1. His call he\nascribes to the grace of God. 2. His apostleship he ascribes to the\ngrace of God. 3. And all his labour in that charge he also ascribes to\nthe grace of God.\n\nThis grace of God it was that which saved from the beginning. 1. Noah\nfound grace in the eyes of the Lord, and was therefore converted and\npreserved from the flood (Gen 6:8). 2. Abraham found grace in the sight\nof the Lord, and therefore he was called out of his country (Gen\n12:1,2). 3. Moses found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and therefore he\nmust not be blotted out of God\u2019s book (Exo 33:12,17).\n\nNeither may it be imagined that these men were, before grace laid hold\non them, better than other men; for then they would not have been saved\nby grace; grace should not have had the dominion and glory of their\nsalvation. But, as Paul says of himself, and of those that were saved\nby grace in his day, \u201cWhat then? are we better than they? No, in no\nwise; for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are\nall under sin\u201d (Rom 3:9). So it may be said of these blessed ones; for\nindeed this conclusion is general, and reacheth all the children of\nmen, Christ Jesus alone only excepted. But,\n\nThird. Is the salvation of the sinner by the grace of God? Then here\nyou may see the reason why one backslider is recovered, and another\nleft to perish in his backsliding.\n\nThere was grace for Lot, but none for his wife; therefore she was left\nin her transgression, but Lot was saved notwithstanding. There was\ngrace for Jacob, but none for Esau; therefore Esau was left in his\nbacksliding, but Jacob found mercy notwithstanding. There was grace for\nDavid, but none for Saul; therefore David obtained mercy, and Saul\nperished in his backsliding. There was grace for Peter, but none for\nJudas; therefore Judas is left to perish in his backsliding, and Peter\nis saved from his sin. That text stands good to none but those that are\nelect by grace\u2014\u201cSin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not\nunder the law, but under grace\u201d (Rom 6:14).\n\nIt will be said, repentance was found in one, but not in the other.\nWell, but who granted and gave the one repentance; The Lord turned, and\nlooked upon Peter; he did not turn and look upon Judas; yea, the Lord\ntold Peter before he fell that he should follow him to the kingdom of\nheaven, but told him that he should deny him first; but withal told him\nalso he should not let his heart be troubled, that is, utterly\ndejected, for he would go and prepare a place for him, and come again\nand receive him to himself (John 13:36-38; 14:1-3). That is a blessed\nword of God, \u201cThe steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he\ndelighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast\ndown; for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand\u201d (Psa 37:23,24).\n\nTHE SECOND USE.\n\n\nMy second use shall be to them that are dejected in their souls at the\nsight and sense of their sins.\n\nFirst. Are they that are saved, saved by grace? Then they that would\nhave their guilty consciences quieted, they must study the doctrine of\ngrace.\n\nIt is Satan\u2019s great design either to keep the sinner senseless of his\nsins, or if God makes him sensible of them, then to hide and keep from\nhis thoughts the sweet doctrine of the grace of God, by which alone the\nconscience getteth health and cure; \u201cfor everlasting consolation, and\ngood hope\u201d is given \u201cthrough grace\u201d (1 Thess 2:16). How then shall the\nconscience of the burdened sinner by rightly quieted, if he perceiveth\nnot the grace of God?\n\nStudy, therefore, this doctrine of the grace of God. Suppose thou hast\na disease upon thee which is not to be cured but by such or such\nmedicines, the first step to thy cure is to know the medicines. I am\nsure this is true as to the case in hand; the first step to the cure of\na wounded conscience is for thee to know the grace of God, especially\nthe grace of God as to justification from the curse in his sight.\n\nA man under a wounded conscience naturally leaneth to the works of the\nlaw, and thinks God must be pacified by something that he should do,\nwhereas the Word says, \u201cI will have mercy and not sacrifice: for I am\nnot come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance\u201d (Matt 9:13).\n\nWherefore thou must study the grace of God. \u201cIt is a good thing,\u201d saith\nthe apostle, \u201cthat the heart be established with grace\u201d; thereby\ninsinuating that there is no establishment in the soul that is right\nbut by the knowledge of the grace of God (Heb 13:9).\n\nI said, that when a man is wounded in his conscience, he naturally\nleaneth to the works of the law; wherefore thou must therefore be so\nmuch the more heedful to study the grace of God; yea, so to study it as\nrightly, not only in notion, but in thy practices, to distinguish it\nfrom the law. \u201cThe law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by\nJesus Christ\u201d (John 1:17). Study it, I say, so as to distinguish it,\nand that, not only from the law, but from all those things that men\nblasphemously call this grace of God.\n\nThere are many things which men call the grace of God, that are not.\n\n1. The light and knowledge that are in every man. 2. That natural\nwillingness that is in man to be saved. 3. That power that is in man by\nnature to do something, as he thinketh, towards his own salvation.\n\nI name these three; there are also many other which some will have\nentitled the grace of God. But do thou remember that the grace of God\nis his goodwill and great love to sinners in his Son Jesus Christ; \u201cby\nthe which\u201d good \u201cwill we are sanctified, through the offering of the\nbody of Jesus Christ once for all\u201d (Heb 10:10).\n\nAgain; when thou hast smelt out this grace of God, and canst\ndistinguish it from that which is not, then labour to strengthen thy\nsoul with the blessed knowledge of it. \u201cThou therefore, my son,\u201d said\nPaul, \u201cbe strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus\u201d (2 Tim 2:1).\nFortify thy judgment and understanding; but especially labour to get\ndown all into thy conscience, that that may be \u201cpurged from dead works,\nto serve the living God.\u201d\n\n[Second.] And to enforce this use upon thee yet further, consider, a\nman gets yet more advantage by the knowledge of, and by growing strong\nin, this grace of God.\n\n1. It ministereth to him matter of joy; for he that knows this grace\naright, he knows God is at peace with him, because he believeth in\nJesus Christ, who by grace tasted death for every man; \u201cby whom also we\nhave access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in\nhope of the glory of God\u201d (Rom 5:2). And indeed what joy or what\nrejoicing is like rejoicing here? To rejoice in hope of the glory of\nGod, it is to rejoice in hope to enjoy him for ever, with that eternal\nglory that is in him.\n\n2. As it manifesteth matter of joy and rejoicing, so it causeth much\nfruitfulness in all holiness and godliness. \u201cFor the grace of God that\nbringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying\nungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and\ngodly in this present world\u201d (Titus 2:11,12). Yea, it so naturally\ntendeth this way, that it can no sooner appear to the soul, but it\ncauseth this blessed fruit in the heart and life. \u201cWe ourselves also\nwere sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and\npleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.\nBut after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared\u201d\u2014what\nthen? Why then, he that believeth, being justified by his grace, and\nexpecting to be an heir according to the hope of eternal life, is\n\u201ccareful to maintain good works\u201d (Titus 3:3-8). See also that in Paul\u2019s\nepistle to the Colossians\u2014\u201cWe give thanks,\u201d says he, \u201cto God and the\nFather of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard\nof your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the\nsaints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye\nheard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is come unto\nyou, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth\nalso in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in\ntruth\u201d (Col 1:3-6).\n\n3. The knowledge of, and strength that comes by, the grace of God is a\nsovereign antidote against all, and all manner of delusions that are or\nmay come into the world. Wherefore Peter, exhorting the believers to\ntake heed that they were not carried away with the errors of the\nwicked, and so fall from their own steadfastness, adds, as their only\nhelp, this exhortation\u2014\u201cBut grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our\nLord and Saviour Jesus Christ\u201d (2 Peter 3:18).\n\n(1.) Suppose it should be urged, that man\u2019s own righteousness saveth\nthe sinner; why, then, we have this at hand\u2014God \u201chath saved us, and\ncalled us, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose\nand grace, which was given us in Christ\u201d &c. (2 Tim 1:9).\n\n(2.) Suppose it should be urged, that by the doctrine of free grace we\nmust not understand God\u2019s extending free forgiveness as far as we have\nor do sin; the answer is\u2014\u201cBut where sin abounded, grace did much more\nabound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign\nthrough righteousness,\u201d through the justice of God being satisfied by\nhis Son, \u201cunto eternal life\u201d (Rom 5:20,21).\n\n(3.) Suppose it should be urged, that this is a doctrine tending to\nlooseness and lasciviousness; the answer is ready\u2014\u201cWhat shall we say\nthen? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How\nshall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?\u201d for the\ndoctrine of free grace believed is the most sin-killing doctrine in the\nworld (Rom 6:1,2).\n\n(4.) Suppose men should attempt to burden the church of God with\nunnecessary ceremonies, and impose them, even as the false apostles21\nurged circumcision of old, saying, Unless you do these things, ye\ncannot be saved; why, the answer is ready\u2014\u201cWhy tempt ye God, to put a\nyoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we\nwere able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord\nJesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they\u201d (Acts 15:1,10,11). But\nnot to enlarge, 22\n\n[Third.] This doctrine, \u201cBy grace ye are saved,\u201d it is the only remedy\nagainst despairing thoughts at the apprehension of our own\nunworthiness; as,\n\n1. Thou criest out, O cursed man that I am! my sins will sink me into\nhell.\n\nAnsw. Hold, man; there is a God in heaven that is \u201cthe God of all\ngrace\u201d (1 Peter 5:10). Yet thou art not the man of all sin. If God be\nthe God of all grace, then if all the sins in the world were thine, yet\nthe God of all grace can pardon, or else it should seem that sin is\nstronger in a man penitent, to damn, than the grace of God can be to\nsave.\n\n2. But my sins are of the worst sort\u2014blasphemy, adultery, covetousness,\nmurder, &c.\n\nAnsw. \u201cAll manner of sins and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men,\nwherewithsoever they shall blaspheme.\u2014Let the wicked forsake his way,\nand the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord,\nand he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly\npardon\u201d (Matt 12:31; Mark 3:28; Isa 55:7,8).\n\n3. But I have a stout and rebellious heart, a heart that is far from\ngood.\n\nAnsw. \u201cHearken unto me,\u201d saith God, \u201cye stout-hearted, that are far\nfrom righteousness: I bring near my righteousness\u201d; that is, the\nrighteousness of Christ, by which stout-hearted sinners are justified,\nthough ungodly (Isa 46:12,13; Phil 3:7,8; Rev 4:5).\n\n4. But I have a heart as hard as any stone.\n\nAnsw. \u201cA new heart also will I give you,\u201d says God, \u201cand a new spirit\nwill I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your\nflesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh\u201d (Eze 36:26).\n\n5. But I am as blind as a beetle; I cannot understand anything of the\ngospel.\n\nAnsw. \u201cI will bring the blind by a way that they know not; I will lead\nthem in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light\nbefore them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto\nthem, and not forsake them\u201d (Isa 42:16).\n\n6. But my heart will not be affected with the sufferings and blood of\nChrist.\n\nAnsw. \u201cI will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of\nJerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall\nlook upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as\none mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as\none that is in bitterness for his first-born\u201d (Zech 12:10).\n\n7. But though I see what is like to become of me if I find not Christ,\nyet my spirit, while I am thus, will be running after vanity,\nfoolishness, uncleanness, wickedness.\n\nAnsw. \u201cThen will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be\nclean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse\nyou\u201d (Eze 36:25).\n\n8. But I cannot believe in Christ.\n\nAnsw. But God hath promised to make thee believe. \u201cI will also leave in\nthe midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in\nthe name of the Lord.\u201d And again, \u201cThere shall be a root of Jesse, and\nhe that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the\nGentiles trust\u201d (Zeph 3:12; Rom 15:12).\n\n9. But I cannot pray to God for mercy.\n\nAnsw. But God hath graciously promised a spirit of prayer\u2014\u201cYea, many\npeople and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in\nJerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.\u2014They shall call on my name, and\nI will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The\nLord is my God\u201d (Zech 8:22; 12:10; 13:9).\n\n10. But I cannot repent. Answ. \u201cThe God of our fathers raised up Jesus,\nwhom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right\nhand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel,\nand forgiveness of sins\u201d (Acts 5:30,31).\n\nThus might I enlarge, for the holy Bible is full of this exceeding\ngrace of God. O these words, \u201cI will\u201d and \u201cyou shall\u201d! they are the\nlanguage of a gracious God; they are promises by which our God has\nengaged himself to do that for poor sinners which would else be left\nundone for ever.\n\nTHE THIRD USE.\n\n\nAre they that are saved, saved by grace? Then let Christians labour to\nadvance God\u2019s grace. FIRST. In heart. SECOND. In life.\n\nFIRST. In heart; and that in this manner\u2014\n\nFirst. Believe in God\u2019s mercy through Jesus Christ, and so advance the\ngrace of God; I mean, venture heartily, venture confidently, for there\nis a sufficiency in the grace of God. Abraham magnified the grace of\nGod when \u201che considered not his own body now dead,\u2014neither yet the\ndeadness of Sarah\u2019s womb: he staggered not at the promise of God\nthrough unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God\u201d (Rom\n4:19,20).\n\nSecond. Advance it by heightening of it in thy thoughts. Have always\ngood and great thoughts of the grace of God; narrow and slender\nthoughts of it are a great disparagement to it.\n\nAnd to help thee in this matter, consider\u20141. This grace is compared to\na sea\u2014\u201cAnd thou will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea\u201d\n(Micah 7:19). Now a sea can never be filled by casting into it. 23\n\n2. This grace is compared to a fountain, to an open fountain\u2014\u201cIn that\nday there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the\ninhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.\u201d Now a fountain\ncan never be drawn dry (Zech 12:1). 3. The Psalmist cries out\nconcerning the grace and mercy of God, \u201cIt endureth for ever\u201d; he says\nso twenty-six times in one psalm. Surely he saw a great deal in it,\nsurely he was taken a great deal with it (Psa 136). 4. Paul says the\nGod of all grace can do more than \u201cwe ask or think\u201d (Eph 3:20). 5.\nTherefore as God\u2019s Word says, so thou shouldst conclude of the grace of\nGod.\n\nThird. Come boldly to the throne of grace by hearty prayer; for this is\nthe way also to magnify the grace of God. This is the apostle\u2019s\nexhortation, \u201cLet us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,\nthat we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need\u201d (Heb\n4:16). See here a little, and wonder.\n\nWe have been all this while discoursing of the grace of God; and now we\nare come to his throne, as Job says, \u201ceven to his seat\u201d; and behold,\n\u201cthat is a throne of grace.\u201d O, when a God of grace is upon a throne of\ngrace, and a poor sinner stands by and begs for grace, and that in the\nname of a gracious Christ, in and by the help of the Spirit of grace,\ncan it be otherwise but such a sinner must obtain mercy and grace to\nhelp in time of need? But not to forget the exhortation, \u201cCome boldly.\u201d\nIndeed, we are apt to forget this exhortation; we think, seeing we are\nsuch abominable sinners, we should not presume to come boldly to the\nthrone of grace; but yet so we are bidden to do; and to break a\ncommandment here is as bad as to break it in another place.\n\nYou may ask me, What is it to come boldly? [I] answer\u2014\n\n1. It is to come confidently\u2014\u201cLet us draw near with a true heart, in\nfull assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil\nconscience, and our bodies washed with pure water\u201d (Heb 10:22).\n\n2. To come boldly, it is to come frequently\u2014\u201cAt morning, at noon, and\nat night, will I pray.\u201d We use to count them bold beggars that come\noften to our door.\n\n3. To come boldly, it is to ask for great things when we come. That is\nthe bold beggar that will not only ask, but also choose the thing that\nhe asketh.\n\n4. To come boldly, it is to ask for others as well as ourselves, to beg\nmercy and grace for all the saints of God under heaven as well as for\nourselves\u2014\u201cPraying always with all prayer and supplication in the\nSpirit\u2014for all saints\u201d (Eph 6:18).\n\n5. To come boldly, it is to come and take no nay; thus Jacob came to\nthe throne of grace\u2014\u201cI will not let thee go except thou bless me\u201d (Gen\n32:26).\n\n6. To come boldly, it is to plead God\u2019s promises with him both in a way\nof justice and mercy, and to take it for granted God will give\nus\u2014because he hath said it\u2014whatever we ask in the name of his Son.\n\nFourth. Labour to advance God\u2019s grace in thy heart, by often admiring,\npraising, and blessing God in secret for it; God expects it\u2014\u201cWhoso\noffereth praise glorifieth me,\u201d says he. \u201cBy Jesus Christ therefore let\nus offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually; that is, the fruit\nof our lips, giving thanks to his name\u201d (Psa 50:23; Heb 13:15).\n\nSECOND. [In life.] But again; as we should advance this grace in our\nhearts, so we should do it in our life. We should in our conversation\nadorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. It is a great word\nof the apostle, \u201cOnly let your conversation be as it becometh the\ngospel of Christ,\u201d which is the gospel of the grace of God (Phil 1:27).\nGod expecteth that there should in our whole life be a blessed tang24\nof the gospel, or that in our life among men there should be preached\nto them the grace of the gospel of God.\n\nThe gospel shows us that God did wonderfully stoop and condescend for\nour good; and to do accordingly, it is to stoop and condescend to\nothers.\n\nThe gospel shows us that there was abundance of pity, love, bowels, and\ncompassion in God towards us; and accordingly we should be full of\nbowels, pity, love, and compassion to others.\n\nThe gospel shows us that in God there is a great deal of willingness to\ndo good to others.\n\nThe gospel shows us that God acteth towards us according to his truth\nand faithfulness, and so should we be in all our actions one to\nanother.\n\nBy the gospel, God declares that he forgiveth us ten thousand talents,\nand we ought likewise to forgive our brother the hundred pence.\n\nAnd now, before I conclude this use, let me give you a few\nheart-endearing considerations to this so good and so happy a work.\n\n[Heart-endearing Considerations.]\n\nFirst. Consider, God hath saved thee by his grace. Christian, God hath\nsaved thee, thou hast escaped the lion\u2019s mouth, thou art delivered from\nwrath to come; advance the grace that saves thee, in thy heart and\nlife.\n\nSecond. Consider, God left millions in their sins that day he saved\nthee by his grace; he left millions out, and pitched upon thee; it may\nbe hundreds also, yea, thousands, were in the day of thy conversion\nlying before him under the preaching of the word as thou wert, yet he\ntook thee. 25 Considerations of this nature affected David much; and\nGod would have them affect thee, to the advancing of his grace in thy\nlife and conversation (Psa 78:67-72; Deu 7:7).\n\nThird. Consider, perhaps the most part of those that God refused that\nday that he called thee by his grace were, as to conversation, far\nbetter than ever thou wert\u2014I was a blasphemer, I was a persecutor, I\nwas an injurious person, but I obtained mercy! O this should affect thy\nheart, this should engage thy heart to study to advance this grace of\nGod (1 Tim 1:14,15).\n\nFourth. Perhaps in the day of thy conversion thou wast more unruly than\nmany. Like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, hardly tamed, thou wast\nbrought home by strong hands; thou wouldst not drive, the Lord Jesus\nmust take thee up, lay thee upon his shoulder, and carry thee home to\nhis Father\u2019s house. This should engage thy heart to study to advance\nthe grace of God (Luke 15:1-6).\n\nFifth. It may be many did take even offence at God in his converting\nand saving of thee by his grace, even as the elder son was offended\nwith his father for killing the fatted calf for his brother, and yet\nthat did not hinder the grace of God, nor make God abate his love to\nthy soul. This should make thee study to advance the grace of God in\nthy heart and life (Luke 15:21-32).\n\nSixth. Consider again, that God hath allowed thee but a little time for\nthis good work, even the few days that thou hast now to live\u2014I mean,\nfor this good work among sinful men, and then thou shalt go to receive\nthat wages that grace also will give thee for thy work to thy eternal\njoy.\n\nSeventh. Let this also have some place upon thy heart\u2014every man shows\nsubjection to the god that he serveth; yea, though that god be none\nother but the devil and his lusts; and wilt not thou, O man! saved of\nthe Lord, be much more subject \u201cto the Father of spirits, and live\u201d?26\n\nAlas! they are pursuing their own damnation, yet they sport it, and\ndance all the way they go. They serve that \u201cgod\u201d (Satan) with\ncheerfulness and delight, who at last will plunge them into the\neverlasting gulf of death, and torment them in the fiery flames of\nhell; but thy God is the God of salvation, and to God thy Lord belong\nthe issues from death. Wilt not thou serve him with joyfulness in the\nenjoyment of all good things, even him by whom thou art to be made\nblessed for ever?\n\nObject. This is that which kills me\u2014honour God I cannot; my heart is so\nwretched, so spiritless, and desperately wicked, I cannot.\n\nAnsw. What dost thou mean by cannot? 1. If thou meanest thou hast no\nstrength to do it, thou hast said an untruth, for \u201cgreater is he that\nis in you, than he that is in the world\u201d (1 John 4:4). 2. If thou\nmeanest thou hast no will, then thou art out also; for every Christian,\nin his right mind, is a willing man, and the day of God\u2019s power hath\nmade him so (Psa 110:3). 3. If thou meanest that thou wantest wisdom,\nthat is thine own fault\u2014\u201cIf any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God,\nthat giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not\u201d (James 1:5).\n\nObject. I cannot do things as I would.\n\nAnsw. No more could the best of the saints of old\u2014\u201cTo will is present\nwith me,\u201d said Paul; \u201cbut how to perform that which is good I find\nnot.\u201d And again, \u201cThe flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit\nagainst the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other, so that\nye cannot do the things that ye would\u201d (Rom 7:18; Gal 5:17).\n\nAnd here indeed lies a great discovery of this truth, \u201cye are saved by\ngrace\u201d; for the children of God whilst here, notwithstanding their\nconversion to God, and salvation by Christ through grace, are so infirm\nand weak by reason of a body of death that yet remaineth in them, that\nshould even the sin that is in the best of their performances be laid\nto their charge, according to the tenor of a covenant of works, they\nwould find it impossible ever to get into glory. But why do I talk\nthus? It is impossible that those that are saved by grace should have\ntheir infirmities laid to their charge as afore, \u201cfor they are not\nunder the law\u201d; they are included by the grace of God in the death and\nblood of the Son of God, who ever liveth to make intercession for them\nat the right hand of God; whose intercession is so prevalent with the\nFather as to take away the iniquity of our holy things from his sight,\nand to present us holy, and unreprovable, and unblamable in his sight.\nTo him, by Christ Jesus, through the help of the blessed Spirit of\ngrace, be given praise, and thanks, and glory, and dominion, by all his\nsaints, now and for ever. Amen.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1 General course of manners, behaviour, deportment, especially as it\nregards morals (see Phil 1:27, 1 Peter 1:15).\n\n2 Their conduct proved to the living that they were dead, they\nthemselves having no feeling or sense of spiritual life; but, when\nquickened, their penitence and good works were brought into existence\nby Divine power; they feel the joys of salvation, but feel also their\ntotal unworthiness of this new creating power, and sing, \u201cO to grace\nhow great a debtor!\u201d\u2014Ed.\n\n3 The hospital of St. Mary Bethlem, vulgarly called \u201cBedlam,\u201d bestowed,\nin 1545, upon the citizens of London, who appropriated it to the\nreception of lunatics. It being the only public hospital for that class\nof the afflicted in England, it gave the name of \u201cbedlam\u201d to all whose\nconduct could only be accounted for on the score of madness.\u2014Ed.\n\n4 The person who writes this, was a singular instance of the truth of\nour author\u2019s remark; having been twice providentially preserved from\ndrowning, and once from the fatal effects of a violent fever, before\neffectual saving grace had reached his soul. The same rich and abundant\nmercy follows all the elect, quickens them when dead, saves them when\nlost, and restores them when ruined. God hath chosen us unto salvation,\nand enables us to live holily on earth, in order to a life of happiness\nin heaven. The Father\u2019s good will and pleasure is the only fountain\nfrom whence the salvation of believers flows; and such as are given to\nChrist by the Father he considers as his charge, and stands engaged for\ntheir preservation; and the death of Christ for sinners, is an evident\ndemonstration of the love of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,\ntowards them; this love manifested in time was in and upon the heart of\nGod before the world began.\u2014Mason. What a multitude of unseen dangers,\nboth spiritual and temporal, the Christian escapes before he is\ncalled!\u2014Ed.\n\n5 \u201cRarely,\u201d finely, nicely.\n\n6 A safe-conduct is a military term, either a convoy or guard for\nprotection in an enemy\u2019s land, or a passport, by the sovereign of a\ncountry, to enable a subject to travel with safety.\u2014Imperial Dict.\u2014Ed.\n\n7 What amazing love! Christ visited this poor beggar, yea, was formed\nin him the hope of glory; his body, so miserable in the sight of man,\nwas a temple of the Holy Ghost, and the angels carry his soul to\nheaven. O the riches of grace!\u2014Ed.\n\n8 What heart can conceive the glorious worship of heaven? The new song\nshall be as the voice of many waters, and a great thunder, when the\n\u201cten thousand times ten thousand and thousand of thousands\u201d shall sing,\n\u201cWorthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and\nwisdom, and strength, and honour, and blessing.\u201d O that my poor voice\nmay join that celestial choir!\u2014Ed.\n\n9 The fear of the Lord\u2014an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains\nabout thy neck, and life unto thy soul.\u2014Solomon.\n\n10 \u201cTheir appearance and themselves\u201d; this beautiful illustration might\nescape the reader\u2019s notice, unless specially directed to it. The living\ncreatures were always the same, although seen under different\ncircumstances, and in diverse places. Inside and out they were the\nsame; without deviation or turning, they went straight forward. It is\nwell said that Bunyan has here snatched a grace beyond the reach of\nart, and has applied it to exalt and beautify consistency of Christian\ncharacter.\u2014Ed.\n\n11 This is one of Bunyan\u2019s peculiarly affecting representations, which\nin preaching went to the heart, producing intense interest, and tears\nof contrition over the stubbornness of human nature. Reader, Bunyan,\nbeing dead, yet speaketh; can you feel unaffected under such an\nappeal?\u2014Ed.\n\n12 \u201cTo stave,\u201d to thrust, to push, to delay.\u2014Ed.\n\n13 These terms are taken from Foxe\u2019s Martyrology. It was frequently the\nbrutal remark of the Judges, You must turn or burn. Bunyan here applies\nit to turning from sin or burning in hell.\u2014Ed.\n\n14 This treatise having been written some years after the Pilgrim\u2019s\nProgress, Bunyan very naturally refers to the well-known scene in the\nInterpreter\u2019s House, where the fire is kept burning by oil from behind\nthe wall, in spite of all the water thrown upon its flames.\u2014Ed.\n\n15 \u201cTo tend,\u201d to watch, to guard, to attend.\u2014Ed.\n\n16 How pointedly, how admirably, does this illustrate the fond\nabsurdities, the extreme follies of the human heart! \u201cTo serve God with\nsuch dainty dishes,\u201d the cleanest being befouled with sin. \u201cA cleaner\nway to hell than our neighbours!\u201d\u2014Ed.\n\n17 O how humbling a consideration! Our sins are numberless, of\nomission, of commission, openly and secretly; nay, in a thousand cases\nthey escape the sinner\u2019s observation. \u201cCleanse thou me from secret\nfaults.\u201d\u2014Ed.\n\n18 \u201cShuck,\u201d to shake or start back.\u2014Ed.\n\n19 In Bunyan\u2019s time, the saints of God were sorely tormented by\npenalties, fines, and imprisonments. It required great faith in a\nmother, who saw all her goods seized, for not going to church, the\nincarnate devils throwing the milk that was warming for her infant on\nthe dunghill, and the skillet in which it was contained into the cart,\nanswering her prayers for mercy on her babe. Let the brat of a heretic\nstarve.\u2014Ed.\n\n20 How abasing and humbling to human pride is it thus to conceive, that\nall have sinned, and, in the sight of God, are hell-deserving. What!\nsays the honourable man, must I take mercy upon no higher consideration\nthan the thief on the cross? Or the highly virtuous dame, Must I sue\nfor mercy upon the same terms as the Magdalene? The faithful answer to\nboth is, YES, or you must perish.\u2014Ed.\n\n21 \u201cFalse apostles,\u201d mentioned in Acts 15, who would have blended\nJewish observances with Christianity, and have brought the converts\ninto misery and thraldom. They are specially referred to in 2\nCorinthians 11:13, \u201cfalse apostles,\u201d deceitful workers, that devour you\nand take from you (verse 20). In contradistinction to Paul, who was\n\u201cchargeable to no man\u201d (verse 9).\u2014Ed.\n\n22 We must not for a moment imagine that Bunyan was afraid of temporal\nconsequences, which prevents his enlarging upon this part of his\nsubject. His contemptuous answer to Fowler for attacking the doctrine\nof justification, although a great man with the state, and soon\nafterwards made a bishop, is a proof that he was a stranger to the fear\nof man. He had said enough, and therefore there was no need to\nenlarge.\u2014Ed.\n\n23 How does Bunyan here exhibit the perfection as well as the freeness\nof the pardon that Micah celebrates! That which is sunk in the depths\nof the sea is lost for ever.\u2014Ed.\n\n24 \u201cTang,\u201d taste, touch, savour, flavour, relish, tone, sound. A word\nof extensive meaning, but now nearly obsolete. \u201cNo tang of\nprepossession or fancy appears in the morality of our Saviour or his\napostles.\u201d\u2014Locke.\u2014Ed.\n\n25 What can I render unto thee, my God, for such unspeakable\nblessedness? The cattle upon a thousand hills, yea, all creation, all\nthat I have and am, is thine: all that I can do is \u201cto take the cup of\nsalvation and call upon the name of the Lord.\u201d Not unto us, but unto\nthy name, be all the praise and honour of salvation!\u2014Ed.\n\n26 In the edition of 1692, this sentence is \u201csubject to the Father of\nspirits and love.\u201d It is a very singular mode of expression to call God\n\u201cthe Father of love.\u201d God is love, and that author and source of all\nholy love. Bunyan was at all times governed by Scripture phrases, with\nwhich his mind was so richly imbued as to cause him, if we may so\nspeak, to live in a scriptural atmosphere; and this sentence bears a\ngreat affinity to Hebrews 12:9, \u201cShall we not much rather be in\nsubjection to the Father of spirits, and live.\u201d I have been, for these\nreasons, induced to consider the letter o in \u201clove\u201d a typographical\nerror, and have altered the word to \u201clive,\u201d but could not take such a\nliberty without a public notice.\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STRAIT GATE;\n\nOR,\n\nGREAT DIFFICULTY OF GOING TO HEAVEN:\n\nPLAINLY PROVING, BY THE SCRIPTURES, THAT NOT ONLY THE RUDE AND PROFANE,\nBUT MANY GREAT PROFESSORS, WILL COME SHORT OF THAT KINGDOM.\n\n\n\u201cEnter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the\nway that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:\nbecause strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto\nlife, and few there be that find it.\u201d\u2014Matthew 7:13, 14\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nIf any uninspired writer has been entitled to the name of Boanerges, or\na son of thunder, it is the author of the following treatise. Here we\nhave a most searching and faithful display of the straitness or exact\ndimensions of that all-important gate, which will not suffer many\nprofessors to pass into the kingdom of heaven, encumbered as they are\nwith fatal errors. Still \u201cit is no little pinching wicket, but wide\nenough for all the truly gracious and sincere lovers of Jesus Christ;\nwhile it is so strait, that no others can by any means enter in.\u201d This\nis a subject calculated to rouse and stimulate all genuine professors\nto solemn inquiry; and it was peculiarly intended to dart at, and fix\nconvictions upon, the multitudes of hypocritical professors who\nabounded in Bunyan\u2019s time, especially under the reigns of the later\nStuarts.\n\nDuring the Protectorate, wickedness was discountenanced, and skulked in\nthe holes and corners of Mansoul; but when a debauched monarch, who had\ntaken refuge in the most licentious court in Europe, was called to\noccupy the throne of his fathers, the most abandoned profligacy and\nprofaneness were let loose upon the nation. Vice was openly patronized,\nwhile virtue and religion were as openly treated with mockery and\ncontempt. Bunyan justly says, \u201cThe text calls for sharpness, so do the\ntimes.\u201d \u201cWith those whose religion lieth in some circumstantials, the\nkingdom swarms at this day.\u201d When they stand at the gate, they will\n\u201cshake like a quagmire\u2014their feigned faith, pretended love, shows of\ngravity, and holiday words, will stand them in little stead; some\nprofessors do with religion just as people do with their best\napparel\u2014hang it on the wall all the week, and put it on on Sundays;\nthey save it till they go to a meeting, or meet with a godly chapman.\u201d\nThis state of society called for peculiar sharpness, and Bunyan\npreached and published, in 1676, this awful alarm to professors. No\nsubject could be more peculiarly applicable than \u201cThe Gate of heaven,\u201d\nand \u201cthe difficulties of entering in thereat\u201d; a subject of the deepest\ninterest to all mankind\u2014to stimulate the careless to find, and to enter\nthe gate of this the only city of refuge from eternal misery\u2014to fill\nthe heart of God\u2019s children with love and joy in their prospects of a\nblessed immortality\u2014and to sting the hypocrites with the awful thought\nof finding the gate shut against them for ever. Their cries and tears\nwill be too late; they will stand without and vehemently cry, \u201cLord,\nLord, open unto us\u201d; in vain will be their outcry, \u201cthe devils are\ncoming; Lord, Lord, the pit opens her mouth upon us; Lord, Lord, there\nis nothing but hell and damnation left us, if thou hast not mercy upon\nus.\u201d These were professors who pretended to have found the gate and way\nto heaven; who passed for pilgrims who were seeking a better, even a\nheavenly country; such deluded victims must be, of all men, the most\nmiserable.\n\nFaithfulness becomes the ministers of Christ in dealing with the souls\nof men; and pre-eminently faithful is John Bunyan in this treatise.\nReader, he will be clear of thy blood. Enter upon the solemn inquiry,\nHave I sought the gate? Shall I be admitted into, or shut out from,\nthat blessed kingdom? The openly profane can have no hope. Are you a\nprofessor?\u2014there is danger still. In vain will it be to urge, \u201cWe have\nprophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils.\u201d To the\nsecretly profane, whatever may be their profession, there can be no\nwell-grounded hope of entrance in at this gate. Those only will be\nadmitted whom the Lord knows to be his\u2014the sheep of his pasture, who\nhave heard his voice, and obeyed it. Against all others the door will\nbe shut, and the awful words, \u201cI know you not\u2014depart, ye cursed,\u201d will\nhurry them to eternal darkness. The question, \u201cAre there few that be\nsaved?\u201d will suggest itself to our minds; may the answer fix upon our\nconscience, \u201cSTRIVE to enter in.\u201d It is very probable that it was in\npreaching upon this text, Bunyan was assailed with a want of charity.\nThe anecdote is thus narrated by Mr. Doe in The Struggler:\u2014\u201cAs Mr.\nBunyan was preaching in a barn, and showing the fewness of those that\nshould be saved, there stood one of the learned to take advantage of\nhis words; and having done preaching, the schoolman said to him, You\nare a deceiver, a person of no charity, and therefore not fit to\npreach; for he that [in effect] condemneth the greatest part of his\nhearers hath no charity, and therefore is not fit to preach. Then Mr.\nBunyan answered, The Lord Jesus Christ preached in a ship to his\nhearers on the shore (Mat 13), and showed that they were as four sorts\nof ground, the highway, the stony, the thorny, and the good ground, but\nthose represented by the good ground were the only persons to be saved.\nAnd your position is, That he that in effect condemneth the greatest\npart of his hearers, hath no charity, and therefore is not fit to\npreach the gospel. But here the Lord Jesus Christ did so, then your\nconclusion is, The Lord Jesus Christ wanted charity, and therefore was\nnot fit to preach the gospel. Horrid blasphemy; away with your hellish\nlogic, and speak Scripture.\u201d Of one thing we are certain, that while\nhollow-hearted hypocritical professors will ever complain of faithful\ndealing with their soul\u2019s eternal interests; the sincere and humble\nChristian will be most thankful for searching inquiries, that, if\nwrong, he may be set right before his final destiny is irrevocably\nfixed. May our souls submit to a scriptural measurement of this gate,\nand the terms upon which alone it can be opened unto us.\n\nThe difficulties that prevent \u201cthe many\u201d from entering in are, 1.\nForgetfulness that we can only enter heaven by the permission of the\nlaw\u2014every jot and tittle must be fulfilled. Now, if we could live from\nour conversion to our death in the holiest obedience to all its\nprecepts, yet, having previously violated them, the stain must not only\nbe washed away in the blood of atonement, but we, as part of the body\nof Christ, must, in him, render perfect obedience. 2. In addition to\nthe disinclination of our hearts to submit to this perfect\nrighteousness, we have outward storms of temptation and persecution.\n\u201cThe world will seek to keep thee out of heaven with mocks, flouts,\ntaunts, threats, jails, gibbets, halters, burnings, and a thousand\ndeaths; therefore strive! Again, if it cannot overcome thee with these,\nit will flatter, promise, allure, entice, entreat, and use a thousand\ntricks on this hand to destroy thee; and many that have been stout\nagainst the threats of the world have yet been overcome with the\nbewitching flatteries of the same. O that we may by grace escape all\nthese enemies, and so strive as to enter into the joy of our Lord.\u201d\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nTO THE READER.\n\nCOURTEOUS READER,\n\n\nGod, I hope, hath put it into my heart to write unto thee another time,\nand that about matters of greatest moment\u2014for now we discourse not\nabout things controverted among the godly, but directly about the\nsaving or damning of the soul; yea, moreover, this discourse is about\nthe fewness of them that shall be saved, and it proves that many a high\nprofessor will come short of eternal life; wherefore the matter must\nneeds be sharp, and so disliked by some, but let it not be rejected by\nthee. The text calls for sharpness, so do the times, yea, the faithful\ndischarge of my duty towards thee hath put me upon it.\n\nI do not now pipe, but mourn; and it will be well for thee if thou\ncanst graciously lament. (Matt 11:17) Some, say they, make the gate of\nheaven too wide, and some make it too narrow; for my part, I have here\npresented thee with as true a measure of it as by the Word of God I\ncan. Read me, therefore, yea, read me, and compare me with the Bible;\nand if thou findest my doctrine and that book of God concur, embrace\nit, as thou wilt answer the contrary in the day of judgment. This\nawakening work\u2014if God will make it so\u2014was prepared for thee: if there\nbe need, and it wounds, get healing by blood: if it disquiets, get\npeace by blood: if it takes away all thou hast, because it was naught\n(for this book is not prepared to take away true grace from any), then\nbuy of Christ \u201cgold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and\nwhite raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy\nnakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that\nthou mayest see.\u201d (Rev 3:18) Self-flatteries, self-deceivings, are easy\nand pleasant, but damnable. The Lord give thee a heart to judge right\nof thyself, right of this book, and so to prepare for eternity, that\nthou mayest not only expect entrance, but be received into the kingdom\nof Christ and of God. Amen.\n\nSo prays thy Friend,\n\nJOHN BUNYAN.\n\nTHE STRAIT GATE.\n\n\u201cSTRIVE TO ENTER IN AT THE STRAIT GATE; FOR MANY, I SAY UNTO YOU, WILL\nSEEK TO ENTER IN, AND SHALL NOT BE ABLE.\u201d\u2014LUKE 13:24\n\n\nThese are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and are, therefore, in\nespecial manner to be heeded; besides, the subject matter of the words\nis the most weighty, to wit, how we should attain salvation, and\ntherefore also to be heeded.\n\nThe occasion of the words was a question which one that was at this\ntime in the company of the disciples put to Jesus Christ; the question\nwas this, \u201cLord, are there few that be saved?\u201d (verse 23) A serious\nquestion, not such as tended to the subversion of the hearers, as too\nmany now-a-days do; but such as in its own nature tended to the\nawakening of the company to good, and that called for such an answer\nthat might profit the people also. This question also well pleased\nJesus Christ, and he prepareth and giveth such an answer as was without\nthe least retort, or show of distaste; such an answer, I say, as\ncarried in it the most full resolve to the question itself, and help to\nthe persons questioning. \u201cAnd he said unto them, Strive to enter in,\u201d\n&c. The words are an answer, and an instruction also. First. An answer,\nand that in the affirmative; the gate is strait\u2014many that seek will not\nbe able, therefore but few shall be saved. Second. The answer is an\ninstruction also; \u201cstrive to enter in,\u201d &c., good counsel and\ninstruction; pray God help me, and my reader, and all that love their\nown salvation, to take it.\n\nMy manner of handling the words will be\u2014[FIRST], By way of explication;\nand then [SECOND], By way of observation.\n\n[FIRST. THE WORDS BY WAY OF EXPLICATION.]\n\n\nThe words are to be considered, [FIRST], with reference to their\ngeneral scope; and then [SECOND], with reference to their several\nphrases.\n\nFIRST. The general scope of the text is to be considered, and that is\nthat great thing\u2014salvation; for these words do immediately look at,\npoint to, and give directions about salvation: \u201cAre there few that be\nsaved? Strive to enter in at the strait gate.\u201d\n\nThe words, I say, are to direct us not only to talk of, or to wish for,\nbut to understand how we shall, and to seek that we may be, effectually\nsaved, and therefore of the greatest importance. To be saved! what is\nlike being saved? To be saved from sin, from hell, from the wrath of\nGod, from eternal damnation, what is like it? To be made an heir of\nGod, of his grace, of his kingdom, and eternal glory, what is like it?\nand yet all this is included in this word saved, and in the answer to\nthat question, \u201cAre there few that be saved?\u201d Indeed this word SAVED is\nbut of little use in the world, save to them that are heartily afraid\nof damning. This word lies in the Bible as excellent salves lie in some\nmen\u2019s houses, thrust into a hole, and not thought on for many months,\nbecause the household people have no wounds nor sores. In time of\nsickness, what so set by as the doctor\u2019s glasses and gally-pots full of\nhis excellent things? but when the person is grown well, the rest is\nthrown to the dunghill. 1\n\nO when men are sick of sin, and afraid of damning, what a text is that\nwhere this word saved is found! Yea, what a word of worth, and\ngoodness, and blessedness, is it to him that lies continually upon the\nwrath of a guilty conscience? \u201cBut the whole need not a physician\u201d; he\ntherefore, and he only, knows what saved means, that knows what hell,\nand death, and damnation means. \u201cWhat shall I do to be saved?\u201d is the\nlanguage of the trembling sinner. \u201cLord save me,\u201d is the language of\nthe sinking sinner; and none admire the glory that is in that word\nsaved, but such as see, without being saved, all things in heaven and\nearth are emptiness to them. They also that believe themselves\nprivileged in all the blessedness that is wrapt up in that word, bless\nand admire God that hath saved them. Wherefore, since the thing\nintended, both in the question and the answer, is no less than the\nsalvation of the soul, I beseech you to give the more earnest heed.\n(Heb 12) But,\n\nSECOND. To come to the particular phrases in the words, and to handle\nthem orderly, in the words I find four things. First. An intimation of\nthe kingdom of heaven. Second. A description of the entrance into it.\nThird. An exhortation to enter into it. And, Fourth, A motive to\nenforce that exhortation.\n\n[AN INTIMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.]\n\n\nFirst. An intimation of the kingdom of heaven; for when he saith,\n\u201cStrive to enter in,\u201d and in such phrases, there is supposed a place or\nstate, or both, to be enjoyed. \u201cEnter in\u201d; enter into what, or whither,\nbut into a state or place, or both? and therefore when you read this\nword, \u201center in,\u201d you must say there is certainly included in the text\nthat good thing that yet is not expressed. \u201cEnter in\u201d; into heaven,\nthat is the meaning, where the saved are, and shall be; into heaven,\nthat place, that glorious place, where God, and Christ, and angels are,\nand the souls or spirits of just men made perfect. \u201cEnter in\u201d; that\nthing included, though not expressed in the words, is called in another\nplace, the Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the general assembly and\nchurch of the first-born which are written in heaven. (Heb 12:23) And\ntherefore the words signify unto us, that there is a state most\nglorious, and that when this world is ended; and that this place and\nstate are likewise to be enjoyed, and inherited by a generation of men\nfor ever. Besides, this word, \u201center in,\u201d signifieth that salvation to\nthe full is to be enjoyed only there, and that there only is eternal\nsafety; all other places and conditions are hazardous, dangerous, full\nof snares, imperfections, temptations, and afflictions, but there all\nis well; there is no devil to tempt, no desperately wicked heart to\ndeliver us up, no deceitful lust to entangle, nor any enchanting world\nto bewitch us. There all shall be well to all eternity. Further, all\nthe parts of, and circumstances that attend salvation, are only there\nto be enjoyed; there only is immortality and eternal life; there is the\nglory and fulness of joy, and the everlasting pleasures; there is God\nand Christ to be enjoyed by open vision, and more; there are the angels\nand the saints; further, there is no death, nor sickness, no sorrow nor\nsighing for ever; there is no pain, nor persecutor, nor darkness, to\neclipse our glory. O this Mount Zion! O this heavenly Jerusalem! (2 Cor\n5:1-4, Psa 16:11, Luke 20:35,36, Heb 12:22-24)\n\nBehold, therefore, what a great thing the Lord Jesus hath included by\nthis little word, \u201cIN.\u201d In this word is wrapt up a whole heaven and\neternal life; even as there is also by other little words in the holy\nScriptures of truth: as where he saith, \u201cKnock, and it shall be opened\nunto you,\u201d and \u201cthe election hath obtained it.\u201d This should teach us,\nnot only to read, but to attend in reading; not only to read, but to\nlift up our hearts to God in reading; for if we be not heedful, if he\ngives us not light and understanding, we may easily pass over, without\nany great regard, such a word as may have a glorious kingdom and\neternal salvation in the bowels of it; yea, sometimes, as here, a whole\nheaven is intimated, where it is not at all expressed. The apostles of\nold did use to fetch great things out of the Scriptures, even out of\nthe very order and timing of the several things contained therein. See\nRomans 4:9-11, Galatians 3:16,17, Hebrews 8:13. But,\n\n[DESCRIPTION OF THE ENTRANCE INTO THIS KINGDOM.]\n\n\nSecond. As we have here an intimation of the kingdom of heaven, so we\nhave a description of the entrance into it, and that by a double\nsimilitude: I. It is called a gate; II. A strait gate\u2014\u201cStrive to enter\nin at the strait gate.\u201d\n\n[It is called a gate.]\n\nI. It is set forth by the similitude of a gate. A gate, you know, is of\na double use. It is to open and shut, and so, consequently, to let in\nor to keep out; and to do both these at the season; as he said, \u201cLet\nnot the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot\u201d; and again,\n\u201cI commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they\nshould not be opened till after the Sabbath.\u201d (Neh 7:3, 13:19,20) And\nso you find of this gate of heaven, when the five wise virgins came,\nthe gate was opened; but afterwards came the other virgins, and the\ndoor was shut. (Matt 25) So then, the entrance into heaven is called a\ngate, to show there is a time when there may be entrance, and there\nwill come a time when there shall be none; and, indeed, this is a chief\ntruth contained in the text\u2014\u201cStrive to enter in at the strait gate; for\nmany, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d I\nread in the Scriptures of two gates or doors, through which they that\ngo to heaven must enter. 2\n\n1. There is the door of faith, the door which the grace of God hath\nopened to the Gentiles. This door is Jesus Christ, as also himself doth\ntestify, saying, \u201cI am the door,\u201d &c. (John 10:9, Acts 14:27) By this\ndoor men enter into God\u2019s favour and mercy, and find forgiveness\nthrough faith in his blood, and live in hope of eternal life; and\ntherefore himself also hath said, \u201cI am the door; by me if any man\nenter in, he shall be saved\u201d; that is, received to mercy, and inherit\neternal life. But,\n\n2. There is another door or gate\u2014for that which is called in the text a\ngate, is twice in the next verse called a door\u2014there is, I say, another\ngate, and that is the passage into the very heaven itself; the entrance\ninto the celestial mansion-house, and that is the gate mentioned in the\ntext, 3 and the door mentioned twice in the verse that follows. And\nthis Jacob called it, when he said, Bethel was the house of God, and\nthis is the gate of heaven; that is, the entrance, for he saw the\nentrance into heaven. One end of Jacob\u2019s ladder stands in Bethel, God\u2019s\nhouse, and the other end reacheth up to the gate of heaven. (Gen\n28:10-17) Jacob\u2019s ladder was the figure of Christ, which ladder was not\nthe gate of heaven, but the way from the church to that gate which he\nsaw above at the top of the ladder. (Gen 28:12, John 1:51) But again,\nthat the gate in the text is the gate or entrance into heaven,\nconsider\u2014\n\n(1.) It is that gate that letteth men into, or shutteth men out of that\nplace or kingdom where Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob is, which place is\nthat paradise where Christ promised the thief that he should be that\nday, that he asked to be with him in his kingdom; it is that place into\nwhich Paul said he was caught, when he heard words unlawful or\nimpossible for a man to utter. (Luke 13:28, 23:42, 2 Cor 12:1-6)\n\nQuest. But is not Christ the gate or entrance into this heavenly place?\n\nAnsw. He is he without whom no man can get thither, because by his\nmerits men obtain that world, and also because he, as the Father, is\nthe donor and disposer of that kingdom to whom he will. Further, this\nplace is called his house, and himself the Master of it\u2014\u201cWhen once the\nMaster of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door.\u201d (Luke\n13:25) But we use to say, that the master of the house is not the door.\nMen enter into heaven, then, by him, not as he is the gate, or door, or\nentrance, into the celestial mansion-house, but as he is the giver and\ndisposer of that kingdom to them whom he shall count worthy, because he\nhath obtained it for them.\n\n(2.) That this gate is the very passage into heaven, consider the text\nhath special reference to the day of judgment, when Christ will have\nlaid aside his mediatory office, which before he exercised for the\nbringing to the faith his own elect; and will then act, not as one that\njustifieth the ungodly, but as one that judgeth sinners. He will now be\nrisen up from the throne of grace, and shut up the door against all the\nimpenitent, and will be set upon the throne of judgment, from thence to\nproceed with ungodly sinners.\n\nObject. But Christ bids strive: \u201cStrive\u201d now \u201cto enter in at the strait\ngate\u201d; but if that gate be as you say, the gate or entrance into\nheaven, then it should seem that we should not strive till the day of\njudgment, for we shall not come at that gate till then.\n\nAnsw. Christ, by this exhortation, Strive, &c., doth not at all admit\nof, or countenance delays, or that a man should neglect his own\nsalvation; but putteth poor creatures upon preparing for the judgment,\nand counselleth them now to get those things that will then give them\nentrance into glory. This exhortation is much like these: \u201cTherefore be\nye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man\ncometh.\u2014And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and\nthe door was shut.\u201d (Matt 24:44, 25:10)\n\nSo that when he saith, \u201cStrive to enter in,\u201d it is as if he should say,\nBlessed are they that shall be admitted another day to enter into the\nkingdom of heaven; but they that shall be counted worthy of so\nunspeakable a favour, must be well prepared and fitted for it\nbeforehand. Now, the time to be fitted is not the day of judgment, but\nthe day of grace; not then, but now. Therefore, strive now for those\nthings that will then give you entrance into the heavenly kingdom. But,\n\n[It is called a strait gate.]\n\nII. As it is called a gate, so it is called a strait gate\u2014\u201cStrive to\nenter in at the strait gate.\u201d\n\nThe straitness of this gate is not to be understood carnally, but\nmystically. You are not to understand it, as if the entrance into\nheaven was some little pinching wicket; no, the straitness of this gate\nis quite another thing. This gate is wide enough for all them that are\nthe truly gracious and sincere lovers of Jesus Christ, but so strait,\nas that not one of the other can by any means enter in: \u201cOpen to me the\ngates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the\nLord: this gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter.\u201d\n(Psa 118:19,20) By this word, therefore, Christ Jesus hath showed unto\nus, that without due qualifications there is no possibility of entering\ninto heaven; the strait gate will keep all others out. When Christ\nspake this parable, he had doubtless his eye upon some passage or\npassages of the Old Testament, with which the Jews were well\nacquainted. I will mention two, and so go on.\n\n1. The place by which God turned Adam and his wife out of paradise.\nPossibly our Lord might have his eye upon that; for though that was\nwide enough for them to come out at, yet it was too strait for them to\ngo in at. But what should be the reason of that? Why, they had sinned;\nand therefore God \u201cplaced at the east of that garden cherubims, and a\nflaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of\nlife.\u201d (Gen 3:24) The cherubims, and the flaming sword, they made the\nentrance too strait for them to enter in. Souls, there are cherubims\nand a flaming sword at the gates of heaven to keep the way of the tree\nof life; therefore none but them that are duly fitted for heaven can\nenter in at this strait gate; the flaming sword will keep all others\nout. \u201cKnow ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of\nGod? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor\nadulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor\nthieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,\nshall inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d (1 Cor 6:9,10)\n\n(2.) Perhaps our Lord might have his eye upon the gates of the temple\nwhen he spoke this word unto the people; for though the gates of the\ntemple were six cubits wide, yet they were so strait, that none that\nwere unclean in anything might enter in thereat (Eze 40:48), because\nthere were placed at these gates, porters, whose office was to look\nthat none but those that had right to enter might go in thither. And so\nit is written, Jehoiada set \u201cporters at the gates of the house of the\nLord, that none which was unclean in anything should enter in.\u201d (2\nChron 23:19) Souls, God hath porters at the gates of the temple, at the\ngate of heaven; porters, I say, placed there by God, to look that none\nthat are unclean in anything may come in thither. In at the gate of the\nchurch, none may enter now that are openly profane, and scandalous to\nreligion; no, though they plead they are beloved of God: \u201cWhat hath my\nbeloved to do in mine house,\u201d saith the Lord, \u201cseeing she hath wrought\nlewdness with many?\u201d (Jer 11:15)\n\nI say, I am very apt to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ had his\nthoughts upon these two texts, when he said the gate is strait: and\nthat which confirms me the more in the things is this, a little below\nthe text he saith, \u201cThere shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when\nye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in\nthe kingdom of heaven, and you yourselves thrust out.\u201d (Luke 13:28)\nThrust out, which signifieth a violent act, resisting with striving\nthose that would\u2014though unqualified\u2014enter. The porters of the temple\nwere, for this very thing, to wear arms, if need were, and to be men of\ncourage and strength, lest the unsanctified or unprepared should by\nsome means enter in. We read, in the book of Revelations, of the holy\ncity, and that it had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; but\nwhat did they do there? Why, amongst the rest of their service, this\nwas one thing, that there might \u201cin no wise enter in to it any thing\nthat defileth, or worketh abomination, or that maketh a lie.\u201d (Rev\n21:27)\n\n[Three things that make this gate so strait.]\n\nBut more particularly, to show what it is that maketh this gate so\nstrait. There are three things that make it strait\u20141. There is sin. 2.\nThere is the word of the law. 3. There are the angels of God.\n\n1. There is sin; the sin of the profane, and the sin of the professor.\n\n(1.) The sin of the profane. But this needs not be enlarged upon,\nbecause it is concluded upon at all hands, where there is the common\nbelief of the being of God, and the judgment to come, that \u201cthe wicked\nshall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.\u201d (Psa\n9:17)\n\n(2.) But there is the sin of professors; or take it rather thus, there\nis a profession that will stand with an unsanctified heart and life.\nThe sin of such will overpoise the salvation of their souls, the sin\nend being the heaviest end of the scale; I say, that being the heaviest\nend which hath sin in it, they tilt over, and so are, notwithstanding\ntheir glorious profession, drowned in perdition and destruction; for\nnone such hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God;\ntherefore \u201clet no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these\nthings cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience\u201d;\nneither will a profession be able to excuse them. (Eph 5:3-6) The gate\nwill be too strait for such as these to enter in thereat. A man may\npartake of salvation in part, but not of salvation in whole. God saved\nthe children of Israel out of Egypt, but overthrew them in the\nwilderness:\u2014\u201cI will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once\nknew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land\nof Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.\u201d (Jude 5) So we\nsee that, notwithstanding their beginning, \u201cthey could not enter in,\nbecause of unbelief.\u201d (Heb 3:19)\n\n2. There is the word of the law, and that will make the gate strait\nalso. None must go in thereat but those that can go in by the leave of\nthe law; for though no man be, or can be, justified by the works of the\nlaw, yet unless the righteousness and holiness by which they attempt to\nenter into this kingdom be justified by the law, it is in vain once to\nthink of entering in at this strait gate. Now the law justifieth not,\nbut upon the account of Christ\u2019s righteousness; if therefore thou be\nnot indeed found in that righteousness, thou wilt find the law lie just\nin the passage into heaven to keep thee out. Every man\u2019s work must be\ntried by fire, that it may be manifest of what sort it is. There are\ntwo errors in the world about the law; one is, when men think to enter\nin at the strait gate by the righteousness of the law; the other is,\nwhen men think they may enter into heaven without the leave of the law.\nBoth these, I say, are errors; for as by the works of the law no flesh\nshall be justified; so without the consent of the law, no flesh shall\nbe saved. \u201cHeaven and earth shall pass away, before one jot or tittle\nof the law shall fail, till all be fulfilled.\u201d He therefore must be\ndamned that cannot be saved by the consent of the law. And, indeed,\nthis law is the flaming sword that turneth every way; yea, that lieth\nto this day in the way to heaven, for a bar to all unbelievers and\nunsanctified professors; for it is taken out of the way for the truly\ngracious only. It will be found as a roaring lion to devour all others.\nBecause of the law, therefore, the gate will be found too strait for\nthe unsanctified to enter in. When the apostle had told the Corinthians\nthat \u201cthe unrighteous should not inherit the kingdom of God,\u201d and that\nsuch were some of them, he adds, \u201cBut ye are washed, but ye are\nsanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by\nthe Spirit of our God.\u201d (1 Cor 6:9-11) Closely concluding, that had\nthey not been washed, and sanctified, and justified, in the name of the\nLord Jesus, the law, for their transgressions, would have kept them\nout; it would have made the gate too strait for them to enter in.\n\n3. There are also the angels of God, and by reason of them the gate is\nstrait. The Lord Jesus calleth the end of the world his harvest; and\nsaith, moreover, that the angels are his reapers. These angels are\ntherefore to gather his wheat into his barn, but to gather the ungodly\ninto bundles to burn them. (Matt 13:39,41,49) Unless, therefore, the\nman that is unsanctified can master the law, and conquer angels; unless\nhe can, as I may say, pull them out of the gateway of heaven, himself\nis not to come thither for ever. No man goeth to heaven but by the help\nof the angels\u2014I mean at the day of judgment. For the Son of man \u201cshall\nsend his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather\ntogether his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the\nother.\u201d (Matt 24:31) If those that shall enter in at the strait gate\nshall enter in thither by the conduct of the holy angels, pray when do\nyou think those men will enter in thither, concerning whom the angels\nare commanded to gather them, to \u201cbind them in bundles to burn them?\u201d\nThis, therefore, is a third difficulty. The angels will make this\nentrance strait; yea, too strait for the unjustified and unsanctified\nto enter in thither.\n\n[AN EXHORTATION TO STRIVE TO ENTER INTO THIS KINGDOM.]\n\n\nThird. I come now to the exhortation, which is, to strive to enter in.\n\u201cStrive to enter in at the strait gate.\u201d These words are fitly added;\nfor since the gate is strait, it follows that they that will enter in\nmust strive.\n\n\u201cStrive.\u201d This word strive supposeth that great idleness is natural to\nprofessors; they think to get to heaven by lying, as it were, on their\nelbows. It also suggesteth that many will be the difficulties that\nprofessors will meet with, before they get to heaven. It also\nconcludeth that only the labouring Christian, man or woman, will get in\nthither. \u201cStrive,\u201d &c.\n\nThree questions I will propound upon the word, an answer to which may\ngive us light into the meaning of it: I. What doth this word strive\nimport? 4\n\nII. How should we strive? III. Why should we strive?\n\n[Import of the word STRIVE.]\n\nI. What doth this word strive import? Answer,\n\n1. When he saith, Strive, it is as much as to say, Bend yourselves to\nthe work with all your might. \u201cWhatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it\nwith thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor\nwisdom in the grave, whither thou goest.\u201d (Eccl 9:10) Thus Samson did\nwhen he set himself to destroy the Philistines; \u201cHe bowed himself with\nall his might.\u201d (Judg 16:30) Thus David did also, when he made\nprovision for the building and beautifying of the temple of God. (1\nChron 29:2) And thus must thou do, if ever thou enterest into heaven.\n\n2. When he saith, Strive, he calleth for the mind and will, that they\nshould be on his side, and on the side of the things of his kingdom;\nfor none strive indeed, but such as have given the Son of God their\nheart; of which the mind and will are a principal part; for saving\nconversion lieth more in the turning of the mind and will to Christ,\nand to the love of his heavenly things, than in all knowledge and\njudgment. And this the apostle confirmeth, when he saith, \u201cStand fast\nin one spirit, with one mind striving,\u201d &c. (Phil 1:27)\n\n3. And, more particularly, this word strive is expressed by several\nother terms; as, (1.) It is expressed by that word, \u201cSo run that ye may\nobtain.\u201d (1 Cor 9:24,25) (2.) It is expressed by that word, \u201cFight the\ngood fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.\u201d (1 Tim 6:12) (3.) It is\nexpressed by that word, \u201cLabour not for the meat which perisheth, but\nfor that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.\u201d (John 6:27) (4.)\nIt is expressed by that word, \u201cWe wrestle\u2014with principalities and\npowers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world.\u201d (Eph 6:12)\nTherefore, when he saith, Strive, it is as much as to say, Run for\nheaven, Fight for heaven, Labour for heaven, Wrestle for heaven, or you\nare like to go without it.\n\n[How should we strive?]\n\nII. The second question is, How should we strive?\n\nAnsw. The answer in general is, Thou must strive lawfully. \u201cand if a\nman also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive\nlawfully.\u201d (2 Tim 2:5) But you will say, What is it to strive lawfully?\n[I] answer\u2014\n\n1. To strive against the things which are abhorred by the Lord Jesus;\nyea, to resist to the spilling of your blood, striving against sin.\n(Heb 12:4) To have all those things that are condemned by the Word;\nyea, though they be thine own right hand, right eye, or right foot, in\nabomination; and to seek by all godly means the utter suppressing of\nthem. (Mark 9:43,45,47)\n\n2. To strive lawfully, is to strive for those things that are commanded\nin the Word.\u2014\u201cBut thou, O man of God, flee the world, and follow\nafter,\u201d that is, strive for, \u201crighteousness, godliness, faith, love,\npatience, meekness; fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal\nlife,\u201d &c. (1 Tim 6:11,12)\n\n3. He that striveth lawfully, must be therefore very temperate in all\nthe good and lawful things of this life. \u201cAnd every man that striveth\nfor the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a\ncorruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.\u201d (1 Cor 9:25) Most\nprofessors give leave to the world and the vanity of their hearts, to\nclose with them, and to hang about their necks, and make their striving\nto stand rather in an outcry of words, than a hearty labour against the\nlusts and love of the world, and their own corruptions; but this kind\nof striving is but a beating of the air, and will come to just nothing\nat last. (1 Cor 9:26)\n\n4. He that striveth lawfully, must take God and Christ along with him\nto the work, otherwise he will certainly be undone. \u201cWhereunto,\u201d said\nPaul, \u201cI also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh\nin me mightily.\u201d (Col 1:29) And for the right performing of this, he\nmust observe these following particulars:\u2014\n\n(1.) He must take heed that he doth not strive about things, or words,\nto no profit; for God will not then be with him. \u201cOf these things,\u201d\nsaith the apostle, \u201cput them in remembrance; charging them before the\nLord, that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the\nsubverting of the hearers.\u201d (2 Tim 2:14) But, alas! how many professors\nin our days are guilty of this transgression, whose religion stands\nchiefly, if not only, in a few unprofitable questions and vain\nwranglings about words and things to no profit, but to the destruction\nof the hearers!\n\n(2.) He must take heed that whilst he strives against one sin, he does\nnot harbour and shelter another; or that whilst he cries out against\nother men\u2019s sin, he does not countenance his own.\n\n(3.) In the striving, strive to believe, strive for the faith of the\ngospel; for the more we believe the gospel, and the reality of the\nthings of the world to come, with the more stomach and courage shall we\nlabour to possess the blessedness. (Phil 1:27) \u201cLet us labour therefore\nto enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of\nunbelief.\u201d (Heb 4:11)\n\n(4.) As we should strive for, and by faith, so we should strive by\nprayer, by fervent and effectual prayer. (Romans 15:30) O the swarms of\nour prayerless professors! What do they think of themselves? Surely the\ngate of heaven was heretofore as wide as in these our days; but what\nstriving by prayer was there then among Christians for the thing that\ngives admittance into this kingdom, over [what] there is in these\nlatter days!\n\n(5.) We should also strive by mortifying our members that are upon the\nearth. \u201cI therefore so run,\u201d said Paul, \u201cnot as uncertainly; so fight\nI, not as one that beateth the air; but I keep under my body, and bring\nit into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached the\ngospel to others, I myself should be a cast-away.\u201d (1 Cor 9:26,27) But\nall this is spoken principally to professors; so I would be understood.\n\n[Why should we strive?]\n\nIII. I come now to the third question, namely, But why should we\nstrive? Answer\u2014\n\n1. Because the thing for which you are here exhorted to strive, it is\nworth the striving for; it is for not less than for a whole heaven, and\nan eternity of felicity there. How will men that have before them a\nlittle honour, a little profit, a little pleasure, strive? I say again,\nhow will they strive for this? Now they do it for a corruptible crown,\nbut we an incorruptible. Methinks this word heaven, and this eternal\nlife, ought verily to make us strive, for what is there again either in\nheaven or earth like them to provoke a man to strive?\n\n2. Strive, because otherwise the devil and hell will assuredly have\nthee. He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1\nPeter 5:8) These fallen angels, they are always watchful, diligent,\nunwearied; they are also mighty, subtle, and malicious, seeking nothing\nmore than the damnation of thy soul. O thou that art like the artless\ndove, strive!\n\n3. Strive, because every lust strives and wars against thy soul. \u201cThe\nflesh lusteth against the Spirit.\u201d (Gal 5:17) \u201cDearly beloved, I\nbeseech you,\u201d said Peter, \u201cas strangers and pilgrims, abstain from\nfleshly lusts, which war against the soul.\u201d (1 Peter 2:11) It is a rare\nthing to see or find out a Christian that indeed can bridle his lusts;\nbut no strange thing to see such professors that are \u201cnot only bridled,\nbut saddled too,\u201d yea, and ridden from lust to sin, from one vanity to\nanother, by the very devil himself, and the corruptions of their\nhearts.\n\n4. Strive, because thou hast a whole world against thee. The world\nhateth thee if thou be a Christian; the men of the world hate thee; the\nthings of the world are snares for thee, even thy bed and table, thy\nwife and husband, yea, thy most lawful enjoyments have that in them\nthat will certainly sink thy soul to hell, if thou dost not strive\nagainst the snares that are in them. (Rom 11:9)\n\nThe world will seek to keep thee out of heaven with mocks, flouts,\ntaunts, threatenings, jails, gibbets, halters, burnings, and a thousand\ndeaths; therefore strive! Again, if it cannot overcome thee with these,\nit will flatter, promise, allure, entice, entreat, and use a thousand\ntricks on this hand to destroy thee; and observe, many that have been\nstout against the threats of the world, have yet been overcome with the\nbewitching flatteries of the same. 5\n\nThere ever was enmity betwixt the devil and the church, and betwixt his\nseed and her seed too; Michael and his angels, and the dragon and his\nangels, these make war continually. (Gen 3, Rev 12) There hath been\ngreat desires and endeavours among men to reconcile these two in one,\nto wit, the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, but it could\nnever yet be accomplished. The world says, they will never come over to\nus; and we again say, by God\u2019s grace, we will never come over to them.\nBut the business hath not ended in words; both they and we have also\nadded our endeavours to make each other submit, but endeavours have\nproved ineffectual too. They, for their part, have devised all manner\nof cruel torments to make us submit, as slaying with the sword,\nstoning, sawing asunder, flames, wild beasts, banishments, hunger, and\na thousand miseries. We again, on the other side, have laboured by\nprayers and tears, by patience and long-suffering, by gentleness and\nlove, by sound doctrine and faithful witness-bearing against their\nenormities, to bring them over to us; but yet the enmity remains; so\nthat they must conquer us, or we must conquer them. One side must be\novercome; but the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty\nthrough God.\n\n5. Strive, because there is nothing of Christianity got by idleness.\nIdleness clothes a man with rags, and the vineyard of the slothful is\ngrown over with nettles. (Prov 23:21, 24:30-32) Profession that is not\nattended with spiritual labour cannot bring the soul to heaven. The\nfathers before us were \u201cnot slothful in business,\u201d but \u201cfervent in\nspirit, serving the Lord.\u201d Therefore \u201cbe not slothful, but followers of\nthem who through faith and patience inherit the promises.\u201d (Rom 12:11,\nHeb 6:12)\n\n\u201cStrive to enter in.\u201d Methinks the words, at the first reading, do\nintimate to us, that the Christian, in all that ever he does in this\nworld, should carefully heed and regard his soul\u2014I say, in all that\never he does. Many are for their souls by fits and starts; but a\nChristian indeed, in all his doing and designs which he contriveth and\nmanageth in this world, should have a special eye to his own future and\neverlasting good; in all his labours he should strive to enter in:\n\u201cWisdom [Christ] is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with\nall thy getting get understanding.\u201d (Prov 4:7) Get nothing, if thou\ncanst not get Christ and grace, and further hopes of heaven in that\ngetting; get nothing with a bad conscience, with the hazard of thy\npeace with God, and that in getting it thou weakenest thy graces which\nGod hath given thee; for this is not to strive to enter in. Add grace\nto grace, both by religious and worldly duties; \u201cFor so an entrance\nshall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of\nour Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.\u201d (2 Peter 1:8-11) Religious duties\nare not the only striving times; he that thinks so is out. Thou mayest\nhelp thy faith and thy hope in the godly management of thy calling, and\nmayest get further footing in eternal life, by studying the glory of\nGod in all thy worldly employment. I am speaking now to Christians that\nare justified freely by grace, and am encouraging, or rather\ncounselling of them to strive to enter in; for there is an entering in\nby faith and good conscience now, as well as our entering in body and\nsoul hereafter; and I must add, that the more common it is to thy soul\nto enter in now by faith, the more steadfast hope shalt thou have of\nentering in hereafter in body and soul.\n\n\u201cStrive to enter in.\u201d By these words also the Lord Jesus giveth sharp\nrebuke to those professors that have not eternal glory, but other\ntemporal things in their eye, by all the bustle that they make in the\nworld about religion. Some there be, what a stir they make, what a\nnoise and clamour, with their notions and forms, and yet perhaps all is\nfor the loaves; because they have eaten of the loaves, and are filled.\n(John 6:26) These strive indeed to enter, but it is not into heaven;\nthey find religion hath a good trade at the end of it, or they find\nthat it is the way to credit, repute, preferment, and the like, and\ntherefore they strive to enter into these. But these have not the\nstrait gate in their eye, nor yet in themselves have they love to their\npoor and perishing souls; wherefore this exhortation nippeth such, by\npredicting of their damnation.\n\n\u201cStrive to enter in.\u201d These words also sharply rebuke them who content\nthemselves as the angel of the church of Sardis, did, to wit, \u201cto have\na name to live, and be dead\u201d (Rev 3:1), or as they of the Laodiceans,\nwho took their religion upon trust, and were content with a poor,\nwretched, lukewarm profession; for such as these do altogether unlike\nto the exhortation in the text, that says, Strive, and they sit and\nsleep; that says, Strive to enter in, and they content themselves with\na profession that is never like to bring them thither.\n\n\u201cStrive to enter in.\u201d Further, these words put us upon proving the\ntruth of our graces now; I say, they put us upon the proof of the truth\nof them now; for if the strait gate be the gate of heaven, and yet we\nare to strive to enter into it now, even while we live, and before we\ncome thither, then doubtless Christ means by this exhortation, that we\nshould use all lawful means to prove our graces in this world, whether\nthey will stand in the judgment or no. Strive to enter in; get those\ngraces now that will prove true graces then, and therefore try those\nyou have; and if, upon trial, they prove not right, cast them away, and\ncry for better, lest they cast thee away, when better are not to be\nhad. \u201cBuy of me gold tried in the fire\u201d; mark that. (Rev 3:18) Buy of\nme faith and grace that will stand in the judgment; strive for that\nfaith; buy of me that grace, and also white raiment, that thou mayest\nbe clothed, that the shame of thy wickedness doth not appear, and\nanoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. Mind you this\nadvice; this is right striving to enter in.\n\nBut you will say, How should we try our graces? Would you have us run\ninto temptation, to try if they be sound or rotten? Answ. You need not\nrun into trials; God hath ordained that enough of them shall overtake\nthee to prove thy graces either rotten or sound before the day of thy\ndeath; sufficient to the day is the evil thereof, if thou hast but a\nsufficiency of grace to withstand. I say, thou shalt have trials enough\novertake thee, to prove thy grace sound or rotten. Thou mayest,\ntherefore, if God shall help thee, see how it is like to go with thee\nbefore thou goest out of this world, to wit, whether thy graces be such\nas will carry thee in at the gates of heaven or no.\n\nBut how should we try our graces now? Answ. (a.) How dost thou find\nthem in outward trials? See Hebrews 11:15,16. (b.) How dost thou find\nthyself in the inward workings of sin? (Rom 7:24) (c.) How dost thou\nfind thyself under the most high enjoyment of grace in this world?\n(Phil 3:14)\n\nBut what do you mean by these three questions? I mean graces show\nthemselves at these their seasons, whether they be rotten or sound.\n\n(a.) How do they show themselves to be true under the first of these?\nAnsw. By mistrusting our own sufficiency, by crying to God for help, by\ndesiring rather to die than to bring any dishonour to the name of God,\nand by counting that, if God be honoured in the trial, thou hast gained\nmore than all the world could give thee. (2 Chron 20:12, 14:11, Acts 4,\n20:22, 2 Cor 4:17,18, Heb 11:24,25)\n\n(b.) How do they show themselves to be true under the second? Answ. By\nmourning, and confessing, and striving, and praying, against them; by\nnot being content, shouldst thou have heaven, if they live, and defile\nthee; and by counting of holiness the greatest beauty in the world; and\nby flying to Jesus Christ for life. (Zech 12:10, John 19, Heb 12:14,\nPsa 19:12)\n\n(c.) How do they show themselves to be true under the third? Answ. By\nprizing the true graces above all the world, by praying heartily that\nGod will give thee more; by not being content with all the grace thou\ncanst be capable of enjoying on this side heaven and glory. (Psa 84:10,\nLuke 17:5, Phil 3)\n\n\u201cStrive to enter in.\u201d The reason why Christ addeth these words, \u201cto\nenter in,\u201d is obvious, to wit, because there is no true and lasting\nhappiness on this side heaven; I say, none that is both true and\nlasting, I mean, as to our sense and feeling as there shall [be]; \u201cFor\nhere have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.\u201d (Heb 13:14)\nThe heaven is within, strive therefore to enter in; the glory is\nwithin, strive therefore to enter in; the Mount Zion is within, strive\ntherefore to enter in; the heavenly Jerusalem is within, strive\ntherefore to enter in; angels and saints are within, strive therefore\nto enter in; and, to make up all, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus\nChrist, and that glorious Redeemer, is within, strive therefore to\nenter in.\n\n\u201cStrive to enter in.\u201d \u201cFor without are dogs, and sorcerers, and\nwhoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and\nmaketh a lie.\u201d Without are also the devils, and hell, and death, and\nall damned souls; without is howling, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of\nteeth; yea, without are all the miseries, sorrows, and plagues that an\ninfinite God can in justice and power inflict upon an evil and wicked\ngeneration; \u201cStrive therefore to enter in at the strait gate.\u201d (Rev\n22:15, Matt 25:41, Rev 12:9, Is 65:13,14, Matt 22:13, Deu 29:18-20)\n\n\u201cStrive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will\nseek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\n[MOTIVE TO STRIVE TO ENTER INTO THIS KINGDOM.]\n\n\nFourth. We are come now to the motive which our Lord urges to enforce\nhis exhortation.\n\nHe told us before that the gate was strait; he also exhorted us to\nstrive to enter in thereat, or to get those things now that will\nfurther our entrance then, and to set ourselves against those things\nthat will hinder our entering in.\n\nIn this motive there are five things to be minded.\n\n1. That there will be a disappointment to some at the day of judgment;\nthey will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\n\n2. That not a few, but many, will meet with this disappointment; \u201cFor\nmany will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\n3. This doctrine of the miscarriage of many then, it standeth upon the\nvalidity of the word of Christ; \u201cFor many, I say, will seek to enter\nin, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\n4. Professors shall make a great heap among the many that shall fall\nshort of heaven; \u201cFor many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and\nshall not be able.\u201d\n\n5. Where grace and striving are wanting now, seeking and contending to\nenter in will be unprofitable then; \u201cFor many, I say unto you, will\nseek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\nBut I will proceed in my former method, to wit, to open the words unto\nyou.\n\n[Import of the words FOR MANY.]\n\n\u201cFor many,\u201d &c. If he had said, For some will fall short, it had been a\nsentence to be minded; if he had said, For some that seek will fall\nshort, it had been very awakening; but when he saith, Many, many will\nfall short, yea, many among professors will fall short, this is not\nonly awakening, but dreadful!\n\n[Various applications of the word MANY.]\u2014\u201cFor many,\u201d &c. I find this\nword many variously applied in Scripture.\n\n1. Sometimes it intendeth the open profane, the wicked and ungodly\nworld, as where Christ saith, \u201cWide is the gate, and broad is the way,\nthat leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.\u201d\n(Matt 7:13) I say, by the many here, he intends those chiefly that go\non in the broad way of sin and profaneness, bearing the \u201ctokens\u201d of\ntheir damnation in their foreheads, those whose daily practice\nproclaims that their \u201cfeet go down to death, and their steps take hold\non hell.\u201d (Job 21:29,30, Isa 3:9, Prov 4)\n\n2. Sometimes this word many intendeth those that cleave to the people\nof God deceitfully, and in hypocrisy, or, as Daniel hath it, \u201cMany\nshall cleave to them with flatteries.\u201d (Dan 11:34) The word many in\nthis text includeth all those who feign themselves better than they are\nin religion; it includeth, I say, those that have religion only for a\nholiday suit6 to set them out at certain times, and when they come\namong suitable company.\n\n3. Sometimes this word many intendeth them that apostatize from Christ;\nsuch as for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away; as\nJohn saith of some of Christ\u2019s disciples: \u201cFrom that time many of his\ndisciples went back, and walked no more with him.\u201d (John 6:66)\n\n4. Sometimes this word many intendeth them that make a great noise, and\ndo many great things in the church, and yet want saving grace: \u201cMany,\u201d\nsaith Christ, \u201cwill say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not\nprophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in\nthy name done many wonderful works?\u201d (Matt 7:22) Mark, there will be\nmany of these.\n\n5. Sometimes this word many intendeth those poor, ignorant, deluded\nsouls that are led away with every wind of doctrine; those who are\ncaught with the cunning and crafty deceiver, who lieth in wait to\nbeguile unstable souls: \u201cAnd many shall follow their pernicious ways,\nby reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.\u201d (2 Peter\n2:2)\n\n6. Sometimes this word many includeth all the world, good and bad: \u201cAnd\nmany of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to\neverlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.\u201d (Dan\n12:2) Compare with John 5:28,29.\n\n7. Lastly. Sometimes this word many intendeth the good only, even them\nthat shall be saved. (Luke 1:16, 2:34)\n\n[How MANY is applied in the text.] Since then that the word is so\nvariously applied, let us inquire how it must be taken in the text.\nAnd,\n\n1. It must not be applied to the sincerely godly, for they shall never\nperish. (John 10:27,28) 2. It cannot be applied to all the world, for\nthen no flesh should be saved. 3. Neither is it to be applied to the\nopen profane only, for then the hypocrite is by it excluded. 4. But by\nthe many in the text our Lord intendeth in special the professor; the\nprofessor, I say, how high soever he seems to be now, that shall be\nfound without saving grace in the day of judgment.\n\nNow that the professor is in special intended in this text, consider,\nso soon as the Lord had said, \u201cMany will seek to enter in, and shall\nnot be able,\u201d he pointeth, as with his finger, at the many that then he\nin special intendeth; to wit, them among whom he had taught; them that\nhad eat and drunken in his presence; them that had prophesied, and cast\nout devils in his name, and in his name had done many wonderful works.\n(Luke 13:26, Matt 7:22) These are the many intended by the Lord in this\ntext, though others also are included under the sentence of damnation\nby his word in other places. \u201cFor many,\u201d &c. Matthew saith, concerning\nthis strait gate, that there are but few that find it. But it seems the\ncast-aways in my text did find it; for you read, that they knocked at\nit, and cried, \u201cLord, open unto us.\u201d So then, the meaning may seem to\nbe this\u2014many of the few that find it will seek to enter in, and shall\nnot be able. I find, at the day of judgment, some will be crying to the\nrocks to cover them, and some at the gates of heaven for entrance.\nSuppose that those that cry to the rocks to cover them, are they whose\nconscience will not suffer them once to look God in the face, because\nthey are fallen under present guilt, and the dreadful fears of the\nwrath of the Lamb. (Rev 6:16) And that those that stand crying at the\ngate of heaven, are those whose confidence holds out to the last,\u2014even\nthose whose boldness will enable them to contend even with Jesus Christ\nfor entrance; them, I say, that will have profession, casting out of\ndevils, and many wonderful works, to plead; of this sort are the many\nin my text: \u201cFor many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall\nnot be able.\u201d Could we compare the professors of the times with the\neverlasting word of God, this doctrine would more easily appear to the\nchildren of men. How few among the many, yea, among the swarms of\nprofessors, have heart to make conscience of walking before God in this\nworld, and to study his glory among the children of men! How few, I\nsay, have his name lie nearer their hearts than their own carnal\nconcerns! Nay, do not many make his Word, and his name, and his ways, a\nstalking-horse to their own worldly advantages? 7\n\nGod calls for faith, good conscience, moderation, self-denial,\nhumility, heavenly-mindedness, love to saints, to enemies, and for\nconformity in heart, in word, and life, to his will: but where is it?\n(Mark 11:22, 1 Peter 3:16, Heb 13:5, Phil 4:5, Matt 10:37-39, Col\n3:1-4, Micah 6:8, Rev 2:10, John 15:17, 1 John 4:21, Matt 5:44, Prov\n23:26, Col 4:6)\n\n[Import of the words I SAY UNTO YOU.]\n\n\u201cFor many, I say unto you.\u201d These latter words carry in them a double\nargument to prove the truth asserted before: First, in that he directly\npointeth at his followers: \u201cI say unto you\u201d: Many, I say unto you, even\nto you that are my disciples, to you that have eat and drunk in my\npresence. I know that sometimes Christ hath directed his speech to his\ndisciples, not so much upon their accounts, as upon the accounts of\nothers; but here it is not so; the \u201cI say unto you,\u201d in this place, it\nimmediately concerned some of themselves: I say unto you, ye shall\nbegin to stand without, and to knock, \u201csaying, Lord, Lord, open unto\nus, and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are;\nthen shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence,\nand thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I\nknow you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of\niniquity\u201d; it is you, you, YOU, that I mean! \u201cI say unto you.\u201d It is\ncommon with a professing people, when they hear a smart and a\nthundering sermon, to say, Now has the preacher paid off the drunkard,\nthe swearer, the liar, the covetous, and adulterer; forgetting that\nthese sins may be committed in a spiritual and mystical way. There is\nspiritual drunkenness, spiritual adultery, and a man may be a liar that\ncalls God his Father when he is not, or that calls himself a Christian,\nand is not. 8\n\nWherefore, perhaps all these thunders and lightnings in this terrible\nsermon may more concern thee than thou art aware of: \u201cI say unto you\u201d;\nunto you, professors, may be the application of all this thunder. (Rev\n2:9, 3:9)\n\n\u201cI say unto you!\u201d Had not the Lord Jesus designed by these words to\nshow what an overthrow will one day be made among professors, he needed\nnot to have you\u2019d it at this rate, as in the text, and afterwards, he\nhas done; the sentence had run intelligible enough without it; I say,\nwithout his saying, \u201cI say unto you.\u201d But the truth is, the professor\nis in danger; the preacher and the hearer, the workers of miracles, and\nworkers of wonders, may all be in danger of damning, notwithstanding\nall their attainments. And to awaken us all about this truth,\ntherefore, the text must run thus: \u201cFor many, I say unto YOU, shall\nseek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\nSee you not yet that the professor is in danger, and that those words,\n\u201cI say unto you,\u201d are a prophecy of the everlasting perdition of some\nthat are famous in the congregation of saints? I say, if you do not see\nit, pray God your eyes may be opened, and beware that thy portion be\nnot as the portion of one of those that are wrapped up in the 28th\nverse of the chapter: \u201cThere shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,\nwhen ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets,\nin the kingdom of heaven, and you yourselves thrust out.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor many, I say unto you.\u201d These words, I told you, carry in them a\ndouble argument for confirmation of the truth asserted before: first,\nthat professors are here particularly pointed at; and, secondly, it is\nthe saying of the Truth himself: for these words, \u201cI say,\u201d are words\nfull of authority; I say it, I say unto you, says Christ, as he saith\nin another place, \u201cIt is I that speak; behold it is I!\u201d The person\nwhose words we have now under consideration was no blundering\nraw-headed preacher, 9 but the very wisdom of God, his Son, and him\nthat hath lain in his bosom from everlasting, and consequently had the\nmost perfect knowledge of his Father\u2019s will, and how it would fare with\nprofessors at the end of this world. And now hearken what himself doth\nsay of the words which he hath spoken; \u201cHeaven and earth shall pass\naway, but my words shall not pass away.\u201d (Matt 24:35)\n\n\u201cI say unto you.\u201d The prophets used not to speak after this manner, nor\nyet the holy apostles; for thus to speak, is to press things to be\nreceived upon their own authority. They used to say, Thus saith the\nLord, or Paul, or Peter, an apostle, or a servant of God. But now we\nare dealing with the words of the Son of God; it is HE that hath said\nit; wherefore we find the truth of the perishing of many professors\nasserted, and confirmed by Christ\u2019s own mouth. This consideration\ncarrieth great awakening in it; but into such a fast sleep are many\nnow-a-days fallen, that nothing will awaken them but that shrill and\nterrible cry, \u201cBehold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.\u201d\n\n[Two things that befall Professors.]\n\n\u201cI SAY UNTO YOU.\u201d There are two things upon which this assertion may be\ngrounded\u20141. There is in the world a thing like grace, that is not. 2.\nThere is a sin called the sin against the Holy Ghost, from which there\nis no redemption. And both these things befall professors.\n\n1. There is in the world a thing like grace, that is not. (1.) This is\nevident, because we read that there are some that not only \u201cmake a fair\nshow in the flesh,\u201d that \u201cglory in appearance,\u201d that \u201cappear beautiful\noutward,\u201d that do as God\u2019s people, but have not the grace of God\u2019s\npeople. (Gal 6:12, 2 Cor 5:12, Matt 23:27, Isa 57:3,4) (2.) It is\nevident also from those frequent cautions that are everywhere in the\nScriptures given us about this thing: \u201cBe not deceived: Let a man\nexamine himself: Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith.\u201d (Gal\n6:7, 1 Cor 11:28, 2 Cor 13:5) All these expressions intimate to us that\nthere may be a show of, or a thing like grace, where there is no grace\nindeed. (3.) This is evident from the conclusion made by the Holy Ghost\nupon this very thing: \u201cFor if a man think himself to be something, when\nhe is nothing, he deceiveth himself.\u201d (Gal 6:3) The Holy Ghost here\nconcludeth, that a man may think himself to be something, may think he\nhath grace, when he hath none; may think himself something for heaven\nand another world, when indeed he is just nothing at all with reference\nthereto. The Holy Ghost also determines upon this point, to wit, that\nthey that do so deceive themselves: \u201cFor if a man think himself to be\nsomething when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself\u201d; he deceiveth his\nown soul, he deceiveth himself of heaven and salvation. So again: \u201cLet\nno man beguile you of your reward.\u201d (Col 2:18) (4.) It is manifest from\nthe text; \u201cFor many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall\nnot be able.\u201d Alas! great light, great parts, great works, and great\nconfidence of heaven, may be where there is no faith of God\u2019s elect, no\nlove of the Spirit, no repentance unto salvation, no sanctification of\nthe Spirit, and so consequently no saving grace. But,\n\n2. As there is a thing like grace, which is not, so there is a sin,\ncalled the sin against the Holy Ghost, from which there is no\nredemption; and this sin doth more than ordinarily befall professors.\n\nThere is a sin, called the sin against the Holy Ghost, from which there\nis no redemption. This is evident both from Matthew and Mark: \u201cBut\nwhosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven\nhim, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.\u201d \u201cBut he that\nshall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is\nin danger of eternal damnation.\u201d (Matt 12:32, Mark 3:29) Wherefore,\nwhen we know that a man hath sinned this sin, we are not to pray for\nhim, or to have compassion on him. (1 John 5:16, Jude 22)\n\nThis sin doth most ordinarily befall professors; for there are few, if\nany, that are not professors, that are at present capable of sinning\nthis sin. They which \u201cwere once enlightened, and have tasted of the\nheavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have\ntasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,\u201d of\nthis sort are they that commit this sin. (Heb 6:4,5) Peter also\ndescribes them to be such, that sin the unpardonable sin. \u201cFor if,\nafter they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the\nknowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again\nentangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than\nthe beginning.\u201d (2 Peter 2:20) The other passage in the tenth of\nHebrews holdeth forth the same thing. \u201cFor if we sin willfully after\nthat we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no\nmore sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment\nand fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.\u201d (Heb\n10:26,27) THESE, therefore, are the persons that are the prey for this\nsin; this sin feedeth upon PROFESSORS, and they that are such do very\noften fall into the mouth of this eater. Some fall into the mouth of\nthe sin by delusions and doctrines of devils; and some fall into the\nmouth of it by returning with the dog to his own vomit again, and with\nthe sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. (2 Peter 2:22) I\nshall not here give you a particular description of this sin\u2014that I\nhave done elsewhere; 10 but such a sin there is, and they that commit\nit shall never have forgiveness. And I say again, there be professors\nthat commit this unpardonable sin, yea, more than most are aware of.\nLet all, therefore, look about them. The Lord awaken them that they may\nso do; for what with a profession without grace, and by the venom of\nthe sin against the Holy Ghost, many will seek to enter in, and shall\nnot be able.\n\n[Import of the words WILL SEEK TO ENTER IN.]\n\n\u201cWill seek to enter in.\u201d This kingdom, at the gate of which the\nreprobate will be stopped, will be, at the last judgment, the desire of\nall the world; and they, especially THEY in my text, will seek to enter\nin; for then they will see that the blessedness is to those that shall\nget into this kingdom, according to that which is written, \u201cBlessed are\nthey that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of\nlife, and may enter in through the gates into the city.\u201d (Rev 21:14) To\nprove that they will seek, although I have done it already, yet read\nthese texts at your leisure\u2014Matthew 25:11, 7:22, Luke 13:28. And, in a\nword, to give you the reason why they will seek to enter in.\n\n[Why they will seek to enter in.]\n\n1. Now they will see what a kingdom it is, what glory there is in it,\nand now they shall also see the blessedness which they shall have that\nshall then be counted worthy to enter in. The reason why this kingdom\nis so little regarded, it is because it is not seen; the glory of it is\nhid from the eyes of the world. \u201cTheir eye hath not seen, nor their ear\nheard,\u201d &c. Aye, but then they shall hear and see too; and when this\ncomes to pass, then, even then, he that now most seldom thinks thereof\nwill seek to enter in.\n\n2. They will now see what hell is, and what damnation in hell is, more\nclear than ever. They will also see how the breath of the Lord, like a\nstream of brimstone, doth kindle it. O the sight of the burning fiery\nfurnace, which is prepared for the devil and his angels! This, this\nwill make work in the souls of cast-aways at that day of God Almighty,\nand then they will seek to enter in.\n\n3. Now they will see what the meaning of such words as these are,\nhell-fire, everlasting fire, devouring fire, fire that never shall be\nquenched. Now they will see what \u201cfor ever\u201d means, what eternity means;\nnow they will see what this word means, \u201cthe bottomless pit\u201d; now they\nwill hear roaring of sinners in this place, howling in that, some\ncrying to the mountains to fall upon them, and others to the rocks to\ncover them; now they will see blessedness is nowhere but within!\n\n4. Now they will see what glory the godly are possessed with; how they\nrest in Abraham\u2019s bosom, how they enjoy eternal glory, how they walk in\ntheir white robes, and are equal to the angels. O the favour, and\nblessedness, and unspeakable happiness that now God\u2019s people shall\nhave! and this shall be seen by them that are shut out, by them that\nGod hath rejected for ever; and this will make them seek to enter in.\n(Luke 16:22,23, 13:28)\n\n[How will they seek to enter in.]\n\n\u201cWill seek to enter in.\u201d Quest. But some may say, How will they seek to\nenter in? [I] answer,\n\n1. They will put on all the confidence they can, they will trick and\ntrim up their profession, and adorn it with what bravery they can. Thus\nthe foolish virgins sought to enter in; they did trim up their lamps,\nmade themselves as fine as they could. They made shift to make their\nlamps to shine awhile; but the Son of God discovering himself, their\nconfidence failed, their lamps went out, the door was shut upon them,\nand they were kept out. (Matt 25:1-12)\n\n2. They will seek to enter in by crowding themselves in among the\ngodly. Thus the man without the wedding garment sought to enter in. He\ngoes to the wedding, gets into the wedding chamber, sits close among\nthe guests, and then, without doubt, concluded he should escape\ndamnation. But, you know, one black sheep is soon seen, though it be\namong a hundred white ones. Why, even thus it fared with this poor man.\n\u201cAnd when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man that\nhad not on a wedding garment.\u201d He spied him presently, and before one\nword was spoken to any of the others, he had this dreadful salutation,\n\u201cFriend, how camest thou in hither, not having on a wedding garment?\u201d\n11\n\n\u201cAnd he was speechless\u201d; though he could swagger it out among the\nguests, yet the master of the feast, at first coming in, strikes him\ndumb; and having nothing to say for himself, the king had something to\nsay against him. \u201cThen the king said to the servants,\u201d the angels,\n\u201cBind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer\ndarkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d (Matt\n22:11-13)\n\n3. They will seek to enter in by pleading their profession and\nadmittance to the Lord\u2019s ordinances when they were in the world. \u201cLord,\nwe have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our\nstreets\u201d; we sat at thy table, and used to frequent sermons and\nChristian assemblies; we were well thought of by thy saints, and were\nadmitted into thy churches; we professed the same faith as they did;\n\u201cLord, Lord, open unto us.\u201d\n\n4. They will seek to enter in by pleading their virtues; how they\nsubjected [themselves] to this ministry, how they wrought for him, what\ngood they did in the world, and the like, but neither will this help\nthem; the same answer that the two former had, the same have\nthese\u2014\u201cDepart from me, ye that work iniquity.\u201d (Matt 7:22)\n\n5. They will seek to enter in by pleading excuses where they cannot\nevade conviction. The slothful servant went this way to work, when he\nwas called to account for not improving his Lord\u2019s money. \u201cLord,\u201d says\nhe, \u201cI knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not\nsown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed, and I was afraid,\u201d\n&c., either that I should not please in laying out thy money, or that I\nshould put it into hands out of which I should not get it again at thy\nneed, \u201cand I went and hid thy talent in the earth; lo, there thou hast\nthat is thine\u201d; as if he had said, True, Lord, I have not improved, I\nhave not got; but consider also I have not embezzled, I have not spent\nnor lost thy money; lo, there thou hast what is thine. (Matt 25:24-28)\nThere are but few will be able to say these last words at the day of\njudgment. The most of professors are for embezzling, misspending, and\nslothing away their time, their talents, their opportunities to do good\nin. But, I say, if he that can make so good an excuse as to say, Lo,\nthere thou hast that is thine; I say, if such an one shall be called a\nwicked and slothful servant, if such an one shall be put to shame at\nthe day of judgment, yea, if such an one shall, notwithstanding this\ncare to save his Lord\u2019s money, be cast as unprofitable into outer\ndarkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, what will they\ndo that have neither taken care to lay out, nor care to keep what was\ncommitted to their trust?\n\n6. They will seek to enter in by pleading that ignorance was the ground\nof their miscarrying in the things wherein they offended. Wherefore,\nwhen Christ charges them with want of love to him, and with want of\nthose fruits that should prove their love to be true\u2014as, that they did\nnot feed him, did not give him drink, did not take him in, did not\nclothe him, visit him, come unto him, and the like\u2014they readily reply,\n\u201cLord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or\nnaked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?\u201d (Matt\n25:44) As who should say, Lord, we are not conscious to ourselves that\nthis charge is worthily laid at our door! God forbid that we should\nhave been such sinners. But, Lord, give an instance; when was it, or\nwhere? True, there was a company of poor sorry people in the world,\nvery inconsiderable, set by with nobody; but for thyself, we professed\nthee, we loved thee, and hadst thou been with us in the world, wouldst\nthou have worn gold, wouldst thou have eaten the sweetest of the world,\nwe would have provided it for thee; and therefore, Lord, Lord, open to\nus! But will the plea do? No. Then shall he answer them, \u201cInasmuch as\nye did it not to one of the least of these\u201d my brethren, \u201cye did it not\nto me.\u201d This plea, then, though grounded upon ignorance, which is one\nof the strangest pleas for neglect of duty, would not give them\nadmittance into the kingdom. \u201cThese shall go away into everlasting\npunishment, but the righteous into life eternal.\u201d\n\nI might add other things by which it will appear how they will seek to\nenter in. As,\n\n1. They will make a stop at this gate, this beautiful gate of heaven.\nThey will begin to stand without at the gate, as being loath to go any\nfurther. Never did malefactor so unwillingly turn off the ladder when\nthe rope was about his neck, as these will turn away in that day from\nthe gates of heaven to hell.\n\n2. They will not only make a stop at the gate; but there they will\nknock and call. This also argueth them willing to enter. They will\nbegin to stand without, and to knock at the gate, saying, Lord, Lord,\nopen to us. This word, Lord, being doubled, shows the vehemency of\ntheir desires, \u201cLord, Lord, open unto us.\u201d The devils are coming; Lord,\nLord, the pit opens her mouth upon us; Lord, Lord, there is nothing but\nhell and damnation left us, if, Lord, Lord, thou hast not mercy upon\nus; \u201cLord, Lord, open unto us!\u201d\n\n3. Their last argument for entrance is their tears, when groundless\nconfidence, pleading of virtues, excuses, and ignorance, will not do;\nwhen standing at the gate, knocking, and calling, \u201cLord, Lord, open\nunto us,\u201d will not do, then they betake themselves to their tears.\nTears are sometimes the most powerful arguments, but they are nothing\nworth here. Esau also sought it carefully with tears, but it helped him\nnothing at all. (Heb 12:17) There shall be weeping and gnashing of\nteeth; for the gate is shut for ever, mercy is gone for ever, Christ\nhath rejected them for ever. All their pleas, excuses, and tears will\nnot make them able to enter into this kingdom. \u201cFor many, I say unto\nyou, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\n[Import of the words SHALL NOT BE ABLE.]\n\nI come now to the latter part of the words, which closely show us the\nreason of the rejection of these many that must be damned; \u201cThey will\nseek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\nA hypocrite, a false professor, may go a great way; they may pass\nthrough the first and second watch, to wit, may be approved of\nChristians and churches; but what will they do when they come at this\niron gate that leadeth into the city? \u201cThere the workers of iniquity\nare fallen, they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise!\u201d (Psa\n36:12)\n\n\u201cAnd shall not be able.\u201d The time, as I have already hinted, which my\ntext respecteth, it is the day of judgment, a day when all masks and\nvizards shall be taken off from all faces. It is a day wherein God\n\u201cwill bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make\nmanifest the counsel of the hearts.\u201d (1 Cor 4:5) It is also the day of\nhis wrath, the day in which he will pay vengeance, even a recompence to\nhis adversaries.\n\nAt this day, those things that now these \u201cmany\u201d count sound and good,\nwill then shake like a quagmire, even all their naked knowledge, their\nfeigned faith, pretended love, glorious shows of gravity in the face,\ntheir holiday words and specious carriages, will stand them in little\nstead. I call them holiday ones, for I perceive that some professors do\nwith religion just as people do with their best apparel\u2014hang it against\nthe wall all the week, and put it on on Sundays. For as some scarce\never put on a suit but when they go to a fair or a market, so little\nhouse religion will do with some; they save religion till they go to a\nmeeting, or till they meet with a godly chapman. O poor religion! O\npoor professor! What wilt thou do at this day, and the day of thy trial\nand judgment? Cover thyself thou canst not; go for a Christian thou\ncanst not; stand against the Judge thou canst not! What wilt thou do?\n\u201cThe ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the\ncongregation of the righteous.\u201d 12 \u201cAnd shall not be able.\u201d The ability\nhere intended is not that which standeth in carnal power or fleshly\nsubtlety, but in the truth and simplicity of those things for the sake\nof which God giveth the kingdom of heaven to his people.\n\nThere are five things, for the want of which this people will not be\nable to enter.\n\n1. This kingdom belongs to the elect, to those for whom it was prepared\nfrom the foundation of the world. (Matt 25:34) Hence Christ saith, when\nhe comes, he will send forth his angels with a great sound of trumpet,\nand they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one\nend of heaven to another. (Matt 24:31) And hence he saith again, \u201cI\nwill bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of\nmy mountains, and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall\ndwell there.\u201d \u201cThey shall deceive, if it were possible, the very\nelect.\u201d \u201cBut the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.\u201d\n(Rom 11:7)\n\n2. They will not be able to enter, because they will want the\nbirthright. The kingdom of heaven is for the heirs\u2014and if children,\nthen heirs; if born again, then heirs. Wherefore it is said expressly,\n\u201cExcept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\u201d By this\none word, down goes all carnal privilege of being born of flesh and\nblood, and of the will of man. Canst thou produce the birthright? But\nart thou sure thou canst? For it will little profit thee to think of\nthe blessed kingdom of heaven, if thou wantest a birthright to give\nthee inheritance there. Esau did despise his birthright, saying, What\ngood will this birthright do me? And there are many in the world of his\nmind to this day. \u201cTush,\u201d say they, \u201cthey talk of being born again;\nwhat good shall a man get by that? They say, no going to heaven without\nbeing born again. But God is merciful; Christ died for sinners; and we\nwill turn when we can tend it, 13 and doubt not but all will be well at\nlast.\u201d But I will answer thee, thou child of Esau, that the birthright\nand blessing go together; miss of one, and thou shalt never have the\nother! Esau found this true; for, having first despised the birthright,\nwhen he would afterwards \u201chave inherited the blessing, he was rejected;\nfor he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with\ntears.\u201d (Gen 25, Heb 12:16,17)\n\n3. They shall not be able to enter in who have not believed with the\nfaith of God\u2019s operation; the faith that is most holy, even the faith\nof God\u2019s elect. \u201cHe that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting\nlife; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the\nwrath of God abideth on him.\u201d (John 3:36) But now this faith is the\neffect of electing love, and of a new birth. (John 1:11-13) Therefore,\nall the professors that have not faith which floweth from being born of\nGod, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\n\n4. They shall not be able to enter in that have not gospel-holiness.\nHoliness that is the effect of faith is that which admits into the\npresence of God, and into his kingdom too. \u201cBlessed and holy is he that\nhath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death,\u201d that\nis, hell and eternal damnation, \u201chath no power.\u201d (Rev 20:6,14) Blessed\nand holy, with the holiness that flows from faith which is in Christ;\nfor to these the inheritance belongs. \u201cThat they may receive\nforgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified,\nby faith,\u201d saith Christ, \u201cthat is in me.\u201d (Acts 26:18) This holiness,\nwhich is the natural effect of faith in the Son of God, Christ Jesus\nthe Lord will, at this day of judgment, distinguish from all other\nshows of holiness and sanctity, be they what they will, and will admit\nthe soul that hath this holiness into his kingdom, when the rest will\nseek to enter in, and shall not be able.\n\n5. They shall not be able to enter in that do not persevere in this\nblessed faith and holiness; not that they that have them indeed can\nfinally fall away, and everlastingly perish; but it hath pleased Jesus\nChrist to bid them that have the right to hold fast that they have: to\nendure to the end; and then tells them they shall be saved\u2014though it is\nas true that none is of power to keep himself; but God worketh together\nwith his children, and they are \u201ckept by the power of God, through\nfaith unto salvation,\u201d which is also laid up in heaven for them. (1\nPeter 1:3-5)\n\n\u201cThe foolish shall not stand in thy sight; thou hatest all workers of\niniquity.\u201d (Psa 5:5) The foolish are the unholy ones, that neither have\nfaith, nor holiness, nor perseverance in godliness, and yet lay claim\nto the kingdom of heaven; but \u201cbetter is a little with righteousness,\nthan great revenues without right.\u201d (Prov 16:8) What is it for me to\nclaim a house, or a farm, without right? or to say, all this is mine,\nbut have nothing to show for it? This is but like the revenues of the\nfoolish; his estate lieth in his conceit. He hath nothing by birthright\nand law, and therefore shall not be able to inherit the possession.\n\u201cFor many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be\nable.\u201d\n\nThus you see, that the non-elect shall not be able to enter, that he\nthat is not born again shall not be able to enter, that he that hath\nnot saving faith, with holiness and perseverance flowing therefrom,\nshall not be able to enter; wherefore consider of what I have said.\n\n[SECOND. THE WORDS BY WAY OF OBSERVATION.]\n\n\nI come now to give you some observations from the words, and they may\nbe three.\n\nFIRST. When men have put in all the claim they can for heaven, but few\nwill have it for their inheritance. \u201cFor many, I say unto you, will\nseek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d SECOND. Great, therefore,\nwill be the disappointment that many will meet with at the day of\njudgment: \u201cFor many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\nTHIRD. Going to heaven, therefore, will be no trivial business;\nsalvation is not got by a dream; they that would then have that kingdom\nmust now strive lawfully to enter: \u201cFor many, I say unto you, will seek\nto enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\nFIRST. I shall speak chiefly, and yet but briefly, to the first of\nthese observations; to wit, That when men have put in all the claim\nthey can to the kingdom of heaven, but few will have it for their\ninheritance. The observation standeth of two parts. First. That the\ntime is coming, when every man will put in whatever claim they can to\nthe kingdom of heaven. Second. There will be but few of them that put\nin claim thereto, that shall enjoy it for their inheritance.\n\n[First. ALL WILL PUT IN WHAT CLAIM THEY CAN TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.]\n\nI shall speak but a word or two to the first part of the observation,\nbecause I have prevented my enlargement thereon by my explication upon\nthe words; but you find in the 25th of Matthew, that all they on the\nleft hand of the Judge did put in all the claim they could for this\nblessed kingdom of heaven. If you should take them on the left hand as\nmost do, for all the sinners that shall be damned, then that completely\nproveth the first part of the observation; for it is expressly said,\n\u201cThen shall they,\u201d all of them jointly, and every one apart, \u201calso\nanswer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thus and thus, and did not\nminister unto thee?\u201d (Matt 25:44) I could here bring you in the plea of\nthe slothful servant, the cry of the foolish virgins; I could also here\nenlarge upon that passage, \u201cLord, Lord, have we not eaten and drunk in\nthy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets?\u201d But these things\nare handled already in the handling of which this first part of the\nobservation is proved; wherefore, without more words, I will, God\nassisting by his grace, descend to the second part thereof, to wit,\n\n[Second. THERE WILL BE BUT FEW OF THEM THAT PUT IN CLAIM THERETO THAT\nWILL ENJOY IT FOR THEIR INHERITANCE.]\n\nI shall speak distinctly to this part of the observation, and shall\nfirst confirm it by a Scripture or two. \u201cStrait is the gate, and narrow\nis the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.\u201d\n(Matt 7:14) \u201cFear not, little flock, for it is your Father\u2019s good\npleasure to give you the kingdom.\u201d (Luke 12:32) By these two texts, and\nby many more that will be urged anon, you may see the truth of what I\nhave said.\n\nTo enlarge, therefore, upon the truth; and, First, more generally;\nSecond, more particularly. More generally, I shall prove that in all\nages but few have been saved. More particularly, I shall prove but few\nof them that profess have been saved.\n\n[First, Generally\u2014in all ages but few have been saved.]\n\n1. In the old world, when it was most populous, even in the days of\nNoah, we read but of eight persons that were saved out of it; well,\ntherefore, might Peter call them but few; but how few? why, but eight\nsouls; \u201cwherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water.\u201d (1\nPeter 3:20) He touches a second time upon this truth, saying, He\n\u201cspared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher\nof righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.\u201d\n(2 Peter 2:5) Mark, all the rest are called the ungodly, and there were\nalso a world of them. These are also taken notice of in Job, and go\nthere also by the name of wicked men: \u201cHast thou marked the old way\nwhich wicked men have trodden? which were cut down out of time, whose\nfoundation was overflown with a flood, which said unto God, Depart from\nus, and what can the Almighty do for them?\u201d (Job 22:15-17)\n\nThere were therefore but eight persons that escaped the wrath of God,\nin the day that the flood came upon the earth; the rest were ungodly;\nthere was also a world of them, and they are to this day in the prison\nof hell. (Heb 11:7, 1 Peter 3:19,20) Nay, I must correct my pen, there\nwere but seven of the eight that were good; for Ham, though he escaped\nthe judgment of the water, yet the curse of God overtook him to his\ndamnation. 2. When the world began again to be replenished, and people\nbegan to multiply therein: how few, even in all ages, do we read of\nthat were saved from the damnation of the world!\n\n(1.) One Abraham and his wife, God called out of the land of the\nChaldeans; \u201cI called,\u201d said God, \u201cAbraham alone.\u201d (Isa 51:2)\n\n(2.) One Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah, out of Admah and Zeboim; one\nLot out of four cities! Indeed his wife and two daughters went out of\nSodom with him; but they all three proved naught, as you may see in the\n19th of Genesis. Wherefore Peter observes, that Lot only was saved: \u201cHe\nturned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemning them\nwith an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should\nlive ungodly, and delivered just Lot, that righteous man.\u201d (Read 2\nPeter 2:6-8) Jude says, that in this condemnation God overthrew not\nonly Sodom and Gomorrah, but the cities about them also; and yet you\nfind none but Lot could be found that was righteous, either in Sodom or\nGomorrah, or the cities about them; wherefore they, all of them, suffer\nthe vengeance of eternal fire. (verse 7)\n\n(3.) Come we now to the time of the Judges, how few then were godly,\neven then when the inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in\nIsrael! \u201cthe highways\u201d of God \u201cwere\u201d then \u201cunoccupied.\u201d (Judg 5:6,7)\n\n(4.) There were but few in the days of David: \u201cHelp, Lord,\u201d says he,\n\u201cfor the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the\nchildren of men.\u201d (Psa 12:1)\n\n(5.) In Isaiah\u2019s time the saved were come to such a few, that he\npositively says that there were a very small number left: \u201cGod had made\nthem like Sodom, and they had been like unto Gomorrah.\u201d (Isa 1:8,9)\n\n(6.) It was cried unto them in the time of Jeremiah, that they should\n\u201crun to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and\nknow, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if\nthere be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth, and I\nwill pardon it.\u201d (Jer 5:1)\n\n(7.) God showed his servant Ezekiel how few there would be saved in his\nday, by the vision of a few hairs saved out of the midst of a few\nhairs; for the saved were a few saved out of a few. (Eze 5:5)\n\n(8.) You find in the time of the prophet Micah, how the godly complain,\nthat as to number they then were so few, that he compares them to those\nthat are left behind when they had gathered the summer-fruit. (Micah\n7:1)\n\n(9.) When Christ was come, how did he confirm this truth, that but few\nof them that put in claim for heaven will have it for their\ninheritance! But the common people could not hear it, and therefore,\nupon a time when he did but a little hint at this truth, the people,\neven all in the synagogue where he preached it, \u201cwere filled with\nwrath, rose up, thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow\nof the hill,\u201d whereon their city was built, \u201cthat they might cast him\ndown headlong.\u201d (Luke 4:24-29)\n\n(10.) John, who was after Christ, saith, \u201cThe whole world lieth in\nwickedness; that all the world wondered after the beast; and that power\nwas given to the beast over all kindreds, tongues, and nations.\u201d Power\nto do what? Why, to cause all, both great and small, rich and poor,\nbond and free, to receive his mark, and to be branded for him. (1 John\n5:10, Rev 13:3,7,16)\n\n(11.) Should we come to observation and experience, the show of the\ncountenance of the bulk of men doth witness against them; \u201cthey declare\ntheir sin as Sodom, they hide it not.\u201d (Isa 3:9) Where is the man that\nmaketh the Almighty God his delight, and that designeth his glory in\nthe world? Do not even almost all pursue this world, their lusts and\npleasures? and so, consequently, say unto God, \u201cDepart from us, for we\ndesire not the knowledge of thy ways; or, What is the Almighty that we\nshould serve him? It is in vain to serve God,\u201d &c.\n\nSo that without doubt it will appear a truth in the day of God, that\nbut few of them that shall put in their claim to heaven will have it\nfor their inheritance.\n\nBefore I pass this head, I will show you to what the saved are compared\nin the Scriptures.\n\n[To what the saved are compared in Scripture.]\n\n1. They are compared to a handful: \u201cThere shall be a handful of corn in\nthe earth upon the top of the mountains,\u201d &c. (Psa 72:16) This corn is\nnothing else but them that shall be saved. (Matt 3:12, 13:30) But mark,\n\u201cThere shall be a handful\u201d: What is a handful, when compared with the\nwhole heap? or, what is a handful out of the rest of the world?\n\n2. As they are compared to a handful, so they are compared to a lily\namong the thorns, which is rare, and not so commonly seen: \u201cAs the lily\namong thorns,\u201d saith Christ, \u201cso is my love among the daughters.\u201d (Cant\n2:2) By thorns, we understand the worst and best of men, even all that\nare destitute of the grace of God, for \u201cthe best of them is a brier,\nthe most upright\u201d of them \u201cas a thorn-hedge.\u201d (Micah 7:4, 2 Sam 23:6) I\nknow that she may be called a lily amongst thorns also, because she\nmeets with the pricks of persecution. (Eze 2:6, 28:24) She may also be\nthus termed, to show the disparity that is betwixt hypocrites and the\nchurch. (Luke 8:14, Heb 8) But this is not all; the saved are compared\nto a lily among thorns, to show you that they are but few in the world;\nto show you that they are but few and rare; for as Christ compares her\nto a lily among thorns, so she compares him to an apple-tree among the\ntrees of the wood, which is rare and scarce; not common.\n\n3. They that are saved are called but one of many; for though there be\n\u201cthreescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without\nnumber,\u201d yet my love, saith Christ, is but one, my undefiled is but\none. (Cant 6:8,9) According to that of Jeremiah, \u201cI will take you one\nof a city.\u201d (Jer 3:14) That saying of Paul is much like this, \u201cKnow ye\nnot that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the\nprize?\u201d (1 Cor 9:24) But one, that is, few of many, few of them that\nrun; for he is not here comparing them that run with them that sit\nstill, but with them that run, some run and lose, some run and win;\nthey that run and win are few in comparison with them that run and\nlose: \u201cThey that run in a race run all, but one receives the prize\u201d;\nlet there then be \u201cthreescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and\nvirgins without number,\u201d yet the saved are but few.\n\n4. They that are saved are compared to the gleaning after the vintage\nis in: \u201cWoe is me,\u201d said the church, \u201cfor I am as when they have\ngathered the summer-fruits, as the grape-gleanings\u201d after the vintage\nis in. (Micah 7:1) The gleanings! What are the gleanings to the whole\ncrop? and yet you here see, to the gleanings are the saved compared. It\nis the devil and sin that carry away the cartloads, while Christ and\nhis ministers come after a gleaning. But the gleaning of the grapes of\nEphraim are better than the vintage of Abiezer. (Judg 8:2) Them that\nChrist and his ministers glean up and bind up in the bundle of life,\nare better than the loads that go the other way. You know it is often\nthe cry of the poor in harvest, Poor gleaning, poor gleaning. And the\nministers of the gospel they also cry, Lord, \u201cwho hath believed our\nreport? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?\u201d (Isa 53:1) When\nthe prophet speaks of the saved under this metaphor of gleaning, how\ndoth he amplify the matter? \u201cGleaning-grapes shall be left,\u201d says he,\n\u201ctwo or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five\nin the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord.\u201d (Isa 17:6)\nThus you see what gleaning is left in the vineyard, after the vintage\nis in; two or three here, four or five there. Alas! they that shall be\nsaved when the devil and hell have had their due, they will be but as\nthe gleaning, they will be but few; they that go to hell, go thither in\nclusters, but the saved go not so to heaven. (Matt 13:30, Micah 7)\nWherefore when the prophet speaketh of the saved, he saith there is no\ncluster; but when he speaketh of the damned, he saith they are gathered\nby clusters. (Rev 14:18,19) O sinners! but few will be saved! O\nprofessors! but few will be saved!\n\n5. They that shall be saved are compared to jewels: \u201cand they shall be\nmine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.\u201d\n(Mal 3:17) Jewels, you know, are rare things, things that are not found\nin every house. Jewels will lie in little room, being few and small,\nthough lumber takes up much. In almost every house, you may find brass,\nand iron, and lead; and in every place you may find hypocritical\nprofessors, but the saved are not these common things; they are God\u2019s\npeculiar treasure. (Psa 135:4) Wherefore Paul distinguisheth betwixt\nthe lumber and the treasure in the house. There is, saith he, in a\ngreat house, not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and\nof earth, and some to honour, and some to dishonour. (2 Tim 2:20) Here\nis a word for wooden and earthy professors; the jewels and treasures\nare vessels to honour, they of wood and earth are vessels of dishonour,\nthat is, vessels for destruction. (Rom 9:21) 6. They that shall be\nsaved are compared to a remnant: \u201cExcept the Lord of hosts had left\nunto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we\nshould have been like unto Gomorrah.\u201d (Isa 1:9) A remnant, a small\nremnant, a very small remnant! O how doth the Holy Ghost word it! and\nall to show you how few shall be saved. Every one knows what a remnant\nis, but this is a small remnant, a very small remnant. So again, \u201cSing\nwith gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations:\npublish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of\nIsrael.\u201d (Jer 31:7) What shall I say? the saved are often in Scripture\ncalled a remnant. (Eze 9:4,8, Isa 10:20-22, 11:11,16, Jer 23:3, Joel\n2:32) But what is a remnant to the whole piece? What is a remnant of\npeople to the whole kingdom? or what is a remnant of wheat to the whole\nharvest?\n\n7. The saved are compared to the tithe or tenth part; wherefore when\nGod sendeth the prophet to make the hearts of the people fat, their\nears dull, and to shut their eyes, the prophet asketh, \u201cHow long?\u201d to\nwhich God answereth, \u201cUntil the cities be wasted without inhabitant,\nand the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the\nLord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the\nmidst of the land. But yet,\u201d as God saith in another place, \u201cI will not\nmake a full end,\u201d \u201cin it shall be a tenth,\u2014so the holy seed shall be\nthe substance thereof.\u201d (Isa 6:10-13) But what is a tenth? What is one\nin ten? And yet so speaks the Holy Ghost, when he speaks of the holy\nseed, of those that were to be reserved from the judgment. And observe\nit, the fattening and blinding of the rest, it was to their everlasting\ndestruction; and so both Christ and Paul expounds it often in the New\nTestament. (Matt 13:14,15, Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10, John 12:40, Acts\n28:26, Rom 11:8) So that those that are reserved from them that perish\nwill be very few, one in ten: \u201cA tenth shall return, so the holy seed\nshall be the substance thereof.\u201d 14\n\nI shall not add more generals at this time. I pray God that the world\nbe not offended at these. But without doubt, but few of them that shall\nput in their claim for heaven will have it for their inheritance; which\nwill yet further appear in the reading of that which follows.\n\n[Second. Particularly\u2014but few of them that profess have been saved.]\n\nTherefore I come more particularly to show you that but few shall be\nsaved. I say, but few of professors themselves will be saved; for that\nis the truth that the text doth more directly look at and defend. Give\nme, therefore, thy hand, good reader, and let us soberly walk through\nthe rest of what shall be said; and let us compare as we go each\nparticular with the holy Scripture.\n\n1. It is said, \u201cThe daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a\nvineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.\u201d\n(Isa 1:8) The vineyard was the church of Israel, the cottage in that\nvineyard was the daughter of Zion, or the truly gracious amongst, or in\nthat church. (Isa 5:1) A cottage; God had but a cottage there, but a\nlittle habitation in the church, a very few that were truly gracious\namongst that great multitude that professed; and had it not been for\nthese, for this cottage, the rest had been ruined as Sodom: \u201cExcept the\nLord of hosts had left unto us,\u201d in the church, a very few, they had\nbeen as Sodom. (Isa 1:9) Wherefore, among the multitude of them that\nshall be damned, professors will make a considerable party.\n\n2. \u201cFor though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant\nof them shall return,\u201d \u201ca remnant shall be saved.\u201d (Isa 10:22, Rom\n9:27) For though thy people Israel, whom thou broughtest out of Egypt,\nto whom thou hast given church-constitution, holy laws, holy\nordinances, holy prophets, and holy covenants; thy people by separation\nfrom all people, and thy people by profession; though this thy people\nbe as the sand of the sea, \u201ca remnant shall be saved\u201d; wherefore, among\nthe multitude of them that shall be damned, professors will make a\nconsiderable party.\n\n3. \u201cReprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath\nrejected them.\u201d (Jer 6:30) The people here under consideration are\ncalled, in verse 27, God\u2019s people, his people by profession: \u201cI have\nset thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest\nknow, and try their way.\u201d What follows? They are all grievous\nrevolters, walking with slanders, reprobate silver; the Lord hath\nrejected them. In chapter 7, verse 29, they are called also the\ngeneration of his wrath: \u201cFor the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the\ngeneration of his wrath.\u201d This, therefore, I gather out of these holy\nScriptures,\u2014that with reference to profession and church-constitution,\na people may be called the people of God; but, with reference to the\nevent and final conclusion that God will make with some of them, they\nmay be truly the generation of his wrath.\n\n4. In the fifth of Isaiah, you read again of the vineyard of God, and\nthat it was planted on a very fruitful hill, planted with the choicest\nvines, had a wall, a tower, a wine-press belonging to it, and all\nthings that could put it into right order and good government, as a\nchurch; but this vineyard of the Lord of hosts brought forth wild\ngrapes, fruits unbecoming her constitution and government, wherefore\nthe Lord takes from her his hedge and wall, and lets her be trodden\ndown. Read Christ\u2019s exposition upon it in Matthew 21:33, &c. Look to\nit, professors, these are the words of the text, \u201cFor many, I say unto\nyou, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\n5. \u201cSon of man,\u201d said God to the prophet, \u201cthe house of Israel is to me\nbecome dross, all they are brass and tin, and iron and lead, in the\nmidst of the furnace they even are the dross of silver.\u201d (Eze 22:18)\nGod had silver there, some silver, but it was but little; the bulk of\nthat people was but the dross of the church, though they were the\nmembers of it. But what doth he mean by the dross? why, he looked upon\nthem as no better, notwithstanding their church-membership, than the\nrabble of the world, that is, with respect to their latter end; for to\nbe called dross, it is to be put amongst the rest of the sinners of the\nworld, in the judgment of God, though at present they abide in his\nhouse: \u201cThou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross;\ntherefore I love thy testimonies.\u201d (Psa 119:119)\n\nGod saith of his saved ones, \u201cHe hath chosen them in the furnace of\naffliction.\u201d The refiner, when he putteth his silver into his furnace,\nhe puts lead in also among it; now this lead being ordered as he knows\nhow, works up the dross from the silver, which dross, still as it\nriseth, he putteth by, or taketh away with an instrument. And thus\ndeals God with his church; there is silver in his church, aye, and\nthere is also dross: now the dross are the hypocrites and graceless\nones that are got into the church, and these will God discover, and\nafterwards put away as dross. So that it will without doubt prove a\ntruth of God, that many of their professors that shall put in claim for\nheaven, will not have it for their inheritance.\n\n6. It is said of Christ, his \u201cfan is in his hand, and he will\nthoroughly purge his floor, and will gather his wheat into the garner,\nbut he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.\u201d (Matt 3:12) The\nfloor is the church of God: \u201cO my threshing, and the corn of my floor!\u201d\nsaid God by the prophet, to his people. (Isa 21:10) The wheat are these\ngood ones in his church that shall be undoubtedly saved; therefore he\nsaith, \u201cGather my wheat into my garner.\u201d The chaff groweth upon the\nsame stalk and ear, and so is in the same visible body with the wheat,\nbut there is not substance in it: wherefore in time they must be\nsevered one from the other; the wheat must be gathered into the garner,\nwhich is heaven; and the chaff, or professors that want true grace,\nmust be gathered into hell, that they may be burned up with\nunquenchable fire. Therefore let professors look to it! 15\n\n7. Christ Jesus casts away two of the three grounds that are said to\nreceive the word. (Luke 8)\n\nThe stony ground received it with joy, and the thorny ground brought\nforth fruit almost to perfection. Indeed the highway ground was to show\nus that the carnal, whilst such, receive not the word at all; but here\nis the pinch, two of the three that received it, fell short of the\nkingdom of heaven; for but one of the three received it so as to bring\nforth fruit to perfection. Look to it, professors!\n\n8. The parable of the unprofitable servant, the parable of the man\nwithout a wedding garment, and the parable of the unsavoury salt, do\neach of them justify this for truth. (Matt 25:24,29, 22:11-13, 5:13)\nThat of the unprofitable servant is to show us the sloth and idleness\nof some professors; that of the man without a wedding garment is to\nshow us how some professors have the shame of their wickedness seen by\nGod, even when they are among the children of the bridegroom; and that\nparable of the unsavoury salt is to show, that as the salt that hath\nlost its savour is fit for nothing, no, not for the dunghill, but to be\ntrodden under foot of men; so some professors, yea, and great ones too,\nfor this parable reached one of the apostles, will in God\u2019s day be\ncounted fit for nothing but to be trodden down as the mire in the\nstreets. O the slothful, the naked, and unsavoury professors, how will\nthey be rejected of God and his Christ in the judgment! Look to it,\nprofessors!\n\n9. The parable of the tares also giveth countenance to this truth: for\nthough it be said the field is the world, yet it is said, the tares\nwere sown even in the church. \u201cAnd while men slept, his enemy came and\nsowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.\u201d (Matt 13:24,25) Object.\nBut some may object, The tares might be sown in the world among the\nwheat, though not in the churches. Answ. But Christ, by expounding this\nparable, tells us the tares were sown in his kingdom; the tares, that\nis, the children of the devil. \u201cAs therefore the tares are gathered and\nburned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of\nman shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his\nkingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall\ncast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing\nof teeth.\u201d (verse 30,39-43) Look to it, professors!\n\n10. The parable of the ten virgins also suiteth our purpose; these ten\nare called the kingdom of heaven, that is, the church of Christ, the\nvisible rightly-constituted church of Christ; for they went all out of\nthe world, had all lamps, and all went forth to meet the bridegroom;\nyet behold what an overthrow the one-half of them met with at the gate\nof heaven; they were shut out, bid to depart, and Christ told them he\ndid not know them. (Matt 25:1-13) Tremble, professors! Pray,\nprofessors!\n\n11. The parable of the net that was cast into the sea, that also\ncountenanceth this truth. The substance of that parable is to show that\nsouls may be gathered by the gospel\u2014there compared to a net\u2014may be kept\nin that net, drawn to shore, to the world\u2019s end, by that net, and yet\nmay then prove bad fishes, and be cast away. The parable runs\nthus:\u2014\u201cThe kingdom of heaven,\u201d the gospel, \u201cis like unto a net which\nwas cast into the sea,\u201d the world, \u201cand gathered of every kind,\u201d good\nand bad, \u201cwhich when it was full, they drew to shore,\u201d to the end of\nthe world, \u201cand sat down,\u201d in judgment, \u201cand gathered the good into\nvessels, but cast the bad away.\u201d Some bad fishes, nay, I doubt a great\nmany, will be found in the net of the gospel, at the day of judgment.\n(Matt 13:47,49) Watch and be sober, professors!\n\n12. \u201cAnd\u2014many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit\ndown with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But\nthe children of the kingdom shall be cast out.\u201d (Matt 8:11,12) The\nchildren of the kingdom, whose privileges were said to be these, \u201cto\nwhom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the\ngiving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.\u201d (Rom 9:4)\nI take liberty to harp the more upon the first church, because that\nthat happened to them, happened as types and examples, intimating,\nthere is ground to think, that things of as dreadful a nature are to\nhappen among the church of the Gentiles. (1 Cor 10:11,12) Neither,\nindeed, have the Gentile churches security from God that there shall\nnot as dreadful things happen to them. And concerning this very thing,\nsufficient caution is given to us also. (1 Cor 6:9,10, Gal 5:19-21, Eph\n5:3-6, Phil 3:17,19, 2 Thess 2:11,12, 2 Tim 2:20,21, Heb 6:4-8,\n10:26-28, 2 Peter 2, 3, 1 John 5:10, Rev 2:20-22)\n\n13. The parable of the true vine and its branches confirm what I have\nsaid. By the vine there I understand Christ, Christ as head; by the\nbranches, I understand this church. Some of these branches proved\nfruitless cast-aways, were in time cast out of the church, were\ngathered by men, and burned. (John 15:1-6)\n\n14. Lastly, I will come to particular instances.\n\n(1.) The twelve had a devil among them. (John 6:70) (2.) Ananias and\nSapphira were in the church of Jerusalem. (Acts 5) (3.) Simon Magus was\namong them at Samaria. (Acts 8) (4.) Among the church of Corinth were\nthem that had not the knowledge of God. (1 Cor 15:34) (5.) Paul tells\nthe Galatians that false brethren crept in unawares; and so does the\napostle Jude, and yet they were as quick-sighted to see as any\nnow-a-days. (Gal 2:4, Jude 4) (6.) The church in Sardis had but a few\nnames in her, to whom the kingdom of heaven belonged. \u201cThou hast a few\nnames, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they\nshall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.\u201d (Rev 3:4) (7.) As\nfor the church of the Laodiceans, it is called \u201cwretched, and\nmiserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.\u201d (Rev 3:17) So that put all\nthings together, and I may boldly say, as I also have said already,\nthat among the multitude of them that shall be damned, professors will\nmake a considerable party; or, to speak in the words of the\nobservation, \u201cwhen men have put in all the claim they can for heaven,\nbut few will have it for their inheritance.\u201d\n\n[REASONS WHY FEW ARE SAVED.]\n\n\nI will show you some reasons of the point, besides those five that I\nshowed you before. And, First, I will show you why the poor, carnal,\nignorant world miss of heaven; and then, Second, why the knowing\nprofessors miss of it also.\n\n[First, Why the poor, carnal, ignorant world miss heaven.]\n\n1. The poor, carnal, ignorant world miss of heaven even because they\nlove their sins, and cannot part with them. \u201cMen loved darkness rather\nthan light, because their deeds were evil.\u201d (John 3:19) The poor\nignorant world miss of heaven, because they are enemies in their minds\nto God, his Word, and holiness; they must be all damned who take\npleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess 2:10-12) The poor ignorant world\nmiss of heaven, because they stop their ears against convictions, and\nrefuse to come when God calls. \u201cBecause I have called, and ye refused,\nI have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded, but ye have set at\nnought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh\nat your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh\u2014as desolation, and\nyour destruction\u2014as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon\nyou; then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall\nseek me early, but they shall not find me.\u201d (Prov 1:24-29)\n\n2. The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, because the god of this\nworld hath blinded their eyes, that they can neither see the evil and\ndamnable state they are in at present, nor the way to get out of it;\nneither do they see the beauty of Jesus Christ, nor how willing he is\nto save poor sinners. (2 Cor 4:2,3)\n\n3. The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, because they put off and\ndefer coming to Christ, until the time of God\u2019s patience and grace is\nover. Some, indeed, are resolved never to come; but some, again, say,\nWe will come hereafter; and so it comes to pass, that because God\ncalled, and they did not hear; so they shall cry, and I will not hear,\nsaith the Lord. (Zech 7:11-13)\n\n4. The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, because they have false\napprehensions of God\u2019s mercy. They say in their hearts, We shall have\npeace, though we walk in the imagination of our heart, to add\ndrunkenness to thirst. But what saith the Word? \u201cThe Lord will not\nspare him; but then the anger of the Lord, and his jealousy, shall\nsmoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this\nbook shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from\nunder heaven.\u201d (Deu 29:19-21)\n\n5. The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, because they make light of\nthe gospel that offereth mercy to them freely, and because they lean\nupon their own good meanings, and thinkings, and doings. (Matt 22:1-5,\nRom 9:30,31)\n\n6. The poor carnal world miss of heaven because by unbelief, which\nreigns in them, they are kept for ever from being clothed with Christ\u2019s\nrighteousness, and from washing in his blood, without which there is\nneither remission of sin, nor justification. But to pass these till\nanon.\n\n[Second.] I come, in the next place, to show you some reasons why the\nprofessor falls short of heaven.\n\nFirst. In the general, they rest in things below special grace; as in\nawakenings that are not special, in faith16 that is not special, &c.;\nand, a little to run a parallel betwixt the one and the other, that, if\nGod will, you may see and escape.\n\n1. Have they that shall be saved, awakenings about their state by\nnature? So have they that shall be damned. They that never go to heaven\nmay see much of sin, and of the wrath of God due thereto. This had Cain\nand Judas, and yet they came short of the kingdom. (Gen 4, Matt 27:4)\nThe saved have convictions, in order to their eternal life; but the\nothers\u2019 convictions are not so. The convictions of the one doth drive\nthem sincerely to Christ; the convictions of the other doth drive them\nto the law, and the law to desperation at last.\n\n2. There is a repentance that will not save, a repentance to be\nrepented of; and a repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. (2\nCor 7:10) Yet so great a similitude and likeness there is betwixt the\none and the other, that most times the wrong is taken for the right,\nand through this mistake professors perish. As, (1.) In saving\nrepentance there will be an acknowledgment of sin; and one that hath\nthe other repentance may acknowledge his sins also. (Matt 27:4) (2.) In\nsaving repentance there is a crying out under sin; but one that hath\nthe other repentance may cry out under sin also. (Gen 4:13) (3.) In\nsaving repentance there will be humiliation for sin; and one that hath\nthe other repentance may humble himself also. (1 Kings 21:29) (4.)\nSaving repentance is attended with self-loathing; but he that hath the\nother repentance may have loathing of sin too; a loathing of sin,\nbecause it is sin, that he cannot have; but a loathing of sin, because\nit is offensive to him, that he may have. The dog doth not loath that\nwhich troubleth his stomach because it is there, but because it\ntroubleth him; when it has done troubling of him, he can turn to it\nagain, and lick it up as before it troubled him. (2 Peter 2:22) (5.)\nSaving repentance is attended with prayers and tears; but he that hath\nnone but the other repentance, may have prayers and tears also. (Gen\n27:34,35, Heb 12:16,17) (6.) In saving repentance there is fear and\nreverence of the Word and ministers that bring it; but this may be also\nwhere there is none but the repentance that is not saving; for Herod\nfeared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy, and observed him;\nwhen he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. (Mark\n6:20) (7.) Saving repentance makes a man\u2019s heart very tender of doing\nanything against the Word of God. But Balaam could say, \u201cIf Balak would\ngive me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the\ncommandment of the Lord.\u201d (Num 24:13)\n\nBehold, then, how far a man may go in repentance, and yet be short of\nthat which is called, \u201cRepentance unto salvation, not to be repented\nof.\u201d (a.) He may be awakened; (b.) He may acknowledge his sin; (c.) He\nmay cry out under the burden of sin; (d.) He may have humility for it;\n(e.) He may loath it; (f.) May have prayers and tears against it; (g.)\nmay delight to do many things of God; (h.) May be afraid of sinning\nagainst him\u2014and, after all this, may perish, for want of saving\nrepentance.\n\nSecond. Have they that shall be saved, faith? Why, they that shall not\nbe saved may have faith also; yea, a faith in many things so like the\nfaith that saveth, that they can hardly be distinguished, though they\ndiffer both in root and branch. To come to particulars.\n\n1. Saving faith hath Christ for its object, and so may the faith have\nthat is not saving. Those very Jews of whom it is said they believed on\nChrist, Christ tells them, and that after their believing, \u201cYe are of\nyour father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.\u201d (John\n8:30-44) 2. Saving faith is wrought by the Word of God, and so may the\nfaith be that is not saving. (Luke 8:13) 3. Saving faith looks for\njustification without works, and so may a faith do that is not saving.\n(James 2:18) 4. Saving faith will sanctify and purify the heart, and\nthe faith that is not saving may work a man off from the pollutions of\nthe world, as it did Judas, Demas, and others. (2 Peter 2) 5. Saving\nfaith will give a man tastes of the world to come, and also joy by\nthose tastes, and so will the faith do that is not saving. (Heb 6:4,5,\nLuke 8:13) 6. Saving faith will help a man, if called thereto, to give\nhis body to be burned for his religion, and so will the faith do that\nis not saving. (1 Cor 13:1-5) 7. Saving faith will help a man to look\nfor an inheritance in the world to come, and that may the faith do that\nis not saving. All those virgins \u201ctook their lamps, and went forth to\nmeet the bridegroom.\u201d (Matt 25:1) 8. Saving faith will not only make a\nman look for, but prepare to meet the bridegroom, and so may the faith\ndo that is not saving. \u201cThen all those virgins arose, and trimmed their\nlamps.\u201d (Matt 25:7) 9. Saving faith will make a man look for an\ninterest in the kingdom of heaven with confidence, and the faith that\nis not saving will even demand entrance of the Lord. \u201cLord, Lord, open\nto us.\u201d (Matt 25:11) 10. Saving faith will have good works follow it\ninto heaven, and the faith that is not saving may have great works\nfollow it, as far as to heaven gates. \u201cLord, have we not prophesied in\nthy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done\nmany wonderful works?\u201d (Matt 7:22)\n\nNow, then, if the faith that is not saving may have Christ for its\nobject, be wrought by the Word, look for justification without works,\nwork men off from the pollutions of the world, and give men tastes of,\nand joy in the things of another world\u2014I say again, if it will help a\nman to burn for his judgment, and to look for an inheritance in another\nworld; yea, if it will help a man to prepare for it, claim interest in\nit; and if it can carry great works, many great and glorious works, as\nfar as heaven gates, then no marvel if abundance of people take this\nfaith for the saving faith, and so fall short of heaven thereby. Alas,\nfriends! There are but few that can produce such [works] for\nrepentance; and such faith, as yet you see I have proved even\nreprobates have had in several ages of the church. 17\n\nBut,\n\nThird. They that go to heaven are a praying people; but a man may pray\nthat shall not be saved. Pray! He may pray, pray daily; yea, he may ask\nof God the ordinances of justice, and may take delight in approaching\nto God; nay, further, such souls may, as it were, cover the altar of\nthe Lord with tears, with weeping and crying out. (Isa 28:2, Mal 2:13)\n\nFourth. Do God\u2019s people keep holy fasts? They that are not his people\nmay keep fasts also\u2014may keep fasts often\u2014even twice a week. \u201cThe\nPharisee stood, and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank thee that I\nam not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as\nthis publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I\npossess.\u201d (Luke 18:11,12) I might enlarge upon things, but I intend but\na little book. I do not question but many Balaamites will appear before\nthe judgment-seat to condemnation; men that have had visions of God,\nand that knew the knowledge of the Most High; men that have had the\nSpirit of God come upon them, and that have by that been made other\nmen; yet these shall go to the generations of their fathers, they shall\nnever see light. (Num 24:2,4,16, 1 Sam 10:6,10, Psa 49:19)\n\nI read of some men whose excellency in religion mounts up to the\nheavens, and their heads reach unto the clouds, who yet shall perish\nfor ever like their own dung; and he that in this world hath seen them,\nshall say at the judgment, Where are they? (Job 20:5-7) There will be\nmany a one, that were gallant professors in this world, be wanting\namong the saved in the day of Christ\u2019s coming; yea, many whose\ndamnation was never dreamed of. Which of the twelve ever thought that\nJudas would have proved a devil? Nay, when Christ suggested that one\namong them was naught, they each were more afraid of themselves than of\nhim. (Matt 26:21-23) Who questioned the salvation of the foolish\nvirgins? The wise ones did not; they gave them the privilege of\ncommunion with themselves. (Matt 25) The discerning of the heart, and\nthe infallible proof of the truth of saving grace, is reserved to the\njudgment of Jesus Christ at his coming. The church and best of saints\nsometimes hit, and sometimes miss in their judgments about this matter;\nand the cause of our missing in our judgment is, 1. Partly because we\ncannot infallibly, at all times, distinguish grace that saveth from\nthat which doth but appear to do so. 2. Partly also because some men\nhave the art to give right names to wrong things. 3. And partly because\nwe, being commanded to receive him that is weak, are afraid to exclude\nthe least Christian. By a hid means hypocrites creep into the churches.\nBut what saith the Scripture? \u201cI the Lord search the heart, I try the\nreins.\u201d And again, \u201cAll the churches shall know that I am he which\nsearcheth the reins and hearts; and I will give unto every one of you\naccording to your works.\u201d (Jer 11:20, 17:10, Rev 2:23) To this Searcher\nof hearts is the time of infallible discerning reserved, and then you\nshall see how far grace that is not saving hath gone; and also how few\nwill be saved indeed. The Lord awaken poor sinners by my little book.\n\n[USE AND APPLICATION OF THE WHOLE.]\n\n\nI come now to make some brief use and application of the whole: and\n\n[USE FIRST.]\u2014My first word shall be to the open profane. Poor sinner,\nthou readest here that but a few will be saved; that many that expect\nheaven will go without heaven. What sayest thou to this, poor sinner?\nLet me say it over again. There are but few to be saved, but very few.\nLet me add, but few professors\u2014but few eminent professors. What sayest\nthou now, sinner? If judgment begins at the house of God, what will the\nend of them be that obey not the gospel of God? This is Peter\u2019s\nquestion. Canst thou answer it, sinner? Yea, I say again, if judgment\nmust begin at them, will it not make thee think, What shall become of\nme? And I add, when thou shalt see the stars of heaven to tumble down\nto hell, canst thou think that such a muck-heap of sin as thou art\nshall be lifted up to heaven? Peter asks thee another question, to wit,\n\u201cIf the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the\nsinner appear?\u201d (1 Peter 4:18) Canst thou answer this question, sinner?\nStand among the righteous thou mayest not: \u201cThe ungodly shall not stand\nin the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.\u201d\n(Psa 1:5) Stand among the wicked thou then wilt not dare to do. Where\nwilt thou appear, sinner? To stand among the hypocrites will avail thee\nnothing. The hypocrite \u201cshall not come before him,\u201d that is, with\nacceptance, but shall perish. (Job 13:16) Because it concerns thee\nmuch, let me over with it again! When thou shalt see less sinners than\nthou art, bound up by angels in bundles, to burn them, where wilt thou\nappear, sinner? Thou mayest wish thyself another man, but that will not\nhelp thee, sinner. Thou mayest wish, Would I had been converted in\ntime; but that will not help thee either. And if, like the wife of\nJeroboam, thou shouldst feign thyself to be another woman, the Prophet,\nthe Lord Jesus, would soon find thee out! What wilt thou do, poor\nsinner? Heavy tidings, heavy tidings, will attend thee, except thou\nrepent, poor sinner! (1 Kings 14:2,5,6, Luke 13:3,5) O the dreadful\nstate of a poor sinner, of an open profane sinner! Everybody that hath\nbut common sense knows that this man is in the broad way to death, yet\nhe laughs at his own damnation.\n\nShall I come to particulars with thee?\n\n1. Poor unclean sinner, the \u201charlot\u2019s house is the way to hell, going\ndown to the chambers of death.\u201d (Prov 2:18, 5:5, 7:27)\n\n2. Poor swearing and thievish sinner, God hath prepared the curse, that\n\u201cevery one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to\nit; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side,\naccording to it.\u201d (Zech 5:3)\n\n3. Poor drunken sinner, what shall I say to thee? \u201cWoe to the drunkards\nof Ephraim,\u201d \u201cwoe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men\nof\u2014strong drink; they shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven.\u201d (Isa\n28:1, 5:22, 1 Cor 6:9,10)\n\n4. Poor covetous worldly man, God\u2019s Word says, that \u201cthe covetous the\nLord abhorreth\u201d; that the \u201ccovetous man is an idolater\u201d; and that the\ncovetous \u201cshall not inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d (Psa 10:3, Eph 5:5,\nJohn 2:15, 1 Cor 6:9,10)\n\n5. And thou liar, what wilt thou do? \u201cAll liars shall have their part\nin the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.\u201d (Rev 21:8,27)\n\nI shall not enlarge, poor sinner, let no man deceive thee; \u201cfor because\nof these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of\ndisobedience.\u201d (Eph 5:6) I will therefore give thee a short call, and\nso leave thee.\n\nSinner, awake: yea, I say unto thee, awake! Sin lieth at thy door, and\nGod\u2019s axe lieth at thy root, and hell-fire is right underneath thee.\n(Gen 4:7) I say again, Awake! \u201cTherefore every tree which bringeth not\nforth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.\u201d (Matt 3:10)\n\nPoor sinner, awake; eternity is coming, and HIS SON, they are both\ncoming to judge the world; awake, art yet asleep, poor sinner? let me\nset the trumpet to thine ear once again! The heavens will be shortly on\na burning flame; the earth, and the works thereof, shall be burned up,\nand then wicked men shall go into perdition; dost thou hear this,\nsinner? (2 Peter 3) Hark again, the sweet morsels of sin will then be\nfled and gone, and the bitter burning fruits of them only left. What\nsayest thou now, sinner? Canst thou drink hell-fire? Will the wrath of\nGod be a pleasant dish to thy taste? This must be thine every day\u2019s\nmeat and drink in hell, sinner!\n\nI will yet propound to thee God\u2019s ponderous question, and then for this\ntime leave thee: \u201cCan thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong,\nin the days that I shall deal with thee?\u201d saith the Lord. (Eze 22:14)\nWhat sayest thou? Wilt thou answer this question now, or wilt thou take\ntime to do it? or wilt thou be desperate, and venture all? And let me\nput this text in thine ear to keep it open; and so the Lord have mercy\nupon thee: \u201cUpon the wicked shall the Lord rain snares, fire and\nbrimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their\ncup.\u201d (Psa 11:6) Repent, sinners!\n\n[USE SECOND.]\u2014My second word is to them that are upon the potter\u2019s\nwheel; concerning whom we know not as yet whether their convictions and\nawakenings will end in conversion or not. Several things I shall say to\nyou, both to further your convictions, and to caution you from staying\nanywhere below or short of saving grace.\n\n1. Remember that but few shall be saved; and if God should count thee\nworthy to be one of that few, what a mercy would that be!\n\n2. Be thankful, therefore, for convictions; conversion begins at\nconviction, though all conviction doth not end in conversion. It is a\ngreat mercy to be convinced that we are sinners, and that we need a\nSaviour; count it therefore a mercy, and that thy convictions may end\nin conversion, do thou take heed of stifling of them. It is the way of\npoor sinners to look upon convictions as things that are hurtful; and\ntherefore they use to shun the awakening ministry, and to check a\nconvincing conscience. Such poor sinners are much like to the wanton\nboy that stands at the maid\u2019s elbow, to blow out her candle as fast as\nshe lights it at the fire. Convinced sinner, God lighteth thy candle,\nand thou puttest it out; God lights it again, and thou puttest it out.\nYea, \u201chow oft is the candle of the wicked put out?\u201d (Job 21:17) At\nlast, God resolveth he will light thy candle no more; and then, like\nthe Egyptians, you dwell all your days in darkness, and never see light\nmore, but by the light of hell-fire; wherefore give glory to God, and\nif he awakens thy conscience, quench not thy convictions. Do it, saith\nthe prophet, \u201cbefore he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble\nupon the dark mountains, and he turn\u201d your convictions \u201cinto the shadow\nof death, and make them gross darkness.\u201d (Jer 13:16)\n\n(1.) Be willing to see the worst of thy condition. It is better to see\nit here than in hell; for thou must see thy misery here or there. (2.)\nBeware of little sins; they will make way for great ones, and they\nagain will make way for bigger, upon which God\u2019s wrath will follow; and\nthen may thy latter end be worse than thy beginning. (2 Peter 2:20)\n(3.) Take heed of bad company, and evil communication, for that will\ncorrupt good manners. God saith, evil company will turn thee away from\nfollowing him, and will tempt thee to serve other gods, devils. \u201cSo the\nanger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and destroy thee\nsuddenly.\u201d (Deu 7:4) (4.) Beware of such a thought as bids thee delay\nrepentance, for that is damnable. (Prov 1:24, Zech 7:12,13) (5.) Beware\nof taking example by some poor, carnal professor, whose religion lies\nin the tip of his tongue. Beware, I say, of the man whose head swims\nwith notions, but \u201chis life is among the unclean.\u201d (Job 36:14) \u201cHe that\nwalketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be\ndestroyed.\u201d (Prov 13:20) (6.) Give thyself much to the Word, and\nprayer, and good conference. (7.) Labour to see the sin that cleaveth\nto the best of thy performances, and know that all is nothing if thou\nbe not found in Jesus Christ. (8.) Keep in remembrance that God\u2019s eye\nis upon thy heart, and upon all thy ways. \u201cCan any hide himself in\nsecret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill\nheaven and earth? saith the Lord.\u201d (Jer 23:24) (9.) Be often meditating\nupon death and judgment. (Eccl 11:9, 12:14) (10.) Be often thinking\nwhat a dreadful end sinners that have neglected Christ will make at\nthat day of death and judgment. (Heb 10:31) (11.) Put thyself often, in\nthy thoughts, before Christ\u2019s judgment-seat, in thy sins, and consider\nwith thyself, Were I now before my Judge, how should I look, how should\nI shake and tremble? (12.) Be often thinking of them that are now in\nhell, past all mercy; I say, be often thinking of them, thus: They were\nonce in the world, as I now am; they once took delight in sin, as I\nhave done; they once neglected repentance, as Satan would have me do.\nBut now they are gone; now they are in hell, now the pit hath shut her\nmouth upon them!\n\nThou mayest also doubt18 thy thoughts of the damned thus: If these poor\ncreatures were in the world again, would they sin as they did before?\nwould they neglect salvation as they did before? If they had sermons,\nas I have; if they had the Bible, as I have; if they had good company,\nas I have; yea, if they had a day of grace, as I have, would they\nneglect it as they did before?\n\nSinner, couldst thou soberly think of these things, they might help,\nGod blessing them, to awaken thee, and to keep thee awake to\nrepentance, to the repentance that is to salvation, never to be\nrepented of.\n\nObject. But you have said few shall be saved; and some that go a great\nway, yet are not saved. At this, therefore, I am even discouraged and\nweakened; I think I had as good go no further. I am, indeed, under\nconviction, but I may perish; and if I go on in my sins, I can but\nperish; and it is ten, twenty, and an hundred to one if I be saved,\nshould I be ever so earnest for heaven.\n\nAnsw. That few will be saved must needs be a truth, for Christ hath\nsaid it; that many go far, and come short of heaven, is as true, being\ntestified by the same hand. But what then? \u201cWhy, then had I as good\nnever seek.\u201d Who told thee so? Must nobody seek because few are saved?\nThis is just contrary to the text, that bids us therefore strive;\nstrive to enter in, because the gate is strait, and because many will\nseek to enter in, and shall not be able. But why go back again, seeing\nthat is the next way to hell? Never go over hedge and ditch to hell. If\nI must needs go thither, I will go the furthest way about. But who can\ntell, though there should not be saved so many as there shall, but thou\nmayest be one of that few? They that miss of life perish, because they\nwill not let go their sins, or because they take up a profession short\nof the saving faith of the gospel. They perish, I say, because they are\ncontent with such things as will not prove graces of a saving nature\nwhen they come to be tried in the fire. Otherwise, the promise is free,\nand full, and everlasting\u2014\u201cHim that cometh to me,\u201d saith Christ, \u201cI\nwill in no wise cast out\u201d; \u201cfor God so loved the world, that he gave\nhis only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not\nperish, but have everlasting life.\u201d (John 6:37, 3:16) Wherefore let not\nthis thought, Few shall be saved, weaken thy heart; but let it cause\nthee to mend thy pace, to mend thy cries, to look well to thy grounds\nfor heaven; let it make thee fly faster from sin to Christ; let it keep\nthee awake, and out of carnal security, and thou mayest be saved.\n\n[USE THIRD.]\u2014My third word is to professors. Sirs, give me leave to set\nmy trumpet to your ears again a little. When every man hath put in all\nthe claim they can for heaven, but few will have it for their\ninheritance; I mean but few professors, for so the text intendeth, and\nso I have also proved. \u201cFor many, I say unto you, will seek to enter\nin, and shall not be able.\u201d Let me, therefore, a little expostulate the\nmatter with you, O ye thousands of professors!\n\n1. I begin with you whose religion lieth only in your tongues; I mean\nyou who are little or nothing known from the rest of the rabble of the\nworld, only you can talk better than they. Hear me a word or two. If \u201cI\nspeak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity,\u201d\nthat is, love to God, and Christ, and saints, and holiness, \u201cI am\nnothing\u201d; no child of God, and so have nothing to do with heaven. (1\nCor 13:1,2) A prating tongue will not unlock the gates of haven, nor\nblind the eyes of the Judge. Look to it. \u201cThe wise in heart will\nreceive commandments; but a prating fool shall fall.\u201d 19 (Prov 10:8)\n\n2. Covetous professor, thou that makest a gain of religion, that usest\nthy profession to bring grist to thy mill, look to it also. Gain is not\ngodliness. Judas\u2019 religion lay much in the bag, but his soul is now\nburning in hell. All covetousness is idolatry; but what is that, or\nwhat will you call it, when men are religious for filthy lucre\u2019s sake?\n(Eze 33:31)\n\n3. Wanton professors, I have a word for you; I mean you that can tell\nhow to misplead Scripture, to maintain your pride, your banqueting, and\nabominable idolatry. Read what Peter says. You are the snare and\ndamnation of others. You \u201callure through the lust of the flesh, through\nmuch wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in\nerror.\u201d (2 Peter 2:18) Besides, the Holy Ghost hath a great deal\nagainst you, for your feastings, and eating without fear, not for\nhealth, but gluttony. (Jude 12) Further, Peter says, that you that\ncount it pleasure to riot in the day-time are spots and blemishes,\nsporting yourselves with your own deceivings. (2 Peter 2:13) And let me\nask, Did God give his Word to justify your wickedness? or doth grace\nteach you to plead for the flesh, or the making provision for the lusts\nthereof? Of these also are they that feed their bodies to strengthen\ntheir lusts, under pretence of strengthening frail nature. But pray,\nremember the text, \u201cMany, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and\nshall not be able.\u201d\n\n4. I come next to the opinionist; I mean, to him whose religion lieth\nin some circumstantials of religion. With this sort this kingdom swarms\nat this day. These think all out of the way that are not of their mode,\nwhen themselves may be out of the way in the midst of their zeal for\ntheir opinions. Pray, do you also observe the text; \u201cMany, I say unto\nyou, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\n5. Neither is the formalist exempted from this number. He is a man that\nhath lost all but the shell of religion. He is hot, indeed, for his\nform; and no marvel, for that is his all to contend for. But his form\nbeing without the power and spirit of godliness, it will leave him in\nhis sins; nay, he standeth now in them in the sight of God, and is one\nof the many that \u201cwill seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d (2 Tim\n3:5)\n\n6. The legalist comes next, even him that hath no life but what he\nmakes out of his duties. This man hath chosen to stand or fall by\nMoses, who is the condemner of the world. \u201cThere is one that accuseth\nyou, even Moses, in whom ye trust.\u201d (John 5:45)\n\n7. There is, in the next place, the libertine\u2014he that pretendeth to be\nagainst forms and duties, as things that gender to bondage, neglecting\nthe order of God. This man pretends to pray always, but, under that\npretence, prays not at all; he pretends to keep every day a Sabbath,\nbut this pretence serves him only to cast off all set times for the\nworship of God. This is also one of the many that \u201cwill seek to enter\nin, and shall not be able.\u201d (Titus 1:16)\n\n8. There is the temporizing latitudinarian. He is a man that hath no\nGod but his belly, nor any religion but that by which his belly is\nworshipped. His religion is always, like the times, turning this way\nand that way, like the cock on the steeple; neither hath he any\nconscience but a benumbed and seared one, and is next door to a\ndownright atheist; and also is one of the many that \u201cwill seek to enter\nin, and shall not be able.\u201d\n\n9. There is also the willfully ignorant professor, or him that is\nafraid to know more, for fear of the cross. He is for picking and\nchoosing of truth, and loveth not to hazard his all for that worthy\nname by which he would be called. When he is at any time overset by\narguments, or awakenings of conscience, he uses to heal all by\u2014I was\nnot brought up in this faith; as if it were unlawful for Christians to\nknow more than hath been taught them at first conversion. There are\nmany Scriptures that lie against his man, as the mouths of great guns,\nand he is one of the many that \u201cwill seek to enter in, and shall not be\nable.\u201d\n\n10. We will add to all these, the professor that would prove himself a\nChristian, by comparing himself with others, instead of comparing\nhimself with the Word of God. This man comforts himself, because he is\nas holy as such and such; he also knows as much as that old professor,\nand then concludes he shall go to heaven: as if he certainly knew, that\nthose with whom he compareth himself would be undoubtedly saved; but\nhow if he should be mistaken? nay, may they not both fall short? But to\nbe sure he is in the wrong that hath made the comparison; and a wrong\nfoundation will not stand in the day of judgment. (2 Cor 10:12) This\nman, therefore, is one of the many that \u201cwill seek to enter in, and\nshall not be able.\u201d\n\n11. There is yet another professor; and he is for God and for Baal too;\nhe can be anything for any company; he can throw stones with both\nhands; his religion alters as fast as his company; he is a frog of\nEgypt, and can live in the water and out of the water; he can live in\nreligious company, and again as well out. Nothing that is disorderly\ncomes amiss to him; he will hold with the hare, and run with the hound;\nhe carries fire in the one hand, and water in the other; he is a very\nanything but what he should be. This is also one of the many that \u201cwill\nseek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d 20\n\n12. There is also that free-willer, who denies to the Holy Ghost the\nsole work in conversion; and that Socinian, who denieth to Christ that\nhe hath made to God satisfaction for sin; and that Quaker, who takes\nfrom Christ the two natures in his person: and I might add as many\nmore, touching whose damnation, they dying as they are, the Scripture\nis plain: these \u201cwill seek to enter in, and shall not be able.\u201d But,\n\n[USE FOURTH.]\u2014If it be so, what a strange disappointment will many\nprofessors meet with at the day of judgment! I speak not now to the\nopen profane; everybody, as I have said, that hath but common\nunderstanding between good and evil, knows that they are in the broad\nway to hell and damnation, and they must needs come thither; nothing\ncan hinder it but repentance unto salvation, except God should prove a\nliar to save them, and it is hard venturing of that.\n\nNeither is it amiss, if we take notice of the examples that are briefly\nmentioned in the Scriptures, concerning professors that have\nmiscarried. 1. Judas perished from among the apostles. (Acts 1) 2.\nDemas, as I think, perished from among the evangelists. (2 Tim 4:10) 3.\nDiotrephes from among the ministers, or them in office in the church.\n(3 John 9) 4. And as for Christian professors, they have fallen by\nheaps, and almost by whole churches. (2 Tim 1:15, Rev 3:4,15-17) 5. Let\nus add to these, that the things mentioned in the Scriptures about\nthese matters, are but brief hints and items of what is afterwards to\nhappen; as the apostle said, \u201cSome men\u2019s sins are open beforehand,\ngoing before to judgment; and some men they follow after.\u201d (1 Tim 5:24)\n\nSo that, fellow-professors, let us fear, lest a promise being left us\nof entering into this rest, any of us should seem to come short of it.\nO! to come short! nothing kills like it, nothing will burn like it. I\nintend not discouragements, but awakenings; the churches have need of\nawakening, and so have all professors. Do not despise me, therefore,\nbut hear me over again. What a strange disappointment will many\nprofessors meet with at the day of God Almighty!\u2014a disappointment, I\nsay, and that as to several things.\n\n(1.) They will look to escape hell, and yet fall just into the mouth of\nhell: what a disappointment will be here! (2.) They will look for\nheaven, but the gate of heaven will be shut against them: what a\ndisappointment is here! (3.) They will expect that Christ should have\ncompassion for them, but will find that he hath shut up all bowels of\ncompassion from them: what a disappointment is here! Again,\n\n[USE FIFTH.]\u2014As this disappointment will be fearful, so certainly it\nwill be very full of amazement.\n\n1. Will it not amaze them to be unexpectedly excluded from life and\nsalvation? 2. Will it not be amazing to them to see their own madness\nand folly, while they consider how they have dallied with their own\nsouls, and took lightly for granted that they had that grace that would\nsave them, but hath left them in a damnable state? 3. Will they not\nalso be amazed one at another, while they remember how in their\nlifetime they counted themselves fellow-heirs of life? To allude to\nthat of the prophet, \u201cThey shall be amazed one at another, their faces\nshall be as flames.\u201d (Isa 13:8) 4. Will it not be amazing to some of\nthe damned themselves, to see some come to hell that then they shall\nsee come thither? to see preachers of the Word, professors of the Word,\npractisers in the Word, to come thither. What wondering was there among\nthem at the fall of the king of Babylon, since he thought to have\nswallowed up all, because he was run down by the Medes and Persians!\n\u201cHow art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How\nart thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations!\u201d If\nsuch a thing as this will with amazement surprise the damned, what an\namazement will it be to them to see such a one as he whose head reached\nto the clouds, to see him come down to the pit, and perish for ever\nlike his own dung. \u201cHell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee\nat thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief\nones of the earth.\u201d (Isa 14) They that see thee shall narrowly look\nupon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man? Is this he that\nprofessed, and disputed, and forsook us; but now he is come to us\nagain? Is this he that separated from us, but now he is fallen with us\ninto the same eternal damnation with us?\n\n[USE SIXTH.]\u2014Yet again, one word more, if I may awaken professors.\nConsider, though the poor carnal world shall certainly perish, yet they\nwill want these things to aggravate their sorrow, which thou wilt meet\nwith in every thought that thou wilt have of the condition thou wast in\nwhen thou wast in the world.\n\n1. They will not have a profession, to bite them when they come\nthither. 2. They will not have a taste of a lost heaven, to bite them\nwhen they come thither. 3. They will not have the thoughts of, \u201cI was\nalmost at heaven,\u201d to bite them when they come thither. 4. They will\nnot have the thoughts of, how they cheated saints, ministers, churches,\nto bite them when they come thither. 5. They will not have the dying\nthoughts of false faith, false hope, false repentance, and false\nholiness, to bite them when they come thither. I was at the gates of\nheaven, I looked into heaven, I thought I should have entered into\nheaven; O how will these things sting! They will, if I may call them\nso, be the sting of the sting of death in hell-fire.\n\n[USE SEVENTH.]\u2014Give me leave now in a word to give you a little advice.\n\n1. Dost thou love thine own soul? then pray to Jesus Christ for an\nawakened heart, for a heart so awakened with all the things of another\nworld, that thou mayest be allured to Jesus Christ. 2. When thou comest\nthere, beg again for more awakenings about sin, hell, grace, and about\nthe righteousness of Christ. 3. Cry also for a spirit of discerning,\nthat thou mayest know that which is saving grace indeed. 4. Above all\nstudies apply thyself to the study of those things that show thee the\nevil of sin, the shortness of man\u2019s life, and which is the way to be\nsaved. 5. Keep company with the most godly among professors. 6. When\nthou hearest what the nature of true grace is, defer not to ask thine\nown heart if this grace be there. And here take heed\u2014\n\n(1.) That the preacher himself be sound, and of good life. (2.) That\nthou takest not seeming graces for real ones, nor seeming fruits for\nreal fruits. (3.) Take heed that a sin in thy life goes not unrepented\nof; for that will make a flaw in thine evidence, a wound in thy\nconscience, and a breach in thy peace; and a hundred to one, if at last\nit doth not drive all the grace in thee into so dark a corner of thy\nheart, that thou shalt not be able, for a time, by all the torches that\nare burning in the gospel, to find it out to thine own comfort and\nconsolation. 21\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1 However homely this illustration, yet how striking. No family has\nbeen many years without that uneasy anxiety\u2014earnest seeking the doctor\nto alleviate their sufferings, or those of a beloved relative, and then\nthe trembling hope that \u201chis excellent things\u201d may produce the desired\neffect. Reader, have you had, at any time, equal anxiety for your\nsoul\u2019s health and salvation? What has been the result?\u2014Ed.\n\n2 How delightfully but solemnly is this illustrated in the \u201cPilgrim\u2019s\nProgress.\u201d The wicket-gate, at the head of the way, at which the poor\nburdened sinner must knock and obtain an entrance by Christ the door.\nIt may be like Mercy, with a trembling but sure hope. And then the\nglorious entrance into the Celestial City itself, after crossing the\nriver which has no bridge. This was opened to Christian, but shut\nagainst Ignorance and against Turnaway of the Town of Apostasy.\u2014Ed.\n\n3 Much confusion appears to exist in the minds of many in reference to\nthe \u201cstrait gate\u201d mentioned in the text, as this passage is frequently\nintroduced into exhortations to the unconverted. It is addressed\nexclusively to professors of religion\u2014to those who profess to have set\nout for the Celestial City, and seems to say, Beware of the form of\ngodliness without its power\u2014of the profession without the possession!\nFor, as old Mason truly said, \u201cThey fall deepest into hell that fall\nbackward.\u201d The \u201cstriving\u201d here alluded to refers to the whole course of\nthe believers\u2019 life, with its end in view\u2014\u201cWe labour to be accepted of\nhim\u201d \u201cGive diligence,\u201d by adding to faith virtue, &c., \u201cto make your\ncalling and election sure; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto\nyou abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour\nJesus Christ.\u201d (2 Peter 1:5-11)\n\n4 How well does our unlettered author give the meaning of strive,\nagonize.\u2014Ed.\n\n5 Reader, while we bless God for being mercifully relieved from those\nbodily privations and sufferings through which our pilgrim fathers\npassed, forget not that Satan plies all his arts to allure our souls\nfrom the narrow path. If we are saved from tedious imprisonments in\ndamp dungeons\u2014if Antichrist has lost much of his power, the flatterer\nis ever at hand to entangle us in his net\u2014the atheist is ever ready, by\nhis derision and scorn, to drive us back to the City of\nDestruction.\u2014Ed.\n\n6 In the edition printed 1692, \u201can holiday saint\u201d is used. Saints\u2019 days\nwere holidays upon which the gayest dress was put on; but the outward\naffectation of religion in pious company is better expressed by\n\u201choliday suit,\u201d and I have followed all the modern editors in\nconcluding that the word \u201csaint\u201d is a typographical error.\u2014Ed.\n\n7 See the character of By-ends and his companions in the \u201cPilgrim\u2019s\nProgress.\u201d\n\n8 O how few professors feel that the judgment of man is as nothing in\ncomparison with that of a heart-searching God. Thousands would tremble\nat the thought of outwardly committing these great crimes, but who\ninwardly, in spirit, are daily guilty of them before God. He who is\nkept by Divine power from spiritual sins, is alone safe from the\ncommission of carnal sins.\u2014Ed.\n\n9 It is an awful fact that in every age of the church these \u201cblundering\nraw-headed preachers\u201d have abounded. It is a singular appellation to\nmake use of to those who strut in black, and vainly pride themselves\nupon being descended from the apostles. Alas! how many are those whose\nhearts and heads are raw indeed as to any influences of vital religion,\nand whose whole ministry is calculated to mislead the souls of their\nfellow-sinners as to their eternal hopes. Reader, how solemn is our\nduty to examine what we hear by the unerring Word\u2014to try all things,\nand hold fast that only which is good.\u2014Ed.\n\n10 More particularly in the \u201cJerusalem Sinner Saved\u201d\u2014\u201cHe that would be\nsaved by Jesus Christ, through faith in his blood, cannot be counted\nfor such,\u201d &c. The sin against the Holy Ghost is an abandonment of\nChristianity\u2014\u201cto crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open\nshame.\u201d (Heb 6:6) Poor trembler, wouldst thou crucify the Son of God\nafresh? If thy conscience says, Never! never! thou hast not committed\nthis unpardonable sin.\u2014Ed.\n\n11 The wedding garments being provided by the host, this man must have\nrefused it, and insults his King by sitting among the guests in his\nordinary apparel. O reader, before you take a seat at the Lord\u2019s table,\ntake prayerful care to be clothed with the robe of righteousness,\notherwise you will eat to your utter condemnation and may, after all,\nbe cast into outer darkness.\u2014Ed.\n\n12 May these searching words make an indelible impression upon the\nheart of every reader. How striking, and alas! how true, is this\ndelineation of character. Religious when in company with\nprofessors\u2014profane when with the world; pretending to be a Christian on\na Sunday; striving to climb with Christian the Hill Difficulty\u2014every\nother day running down the hill with Timorous and Mistrust. Such may\nget to the bottom of the hill, and hide themselves in the world; but\nthey can never lie concealed from God\u2019s anger, either in this world, or\nin the bottomless pit, whither they are hurrying to destruction.\n\n\u201cSinner, O why so thoughtless grown? Why in such dreadful hast to\ndie?\u201d\u2014Ed.\n\n13 \u201cTend it,\u201d or attend to it. What madness does sin engender and\nfoster! The trifles of time entirely occupy the attention, while the\nmomentous affairs of eternity are put off to a more convenient\nopportunity.\u2014Ed.\n\n14 Lowth\u2019s translation of this passage in Isaiah 6:13 not only confirms\nBunyan, but exhibits his view in a more prominent light:\u2014\u201cAnd though\nthere be a tenth part remaining in it, even this shall undergo a\nrepeated destruction; yet as the ilex and the oak, though cut down,\nhath its stock remaining, a holy seed shall be the stock of the\nnation.\u201d\u2014Ed.\n\n15 How solemn the thought\u2014there is but little wheat in comparison with\nall the grass and vegetable produce of the earth; and in the harvest\nhow much chaff and straw, which grew with the wheat, will be cast out!\nWell may it be said, Look to it, professors.\u2014Ed.\n\n16 The word \u201cfaith\u201d was changed in 1737 for \u201crepentance,\u201d which has\nbeen continued in subsequent editions; \u201cfaith\u201d is right. Awakenings and\nrepentance are classed together under the first head, and faith under\nthe second.\u2014Ed.\n\n17 Many readers will cry out, Who then can be saved? Without charity,\nor the love of Christ in the heart, all faith and works are but dross.\nLove is the touchstone of faith and works\u2014not to glorify ourselves, but\nhim who has bought us with his own most precious blood. Carry the\nsolemn inquiry to the throne of grace, Have I passed from death unto\nlife? for whosoever thus liveth believeth in Christ, and amidst the\nfatal wreck of professors, he shall never die.\u2014Ed.\n\n18 \u201cTo doubt\u201d; to suspect, make a question of, reconsider.\u2014Ed.\n\n19 When Talkative asked Faithful what difference there is between\ncrying out against and abhorring sin, he answered, \u201cO! a great deal; a\nman may cry out against sin of policy, but he cannot abhor it but by\nvirtue of a godly antipathy against it. I have heard many cry out\nagainst sin in the pulpit, who yet can abide it well enough in the\nheart, house, and conversation.\u201d\u2014Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\n\n20 Similar to By-ends who never strove for heaven against wind or\nweather; was most zealous when religion walked in his silver slippers,\nand walked with him in the streets, while the sun shone, and people\napplauded him.\u2014Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\n\n21 The striving inculcated in this treatise reminds us of Hopkins\u2019 bold\nappeal to conscience. He says, \u201cThere must be a holy roughness and\nviolence, to break through all that stands in our way; neither caring\nfor allurements, nor fearing opposition, but by a pious obstinacy and\nfrowardness, we must thrust away the one and bear down the other. This\nis the Christian who will carry heaven by force, when the whining\npusillanimous professor, who only complains of difficulty, but never\nattempts to conquer it, will be for ever shut out!\u201d\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nLIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS;\n\nOR,\n\nA DISCOURSE OF JESUS CHRIST:\n\nAND THAT HE UNDERTOOK TO ACCOMPLISH BY HIMSELF THE ETERNAL REDEMPTION\nOF SINNERS:\n\nALSO, HOW THE LORD JESUS ADDRESSED HIMSELF TO THIS WORK; WITH\nUNDENIABLE DEMONSTRATIONS THAT HE PERFORMED THE SAME.\n\nOBJECTIONS TO THE CONTRARY ANSWERED.\n\n\n\u2018Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse\nfor us.\u2019\u2014Galatians 3:13.\n\nby John Bunyan\u20141674\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nThis solemn and searching treatise was first published in 1674, a copy\nof which is in the Editor\u2019s possession. The author\u2019s object is to\ncorrect some fatal errors which then peculiarly abounded, and to\nrecommend the gospel in its purity to the acceptation of his\nfellow-sinners. Possessing that inward peace, serenity, happiness, and\nsafety, arising from a scriptural knowledge of Christ and him\ncrucified, he proclaims, \u2018I have ventured my own soul thereon with\ngladness,\u2019 and \u2018if all the souls in the world were mine, I would\nventure them all.\u2019 His prayer is that others may receive the same light\nand life by faith.\n\nEvery age has had its peculiar delusions for the trial of the\nspirit\u2014mysticism in Bunyan\u2019s time, Puseyism in our days. Prior to the\nReformation, the clergy, called the church, claimed implicit obedience\nfrom the laity as essential to salvation, and taught that inquiry was\nthe high road to eternal ruin. After the Bible had been extensively\ncirculated, many regarded it as the letter which killeth\u2014that it was of\nno importance, compared with the light within, which alone was\nessential. These were not the notions of any one or two sects, but had\nspread their influence to a considerable extent over the Christian\nchurch. To check the growth of these errors, and to recover those who\nhad been misled by them, Bunyan published this \u2018Light for them that sit\nin darkness.\u2019 His object is to prove that all our knowledge of the\nSaviour must be received directly from the written Word\u2014that to\nunderstand these holy oracles, we must seek and obtain Divine light. By\nthis light we shall find that Christ took upon himself our nature, and,\nby his holy and perfect obedience to the law, and sacrifice of himself\nas a sin-atoning offering, he redeemed all his saints, paid the FULL\nprice of their redemption, and will present them unblameable,\nunreprovable, and acceptable to him that is of purer eyes than to\nbehold iniquity. Their robes are washed and made white in the blood of\nthe Lamb; they are perfect as Christ is perfect; there is no\ncondemnation to them; their salvation is sure. To those whose spirits\nare dismayed under a fear that they have sinned the unpardonable sin,\nthe arguments on the following pages are most consoling. Those who are\nunder that awful curse are sunk in a deathly state of insensibility,\nwhile they sit in the seat of the scorner. To be alarmed with the fear\nof having so offended the Saviour, is the best evidence that no such\nsin can have been committed. The closing chapter is full of striking\nsolemnity. May its beneficial effects be felt, to the glory of God and\nthe reader\u2019s solid peace.\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nTHE AUTHOR TO THE READER.\n\n\nGentle Reader,\n\nIt was the great care of the apostle Paul to deliver his gospel to the\nchurches in its own simplicity, because so it is the power of God unto\nsalvation to every one that believeth. And if it was his care so to\ndeliver it to us, it should be ours to seek so to continue it; and the\nrather, because of the unaptness of the minds, even of the saints\nthemselves, to retain it without commixture. For, to say nothing of the\nprojects of hell, and of the cunning craftiness of some that lie in\nwait to deceive even the godly themselves, as they are dull of hearing,\nso much more dull in receiving and holding fast the simplicity of the\ngospel of Jesus Christ. From their sense, and reason, and unbelief, and\ndarkness, arise many imaginations and high thoughts, which exalt\nthemselves against the knowledge of God and the obedience of Jesus\nChrist, wherefore they themselves have much ado to stand complete in\nall the will of God. And were they not concerned in electing love, by\nwhich they are bound up in the bundle of life, and blessed with the\nenjoyment of saving grace, which enlighteneth their souls and\nmaintaineth their fath and hope, they would not only be assaulted and\nafflicted with their own corruptions, but, as others, overcome thereby.\n\nAlas! how ordinary a thing is it for professors to fall from the\nknowledge they have had of the glorious gospel of the blessed God, and\nto be turned unto fables, seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils,\nthrough the intoxications of delusions and the witchcraft of false\npreachers.\n\nNow, this their swerving from the gospel ariseth, 1. Either from their\nnot having, or, having, not retaining, the true knowledge of the person\nof the Lord Jesus Christ; or, 2. From their not believing the true\ncauses of his coming into the world, with his doing and suffering\nthere. Upon one or both these accounts, I say, it is that they\neverlastingly perish; for if they have not, and do not also retain the\nknowledge of his person, they want the HE, on whom, if they believe\nnot, they must die in their sins; and if they know not the reason of\nhis coming, doing, and suffering, they are in the same condition also.\n\nNow, those professors that have had some knowledge of these things, and\nyet have lost them, it hath come thus to pass with them because they\nfirst lost the knowledge of themselves and of their sins. They know not\nthemselves to be such nothing ones as the Scriptures reporteth them to\nbe, nor their sins to be so heinous as the law hath concluded;\ntherefore they either turn again with the dog to his vomit, or adhere\nto a few of the rags of their own fleshly righteousness, and so become\npure in their own eyes, yet are not purged by blood from their\nfilthiness.\n\nFor the person and doings of Jesus Christ are only precious to them\nthat get and retain the true knowledge of themselves, and the due\nreward of their sins by the law. These are desolate, being driven out\nof all; these embrace the rock instead of a shelter. The sensible\nsinner receiveth him joyfully.\n\nAnd because a miscarriage in this great truth is the most dangerous and\ndamning miscarriage, therefore should professors be the more fearful of\nswerving aside therefrom. The man that rejecteth the true knowledge of\nthe person of the Lord Jesus, and the causes of his doing and suffering\nin the world, takes the next way to be guilty of that transgression\nthat is not to be purged with sacrifice for ever; that fearful\ntransgression for which is left no offering at all, nor anything to be\nexpected by the person transgressing but fearful judgment and fiery\nindignation, which shall devour the adversary.\n\nNow, for their sakes that have not sinned this sin, for their sakes\nthat are in danger thereof, but yet not overcome, for their sakes have\nI written this little book, wherein is largely, and yet with few words,\ndiscovered the doctrine of the person, and doings, and sufferings of\nChrist, with the true cause thereof, also a removal of those objections\nthat the crafty children of darkness have framed against the same.\n\nAnd I have been the more plain and simple in my writing, because the\nsin against the Holy Ghost is in these days more common than formerly,\nand the way unto it more beautified with colour and pretence of truth.\nI may say of the way to this sin, it is, as was once the way to\nJerusalem, strewed with boughs and branches; and by some there is cried\na kind of hosanna to them that are treading these steps to hell. O the\nplausible pretences, the golden names, the feigned holiness, the demure\nbehaviours, mixed with damnable hypocrisy, that attend the persons that\nhave forsaken the Lord Jesus, that have despised his person, trampled\nupon him, and counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was\nsanctified an unholy thing! They have crucified him to themselves, and\nthink that they can go to heaven without him; yea, pretend they love\nhim, when they hate him; pretend they have him, when they have cast him\noff; pretend they trust in him, when they bid defiance to his\nundertakings for the world.\n\nReader, let me beseech thee to hear me patiently; read, and consider,\nand judge. I have presented thee with that which I have received from\nGod; and the holy men of God, who spake as they were moved by the Holy\nGhost, do bear me witness. Thou wilt say, All pretend to this. Well,\nbut give me the hearing, take me to the Bible, and let me find in thy\nheart no favour if thou find me to swerve from the standard.\n\nI say again, receive my doctrine; I beseech thee, in Christ\u2019s stead,\nreceive it; I know it to be the way of salvation. I have ventured my\nown soul thereon with gladness; and if all the souls in the world were\nmine, as mine own soul is, I would, through God\u2019s grace, venture every\none of them there. I have not writ at a venture, nor borrowed my\ndoctrine from libraries. I depend upon the sayings of no man. I found\nit in the Scriptures of truth, among the true sayings of God.\n\nI have done, when I have exhorted thee to pray, and give heed to the\nwords of God as revealed in the Holy Writ. The Lord Jesus Christ\nhimself give thee light and life by faith in him; to whom, with the\nFather and the good Spirit of grace, be glory and dominion, now and for\never. Amen.\n\nJOHN BUNYAN.\n\nLIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS.\n\n\u2018OF THIS MAN\u2019S SEED HATH GOD, ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE, RAISED UNTO\nISRAEL A SAVIOUR, JESUS.\u2019\u2014ACTS 13:23.\n\n\nThese words are part of a sermon which Paul preached to the people that\nlived at Antioch in Pisidia, where also inhabited many of the Jews. The\npreparation to his discourse he thus begins\u2014\u2018Men of Israel, and ye that\nfear God, give audience\u2019 (v 16); by which having prepared their minds\nto attend, he proceeds and gives a particular relation of God\u2019s\npeculiar dealings with his people Israel, from Egypt to the time of\nDavid their king, of whom he treateth particularly\u2014\n\nThat he was the son of Jesse, that he was a king, that God raised him\nup in mercy, that God gave testimony of him, that he was a man after\nGod\u2019s own heart, that he should fulfil all his will (v 22).\n\nAnd this he did of purpose both to engage them the more to attend, and\nbecause they well knew that of the fruit of his loins God hath promised\nthe Messiah should come.\n\nHaving thus therefore gathered up their minds to hearken, he presenteth\nthem with his errand\u2014to wit, that the Messiah was come, and that the\npromise was indeed fulfilled that a Saviour should be born to\nIsrael\u2014\u2018Of this man\u2019s seed,\u2019 saith he, \u2018hath God, according to his\npromise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.\u2019\n\nIn this assertion he concludeth\u20141. That the promise had kept its due\ncourse in presenting a Saviour to Israel\u2014to wit, in David\u2019s loins\u2014\u2018Of\nthis man\u2019s seed.\u2019 2. That the time of the promise was come, and the\nSaviour was revealed\u2014\u2018God hath raised unto Israel a Saviour.\u2019 3. That\nJesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, was he\u2014\u2018He hath raised unto\nIsrael a Saviour, Jesus.\u2019\n\nFrom these things we may inquire, for the explication of the words,\nFirst. What this Jesus is? Second. What it was for this Jesus to be of\nthe seed of David? Third. What it was for Jesus to be of this man\u2019s\nseed according to the promise? And, Fourth, what it was for him to be\nraised unto Israel? These things may give us light into what shall be\nspoken after.\n\nQuest. First. What this Jesus is?\n\nHe is God, and had personal being from before all worlds; therefore not\nsuch an one as took being when he was formed in the world; he is God\u2019s\nnatural Son, the Eternal Son of his begetting and love\u2014\u2018God sent forth\nhis Son.\u2019 He was, and was his Son, before he was revealed\u2014\u2018What is his\nname, and what is his Son\u2019s name, if thou canst tell?\u2019 (Prov 30:4; Eze\n21:10). He hath an eternal generation, such as none can declare, not\nman, not angel (Isa 53:8). He was the delight of his Father before he\nhad made either mountain or hill. While as yet he had not made the\nearth or the fields, or the highest part of the dust of the world, all\nthings were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was\nmade, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. It is\nhe with whom the Father consulted when he was about to make man, when\nhe intended to overthrow Babel, and when he sent Isaiah to harden the\nhearts of Israel (Prov 8:26; John 1:3; Heb 1:2,3; Col 1:17; Gen 1:26,\n11:7; Isa 6:8). This is the person intended in the text. Hence also he\ntestifies of himself that he came down from the Father; that he had\nglory with him before the world was. And \u2018what and if ye shall see the\nSon of man ascend up where he was before?\u2019 (John 6:62, 16:28, 17:5).\n\nQuest. Second. What was it for Jesus to be of David\u2019s seed?\n\nTo be of David\u2019s seed is to spring from his loins, to come of his race\naccording to the flesh; and therefore as he is David\u2019s God, so likewise\nis he David\u2019s Son; the root and also the offspring of David. And this\nthe Lord himself acknowledgeth, saying, \u2018I am the root,\u2019 or God, \u2018and\nthe offspring,\u2019 and Son, \u2018of David, and the bright and morning star\u2019\n(Rev 22:16). This is indeed the great mystery, the mystery of\ngodliness. \u2018If David then call him Lord, how is he his Son?\u2019 (Matt\n22:45; Luke 2:4; Rom 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8). And hence it is that he is said\nto be \u2018wonderful,\u2019 because he is both God and man in one person\u2014\u2018Unto\nus a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be\nupon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful\u2019 (Isa 9:6).\nWonderful indeed! Wonderful God, Wonderful man, Wonderful God-man, and\nso a Wonderful Jesus and Saviour. He also hath wonderful love, bore\nwonderful sorrows for our wonderful sins, and obtained for HIS a\nwonderful salvation.\n\nQuest. Third. What was it for Jesus to be of this man\u2019s seed according\nto the promise?\n\nThis word \u2018promise\u2019 doth sometimes comprehend all the promises which\nGod made to our fathers, from the first promise to the last, and so the\nHoly Ghost doth call them\u2014\u2018The promise made unto the fathers, God hath\nfulfilled the same unto us their children\u2019 (Acts 13:32,33). But the\nword \u2018promise\u2019 here doth in special intend that which God made to David\nhimself\u2014\u2018Men and brethren,\u2019 said Peter, \u2018let me freely speak unto you\nof the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his\nsepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and\nknowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of\nhis loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on\nhis throne; he seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of\nChrist,\u2019 &c. (Acts 2:29,30).\n\nQuest. Fourth. What was it for Jesus to be raised thus up of God to\nIsrael?\n\nHere we have two things to consider of\u20141. Who Israel is. 2. What it was\nfor Jesus to be raised up unto them.\n\n1. Who Israel is. By \u2018Israel\u2019 sometimes we should understand the whole\nstock of Jacob, the natural children of his flesh; for that name they\nhave of him, for he obtained it when he wrestled with the angel, and\nprevailed, and it remained with his seed in their generations (Gen 32).\nBy \u2018Israel\u2019 we are to understand all those that God hath promised to\nChrist\u2014\u2018The children of the promise are counted for the seed,\u2019 the\nelect Jews and Gentiles. These are called \u2018the Israel of God,\u2019 and the\nseed of Abraham, whom Jesus in special regarded in his undertaking the\nwork of man\u2019s redemption (Rom 9:8; Gal 6:16; Heb 2:14-16).\n\n2. What it was for Jesus to be raised up unto them. This word \u2018raised\nup\u2019 is diversely taken in the Scripture. (1.) It is taken for\n\u2018sending\u2019; as when he saith he raised them up judges, saviours, and\nprophets, he means he sent them such, and thus he raised up Jesus\u2014that\nis, \u2018he sent him\u2019 (Judg 2:16,18, 3:9,15; Amos 2:11). \u2018I have not spoken\nof myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment\u2019\n(John 12:49). (2.) To be raised up, intimateth one invested with power\nand authority. Thus he raised up David to be the king of Israel, he\nanointed him and invested him with kingly power (1 Sam 16:13; Acts\n13:22). And thus was Jesus Christ raised up. Hence he is called \u2018the\nhorn of salvation\u2019\u2014\u2018He hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in\nthe house of his servant David\u2019 (Luke 1:69). (3.) To be raised up,\nintimateth quickening and strengthening, to oppose and overcome all\nopposition. Thus was Jesus raised up from under sin, death, the rage of\nthe world, and hell, that day that God raised him out of the grave.\n\nThus, therefore, was Jesus raised up to Israel\u2014that is, he was sent,\nauthorized, and strengthened to, and in the work of, their salvation,\nto the completing of it.\n\nThe words thus opened do lay before us these two observations\u2014FIRST.\nThat in all ages God gave his people a promise, and so ground for a\nbelieving remembrance, that he would one day send them a Saviour.\nSECOND. That when Jesus was come into the world, then was that promise\nof God fulfilled.\n\n[OBSERVATION FIRST.]\n\n\nTo begin with the first, THAT IN ALL AGES GOD GAVE HIS PEOPLE A\nPROMISE, AND SO GROUND FOR A BELIEVING REMEMBRANCE, THAT HE WOULD ONE\nDAY SEND THEM A SAVIOUR.\n\nThis Zacharias testifies when he was filled with the Holy Ghost; for,\nspeaking of the Messiah or the Saviour, he saith that God spake of him\nby the mouth of all the prophets which have been since the world began;\nto which I will add that of Peter, \u2018Yea, and all the prophets from\nSamuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have\nlikewise foretold of these days\u2019 (Luke 1:69,70; Acts 3:24).\n\nFrom these texts it is evident that in every generation or age of the\nworld God did give his people a promise, and so ground for a believing\nremembrance, that he would one day send them a Saviour; for indeed the\npromise is not only a ground for a remembrance, but for a believing\nremembrance. What God saith is sufficient ground for faith, because he\nis truth, and cannot lie or repent. But that is not all; his heart was\nengaged, yea, all his heart, in the promise which he spoke of sending\nus a Saviour.\n\nFrom this observation I shall make inquiry into these three\nthings\u2014FIRST. What it is to be a Saviour. SECOND. How it appears that\nGod in all ages gave his people a promise that he would one day send\nthem a Saviour. THIRD. That this was ground for believing remembrance\nthat a Saviour should one day come.\n\nFIRST. What it is to be a Saviour.\n\nFirst. This word \u2018Saviour\u2019 is easy to be understood, it being all one\nwith Deliverer, Redeemer, &c. \u2018A Saviour, Jesus,\u2019 both words are of the\nsame signification, and are doubled, perhaps to teach us that the\nperson mentioned in the text is not called \u2018Jesus\u2019 only to distinguish\nhim from other men\u2014for names are given to distinguish\u2014but also and\nespecially to specify his office; his name is Saviour, because it was\nto be his work, his office, his business in the world. His name shall\nbe called Jesus, \u2018for he shall save his people from their sins\u2019 (Matt\n1:21).\n\nSecond. This word \u2018Saviour\u2019 is a word so large that it hath place in\nall the undertakings of Christ: for whatever he doth in his mediation\nhe doth as a Saviour. He interposeth between God and man as a Saviour;\nhe engageth against sin, the devil, death, and hell, as a Saviour, and\ntriumphed over them by himself as a Saviour.\n\nThird. The word \u2018Saviour,\u2019 as I said, is all one with Redeemer,\nDeliverer, Reconciler, Peace-maker, or the like; for though there be\nvariation in the terms, yet Saviour is the intendment of them all. By\nredeeming he becomes a Saviour, by delivering he becomes a Saviour, by\nreconciling he becomes a Saviour, and by making peace he becometh a\nSaviour. But I pass this now, intending to speak more to the same\nquestion afterwards.\n\nSECOND. How it appears that God in all ages gave his people a promise\nthat he would one day send them a Saviour.\n\nIt appears evidently; for so soon as man had sinned, God came to him\nwith a heart full of promise, and continued to renew, and renew, till\nthe time of the promised Messiah to be revealed was come.\n\n[First.] He promised him under the name of \u2018the seed of the women,\u2019\nafter our first father had sinned\u2014\u2018I will also put enmity between thee\nand the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. He shall bruise thy\nhead, and thou shalt bruise his heel\u2019 (Gen 3:15).[1] This the apostle\nhath his eye upon when he saith, \u2018When the fulness of the time was\ncome, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to\nredeem them that were under the law\u2019 (Gal 4:4,5).\n\nSecond. God renewed this promise to Abraham, and there tells him Christ\nshould be his seed, saying, \u2018In thy seed shall all families of the\nearth be blessed\u2019 (Gen 12:3). \u2018Now,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018to Abraham and his\nseed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many;\nbut as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ\u2019 (Gal 3:16).\n\nThird. He was promised in the time of Moses under the name of a\n\u2018prophet\u2019\u2014\u2018I will raise them up,\u2019 saith God to him, \u2018a prophet from\namong their brethren like unto thee\u2019 (Deut 18:18). This Peter expounds\nof Christ, \u2018For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the\nLord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him\nshall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you\u2019 (Acts\n3:22).\n\nFourth. He promised him to David under the title of a \u2018son,\u2019 saying, \u2018I\nwill be his Father, and he shall be my Son\u2019 (2 Sam 7:14). For this the\napostle expounded of the Saviour, saying, \u2018Thou art my Son, this day\nhave I begotten thee\u2019; and again, \u2018I will be to him a Father, and he\nshall be to me a Son\u2019 (Heb 1:5).\n\nFifth. He was promised in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and\nHezekiah, kings of Judah\u2014\n\n1. By the name of a \u2018branch\u2019\u2014\u2018In that day shall the branch of the Lord\nbe beautiful and glorious\u2019 (Isa 4:2).\n\n2. Under the name of the \u2018son of a virgin\u2019\u2014\u2018Therefore the Lord himself\nshall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,\nand shall call his name Immanuel.\u2019 This Matthew expounds of Christ (Isa\n7:14; Matt 1:23).\n\n3. He was promised under the name of a \u2018rod\u2019\u2014\u2018There shall come forth a\nrod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots,\nand the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.\u2019 This answereth the\ntext, David was the son of Jesse, and Christ the Son of David (Isa\n11:1,2).\n\n4. He is promised under the title of a \u2018king\u2019\u2014\u2018Behold, a king shall\nreign in righteousness,\u2014and a man shall be as an hiding-place from the\nwind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place,\nas the shadow of a great rock in a weary land\u2019 (Isa 32:1,2).\n\n5. He was promised under the name of an \u2018elect servant\u2019\u2014\u2018Behold my\nservant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have\nput my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.\nHe shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the\nstreet. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall\nhe not quench\u2019 (Isa 42:1-3; Matt 12:17-20).\n\n6. He was promised to Jeremiah under the name of \u2018the Lord our\nRighteousness\u2019\u2014\u2018Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will\nraise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and\nprosper; and shall execute judgment\u2014in the earth. In his days Judah\nshall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name\nwhereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS\u2019 (Jer 23:5,6).\n\n7. He was promised by the prophet Ezekiel under the name of \u2018David, a\nshepherd\u2019\u2014\u2018And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed\nthem, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their\nshepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a\nprince among them; I the Lord have spoken it\u2019 (Eze 24:23; John 10:1-3).\n\n8. He was promised by the prophet Daniel under the name of \u2018Messiah, or\nChrist, the most holy\u2019\u2014\u2018And after threescore and two weeks shall the\nMessiah be cut off, but not for himself\u2019 (Dan 9:26).\n\n9. He was promised by the prophet Micah under the name of the \u2018ruler in\nIsrael\u2019\u2014\u2018But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou be little among the\nthousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come\u2014that is to be ruler\nin Israel\u2019 (Micah 5:2; Matt 2:6).\n\n10. He was promised to Haggai as \u2018the desire of all nations\u2019\u2014\u2018I will\nshake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will\nfill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts\u2019 (Hagg 2:7).\n\n11. He was promised by Zechariah under the name of \u2018servant and\nbranch\u2019\u2014\u2018For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.\u2019 And\nagain, \u2018Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up\nout of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he\nshall bear the glory\u2019 (Zech 3:8, 6:12,13).\n\n12. He was promised by Malachi under the name of \u2018the Lord, and the\nmessenger of the covenant\u2019\u2014\u2018Behold, I will send my messenger, and he\nshall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall\nsuddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom\nye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts\u2019 (Mal\n3:1).\n\nIndeed, the Scriptures of the Old Testament are filled with promises of\nthe Messias to come, prophetical promises, typical promises; for all\nthe types and shadows of the Saviour are virtually so many promises.\n\nSixth. Having therefore touched upon the prophetical, I will briefly\ntouch the typical promises also; for as God spake at sundry times to\nthe fathers, so also in diverse manners, prophetically, providentially,\ntypically, and all of the Messias (Heb 1:1). The types of the Saviour\nwere various\u20141. Sometimes he was typed out by men; 2. Sometimes by\nbeasts; 3. Sometimes by insensible creatures.\n\n1. He was typed forth sometimes by men. Adam was his type in many\nthings, especially as he was the head and father of the first world. He\nwas \u2018the figure of him that was to come\u2019 (Rom 5:14). Moses was his type\nas Mediator, and as builder of the tabernacle (Heb 3:2,3). Aaron was\nhis type as he was high-priest, and so was Melchisedec before him (Heb\n5:4,5, 7:1,21). Samson was his type in the effects of his death; for as\nSamson gave his life for the deliverance of Israel from the\nPhilistines, Christ gave his life to deliver us from sin and devils.\nJoshua was his type in giving the land of Canaan to Israel, as Jesus\nwill give the kingdom of heaven to the elect (Heb 4:8). David was his\ntype in many things, especially in his subduing of Israel\u2019s enemies,\nand feeding them [Israel]: hence he is sometimes called David their\nking, and David their shepherd (Eze 34:23,24). Solomon was his type in\nhis building the temple, and in his peaceable kingdom. Hence it is\nsaid, \u2018He shall build the temple of the Lord\u2019; and again, \u2018Of his\ngovernment and peace there shall be no end.\u2019\n\n2. Beasts were his types. To instance some\u2014\n\n(1.) The paschal lamb was his type (Exo 12). In its spotlessness;\nChrist was \u2018a lamb without blemish and without spot\u2019 (1 Peter 1:18,19).\nIn its being roasted it was a figure of the cursed death of Christ; for\nto be roasted bespake one accursed (Jer 29:22; Gal 3:13). In that it\nwas to be eaten\u2014\u2018Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood,\u2019 saith\nChrist, \u2018hath eternal life\u2019 (John 6:54). In that its blood was to be\nsprinkled upon the doors of their houses, for the destroying angel to\nlook on; the blood of Christ is sprinkled upon the elect for the\njustice of God to look on (Heb 9; 1 Peter 1:2). By eating the paschal\nlamb, the people went out of Egypt; by feeding upon Christ by faith we\ncome from under the Egyptian darkness, tyranny of Satan, &c.\n\n(2.) The red cow was his type (Num 19:2, &c.).[2] In that she was to be\nwithout blemish. In that she was to be slain without the camp\u2014\u2018Jesus\nalso, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered\nwithout the gate\u2019 (Heb 13:12). In that her flesh was to be burnt; a\ntype of the grievous death of Christ. Her ashes were to be carried into\na clean place without the camp; a type of the clean sepulchre where the\nbody of Jesus was laid (John 19:38-41).\n\nThere were also divers other sacrifices, as bulls, goats, and birds,\nwhich were types of him, which I here omit.\n\n3. Insensible creatures were his types. As,\n\n(1.) The man in the wilderness (Exo 16). And that as it came down from\nheaven, for so did Christ\u2014\u2018I came down from heaven,\u2019 saith he; and\nagain, \u2018I am the living bread which came down from heaven\u2019 (John 6:51).\nThe manna was to be eaten; so is Christ by faith\u2014\u2018If any man eat of\nthis bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is\nmy flesh, which I will give for the life of the world\u2019 (John 6:51). The\nmanna was to be gathered daily; so is Christ to be daily eaten. The\nmanna was all the bread that Israel had in the wilderness; Christ is\nall the bread that believers have in this life for their souls. The\nmanna came not by Moses\u2019 law, neither comes Christ by our merits\u2014\u2018Moses\ngave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true\nbread from heaven\u2019 (John 6:32).\n\n(2.) Again; the rock that gave them out water for their thirst was a\ntype of him (Num 20). They \u2018did all drink the same spiritual drink, for\nthey drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was\nChrist\u2019 (1 Cor 10:4). This rock was his type in four things\u2014\n\n(a.) It gave drink to the people in the wilderness when they were come\nout of Egypt; Christ gives drink to them that forsake the world for\nhim. (b.) The rock yielded water by being smitten by Moses\u2019 rod; Christ\ngiveth drink, even his blood, by being stricken by Moses\u2019 law (Num\n20:11; Isa 53). (c.) The water out of this rock was given to the\nthirsty\u2014\u2018I will give unto him that is athirst,\u2019 saith Christ, \u2018of the\nfountain of the water of life freely\u2019 (Rev 21:6). (d.) The water of the\nrock in the wilderness ran after the people; they drank of that rock\nthat followed them\u2014\u2018He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out, they\nran in the dry places like a river\u2019 (Psa 110:41). Christ also is said\nby that type to follow us\u2014\u2018They drank of that spiritual Rock that\nfollowed them; and that Rock was Christ\u2019 (1 Cor 10:4).\n\n(3.) Again, the mount Moriah was his type. That mount stood in\nJerusalem; Christ also stands in his church. Upon that rock was built\nthe temple (2 Chron 3:1)\u2014\u2018And upon this rock,\u2019 said Christ, \u2018I will\nbuild my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it\u2019\n(Matt 16:18).\n\nOther things might be urged, but these being virtually of the force of\nthe promises, and also as a key to open them, therefore I thought good\nto place them here with the promises; because, as they are standing\nwith them, so they are written to beget faith in the same Lord Jesus\nChrist.\n\nTHIRD. I come now to the third thing\u2014to wit, That these promises were\nground for a believing remembrance that a Saviour should one day come.\n\nThere is a remembering, and a believing remembering, or such a\nremembering that begetteth and maintaineth faith in the heart. Jacob\nhad a believing remembrance when he said, \u2018I have waited for thy\nsalvation, O Lord\u2019 (Gen 49:18). And so had David when he cried, \u2018O that\nthe salvation of Israel were come out of Zion\u2019 (Psa 53:6). These, with\nSimeon and Anna, had not a remembrance only, but a believing\nremembrance that God would send them a Saviour. They had the promise\nnot in the book only, but in their hearts; this gospel was mixed in\nthem with faith; therefore they with their fellows remembered and\nbelieved, or made the promise the ground of their believing that God\nwould one day send them a Saviour.\n\nLet me make some\n\nUse of this Doctrine.\n\nHere we may see how much the heart of God was set upon the salvation of\nsinners\u2014he studied it, contrived it, set his heart on it, and promised,\nand promised, and promised to complete it, by sending one day his Son\nfor a Saviour (2 Same 14:14; Eph 1:3; Titus 1:2). No marvel, therefore,\nif when he treateth of the new covenant, in which the Lord Jesus is\nwrapped, and presented in a word of promise to the world, that he\nsaith, I will do it \u2018assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole\nsoul\u2019 (Jer 32:41).\n\nNow this is of singular comfort to sensible sinners; yea, what greater\nground of consolation to such than to hear that the God against whom\nthey have sinned should himself take care to provide them a Saviour.\nThere are some poor sinners in the world that have given such way to\ndiscouragement, from the sense of the greatness of their sins, that\nthey dare not think upon God, nor the sins which they have committed;\nbut the reason is, because they are ignorant that God\u2019s heart was wrapt\nup in this good work of providing and sending a Saviour. Let such\nhearken now to the call of God\u2014\u2018Return unto me, for I have redeemed\nthee\u2019 (Isa 44:22). Ho! turn again, hearken; the heart of God is much\nset upon mercy; from the beginning of the world he resolved and\npromised, aye, and sware we should have a Saviour.\n\n[OBSERVATION SECOND.]\n\n\nI now proceed to the second observation\u2014THAT WHEN JESUS WAS COME INTO\nTHE WORLD, THEN WAS THE PROMISE OF GOD FULFILLED\u2014namely, THAT HE WOULD\nONE DAY SEND US A SAVIOUR.\n\nTake three texts for the confirmation of this point\u20141. \u2018This is of a\ntruth that prophet that should come into the world\u2019 (John 6:14). These\nwords were spoken of them that were present at that miracle of Jesus,\nwhen he fed five thousand with five barley loaves, which a lad had\nabout him in the company; for these men, when they had seen the marvel,\nbeing amazed at it, made confession of him to be the Saviour. 2. \u2018Lord,\nI believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come\ninto the world\u2019 (John 11:27). 3. \u2018This is a faithful saying, and worthy\nof all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save\nsinners\u2019 (1 Tim 1:15).\n\nFor the explaining of this observation I will briefly handle three\nquestions\u2014FIRST. How this Jesus is to be distinguished from others of\nthat name. SECOND. What it was for this Jesus to come into the world.\nTHIRD. What it was for him to come to be a Saviour.\n\n[HOW THIS JESUS IS TO BE DISTINGUISHED FROM OTHERS.]\n\n\nQUEST. FIRST. For the first, the Jesus in the text is distinguished\nfrom all others of that name.\n\nFirst. By the manner of his birth; he was born of a virgin, a virgin\nespoused to a man whose name was Joseph; but he \u2018knew her not till she\nhad brought forth her first-born son, and he called his name JESUS\u2019\n(Matt 1:25).\n\nSecond. He is distinguished from others of that name by the place of\nhis birth\u2014to wit, Bethlehem, the city of David; there he must be born,\nthere he was born (John 7:42; Matt 2:4-6).\n\nThird. He is distinguished by his lineage\u2014he came \u2018of the house and\nlineage of David\u2019 (Luke 2:4-6).\n\nFourth. He is distinguished by the time of his birth\u2014to wit, the time\nof the prophets prefixed (Gal 4:4).\n\nFifth. But his common distinction is Jesus of Nazareth; by this name he\nis distinguished one and twenty times in the New Testament\u20141. His\nenemies called him \u2018Jesus of Nazareth\u2019 (Matt 26:71; Mark 14:67; John\n18:5). 2. His disciples called him \u2018Jesus of Nazareth\u2019 (Matt 21:11;\nLuke 24:19; John 1:45; Acts 2:22). 3. The angels called him \u2018Jesus of\nNazareth\u2019 (Mark 16:6). 4. And he calleth himself \u2018Jesus of Nazareth\u2019\n(Acts 22:8). 5. Yea, and he goeth also by the name of \u2018Jesus of\nNazareth\u2019 among the devils (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34).\n\nHe was called \u2018Jesus of Nazareth\u2019 because he dwelt there with his\nmother Mary and her husband. Nazareth was his city, where he had been\nbrought up, whither for shelter Joseph carried him when he came out of\nEgypt with him; in Nazareth was his common abode until the time that\nJohn was cast into prison; wherefore he might well say, \u2018I am Jesus of\nNazareth\u2019 (Luke 4:16; Matt 2:23, 4:12,13). Yea, though he was now in\nheaven, for heaven shall not make us forget what countrymen we were\nwhen we lived in the world. Jesus, you see here, though glorified in\nheaven, yet forgets not what countryman he was when he dwelt in the\nworld. \u2018I am Jesus of Nazareth,\u2019 saith he; I am the Jesus that thou\npersecutest; and that thou mayest know I am he, I tell thee I dwelt\nonce in the city of Nazareth in Galilee; Joseph and my mother Mary\nbrought me up there, and there I dwelt with them many years. \u2018I am\nJesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest\u2019 (Acts 22:8).\n\n[WHAT IT WAS FOR JESUS TO COME INTO THE WORLD.]\n\n\nQUEST. SECOND. What it was for Jesus to come into the world.\n\nAnsw. Not his coming in, or by his Spirit in his people; for so he was\nnever out of the world. Neither is it his appearance in his ordinances.\nNor that coming of his by which he destroyeth Antichrist. Nor his\nappearing in his dreadful providences or judgments. But by the coming\nof Jesus, according to the text, we are to understand that, or such a\ncoming, whereby he was manifest to be God-man in one person; God in our\nflesh without us, or distinct in his own person by himself; such a\ncoming by which he was manifested to be in all points like as men are,\nsin only excepted; such a coming wherein, or by which, the Son of God\nbecame also the Son of man.\n\n[First.] For the further clearing of this, you find it expressly said,\nhe was \u2018born into the world\u2019; Mary, \u2018of whom was born Jesus.\u2019 Now, when\nJesus was born, it is said, \u2018Where is he that is born King of the\nJews?\u2019 Herod \u2018demanded of them where Christ should be born\u2019 (Matt 1:16,\n2:1,2,4; Luke 1:35, 2:11).\n\nNow, that this was fulfilled according to the very word of the text,\nwithout any juggle, evasion, or cunningly-devised fable, consider\u2014\n\n1. He is called the first-born of this woman; the male child that\nopened her womb (Luke 2:7,23).\n\n2. He was not born till nourished in her womb the full time, according\nto the time of life: \u2018And so it was, that while they were there [at\nBethlehem], the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.\nAnd she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in\nswaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger\u2019 (Luke 2:6,7).\n\n3. She also continued in her separation at the birth of Jesus, as other\nwomen at the birth of their children, until \u2018the days of her\npurification according to the law of Moses were accomplished\u2019 (Luke\n2:22).\n\n4. Himself also, as other Hebrew children, was brought to Jerusalem to\npresent him unto the Lord\u2014\u2018As it is written in the law of the Lord,\nEvery male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord\u2019\n(Luke 2:23,24).\n\n5. Thus Jesus also, as other Hebrew children, when the set day was\ncome, was circumcised\u2014\u2018And when eight days were accomplished for the\ncircumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so\nnamed of the angel before he was conceived in the womb\u2019 (Luke 2:21).\n\n6. After this he is often called the young child, the child Jesus; and\nfurther, it is said of him, that he grew, that he increased in wisdom\nand stature (Matt 2:20,21; Luke 2:40,52).\n\nBehold with what diligence, even to a circumstance, the Holy Ghost sets\nforth the birth of the Lord Jesus, and all to convince the incredulous\nworld of the true manner of the coming of the Saviour into the world.\n\nSecond. The reality of the manhood of this Lord Jesus is yet further\nmanifest, and that, 1. By those natural infirmities that attend human\nflesh; 2. By the names the prophets gave him in the days of the Old\nTestament and the New.\n\n1. By those natural infirmities that attend human flesh. As, at his\nbirth he could not go but as carried by his parents. He was sensible of\nhunger (Luke 4:2). He was sensible of thirst (John 19:28). He was\nsensible of weariness (John 4:6). He was nourished by sleep (Mark\n4:38). He was subject to grief (Mark 3:5). He was subject to anger\n(Mark 3:5). He was subject to weep (John 11:35; Luke 19:41). He had joy\nas a man, and rejoiced (Matt 11:25; Luke 10:21). These things, I say,\nJesus was subject to as a man, as the son of the Virgin.\n\n2. The reality of his manhood is yet made manifest by the names the\nprophets gave him, both in the Old Testament and in the New. As,\n\n(1.) He is called the \u2018seed\u2019\u2014the seed of the woman, the seed of\nAbraham, the seed of David, by which is meant he was to come of their\nchildren (Gen 3:15, 12, 22; Gal 3:16,17; Rom 1:3).\n\n(2.) Therefore it is added (where mention is made of the fathers), \u2018of\nwhom as concerning the flesh Christ came.\u2019 He was made of the seed of\nDavid according to the flesh; and hence again he calleth himself the\noffspring of David; therefore, I say, he is said to be of their flesh,\ntheir loins, and is called their Son (Rom 1:3, 4:5; Acts 2:30; Rev\n22:16).\n\n(3.) He therefore is frequently called \u2018a man, and the Son of\nman\u2019\u2014\u2018Then shall you see the Son of man coming in the clouds of\nheaven.\u2019 \u2018When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy\nangels with him.\u2019 \u2018This man, because he continueth ever, hath an\nunchangeable priesthood.\u2019 \u2018Wherefore, it is necessary that this man\nhave somewhat also to offer\u2019 (Matt 25:31, 26:64; Heb 7:24, 8:3, 10:12).\n\n(4.) What shall I say? He himself gave undeniable demonstration of all\nthis when he said he \u2018was dead\u2019; when he called to Thomas to put his\nfinger to, and behold his hands, to reach to him his hand and thrust it\ninto his side, and bid him he should not be faithless, but believing.\nAt another time, when he stood in the midst of the eleven, as they were\ntroubled with the thoughts of unbelief, he said, \u2018Behold my hands and\nmy feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not\nflesh and bones, as ye see me have\u2019 (John 20:27; Luke 24:39).\n\nThus have I showed you what it was for Jesus to come into the\nworld\u2014namely, to be born of a woman, to take flesh, and to become\nGod-man in one person. I come now to the third question; but before I\nspeak particularly to that, I will produce further testimony that we\nfind upon record concerning the truth of all this.\n\nParticular testimonies that this coming of Jesus is his coming to save\nus.\n\nThe Testimony of Simeon.\u2014Simeon the Just gives testimony of him: \u2018And\nthe Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy\nGhost that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord\u2019s\nChrist. And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents\nbrought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,\nthen took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now\nlettest thou thy servant depart in peace,\u2014for mine eyes have seen thy\nsalvation\u2019 (Luke 2:25-32).\n\nThe Testimony of Anna.\u2014Anna, a prophetess, one \u2018of a great age,\u2014which\ndeparted not from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers\nnight and day. And she, coming in at that instant, gave thanks likewise\nunto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption\nin Jerusalem\u2019 (Luke 2:36-38).\n\nThe Testimony of John Baptist.\u2014John Baptist, as he fulfilled his\nministry, he cried concerning this Jesus, \u2018Behold the Lamb of God,\nwhich taketh away the sin of the world.\u2014And he,\u2019 saith John, \u2018that sent\nme to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt\nsee the Spirit descending, and remaining\u2019 or abiding, \u2018the same is he\nwhich baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that\nthis is the Son of God\u2019 (John 1:29-34).\n\nThe Testimony of the Star and Wise Men.\u2014The star that appeared at his\nbirth in the east, and that coasted through the heavens till it came\nover the place where the young child Jesus was, that star gave\ntestimony that he was the Saviour. This star alarmed many, especially\nthe wise men of the east, who were brought by it from afar to worship\nhim: \u2018And lo, the star which they saw in the east, went before them\ntill it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw\nthe star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were\ncome into the house, they saw the young child, with Mary his mother,\nand fell down and worshipped him; and when they had opened their\ntreasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and\nmyrrh\u2019 (Matt 2:9-11).\n\nThe Testimony of the Angels.\u20141. To Mary herself\u2014\u2018And in the sixth month\nthe angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named\nNazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, -and the\nvirgin\u2019s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail,\nthou that art highly favoured.\u2014And the angel said unto her, Fear not,\nMary; for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt\nconceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name\nJESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest;\nand the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David,\nand he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom\nthere shall be no end\u2019 (Luke 1:26-33). 2. The angels\u2019 testimony to the\nshepherds, as they were feeding their flocks in the fields by\nnight\u2014\u2018And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of\nthe Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the\nangel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings\nof great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this\nday in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord\u2019 (Luke\n2:9-11). 3. How the angels solemnized his birth among themselves\u2014\u2018And\nsuddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host\npraising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth\npeace, goodwill towards men\u2019 (vv 13,14).\n\nThe Testimony of God the Father.\u20141. When he was baptized\u2014\u2018And Jesus,\nwhen he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo,\nthe heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God\ndescending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and, lo, a voice from\nheaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased\u2019\n(Matt 3:16,17). 2. The Father\u2019s testimony of him at his\ntransfiguration\u2014\u2018And he took Peter and John and James, and went up into\na mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance\nwas altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.\u2019 And there\nappeared Moses and Elias talking with him, and a cloud from heaven\novershadowed them; at which the three disciples began to be afraid.\nThen \u2018there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved\nSon, hear him\u2019 (Luke 9:28-35). This is that testimony of God which\nPeter speaks of, saying, \u2018We have not followed cunningly devised\nfables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord\nJesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received\nfrom God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to\nhim from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well\npleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were\nwith him in the holy mount\u2019 (2 Peter 1:16-18). 3. God gave testimony of\nhim by signs and wonders\u2014\u2018Believest thou not that I am in the Father,\nand the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of\nmyself: but the Father, that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.\u2019 \u2018God\nalso bearing them witness,\u2019 that preached salvation by Jesus, \u2018both\nwith signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy\nGhost, according to his own will\u2019 (John 14:10; Heb 2:4).\n\nConcerning Jesus, how he put himself upon the test among his\nadversaries.\n\nThe Lord Jesus also putteth himself upon the test among his adversaries\ndivers ways.\n\nFirst. He urgeth the time of the appearing of the Messias to be\ncome\u2014\u2018The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent\nye, and believe the gospel\u2019 (Mark 1:15).\n\nFor this he had a threefold proof\u20141. The heathens had invaded and taken\nthe land, according to that of Daniel (9:25,26). 2. The sceptre was\ndeparted from Judah, according to that of Jacob (Gen 49:10). To which\nalso suited that prophecy: \u2018Before the child shall know to refuse the\nevil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be\nforsaken of both her kings\u2019 (Isa 7:16). 3. The Roman emperor had not\nonly subdued the nation, and put down the kingly race of the Jews, but\nhad set up and established his own power over them. In the fifteenth\nyear of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate was governor of\nJudea; Herod was tetrarch of Galilee; Philip, tetrarch of Iturea; and\nLysanias, tetrarch of Abilene; all heathens, and of Tiberius\u2019 making.\n\nBesides, the kingly race of Judah was at this time become so low by\nreason of the Roman oppression, that the chief of them were put to get\ntheir living by their own hands; even Joseph, the supposed father of\nJesus, was then become a carpenter. Poor man! when Jesus was born, he\nwas fain to thrust into a stable, for there was in the inn no room for\nsuch guests as they. The offering also which was brought unto God at\nthe time when Jesus was presented unto the Lord, was two turtle-doves,\nor two young pigeons\u2014a sacrifice allowed only for them that were poor,\nand could provide no bigger\u2014\u2018And if she be not able to bring a lamb,\nthen she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, the one for the\nburnt-offering, and the other for a sin-offering\u2019 (Lev 12:8). Besides,\nJesus himself saith, \u2018Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have\nnests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.\u2019\n\nNow, I say, all these things were so apparent to the Jews, that they\ncould not object; they felt the Romans were come, they knew the sceptre\nwas gone, they smarted under the Roman tyranny, and knew the kingly\nrace of Judea was overthrown. How, then, could they object that the\ntime was not come for Christ to be born?\n\nFurther, the people were generally convinced that the time was come,\nand therefore, saith the text, they were in expectation. \u2018And as the\npeople were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John,\nwhether he were the Christ or not\u2019 (Luke 3:15). The unbiased people,\nobserving the face of things, could do no other but look for the\nMessias. And hence it is that the Lord Jesus gives the Pharisees, those\nmortal enemies of his, such sore rebukes, saying, \u2018O ye hypocrites, ye\ncan discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of\nthe times?\u2019 The kingdom is lost, the heathens are come, and the sceptre\nis departed from Judah. \u2018Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the\nsky, and of the earth, but how is it that ye do not discern this time?\u2019\n(Matt 16:3; Luke 12:56).\n\nSecond. He yet again puts himself upon the test by the miracles which\nhe wrought before them\u2014\u2018Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the\nFather in me, or else believe me for the very works\u2019 sake\u2019 (John\n14:11). \u2018For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the\nsame works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me\u2019\n(John 5:36.)\n\nThis proof they could not withstand, but granted that he did many\nmiracles, while they did nothing. \u2018Then gathered the chief priests and\nthe Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many\nmiracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him, and\nthe Romans shall come, and take away both our place and nation\u2019 (John\n11:47,48).\n\nYea, so did Jesus confound them, that by their own records and laws, by\nwhich they were to prove persons clean or unclean, they, in reading\ntheir lectures, did justify him, and overthrow themselves.\n\nFor instance, it was written in their law, \u2018If he that hath an issue\nspit upon him that is clean,\u2019 that spittle should make him unclean (Lev\n15:8). Now Jesus, whom they counted most unclean, because he said he\nwas the Son of God, as they thought, speaking blasphemy, he spits upon\npeople, and makes them whole. He spat, and made clay with the spittle,\nand with that clay made a blind man see (John 9:6). Also he spat on the\neyes of another, and made him see (Mark 8:23-25). Again, he spat, and\nwith his spittle touched the tongue of one that was dumb, and made him\nspeak immediately (Mark 7:33-35). Thus he proved himself clear of their\naccusations, and maintained before them that by their law he was\nguiltless, and the Son of God; for the miracles which he wrought were\nto prove him so to be.\n\nAgain, in their law it was written that whoso toucheth the altar of\nincense should be holy (Exo 29:37). A woman with a bloody issue touched\nhim, and is whole of her plague (Mark 5:28). Yea, they brought to him\nmany diseased persons, \u2018and besought him that they might only touch the\nhem of his garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly whole\u2019\n(Matt 14:36).\n\nThus was he justified before them out of their own law, and had his\nglory manifest before their faces, to their everlasting confusion and\ncontempt.\n\nIndeed, the Jews did make one objection against Jesus Christ that\nseemed to them to have weight in it, and that was, because he first\nbegan to appear and manifest his glory in Cana of Galilee. At this, I\nsay, they stumbled. It was their sore temptation; for still, as some\naffirmed him to be the Christ, others as fast objected, \u2018Shall Christ\ncome out of Galilee?\u2019 \u2018Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look; for\nout of Galilee ariseth no prophet\u2019 (John 2:1,11, 7:40-42,52).\n\nBut this their stumble might arise either from the cruelty of Herod, or\nfrom their own not observing and keeping mind the alarm that God gave\nthem at his birth.\n\n1. It might arise or be occasioned through the cruelty of Herod; for\nJesus was born in Bethlehem, the city where David dwelt. But when Herod\nsent out to kill him, and for his sake killed all the young children in\nBethlehem, then was Joseph warned by an angel of God to take the young\nchild and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and so he did, and was there\ntill the death of Herod (Matt 2:1,13,16). After this, the angel comes\nto them in Egypt, and bids them take the young child, and return into\nthe land of Israel; wherefore they arose and went. But hearing that\nHerod\u2019s son, that tyrant, ruled in the room of his father, they were\nafraid to go to Bethlehem, but turned aside into the parts of Galilee,\nwhere they remained till the time of his showing to Israel (Matt\n2:19-23).\n\n2. This stumble of theirs might arise from their not observing and\nkeeping in mind the alarm that God gave them of his birth. (1.) God\nbegan to give them the alarm at the birth of John the Baptist, where\nwas asserted that he was to go before the face of the Lord Jesus, and\nto prepare his ways. \u2018And fear came on all that dwelt round about them,\nand all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill\ncountry of Judea\u2019 (Luke 1:65). (2.) Again, what a continuation of this\nalarm was there also at the birth of Jesus, which was about three\nmonths after John Baptist was born? Now come the angels from heaven.\nNow comes a strange star over the country to lead the men of the east\nto the stable where Jesus was born; now was Herod, the priests, the\nscribes, and also the city of Jerusalem, awakened and sore troubled;\nfor it was noised by the wise men that Christ the King and Saviour was\nborn. Besides the shepherds, Simeon and Anna gave notice of him to the\npeople. They should, therefore, have retained the memory of these\nthings, and have followed God in all his dark providences, until his\nSun of Righteousness should arise among them with healing under his\nwings.\n\n3. I may add another cause of their stumble\u2014they did not understand the\nprophecies that went before of him. (1.) He was to come to them out of\nEgypt\u2014\u2018Out of Egypt have I called my Son\u2019 (Matt 2:15; Hosea 11:1). (2.)\nHe turned aside into Cana of Galilee, and dwelt in the city of\nNazareth, \u2018that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,\nHe shall be called a Nazarene\u2019 (Matt 2:23). (3.) That saying also was\nto be fulfilled, \u2018The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by\nthe way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people\nwhich sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the\nregion and shadow of death light is sprung up\u2019 (Matt 4:15,16; Isa 9:2,\n42:7).\n\nAt these things, then, they stumbled, and it was a great judgment of\nGod upon them. Besides, there seemed to be a contradiction in the\nprophecies of the Scripture concerning his coming. He was to be born in\nBethlehem, and yet to come out of Egypt. How should he be the Christ,\nand yet come out of Galilee, out of which ariseth no prophet? Thus they\nstumbled.\n\nHence note, that though the prophecies and promises be full and plain\nas these were, that he should be born in Bethlehem, yet men\u2019s sins may\ncause them to be fulfilled in such obscurity, that instead of having\nbenefit thereby, they may stumble and split their souls thereat. Take\nheed then; hunt not Christ from plain promises with Herod, hunt him not\nfrom Bethlehem, lest he appear to your amazement and destruction from\nEgypt, or in the land of Zabulon! But this much to the second question;\nto wit, What it was for Jesus to come into the world.\n\nI come now to the third question.\n\n[WHAT IT WAS FOR JESUS TO COME TO BE A SAVIOUR.]\n\n\nQUEST. THIRD. What it was for him to come to be a Saviour.\n\nFor the further handling of this question I must show\u2014First. What it is\nto be a Saviour. Second. What it is to come to be a Saviour. Third.\nWhat it is for Jesus to come to be a Saviour. To these three briefly\u2014\n\nFirst. What it is TO BE a Saviour. 1. A saviour supposeth some in\nmisery, and himself one that is to deliver them. 2. A saviour is either\nsuch an one ministerially or meritoriously.\n\nMinisterially is, when one person engageth or is engaged by virtue of\nrespect or command from superiors, to go and obtain, by conquest or the\nking\u2019s redemption, the captives, or persons grieved by the tyranny of\nan enemy. And thus were Moses and Joshua, and the judges and kings of\nIsrael, saviours\u2014\u2018Thou deliveredst them into the hands of their\nenemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they\ncried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy\nmanifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the\nhand of their enemies\u2019 (Neh 9:27). Thus was Jesus Christ a Saviour; he\nwas engaged by virtue of respect and command from God to obtain, by\nconquest and redemption, the captives or persons grieved. God sent his\nSon to be \u2018the Saviour of the world\u2019 (John 4:42).\n\nMeritoriously is, when the person engaging shall, at his own proper\ncost and charge, give a sufficient value or price for those he\nredeemeth. Thus those under the law were redeemed by the money called\nthe redemption-money\u2014\u2018And Moses gave the money of those that were\nredeemed unto Aaron and to his sons\u2019 (Num 3:46-51). And thus was Jesus\nChrist a Saviour. He paid full price to Divine justice for sinners,\neven his own precious blood\u2014\u2018Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not\nredeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain\nconversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the\nprecious blood of Christ\u2019 (1 Peter 1:18,19).\n\nAnd forasmuch as, in man\u2019s redemption, the undertaker must have\nrespect, not only to the paying of a price, but also to the getting of\na victory; for there is not only justice to satisfy, but death, devil,\nhell, and the grave, to conquer; therefore hath he also by himself\ngotten the victory over these. He hath abolished death (2 Tim 1:10). He\nhath destroyed the devil (Heb 2:14,15). He hath been the destruction of\nthe grave (Hosea 13:14). He hath gotten the keys of hell (Rev 1:18).\nAnd this, I say, he did by himself, at his own proper cost and charge,\nwhen he triumphed over them upon his cross (Col 2:14,15).\n\nSecond. What it is TO COME to be a Saviour.\n\n1. To come to be one, supposeth one ordained and fore-prepared for that\nwork\u2014\u2018Then said he, Lo, I come, a body hast thou prepared me\u2019 (Heb 10).\n\n2. To come to be a Saviour supposeth one commissionated or authorized\nto that work\u2014\u2018The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath\nanointed me,\u2019 authorized me, \u2018to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath\nsent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the\ncaptives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them\nthat are bruised\u2019 (Luke 4:18). And upon this account it is that he is\nso often called Christ, or the Anointed One; the anointed Jesus, or\nJesus the Anointed Saviour. \u2018Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which\nshould come into the world.\u2019 \u2018This Jesus whom I preach unto you is\nChrist.\u2019 He \u2018testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ,\u2019 \u2018and\nconfounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving\u2019 by the Scriptures\n\u2018that this is very Christ\u2019 (John 11:27; Acts 9:22, 17:3, 18:5); the\nvery anointed of God, or he whom God authorized and qualified to be the\nSaviour of the world.\n\n3. To come to be a Saviour supposeth a resolution to do that work\nbefore he goeth back\u2014\u2018I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I\nwill redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I\nwill be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes\u2019 (Hosea\n13:14).\n\nAnd as he resolved, so he hath done. He hath purged our sins (Heb 1:3).\nBy one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified\n(Heb 10:14). He hath obtained eternal redemption for them (Heb 9:12; 2\nTim 1:10; Heb 9:26; Col 2:15; Heb 6:18-20).\n\nThird. I come now to the third question\u2014What it is for JESUS to come to\nbe a Saviour.\n\n1. It is the greatest discovery of man\u2019s misery and inability to save\nhimself therefrom that ever was made in the world. Must the Son of God\nhimself come down from heaven? or can there be no salvation? Cannot one\nsinner save another? Cannot man by any means redeem his brother, nor\ngive to God a ransom for him? Cannot an angel do it? Cannot all the\nangels do it? No; Christ must come and die to do it.\n\n2. It is the greatest discovery of the love of God that ever the world\nhad, for God so to love the world as to send his Son! For God so to\ncommend his love to the world as to send it to them in the blood of his\nSon! Amazing love! (John 3:16; Rom 5:8).\n\n3. It is the greatest discovery of the condescension of Christ that\never the world had, that he should not come \u2018to be ministered unto, but\nto minister, and to give his life a ransom for many\u2019 (Matt 20:28). That\nhe should be manifest for this purpose, \u2018that he might destroy the\nworks of the devil\u2019 (1 John 3:8). That he should come that we \u2018might\nhave life, and that we might have it more abundantly\u2019 (John 10:10).\nThat the Son of God should \u2018come to seek and to save that which was\nlost\u2019 (Luke 19:10). That he should not come \u2018to judge the world, but to\nsave the world\u2019 (John 12:47). That \u2018Christ Jesus should come into the\nworld to save sinners, of whom I am the chief\u2019 (1 Tim 1:15). That he\nshould \u2018love us, and wash us from our sins in his own blood\u2019 (Rev 1:5).\nWhat amazing condescension and humility is this! (Phil 2:6-9).\n\nHOW JESUS CHRIST ADDRESSED HIMSELF TO THE WORK OF OUR REDEMPTION.\n\n\nI come, then, in the next place, to show you how Jesus Christ addressed\nhimself to the work of man\u2019s redemption.\n\nThe Scripture saith, \u2018he became poor,\u2019 that he made himself of no\nreputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, that he humbled\nhimself unto death, even the death of the cross. But particularly,\nFIRST. He took upon him our flesh. SECOND. He was made under the law.\nTHIRD. He took upon him our sins. FOURTH. He bore the curse due to our\nsins.\n\n[HE TOOK UPON HIM OUR FLESH.]\n\n\nFIRST. He took upon him our flesh. I showed you before that he came in\nour flesh, and now I must show you the reason of it\u2014namely, because\nthat was the way to address himself to the work of our redemption.\n\nWherefore, when the apostle treated of the incarnation of Christ, he\nadded withal the reason\u2014to wit, that he might be capable to work out\nthe redemption of men.\n\nThere are three things to be considered in this first head. First. That\nhe took our flesh for this reason\u2014that he might be a Saviour. Second.\nHow he took flesh, that he might be our Saviour. Third. That it was\nnecessary that he should take our flesh, if indeed he will be our\nSaviour.\n\n[He took our flesh, that he might be a Saviour.]\n\n[First.] For the first. That he took our flesh for this reason\u2014that he\nmight be a Saviour: \u2018For what the law could not do, in that it was weak\nthrough the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful\nflesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh\u2019 (Rom 8:3).\n\nThe sum of the words is, Forasmuch as the law could do us no good, by\nreason of the inability that is in our flesh to do it\u2014for the law can\ndo us no good until it be fulfilled\u2014and because God had a desire that\ngood should come to us, therefore did he send his Son in our likeness,\nclothed with flesh, to destroy, by his doing the law, the tendency of\nthe sin that dwells in our flesh. He therefore took our flesh, that our\nsin, with its effects, might by him be condemned and overcome.\n\nThe reason, therefore, why he took flesh is, because he would be our\nSaviour\u2014\u2018Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and\nblood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through\ndeath he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the\ndevil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their\nlifetime subject to bondage\u2019 (Heb 2:14,15).\n\nIn these words it is asserted that he took our flesh for certain\nreasons.\n\n1. Because the children, the heirs of heaven, are partakers of flesh\nand blood\u2014\u2018Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and\nblood, he also himself took part of the same.\u2019 Had the children, the\nheirs, been without flesh, he himself had not taken it upon him; had\nthe children been angels, he had taken upon him the nature of angels;\nbut because the children were partakers of flesh, therefore leaving\nangels, or refusing to take hold of angels, he took flesh and blood,\nthe nature of the children, that he might put himself into a capacity\nto save and deliver the children; therefore it follows, that \u2018through\ndeath he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the\ndevil.\u2019\n\n2. This, therefore, was another reason\u2014that he might destroy the devil.\n\nThe devil had bent himself against the children; he is their adversary,\nand goeth forth to make war with them\u2014\u2018Your adversary, the devil.\u2014And\nhe went to make war with the remnant of her seed\u2019 (1 Peter 5:8; Rev\n12:17). Now the children could not destroy him, because he had already\ncast them into sin, defiled their nature, and laid them under the wrath\nof God. Therefore Christ puts himself among the children, and into the\nnature of the children, that he might, by means of his dying in their\nflesh, destroy the devil\u2014that is, take away sin, his [the devil\u2019s]\nwork, that he might destroy the works of the devil; for sin is the\ngreat engine of hell, by which he overthroweth all that perish. Now\nthis did Christ destroy by taking on him the similitude of sinful\nflesh; of which more anon.\n\n3. \u2018That he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the\ndevil, and deliver them.\u2019 This was the thing in chief intended, that he\nmight deliver the children, that he might deliver them from death, the\nfruit of their sin, and from sin, the sting of that death\u2014\u2018That he\nmight deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime\nsubject to bondage.\u2019\n\nHe took flesh, therefore, because the children had it; he took it that\nhe might die for the children; he took it that he might deliver the\nchildren from the works of the devil\u2014\u2018that he might deliver them.\u2019 No\ndeliverance had come to the children if the Son of God had not taken\ntheir flesh and blood; therefore he took our flesh, that he might be\nour Saviour.\n\nAgain, in a Saviour there must be not only merit, but compassion and\nsympathy, because the children are yet to live by faith, are not yet\ncome to the inheritance\u2014\u2018Wherefore it behoved him in all things to be\nmade like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful\nHigh-priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the\nsins of the people\u2019 (Heb 2:17,18).\n\nTwo reasons are rendered in this text why he must take flesh\u2014namely,\nthat he might be their priest to offer sacrifice, to wit, his body and\nblood for them; and that he might be merciful and faithful, to pity and\npreserve them unto the kingdom appointed for them.\n\nMark you, therefore, how the apostle, when he asserteth that the Lord\nJesus took our flesh, urgeth the reason why he took our flesh\u2014that he\nmight destroy the devil and death, that he might deliver them. It\nbehoveth him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be\nmerciful and faithful, that he might make reconciliation for the sins\nof the people. The reason, therefore, why he took our flesh is\ndeclared\u2014to wit, that he might be our Saviour. And hence you find it so\noften recorded. He hath \u2018abolished in his flesh the enmity.\u2019 He hath\n\u2018slain the enmity\u2019 by his flesh. \u2018And you that were sometimes alienated\nand enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in\nthe body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and\nunblameable\u2014in his sight\u2019 (Eph 2:15,16; Col 1:21,22).\n\nHow he took flesh.\n\nSecond. I come now to the second question\u2014to wit, How he took our\nflesh. This must be inquired into; for his taking flesh was not after\nthe common way; never any took man\u2019s flesh upon him as he, since the\nfoundation of the world.\n\n1. He took not our flesh like Adam, who was formed out of the ground;\n\u2018who was made of the dust of the ground\u2019 (Gen 2:7, 3:19). 2. He took\nnot our flesh as we do, by carnal generation. Joseph knew not his wife,\nneither did Mary know any man, till she had brought forth her\nfirst-born son (Matt 1:25; Luke 1:34). 3. He took flesh, then, by the\nimmediate working and overshadowing of the Holy Ghost. And hence it is\nsaid expressly, \u2018She was found with child of the Holy Ghost.\u2019 \u2018Now the\nbirth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was\nespoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child\nof the Holy Ghost\u2019 (Matt 1:18). And hence again, when Joseph doubted of\nher honesty, for he perceived she was with child, and knew he had not\ntouched her, the angel of God himself comes down to resolve his doubt,\nand said, \u2018Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary\nthy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost\u2019\n(Matt 1:20).\n\nBut again, though the Holy Ghost was that by which the child Jesus was\nformed in the womb, so as to be without carnal generation, yet was he\nnot formed in her without, but by, her conception\u2014\u2018Behold, thou shalt\nconceive in they womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name\nJESUS\u2019 (Luke 1:31). Wherefore he took flesh not only in, but of, the\nVirgin. Hence he is called her son, the seed of the woman; and hence it\nis also that he is called the seed of Abraham, the seed of David; their\nseed, according to the flesh (Gen 12, 13:15, 22; Luke 1:31, 2:7; Rom\n1:3, 9:5; Gal 3:16, 4:4).\n\nAnd this, the work he undertook, required, 1. It required that he\nshould take our flesh. 2. It required that he should take our flesh\nwithout sin, which could not be had he taken it by reason of a carnal\ngeneration; for so all children are conceived in, and polluted with,\nsin (Psa 51). And the least pollution, either of flesh or spirit, had\nutterly disabled him for the work, which to do, he came down from\nheaven. Therefore, \u2018such an High-priest became us, who is holy,\nharmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the\nheavens\u2019 (Heb 7:26).\n\nThis mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God was thus completed, I\nsay, that he might be in all points like as we are, yet without sin;\nfor sin in the flesh disableth and maketh incapable to do the\ncommandment. Therefore was he thus made, thus made of a woman; and this\nthe angel assigneth as the reason of this his marvellous incarnation.\n\u2018The Holy Ghost,\u2019 saith he, \u2018shall come upon thee, and the power of the\nHighest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing that\nshall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God\u2019 (Luke 1:35).\n\nThe overshadowing of the Holy Ghost and the power of the Highest\u2014the\nFather and the Holy Ghost\u2014brought this wonderful thing to pass, for\nJesus is a wonderful one in his conception and birth. This mystery is\nthat next to the mystery of three persons in one God; it is a great\nmystery. \u2018Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the\nflesh.\u2019\n\nThe conclusion is, that Jesus Christ took our flesh that he might be\nour Saviour; and that he might be our Saviour indeed, he thus took our\nflesh.\n\nThat it was necessary that he should take our flesh if he will be our\nSaviour.\n\nThird. I come now to the third thing\u2014namely, that it was necessary that\nhe should take our flesh if he will be our Saviour.\n\n1. And that, first, from the nature of the work; his work was to save,\nto save man, sinking man, man that was \u2018going down to the pit\u2019 (Job\n33:24). Now, he that will save him that is sinking must take hold on\nhim. And since he was not to save a man, but men, therefore it was\nnecessary that he should take hold, not of one person, but of the\ncommon nature, clothing himself with part of the same. He took not hold\nof angels, \u2018but he took on him the seed of Abraham\u2019 (Heb 2:16). For\nthat flesh was the same with the whole lump of the children to whom the\npromise was made, and comprehended in it the body of them that shall be\nsaved, even as in Adam was comprehended the whole world at first (Rom\n5).\n\nHence we are said to be chosen in him, to be gathered, being in him, to\nbe dead by him, to be risen with him, and to be set with him, or in\nhim, in heavenly places already (Rom 7:4; Eph 1:4,10; Col 2:12,13,\n3:1-3). This, then, was the wisdom of the great God, that the Eternal\nSon of his love should take hold of, and so secure the sinking souls of\nperishing sinners by assuming their flesh.\n\n2. The manner of his doing the work of a Saviour did call for his\ntaking of our flesh.\n\nHe must do the work by dying. \u2018Ought not Christ to have suffered?\nChrist must needs have suffered,\u2019 or else no glory follows (Luke 24:26;\nActs 17:3). \u2018The prophets testified beforehand the sufferings of\nChrist, and the glory that should follow\u2019 (1 Peter 1:11). Yea, they did\nit by the Spirit, even by the Spirit of Christ himself. This Spirit,\nthen, did bid them tell the world, yea, testify, that Christ must\nsuffer, or no man be blest with glory; for the threatening of death and\nthe curse of the law lay in the way between heaven gates and the souls\nof the children, for their sins; wherefore he that will save them must\nanswer Divine justice, or God must lie, in saving them without\ninflicting the punishment threatened. Christ, then, must needs have\nsuffered; the manner of the work laid a necessity upon him to take our\nflesh upon him; he must die, he must die for us, he must die for our\nsins. And this was effectually foretold by all the bloody sacrifices\nthat were offered under the law\u2014the blood of bulls, the blood of lambs,\nthe blood of rams, the blood of calves, and the blood of goats and\nbirds. These bloody sacrifices, what did they signify, what were they\nfigures of, but of the bloody sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ?\ntheir blood being a shadow of his blood, and their flesh being a shadow\nof his flesh.\n\nTherefore, when God declared that he took no pleasure in them, because\nthey could not make the worshippers perfect as pertaining to the\nconscience, then comes Jesus Christ to offer his sinless body and soul\nfor the sin of the people\u2014\u2018For it is not possible that the blood of\nbulls and of goats should take away sin. Wherefore, when he cometh into\nthe world, he saith, Sacrifices and offering thou wouldest not, but a\nbody hast thou prepared me; in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin\nthou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of\nthe book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God.\u2019 Since\nburnt-offerings cannot do thy will, my body shall; since the blood of\nbulls and goats cannot do thy will, my blood shall. Then follows, By\nthe will of God \u2018we are sanctified, through the offering up of the body\nof Jesus Christ once for all\u2019 (Heb 10:4-10).\n\n3. The end of the work required that Christ, if he will be our Saviour,\nshould take upon him our flesh.\n\nThe end of our salvation is, that we might enjoy God, and that he by us\nmight be glorified for ever and ever.\n\n(1.) That we might enjoy God. \u2018I will dwell in them, and they shall be\nmy people, and I will be their God.\u2019 This indwelling of God, and\nconsequently our enjoyment of him, begins first in its eminency by his\npossessing our flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Hence his name is\ncalled \u2018Immanuel, God with us\u2019; and \u2018the Word was made flesh, and dwelt\namong us.\u2019 The flesh of Christ is the tabernacle which the Lord\npitched, according to that saying, \u2018The tabernacle of God is with men,\nand he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God\nhimself shall be with them, and be their God\u2019 (Rev 21:3). Here God\nbeginneth to discover his glory, and to be desirable to the sons of\nmen.\n\nGod could not communicate himself to us, nor take us into the enjoyment\nof himself, but with respect to that flesh which his Son took of the\nVirgin, because sin stood betwixt. Now this flesh only was the holy\nlump, in this flesh God could dwell; and forasmuch as this flesh is the\nsame with ours, and was taken up with intent that what was done in and\nby that, should be communicated to all the children; therefore through\nthat doth God communicate of himself unto his people\u2014\u2018God was in\nChrist, reconciling the world unto himself\u2019 (2 Cor 5:19). And \u2018I am the\nway,\u2019 saith Christ, \u2018no man cometh unto the Father but by me\u2019 (John\n14:6).\n\nThat passage to the Hebrews is greatly to our purpose. We have\nboldness, brethren, \u2018to enter into the holiest,\u2019 the place where God\nis, \u2018by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath\nconsecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh\u2019 (Heb\n10:19,20).\n\nWherefore by the flesh and blood of Christ we enter into the holiest;\nthrough the veil, saith he, that is to say, his flesh.\n\n(2.) As the end of our salvation is that we might enjoy God, so also it\nis that he by us might be glorified for ever\u2014\u2018That God in all things\nmight be glorified, through Jesus Christ our Lord.\u2019\n\nHere indeed will the mystery of his grace, wisdom, justice, power,\nholiness, and glory, inhabit eternal praise, while we that are counted\nworthy of the kingdom of God shall admire at the mystery, and see\nourselves, without ourselves, even by the flesh and blood of Christ\nthrough faith therein, effectually and eternally saved. Oh, this will\nbe the burden of our eternal joy\u2014God loved us, and gave his Son for us;\nChrist loved us, and gave his flesh for our life, and his blood for our\neternal redemption and salvation!\n\nTHAT CHRIST WAS MADE UNDER THE LAW.\n\n\nSECOND. But, secondly CHRIST WAS MADE UNDER THE LAW\u2014\u2018When the fulness\nof the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made\nunder the law\u2019 (Gal 4:4).\n\nOf right, being found in flesh, he must needs be under the law, for\nthat there is not any creature above or without law to God; but this is\nnot to the point in hand. Christ was not therefore under the law\nbecause he was found in flesh, but he took flesh, and designedly put\nhimself, or was made under the law; wherefore it is added, He was made\nunder the law to \u2018redeem,\u2019 to redeem them that were under that law.\nWherefore, here is a design, a heavenly contrivance and device on foot;\nChrist is made\u2014that is, by design subjected\u2014under the law, for the sake\nand upon the account of others, \u2018to redeem them that were under the\nlaw.\u2019\n\nMade under the law\u2014that is, put himself into the room of sinners, into\nthe condition of sinners; made himself subject to the same pains and\npenalties we were obnoxious to. We were under the law, and it had\ndominion over us, bound us upon pain of eternal damnation to do\ncompletely all things written in the law. This condition Christ put\nhimself into that \u2018he might redeem\u2019; for assuredly we had else\nperished.\n\nThe law had dominion over us, and since we had sinned, of right it\npronounced the curse, and made all men subject to the wrath of God.\nChrist, therefore, did not only come into our flesh, but also into our\ncondition, into the valley and shadow of death where we were, and where\nwe are, as we are sinners. He that is under the law is under the edge\nof the axe. When David was to go to visit his brethren, and to save\nthem from the hand of Goliath, he was to look how his brethren fared,\nand to \u2018take their pledge\u2019 (1 Sam 17:18). This is true of Jesus Christ\nwhen he came to save us from the hand of death and the law; he looked\nhow his brethren fared, took to heart their deplorable condition, and\nput himself into the same plight\u2014to wit, under the law, that he might\nredeem them that were under the law.\n\nI told you before that he came sinless into the world, that he had a\nmiraculous conception, and wonderful birth; and here you see a reason\nfor it, he was to be put, or made, under the law, \u2018to redeem.\u2019 He that\nwill be made under the law to redeem, had need be sinless and spotless\nhimself; for the law findeth fault with the least, and condemneth man\nfor the first beginning of, sin.\n\nWithout this, then, there could not have been redemption, nor any the\nsons of God by adoption: no redemption, because the sentence of death\nhad already passed upon all; no sons by adoption, because that is the\neffect of redemption. \u2018God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made\nunder the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might\nreceive the adoption of sons.\u2019 Christ, then, by being made under the\nlaw, hath recovered his from under the law, and obtained for them the\nprivilege of the adoption of sons.\n\nFor, as I told you before, Christ stood a common[3] person, presenting\nin himself the whole lump of the promised seed, or the children of the\npromise; wherefore he comes under the law for them, takes upon him to\ndo what the law required of them, takes upon him to do it for them.\n\nHe began, therefore, at the first tittle of the law, and going in man\u2019s\nflesh, for man, through the law, he becomes \u2018the end of the law for\nrighteousness to every one that believeth.\u2019 The END of the law\u2014what is\nthe end of the law but perfect and sinless obedience? that is the end\nof the law, both with respect to its nature, and the cause of its being\nimposed. God gave the law, that complete righteousness should by that\nbe found upon men; but because sin was got into man\u2019s flesh, therefore\nthis righteousness, by us, could not be completed. Now comes Christ the\nLord into the world, clothes himself with the children\u2019s flesh,\naddresseth himself to the work of their redemption, is made under the\nlaw; and going through every part of the law without sin, he becometh\n\u2018the end of the law for\u2019 justifying \u2018righteousness to every one that\nbelieveth\u2019 (Rom 10:4). For he obeyed not the law for himself, he needed\nno obedience thereto; it was we that needed obedience, it was we that\nwanted to answer the law; we wanted it but could not obtain it, because\nthen the law was weak through the flesh; therefore God sent his own\nSon, and he did our duty for us, even to become the end of the law to\nevery one that believeth. In this, therefore, Christ laboured for us,\nhe was made under the law to redeem. Therefore, as I said before, it\nbehoved him to be sinless, because the law binds over to answer for sin\nat the bar of the judgment of God. Therefore did his Godhead assume our\nhuman flesh, in a clean and spotless way, that he might come under \u2018the\nlaw, to redeem them that were under the law.\u2019\n\nFor, consisting of two natures, and the personality lying in the\nGodhead, which gave value and worth to all things done for us by the\nmanhood, the obedience takes denomination from thence, to be the\nobedience of God. The Son\u2019s righteousness, the Son\u2019s blood; the\nrighteousness of God, the blood of God (Heb 5:8,9; Phil 3:9; Acts\n20:28; 1 John 3:16).\n\nThus Jesus Christ came into the world under the law to redeem, not\nsimply as God, but God-man, both natures making one Christ. The\nGodhead, therefore, did influence and give value to the human flesh of\nChrist in all its obedience to the law, else there would have been\nwanting that perfection of righteousness which only could answer the\ndemands and expectation of the justice of God; to wit, perfect\nrighteousness by flesh.\n\nBut the second Person in the Godhead, the Son, the Word, coming under\nthe law for men in their flesh, and subjecting himself by that flesh to\nevery tittle and demand of the law; all and every whit of what was\nacted and done by Jesus Christ, God-man, for us, it was and is the\nrighteousness of God; and since it was not done for himself, but for\nus, as he saith in the text, \u2018to redeem,\u2019 the righteousness by which we\nare set free from the law is none other but the righteousness that\nalone resideth in the person of the Son of God.\n\nAnd that it is absolutely necessary thus it should be, is evident, both\nwith respect to God and also with respect to man.\n\nWith respect to God. The righteousness is demanded by God; therefore he\nthat comes to redeem must present before God a righteousness absolutely\nperfect; this can be done by none but God.\n\nWith respect to man. Man was to present this righteousness to God;\ntherefore must the undertaker be man. Man for man, and God for God,\nGod-man between God and man. This daysman can lay his hand upon us\nboth, and bring God and man together in peace (Job 9:33).\n\nQuest. But some may say, what need of the righteousness of one that is\nnaturally God? Had Adam, who was but a mere man, stood in his\ninnocency, and done his duty, he had saved himself and all his\nposterity.\n\nAnsw. Had Adam stood, he had so long secured himself from the wages of\nsin, and posterity so long as they were in him. But had Adam sinned,\nyea, although he had not defiled his nature with filth, he could never\nafter that have redeemed himself from the curse of the law, because he\nwas not equal with God; for the curse of the law is the curse of God;\nbut no man can deliver himself from the curse of God, having first\ntransgressed. This is evident, because angels, for sin, lie bound in\nchains, and can never deliver themselves. He, therefore, that redeemeth\nman from under the law must not only do all the good that the law\nrequireth, but bear all the penalty that is due by the law for sin.\n\nShould an angel assume human flesh, and in that flesh do the law, this\nrighteousness would not redeem a sinner; it would be but the\nrighteousness of an angel, and so, far short of such a righteousness as\ncan secure a sinner from the wrath of God. But \u2018thou shalt love the\nLord thy God with all thy soul, with all thy heart, with all thy mind,\nwith all thy strength.\u2019 If there were no more required of us now to\nredeem ourselves, it would be utterly impossible for us to do it,\nbecause in the best there is sin, which will intermix itself with every\nduty of man. This being so, all the heart, all the soul, all the\nstrength, and all the mind, to the exact requirement of the justice of\nthe law, can never be found in a natural man.\n\nBesides, for this work there is required a perfect memory, always to\nkeep in mind the whole duty of man, the whole of every tittle of all\nthe law, lest sin come in by forgetfulness; a perfect knowledge and\njudgment, lest sin come in by ignorance; an everlasting unweariedness\nin all, lest sin and continual temptation tire the soul, and cause it\nto fail before the whole be done.\n\nFor the accomplishing of this last, he must have\u20141. A perfect\nwillingness, without the least thought to the contrary. 2. Such a\nhatred of sin as is not to be found but in the heart of God. 3. A full\ndelight in every duty, and that in the midst of all temptations. 4. A\ncontinuing in all things to the well-pleasing of the justice of God.\n\nI say, should the penalty of the law be taken off, should God forgive\nthe penalty and punishment due to sins that are past, and only demand\ngood works now, according to the tenor of the law, no man could be\nsaved; there would not be found that heart, that soul, that mind, and\nthat strength, anywhere in the world.\n\nThis, therefore, must cease for ever, unless the Son of God will put\nhis shoulder to the work; but, blessed be God, he hath done it\u2014\u2018When\nthe fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a\nwoman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.\u2019\n\nCHRIST TOOK UPON HIM OUR SINS.\n\n\nTHIRD. But thirdly, CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR TAKES UPON HIM OUR SINS. This is\nanother step to the work of our redemption. \u2018He hath made him to be sin\nfor us.\u2019 Strange doctrine! A fool would think it blasphemy; but Truth\nhath said it. Truth, I say, hath said, not that he was made to sin, but\nthat God made him to be sin\u2014\u2018He hath made him to be sin for us\u2019 (2 Cor\n5:21).\n\nThis, therefore, showeth us how effectually Christ Jesus undertook the\nwork of our redemption\u2014He was made to be sin for us. Sin is the great\nblock and bar to our happiness; sin is the procurer of all miseries to\nmen both here and for ever. Take away sin, and nothing can hurt us; for\ndeath temporal, death spiritual, and death eternal, are the wages of\nsin (Rom 6:23).\n\nSin, then, and man for sin, is the object of the wrath of God. If the\nobject of the wrath of God, then is his case most dreadful; for who can\nbear, who can grapple with the wrath of God? Men cannot, angels cannot,\nthe whole world cannot. All, therefore, must sink under sin, but he who\nis made to be sin for us; he only can bear sins, he only can bear them\naway, and therefore were they laid upon him\u2014\u2018The Lord hath laid upon\nhim the iniquity of us all\u2019 (Isa 53:6).\n\nMark, therefore, and you shall find that the reason why God made him to\nbe sin for us was, \u2018that we might be made the righteousness of God in\nhim.\u2019 He took our flesh, he was made under the law, and was made to be\nsin for us, that the devil might be destroyed, that the captives might\nbe redeemed, and made the righteousness of God in him.\n\nAnd forasmuch as he saith that God \u2018hath made him to be sin,\u2019 it\ndeclareth that the design of God and the mystery of his will and grace\nwas in it. \u2018He hath made him to be sin.\u2019 God hath done it, that we\nmight be made the righteousness of God in him. There was no other way;\nthe wisdom of heaven could find no other way; we could not by other\nmeans stand just before the justice of God.\n\nNow, what remains but that we who are reconciled to God by faith in his\nblood are quit, discharged, and set free from the law of sin and death?\nYea, what encouragement to trust in him, when we read that God \u2018made\nhim to be sin for us.\u2019\n\nQuest. But how was Jesus Christ made of God to be sin for us?\n\nAnsw. Even so as if himself had committed all our sins; that is, they\nwere as really charged upon him as if himself had been the actor and\ncommitter of them all. \u2018He hath made him to be sin,\u2019 not only as a\nsinner, but as sin itself. He was as the sin of the world that day he\nstood before God in our stead. Some, indeed, will not have Jesus Christ\nour Lord to be made sin for us; their wicked reasons think this to be\nwrong judgment in the Lord; it seems, supposing that because they\ncannot imagine how it should be, therefore God, if he does it, must do\nit at his peril, and must be charged with doing wrong judgment, and so\nthings that become not his heavenly Majesty; but against this duncish\nsophistry[4] we set Paul and Isaiah, the one telling us still, \u2018the\nLord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all\u2019; and the other, that \u2018God\nmade him to be sin for us.\u2019\n\nBut these men, as I suppose, think it enough for Christ to die under\nthat notion only, not knowing nor feeling the burden of sin, and the\nwrath of God due thereto. These make him as senseless in his dying, and\nas much without reason, as a silly sheep or goat, who also died for\nsin, but so as in name, in show, in shadow only. They felt not the\nproper weight, guilt, and judgment of God for sin. But thou, sinner,\nwho art so in thine own eyes, and who feelest guilt in thine own\nconscience, know thou that Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God in\nflesh, was made to be sin for thee, or stood sensibly guilty of all thy\nsins before God, and bare them in his own body upon the cross.\n\nGod charged our sins upon Christ, and that in their guilt and burden,\nwhat remaineth but that the charge was real or feigned? If real, then\nhe hath either perished under them, or carried them away from before\nGod; if they were charged but feignedly, then did he but feignedly die\nfor them, then shall we have but feigned benefit by his death, and but\na feigned salvation at last\u2014not to say how this cursed doctrine\nchargeth God and Christ with hypocrisy, the one in saying, He made\nChrist to be sin; the other in saying that he bare our sin; when, in\ndeed and in truth, our guilt and burden never was really upon him.\n\nQuest. But might not Christ die for our sins but he needs must bear\ntheir guilt or burden?\n\nAnsw. He that can sever sin and guilt, sin and the burden, each from\nother, laying sin and no guilt, sin and no burden on the person that\ndieth for sin, must do it only in his own imaginative head. No\nscripture, nor reason, nor sense, understandeth or feeleth sin when\ncharged without its guilt and burden.\n\nAnd here we must distinguish between sin charged and sin forgiven. Sin\nforgiven may be seen without guilt or burden, though I think not\nwithout shame in this world; but sin charged, and that by the justice\nof God\u2014for so it was upon Christ\u2014this cannot be but guilt and the\nburden, as inseparable companions, must unavoidably lie on that person.\nPoor sinner, be advised to take heed of such deluded preachers who,\nwith their tongues smoother than oil, would rob thee of that excellent\ndoctrine, \u2018God hath made him to be sin for us\u2019; for such, as I said, do\nnot only present thee with a feigned deliverance and forgiveness, with\na feigned heaven and happiness, but charge God and the Lord Jesus as\nmere impostors, who, while they tell us that Christ was made of God to\nbe sin for us, affirm that it was not so really, suggesting this\nsophistical reason, \u2018No wrong judgment comes from the Lord.\u2019 I say\nagain, this wicked doctrine is the next way to turn the gospel in thy\nthoughts to no more than a cunningly-devised fable (2 Peter 1:16), and\nto make Jesus Christ, in his dying for our sins, as brutish as the\npaschal lamb in Moses\u2019 law.\n\nWherefore, distressed sinner, when thou findest it recorded in the Word\nof truth that Christ died for our sins, and that God hath made him to\nbe sin for us, then do thou consider of sin as it is a transgression\nagainst the law of God, and that as such it procureth the judgment of\nGod, torments and afflicts the mind with guilt, and bindeth over the\nsoul to answer it. Sever not sin and guilt asunder, lest thou be an\nhypocrite like these wicked men, and rob Christ of his true sufferings.\nBesides, to see sin upon Christ, but not its guilt; to see sin upon\nChrist, but not the legal punishment, what is this but to conclude that\neither there is no guilt and punishment in sin, or that Christ bare our\nsin, but we the punishment? for the punishment must be borne, because\nthe sentence is gone out from the mouth of God against sin.\n\nDo thou therefore, as I have said, consider of sin as a transgression\nof the law (1 John 3:4), and a provoker of the justice of God; which\ndone, turn thine eye to the cross, and behold those sins, in the guilt\nand punishment of them, sticking in the flesh of Christ. \u2018God condemned\nsin in the flesh\u2019 of Christ (Rom 8:3). He \u2018bare our sins in his own\nbody on the tree\u2019 (1 Peter 2:24).\n\nI would only give thee this caution\u2014Not sin in the nature of sin\u2014sin\nwas not so in the flesh of Christ; but sin in the natural punishment of\nit\u2014to wit, guilt, and the chastising hand of justice. \u2018He was wounded\nfor our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the\nchastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are\nhealed\u2019 (Isa 53:5).\n\nLook, then, upon Christ crucified to be as the sin of the world, as if\nhe only had broken the law; which done, behold him perfectly innocent\nin himself, and so conclude that for the transgression of God\u2019s people\nhe was stricken; that when the Lord made him to be sin, he made him to\nbe sin for us.[5]\n\nHE WAS MADE A CURSE FOR US.\n\n\nFOURTH. As he was made flesh under the law, and also sin, SO HE WAS\nMADE A CURSE FOR US\u2014\u2018Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,\nbeing made a curse for us; as it is written, Cursed is every one that\nhangeth on a tree.\u2019 This sentence is taken out of Moses, being passed\nthere upon them that for sin are worthy of death\u2014\u2018And if a man have\ncommitted a sin worthy of death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body\nshall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in anywise\nbury him that day, for he that is hanged is accursed of God\u2019 (Deut\n21:22,23). By this sentence Paul concludeth that Jesus Christ was\njustly hanged, because sin worthy of death was upon him; sin, not of\nhis own, but ours. Since, then, he took our sins, he must be cursed of\nGod; for sin is sin wherever it lies, and justice is justice wherever\nit finds it; wherefore since Jesus Christ will bear our sin, he must be\n\u2018numbered with the transgressors,\u2019 and counted worthy to die the death.\n\nHe that committeth sin is worthy of death. This, though Christ did not\npersonally do, his members, his body, which is his church did; and\nsince he would undertake for them with God, and stand in their sins\nbefore the eyes of his justice, he must die the death by the law.\n\nSin and the curse cannot be severed. Sin must be followed with the\ncurse of God. Sin therefore being removed from us to the back of\nChrist, thither goes also the curse; for if sin be found upon him, he\nis the person worthy to die\u2014worthy by our sins.\n\nWherefore Paul here setteth forth Christ clothed with our sins, and so\ntaking from us the guilt and punishment. What punishment, but the wrath\nand displeasure of God?\u2014\u2018Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the\nlaw, being made a curse for us.\u2019\n\nIn this word \u2018curse\u2019 are two things comprised,\n\n1. The reality of sin; for there can be no curse where there is no sin,\neither of the person\u2019s own, or made to be his by his own consent or the\nimputation of Divine justice. And since sins are made to be Christ\u2019s by\nimputation, they are his, though not naturally, yet really, and\nconsequently the wages due. He hath made him to be sin; he was made a\ncurse for us.\n\n2. This word \u2018curse\u2019 compriseth, therefore, the punishment of sin, that\npunishment properly due to sin from the hand of God\u2019s justice, which\npunishment standeth in three things\u2014(1.) In charging sin upon the body\nand soul of the person concerned; and hence we read that both the body\nand soul of Christ \u2018were made an offering for sin\u2019 (Isa 53:10; Heb\n10:10). (2.) The punishment standeth in God\u2019s inflicting of the just\nmerits of sin upon him that standeth charged therewith, and that is\ndeath in its own nature and strength; to wit, death with the sting\nthereof\u2014\u2018The sting of death is sin.\u2019 This death did Christ die because\nhe died for our sins. (3.) The sorrows and pains of this death,\ntherefore, must be undergone by Jesus Christ.\n\nNow there are divers sorrows in death\u2014such sorrows as brutes are\nsubject to; such sorrows as persons are subject to that stand in sin\nbefore God; such sorrows as those undergo who are swallowed up of the\ncurse and wrath of God for ever.\n\nNow so much of all kinds of sorrow as the imputation of our sin could\njustly bring from the hand of Divine justice, so much of it he had. He\nhad death. He had the sting of death, which is sin. He was forsaken of\nGod; but could not by any means have those sorrows which they have that\nare everlastingly swallowed up of them. \u2018It was not possible that he\nshould be holden of it\u2019 (Acts 2:24).\n\nFor where sin is charged and borne, there must of necessity follow the\nwrath and curse of God. Now where the wrath and curse of God is, there\nmust of necessity follow the effects, the natural effects\u2014I say, the\nnatural effects\u2014to wit, the sense, the sorrowful sense of the\ndispleasure of an infinite Majesty, and his chastisements for the sin\nthat hath provoked him. There are effects natural, and effects\naccidental; those accidental are such as flow from our weakness, whilst\nwe wrestle with the judgment of God\u2014to wit, hellish fear, despair,\nrage, blasphemy, and the like; these were not incident to Jesus Christ,\nhe being in his own person every way perfect. Neither did he always\nendure the natural effects; his merits relieved and delivered him. God\nloosed the pains of death, \u2018because it was not possible that he should\nbe holden of it.\u2019\n\nChrist then was made a curse for us, for he did bear our sin; the\npunishment therefore from the revenging hand of God must needs fall\nupon him.\n\nWherefore by these four things we see how Christ became our Saviour\u2014he\ntook hold of our nature, was born under the law, was made to be sin,\nand the accursed of God for us. And observe it\u2014all this, as I said\nbefore, was the handiwork of God. God made him flesh, made him under\nthe law, God made him to be sin, and also a curse for us. The Lord\nbruised him, the Lord put him to grief, the Lord made his soul an\noffering for sin (Isa 53:10). Not for that he hated him, considering\nhim in his own harmless, innocent, and blessed person, for he was daily\nhis delight; but by an act of grace to us-ward, were our iniquities\nlaid upon him, and he in our stead was bruised and chastised for them.\nGod loved us, and made him a curse for us. He was made a curse for us,\n\u2018that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through [faith\nin] Jesus Christ\u2019 (Gal 3:14).\n\nFURTHER DEMONSTRATION OF THIS TRUTH.\n\n\nBefore I pass this truth, I will present thee, courteous reader, with\ntwo or three demonstrations for its further confirmation.\n\nFirst. That Christ did bear our sins and curse is clear, because he\ndied, and that without a mediator.\n\nHe died\u2014\u2018The wages of sin is death\u2019 (Rom 6:23). Now if death be the\nwages of sin, and that be true that Christ did die and not sin, either\nthe course of justice is perverted, or else he died for our sins; there\nwas \u2018no cause of death in him,\u2019 yet he died (Acts 13:28). He did no\nevil, guile was not found in his mouth, yet he received the wages of\nsin (1 Peter 2:22). Sin, therefore, though not of his own, was found\nupon him, and laid to his charge, because \u2018he died.\u2019 \u2018Christ died for\nour sins,\u2019 Christ \u2018gave himself for our sins\u2019 (1 Cor 15:1-3; Gal 1:4).\n\nHe, then, that will conclude that Christ did not bear our sin, chargeth\nGod foolishly, for delivering him up to death; for laying on him the\nwages, when in no sense he deserved the same. Yea, he overthroweth the\nwhole gospel, for that hangeth on this hinge\u2014\u2018Christ died for our\nsins.\u2019\n\nObject. But all that die do not bear the curse of God for sin.\n\nAnsw. But all that die without a mediator do. Angels died the cursed\ndeath because Christ took not hold of them; and they for whom Christ\nnever prayeth, they die the cursed death, for they perish everlastingly\nin the unutterable torments of hell. Christ, too, died that death which\nis the proper wages of sin, for he had none to stand for him. \u2018I\nlooked,\u2019 saith he, \u2018and there was none to help; and I wondered that\nthere was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto\nme.\u2014And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no\nintercessor; therefore his arm brought salvation unto him, and his\nrighteousness it sustained him\u2019 (Isa 63:5, 54:16).\n\nChrist then died, or endured the wages of sin, and that without an\nintercessor, without one between God and him; he grappled immediately\nwith the eternal justice of God, who inflicted on him death, the wages\nof sin; there was no man to hold off the hand of God; justice had his\nfull blow at him, and made him a curse for sin. He died for sin without\na mediator, he died the cursed death.\n\nSecond. A second thing that demonstrateth that Christ died the cursed\ndeath for sin; it is, the frame of spirit that he was in at the time\nthat he was to be taken.\n\nNever was poor mortal so beset with the apprehensions of approaching\ndeath, as was this Lord Jesus Christ; amazement beyond measure, sorrow\nthat exceeded, seized upon his soul. \u2018My soul,\u2019 saith he, \u2018is exceeding\nsorrowful, even unto death.\u2019 \u2018And he began,\u2019 saith Mark, \u2018to be sore\namazed, and to be very heavy\u2019 (Matt 26:38; Mark 14:33).\n\nAdd to this, that Jesus Christ was better able to grapple with death,\neven better able to do it alone, than the whole world joined all\ntogether. 1. He was anointed with the Spirit without measure (John\n3:34). 2. He had all grace perfect in him (John 1:16). 3. Never none so\nsoaked in the bosom of his Father\u2019s love as himself (Prov 8:23-30). 4.\nNever none so harmless and without sin as he was, and, consequently,\nnever man had so good a conscience as he had (Heb 7:26). 5. Never none\nprepared such a stock of good works to bear him company at the hour of\ndeath as he. 6. Never none had greater assurance of being with the\nFather eternally in the heavens than he. And yet, behold, when he comes\nto die, how weak is he, how amazed at death, how heavy, how exceeding\nsorrowful! and, I say, no cause assigned but the approach of death.\n\nAlas! how often is it seen that we poor sinners can laugh at\ndestruction when it cometh; yea, and \u2018rejoice exceedingly when we find\nthe grave,\u2019 looking upon death as a part of our portion; yea, as that\nwhich will be a means of our present relief and help (Job 3:22; 1 Cor\n3:22). This Jesus Christ could not do, considered as dying for our sin,\nbut the nearer death, the more heavy and oppressed with the thoughts of\nthe revenging hand of God. Wherefore he falls into an agony, and\nsweats; not after the common rate as we do when death is severing body\nand soul\u2014\u2018His sweat was as it were great drops [clodders] of blood\nfalling down to the ground\u2019 (Luke 22:44).\n\nWhat, I say, should be the reason, but that death assaulted him with\nhis sting? If Jesus Christ had been to die for his virtues only,\ndoubtless he would have borne it lightly, and so he did as he died,\nbearing witness to the truth, \u2018He endured the cross, despising the\nshame\u2019 (Heb 12:2). How have the martyrs despised death, and, as it\nwere, not been careful of that, having peace with God by Jesus Christ,\nscorning the most cruel torments that hell and men could devise and\ninvent! but Jesus Christ could not do so, as he was a sacrifice for\nsin; he died for sin, he was made a curse for us. O my brethren, Christ\ndied many deaths at once, he made his grave with the wicked, and with\nthe rich in his death. Look how many thousands shall be saved\u2014so many\ndeaths did Jesus die; yet it was but once he died. He died thy death,\nand my death, and so many deaths as all our sins deserved who shall be\nsaved from the wrath to come.\n\nNow, to feign that these sorrows and this bloody agony, was not real,\nbut in show only, what greater condemnation can be passed upon Jesus\nChrist, who loved to do all things in the most unfeigned simplicity? It\nwas, therefore, because of sin, the sin that was put into the death he\ndied, and the curse of God that was due to sin, that made death so\nbitter to Jesus Christ\u2014\u2018It is Christ that died.\u2019 The apostle speaks as\nif never any died but Christ, nor indeed did there, so wonderful a\ndeath as he (Rom 8:34). Death, considered simply as it is a deprivation\nof natural life, could not have these effects in a person, personally\nmore righteous than an angel. Yea, even carnal, wicked men, not\nawakened in their conscience, how securely can they die! It must\ntherefore also be concluded that the sorrows and agony of Jesus Christ\ncame from a higher cause, even from the guilt of sin, and from the\ncurse of God that was now approaching for that sin.\n\nIt cannot be attributed to the fear of men; their terror could not make\nhim afraid; that was contrary to his doctrine, and did not become the\ndignity of his person; it was sin, sin, sin, and the curse due to sin.\n\nThird. It is evident that Christ did bear and die the cursed death for\nsin, from the carriage and dispensations of God towards him.\n\n1. From the carriage of God. God now becomes as an enemy to him. (1.)\nHe forsakes him\u2014\u2018My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?\u2019 Yea, the\nsense of the loss of God\u2019s comfortable presence abode with him even\ntill he gave up the ghost. (2.) He dealeth with him as with one that\nhath sinned, he chastiseth him, he bruiseth him, he striketh and\nsmiteth him, and was pleased\u2014that is, his justice was satisfied\u2014in so\ndoing. \u2018It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief\u2019\n(Isa 53:10).\n\nThese things could not be, had he only considered him in his own\npersonal standing. Where was the righteous forsaken? Without the\nconsideration of sin, he doth not willingly afflict nor grieve the\nchildren of men\u2014that is, not out of pleasure, or without sufficient\ncause.\n\nJesus Christ, then, since he is under this withdrawing, chastising,\nbruising, and afflicting displeasure of God, he is all that time under\nsin, under our sins, and therefore thus accursed of God, his God.\n\n2. Not only the carriage of God, but his dispensations, his visible\ndispensations, plainly declare that he stood before God in our sins.\nVengeance suffered him not to live. Wherefore God delivered him up\u2014\u2018He\nspared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all\u2019 (Rom 8:32).\n(1.) He delivered him into the hands of men (Mark 9:31). (2.) He was\ndelivered into the hands of sinners (Luke 24:7). (3.) He was delivered\nunto death (Rom 4:25). (4.) Yea, so delivered up as that they both had\nhim to put him to death, and God left him for that purpose in their\nhands; yea, was so far off from delivering him, that he gave way to all\nthings that had a tendency to take his life from the earth.\n\nNow many men do what they will with him, he was delivered to their\nwill\u2014Judas may sell him; Peter may deny him; all his disciples forsake\nhim; the enemy apprehends him, binds him, they have him away like a\nthief to Caiaphas the high-priest, in whose house he is mocked, spit\nupon, his beard is twitched from his cheeks; now they buffet him and\nscornfully bow the knee before him; yea, \u2018his visage was so marred more\nthan any man, and his form more than the sons of men\u2019 (Isa 52:14).\n\nNow he is sent to the governor, defaced with blows and blood; who\ndelivereth him into the hand of his soldiers; they whip him, crown him\nwith thorns, and stick the points of the thorns fast in his temples by\na blow with a staff in their hand; now he is made a spectacle to the\npeople, and then sent away to Herod, who, with his men of war, set him\nat nought, no God appearing for his help.\n\nIn fine, they at last condemn him to death, even to the death of the\ncross, where they hang him up by wounds made through his hands and his\nfeet, between the earth and the heavens, where he hanged for the space\nof six hours\u2014to wit, from nine in the morning till three in the\nafternoon. No God yet appears for his help; while he hangs there some\nrail at him, others wag their heads, others tauntingly say, \u2018He saved\nothers, himself he cannot save\u2019; some divide his raiment, casting lots\nfor his garments before his face; others mockingly bid him come down\nfrom the cross, and when he desireth succour, they give him vinegar to\ndrink. No God yet appears for his help.\n\nNow the earth quakes, the rocks are rent, the sun becomes black, and\nJesus still cries out that he was forsaken of God; and presently boweth\nhis head and dies (Matt 26, 27; Mark 14, 15; Luke 22, 23; John 18, 19).\n\nAnd for all this there is no cause assigned from God but sin\u2014\u2018He was\nwounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the\nchastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are\nhealed\u2019 (Isa 53:5).\n\nThe sum then is, that Jesus Christ the Lord, by taking part of our\nflesh, became a public person, not doing or dying in a private\ncapacity, but in the room and stead of sinners, whose sin deserved\ndeath and the curse of God; all which Jesus Christ bare in his own body\nupon the tree. I conclude, then, that my sin is already crucified and\naccursed in the death and curse Christ underwent.\n\n[Objections to this doctrine.]\n\nI come now to some objections.\n\nObjection First. Christ never was a sinner, God never supposed him to\nbe a sinner, neither did our sins become really his; God never reputed\nhim so to have been; therefore hate or punish him as a sinner he could\nnot; for no false judgment can belong to the Lord.\n\nAnswer.\u2014First. That Christ was not a sinner personally, by acts or\ndoings of his own, is granted; and in this sense it is true that God\ndid never suppose him to be a sinner, nor punished him as such a\nsinner, nor did he really, if by really you understand naturally,\nbecome our sin, nor did God ever repute him so. Second. But that Christ\nstood before God in our sins, and that God did not only suppose him so\nto stand, but set him in them, put them upon him, and counted them as\nhis own, is so true that he cannot at present be a Christian that\ndenies it\u2014\u2018The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all\u2019 (Isa\n53:6; 1 Peter 2:22). Third. So, then, though God did not punish him for\nsin of his own committing, yet he punished him for sin of our\ncommitting\u2014\u2018The just suffered for the unjust\u2019 (1 Peter 3:18). Fourth.\nTherefore it is true, that though Christ did never really become sin of\nhis own, he did really become our sin, did really become our curse for\nsin. If this be denied, it follows that he became our sin but\nfeignedly, that he was made our curse, or a curse for us but in\nappearance, show, or in dissimulation; but no such action or work can\nproceed of the Lord. He did then really lay our sin and his curse upon\nhim for our sin.\n\nObjection Second. But if Christ indeed hath suffered for our sins, and\nendured for them that curse that of justice is due thereto, then hath\nhe also endured for us the proper torments of hell, for they are the\nwages of our sins.\n\nAnswer. Many things might be said in answer to this objection; but\nbriefly\u2014First. What God chargeth upon the soul for sin is one thing,\nand what followeth upon that charge is another. Second. A difference in\nthe person suffering may make a difference in the consequences that\nfollow upon the charge. Let us then consider of both these things.\n\nFirst. The charge is sin\u2014God charge him with our sins. The person then\nstands guilty before the judgment of God. The consequences are\u20141. The\nperson charged sustains or suffereth the wrath of God. 2. This wrath of\nGod is expressed and inflicted on body and soul.\n\nThe consequences are\u2014God forsaketh the person charged, and being left,\nif he cannot stand, he falleth under the power of guilt and horror of\nthe same.\n\nIf the person utterly fall under this charge, as not being able to\nwrestle with and overcome this wrath of God, then despair, horror of\nhell, rage, blasphemy, darkness, and damnable anguish, immediately\nswallow him up, and he lieth for ever and ever in the pains of hell, a\nmonument of eternal vengeance.\n\nNow that Christ underwent the wrath of God it is evident, because he\nbare our curse; that God forsook him, he did with strong crying and\ntears acknowledge; and therefore that he was under the soul-afflicting\nsense of the loss of God\u2019s favour, and under the sense of his\ndispleasure, must needs flow from the premises.\n\n[Second.] But now, because Christ Jesus the Lord was a person\ninfinitely differing from all others that fall under the wrath of God,\ntherefore those things that flow from damned sinners could not flow\nfrom him.\n\n1. Despair would not rise in his heart, for his flesh did rest in hope;\nand said, even when he suffered, \u2018Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell\u2019\n(Acts 2:27).\n\n2. The everlastingness of the punishment, therefore, nor the terrors\nthat accompany such, could not fasten upon him; for he knew at last\nthat God would justify him, or approve of his works that they were\nmeritorious.\n\nAnd mark, everlasting punishment is not the proper wages of sin but\nunder a supposition that the person suffering be not able to pay the\ndebt\u2014\u2018Thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last\nmite\u2019 (Luke 12:59).\n\nThe difference, then, of the persons suffering may make a difference,\nthough not in the nature of the punishment, yet in the duration and\nconsequences of it.\n\nChrist under the sentence was, as to his own personal acts only,\naltogether innocent; the damned only altogether sinners. Christ had in\nhim even then the utmost perfection of all graces and virtues; but the\ndamned, the perfection of sin and vileness. Christ\u2019s humanity had still\nunion with his Godhead; the damned, union only with sin. Now, an\ninnocent person, perfect in all graces, as really God as man, can\nbetter wrestle with the curse for sin than either sinful men or angels.\n\nWhile they despair, Christ hopes. While they blaspheme, Christ submits.\nWhile they rage, Christ justifies God. While they sink under the burden\nof sin and wrath, Christ recovereth by virtue of his worthiness\u2014\u2018Thou\nwilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One\nto see corruption.\u2019 He was God\u2019s Holy One, and his holiness prevailed.\n\nSo that it follows not, that because Christ did undergo the curse due\nto our sins, he therefore must have those accidental consequences which\nare found to accompany damned souls.\n\nObjection Third. But the Scripture saith, that the wages of sin is\neverlasting punishment: \u2018Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting\nfire, prepared for the devil and his angels\u2019 (Matt 25:41).\n\nAnswer. This objection is partly answered already in the answer to that\nforegoing. But further,\n\nFirst. Consider, the wages of sin is death, and punishment under the\nwrath of God\u2014till those that die the death for sin have paid the utmost\nfarthing (Matt 5:26; Luke 12:58,59).\n\nSecond. So, then, the everlastingness of the punishment lieth here, if\nthe person suffering be not able to make amends to justice for the sins\nfor which he suffereth; else justice neither would nor could, because\nit is just, keep such still under punishment.\n\nThird. The reason, then, why fallen angels and damned souls have an\neverlastingness of punishment allotted them is, because, by what they\nsuffer, they cannot satisfy the justice of God.\n\nFourth. The conclusion then is, though the rebukes of God for sin by\ndeath, and punishment after, be the rebukes of eternal vengeance, yet\nthe eternity of that punishment is for want of merit. Could the damned\nmerit their own deliverance, justice would let them go.\n\nFifth. It is one thing, therefore, to suffer for sin by the stroke of\neternal justice, and another thing to abide for ever a sufferer there:\nChrist did the first, the damned do the second.\n\nSixth. His rising, therefore, from the dead the third day doth nothing\ninvalidate his sufferings, but rather showeth the power of his merit.\nAnd here I would ask a question, Had Christ Jesus been more the object\nof faith, if weakness and endless infirmity had kept him under the\ncurse, than by rising again from the dead; want of merit causing the\none, sufficiency thereof causing the other?\n\nSeventh. If men will not believe that Christ hath removed the curse\nbecause he is risen again, they would much more strongly have doubted\nit had he been still in the grave. But, O amazing darkness! to make\nthat an argument that his sufferings wanted merit, which to God himself\nis sufficient proof that he hath purged our sins for ever\u2014\u2018For this\nman, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on\nthe right hand of God\u2019 (Heb 10:12).\n\nObjection Fourth. But the Scripture saith, Christ is our example, and\nthat in his very death (1 Peter 2:21).\n\nAnswer. Christ in his sufferings and death is both sacrifice and\nexample.\n\nFirst. A sacrifice\u2014\u2018Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.\u2019 And\nagain, \u2018He gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for\na sweet-smelling savour.\u2019 And thus he made reconciliation for iniquity,\nand brought in everlasting righteousness (1 Cor 5:7; Eph 5:1,2; Dan\n9:24).\n\nSecond. He was also in his sufferings exemplary, and that in several\nparticulars\u2014(1.) In his meek deportment while he was apprehended (Isa\n53:7). (2.) In doing them good that sought his life (Luke 22:50,51).\n(3.) In his praying for his enemies when they were in their outrage\n(Luke 23:34). (4.) \u2018When he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he\nsuffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth\nrighteously\u2019 (1 Peter 2:23).\n\nIn these respects, I say, he was exemplary, and brought honour to his\nprofession by his good behaviour; and O how beautiful would\nChristianity be in the eyes of men, if the disciples of our Lord would\nmore imitate him therein!\n\nBut what? because Christ is our pattern, is he not our passover? or,\nbecause we should in these things follow his steps, died he not for our\nsins? Thus to conclude would not only argue thee very erroneous, but\nsuch a conclusion would overthrow the gospel, it being none other but a\ngreat sleight of Satan to shut out the whole by a part, and to make us\nblasphemers while we plead for holiness.\n\nLook, then, upon the death of Christ under a double consideration\u20141. As\nhe suffered from the hand of God. 2. As he suffered from the hand of\nmen. Now, as he suffered by God\u2019s hand, so he suffered for sin; but as\nhe suffered from men, so he suffered for righteousness\u2019 sake.\n\nObserve, then, that as he suffered for sin, so no man took away his\nlife; but as he suffered for righteousness, so they slew him by wicked\nhands. What is it then? Christ must needs have suffered, and the wisdom\nof God had so ordained that \u2018those things which God before had showed\nby the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so\nfulfilled\u2019 (Acts 3:18). Thus, therefore, we ought to distinguish of the\ncauses and ends of the death of Christ.\n\nAgain; as Christ suffered for sin, so he would neither be taken at\nman\u2019s pleasure, nor die at man\u2019s time. 1. Not at man\u2019s pleasure; and\nhence it was that they so often sought his life in vain, \u2018for his hour\nwas not yet come\u2019\u2014to wit, the hour in which he was to be made a\nsacrifice for our sin (John 13, 17:1,2, 18:1,2). 2. Not at their time;\nbut, contrary to all expectation, when the due time was come, \u2018he bowed\nhis head and gave up the ghost\u2019 (John 19:30).\n\nAnd for this last work, he had power given him of God\u2014that is, power to\ndie when he would. \u2018I have power,\u2019 said he, \u2018to lay down my life, and I\nhave power to take it again.\u2019 This power never man had before. This\nmade the centurion wonder, and made Pontius Pilate marvel; and indeed\nwell they might, for it was as great a miracle as any he wrought in his\nlife; it demonstrated him to be the Son of God (Mark 15:38,39). The\ncenturion, knowing that according to nature he might have lived longer,\nconcluded therefore that his dying at that instant was not but\nmiraculously. And when he \u2018saw that he so cried out, and gave up the\nghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.\u2019\n\nAnd the reason why he had power to die was, that he might offer his\noffering willingly, and at the season. 1. Willingly\u2014\u2018If his offering be\na burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he\nshall offer it of his own voluntary will, at the door of the tabernacle\nof the congregation before the Lord\u2019 (Lev 1:3). 2. He must offer it at\nthe season\u2014\u2018Thou shalt keep this ordinance,\u2019 the passover, \u2018in his\nseason\u2019 (Exo 13:10).\n\nNow, both these offerings having immediate respect to the offering of\nthe body of Christ for sin\u2014for he came in the room of all burnt\nsacrifices\u2014the passover also was a type of him (Heb 10:3-6; 1 Cor\n5:7,8). Therefore, he being now the priest as well as sacrifice, must\nhave power and will to offer his sacrifice with acceptation; and this\nthe Scripture testifieth he did, where it saith, \u2018In due time Christ\ndied for the ungodly\u2019 (Rom 5:6). In due time, that is, at the time\nappointed, at the acceptable time.\n\nThou must, therefore, unless thou art willing to be deceived, look upon\nthe sufferings of Christ under a double consideration, and distinguish\nbetween his sufferings as our example and his suffering for our sins.\nAnd know, that as he suffered as our example, so he suffered only for\nrighteousness\u2019 sake from the hands of wicked men; but as he suffered\nfor our sins, so he suffered, as being by God imputed wicked, the\npunishment that was due to sin, even the dreadful curse of God. Not\nthat Christ died two deaths, one after another; but he died at the same\ntime upon a double account\u2014for his righteousness\u2019 sake from men, for\nour sins from the hand of God. And, as I said before, had he only\nsuffered for righteousness\u2019 sake, death had not so amazed him, nor had\nhe been so exceeding heavy in the thoughts of it; that had never put\nhim into an agony, nor made him sweat as it were great drops of blood.\nBesides, when men suffer only for righteousness\u2019 sake, God doth not use\nto hide his face from them, to forsake them, and make them accursed;\n\u2018but Christ hath delivered us from the curse of the law, being made a\ncurse for us.\u2019\n\nObjection Fifth. But if indeed Christ hath paid the full price for us\nby his death, in suffering the punishment that we should have done,\nwherefore is the Scripture so silent as not to declare that by his\ndeath he hath made satisfaction?\n\nAnswer. No man may teach God knowledge; he knoweth best how to deliver\nhis mind in such words and terms as best agree with his eternal wisdom,\nand the consciences of those that are truly desirous of salvation,\nbeing overburdened with the guilt of sin. Perhaps the word\n\u2018satisfaction\u2019 will hardly be found in the Bible; and where is it said\nin so many words, \u2018God is dissatisfied with our sins?\u2019 yet it is\nsufficiently manifest that there is nothing that God hateth but sin,\nand sinners for the sake of sin. What meant he by turning Adam out of\nparadise, by drowning the old world, by burning up Sodom with fire and\nbrimstone from heaven? What meant he by drowning of Pharaoh, by causing\nthe ground to swallow up Korah and his company, and by his destroying\nIsrael in the wilderness, if not to show that he was dissatisfied with\nsin? That God is also satisfied, yea, more than satisfied, by Christ\u2019s\nsufferings for our sins, is apparent; for, granting that he died for\nthem as these scriptures declare\u2014Isaiah 49:4-6, 53; 1 Corinthians 5:8,\n15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4, 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; 1\nJohn 2:2, 3:16, 4:14; Revelation 1:5, 5:9.\u2014\n\nFirst. It is apparent, because it is said that God smelled in that\noffering of the body of Christ for our sins a sweet-smelling savour\u2014\u2018He\ngave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a\nsweet-smelling savour\u2019 (Eph 5:2).\n\nSecond. It is apparent, because it is said expressly that God for\nChrist\u2019s sake doth now forgive\u2014\u2018Be ye kind one to another,\ntender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ\u2019s sake\nhath forgiven you\u2019 (Eph 4:32).\n\nThird. It is apparent that God is satisfied with Christ\u2019s blood for our\nsins, because he hath declared that he can justify those that believe\nin, or rely upon, that blood for life, in a way of justice and\nrighteousness\u2014\u2018Being justified freely by his grace, through the\nredemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a\npropitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness\nfor the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of\nGod; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might\nbe just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus\u2019 (Rom\n3:24-26).\n\nNow, I say, to object against such plain testimonies, what is it but to\ndeny that Christ died for sin; or to conclude, that having so done, he\nis still in the grave; or, that there is no such thing as sin; or, no\nsuch thing as revenging justice in God against it; or, that we must die\nourselves for our sins; or, that sin may be pardoned without a\nsatisfaction; or, that every man may merit his own salvation? But\n\u2018without shedding of blood is no remission\u2019 (Heb 9:22).\n\nTo avoid, therefore, these cursed absurdities, it must be granted that\nJesus Christ by his death did make satisfaction for sin.\n\nBut the word \u2018satisfaction\u2019 may not be used by the Holy Ghost, perhaps\nfor that it is too short and scanty a word to express the blessedness\nthat comes to sinners by the blood of Christ.\n\n1. To make satisfaction amounts to no more than completely to answer a\nlegal demand for harms and injuries done. Now this, when done to the\nfull, leaveth the offender there where he was before he committed the\ninjury. Now, if Christ had done no more than this, he had only paid our\ndebt, but had not obtained eternal redemption for us.\n\n2. For a full satisfaction given by this man for harms done by another\nmay neither obtain the love of the person offended, nor the smallest\ngift which the person offending hath not deserved. Suppose I owe to\nthis man ten thousand talents, and another should pay him every\nfarthing, there remaineth over and above by that complete satisfaction\nnot one single halfpenny for me. Christ hath therefore done more than\nto make satisfaction for sin by his blood. He hath also \u2018made us kings\nand priests unto God and his Father,\u2019 and we \u2018shall reign with him for\never and ever\u2019 (Rev 1:6, 22:5).\n\n[Additional scriptures in proof of this doctrine.]\n\nBut take a few more scriptures for the proof of the doctrine before\nasserted.\n\nFirst. \u2018We have redemption through his blood\u2019 (Col 1:14). 1. Redemption\nfrom sin (Eph 1:7). 2. Redemption from death (Heb 2:14,15; Hosea\n13:14). 3. Redemption from Satan (Heb 2:14). 4. Redemption from the\nworld (Gal 1:4). 5. Redemption to God (Rev 5:9). 6. Eternal\nredemption\u2014\u2018Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own\nblood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal\nredemption for us\u2019 (Heb 9:12).\n\nSecond. We are said also to be washed in his blood. 1. Our persons are\nwashed\u2014He \u2018loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood\u2019 (Rev\n1:5). 2. His blood washeth also our performances\u2014\u2018Our robes are washed,\nand made white in the blood of the Lamb\u2019 (Rev 7:14).\n\nThird. We are said to be purged by his blood. 1. Purged from sin before\nGod\u2014\u2018When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right\nhand of God\u2019 (Heb 1:3). 2. Purged from evil consciences\u2014\u2018How much more\nshall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered\nhimself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to\nserve the living God?\u2019 (Heb 9:14).\n\nFourth. We are said to be made nigh to God by his blood\u2014\u2018But now in\nChrist Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood\nof Christ\u2019 (Eph 2:13).\n\nFifth. Peace is said to be made by his blood. 1. Peace with God (Col\n1:20). 2. Peace of conscience (Heb 10:19-23). 3. Peace one with another\n(Eph 2:14).\n\nSixth. We are said to be justified by his blood. \u2018Much more then, being\nnow justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him\u2019\n(Rom 5:9). Justified, that is, acquitted\u20141. Acquitted before God (Eph\n5:26,27). 2. Acquitted before angels (Matt 28:5-8). 3. Acquitted by the\nlaw (Rom 3:21-23). 4. Acquitted in the court of conscience (Heb 9:14).\n\nSeventh. We are said to be saved by his blood (Rom 5:8,9).\n\nEighth. We are said to be reconciled by his blood (Col 1:20-22).\n\nNinth. We are said to be sanctified by his blood (Heb 13:12).\n\nTenth. We are said to be admitted into the holiest by his blood\n(Heb 10:19).\n\nEleventh. We are said to have eternal redemption by his blood (Heb\n9:12).\n\nYea, lastly, this blood which was once spilt upon the cross, will be\nthe burden of our song in heaven itself for ever and ever (Rev 5:9).\n\nNow, if we be redeemed, washed, purged, made nigh to God, have peace\nwith God; if we stand just before God, are saved, reconciled,\nsanctified, admitted into the holiest; if we have eternal redemption by\nhis blood, and if his blood will be the burden of our song for ever;\nthen hath Christ paid the full price for us by his death, then hath he\ndone more than made satisfaction for our sins.\n\nSEVERAL DEMONSTRATIONS MORE, PROVING THE FORMER DOCTRINE.\n\n\nBut before I conclude this answer, I will give you nine or ten more\nundeniable demonstrations to satisfy you, if God will bless them to\nyou, in the truth of this great doctrine\u2014to wit, that Jesus Christ, by\nwhat he hath done, hath paid the full price to God for the souls of\nsinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them.\n\nTHE FIRST DEMONSTRATION.\n\n\nFIRST. And, first, I begin with his resurrection. That God that\ndelivered him up unto death, and that made him a curse for sin, that\nGod raised him up from the dead\u2014\u2018But God raised him from the dead\u2019\n(Acts 3:15, 13:30). Now, considering that at his death he was charged\nwith our sins, and accursed to death for our sins, that justice that\ndelivered him up for them must have amends made to him before he\nacquits him from them; for there can be no change in justice. Had he\nfound him in our sins in the grave, as he found him in them upon the\ntree (for he had them in his body on the tree), he had left him there\nas he had left him upon the tree; yea, he had as surely rotted in the\ngrave, as ever he died on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). But when he visited\nChrist in the grave, he found him a holy, harmless, undefiled, and\nspotless Christ, and therefore he raised him up from the dead\u2014\u2018He\nraised him up from the dead, having loosed the pains of death; because\nit was not possible that he should be holden of it\u2019 (Acts 2:24).\n\nQuest. But why not possible now to be holden of death?\n\nAnsw. Because the cause was removed. Sin was the cause\u2014\u2018He died for our\nsins.\u2014He gave himself for our sins\u2019 (1 Cor 15:1-3; Gal 1:4). These sins\nbrought him to death; but when God, that had made him a curse for us,\nlooked upon him in the grave, he found him there without sin, and\ntherefore loosed the pains of death; for justice saith, this is not\npossible, because not lawful, that he who lieth sinless before God\nshould be swallowed up of death; therefore he raised him up.\n\nQuest. But what did he do with our sins, for he had them upon his back?\n\nAnsw. It is said he took them away\u2014\u2018Behold the Lamb of God which taketh\naway the sin of the world.\u2019 It is said he put them away\u2014\u2018Now once in\nthe end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice\nof himself\u2019 (John 1:29; Heb 9:26). That is, by the merit of his\nundertaking he brought into the world, and set before the face of God,\nsuch a righteousness that outweigheth and goeth far beyond that sin,\nand so did hide sin from the sight of God; hence, he that is justified\nis said to have his sins hid and covered\u2014\u2018Blessed is he whose\ntransgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered\u2019 (Psa 32:1). Covered\nwith the righteousness of Christ\u2014\u2018I spread my skirt over thee, and\ncovered thy nakedness,\u2019 thy sins (Eze 16:8). Christ Jesus, therefore,\nhaving by the infiniteness of his merit taken away, put away, or hidden\nour sins from the face of God, therefore he raised him up from the\ndead.\n\nYou find in that sixteenth of Leviticus mention made of two goats, one\nwas to be slain for a sin-offering, the other to be left alive; the\ngoat that was slain was a type of Christ in his death, the goat that\nwas not slain was a type of Christ in his merit. Now this living goat,\nhe carried away the sins of the people into the land of\nforgetfulness\u2014\u2018And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the\nlive goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of\nIsrael, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them\nupon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hands of a\nfit man into the wilderness; and the goat shall bear upon him all their\niniquities unto a land not inhabited\u2019 (Lev 16:21,22). Thus did Jesus\nChrist bear away by the merit of his death the sins and iniquities of\nthem that believe; wherefore, when God came to him in the grave, he\nfound him holy and undefiled, and raised him up from the dead.\n\nAnd observe it, as his death was for our sin, so his rising again was\nfor our discharge; for both in his death and resurrection he\nimmediately respected our benefits; he died for us, he rose from the\ndead for us\u2014\u2018He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again\nfor our justification\u2019 (Rom 4:25). By his death he carried away our\nsins, by his rising he brought to us justifying righteousness.\n\nThere are five circumstances also attending his resurrection that show\nus how well pleased God was with his death.\n\nFirst. It must be solemnized with the company, attendance, and\ntestimony of angels (Matt 28:1-8; Luke 24:3-7; John 20:11,12).\n\nSecond. At, or just upon, his resurrection, the graves where many of\nthe saints for whom he died lay asleep, did open, and they followed\ntheir Lord in full triumph over death\u2014\u2018The graves were opened, and many\nbodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves\nafter his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto\nmany\u2019 (Matt 27:52,53). These saints coming out of their graves after\nhim, what a testimony is it that he for them had taken away sin, and\ndestroyed him that had the power of death; yea, what a testimony was it\nthat he had made amends to God the Father, who granted him at his\nresurrection to have presently out of the grave, of the price of his\nblood, even the bodies of many of the saints which slept! He was\ndeclared to be the Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness, and\nthe resurrection from the dead (Rom 1:4). It saith not, by his\nresurrection, though that be true; but by the resurrection, meaning the\nresurrection of the bodies of the saints which slept, because they rose\nby virtue of his blood; and by that he was with power declared to be\nthe Son of God. They, I say, were part of his purchase, some of them\nfor whom Christ died. Now for God to raise them, and that upon and by\nvirtue of his resurrection, what is it but an open declaration from\nheaven that Christ by his death hath made amends for us, and obtained\neternal redemption for us?\n\nThird. When he was risen from the dead, God, to confirm his disciples\nin the faith of the redemption that Christ had obtained by his blood,\nbrings him to the church, presents him to them alive, shows him openly,\nsometimes to two or three, sometimes to eleven or twelve, and once to\nabove five hundred brethren at once (Acts 1:3, 10:40; Luke 24:13-16;\nJohn 20:19, 21:1-23; 1 Cor 15:3-8).\n\nFourth. At his resurrection, God gives him the keys of hell and of\ndeath (Rev 1:18). Hell and death are the effects and fruits of sin.\n\u2018The wicked shall be turned into hell,\u2019 and the wages of sin is death.\nBut what then are sinners the better for the death and blood of Christ?\nO! they that dare venture upon him are much the better, for they shall\nnot perish, unless the Saviour will damn them, for he hath the keys of\nhell and of death. \u2018Fear not,\u2019 saith he, \u2018I am the first and the last,\nI am he that liveth, and was dead, and, behold, I am alive for\nevermore, and have the keys of hell and death.\u2019 These were given him at\nhis resurrection, as if God had said, My Son, thou hast spilt thy blood\nfor sinners, I am pleased with it, I am delighted in thy merits, and in\nthe redemption which thou hast wrought; in token hereof I give thee the\nkeys of hell and of death; I give thee all power in heaven and earth;\nsave who thou wilt, deliver who thou wilt, bring to heaven who thou\nwilt.\n\nFifth. At Christ\u2019s resurrection, God bids him ask the heathen of him,\nwith a promise to give him the uttermost parts of the earth for his\npossession. This sentence is in the second Psalm, and is expounded by\nPaul\u2019s interpretation of the words before, to be spoken to Christ at\nhis resurrection\u2014\u2018Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.\u2019 I\nhave begotten thee\u2014that is, saith Paul, from the dead (Acts 13:33,34).\n\nHe hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second\nPsalm\u2014\u2018Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.\u2019 Now mark, at\nhis raising him from the dead, he bids him ask, \u2018Ask of me,\u2019 and that\n\u2018the heathen\u2019; as if God had said, My Son, thy blood hath pacified and\nappeased my justice; I can now in justice, for thy sake, forgive poor\nmortals their sin. Ask them of me; ask them, though they be heathens,\nand I will give them to thee, to the utmost ends of the earth. This is,\nthen, the first demonstration to prove that Jesus Christ, by what he\nhath done, hath paid full price to God for the souls of sinners, and\nobtained eternal redemption for them\u2014namely, his being raised again\nfrom the dead.\n\nTHE SECOND DEMONSTRATION.\n\n\nSECOND. A second thing that demonstrateth this truth is, that he\nascended and was received up into heaven. \u2018So then, after the Lord had\nspoken to them, he was received up into heaven\u2019 (Mark 16:19). This\ndemonstration consisteth of two parts\u2014First, Of his ascending. Second,\nOf his being received.\n\nFirst. For his ascending\u2014\u2018He ascended up on high\u2019 (Eph 4:8). This act\nof ascending answereth to the high-priest under the law, who, after\nthey had killed the sacrifice, he was to bring the blood into the most\nholy place\u2014to wit, the inner temple, the way to which was ascending or\ngoing up (2 Chron 9).\n\nNow, consider the circumstances that attended his ascending, when he\nwent to carry his blood to present it before the mercy-seat, and you\nwill find they all say amends is made to God for us.\n\n1. At this he is again attended and accompanied with angels (Acts\n1:10,11).\n\n2. He ascendeth with a shout, and with the sound of a trumpet, with\n\u2018Sing praises, sing praises, sing praises\u2019 (Psa 47:6).\n\n3. The enemies of man\u2019s salvation are now tied to his\nchariot-wheels\u2014\u2018When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive\u2019\n(Eph 4:8). That is, he led death, devils, and hell, and the grave, and\nthe curse, captive, for these things were our captivity. And thus did\nDeborah prophesy of him when she cried, \u2018Arise, Barak, and lead thy\ncaptivity captive, thou son of Abinoam\u2019 (Judg 5:12). This David also\nforesaw when he said, \u2018Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led\ncaptivity captive\u2019 (Psa 68:18).\n\n4. The apostles must be the beholders of his going up, and must see the\ncloud receive him out of their sight (Acts 1:9-12).\n\nThe consideration of these things strongly enforceth this conclusion,\nthat he hath spoiled what would have spoiled us, had he not by his\nblood shed taken them away. And I say, for God to adorn him with all\nthis glory in his ascension, thus to make him ride conqueror up into\nthe clouds, thus to go up with sound of trumpet, with shout of angels,\nand with songs of praises, and, let me add, to be accompanied also with\nthose that rose from the dead after his resurrection, who were the very\nprice of his blood; this doth greatly demonstrate that Jesus Christ, by\nwhat he hath done, hath paid full price to God for the souls of\nsinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them; he had not else rode\nthus in triumph to heaven.\n\nSecond. I come now to his being received\u2014\u2018He was received up into\nheaven.\u2019 The high-priest under the law, when he ascended into the\nholiest, he was there to offer the blood, which holiest was the type of\nheaven (Exo 19:10,11; Heb 9:24). But because the sacrifices under the\nlaw could not make them that did the service perfect as pertaining to\nthe conscience, therefore they were to stand, not to sit; to come out\nagain, not tarry there. \u2018For it is not possible that the blood of bulls\nand of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the\nworld, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body\nhast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou\nhast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the\nbook it is written of me), to do thy will, O God\u2019 (Heb 10:4-6).\n\nChrist, therefore, in his entering into heaven, did it as high-priest\nof the church of God; therefore neither did he go in without blood.\nWherefore, when he came to be \u2018an high-priest of good things to come,\nby a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is\nto say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves,\nbut by his own blood; he entered in once into the holy place, having\nobtained eternal redemption for us\u2019 (Heb 9:12-14). He entered in,\nhaving obtained, or because he obtained, eternal redemption for us. But\nto pass that.\n\n[Glorious circumstances attending his entrance into heaven.]\n\nConsider ye now also those glorious circumstances that accompany his\napproach to the gates of the everlasting habitation.\n\nFirst. The everlasting gates are set, yea, bid stand open\u2014Be ye open,\n\u2018ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.\u2019 This King\nof glory is Jesus Christ, and the words are a prophecy of his glorious\nascending into the heavens, when he went up as the high-priest of the\nchurch, to carry the price of his blood into the holiest of all. \u2018Lift\nup your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and\nthe King of glory shall come in\u2019 (Psa 24:7,9).\n\nSecond. At his entrance he was received, and the price accepted which\nhe paid for our souls. Hence it is said, he entered in by his\nblood\u2014that is, by the merit of it. \u2018To receive\u2019 is an act of\ncomplacency and delight, and includeth well-pleasedness in the person\nreceiving, who is God the Father; and considering that this Jesus now\nreceived is to be received upon our account, or as undertaking the\nsalvation of sinners\u2014for he entered into the heavens for us\u2014it is\napparent that he entered thither by virtue of his infinite\nrighteousness, which he accomplished for us upon the earth.\n\nThird. At his reception he received glory, and that also for our\nencouragement\u2014\u2018God raised him up, and gave him glory, that your faith\nand hope might be in God\u2019 (1 Peter 1:19-21). He gave him glory, as a\ntestimony that his undertaking the work of our redemption was accepted\nof him.\n\n1. He gave glory to his person, in granting him to sit at his own right\nhand; and this he had, I say, for or upon the account of the work he\naccomplished for us in the world. When he had offered up one sacrifice\nfor sins for ever, he sat down on the right hand of God, and this by\nGod\u2019s appointment\u2014\u2018Sit thou at my right hand\u2019 (Heb 10:12,13). This\nglory is the highest; it is above all kings, princes, and potentates in\nthis world; it is above all angels, principalities, and powers in\nheaven. \u2018He is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God,\nangels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him\u2019 (1 Peter\n3:32).\n\n2. He gave glory to his name, to his name Jesus, that name being\nexalted above every name\u2014\u2018He hath given him a name above every name,\nthat at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,\nand things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue\nshould confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the\nFather\u2019 (Phil 2:9-11).\n\nThis name is said, in another place, to be a name above every name that\nis named, \u2018not only in this world, but also in that which is to come\u2019\n(Eph 1:21).\n\nBut should JESUS have been such a name, since he undertook for sinners,\nhad this undertaker failed in his work, if his work had not been\naccepted with God, even the work of our redemption by his blood? No,\nverily; it would have stunk in the nostrils both of God and man; it\nwould have been the most abhorred name. But Jesus is the name; Jesus he\nwas called, in order to his work\u2014\u2018His name shall be called JESUS, for\nhe shall save\u2019; he was so named of the angel before he was conceived in\nthe womb; and he goeth by that name now he is in heaven; by the name\nJesus\u2014\u2018Jesus of Nazareth,\u2019 because he once dwelt there. This name, I\nsay, is the highest name, the everlasting name, the name that he is to\ngo by, to be known by, to be worshipped by, and to be glorified by;\nyea, the name by which also most glory shall redound to God the Father.\nNow, what is the signification of this name but SAVIOUR? This name he\nhath, therefore, for his work\u2019s sake; and because God delighted in his\nundertaking, and was pleased with the price he had paid for us,\ntherefore the Divine Majesty hath given him it, hath made it high, and\nhath commanded all angels to bow unto it; yea, it is the name in which\nhe resteth, and by which he hath magnified all his attributes.\n\n(1.) This is the name by which sinners should go to God the Father.\n\n(2.) This is the name through which they obtain forgiveness of sins,\nand \u2018anything\u2019\u2014\u2018If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it\u2019\n(John 14:14).\n\n(3.) This is the name through which our spiritual services and\nsacrifices are accepted, and by which an answer of peace is returned\ninto our bosoms (1 Peter 2). But more of this anon.\n\n(4.) At this name devils tremble, at this name angels bow the head, at\nthis name God\u2019s heart openeth, at this name the godly man\u2019s heart is\ncomforted; this name, none but devils hate it, and none but those that\nmust be damned despise it. \u2018No man speaking by the Spirit of God\ncalleth Jesus accursed,\u2019 or accounteth him still dead, and his blood\nineffectual to save the world.\n\n3. He hath also given him the glory of office.\n\n(1.) He is there a priest for ever, intercepting betwixt the Divine\npresence and all that hate us, by his blood; sin, Satan, death, hell,\nthe law, the grave, or the like, cannot be heard, if his blood be\npresented to God as the atonement for us. This is called the blood of\nsprinkling, that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel (Heb\n12:24). By this blood he entered into heaven, by this blood he secureth\nfrom wrath \u2018all that come unto God by him.\u2019 But should his blood have\nhad a voice in heaven to save withal, had it not merited first, even in\nthe shedding of it, the ransom and redemption of souls? It is true, a\nman whose blood cannot save, may, with Abel\u2019s, cry out for vengeance\nand wrath on the head of him that shed it. But this blood speaks for\nbetter things, this blood speaks for souls, for sinners, for pardon,\n\u2018having obtained eternal redemption for us.\u2019\n\n(2.) He is there a forerunner for us\u2014\u2018Whither the forerunner is for us\nentered, even Jesus\u2019 (Heb 6:20). This office of harbinger is distinct\nfrom, though it comes by virtue of, his priestly office; therefore they\nare both mentioned in the text\u2014\u2018Whither the forerunner is for us\nentered, even Jesus, made an high-priest for ever, after the order of\nMelchisedec.\u2019 He is therefore our forerunner by virtue of his\npriesthood, his blood giving worth to all he does.\n\nIn this office of harbinger or forerunner, he prepareth for believers\ntheir dwelling-places in the heavens; their dwelling-places according\nto their place, state, calling, service, or work, in his body, the\nchurch\u2014\u2018In my Father\u2019s house,\u2019 saith he, \u2018are many mansions; if it were\nnot so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you\u2019 (John\n14:2).\n\nThis is that mentioned in the forty-seventh Psalm\u2014\u2018He shall choose our\ninheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved.\u2019 But should\nhe have had power to choose our inheritance for us, to prepare for us\nour dwelling-places; should he have power to give even heaven itself to\na company of poor men, had he not in the first place obtained by his\nblood the deliverance of our souls from death?\n\n(3.) He is there a prophet for us, by which office of his he hath\nreceived to communicate the whole will of the eternal God, so far as is\nfit for us to know in this world, or in that which is to come. Hence he\nis called the prophet of the church\u2014\u2018The Lord shall raise you up a\nprophet,\u2019 \u2018and this is of a truth that prophet that should come into\nthe world.\u2019 But this office he hath also now in heaven, by virtue of\nthe blood he shed for us upon earth. Hence the new testament is called,\n\u2018the new testament in his blood\u2019; and his blood is said to be \u2018the\nblood of the everlasting covenant\u2019 or testament; yea, such virtue doth\nhis blood give to the new testament, or covenant of grace, as that\nsevered from that it is nothing worth; \u2018for a testament is of force\nafter men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the\ntestator liveth\u2019 (Heb 9:17). So that every word of God which he hath by\nChrist given to us for our everlasting consolation, is dipped in blood,\nis founded in blood, and stands good to sinners purely\u2014I mean with\nrespect to merit\u2014upon the account of blood, or because his blood that\nwas shed for us on the cross prevailed for us for the remission of our\nsins. Let not man think to receive any benefit by Christ\u2019s prophetical\noffice, by any of the good words of grace, and forgiveness of sins that\nare sprinkled up and down in the new testament; that looketh not for\nthat good to come to him for the sake of that blood by which this\ntestament is established; for \u2018neither was the first testament\ndedicated without blood; for when Moses had spoken every precept to all\nthe people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of\ngoats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the\nbook, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament\nwhich God hath enjoined unto you\u2019 (Heb 9:18-20).\n\nThe prophetical office of Christ standeth of two parts\u2014first, in\npromises of grace: secondly, in directions of worship. But neither is\nthis last\u2014to wit, the doctrine of worship, or our subjection to that\nworship\u2014of any value any further than as sprinkled also with his blood;\nfor as in the first testament, the tabernacle and all the vessels of\nthe ministry were sprinkled with blood, and it was necessary that so it\nshould be, so the heavenly things themselves must be also purified with\nsacrifices, but yet \u2018with better sacrifices than these\u2019; for now, not\nMoses, but Christ, doth sprinkle, not with blood of calves, but with\nhis own blood; neither as entered into places made with hands, but from\nheaven doth Jesus sprinkle all that doctrine of worship, and subjection\nof his saints thereto, which is of his own instituting and commanding\n(Heb 9:23-26).\n\n(4.) He hath received there the office of a king, by which he ruleth in\nthe church, and over all things for her sake. \u2018The government shall be\nupon his shoulder\u2019; the Lord God hath given him the throne of his\nfather David. Hence it is that he saith, \u2018All power is given unto me in\nheaven and in earth\u2019; but now this kingly office, he hath it by his\nblood, because he humbled himself to death, therefore God hath highly\nexalted him, and given him the highest name. And hence, again, he is\ncalled a Lamb upon the throne\u2014\u2018In the midst of the throne, and of the\nfour beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had\nbeen slain, having seven horns\u2019; a demonstration of kingly power. But\nmark, he was a Lamb upon the throne, he had his horns as a lamb. Now by\n\u2018Lamb\u2019 we are to understand, not only his meek and sweet disposition,\nbut his sacrifice; for he was as a lamb to be slain and sacrificed; and\nso his having a throne and seven horns, as a lamb, giveth us to\nunderstand that he obtained this dignity of king by his blood (Rev 5).\n\u2018When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand\nof the Majesty on high\u2019 (Heb 1:3). When \u2018he had offered one sacrifice\nfor sins for ever, he sat down on the right hand of God\u2019 (Heb 10:12).\n\nNow, put all these together\u2014to wit, his resurrection from the dead, his\nascension, and exaltation to office; and remember also that the person\nthus exalted is the same Jesus of Nazareth that sometime was made\naccursed of God for sin, and also that he obtained this glory by virtue\nof the blood that was shed for us, and it must unavoidably follow that\nJesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath paid a full price to God for\nsinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them.\n\nTHE THIRD DEMONSTRATION.\n\n\nTHIRD. But to proceed. A third demonstration that Jesus Christ, by what\nhe hath done, hath paid full price to God for sinners, and obtained\neternal redemption for them, is, because he hath received for them the\nHoly Spirit of God.\n\n\u2018This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof,\u2019 said Peter, \u2018we all are\nwitnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and\nhaving received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath\nshed forth this, which ye now see and hear\u2019 (Acts 2:32,33).\n\nThe receiving of the Holy Ghost at the hand of the Father, who had\nbruised him before for the transgressions of his people; the receiving\nof it, I say, upon his resurrection, and that to give them for whom,\njust before, he had spilt his blood to make an atonement for their\nsouls, argueth that the Divine Majesty found rest and content in that\nprecious blood, and found it full price for the sinners for whom he\nshed it.\n\nAnd if you consider the necessity of the giving of this good Spirit to\nmen, and the benefit that they receive by his coming upon them, you\nwill see yet more into the truth now contended for. First, then, Of the\nnecessity of giving this good Spirit; and then, Second, Of the benefit\nwhich we receive at his coming.\n\nFirst. Of the necessity of its being given.\n\n1. Otherwise, Jesus could never have been proved to be the Saviour; for\nthe promise was, that Messias should have the Spirit given him; given\nhim to communicate\u2014\u2018As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the\nLord, My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy\nmouth,\u2019 meaning the Redeemer, \u2018shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor\nout of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed\u2019s seed,\nsaith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever\u2019 (Isa 59:20,21).\n\nHere is the promise of the Spirit to be given to Christ, and by him to\nhis seed for ever. And this was signified long before in the anointing\nof Aaron and his sons\u2014\u2018And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and\nconsecrate them\u2019 (Exo 30:30).\n\nThis Spirit Jesus promised to send unto his at his exaltation on the\nright hand of God; the Spirit, I say, in the plentiful pourings of it\nout. True, the church in all ages had something of it by virtue of the\nsuretyship of the Lord Jesus; but this, in comparison of what was to\ncome into the church after his resurrection, is not reckoned a pouring\nforth; therefore pourings forth are reserved to the time of the\nascension and exaltation of this Jesus. \u2018I will pour out of my Spirit\nin those days.\u2019\n\nHence Jesus reserves it till his going away, and it is expressly said,\n\u2018The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet\nglorified.\u2019 Accordingly did the apostles wait after his resurrection\nfor the pouring forth of the Holy Ghost, and at the set time did\nreceive it; by the giving of which he declared himself to be the Son of\nGod and Saviour of the world (John 7:39, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7; Acts\n1:4,5, 2:16,17; Joel 2:28; Rom 1:4).\n\n2. Without the giving of the Holy Ghost, there had wanted a testimony\nthat his gospel was the gospel of Messias. Moses\u2019 ministration was\nconfirmed by signs and wonders and mighty deeds, both in Egypt, in the\nwilderness, and at the Red Sea; wherefore it was necessary that the\ndoctrine of redemption by blood, which is the doctrine of the gospel of\nthis Jesus, should be also \u2018confirmed with signs following.\u2019 Hence both\nhimself and apostles did as frequently work miracles and do mighty\ndeeds as his ministers now do preach; which signs and miracles and\nwonders confirmed their doctrine, though themselves, both master and\nscholar, were in appearance the most considerable mean [in outward show\nthe meanest of men]; yea, they by the means of the Holy Ghost have so\nratified, confirmed, and settled the gospel in the world, that no\nphilosopher, tyrant, or devil, hath been able hitherto to move it out\nof its place. He confirmed \u2018the word with signs following\u2019 (Mark 16:20;\nHeb 2:4).\n\n3. As the giving of the Holy Ghost was necessary thus, so was it\nnecessary also to strengthen them that were intrusted with the gospel,\n(1.) To preach it effectually; (2.) To stand to it boldly; and (3.) To\njustify it to be the doctrine of Messias incontrollably. (1.) To preach\nit effectually, in demonstration of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:4; John 16:8,9;\nActs 8:13). (2.) To stand to it boldly\u2014\u2018Then Peter, filled with the\nHoly Ghost, said.\u2019 \u2018And they saw the boldness of Peter and John\u2019 (2 Cor\n6:4-6; Acts 4:8,13). (3.) To justify the doctrine incontrollably\u2014\u2018I\nwill give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not\nbe able to gainsay nor resist\u2019 (Luke 21:15). \u2018And they were not able to\nresist the wisdom and spirit by which he spake\u2019 (Acts 6:10).\n\nNow I say, that God should give the Holy Ghost to Jesus to confirm this\ngospel, redemption from sin by his blood, what is it but that by his\nblood he hath paid full price to God for sinners, and obtained eternal\nredemption for them?\n\n[Second.] But again; the benefit which we receive at the coming of the\nHoly Ghost doth more demonstrate this truth; hath Christ purchased\nsinners, and are they the price of his blood? Yes. But how doth that\nappear? Why, because by the Holy Ghost which he hath received to give\nus, we are fitted for the inheritance which by his blood is prepared\nfor us.\n\n1. By the Spirit of God we are quickened and raised from a state of\nsin, but that we could not be were it not that an atonement is made for\nus first, by the blood of Christ our Saviour. This is true; for they\nthat are quickened by the Holy Ghost are quickened by it through the\nword of the gospel, which offereth justification to sinners through\nfaith in his blood; yea, we are said to be quickened together with him,\ndead and risen with him, yet so as by the Spirit of God.\n\n2. We are not only quickened by the Holy Ghost, but possessed\ntherewith; it is given to dwell in our hearts\u2014\u2018Because ye are sons, God\nhath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts\u2019 (Gal 4:6).\nWhich Spirit is also our earnest for heaven, until the redemption of\nthe purchased possession\u2014that is, until our body, which is the\npurchased possession, be redeemed also out of the grave by the power of\nthe same mighty Spirit of God (Eph 1:13,14).\n\n3. By this Holy Spirit we are made to believe (Rom 15:13).\n\n4. By this Holy Spirit we are helped to pray and call God Father.\n\n5. By this Holy Spirit we are helped to understand and apply the\npromises.\n\n6. By this Holy Spirit the joy of heaven and the love of God is shed\nabroad in the heart of the saved.\n\n7. By this Holy Spirit we are made to wait for the hope of\nrighteousness by faith; that is, to stand fast through our Lord Jesus\nin the day when he shall judge the world.\n\nAnd all this is the fruit of redemption by blood, of redemption by the\nblood of Christ.\n\nThis is yet further evident, (1.) Because the work of the Spirit is to\nlead us into the sayings of Christ, which, as to our redemption from\ndeath, are such as these\u2014\u2018I lay down my life, that you may have life\u2019;\n\u2018I give my life a ransom for many\u2019; and, \u2018The bread that I will give is\nmy flesh, which I will give for the life of the world\u2019 (John 6:51).\n(2.) Because the Spirit, in the wisdom of heaven, is not counted a\nsufficient testimony on earth, but as joined with the blood of\nChrist\u2014\u2018There are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the\nwater, and the blood\u2019; these are the witnesses of God. The Spirit,\nbecause it quickeneth; the blood, because it hath merited; and the\nwater\u2014to wit, the word\u2014because by that we are clean as to life and\nconversation (1 John 5:8; Eph 5:26; Rom 8:16; Psa 119:9). (3.) Because,\nas by the Spirit, so we are sanctified by faith in the blood of Jesus\n(Heb 13:12). (4.) Because, when most full of the Spirit, and when that\ndoth work most mightily in us, we are then most in the belief and\nadmiring apprehensions of our deliverance from death by the blood of\nJesus (Rev 5:9, 15). (5.) The Holy Ghost breatheth nowhere so as in the\nministry of this doctrine, this doctrine is sent with the Holy Ghost\nfrom heaven; yea, as I have hinted, one of the great works of the Holy\nGhost, under the Old Testament, was to testify \u2018of the sufferings of\nChrist, and the glory that should follow\u2019 (1 Peter 1:11,12).\n\nPut all these things together, and see if Jesus Christ, by what he hath\ndone, hath not paid full price to God for sinners, if he \u2018hath not\nobtained eternal redemption for them?\u2019\n\nTHE FOURTH DEMONSTRATION.\n\n\nFOURTH. That Jesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath paid full price\nto God for sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them, is\nevident, if you consider how the preaching thereof hath been, from that\ntime to this, a mighty conqueror over all kinds of sinners. What\nnation, what people, what kind of sinners have not been subdued by the\npreaching of a crucified Christ? He upon the white horse with his bow\nand his crown hath conquered, doth conquer, and goeth forth yet\n\u2018conquering and to conquer\u2019 (Rev 6:2). \u2018And I,\u2019 saith he, \u2018if I be\nlifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me\u2019 (John 12:32). But\nwhat was it to be lifted up from the earth? Why, it may be expounded by\nthat saying, \u2018As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so\nmust the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him\nshould not perish, but have eternal life\u2019 (John 3:14,15).\n\nHe was then lifted up when he was hanged upon a tree between the\nheavens and the earth, as the accursed of God for us. The revelation of\nthis, it conquers all nations, tongues, and people. \u2018And they sung a\nnew song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the\nseals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy\nblood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation\u2019 (Rev\n5:9). Hence the apostle Paul chose above all doctrines to preach up a\ncrucified Christ, and resolved so to do; \u2018for I determined,\u2019 saith he,\n\u2018not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified\u2019\n(1 Cor 2:2).\n\nFirst. The doctrine of forgiveness of sin conquered his very murderers;\nthey could not withstand the grace; those bloody ones that would kill\nhim, whatever it cost them, could stand no longer, but received his\ndoctrine, fell into his bosom, and obtained the salvation which is in\nChrist Jesus\u2014\u2018They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they\nshall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in\nbitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born\u2019\n(Zech 12:10). Now was this scripture eminently fulfilled, when the\nkindness of a crucified Christ broke to pieces the hearts of them that\nhad before been his betrayers and murderers. Now was there a great\nmourning in Jerusalem; now was there wailing and lamentation, mixed\nwith joy and rejoicing.\n\nSecond. Though Paul was mad, exceeding mad against Jesus Christ of\nNazareth; yea, though he was his avowed enemy, seeking to put out his\nname from under heaven, yet the voice from heaven, \u2018I am Jesus,\u2019 &c.,\n\u2018I am the Saviour,\u2019 how did it conquer him, make him throw down his\narms, fall down at his feet, and accept of the forgiveness of sins\nfreely by grace, through redemption by faith in his blood!\n\nThird. They at Samaria (though before Philip preached to them)\nworshipped and admired the devil in Magus, yet when they believed\nPhilip\u2019s preaching of Christ unto them, and forgiveness of sins through\nfaith in his name, great joy was amongst them, and they were baptized,\nboth men and woman (Acts 8). \u2018He preached,\u2019 saith the text, \u2018the things\nconcerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ\u2019\u2014that is,\nall the blessings of life, through the name of Jesus Christ; for he is\nthe Mediator, and without his blood come no spiritual blessings to men.\n\nFourth. How was the sturdy jailer overcome by a promise of forgiveness\nof sins by faith in Jesus Christ! It stopped his hand of self-murder,\nit eased him of the gnawings of a guilty conscience and fears of\nhell-fire, and filled his soul with rejoicing in God (Acts 16:30-34).\n\nFifth. How were those that used curious arts, that were next to, if not\nwitches indeed; I say, how were they prevailed upon and overcome by the\nword of God, which is the gospel of good tidings, through faith in the\nblood of Christ! (Acts 19:17,18).\n\nSixth. How were the Ephesians, who were sometimes far from God; how, I\nsay, were they made nigh by the blood of Christ! (Eph 2:13).\n\nSeventh. The Colossians, though sometimes dead in their sins, yet how\nwere they quickened by God, through the forgiveness of all their\ntrespasses; and they had that through his blood! (Col 1:14, 2:13).\n\nWhat shall I say? No man could as yet stand before and not fall under\nthe revelation of the forgiveness of sins through a crucified Christ,\nas hanged, as dying, as accursed for sinners; he draws all men unto\nhim, men of all sorts, of all degrees.\n\nShall I add, how have men broken through the pricks to Jesus when he\nhath been discovered to them! Neither lions, nor fires, nor sword, nor\nfamine, nor nakedness, nor peril, \u2018neither death, nor life, nor angels,\nnor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,\nnor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to\nseparate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord\u2019\n(Rom 8:35-39).\n\nTHE FIFTH DEMONSTRATION.\n\n\nFIFTH. That Jesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath paid full price to\nGod for sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them, is evident,\nby the peace and holiness that by that doctrine possesseth men\u2019s souls;\nthe souls of men awakened, and that continue so. By awakened men I mean\nsuch as, through the revelation of their sin and misery, groan under\nthe want of Jesus to save them, and that continue sensible that they\nneeds must perish if his benefits be not bestowed upon them; for\notherwise the gospel ministereth neither peace nor holiness to any of\nthe souls of the sons of men; that is to say, not saving peace and\nholiness. The gospel of grace and salvation is above all doctrines the\nmost dangerous, if in word only it be received by graceless men; if it\nbe not attended with a revelation of men\u2019s need of a Saviour; if it be\nnot accompanied in the soul by the power of the Holy Ghost. For such\nmen as have only the notions of it are of all men liable to the\ngreatest sins, because there wanteth in their notions the power of\nlove, which alone can constrain them to love Jesus Christ. And this is\nthe reason of these scriptures\u2014They turn the grace of God into\nwantonness. \u2018They turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness\u2019 (Jude\n4).\n\nFor some, when they hear of the riches of grace through Christ, that\nhearing not being attended with the faith and love which is in Christ\nJesus, those men receive the notions of this good doctrine only to\ncloak their wickedness, and to harden themselves in their villainies.\n\nOthers, when they hear, being leavened before with the leaven of some\nother doctrine, some doctrine of the righteousness of the world, or\ndoctrine of devils, forthwith make head against and speak evil of the\nblessed doctrine; and because some that profess it are not cleansed\nfrom their filthiness of flesh and spirit, and do not perfect holiness\nin the fear of God, therefore others conclude that all that profess it\nare such, and that the doctrine itself tendeth to encourage, or at\nleast to tolerate, licentiousness, as they imagined and affirmed of\nPaul that he should say, \u2018Let us do evil, that good may come\u2019 (Rom\n3:8).\n\nThe ground of that wicked conclusion of theirs was, because he by the\nallowance of God affirmed that, as sin had reigned unto death, so grace\nreigned unto life in a way of righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord.\nNay, then, says the adversary, we may be as unholy as we will, and that\nby the doctrine you preach; for if where sin abounds grace abounds\nmore, the consequence of a wicked life is but the heightening,\nadvancing, and magnifying of grace. But what saith the apostle? My\nconclusions are true that grace doth reign above sin, but to say, \u2018Let\nus therefore sin,\u2019 that man\u2019s damnation is just; because such an one\nabuseth and maketh the most devilish use of the blessedest doctrine\nthat ever was heard of in the world amongst men. Besides, it is evident\nthat such know not the power thereof, nor have felt or savoured its\nblessedness; for where this gospel cometh in truth, it naturally\nproduceth peace and holiness.\n\nFirst. Peace. He is our peace, he is the Prince of peace, he giveth\npeace in his high places. This word \u2018peace\u2019 hath in it a double\nrespect.\n\n1. It respecteth God\u2014He hath \u2018made peace by the blood of his cross\u2019;\nthat is, he hath made peace for us with God, having appeased the rigour\nof his law, and satisfied justice for us. Hence it is said, \u2018The peace\nof God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and\nminds through Christ Jesus\u2019 (Col 1:20; Phil 4:7). \u2018The peace of\nGod\u2019\u2014that is, the doctrine of reconciliation by Christ\u2019s being made to\nbe sin for us, THAT shall keep the heart\u2014that is, from despair or\nfainting, under apprehensions of weakness and justice. But yet this\npeace of God cannot be apprehended, nor be of any comfort to the heart,\nbut as the man looks for it through Christ Jesus; therefore that clause\nis added, \u2018through Christ Jesus\u2019; for he is peace-maker, it is he that\nreconcileth us to God \u2018in the body of his flesh through death\u2019; for by\nhis doing and suffering he presented God with everlasting\nrighteousness, with everlasting righteousness for sinners. Upon this we\nhave peace with God. Hence Christ is called King of righteousness\nfirst; \u2018first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after\nthat also King of Salem, which is, King of peace\u2019 (Heb 7:1,2). For he\ncould not make peace with God betwixt us and him but by being first the\nLord of righteousness, the Lord our righteousness; but having first\ncompleted righteousness, he then came and preached peace, and commanded\nhis ambassadors to make proclamation of it to the world, for it was\nwant of righteousness that caused want of peace (2 Cor 5:19-21). Now,\nthen, righteousness being brought in, it followeth that he hath made\npeace. \u2018For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken\ndown the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his\nflesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;\nfor to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that\nhe might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain\nthe enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar\noff, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by\none Spirit unto the Father\u2019 (Eph 2:14-18).\n\n2. This word \u2018peace\u2019 respecteth our inward quietness of heart which we\nobtain by beholding this reconciliation made by Christ with God for\nus\u2014\u2018Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord\nJesus Christ\u2019 (Rom 5:1). \u2018The God of peace fill you with all joy and\npeace in believing\u2019 (Rom 15:13).\n\nThis peace is expressed diversely\u2014(1.) Sometimes it is called\n\u2018quietness,\u2019 for it calms the soul from those troublous fears of\ndamning because of sin\u2014\u2018And the work of righteousness shall be peace,\nand the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever\u2019 (Isa\n32:17). (2.) Sometimes it is called \u2018boldness\u2019; for by the blood of\nChrist a man hath encouragement to approach unto God\u2014\u2018Having, brethren,\nboldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and\nliving way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is\nto say, his flesh\u2019 (Heb 10:19,20). (3.) It is sometimes called\n\u2018confidence\u2019; because by Jesus Christ we have not only encouragement to\ncome to God, but confidence, that if we ask anything according to his\nwill, he not only heareth, but granteth the request which we put up to\nhim (1 John 5:14,15). \u2018In whom we have boldness and access with\nconfidence, by the faith of Jesus\u2019 (Eph 3:12). (4.) Sometimes this\npeace is expressed by \u2018rest\u2019; because a man having found a sufficient\nfulness to answer all his wants, he sitteth down, and looks no further\nfor satisfaction\u2014\u2018Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,\nand I will give you rest\u2019 (Matt 11:28). (5.) It is also expressed by\n\u2018singing\u2019; because the peace of God when it is received into the soul\nby faith putteth the conscience into a heavenly and melodious frame.\n\u2018And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs\nand everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and\ngladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away\u2019 (Isa 35:10). (6.)\nSometimes it is expressed or discovered by a heavenly glorying and\nboasting in Jesus Christ; because this peace causeth the soul to set\nits face upon its enemies with faith of a victory over them for ever by\nits Lord Jesus\u2014\u2018Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord\u2019 (Jer\n9:23,24). And, \u2018My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble\nshall hear thereof, and be glad\u2019 (Psa 34:2). (7.) Sometimes it is\nexpressed or discovered by joy, \u2018joy unspeakable\u2019: because the soul,\nhaving seen itself reconciled to God, hath not only quietness, but such\napprehensions do now possess it of the unspeakable benefits it\nreceiveth by Christ with respect to the world to come, that it is\nswallowed up with them\u2014\u2018Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though\nnow ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and\nfull of glory\u2019 (1 Peter 1:8). (8.) Lastly, it is expressed or\ndiscovered by the triumph that ariseth sometimes in the hearts of the\nbelievers, for they at times are able to see death, sin, the devil, and\nhell, and all adversity, conquered by, and tied as captives at the\nchariot-wheels of Jesus Christ; taken captive, I say, and overthrown\nfor ever. \u2018Thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in\nChrist\u2019 (2 Cor 2:14). \u2018O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God\nwith the voice of triumph\u2019 (Psa 47:1).\n\n[The Authors of this peace.]\u2014Now that all this should be a cheat is\nimpossible\u2014that is, it is impossible that believers should thus have\npeace with God through the blood of his cross, he having not paid full\nprice to God for them; especially if you consider that the authors of\nthis peace are all the three in the Godhead, and that upon a double\naccount.\n\n1. In that they have given us a gospel of peace (Rom 10:15). Or a new\ntestament which propoundeth peace with God through the redemption that\nis in Christ. Now as this is called the gospel of peace, so it is\ncalled the gospel of God (1 Thess 2:9). The gospel of Christ (Rom\n15:19; 2 Thess 1:8). A gospel indited by the Holy Ghost (1 Thess 4:8).\nI say, therefore, that redemption and salvation being that through\nChrist, and the truth thereof proclaimed by the Father, the Word, and\nthe Holy Ghost, in the word of the truth of the gospel, it must needs\nbe that we who believe shall be saved, \u2018if we hold fast the confidence\nand the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.\u2019\n\n2. As the three in the Godhead are the authors of this peace by\ninditing for us the gospel of peace, or the good tidings of salvation\nby Jesus Christ, so they are the authors of our peace by working with\nthat word of the gospel in our hearts. And hence, (1.) The Father is\ncalled the God of peace, \u2018Now the God of peace be with you all\u2019 (Rom\n15:33). \u2018And the very God of peace sanctify you\u2019 (1 Thess 5:23). And\nbecause he is the God of peace, therefore he filleth those that believe\nin his Christ with joy and peace through believing (Rom 15:13). (2.)\nAgain, Christ is called the Prince of peace; therefore the prayer is,\n\u2018Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus\nChrist\u2019 (2 Thess 1:2). (3.) The Holy Ghost also is the author of this\npeace, this inward peace, even \u2018righteousness and peace, and joy in the\nHoly Ghost\u2019 (Rom 14:17).\n\nAnd I say, as I also already have said, the procuring or meritorious\ncause of this peace is the doings and sufferings of Christ; therefore\nby his doings and sufferings he paid full price to God for sinners, and\nobtained eternal redemption for them; else God would never have indited\na proclamation of peace for them, and the tenor of that proclamation to\nbe the worthiness of the Lord Jesus; yea, he would never have wrought\nwith that word in the heart of them that believe, to create within them\npeace, peace.\n\nSecond. [Holiness.] As peace with God is an evidence\u2014the blood of\nChrist being the cause thereof\u2014that Christ hath by it paid full price\nto God for sinners, so holiness in their hearts, taking its beginning\nfrom this doctrine, makes its fifth demonstration of double strength.\n\n1. That holiness, true gospel holiness, possesseth our hearts by this\ndoctrine it is evident, because the ground of holiness, which is the\nSpirit of God in us, is ministered to us by this doctrine. When the\napostle had insinuated that the Galatians were bewitched because they\nhad turned from the doctrine of Christ crucified, he demands of them\nwhether \u2018they received the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the\nhearing of faith?\u2019 (Gal 3:1-4). That is, whether the Spirit took\npossession of their souls by their obedience to the ten commandments,\nor by their giving credit to the doctrine of the forgiveness of their\nsins by faith in this crucified Christ, strongly concluding, not by the\nlaw, but by the hearing or preaching of faith\u2014that is, of the Lord\nJesus as crucified, who is the object of faith.\n\n2. As this doctrine conveyeth the ground or groundwork, which is the\nSpirit, so also it worketh in the heart those three graces, faith,\nhope, love, all which as naturally purify the heart from wickedness as\nsoap and nitre cleanseth the cloth. He purified \u2018their hearts by\nfaith,\u2019 by faith in Christ\u2019s blood. \u2018And every man that hath this hope\nin him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure.\u2019 And also love, you\nshall see what that doth if you look into the text (Acts 15:9; 1 John\n3:3,4; 1 Cor 13). Now, I say, this faith groundeth itself in the blood\nof Christ; hope waiteth for the full enjoyments of the purchase of it\nin another world; and love is begot, and worketh by the love that\nChrist hath expressed by his death, and by the kindness he presented us\nwith in his heart\u2019s blood (Rom 3:24; 1 Cor 15:19; 2 Cor 5:14).\n\nBesides, what arguments so prevailing as such as are purely gospel? To\ninstance a few\u2014(1.) What stronger than a free forgiveness of sins? \u2018A\ncertain man had two debtors, the one owed five hundred pence, and the\nother fifty; and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them\nboth; tell me therefore which of them will love him most?\u2019 (Luke\n7:41,42,47). (2.) What stronger argument to holiness than to see that\nthough forgiveness comes free to us, yet it cost Christ Jesus\nheart-blood to obtain it for us. \u2018Herein is love, not that we loved\nGod, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for\nour sins.\u2019 And this love of God in giving his Christ, and of Christ in\ndying for us, there is no argument stronger to prevail with a sensible\nand awakened sinner to judge \u2018he should live to him that died for him,\nand rose again\u2019 (2 Cor 5:15). (3.) What stronger argument to holiness\nthan this: \u2018If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus\nChrist the righteous?\u2019 (1 John 2:1). Unsanctified and graceless\nwretches know not how to use these words of God; the hypocrites also\nfly in our faces because we thus urge them; but a heart that is\npossessed with gospel ingenuity, or, to speak more properly, that is\npossessed with gospel grace, and with divine considerations, cries, If\nit be thus, O let me never sin against God, \u2018for the love of Christ\nconstraineth me\u2019 (2 Cor 5:14). (4.) What greater argument to holiness\nthan to see the holy Scriptures so furnished with promises of grace and\nsalvation by Christ, that a man can hardly cast his eye into the Bible\nbut he espieth one or other of them? Who would not live in such a\nhouse, or be servant to such a prince, who, besides his exceeding in\ngood conditions, hath gold and silver as common in his palace as stones\nare by the highway side? \u2018Having, therefore, these promises, dearly\nbeloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and\nspirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God\u2019 (2 Cor 7:1). (5.) What\ngreater argument to holiness than to have our performances, though weak\nand infirm from us, yet accepted of God in Jesus Christ (1 Peter\n2:4-6). (6.) What greater argument to holiness than to have our soul,\nour body, our life, hid and secured with Christ in God? \u2018Mortify\ntherefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication,\nuncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and\ncovetousness, which is idolatry\u2019 (Col 3:1-5). (7.) What greater\nargument to holiness than to be made the members of the body, of the\nflesh, and of the bones of Jesus Christ? \u2018Shall I then take the members\nof Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid\u2019 (Eph\n5:30; 1 Cor 6:15).\n\nNow all these, and five times as many more, having their foundation in\nthe love, blood, and righteousness of Christ, and operating in the soul\nby faith, are the great arguments unto that holiness to which is\nannexed eternal life. It is worth our observing, that in Acts 26:18,\nthe inheritance belongs \u2018to them which are sanctified by faith in Jesus\nChrist\u2019; for all other pretences to holiness, they are but a stolen\nsemblance of that which is true and acceptable, though it is common for\neven that which is counterfeit to be called by the deluded the true,\nand to be reckoned to be in them that are utter strangers to faith, and\nthe holiness that comes by faith. \u2018But whosoever compoundeth any like\nit, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut\noff from his people\u2019 (Exo 30:23). God knoweth which is holiness that\ncomes by faith in forgiveness of sins, and acceptance with God through\nChrist; and God knows which is only such feignedly; and accordingly\nwill he deal with sinners in that great day of God Almighty.\n\nTHE SIXTH DEMONSTRATION.\n\n\nSIXTH. That Jesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath paid full price to\nGod for sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them, is evident,\nbecause prayers are accepted of God only upon the account and for the\nsake of the name of Jesus Christ\u2014\u2018Verily, verily, I say unto you,\nwhatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you\u2019\n(John 16:23). In my name, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, in\nthe name of him that came into the world to save sinners, by dying for\nthem a grievous, bloody death; in his name that hath by himself put\naway sin, and brought unto God acceptable righteousness for sinners; in\nhis name. Why in his name, if he be not accepted of God? why in his\nname if his undertakings for us are not well-pleasing to God? But by\nthese words, \u2018in my name,\u2019 are insinuated that his person and\nperformances, as our undertaker, are accepted by the Father of spirits.\nWe may not go in our own names, because we are sinners; not in the name\nof one another, because all are sinners. But why not in the name of an\nangel? Because they are not those that did undertake for us; or had\nthey, they could not have done our work for us. \u2018He putteth no trust in\nhis saints, yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight\u2019 (Job 4:18,\n15:15). It may further be objected\u2014\n\nSince Jesus Christ is God, equal with the Father, and so hath naturally\nthe same power to give us the Father, why should the Father rather than\nthe Son be the great giver to the sinners of the world? and why may we\nnot go to Christ in the name of the Father, as well as to the Father in\nthe name of Christ? I say, how can these things be solved, but by\nconsidering that sin and justice put a necessity upon it that thus must\nour salvation be obtained. Sin and justice could not reconcile, nor\ncould a means be found out to bring the sinner and a holy God together,\nbut by the intercepting of the Son, who must take upon him to answer\njustice, and that by taking our sins from before the face of God by\nbloody sacrifice, not by blood of others, as the high-priests under the\nlaw\u2014\u2018For every high-priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices;\nwherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer\u2019\n(Heb 8:3). Which offering and sacrifice of his being able to perfect\nfor ever them that are sanctified and set apart for eternal life,\ntherefore the name of the person that offered\u2014even Jesus, made of God a\nhigh-priest\u2014is acceptable with God; yea, therefore is he made for ever,\nby his doing for us, the appeaser of the justice of God, and the\nreconciler of sinners to him. Hence it is that HIS name is that which\nit behoveth us to mention when we come before God, for what God hath\ndetermined in his counsels of grace to bestow upon sinners, because for\nhis name\u2019s sake he forgiveth them. \u2018I write unto you, little children,\nbecause your sins are forgiven you for his name\u2019s sake\u2019 (1 John 2:12).\n\u2018To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name, whosoever\nbelieveth in him shall receive remission of sins\u2019 (Acts 10:43).\n\nThey therefore that would obtain the forgiveness of sins must ask it of\nGod, through the name of Jesus; and he that shall sensibly and\nunfeignedly do it, he shall receive the forgiveness of them\u2014\u2018Whatsoever\nye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.\u2019 Hence it is\nevident that he hath not only paid full price to God for them, but also\nobtained eternal redemption for them.\n\nAnd it is observable, the Lord Jesus would have his disciples make a\nproof of this, and promiseth that if they do, they shall experimentally\nfind it so\u2014\u2018Hitherto,\u2019 saith he, \u2018have ye asked nothing in my name:\nask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full\u2019 (John 16:24). As\nwho should say, O my disciples, you have heard what I have promised to\nyou, even that my Father shall do for you whatsoever ye shall ask him\nin my name. Ask now, therefore, and prove me, if I shall not make my\nwords good: ask, I say, what you need, and see if you do not receive it\nto the joying of your hearts. \u2018At that day ye shall ask in my name, and\nI say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you.\u2019 I do not bid\nyou ask in my name as if the Father was yet hard to be reconciled, or\nunwilling to accept you to mercy; my coming into the world was the\ndesign of my Father, and the effect of his love to sinners; but there\nis sin in you and justice in God; therefore that you to him might be\nreconciled, I am made of my Father mediator; wherefore ask in my name,\nfor \u2018there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we\nmust be saved\u2019 (Acts 4:12). Ask in my name; love is let out to you\nthrough me; it is let out to you by me in a way of justice, which is\nthe only secure way for you. Ask in my name, and my Father will love\nyou\u2014\u2018The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have\nbelieved that I came out from God\u2019 (John 16:27). My Father\u2019s love is\nset first upon me, for my name is chief in his heart, and all that love\nme are beloved of my Father, and shall have what they need, if they ask\nin my name.\n\nBut, I say, what cause would there be to ask in his name more than in\nthe name of some other, since justice was provoked by our sin, if he\nhad not undertook to make up the difference that by sin was made\nbetwixt justice and us? For though there be in this Jesus infinite\nworth, infinite righteousness, infinite merit, yet if he make not with\nthese interest for us, we get no more benefit thereby than if there\nwere no mediator. But this worth and merit is in him for us, for he\nundertook to reconcile us to God; it is therefore that his name is with\nGod so prevailing for us poor sinners, and therefore that we ought to\ngo to God in his name. Hence, therefore, it is evident that Jesus\nChrist hath paid full price to God for sinners, and obtained eternal\nredemption for them.\n\nTHE SEVENTH DEMONSTRATION.\n\n\nSEVENTH. That Jesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath paid full price\nto God for sinners, &c., is evident, because we are commanded also to\ngive God thanks in his name\u2014\u2018By him, therefore, let us offer the\nsacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips,\ngiving thanks to his name\u2019 (Heb 3:15).\n\n\u2018By him therefore.\u2019 Wherefore? Because he also, that he might \u2018sanctify\nus with his own blood, suffered without the gate\u2019 (v 12).\n\nHe sanctified us with his blood; but why should the Father have thanks\nfor this? Even because the Father gave him for us, that he might die to\nsanctify us with his blood\u2014\u2018Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath\nmade us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;\nwho hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated\nus into the kingdom of his dear Son; in whom we have redemption through\nhis blood, even the forgiveness of sins\u2019 (Col 1:12-14). The Father is\nto be thanked, for the contrivance was also his; but the blood, the\nrighteousness, or that worthiness, for the sake of which we are\naccepted of God, is the worthiness of his own dear Son. As it is meet,\ntherefore, that God should have thanks, so it is necessary that he have\nit in his name for whose sake we indeed are accepted of him.\n\nLet us therefore by him offer praise first for the gift of his Son, and\nfor that we stand quit through him in his sight, and that in despite of\nall inward weakness, and that in despite of all outward enemies.\n\nWhen the apostle had taken such a view of himself as to put himself\ninto a maze, with an outcry also, \u2018Who shall deliver me?\u2019 he quiets\nhimself with this sweet conclusion, \u2018I thank God through Jesus Christ\u2019\n(Rom 7:24,25). He found more in the blood of Christ to save him than he\nfound in his own corruptions to damn him; but that could not be, had he\nnot paid full price for him, had he not obtained eternal redemption for\nhim. And can a holy and just God require that we give thanks to him in\nhis name, if it was not effectually done for us by him?\n\nFurther, when the apostle looks upon death and the grave, and\nstrengtheneth them by adding to them sin and the law, saying, \u2018The\nsting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law,\u2019 he\npresently addeth, \u2018But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory,\nthrough Jesus Christ\u2019 (1 Cor 15)\u2014the victory over sin, death, and the\nlaw, the victory over these through our Lord Jesus Christ: but God hath\ngiven us the victory; but it is through our Lord Jesus Christ, through\nhis fulfilling the law, through his destroying death, and through his\nbringing in everlasting righteousness. Elisha said to the king of\nIsrael, that had it not been that he regarded the presence of\nJehoshaphat, he would not look to him nor regard him (2 Kings 3:14);\nnor would God at all have looked to or regarded thee, but that he\nrespected the person of Jesus Christ.\n\n\u2018Let the peace of God [therefore] rule in our hearts, to the which also\nye are called in one body; and be ye thankful\u2019 (Col 3:15). The peace of\nGod, of that we have spoken before. But how should this rule in our\nhearts? He by the next words directs you\u2014\u2018Let the word of Christ dwell\nin you richly\u2019\u2014that is, the word that makes revelation of the death and\nblood of Christ, and of the peace that is made with God for you\nthereby.\n\n\u2018Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the\nname of our Lord Jesus Christ\u2019 (Eph 5:20). For all things; for all\nthings come to us through this name Jesus\u2014redemption, translation, the\nkingdom, salvation, with all the good things wherewith we are blessed.\n\nThese are the works of God; he gave his Son, and he brings us to him,\nand puts us into his kingdom\u2014that is, his true body, which Jeremiah\ncalleth a putting among the children, and a \u2018giving us a goodly\nheritage of the hosts of nations\u2019 (Jer 3:19; John 6).\n\n\u2018Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ\u2019\n(2 Cor 2:14).\n\nSee here our cause of triumph is through Christ Jesus; and God causeth\nus through him to triumph, first and chiefly, because Christ Jesus hath\ndone our work for us, hath pleased God for our sins, hath spoiled the\npowers of darkness. God gave Jesus Christ to undertake our redemption;\nChrist did undertake it, did engage our enemies, and spoiled them\u2014He\n\u2018spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly,\ntriumphing over them\u2019 upon the cross (Col 2:14,15). Therefore it is\nevident that he paid full price to God for sinners with his blood,\nbecause God commands us to give thanks to him in his name, through his\nname\u2014\u2018And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the\nLord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him\u2019 (Col 3:17).\n\nTake this conclusion from the whole: no thanks are accepted of God that\ncome not to him in the name of his Son; his Son must have the glory of\nconveying our thanks to God, because he was he that by his blood\nconveyeth his grace to us.\n\nTHE EIGHTH DEMONSTRATION.\n\n\nEIGHTH. In the next place, that Jesus Christ, by what he hath done,\nhath paid full price to God for sinners, and obtained eternal\nredemption for them, is evident, because we are exhorted to wait for,\nand to expect, the full and glorious enjoyment of that eternal\nredemption, at the second coming of the Lord from heaven\u2014\u2018Let your\nloins by girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like\nunto men that wait for their Lord,\u2014that when he cometh and knocketh,\nthey may open unto him immediately\u2019 (Luke 12:35,36).\n\nJesus Christ hath obtained by his blood eternal redemption for us, and\nhath taken it up now in the heavens, is, as I have showed, preparing\nfor us there everlasting mansions of rest; and then he will come again\nfor us. This coming is intended in this text, and this coming we are\nexhorted to wait for; and that I may more fully show the truth of this\ndemonstration, observe these following texts\u2014\n\nFirst. It is said, he shall choose our inheritance for us\u2014\u2018He shall\nchoose our inheritance for us; the excellency of Jacob whom he loved.\nSelah. God is gone up with a shout,\u2019 &c. (Psa 47:4,5). These latter\nwords intend the ascension of Jesus Christ; his ascension, when he had\nupon the cross made reconciliation for iniquity; his ascension into the\nheavens to prepare our mansions of glory for us; for our inheritance is\nin the heavens; our house, our hope, our mansion-house, and our\nincorruptible and undefiled inheritance is in heaven (2 Cor 5:1,2; Col\n1:5,6; John 14:1,2; 1 Peter 1:3-5).\n\nThis is called the eternal inheritance, of which we that are called\nhave received the promise already (Heb 9:14,15).\n\nThis inheritance, I say, he is gone to choose for us in the heavens,\nbecause by his blood he obtained it for us (Heb 9:12). And this we are\ncommanded to wait for; but how ridiculous, yea, how great a cheat would\nthis be, had he not by his blood obtained it for us.\n\nSecond. \u2018We wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,\neven Jesus [Christ], which delivered us from the wrath to come\u2019 (1\nThess 1:10). He delivered us by his blood, and obtained the kingdom of\nheaven for us, and hath promised that he would go and prepare our\nplaces, and come again and fetch us thither\u2014\u2018And if I go and prepare a\nplace for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that\nwhere I am, there ye may be also\u2019 (John 14:3). This, then, is the cause\nthat we wait for him, we look for the reward of the inheritance at his\ncoming who have served the Lord Christ in this world.\n\nThird. \u2018For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for\nthe Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ\u2019 (Phil 3:20). We look for him to\ncome yet as a Saviour\u2014a Saviour he was at his first coming, and a\nSaviour he will be at his second coming. At his first coming, he bought\nand paid for us; at his second coming, he will fetch us to himself. At\nhis first coming, he gave us promise of the kingdom; at his second\ncoming, he will give us possession of the kingdom. At his first coming,\nhe also showed us how we should be, by his own transfiguration; at his\nsecond coming, \u2018he will change our vile body, that it may be fashioned\nlike unto his glorious body\u2019 (Phil 3:21).\n\nFourth. Hence therefore it is that his coming is called our blessed\nhope\u2014\u2018Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the\ngreat God and our Saviour Jesus Christ\u2019 (Titus 2:13). A blessed hope\nindeed, if he hath bought our persons with his blood, and an eternal\ninheritance for us in the heavens; a blessed hope indeed, if also at\nhis coming we be certainly carried thither. No marvel, then, if saints\nbe bid to wait for it, and if saints themselves long for it. But what a\ndisappointment would these waiting believers have, should all their\nexpectations be rewarded with a fable! and the result of their blessed\nhope can amount to no more, if our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ either\ndenieth to come, or coming, bringeth not with him the hope, the blessed\nhope that is laid up for us in heaven, whereof we have certainly been\ninformed by \u2018the word of the truth of the gospel\u2019 (Col 1:5).\n\nFifth. \u2018For Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto\nthem that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto\nsalvation\u2019 (Heb 9:28). Here we have it promised that he shall come,\nthat he shall appear the second time, but not with sin, as he did\nbefore\u2014to wit, with and in the sin of his people, when he bare them in\nhis own body; but now without sin, for he before did put them away by\nthe sacrifice of himself. Now, then, let the saints look for him, not\nto die for the purchasing of their persons by blood, but to bring to\nthem, and to bring them also to that salvation that before when he died\nhe obtained of God for them by his death.\n\nThese things are to be expected therefore by them that believe in and\nlove Jesus Christ, and that from faith and love serve him in this\nworld; they are to be expected by them, being obtained for them by\nJesus Christ. And he shall give the crown, saith Paul, \u2018not to me only,\nbut to all them also that love his appearing\u2019 (2 Tim 4:8,9).\n\nNow forasmuch as this inheritance in the heavens is the price,\npurchase, and reward of his blood, how evidently doth it appear that he\nhath paid full price to God for sinners! Would God else have given him\nthe heaven to dispose of to us that believe, and would he else have\ntold us so? Yea, and what comfort could we have to look for his coming,\nand kingdom, and glory as the fruits of his death, if his death had not\nfor that purpose been sufficiently efficacious? O \u2018the sufferings of\nChrist, and the glory that shall follow!\u2019 (1 Peter 1:11).\n\nTHE NINTH DEMONSTRATION.\n\n\nNINTH. That Jesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath paid full price to\nGod for sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for sinners, is\nevident, because of the threatenings wherewith God hath threatened, and\nthe punishments wherewith he punisheth those that shall refuse to be\nsaved by Christ, or seek to make insignificant the doctrine of\nrighteousness by faith in him.\n\nThis demonstration consisteth of three parts\u2014First. It suggesteth that\nsome refuse to be justified or saved by Christ, and also seek to make\ninsignificant the doctrine of righteousness by faith in him. Second.\nThat God doth threaten these. Third. That God will punish these.\n\n[First.] That some refuse to be saved by Christ is evident from many\ntexts. He is the stone which the builders have rejected; he is also\ndisallowed of men; the Jews stumble at him, and to the Greeks he is\nfoolishness; both saying, This man shall not rule over us, or, How can\nthis man save us? (Psa 118:22; Matt 21:44; Luke 19:14; 1 Cor 1:23; 1\nPeter 2:4).\n\nThe causes of men\u2019s refusing Christ are many\u20141. Their love to sin. 2.\nTheir ignorance of his excellency. 3. Their unbelief. 4. Their\ndeferring to come to him in the acceptable time. 5. Their leaning to\ntheir own righteousness. 6. Their entertaining damnable doctrines. 7.\nTheir loving the praise of men. 8. The meanness of his ways, his\npeople, &c. 9. The just judgment of God upon them. 10. The kingdom is\ngiven to others.\n\nNow these, as they all refuse him, so they seek, more or less, some\npractically, others in practice and judgment also, to make\ninsignificant the doctrine of righteousness by faith in him. One does\nit by preferring his sins before him. Another does it by preferring his\nrighteousness before him. Another does it by preferring his delusions\nbefore him. Another does it by preferring the world before him.\n\nNow these God threateneth, these God punisheth.\n\nSecond. God threateneth them.\n\n1. Whosoever shall \u2018not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from\namongst the people\u2019 (Acts 3:23). The prophet is Jesus Christ; the\ndoctrine that he preached was, that he would lay down his life for us,\nthat he would give us his flesh to eat, and his blood to drink by\nfaith; and promised, that if we did eat his flesh, and drink his blood,\nwe should have eternal life. He therefore that seeth not, or that is\nafraid to venture his soul for salvation on the flesh and blood of\nChrist by faith, he refuseth this prophet, he heareth not this prophet,\nand him God hath purposed to cut off. But would God thus have\nthreatened, if Christ by his blood, and the merits of the same, had not\npaid full price to God for sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for\nthem?\n\n2. \u2018Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy\nfootstool\u2019 (Psa 110:1; Matt 22:44; Heb 1:13). The honour of sitting at\nGod\u2019s right hand was given him because he died, and offered his body\nonce for all. \u2018This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins\nfor ever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting\ntill his enemies be made his footstool\u2019 (Heb 10:12,13). Expecting,\nsince God accepted his offering, that those that refused him should be\ntrodden under foot; that is, sunk by him into and under endless and\ninsupportable vengeance. But would God have given the world such an\naccount of his sufferings, that by one offering he did perfect for ever\nthem that are sanctified? yea, and would he have threatened to make\nthose foes his footstool that shall refuse to venture themselves upon\nhis offering\u2014for they are indeed his foes\u2014had not his eternal Majesty\nbeen well pleased with the price he paid to God for sinners; had he not\nobtained eternal redemption for them?\n\n3. He shall come \u2018from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire,\ntaking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the\ngospel of our Lord Jesus Christ\u2019 (2 Thess 1:7,8).\n\nHere he expressly telleth us wherefore they shall be punished; because\n\u2018they know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ\u2019;\nwhere also is notably intimated that he that obeyeth not the gospel of\nChrist knoweth not God, neither in his justice nor mercy. But what is\nthe gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ but good tidings of good things\u2014to\nwit, forgiveness of sins by faith in his blood, an inheritance in\nheaven by faith in his blood, as the whole of all the foregoing\ndiscourse hath manifested? Now, I say, can it be imagined that God\nwould threaten to come upon the world with this flaming, fiery\nvengeance to punish them for their non-subjection to his Son\u2019s gospel,\nif there had not been by himself paid to God full price for the souls\nof sinners, if he had not obtained eternal redemption by his blood for\nsinners?\n\n4. \u2018And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying,\nBehold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute\njudgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of\nall their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all\ntheir hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him\u2019\n(Jude 14,15).\n\nThe Lord that is here said to come with ten thousands of his saints is\nJesus Christ himself; and they that come with him are called his\nsaints, because given to him by the Father, for the sake of the\nshedding of his blood. Now in that he is said to come to execute\njudgment upon all, and especially those that speak hard speeches\nagainst him, it is evident that the Father tendereth his name, which is\nJesus, a Saviour, and his undertaking for our redemption; and as\nevident that the hard speeches intended by the text are such as vilify\nhim as Saviour, counting the blood of the covenant unholy, and\ntrampling him that is Prince of the covenant under the feet of their\nreproachful language; this is counted a putting of him to open shame,\nand a despising the riches of his goodness (Heb 6:10; Rom 2). Time\nwould fail to give you a view of the revilings, despiteful sayings, and\nof the ungodly speeches which these abominable children of hell let\nfall in their pamphlets, doctrines, and discourses against the Lord the\nKing. But the threatening is, he shall \u2018execute judgment upon them for\nall their ungodly deeds, and for all the hard speeches which ungodly\nsinners have spoken against him.\u2019\n\n5. \u2018Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the\nprophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a\nwork in your days, a work which you shall in no wise believe, though a\nman declare it unto you\u2019 (Acts 13:40,41).\n\nThis work is the same we have been all this while treating of\u2014to wit,\nredemption by the blood of Christ for sinners, or that Christ hath paid\nfull price to God for sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for\nthem. This is manifest from verses 23 to 29 of this chapter.\n\nNow, observe, there are and will be despisers of this doctrine, and\nthey are threatened with the wrath of God\u2014\u2018Behold, ye despisers, and\nwonder, and perish.\u2019 But would God so carefully have cautioned sinners\nto take heed of despising this blessed doctrine, and have backed his\ncaution with a threatening that they shall perish, if they persist, had\nnot he himself received by the blood of Christ full price for the souls\nof sinners?\n\nThird. As God threateneth, so he punisheth those that refuse his Son,\nor that seek to vilify or make insignificant the doctrine of\nrighteousness by faith in him.\n\n1. He punished them with the abidings of his wrath\u2014\u2018He that believeth\nnot the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him\u2019\n(John 3:36).\n\nThe wrath of God for men; for sin stands already condemned by the law;\nand the judgment is, that they who refuse the Lord Jesus Christ shall\nhave this wrath of God for ever lie and abide upon them; for they want\na sacrifice to pacify wrath for the sin they have committed, having\nresisted and refused the sacrifice of the body of Christ. Therefore it\ncannot be that they should get from under their present condition who\nhave refused to accept of the undertaking of Christ for them.\n\nBesides, God, to show that he taketh it ill at the hands of sinners\nthat they should refuse the sacrifice of Christ, hath resolved that\nthere shall be no more sacrifice for sin. Therefore \u2018if we sin\nwillfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there\nremaineth no more sacrifice for sins\u2019 (Heb 10:26). God doth neither\nappoint another, neither will he accept another, whoever brings it. And\nhere those sayings are of their own natural force: \u2018How shall we escape\nif we neglect so great salvation?\u2019 And again, \u2018See that ye refuse not\nhim that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake\non earth (Moses), much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from\nhim (Christ) that speaketh from heaven\u2019 (Heb 2:3, 12:25).\n\nThis therefore is a mighty demonstration that Christ by what he hath\ndone hath paid full price to God for the souls of sinners, because God\nso severely threateneth, and also punisheth them that refuse to be\njustified by his blood: he threateneth, as you have heard, and\npunisheth, by leaving such men in their sins, under his heavy and\ninsupportable vengeance here.\n\n2. \u2018He that believeth not shall be damned,\u2019 damned in hell-fire (Mark\n16:16). \u2018He that believeth not.\u2019 But what should he believe? Why,\n\n(1.) That Jesus is the Saviour. \u2018If,\u2019 saith he, \u2018ye believe not that I\nam he, ye shall die in your sins.\u2019\n\n(2.) He that believeth not that he [Jesus] hath undertaken and\ncompletely perfected righteousness for us, shall die in his sins, shall\nbe damned, and perish in hell-fire; for such have no cloak for their\nsin, but must stand naked to the show of their shame before the\njudgment of God, that fearful judgment. Therefore, after he had said,\n\u2018there remaineth\u2019 for such \u2018no more sacrifice for sin,\u2019 he adds, \u2018but a\ncertain fearful looking for of judgment\u2019; there is for them left\nnothing but the judgment of God, and his fiery indignation, which shall\ndevour the adversaries. \u2018He that despised Moses\u2019 law died without mercy\nunder two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye,\nshall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God,\nand hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was\nsanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of\ngrace\u2019 (Heb 10:28,29).\n\nSee here, if fury comes not up now into the face of God; now is mention\nmade of his fearful judgment and fiery indignation. Now, I say, is\nmention made thereof, when it is suggested that some have light\nthoughts of him, count his blood unholy, and trample his sacrificed\nbody under the feet of their reproaches; now is he a consuming fire,\nand will burn to the lowest hell. \u2018For we know him that hath said,\nVengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And\nagain, The Lord shall judge his people\u2019 (Heb 10:30). These words are\nurged by the Holy Ghost on purpose to beget in the hearts of the\nrebellious reverend thoughts, and a high esteem of the sacrifice which\nour Lord Jesus offered once for all upon Mount Calvary unto God the\nFather for our sins; for that is the very argument of the whole\nepistle.\n\nIt is said to this purpose, in one of Paul\u2019s epistles to the\nThessalonians, that because men receive not the love of the truth, that\nthey might be saved; \u2018for this cause God shall send them strong\ndelusion, that they should believe a lie; that they might be damned\u2019 (2\nThess 2:11,12).\n\n\u2018The truth\u2019 mentioned in this place is Jesus Christ. \u2018I am the truth,\u2019\nsaith he (John 14:6). The love of the truth is none else but the love\nand compassion of Jesus Christ in shedding his blood for man\u2019s\nredemption. \u2018Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down\nhis life for his friends\u2019 (John 15:13). This, then, is the love of the\nTruth (of Jesus), that he hath laid down his life for us. Now, that the\nrejecters of this love should by this their rejecting procure such\nwrath of God against them, that rather than they shall miss of\ndamnation, himself will choose their delusions for them, and also give\nthem up to the effectual working of these delusions, what doth this\nmanifest but that God is displeased with them that accept not of Jesus\nChrist for righteousness, and will certainly order that their end shall\nbe everlasting damnation? therefore Jesus Christ hath paid full price\nto God for sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them.\n\nTHE USE OF THE DOCTRINE.\n\n\nI come now to make some use of and to apply this blessed doctrine of\nthe undertaking of Jesus Christ, and of his paying full price to God\nfor sinners, and of his obtaining eternal redemption for them.\n\nTHE FIRST USE.\n\n\n[FIRST.] By this doctrine we come to understand many things which\notherwise abide obscure and utterly unknown, because this doctrine is\naccompanied with the Holy Ghost, that revealer of secrets, and searcher\nof the deep things of God (1 Peter 1:2; Eph 1:17; 1 Cor 2). The Holy\nGhost comes down with this doctrine as that in which it alone\ndelighteth; therefore is it called \u2018the Spirit of wisdom and revelation\nin the knowledge\u2019 of Jesus Christ. He giveth also \u2018the light of the\nknowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ\u2019 (2 Cor 4:6).\nLittle of God is known in the world where the gospel is rejected; the\nreligious Jew and the wise Gentile may see more of God in a crucified\nChrist than in heaven and earth besides; for in him \u2018are hid all the\ntreasures of wisdom and knowledge,\u2019 not only in his person as God, but\nalso in his undertakings as Mediator (Col 2:3). Hence Paul telleth us,\nthat he \u2018determined not to know anything among\u2019 the Corinthians but\n\u2018Jesus Christ and him crucified\u2019 (1 Cor 2:2). I say, more of God is\nrevealed to us in this doctrine than we can see of him in heaven and\nearth without it.\n\nFirst. Here is more of his WISDOM seen than in his making and upholding\nall the creatures. His wisdom, I say, in devising means to reconcile\nsinners to a holy and infinite Majesty; to be a just God, and YET a\nSaviour; to be just to his law, just to his threatening, just to\nhimself, and yet save sinners, can no way be understood till thou\nunderstandest why Jesus Christ did hang on the tree; for here only is\nthe riddle unfolded, \u2018Christ died for our sins,\u2019 and therefore can God\nin justice save us (Isa 45:21). And hence is Christ called the Wisdom\nof God, not only because he is so essentially, but because by him is\nthe greatest revelation of his wisdom towards man. In redemption,\ntherefore, by the blood of Christ, God is said to abound towards us in\nall wisdom (Eph 1:7,8). Here we see the highest contradictions\nreconciled, here justice kisseth the sinner, here a man stands just in\nthe sight of God while confounded at his own pollutions, and here he\nthat hath done no good hath yet a sufficient righteousness, even the\nrighteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ.\n\nSecond. The JUSTICE of God is here more seen than in punishing all the\ndamned. \u2018He spared not his own Son,\u2019 is a sentence which more revealeth\nthe nature of the justice of God than if it had said, He spared not all\nthe world. True, he cast angels from heaven, and drowned the old world;\nhe turned Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, with many more of like nature;\nbut what were all these to the cursing of his Son? Yea, what were ten\nthousand such manifestations of his ireful indignation against sin, to\nthat of striking, afflicting, chastising, and making the darling of his\nbosom the object of his wrath and judgment? Here it is seen he\nrespecteth not persons, but judgeth sin, and condemneth him on whom it\nis found; yea, although on Jesus Christ his well-beloved (Rom 8:32; Gal\n3:13).\n\nThird. The mystery of God\u2019s WILL is here more seen than in hanging the\nearth upon nothing, while he condemneth Christ, though righteous, and\njustifieth us, though sinners, while he maketh him to be sin for us,\nand us the righteousness of God in him (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Cor 5:20).\n\nFourth. The POWER of God is here more seen than in making of heaven and\nearth; for one to bear, and get the victory over sin, when charged by\nthe justice of an infinite majesty, in so doing he showeth the height\nof the highest power; for where sin by the law is charged, and that by\nGod immediately, there an infinite majesty opposeth, and that with the\nwhole of his justice, holiness, and power; so then, he that is thus\ncharged and engaged for the sin of the world, must not only be equal\nwith God, but show it by overcoming that curse and judgment that by\ninfinite justice is charged upon him for sin.\n\nWhen angels and men had sinned, how did they fall and crumble before\nthe anger of God! they had not power to withstand the terror, nor could\nthere be worth found in their persons or doings to appease displeased\njustice. But behold here stands the Son of God before him in the sin of\nthe world; his Father, finding him there, curseth and condemns him to\ndeath; but he, by the power of his Godhead, and the worthiness of his\nperson and doings, vanquisheth sin, satisfieth God\u2019s justice, and so\nbecomes the Saviour of the world. Here, then, is power seen: sin is a\nmighty thing, it crusheth all in pieces save him whose Spirit is\neternal (Heb 9:14). Set Christ and his sufferings aside, and you\nneither see the evil of sin nor the displeasure of God against it; you\nsee them not in their utmost. Hadst thou a view of all the legions that\nare now in the pains of hell, yea, couldst thou hear their shrieks and\ngroans together at once, and feel the whole of all their burden, much\nof the evil of sin and of the justice of God against it would be yet\nunknown by thee, for thou wouldest want power to feel and bear the\nutmost. A giant shows not his power by killing of a little child, nor\nyet is his might seen by the resistance that such a little one makes,\nbut then he showeth his power when he dealeth with one like himself;\nyea, and the power also of the other is then made manifest in saving\nhimself from being swallowed up with his wrath. Jesus Christ also made\nmanifest his eternal power and Godhead, more by bearing and overcoming\nour sins, than in making or upholding the whole world; hence Christ\ncrucified is called \u2018the power of God\u2019 (1 Cor 1:23,24).\n\nFifth. The LOVE and MERCY of God are more seen in and by this doctrine\nthan any other way. Mercy and love are seen, in that God gives us rain\nand fruitful seasons, and in that he filleth our hearts with food and\ngladness; from that bounty which he bestoweth upon us as men, as his\ncreatures. O! but herein is love made manifest, in that \u2018Christ laid\ndown his life for us.\u2019 \u2018And God commendeth his love toward us, in that,\nwhile we were yet sinners, Christ died for us\u2019 (1 John 3:16; Rom 5:8).\n\nNever love like this, nor did God ever give such discovery of his love\nfrom the beginning to this day. \u2018Herein is love, not that we loved God,\nbut that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our\nsins\u2019 (1 John 4:10).\n\nHere is love, that God sent his Son, his darling, his Son that never\noffended, his Son that was always his delight! Herein is love, that he\nsent him to save sinners, to save them by bearing their sins, by\nbearing their curse, by dying their death, and by carrying their\nsorrows! Here is love, in that while we were yet enemies, Christ died\nfor us; yea, here is love, in that while \u2018we were yet without strength,\nChrist died for the ungodly\u2019 (Rom 5:6).\n\nTHE SECOND USE.\n\n\n[SECOND.] But as this doctrine giveth us the best discovery of God, so\nalso it giveth us the best discovery of ourselves and our own things.\n\nFirst. It giveth us the best discovery of ourselves. Wouldst thou know,\nsinner, what thou art? look up to the cross, and behold a weeping,\nbleeding, dying Jesus: nothing could do but that, nothing could save\nthee but his blood; angels could not, saints could not, God could not,\nbecause he could not lie, because he could not deny himself. What a\nthing is sin, that it should sink all that bear its burden! yea, it\nsunk the Son of God himself into death and the grave, and had also sunk\nhim into hell-fire for ever had he not been the Son of God, had he not\nbeen able to take it on his back, and bear it away! O this Lamb of God!\nSinners were going to hell, Christ was the delight of his Father, and\nhad a whole heaven to himself; but that did not content him, heaven\ncould not hold him; he must come into the world to save sinners (1 Tim\n1:15). Aye, and had he not come, thy sins had sunk thee, thy sins had\nprovoked the wrath of God against thee, to thy perdition and\ndestruction for ever. There is no man but is a sinner, there is no sin\nbut would damn an angel, should God lay it to his charge. Sinner, the\ndoctrine of Christ crucified crieth therefore aloud unto thee, that sin\nhath made thy condition dreadful. See yourselves, your sin, and\nconsequently the condition that your souls are in, by the death and\nblood of Christ; Christ\u2019s death giveth us the most clear discovery of\nthe dreadful nature of our sins. I say again, if sin be so dreadful a\nthing as to break the heart of the Son of God, for so he said it did,\nhow shall a poor, wretched, impenitent, damned sinner wrestle with the\nwrath of God? Awake, sinners; you are lost, you are undone, you are\ndamned, hell-fire is your portion for ever, if you abide in your sins,\nand be found without a Saviour in the dreadful day of judgment.\n\nSecond. For your good deeds cannot help you; the blood of Christ tells\nyou so. For by this doctrine, \u2018Christ died for our sins,\u2019 God damneth\nto death and hell the righteousness of the world. Christ must die, or\nman be damned. Where is now any room for the righteousness of men?\nroom, I say, for man\u2019s righteousness, as to his acceptance and\njustification? Bring, then, thy righteousness to the cross of Jesus\nChrist, and in his blood behold the demands of justice; behold them, I\nsay, in the cries and tears, in the blood and death of Jesus Christ.\nLook again, and behold the person dying; such an one as never sinned\nnor offended at any time, yet he dies. Could a holy life, an innocent,\nharmless conversation, have saved one from death, Jesus had not died.\nBut he must die; sin was charged, therefore Christ must die.\n\nMen, therefore, need to go no further to prove the worth of their own\nrighteousness than to the death of Christ; they need not be waiting to\nseek in that matter till they stand before the judgment-seat.\n\nQuest. But how should I prove [or try] the goodness of mine own\nrighteousness by the death and blood of Christ?\n\nAnsw. Thus: if Christ must die for sin, then all thy righteousness\ncannot save thee. \u2018If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is\ndead in vain\u2019 (Gal 2:21). By this text it is manifest that either\nChrist died in vain, or thy righteousness is vain. If thy righteousness\ncan save thee, then Christ died in vain; if nothing below or besides\nthe death of Christ could save thee, then thy righteousness is in vain;\none of the two must be cast away, either Christ\u2019s or thine. Christ\ncrucified to save the world, discovereth two great evils in man\u2019s own\nrighteousness; I mean, when brought for justification and life. 1. It\nopposeth the righteousness of Christ. 2. It condemneth God of\nfoolishness.\n\n1. It opposeth the righteousness of Christ, in that it seeketh itself\nto stand where should the righteousness of Christ\u2014to wit, in God\u2019s\naffection for the justification of thy person; and this is one of the\nhighest affronts to Christ that poor man is capable to give him: right\nworthily, therefore, doth the doctrine of the gospel damn the\nrighteousness of men, and promiseth the kingdom of God to publicans and\nharlots rather.\n\n2. It condemneth God of foolishness; for if works of righteousness\nwhich we can do can justify from the curse of the law in the sight of\nGod, then are not all the treasures of wisdom found in the heart of God\nand Christ; for this dolt-headed sinner hath now found out a way of his\nown, unawares to God, to secure his soul from wrath and vengeance; I\nsay, unawares to God, for he never imagined that such a thing could be;\nfor had he, he would never have purposed before the world began to send\nhis Son to die for sinners. Christ is the wisdom of God, as you have\nheard, and that as he is our justifying righteousness. God was manifest\nin the flesh to save us, is the great mystery of godliness. But wherein\nlieth the depth of this wisdom of God in our salvation, if man\u2019s\nrighteousness can save him? (Job 40:10-14).\n\nYea, wherefore hath God also given it out that there is none other name\ngiven to men under heaven whereby we must be saved? I say again, why is\nit affirmed \u2018without shedding of blood is no remission,\u2019 if man\u2019s good\ndeeds can save him?\n\nThis doctrine, therefore, of the righteousness of Christ being rightly\npreached, and truly believed, arraigneth and condemneth man\u2019s\nrighteousness to hell; it casteth it out as Abraham cast out Ishmael.\nBlood, blood, the sound of blood, abaseth all the glory of it! When men\nhave said all, and showed us what they can, they have no blood to\npresent God\u2019s justice with; yet it is blood that maketh an atonement\nfor the soul, and nothing but blood can wash away from us our sins (Lev\n17:11; Rev 1:5; Heb 9).\n\nJustice calls for blood, sins call for blood, the righteous law calls\nfor blood, yea, the devil himself must be overcome by blood. Sinner,\nwhere is now thy righteousness? Bring it before a consuming fire, for\nour God is a consuming fire; bring it before the justice of the law;\nyea, try if aught but the blood of Christ can save thee from thy sins,\nand devils; try it, I say, by this doctrine; go not one step further\nbefore thou hast tried it.\n\nThird. By this doctrine we are made to see the worth of souls. It\ncannot be but that the soul is of wonderful price, when the Son of God\nwill not stick to spill his blood for it. O sinners, you that will\nventure your souls for a little pleasure, surely you know not the worth\nof your souls. Now, if you would know what your souls are worth, and\nthe price which God sets them at, read that price by the blood of\nChrist. The blood of Christ was spilt to save souls. \u2018For ye are bought\nwith a price,\u2019 and that price none other than the blood of Christ;\n\u2018therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God\u2019s\n(1 Cor 6:20). Sinners, you have souls, can you behold a crucified\nChrist, and not bleed, and not mourn, and not fall in love with him?\n\nTHE THIRD USE.\n\n\n[THIRD.] By this doctrine sinners, as sinners, are encouraged to come\nto God for mercy, for the curse due to sin is taken out of the way. I\nspeak now to sinners that are awake, and see themselves sinners.\n\nThere are two things in special when men begin to be awakened, that\nkill their thoughts of being saved. 1. A sense of sin. 2. The wages due\nthereto. These kill the heart; for who can bear up under the guilt of\nsin? \u2018If our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we\nthen live?\u2019 (Eze 33:10). How indeed! it is impossible. So neither can\nman grapple with the justice of God. \u2018Can thine heart endure, or can\nthine hands be strong?\u2019 They cannot (Eze 22:14). \u2018A wounded spirit who\ncan bear?\u2019 (Prov 18:14). Men cannot, angels cannot. Wherefore, if now\nChrist be hid, and the blessing of faith in his blood denied, woe be to\nthem; such go after Saul and Judas, one to the sword, and the other to\nthe halter, and so miserably end their days; for come to God they dare\nnot; the thoughts of that eternal Majesty strike them through.\n\nBut now, present such poor dejected sinners with a crucified Christ,\nand persuade them that the sins under which they shake and tremble were\nlong ago laid upon the back of Christ, and the noise and sense and fear\nof damning begins to cease, depart, and fly away; dolors and terrors\nfade and vanish, and that soul conceiveth hopes of life; for thus the\nsoul argueth, Is this indeed the truth of God, that Christ was made to\nbe sin for me? was made the curse of God for me? Hath he indeed borne\nall my sins, and spilt his blood for my redemption! O Blessed tidings!\nO welcome grace! \u2018Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me,\nbless his holy name.\u2019 Now is peace come; now the face of heaven is\naltered; \u2018Behold, all things are become new.\u2019 Now the sinner can abide\nGod\u2019s presence, yea, sees unutterable glory and beauty in him; for here\nhe sees justice smite. While Jacob was afraid of Esau, how heavily did\nhe drive even towards the promised land? but when killing thoughts were\nturned into kissing, and the fears of the sword\u2019s point turned into\nbrother embraces, what says he?\u2014\u2018I have seen thy face as though it had\nbeen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me\u2019 (Gen 33:10).\n\nSo and far better is it with a poor distressed sinner at the revelation\nof the grace of God through Jesus Christ. \u2018God was in Christ,\nreconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto\nthem.\u2019 O what work will such a word make upon a wounded conscience,\nespecially when the next words follow\u2014\u2018For he hath made him to be sin\nfor us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God\nin him!\u2019\n\nNow, the soul sees qualifications able to set him quit in the sight of\nGod; qualifications prepared already. Prepared, I say, already; and\nthat by God through Christ; even such as can perfectly answer the law.\nWhat doth the law require? If obedience, here it is; if bloody\nsacrifice, here it is; if infinite righteousness, here it is! Now,\nthen, the law condemns him that believes before God no more; for all\nits demands are answered, all its curses are swallowed up in the death\nand curse Christ underwent.\n\nObject. But reason saith, since personal sin brought the death, surely\npersonal obedience must bring us life and glory.\n\nAnsw. True reason saith so, and so doth the law itself (Rom 10:5); but\nGod, we know, is above them both, and he in the covenant of grace saith\notherwise; to wit, that \u2018if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord\nJesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from\nthe dead, thou shalt be saved\u2019 (Rom 10:9).\n\nLet reason, then, hold its tongue, yea, let the law with all its wisdom\nsubject itself to him that made it; let it look for sin where God hath\nlaid it; let it approve the righteousness which God approveth; yea,\nthough it be not that of the law, but that by faith of Jesus Christ.\n\nGod hath made him our righteousness, God hath made him our sin, God\nhath made him our curse, God hath made him our blessing; methinks this\nword, \u2018God hath made it so,\u2019 should silence all the world.\n\nTHE FOURTH USE.\n\n\n[FOURTH.] By this doctrine, sufficiency of argument is ministered to\nthe tempted to withstand hereby the assaults of the devil.\n\nWhen souls begin to seek after the Lord Jesus, then Satan begins to\nafflict and distress, as the Canaanites did the Gibeonites, for making\npeace with Joshua (Josh 10:1,6).\n\nThere are three things that do usually afflict the soul that is\nearnestly looking after Jesus Christ. First. Dreadful accusations from\nSatan. Second. Grievous defiling and infectious thoughts. Third. A\nstrange readiness in our nature to fall in with both.\n\nFirst. By the first of these, the heart is made continually to tremble.\nHence his temptations are compared to the roaring of a lion, for as the\nlion by roaring killeth the heart of his prey, so doth Satan kill the\nspirit of these that hearken to him (1 Peter 5:8); for when he\ntempteth, especially by way of accusation, he doth to us as Rabshakeh\ndid to the Jews; he speaks to us in our own language; he speaks our sin\nat every word, our guilty conscience knows it; he speaks our death at\nevery word, our doubting conscience feels it.\n\nSecond. Besides this, there doth now arise, even in the heart, such\ndefiling and foul infectious thoughts that putteth the tempted to their\nwits\u2019 end; for now it seems to the soul that the very flood-gates of\nthe flesh are opened, and that to sin there is no stop at all; now the\nair seems to be covered with darkness, and the man is as if he was\nchanged into the nature of a devil; now if ignorance and unbelief\nprevail, he concludeth that he is a reprobate, made to be taken and\ndestroyed.\n\nThird. Now also he feeleth in him a readiness to fall in with every\ntemptation; a readiness, I say, continually present (Rom 7:21). This\nthrows all down. Now despair begins to swallow him up; now he can\nneither pray, nor read, nor hear, nor meditate on God, but fire and\nsmoke continually bursteth forth of the heart against him. Now sin and\ngreat confusion puts forth itself in all; yea, the more the sinner\ndesireth to do a duty sincerely, the further off it always find itself;\nfor by how much the soul struggleth under these distresses, by so much\nthe more doth Satan put forth himself to resist, still infusing more\npoison, that if possible it might never struggle more, for strugglings\nare also as poison to Satan. The fly in the spider\u2019s web is an emblem\nof the soul in such a condition\u2014the fly is entangled in the web; at\nthis the spider shows himself; if the fly stir again, down comes the\nspider to her, and claps a foot upon her; if yet the fly makes a noise,\nthen with poisoned mouth the spider lays hold upon her; if the fly\nstruggle still, then he poisons her more and more. What shall the fly\ndo now? Why, she dies, if somebody does not quickly release her. This\nis the case of the tempted; they are entangled in the web, their feet\nand wings are entangled; now Satan shows himself; if the soul now\nstruggleth, Satan laboureth to hold it down; if it now shall make a\nnoise, then he bites with blasphemous mouth, more poisonous than the\ngall of a serpent; if it struggle again, then he poisoneth more and\nmore, insomuch that it needs, at last, must die in the net, if the man,\nthe lord Jesus, help not out.[6]\n\nThe afflicted conscience understands my words.\n\nFurther, though the fly in the web is altogether incapable of looking\nfor relief, yet this awakened, tempted Christian is not. What must he\ndo therefore? How should he contain hopes of life? If he look to his\nheart, there is blasphemy; if he look to his duties, there is sin; if\nhe strive to mourn and lament, perhaps he cannot; unbelief and hardness\nhinder. Shall this man lie down and despair? No. Shall he trust to his\nduties? No. Shall he stay from Christ till his heart is better? No.\nWhat then? Let him NOW look to Jesus Christ crucified, then shall he\nsee his sins answered for, then shall he see death a-dying, then shall\nhe see guilt borne by another, and there shall he see the devil\novercome. This sight destroys the power of the first temptation,\npurifies the heart, and inclines the mind to all good things.\n\nAnd to encourage thee, tempted creature, to this most gospel duty,\nconsider that when Jesus Christ read his commission upon the entering\ninto his ministry, he proclaimed, \u2018The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,\nbecause he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath\nsent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the\ncaptives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them\nthat are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord\u2019 (Luke\n4:18,19).\n\nThese things therefore should the tempted believe; but believing is now\nsweating work; for Satan will hold as long as possible, and only\nsteadfast faith can make him fly. But O, the toil of a truly gracious\nheart in this combat! If faith be weak, he can scarce get higher than\nhis knees; Lord, help! Lord, save! and then down again, till an arm\nfrom heaven takes him up, until Jesus Christ be evidently set forth\ncrucified for him, and cursed for his sin; for then, and not till then,\nthe temptation rightly ceaseth, at leastwise for a season. Now the soul\ncan tend to look about it, and thus consider with itself: if Christ\nhath borne my sin and curse, then it is taken away from me; and seeing\nthus to take away sin was the contrivance of the God of heaven, I will\nbless his name, hope in his mercy, and look upon death and hell with\ncomfort. \u2018Thine heart shall meditate terror,\u2019 thou shalt see the land\nthat is very far off (Isa 33:16-18).\n\nTHE FIFTH USE.\n\n\n[FIFTH.] this doctrine makes Christ precious to the believers\u2014\u2018Unto you\ntherefore which believe, he is precious\u2019 (1 Peter 2:7).\n\nThis head might be greatly enlarged upon, and branched out into a\nthousand particulars, and each one full of weight and glory. 1. By\nconsidering what sin is. 2. By considering what hell is. 3. By\nconsidering what wrath is. 4. By considering what eternity is. 5. By\nconsidering what the loss of a soul is. 6. What the loss of God is. 7.\nWhat the loss of heaven is. 8. And what it is to be in utter darkness\nwith devils and damned souls for ever and ever. And after all to\nconclude, from all the miseries the Lord Jesus delivered me.\n\nFurther, this makes Christ precious, if I consider, in the next place,\n\n1. How he did deliver me; it was with his life, his blood; it cost him\ntears, groans, agony, separation from God; to do it he endured his\nFather\u2019s wrath, bore his Father\u2019s curse, and died thousands of deaths\nat once.\n\n2. He did this while I was his enemy, without my desires, without my\nknowledge, without my deserts; he did it unawares to me.\n\n3. He did it freely, cheerfully, yea, he longed to die for me; yea,\nheaven would not hold him for the love he had to my salvation, which\nalso he hath effectually accomplished for me at Jerusalem. Honourable\nJesus! precious Jesus! loving Jesus! Jonathan\u2019s kindness captivated\nDavid, and made him precious in his eyes for ever. \u2018I am distressed for\nthee, my brother Jonathan,\u2019 said he; \u2018very pleasant hast thou been unto\nme; thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women\u2019 (2 Sam\n1:26). Why, what had Jonathan done? O, he had delivered David from the\nwrath of Saul. But how much more should he be precious to me who hath\nsaved me from death and hell! who hath delivered me from the wrath of\nGod! \u2018The love of Christ constraineth us.\u2019 Nothing will so edge the\nspirit of a Christian as, \u2018Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God\nby thy blood.\u2019 This makes the heavens themselves ring with joy and\nshouting. Mark the words, \u2018Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God\nby thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;\nand hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on\nthe earth.\u2019 What follows now? \u2018And I beheld, and I heard the voice of\nmany angels round about the throne, and the beasts and the elders: and\nthe number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands\nof thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was\nslain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and\nhonour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven,\nand on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and\nall that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory,\nand power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb,\nfor ever and ever\u2019 (Rev 5:9-14).\n\nThus also is the song, that new song that is said to be sung by the\nhundred forty and four thousand which stand with the Lamb upon Mount\nSion, with his Father\u2019s name written in their foreheads. These are also\ncalled harpers, harping with their harps: \u2018And they sung as it were a\nnew song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders:\nand no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four\nthousand, which were redeemed from the earth\u2019 (Rev 14:1-3).\n\nBut why could they not learn that song? Because they were not redeemed:\nnone can sing of this song but the redeemed; they can give glory to the\nLamb, the Lamb that was slain, and that redeemed them to God by his\nblood. It is faith in his blood on earth that will make us sing this\nsong in heaven. These shoutings and heavenly songs must needs come from\nlove put into a flame by the sufferings of Christ.\n\nTHE LAST USE.\n\n\nIf all these things be true, what follows but a demonstration of the\naccursed condition of those among the religious in these nations whose\nnotions put them far off from Jesus, and from venturing their souls\nupon his bloody death? I have observed such a spirit as this in the\nworld that careth not for knowing of Jesus; the possessed therewith do\nthink that it is not material to salvation to venture upon a crucified\nChrist, neither do they trouble their heads or hearts with inquiring\nwhether Christ Jesus be risen and ascended into heaven, or whether they\nsee him again or no, but rather are for concluding that there will be\nno such thing: these men speak not by the Holy Ghost, for in the sum\nthey call Jesus accursed; but I doubt not to say that many of them are\nanathematized of God, and shall stand so, till the coming of the Lord\nJesus, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.[7]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1. In this quotation, Bunyan has followed the Genevan or Puritan\nversion. It was a favourite version with our pilgrim forefathers, and\nis in many texts more faithful than our authorized translation; but, in\nthis passage, our present version is more literal. The same Hebrew\nword, to \u2018break\u2019 or \u2018bruise,\u2019 is used as to Satan\u2019s head and the\nSaviour\u2019s heel.\u2014Ed.\n\n2. Genevan or Puritan version.\u2014Ed.\n\n3. \u2018Common\u2019 means public. \u2018Not doing nor dying in a private capacity,\nbut in the room and stead of sinners.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n4. It was common with the Reformers and Puritans, when condemning the\nabsurdities of Aquinas and the schoolmen, to call it \u2018Dunsish\nsophistry,\u2019 from one of the chief of these writers named Duns, usually\ncalled, from the place of his birth, Duns Scotus.\u2014Ed.\n\n5. The apostle evidently means by \u2018Christ made sin for us,\u2019 that he was\nmade an offering or sacrifice for our sins. He was made sin who knew no\nsin. Our sins were laid upon him; he bore them away in his own body on\nthe tree. The clean animals sacrificed by the patriarchs, and under the\nlaw, were types of this great sacrifice of Christ.\u2014Ed.\n\n6. \u2018I hid myself when I for flies do wait, So doth the devil when he\nlays his bait; If I do fear the losing of my prey, I stir me, and more\nsnares upon her lay, This way and that her wings and legs I tie, That\nsure as she is caught, so she must die.\u2019\u2014Bunyan\u2019s Divine Emblems, No.\nXVIII. \u2018Dialogue between a spider and a sinner.\u2019\n\n7. Here is faithful dealing! This is a most solemn and awful appeal to\nthe consciences of those who, forsaking the fountain of salvation,\nventure to build their hopes of pardon upon some other foundation than\nJesus Christ, the Rock of Ages. They seek refuge in lies, which, at the\ngreat and trying day, will be fearfully and swiftly swept away, leaving\nthem, with all their guilt upon their heads, to suffer under the curse.\nReader, do not indulge in vain imaginations as to whether any sect is\nhere alluded to; Bunyan\u2019s appeal is to persons\u2014to you and me. If WE,\neither by secret or open sins, or by carelessness of eternal realities,\nor by departing from a simple and entire reliance by faith in the work\nand merits of Christ\u2014we trample under foot the blood of the covenant,\nthere is nothing left us but a fearful looking for of judgment, and\nfiery indignation to devour us. May we appeal to our God, Lord, is it\nI? Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. O lead me in the way\neverlasting.\u2014Ed\n\n\n\n\nA TREATISE OF THE FEAR OF GOD;\n\nSHOWING\n\nWHAT IT IS, AND HOW DISTINGUISHED FROM THAT WHICH IS NOT SO.\n\nALSO, WHENCE IT COMES; WHO HAS IT; WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS; AND WHAT THE\nPRIVILEGES OF THOSE THAT HAVE IT IN THEIR HEARTS.\n\n\nLondon: Printed for N. Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, over\nagainst the Stocks market: 1679.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\n\u201cThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,\u201d and \u201ca fountain of\nlife\u201d\u2014the foundation on which all wisdom rests, as well as the source\nfrom whence it emanates. Upon a principle so vastly important, all the\nsubtle malignity of Satan has been directed, if possible to mislead the\nvery elect; while the ungodly and impenitent fall under his devices. To\nthe mind enlightened by Divine truth, the difference between a filial\nfear of offending God and the dread of punishment is very plain. Still,\nby the devil\u2019s sophistry, some of the most pious Christians have been\npuzzled and bewildered. Bunyan was not ignorant of Satan\u2019s devices, and\nhe has roused the energies of his powerful mind, guided by Divine\ntruth, to render this important doctrine so clear and easy to be\nunderstood, that the believer may not err.\n\nThis rare volume, first published in 1679, soon became so scarce that\nChandler, Wilson, Whitefield, and others, omitted it from their\neditions of Bunyan\u2019s works. At length it appeared in the more complete\ncollection by Ryland and Mason, about 1780. Since then, it has been\nreprinted, somewhat modernized, by the Tract Society, from an original\ncopy, discovered by that ardent lover of Bunyan, the Rev. Joseph\nBelcher. Of this edition, four thousand copies have been printed.\n\nThe great line of distinction that Bunyan draws is between that terror\nand dread of God, as the infinitely Holy One, before whom all sin must\nincur the intensity of punishment; and the love of God, as the Father\nof mercies, and fountain of blessedness, in the gift of his Son, and a\nsense of adoption into his family; by the influences of which the soul\nfears to offend him. This fear is purely evangelical; for if the\nslightest dependence is placed upon any supposed good works of our own,\nthe filial fear of God is swallowed up in dread and terror\u2014for\nsalvation depends upon the perfection of holiness, without which none\ncan enter heaven, and which can only be found in Christ.\n\nMr. Mason, on reading this treatise, thus expressed his feelings\u2014\u201cWhen\nthe fear of the Lord is a permanent principle, inwrought in the soul by\nthe Divine Spirit, it is an undoubted token of election to life\neternal; for the most precious promises are made to God\u2019s fearers, even\nthe blessings of the everlasting covenant. Such are sure to be\nprotected from every enemy; to be guided by unerring counsel; and what\nwill crown all, to be beloved of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost;\ntill, by almighty and effectual grace, he will be translated to those\nmansions of glory and blessedness prepared for him, where he will sing\nthe praises of his covenant-God while eternity endures.\u201d\n\nMay this be the blessed experience of all those who prayerfully read\nthis important treatise.\n\nGeo. Offor.\n\nA TREATISE ON THE FEAR OF GOD\n\n\u201cBLESSED IS EVERY ONE THAT FEARETH THE LORD.\u201d\u2014PSALM 128:1\n\n\u201cFEAR GOD.\u201d\u2014REVELATION 14:7\n\n\nThis exhortation is not only found here in the text, but is in several\nother places of the Scripture pressed, and that with much vehemency,\nupon the children of men, as in Ecclesiastes 12:13; 1 Peter 1:17, &c. I\nshall not trouble you with a long preamble, or forespeech to the\nmatter, nor shall I here so much as meddle with the context, but shall\nimmediately fall upon the words themselves, and briefly treat of the\nfear of God. The text, you see, presenteth us with matter of greatest\nmoment, to wit, with God, and with the fear of him.\n\nFirst they present us with God, the true and living God, maker of the\nworlds, and upholder of all things by the word of his power: that\nincomprehensible majesty, in comparison of whom all nations are less\nthan the drop of a bucket, and than the small dust of the balance. This\nis he that fills heaven and earth, and is everywhere present with the\nchildren of men, beholding the evil and the good; for he hath set his\neyes upon all their ways.\n\nSo that, considering that by the text we have presented to our souls\nthe Lord God and Maker of us all, who also will be either our Saviour\nor Judge, we are in reason and duty bound to give the more earnest heed\nto the things that shall be spoken, and be the more careful to receive\nthem, and put them in practice; for, as I said, as they present us with\nthe mighty God, so they exhort us to the highest duty towards him; to\nwit, to fear him. I call it the highest duty, because it is, as I may\ncall it, not only a duty in itself, but, as it were, the salt that\nseasoneth every duty. For there is no duty performed by us that can by\nany means be accepted of God, if it be not seasoned with godly fear.\nWherefore the apostle saith, \u201cLet us have grace, whereby we may serve\nGod acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.\u201d Of this fear, I say, I\nwould discourse at this time; but because this word fear is variously\ntaken in the Scripture, and because it may be profitable to us to see\nit in its variety, I shall therefore choose this method for the\nmanaging of my discourse, even to show you the nature of the word in\nits several, especially of the chiefest, acceptations. FIRST. Then by\nthis word fear we are to understand even God himself, who is the object\nof our fear. SECOND. By this word fear we are to understand the Word of\nGod, the rule and director of our fear. Now to speak to this word fear,\nas it is thus taken.\n\n[THIS WORD FEAR AS TAKEN FOR GOD HIMSELF.]\n\n\nFIRST. Of this word \u201cfear,\u201d AS IT RESPECTETH GOD HIMSELF, who is the\nobject of our fear.\n\nBy this word fear, as I said, we are to understand God himself, who is\nthe object of our fear: For the Divine majesty goeth often under this\nvery name himself. This name Jacob called him by, when he and Laban\nchid together on Mount Gilead, after that Jacob had made his escape to\nhis father\u2019s house; \u201cExcept,\u201d said he, \u201cthe God of my father, the God\nof Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had been with me, surely thou hadst\nsent me away now empty.\u201d So again, a little after, when Jacob and Laban\nagree to make a covenant of peace each with other, though Laban, after\nthe jumbling way of the heathen by his oath, puts the true God and the\nfalse together, yet \u201cJacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac\u201d (Gen\n31:42,53).[1]\n\nBy the fear, that is, by the God of his father Isaac. And, indeed, God\nmay well be called the fear of his people, not only because they have\nby his grace made him the object of their fear, but because of the\ndread and terrible majesty that is in him. \u201cHe is a mighty God, a great\nand terrible, and with God is terrible majesty\u201d (Dan 7:28, 10:17; Neh\n1:5, 4:14, 9:32; Job 37:22). Who knows the power of his anger? \u201cThe\nmountains quake at him, the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his\npresence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand\nbefore his indignation? who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?\nhis fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him\u201d\n(Nahum 1:5,6). His people know him, and have his dread upon them, by\nvirtue whereof there is begot and maintained in them that godly awe and\nreverence of his majesty which is agreeable to their profession of him.\n\u201cLet him be your fear, and let him be your dread.\u201d Set his majesty\nbefore the eyes of your souls, and let his excellency make you afraid\nwith godly fear (Isa 8:13).\n\nThere are these things that make God to be the fear of his people.\n\nFirst. His presence is dreadful, and that not only his presence in\ncommon, but his special, yea, his most comfortable and joyous presence.\nWhen God comes to bring a soul news of mercy and salvation, even that\nvisit, that presence of God, is fearful. When Jacob went from Beersheba\ntowards Haran, he met with God in the way by a dream, in the which he\napprehended a ladder set upon the earth, whose top reached to heaven;\nnow in this dream, from the top of this ladder, he saw the Lord, and\nheard him speak unto him, not threateningly; not as having his fury\ncome up into his face; but in the most sweet and gracious manner,\nsaluting him with promise of goodness after promise of goodness, to the\nnumber of eight or nine; as will appear if you read the place. Yet I\nsay, when he awoke, all the grace that discovered itself in this\nheavenly vision to him could not keep him from dread and fear of God\u2019s\nmajesty. \u201cAnd Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the\nLord is in this place, and I knew it not; and he was afraid and said,\nHow dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God,\nand this is the gate of heaven\u201d (Gen 28:10-17).\n\nAt another time, to wit, when Jacob had that memorable visit from God,\nin which he gave him power as a prince to prevail with him; yea, and\ngave him a name, that by his remembering it he might call God\u2019s favour\nthe better to his mind; yet even then and there such dread of the\nmajesty of God was upon him, that he went away wondering that his life\nwas preserved (Gen 32:30). Man crumbles to dust at the presence of God;\nyea, though he shows himself to us in his robes of salvation. We have\nread how dreadful and how terrible even the presence of angels have\nbeen unto men, and that when they have brought them good tidings from\nheaven (Judg 13:22; Matt 28:4; Mark 16:5,6). Now, if angels, which are\nbut creatures, are, through the glory that God has put upon them, so\nfearful and terrible in their appearance to men, how much more dreadful\nand terrible must God himself be to us, who are but dust and ashes!\nWhen Daniel had the vision of his salvation sent him from heaven, for\nso it was, \u201cO Daniel,\u201d said the messenger, \u201ca man greatly beloved\u201d; yet\nbehold the dread and terror of the person speaking fell with that\nweight upon this good man\u2019s soul, that he could not stand, nor bear up\nunder it. He stood trembling, and cries out, \u201cO my lord, by the vision\nmy sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how\ncan the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me,\nstraightway there remained no strength in me\u201d (Dan 10:16-17). See you\nhere if the presence of God is not a dreadful and a fearful thing; yea,\nhis most gracious and merciful appearances; how much more then when he\nshoweth himself to us as one that disliketh our ways, as one that is\noffended with us for our sins?\n\nAnd there are three things that in an eminent manner make his presence\ndreadful to us.\n\n1. The first is God\u2019s own greatness and majesty; the discovery of this,\nor of himself thus, even as no poor mortals are able to conceive of\nhim, is altogether unsupportable. The man dies to whom he thus\ndiscovers himself. \u201cAnd when I saw him,\u201d says John, \u201cI fell at his feet\nas dead\u201d (Rev 1:17). It was this, therefore, that Job would have\navoided in the day that he would have approached unto him. \u201cLet not thy\ndread,\u201d says he, \u201cmake me afraid. Then call thou, and I will answer; or\nlet me speak, and answer thou me\u201d (Job 13:21,22). But why doth Job\nafter this manner thus speak to God? Why! it was from a sense that he\nhad of the dreadful majesty of God, even the great and dreadful God\nthat keepeth covenant with his people. The presence of a king is\ndreadful to the subject, yea, though he carries it never so\ncondescendingly; if then there be so much glory and dread in the\npresence of the king, what fear and dread must there be, think you, in\nthe presence of the eternal God?\n\n2. When God giveth his presence to his people, that his presence\ncauseth them to appear to themselves more what they are, than at other\ntimes, by all other light, they can see. \u201cO my lord,\u201d said Daniel, \u201cby\nthe vision my sorrows are turned upon me\u201d; and why was that, but\nbecause by the glory of that vision, he saw his own vileness more than\nat other times. So again: \u201cI was left alone,\u201d says he, \u201cand saw this\ngreat vision\u201d; and what follows? Why, \u201cand there remained no strength\nin me; for my comeliness was turned into corruption, and I retained no\nstrength\u201d (Dan 10:8,16). By the presence of God, when we have it\nindeed, even our best things, our comeliness, our sanctity and\nrighteousness, all do immediately turn to corruption and polluted rags.\nThe brightness of his glory dims them as the clear light of the shining\nsun puts out the glory of the fire or candle, and covers them with the\nshadow of death. See also the truth of this in that vision of the\nprophet Isaiah. \u201cWo is me,\u201d said he, \u201cfor I am undone, because I am a\nman of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean\nlips.\u201d Why, what is the matter? how came the prophet by this sight?\nWhy, says he, \u201cmine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts\u201d (Isa\n6:5). But do you think that this outcry was caused by unbelief? No; nor\nyet begotten by slavish fear. This was to him the vision of his\nSaviour, with whom also he had communion before (vv 2-5). It was the\nglory of that God with whom he had now to do, that turned, as was noted\nbefore of Daniel, his comeliness in him into corruption, and that gave\nhim yet greater sense of the disproportion that was betwixt his God and\nhim, and so a greater sight of his defiled and polluted nature.\n\n3. Add to this the revelation of God\u2019s goodness, and it must needs make\nhis presence dreadful to us; for when a poor defiled creature shall see\nthat this great God hath, notwithstanding his greatness, goodness in\nhis heart, and mercy to bestow upon him: this makes his presence yet\nthe more dreadful. They \u201cshall fear the Lord and his goodness\u201d (Hosea\n3:5). The goodness as well as the greatness of God doth beget in the\nheart of his elect an awful reverence of his majesty. \u201cFear ye not me?\nsaith the Lord; will ye not tremble at my presence?\u201d And then, to\nengage us in our soul to the duty, he adds one of his wonderful mercies\nto the world, for a motive, \u201cFear ye not me?\u201d Why, who are thou? He\nanswers, Even I, \u201cwhich have\u201d set, or \u201cplaced the sand for the bound of\nthe sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it; and though the\nwaves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they\nroar, yet can they not pass over it?\u201d (Jer 5:22). Also, when Job had\nGod present with him, making manifest the goodness of his great heart\nto him, what doth he say? how doth he behave himself in his presence?\n\u201cI have heard of thee,\u201d says he, \u201cby the hearing of the ear, but now\nmine eye seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and\nashes\u201d (Job 42:5,6).\n\nAnd what mean the tremblings, the tears, those breakings and shakings\nof heart that attend the people of God, when in an eminent manner they\nreceive the pronunciation of the forgiveness of sins at his mouth, but\nthat the dread of the majesty of God is in their sight mixed therewith?\nGod must appear like himself, speak to the soul like himself; nor can\nthe sinner, when under these glorious discoveries of his Lord and\nSaviour, keep out the beams of his majesty from the eyes of his\nunderstanding. \u201cI will cleanse them,\u201d saith he, \u201cfrom all their\niniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and I will pardon all\ntheir iniquities whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have\ntransgressed against me.\u201d And what then? \u201cAnd they shall fear and\ntremble for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity that I procure\nunto it\u201d (Jer 33:8,9). Alas! there is a company of poor, light, frothy\nprofessors in the world, that carry it under that which they call the\npresence of God, more like to antics, than sober sensible Christians;\nyea, more like to a fool of a play, than those that have the presence\nof God. They would not carry it so in the presence of a king, nor yet\nof the lord of their land, were they but receivers of mercy at his\nhand. They carry it even in their most eminent seasons, as if the sense\nand sight of God, and his blessed grace to their souls in Christ, had a\ntendency in them to make men wanton: but indeed it is the most humbling\nand heart-breaking sight in the world; it is fearful.[2]\n\nObject. But would you not have us rejoice at the sight and sense of the\nforgiveness of our sins?\n\nAnsw. Yes; but yet I would have you, and indeed you shall, when God\nshall tell you that your sins are pardoned indeed, \u201crejoice with\ntrembling\u201d (Psa 2:11). For then you have solid and godly joy; a joyful\nheart, and wet eyes, in this will stand very well together; and it will\nbe so more or less. For if God shall come to you indeed, and visit you\nwith the forgiveness of sins, that visit removeth the guilt, but\nincreaseth the sense of thy filth, and the sense of this that God hath\nforgiven a filthy sinner, will make thee both rejoice and tremble. O,\nthe blessed confusion that will then cover thy face whilst thou, even\nthou, so vile a wretch, shalt stand before God to receive at his hand\nthy pardon, and so the firstfruits of thy eternal salvation\u2014\u201cThat thou\nmayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more\nbecause of thy shame (thy filth), when I am pacified toward thee for\nall that thou hast done, saith the Lord God\u201d (Eze 16:63). But,\n\nSecond. As the presence, so the name of God, is dreadful and fearful:\nwherefore his name doth rightly go under the same title, \u201cThat thou\nmayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD\u201d (Deut\n28:58). The name of God, what is that, but that by which he is\ndistinguished and known from all others? Names are to distinguish by;\nso man is distinguished from beasts, and angels from men; so heaven\nfrom earth, and darkness from light; especially when by the name, the\nnature of the thing is signified and expressed; and so it was in their\noriginal, for then names expressed the nature of the thing so named.\nAnd therefore it is that the name of God is the object of our fear,\nbecause by his name his nature is expressed: \u201cHoly and reverend is his\nname\u201d (Psa 111:9). And again, he proclaimed the name of the Lord, \u201cThe\nLord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant\nin goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity,\nand transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty\u201d\n(Exo 34:6,7).\n\nAlso his name, I am, Jah, Jehovah, with several others, what is by them\nintended but his nature, as his power, wisdom, eternity, goodness, and\nomnipotency, &c., might be expressed and declared. The name of God is\ntherefore the object of a Christian\u2019s fear. David prayed to God that he\nwould unite his heart to fear his name (Psa 86:11). Indeed, the name of\nGod is a fearful name, and should always be reverenced by his people:\nyea his \u201cname is to be feared for ever and ever,\u201d and that not only in\nhis church, and among his saints, but even in the world and among the\nheathen\u2014\u201cSo the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all kings\nthy glory\u201d (Psa 102:15). God tells us that his name is dreadful, and\nthat he is pleased to see men be afraid before his name. Yea, one\nreason why he executeth so many judgments upon men as he doth, is that\nothers might see and fear his name. \u201cSo shall they fear the name of the\nLord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun\u201d (Isa\n59:19; Mal 2:5).\n\nThe name of a king is a name of fear\u2014\u201cAnd I am a great king, saith the\nLord of hosts\u201d (Mal 1:14). The name of master is a name of fear\u2014\u201cAnd if\nI be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord\u201d (v 6). Yea, rightly to\nfear the Lord is a sign of a gracious heart. And again, \u201cTo you that\nfear my name,\u201d saith he, \u201cshall the Sun of righteousness arise with\nhealing in his wings\u201d (Mal 4:2). Yea, when Christ comes to judge the\nworld, he will give reward to his servants the prophets, and to his\nsaints, \u201cand to them that fear his name, small and great\u201d (Rev 11:18).\nNow, I say, since the name of God is that by which his nature is\nexpressed, and since he naturally is so glorious and incomprehensible,\nhis name must needs be the object of our fear, and we ought always to\nhave a reverent awe of God upon our hearts at what time soever we think\nof, or hear his name, but most of all, when we ourselves do take his\nholy and fearful name into our mouths, especially in a religious\nmanner, that is, in preaching, praying, or holy conference. I do not by\nthus saying intend as if it was lawful to make mention of his name in\nlight and vain discourses; for we ought always to speak of it with\nreverence and godly fear, but I speak it to put Christians in mind that\nthey should not in religious duties show lightness of mind, or be vain\nin their words when yet they are making mention of the name of the\nLord\u2014\u201cLet every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from\niniquity\u201d (2 Tim 2:19).\n\nMake mention then of the name of the Lord at all times with great dread\nof his majesty upon our hearts, and in great soberness and truth. To do\notherwise is to profane the name of the Lord, and to take his name in\nvain; and \u201cthe Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in\nvain.\u201d Yea, God saith that he will cut off the man that doth it; so\njealous is he of the honour due unto his name (Exo 20:7; Lev 20:3).\nThis therefore showeth you the dreadful state of those that lightly,\nvainly, lyingly, and profanely make use of the name, this fearful name\nof God, either by their blasphemous cursing and oaths, or by their\nfraudulent dealing with their neighbour; for some men have no way to\nprevail with their neighbour to bow under a cheat, but by calling\nfalsely upon the name of the Lord to be witness that the wickedness is\ngood and honest; but how these men will escape, when they shall be\njudged, devouring fire and everlasting burnings, for their profaning\nand blaspheming of the name of the Lord, becomes them betimes to\nconsider of (Jer 14:14,15; Eze 20:39; Exo 20:7).[3]\n\nBut,\n\nThird. As the presence and name of God are dreadful and fearful in the\nchurch, so is his worship and service. I say his worship, or the works\nof service to which we are by him enjoined while we are in this world,\nare dreadful and fearful things. This David conceiveth, when he saith,\n\u201cBut as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy\nmercy, and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple\u201d (Psa\n5:7). And again, saith he, \u201cServe the Lord with fear.\u201d To praise God is\na part of his worship. But, says Moses, \u201cWho is a God like unto thee,\nglorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?\u201d (Exo 15:11).\nTo rejoice before him is a part of his worship; but David bids us\n\u201crejoice with trembling\u201d (Psa 2:11). Yea, the whole of our service to\nGod, and every part thereof, ought to be done by us with reverence and\ngodly fear. And therefore let us, as Paul saith again, \u201cCleanse\nourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting\nholiness in the fear of God\u201d (2 Cor 7:1; Heb 12).\n\n1. That which makes the worship of God so fearful a thing, is, for that\nit is the worship of GOD: all manner of service carries more or less\ndread and fear along with it, according as the quality or condition of\nthe person is to whom the worship and service is done. This is seen in\nthe service of subjects to their princes, the service of servants to\ntheir lords, and the service of children to their parents. Divine\nworship, then, being due to God, for it is now of Divine worship we\nspeak, and this God so great and dreadful in himself and name, his\nworship must therefore be a fearful thing.\n\n2. Besides, this glorious Majesty is himself present to behold his\nworshippers in their worshipping him. \u201cWhen two or three of you are\ngathered together in my name, I am there.\u201d That is, gathered together\nto worship him, \u201cI am there,\u201d says he. And so, again, he is said to\nwalk \u201cin the midst of the seven golden candlesticks\u201d (Rev 1:13). That\nis, in the churches, and that with a countenance like the sun, with a\nhead and hair as white as snow, and with eyes like a flame of fire.\nThis puts dread and fear into his service; and therefore his servants\nshould serve him with fear.\n\n3. Above all things, God is jealous of his worship and service. In all\nthe ten words, he telleth us not anything of his being a jealous God,\nbut in the second, which respecteth his worship (Exo 20). Look to\nyourselves therefore, both as to the matter and manner of your worship;\n\u201cfor I the Lord thy God,\u201d says he, \u201cam a jealous God, visiting the\niniquity of the fathers upon the children.\u201d This therefore doth also\nput dread and fear into the worship and service of God.\n\n4. The judgments that sometimes God hath executed upon men for their\nwant of godly fear, while they have been in his worship and service,\nput fear and dread upon his holy appointments. (1.) Nadab and Abihu\nwere burned to death with fire from heaven, because they attempted to\noffer false fire upon God\u2019s altar, and the reason rendered why they\nwere so served, was, because God will be sanctified in them that come\nnigh him (Lev 10:1-3). To sanctify his name is to let him be thy dread\nand thy fear, and to do nothing in his worship but what is\nwell-pleasing to him. But because these men had not grace to do this,\ntherefore they died before the Lord. (2.) Eli\u2019s sons, for want of this\nfear, when they ministered in the holy worship of God, were both slain\nin one day by the sword of the uncircumcised Philistines (see 1 Sam 2).\n(3.) Uzzah was smitten, and died before the Lord, for but an unadvised\ntouching of the ark, when the men forsook it (1 Chron 13:9,10). (4.)\nAnanias and Sapphira his wife, for telling a lie in the church, when\nthey were before God, were both stricken dead upon the place before\nthem all, because they wanted the fear and dread of God\u2019s majesty,\nname, and service, when they came before him (Acts 5).\n\nThis therefore should teach us to conclude, that, next to God\u2019s nature\nand name, his service, his instituted worship, is the most dreadful\nthing under heaven. His name is upon his ordinances, his eye is upon\nthe worshippers, and his wrath and judgment upon those that worship not\nin his fear. For this cause some of those at Corinth were by God\nhimself cut off, and to others he has given the back, and will again be\nwith them no more (1 Cor 11:27-32).[4]\n\nThis also rebuketh three sorts of people.\n\n[Three sorts of people rebuked.]\n\n1. Such as regard not to worship God at all; be sure they have no\nreverence of his service, nor fear of his majesty before their eyes.\nSinner, thou dost not come before the Lord to worship him; thou dost\nnot bow before the high God; thou neither worshippest him in thy closet\nnor in the congregation of saints. The fury of the Lord and his\nindignation must in short time be poured out upon thee, and upon the\nfamilies that call not upon his name (Psa 79:6; Jer 10:25).\n\n2. This rebukes such as count it enough to present their body in the\nplace where God is worshipped, not minding with what heart, or with\nwhat spirit they come thither. Some come into the worship of God to\nsleep there; some come thither to meet with their chapmen, and to get\ninto the wicked fellowship of their vain companions. Some come thither\nto feed their lustful and adulterous eyes with the flattering beauty of\ntheir fellow-sinners. O what a sad account will these worshippers give,\nwhen they shall count for all this, and be damned for it, because they\ncome not to worship the Lord with that fear of his name that became\nthem to come in, when they presented themselves before him![5]\n\n3. This also rebukes those that care not, so they worship, how they\nworship; how, where, or after what manner they worship God. Those, I\nmean, whose fear towards God \u201cis taught by the precept of men.\u201d They\nare hypocrites; their worship also is vain, and a stink in the nostrils\nof God. \u201cWherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me\nwith their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed\ntheir heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the\nprecept of men: therefore, behold I will proceed to do a marvellous\nwork among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the\nwisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their\nprudent men shall be hid\u201d (Isa 29:13,14; Matt 15:7-9; Mark 7:6,7).[6]\nThus I conclude this first thing, namely, that God is called our dread\nand fear.\n\nOF THIS WORD FEAR AS IT IS TAKEN FOR THE WORD OF GOD.\n\n\nI shall now come to the second thing, to wit, to the rule and director\nof our fear.\n\nSECOND. But again, this word FEAR is sometimes to be taken for THE\nWORD, the written Word of God; for that also is, and ought to be, the\nrule and director of our fear. So David calls it in the nineteenth\nPsalm: \u201cthe fear of the Lord,\u201d saith he, \u201cis clean, enduring for ever.\u201d\nThe fear of the Lord, that is, the Word of the Lord, the written word;\nfor that which he calleth in this place the fear of the Lord, even in\nthe same place he calleth the law, statutes, commandments, and\njudgments of God. \u201cThe law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:\nthe testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple: the statutes\nof the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord\nis pure, enlightening the eyes: the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring\nfor ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.\u201d\nAll these words have respect to the same thing, to wit, to the Word of\nGod, jointly designing the glory of it. Among which phrases, as you\nsee, this is one, \u201cThe fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever.\u201d\nThis written Word is therefore the object of a Christian\u2019s fear. This\nis that also which David intended when he said, \u201cCome, ye children,\nhearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord\u201d (Psa 34:11). I\nwill teach you the fear, that is, I will teach you the commandments,\nstatutes, and judgments of the Lord, even as Moses commanded the\nchildren of Israel\u2014\u201cThou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,\nand shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou\nwalkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up\u201d\n(Deut 6:4-7).\n\nThat also in the eleventh of Isaiah intends the same, where the Father\nsaith of the Son, that he shall be of quick understanding in the fear\nof the Lord; that he may judge and smite the earth with the rod of his\nmouth. This rod in the text is none other but the fear, the Word of the\nLord; for he was to be of a quick understanding, that he might smite,\nthat is, execute it according to the will of his Father, upon and among\nthe children of men. Now this, as I said, is called the fear of the\nLord, because it is called the rule and director of our fear. For we\nknow not how to fear the Lord in a saving way without its guidance and\ndirection. As it is said of the priest that was sent back from the\ncaptivity to Samaria to teach the people to fear the Lord, so it is\nsaid concerning the written Word; it is given to us, and left among us,\nthat we may read therein all the days of our life, and learn to fear\nthe Lord (Deut 6:1-3,24, 10:12, 17:19). And here it is that, trembling\nat the Word of God, is even by God himself not only taken notice of,\nbut counted as laudable and praiseworthy, as is evident in the case of\nJosiah (2 Chron 34:26,27). Such also are the approved of God, let them\nbe condemned by whomsoever: \u201cHear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble\nat his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my\nname\u2019s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but he shall appear to\nyour joy, and they shall be ashamed\u201d (Isa 66:5).\n\nFurther, such shall be looked to, by God himself cared for, and watched\nover, that no distress, temptation, or affliction may overcome them and\ndestroy them\u2014\u201cTo this man will I look,\u201d saith God, \u201ceven to him that is\npoor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.\u201d It is\nthe same in substance with that in the same prophet in chapter 57: \u201cFor\nthus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name\nis Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a\ncontrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to\nrevive the heart of the contrite ones.\u201d Yea, the way to escape dangers\nforetold, is to hearken to, understand, and fear the Word of God\u2014\u201cHe\nthat feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh, made\nhis servants and his cattle flee into the houses,\u201d and they were\nsecured; but \u201che that regarded not the word of the Lord, left his\nservants and his cattle in the field,\u201d and they were destroyed of the\nhail (Exo 9:20-25).\n\nIf at any time the sins of a nation or church are discovered and\nbewailed, it is by them that know and tremble at the word of God. When\nEzra heard of the wickedness of his brethren, and had a desire to\nhumble himself before God for the same, who were they that would assist\nhim in that matter, but they that trembled at the word of God?\u2014\u201cThen,\u201d\nsaith he, \u201cwere assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words\nof the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had\nbeen carried away\u201d (Ezra 9:4). They are such also that tremble at the\nWord that are best able to give counsel in the matters of God, for\ntheir judgment best suiteth with his mind and will: \u201cNow therefore,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201clet us make a covenant with our God to put away all the\n(strange) wives,\u2014according to the counsel of my Lord, and of those that\ntremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to\nthe law\u201d (Ezra 10:3). Now something of the dread and terror of the Word\nlieth in these things.\n\nFirst. As I have already hinted, from the author of them, they are the\nwords of God. Therefore you have Moses and the prophets, when they came\nto deliver their errand, their message to the people, still saying,\n\u201cHear the word of the Lord,\u201d \u201cThus saith the Lord,\u201d and the like. So\nwhen Ezekiel was sent to the house of Israel, in their state of\nreligion, thus was he bid to say unto them, \u201cThus saith the Lord God\u201d;\n\u201cThus saith the Lord God\u201d (Eze 2:4, 3:11). This is the honour and\nmajesty, then, that God hath put upon his written Word, and thus he\nhath done even of purpose, that we might make them the rule and\ndirectory of our fear, and that we might stand in awe of, and tremble\nat them. When Habakkuk heard the word of the Lord, his belly trembled,\nand rottenness entered into his bones. \u201cI trembled in myself,\u201d said he,\n\u201cthat I might rest in the day of trouble\u201d (Hab 3:16). The word of a\nking is as the roaring of a lion; where the word of a king is, there is\npower. What is it, then, when God, the great God, shall roar out of\nZion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, whose voice shakes not only\nthe earth, but also heaven? How doth holy David set it forth; \u201cThe\nvoice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is full of\nmajesty,\u201d &c. (Psa 29).\n\nSecond. It is a Word that is fearful, and may well be called the fear\nof the Lord, because of the subject matter of it; to wit, the state of\nsinners in another world; for that is it unto which the whole Bible\nbendeth itself, either more immediately or more mediately. All its\ndoctrines, counsels, encouragements, threatenings, and judgments, have\na look, one way or other, upon us, with respect to the next world,\nwhich will be our last state, because it will be to us a state eternal.\nThis word, this law, these judgments, are they that we shall be\ndisposed of by\u2014\u201cThe word that I have spoken,\u201d says Christ, \u201cit shall\njudge you (and so consequently dispose of you) in the last day\u201d (John\n12:48). Now, if we consider that our next state must be eternal, either\neternal glory or eternal fire, and that this eternal glory or this\neternal fire must be our portion, according as the words of God,\nrevealed in the holy Scriptures, shall determine; who will not but\nconclude that therefore the words of God are they at which we should\ntremble, and they by which we should have our fear of God guided and\ndirected, for by them we are taught how to please him in everything?\n\nThird. It is to be called a fearful Word, because of the truth and\nfaithfulness of it. The Scriptures cannot be broken. Here they are\ncalled the Scriptures of truth, the true sayings of God, and also the\nfear of the Lord, for that every jot and tittle thereof is for ever\nsettled in heaven, and stand more steadfast than doth the world\u2014\u201cHeaven\nand earth,\u201d saith Christ, \u201cshall pass away, but my words shall not pass\naway\u201d (Matt 24:35). Those, therefore, that are favoured by the Word of\nGod, those are favoured indeed, and that with the favour that no man\ncan turn away; but those that by the word of the Scriptures are\ncondemned, those can no man justify and set quit in the sight of God.\nTherefore what is bound by the text, is bound, and what is released by\nthe text, is released; also the bond and release is unalterable (Dan\n10:21; Rev 19:9; Matt 24:35; Psa 119:89; John 10:35). This, therefore,\ncalleth upon God\u2019s people to stand more in fear of the Word of God than\nof all the terrors of the world.[7] There wanteth even in the hearts of\nGod\u2019s people a greater reverence of the Word of God than to this day\nappeareth among us, and this let me say, that want of reverence of the\nWord is the ground of all disorders that are in the heart, life,\nconversation, and in Christian communion. Besides, the want of\nreverence of the Word layeth men open to the fearful displeasure of\nGod\u2014\u201cWhoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed; but he that feareth\nthe commandment shall be rewarded\u201d (Prov 13:13).\n\nAll transgression beginneth at wandering from the Word of God; but, on\nthe other side, David saith, \u201cConcerning the works of men, by the word\nof thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer\u201d (Psa 17:4).\nTherefore Solomon saith, \u201cMy son, attend to my words; incline thine ear\nunto my sayings; let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the\nmidst of thine heart; for they are life unto those that find them, and\nhealth to all their flesh\u201d (Prov 4:20-22). Now, if indeed thou wouldest\nreverence the Word of the Lord, and make it thy rule and director in\nall things, believe that the Word is the fear of the Lord, the Word\nthat standeth fast for ever; without and against which God will do\nnothing, either in saving or damning of the souls of sinners. But to\nconclude this,\n\n1. Know that those that have no due regard to the Word of the Lord, and\nthat make it not their dread and their fear, but the rule of their life\nis the lust of their flesh, the desire of their eyes, and the pride of\nlife, are sorely rebuked by this doctrine, and are counted the fools of\nthe world; for \u201clo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what\nwisdom is in them?\u201d (Jer 8:9). That there are such a people is evident,\nnot only by their irregular lives, but by the manifest testimony of the\nWord. \u201cAs for the word of the Lord,\u201d said they to Jeremiah, \u201cthat thou\nhast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto\nthee, but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our\nown mouth\u201d (Jer 44:16). Was this only the temper of wicked men then? Is\nnot the same spirit of rebellion amongst us in our days? Doubtless\nthere is; for there is no new thing\u2014\u201cThe thing that hath been, it is\nthat which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be\ndone; and there is no new thing under the sun\u201d (Eccl 1:9). Therefore,\nas it was then, so it is with many in this day.\n\nAs for the Word of the Lord, it is nothing at all to them; their lusts,\nand whatsoever proceedeth out of their own mouths, that they will do,\nthat they will follow. Now, such will certainly perish in their own\nrebellion; for this is as the sin of witchcraft; it was the sin of\nKorah and his company, and that which brought upon them such heavy\njudgments; yea, and they are made a sign that thou shouldest not do as\nthey, for they perished (because they rejected the word, the fear of\nthe Lord) from among the congregation of the Lord, \u201cand they became a\nsign.\u201d The word which thou despisest still abideth to denounce its woe\nand judgment upon thee; and unless God will save such with the breath\nof his word\u2014and it is hard trusting to that\u2014they must never see his\nface with comfort (1 Sam 15:22,23; Num 26:9,10).\n\n2. Are the words of God called by the name of the fear of the Lord? Are\nthey so dreadful in their receipt and sentence? Then this rebukes them\nthat esteem the words and things of men more than the words of God, as\nthose do who are drawn from their respect of, and obedience to, the\nWord of God, by the pleasures or threats of men. Some there be who\nverily will acknowledge the authority of the Word, yet will not stoop\ntheir souls thereto. Such, whatever they think of themselves, are\njudged by Christ to be ashamed of the Word; wherefore their state is\ndamnable as the other. \u201cWhosoever,\u201d saith he, \u201cshall be ashamed of me\nand of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also\nshall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of the\nFather, with the holy angels\u201d (Mark 8:38).\n\n3. And if these things be so, what will become of those that mock at,\nand professedly contemn, the words of God, making them as a thing\nridiculous, and not to be regarded? Shall they prosper that do such\nthings? From the promises it is concluded that their judgment now of a\nlong time slumbereth not, and when it comes, it will devour them\nwithout remedy (2 Chron 36:15). If God, I say, hath put that reverence\nupon his Word as to call it the fear of the Lord, what will become of\nthem that do what they can to overthrow its authority, by denying it to\nbe his Word, and by raising cavils against its authority? Such stumble,\nindeed, at the Word, being appointed thereunto, but it shall judge them\nin the last day (1 Peter 2:8; John 12:48). But thus much for this.\n\nOF SEVERAL SORTS OF FEAR OF GOD IN THE HEART OF THE CHILDREN OF MEN.\n\n\nHaving thus spoken of the object and rule of our fear, I should come\nnow to speak of fear as it is a grace of the Spirit of God in the\nhearts of his people; but before I do that, I shall show you that there\nare divers sorts of fear besides. For man being a reasonable creature,\nand having even by nature a certain knowledge of God, hath also\nnaturally something of some kind of fear of God at times, which,\nalthough it be not that which is intended in the text, yet ought to be\nspoken to, that that which is not right may be distinguished from that\nthat is.\n\nThere is, I say, several sorts or kinds of fear in the hearts of the\nsons of men, I mean besides that fear of God that is intended in the\ntext, and that accompanieth eternal life. I shall here make mention of\nthree of them. FIRST. There is a fear of God that flows even from the\nlight of nature. SECOND. There is a fear of God that flows from some of\nhis dispensations to men, which yet is neither universal nor saving.\nTHIRD. There is a fear of God in the heart of some men that is good and\ngodly, but doth not for ever abide so. To speak a little to all these,\nbefore I come to speak of fear, as it is a grace of God in the hearts\nof his children, And,\n\nFIRST. To the first, to wit, that there is a fear of God that flows\neven from the light of nature. A people may be said to do things in a\nfear of God, when they act one towards another in things reasonable,\nand honest betwixt man and man, not doing that to others they would not\nhave done to themselves. This is that fear of God which Abraham thought\nthe Philistines had destroyed in themselves, when he said of his wife\nto Abimelech, \u201cShe is my sister.\u201d For when Abimelech asked Abraham why\nhe said of his wife, She is my sister; he replied, saying, \u201cI thought\nsurely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will slay me for\nmy wife\u2019s sake\u201d (Gen 20:11). I thought verily that in this place men\nhad stifled and choked that light of nature that is in them, at least\nso far forth as not to suffer it to put them in fear, when their lusts\nwere powerful in them to accomplish their ends on the object that was\npresent before them. But this I will pass by, and come to the second\nthing, namely\u2014\n\nSECOND. To show that there is a fear of God that flows from some of his\ndispensations to men, which yet is neither universal nor saving. This\nfear, when opposed to that which is saving, may be called an ungodly\nfear of God. I shall describe it by these several particulars that\nfollow\u2014\n\nFirst. There is a fear of God that causeth a continual grudging,\ndiscontent, and heart-risings against God under the hand of God; and\nthat is, when the dread of God in his coming upon men, to deal with\nthem for their sins, is apprehended by them, and yet by this\ndispensation they have no change of heart to submit to God thereunder.\nThe sinners under this dispensation cannot shake God out of their mind,\nnor yet graciously tremble before him; but through the unsanctified\nframe that they now are in, they are afraid with ungodly fear, and so\nin their minds let fly against him. This fear oftentimes took hold of\nthe children of Israel when they were in the wilderness in their\njourney to the promised land; still they feared that God in this place\nwould destroy them, but not with that fear that made them willing to\nsubmit, for their sins, to the judgment which they fear, but with that\nfear that made them let fly against God. This fear showed itself in\nthem, even at the beginning of their voyage, and was rebuked by Moses\nat the Red Sea, but it was not there, nor yet at any other place, so\nsubdued, but that it would rise again in them at times to the dishonour\nof God, and the anew making of them guilty of sin before him (Exo\n14:11-13; Num 14:1-9). This fear is that which God said he would send\nbefore them, in the day of Joshua, even a fear that should possess the\ninhabitants of the land, to wit, a fear that should arise for that\nfaintness of heart that they should be swallowed up of, at their\napprehending of Joshua in his approaches towards them to destroy them.\n\u201cI will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to\nwhom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their\nbacks unto thee\u201d (Exo 23:27). \u201cThis day,\u201d says God, \u201cwill I begin to\nput the dread of thee, and the fear of thee upon the nations that are\nunder the whole heaven who shall hear report of thee, and shall\ntremble, and be in anguish because of thee\u201d (Deut 2:25, 11:25).\n\nNow this fear is also, as you here see, called anguish, and in another\nplace, an hornet; for it, and the soul that it falls upon, do greet\neach other, as boys and bees do. The hornet puts men in fear, not so as\nto bring the heart into a sweet compliance with his terror, but so as\nto stir up the spirit into acts of opposition and resistance, yet\nwithal they flee before it. \u201cI will send hornets before thee, which\nshall drive out the Hivite,\u201d &c. (Exo 23:28). Now this fear, whether it\nbe wrought by misapprehending of the judgments of God, as in the\nIsraelites, or otherwise as in the Canaanites, yet ungodliness is the\neffect thereof, and therefore I call it an ungodly fear of God, for it\nstirreth up murmurings, discontents, and heart-risings against God,\nwhile he with his dispensations is dealing with them.\n\nSecond. There is a fear of God that driveth a man away from God\u2014I speak\nnot now of the atheist, nor of the pleasurable sinner, nor yet of\nthese, and that fear that I spoke of just now\u2014I speak now of such who\nthrough a sense of sin and of God\u2019s justice fly from him of a slavish\nungodly fear. This ungodly fear was that which possessed Adam\u2019s heart\nin the day that he did eat of the tree concerning which the Lord has\nsaid unto him, \u201cIn the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely\ndie.\u201d For then was he possessed with such a fear of God as made him\nseek to hide himself from his presence. \u201cI heard,\u201d said he, \u201cthy voice\nin the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself\u201d\n(Gen 3:10). Mind it, he had a fear of God, but it was not godly. It was\nnot that that made him afterwards submit himself unto him; for that\nwould have kept him from not departing from him, or else have brought\nhim to him again, with bowed, broken, and contrite spirit. But this\nfear, as the rest of his sin, managed his departing from his God, and\npursued him to provoke him still so to do; by it he kept himself from\nGod, by it his whole man was carried away from him. I call it ungodly\nfear, because it begat in him ungodly apprehensions of his Maker;\nbecause it confined Adam\u2019s conscience to the sense of justice only, and\nconsequently to despair.\n\nThe same fear also possessed the children of Israel when they heard the\nlaw delivered to them on Mount Sinai; as is evident, for it made them\nthat they could neither abide his presence nor hear his word. It drove\nthem back from the mountain. It made them, saith the apostle to the\nHebrews, that \u201cthey could not endure that which was commanded\u201d (Heb\n12:20). Wherefore this fear Moses rebukes, and forbids their giving way\nthereto. \u201cFear not,\u201d said he; but had that fear been godly, he would\nhave encouraged it, and not forbid and rebuke it as he did. \u201cFear not,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cfor God is come to prove you\u201d; they thought otherwise. \u201cGod,\u201d\nsaith he, \u201cis come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your\nfaces.\u201d Therefore that fear that already had taken possession of them,\nwas not the fear of God, but a fear that was of Satan, of their own\nmisjudging hearts, and so a fear that was ungodly (Exo 20:18-20). Mark\nyou, here is a fear and a fear, a fear forbidden, and a fear commended;\na fear forbidden, because it engendered their hearts to bondage, and to\nungodly thoughts of God and of his word; it made them that they could\nnot desire to hear God speak to them any more (vv 19-21).\n\nMany also at this day are possessed with this ungodly fear; and you may\nknow them by this,\u2014they cannot abide conviction for sin, and if at any\ntime the word of the law, by the preaching of the word, comes near\nthem, they will not abide that preacher, nor such kind of sermons any\nmore. They are, as they deem, best at ease, when furthest off of God,\nand of the power of his word. The word preached brings God nearer to\nthem than they desire he should come, because whenever God comes near,\ntheir sins by him are manifest, and so is the judgment too that to them\nis due. Now these not having faith in the mercy of God through Christ,\nnor that grace that tendeth to bring them to him, they cannot but think\nof God amiss, and their so thinking of him makes them say unto him,\n\u201cDepart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways\u201d (Job\n21:14). Wherefore their wrong thoughts of God beget in them this\nungodly fear; and again, this ungodly fear doth maintain in them the\ncontinuance of these wrong and unworthy thoughts of God, and therefore,\nthrough that devilish service wherewith they strengthen one another,\nthe sinner, without a miracle of grace prevents him, is drowned in\ndestruction and perdition.\n\nIt was this ungodly fear of God that carried Cain from the presence of\nGod into the land of Nod, and that put him there upon any carnal\nworldly business, if perhaps he might by so doing stifle convictions of\nthe majesty and justice of God against his sin, and so live the rest of\nhis vain life in the more sinful security and fleshly ease. This\nungodly fear is that also which Samuel perceived at the people\u2019s\napprehension of their sin, to begin to get hold of their hearts;\nwherefore he, as Moses before him, quickly forbids their entertaining\nof it. \u201cFear not,\u201d said he, \u201cye have done all this wickedness, yet turn\nnot aside from following the Lord.\u201d For to turn them aside from\nfollowing of him, was the natural tendency of this fear. \u201cBut fear\nnot,\u201d said he, that is, with that fear that tendeth to turn you aside.\nNow, I say, the matter that this fear worketh upon, as in Adam, and the\nIsraelites mentioned before, was their sin. You have sinned, says he,\nthat is true, yet turn not aside, yet fear not with that fear that\nwould make you so do (1 Sam 12:20). Note by the way, sinner, that when\nthe greatness of thy sins, being apprehended by thee, shall work in\nthee that fear of God, as shall incline thy heart to fly from him, thou\nart possessed with a fear of God that is ungodly, yea, so ungodly, that\nnot any of thy sins for heinousness may be compared therewith, as might\nbe made manifest in many particulars, but Samuel having rebuked this\nfear, presently sets before the people another, to wit, the true fear\nof God; \u201cfear the Lord,\u201d says he, \u201cserve him\u2014with all your heart\u201d (v\n24). And he giveth them this encouragement so to do, \u201cfor the Lord will\nnot forsake his people.\u201d This ungodly fear is that which you read of in\nIsaiah 2, and in many other places, and God\u2019s people should shun it, as\nthey would shun the devil, because its natural tendency is to forward\nthe destruction of the soul in which it has taken possession.[8]\n\nThird. There is a fear of God, which, although it hath not in it that\npower as to make men flee from God\u2019s presence, yet it is ungodly,\nbecause, even while they are in the outward way of God\u2019s ordinances,\ntheir hearts are by it quite discouraged from attempting to exercise\nthemselves in the power of religion. Of this sort are they which dare\nnot cast off the hearing, reading, and discourse of the word as others;\nno, nor the assembly of God\u2019s children for the exercise of other\nreligious duties, for their conscience is convinced this is the way and\nworship of God. But yet their heart, as I said, by this ungodly fear,\nis kept from a powerful gracious falling in with God. This fear takes\naway their heart from all holy and godly prayer in private, and from\nall holy and godly zeal for his name in public, and there be many\nprofessors whose hearts are possessed with this ungodly fear of God;\nand they are intended by the slothful one. He was a servant, a servant\namong the servants of God, and had gifts and abilities given him,\ntherewith to serve Christ, as well as his fellows, yea, and was\ncommanded too, as well as the rest, to occupy till his master came. But\nwhat does he? Why, he takes his talent, the gift that he was to lay out\nfor his master\u2019s profit, and puts it in a napkin, digs a hole in the\nearth, and hides his lord\u2019s money, and lies in a lazy manner at\nto-elbow all his days, not out of, but in his lord\u2019s vineyard;[9] for\nhe came among the servants also at last. By which it is manifest that\nhe had not cast off his profession, but was slothful and negligent\nwhile he was in it. But what was it that made him thus slothful? What\nwas it that took away his heart, while he was in the way, and that\ndiscouraged him from falling in with the power and holy practice of\nreligion according to the talent he received? Why, it was this, he gave\nway to an ungodly fear of God, and that took away his heart from the\npower of religious duties. \u201cLord,\u201d said he, \u201cbehold, here is thy pound,\nwhich I have kept, laid up in a napkin, for I feared thee.\u201d Why, man,\ndoth the fear of God make a man idle and slothful? No, no; that is, if\nit be right and godly. This fear was therefore evil fear; it was that\nungodly fear of God which I have here been speaking of. For I feared\nthee, or as Matthew hath it, \u201cfor I was afraid.\u201d Afraid of what? Of\nChrist, \u201cthat he was an hard man, reaping where he sowed not, and\ngathering where he had not strawed.\u201d This his fear, being ungodly, made\nhim apprehend of Christ contrary to the goodness of his nature, and so\ntook away his heart from all endeavours to be doing of that which was\npleasing in his sight (Luke 19:20; Matt 25:24, 25). And thus do all\nthose that retain the name and show of religion, but are neglecters as\nto the power and godly practice of it. These will live like dogs and\nswine in the house; they pray not, they watch not their hearts, they\npull not their hands out of their bosoms to work, they do not strive\nagainst their lusts, nor will they ever resist unto blood, striving\nagainst sin; they cannot take up their cross, or improve what they have\nto God\u2019s glory. Let all men therefore take heed of this ungodly fear,\nand shun it as they shun the devil, for it will make them afraid where\nno fear is. It will tell them that there is a lion in the street, the\nunlikeliest place in the world for such a beast to be in; it will put a\nvizard upon the face of God, most dreadful and fearful to behold, and\nthen quite discourage the soul as to his service; so it served the\nslothful servant, and so it will serve thee, poor sinner, if thou\nentertainest it, and givest way thereto. But,\n\nFourth. This ungodly fear of God shows itself also in this. It will not\nsuffer the soul that is governed thereby to trust only to Christ for\njustification of life, but will bend the powers of the soul to trust\npartly to the works of the law. Many of the Jews were, in the time of\nChrist and his apostles, possessed with this ungodly fear of God, for\nthey were not as the former, to wit, as the slothful servant, to\nreceive a talent and hide it in the earth in a napkin, but they were an\nindustrious people, they followed after the law of righteousness, they\nhad a zeal of God and of the religion of their fathers; but how then\ndid they come to miscarry? Why, their fear of God was ungodly; it would\nnot suffer them wholly to trust to the righteousness of faith, which is\nthe imputed righteousness of Christ. They followed after the law of\nrighteousness, but attained not to the law of righteousness. Wherefore?\nbecause they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the\nlaw. But what was it that made them join their works of the law with\nChrist, but their unbelief, whose foundation was ignorance and fear?\nThey were afraid to venture all in one bottom, they thought two strings\nto one bow would be best, and thus betwixt two stools they came to the\nground. And hence, to fear and to doubt, are put together as being the\ncause one of another; yea, they are put ofttimes the one for the other;\nthus ungodly fear for unbelief: \u201cBe not afraid, only believe,\u201d and\ntherefore he that is overruled and carried away with this fear, is\ncoupled with the unbeliever that is thrust out from the holy city among\nthe dogs. But the fearful and unbelievers, and murderers are without\n(Rev 21:8). \u201cThe fearful and unbelieving,\u201d you see, are put together;\nfor indeed fear, that is, this ungodly fear, is the ground of unbelief,\nor, if you will, unbelief is the ground of fear, this fear: but I stand\nnot upon nice distinctions. This ungodly fear hath a great hand in\nkeeping of the soul from trusting only to Christ\u2019s righteousness for\njustification of life.\n\nFifth. This ungodly fear of God is that which will put men upon adding\nto the revealed will of God their own inventions, and their own\nperformances of them, as a means to pacify the anger of God. For the\ntruth is, where this ungodly fear reigneth, there is no end of law and\nduty. When those that you read of in the book of Kings were destroyed\nby the lions, because they had set up idolatry in the land of Israel,\nthey sent for a priest from Babylon that might teach them the manner of\nthe God of the land; but behold when they knew it, being taught it by\nthe priest, yet their fear would not suffer them to be content with\nthat worship only. \u201cThey feared the Lord,\u201d saith the text, \u201cand served\ntheir own gods.\u201d And again, \u201cSo these nations feared the Lord, and\nserved their graven images\u201d (2 Kings 17). It was this fear also that\nput the Pharisees upon inventing so many traditions, as the washing of\ncups, and beds, and tables, and basins, with abundance of such other\nlike gear,[10] none knows the many dangers that an ungodly fear of God\nwill drive a man into (Mark 7). How has it racked and tortured the\nPapists for hundreds of years together! for what else is the cause but\nthis ungodly fear, at least in the most simple and harmless of them, of\ntheir penances, as creeping to the cross, going barefoot on pilgrimage,\nwhipping themselves, wearing of sackcloth, saying so many\nPater-nosters, so many Ave-marias, making so many confessions to the\npriest, giving so much money for pardons, and abundance of other the\nlike, but this ungodly fear of God? For could they be brought to\nbelieve this doctrine, that Christ was delivered for our offences, and\nraised again for our justification, and to apply it by faith with godly\nboldness to their own souls, this fear would vanish, and so\nconsequently all those things with which they so needlessly and\nunprofitably afflicted themselves, offend God, and grieve his people.\nTherefore, gentle reader, although my text doth bid that indeed thou\nshouldest fear God, yet it includeth not, nor accepteth of any fear;\nno, not of any [or every] fear of God. For there is, as you see, a fear\nof God that is ungodly, and that is to be shunned as their sin.\nWherefore thy wisdom and thy care should be, to see and prove thy fear\nto be godly, which shall be the next thing that I shall take in hand.\n\nTHIRD. The third thing that I am to speak to is, that there is a fear\nof God in the heart of some men that is good and godly, but yet doth\nnot for ever abide so. Or you may take it thus\u2014There is a fear of God\nthat is godly but for a time. In my speaking to, and opening of this to\nyou, I shall observe this method. First. I shall show you what this\nfear is. Second. I shall show you by whom or what this fear is wrought\nin the heart. Third. I shall show you what this fear doth in the soul.\nAnd, Fourth, I shall show you when this fear is to have an end.\n\nFirst. For the first, this fear is an effect of sound awakenings by the\nword of wrath which begetteth in the soul a sense of its right to\neternal damnation; for this fear is not in every sinner; he that is\nblinded by the devil, and that is not able to see that his state is\ndamnable, he hath not this fear in his heart, but he that is under the\npowerful workings of the word of wrath, as God\u2019s elect are at first\nconversion, he hath this godly fear in his heart; that is, he fears\nthat that damnation will come upon him, which by the justice of God is\ndue unto him, because he hath broken his holy law. This is the fear\nthat made the three thousand cry out, \u201cMen and brethren, what shall we\ndo?\u201d and that made the jailer cry out, and that with great trembling of\nsoul, \u201cSirs, what must I do to be saved?\u201d (Acts 2, 16). The method of\nGod is to kill and make alive, to smite and then heal; when the\ncommandment came to Paul, sin revived, and he died, and that law which\nwas ordained to life, he found to be unto death; that is, it passed a\nsentence of death upon him for his sins, and slew his conscience with\nthat sentence. Therefore from that time that he heard that word, \u201cWhy\npersecutest thou me?\u201d which is all one as if he had said, Why dost thou\ncommit murder? he lay under the sentence of condemnation by the law,\nand under this fear of that sentence in his conscience. He lay, I say,\nunder it, until that Ananias came to him to comfort him, and to preach\nunto him the forgiveness of sin (Acts 9). The fear therefore that now I\ncall godly, it is that fear which is properly called the fear of\neternal damnation for sin, and this fear, at first awakening, is good\nand godly, because it ariseth in the soul from a true sense of its very\nstate. Its state by nature is damnable, because it is sinful, and\nbecause he is not one that as yet believeth in Christ for remission of\nsins: \u201cHe that believeth not shall be damned.\u201d\u2014\u201cHe that believeth not\nis condemned already, and the wrath of God abideth on him\u201d (Mark 16:16;\nJohn 3:18,36). The which when the sinner at first begins to see, he\njustly fears it; I say, he fears it justly, and therefore godly,\nbecause by this fear he subscribes to the sentence that is gone out\nagainst him for sin.\n\nSecond. By whom or by what is this fear wrought in the heart? To this I\nshall answer in brief. It is wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God,\nworking there at first as a spirit of bondage, on purpose to put us in\nfear. This Paul insinuateth, saying, \u201cYe have not received the spirit\nof bondage again to fear\u201d (Rom 8:15). He doth not say, Ye have not\nreceived the spirit of bondage; for that they had received, and that to\nput them in fear, which was at their first conversion, as by the\ninstances made mention of before is manifest; all that he says is, that\nthey had not received it again, that is, after the Spirit, as a spirit\nof adoption, is come; for then, as a spirit of bondage, it cometh no\nmore. It is then the Spirit of God, even the Holy Ghost, that\nconvinceth us of sin, and so of our damnable state because of sin (John\n16:8,9). For it cannot be that the Spirit of God should convince us of\nsin, but it must also show us our state to be damnable because of it,\nespecially if it so convinceth us, before we believe, and that is the\nintent of our Lord in that place, \u201cof sin,\u201d and so of their damnable\nstate by sin, because they believe not on me. Therefore the Spirit of\nGod, when he worketh in the heart as a spirit of bondage, he doth it by\nworking in us by the law, \u201cfor by the law is the knowledge of sin\u201d (Rom\n3:20). And he, in this his working, is properly called a spirit of\nbondage.\n\n1. Because by the law he shows us that indeed we are in bondage to the\nlaw, the devil, and death and damnation; for this is our proper state\nby nature, though we see it not until the Spirit of God shall come to\nreveal this our state of bondage unto our own senses by revealing to us\nour sins by the law.\n\n2. He is called, in this his working, \u201cthe spirit of bondage,\u201d because\nhe here also holds us; to wit, in this sight and sense of our\nbondage-state, so long as is meet we should be so held, which to some\nof the saints is a longer, and to some a shorter time. Paul was held in\nit three days and three nights, but the jailer and the three thousand,\nso far as can be gathered, not above an hour; but some in these later\ntimes are so held for days and months, if not years.[11] But, I say,\nlet the time be longer or shorter, it is the Spirit of God that holdeth\nhim under this yoke; and it is good that a man should be in HIS time\nheld under it, as is that saying of the lamentation, \u201cIt is good for a\nman that he bear the yoke in his youth\u201d (Lam 3:27). That is, at his\nfirst awakening; so long as seems good to this Holy Spirit to work in\nthis manner by the law. Now, as I said, the sinner at first is by the\nSpirit of God held in this bondage, that is, hath such a discovery of\nhis sin and of his damnation for sin made to him, and also is held so\nfast under the sense thereof, that it is not in the power of any man,\nnor yet of the very angels in heaven, to release him or set him free,\nuntil the Holy Spirit changeth his ministration, and comes in the sweet\nand peaceable tidings of salvation by Christ in the gospel to his poor,\ndejected, and afflicted conscience.\n\nThird. I now come to show you what this fear doth in the soul. Now,\nalthough this godly fear is not to last always with us, as I shall\nfurther show you anon, yet it greatly differs from that which is wholly\nungodly of itself, both because of the author, and also of the effects\nof it. Of the author I have told you before; I now shall tell you what\nit doth.\n\n1. This fear makes a man judge himself for sin, and to fall down before\nGod with a broken mind under this judgment; the which is pleasing to\nGod, because the sinner by so doing justifies God in his saying, and\nclears him in his judgment (Psa 51:1-4).\n\n2. As this fear makes a man judge himself, and cast himself down at\nGod\u2019s foot, so it makes him condole and bewail his misery before him,\nwhich is also well-pleasing in his sight: \u201cI have surely heard Ephraim\nbemoaning himself,\u201d saying, \u201cThou hast chastised me, and I was\nchastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke,\u201d &c. (Jer 31:18,19).\n\n3. This fear makes a man lie at God\u2019s foot, and puts his mouth in the\ndust, if so be there may be hope. This also is well-pleasing to God,\nbecause now is the sinner as nothing, and in his own eyes less than\nnothing, as to any good or desert: \u201cHe sitteth alone and keepeth\nsilence,\u201d because he hath now this yoke upon him; \u201che putteth his mouth\nin the dust, if so be there may be hope\u201d (Lam 3:28,29).\n\n4. This fear puts a man upon crying to God for mercy, and that in most\nhumble manner; now he sensibly cries, now he dejectedly cries, now he\nfeels and cries, now he smarts and criest out, \u201cGod be merciful to me a\nsinner\u201d (Luke 18:13).\n\n5. This fear makes a man that he cannot accept of that for support and\nsuccour which others that are destitute thereof will take up, and be\ncontented with. This man must be washed by God himself, and cleansed\nfrom his sin by God himself (Psa 51).\n\n6. Therefore this fear goes not away until the Spirit of God doth\nchange his ministration as to this particular, in leaving off to work\nnow by the law, as afore, and coming to the soul with the sweet word of\npromise of life and salvation by Jesus Christ. Thus far this fear is\ngodly, that is, until Christ by the Spirit in the gospel is revealed\nand made over unto us, and no longer.\n\nThus far this fear is godly, and the reason why it is godly is because\nthe groundwork of it is good. I told you before what this fear is;\nnamely, it is the fear of damnation. Now the ground for this fear is\ngood, as is manifest by these particulars. 1. The soul feareth\ndamnation, and that rightly, because it is in its sins. 2. The soul\nfeareth damnation rightly, because it hath not faith in Christ, but is\nat present under the law. 3. The soul feareth damnation rightly now,\nbecause by sin, the law, and for want of faith, the wrath of God\nabideth on it. But now, although thus far this fear of God is good and\ngodly, yet after Christ by the Spirit in the word of the gospel is\nrevealed to us, and we made to accept of him as so revealed and offered\nto us by a true and living faith; this fear, to wit, of damnation, is\nno longer good, but ungodly. Nor doth the Spirit of God ever work it in\nus again. Now we do not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,\nthat is to say, to fear damnation, but we have received the spirit of\nadoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father. But I would not be mistaken,\nwhen I say, that this fear is no longer godly. I do not mean with\nreference to the essence and habit of it, for I believe it is the same\nin the seed which shall afterwards grow up to a higher degree, and into\na more sweet and gospel current and manner of working, but I mean\nreference to this act of fearing damnation, I say it shall never by the\nSpirit be managed to that work; it shall never bring forth that fruit\nmore. And my reasons are,\n\n[Reasons why the Spirit of God cannot work this ungodly fear.]\n\n1. Because that the soul by closing through the promise, by the Spirit,\nwith Jesus Christ, is removed off of that foundation upon which it\nstood when it justly feared damnation. It hath received now forgiveness\nof sin, it is now no more under the law, but in Jesus Christ by faith;\nthere is \u201ctherefore now no condemnation to it\u201d (Acts 26:18; Rom 6:14,\n8:1). The groundwork, therefore, being now taken away, the Spirit\nworketh that fear no more.\n\n2. He cannot, after he hath come to the soul as a spirit of adoption,\ncome again as a spirit of bondage to put the soul into his first fear;\nto wit, a fear of eternal damnation, because he cannot say and unsay,\ndo and undo. As a spirit of adoption he told me that my sins were\nforgiven me, that I was included in the covenant of grace, that God was\nmy Father through Christ, that I was under the promise of salvation,\nand that this calling and gift of God to me is permanent, and without\nrepentance. And do you think, that after he hath told me this, and\nsealed up the truth of it to my precious soul, that he will come to me,\nand tell me that I am yet in my sins, under the curse of the law and\nthe eternal wrath of God? No, no, the word of the gospel is not yea,\nyea; nay, nay. It is only yea, and amen; it is so, \u201cas God is true\u201d (2\nCor 1:17-20).\n\n3. The state therefore of the sinner being changed, and that, too, by\nthe Spirit\u2019s changing his dispensation, leaving off to be now as a\nspirit of bondage to put us in fear, and coming to our heart as the\nspirit of adoption to make us cry, Father, Father, he cannot go back to\nhis first work again; for if so, then he must gratify, yea, and also\nratify, that profane and popish doctrine, forgiven to-day, unforgiven\nto-morrow\u2014a child of God to-day, a child of hell to-morrow; but what\nsaith the Scriptures? \u201cNow therefore ye are no more strangers and\nforeigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household\nof God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,\nJesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the\nbuilding fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord;\nin whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through\nthe Spirit\u201d (Eph 2:19-22).\n\nObject. But this is contrary to my experience. Why, Christian, what is\nthy experience? Why, I was at first, as you have said, possessed with a\nfear of damnation, and so under the power of the spirit of bondage.\nWell said, and how was it then? Why, after some time of continuance in\nthese fears, I had the spirit of adoption sent to me to seal up to my\nsoul the forgiveness of sins, and so he did; and was also helped by the\nsame Spirit, as you have said, to call God Father, Father. Well said,\nand what after that? Why, after that I fell into as great fears as ever\nI was in before.[12]\n\nAnsw. All this may be granted, and yet nevertheless what I have said\nwill abide a truth; for I have not said that after the spirit of\nadoption is come, a Christian shall not again be in as great fears, for\nhe may have worse than he had at first; but I say, that after the\nspirit of adoption is come, the spirit of bondage, as such, is sent of\nGod no more, to put us into those fears. For, mark, for we \u201chave not\nreceived the spirit of bondage again to fear.\u201d Let the word be true,\nwhatever thy experience is. Dost thou not understand me?\n\nAfter the Spirit of God has told me, and also helped me to believe it,\nthat the Lord for Christ\u2019s sake hath forgiven mine iniquities: he tells\nme no more that they are not forgiven. After the Spirit of God has\nhelped me, by Christ, to call God my Father, he tells me no more that\nthe devil is my father. After he hath told me that I am not under the\nlaw, but under grace, he tells me no more that I am not under grace,\nbut under the law, and bound over by it, for my sins, to the wrath and\njudgment of God; but this is the fear that the Spirit, as a spirit of\nbondage, worketh in the soul at first.\n\nQuest. Can you give me further reason yet to convict me of the truth of\nwhat you say?\n\nAnsw. Yes.\n\n1. Because as the Spirit cannot give himself the lie, so he cannot\noverthrow his own order of working, nor yet contradict that testimony\nthat his servants, by his inspiration, hath given of his order of\nworking with them. But he must do the first, if he saith to us\u2014and that\nafter we have received his own testimony, that we are under grace\u2014that\nyet we are under sin, the law, and wrath.\n\nAnd he must do the second, if\u2014after he hath gone through the first work\non us as a spirit of bondage, to the second as a spirit of adoption\u2014he\nshould overthrow as a spirit of bondage again what before he had built\nas a spirit of adoption.\n\nAnd the third must therefore needs follow, that is, he overthroweth the\ntestimony of his servants; for they have said, that now we receive the\nspirit of bondage again to fear no more; that is, after that we by the\nHoly Ghost are enabled to call God Father, Father.\n\n2. This is evident also, because the covenant in which now the soul is\ninterested abideth, and is everlasting, not upon the supposition of my\nobedience, but upon the unchangeable purpose of God, and the efficacy\nof the obedience of Christ, whose blood also hath confirmed it. It is\n\u201cordered in all things, and sure,\u201d said David; and this, said he, \u201cis\nall my salvation\u201d (2 Sam 23:5). The covenant then is everlasting in\nitself, being established upon so good a foundation, and therefore\nstandeth in itself everlastingly bent for the good of them that are\ninvolved in it. Hear the tenor of the covenant, and God\u2019s attesting of\nthe truth thereof\u2014\u201cThis is the covenant that I will make with the house\nof Israel, after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into\ntheir mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a\nGod, and they shall be to me a people; and they shall not teach every\nman his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord;\nfor all shall know me, from the least to the greatest; for I will be\nmerciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities\nI will remember no more\u201d (Heb 8:10-12). Now if God will do thus unto\nthose that he hath comprised in his everlasting covenant of grace, then\nhe will remember their sins no more, that is, unto condemnation\u2014for so\nit is that he doth forget them; then cannot the Holy Ghost, who also is\none with the Father and the Son, come to us again, even after we are\npossessed with these glorious fruits of this covenant, as a spirit of\nbondage, to put us in fear of damnation.\n\n3. The Spirit of God, after it has come to me as a spirit of adoption,\ncan come to me no more as a spirit of bondage, to put me in fear, that\nis, with my first fears; because, by that faith that he, even he\nhimself, hath wrought in me, to believe and call God \u201cFather, Father,\u201d\nI am united to Christ, and stand no more upon mine own legs, in mine\nown sins, or performances; but in his glorious righteousness before\nhim, and before his Father; but he will not cast away a member of his\nbody, of his flesh, and of his bones; nor will he, that the Spirit of\nGod should come as a spirit of bondage to put him into a grounded fear\nof damnation, that standeth complete before God in the righteousness of\nChrist; for that is an apparent contradiction.[13]\n\nQuest. But may it not come again as a spirit of bondage, to put me into\nmy first fears for my good?\n\nAnsw. The text saith the contrary; for we \u201chave not received the spirit\nof bondage again to fear.\u201d Nor is God put to it for want of wisdom, to\nsay and unsay, do and undo, or else he cannot do good. When we are\nsons, and have received the adoption of children, he doth not use to\nsend the spirit after that to tell us we are slaves and heirs of\ndamnation, also that we are without Christ, without the promise,\nwithout grace, and without God in the world; and yet this he must do if\nit comes to us after we have received him as a spirit of adoption, and\nput us, as a spirit of bondage, in fear as before.\n\n[This ungodly fear wrought by the spirit of the devil.]\n\nQuest. But by what spirit is it then that I am brought again into\nfears, even into the fears of damnation, and so into bondage?\n\nAnsw. By the spirit of the devil, who always labours to frustrate the\nfaith, and hope, and comfort of the godly.\n\nQuest. How doth that appear?\n\nAnsw. 1. By the groundlessness of such fears. 2. By the\nunseasonableness of them. 3. By the effects of them.\n\n1. By the groundlessness of such fears. The ground is removed; for a\ngrounded fear of damnation is this\u2014I am yet in my sins, in a state of\nnature, under the law, without faith, and so under the wrath of God.\nThis, I say, is the ground of the fear of damnation, the true ground to\nfear it; but now the man that we are talking of, is one that hath the\nground of this fear taken away by the testimony and seal of the spirit\nof adoption. He is called, justified, and has, for the truth of this\nhis condition, received the evidence of the spirit of adoption, and\nhath been thereby enabled to call God \u201cFather, Father.\u201d Now he that\nhath received this, has the ground of the fear of damnation taken from\nhim; therefore his fear, I say, being without ground, is false, and so\nno work of the Spirit of God.\n\n2. By the unseasonableness of them. This spirit always comes too late.\nIt comes after the spirit of adoption is come. Satan is always for\nbeing too soon or too late. If he would have men believe they are\nchildren, he would have them believe it while they are slaves, slaves\nto him and their lusts. If he would have them believe they are slaves,\nit is when they are sons, and have received the spirit of adoption, and\nthe testimony, by that, of their sonship before. And this evil is\nrooted even in his nature\u2014\u201cHe is a liar, and the father of it\u201d; and his\nlies are not known to saints more than in this, that he labours always\nto contradict the work and order of the Spirit of truth (John 8).\n\n3. It also appears by the effects of such fears. For there is a great\ndeal of difference betwixt the natural effects of these fears which are\nwrought indeed by the spirit of bondage, and those which are wrought by\nthe spirit of the devil afterwards. The one, to wit, the fears that are\nwrought by the spirit of bondage, causeth us to confess the truth, to\nwit, that we are Christless, graceless, faithless, and so at present;\nthat is, while he is so working in a sinful and damnable case; but the\nother, to wit, the spirit of the devil, when he comes, which is after\nthe spirit of adoption is come, he causeth us to make a lie; that is,\nto say we are Christless, graceless, and faithless. Now this, I say, is\nwholly, and in all part of it, a lie, and HE is the father of it.\n\nBesides, the direct tendency of the fear that the Spirit of God, as a\nspirit of bondage, worketh in the soul, is to cause us to come\nrepenting home to God by Jesus Christ, but these latter fears tend\ndirectly to make a man, he having first denied the work of God, as he\nwill, if he falleth in with them, to run quite away from God, and from\nhis grace to him in Christ, as will evidently appear if thou givest but\na plain and honest answer to these questions following.\n\n[This fear driveth a man from God.]\n\nQuest. 1. Do not these fears make thee question whether there was ever\na work of grace wrought in thy soul? Answ. Yes, verily, that they do.\nQuest. 2. Do not these fears make thee question whether ever thy first\nfears were wrought by the Holy Spirit of God? Answ. Yes, verily, that\nthey do. Quest. 3. Do not these fears make thee question whether ever\nthou hast had, indeed, any true comfort from the Word and Spirit of\nGod? Answ. Yes, verily, that they do. Quest. 4. Dost thou not find\nintermixed with these fears plain assertions that thy first comforts\nwere either from thy fancy, or from the devil, and a fruit of his\ndelusions? Answ. Yes, verily, that I do. Quest. 5. Do not these fears\nweaken thy heart in prayer? Answ. Yes, that they do. Quest. 6. Do not\nthese fears keep thee back from laying hold of the promise of salvation\nby Jesus Christ? Answ. Yes; for I think if I were deceived before, if I\nwere comforted by a spirit of delusion before, why may it not be so\nagain? so I am afraid to take hold of the promise. Quest. 7. Do not\nthese fears tend to the hardening of thy heart, and to the making of\nthee desperate? Answ. Yes, verily, that they do. Quest. 8. Do not these\nfears hinder thee from profiting in hearing or reading of the Word?\nAnsw. Yes, verily, for still whatever I hear or read, I think nothing\nthat is good belongs to me. Quest. 9. Do not these fears tend to the\nstirring up of blasphemies in thy heart against God? Answ. Yes, to the\nalmost distracting of me. Quest. 10. Do not these fears make thee\nsometimes think, that it is in vain for thee to wait upon the Lord any\nlonger? Answ. Yes, verily; and I have many times almost come to this\nconclusion, that I will read, pray, hear, company with God\u2019s people, or\nthe like, no longer.\n\nWell, poor Christian, I am glad that thou hast so plainly answered me;\nbut, prithee, look back upon thy answer. How much of God dost thou\nthink is in these things? how much of his Spirit, and the grace of his\nWord? Just none at all; for it cannot be that these things can be the\ntrue and natural effects of the workings of the Spirit of God: no, not\nas a spirit of bondage. These are not his doings. Dost thou not see the\nvery paw of the devil in them; yea, in every one of thy ten\nconfessions? Is there not palpably high wickedness in every one of the\neffects of this fear? I conclude, then, as I began, that the fear that\nthe spirit of God, as a spirit of bondage, worketh, is good and godly,\nnot only because of the author, but also because of the ground and\neffects; but yet it can last no longer as such, as producing the\naforesaid conclusion, than till the Spirit, as the spirit of adoption,\ncomes; because that then the soul is manifestly taken out of the state\nand condition into which it had brought itself by nature and sin, and\nis put into Christ, and so by him into a state of life and blessedness\nby grace. Therefore, if first fears come again into thy soul, after\nthat the spirit of adoption hath been with thee, know they come not\nfrom the Spirit of God, but apparently from the spirit of the devil,\nfor they are a lie in themselves, and their effects are sinful and\ndevilish.\n\nObject. But I had also such wickedness as those in my heart at my first\nawakening, and therefore, by your argument, neither should that be but\nfrom the devil.\n\nAnsw. So far forth as such wickedness was in thy heart, so far did the\ndevil and thine own heart seek to drive thee to despair, and drown thee\nthere; but thou hast forgot the question; the question is not whether\nthen thou wast troubled with such iniquities, but whether thy fears of\ndamnation at that time were not just and good, because grounded upon\nthy present condition, which was, for that thou wast out of Christ, in\nthy sins, and under the curse of the law; and whether now, since the\nspirit of adoption is come unto thee, and hath thee, and hath done that\nfor thee as hath been mentioned; I say, whether thou oughtest for\nanything whatsoever to give way to the same fear, from the same ground\nof damnation; it is evident thou oughtest not, because the ground, the\ncause, is removed.\n\nObject. But since I was sealed to the day of redemption, I have\ngrievously sinned against God, have not I, therefore, cause to fear, as\nbefore? may not, therefore, the spirit of bondage be sent again to put\nme in fear, as at first? Sin was the first cause, and I have sinned\nnow.\n\nAnsw. No, by no means; for we have not received the spirit of bondage\nagain to fear; that is, God hath not given it us, \u201cfor God hath not\ngiven us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound\nmind\u201d (2 Tim 1:7). If, therefore, our first fears come upon us again,\nafter that we have received at God\u2019s hands the spirit of love, of\npower, and of a sound mind, it is to be refused, though we have\ngrievously sinned against our God. This is manifest from 1 Samuel\n12:20; \u201cFear not; ye have done all this wickedness.\u201d That is, not with\nthat fear which would have made them fly from God, as concluding that\nthey were not now his people. And the reason is, because sin cannot\ndissolve the covenant into which the sons of God, by his grace, are\ntaken. \u201cIf his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;\nif they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I\nvisit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with\nstripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from\nhim, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail\u201d (Psa 89:30-33). Now, if sin\ndoth not dissolve the covenant; if sin doth not cast me out of this\ncovenant, which is made personally with the Son of God, and into the\nhands of which by the grace of God I am put, then ought I not, though I\nhave sinned, to fear with my first fears.\n\nSin, after that the spirit of adoption is come, cannot dissolve the\nrelation of Father and son, of Father and child. And this the church\ndid rightly assert, and that when her heart was under great hardness,\nand when she had the guilt of erring from his ways, saith she.\n\u201cDoubtless thou art our Father\u201d (Isa 63:16,17). Doubtless thou art,\nthough this be our case, and though Israel should not acknowledge us\nfor such.\n\nThat sin dissolveth not the relation of Father and son is further\nevident\u2014\u201cWhen the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,\nmade of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the\nlaw, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are\nsons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts,\ncrying, [Abba, or] Father, Father.\u201d Now mark, \u201cwherefore thou art no\nmore a servant\u201d; that is, no more under the law of death and damnation,\n\u201cbut a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ\u201d (Gal\n4:4-7).\n\nSuppose a child doth grievously transgress against and offend his\nfather, is the relation between them therefore dissolved? Again,\nsuppose the father should scourge and chasten the son for such offence,\nis the relation between them therefore dissolved? Yea, suppose the\nchild should now, through ignorance, cry, and say, This man is now no\nmore my father; is he, therefore, now no more his father? Doth not\neverybody see the folly of such arguings? Why, of the same nature is\nthat doctrine that saith, that after we have received the spirit of\nadoption, that the spirit of bondage is sent to us again to put us in\nfear of eternal damnation.\n\nKnow then that thy sin, after thou hast received the spirit of adoption\nto cry unto God, Father, Father, is counted the transgression of a\nchild, not of a slave, and that all that happeneth to thee for that\ntransgression is but the chastisement of a father\u2014and \u201cwhat son is he\nwhom the father chasteneth not?\u201d It is worth your observation, that the\nHoly Ghost checks those who, under their chastisements for sin, forget\nto call God their Father\u2014\u201cYe have,\u201d said Paul, \u201cforgotten the\nexhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise\nnot thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of\nhim.\u201d Yea, observe yet further, that God\u2019s chastising of his children\nfor their sin, is a a sign of grace and love, and not of his wrath, and\nthy damnation; therefore now there is no ground for the aforesaid\nfear\u2014\u201cFor whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son\nwhom he receiveth\u201d (Heb 12). Now, if God would not have those that have\nreceived the Spirit of the Son, however he chastises them, to forget\nthe relation that by the adoption of sons they stand in to God, if he\nchecks them that do forget it, when his rod is upon their backs for\nsin, then it is evident that those fears that thou hast under a colour\nof the coming again of the Spirit, as a spirit of bondage, to put thee\nin fear of eternal damnation, is nothing else but Satan disguised, the\nbetter to play his pranks upon thee.\n\nI will yet give you two or three instances more, wherein it will be\nmanifest that whatever happeneth to thee, I mean as a chastisement for\nsin, after the spirit of adoption is come, thou oughtest to hold fast\nby faith the relation of Father and son. The people spoken of by Moses\nare said to have lightly esteemed the rock of their salvation, which\nrock is Jesus Christ, and that is a grievous sin indeed, yet, saith he,\n\u201cIs not God thy Father that hath bought thee?\u201d and then puts them upon\nconsidering the days of old (Deut 32:6). They in the prophet Jeremiah\nhad played the harlot with many lovers, and done evil things as they\ncould; and, as another scripture hath it, gone a-whoring from under\ntheir God, yet God calls to them by the prophet, saying, \u201cWilt thou not\nfrom this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth?\u201d\n(Jer 3:4). Remember also that eminent text made mention of in 1 Samuel\n12:20, \u201cFear not; ye have done all this wickedness\u201d; and labour to\nmaintain faith in thy soul, of thy being a child, it being true that\nthou hast received the spirit of adoption before, and so that thou\noughtest not to fall under thy first fears, because the ground is taken\naway, of thy eternal damnation.\n\nNow, let not any, from what hath been said, take courage to live loose\nlives, under a supposition that once in Christ, and ever in Christ, and\nthe covenant cannot be broken, nor the relation of Father and child\ndissolved; for they that do so, it is evident, have not known what it\nis to receive the spirit of adoption. It is the spirit of the devil in\nhis own hue that suggesteth this unto them, and that prevaileth with\nthem to do so. Shall we do evil that good may come? shall we sin that\ngrace may abound? or shall we be base in life because God by grace hath\nsecured us from wrath to come? God forbid; these conclusions betoken\none void of the fear of God indeed, and of the spirit of adoption too.\nFor what son is he, that because the father cannot break the relation,\nnor suffer sin to do it\u2014that is, betwixt the Father and him\u2014that will\ntherefore say, I will live altogether after my own lusts, I will labour\nto be a continual grief to my Father?\n\n[Considerations to prevent such temptations.]\n\nYet lest the devil (for some are \u201cnot ignorant of his devices\u201d ),\nshould get an advantage against some of the sons, to draw them away\nfrom the filial fear of their Father, let me here, to prevent such\ntemptations, present such with these following considerations.\n\nFirst. Though God cannot, will not, dissolve the relation which the\nspirit of adoption hath made betwixt the Father and the Son, for any\nsins that such do commit, yet he can, and often doth, take away from\nthem the comfort of their adoption, not suffering children while\nsinning to have the sweet and comfortable sense thereof on their\nhearts. He can tell how to let snares be round about them, and sudden\nfear trouble them. He can tell how to send darkness that they may not\nsee, and to let abundance of waters cover them (Job 22:10,11).\n\nSecond. God can tell how to hide his face from them, and so to afflict\nthem with that dispensation, that it shall not be in the power of all\nthe world to comfort them. \u201cWhen he hideth his face, who then can\nbehold him?\u201d (Job 23:8,9, 34:29).\n\nThird. God can tell how to make thee again to possess the sins that he\nlong since hath pardoned, and that in such wise that things shall be\nbitter to thy soul. \u201cThou writest bitter things against me,\u201d says Job,\n\u201cand makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.\u201d By this also he\nonce made David groan and pray against it as an insupportable\naffliction (Job 13:26; Psa 25:7).\n\nFourth. God can lay thee in the dungeon in chains, and roll a stone\nupon thee, he can make thy feet fast in the stocks, and make thee a\ngazing-stock to men and angels (Lam 3:7,53,55; Job 13:27; Nahum 3:6).\n\nFifth. God can tell how to cause to cease the sweet operations and\nblessed influences of his grace in thy soul, and to make those gospel\nshowers that formerly thou hast enjoyed to become now to thee nothing\nbut powder and dust (Psa 51; Deut 28:24).\n\nSixth. God can tell how to fight against thee \u201cwith the sword of his\nmouth,\u201d and to make thee a butt for his arrows; and this is a\ndispensation most dreadful (Rev 2:16; Job 6:4; Psa 38:2-5).\n\nSeventh. God can tell how so to bow thee down with guilt and distress\nthat thou shalt in no wise be able to lift up thy head (Psa 40:12).\n\nEighth. God can tell how to break thy bones, and to make thee by reason\nof that to live in continual anguish of spirit: yea, he can send a fire\ninto thy bones that shall burn, and none shall quench it (Psa 51:8; Lam\n3:4, 1:13; Psa 102:3; Job 30:30).\n\nNinth. God can tell how to lay thee aside, and make no use of thee as\nto any work for him in thy generation. He can throw thee aside \u201cas a\nbroken vessel\u201d (Psa 31:12; Eze 44:10-13).\n\nTenth. God can tell how to kill thee, and to take thee away from the\nearth for thy sins (1 Cor 11:29-32).\n\nEleventh. God can tell how to plague thee in thy death, with great\nplagues, and of long continuance (Psa 78:45; Deut 28).\n\nTwelfth. What shall I say? God can tell how to let Satan loose upon\nthee; when thou liest a dying he can license him then to assault thee\nwith great temptations, he can tell how to make thee possess the guilt\nof all thy unkindness towards him, and that when thou, as I said, art\ngoing out of the world, he can cause that thy life shall be in\ncontinual doubt before thee, and not suffer thee to take any comfort\nday nor night; yea, he can drive thee even to a madness with his\nchastisements for thy folly, and yet all shall be done by him to thee,\nas a father chastiseth his son (Deut 28:65-67).\n\nThirteenth. Further, God can tell how to tumble thee from off thy\ndeathbed in a cloud, he can let thee die in the dark; when thou art\ndying thou shalt not know whither thou art going, to wit, whether to\nheaven or to hell. Yea, he can tell how to let thee seem to come short\nof life, both in thine own eyes, and also in the eyes of them that\nbehold thee. \u201cLet us therefore fear,\u201d says the apostle,\u2014though not with\nslavish, yet with filial fear\u2014\u201clest a promise being left us of entering\ninto his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it\u201d (Heb 4:1).\n\nNow all this, and much more, can God do to his as a Father by his rod\nand fatherly rebukes; ah, who know but those that are under them, what\nterrors, fears, distresses, and amazements God can bring his people\ninto; he can put them into a furnace, a fire, and no tongue can tell\nwhat, so unsearchable and fearful are his fatherly chastisements, and\nyet never give them the spirit of bondage again to fear. Therefore, if\nthou art a son, take heed of sin, lest all these things overtake thee,\nand come upon thee.\n\nObject. But I have sinned, and am under this high and mighty hand of\nGod.\n\nAnsw. Then thou knowest what I say is true, but yet take heed of\nhearkening unto such temptations as would make thee believe thou art\nout of Christ, under the law, and in a state of damnation; and take\nheed also, that thou dost not conclude that the author of these fears\nis the Spirit of God come to thee again as a spirit of bondage, to put\nthee into such fears, lest unawares to thyself thou dost defy the\ndevil, dishonour thy Father, overthrow good doctrine, and bring thyself\ninto a double temptation.\n\nObject. But if God deals thus with a man, how can he otherwise think\nbut that he is a reprobate, a graceless, Christless, and faithless one?\n\nAnsw. Nay, but why dost thou tempt the Lord thy God? Why dost thou sin\nand provoke the eyes of his glory? Why \u201cdoth a living man complain, a\nman for the punishment of his sins?\u201d (Lam 3:39). He doth not willingly\nafflict nor grieve the children of men; but if thou sinnest, though God\nshould save thy soul, as he will if thou art an adopted son of God, yet\nhe will make thee know that sin is sin, and his rod that he will\nchastise thee with, if need be, shall be made of scorpions; read the\nwhole book of the Lamentations; read Job\u2019s and David\u2019s complaints; yea,\nread what happened to his Son, his well-beloved, and that when he did\nbut stand in the room of sinners, being in himself altogether innocent,\nand then consider, O thou sinning child of God, if it is any injustice\nin God, yea, if it be not necessary, that thou shouldest be chastised\nfor thy sin. But then, I say, when the hand of God is upon thee, how\ngrievous soever it be, take heed, and beware that thou give not way to\nthy first fears, lest, as I said before, thou addest to thine\naffliction; and to help thee here, let me give you a few instances of\nthe carriages of some of the saints under some of the most heavy\nafflictions that they have met with for sin.\n\n[Carriages of some of the saints under heavy afflictions for sin.]\n\nFirst. Job was in great affliction and that, as he confessed, for sin,\ninsomuch that he said God had set him for his mark to shoot at, and\nthat he ran upon him like a giant, that he took him by the neck and\nshook him to pieces, and counted him for his enemy; that he hid his\nface from him, and that he could not tell where to find him; yet he\ncounted not all this as a sign of a damnable state, but as a trial, and\nchastisement, and said, when he was in the hottest of the battle, \u201cwhen\nhe hath tried me I shall come forth as gold.\u201d And again, when he was\npressed upon by the tempter to think that God would kill him, he\nanswers with greatest confidence, \u201cThough he slay me, yet will I trust\nin him\u201d (Job 7:20, 13:15, 14:12, 16, 19:11, 23:8-10).\n\nSecond. David complained that God had broken his bones, that he had set\nhis face against his sins, and had taken from him the joy of his\nsalvation: yet even at this time he saith, \u201cO God, thou God of my\nsalvation\u201d (Psa 51:8,9,12,14).\n\nThird. Heman complained that his soul was full of troubles, that God\nhad laid him in the lowest pit, that he had put his acquaintance far\nfrom him, and was casting off his soul, and had hid his face from him.\nThat he was afflicted from his youth up, and ready to die with trouble:\nhe saith, moreover, that the fierce wrath of God went over him, that\nhis terrors had cut him off; yea, that by reason of them he was\ndistracted; and yet, even before he maketh any of these complaints, he\ntakes fast hold of God as his, saying, \u201cO Lord God of my salvation\u201d\n(Psa 88).\n\nFourth. The church in the Lamentations complains that the Lord had\nafflicted her for her transgressions, and that in the day of his fierce\nanger; also that he had trodden under foot her mighty men, and that he\nhad called the heathen against her; she says, that he had covered her\nwith a cloud in his anger, that he was an enemy, and that he had hung a\nchain upon her; she adds, moreover, that he had shut out her prayer,\nbroken her teeth with gravel stones, and covered her with ashes, and in\nconclusion, that he had utterly rejected her. But what doth she do\nunder all this trial? doth she give up her faith and hope, and return\nto that fear that begot the first bondage? No: \u201cThe Lord is my portion,\nsaith my soul, therefore will I hope in him\u201d; yea, she adds, \u201cO Lord,\nthou hast pleaded the causes of my soul, thou hast redeemed my life\u201d\n(Lam 1:5, 2:1,2,5, 3:7,8,16, 5:22, 3:24,31,58).\n\nThese things show, that God\u2019s people even after they have received the\nspirit of adoption, have fell foully into sin, and have been bitterly\nchastised for it; and also, that when the rod was most smart upon them,\nthey made great conscience of giving way to their first fears wherewith\nthey were made afraid by the Spirit as it wrought as a spirit of\nbondage; for indeed there is no such thing as the coming of the spirit\nof bondage to put us in fear the second time, as such, that is, after\nhe is come as the spirit of adoption to the soul.\n\nI conclude then, that that fear that is wrought by the spirit of\nbondage is good and godly, because the ground for it is sound; and I\nalso conclude, that he comes to the soul as a spirit of bondage but\nonce, and that once is before he comes as a spirit of adoption: and if\ntherefore the same fear doth again take hold of thy heart, that is, if\nafter thou hast received the spirit of adoption thou fearest again the\ndamnation of thy soul, that thou art out of Christ and under the law,\nthat fear is bad and of the devil, and ought by no means to be admitted\nby thee.\n\n[How the devil worketh these fears.]\n\n1. Quest. But since it is as you say, how doth the devil, after the\nspirit of adoption is come, work the child of God into those fears of\nbeing out of Christ, not forgiven, and so an heir of damnation again?\n\nAnsw. 1. By giving the lie, and by prevailing with us to give it too,\nto the work of grace wrought in our hearts, and to the testimony of the\nHoly Spirit of adoption. Or, 2. By abusing of our ignorance of the\neverlasting love of God to his in Christ, and the duration of the\ncovenant of grace. Or, 3. By abusing some scripture that seems to look\nthat way, but doth not. Or, 4. By abusing our senses and reason. Or, 5.\nBy strengthening of our unbelief. Or, 6. By overshadowing of our\njudgment with horrid darkness. Or, 7. By giving of us counterfeit\nrepresentations of God. Or, 8. By stirring up, and setting in a rage,\nour inward corruptions. Or, 9. By pouring into our hearts abundance of\nhorrid blasphemies. Or, 10. By putting of wrong constructions on the\nrod, and chastising hand of God. Or, 11. By charging upon us, that our\nill behaviours under the rod, and chastising hand of God, is a sign\nthat we indeed have no grace, but are downright graceless reprobates.\nBy these things and other like these, Satan, I say, Satan bringeth the\nchild of God, not only to the borders, but even into the bowels of the\nfears of damnation, after it hath received a blessed testimony of\neternal life, and that by the Holy Spirit of adoption.\n\n[The people of God should fear his rod.]\n\nQuest. But would you not have the people of God stand in fear of his\nrod, and be afraid of his judgments?\n\nAnsw. Yes, and the more they are rightly afraid of them, the less and\nthe seldomer will they come under them; for it is want of fear that\nbrings us into sin, and it is sin that brings us into these\nafflictions. But I would not have them fear with the fear of slaves;\nfor that will add no strength against sin; but I would have them fear\nwith the reverential fear of sons, and that is the way to depart from\nevil.\n\nQuest. How is that?\n\nAnsw. Why, having before received the spirit of adoption; still to\nbelieve that he is our father, and so to fear with the fear of\nchildren, not as slaves fear a tyrant. I would therefore have them to\nlook upon his rod, rebukes, chidings, and chastisements, and also upon\nthe wrath wherewith he doth inflict, to be but the dispensations of\ntheir Father. This believed, maintains, or at least helps to maintain,\nin the heart, a son-like bowing under the rod. It also maintains in the\nsoul a son-like confession of sin, and a justifying of God under all\nthe rebukes that he grieveth us with. It also engageth us to come to\nhim, to claim and lay hold of former mercies, to expect more, and to\nhope a good end shall be made of all God\u2019s present dispensations\ntowards us (Micah 7:9; Lam 1:18; Psa 77:10-12; Lam 3:31-34).[14]\n\nNow God would have us thus fear his rod, because he is resolved to\nchastise us therewith, if so be we sin against him, as I have already\nshowed; for although God\u2019s bowels turn within him, even while he is\nthreatening his people, yet if we sin, he will lay on the rod so hard\nas to make us cry, \u201cWoe unto us that we have sinned\u201d (Lam 5:16); and\ntherefore, as I said, we should be afraid of his judgments, yet only as\nafore is provided as of the rod, wrath, and judgment of a Father.\n\n[Five considerations to move to child-like fear.]\n\nQuest. But have you yet any other considerations to move us to fear God\nwith child-like fear?\n\nAnsw. I will in this place give you five. 1. Consider that God thinks\nmeet to have it so, and he is wiser in heart than thou; he knows best\nhow to secure his people from sin, and to that end hath given them law\nand commandments to read, that they may learn to fear him as a Father\n(Job 37:24; Eccl 3:14; Deut 17:18,19). 2. Consider he is mighty in\npower; if he touch but with a fatherly touch, man nor angel cannot bear\nit; yea, Christ makes use of that argument, he \u201chath power to cast into\nhell; Fear him\u201d (Luke 12:4,5). 3. Consider that he is everywhere; thou\ncanst not be out of his sight or presence; nor out of the reach of his\nhand. \u201cFear ye not me? saith the Lord.\u201d \u201cCan any hide himself in secret\nplaces that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven\nand earth? saith the Lord\u201d (Jer 5:22, 23:24). 4. Consider that he is\nholy, and cannot look with liking upon the sins of his own people.\nTherefore, says Peter, be \u201cas obedient children, not fashioning\nyourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he\nwhich hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of\nconversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if\nye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according\nto every man\u2019s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.\u201d 5.\nConsider that he is good, and has been good to thee, good in that he\nhath singled thee out from others, and saved thee from their death and\nhell, though thou perhaps wast worse in thy life than those that he\nleft when he laid hold on thee. O this should engage thy heart to fear\nthe Lord all the days of thy life. They \u201cshall fear the Lord, and his\ngoodness in the latter days\u201d (Hosea 3:5). And now for the present, I\nhave done with that fear, I mean as to its first workings, to wit, to\nput me in fear of damnation, and shall come, in the next place, to\ntreat\n\nOF THE GRACE OF FEAR MORE IMMEDIATELY INTENDED IN THE TEXT.\n\n\nI shall now speak to this fear, which I call a lasting godly fear;\nfirst, by way of explication; by which I shall show, FIRST. How by the\nScripture it is described. SECOND. I shall show you what this fear\nflows from. And then, THIRD. I shall also show you what doth flow from\nit.\n\n[How this Fear is described by the Scripture.]\n\nFIRST. For the first of these, to wit, how by the Scripture this fear\nis described; and that, First. More generally. Second. More\nparticularly.\n\nFirst. More generally.\n\n1. It is called a grace, that is, a sweet and blessed work of the\nSpirit of grace, as he is given to the elect by God. Hence the apostle\nsays, \u201clet us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with\nreverence and godly fear\u201d (Heb 12:28). For as that fear that brings\nbondage is wrought in the soul by the Spirit as a spirit of bondage, so\nthis fear, which is a fear that we have while we are in the liberty of\nsons, is wrought by him as he manifesteth to us our liberty; \u201cwhere the\nSpirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,\u201d that is, where he is as a\nspirit of adoption, setting the soul free from that bondage under which\nit was held by the same Spirit while he wrought as a spirit of bondage.\nHence as he is called a spirit working bondage to fear, so he, as the\nSpirit of the Son and of adoption, is called \u201cthe Spirit of the fear of\nthe Lord\u201d (Isa 11:2). Because it is that Spirit of grace that is the\nauthor, animater, and maintainer of our filial fear, or of that fear\nthat is son-like, and that subjecteth the elect unto God, his word, and\nways; unto him, his word, and ways, as a Father.\n\n2. This fear is called also the fear of God, not as that which is\nungodly is, nor yet as that may be which is wrought by the Spirit as a\nspirit of bondage, but by way of eminency; to wit, as a dispensation of\nthe grace of the gospel, and as a fruit of eternal love. \u201cI will put my\nfear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me\u201d (Jer\n32:38-41).\n\n3. This fear of God is called God\u2019s treasure, for it is one of his\nchoice jewels, it is one of the rarities of heaven, \u201cThe fear of the\nLord is his treasure\u201d (Isa 33:6). And it may well go under such a\ntitle; for as treasure, so the fear of the Lord is not found in every\ncorner. It is said all men have not faith, because that also is more\nprecious than gold; the same is said about this fear\u2014\u201cThere is no fear\nof God before their eyes\u201d; that is, the greatest part of men are\nutterly destitute of this godly jewel, this treasure, the fear of the\nLord. Poor vagrants, when they come straggling to a lord\u2019s house, may\nperhaps obtain some scraps and fragments, they may also obtain old\nshoes, and some sorry cast-off rags, but they get not any of his\njewels, they may not touch his choicest treasure; that is kept for the\nchildren, and those that shall be his heirs. We may say the same also\nof this blessed grace of fear, which is called here God\u2019s treasure. It\nis only bestowed upon the elect, the heirs and children of the promise;\nall others are destitute of it, and so continue to death and judgment.\n\n4. This grace of fear is that which maketh men excel and go beyond all\nmen, in the account of God; it is that which beautifies a man, and\nprefers him above all other; \u201cHast thou,\u201d says God to Satan,\n\u201cconsidered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a\nperfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?\u201d\n(Job 1:8, 2:3). Mind it, \u201cThere is none like him, none alike him in the\nearth.\u201d I suppose he means either [that Job was the only most perfect\nand upright man] in those parts, or else he was the man that abounded\nin the fear of the Lord; none like him to fear the Lord, he only\nexcelled others with respect to his reverencing of God, bowing before\nhim, and sincerely complying with his will; and therefore is counted\nthe excellent man. It is not the knowledge of the will of God, but our\nsincere complying therewith, that proveth we fear the Lord; and it is\nour so doing that putteth upon us the note of excelling; hereby appears\nour perfection, herein is manifest our uprightness. A perfect and an\nupright man is one that feareth God, and that because he escheweth\nevil. Therefore this grace of fear is that without which no part or\npiece of service which we do to God, can be accepted of him. It is, as\nI may call it, the salt of the covenant, which seasoneth the heart, and\ntherefore must not be lacking there; it is also that which salteth, or\nseasoneth all our doings, and therefore must not be lacking in any of\nthem (Lev 2:13).\n\n5. I take this grace of fear to be that which softeneth and mollifieth\nthe heart, and that makes it stand in awe both of the mercies and\njudgments of God. This is that that retaineth in the heart that due\ndread, and reverence of the heavenly majesty, that is meet should be\nboth in, and kept in the heart of poor sinners. Wherefore when David\ndescribed this fear, in the exercise of it, he calls it an awe of God.\n\u201cStand in awe,\u201d saith he, \u201cand sin not\u201d; and again, \u201cmy heart standeth\nin awe of thy word\u201d; and again, \u201cLet all the earth fear the Lord\u201d; what\nis that? or how is that? why? \u201cLet all the inhabitants of the world\nstand in awe of him\u201d (Psa 4:4, 119:161, 33:8). This is that therefore\nthat is, as I said before, so excellent a thing in the eyes of God, to\nwit, a grace of the Spirit, the fear of God, his treasure, the salt of\nthe covenant, that which makes men excel all others; for it is that\nwhich maketh the sinner to stand in awe of God, which posture is the\nmost comely thing in us, throughout all ages. But,\n\nSecond. And more particularly.\n\n1. This grace is called \u201cthe beginning of knowledge,\u201d because by the\nfirst gracious discovery of God to the soul, this grace is begot: and\nagain, because the first time that the soul doth apprehend God in\nChrist to be good unto it, this grace is animated, by which the soul is\nput into an holy awe of God, which causeth it with reverence and due\nattention to hearken to him, and tremble before him (Prov 1:7). It is\nalso by virtue of this fear that the soul doth inquire yet more after\nthe blessed knowledge of God. This is the more evident, because, where\nthis fear of God is wanting, or where the discovery of God is not\nattended with it, the heart still abides rebellious, obstinate, and\nunwilling to know more, that it might comply therewith; nay, for want\nof it, such sinners say rather, As for God, let him \u201cdepart from us,\u201d\nand for the Almighty, \u201cwe desire not the knowledge of his ways.\u201d\n\n2. This fear is called \u201cthe beginning of wisdom,\u201d because then, and not\ntill then, a man begins to be truly spiritually wise; what wisdom is\nthere where the fear of God is not? (Job 28:28; Psa 111:10). Therefore\nthe fools are described thus, \u201cFor that they hated knowledge and did\nnot choose the fear of the Lord\u201d (Prov 1:29). The Word of God is the\nfountain of knowledge, into which a man will not with godly reverence\nlook, until he is endued with the fear of the Lord. Therefore it is\nrightly called \u201cthe beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom\nand instruction\u201d (Prov 1:7). It is therefore this fear of the Lord that\nmakes a man wise for his soul, for life, and for another world. It is\nthis that teacheth him how he should do to escape those spiritual and\neternal ruins that the fool is overtaken with, and swallowed up of for\never. A man void of this fear of God, wherever he is wise, or in\nwhatever he excels, yet about the matters of his soul, there is none\nmore foolish than himself; for through the want of the fear of the\nLord, he leaves the best things at sixes and sevens, and only pursueth\nwith all his heart those that will leave him in the snare when he dies.\n\n3. This fear of the Lord is to hate evil. To hate sin and vanity. Sin\nand vanity, they are the sweet morsels of the fool, and such which the\ncarnal appetite of the flesh runs after; and it is only the virtue that\nis in the fear of the Lord that maketh the sinner have an antipathy\nagainst it (Job 20:12). \u201cBy the fear of the Lord men depart from evil\u201d\n(Prov 16:6). That is, men shun, separate themselves from, and eschew it\nin its appearances. Wherefore it is plain that those that love evil,\nare not possessed with the fear of God.\n\nThere is a generation that will pursue evil, that will take it in,\nnourish it, lay it up in their hearts, hide it, and plead for it, and\nrejoice to do it. These cannot have in them the fear of the Lord, for\nthat is to hate it, and to make men depart from it: where the fear of\nGod and sin is, it will be with the soul, as it was with Israel when\nOmri and Tibni strove to reign among them both at once, one of them\nmust be put to death, they cannot live together (see 1 Kings 16): sin\nmust down, for the fear of the Lord begetteth in the soul a hatred\nagainst it, an abhorrence of it, therefore sin must die, that is, as to\nthe affections and lusts of it; for as Solomon says in another case,\n\u201cwhere no wood is, the fire goeth out.\u201d So we may say, where there is a\nhatred of sin, and where men depart from it, there it loseth much of\nits power, waxeth feeble, and decayeth. Therefore Solomon saith again,\n\u201cFear the Lord, and depart from evil\u201d (Prov 3:7). As who should say,\nFear the Lord, and it will follow that you shall depart from evil:\ndeparting from evil is a natural consequence, a proper effect of the\nfear of the Lord where it is. By the fear of the Lord men depart from\nevil, that is, in their judgment, will, mind, and affections. Not that\nby the fear of the Lord sin is annihilated, or has lost its being in\nthe soul; there still will those Canaanites be, but they are hated,\nloathed, abominated, fought against, prayed against, watched against,\nstriven against, and mortified by the soul (Rom 7).\n\n4. This fear is called a fountain of life\u2014\u201cThe fear of the Lord is a\nfountain of life, to depart from the snares of death\u201d (Prov 14:27). It\nis a fountain, or spring, which so continually supplieth the soul with\nvariety of considerations of sin, of God, of death, and life eternal,\nas to keep the soul in continual exercise of virtue and in holy\ncontemplation. It is a fountain of life; every operation thereof, every\nact and exercise thereof, hath a true and natural tendency to spiritual\nand eternal felicity. Wherefore the wise man saith in another place,\n\u201cThe fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that hath it shall abide\nsatisfied; he shall not be visited with evil\u201d (Prov 19:23). It tendeth\nto life; even as of nature, everything hath a tendency to that which is\nmost natural to itself; the fire to burn, the water to wet, the stone\nto fall, the sun to shine, sin to defile, &c. Thus I say, the fear of\nthe Lord tendeth to life; the nature of it is to put the soul upon\nfearing of God, of closing with Christ, and of walking humbly before\nhim. \u201cIt is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.\u201d\nWhat are the snares of death, but sin, the wiles of the devil, &c. From\nwhich the fear of God hath a natural tendency to deliver thee, and to\nkeep thee in the way that tendeth to life.\n\n5. This fear of the Lord, it is called \u201cthe instruction of wisdom\u201d\n(Prov 15:33). You heard before that it is the beginning of wisdom, but\nhere you find it called the instruction of wisdom; for indeed it is not\nonly that which makes a man begin to be wise, but to improve, and make\nadvantage of all those helps and means to life, which God hath afforded\nto that end; that is, both to his own, and his neighbour\u2019s salvation\nalso. It is the instruction of wisdom; it will make a man capable to\nuse all his natural parts, all his natural wisdom to God\u2019s glory, and\nhis own good. There lieth, even in many natural things, that, into\nwhich if we were instructed, would yield us a great deal of help to the\nunderstanding of spiritual matters; \u201cFor in wisdom has God made all the\nworld\u201d; nor is there anything that God has made, whether in heaven\nabove, or on earth beneath, but there is couched some spiritual mystery\nin it. The which men matter no more than they do the ground they tread\non, or than the stones that are under their feet, and all because they\nhave not this fear of the Lord; for had they that, that would teach\nthem to think, even from that knowledge of God, that hath by the fear\nof him put into their hearts, that he being so great and so good, there\nmust needs be abundance of wisdom in the things he hath made: that fear\nwould also endeavour to find out what that wisdom is; yea, and give to\nthe soul the instruction of it. In that it is called the instruction of\nwisdom, it intimates to us that its tendency is to keep all even, and\nin good order in the soul. When Job perceived that his friends did not\ndeal with him in an even spirit and orderly manner, he said that they\nforsook \u201cthe fear of the Almighty\u201d (Job 6:14). For this fear keeps a\nman even in his words and judgment of things. It may be compared to the\nballast of the ship, and to the poise of the balance of the scales; it\nkeeps all even, and also makes us steer our course right with respect\nto the things that pertain to God and man.\n\nWhat this fear of God flows from.\n\nSECOND. I come now to the second thing, to wit, to show you what this\nfear of God flows from.\n\nFirst. This fear, this grace of fear, this son-like fear of God, it\nflows from the distinguishing love of God to his elect. \u201cI will be\ntheir God,\u201d saith he, \u201cand I will put my fear in their hearts.\u201d None\nother obtain it but those that are enclosed and bound up in that\nbundle. Therefore they, in the same place, are said to be those that\nare wrapt up in the eternal or everlasting covenant of God, and so\ndesigned to be the people that should be blessed with this fear. \u201cI\nwill make an everlasting covenant with them\u201d saith God, \u201cthat I will\nnot turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in\ntheir hearts, that they shall not depart from me\u201d (Jer 32:38-40). This\ncovenant declares unto men that God hath, in his heart, distinguishing\nlove for some of the children of men; for he saith he will be their\nGod, that he will not leave them, nor yet suffer them to depart, to\nwit, finally, from him. Into these men\u2019s hearts he doth put his fear,\nthis blessed grace, and this rare and effectual sign of his love, and\nof their eternal salvation.\n\nSecond. This fear flows from a new heart. This fear is not in men by\nnature; the fear of devils they may have, as also an ungodly fear of\nGod; but this fear is not in any but where there dwelleth a new heart,\nanother fruit and effect of this everlasting covenant, and of this\ndistinguishing love of God. \u201cA new heart also will I give them\u201d; a new\nheart, what a one is that? why, the same prophet saith in another\nplace, \u201cA heart to fear me,\u201d a circumcised one, a sanctified one (Jer\n32:39; Eze 11:19, 36:26). So then, until a man receive a heart from\nGod, a heart from heaven, a new heart, he has not this fear of God in\nhim. New wine must not be put into old bottles, lest the one, to wit,\nthe bottles, mar the wine, or the wine the bottles; but new wine must\nhave new bottles, and then both shall be preserved (Matt 9:17). This\nfear of God must not be, cannot be found in old hearts; old hearts are\nnot bottles out of which this fear of God proceeds, but it is from an\nhonest and good heart, from a new one, from such an one that is also an\neffect of the everlasting covenant, and love of God to men.\n\n\u201c I will give them one heart\u201d to fear me; there must in all actions be\nheart, and without heart no action is good, nor can there be faith,\nlove, or fear, from every kind of heart. These must flow from such an\none, whose nature is to produce, and bring forth such fruit. Do men\ngather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? so from a corrupt heart\nthere cannot proceed such fruit as the fear of God, as to believe in\nGod, and love God (Luke 6:43-45). The heart naturally is deceitful\nabove all things, and desperately wicked; how then should there flow\nfrom such an one the fear of God? It cannot be. He, therefore, that\nhath not received at the hands of God a new heart, cannot fear the\nLord.\n\nThird. This fear of God flows from an impression, a sound impression,\nthat the Word of God maketh on our souls; for without an impress of the\nWord, there is no fear of God. Hence it is said that God gave to Israel\ngood laws, statutes, and judgments, that they might learn them, and in\nlearning them, learn to fear the Lord their God. Therefore, saith God,\nin another place, \u201cGather the people together, men, and women, and\nchildren, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may\nhear, and that they may learn and fear the Lord your God\u201d (Deut 6:1,2,\n31:12). For as a man drinketh good doctrine into his soul, so he\nfeareth God. If he drinks it in much, he feareth him greatly; if he\ndrinketh it in but little, he feareth him but little; if he drinketh it\nnot in at all, he feareth him not at all. This, therefore, teacheth us\nhow to judge who feareth the Lord; they are those that learn, and that\nstand in awe of the Word. Those that have by the holy Word of God the\nvery form of itself engraven upon the face of their souls, they fear\nGod (Rom 6:17).[15]\n\nBut, on the contrary, those that do not love good doctrine, that give\nnot place to the wholesome truths of the God of heaven, revealed in his\nTestament, to take place in their souls, but rather despise it, and the\ntrue possessors of it, they fear not God. For, as I said before, this\nfear of God, it flows from a sound impression that the Word of God\nmaketh upon the soul; and therefore,\n\nFourth. This godly fear floweth from faith; for where the Word maketh a\nsound impression on the soul, by that impression is faith begotten,\nwhence also this fear doth flow. Therefore right hearing of the Word is\ncalled \u201cthe hearing of faith\u201d (Gal 3:2). Hence it is said again, \u201cBy\nfaith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with\nfear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he\ncondemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by\nfaith\u201d (Heb 11:7). The Word, the warning that he had from God of things\nnot seen as yet, wrought, through faith therein, that fear of God in\nhis heart that made him prepare against unseen dangers, and that he\nmight be an inheritor of unseen happiness. Where, therefore, there is\nnot faith in the Word of God, there can be none of this fear; and where\nthe Word doth not make sound impression on the soul, there can be none\nof this faith. So that as vices hang together, and have the links of a\nchain, dependence one upon another, even so the graces of the Spirit\nalso are the fruits of one another, and have such dependence on each\nother, that the one cannot be without the other. No faith, no fear of\nGod; devil\u2019s faith, devil\u2019s fear; saint\u2019s faith, saint\u2019s fear.\n\nFifth. This godly fear also floweth from sound repentance for and from\nsin; godly sorrow worketh repentance, and godly repentance produceth\nthis fear\u2014\u201cFor behold,\u201d says Paul, \u201cthis self-same thing, that ye\nsorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you! yea,\nwhat clearing of yourselves! yea, what indignation! yea, what fear!\u201d (2\nCor 7:10,11). Repentance is the effect of sorrow, and sorrow is the\neffect of smart, and smart the effect of faith. Now, therefore, fear\nmust needs be an effect of, and flow from repentance. Sinner, do not\ndeceive thyself; if thou art a stranger to sound repentance, which\nstandeth in sorrow and shame before God for sin, as also in turning\nfrom it, thou hast no fear of God; I mean none of this godly fear; for\nthat is the fruit of, and floweth from, sound repentance.\n\nSixth. This godly fear also flows from a sense of the love and kindness\nof God to the soul. Where there is no sense of hope of the kindness and\nmercy of God by Jesus Christ, there can be none of this fear, but\nrather wrath and despair, which produceth that fear that is either\ndevilish, or else that which is only wrought in us by the Spirit, as a\nspirit of bondage; but these we do not discourse of now; wherefore the\ngodly fear that now I treat of, it floweth from some sense or hope of\nmercy from God by Jesus Christ\u2014\u201cIf thou, Lord,\u201d says David, \u201cshouldest\nmark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with\nthee that thou mayest be feared\u201d (Psa 130:3,4). \u201cThere is mercy with\nthee\u201d; this the soul hath sense of, and hope in, and therefore feareth\nGod. Indeed nothing can lay a stronger obligation upon the heart to\nfear God, than sense of, or hope in mercy (Jer 33:8,9). This begetteth\ntrue tenderness of heart, true godly softness of spirit; this truly\nendeareth the affections to God; and in this true tenderness, softness,\nand endearedness of affection to God, lieth the very essence of this\nfear of the Lord, as is manifest by the fruit of this fear when we\nshall come to speak of it.\n\nSeventh. This fear of God flows from a due consideration of the\njudgments of God that are to be executed in the world; yea, upon\nprofessors too. Yea further, God\u2019s people themselves, I mean as to\nthemselves, have such a consideration of his judgments towards them, as\nto produce this godly fear. When God\u2019s judgments are in the earth, they\neffect the fear of his name, in the hearts of his own people\u2014\u201cMy flesh\ntrembleth for fear of thee, and I am,\u201d said David, \u201cafraid of thy\njudgments\u201d (Psa 119:120). When God smote Uzzah, David was afraid of God\nthat day (1 Chron 13:12). Indeed, many regard not the works of the\nLord, nor take notice of the operation of his hands, and such cannot\nfear the Lord. But others observe and regard, and wisely consider of\nhis doings, and of the judgments that he executeth, and that makes them\nfear the Lord. This God himself suggesteth as a means to make us fear\nhim. Hence he commands the false prophet to be stoned, \u201cthat all Israel\nmight hear and fear.\u201d Hence also he commanded that the rebellious son\nshould be stoned, \u201cthat all Israel might hear and fear.\u201d A false\nwitness was also to have the same judgment of God executed upon him,\n\u201cthat all Israel might hear and fear.\u201d The man also that did ought\npresumptuously was to die, \u201cthat all Israel might hear and fear\u201d (Deut\n13:11, 21:21, 17:13, 19:20). There is a natural tendency in judgments,\nas judgments, to beget a fear of God in the heart of man, as man; but\nwhen the observation of the judgment of God is made by him that hath a\nprinciple of true grace in his soul, that observation being made, I\nsay, by a gracious heart, produceth a fear of God in the soul of its\nown nature, to wit, a gracious or godly fear of God.\n\nEighth. This godly fear also flows from a godly remembrance of our\nformer distresses, when we were distressed with our first fears; for\nthough our first fears were begotten in us by the Spirit\u2019s working as a\nspirit of bondage, and so are not always to be entertained as such, yet\neven that fear leaveth in us, and upon our spirits, that sense and\nrelish of our first awakenings and dread, as also occasioneth and\nproduceth this godly fear. \u201cTake heed,\u201d says God, \u201cand keep thy soul\ndiligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and\nlest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life, but teach\nthem thy sons, and thy son\u2019s sons.\u201d But what were the things that their\neyes had seen, that would so damnify them should they be forgotten? The\nanswer is, the things which they saw at Horeb; to wit, the fire, the\nsmoke, the darkness, the earthquake, their first awakenings by the law,\nby which they were brought into a bondage fear; yea, they were to\nremember this especially\u2014\u201cSpecially,\u201d saith he, \u201cthe day that thou\nstoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me,\nGather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that\nthey may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the\nearth\u201d (Deut 4:9-11). The remembrance of what we saw, felt, feared, and\ntrembled under the sense of, when our first fears were upon us, is that\nwhich will produce in our hearts this godly filial fear.\n\nNinth. This godly fear flows from our receiving of an answer of prayer,\nwhen we supplicated for mercy at the hand of God. See the proof for\nthis\u2014\u201cIf there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting,\nmildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them\nin the land of their cities, whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness\nthere be: what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by\nall thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own\nheart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: then hear thou in\nheaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man\naccording to his ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou, even thou\nonly, knowest the hearts of all the children of men). That they may\nfear thee all the days of their life, that they live in the land which\nthou gavest unto our fathers\u201d (1 Kings 8:37-40).\n\nTenth. This grace of fear also flows from a blessed conviction of the\nall-seeing eye of God; that is, from a belief that he certainly knoweth\nthe heart, and seeth every one of the turnings and returnings thereof;\nthis is intimated in the text last mentioned\u2014\u201cWhose heart thou knowest,\nthat they may fear thee,\u201d to wit, so many of them as be, or shall be\nconvinced of this. Indeed, without this conviction, this godly fear\ncannot be in us; the want of this conviction made the Pharisees such\nhypocrites\u2014\u201cYe are they,\u201d said Christ, \u201cwhich justify yourselves before\nmen, but God knoweth your hearts\u201d (Luke 16:15). The Pharisees, I say,\nwere not aware of this; therefore they so much preferred themselves\nbefore those that by far were better than themselves, and it is for\nwant of this conviction that men go on in such secret sins as they do,\nso much without fear either of God or his judgments.[16]\n\nEleventh. This grace of fear also flows from a sense of the impartial\njudgment of God upon men according to their works. This also is\nmanifest from the text mentioned above. And give unto every man\naccording to his works or ways, \u201cthat they may fear thee,\u201d &c. This is\nalso manifest by that of Peter\u2014\u201cAnd if ye call on the Father, who\nwithout respect of persons judgeth according to every man\u2019s work, pass\nthe time of your sojourning here in fear\u201d (1 Peter 1:17). He that hath\ngodly conviction of this fear of God, will fear before him; by which\nfear their hearts are poised, and works directed with trembling,\naccording to the will of God. Thus you see what a weighty and great\ngrace this grace of the holy fear of God is, and how all the graces of\nthe Holy Ghost yield mutually their help and strength to the\nnourishment and life of it; and also how it flows from them all, and\nhath a dependence upon every one of them for its due working in the\nheart of him that hath it. And thus much to show you from whence it\nflows. And now I shall come to the third thing, to wit, to show you\n\nWhat flows from this godly fear.\n\nTHIRD. Having showed you what godly fear flows from, I come now, I say,\nto show you what proceedeth or flows from this godly fear of God, where\nit is seated in the heart of man. And,\n\nFirst. There flows from this godly fear a godly reverence of God. \u201cHe\nis great,\u201d said David, \u201cand greatly to be feared in the assembly of his\nsaints.\u201d God, as I have already showed you, is the proper object of\ngodly fear; it is his person and majesty that this fear always causeth\nthe eye of the soul to be upon. \u201cBehold,\u201d saith David, \u201cas the eyes of\nservants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a\nmaiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord\nour God, until that he have mercy upon us\u201d (Psa 123:2). Nothing aweth\nthe soul that feareth God so much as doth the glorious majesty of God.\nHis person is above all things feared by them; \u201cI fear God,\u201d said\nJoseph (Gen 42:18). That is, more than any other; I stand in awe of\nhim, he is my dread, he is my fear, I do all mine actions as in his\npresence, as in his sight; I reverence his holy and glorious majesty,\ndoing all things as with fear and trembling before him. This fear makes\nthem have also a very great reverence of his Word; for that also, I\ntold you, was the rule of their fear. \u201cPrinces,\u201d said David,\n\u201cpersecuted me without a cause, but my heart standeth in awe,\u201d in fear,\n\u201cof thy word.\u201d This grace of fear, therefore, from it flows reverence\nof the words of God; of all laws, that man feareth the word; and no law\nthat is not agreeing therewith (Psa 119:116). There flows from this\ngodly fear tenderness of God\u2019s glory. This fear, I say, will cause a\nman to afflict his soul, when he seeth that by professors dishonour is\nbrought to the name of God and to his Word. Who would not fear thee,\nsaid Jeremiah, O king of nations, for to thee doth it appertain? He\nspeaks it as being affected with that dishonour, that by the body of\nthe Jews was continually brought to his name, his Word, and ways; he\nalso speaks it of a hearty wish that they once would be otherwise\nminded. The same saying in effect hath also John in the Revelation\u2014\u201cWho\nshall not fear thee, O Lord,\u201d said he, \u201cand glorify thy name?\u201d (Rev\n15:4); clearly concluding that godly fear produceth a godly tenderness\nof God\u2019s glory in the world, for that appertaineth unto him; that is,\nit is due unto him, it is a debt which we owe unto him. \u201cGive unto the\nLord,\u201d said David, \u201cthe glory due unto his name.\u201d Now if there be\nbegotten in the heart of the godly, by this grace of fear, a godly\ntenderness of the glory of God, then it follows of consequence, that\nwhere they that have this fear of God do see his glory diminished by\nthe wickedness of the children of men, there they are grieved and\ndeeply distressed. \u201cRivers of waters,\u201d said David, \u201crun down mine eyes,\nbecause they keep not thy law\u201d (Psa 119:136). Let me give you for this\nthese following instances\u2014\n\nHow was David provoked when Goliath defied the God of Israel (1 Sam\n17:23-29,45,46). Also, when others reproached God, he tells us that\nthat reproach was even as \u201ca sword in his bones\u201d (Psa 42:10). How was\nHezekiah afflicted when Rabshakeh railed upon his God (Isa 37). David\nalso, for the love that he had to the glory of God\u2019s word, ran the\nhazard and reproach \u201cof all the mighty people\u201d (Psa 119:151, 89:50).\nHow tender of the glory of God was Eli, Daniel, and the three children\nin their day. Eli died with fear and trembling of heart when he heard\nthat \u201cthe ark of God was taken\u201d (1 Sam 4:14-18). Daniel ran the danger\nof the lions\u2019 mouths, for the tender love that he had to the word and\nworship of God (Dan 6:10-16). The three children ran the hazard of a\nburning fiery furnace, rather than they would dare to dishonour the way\nof their God (Dan 3:13,16,20). This therefore is one of the fruits of\nthis godly fear, to wit, a reverence of his name and tenderness of his\nglory.\n\nSecond. There flows from this godly fear, watchfulness. As it is said\nof Solomon\u2019s servants, they \u201cwatched about his bed, because of fear in\nthe night,\u201d so it may be said of them that have this godly fear\u2014it\nmakes them a watchful people. It makes them watch their hearts, and\ntake heed to keep them with all diligence, lest they should, by one or\nanother of its flights, lead them to do that which in itself is wicked\n(Prov 4:23; Heb 12:15). It makes them watch, lest some temptation from\nhell should enter into their heart to the destroying of them (1 Peter\n5:8). It makes them watch their mouths, and keep them also, at\nsometimes, as with a bit and bridle, that they offend not with their\ntongue, knowing that the tongue is apt, being an evil member, soon to\ncatch the fire of hell, to the defiling of the whole body (James\n3:2-7). It makes them watch over their ways, look well to their goings,\nand to make straight steps for their feet (Psa 39:1; Heb 12:13). Thus\nthis godly fear puts the soul upon its watch, lest from the heart\nwithin, or from the devil without, or from the world, or some other\ntemptation, something should surprise and overtake the child of God to\ndefile him, or to cause him to defile the ways of God, and so offend\nthe saints, open the mouths of men, and cause the enemy to speak\nreproachfully of religion.\n\nThird. There flows from this fear a holy provocation to a reverential\nconverse with saints in their religious and godly assemblies, for their\nfurther progress in the faith and way of holiness. \u201cThen they that\nfeared the Lord spake often one to another.\u201d Spake, that is, of God,\nand his holy and glorious name, kingdom, and works, for their mutual\nedification; \u201ca book of remembrance was written before him for them\nthat feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name\u201d (Mal 3:16). The\nfear of the Lord in the heart provoketh to this in all its acts, not\nonly of necessity, but of nature: it is the natural effect of this\ngodly fear, to exercise the church in the contemplation of God,\ntogether and apart. All fear, good and bad, hath a natural propenseness\nin it to incline the heart to contemplate upon the object of fear, and\nthough a man should labour to take off his thoughts from the object of\nhis fear, whether that object was men, hell, devils, &c., yet do what\nhe could the next time his fear had any act in it, it would return\nagain to its object. And so it is with godly fear; that will make a man\nspeak of, and think upon, the name of God reverentially (Psa 89:7);\nyea, and exercise himself in the holy thoughts of him in such sort that\nhis soul shall be sanctified, and seasoned with such meditations.\nIndeed, holy thoughts of God, such as you see this fear doth exercise\nthe heart withal, prepare the heart to, and for God. This fear\ntherefore it is that David prayed for, for the people, when he said, \u201cO\nLord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel our fathers, keep this for\never in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and\nprepare their heart unto thee\u201d (1 Chron 29:18).\n\nFourth. There flows from this fear of God great reverence of his\nmajesty, in and under the use and enjoyment of God\u2019s holy ordinances.\nHis ordinances are his courts and palaces, his walks and places, where\nhe giveth his presence to those that wait upon him in them, in the fear\nof his name. And this is the meaning of that of the apostle: \u201cThen had\nthe churches rest throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, and\nwere edified; and, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort\nof the Holy Ghost, were multiplied\u201d (Acts 9:31). \u201cAnd walking\u201d\u2014that\nword intendeth their use of the ordinances of God. They walked in all\nthe commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. This, in Old\nTestament language, is called, treading God\u2019s courts, and walking in\nhis paths. This, saith the text, they did here, in the fear of God.\nThat is, in a great reverence of that God whose ordinances they were.\n\u201cYe shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am the Lord\u201d\n(Lev 19:30, 26:2).\n\nIt is one thing to be conversant in God\u2019s ordinances, and another to be\nconversant in them with a due reverence of the majesty and name of that\nGod whose ordinances they are: it is common for men to do the first,\nbut none can do the last without this fear. \u201cIn thy fear,\u201d said David,\n\u201cwill I worship\u201d (Psa 5:7). It is this fear of God, therefore, from\nwhence doth flow that great reverence that his saints have in them, of\nhis majesty, in and under the use and enjoyment of God\u2019s holy\nordinances; and, consequently, that makes our service in the\nperformance of them acceptable to God through Christ (Heb 12). For God\nexpects that we serve him with fear and trembling, and it is odious\namong men, for a man in the presence, or about the service of his\nprince, to behave himself lightly, and without due reverence of that\nmajesty in whose presence and about whose business he is. And if so,\nhow can their service to God have anything like acceptation from the\nhand of God, that is done, not in, but without the fear of God? This\nservice must needs be an abomination to him, and these servers must\ncome off with rebuke.\n\nFifth. There flows from this godly fear of God, self-denial. That is, a\nholy abstaining from those things that are either unlawful or\ninexpedient; according to that of Nehemiah, \u201cThe former governors that\nhad been before me, were chargeable unto the people, that had taken of\nthem bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver, yea, even their\nservants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the\nfear of God\u201d (Neh 5:15).[17]\n\nHere not was self-denial; he would not do as they did that went before\nhim, neither himself, nor should his servants; but what was it that put\nhim upon these acts of self-denial? The answer is, the fear of God:\n\u201cbut so did not I, because of the fear of God.\u201d\n\nNow, whether by the fear of God in this place be meant his Word, or the\ngrace of fear in his heart, may perhaps be a scruple to some, but in my\njudgment the text must have respect to the latter, to wit, to the grace\nof fear, for without that being indeed in the heart, the word will not\nproduce that good self-denial in us, that here you find this good man\nto live in the daily exercise of. The fear of God, therefore, that was\nthe cause of his self-denial, was this grace of fear in his heart. This\nmade him to be, as was said before, tender of the honour of God, and of\nthe salvation of his brother: yea, so tender, that rather than he would\ngive an occasion to the weak to stumble, or be offended, he would even\ndeny himself of that which others never sticked to do. Paul also,\nthrough the sanctifying operations of this fear of God in his heart,\ndid deny himself even of lawful things, for the profit and commodity of\nhis brother\u2014\u201cI will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make\nmy brother to offend\u201d; that is, if his eating of it would make his\nbrother to offend (1 Cor 8:13).\n\nMen that have not this fear of God in them, will not, cannot deny\nthemselves\u2014of love to God, and the good of the weak, who are subject to\nstumble at indifferent things\u2014but where this grace of fear is, there\nfollows self-denial; there men are tender of offending; and count that\nit far better becomes their profession to be of a self-denying,\ncondescending conversation and temper, than to stand sturdily to their\nown liberty in things inexpedient, whoever is offended thereat. This\ngrace of fear, therefore, is a very excellent thing, because it\nyieldeth such excellent fruit as this. For this self-denial, of how\nlittle esteem soever it be with some, yet the want of it, if the words\nof Christ be true, as they are, takes quite away from even a professor\nthe very name of a disciple (Matt 10:37,38; Luke 14:26,27,33). They,\nsays Nehemiah, lorded it over the brethren, but so did not I. They took\nbread and wine, and forty shekels of silver of them, but so did not I;\nyea, even their servants bare rule over the people, \u201cbut so did not I,\nbecause of the fear of God.\u201d\n\nSixth. There flows from this godly fear of God \u201csingleness of heart\u201d\n(Col 3:22). Singleness of heart both to God and man; singleness of\nheart, that is it which in another place is called sincerity and godly\nsimplicity, and it is this, when a man doth a thing simply for the sake\nof him or of the law that commands it, without respect to this\nby-end,[18]\n\nor that desire of praise or of vain-glory from others; I say, when our\nobedience to God is done by us simply or alone for God\u2019s sake, for his\nWord\u2019s sake, without any regard to this or that by-end or reserve, \u201cnot\nwith eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing\nGod.\u201d A man is more subject to nothing than to swerve from singleness\nof heart in his service to God, and obedience to his will. How doth the\nLord charge the children of Israel, and all their obedience, and that\nfor seventy years together, with the want of singleness of heart\ntowards him\u2014\u201cWhen ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month,\neven those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And\nwhen ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves,\nand drink for yourselves?\u201d (Zech 7:5,6).\n\nThey wanted this singleness of heart in their fasting, and in their\neating, in their mourning, and in their drinking; they had double\nhearts in what they did. They did not as the apostle bids; \u201cwhether ye\neat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.\u201d And the\nreason of their want of this thing was, they wanted this fear of God;\nfor that, as the apostle here saith, effecteth singleness of heart to\nGod, and makes a man, as John said of Gaius, \u201cdo faithfully whatsoever\nhe doth\u201d (3 John 5). And the reason is, as hath been already urged, for\nthat grace of fear of God retaineth and keepeth upon the heart a\nreverent and awful sense of the dread majesty and all-seeing eye of\nGod, also a due consideration of the day of account before him; it\nlikewise maketh his service sweet and pleasing, and fortifies the soul\nagainst all discouragements; by this means, I say, the soul, in its\nservice to God or man, is not so soon captivated as where there is not\nthis fear, but through and by it its service is accepted, being single,\nsincere, simple, and faithful; when others, with what they do, are cast\ninto hell for their hypocrisy, for they mix not what they do with godly\nfear. Singleness of heart in the service of God is of such absolute\nnecessity, that without it, as I have hinted, nothing can be accepted;\nbecause where that is wanting, there wanteth love to God, and to that\nwhich is true holiness indeed. It was this singleness of heart that\nmade Nathanael so honourable in the eyes of Jesus Christ. \u201cBehold,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201can Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile\u201d (John 1:47).\nAnd it was the want of it that made him so much abhor the Pharisees.\nThey wanted sincerity, simplicity, and godly sincerity in their souls,\nand so became an abhorrence in his esteem. Now, I say, this golden\ngrace, singleness of heart, it flows from this godly fear of God.\n\nSeventh. There flows from this godly fear of God, compassion and bowels\nto those of the saints that are in necessity and distress. This is\nmanifest in good Obadiah; it is said of him, \u201cThat he took an hundred\u201d\nof the Lord\u2019s \u201cprophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them\nwith bread and water,\u201d in the days when Jezebel, that tyrant, sought\ntheir lives to destroy them (1 Kings 18:3,4). But what was it that\nmoved so upon his heart, as to cause him to do this thing? Why, it was\nthis blessed grace of the fear of God. \u201cNow Obadiah,\u201d saith the text,\n\u201cfeared the Lord greatly, for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the\nprophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid\nthem by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.\u201d This was\ncharity to the distressed, even to the distressed for the Lord\u2019s sake.\n\nHad not Obadiah served the Lord, yea, had he not greatly feared him, he\nwould not have been able to do this thing, especially as the case then\nstood with him, and also with the church at that time, for then Jezebel\nsought to slay all that indeed feared the Lord; yea, and the\npersecution prevailed so much at that time, that even Elijah himself\nthought that she had killed all but him. But now, even now, the fear of\nGod in this good man\u2019s heart put forth itself into acts of mercy though\nattended with so imminent danger. See here, therefore, that the fear of\nGod will put forth itself in the heart where God hath put it, even to\nshow kindness, and to have compassion upon the distressed servants of\nGod, even under Jezebel\u2019s nose; for Obadiah dwelt in Ahab\u2019s house, and\nJezebel was Ahab\u2019s wife, and a horrible persecutor, as was said before:\nyet Obadiah will show mercy to the poor because he feared God, yea, he\nwill venture her displeasure, his place, and neck, and all, but he will\nbe merciful to his brethren in distress. Cornelius, also, being a man\npossessed with this fear of God, became a very free-hearted and\nopen-handed man to the poor\u2014\u201cHe feared God, and gave much alms to the\npeople.\u201d Indeed this fear, this godly fear of God, it is a universal\ngrace; it will stir up the soul unto all good duties. It is a fruitful\ngrace; from it, where it is, floweth abundance of excellent virtues;\nnor without it can there be anything good, or done well, that is done.\nBut,\n\nEighth. There flows from this fear of God hearty, fervent, and constant\nprayer. This also is seen in Cornelius, that devout man. He feared God;\nand what then? why, he gave much alms to the people, \u201cand prayed to God\nalway\u201d (Acts 10:1,2).\n\nDid I say that hearty, fervent, and constant prayer flowed from this\nfear of God? I will add, that if the whole duty, and the continuation\nof it, be not managed with this fear of God, it profiteth nothing at\nall. It is said of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, \u201cHe was heard in that\nhe feared.\u201d He prayed, then, because he feared, because he feared God,\nand therefore was his prayer accepted of him, even because he\nfeared\u2014\u201cHe was heard in that he feared\u201d (Heb 5:7). This godly fear is\nso essential to right prayer, and right prayer is such an inseparable\neffect and fruit of this fear, that you must have both or none; he that\nprayeth not feareth not God, yea, he that prayeth not fervently and\nfrequently feareth him not; and so he that feareth him not cannot pray;\nfor if prayer be the effect of this fear of God, then without this\nfear, prayer, fervent prayer, ceaseth. How can they pray or make\nconscience of the duty that fear not God? O prayerless man, thou\nfearest not God! Thou wouldest not live so like a swine or a dog in the\nworld as thou dost, if thou fearest the Lord.\n\nNinth. There floweth from this fear of God a readiness or willingness,\nat God\u2019s call, to give up our best enjoyments to his disposal. This is\nevident in Abraham, who at God\u2019s call, without delay, rose early in the\nmorning to offer up his only and well-beloved Isaac a burnt-offering in\nthe place where God should appoint him. It was a rare thing that\nAbraham did; and had he not had this rare grace, this fear of God, he\nwould not, he could not have done to God\u2019s liking so wonderful a thing.\nIt is true the Holy Ghost also makes this service of Abraham to be the\nfruit of his faith\u2014\u201cBy faith Abraham offered up Isaac, and he that had\nreceived the promises offered up his only-begotten son\u201d (Heb 11; James\n2). Aye, and without doubt love unto God, in Abraham, was not wanting\nin this his service, nor was this grace of fear; nay, in the story\nwhere it is recorded. There it is chiefly accounted for the fruit of\nhis godly fear, and that by an angel from heaven\u2014\u201cAnd the angel called\nout of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And\nhe said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto\nhim, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not\nwithheld thy son, thine only son, from me\u201d (Gen 22:11,12). Now I know\nit; now, now thou hast offered up thine only Isaac, thine all, at the\nbidding of thy God. Now I know it. The fear of God is not presently\ndiscerned in the heart and life of a man. Abraham had long before this\ndone many a holy duty, and showed much willingness of heart to observe\nand do the will of God; yet you find not, as I remember, that he had\nthis testimony from heaven that he feared God till now; but now he has\nit, now he has it from heaven. \u201cNow I know that thou fearest God.\u201d Many\nduties may be done\u2014though I do not say that Abraham did them\u2014without\nthe fear of God; but when a man shall not stick at, or withhold, his\ndarling from God, when called upon by God to offer it up unto him, that\ndeclareth, yea, and gives conviction to angels, that now he feareth\nGod.\n\nTenth. There floweth from this godly fear humility of mind. This is\nevident, because, when the apostle cautions the Romans against the\nvenom of spiritual pride, he directs them to the exercise of this\nblessed grace of fear as its antidote. \u201cBe not high-minded,\u201d saith he,\n\u201cbut fear\u201d (Rom 11:20). Pride, spiritual pride, which is here set forth\nby the word \u201chigh-minded,\u201d is a sin of a very high and damnable nature;\nit was the sin of the fallen angels, and is that which causeth men to\nfall into the same condemnation\u2014\u201cLest being lifted up with pride, he\nfall into the condemnation of the devil.\u201d Pride, I say, it damns a\nprofessor with the damnation of devils, with the damnation of hell, and\ntherefore it is a deadly, deadly sin. Now against this deadly sin is\nset the grace of humility; that comely garment, for so the apostle\ncalls it, saying, \u201cbe clothed with humility.\u201d But the question is now,\nhow we should attain to, and live in, the exercise of this blessed and\ncomely grace? to which the apostle answers, Fear; be afraid with godly\nfear, and thence will flow humility\u2014\u201cBe not high-minded, but fear.\u201d\nThat is, Fear, or be continually afraid and jealous of yourselves, and\nof your own naughty hearts, also fear lest at some time or other the\ndevil, your adversary, should have advantage of you. Fear, lest by\nforgetting what you are by nature, you also forget the need that you\nhave of continual pardon, support, and supplies from the Spirit of\ngrace, and so grow proud of your own abilities, or of what you have\nreceived of God, and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Fear, and\nthat will make you little in your own eyes, keep you humble, put you\nupon crying to God for protection, and upon lying at his foot for\nmercy; that will also make you have low thoughts of your own parts,\nyour own doings, and cause you to prefer your brother before yourself,\nand so you will walk in humiliation, and be continually under the\nteachings of God, and under his conduct in your way. The humble, God\nwill teach\u2014\u201cThe meek will he guide in judgment, the meek will he teach\nhis way.\u201d From this grace of fear then flows this excellent and comely\nthing, humility; yea, it also is maintained by this fear. Fear takes\noff a man from trusting to himself, it puts a man upon trying of all\nthings, it puts a man upon desiring counsel and help from heaven, it\nmakes a man ready and willing to hear instruction, and makes a man walk\nlowly, softly, and so securely in the way.\n\nEleventh. There flows from this grace of fear, hope in the mercy of\nGod\u2014\u201cThe Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope\nin his mercy\u201d (Psa 147:11). The latter part of the text is an\nexplanation of the former: as if the psalmist had said, They be the men\nthat fear the Lord, even they that hope in his mercy; for true fear\nproduceth hope in God\u2019s mercy. And it is further manifest thus. Fear,\ntrue fear of God inclineth the heart to a serious inquiry after that\nway of salvation which God himself hath prescribed; now the way that\nGod hath appointed, by the which the sinner is to obtain the salvation\nof his soul, is his mercy as so and so set forth in the Word, and godly\nfear hath special regard to the Word. To this way, therefore, the\nsinner with this godly fear submits his soul, rolls himself upon it,\nand so is delivered from that death into which others, for want of this\nfear of God, do headlong fall.\n\nIt is, as I also hinted before, the nature of godly fear to be very\nmuch putting the soul upon the inquiry which is, and which is not, the\nthing approved of God, and accordingly to embrace it or shun it. Now I\nsay, this fear having put the soul upon a strict and serious inquiry\nafter the way of salvation, at last it finds it to be by the mercy of\nGod in Christ; therefore this fear putteth the soul upon hoping also in\nhim for eternal life and blessedness; by which hope he doth not only\nsecure his soul, but becomes a portion of God\u2019s delight\u2014\u201cThe Lord takes\npleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope in his mercy.\u201d\n\nBesides, this godly fear carrieth in it self-evidence that the state of\nthe sinner is happy, because possessed with this happy grace.\nTherefore, as John saith, \u201cWe know we have passed from death unto life,\nbecause we love the brethren\u201d (1 John 3:14). So here, \u201cThe Lord taketh\npleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope in his mercy.\u201d If I\nfear God, and if my fearing of him is a thing in which he taketh such\npleasure, then may I boldly venture to roll myself for eternal life\ninto the bosom of his mercy, which is Christ. This fear also produceth\nhope; if therefore, poor sinner, thou knowest thyself to be one that is\npossessed with this fear of God, suffer thyself to be persuaded\ntherefore to hope in the mercy of God for salvation, for the Lord takes\npleasure in thee. And it delights him to see thee hope in his mercy.\n\nTwelfth. There floweth from this godly fear of God an honest and\nconscientious use of all those means which God hath ordained, that we\nshould be conversant in for our attaining salvation. Faith and hope in\nGod\u2019s mercy is that which secureth our justification and hope, and as\nyou have heard, they do flow from this fear. But now, besides faith and\nhope, there is a course of life in those things in which God hath\nordained us to have our conversation, without which there is no eternal\nlife. \u201cYe have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life\u201d;\nand again, \u201cwithout holiness no man shall see the Lord.\u201d Not that faith\nand hope are deficient, if they be right, but they are both of them\ncounterfeit when not attended with a reverent use of all the means:\nupon the reverent use of which the soul is put by this grace of fear.\n\u201cWherefore, beloved,\u201d said Paul, \u201cas ye have always obeyed, not as in\nmy presence only, but now much more in mine absence, work out your own\nsalvation with fear and trembling\u201d (Rom 6:22; Heb 12:14; Phil 2:11).\n\nThere is a faith and hope of mercy that may deceive a man (though the\nfaith of God\u2019s elect, and the hope that purifies the heart never will),\nbecause they are alone, and not attended with those companions that\naccompany salvation (Heb 6:3-8). But now this godly fear carries in its\nbowels, not only a moving of the soul to faith and hope in God\u2019s mercy,\nbut an earnest provocation to the holy and reverent use of all the\nmeans that God has ordained for a man to have his conversation in, in\norder to his eternal salvation. \u201cWork out your salvation with fear.\u201d\nNot that work is meritorious, or such that can purchase eternal life,\nfor eternal life is obtained by hope in God\u2019s mercy; but this hope, if\nit be right, is attended with this godly fear, which fear putteth the\nsoul upon a diligent use of all those means that may tend to the\nstrengthening of hope, and so to the making of us holy in all manner of\nconversation, that we may be meet to be partakers of the inheritance of\nthe saints in light. For hope purifieth the heart, if fear of God shall\nbe its companion, and so maketh a man a vessel of mercy prepared unto\nglory. Paul bids Timothy to fly pride, covetousness, doting about\nquestions, and the like, and to \u201cfollow after righteousness, godliness,\nfaith, love, patience; to fight the good fight of faith, and to lay\nhold on eternal life\u201d (1 Tim 6).\n\nSo Peter bids that we \u201cadd to our faith virtue; and to virtue\nknowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and\nto patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to\nbrotherly kindness charity\u201d; adding, \u201cfor if these things be in you and\nabound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in\nthe knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore the rather, brethren,\ngive diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do\nthese things, ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be\nministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord\nand Saviour Jesus Christ\u201d (2 Peter 1:5-11). The sum of all which is\nthat which was mentioned before; to wit, \u201cto work out our own salvation\nwith fear and trembling.\u201d For none of these things can be\nconscientiously done, but by and with the help of this blessed grace of\nfear.\n\nThirteenth. There flows from this fear, this godly fear, a great\ndelight in the holy commands of God, that is, a delight to be\nconformable unto them. \u201cBlessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that\ndelighteth greatly in his commandments\u201d (Psa 112:1). This confirmeth\nthat which was said before, to wit, that this fear provoketh to a holy\nand reverent use of the means; for that cannot be, when there is not an\nholy, yea, a great delight in the commandments. Wherefore this fear\nmaketh the sinner to abhor that which is sin, because that is contrary\nto the object of his delight. A man cannot delight himself at the same\ntime in things directly opposite one to another, as sin and the holy\ncommandment is; therefore Christ saith of the servant, he cannot love\nGod and mammon\u2014\u201cYe cannot serve God and mammon.\u201d If he cleaves to the\none, he must hate and despise the other; there cannot at the same time\nbe service to both, because that themselves are at enmity one with the\nother. So is sin and the commandment. Therefore if a man delighteth\nhimself in the commandment, he hateth that which is opposite, which is\nsin: how much more when he greatly delighteth in the commandment? Now,\nthis holy fear of God it taketh the heart and affections from sin, and\nsetteth them upon the holy commandment. Therefore such a man is rightly\nesteemed blessed. For no profession makes a man blessed but that which\nis accompanied with an alienation of the heart from sin, nor doth\nanything do that when this holy fear is wanting. It is from this fear\nthen, that love to, and delight in, the holy commandment floweth, and\nso by that the sinner is kept from those falls and dangers of\nmiscarrying that other professors are so subject to: he greatly\ndelights in the commandment.\n\nFourteenth. Lastly, There floweth from this fear of God, enlargement of\nheart. \u201cThen thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall\nfear, and be enlarged\u201d (Isa 60:5). \u201cThine heart shall fear, and be\nenlarged,\u201d enlarged to God-ward, enlarged to his ways, enlarged to his\nholy people, enlarged in love after the salvation of others. Indeed\nwhen this fear of God is wanting, though the profession be never so\nfamous, the heart is shut up and straitened, and nothing is done in\nthat princely free spirit which is called \u201cthe spirit of the fear of\nthe Lord\u201d (Psa 51:12; Isa 11:2). But with grudging, legally, or with\ndesire of vain-glory, this enlargedness of heart is wanting, for that\nflows from this fear of the Lord.\n\nThus have I showed you both what this fear of God is, what it flows\nfrom, and also what doth flow from it. I come now to show you some\n\nOF THE PRIVILEGES OF THEM THAT THUS DO FEAR THE LORD.\n\n\nHaving thus briefly handled in particular thus far this fear of God, I\nshall now show you certain of the excellent privileges of them that\nfear the Lord, not that they are not privileges that have been already\nmentioned; for what greater privileges than to have this fear producing\nin the soul such excellent things so necessary for us for good, both\nwith reference to this world, and that which is to come? But because\nthose fourteen above named do rather flow from this grace of fear where\nit is, than from a promise to the person that hath it, therefore I have\nchosen rather to discourse of them as the fruits and effects of fear,\nthan otherwise. Now, besides all these, there is entailed by promise to\nthe man that hath this fear many other blessed privileges, the which I\nshall now in a brief way lay open unto you.\n\nFirst Privilege, then. That man that feareth the Lord, has a grant and\na license \u201cto trust in the Lord,\u201d with an affirmation that he is their\nhelp, and their shield\u2014\u201cYe that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; he is\ntheir help and their shield\u201d (Psa 115:11). Now what a privilege is\nthis! an exhortation in general to sinners, as sinners, to trust in\nhim, is a privilege great and glorious; but for a man to be singled out\nfrom his neighbours, for a man to be spoken to from heaven, as it were\nby name, and to be told that God hath given him a license, a special\nand peculiar grant to trust in him, this is abundantly more; and yet\nthis is the grant that God hath given that man! He hath, I say, a\nlicense to do it\u2014a license indicted by the Holy Ghost, and left upon\nrecord for those to be born that shall fear the Lord, to trust in him.\nAnd not only so, but as the text affirmeth, \u201che is their help and their\nshield.\u201d Their help under all their weaknesses and infirmities, and a\nshield to defend them against all the assaults of the devil and this\nworld. So then, the man that feareth the Lord is licensed to make the\nLord his stay and God of his salvation, the succour and deliverer of\nhis soul. He will defend him because his fear is in his heart. O ye\nservants of the Lord, ye that fear him, live in the comfort of this;\nboldly make use of it when you are in straits, and put your trust under\nthe shadow of his wings, for indeed he would have you do so, because\nyou do fear the Lord.\n\nSecond Privilege. God hath also proclaimed concerning the man that\nfeareth the Lord, that he will also be his teacher and guide in the way\nthat he shall choose, and hath moreover promised concerning such, that\ntheir soul shall dwell at ease\u2014\u201cWhat man is he that feareth the Lord?\u201d\nsays David, \u201chim shall he teach in the way that he shall choose\u201d (Psa\n25:12). Now, to be taught of God, what like it? yea, what like to be\ntaught in the way that thou shalt choose? Thou hast chosen the way to\nlife, God\u2019s way; but perhaps thy ignorance about it is so great, and\nthose that tempt thee to turn aside so many and so subtle, that they\nseem to outwit thee and confound thee with their guile. Well, but the\nLord whom thou fearest will not leave thee to thy ignorance, nor yet to\nthine enemies\u2019 power or subtlety, but will take it upon himself to be\nthy teacher and thy guide, and that in the way that thou hast chosen.\nHear, then, and behold thy privilege, O thou that fearest the Lord; and\nwhoever wanders, turns aside, and swerveth from the way of salvation,\nwhoever is benighted, and lost in the midst of darkness, thou shalt\nfind the way to the heaven and the glory that thou hast chosen.\n\nFurther, He doth not only say, that he will teach them the way, for\nthat must of necessity be supplied, but he says also that he will teach\nsuch in it\u2014\u201cHim shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.\u201d This\nargueth that, as thou shalt know, so the way shall be made, by the\ncommunion that thou shalt have with God therein, sweet and pleasant to\nthee. For this text promiseth unto the man that feareth the Lord, the\npresence, company, and discovery of the mind of God, while he is going\nin the way that he hath chosen. It is said of the good scribe, that he\nis instructed unto, as well as into, the way of the kingdom of God\n(Matt 13:52). Instructed unto; that is, he hath the heart and mind of\nGod still discovered to him in the way that he hath chosen, even all\nthe way from this world to that which is to come, even until he shall\ncome to the very gate and door of heaven. What the disciples said was\nthe effect of the presence of Christ, to wit, \u201cthat their hearts did\nburn within them while he talked to them by the way,\u201d shall be also\nfulfilled in thee, he will meet with thee in the way, talk with thee in\nthe way; he will teach thee in the way that thou shalt choose (Luke\n24:32).\n\nThird Privilege. Dost thou fear the Lord? he will open his secret unto\nthee, even that which he hath hid and keeps close from all the world,\nto wit, the secret of his covenant and of thy concern therein\u2014\u201cThe\nsecret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them\nhis covenant\u201d (Psa 25:14). This, then, further confirmeth what was said\nbut just above; his secret shall be with them, and his covenant shall\nbe showed unto them. His secret, to wit, that which hath been kept hid\nfrom ages and generations; that which he manifesteth only to the\nsaints, or holy ones; that is, his Christ, for he it is that is hid in\nGod, and that no man can know but he to whom the Father shall reveal\nhim (Matt 11:27).\n\nBut O! what is there wrapped up in this Christ, this secret of God?\nwhy, all treasures of life, of heaven, and happiness\u2014\u201cIn him are hid\nall the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.\u201d And \u201cin him dwelleth all\nthe fulness of the Godhead bodily\u201d (Col 2).\n\nThis also is that hidden One, that is so full of grace to save sinners,\nand so full of truth and faithfulness to keep promise and covenant with\nthem, that their eyes must needs convey, even by every glance they make\nupon his person, offices, and relation, such affecting ravishments to\nthe heart, that it would please them that see him, even to be killed\nwith that sight. This secret of the Lord shall be, nay is, with them\nthat fear him, for he dwelleth in their heart by faith. \u201cAnd he will\nshew them his covenant.\u201d That is, the covenant that is confirmed of God\nin Christ, that everlasting and eternal covenant, and show him too that\nhe himself is wrapped up therein, as in a bundle of life with the Lord\nhis God. These are the thoughts, purposes, and promises of God to them\nthat fear him.\n\nFourth Privilege. Dost thou fear the Lord? his eye is always over thee\nfor good, to keep thee from all evil\u2014\u201cBehold the eye of the Lord is\nupon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver\ntheir soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine\u201d (Psa\n33:18,19). His eye is upon them; that is, to watch over them for good.\nHe that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. His eyes are upon\nthem, and he will keep them as a shepherd doth his sheep; that is, from\nthose wolves that seek to devour them, and to swallow them up in death.\nHis eyes are upon them; for they are the object of his delight, the\nrarities of the world, in whom, saith he, is all my delight. His eye is\nupon them, as I said before, to teach and instruct them\u2014\u201cI will\ninstruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will\nguide thee with mine eye\u201d (Psa 32:8; 2 Chron 7:15,16). The eye of the\nLord, therefore, is upon them, not to take advantage of them, to\ndestroy them for their sins, but to guide, to help, and deliver them\nfrom death; from that death that would feed upon their souls\u2014\u201cTo\ndeliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.\u201d Take\ndeath here for death spiritual, and death eternal; and the famine here,\nnot for that that is for want of bread and water, but for that which\ncomes on many for want of the Word of the Lord (Rev 20:14; Amos\n8:11,12); and then the sense is this, the man that feareth the Lord\nshall neither die spiritually nor eternally; for God will keep him with\nhis eye from all those things that would in such a manner kill him.\nAgain, should there be a famine of the Word; should there want both the\nWord and them that preach it in the place that thou dost dwell, yet\nbread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure; thou shalt not\ndie of the famine, because thou fearest God. I say, that man shall not,\nbehold he shall not, because he feareth God, and this the next head\ndoth yet more fully manifest.\n\nFifth Privilege. Dost thou fear God? fear him for this advantage more\nand more\u2014\u201cO fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them\nthat fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that\nseek the Lord,\u201d that fear him, \u201cshall not want any good thing\u201d (Psa\n34:9,10). Not anything that God sees good for them shall those men want\nthat fear the Lord. If health will do them good, if sickness will do\nthem good, if riches will do them good, if poverty will do them good,\nif life will do them good, if death will do them good, then they shall\nnot want them, neither shall any of these come nigh them, if they will\nnot do them good. The lions, the wicked people [19] of the world that\nfear not God, are not made sharers in this great privilege; all things\nfall out to them contrary, because they fear not God. In the midst of\ntheir sufficiency, they are in want of that good that God puts into the\nworst things that the man that feareth God doth meet with in the world.\n\nSixth Privilege. Dost thou fear God? he hath given charge to the armies\nof heaven to look after, take charge of, to camp about, and to deliver\nthee\u2014\u201cThe angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him,\nand delivereth them\u201d (Psa 34:7). This also is a privilege entailed to\nthem that in all generations fear the Lord. The angels, the heavenly\ncreatures, have it in commission to take the charge of them that fear\nthe Lord; one of them is able to slay of men in one night 185,000.\nThese are they that camped about Elisha like horses of fire, and\nchariots of fire, when the enemy came to destroy him. They also helped\nHezekiah against the band of the enemy, because he feared God (2 Kings\n6:17; Isa 37:36; Jer 26:19). \u201cThe angel of the Lord encampeth round\nabout them\u201d; that is, lest the enemy should set upon them on any side;\nbut let him come where he will, behind or before, on this side or that,\nthe angel of the Lord is there to defend them. \u201cThe angel.\u201d It may be\nspoken in the singular number, perhaps, to show that every one that\nfeareth God hath his angel to attend on him, and serve him. When the\nchurch, in the Acts, was told that Peter stood at the door and knocked;\nat first they counted the messenger mad, but when she did constantly\naffirm it, they said, It is his angel (Acts 12:13-15). So Christ saith\nof the children that came unto him, \u201ctheir angels behold the face of my\nFather which is in heaven.\u201d Their angels; that is, those of them that\nfeared God, had each of them his angel, who had a charge from God to\nkeep them in their way. We little think of this, yet this is the\nprivilege of them that fear the Lord; yea, if need be, they shall all\ncome down to help them and to deliver them, rather than, contrary to\nthe mind of their God, they should by any be abused\u2014\u201cAre they not all\nministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs\nof salvation?\u201d (Heb 1:14).\n\n[Quest.] But how do they deliver them? for so says the text\u2014\u201cThe angel\nof the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth\nthem.\u201d Answ. The way that they take to deliver them that fear the Lord,\nis sometimes by smiting of their enemies with blindness, that they may\nnot find them; and so they served the enemies of Lot (Gen 19:10,11).\nSometimes by smiting of them with deadly fear; and so they served those\nthat laid siege against Samaria (2 Kings 7:6). And sometimes by smiting\nof them even with death itself; and thus they served Herod, after he\nhad attempted to kill the apostle James, and also sought to vex certain\nothers of the church (Acts 12). These angels that are servants to them\nthat fear the Lord, are them that will, if God doth bid them, revenge\nthe quarrel of his servants upon the stoutest monarch on earth. This,\ntherefore, is a glorious privilege of the men that fear the Lord. Alas!\nthey are, some of them, so mean that they are counted not worth taking\nnotice of by the high ones of the world; but their betters do respect\nthem. The angels of God count not themselves too good to attend on\nthem, and camp about them to deliver them. This, then, is the man that\nhath his angel to wait upon him, even he that feareth God.\n\nSeventh Privilege. Dost thou fear the Lord? salvation is nigh unto\nthee\u2014\u201cSurely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may\ndwell in our land\u201d (Psa 85:9). This is another privilege for them that\nfear the Lord. I told you before, that the angel of the Lord did encamp\nabout them, but now he saith, \u201chis salvation is also nigh them\u201d; the\nwhich although it doth not altogether exclude the conduct of\nangels,[20] but include them; yet it looketh further. \u201cSurely his\nsalvation,\u201d his saving, pardoning grace, \u201cis nigh them that fear him\u201d;\nthat is, to save them out of the hand of their spiritual enemies. The\ndevil, and sin, and death, do always wait even to devour them that fear\nthe Lord, but to deliver them from these his salvation doth attend\nthem. So then, if Satan tempts, here is their salvation nigh; if sin,\nby breaking forth, beguiles them, here is God\u2019s salvation nigh them;\nyea, if death itself shall suddenly seize upon them, why, here is their\nGod\u2019s salvation nigh them.\n\nI have seen that great men\u2019s little children must go no whither without\ntheir nurses be at hand. If they go abroad, their nurses must go with\nthem; if they go to meals, their nurses must go with them; if they go\nto bed, their nurses must go with them; yea, and if they fall asleep,\ntheir nurses must stand by them. O my brethren, those little ones that\nfear the Lord, they are the children of the highest, therefore they\nshall not walk alone, be at their spiritual meats alone, go to their\nsick-beds, or to their graves alone; the salvation of their God is nigh\nthem, to deliver them from the evil. This is then the glory that dwells\nin the land of them that fear the Lord.\n\nEighth Privilege. Dost thou fear the Lord? hearken yet again\u2014\u201cThe mercy\nof the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him,\nand his righteousness unto children\u2019s children\u201d (Psa 103:17). This\nstill confirms what was last asserted, that is, that his salvation is\nnigh unto them. His salvation, that is, pardoning mercy, that is nigh\nthem. But mind it, there he says it is nigh them; but here it is upon\nthem. His mercy is upon them, it covereth them all over, it\nencompasseth them about as with a shield. Therefore they are said in\nanother place to be clothed with salvation, and covered with the robe\nof righteousness. The mercy of the Lord is upon them, that is, as I\nsaid, to shelter and defend them. The mercy, the pardoning preserving\nmercy, the mercy of the Lord is upon them, who is he then that can\ncondemn them? (Rom 8).\n\nBut there yet is more behind, \u201cThe mercy of the Lord is from\neverlasting to everlasting upon them.\u201d It was designed for them before\nthe world was, and shall be upon them when the world itself is ended;\nfrom everlasting to everlasting it is on them that fear him. This from\neverlasting to everlasting is that by which, in another place, the\neternity of God himself is declared\u2014\u201cFrom everlasting to everlasting,\nthou art God\u201d (Psa 90:2). The meaning, then, may be this; that so long\nas God hath his being, so long shall the man that feareth him find\nmercy at his hand. According to that of Moses\u2014\u201cThe eternal God is thy\nrefuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and he shall thrust\nout the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them\u201d (Deut\n33:27).\n\nChild of God, thou that fearest God, here is mercy nigh thee, mercy\nenough, everlasting mercy upon thee. This is long-lived mercy. It will\nlive longer than thy sin, it will live longer than temptation, it will\nlive longer than thy sorrows, it will live longer than thy persecutors.\nIt is mercy from everlasting to contrive thy salvation, and mercy to\neverlasting to weather it out with all thy adversaries. Now what can\nhell and death do to him that hath this mercy of God upon him? And this\nhath the man that feareth the Lord. Take that other blessed word, and O\nthou man that fearest the Lord, hang it like a chain of gold about thy\nneck\u2014\u201cAs the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy\ntoward them that fear him\u201d (Psa 103:11). If mercy as big, as high, and\nas good as heaven itself will be a privilege, the man that feareth God\nshall have a privilege.\n\nNinth Privilege. Dost thou fear God?\u2014\u201cLike as a father pitieth his\nchildren, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him\u201d (Psa 103:13).\n\n\u201c The Lord pitieth them that fear him\u201d; that is, condoleth and is\naffected, feeleth and sympathizeth with them in all their afflictions.\nIt is a great matter for a poor man to be in this manner in the\naffections of the great and mighty, but for a poor sinner to be thus in\nthe heart and affections of God, and they that fear him are so, this is\nastonishing to consider. \u201cIn his love and in his pity he redeemed\nthem.\u201d In his love and in his pity! \u201cIn all their affliction he was\nafflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in\nhis pity he redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried them all the\ndays of old\u201d (Isa 63:9). I say, in that he is said to pity them, it is\nas much as to say, he condoleth, feeleth, and sympathizeth with them in\nall their afflictions and temptations. So that this is the happiness of\nhim that feareth God, he has a God to pity him and to be touched with\nall his miseries. It is said in Judges, \u201cHis soul was grieved for the\nmisery of Israel\u201d (Judg 10:16). And in the Hebrews, he is \u201ctouched with\nthe feeling of our infirmities,\u201d and can \u201csuccour them that are\ntempted\u201d (4:15, 2:17,18).\n\nBut further, let us take notice of the comparison. \u201cAs a father pitieth\nhis children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.\u201d Here is not only\npity, but the pity of a relation, a father. It is said in another\nplace; \u201cCan a woman,\u201d a mother, \u201cforget her sucking child, that she\nshould not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may, yet\nwill not I forget thee.\u201d The pity of neighbours and acquaintance\nhelpeth in times of distress, but the pity of a father and a mother is\npity with an over and above. \u201cThe Lord,\u201d says James, \u201cis very pitiful,\nand of tender mercy.\u201d Pharaoh called Joseph his tender father,[21]\nbecause he provided for him against the famine, but how tender a father\nis God! how full of bowels! how full of pity! (James 5:11; Gen 41:43).\nIt is said, that when Ephraim was afflicted, God\u2019s bowels were troubled\nfor him, and turned within him towards him. O that the man that feareth\nthe Lord did but believe the pity and bowels that are in the heart of\nGod and his father towards him (Jer 31:18-20).\n\nTenth Privilege. Dost thou fear God?\u2014\u201cHe will fulfil the desire of them\nthat fear him; he also will hear their cry, and will save them\u201d (Psa\n145:19). Almost all those places that make mention of the men that fear\nGod, do insinuate as if they still were under affliction, or in danger\nby reason of an enemy. But I say, here is still their privilege, their\nGod is their father and pities them\u2014\u201cHe will fulfil the desire of them\nthat fear him.\u201d Where now is the man that feareth the Lord? let him\nhearken to this. What sayest thou, poor soul? will this content thee,\nthe Lord will fulfil thy desires? It is intimated of Adonijah, that\nDavid his father did let him have his head and his will in all things.\n\u201cHis father,\u201d says the text, \u201chad not displeased him at any time in (so\nmuch as) saying, Why hast thou done so?\u201d (1 Kings 1:6). But here is\nmore, here is a promise to grant thee the whole desire of thy heart,\naccording to the prayer of holy David, \u201cThe Lord grant thee, according\nto thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.\u201d And again, \u201cThe Lord\nfulfil all thy petitions\u201d (Psa 20).\n\nO thou that fearest the Lord, what is thy desire? All my desire, says\nDavid, is all my salvation (2 Sam 23:5), so sayest thou, \u201cAll my\nsalvation\u201d is \u201call my desire.\u201d Well, the desire of thy soul is granted\nthee, yea, God himself hath engaged himself even to fulfil this thy\ndesire\u2014\u201cHe will fulfil the desire of them that fear him, he also will\nhear their cry, and will save them.\u201d O this desire when it cometh, what\na tree of life will it be to thee! Thou desirest to be rid of thy\npresent trouble; the Lord shall rid thee out of trouble. Thou desirest\nto be delivered from temptation; the Lord shall deliver thee out of\ntemptation. Thou desirest to be delivered from thy body of death; and\nthe Lord shall change this thy vile body, that it may be like to his\nglorious body. Thou desirest to be in the presence of God, and among\nthe angels in heaven. This thy desire also shall be fulfilled, and thou\nshalt be made equal to the angels (Exo 6:6; 2 Peter 2:9; Phil 3:20,21;\nLuke 16:22, 20:35,36). O but it is long first! Well, learn first to\nlive upon thy portion in the promise of it, and that will make thy\nexpectation of it sweet. God will fulfil thy desires, God will do it,\nthough it tarry long. Wait for it, because it will surely come, it will\nnot tarry.\n\nEleventh Privilege. Dost thou fear God?\u2014\u201cThe Lord taketh pleasure in\nthem that fear him\u201d (Psa 147:11). They that fear God are among his\nchief delights. He delights in his Son, he delights in his works, and\ntakes pleasure in them that fear him. As a man takes pleasure in his\nwife, in his children, in his gold, in his jewels; so the man that\nfears the Lord is the object of his delight. He takes pleasure in their\nprosperity, and therefore sendeth them health from the sanctuary, and\nmakes them drink of the river of his pleasures (Psa 35:27). \u201cThey shall\nbe abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt\nmake them drink of the river of thy pleasures\u201d (Psa 36:8). That or\nthose that we take pleasure in, that or those we love to beautify and\nadorn with many ornaments. We count no cost too much to be bestowed on\nthose in whom we place our delight, and whom we make the object of our\npleasure. And even thus it is with God. \u201cFor the Lord taketh pleasure\nin his people,\u201d and what follows? \u201che will beautify the meek with\nsalvation\u201d (Psa 149:4).\n\nThose in whom we delight, we take pleasure in their actions; yea, we\nteach them, and give them such rules and laws to walk by, as may yet\nmake them that we love more pleasurable in our eyes. Therefore they\nthat fear God, since they are the object of his pleasure, are taught to\nknow how to please him in everything (1 Thess 4:1). And hence it is\nsaid, that he is ravished with their looks, that he delighteth in their\ncry, and that he is pleased with their walking (Can 4:9; Prov 15:8,\n11:20).\n\nThose in whom we delight and take pleasure, many things we will bear\nand put up that they do, though they be not according to our minds. A\nman will suffer that in, and put up that at, the hand of the child or\nwife of his pleasure, that he will not pass by nor put up in another.\nThey are my jewels, says God, even them that fear me; and I will spare\nthem, in all their comings-short of my will, \u201ceven as a man spareth his\nown son that serveth him\u201d (Mal 3:16,17). O how happy is the man that\nfeareth God! His good thoughts, his good attempts to serve him, and his\ngood life pleases him, because he feareth God.\n\nYou know how pleasing in our eyes the actions of our children are, when\nwe know that they do what they do even of a reverent fear and awe of\nus; yea, though that which they do amounts but to little, we take it\nwell at their hands, and are pleased therewith. The woman that cast in\nher two mites into the treasury, cast in not much, for they both did\nbut make one farthing; yet how doth the Lord Jesus trumpet her up,[22]\nhe had pleasure in her, and in her action (Mark 12:41-44). This,\ntherefore, that the Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, is\nanother of their great privileges.\n\nTwelfth Privilege. Dost thou fear God? the least dram of that fear\ngiveth the privilege to be blessed with the biggest saint\u2014\u201cHe will\nbless them that fear the Lord, small and great\u201d (Psa 115:13). This word\nsmall may be taken three ways\u20141. For those that are small in esteem,\nfor those that are but little accounted of (Judg 6:15; 1 Sam 18:23).\nArt thou small or little in this sense, yet if thou fearest God, thou\nart sure to be blessed. \u201cHe will bless them that fear him, small and\ngreat,\u201d be thou never so small in the world\u2019s eyes, in thine own eyes,\nin the saints\u2019 eyes, as sometimes one saint is little in another\nsaint\u2019s eye; yet thou, because thou fearest God, art put among the\nblessed. 2. By small, sometimes is meant those that are but small of\nstature, or young in years, little children, that are easily passed by\nand looked over: as those that sang Hosanna in the temple were, when\nthe Pharisees deridingly said of them to Christ, \u201cHearest thou what\nthese say?\u201d (Matt 21:16). Well, but Christ would not despise them, of\nthem that feared God, but preferred them by the Scripture testimony far\nbefore those that did contemn them. Little children, how small soever,\nand although of never so small esteem with men, shall also, if they\nfear the Lord, be blessed with the greatest saints\u2014\u201cHe will bless them\nthat fear him, small and great.\u201d 3. By small may sometimes be meant\nthose that are small in grace or gifts; these are said to be the least\nin the church, that is, under this consideration, and so are by it\nleast esteemed (Matt 25:45). Thus also is that of Christ to be\nunderstood, \u201cInasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye\ndid it not to me\u201d (1 Cor 6:4).\n\nArt thou in thine own thoughts, or in the thoughts of others, of these\nlast small ones, small in grace, small in gifts, small in esteem upon\nthis account, yet if thou fearest God, if thou fearest God indeed, thou\nart certainly blessed with the best of saints. The least star stands as\nfixed, as the biggest of them all, in heaven. \u201cHe will bless them that\nfear him, small and great.\u201d He will bless them, that is, with the same\nblessing of eternal life. For the different degrees of grace in saints\ndoth not make the blessing, as to its nature, differ. It is the same\nheaven, the same life, the same glory, and the same eternity of\nfelicity that they are in the text promised to be blessed with. That is\nobservable which I mentioned before, where Christ at the day of\njudgment particularly mentioneth and owneth the least\u2014\u201cInasmuch as ye\ndid it not to one of the least.\u201d The least then was there, in his\nkingdom and in his glory, as well as the biggest of all. \u201cHe will bless\nthem that fear him, small and great.\u201d The small are named first in the\ntext, and are so the first in rank; it may be to show that though they\nmay be slighted and little set by in the world, yet they are much set\nby in the eyes of the Lord.\n\nAre great saints only to have the kingdom, and the glory everlasting?\nAre great works only to be rewarded? works that are done by virtue of\ngreat grace, and the abundance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost? No:\n\u201cWhosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of\ncold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he\nshall in no wise lose his (a disciple\u2019s) reward.\u201d Mark, here is but a\nlittle gift, a cup of cold water, and that given to a little saint, but\nboth taken special notice of by our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 10:42). \u201cHe\nwill give reward to his servants the prophets, and to his saints, and\nto them that fear his name, small and great\u201d (Rev 11:18). The small,\ntherefore, among them that fear God, are blessed with the great, as the\ngreat, with the same salvation, the same glory, and the same eternal\nlife; and they shall have, even as the great ones also shall, as much\nas they can carry; as much as their hearts, souls, bodies, and\ncapacities can hold.\n\nThirteenth Privilege. Dost thou fear God? why, the Holy Ghost hath on\npurpose indited for thee a whole psalm to sing concerning thyself. So\nthat thou mayest even as thou art in thy calling, bed, journey, or\nwhenever, sing out thine own blessed and happy condition to thine own\ncomfort and the comfort of thy fellows. The psalm is called the 128th\nPsalm; I will set it before thee, both as it is in the reading[23] and\nin the singing Psalms\u2014\n\n\u201c Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways.\nFor thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and\nit shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the\nsides of thine house; thy children, like olive plants round about thy\ntable. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the\nLord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion; and thou shalt see the\ngood of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy\nchildren\u2019s children, and peace upon Israel.\u201d\n\nAS IT IS SUNG.\n\n\nBlessed art thou that fearest God,\n    And walkest in his way:\nFor of thy labour thou shalt eat;\n    Happy art thou, I say!\nLike fruitful vines on thy house side,\n    So doth thy wife spring out;\nThy children stand like olive plants\n    Thy table round about.\n\nThus art thou blest that fearest God,\n    And he shall let thee see\nThe promised Jerusalem,\n    And her felicity.\nThou shalt thy children\u2019s children see,\n    To thy great joy\u2019s increase;\nAnd likewise grace on Israel,\n    Prosperity and peace.[24]\n\n\nAnd now I have done with the privileges when I have removed one\nobjection.\n\nObject. But the Scripture says, \u201cperfect love casteth our fear\u201d; and\ntherefore it seems that saints, after that a spirit of adoption is\ncome, should not fear, but do their duty, as another Scripture saith,\nwithout it (1 John 4:18; Luke 1:74,75).\n\nAnsw. Fear, as I have showed you, may be taken several ways. 1. It may\nbe taken for the fear of devils. 2. It may be taken for the fear of\nreprobates. 3. It may be taken for the fear that is wrought in the\ngodly by the Spirit as a spirit of bondage; or, 4. It may be taken for\nthe fear that I have been but now discoursing of.\n\nNow the fear that perfect love casts out cannot be that son-like,\ngracious fear of God, that I have in this last place been treating of;\nbecause that fear that love casts out hath torment, but so has not the\nson-like fear. Therefore the fear that love casts out is either that\nfear that is like the fear of devils and reprobates, or that fear that\nis begot in the heart by the Spirit of God as a spirit of bondage, or\nboth; for, indeed, all these kinds of fear have torment, and therefore\nmay be cast out; and are so by the spirit of adoption, which is called\nthe spirit of faith and love, when he comes with power into the soul;\nso that without this fear we should serve him. But to argue from these\ntexts that we ought not to fear God, or to mix fear with our worship of\nhim, is as much as to say that by the spirit of adoption we are made\nvery rogues; for not to fear God is by the Scripture applied to such\n(Luke 23:40). But for what I have affirmed the Scripture doth\nplentifully confirm, saying, \u201cHappy is the man that feareth alway.\u201d And\nagain, \u201cIt shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before\nhim.\u201d Fear, therefore; the spirit of the fear of the Lord is a grace\nthat greatly beautifies a Christian, his words, and all his ways:\n\u201cWherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed, and do\nit, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of\npersons, nor taking of gifts\u201d (2 Chron 19:7).\n\nI come now to make some use and application of this doctrine.\n\nTHE USE OF THIS DOCTRINE.\n\n\nHaving proceeded thus far about this doctrine of the fear of God, I now\ncome to make some use and application of the whole; and my\n\n[USE FIRST, of Examination.]\n\nFIRST USE shall be a USE OF EXAMINATION. Is this fear of God such an\nexcellent thing? Is it attended with so many blessed privileges? Then\nthis should put us, every soul of us, upon a diligent examination of\nourselves, to wit, whether this grace be in us or not, for if it be,\nthen thou art one of these blessed ones to whom belong these glorious\nprivileges, for thou hast an interest in every of them; but if it shall\nappear that this grace is not in thee, then thy state is fearfully\nmiserable, as hath partly been manifest already, and will further be\nseen in what comes after. Now, the better to help thee to consider, and\nnot to miss in finding out what thou art in thy self-examination, I\nwill speak to this\u2014First. In general. Second. In particular.\n\nFirst. In general. No man brings this grace into the world with him.\nEvery one by nature is destitute of it; for naturally none fear God,\nthere is no fear of God, none of this grace of fear before their eyes,\nthey do not so much as know what it is; for this fear flows, as was\nshowed before, from a new heart, faith, repentance and the like; of\nwhich new heart, faith, and repentance, if thou be void, thou art also\nvoid of this godly fear. Men must have a mighty change of heart and\nlife, or else they are strangers to this fear of God. Alas, how\nignorant are the most of this! Yea, and some are not afraid to say they\nare not changed, nor desire so to be. Can these fear God? can these be\npossessed with this grace of fear? No: \u201cBecause they have no changes,\ntherefore they fear not God\u201d (Psa 55:19; Psa 36:1; Rom 3:18).\n\nWherefore, sinner, consider whoever thou art that art destitute of this\nfear of God, thou art void of all other graces; for this fear, as also\nI have showed, floweth from the whole stock of grace where it is. There\nis not one of the graces of the Spirit, but this fear is in the bowels\nof it; yea, as I may say, this fear is the flower and beauty of every\ngrace; neither is there anything, let it look as much like grace as it\nwill, that will be counted so indeed, if the fruit thereof be not this\nfear of God; wherefore, I say again, consider well of this matter, for\nas thou shalt be found with reference to this grace, so shall thy\njudgment be. I have but briefly treated of this grace, yet have\nendeavoured, with words as fit as I could, to display it in its colours\nbefore thy face, first by showing you what this fear of God is, then\nwhat it flows from, as also what doth flow from it; to which, as was\nsaid before, I have added several privileges that are annexed to this\nfear, that by all, if it may be, thou mayest see it if thou hast it,\nand thyself without it if thou hast it not. Wherefore I refer thee\nthither again for information in this thing; or if thou art loath to\ngive the book a second reading, but wilt go on to the end now thou art\ngotten hither; then\n\nSecond and particularly, I conclude with these several propositions\nconcerning those that fear not God.\n\n1. That man that is proud, and of a high and lofty mind, fears not God.\nThis is plain from the exhortation, \u201cBe not high-minded, but fear\u201d (Rom\n11:20). Here you see that a high mind and the fear of God are set in\ndirect opposition the one to the other; and there is in them, closely\nconcluded by the apostle, that where indeed the one is, there cannot be\nthe other; where there is a high mind, there is not the fear of God;\nand where there is the fear of God, the mind is not high but lowly. Can\na man at the same time be a proud man, and fear God too? Why, then, is\nit said God beholdeth every one that is proud, and abases him? and\nagain, He beholds the proud afar off? He therefore that is proud of his\nperson, of his riches, of his office, of his parts, and the like,\nfeareth not God. It is also manifest further, for God resisteth the\nproud, which he would not do, if he feared him, but in that he sets him\nat such a distance from him, in that he testifies that he will abase\nhim and resist him, it is evident that he is not the man that hath this\ngrace of fear; for that man, as I have showed you, is the man of God\u2019s\ndelight, the object of his pleasure (Psa 138:6; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5;\nMal 4:1).\n\n2. The covetous man feareth not God. This also is plain from the Word,\nbecause it setteth covetousness and the fear of God in direct\nopposition. Men that fear God are said to hate covetousness (Exo\n18:21). Besides, the covetous man is called an idolater, and is said to\nhave no part in the kingdom of Christ and of God. And again, \u201cThe\nwicked boasteth of his heart\u2019s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom\nthe Lord abhorreth\u201d (Eze 33:31; Eph 5:5; Psa 10:3). Hearken to this,\nyou that hunt the world to take it, you that care not how you get, so\nyou get the world. Also you that make even religion your stalking-horse\nto get the world, you fear not God. And what will you do whose hearts\ngo after your covetousness? you who are led by covetousness up and\ndown, as it were by the nose; sometimes to swear, to lie, to cozen, and\ncheat and defraud, when you can get the advantage to do it. You are\nfar, very far, from the fear of God. \u201cYe adulterers and adulteresses,\u201d\nfor so the covetous are called, \u201cknow ye not that the friendship of the\nworld is enmity with God? whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the\nworld, is the enemy of God\u201d (James 4:4).\n\n3. The riotous eaters of flesh have not the fear of God. For this is\ndone \u201cwithout fear\u201d (Jude 12). Gluttony is a sin little taken notice\nof, and as little repented of by those that use it, but yet it is\nodious in the sight of God, and the practice of it a demonstration of\nthe want of his fear in the heart: yea, so odious is it, that God\nforbids that his people should so much as company with such. \u201cBe not,\u201d\nsaith he, \u201camong wine-bibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh\u201d (Prov\n23:20). And he further tells us, that they that are such, are spots and\nblemishes to those that keep them company, for indeed they fear not God\n(2 Peter 2:13; Rom 13:13; 1 Peter 4:4). Alas! some men are as if they\nwere for nought else born but to eat and to drink, and pamper their\ncarcasses with the dainties of this world, quite forgetting why God\nsent them hither; but such, as is said, fear not God, and so\nconsequently are of the number of them upon whom the day of judgment\nwill come at unawares (Luke 21:34).\n\n4. The liar is one that fears not God. This also is evident from the\nplain text, \u201cThou hast lied,\u201d saith the Lord, \u201cand hast not remembered\nme, nor laid it to thy heart: have not I held my peace even of old,\u201d\nsaith the Lord, \u201cand thou fearest me not?\u201d (Isa 57:11). What lie this\nwas is not material; it was a lie, or a course of lying that is here\nrebuked, and the person or persons in this practice, as is said, were\nsuch as feared not God; a course of lying and the fear of God cannot\nstand together. This sin of lying is a common sin, and it walketh in\nthe world in several guises. There is the profane scoffing liar, there\nis the cunning artificial liar, there is the hypocritical religious\nliar, with liars of other ranks and degrees. But none of them all have\nthe fear of God, nor shall any of them, they not repenting, escape the\ndamnation of hell\u2014\u201cAll liars shall have their part in the lake which\nburneth with fire and brimstone\u201d (Rev 21:8). Heaven and the New\nJerusalem are not a place for such\u2014\u201cAnd there shall in no wise enter\ninto it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination,\nor maketh a lie\u201d (v 27). Therefore another scripture says that all\nliars are without\u2014\u201cFor without are dogs, and sorcerers, and\nwhoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and\nmaketh a lie\u201d (Rev 22:15). But this should not be their sentence,\njudgment, and condemnation, if they that are liars were such as had in\nthem this blessed fear of God.\n\n5. They fear not God who cry unto him for help in the time of their\ncalamity, and when they are delivered, they return to their former\nrebellion. This, Moses, in a spirit of prophecy, asserteth at the time\nof the mighty judgment of the hail. Pharaoh then desired him to pray to\nGod that he would take away that judgment from him. Well, so I will,\nsaid Moses, \u201cBut as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not\nyet fear the Lord God\u201d (Exo 9:30). As who should say, I know that so\nsoon as this judgment is removed, you will to your old rebellion again.\nAnd what greater demonstration can be given that such a man feareth not\nGod, than to cry to God to be delivered from affliction to prosperity,\nand to spend that prosperity in rebellion against him? This is crying\nfor mercies that they may be spent, or that we may have something to\nspend upon our lusts, and in the service of Satan (John 4:1-3). Of\nthese God complains in the sixteenth of Ezekiel, and in the second of\nHosea\u2014\u201cThou hast,\u201d saith God, \u201ctaken thy fair jewels of my gold and of\nmy silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images\u201d &c.\n(Eze 16:17). This was for want of the fear of God. Many of this kind\nthere be now in the world, both of men, and women, and children; art\nnot thou that readest this book of this number? Hast thou not cried for\nhealth when sick, for wealth when poor, when lame for strength, when in\nprison for liberty, and then spent all that thou gottest by thy prayer\nin the service of Satan, and to gratify thy lusts? Look to it, sinner,\nthese things are signs that with thy heart thou fearest not God.\n\n6. They fear not God that way-lay his people and seek to overthrow\nthem, or to turn them besides the right path, as they are journeying\nfrom hence to their eternal rest. This is evident from the plain text,\n\u201cRemember,\u201d saith God, \u201cwhat Amalek did unto thee by the way when ye\nwere come forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way, and smote the\nhindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast\nfaint and weary, and he feared not God\u201d (Deut 25:17,18). Many such\nAmalekites there be now in the world that set themselves against the\nfeeble of the flock, against the feeble of the flock especially, still\nsmiting them, some by power, some with the tongue, some in their lives\nand estates, some in their names and reputations, by scandals,\nslanders, and reproach, but the reason of this their ungodly practice\nis this, they fear not God. For did they fear him, they would be afraid\nto so much as think, much more of attempting to afflict and destroy,\nand calumniate the children of God; but such there have been, such\nthere are, and such there will be in the world, for all men fear not\nGod.\n\n7. They fear not God who see his hand upon backsliders for their sins,\nand yet themselves will be backsliders also. \u201cI saw,\u201d saith God, \u201cwhen\nfor all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had\nput her away, and given her a bill of divorce, yet her treacherous\nsister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also\u201d (Jer 3:8,\n2:19). Judah saw that her sister was put away, and delivered by God\ninto the hands of Shalmaneser, who carried her away beyond Babylon, and\nyet, though she saw it, she went and played the harlot also\u2014a sign of\ngreat hardness of heart, and of the want of the fear of God indeed. For\nthis fear, had it been in her heart, it would have taught her to have\ntrembled at the judgment that was executed upon her sister, and not to\nhave gone and played the harlot also: and not to have done it while her\nsister\u2019s judgment was in sight and memory. But what is it that a heart\nthat is destitute of the fear of God will not do? No sin comes amiss to\nsuch: yea, they will sin, they will do that themselves, for the doing\nof which they believe some are in hell-fire, and all because they fear\nnot God.\n\nBut pray observe, if those that take not warning when they see the hand\nof God upon backsliders, are said to have none of the fear of God, have\nthey it, think you, that lay stumbling-blocks in the way of God\u2019s\npeople, and use devices to cause them to backslide, yea, rejoice when\nthey can do this mischief to any? and yet many of this sort there are\nin the world, that even rejoice when they see a professor fall into\nsin, and go back from his profession, as if they had found some\nexcellent thing.\n\n8. They fear not God who can look upon a land as wallowing in sin, and\nyet are not humbled at the sight thereof. \u201cHave ye,\u201d said God by the\nprophet to the Jews, \u201cforgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the\nwickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives,\nwhich they have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of\nJerusalem? They are not humbled to this day, neither have they feared,\nnor walked in my law\u201d (Jer 44:9,10). Here is a land full of wickedness,\nand none to bewail it, for they wanted the fear of God, and love to\nwalk in his law. But how say you, if they that are not humbled at their\nown and others\u2019 wickedness are said not to fear, or have the fear of\nGod, what shall we think or say of such that receive, that nourish and\nrejoice in such wickedness? Do they fear God? Yea, what shall we say of\nsuch that are the inventors and promoters of wickedness, as of oaths,\nbeastly talk, or the like? Do they, do you think, fear God? Once again,\nwhat shall we say of such that cannot be content to be wicked\nthemselves, and to invent and rejoice in other men\u2019s wickedness, but\nmust hate, reproach, vilify and abuse those that they cannot persuade\nto be wicked? Do they fear God?\n\n9. They that take more heed to their own dreams than to the Word of\nGod, fear not God. This also is plain from the Word\u2014\u201cFor in the\nmultitude of dreams, there are also divers vanities, but fear thou\nGod\u201d; that is, take heed unto his Word (Eccl 5:7; Isa 8:20). Here the\nfearing of God is opposed to our overmuch heeding dreams: and there is\nimplied, that it is for want of the fear of God that men so much heed\nthose things. What will they say to this that give more heed to a\nsuggestion that ariseth from their foolish hearts, or that is cast in\nthither by the devil, than they do to the holy Word of God? These are\n\u201cfilthy dreamers.\u201d Also, what shall we say to those that are more\nconfident of the mercy of God to their soul, because he hath blessed\nthem with outward things, than they are afraid of his wrath and\ncondemnation, though the whole of the Word of God doth fully verify the\nsame? These are \u201cfilthy dreamers\u201d indeed.\n\nA dream is either real, or so by way of semblance, and so some men\ndream sleeping, and some waking (Isa 29:7). And as those that a man\ndreams sleeping are caused either by God, Satan, business, flesh, or\nthe like; so are they that a man dreams waking, to pass by those that\nwe have in our sleep. Men, when bodily awake, may have dreams, that is,\nvisions from heaven; such are all they that have a tendency to discover\nto the sinner his state, or the state of the church according to the\nWord. But those that are from Satan, business, and the flesh, are\nsuch\u2014especially the first and last, to wit, from Satan and the flesh\u2014as\ntend to embolden men to hope for good in a way disagreeing with the\nWord of God.[25]\n\nThese Jude calls \u201cfilthy dreamers,\u201d such whose principles were their\ndreams, and they led them \u201cto defile the flesh,\u201d that is, by\nfornication and uncleanness; \u201cto despise dominion,\u201d that the reins\nmight be laid upon the neck of their lusts; \u201cto speak evil of\ndignities,\u201d of those that God had set over them, for their governing in\nall the law and testament of Christ, these dreamt that to live like\nbrutes, to be greedy of gain, and to take away for it, as Cain and\nBalaam did by their wiles, the lives of the owners thereof, would go\nfor good coin in the best of trials. These also Peter speaks of (2\nPeter 2). And he makes their dreams, that Jude calls so, their\nprinciple and errors in life and doctrine; you may read of them in that\nwhole chapter, where they are called cursed children, and so by\nconsequence such as fear not God.\n\n10. They fear not God, who are sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers,\nand that oppress the hireling of his wages. It is a custom with some\nmen to keep back by fraud from the hireling that which by covenant they\nagreed to pay for their labour; pinching, I say, and paring from them\ntheir due that of right belongs to them, to the making of them cry in\n\u201cthe ears of the Lord of sabaoth\u201d (James 5:4). These fear not God; they\nare reckoned among the worst of men, and in their day of account God\nhimself will bear witness against them. \u201cAnd I,\u201d saith God, \u201cwill come\nnear to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the\nadulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that\noppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and\nthat turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the\nLord\u201d (Mal 3:5).\n\n11. They fear not God, who instead of pitying of, rail at God\u2019s people\nin their affliction, temptations, and persecutions, and rather rejoice\nand skip for joy, than sympathize with them in their sorrow. Thus did\nDavid\u2019s enemies, thus did Israel\u2019s enemies, and thus did the thief, he\nrailed at Christ when he hanged upon the cross, and was for that, even\nby his fellow, accounted for one that feared not God (Luke 23:40; Psa\n35:1,22-26. Read Oba 10-15; Jer 48:2-6). This is a common thing among\nthe children of men, even to rejoice at the hurt of them that fear God,\nand it ariseth even of an inward hatred to godliness. They hate you,\nsaith Christ, because they hated me. Therefore Christ takes what is\ndone to his, in this, as done unto himself, and so to holiness of life.\nBut this falls hard upon such as despise at, and rejoice to see, God\u2019s\npeople in their griefs, and that take the advantage, as dogged Shimei\ndid, to augment the griefs and afflictions of God\u2019s people (2 Sam\n16:5-8). These fear not God, they do this of enmity, and their sin is\nsuch as will hardly be blotted out (1 Kings 2:8,9).\n\n12. They fear not God, who are strangers to the effects of fear. \u201cIf I\nbe a master, where is my fear?\u201d That is, show that I am so by your fear\nof me in the effects of your fear of me. \u201cYou offer polluted bread upon\nmine altar.\u201d This is not a sign that you fear me, ye offer the blind\nfor sacrifices, where is my fear? ye offer the lame and the sick, these\nare not the effects of the fear of God (Mal 1:6-8). Sinner, it is one\nthing to say, I fear God, and another to fear him indeed. Therefore, as\nJames says, show me thy faith by thy works, so here God calls for a\ntestimony of thy fear by the effects of fear. I have already showed you\nseveral effects of fear; if thou art a stranger to them, thou art a\nstranger to this grace of fear. Therefore, to conclude this, it is not\na feigned profession that will do; nothing is good here, but what is\nsalted with this fear of God, and they that fear him are men of truth,\nmen of singleness of heart, perfect, upright, humble, holy men;\nwherefore, reader, examine, and again, I say examine, and lay the Word\nand thy heart together, before that thou concludest that thou fearest\nGod.\n\nWhat! fear God, and in a state of nature? fear God without a change of\nheart and life? What! fear God and be proud, and covetous, a\nwine-bibber, and a riotous eater of flesh? How! fear God and a liar,\nand one that cries for mercies to spend them upon thy lusts? This would\nbe strange. True, thou mayest fear as devils do, but what will that\nprofit? Thou mayest by thy fear be driven away from God, from his\nworship, people, and ways, but what will that avail? It may be thou\nmayest so fear at present, as to be a little stopped in thy sinful\ncourse; perhaps thou hast got a knock from the Word of God, and are at\npresent a little dazzled and hindered from being in thy former and full\ncareer after sin; but what of that? if by the fear that thou hast, thy\nheart is not united to God, and to the love of his Son, Word, and\npeople, thy fear is nothing worth.[26] Many men also are forced to fear\nGod, as underlings are forced to fear those that are by force above\nthem. If thou only thus fearest God, it is but a false fear; it flows\nnot from love to God: this fear brings not willing subjection, which\nindeed brings the effect of right fear; but being over-mastered like an\nhypocrite, thou subjected thyself by feigned obedience, being forced, I\nsay, by mere dread to do it (Psa 66:3).\n\nIt is said of David, \u201cthat the fame of him went out into all lands, and\nthe Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations\u201d (1 Chron 14:17). But\nwhat, did they now love David? did they now choose him to be their\nking? no verily; they, many of them, rather hated him, and, when they\ncould, made resistance against him. They did even as thou dost\u2014feared,\nbut did not love; feared, but did not choose his government that ruled\nover them. It is also said of Jehoshaphat, when God had subdued before\nhim Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, that \u201cthe fear of God was on all the\nkingdoms of these countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought\nagainst the enemies of Israel\u201d (2 Chron 20:29). But, I say, was this\nfear, that is called now the fear of God, anything else, but a dread of\nthe greatness of power of the king? No verily, nor did that dread bring\nthem into a willing subjection to, and liking of his laws and\ngovernment; it only made them like slaves and underlings, stand in fear\nof his executing the vengeance of God upon them.\n\nTherefore still, notwithstanding this fear, they were rebels to him in\ntheir hearts, and when occasion and advantage offered themselves, they\nshowed it by rising in rebellion against Israel. This fear therefore\nprovoked but feigned and forced obedience, a right emblem of the\nobedience of such, who being still enemies in their minds to God, are\nforced by virtue of present conviction to yield a little, even of fear\nto God, to his Word, and to his ordinances. Reader, whoever thou art,\nthink of this, it is thy concern, therefore do it, and examine, and\nexamine again, and look diligently to thy heart in thine examination,\nthat it beguile thee not about this thy so great concern, as indeed the\nfear of God is.\n\nOne thing more, before I leave thee, let me warn thee of. Take heed of\ndeferring to fear the Lord. Some men, when they have had conviction\nupon their heart that the fear of God is not in them, have through the\noverpowering of their corruptions yet deferred and put off the fear of\nGod from them, as it is said of them in Jeremiah: \u201cThis people hath a\nrevolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither\nsay they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord\u201d (Jer 5:23,24). They\nsaw that the judgments of God attended them because they did not yet\nfear God, but that conviction would not prevail with them to say, \u201cLet\nus now fear the Lord.\u201d They were for deferring to fear him still; they\nwere for putting off his fear from them longer. Sinner, hast thou\ndeferred to fear the Lord? is thy heart still so stubborn as not to say\nyet, \u201cLet us fear the Lord?\u201d O! the Lord hath taken notice of this thy\nrebellion, and is preparing some dreadful judgment for thee. \u201cShall I\nnot visit for these things? saith the Lord; shall not my soul be\navenged on such a nation as this?\u201d (v 29). Sinner, why shouldest thou\npull vengeance down upon thee? why shouldest thou pull vengeance down\nfrom heaven upon thee? Look up, perhaps thou hast already been pulling\nthis great while, to pull it down upon thee. O! pull no longer; why\nshouldest thou be thine own executioner? Fall down upon thy knees, man,\nand up with thy heart and thy hands to the God that dwells in the\nheavens; cry, yea cry aloud, Lord, unite mine heart to fear thy name,\nand do not harden mine heart from thy fear. Thus holy men have cried\nbefore thee, and by crying have prevented judgment.\n\n[A few things that may provoke thee to fear the Lord.]\n\nBefore I leave this use, let me give thee a few things, that, if God\nwill, may provoke thee to fear the Lord.\n\n1. The man that feareth not God, carrieth it worse towards him than the\nbeast, the brute beast, doth carry it towards that man. \u201cThe fear of\nyou, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth,\u201d\nyea, \u201cand upon every fowl of the air,\u201d and \u201cupon all that moveth upon\nthe earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea\u201d (Gen 9:2).\n\nMark, all my creatures shall fear you, and dread you, says God. None of\nthem shall be so hardy as to cast of all reverence of you. But what a\nshame is this to man, that God should subject all his creatures to him,\nand he should refuse to stoop his heart to God? The beast, the bird,\nthe fish, and all, have a fear and dread of man, yea, God has put it in\ntheir hearts to fear man, and yet man is void of fear and dread, I mean\nof godly fear of him, that thus lovingly hath put all things under him.\nSinner, art thou not ashamed, that a silly cow, a sheep, yea, a swine,\nshould better observe the law of his creation, than thou dost the law\nof thy God?\n\n2. Consider, he that will not fear God, God will make him fear him\nwhether he will or no. That is, he that doth not, will not now so fear\nhim, as willingly to bow before him, and put his neck into his yoke.\nGod will make him fear him when he comes to take vengeance on him. Then\nhe will surround him with terror, and with fear on every side, fear\nwithin, and fear without; fear shall be in the way, even in the way\nthat thou goest when thou art going out of this world; and that will be\ndreadful fear (Eccl 12:5). \u201cI will bring their fears upon them,\u201d saith\nthe Lord (Isa 66:4).\n\n3. He that fears not God now, the Lord shall laugh at his fears then.\nSinner, God will be even with all them that choose not to have his fear\nin their hearts: for as he calls and they hear not now, so they shall\ncry, yea, howl then, and he will laugh at their fears. \u201cI will laugh,\u201d\nsaith he, \u201cat their destruction; I will mock when their fear cometh,\nwhen your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a\nwhirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you; then shall they\ncall upon me, but I will not answer: they shall seek me early, but they\nshall not find me, for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose\nthe fear of the Lord\u201d (Prov 1:27-29).\n\nSinner! thou thinkest to escape the fear; but what wilt thou do with\nthe pit? Thou thinkest to escape the pit; but what wilt thou do with\nthe snare? The snare, say you, what is that? I answer, it is even the\nwork of thine own hands. \u201cThe wicked is snared in the work of his own\nhands,\u201d he is \u201csnared by the transgression of his lips\u201d (Psa 9:16; Prov\n12:13).\n\nSinner! what wilt thou do when thou comest into this snare; that is,\ninto the guilt and terror that thy sins will snaffle[27] thee with,\nwhen they, like a cord, are fastened about thy soul? This snare will\nbring thee back again to the pit, which is hell, and then how wilt thou\ndo to be rid of thy fear? The fear, pit, and the snare shall come upon\nthee, because thou fearest not God.\n\nSinner! art thou one of them that hast cast off fear? poor man, what\nwilt thou do when these three things beset thee? whither wilt thou fly\nfor help? And where wilt thou leave thy glory? If thou fliest from the\nfear, there is the pit; if thou fliest from the pit, there is the\nsnare.\n\n[USE SECOND, an exhortation to fear God.]\n\nSECOND USE. My next word shall be AN EXHORTATION TO FEAR GOD. I mean an\nexhortation to saints\u2014\u201cO fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no\nwant to them that fear him.\u201d Not but that every saint doth fear God,\nbut as the apostle saith in another case, \u201cI beseech you, do it more\nand more.\u201d The fear of the Lord, as I have showed you, is a grace of\nthe new covenant, as other saving graces are, and so is capable of\nbeing stronger or weaker, as other graces are. Wherefore I beseech you,\nfear him more and more.\n\nIt is said of Obadiah, that he feared the Lord greatly: every saint\nfears the Lord, but every saint does not greatly fear him. O there are\nbut few Obadiahs in the world, I mean among the saints on earth: see\nthe whole relation of him (1 Kings 18). As Paul said of Timothy, \u201cI\nhave none like-minded,\u201d so it may be said of some concerning the fear\nof the Lord; they have scarce a fellow. So it was with Job, \u201cThere is\nnone like him in the earth, one that feareth God,\u201d &c. (Job 1:8). There\nwas even none in Job\u2019s day that feared God like him, no, there was not\none like him in all the earth, but doubtless there were more in the\nworld that feared God; but this fearing of him greatly, that is the\nthing that saints should do, and that was the thing that Job did do,\nand in that he did outstrip his fellows. It is also said of Hananiah,\nthat \u201che was a faithful man, and feared God above many\u201d (Neh 7:2). He\nalso had got, as to the exercise of, and growth in, this grace, the\nstart of many of his brethren. He \u201cfeared God above many.\u201d Now then,\nseeing this grace admits of degrees, and is in some stronger, and in\nsome weaker, let us be all awakened as to other graces, so to this\ngrace also. That like as you abound in everything, in faith, in\nutterance, in knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us,\nsee that ye abound in this grace also. I will labour to enforce this\nexhortation upon you by several motives.\n\nFirst. Let God\u2019s distinguishing love to you be a motive to you to fear\nhim greatly. He hath put his fear in thy heart, and hath not given that\nblessing to thy neighbour; perhaps not to thy husband, thy wife, thy\nchild, or thy parent. O what an obligation should this consideration\nlay upon thy heart greatly to fear the Lord! Remember also, as I have\nshowed in the first part of this book, that this fear of the Lord is\nhis treasure, a choice jewel, given only to favourites, and to those\nthat are greatly beloved. Great gifts naturally tend to oblige, and\nwill do so, I trust, with thee, when thou shalt ingeniously consider\nit. It is a sign of a very bad nature when the contrary shows itself;\ncould God have done more for thee than to have put his fear in thy\nheart? This is better than to have given thee a place even in heaven\nwithout it. Yea, had he given thee all faith, all knowledge, and the\ntongue of men and angels, and a place in heaven to boot, they had all\nbeen short of this gift, of the fear of God in thy heart. Therefore\nlove it, nourish it, exercise it, use all means to cause it to increase\nand grow in thy heart, that it may appear it is set by at thy hand,\npoor sinner.\n\nSecond. Another motive to stir thee up to grow in this grace of the\nfear of God may be the privileges that it lays thee under. What or\nwhere wilt thou find in the Bible, so many privileges so affectionately\nentailed to any grace, as to this of the fear of God? God speaks of\nthis grace, and of the privileges that belong unto it, as if, to speak\nwith reverence, he knew not how to have done blessing of the man that\nhath it. It seems to me as if this grace of fear is the darling grace,\nthe grace that God sets his heart upon at the highest rate. As it were,\nhe embraces the hugs, and lays the man in his bosom, that hath, and\ngrows strong in this grace of the fear of God. See again the many\nprivileges in which the man is interested that hath this grace in his\nheart: and see also that there are but few of them, wherever mentioned,\nbut have entailed to them the pronunciation of a blessing, or else that\nman is spoken of by way of admiration.\n\nThird. Another motive may be this: The man that groweth in this grace\nof the fear of the Lord will escape those evils that others will fall\ninto. Where this grace is, it keepeth the soul from final apostasy, \u201cI\nwill put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me\u201d\n(Jer 32:40). But yet, if there be not an increase in this grace, much\nevil may attend, and be committed notwithstanding. There is a child\nthat is healthy, and hath its limbs, and can go, but it is careless;\nnow the evil of carelessness doth disadvantage it very much;\ncarelessness is the cause of stumblings, of falls, of knocks, and that\nit falls into the dirt, yea, that sometimes it is burned, or almost\ndrowned. And thus it is, even with God\u2019s people that fear him, because\nthey add not to their fear a care of growing more in the fear of God,\ntherefore they reap damage; whereas, were they more in his fear, it\nwould keep them better, deliver them more, and preserve them from these\nsnares of death.\n\nFourth. Another motive may be this: To grow in this grace of the fear\nof God, is the way to be kept always in a conscientious performance of\nChristian duties. An increase in this grace, I say, keeps every grace\nin exercise, and the keeping of our graces in their due exercise,\nproduceth a conscientious performance of duties. Thou hast a watch\nperhaps in thy pocket, but the hand will not as yet be kept in any good\norder, but does always give the lie as to the hour of the day; well,\nbut what is the way to remedy this, but to look well to the spring, and\nthe wheels within? for if they indeed go right, so will the hand do\nalso. This is thy case in spiritual things; thou art a gracious man,\nand the fear of God is in thee, but yet for all that, one cannot well\ntell, by thy life, what time of day it is.[28] Thou givest no true and\nconstant sign that thou art indeed a Christian; why, the reason is,\nthou dost not look well to this grace of the fear of God. Thou dost not\ngrow and increase in that, but sufferest thy heart to grow careless,\nand hard, and so thy life remiss and worldly: Job\u2019s growing great in\nthe fear of God made him eschew evil (Job 1, 2:3).\n\nFifth. Another motive is: This is the way to be wise indeed. A wise man\nfeareth and departeth from evil. It doth not say a wise man hath the\ngrace of fear, but a wise man feareth, that is, putteth this grace into\nexercise. There is no greater sign of wisdom than to grow in this\nblessed grace. Is it not a sign of wisdom to depart from sins, which\nare the snares of death and hell? Is it not a sign of wisdom for a man\nyet more and more to endeavour to interest himself in the love and\nprotection of God? Is it not a high point of wisdom for a man to be\nalways doing of that which lays him under the conduct of angels? Surely\nthis is wisdom. And if it be a blessing to have this fear, is it not\nwisdom to increase in it? Doubtless it is the highest point of wisdom,\nas I have showed before, therefore grow therein.\n\nSixth. Another motive may be this: It is seemly for saints to fear, and\nincrease in this fear of God. He is thy Creator; is it not seemly for\ncreatures to fear and reverence their Creator? He is thy King; is it\nnot seemly for subjects to fear and reverence their King? He is thy\nFather; is it not seemly for children to reverence and fear their\nFather? yea, and to do it more and more?\n\nSeventh. Another motive may be: It is honourable to grow in this grace\nof fear; \u201cWhen Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel\u201d\n(Hosea 13:1). Truly, to fear, and to about in this fear, is a sign of a\nvery princely spirit; and the reason is, when I greatly fear my God, I\nam above the fear of all others, nor can anything in this world, be it\nnever so terrible and dreadful, move me at all to fear them. And hence\nit is that Christ counsels us to fear\u2014\u201cAnd I say unto you, my friends,\u201d\nsaith he, \u201cbe not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that\nhave no more that they can do.\u201d Aye, but this is a high pitch, how\nshould we come by such princely spirits? well, I will forewarn you whom\nyou shall fear, and by fearing of him, arrive to this pitch, \u201cFear him,\nwhich after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say\nunto you, fear him\u201d (Luke 12:4,5). Indeed this true fear of God sets a\nman above all the world. And therefore it saith again, \u201cNeither fear ye\ntheir fear,\u201d\u2014but \u201csanctify the Lord God\u201d in your hearts, \u201cand let him\nbe your fear, and let him be your dread\u201d (Isa 8:12,13).\n\nYour great ranting, swaggering, roysters,[29] that are ignorant of the\nnature of the fear of God, count it a poor, sneaking, pitiful, cowardly\nspirit in men to fear and tremble before the Lord; but whoso looks back\nto jails and gibbets, to the sword and burning stake, shall see, that\nthere, in them, has been the most mighty and invincible spirit that has\nbeen in the world!\n\nYea, see if God doth not count that the growth of his people in this\ngrace of fear is that which makes them honourable, when he positively\nexcludeth those from a dwelling-place in his house, that do not honour\nthem that fear him (Psa 15:4). And he saith moreover, \u201cA woman that\nfeareth the Lord, she shall be praised.\u201d If the world and godless men\nwill not honour these, they shall be honoured some way else. Such,\nsaith he, \u201cthat honour me I will honour,\u201d and they shall be honoured in\nheaven, in the churches, and among the angels.\n\nEighth. Another motive to grow in this fear of God may be: This fear,\nand the increase of it, qualifies a man to be put in trust with\nheavenly and spiritual things, yea, and with earthly things too.\n\n1. For heavenly and spiritual things. \u201cMy covenant,\u201d saith God, \u201cwas\nwith [Levi] of life and peace, and I gave them to him, for the fear\nwherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name\u201d (Mal 2:5).\n\nBehold what a gift, what a mercy, what a blessing this Levi is\nintrusted with; to wit, with God\u2019s everlasting covenant, and with the\nlife and peace that is wrapped up in this covenant. But why is it given\nto him? the answer is, \u201cfor the fear wherewith he feared me, and was\nafraid before my name.\u201d And the reason is good, for this fear of God\nteaches a man to put a due estimation upon every gift of God bestowed\nupon us; also it teaches us to make use of the same with reverence of\nhis name, and respect to his glory in most godly-wise, all which\nbecomes him that is intrusted with any spiritual gift. The gift here\nwas given to Levi to minister to his brethren doctrinally thereof, for\nhe, saith God, shall teach Jacob my statutes and Israel my law. See\nalso Exodus 18:21 and Nehemiah 7:2, with many other places that might\nbe named, and you will find that men fearing God and hating\ncovetousness; that men that fear God above others, are intrusted by\nGod, yea, and by his church too, with the trust and ministration of\nspiritual things before any other in the world.\n\n2. For earthly things. This fear of God qualifies a man to be put in\ntrust with them rather than with another. Therefore God made Joseph\nlord of all Egypt; Obadiah, steward of Ahab\u2019s house; Daniel, Mordecai,\nand the three children, were set over the province of Babylon; and this\nby the wonderful working hand of God, because he had to dispose of\nearthly things now, not only in a common way, but for the good of his\npeople in special. True, when there is no special matter or thing to be\ndone by God in a nation for his people, then who will (that is, whether\nthey have grace or no) may have the disposal of those things; but if\nGod has anything in special to bestow upon his people of this world\u2019s\ngoods, then he will intrust it in the hands of men fearing God. Joseph\nmust now be made lord of Egypt, because Israel must be kept from\nstarving; Obadiah must now be made steward of Ahab\u2019s house, because the\nLord\u2019s prophets must be hid from and fed in despite of the rage and\nbloody mind of Jezebel; Daniel, with his companions, and Mordecai also,\nthey were all exalted to earthly and temporal dignity, that they might\nin that state, they being men that abounded in the fear of God, be\nserviceable to their brethren in their straits and difficulties (Gen\n42:18, 41:39; 1 Kings 18:3; Esth 6:10; Dan 2:48, 3:30, 5:29, 6:1-3).\n\nNinth. Another motive to grow in this grace of fear is, Where the fear\nof God in the heart of any is not growing, there no grace thrives, nor\nduty done as it should.\n\nThere no grace thrives, neither faith, hope, love, nor any grace. This\nis evident from that general exhortation, \u201cPerfecting holiness in the\nfear of God\u201d (2 Cor 7:1). Perfecting holiness, what is that? but as\nJames says of patience, let every grace have its perfect work, that ye\nmay be perfect and entire, lacking nothing (James 1:4).\n\nBut this cannot be done but in the fear of God, yea, in the exercise of\nthat grace, and so consequently in the growth of it, for there is no\ngrace but grows by being exercised. If then you would be perfect in\nholiness, if you would have every grace that God has put into your\nsouls, grow and flourish into perfection; lay them, as I may say,\na-soak in this grace of fear,[30] and do all in the exercise of it; for\na little done in the fear of the Lord is better than the revenues of\nthe wicked. And again, the Lord will not suffer the soul of the\nrighteous, the soul that liveth in the fear of the Lord, to famish, but\nhe casteth away the abundance of the wicked. Bring abundance to God,\nand if it be not seasoned with godly fear, it shall not be acceptable\nto him, but loathsome and abominable in his sight; for it doth not flow\nfrom the spirit of the fear of the Lord.\n\nTherefore, where there is not a growth in this fear, there is no duty\ndone so acceptably. This flows from that which goes before, for if\ngrace rather decays than grows, where this grace of fear is not in the\ngrowth and increase thereof, then duties in their glory and\nacceptableness decay likewise.\n\nTenth. Another motive to stir thee up to grow in the increase of this\ngrace of fear is, It is a grace, do but abound therein, that will give\nthee great boldness both with God and men. Job was a man a none-such in\nhis day for one that feared God; and who so bold with God as Job? who\nso bold with God, and who so bold with men as he? How bold was he with\nGod, when he wishes for nothing more than that he might come even to\nhis seat, and concludes that if he could come at him, he would approach\neven as a prince unto him, and as such would order his cause before him\n(Job 23:3-7, 31:35-37). Also before his friends, how bold was he? For\never as they laid to his charge that he was an hypocrite, he repels\nthem with the testimony of a good conscience, which good conscience he\ngot, and kept, and maintained by increasing in the fear of God; yea,\nhis conscience was kept so good by this grace of fear, for it was by\nthat that he eschewed evil, that it was common with him to appeal to\nGod when accused, and also to put himself for his clearing under most\nbitter curses and imprecations (Job 13:3-9, 18, 19:23,24, 31).\n\nThis fear of God is it that keeps the conscience clean and tender, and\nso free from much of that defilement that even a good man may be\nafflicted with, for want of his growth in this fear of God. Yea, let me\nadd, if a man can with a good conscience say that he desires to fear\nthe name of God, it will add boldness to his soul in his approaches\ninto the presence of God. \u201cO Lord,\u201d said Nehemiah, \u201cI beseech thee, let\nnow thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and servants,\nwho desire to fear thy name\u201d (Neh 1:11). He pleaded his desire of\nfearing the name of God, as an argument with God to grant him his\nrequest; and the reason was, because God had promised before \u201cto bless\nthem that fear him, both small and great\u201d (Psa 115:13).\n\nEleventh. Another motive to stir you up to fear the Lord, and to grow\nin this fear is, By it thou mayest have thy labours blessed, to the\nsaving of the souls of others. It is said of Levi, of whom mention was\nmade before, that he feared God and was afraid before his name\u2014that he\nsaved others from their sins. \u201cThe law of truth was in his mouth, and\nhe walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn away many from\niniquity\u201d (Mal 2:6). The fear of God that dwelt in his heart, showed\nits growth in the sanctifying of the Lord by his life and words, and\nthe Lord also blessed this his growth herein, by blessing his labours\nto the saving of his neighbours.\n\nWouldest thou save thy husband, thy wife, thy children, &c., then be\ngreatly in the fear of God.\n\nThis Peter teaches, \u201cWives,\u201d saith he, \u201cbe in subjection to your own\nhusbands, that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the\nword be won by the conversation of the wives, while they behold your\nchaste conversation, coupled with fear\u201d (1 Peter 3:1,2). So then, if\nwives and children, yea, if husbands, wives, children, servants, &c.,\ndid but better observe this general rule of Peter, to wit, of letting\ntheir whole conversation be coupled with fear, they might be made\ninstruments in God\u2019s hand of much more good than they are. But the\nmisery is, the fear of God is wanting in actions, and that is the cause\nthat so little good is done by those that profess. It is not a\nconversation that is coupled with a profession\u2014for a great profession\nmay be attended with a life that is not good, but scandalous; but it is\na conversation coupled with fear of God\u2014that is, with the impressions\nof the fear of God upon it\u2014that is convincing and that ministereth the\nawakenings of God to the conscience, in order to saving the unbeliever.\nO they are a sweet couple, to wit, a Christian conversation coupled\nwith fear.\n\nThe want of this fear of God is that that has been a stumbling-block to\nthe blind oftentimes. Alas, the world will not be convinced by your\ntalk, by your notions, and by the great profession that you make, if\nthey see not, therewith mixed, the lively impressions of the fear of\nGod; but will, as I said, rather stumble and fall, even at your\nconversation and at your profession itself. Wherefore, to prevent this\nmischief, that is, of stumbling of souls while you make your profession\nof God, by a conversation not becoming your profession, God bids you\nfear him; implying that a good conversation, coupled with fear,\ndelivers the blind world from those falls that otherwise they cannot be\ndelivered from. \u201cThou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a\nstumbling-block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the\nLord\u201d (Lev 19:14). But shalt fear thy God, that is the remedy that will\nprevent their stumbling at you, at what else soever they stumble.\nWherefore Paul says to Timothy, \u201cTake heed unto thyself, and unto the\ndoctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save\nthyself and them that hear thee\u201d (1 Tim 4:16).\n\nTwelfth. Another motive to fear, and to grow in this fear of God is,\nThis is the way to engage God to deliver thee from many outward\ndangers, whoever falls therein (Psa 34:7). This is proved from that of\nthe story of the Hebrew midwives. \u201cThe midwives,\u201d said Moses, \u201cfeared\nGod,\u201d and did not drown the men-children as the king had commanded, but\nsaved them alive. And what follows? \u201cTherefore God dealt well with the\nmidwives; and it came to pass because the midwives feared God, that he\nmade them houses\u201d (Exo 1). That is, he sheltered them and caused them\nto be hid from the rage and fury of the king, and that perhaps in some\nof the houses of the Egyptians themselves for why might not the\nmidwives be there hid as well as was Moses even in the king\u2019s\ncourt?[31] And how many times are they that fear God said to be\ndelivered both by God and his holy angels? as also I have already\nshowed.\n\nThirteenth. Another motive to fear and to grow in this fear of God is,\nThis is the way to be delivered from errors and damnable opinions.\nThere are some that perish in their righteousness, that is an error;\nthere be some that perish in their wickedness, and that is an error\nalso. Some again prolong their lives by their wickedness, and others\nare righteous over-much, and also some are over-wise, and all these are\nsnares, and pits, and holes. But then, sayest thou, how shall I escape?\nIndeed that is the question, and the Holy Ghost resolves it thus, \u201cHe\nthat feareth God shall come forth of them all\u201d (Eccl 7:18).\n\nFourteenth. Another motive to fear, and to grow in this fear of God,\nis, Such as have leave, be they never so dark in their souls, to come\nboldly to Jesus Christ, and to trust in him for life. I told you\nbefore, that they that fear God have in the general a license to trust\nin him; but now I tell you, and that in particular, that they, and they\nespecially, may do it, and that though in the dark; you that sit in\ndarkness and have no light, if this grace of fear be alive in your\nhearts, you have this boldness\u2014\u201cWho is among you that feareth the\nLord,\u201d mark, that feareth the Lord, \u201cthat obeyeth the voice of his\nservant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in\nthe name of the Lord, and stay upon his God\u201d (Isa 50:10). It is no\nsmall advantage, you know, when men have to deal in difficult matters,\nto have a patent or license to deal; now to trust in the Lord is a\ndifficult thing, yet the best and most gainful of all. But then, some\nwill say, since it is so difficult, how may we do without danger? Why,\nthe text gives a license, a patent to them to trust in his name, that\nhave his fear in their hearts\u2014\u201cLet him trust in the name of the Lord,\nand stay upon his God.\u201d [32]\n\nFifteenth. Another motive to fear and grow in this grace of fear, is,\nGod will own and acknowledge such to be his, whoever he rejecteth. Yea\nhe will distinguish and separate them from all others, in the day of\nhis terrible judgments. He will do with them as he did by those that\nsighed for the abominations that were done in the land\u2014command the man\nthat hath his ink-horn by his side \u201cto set a mark upon their\nforeheads,\u201d that they might not fall in that judgment with others (Eze\n9). So God said plainly of them that feared the Lord, and that thought\nupon his name, that they should be writ in his book\u2014\u201cA book of\nremembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and\nthat thought upon his name; and they shall be mine, saith the Lord of\nhosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a\nman spareth his own son that serveth him\u201d (Mal 3:16,17). Mark, he both\nacknowledges them for his, and also promises to spare them, as a man\nwould spare his own son; yea, and moreover, will wrap them up as his\nchief jewels with himself in the bundle of life. Thus much for the\nmotives.\n\nHow to grow in this fear of God.\n\nHaving given you these motives to the duty of growing in this fear of\nGod, before I leave this use, I will, in a few words, show you how you\nmay grow in this fear of God.\n\nFirst. Then, if thou wouldest grow in this fear of God, learn aright to\ndistinguish of fear in general. I mean, learn to distinguish between\nthat fear that is godly, and that which in itself is indeed ungodly\nfear of God; and know them well the one from the other, lest the one,\nthe fear that in itself indeed is ungodly, get the place, even the\nupper hand of that which truly is godly fear. And remember the ungodly\nfear of God is by God himself counted an enemy to him, and hurtful to\nhis people, and is therefore most plentifully forbidden in the Word\n(Gen 3:15, 26:24, 46:3; Exo 14:13, 20:20; Num 14:9, 21:34; Isa\n41:10,14, 43:1, 44:2,8; 54:4; Jer 30:10; Dan 10:12,19; Joel 2:21; Hagg\n2:5; Zech 8:13).\n\nSecond. If thou wouldest grow in this godly fear, learn rightly to\ndistinguish it from that fear, in particular, that is godly but for a\ntime; even from that fear that is wrought by the Spirit, as a spirit of\nbondage. I say, learn to distinguish this from that, and also perfectly\nto know the bounds that God hath set to that fear that is wrought by\nthe Spirit, as a spirit of bondage; lest, instead of growing in the\nfear that is to abide with thy soul for ever, thou be over-run again\nwith that first fear, which is to abide with thee but till the spirit\nof adoption come. And that thou mayest not only distinguish them one\nfrom the other, but also keep each in its due place and bounds,\nconsider in general of what hath already been said upon this head, and\nin particular that the first fear is no more wrought by the Holy\nSpirit, but by the devil, to distress thee, and make thee to live, not\nlike a son, but a slave. And for thy better help in this matter, know\nthat God himself hath set bounds to this fear, and has concluded that\nafter the spirit of adoption is come, that other fear is wrought in thy\nheart by him no more (Rom 8:15; 2 Tim 1:7).\n\nAgain, before I leave this, let me tell thee that if thou dost not well\nbestir thee in this matter, this bondage fear, to wit, that which is\nlike it, though not wrought in thee by the Holy Ghost, will, by the\nmanagement and subtlety of the devil, the author of it, haunt, disturb,\nand make thee live uncomfortably, and that while thou art an heir of\nGod and his kingdom. This is that fear that the apostle speaks of, that\nmakes men \u201call their lifetime subject to bondage\u201d (Heb 2:14,15). For\nthough Christ will deliver thee indeed at last, thou having embraced\nhim by faith, yet thy life will be full of trouble; and death, though\nJesus hath abolished it, will be always a living bugbear to thee in all\nthy ways and thoughts, to break thy peace, and to make thee to draw thy\nloins heavily after him.\n\nThird. Wouldest thou grow in this godly fear? then, as thou shouldest\nlearn to distinguish of fears, so thou shouldest make conscience of\nwhich to entertain and cherish. If God would have his fear\u2014and it is\ncalled HIS fear by way of eminency\u2014\u201cthat his fear may be before you,\nthat ye sin not\u201d (Exo 20:20; Jer 32:40)\u2014I say, if God would have his\nfear be with thee, then thou shouldest make conscience of this, and not\nso lightly give way to slavish fear, as is common for Christians to do.\n\nThere is utterly a fault among Christians about this thing; that is,\nthey make not that conscience of resisting of slavish fear as they\nought; they rather cherish and entertain it, and so weaken themselves,\nand that fear that they ought to strengthen.\n\nAnd this is the reason that we so often lie grabbling[33] under the\nblack and amazing thoughts that are engendered in our hearts by\nunbelief; for this fear nourisheth unbelief; that is, now it doth, to\nwit, if we give way to it after the spirit of adoption is come, and\nreadily closeth with all the fiery darts of the wicked.\n\nBut Christians are ready to do with this fear as the horse does when\nthe tines[34] of the fork are set against his side; even lean to it\nuntil it entereth into his belly. We lean naturally to this fear, I\nmean, after God has done good to our souls; it is hard striving against\nit, because it has even our sense and feeling of its side. But I say,\nif thou wouldest be a growing Christian\u2014growing, I say, in the fear\nthat is godly, in the fear that is always so\u2014then make conscience of\nstriving against the other, and against all these things that would\nbring thee back to it. \u201cWherefore should I fear,\u201d said David, \u201cin the\nday of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?\u201d\n(Psa 49:5).\n\nWhat! not fear in the day of evil? What! not when the iniquity of thy\nheels compasseth thee about? No, not then, saith he, that is, not with\nthat fear that would bring him again into bondage to the law; for he\nhad received the spirit of adoption before. Indeed, if ever a Christian\nhas ground to give way to slavish fear, it is at these two times, to\nwit, in the day of evil, and when the iniquity of his heels compasseth\nhim about; but you see, David would not then, no, not then, give way\nthereto, nor did he see reason why he should. \u201cWherefore should I,\u201d\nsaid he? Aye, wherefore indeed? since now thou art become a son of God\nthrough Christ, and hast received the Spirit of his Son into thy heart,\ncrying, Father, Father.\n\nFourth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of godly fear? then grow in\nthe knowledge of the new covenant, for that is indeed the girdle of our\nreins, and the strength of our souls. Hear what Zacharias saith: God,\nsays he, \u201chath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of\nhis servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which\nhave been since the world began.\u201d But what was it? what was it that he\nspake? Why, \u201cThat he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out\nof the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,\u201d without this\nslavish bondage fear, \u201cin holiness and righteousness before him all the\ndays of our life.\u201d But upon what is this princely fearless service of\nGod grounded? Why, upon the holy covenant of God, upon the oath that he\nswore unto Abraham (Luke 1:69-74). Now in this covenant is wrapped up\nall thy salvation; in it is contained all thy desire, and I am sure,\nthat then it containeth the complete salvation of thy soul; and I say,\nsince this covenant is confirmed by promise, by oath, and by the blood\nof the Son of God, and that on purpose that thou mightest serve thy God\nwithout slavish fear, then the knowledge and faith of this covenant is\nof absolute necessity to bring us into this liberty, and out of our\nslavish terrors, and so, consequently, to cause us to grow in that\nson-like, godly fear, which became even the Son of God himself, and\nbecomes all his disciples to live in the growth and exercise of.\n\nFifth. Wouldest thou grow in this godly fear? then labour even always\nto keep thine evidences for heaven and of thy salvation alive upon thy\nheart; for he that loseth his evidences for heaven, will hardly keep\nslavish fear out of heart; but he that hath the wisdom and grace to\nkeep them alive, and apparent to himself, he will grow in this godly\nfear. See how David words it, \u201cFrom the end of the earth,\u201d saith he,\n\u201cwill I cry unto thee; when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the\nrock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a\nstrong tower from the enemy: I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever.\nFor thou, O God, hast heard my vows; thou hast given me the heritage of\nthose that fear thy name\u201d (Psa 61:2-5). Mark a little, David doth by\nthese words, in the first place, suggest that sometimes, to his\nthinking, he was as far off of his God as the ends of the earth are\nasunder, and that at such times he was subject to be overwhelmed,\nafraid: [And] second, the way that he took at such times, to help\nhimself, was to cry to God to lead him again to Jesus Christ\u2014\u201clead me\nto the rock that is higher than I\u201d; for indeed without faith in him,\nand the renewing of that faith, there can be no evidence for heaven\nmade to appear unto the soul. This therefore he prays for first. Then\nhe puts that faith into exercise, and that with respect to the time\nthat was past, and also of the time that was to come. For the time\npast, says he, \u201cThou hast been a shelter to me, and a strong tower from\nthe enemy\u201d; and for the time to come, he said, \u201cI will abide in thy\ntabernacle,\u201d that is, in thy Christ by faith, and in thy way of worship\nby love, \u201cforever.\u201d And observe it, he makes the believing remembrance\nof his first evidences for heaven the ground of this his cry and faith,\n\u201cFor thou,\u201d says he, \u201cO God, hast given me the heritage of those that\nfear thy name.\u201d Thou hast made me meet to be a partaker of the mercy of\nthy chosen, and hast put me under the blessing of goodness wherewith\nthou hast blessed those that fear thee. Thus you see how David, in his\ndistresses, musters up his prayers, faith, and evidences for eternal\nlife, that he might deliver himself from being overwhelmed, that is,\nwith slavish fear, and that he might also abound in that son-like fear\nof his fellow-brethren, that is not only comely, with respect to our\nprofession, but profitable to our souls.\n\nSixth. Wouldest thou grow in this fear of God? then set before thine\neyes the being and majesty of God; for that both begetteth,\nmaintaineth, and increaseth this fear. And hence it is called the fear\nof God, that is, an holy and awful dread and reverence of his majesty.\nFor the fear of God is to stand in awe of him, but how can that be done\nif we do not set him before us? And again, if we would fear him more,\nwe must abide more in the sense and faith of his glorious majesty.\nHence this fear and God\u2019s name is so often put together: as fear God,\nfear the Lord, fear thy God, do this in the fear of the Lord, and thou\nshalt fear thy God, I am the Lord. For these words, \u201cI am the Lord thy\nGod,\u201d and the like, are on purpose put in, not only to show us whom we\nshould fear, but also to beget, maintain, and increase in us that fear\nthat is due from us to that \u201cglorious and fearful name, the Lord our\nGod\u201d (Deut 28:58).\n\nSeventh. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then keep always\nclose to thy conscience the authority of the Word; fear the commandment\nas the commandment of a God both mighty and glorious, and as the\ncommandment of a father, both loving and pitiful; let this commandment,\nI say, be always with thine eye, with thine ear, and with thine heart;\nfor then thou wilt be taught, not only to fear, but to abound in the\nfear of the Lord. Every grace is nourished by the Word, and without it\nthere is no thrift in the soul (Prov 13:13, 4:20-22; Deut 6:1,2).\n\nEighth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then be much in the\nfaith of the promise, of the promise that maketh over to thy soul an\ninterest in God by Christ, and of all good things. The promise\nnaturally tendeth to increase in us the fear of the Lord, because this\nfear, it grows by goodness and mercy; they shall fear the Lord, and his\ngoodness; now this goodness and mercy of God, it is wrapt up in, and\nmade over to us by promise; for God gave it to Abraham by promise.\nTherefore the faith and hope of the promise causeth this fear to grow\nin the soul\u2014\u201cHaving therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us\ncleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,\nperfecting holiness in the fear of God\u201d (2 Cor 7:1). \u201cPerfecting\nholiness in the fear of God\u201d; therefore that fear by the promise must\nneeds grow mighty, for by, with, and in it, you see holiness is\nperfected.\n\nNinth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then remember the\njudgments of God that have, or shall certainly overtake, those\nprofessors, that have either been downright hypocrites, or else\nunwatchful Christians. For both these sorts partake of the judgments of\nGod; the one, to wit, the true Christian, for his unwatchfulness, for\nhis correction; the other, to wit, the hypocrite, for his hypocrisy, to\nhis destruction. This is a way to make thee stand in awe, and to make\nthee tremble, and grow in the grace of fear before thy God.\n\nJudgments! you may say, what judgments? Answ. Time will fail me here to\ntell thee of the judgments that sometimes overtake God\u2019s people, and\nthat always certainly overtake the hypocrite for his transgressions.\nFor those that attend God\u2019s people, I would have thee look back to the\nplace in this book where they are particularly touched upon. And for\nthose that attend the hypocrite, in general they are these. 1.\nBlindness of heart in this world. 2. The death of their hope at the day\nof their death. 3. And the damnation of their souls at the day of\njudgment (Matt 23:15-19; Job 8:13, 11:20, 18:14, 20:4-7, Matt 23:33,\n24:51; Luke 20:47). The godly consideration of these things tend to\nmake men grow in the fear of God.\n\nTenth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then study the\nexcellencies of the grace of fear, and what profit it yieldeth to them\nthat have it, and labour to get thy heart into the love, both of the\nexercise of the grace itself, and also of the fruit it yieldeth; for a\nman hardly grows in the increase of any grace, until his heart is\nunited to it, and until it is made lovely in his eyes (Psa\n119:119,120). Now the excellencies of this grace of fear have also been\ndiscoursed of in this book before, where by reading thou shalt find the\nfruit it bears, and the promises that are annexed to it, which, because\nthey are many, I refer thee also thither for thy instruction.\n\nEleventh. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then remember what\na world of privileges do belong to them that fear the Lord, as also I\nhave hinted; namely, that such shall not be hurt, shall want no good\nthing, shall be guarded by angels, and have a special license, though\nin never so dreadful a plight, to trust in the name of the Lord, and\nstay upon their God.\n\nTwelfth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then be much in\nprayer to God for abundance of the increase thereof. To fear God is\nthat which is according to his will, and if we ask anything according\nto his will, he heareth us. Pray therefore that God will unite thy\nheart to fear his name; this is the way to grow in the grace of fear.\n\nLastly, Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then devote thyself\nto it (Psa 119:38). Devote myself to it, you will say, how is that? I\nanswer, why, give thyself to it, addict thyself to it. Solace thyself\nin the contemplation of God, and of a reverence of his name, and word,\nand worship. Then wilt thou fear, and grow in this grace of fear.\n\nWhat things they are that have a tendency in them to hinder the growth\nof the fear of God in our hearts.\n\nAnd that I may yet be helpful to thee, reader, I shall now give thee\ncaution of those things that will, if way be given to them, hinder thy\ngrowth in this fear of God, the which, because they are very hurtful to\nthe people of God, I would have thee be warned by them. And they are\nthese which follow:\n\nFirst. If thou wouldest grow in this grace of fear, take heed of A HARD\nHEART, for that will hinder thy growth in this grace. \u201cWhy hast thou\nhardened our heart from thy fear?\u201d was a bitter complaint of the church\nheretofore; for it is not only the judgment that in itself is dreadful\nand sore to God\u2019s people, but that which greatly hindereth the growth\nof this grace in the soul (Isa 63:17). A hard heart is but barren\nground for any grace to grow in, especially for the grace of fear:\nthere is but little of this fear where the heart is indeed hard;\nneither will there ever be much therein.\n\nNow if thou wouldest be kept from a hard heart, 1. Take heed of the\nbeginnings of sin. Take heed, I say, of that, though it should be never\nso small; \u201cA little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.\u201d There is more in\na little sin to harden, than in a great deal of grace to soften.\nDavid\u2019s look upon Bathsheba was, one would think, but a small matter;\nyet that beginning of sin contracted such hardness of heart in him,\nthat it carried him almost beyond all fear of God. It did carry him to\ncommit lewdness with her, murder upon the body of Uriah, and to\nabundance of wicked dissimulation; which are things, I say, that have\ndirect tendency to quench and destroy all fear of God in the soul.\n\n2. If thou hast sinned, lie not down without repentance; for the want\nof repentance, after one has sinned, makes the heart yet harder and\nharder. Indeed a hard heart is impenitent, and impenitence also makes\nthe heart harder and harder. So that if impenitence be added to\nhardness of heart, or to the beginning of sin which makes it so, it\nwill quickly be with that soul, as is said of the house of Israel, it\nwill have a whore\u2019s forehead, it will hardly be brought to shame (Jer\n3:3).\n\n3. If thou wouldest be rid of a hard heart, that great enemy to the\ngrowth of the grace of fear, be much with Christ upon the cross in thy\nmeditations; for that is an excellent remedy against hardness of heart:\na right sight of him, as he hanged there for thy sins, will dissolve\nthy heart into tears, and make it soft and tender. \u201cThey shall look\nupon me whom they have pierced,\u2014and mourn\u201d (Zech 12:10). Now a soft, a\ntender, and a broken heart, is a fit place for the grace of fear to\nthrive in. But,\n\nSecond. If thou wouldest have the grace of fear to grow in thy soul,\ntake heed also of A PRAYERLESS HEART, for that is not a place for this\ngrace of fear to grow in. Hence he that restraineth prayer is said to\ncast off fear. \u201cThou castest off fear,\u201d said one of his friends to Job.\nBut how must he do that? Why the next words show, \u201cThou restrainest\nprayer before God\u201d (Job 15:4). Seest thou a professor that prayeth not?\nthat man thrusteth the fear of God away from him. Seest thou a man that\nprays but little, that man feareth God but little; for it is the\npraying soul, the man that is mighty in praying, that has a heart for\nthe fear of God to grow in. Take heed, therefore, of a prayerless\nheart, if you would grow in this grace of the fear of God. Prayer is as\nthe pitcher that fetcheth water from the brook, therewith to water the\nherbs; break the pitcher, and it will fetch no water, and for want of\nwater the garden withers.\n\nThird. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then take heed of A\nLIGHT AND WANTON HEART, for neither is such a heart good ground for the\nfear of God to grow in. Wherefore it is said of Israel, \u201cShe feared\nnot, but went and played the harlot also.\u201d She was given to wantonness,\nand to be light and vain, and so her fear of God decayed (Jer 3:8). Had\nJoseph been as wanton as his mistress, he had been as void of the fear\nof God as she; but he was of a sober, tender, godly, considerate\nspirit, therefore he grew in the fear of God.\n\nFourth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then take heed of A\nCOVETOUS HEART, for neither is that which is such an one good ground\nfor this grace of fear to grow in. Therefore this covetousness and the\nfear of God are as enemies, set the one in opposition to the other: one\nthat feareth God and hateth covetousness (Exo 18:21). And the reason\nwhy covetousness is such an obstruction to the growth of this grace of\nfear, is because covetousness casteth those things out of the heart\nwhich alone can nourish this fear. It casteth out the Word and love of\nGod, without which no grace can grow in the soul; how then should the\nfear of God grow in a covetous heart? (Eze 33:30-32; 1 John 2:15).\n\nFifth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then take heed of AN\nUNBELIEVING HEART, for an unbelieving heart is not good ground for this\ngrace of fear to grow in. An unbelieving heart is called \u201can evil\nheart,\u201d because from it flows all the wickedness that is committed in\nthe world (Heb 3:12). Now it is faith, or a believing heart, that\nnourisheth this fear of God, and not the other; and the reason is, for\nthat faith brings God, heaven, and hell, to the soul, and maketh it\nduly consider of them all (Heb 11:7). This is therefore the means of\nfear, and that which will make it grow in the soul; but unbelief is a\nbane thereto.\n\nSixth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then take heed of A\nFORGETFUL HEART. Such a heart is not a heart where the grace of fear\nwill flourish, \u201cwhen I remember, I am afraid,\u201d &c. Therefore take heed\nof forgetfulness; do not forget but remember God, and his kindness,\npatience, and mercy, to those that yet neither have grace, nor special\nfavour from him, and that will beget and nourish his fear in thy heart,\nbut forgetfulness of this, or of any other of his judgments, is a great\nwound and weakening to this fear (Job 21:6). When a man well remembers\nthat God\u2019s judgments are so great a deep and mystery, as indeed they\nare, that remembrance puts a man upon such considerations of God and of\nhis judgments as to make him fear\u2014\u201cTherefore,\u201d said Job, \u201cI am afraid\nof him.\u201d See the place, Job 23:15. \u201cTherefore am I troubled at his\npresence; when I consider, I am afraid of him\u201d\u2014when I remember and\nconsider of the wonderful depths of his judgments towards man.\n\nSeventh. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then take heed of A\nMURMURING AND REPINING HEART, for that is not a heart for this grace of\nfear to grow in. As for instance, when men murmur and repine at God\u2019s\nhand, at his dispensations, and at the judgments that overtake them, in\ntheir persons, estates, families, or relations, that their murmuring\ntendeth to destroy fear; for a murmuring spirit is such an one as seems\nto correct God, and to find fault with his dispensations, and where\nthere is that, the heart is far from fear. A murmuring spirit either\ncomes from that wisdom that pretends to understand that there is a\nfailure in the nature and execution of things, or from an envy and\nspite at the execution of them. Now if murmurings arise from this\npretended wisdom of the flesh, then instead of fearing of God, his\nactions are judged to be either rigid or ridiculous, which yet are done\nin judgment, truth, and righteousness. So that a murmuring heart cannot\nbe a good one for the fear of God to grow in. Alas! the heart where\nthat grows must be a soft one; as you have it in Job 23:15, 16; and a\nheart that will stoop and be silent at the most abstruse of all his\njudgments\u2014\u201cI was dumb, because THOU didst it.\u201d The heart in which this\nfear of God doth flourish is such, that it bows and is mute, if it can\nbut espy the hand, wisdom, justice, or holiness of God in this or the\nother of his dispensations, and so stirs up the soul to fear before\nhim. But if this murmuring ariseth from envy and spite, that looketh so\nlike to the spirit of the devil, that nothing need be said to give\nconviction of the horrible wickedness of it.\n\nEighth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then take heed of A\nHIGH AND CAPTIOUS SPIRIT, for that is not good ground for the fear of\nGod to grow in. A meek and quiet spirit is the best, and there the fear\nof God will flourish most; therefore Peter puts meekness and fear\ntogether, as being most suited in their nature and natural tendency one\nto another (1 Peter 3:15). Meekness of spirit is like that heart that\nhath depth of earth in it in which things may take root and grow; but a\nhigh and captious spirit is like to the stony ground, where there is\nnot depth of earth, and consequently, where this grace of fear cannot\ngrow; therefore take heed of this kind of spirit, if thou wouldest that\nthe fear of God should grow in thy soul.\n\nNinth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then take heed of AN\nENVIOUS HEART, for that is not a good heart for the fear of God to grow\nin. \u201cLet not thine heart envy sinners; but be thou in the fear of the\nLord all the day long\u201d (Prov 23:17). To envy any is a sign of a bad\nspirit, and that man takes upon him, as I have already hinted, to be a\ncontroller and a judge, yea, and a malicious executioner too, and that\nof that fury that ariseth from his own lusts and revengeful spirit,\nupon (perhaps) the man that is more righteous than himself. But suppose\nhe is a sinner that is the object of thine envy, why, the text sets\nthat envy in direct opposition to the fear of God; \u201cEnvy not sinners,\nbut be thou in the fear of God.\u201d These two, therefore, to wit, envy to\nsinners and fearing of God, are opposites. Thou canst not fear God, and\nenvy sinners too. And the reason is, because he that envieth a sinner,\nhath forgotten himself, that he is as bad; and how can he then fear\nGod? He that envies sinners rejects his duty of blessing of them that\ncurse, and praying for them that despitefully use us; and how can he\nthat hath rejected this, fear God? He that envieth sinners, therefore,\ncannot be of a good spirit, nor can the fear of God grow in his heart.\n\nTenth. Lastly, Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? then take heed\nof HARDENING THY HEART at any time against convictions to particular\nduties, as to prayer, alms, self-denial, or the like. Take heed also of\nhardening thy heart, when thou art under any judgment of God, as\nsickness, losses, crosses, or the like. I bid you before to beware of a\nhard heart, but now I bid you beware of hardening your soft ones. For\nto harden the heart is to make it worse than it is; harder, more\ndesperate, and bold against God, than at the present it is. Now, I say,\nif thou wouldest grow in this grace of fear, take heed of hardening thy\nheart, and especially of hardening of it against convictions to good;\nfor those convictions are sent of God like seasonable showers of rain,\nto keep the tillage of thy heart in good order, that the grace of fear\nmay grow therein; but this stifling of convictions makes the heart as\nhard as a piece of the nether millstone. Therefore happy is he that\nreceiveth conviction, for so he doth keep in the fear of God, and that\nfear thereby nourished in his soul; but cursed is he that doth\notherwise\u2014\u201cHappy is the man that feareth alway; but he that hardeneth\nhis heart shall fall into mischief\u201d (Prov 28:14).\n\nUSE THIRD, of encouragement.\n\nUSE THIRD. I come now to A USE OF ENCOURAGEMENT to those that are\nblessed with this grace of fear. The last text that was mentioned\nsaith, \u201cHappy is the man that feareth alway,\u201d and so doth many more.\nHappy already, because blessed with this grace; and happy for time to\ncome, because this grace shall abide, and continue till the soul that\nhath it is brought unto the mansion-house of glory. \u201cI will put my fear\nin their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.\u201d Therefore, as\nhere it saith, Happy is he, so it saith also, It shall go well with\nhim, that is, in time to come. \u201cIt shall be well with them that fear\nGod\u201d (Eccl 8:12).\n\nFirst. Had God given thee all the world, yet cursed hadst thou been, if\nhe had not given thee the fear of the Lord; for the fashion of this\nworld is a fading thing, but he that feareth the Lord shall abide for\never and ever. This therefore is the first thing that I would propound\nfor thy encouragement, thou man that fears the Lord. This grace will\ndwell in thy heart, for it is a new covenant grace, and will abide with\nthee for ever. It is sent to thee from God, not only to join thy heart\nunto him, but to keep thee from final apostasy\u2014\u201cI will put my fear in\ntheir hearts, that they shall not depart from me\u201d (Jer 32:40). That\nthou mayest never forsake God, is his design, and therefore, to keep\nthee from that wicked thing, he hath put his fear in thy heart. Many\nare the temptations, difficulties, snares, traps, trials, and troubles\nthat the people of God pass through in the world, but how shall they be\nkept, how shall they be delivered, and escape? Why, the answer is, The\nfear of God will keep them\u2014\u201cHe that feareth God shall come forth of\nthem all.\u201d\n\nIs it not therefore a wonderful mercy to be blessed with this grace of\nfear, that thou by it mayest be kept from final, which is damnable\napostasy? Bless God, therefore, thou blessed man, that hast this grace\nof fear in thy soul. There are five things in this grace of fear that\nhave a direct tendency in them to keep thee from final apostasy.\n\n1. It is seated in the heart, and the heart is, as I may call it, the\nmain fort in the mystical world, man. It is not placed in the head, as\nknowledge is; nor in the mouth, as utterance is, but in the heart, the\nseat of all, \u201cI will put my fear in their hearts.\u201d If a king will keep\na town secure to himself, let him be sure to man sufficiently the main\nfort thereof. If he have twenty thousand men well armed, yet if they\nlie scattered here and there, the town may be taken for all that, but\nif the main fort be well manned, then the town is more secure. What if\na man had all the parts, yea, all the arts of men and angels? That will\nnot keep the heart to God. But when the heart, this principal fort, is\npossessed with the fear of God, then he is safe, but not else.\n\n2. As the heart in general, so the will in special. That chief and\ngreat faculty of the soul is the principle that is acted by this fear.\nThe will, which way that goes, all goes; if it be to heaven or hell.\nNow the will, I say, is that main faculty that is governed by this fear\nthat doth possess the soul, therefore all is like to go well with it.\nThis Samuel insinuateth, where he saith, \u201cIf ye will fear the Lord.\u201d\nFearing of God is a voluntary act of the will, and that being so, the\nsoul is kept from rebellion against the commandment, because by the\nwill where this fear of God is placed, and which it governeth, is led\nall the rest of the powers of the soul (1 Sam 12:14). In this will,\nthen, is this fear of God placed, that this grace may the better be\nable to govern the soul, and so by consequence the whole man; for as I\nsaid before, look what way the will goes, look what the will does,\nthither goes, and that does, the whole man (Psa 110:3). Man, when his\nwill is alienate from God, is reckoned rebellious throughout, and that\nnot without ground, for the will is the principal faculty of the soul\nas to obedience, and therefore things done without the will are as if\nthey were not done at all. The spirit is willing; if ye be willing;\n\u201cshe hath done what she could,\u201d and the like; by these and such-like\nsayings the goodness of the heart and action is judged, as to the\nsubjective part thereof. Now this fear that we have been speaking of,\nis placed in the soul, and so consequently in the will, that the man\nmay thereby the better be kept from final and damnable apostasy.\n\n3. This fear, as I may say, even above every other grace, is God\u2019s\nwell-wisher; and hence it is called, as I also have showed you, his\nfear. As he also says in the text mentioned above, \u201cI will put my fear\nin their hearts.\u201d These words, his and my, they are intimate and\nfamiliar expressions, bespeaking not only great favour to man, but a\nvery great trust put in him. As who should say, this fear is my special\nfriend, it will subject and bow the soul, and the several faculties\nthereof, to my pleasure; it is my great favourite, and subdueth sinners\nto my pleasure. You shall rarely find faith or repentance, or parts, go\nunder such familiar characters as this blessed fear of the Lord doth.\nOf all the counsellors and mighties that David had, Hushai only was\ncalled the king\u2019s friend (2 Sam 15:37, 16:16). So of all the graces of\nthe Spirit this of the fear of God goes mostly, if not always, by the\ntitle of MY fear, God\u2019s fear, HIS fear, &c. I told you before, if the\nking will keep a town, the main fort therein must be sufficiently\nmanned: and now I will add, that if he have not to govern those men\nsome trusty and special friend, such as Hushai was to David, he may\nfind it lost when it should stand him in greatest stead. If a soul\nshould be possessed with all things possible, yet if this fear of God\nbe wanting, all other things will give place in time of rebellion, and\nthe soul shall be found in, and under the conduct of hell, when it\nshould stand up for God and his truth in the world. This fear of God,\nit is God\u2019s special friend, and therefore it has given unto it the\nchief seat of the heart, the will, that the whole man may now be, and\nalso be kept hereafter, in the subjection and obedience of the gospel.\nFor,\n\n4. This grace of fear is the softest and most tender of God\u2019s honour of\nany other grace. It is that tender, sensible, and trembling grace, that\nkeepeth the soul upon its continual watch. To keep a good watch is, you\nknow, a wonderful safety to a place that is in continual danger because\nof the enemy. Why, this is the grace that setteth the watch, and that\nkeepeth the watchmen awake (Can 3:7,8). A man cannot watch as he\nshould, if he be destitute of fear: let him be confident, and he\nsleeps; he unadvisedly lets into the garrison those that should not\ncome there. Israel\u2019s fault when they came to Canaan was, that they made\na covenant with the inhabitants of the land, to wit, the Gibeonites,\nwithout asking counsel of God. But would they have done so, think you,\nif at the same time the fear of God had had its full play in the soul,\nin the army? no, they at that time forgot to fear. The grace of fear\nhad not at that time its full stroke and sway among them.\n\n5. This grace of fear is that which, as I may so say, first affects the\nhearts of saints with judgments, after we have sinned, and so is as a\nbeginning grace to bring again that to rights that by sin is put out of\nframe. O it is a precious grace of God! I know what I say in this\nmatter, and also where I had been long ago, through the power of my\nlusts, and the wiles of the devil, had it not been for the fear of God.\n\nSecond. But secondly, another encouragement for those that are blessed\nwith this blessed grace of fear is this,\u2014this fear fails not to do this\nwork for the soul, if there in truth, be it never so small in measure.\nA little of this leaven \u201cleaveneth the whole lump.\u201d True, a little will\nnot do, or help the soul to do those worthy exploits in the heart or\nlife as well as a bigger measure thereof; nor, indeed, can a little of\nany grace do that which a bigger measure will; but a little will\npreserve the soul from final apostasy, and deliver it into the arms of\nthe Son of God at the final judgment. Wherefore, when he saith, \u201cI will\nput my fear in their hearts,\u201d he says not, I will put so much of it\nthere, such a quantity, or such a degree; but, \u201cI will put my fear\nthere.\u201d I speak not this in the least to tempt the godly man to be\ncontent with the least degree of the fear of God in his heart. True,\nmen should be glad that God hath put even the least degree of this\ngrace into their souls, but they should not be content therewith; they\nshould earnestly covet more, pray for more, and use all lawful, that\nis, all the means of God\u2019s appointing, that they may get more.\n\nThere are, as I have said already, several degrees of this grace of\nfear, and our wisdom is to grow in it, as in all the other graces of\nthe Spirit. The reasons why, I have showed you, and also the way to\ngrow therein; but the least measure thereof will do as I said, that is,\nkeep the soul from final apostasy. There are, as I have showed you,\nthose that greatly fear the Lord, that fear exceedingly, and that fear\nhim above many of their brethren; but the small in this grace are saved\nas well as those that are great therein: \u201cHe will bless\u201d or save \u201cthem\nthat fear him, both small and great.\u201d This fear of the Lord is the\npulse of the soul; and as some pulses beat stronger, some weaker, so is\nthis grace of fear in the soul. They that beat best are a sign of best\nlife, but they that beat worst show that life is [barely] present. As\nlong as the pulse beats, we count not that the man is dead, though\nweak; and this fear, where it is, preserves to everlasting life. Pulses\nthere are also that are intermitting; to wit, such as have their times\nfor a little, a little time to stop, and beat again; true, these are\ndangerous pulses, but yet too a sign of life. This fear of God also is\nsometimes like this intermitting pulse; there are times when it\nforbears to work, and then it works again. David had an intermitting\npulse, Peter had an intermitting pulse, as also many other of the\nsaints of God. I call that an intermitting pulse, with reference to the\nfear we speak of, when there is some obstruction by the workings of\ncorruptions in the soul; I say, some obstruction from, and hindrance\nof, the continual motion of this fear of God; yet none of these, though\nthey are various, and some of them signs of weakness, are signs of\ndeath, but life. \u201cI will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall\nnot depart from me.\u201d\n\nQuest. But you may say, How shall I know that I fear God?\n\nAnsw. If I should say that desires, true sincere desires to fear him,\nis fear itself, I should not say amiss (Neh 1:11). For although a\ndesire to be, or do so and so, makes not a man to be in temporal or\nnatural things what he desires to be\u2014for a sick, or poor, or imprisoned\nman may desire to be well, to be rich, or to be at liberty, and yet be\nas they are, sick, poor, or in prison\u2014yet in spirituals, a man\u2019s desire\nto be good, to believe, to love, to hope, and fear God, doth flow from\nthe nature of grace itself.\n\nI said before, that in temporals a man could not properly be said to be\nwhat he was not; yet a man, even in naturals or temporals, shows his\nlove to that thing that he desires, whether it be health, riches, or\nliberty; and in spirituals, desires of, from love to this or that grace\nof God, sincere desires of it flow from the root of the grace\nitself\u2014\u201cThy servants who desire to fear thy name.\u201d Nehemiah bore\nhimself before God upon this, \u201cthat he desired to fear his name.\u201d And\nhence again it is said concerning desires, true desires, \u201cThe desire of\nman is his kindness\u201d (Prov 19:22). For a man shows his heart, his love,\nhis affections, and his delights, in his desires; and since the grace\nof the fear of God is a grace so pleasant in the sight of God, and of\nso sanctifying a nature in the soul where it is, a true sincere desire\nto be blessed with that grace must needs flow from some being of this\ngrace in the soul already.\n\nTrue desires are lower than higher acts of grace, but God will not\noverlook desires\u2014\u201cBut now they desire a better country, that is, an\nheavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he\nhath prepared for them a city.\u201d Mark, they desire a country, and they\nshall have a city. At this low place, to wit, sincere desires, God will\nmeet the soul and will tell him that he hath accepted of his desires,\nthat his desires are his kindness, and flow from grace itself: \u201cHe will\nfulfil the desire of them that fear him.\u201d Therefore desires are not\nrejected of God; but they would, if they did not flow from a principle\nof grace already in the soul; therefore desires, sincere desires to\nfear God, flow from grace already in the soul. Therefore, since thou\nfearest God, and it is evident by thy desires that thou dost so do,\nthou art happy now in this thy fear, and shalt be happy for ever\nhereafter in the enjoyment of that which God in another world hath laid\nup for them that fear him.\n\nThird. Another encouragement for those that have this grace of fear is\nthis; this grace can make that man, that in many other things is not\ncapable of serving of God, serve him better than those that have all\nwithout it. Poor Christian man, thou hast scarce been able to do\nanything for God all thy days, but only to fear the Lord. Thou art no\npreacher, and so canst not do him service that way; thou art no rich\nman, and so canst not do him service with outward substance; thou art\nno wise man, and so canst not do anything that way; but here is thy\nmercy, thou fearest God. Though thou canst not preach, thou canst fear\nGod. Though thou hast no bread to feed the belly, nor fleece to clothe\nthe back of the poor, thou canst fear God. O how \u201cblessed is the man\nthat feareth the Lord\u201d; because this duty of fearing of God is an act\nof the mind, and may be done by the man that is destitute of all things\nbut that holy and blessed mind.\n\nBlessed therefore is that man, for God hath not laid the comfort of his\npeople in the doing of external duties, nor the salvation of their\nsouls, but in believing, loving, and fearing God. Neither hath he laid\nthese things in actions done in their health nor in the due management\nof their most excellent parts, but in the receiving of Christ, and fear\nof God. The which, good Christian, thou mayest do, and do acceptably,\neven though thou shouldest lie bed-rid all thy days; thou mayest also\nbe sick and believe; be sick and love, be sick and fear God, and so be\na blessed man. And here the poor Christian hath something to answer\nthem that reproach him for his ignoble pedigree, and shortness of the\nglory of the wisdom of the world. True, may that man say, I was taken\nout of the dunghill, I was born in a base and low estate, but I fear\nGod. I have no worldly greatness, nor excellency of natural parts, but\nI fear God.\n\nWhen Obadiah met with Elijah, he gave him no worldly and fantastical\ncompliment, nor did he glory in his promotion by Ahab the king of\nIsrael, but gravely, and after a gracious manner, said, \u201cI thy servant\nfear the Lord from my youth.\u201d Also when the mariners inquired of Jonah,\nsaying, \u201cWhat is thine occupation, and whence comest thou? what is thy\ncountry, and of what people art thou?\u201d This was the answer he gave\nthem, \u201cI am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which\nhath made the sea and the dry land\u201d (Jonah 1:8,9). Indeed this answer\nis the highest, and most noble in the world, nor are there any, save a\nfew, that in truth can thus express themselves, though other answers\nthey had enough; most can say, I have wisdom, or might, or riches, or\nfriends, or health, or the like; these are common, and are greatly\nboasted in by the most; but he is the man that feareth God, and he that\ncan say, when they say to him, What art thou? \u201cI thy servant fear the\nLord,\u201d he is the man of many, he is to be honoured of men: though this,\nto wit, that he feareth the Lord, is all that he hath in the world. He\nhath the thing, the honour, the life, and glory that is lasting; his\nblessedness will abide when all men\u2019s but his is buried in the dust, in\nshame and contempt.[35]\n\nA word to hypocrites.\n\nHypocrites, my last word is to you; the hypocrite is one that would\nappear to be that in men\u2019s eyes that is nothing of in God\u2019s\u2014thou\nhypocrite, that wouldest be esteemed to be one that loves and that\nfears God, but does not; I have this to say to thee, thy condition is\ndamnable, because thou art a hypocrite, and seekest to deceive both God\nand man with guises, vizards, masks, shows, pretences, and thy formal,\ncarnal, feigned subjection to the outside of statutes, laws, and\ncommandments; but within thou art full of rottenness and all excess.\n\nHypocrite, thou mayest by thy cunning shifts be veiled and hid from\nmen, but thou art naked before the eyes of God, and he knoweth that his\nfear is not in thy heart (Luke 16:15).\n\nHypocrite, be admonished that there is not obedience accepted of God,\nwhere the heart is destitute of this grace of fear. Keeping of the\ncommandments is but one part of the duty of man, and Paul did that,\neven while he was a hypocrite (Phil 3). To \u201cfear God and keep his\ncommandments, this is the whole duty of man\u201d (Eccl 12:13). This\u2014fear\nGod\u2014the hypocrite, as a hypocrite, cannot do, and therefore, as such,\ncannot escape the damnation of hell.\n\nHypocrite, thou must fear God first, even before thou dost offer to\nmeddle with the commandments, that is, as to the keeping of them.\nIndeed, thou shouldest read therein, that thou mayest learn to fear the\nLord, but yet, \u201cfear God\u201d goes before the command to keep his\ncommandments. And if thou dost not fear God first, thou transgressest,\ninstead of keeping of the commandments.\n\nHypocrite, this word, FEAR GOD, is that which the hypocrite quite\nforgets, although it is that which sanctifies the whole duty of man.\nFor this is that, and nothing without it, that can make a man sincere\nin his obedience; the hypocrite looks for applause abroad, and forgets\nthat he is condemned at home, and both these he does because he wanteth\nthe fear of God.\n\nHypocrite, be admonished that none of the privileges that are spoken of\nin the former part of the book belongs to thee, because thou art a\nhypocrite; and if thou hope, thy hope shall be cut off, and if thou\nlean upon thy house, both thou and it shall fall into hell-fire.\nTriumph then, thy triumph is but for awhile. Joy then, but the joy of\nthe hypocrite is but for a moment (Job 8:13,15, 20:4-6).\n\nPerhaps thou wilt not let go now, what, as a hypocrite, thou hast got;\nbut \u201cwhat is the hope of the hypocrite, when God taketh away his soul?\u201d\n(Job 27:8). Hypocrite, thou shouldest have chosen the fear of God, as\nthou hast chosen a profession without it, but thou hast cast off fear,\nbecause thou art a hypocrite; and because thou art such, thou shalt\nhave the same measure that thou metest; God will cast thee off, because\nthou art a hypocrite. God hath prepared a fear for thee because thou\ndidst not choose the fear of God, and that fear shall come upon thee\nlike desolation, and like an armed man, and shall swallow thee up, thou\nand all that thou art (Prov 1:27).\n\nHypocrite, read this text and tremble\u2014\u201cThe sinners in Zion are afraid,\nfearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell\nwith the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting\nburnings?\u201d (Isa 33:13,14).\n\nHypocrite, thou art not under the fatherly protection of God, because\nthou art a hypocrite, and wantest his fear in thine heart. The eyes of\nthe Lord are upon them that fear him, to deliver them. But the fearless\nman or hypocrite is left to the snares and wiles of the devil, to be\ncaught therein and overcome, because he is destitute of the fear of\nGod.\n\nHypocrite, thou art like to have no other reward of God for thy labour\nthan that which the goats shall have;[36] the hypocrite, because he is\na hypocrite, shall not stand in God\u2019s sight. The gain of thy religion\nthou spendest as thou gettest it. Thou wilt not have one farthing\noverplus at death and judgment.\n\nHypocrite, God hath not intrusted thee with the least dram of his\nsaving grace, nor will he, because thou art a hypocrite: and as for\nwhat thou hast, thou hast stolen it, even every man of you from his\nneighbour; still pilfering out of their profession, even as Judas did\nout of the bag. Thou comest like a thief into thy profession, and like\na thief thou shalt go out of the same. Jesus Christ hath not counted\nthee faithful to commit to thee any of his jewels to keep, because thou\nfearest him not. He hath given his \u201cbanner to them that fear him, that\nit may be displayed because of the truth\u201d (Psa 60:4).\n\nHypocrite, thou art not true to God nor man, nor thine own soul,\nbecause thou art a hypocrite! How should the Lord put any trust in\nthee? Why should the saints look for any good from thee? Should God\ngive thee his Word, thou wilt sell it. Should men commit their souls to\nthee, thou wilt destroy them, by making merchandise of them, for thy\nown hypocritical designs. Yea, if the sun waxes hot, thou wilt throw\nall away, and not endure the heat, because thou art a hypocrite!\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n[1]This is a very remarkable illustration of godly fear. Jacob does not\nswear by the omnipresence or omniscience of God\u2014nor by his\nomnipotence\u2014nor by his love or mercy in his covenant\u2014nor by the God of\nAbraham, but by the \u201cfear of his father Isaac\u201d\u2014the sole object of his\nadoration. A most striking and solemn appeal to Jehovah, fixing upon\nour hearts that Divine proverb, \u201cThe fear of the Lord is the beginning\nof wisdom\u201d\u2014the source of all happiness, both in time and in\neternity.\u2014Ed.\n\n[2] It is of solemn importance that we feel the vast difference between\nholy and unholy familiarity with God. Has he adopted us into his\nfamily? Can we, by a new birth, say \u201cOur Father?\u201d Still he is in\nheaven, we on earth. He is infinite in purity; Holy, Holy, Holy is his\nname. We are defiled, and can only approach his presence in the\nrighteousness of the Saviour and Mediator. Then, O my soul, if it is\nthy bliss to draw near to the throne of grace with holy boldness, let\nit be with reverence and godly fear.\u2014Ed.\n\n[3] It is an awful thing to appeal to God for the truth of a lie! All\nappeals to God, not required by law, are worse than useless; they are\nwicked, and cast a doubt on the veracity of those who make them\u2014Ed.\n\n[4] \u201cTo give the back\u201d; to forsake, to depart, to treat with contempt.\nSee Imperial Dictionary, vol. i. p. 145.\u2014Ed.\n\n[5] The genuine disciple \u201cwho thinketh no evil\u201d will say, Can this be\nso now? Yes, reader, it is. Some go to God\u2019s house to worship their\nease and forgetfulness in sleep; some for worldly purposes; some to\nadmire the beauty of the frail body; but many to worship God in spirit\nand in truth. Reader, inquire to which of these classes you belong.\u2014Ed.\n\n[6] They worshipped God, not according to his appointment, but their\nown inventions\u2014the direction of their false prophets, or their\nidolatrous kings, or the usages of the nations round about them. The\ntradition of the elders was of more value and validity with them than\nGod\u2019s laws by Moses. This our Saviour applies to the Jews in his time,\nwho were formal in their devotions, and wedded to their own inventions;\nand pronounces concerning them that in vain do they worship God. How\nmany still in worship regard the inventions of man, and traditions of\nthe church, more than the commands of God.\u2014Ed.\n\n[7] The Word is the decree upon which we must depend or perish. In\nvain, poor sinner, is any reliance upon churches or men; neither Papist\nnor Protestant have any power \u201ccommitted unto them\u201d to forgive sins. If\nthey claim it, believe them not, but pity their pride and delusion.\nChrist is the Rock, and not poor erring Peter, as some have vainly\nimagined. Peter is dead, awaiting the resurrection of his body, and the\ngreat day of judgment; but Christ ever liveth at all times, and in all\nplaces, able to save unto the uttermost. Put no trust in man, but in\nthy broken spirit seek the blessing of Christ, that he may pardon thy\nsins.\u2014Ed.\n\n[8] The fear of the wicked arises from a corrupt, sinful,\nself-condemning conscience; they fear God as an angry judge, and\ntherefore consider him as their enemy. As they love and will not part\nwith their sins, so they are in continual dread of punishment.\u2014Mason.\n\n[9] \u201cTo-elbow all his days in his lord\u2019s vineyard\u201d; to sit or stand\nidly resting upon his elbows, instead of labouring in the vineyard. \u201cA\nsovereign shame so elbows him.\u201d\u2014King Lear, Act iv, Scene 3.\u2014Ed.\n\n[10] \u201cGear\u201d; apparel, furniture, implements. \u201cThe apostles were not\nfixed in their residence, but were ready in their gears to move whither\nthey were called.\u201d\u2014Barrow.\u2014Ed.\n\n[11] God does not limit himself as to his mode of calling poor sinners.\nThe three thousand he convinced at one hour, and they immediately made\na profession, but Bunyan was for years in a state of alarming\nuncertainty; some are driven by fiery terrors, others by a still small\nvoice. Reader, our anxious inquiry should be, Have we entered in by\nChrist the gate? Are our fruits meet for repentance? Let no one vaunt\nof his experience, because he go well bedaubed with the dirt of the\nslough. Every soul that enters the gate is equally a miracle of\ngrace.\u2014Ed.\n\n[12] This is remarkably instanced in Bunyan\u2019s Grace Abounding.\u2014Ed.\n\n[13] Those who are adopted into the family of heaven are \u201cjustified\nfrom all things\u201d; being delivered from sin, the curse, and wrath,\n\u201cthere is now no condemnation for them\u201d; and trusting to Jesus\u2019\nprecious blood of pardon, to his righteousness for acceptance, and to\nhis grace for sanctification, they are, by the indwelling of the Spirit\nwhich adopted them, possessed of that love which casteth out fear, and\nrejoiceth in hope of the glory of God. And to those who, through their\nmanifold infirmities and departures, are often beset with unbelieving\nfears, the Lord says, for their encouragement, \u201cFear thou not, for I am\nwith thee; I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right\nhand of my righteousness\u201d (Isa 41:10).\u2014Mason.\n\n[14] Effectual grace in the soul is accompanied by doubts and fears,\nowing to the remains of indwelling corruption; hence arises a continual\nwarfare. Believer, how needful is it ever to retain your confidence and\nassurance of your Lord\u2019s love to you! Rely on his faithfulness,\npersevere steadfastly in the way of duty, looking to Jesus, and living\nupon his fulness.\u2014Mason. How does all this reasoning remind us of\nBunyan\u2019s own experience, recorded in his Grace Abounding; he was not\nignorant of Satan\u2019s devices.\u2014Ed.\n\n[15] Alas! how few attain to this most blessed state. To delight so in\nthe Word\u2014to make it so much our daily study, and the object of our\nmeditations at night, as to have \u201cits very form engraven upon the face\nof our souls.\u201d Happy is the man that is in such a case. O my soul, why\nis it not thy case?\u2014Ed.\n\n[16] The filial fear of God is most prevalent when the heart is\nimpressed with a lively sense of the love of God manifested in Christ.\nAs a dutiful and obedient child fears to offend an affectionate parent,\nor as a person of grateful heart would be extremely careful not to\ngrieve a kind and bountiful friend, who is continually loading him with\nfavours and promoting his true happiness; so, and much more, will the\ngracious soul be afraid of displeasing the Lord, his bountiful and\nunwearied benefactor, who is crowning him with loving kindness and\ntender mercies.\u2014Mason.\n\n[17] It is no new thing for those who are in public places, to seek\nthemselves more than the public welfare; nay, and to serve themselves\nby the public loss.\u2014Henry.\n\n[18] How does this remind us of the character of By-ends in the\n\u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress\u201d !\u2014Ed.\n\n[19] So Ainsworth understands, p. 134, vol. 10. He renders it, \u201clurking\nlions, which are lusty, strong-toothed, fierce, roaring, and ravenous.\nAnd hereby,\u201d says he, \u201cmay be meant the rich and mighty of the world,\nwhom God often bringeth to misery.\u201d \u201cThey that are ravenous, and prey\non all about them, shall want, but the meek shall inherit the earth;\nthey shall not want who, with quiet obedience, work and mind their own\nbusiness; plain-hearted Jacob has pottage enough, when Esau, the\ncunning hunter, is ready to perish.\u201d Henry.\u2014Ed.\n\n[20] \u201cThe conduct of angels\u201d means not merely their guiding pilgrims in\nthe way, but also, in a military sense, a guard, or what is now called\na convoy.\u2014Ed.\n\n[21] See margin, Genesis 41:43, and 40:8.\u2014Ed.\n\n[22] To publish by sound of trumpet, to trumpet good tidings. In\nBunyan\u2019s time it was never used ironically.\u2014Ed.\n\n[23] This if from the Bible, and not from the inferior version in the\nBook of Common Prayer, commonly called the reading Psalms.\u2014Ed.\n\n[24] Sternhold and Hopkin\u2019s edit. 1635.\u2014The propriety of singing in\npublic worship was strongly debated by some of the Nonconformists.\nThere were very weighty reasons, in persecuting times, for meetings\nbeing held as quietly as possible. The Quakers to this day do not admit\nsinging in their assemblies. The introduction of this psalm proves that\nBunyan was acquainted with the \u201csinging\u201d Psalms, and, in all\nprobability, practised singing in public worship. When James I.\nimproved this version for church use, called the Psalms of KING David,\ntranslated by KING James, his last four lines are\u2014\n\n    Thou of Jerusalem shalt see\n        While as thou liv\u2019st the good,\n    Thou shalt thy children\u2019s children see,\n        And peace on Israel\u2019s brood.\n\nHow blessed are we in our day with the poetry of Watts, Wesley, and a\nhost of others, who have supplied the church with beautiful\nsoul-inspiring compositions, without fear to restrain us in using\nthem.\u2014Ed.\n\n[25] No one can charge Bunyan with a superstitious notion of dreams,\nwhether asleep or as if asleep. Such a mode of interpretation as he\nrecommends is both rational and scriptural. To dream awake is thus\nexplained\u2014\u201cThey dream on in a course of reading without\ndigesting.\u201d\u2014Locke.\u2014Ed.\n\n[26] Whoever thou art, beseech the Lord to weigh thee in the balances\nof the sanctuary. No fear of God\u2014no grace in the soul. Of this class is\nthe proud, the covetous, the glutton, the liar, the apostate, the\nperverter of God\u2019s people from the right way; obstinate and\nincorrigible backsliders; those who neither mourn nor sigh for the\nwickedness of the land; they that prefer their own fancies, dreams,\nframes, and feelings, to the Word of God; swearers, adulterers,\nperjured persons, and oppressors of the poor; they that insult the\ngodly, and rejoice at their sufferings; they that have no love,\ngratitude, nor sense of duty to God, as the fountain of their unmerited\nmercies. O reader, give God no rest until, by his Word and Spirit, he\nimparts to thee this holy fear as the earnest of glory hereafter;\nwithout it you are perishing.\u2014Mason.\u2014Ed.\n\n[27] \u201cSnaffle\u201d; a loose bridle with a curb. \u201cTo snaffle\u201d; to be easily\nled.\n\n    \u201cThe third o\u2019 the\u2019 world is yours, which with a snaffle,\n    You may pace easy, but not such a wise.\u201d\n            Antony and Cleopatra.\u2014Ed.\n\n[28] How familiar but striking an illustration. Reader, look well to\nthe mainspring, and see also that the wheels are not clogged. We ought\nto be living epistles, known and read of all men.\u2014Ed.\n\n[29] \u201cA royster\u201d; a violent, riotous, blustering, turbulent, fellow\u2014a\nspecies of men now much out of date, as are jails and gibbets, sword\nand burning stake. How great and true that courage which could look at,\nand expect, such trials, without shrinking, when they were threatened\nas a reward for love to Christ and holy obedience to his gospel!\u2014Ed.\n\n[30] This is a very strong and striking expression. \u201cTo soak,\u201d means to\nimbibe as much as we can contain; and as to the influence of godly\nfear, happy shall we be in proportion as we are enabled to follow\nBunyan\u2019s advice.\u2014Ed.\n\n[31] The words, \u201che made them houses,\u201d we humbly suggest, may not only\nmean that these God-fearing women had safe dwelling-places, but, in a\nmore extensive sense, God made them the heads of honourable families,\nsee 1 Samuel 2:35; 2 Samuel 7:11, 13, 27, 29; 1 Kings 2:24, 11:28. So\nDavid\u2019s prayer was, \u201cLet my house be established before thee; thou, O\nmy God, wilt build me an house\u201d (1 Chron 17:24,25).\u2014Ed.\n\n[32] Royal patents, in Bunyan\u2019s time, were lucrative but most\noppressive, conferring upon favourites, or their nominees, an exclusive\nright to deal in any article of manufacture. But the patent to God\u2019s\nfearers, to trust in him when involved in darkness and distress, is a\nblessed privilege, injurious to none.\u2014Ed.\n\n[33] \u201cGrabbling\u201d; sprawling along, drawing the body, by the hands,\nthrough a small aperture in a mine.\u2014Ed.\n\n[34] \u201cTines\u201d; from the Saxon; the teeth or spikes in the rowel of a\nspur.\u2014Ed.\n\n[35] \u201cBlessed is the man that feareth the Lord.\u201d Blessedness shall\nattend him all the way to heaven, in proportion as that fear abounds.\nIt is a heaven on earth to live in the constant fear of God\u2014to have a\nreverential awe and fear of his majesty immovably fixed and implanted\nin the soul. The grace of fear has an eminent influence in a\nChristian\u2019s sanctification; it is a powerful restraint from sin. A holy\nfear of God, and a humble fear of ourselves, which are alike of Divine\noperation, will preserve us from sin and engage us to obedience. God\nwill be our protector and instructor, our guide and our everlasting\ndeliverer from all evil. Let us not rest satisfied with the greatest\nattainments short of \u201cperfecting holiness in the fear of God.\u201d\u2014Mason.\n\n[36] By the goats we are to understand the hypocrites and the finally\nimpenitent, who will depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the\ndevil and his angels; see Matthew 25:32, 33-41.\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DOCTRINE\n\nOF\n\nTHE LAW AND GRACE UNFOLDED;\n\nOR,\n\nA DISCOURSE TOUCHING THE LAW AND GRACE; THE NATURE OF THE ONE, AND THE\nNATURE OF THE OTHER; SHOWING WHAT THEY ARE, AS THEY ARE THE TWO\nCOVENANTS; AND LIKEWISE, WHO THEY BE, AND WHAT THEIR CONDITIONS ARE,\nTHAT BE UNDER EITHER OF THESE TWO COVENANTS:\n\n\nWherein, for the better understanding of the reader, there are several\nquestions answered touching the law and grace, very easy to be read,\nand as easy to be understood, by those that are the sons of wisdom, the\nchildren of the second covenant.\n\n\u201cFor the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope\ndid; by the which we draw nigh unto God\u201d (Heb 7:19).\n\n\u201cTherefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the\ndeeds of the law\u201d (Rom 3:28).\n\n\u201cTo him [therefore] that worketh not, but believeth on Him that\njustifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness\u201d (Rom\n4:5).\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nIt is difficult to understand those peculiar trials which called forth\nthe mighty energies of Bunyan\u2019s mind, unless we are acquainted with the\ntimes in which he lived. The trammels of statecraft and priestcraft had\nbeen suddenly removed from religion, and men were left to form their\nown opinions as to rites and ceremonies. In this state of abrupt\nliberty, some wild enthusiasts ran into singular errors; and Bunyan\u2019s\nfirst work on \u201cGospel Truths\u201d was published to correct them. Then\nfollowed that alarm to thoughtless souls\u2014\u201cA Few Sighs from Hell\u201d; and,\nin 1659, as a further declaration of the most important truths of\nrevelation, this work on the two covenants was sent forth to chastise\nerror, and comfort the saints of God. It was published many times\nduring the author\u2019s life; and since then, to a late period, very large\nimpressions have been circulated. Upon a subject of such vast\nimportance\u2014upon which hangs all our eternal interests\u2014all our\nindescribable joys or sorrows in a future and never-ending state\u2014the\nrequirements of our Creator\u2014and His gracious provision of pardoning\nmercy, upon our failing to keep His Law\u2014these are subjects of intense\ninterest. How important is it that all our researches into these solemn\nrealities should be guided simply by the revealed will of God! That was\nthe fountain at which Bunyan drunk in all his knowledge; and with\nsimplicity, and most earnest desire to promote the glory of God in the\nsalvation of sinners, he here gives the result of his patient,\nprayerful, painful investigation. The humble dependence upon Divine\nmercy which the author felt is very striking. He was sensible of his\nwant of education; \u201cno vain, whimsical, scholar-like terms\u201d\u2014no\nphilosophy from Plato or Aristotle. He felt, as to human teaching, his\nweakness, but proved that, \u201cwhen he was weak, then was he strong.\u201d He\nclaimed an interest in the fervent prayers of his fellow saints\u2014\u201cMy\nheart is vile, the devil lieth at watch, trust myself I dare not; if\nGod do not help me, my heart will deceive me.\u201d This was the proper\nspirit in which to enter upon so solemn a subject; and the aid he\nsought was vouchsafed to him, and appears throughout this important\nwork. His first object is to define what is the Law, a strict obedience\nto which is exacted upon all mankind. It was given to Adam, and was\nafterwards more fully developed upon Mount Sinai. It commands implicit,\nuniversal, perfect obedience, upon pain of eternal ruin. He shows us\nthat man, under the influence of that law, and while a stranger to the\nLaw of Grace, may repent and reform his conduct, become a member of a\nChristian church, be a virgin waiting for his Lord, \u201cbut not step even\nupon the lowest round of the ladder that reacheth to heaven.\u201d While man\nis a stranger to the new birth, \u201chis destiny is the lion\u2019s den; yea,\nworse than that, to be thrown into Hell to the very devils.\u201d Bunyan in\nthis, as well as all other of his works, is awfully severe upon those\nwho say, \u201cLet us sin that grace may abound,\u201d perverting the consolatory\ndoctrine of Divine grace to their souls\u2019 destruction. \u201cWhat! because\nChrist is a Saviour, wilt thou be a sinner! because His grace abounds,\ntherefore thou wilt abound in sin! O wicked wretch! rake Hell all over,\nand surely I think thy fellow will scarce be found. If Christ will not\nserve their turn, but they must have their sins too, take them, Devil;\nif Heaven will not satisfy them, take them, Hell; devour them, burn\nthem, Hell!\u201d \u201cTell the hogs of this world what a hog-sty is prepared\nfor them, even such an one as a God hath prepared to put the devil and\nhis angels into.\u201d\n\nTo the distressed, sin-beaten Christian, this book abounds with\nconsolation, and instructions how to overcome the devices of Satan, who\nwill plant the Ten Commandments, like ten great guns, to destroy thy\nhopes. \u201cLearn to outshoot the devil in his own bow, and to cut off his\nhead with his own sword. Doth Satan tell thee thou prayest but faintly\nand with cold devotions? Answer him, I am glad you told me, I will\ntrust the more to Christ\u2019s prayers, and groan, sigh, and cry more\nearnestly at the Throne of Grace.\u201d To such readers as have been driven\nto the verge of despair by a fear of having committed the unpardonable\nsin, here is strong consolation, and a very explicit scriptural\ndefinition of that awful crime. Want of space prevents me adding more\nthan my earnest desire that the reading of this treatise may be\nproductive of solid peace and comfort.\u2014ED.\n\nTHE EPISTLE TO THE READER\n\nREADER,\n\n\nIf at any time there be held forth by the preacher the freeness and\nfullness of the Gospel, together with the readiness of the Lord of\nPeace to receive those that have any desire thereto, presently it is\nthe spirit of the world to cry out, Sure this man disdains the law,\nslights the law, and counts that of none effect; and all because there\nis not, together with the Gospel, mingled the doctrine of the law,\nwhich is not a right dispensing of the Word according to truth and\nknowledge. Again; if there be the terror, horror, and severity of the\nlaw discovered to a people by the servants of Jesus Christ, though they\ndo not speak of it to the end people should trust to it, by relying on\nit as it is a covenant of works; but rather that they should be driven\nfurther from that covenant, even to embrace the tenders and privileges\nof the second, yet, poor souls, because they are unacquainted with the\nnatures of these two covenants, or either of them, therefore, \u201cthey\nsay,\u201d \u201cHere is nothing but preaching of the law, thundering of the\nlaw\u201d; when, alas, if these two be not held forth\u2014to wit, the Covenant\nof Works and the Covenant of Grace, together with the nature of the one\nand the nature of the other\u2014souls will never be able either to know\nwhat they are by nature or what they lie under. Also, neither can they\nunderstand what grace is, nor how to come from under the law to meet\nGod in and through that other most glorious covenant, through which and\nonly through which, God can communicate of Himself grace, glory, yea,\neven all the good things of another world.\n\nI, having considered these things, together with others, have made bold\nto present yet once more to thy view, my friend, something of the mind\nof God, to the end, if it shall be but blessed to thee, thou mayest be\nbenefited thereby; for verily these things are not such as are ordinary\nand of small concernment, but do absolutely concern thee to know, and\nthat experimentally too, if ever thou do partake of the glory of God\nthrough Jesus Christ, and so escape the terror and insupportable\nvengeance that will otherwise come upon thee through His justice,\nbecause of thy living and dying in thy transgressions against the Law\nof God. And therefore, while thou livest here below, it is thy duty, if\nthou wish thyself happy for the time to come, to give up thyself to the\nstudying of these two covenants treated of in the ensuing discourse;\nand so to study them until thou, through grace, do not only get the\nnotion of the one and of the other in thy head, but until thou do feel\nthe very power, life, and glory of the one and of the other: for take\nthis for granted, he that is dark as touching the scope, intent, and\nnature of the law, is also dark as to the scope, nature, and glory of\nthe Gospel; and also he that hath but a notion of the one, will barely\nhave any more than a notion of the other.\n\nAnd the reason is this: because so long as people are ignorant of the\nnature of the law, and of their being under it\u2014that is, under the curse\nand condemning power of it, by reason of their sin against it\u2014so long\nthey will be careless, and negligent as to the inquiring after the true\nknowledge of the Gospel. Before the commandment came\u2014that is, in the\nspirituality of it\u2014Paul was alive\u2014that is, thought himself safe; which\nis clear, (Rom 7:9,10 compared with Phil 3:5-11, etc). But when that\ncame, and was indeed discovered unto him by the Spirit of the Lord,\nthen Paul dies (Rom 7) to all his former life (Phil 3) and that man\nwhich before could content himself to live, though ignorant of the\nGospel, cries out now, \u201cI count all things but loss for the excellency\nof the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord\u201d (verse 8). Therefore, I say,\nso long they will be ignorant of the nature of the Gospel, and how\nglorious a thing it is to be found within the bounds of it; for we use\nto say, that man that knoweth not himself to be sick, that man will not\nlook out for himself a physician; and this Christ knew full well when\nHe saith, \u201cThe whole have no need of the physician, but the sick\u201d;1\nthat is, none will in truth desire the physician unless they know they\nbe sick. That man also that hath got but a notion of the law\u2014a notion,\nthat is, the knowledge of it in the head, so as to discourse and talk\nof it\u2014if he hath not felt the power of it, and that effectually too, it\nis to be feared will at the best be but a notionist in the Gospel; he\nwill not have the experimental knowledge of the same in his heart; nay,\nhe will not seek nor heartily desire after it; and all because, as I\nsaid before, he hath not experience of the wounding, cutting, killing\nnature of the other.\n\nI say, therefore, if thou wouldst know the authority and power of the\nGospel, labour first to know the power and authority of the law; for\nI am verily persuaded that the want of this one thing\u2014namely, the\nknowledge of the law, is one cause why so many are ignorant of the\nother. That man that doth not know the law doth not know in deed and\nin truth that he is a sinner; and that man that doth not know he is a\nsinner, doth not know savingly that there is a Saviour.\n\nAgain; that man that doth not know the nature of the law, that man doth\nnot know the nature of sin; and that man that knoweth not the nature of\nsin, will not regard to know the nature of a Saviour; this is proved\n(John 8:31-36). These people were professors, and yet did not know the\ntruth\u2014the Gospel; and the reason was, because they did not know\nthemselves, and so not the law. I would not have thee mistake me,\nChristian reader; I do not say that the law of itself will lead any\nsoul to Jesus Christ; but the soul being killed by the law, through the\noperation of its severity seizing on the soul, then the man, if he be\nenlightened by the Spirit of Christ to see where remedy is to be had,\nwill not, through grace, be contented without the real and saving\nknowledge through faith of Him.\n\nIf thou wouldst, then, wash thy face clean, first take a glass and see\nwhere it is dirty; that is, if thou wouldst indeed have thy sins washed\naway by the blood of Christ, labour first to see them in the glass of\nthe law, and do not be afraid to see thy besmeared condition, but look\non every spot thou hast; for he that looks on the foulness of his face\nby the halves, will wash by the halves; even so, he that looks on his\nsins by the halves, he will seek for Christ by the halves. Reckon\nthyself, therefore, I say, the biggest sinner in the world, and be\npersuaded that there is none worse than thyself; then let the guilt of\nit seize on thy heart, then also go in that case and condition to Jesus\nChrist, and plunge thyself into His merits and the virtue of His blood;\nand after that, thou shalt speak of the things of the law and of the\nGospel experimentally, and the very language of the children of God\nshall feelingly drop from thy lips, and not till then (James 1).\n\nLet this therefore learn thee thus much: he that hath not seen his lost\ncondition hath not seen a safe condition; he that did never see himself\nin the devil\u2019s snare, did never see himself in Christ\u2019s bosom. \u201cThis my\nSon was dead, and is alive again: he was lost, and is found.\u201d \u201cAmong\nwhom we also had our conversation in time past.\u201d 2 \u201cBut now are (so\nmany of us as believe) returned unto\u201d Jesus Christ, \u201cthe\u201d chief\n\u201cShepherd and Bishop of your souls.\u201d\n\nI say, therefore, if thou do find in this treatise, in the first place,\nsomething touching the nature, end, and extent of the law, do not thou\ncry out, therefore, all of a sudden, saying, \u201cHere is nothing but the\nterror, horror, and thundering sentences of the law.\u201d\n\nAgain; if thou do find in the second part of this discourse something\nof the freeness and fullness of the Gospel, do not thou say neither,\n\u201cHere is nothing but grace, therefore, surely, an undervaluing of the\nlaw.\u201d No; but read it quite through, and so consider of it; and I hope\nthou shalt find the two covenants\u2014which all men are under, either the\none or the other\u2014discovered, and held forth in their natures, ends,\nbounds, together with the state and condition of them that are under\nthe one, and of them that are under the other.\n\nThere be some that through ignorance do say how that such men as preach\nterror and amazement to sinners are beside the book, and are ministers\nof the letter\u2014the law, and not of the Spirit\u2014the Gospel; but I would\nanswer them, citing them to the Sixteenth of Luke, from the nineteenth\nverse to the end; and (1 Cor 6:9,10; Gal 3:10; Rom 3:9-19) only this\ncaution I would give by the way, how that they which preach terror to\ndrive souls to the obtaining of salvation by the works of the law, that\npreaching is not the right Gospel preaching; yet when saints speak of\nthe sad state that man are in by nature, to discover to souls their\nneed of the Gospel, this is honest preaching, and he that doth do so,\nhe doth the work of a Gospel minister (Rom 3:9-25).\n\nAgain, there are others that say, because we do preach the free, full,\nand exceeding grace discovered in the Gospel, therefore we make void\nthe law; when indeed, unless the Gospel be held forth in the glory\nthereof without confusion, by mingling the Covenant of Works therewith,\nthe law cannot be established. \u201cDo we then make void the law through\nfaith,\u201d or preaching of the Gospel; nay, stay, saith Paul, \u201cGod forbid:\nyea, we establish the law\u201d (Rom 3:31).\n\nAnd verily, he that will indeed establish the law, or set it in its own\nplace, for so I understand the words, must be sure to hold forth the\nGospel in its right colour and nature; for if a man be ignorant of the\nnature of the Gospel and the Covenant of Grace, they, or he, will be\nvery apt to remove the law out of its place, and that because they are\nignorant, not knowing \u201cwhat they say, nor whereof they affirm.\u201d\n\nAnd let me tell you, if a man be ignorant of the Covenant of Grace, and\nthe bounds and boundlessness of the Gospel, though he speak and make\nmention of the name of the Father, and of the Son, and also of the name\nof the new covenant, and the blood of Christ, yet at this very time,\nand in these very words, he will preach nothing but the law, and that\nas a Covenant of Works.\n\nReader, I must confess it is a wonderfully mysterious thing, and he had\nneed have a wiser spirit than his own that can rightly set these two\ncovenants in their right places, that when he speaks of the one he doth\nnot jostle the other out of its place. O, to be so well enlightened as\nto speak of the one\u2014that is, the law\u2014for to magnify the Gospel; and\nalso to speak of the Gospel so as to establish, and yet not to idolize,\nthe law, nor any particular thereof! It is rare, and to be heard and\nfound but in very few men\u2019s breasts.\n\nIf thou shouldst say, What is it to speak to each of these two\ncovenants so as to set them in their right places, and also to use the\nterror of the one so as to magnify and advance the glory of the other?\nTo this I shall answer also, read the ensuing discourse, but with an\nunderstanding heart, and it is like thou wilt find a reply therein to\nthe same purpose, which may be to thy satisfaction.\n\nReader, if thou do find this book empty of fantastical expressions, and\nwithout light, vain, whimsical, scholar-like terms, thou must\nunderstand it is because I never went to school to Aristotle, or Plato,\nbut was brought up at my father\u2019s house, in a very mean condition,\namong a company of poor countrymen. But if thou do find a parcel of\nplain, yet sound, true, and home sayings, attribute that to the Lord\nJesus His gifts and abilities, which He hath bestowed upon such a poor\ncreature as I am and have been. And if thou, being a seeing Christian,\ndost find me coming short, though rightly touching at some things,\nattribute that either to my brevity, or, if thou wilt, to my\nweaknesses, for I am full of them. A word or two more, and so I shall\nhave done with this.\n\nFirst. And the first is, Friend, if thou do not desire the salvation of\nthy soul, yet I pray thee to read this book over with serious\nconsideration; it may be it will stir up in thee some desires to look\nout after it, which at present thou mayest be without.\n\nSecondly, If thou dost find any stirrings in thy heart by thy reading\nsuch an unworthy man\u2019s works as mine are, be sure that in the first\nplace thou give glory to God, and give way to thy convictions, and be\nnot too hasty in getting them off from thy conscience; but let them so\nwork till thou dost see thyself by nature void of all graces, as faith,\nhope, knowledge of God, Christ, and the Covenant of Grace.\n\nThirdly, Then, in the next place, fly in all haste to Jesus Christ,\nthou being sensible of thy lost condition without Him, secretly\npersuading of thy soul that Jesus Christ standeth open-armed to receive\nthee, to wash away thy sins, to clothe thee with His righteousness, and\nis willing, yea, heartily willing, to present thee before the presence\nof the glory of God and among the innumerable company of angels with\nexceeding joy. This being thus, in the next place, do not satisfy\nthyself with these secret and first persuasions, which do or may\nencourage thee to come to Jesus Christ; but be restless till thou dost\nfind by blessed experience the glorious glory of this the second\ncovenant extended unto thee, and sealed upon thy soul with the very\nSpirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that thou mayest not slight this\nmy counsel, I beseech thee, in the second place, consider these\nfollowing things\u2014\n\nFirst, If thou dost get off thy convictions, and not the right way\n(which is by seeing thy sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ),\nit is a question whether ever God will knock at thy heart again or no;\nbut rather say, such an one \u201cis joined to idols, let him alone\u201d (Hosea\n4:17). Though he be in a natural state, \u201clet him alone.\u201d Though he be\nin or under the curse of the law, \u201clet him alone.\u201d Though he be in the\nvery hand of the devil, \u201clet him alone.\u201d Though he be a-going\npost-haste to Hell, \u201clet him alone.\u201d Though his damnation will not only\nbe damnation for sins against the law, but also for slighting the\nGospel, yet \u201clet him alone.\u201d My Spirit, My ministers, My Word, My\ngrace, My mercy, My love, My pity, My common providences, shall no more\nstrive with him; \u201clet him alone.\u201d O sad! O miserable! who would slight\nconvictions that are on their souls, which (if not slighted) tend so\nmuch for their good?\n\nSecondly, If thou shalt not regard how thou do put off convictions, but\nput them off without the precious blood of Christ being savingly\napplied to thy soul, thou art sure to have the mis-spending of that\nconviction to prove the hardening of thy heart against the next time\nthou art to hear the Word preached or read. This is commonly seen, that\nthose souls that have not regarded those convictions that are at first\nset upon their spirits, do commonly, and that by the just judgments of\nGod upon them, grow more hard, more senseless, more seared and sottish\nin their spirits; for some, who formerly would quake and weep, and\nrelent under the hearing of the Word, do now for the present sit so\nsenseless, so seared, and hardened in their consciences, that certainly\nif they should have hell-fire thrown in their faces, as it sometimes\ncried up in their ears, they would scarce be moved; and this comes upon\nthem as a just judgment of God (2 Thess 2:11,12).\n\nThirdly, If thou do slight these, or those convictions that may be set\nupon thy heart by reading of this discourse, or hearing of any other\ngood man preach the Word of God sincerely, thou wilt have the stifling\nof these or those convictions to account and answer for at the day of\njudgment; not only thy sins, that are commonly committed by thee in thy\ncalling and common discourse, but thou shalt be called to a reckoning\nfor slighting convictions, disregarding of convictions, which God useth\nas a special means to make poor sinners see their lost condition and\nthe need of a Saviour. Now here I might add many more considerations\nbesides these, to the end thou mayest be willing to tend and listen to\nconvictions; as,\n\nFirst, Consider thou hast a precious soul, more worth than the whole\nworld; and this is commonly worked upon, if ever it be saved, by\nconvictions.\n\nSecondly, This soul is for certain to go to Hell, if thou shalt be a\nslighter of convictions.\n\nThirdly, If that go to Hell, thy body must go thither too, and then\nnever to come out again. \u201cNow consider this, ye that\u201d are apt to\n\u201cforget God,\u201d and His convictions, \u201clest He tear you in pieces, and\nthere be none to deliver\u201d (Psa 50:22).\n\nBut if thou shalt be such an one that shall, notwithstanding thy\nreading of thy misery, and also of God\u2019s mercy, shall persist to go on\nin thy sins, know, in the first place, that here thou shalt be left, by\nthe things that thou readest, without excuse; and in the world to come\nthy damnation will be exceedingly aggravated for thy not regarding of\nthem, and turning from thy sins, which were not only reproved by them,\nbut also for rejecting of that Word of Grace that did instruct thee how\nand which way thou shouldst be saved from them. And so farewell; I\nshall leave thee, and also this discourse, to God, who I know will pass\na righteous judgment both upon that and thee. I am yours, though not to\nserve your lusts and filthy minds, yet to reprove, instruct, and,\naccording to that proportion of faith and knowledge which God hath\ngiven me, to declare unto you the way of life and salvation. Your\njudgings, railings, surmisings, and disdaining of me, that I shall\nleave till the fiery judgment comes, in which the offender shall not go\nunpunished, be he you or me; yet I shall pray for you, wish well to\nyou, and do you what good I can. And that I might not write or speak in\nvain, Christian, pray for me to our God with much earnestness,\nfervency, and frequently, in all your knockings at our Father\u2019s door,\nbecause I do very much stand in need thereof; for my work is great, my\nheart is vile, the devil lieth at watch, the world would fain be\nsaying, \u201cAha, aha, thus we would have it\u201d; and of myself, keep myself I\ncannot; trust myself I dare not; if God do not help me, I am sure it\nwill not be long before my heart deceive me, and the world would have\ntheir advantage of me, and so God be dishonoured by me, and thou also\nashamed to own me. O, therefore, be much in prayer for me, thy fellow!\nI trust, in that glorious grace that is conveyed from Heaven to\nsinners, by which they are not only sanctified here in this world, but\nshall be glorified in that which is to come; unto which, the Lord of\nHis mercy bring us all.\n\nJohn Bunyan. ___________________\n\nThese are several titles which are set over the several TRUTHS\ncontained in this book, for thy sooner finding of them\u2014\n\nTHE FIRST PART\n\n\n1. The words of the text opened, and the doctrines laid down. [This\ndoctrine, that there are some that are under the law, or under the\nCovenant of Works.] 2. What the Covenant of Works is, and when it is\ngiven. 3. What it is to be under the Covenant of Works. 4. Who they are\nthat are under the Covenant of Works. 5. What men may attain to that\nare under this Covenant of Works.\n\nTHE SECOND PART\n\n\n1. The doctrine proved. 2. The new covenant made with Christ. 3. The\nconditions of the new covenant. 4. The suretiship of Christ. 5. Christ\nthe Messenger of the new covenant. 6. Christ the Sacrifice of the new\ncovenant. 7. Christ the High Priest of the new covenant. 8. Christ\ncompletely fulfilled the conditions of the new covenant. 9. The\nCovenant of Grace unchangeable; the opposers answered. 10. Who, and how\nmen are actually brought into the new covenant. 11. A word of\nexperience. 12. The privileges of the new covenant. 13. Two Hell-bred\nobjections answered. 14. A use of examination about the old covenant.\n15. A legal spirit. 16. The use of the new covenant. 17. The\nunpardonable sin. 18. Objections answered for their comfort who would\nhave their part in the new covenant. ___________________\n\nTHE DOCTRINE OF THE LAW AND GRACE UNFOLDED; OR, A DISCOVERY OF THE LAW\nAND GRACE; THE NATURE OF THE ONE, AND THE NATURE OF THE OTHER, AS THEY\nARE THE TWO COVENANTS, ETC.\n\n\n\u201cFOR YE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE\u201d (Rom 6:14).\n\n[THE WORDS OF THE TEXT OPENED, AND THE DOCTRINES LAID DOWN.]\n\n\nIn the three former chapters, the Apostle is pleading for the salvation\nof sinners by grace without the works of the law, to the end he might\nconfirm the saints, and also that he might win over all those that did\noppose the truth of this doctrine, or else leave them the more without\nexcuse; and that he might so do, he taketh in hand, first, to show the\nstate of all men naturally, or as they come into the world by\ngeneration, saying, in the Third Chapter, \u201cThere is none righteous, no,\nnot one; there is none that understandeth; there is none that doeth\ngood,\u201d etc. As if he had said, It seems there is a generation of men\nthat think to be saved by the righteousness of the law; but let me tell\nthem that they are much deceived, in that they have already sinned\nagainst the law; for by the disobedience of one, many, yea all, were\nbrought into a state of condemnation (Rom 5:12-20). Now, in the Sixth\nChapter he doth, as if he had turned him round to the brethren, and\nsaid, My brethren, you see now that it is clear and evident that it is\nfreely by the grace of Christ that we do inherit eternal life. And\nagain, for your comfort, my brethren, let me tell you that your\ncondition is wondrous safe, in that you are under grace; for, saith he,\n\u201cSin shall not have dominion over you\u201d; that is, neither the damning\npower, neither the filthy power, so as to destroy your souls: \u201cFor ye\nare not under the law\u201d; that is, you are not under that that will damn\nyou for sin; \u201cbut\u201d you are \u201cunder grace,\u201d or stand thus in relation to\nGod, that though you have sinned, yet you shall be pardoned. \u201cFor ye\nare not under the law, but under grace.\u201d If any should ask what is the\nmeaning of the word \u201cunder,\u201d I answer, it signifieth, you are not held,\nkept, or shut up by it so as to appear before God under that\nadministration, and none but that; or thus, you are not now bound by\nthe authority of the law to fulfill it and obey it, so as to have no\nsalvation without you so do; or thus, if you transgress against any one\ntittle of it, you by the power of it must be condemned. No, no, for you\nare not so under it; that is, not thus under the law. Again, \u201cFor ye\nare not under the law.\u201d What is meant by this word \u201claw\u201d? The word\n\u201claw,\u201d in Scripture, may be taken more ways than one, as might be\nlargely cleared. There is the law of faith, the law of sin, the law of\nmen, the law of works, otherwise called the Covenant of Works, or the\nfirst or old covenant. \u201cIn that He saith a new covenant,\u201d which is the\ngrace of God, or commonly called the Covenant of Grace, \u201cHe hath made\nthe first old,\u201d that is, the Covenant of Works, or the law (Heb 8:13).\nI say, therefore, the word \u201claw\u201d and the word \u201cgrace,\u201d in this Sixth of\nthe Romans, do hold forth the two covenants which all men are under;\nthat is, either the one or the other. \u201cFor ye are not under the\nlaw\u201d\u2014that is, you to whom I do now write these words, who are and have\nbeen effectually brought into the faith of Jesus, you are not under the\nlaw, or under the Covenant of Works. He doth not, therefore, apply\nthese words to all, but to some, when he saith, \u201cBut ye\u201d; mark, ye, ye\nbelievers, ye converted persons, ye saints, ye that have been born.\n(YE) \u201cfor ye are not under the law,\u201d implying others are that are in\ntheir natural state, that have not been brought in to the Covenant of\nGrace by faith in Jesus Christ.\n\nThe words, therefore, being thus understood, there is discovered these\ntwo truths in them\u2014DOCTRINE FIRST. That there are some in Gospel times\nthat are under the Covenant of Works. DOCTRINE SECOND. That there is\nnever a believer under the law, as it is the Covenant of Works, but\nunder grace through Christ. \u201cFor ye,\u201d you believers, you converted\npersons, ye \u201care not under the law but under grace\u201d; or, for you are\ndelivered and brought into or under the Covenant of Grace.\n\nDOCTRINE FIRST.\n\n\nFor the first, THAT THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE UNDER THE LAW, OR UNDER THE\nCOVENANT OF WORKS, see, I pray you, that Scripture in the Third of the\nRomans, where the Apostle, speaking before of sins against the law, and\nof the denunciations thereof against those that are in that condition,\nhe saith, \u201cWhat things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are\nunder the law\u201d; mark, \u201cit saith to them who are under the law, that\nevery mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God\u201d\n(Rom 3:19). That is, all those that are under the law as a Covenant of\nWorks, that are yet in their sins, and unconverted, as I told you\nbefore. Again he saith, \u201cBut if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not\nunder the law\u201d (Gal 5:18). Implying again, that those which are for\nsinning against the law, or the works of the law, either as it is the\nold covenant, these are under the law, and not under the Covenant of\nGrace. Again he saith, \u201cFor as many as are of the works of the law are\nunder the curse\u201d (Gal 3:10). That is, they that are under the law are\nunder the curse; for mark, they that are under the Covenant of Grace\nare not under the curse. Now, there are but two covenants, therefore,\nit must needs be that they that are under the curse are under the law,\nseeing those that are under the other covenant are not under the curse,\nbut under the blessing. \u201cSo, then, they which be of faith are blessed\nwith faithful Abraham,\u201d but the rest are under the law (Gal 3:9).\n\nNow I shall proceed to what I do intend to speak unto. FIRST. I shall\nshow you what the Covenant of Works, or the law, is, and when it was\nfirst given, together with the nature of it. SECOND. I shall show you\nwhat it is to be under the law, or Covenant of Works, and the miserable\nstate of all those that are under it. THIRD. I shall show you who they\nare that are under this covenant, or law. FOURTH. I shall show you how\nfar a man may go and yet be under this covenant, or law.\n\n[WHAT THE COVENANT OF WORKS IS, AND WHEN IT WAS GIVEN.]\n\n\nFIRST. What this Covenant of Works is, and when it was given. [What\nthis covenant is.] The Covenant of Works or the law, here spoken of, is\nthe law delivered upon Mount Sinai to Moses, in two tables of stone, in\nten particular branches or heads; for this see Galatians 4. The\nApostle, speaking there of the law, and of some also that through\ndelusions of false doctrine were brought again, as it were, under it,\nor at least were leaning that way (verse 21) he saith, As for you that\ndesire to be under the law, I will show you the mystery of Abraham\u2019s\ntwo sons, which he had by Hagar and Sarah; these two do signify the two\ncovenants; the one named Hagar signifies Mount Sinai, where the law was\ndelivered to Moses on two tables of stone (Exo 24:12; 34:1; Deu 10:1).\nWhich is that, that whosoever is under, he is destitute of, and\naltogether without the grace of Christ in his heart at the present.\n\u201cFor I testify again to every man,\u201d saith he, speaking to the same\npeople, that \u201cChrist has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you\nare justified by the law,\u201d namely, that given on Mount Sinai\u2014\u201cye are\nfallen from grace\u201d (Gal 5:3,4). That is, not that any can be justified\nby the law; but this meaning is, that all those that seek justification\nby the works of the law, they are not such as seek to be under the\nsecond covenant, the Covenant of Grace. Also the Apostle, speaking\nagain of these two covenants, saith, \u201cBut if the ministration of\ndeath,\u201d or the law, for it is all one, \u201cwritten and engraven in\nstones,\u201d mark that, \u201cwas glorious, how shall not the ministration of\nthe Spirit,\u201d or the Covenant of Grace, \u201cbe rather glorious?\u201d (2 Cor\n3:7,8). As if he had said, It is true, there was a glory in the\nCovenant of Works, and a very great excellency did appear in it\u2014namely,\nin that given in the stones on Sinai\u2014yet there is another covenant, the\nCovenant of Grace, that doth exceed it for comfort and glory.\n\n[When it was given.] But, though this law was delivered to Moses from\nthe hands of angels in two tables of stones, on Mount Sinai, yet this\nwas not the first appearing of this law to man; but even this in\nsubstance, though possibly not so openly, was given to the first man,\nAdam, in the Garden of Eden, in these words: \u201cAnd the LORD God\ncommanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest\nfreely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou\nshalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt\nsurely die\u201d (Gen 2:16,17). Which commandment then given to Adam did\ncontain in it a forbidding to do any of those things that was and is\naccounted evil, although at that time it did not appear so plainly, in\nso many particular heads, as it did when it was again delivered on\nMount Sinai; but yet the very same. And that I shall prove thus\u2014\n\nGod commanded Adam in Paradise to abstain from all evil against the\nfirst covenant, and not from some sins only; but if God had not\ncommanded Adam to abstain from the sins spoken against in the Ten\nCommandments, He had not commanded to abstain from all, but from some;\ntherefore it must needs be that He then commanded to abstain from all\nsins forbidden in the law given on Mount Sinai. Now that God commanded\nto abstain from all evil or sin against any of the Ten Commandments,\nwhen He gave Adam the command in the garden, it is evident that He did\npunish the sins that were committed against those commands that were\nthen delivered on Mount Sinai, before they were delivered on Mount\nSinai, which will appear as followeth\u2014\n\nThe First, Second, and Third Commandments were broken by Pharaoh and\nhis men; for they had false gods which the Lord executed judgment\nagainst (Exo 12:12); and blasphemed their true God (Exo 5:2) which\nescaped not punishment (Exo 7:17-25). For their gods could neither\ndeliver themselves nor their people from the hand of God; but \u201cin the\nthing wherein they dealt proudly, He was above them\u201d (Exo 18:11).\n\nAgain; some judge that the Lord punished the sin against the Second\nCommandment, which Jacob was in some measure guilty of in not purging\nhis house from false gods, with the defiling of his daughter Dinah (Gen\n34:2).\n\nAgain; we find that Abimelech thought the sin against the Third\nCommandment so great, that he required no other security of Abraham\nagainst the fear of mischief that might be done to him by Abraham, his\nson, and his son\u2019s son, but only Abraham\u2019s oath (Gen 21:23). The like\nwe see between Abimelech and Isaac (Gen 31:53). The like we find in\nMoses and the Israelites, who durst not leave the bones of Joseph in\nEgypt, because of the oath of the Lord, whose name, by so doing, would\nhave been abused (Exo 13:19).\n\nAnd we find the Lord rebuking His people for the breach of the Fourth\nCommandment (Exo 16:27-29).\n\nAnd for the breach of the Fifth, the curse came upon Ham (Gen 9:25-27).\nAnd Ishmael dishonouring his father in mocking Isaac was cast out, as\nwe read (Gen 21:9,10). The sons-in-law of Lot for slighting their\nfather perish in the overthrow of Sodom (Gen 19:14).\n\nThe Sixth Commandment was broken by Cain, and so dreadful a curse and\npunishment came upon him that it made him cry out, \u201cMy punishment is\ngreater than I can bear\u201d (Gen 4:13).\n\nAgain; when Esau threatened to slay his brother, Rebecca sent him away,\nsaying, \u201cWhy should I be deprived also of you both in one day?\u201d hinting\nunto us, that she knew murder was to be punished with death (Gen 27:45)\nwhich the Lord Himself declared likewise to Noah (Gen 9:6).3 Again; a\nnotable example of the Lord\u2019s justice in punishing murder we see in the\nEgyptians and Pharaoh, who drowned the Israelites\u2019 children in the\nriver (Exo 1:22); and they themselves were drowned in the sea (Exo\n14:27).\n\nThe sin against the Seventh Commandment was punished in the Sodomites,\netc., with the utter destruction of their city and themselves (Gen\n19:24,25). Yea, they suffer \u201cthe vengeance of eternal fire\u201d (Jude 7).\nAlso the male Shechemites, for the sin committed by Hamor\u2019s son, were\nall put to the sword (Gen 34:25,26).\n\nOur first parents sinned against the Eighth Commandment in taking the\nforbidden fruit, and so brought the curse on themselves and their\nposterity (Gen 3:16). Again; the punishment due to the breach of this\nCommandment was by Jacob accounted death (Gen 31:30,32). And also by\nJacob\u2019s sons (Gen 44:9,10).\n\nCain sinning against the Ninth Commandment as in Genesis 4:9, was\ntherefore cursed as to the earth (Verse 11). And Abraham, though the\nfriend of God, was blamed for false-witness by Pharaoh, and sent out of\nEgypt (Gen 12:18-20) and both he and Sarah reproved by Abimelech (Gen\n20:9,10,16).\n\nPharaoh sinned against the Tenth Commandment, and was therefore plagued\nwith great plagues (Gen 12:15,17). Abimelech coveted Abraham\u2019s wife,\nand the Lord threatened death to him and his, except he restored her\nagain; yea, though he had not come near her, yet for coveting and\ntaking her the Lord fast closed up the wombs of his house (Gen\n20:3,18).\n\n[Further Arguments.] I could have spoken more fully to this, but that I\nwould not be too tedious, but speak what I have to say with as much\nbrevity as I can. But before I pass it, I will besides this give you an\nargument or two more for the further clearing of this, that the\nsubstance of the law delivered on Mount Sinai was, before that,\ndelivered by the Lord to man in the garden. As, first, \u201cdeath reigned\nover them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam\u2019s\ntransgression\u201d\u2014that is, though they did not take the forbidden fruit as\nAdam did; but had the transgression been no other, or had their sin\nbeen laid to the charge of none but those that did eat of that fruit,\nthen those that were born to Adam after he was shut out of the garden\nhad not had sin, in that they did not actually eat of that fruit, and\nso had not been slaves to death; but, in that death did reign from Adam\nto Moses, of from the time of his transgression against the first\ngiving of the law, till the time the law was given on Mount Sinai, it\nis evident that the substance of the Ten Commandments was given to Adam\nand his posterity under that command, \u201cEat not of the tree that is in\nthe midst of the garden.\u201d But yet, if any shall say that it was because\nof the sin of their father that death reigned over them, to that I\nshall answer, that although original sin be laid to the charge of his\nposterity, yet it is also for their sins that they actually committed\nthat they were plagued. And again, saith the Apostle, \u201cFor where no law\nis, there is no transgression\u201d (Rom 4:15). For \u201csin is not imputed when\nthere is no law; nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses.\u201d saith\nhe (Rom 5:13,14). But if there had been no law, then there had been no\ntransgression, and so no death to follow after as the wages thereof;\nfor death is the wages of sin (Rom 6:23) and sin is the breach of the\nlaw; an actual breach in our particular persons, as well as an actual\nbreach in our public person (1 John 3:4). 4\n\nAgain; there are no other sins than those against that law given on\nSinai, for the which those sins before mentioned were punished;\ntherefore the law given before by the Lord to Adam and his posterity is\nthe same with that afterwards given on Mount Sinai. Again; the\nconditions of that on Sinai and of that in the garden are all one; the\none saying, \u201cDo this and live,\u201d the other saying the same. Also\njudgment denounced against men in both kinds alike; therefore this law\nit appeareth to be the very same that was given on Mount Sinai.\n\nAgain; the Apostle speaketh but of two covenants\u2014to wit, grace and\nworks\u2014under which two covenants all are; some under one, and some under\nthe other. Now this to Adam is one, therefore that on Sinai is one, and\nall one with this; and that this is a truth, I say, I know, because the\nsins against that on Sinai were punished by God for the breech thereof\nbefore it was given there; so it doth plainly appear to be a truth; for\nit would be unrighteous with God for to punish for that law that was\nnot broken; therefore it was all one with that on Sinai.\n\nNow the law given on Sinai was for the more clear discovery of those\nsins that were before committed against it; for though the very\nsubstance of the Ten Commandments were given in the garden before they\nwere received from Sinai, yet they lay so darkly in the heart of man,\nthat his sins were not so clearly discovered as afterwards they were;\ntherefore, saith the Apostle, the law was added (Gal 3:19). Or, more\nplainly, given on Sinai, on tables of stone, \u201cthat the offence might\nabound,\u201d\u2014that is, that it might the more clearly be made manifest and\nappear (Rom 5:20).\n\nAgain; we have a notable resemblance of this at Sinai, even in giving\nthe law; for, first, the law was given twice on Sinai, to signify that\nindeed the substance of it was given before. And, secondly, the first\ntables that were given on Sinai were broken at the foot of the mount,\nand the others were preserved whole, to signify that though it was the\ntrue law that was given before, with that given on Sinai, yet it was\nnot so easy to be read and to be taken notice of, in that the stones\nwere not whole, but broken, and so the law written thereon somewhat\ndefaced and disfigured.\n\n[Object.] But if any object and say, though the sins against the one be\nthe sins against the other, and so in that they do agree, yet it doth\nnot appear that the same is therefore the same Covenant of Works with\nthe other.\n\nAnsw. That which was given to Adam in Paradise you will grant was the\nCovenant of Works; for it runs thus: Do this and live; do it not and\ndie; nay, \u201cThou shalt surely die.\u201d Now there is but one Covenant of\nWorks. If therefore I prove that that which was delivered on Mount\nSinai is the Covenant of Works, then all will be put out of doubt. Now\nthat this is so it is evident\u2014\n\n1. Consider the two covenants are thus called in Scripture, the one the\nadministration of death, and the other the administration of life; the\none the Covenant of Works, the other of grace; but that delivered on\nSinai is called the ministration of death; that, therefore, is the\nCovenant of Works. \u201cBut if,\u201d saith he, \u201cthe ministration of death,\nwritten and engraven on stones was glorious,\u201d (2 Cor 3:7).\n\n2. The Apostle, writing to the Galatians, doth labour to beat them off\nfrom trusting in the Covenant of Works; but when he comes to give a\ndiscovery of that law or covenant\u2014he labouring to take them off from\ntrusting in it\u2014he doth plainly tell them it is that which was given on\nSinai (Gal 4:24,25). Therefore that which was delivered in two tables\nof stone on Mount Sinai, is the very same thing that was given before\nto Adam in Paradise, they running both alike; that in the garden\nsaying, Do this and live; but in the day thou eatest thereof\u2014or dost\nnot do this\u2014thou shalt surely die.\n\nAnd so is this on Sinai, as is evident when he saith, \u201cthe man which\ndoeth those things shall live by them\u201d (Rom 10:5). And in case they\nbreak them, even any of them, it saith, \u201cCursed is every one that\ncontinueth not in all things which are written in the (whole) book of\nthe law to do them\u201d (Gal 3:10). Now this being thus cleared, I shall\nproceed.\n\n[WHAT IT IS TO BE UNDER THE COVENANT OF WORKS.]\n\n\nSECOND. A second thing to be spoken to is this: to show what it is to\nbe under the law as it is a Covenant of Works; to which I shall speak,\nand that thus\u2014\n\nTo be under the law as it is a Covenant of Works, is to be bound, upon\npain of eternal damnation, to fulfill, and that completely and\ncontinually, every particular point of the Ten Commandments, by doing\nthem\u2014Do this, and then thou shalt live; otherwise, \u201ccursed is every one\nthat continueth not in all,\u201d in every particular thing or \u201cthings which\nare written in the book for the law to do them\u201d (Gal 3:10). That man\nthat is under the first covenant stands thus, and only thus, as he is\nunder that covenant, or law. Poor souls, through ignorance of the\nnature of that Covenant of Works, the law that they are under, they do\nnot think their state to be half so bad as it is; when, alas! there is\nnone in the world in such a sad condition again besides themselves;\nfor, indeed, they do not understand these things. He that is under the\nlaw, as it is a Covenant of Works, is like the man that is bound by the\nlaw of his king, upon pain of banishment, or of being hanged, drawn,\nand quartered, not to transgress any of the commandments of the king;\nso here, they that are under the Covenant of Works, they are bound,\nupon pain of eternal banishment and condemnation, to keep within the\ncompass of the law of the God of Heaven. The Covenant of Works may, in\nthis case, be compared to the laws of the Medes and Persians, which\nbeing once made, cannot be altered. Daniel 6:8. You find that when\nthere was a law made and given forth that none should ask a petition of\nany, God or man, but of the king only; this law being established by\nthe king (verse 9). Daniel breaking of it, let all do whatever they\ncan, Daniel must go into the lions\u2019 den (verse 16). So here, I say,\nthere being a law given, and sealed with the Truth and the Word of\nGod,\u2014how that \u201cthe soul that sinneth, it shall die\u201d (Eze 18:4).\nWhosoever doth abide under this covenant, and dieth under the same,\nthey must and shall go into the lion\u2019s den; yea, worse than that, for\nthey shall be thrown into Hell, to the very devils.\n\nBut to speak in a few particulars for thy better understanding herein,\nknow,\n\nFirst. That the Law of God, or Covenant of Works, doth not contain\nitself in one particular branch of the law, but doth extend itself into\nmany, even into all the Ten Commandments, and those ten into very many\nmore, as might be showed; so that the danger doth not lie in the\nbreaking of one or two of these ten only, but it doth lie even in the\ntransgression of any one of them. As you know, if a king should give\nforth ten particular commands to be obeyed by his subjects upon pain of\ndeath; now if any man doth transgress against any one of these ten, he\ndoth commit treason, as if he had broke them all, and lieth liable to\nhave the sentence of the law as certainly passed on him as if he had\nbroken every particular of them.\n\nSecond. Again; you know that the laws being given forth by the king,\nwhich if a man keep and obey for a long time, yet if at the last he\nslips and breaks those laws, he is presently apprehended, and condemned\nby that law. These things are clear as touching the Law of God, as it\nis a Covenant of Works. If a man doth fulfill nine of the Commandments,\nand yet breaketh but one, that being broken will as surely destroy him\nand shut him out from the joys of Heaven as if he had actually\ntransgressed against them all; for indeed, in effect, so he hath. There\nis a notable Scripture for this in the Epistle of James, Second\nChapter, at the tenth verse, that runs thus:\u2014\u201cFor whosoever shall keep\nthe whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all,\u201d\u2014that\nis, he hath in effect broken them all, and shall have the voice of them\nall cry out against him. And it must needs be so, saith James, because\n\u201cHe that said,\u201d or that law which said, \u201cDo not commit adultery, said\nalso, Do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill,\nthou art become a transgressor of the law\u201d (Verse 11). As thus; it may\nbe thou didst never make to thyself a god of stone or wood, or at least\nnot to worship them so greatly and so openly as the heathen do, yet if\nthou hast stolen, born false witness, or lusted after a woman in thy\nheart (Matt 5:28) thou hast transgressed the law, and must for certain,\nliving and dying under that covenant, perish for ever by the law; for\nthe law hath resolved on that before-hand, saying, \u201cCursed is every one\nthat continueth not in ALL things\u201d; mark, I pray you, \u201cin all things\u201d;\nthat is the Word, and that seals the doctrine.\n\nThird. Again; though a man doth not covet, steal, murder, worship gods\nof wood and stone, etc., yet if he do take the Lord\u2019s name in vain, he\nis for ever gone, living and dying under that covenant. \u201cThou shalt not\ntake the name of the LORD thy God in vain\u201d; there is the command. But\nhow if we do? Then he saith, \u201cthe LORD will not hold him guiltless that\ntaketh His name in vain.\u201d No; though thou live as holy as ever thou\ncanst, and walk as circumspectly as ever any did, yet if thou dost take\nthe Lord\u2019s name in vain, thou art gone by that covenant: \u201cFor I will\nnot,\u201d mark \u201cI will not,\u201d let him be in never so much danger, \u201cI will\nnot hold him guiltless that taketh My name in vain\u201d (Exo 20:7). And so\nlikewise for any other of the ten, do but break them, and thy state is\nirrecoverable, if thou live and die under that covenant.\n\nFourth. Though thou shouldest fulfill this covenant, or law, even all\nof it, for a long time, ten, twenty, forty, fifty, or threescore years,\nyet if thou do chance to slip and break one of them but once before\nthou die, thou art also gone and lost by that covenant; for mark,\n\u201cCursed is every one that continueth not in all things,\u201d that\ncontinueth not in ALL things, mark that, \u201cwhich are written in the book\nof the law to do them.\u201d But if a man doth keep all the Law of God his\nwhole lifetime, and only sin one time before he dies, that one sin is a\nbreach of the law, and he hath not continued in doing the things\ncontained therein. For, so to continue, according to the sense of this\nScripture, is to hold on without any failing, either in thought, word,\nor deed; therefore, I say, though a man doth walk up to the law all his\nlifetime, but only at the very last sin one time before he die, he is\nsure to perish for ever, dying under that covenant. For, my friends,\nyou must understand that the Law of God is \u201cyea,\u201d as well as the\nGospel; and as they that are under the Covenant of Grace shall surely\nbe saved by it, so, even so, they that are under the Covenant of Works\nand the law, they shall surely be damned by it, if continuing there.\nThis is the Covenant of Works and the nature of it\u2014namely, not to abate\nanything, no, not a mite, to him that lives and dies under it: \u201cI tell\nthee,\u201d saith Christ, \u201cthou shalt not depart thence,\u201d that is, from\nunder the curse, \u201ctill thou hast paid the very last mite\u201d (Luke 12:59).\n\nFifth. Again; you must consider that this law doth not only condemn\nwords and actions, as I said before, but it hath authority to condemn\nthe most secret thoughts of the heart, being evil; so that if thou do\nnot speak any word that is evil, as swearing, lying, jesting,\ndissembling, or any other word that tendeth to, or savoureth of sin,\nyet if there should chance to pass but one vain thought through thy\nheart but once in all thy lifetime, the law taketh hold of it,\naccuseth, and also will condemn thee for it. You may see one instance\nfor all in (Matt 5:27,28) where Christ saith, that though a man doth\nnot lie with a woman carnally, yet if he doth but look on her, and in\nhis heart lust after her, he is counted by the law, being rightly\nexpounded, such an one that hath committed the sin, and thereby hath\nlaid himself under the condemnation of the law. And so likewise of all\nthe rest of the commands; if there be any thought that is evil do but\npass through thy heart, whether it be against God or against man in the\nleast measure, though possibly not discerned of thee, or by thee, yet\nthe law takes hold of thee therefore, and doth by its authority, both\ncast, condemn, and execute thee for thy so doing. \u201cThe thought of\nfoolishness is sin\u201d (Prov 24:9).\n\nSixth. Again; the law is of that nature and severity, that it doth not\nonly inquire into the generality of thy life as touching several\nthings, whether thou art upright there or no; but the law doth also\nfollow thee into all thy holy duties, and watcheth over thee there, to\nsee whether thou dost do all things aright there\u2014that is to say,\nwhether when thou dost pray thy heart hath no wandering thoughts in it;\nwhether thou do every holy duty thou doest perfectly without the least\nmixture of sin; and if it do find thee to slip, or in the least measure\nto fail in any holy duty that thou dost perform, the law taketh hold on\nthat, and findeth fault with that, so as to render all the holy duties\nthat ever thou didst unavailable because of that. I say, if, when thou\nart a hearing, there is but one vain thought, or in praying, but one\nvain thought, or in any other thing whatsoever, let it be civil or\nspiritual, one vain thought once in all thy lifetime will cause the law\nto take such hold on it, that for that one thing it doth even set open\nall the floodgates of God\u2019s wrath against thee, and irrecoverably by\nthat covenant it doth bring eternal vengeance upon thee; so that, I\nsay, look which ways thou wilt, and fail wherein thou wilt, and do it\nas seldom as ever thou canst, either in civil or spiritual things, as\naforesaid\u2014that is, either in the service of God, or in thy employments\nin the world, as thy trade or calling, either in buying or selling any\nway, in anything whatsoever; I say, if in any particular it find thee\ntardy, or in the least measure guilty, it calleth thee an offender, it\naccuseth thee to God, it puts a stop to all the promises thereof that\nare joined to the law, and leaves thee there as a cursed transgressor\nagainst God, and a destroyer of thy own soul. 5\n\nHere I would have thee, by the way, for to take notice, that it is not\nmy intent at this time to enlarge on the several commands in\nparticular\u2014for that would be very tedious both for me to write and thee\nto read; only thus much I would have thee to do at the reading\nhereof\u2014make a pause, and sit still one quarter of an hour, and muse a\nlittle in thy mind thus with thyself, and say, Did I ever break the\nlaw; yea or no? Had I ever, in all my lifetime, one sinful thought\npassed through my heart since I was born; yea or no? And if thou\nfindest thyself guilty, as I am sure thou canst not otherwise choose\nbut do, unless thou shut thy eyes against thy every day\u2019s practice,\nthen, I say, conclude thyself guilty of the breach of the first\ncovenant. And when that this is done, be sure, in the next place, thou\ndo not straightway forget it and put it out of thy mind, that thou art\ncondemned by the same covenant; and then do not content thyself until\nthou do find that God hath sent thee a pardon from Heaven through the\nmerits of our Lord Jesus Christ, the mediator of the second covenant.\nAnd if God shall but give thee a heart to take this my counsel, I do\nmake no question but these words spoken by me, will prove an instrument\nfor the directing of thy heart to the right remedy for the salvation of\nthy soul.\n\nThus much now touching the law, and the severity of it upon the person\nthat is found under it, having offended or broken any particular of it,\neither in thought, word, or action; and now, before I do proceed to the\nnext thing, I shall answer four objections that do lie in my way, and\nalso, such as do stumble most part of the world.\n\n[Four Objections.]\n\nObject. First. But you will say, Methinks you speak very harsh; it is\nenough to daunt a body. Set the case, therefore, that a man, after he\nhath sinned and broken the law, repenteth of his wickedness and\npromiseth to do so no more, will not God have mercy then, and save a\npoor sinner then?\n\nAnsw. I told you before, that the covenant, once broken, will execute\nupon the offender that which it doth threaten to lay upon him; and as\nfor your supposing that your repenting and promising to do so no more\nmay help well, and put you in a condition to attain the mercy of God by\nthe law, these thoughts do flow from gross ignorance both of the nature\nof sin, and also of the nature of the justice of God. And if I were to\ngive you a description of one in a lost condition for the present, I\nwould brand him out with such a mark of ignorance as this is.\n\nAnsw. 2. [The first answer is expounded by the second]. The law, as it\nis a Covenant of Works, doth not allow of any repentance unto life to\nthose that live and die under it; for the law being once broken by\nthee, never speaks good unto thee, neither doth God at all regard thee,\nif thou be under that covenant, notwithstanding all thy repenting and\nalso promises to do so no more. No, saith the law, thou hast sinned,\ntherefore I must curse thee; for it is My nature to curse, even, and\nnothing else but curse, every one that doth in any point transgress\nagainst Me (Gal 3:10). They brake My covenant \u201cand I regarded them not,\nsaith the Lord\u201d (Heb 8:9). Let them cry, I will not regard them; let\nthem repent, I will not regard them; they have broken My covenant, and\ndone that in which I delighted not; therefore, by that covenant I do\ncurse, and not bless; damn, and not save; frown, and not smile; reject,\nand not embrace; charge sin and not forgive it. They brake My covenant\n\u201cand I regarded them not\u201d; so that I say, if thou break the law, the\nfirst covenant, and thou being found there, God looking on thee through\nthat, He hath no regard on thee, no pity for thee, no delight in thee.\n\nObject. Second. But hath not the law promises as well as threatenings?\nsaying, \u201cThe man which doeth these things shall live,\u201d mark, he shall\nlive, \u201cby them,\u201d or in them (Rom 10:5; Gal 3:12).\n\nAnsw. 1. To break the Commandments is not to keep or fulfill the same;\nbut thou hast broken them, therefore the promise doth not belong to\nthee by that covenant. 2. The promises that are of the law are\nconditional, and so not performed unless there be a full and continual\nobedience to every particular of it, and that without the least sin.\n\u201cDo this\u201d\u2014mark, do this\u2014and afterwards thou shalt live; but if thou\nbreak one point of it once in all thy life, thou hast not done the law;\ntherefore the promises following the law do not belong unto thee if one\nsin hath been committed by thee. As thus, I will give you a plain\ninstance\u2014\u201cSet the case, there be a law made by the king, that if any\nman speak a word against him he must be put to death, and this must not\nbe revoked, but must for certain be executed on the offender; though\nthere be a promise made to them that do not speak a word against him,\nthat they should have great love from him; yet this promise is nothing\nto the offender; he is like to have no share in it, or to be ever the\nbetter for it; but contrariwise, the law that he hath offended must be\nexecuted on him; for his sin shutteth him out from a share of, or in,\nthe promises.\u201d So it is here, there is a promise made indeed, but to\nwhom? Why, it is to none but those that live without sinning against\nthe law; but if thou, I say, sin one time against it in all thy\nlifetime, thou art gone, and not one promise belongs to thee if thou\ncontinue under this covenant. Methinks the prisoners at the bar, having\noffended the law, and the charge of a just judge towards them, do much\nhold forth the law, as it is a Covenant of Works, and how it deals with\nthem that are under it. The prisoner having offended, cries out for\nmercy; Good, my lord, mercy, saith he, pray, my lord, pity me. The\njudge saith, What canst thou say for thyself that sentence of death\nshould not be passed upon thee? Why, nothing but this, I pray my lord\nbe merciful. But he answers again, Friend, the law must take place, the\nlaw must not be broken. The prisoner saith, Good, my lord, spare me,\nand I will never do so any more. The judge, notwithstanding the man\u2019s\noutcries and sad condition, must, according to the tenor of the law,\npass judgment upon him, and the sentence of condemnation must be read\nto the prisoner, though it makes him fall down dead to hear it, if he\nexecutes the law as he ought to do. And just thus it is concerning the\nLaw of God.\n\nObject. Third. Ay, but sometimes, for all your haste, the judge doth\nalso give some pardons, and forgives some offenders, notwithstanding\ntheir offences, though he be a judge.\n\nAnsw. It is not because the law is merciful, but because there is\nmanifested the love of the judge, not the love of the law. I beseech\nyou to mark this distinction; for if a man that hath deserved death by\nthe law be, notwithstanding this, forgiven his offence, it is not\nbecause the law saith, \u201cspare him\u201d; but it is the love of the judge or\nchief magistrate that doth set the man free from the condemnation of\nthe law. But mark; here the law of men and the Law of God do differ;\nthe law of man is not so irrevocable; but if the Supreme please he may\nsometimes grant a pardon without satisfaction given for the offence;\nbut the Law of God is of this nature, that if a man be found under it,\nand a transgressor, or one that hath transgressed against it, before\nthat prisoner can be released there must be a full and complete\nsatisfaction given to it, either by the man\u2019s own life or by the blood\nof some other man; for \u201cwithout shedding of blood is no remission\u201d (Heb\n9:22); that is, there is no deliverance from under the curse of the Law\nof God; and therefore, however the law of man may be made of none\neffect sometimes by showing mercy without giving of a full\nsatisfaction, yet the Law of God cannot be so contented, nor at the\nleast give way, that the person offending that should escape the curse\nand not be damned, except some one do give a full and complete\nsatisfaction to it for him, and bring the prisoner into another\ncovenant\u2014to wit, the Covenant of Grace, which is more easy, and\nsoul-refreshing, and sin-pardoning.\n\nI say, therefore, you must understand that if there be a law made that\nreaches the life, to take it away for the offence given by the offender\nagainst it, then it is clear that if the man be spared and saved, it is\nnot the law that doth give the man this advantage, but it is the mere\nmercy of the king, either because he hath a ransom or satisfaction some\nother way, or being provoked thereto out of his own love to the person\nwhom he saveth. Now, thou also having transgressed and broken the Law\nof God, if the law be not executed upon thee, it is not because the law\nis merciful, or can pass by the least offence done by thee, but thy\ndeliverance comes another way; therefore, I say, however it be by the\nlaws of men where they be corrupted and perverted, yet the Law of God\nis of that nature, that if it hath not thy own blood or the blood of\nsome other man\u2014for it calls for no less, for to ransom thee from the\ncurse of it, being due to thee for thy transgression, and to satisfy\nthe cries, the doleful cries, thereof, and ever for to present thee\npure and spotless before God, notwithstanding this fiery law\u2014thou art\ngone if thou hadst a thousand souls; for \u201cwithout shedding of blood\nthere is no remission\u201d (Heb 9:22); no forgiveness of the least sin\nagainst the law.\n\nObject. Fourth. But, you will say, \u201cI do not only repent me of my\nformer life, and also promise to do so no more, but now I do labour to\nbe righteous, and to live a holy life; and now, instead of being a\nbreaker of the law, I do labour to fulfill the same. What say you to\nthat?\u201d\n\nAnsw. Set the case, thou couldst walk like an angel of God; set the\ncase, thou couldst fulfill the whole law, and live from this day to thy\nlife\u2019s end without sinning in thought, word, or deed, which is\nimpossible; but, I say, set the case it should be so, why, thy state is\nas bad, if thou be under the first covenant, as ever it was. For,\nfirst, I know thou darest not say but thou hast at one time or other\nsinned; and if so, then the law hath condemned thee; and if so, then I\nam sure that thou, with all thy actions and works of righteousness,\ncanst not remove the dreadful and irresistible curse that is already\nlaid upon thee by that law which thou art under, and which thou hast\nsinned against; though thou livest the holiest life that any man can\nlive in this world, being under the law of works, and so not under the\nCovenant of Grace, thou must be cut off without remedy; for thou hast\nsinned, though afterwards thou live never so well.\n\nThe reasons for this that hath been spoken are these\u2014\n\nFirst, The nature of God\u2019s justice calls for it\u2014that is, it calls for\nirrecoverable ruin on them that transgress against this law; for\njustice gave it, and justice looks to have it completely and\ncontinually obeyed, or else justice is resolved to take place, and\nexecute its office, which is to punish the transgressor against it. You\nmust understand that the justice of God is as unchangeable as His love;\nHis justice cannot change its nature; justice it is, if it be pleased;\nand justice it is, if it be displeased. The justice of God in this case\nmay be compared to fire; there is a great fire made in some place; if\nthou do keep out of it, it is fire; if thou do fall into it, thou wilt\nfind it fire; and therefore the Apostle useth this as an argument to\nstir up the Hebrews to stick close to Jesus Christ, lest they fall\nunder the justice of God by these words, \u201cFor our God is a consuming\nfire\u201d (Heb 12:29); into which, if thou fall, it is not for thee to get\nout again, as it is with some that fall into a material fire; no, but\nhe that falls into this, he must lie there for ever; as it is clear\nwhere he saith, \u201cWho among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings,\nand with devouring fire?\u201d (Isa 33:14). For justice once offended\nknoweth not how to show any pity or compassion to the offender, but\nruns on him like a lion, takes him by the throat, throws him into\nprison, and there he is sure to lie, and that to all eternity, unless\ninfinite satisfaction be given to it, which is impossible to be given\nby any of us the sons of Adam.\n\nSecondly, The faithfulness of God calls for irrecoverable ruin to be\npoured out on those that shall live and die under this covenant. If\nthou, having sinned but one sin against this covenant, and shouldst\nafterwards escape damning, God must be unfaithful to Himself and to His\nWord, which both agree as one. First, he would be unfaithful to\nHimself; to Himself, that is, to His justice, holiness, righteousness,\nwisdom, and power, if He should offer to stop the running out of His\njustice for the damning of them that have offended it. And secondly, He\nwould be unfaithful to His Word, His written Word, and disown, deny,\nand break that, of which He hath said, \u201cIt is easier for Heaven and\nearth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail,\u201d or be made of none\neffect (Luke 16:17). Now, if He should not, according to His certain\ndeclarations therein, take vengeance on those that fall and die within\nthe threat and sad curses denounced, in that His Word could not be\nfulfilled.\n\nThirdly, Because otherwise he would disown the sayings of His Prophets,\nand gratify the sayings of His enemies; His Prophets say He will take\nvengeance; His enemies say He will not; His Prophets say He will\nremember their iniquities, and recompense them into their bosom; but\nHis enemies say they should do well, and they shall have peace, though\nthey walk after the imaginations of their own hearts, and be not so\nstrict as the Word commands, and do not as it saith (Deu 29:19,20). But\nlet me tell thee, hadst thou a thousand souls, and each of them was\nworth a thousand worlds, God would set them all on a light by fire, if\nthey fall within the condemnings of His Word, and thou die without a\nJesus, even the right Jesus; \u201cfor the Scriptures cannot be broken.\u201d\nWhat! dost thou think that God, Christ, Prophets, and Scriptures, will\nall lie for thee? and falsify their words for thee? It will be but ill\nventuring thy soul upon that.\n\nAnd the reasons for it are these:\u2014First, Because God is God; and\nsecondly, Because man is man.\n\nFirst, Because God is perfectly just and eternally just, perfectly holy\nand eternally holy, perfectly faithful and eternally faithful; that is,\nwithout any variableness or shadow of turning, but perfectly continueth\nthe same, and cannot as well cease to be God as to alter or change the\nnature of His Godhead. As He is thus the perfection of all perfections,\nHe gave out His Law to be obeyed; but if any offend it, then they fall\ninto the hands of this His eternal justice, and so must drink of His\nirrevocable wrath, which is the execution of the same justice. I say,\nthis being thus, the law being broken, justice takes place, and so\nfaithfulness followeth to see that execution be done, and also to\ntestify that He is true, and doth denounce His unspeakable,\ninsupportable, and unchangeable vengeance on the party offending.\n\nSecondly, Because thou art not as infinite as God, but a poor created\nweed, that is here today and gone tomorrow, and not able to answer God\nin His essence, being, and attributes; thou art bound to fall under\nHim, for thy soul or body can do nothing that is infinite in such a way\nas to satisfy this God, which is an infinite God in all His attributes.\n\n[Misery of man by this law.]\n\nBut to declare unto you the misery of man by this law to purpose, I do\nbeseech you to take notice of these following particulars, besides what\nhas been already spoken:\u2014First, I shall show the danger of them by\nreason of the law, as they come from Adam; Second, as they are in their\nown persons particularly under it.\n\n[First, The danger of them by reason of the law, as they come from\nAdam.]\n\n1. As they come from Adam, they are in a sad condition, because he left\nthem a broken covenant. Or take it thus: because they, while they were\nin him, did with him break that covenant. O! this was the treasure that\nAdam left to his posterity; it was a broken covenant, insomuch that\ndeath reigned over all his children, and doth still to this day, as\nthey come from him, both natural and eternal death (Rom 5). It may be,\ndrunkard, swearer, liar, thief, thou dost not think of this.\n\n2. He did not only leave them a broken covenant, but also made them\nhimself sinners against it. He [Adam] made them sinners\u2014\u201cBy one man\u2019s\ndisobedience many were made sinners\u201d (Rom 5:19). And this is worse than\nthe first.\n\n3. Not only so, but he did deprive them of their strength, by which at\nfirst they were enabled to stand, and left them no more than dead men.\nO helpless state! O how beggarly and miserable are the sons of Adam!\n\n4. Not only so, but also before he left them he was the conduit pipe\nthrough which the devil did convey off his poisoned spawn and venom\nnature into the hearts of Adam\u2019s sons and daughters, by which they are\nat this day so strongly and so violently carried away, that they fly as\nfast to Hell, and the devil, by reason of sin, as chaff before a mighty\nwind.\n\n5. In a word, Adam led them out of their paradise, that is one more;\nand put out their eyes, that is another; and left them to the leading\nof the devil. O sad! Canst thou hear this, and not have thy ears to\ntingle and burn on thy head? Canst thou read this, and not feel thy\nconscience begin to throb and dag? If so, surely it is because thou art\neither possessed with the devil, or besides thyself.\n\n[Second.] But I pass this, and come to the second thing, which is, the\ncause of their being in a sad condition, which is by reason of their\nbeing in their particular persons under it.\n\n1. Therefore, they that are under the law, they are in a sad condition,\nbecause they are under that which is more ready, through our infirmity,\nto curse than to bless; they are under that called the ministration of\ncondemnation, that is, they are under that dispensation, or\nadministration, whose proper work is to curse and condemn, and nothing\nelse (2 Cor 3).\n\n2. Their condition is sad who are under the law, because they are not\nonly under that ministration that doth condemn, but also that which\ndoth wait an opportunity to condemn; the law doth not wait that it\nmight be gracious, but it doth wait to curse and condemn; it came on\npurpose to discover sin, \u201cThe law entered,\u201d saith the Apostle, \u201cthat\nthe offence might abound\u201d (Rom 5:20) or appear indeed to be that which\nGod doth hate, and also to curse for that which hath been committed; as\nhe saith, \u201cCursed is every one that continueth not in all things which\nare written in the book of the law to do them\u201d (Gal 3:10).\n\n3. They are in a sad condition, because that administration they are\nunder that are under the law doth always find fault with the sinner\u2019s\nobedience as well as his disobedience, if it be not done in a right\nspirit, which they that are under that covenant cannot do, by reason of\ntheir being destitute of faith; therefore, I say, it doth control them,\nsaying, \u201cThis was not well done, this was done by the halves, this was\nnot done freely, and that was not done perfectly, and out of love to\nGod.\u201d And hence it is that some men, notwithstanding they labour to\nlive as holy as ever they can according to the law, yet they do not\nlive a peaceable life, but are full of condemnings, full of guilt and\ntorment of conscience, finding themselves to fail here, and to fall\nshort there, omitting this good which the law commands, and doing that\nevil which the law forbids, but never giveth them one good word for all\ntheir pains.\n\n4. They that are under the law are in a sad condition, because they are\nunder that administration that will never be contented with what is\ndone by the sinner. If thou be under this covenant, work as hard as\nthou canst, the law will never say, \u201cWell done\u201d; never say, \u201cMy good\nservant\u201d; no; but always it will be driving thee faster, hastening of\nthee harder, giving thee fresh commands, which thou must do, and upon\npain of damnation not to be left undone. Nay, it is such a master that\nwill curse thee, not only for thy sins, but also because thy good works\nwere not so well done as they ought to be.\n\n5. They that are under this covenant or law, their state is very sad,\nbecause this law doth command impossible things of him that is under\nit; and yet doth but right in it, seeing man at the first had in Adam\nstrength to stand, if he would have used it, and the law was given\nthem, as I said before, when man was in his full strength; and\ntherefore no inequality if it commands the same still, seeing God that\ngave thee strength did not take it away. I will give you a similitude\nfor the clearing of it. Set the case that I give to my servant ten\npounds, with this charge, Lay it out for my best advantage, that I may\nhave my own again with profit; now if my servant, contrary to my\ncommand, goeth and spends my money in a disobedient way, is it any\ninequality in me to demand of my servant what I gave him at first? Nay,\nand though he have nothing to pay, I may lawfully cast him into prison,\nand keep him there until I have satisfaction. So here; the law was\ndelivered to man at the first when he was in a possibility to have\nfulfilled it; now, then, though man have lost his strength, yet God is\njust in commanding the same work to be done. Ay, and if they do not do\nthe same things, I say, that are impossible for them to do, it is just\nwith God to damn them, seeing it was they themselves that brought\nthemselves into this condition; therefore, saith the Apostle, \u201cWhat\nthings soever the law (or commands) saith, it saith to them who are\nunder the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may\nbecome guilty before God\u201d (Rom 3:19). And this is thy sad condition\nthat art under the law (Gal 3:10).\n\nBut if any should object, and say, But the law doth not command\nimpossible things of natural man,\u2014\n\nI should answer in this case as the Apostle did in another very much\nlike unto it, saying, \u201cUnderstanding neither what they say, nor whereof\nthey affirm.\u201d For doth not the law command thee to love the Lord thy\nGod with all thy soul, with all they strength, with all thy might,\netc., and can the natural man do this? How can those that are\naccustomed to do evil, do that which is commanded in this particular?\n\u201cCan the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?\u201d (Jer\n12:23).\n\nDoth the law command thee to do good, and nothing but good, and that\nwith all thy soul, heart, and delight? which the law as a Covenant of\nWorks calleth for; and canst thou, being carnal, do that? But there is\nno man that hath understanding, if he should hear thee say so, but\nwould say that thou wast either bewitched or stark mad.\n\n6. They that are under the law are in a sad condition, because that\nthough they follow the law, or Covenant of Works; I say, though they\nfollow it, it will not lead them to Heaven; no, but contrariwise, it\nwill lead them under the curse. It is not possible, saith Paul, that\nany should be justified by the law, or by our following of it; for by\nthat \u201cis the knowledge of sin,\u201d and by it we are condemned for the\nsame, which is far from leading us to life, being the ministration of\ndeath (2 Cor 3). And again; \u201cIsrael, which followeth after the law of\nrighteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.\nWherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but by the law, and by\nthe works thereof\u201d (Rom 9:30-32).\n\n7. They that are under the law are in a sad condition, because they do\nnot know whether ever they shall have any wages for their work or no;\nthey have no assurance of the pardon of their sins, neither any hopes\nof eternal life; but poor hearts as they are, they work for they do not\nknow what, even like a poor horse that works hard all day, and at night\nhath a dirty stable for his pains; so thou mayest work hard all the\ndays of thy life, and at the day of death, instead of having a glorious\nrest in the Kingdom of Heaven, thou mayest, nay, thou shalt, have for\nthy sins the damnation of thy soul and body in Hell to all eternity;\nforasmuch, as I said before, that the law, if thou sinnest, it doth not\ntake notice of any good work done by thee, but takes its advantage to\ndestroy and cut off thy soul for the sin thou hast committed.\n\n8. They that are under the law are in a sad condition, because they are\nunder that administration; upon whose souls God doth not smile, they\ndying there; for the administration that God doth smile upon His\nchildren through, is the Covenant of Grace, they being in Jesus Christ,\nthe Lord of life and consolation; but contrariwise to those that are\nunder the law; for they have His frowns, His rebukes, His threatenings,\nand with much severity they must be dealt withal\u2014\u201cFor they continued\nnot in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord\u201d (Heb 8:9).\n\n9. They are in a sad condition, because they are out of the faith of\nChrist; they that are under the law have not the faith of Christ in\nthem; for that dispensation which they are under is not the\nadministration of faith. The law is not of faith, saith the Apostle\n(Gal 3:12).\n\n10. Because they have not received the Spirit; for that is received by\nthe hearing of faith, and not by the law, nor the works thereof (Gal\n3:2).\n\n11. In a word, if thou live and die under that covenant, Jesus Christ\nwill neither pray for thee, neither let thee have one drop of His blood\nto wash away thy sins, neither shalt thou be so much as one of the\nleast in the Kingdom of Heaven; for all these privileges come to souls\nunder another covenant, as the Apostle saith\u2014\u201cFor such are not under\nthe law, but under grace\u201d\u2014that is, such as have a share in the benefits\nof Jesus Christ, or such as are brought from under the first covenant\ninto the second; or from under the law into the grace of Christ\u2019s\nGospel, without which Covenant of Grace, and being found in that, there\nis no soul can have the least hope of eternal life, no joy in the Holy\nGhost, no share in the privileges of saints, because they are tied up\nfrom them by the limits and bonds of the Covenant of Works. For you\nmust understand that these two covenants have their several bounds and\nlimitations, for the ruling and keeping in subjection, or giving of\nfreedom, to the parties under the said covenants. Now they that are\nunder the law are within the compass and the jurisdiction of that, and\nare bound to be in subjection to that; and living and dying under that,\nthey must stand and fall to that, as Paul saith, \u201cTo his own master he\nstandeth or falleth.\u201d The Covenant of Grace doth admit to those that\nare under it also liberty and freedom, together with commanding of\nsubjection to the things contained in it, which I shall speak to\nfurther hereafter. [For what purpose the Law was added and given.]\n\nBut now, that the former things may be further made to appear\u2014that is,\nwhat the sad condition of all them that are under the law is, as I have\nshown you something of the nature of the law, so also shall I show that\nthe law was added and given for this purpose, that it might be so with\nthose that are out of the Covenant of Grace.\n\nFirst, God did give the law that sin might abound, not that it should\ntake away sin in any, but to discover the sin which is already\nbegotten, or that may be hereafter begotten, by lust and Satan (Rom\n5:20). I say, this is one proper work of the law, to make manifest sin;\nit is sent to find fault with the sinner, and it doth also watch that\nit may do so, and it doth take all advantages for the accomplishing of\nits work in them that give ear thereto, or do not give ear, if it have\nthe rule over them. I say, it is like a man that is sent by his lord to\nsee and pry into the labours and works of other men, taking every\nadvantage to discover their infirmities and failings, and to chide\nthem? yea, to throw them out of the Lord\u2019s favour for the same.\n\nSecond. Another great end why the Lord did add or give the law, it was\nthat no man might have anything to lay to the charge of the Lord for\nHis condemning of them that do transgress against the same. You know\nthat if a man should be had before an officer or judge, and there be\ncondemned, and yet by no law, he that condemns him might be very well\nreprehended or reproved for passing the judgment; yea, the party\nhimself might have better ground to plead for his liberty than the\nother to plead for the condemning of him; but this shall not be so in\nthe judgment-day, but contrariwise; for then every man shall be forced\nto lay his hand on his mouth, and hold his tongue at the judgment of\nGod when it is passed upon them; therefore saith the Apostle, \u201cWhat\nthings soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law\u201d;\nthat is, all the commands, all the cursings and threatenings that are\nspoken by it, are spoken, saith he, \u201cthat every mouth may be stopped\u201d;\nmark, I beseech you, \u201cit saith,\u201d saith he, \u201cthat every mouth may be\nstopped, and all the world may become guilty before God\u201d (Rom 3:19). So\nthat now, in case any in the judgment-day should object against the\njudgment of God, as those in the 25th of Matthew do, saying, Lord, when\nsaw we Thee thus and thus? and why dost Thou pass such a sad sentence\nof condemnation upon us? surely this is injustice, and not equity: now\nfor the preventing of this the law was given; ay, and that it might\nprevent thee to purpose, God gave it betimes, before either thy first\nfather had sinned, or thou wast born. So that again, if there should be\nthese objections offered against the proceedings of the Lord in justice\nand judgment, saying, Lord, why am I thus condemned, I did not know it\nwas sin? Now against these two was the law given and that betimes, so\nthat both these are answered. If the first come in and say, Why am I\njudged? why am I damned? then will the law come in, even all the Ten\nCommandments, with every one of their cries against thy soul; the First\nsaying, He hath sinned against Me, damn him; the Second saying also, He\nhath transgressed against Me, damn him; the Third also saying the same,\ntogether with the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth;\neven all of them will discharge themselves against thy soul if thou die\nunder the first covenant, saying, He or they have transgressed against\nus, damn them, damn them: and I tell thee also, that these ten great\nguns, the Ten Commandments, will, with discharging themselves in\njustice against thy soul, so rattle in thy conscience, that thou wilt\nin spite of thy teeth be immediately put to silence, and have thy mouth\nstopped. And let me tell thee further, that if thou shalt appear before\nGod to have the Ten Commandments discharge themselves against thee,\nthou hadst better be tied to a tree, and have ten, yea, ten thousand of\nthe biggest pieces of ordnance in the world to be shot off against\nthee; for these could go no further but only to kill the body; but\nthey, both body and soul, to be tormented in Hell with the devil to all\neternity.\n\nThird, Again; if the second thing should be objected, saying, But Lord,\nI did not think this had been sin, or the other had been sin, for\nnobody told me so; then also will the giving of the law take off that,\nsaying, Nay, But I was given to thy father Adam before he had sinned,\nor before thou wast born, and have ever since been in thy soul to\nconvince thee of thy sins, and to control thee for doing the thing that\nwas not right. Did not I secretly tell thee at such a time, in such a\nplace, when thou wast doing of such a thing, with such an one, or when\nthou was all alone, that this was a sin, and that God did forbid it,\ntherefore if thou didst commit it, God would be displeased with thee\nfor it: and when thou was thinking to do such a thing at such a time,\ndid not I say, Forbear, do not so? God will smite thee, and punish thee\nfor it if thou dost do it. And besides, God did so order it that you\nhad me in your houses, in your Bibles, and also you could speak and\ntalk of me; thus pleading the truth, thou shalt be forced to confess it\nis so; nay, it shall be so in some sort with the very Gentiles and\nbarbarous people that fall far short of that light we have in these\nparts of the world; for, saith the Apostle, \u201cThe Gentiles which have\nnot the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these,\nhaving not the law,\u201d that is, not written as we have, yet they \u201care a\nlaw unto themselves: which show the works of the law written in their\nhearts\u201d (Rom 2:14,15). That is, they have the law of works in them by\nnature, and therefore they shall be left without excuse; for their own\nconsciences shall stand up for the truth of this where he saith, \u201cTheir\nconscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile\naccusing or else excusing one another.\u201d Ay, but when? Why, \u201cin the day\nwhen God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my\nGospel\u201d (Rom 2:15,16). So this, I say, is another end for which the\nLord did give the law\u2014namely, that God might pass a sentence in\nrighteousness, without being charged with any injustice by those that\nshall fall under it in the judgment.\n\nFourth, A fourth end why the Lord did give the law it was, because they\nthat die out of Jesus Christ might not only have their mouths stopped,\nbut also that their persons \u201cmight become guilty before God\u201d (Rom\n3:19). And indeed this will be the ground of silencing, as I said\nbefore, they finding themselves guilty, their consciences backing the\ntruth of the judgment of God passed upon them, \u201cthey shall become\nguilty\u201d\u2014that is, they shall be fit vessels for the wrath of God to be\npoured out into, being filled with guilt by reason of transgressions\nagainst the commandments; thus, therefore, shall the parties under the\nfirst covenant be \u201cfitted to destruction\u201d (Rom 9:22) even as wood or\nstraw, being well dried, is fitted for the fire; and the law was added\nand given, and speaks to this very end, that sins might be shown,\nmouths might be stopped from quarreling, and that \u201call the world,\u201d\nmark, \u201cthe world may become guilty before God,\u201d and so be in justice\nfor ever and ever overthrown because of their sins.\n\nAnd this will be so for these reasons\u2014\n\n1. Because God hath a time to magnify His justice and holiness, as well\nas to show His forbearance and mercy. We read in Scripture that His\neyes are too pure to behold iniquity, and then we shall find it true\n(Hab 1:13). We read in Scripture that He will magnify the law, and make\nit honourable, and then He will do it indeed. Now, because the Lord\ndoth not strike so soon as He is provoked by sin, therefore poor souls\nwill not know nor regard the justice of God, neither do they consider\nthe time in which it must be advanced, which will be when men drop\nunder the wrath of God as fast as hail in a mighty storm (2 Peter 3:9;\nPsa 50:21,22). Now, therefore, look to it all you that count the\nlong-suffering and forbearance of God slackness; and because for the\npresent He keepeth silence, therefore to think that He is like unto\nyourselves. No, no; but know that God hath His set time for every\npurpose of His, and in its time it shall be advanced most marvelously,\nto the everlasting astonishment and overthrow of that soul that shall\nbe dealt withal by justice and the law. O! how will God advance His\njustice! O! how will God advance His holiness! First, by showing men\nthat He in justice cannot, will not regard them, because they have\nsinned; and, secondly, in that His holiness will not give way for such\nunclean wretches to abide in His sight, His eyes are so pure.\n\n2. Because God will make it appear that He will be as good as His Word\nto sinners. Sinners must not look to escape always, though they may\nescape awhile, yet they shall not go far all adoe unpunished; no, but\nthey shall have their due to a farthing, when every threatening and\ncurse shall be accomplished and fulfilled on the head of the\ntransgressor. Friend, there is never an idle word that thou speakest\nbut God will account with thee for it; there is never a lie thou\ntellest, but God will reckon with thee for it; nay, there shall not\npass so much as one passage in all thy lifetime but God, the righteous\nGod, will have it in the trial by His law, if thou die under it, in the\njudgment-day.\n\n[WHO THEY ARE THAT ARE UNDER THE COVENANT OF WORKS.]\n\n\nTHIRD. But you will say\u2014\u201cBut who are those that are thus under the\nlaw?\u201d\n\nAnsw. Those that are under the law may be branched out into three ranks\nof men; either, first, such as are grossly profane, or such as are more\nrefined; which may be two ways, some in a lower sort, and some in a\nmore eminent way.\n\nFirst, Then they are under the law as a Covenant of Works who are open\nprofane, and ungodly wretches, such as delight not only in sin, but\nalso make their boast of the same, and brag at the thoughts of\ncommitting of it. Now, as for such as these are, there is a Scripture\nin the First Epistle of Paul to Timothy Chapter 1, verses 9, 10, which\nis a notable one to this purpose, \u201cThe law,\u201d saith he, \u201cis not made for\na righteous man,\u201d not as it is a Covenant of Works, \u201cbut for the\u201d\nunrighteous or \u201clawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for\nsinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers\nof mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile\nthemselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars,\u201d look to it,\nliars, \u201cfor perjured persons, and,\u201d in a word, \u201cif there be any other\nthing that is not according to sound doctrine.\u201d These are one sort of\npeople that are under the law, and so under the curse of the same,\nwhose due is to drink up the brimful cup of God\u2019s eternal vengeance,\nand therefore I beseech you not to deceive yourselves; for \u201cknow ye not\nthat the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Neither\nfornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers\nof themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,\nnor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God\u201d (1\nCor 6:9,10). Poor souls, you think that you may have your sins, your\nlusts, and pleasures, and yet you shall do pretty well, and be let to\ngo free in the judgment-day; but see what God saith of such in\nDeuteronomy 29:19, 20\u2014which shall \u201cbless himself in his heart, saying,\nI shall have peace,\u201d I shall be saved, I shall do as well as others, in\nthe day when God shall judge the world by Jesus Christ; but, saith God,\nI will not spare them, no, but My anger and My jealousy shall smoke\nagainst them. How far? Even to the executing all the curses that are\nwritten in the Law of God upon them. Nay, saith God, I will be even\nwith them, \u201cfor I will blot out their names from under Heaven.\u201d And\nindeed it must of necessity be so, because such souls are unbelievers,\nin their sins, and under the law, which cannot, will not, show any\nmercy on them; for it is not the administration of mercy and life, but\nthe administration of death and destruction, as you have it (2 Cor\n3:7,9); and all those, every one of them, that are open profane, and\nscandalous wretches are under it, and have been so ever since they came\ninto the world to this day; and they will for certain live and die\nunder the same dispensation, and then be damned to all eternity, if\nthey be not converted from under that covenant into and under the\nCovenant of Grace, of which I shall speak in its place; and yet for all\nthis, how brag and crank 6 are our poor wantons and wicked ones in this\nday of forbearance! as if God would never have a reckoning with them,\nas if there was no law to condemn them, as if there was no hellfire to\nput them into. But O how will they be deceived when they shall see\nChrist sitting upon the judgment-seat, having laid aside his priestly\nand prophetical office, and appearing only as a judge to the wicked?\nwhen they shall see all the records of Heaven unfolded and laid open;\nwhen they shall see each man his name in the Book of Life, and in the\nbook of the law; when they shall see God in His majesty, Christ in His\nmajesty, the saints in their dignity, but themselves in their impurity.\nWhat will they say then? whither will they fly then? where will they\nleave their glory? O sad state! (Isa 10:3).\n\nSecond. They are under the law also who do not only so break and\ndisobey the law, but follow after the law as hard as ever they can,\nseeking justification thereby\u2014that is, though a man should abstain from\nthe sins against the law, and labour to fulfill the law, and give up\nhimself to the law, yet if he look no further than the law he is still\nunder the law, and for all his obedience to the law, the righteous Law\nof God, he shall be destroyed by that law. Friend, you must not\nunderstand that none but profane persons are under the law; no, but you\nmust understand that a man may be turned from a vain, loose, open,\nprofane conversation and sinning against the law, to a holy, righteous,\nreligious life, and yet be in the same state, under the same law, and\nas sure to be damned as the other that are more profane and loose. And\nthough you may say this is very strange, yet I shall both say it and\nprove it to be true. Read with understanding that Scripture in Romans\n9:30-31, where the Apostle, speaking of the very thing, saith, \u201cBut\nIsrael, which followed after the law of righteousness\u201d; mark, that\nfollowed after the law of righteousness; they notwithstanding their\nearnest pursuit, or hunting after the law of righteousness, \u201chath not\nattained to the law of righteousness.\u201d It signifies thus much to us,\nthat let a man be never so earnest, so fervent, so restless, so\nserious, so ready, so apt and willing to follow the law and the\nrighteousness thereof, if he be under that covenant, he is gone, he is\nlost, he is deprived of eternal life, because he is not under the\nministration of life if he die there. Read also that Scripture,\nGalatians 3:10, which saith, \u201cFor as many as are of the works of the\nlaw are under the curse\u201d; mark, they that are of the works of the law.\nNow, for to be of the works of the law, it is to be of the works of the\nrighteousness thereof\u2014that is, to abstain from sins against the law,\nand to do the commands thereof as near as ever they can for their\nlives, or with all the might they have: and therefore I beseech you to\nconsider it, for men\u2019s being ignorant of this is the cause why so many\ngo on supposing they have a share in Christ, because they are reformed,\nand abstain from the sins against the law, who, when all comes to all,\nwill be damned notwithstanding, because they are not brought out from\nunder the Covenant of Works, and put under the Covenant of Grace.\n\nObject. \u201cBut can you in very deed make these things manifestly evident\nfrom the Word of God? Methinks to reason thus is very strange, that a\nman should labour to walk up according to the Law of God as much as\never he can, and yet that man notwithstanding this, should be still\nunder the curse. Pray clear it.\u201d\n\nAnsw. Truly this doth seem very strange, I do know full well, to the\nnatural man, to him that is yet in his unbelief, because he goeth by\nbeguiled reason; but for my part, I do know it is so, and shall labour\nalso to convince thee of the truth of the same.\n\n1. Then, the law is thus strict and severe, that if a man do sin but\nonce against it, he, I say, is gone for ever by the law, living and\ndying under that covenant. If you would be satisfied as touching the\ntruth of this, do but read Galatians 3:10, where it saith \u201cCursed is\nevery one,\u201d that is, not a man shall miss by that covenant, \u201cthat\ncontinueth not in all,\u201d mark, in all \u201cthings which are written in the\nbook of the law to do them.\u201d (1.) Pray mark, here is a curse, in the\nfirst place, if all things written in the book of the law be not done,\nand that, continually too\u2014that is, without any failing or one slip, as\nI said before. Now there is never a one in the world but before they\ndid begin to yield obedience to the least command, they in their own\npersons did sin against it by breaking of it. The Apostle, methinks, is\nvery notable for the clearing of this in Romans 3:5. In the one he\nendeavours for to prove that all had transgressed in the first Adam as\nhe stood a common person, representing both himself and us in his\nstanding and falling. \u201cWherefore,\u201d saith he, \u201cas by one man sin entered\ninto the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men,\u201d\nmark that; but why? \u201cfor that all have sinned\u201d (Rom 5:12). That is,\nforasmuch as all naturally are guilty of original sin, the sin that was\ncommitted by us in Adam; so this is one cause why none can be justified\nby their obedience to the law, because they have in the first place\nbroken it in their first parents. But, (2.) in case this should be\nopposed and rejected by quarrelsome persons, though there be no ground\nfor it, Paul hath another argument to back his doctrine, saying, For we\nhave proved (already) that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin.\n\u201cAs it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.\u201d \u201cThey are all\ngone out of the way, they are together,\u201d mark, together, \u201cbecome\nunprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no, not one.\u201d \u201cTheir\nthroat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit,\nthe poison of asps is under their lips.\u201d Their \u201cmouths are full of\ncursing and bitterness.\u201d \u201cTheir feet are swift to shed blood.\u201d In a\nword, \u201cDestruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace\nhave they not known.\u201d Now then, saith he, having proved these things so\nclearly, the conclusion of the whole is this, \u201cThat what things soever\nthe law saith,\u201d in both showing of sin, and cursing for the same, \u201cit\nsaith\u201d all \u201cto them who are under the law that every mouth may be\nstopped, and all the world may become guilty before God\u201d (Rom 3:10,19).\nSo that here, I say, lieth the ground of our not being justified by the\nlaw, even because, in the first place, we have sinned against it; for\nknow this for certain, that if the law doth take the least advantage of\nthee by thy sinning against it, all that ever thou shalt afterwards\nhear from it is nothing but Curse, curse, curse him, \u201cfor not\ncontinuing in all things which are written in the book of the law to do\nthem.\u201d\n\n2. Thou canst not be saved by the righteous Law of God, the first\ncovenant, because that, together with this thy miserable state, by\noriginal and actual sins, before thou didst follow the law, since thy\nturning to the law thou hast committed several sins against the law\u2014\u201cIn\nmany things we offend all.\u201d So that now thy righteousness to the law\nbeing mixed with sometimes the lust of concupiscence, fornication,\ncovetousness, pride, heart-risings against God, coldness of affection\ntowards Him, backwardness to good duties, speaking idle words, having\nof strife in your hearts, and such like; I say, these things being\nthus, the righteousness of the law is become too weak through this our\nflesh (Rom 8:3), and so, notwithstanding all our obedience to the law,\nwe are yet through our weakness under the curse of the law; for, as I\nsaid before, the law is so holy, so just, and so good, that it cannot\nallow that any failing or slip should be done by them that look for\nlife by the same. \u201cCursed is every one that continuteth not in\neverything\u201d (Gal 3:10). And this Paul knew full well, which made him\nthrow away all his righteousness. But you will say, that was his own.\nAnsw. But it was even that which while he calls it his own, he also\ncalls it the righteousness of the law (Phil 3:7-10) and to account it\nbut dung, but as dirt on his shoes, and that, that he might be found in\nChrist, and so be saved by Him \u201cwithout the deeds of the law\u201d (Rom\n3:28). But,\n\n3. Set the case, the righteousness of the law which thou hast was pure\nand perfect, without the least flaw or fault, without the least mixture\nof the least sinful thought, yet this would fall far short of\npresenting of thee blameless in the sight of God. And that I prove by\nthese arguments\u2014(1.) The first argument is, that that which is not\nChrist cannot redeem souls from the curse, it cannot completely present\nthem before the Lord; now the law is not Christ; therefore the moral\nlaw cannot, by all our obedience to it, deliver us from the curse that\nis due to us (Acts 4:12). (2.) The second argument is, that that\nrighteousness that is not the righteousness of faith, that is, by\nbelieving in Jesus Christ, cannot please God; now the righteousness of\nthe law as a Covenant of Works is not the righteousness of faith;\ntherefore the righteousness of the law as acted by us, being under that\ncovenant, cannot please God. The first is proved in Hebrews 11:6, \u201cBut\nwithout faith it is impossible to please Him\u201d; mark, it is impossible.\nThe second thus, \u201cThe law is not of faith\u201d (Gal 3:12; Rom 10:5,6),\ncompared with Galatians 3:11. \u201cBut that no man is justified by the law\nin the sight of God, it is evident; for, The just shall live by faith.\nAnd the law is not of faith.\u201d\n\nBut for the better understanding of those that are weak of\napprehension, I shall prove it thus\u20141. The soul that hath eternal life,\nhe must have it by right of purchase or redemption (Heb 9:12; Eph 1:7).\n2. This purchase of redemption must be through the blood of Christ. \u201cWe\nhave redemption through His blood.\u201d \u201cWithout shedding of blood is no\nremission.\u201d Now the law is not in a capacity to die, and so to redeem\nsinners by the purchase of blood, which satisfaction justice calls for.\nRead the same Scriptures (Heb 9:22). Justice calls for satisfaction,\nbecause thou hast transgressed and sinned against it, and that must\nhave satisfaction; therefore all that ever thou canst do cannot bring\nin redemption, though thou follow the law up the to the nail-head, as I\nmay say, because all this is not shedding of blood; for believe it, and\nknow it for certain, that though thou hadst sinned but one sin before\nthou didst turn to the law, that one sin will murder thy soul, if it be\nnot washed away by blood, even by the precious blood of Jesus Christ,\nthat was shed when He did hang upon the cross on Mount Calvary.\n\nObject. But you will say, \u201cMethinks, that giving of ourselves up to\nlive a righteous life should make God like the better of us, and so let\nus be saved by Christ, because we are so willing to obey His law.\u201d\n\nAnsw. The motive that moveth God to have mercy upon sinners is not\nbecause they are willing to follow the law, but because He is willing\nto save them. \u201cNot for thy righteousness, or for the uprighteous of\nthine heart dost thou go to possess their land\u201d (Deu 9:4-6). Now\nunderstand this: if thy will to do righteousness was the first moving\ncause why God had mercy on thee through Christ, then it must not be\nfreely by grace\u2014I say, freely. But the Lord loves thee and saves thee\nupon free terms, having nothing beforehand to make Him accept of thy\nsoul, but only the blood of Christ; therefore to allow of such a\nprinciple it is to allow that grace is to be obtained by the works of\nthe law, which is as gross darkness as lies in the darkest dungeon in\nPopery, and is also directly opposite to Scripture\u2014For we are\n\u201cjustified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in\nChrist\u201d; not through the good that is in our selves, or done by us, no,\n\u201cbut by faith, without\u201d\u2014mark that\u2014\u201cwithout the deeds of the law\u201d (Rom\n3:24-28). Again, \u201cNot of works, least any man should boast\u201d (Eph 2:9).\nNo, no, saith he, \u201cNot according to our works,\u201d or righteousness, \u201cbut\naccording to His own purpose\u201d; mark \u201caccording to His own purpose and\ngrace, which was\u201d a free gift, \u201cgiven us in Christ Jesus,\u201d not lately,\nbut \u201cbefore the world began\u201d (2 Tim 1:9).\n\nObject. But you will say, \u201cThen why did God give the law, if we cannot\nhave salvation by following of it?\u201d\n\nAnsw. I told you before that the law was given for these following\nreasons\u20141. That thou mightest be convinced by it of thy sins, and that\nthy sins might indeed appear very sinful unto thee, which is done by\nthe law these ways\u2014(1.) By showing of thee what a holy God He is that\ndid give the law; and, (2.) By showing thee thy vileness and\nwickedness, in that thou, contrary to this holy God, hast transgressed\nagainst and broken this His holy Law; therefore, saith Paul, \u201cthe law\nentered, that the offence might abound,\u201d that is, by showing the\ncreature the holiness of God, and also its own vileness (Rom 5:20). 2.\nThat thou mayest know that God will not damn thee for nothing in the\njudgment-day. 3. Because He would have no quarreling at His just\ncondemning of them at that day. 4. Because He will make thee to know\nthat He is a holy God and pure.\n\nWHAT MEN MAY ATTAIN TO THAT ARE UNDER THIS COVENANT OF WORKS.\n\n\n[FOURTH] Quest. \u201cBut seeing you have spoken thus far, I wish you would\ndo so much as to show in some particulars, both what men have done, and\nhow far they have gone, and what they have received, being yet under\nthis covenant, which you call the ministration of condemnation.\u201d\n\nAnsw. This is somewhat a difficult question, and had need be not only\nwarily, but also home and soundly answered. The question consists of\nthree particulars\u2014First, What men have done; Second, How far men have\ngone; Third, What they have received, and yet to be under the law, or\nCovenant of Works, and so in a state of condemnation.\n\n[First.] As for the first, I have spoken something in general to that\nalready; but for thy better understanding I shall yet speak more\nparticularly.\n\n1. A man hath and may be convinced and troubled for his sins, and yet\nbe under this covenant, and that in a very heavy and dreadful manner,\ninsomuch that he find the weight of them to be intolerable and too\nheavy for him to bear, as it was with Cain, \u201cMy punishment,\u201d saith he,\n\u201cis greater than I can bear\u201d (Gen 4:13).\n\n2. A man living thus under a sense of his sins may repent and be sorry\nfor them, and yet be under this covenant, and yet be in a damned state.\nAnd when he, Judas, saw what was done, he \u201crepented\u201d (Matt 27:3).\n\n3. Men may not only be convinced, and also repent for their sins, but\nthey may also desire the prayers of the children of God for them too,\nand yet be under this covenant and curse, \u201cThen Pharaoh called for\nMoses and Aaron, in haste, and he said, I have sinned; entreat the LORD\nyour God that He may take away from me this death\u201d (Exo 10:16, 17).\n\n4. A man may also humble himself for his offences and disobedience\nagainst his God, and yet be under this covenant (1 Kings 21:24-19).\n\n5. A man may make restitution unto men for the offence he hath done\nunto them, and yet be under this covenant.\n\n6. A man may do much work for God in his generation, and yet be under\nthis first covenant; as Jehu, who did do that which God bid him (2\nKings 9:25, 26). And yet God threateneth even Jehu, because though he\ndid do the thing that the Lord commanded him, yet he did it not from a\nright principle; for had he, the Lord would not have said, \u201cYet a\nlittle while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of\nJehu\u201d (Hosea 1:4).\n\n7. Men may hear and fear the servants of the Lord, and reverence them\nvery highly; yea, and when they hear, they may not only hear, but hear\nand do, and that gladly too, not one or two things, but many; mark,\nmany things gladly, and yet be lost, and yet be damned, \u201cFor Herod\nfeared John,\u201d why? not because he had any civil power over him, but\nbecause \u201che was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he\nheard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly\u201d (Mark 6:20). It\nmay be that thou thinkest that because thou hearest such and such,\ntherefore thou art better than thy neighbours; but know for certain\nthat thou mayest not only hear, but thou mayest hear and do, and that\nnot with a backward will, but gladly\u2014mark, \u201cgladly\u201d\u2014and yet be Herod\nstill, an enemy to the Lord Jesus still. Consider this, I pray you.\n\nSecond. But to the second thing, which is this, How far may such an one\ngo? To what may such an one attain? Whither may he arrive, and yet be\nan undone man, under this covenant? [1] answer\u2014\n\n1. Such an one may be received into fellowship with the saints, as they\nare in a visible way of walking one with another; they may walk hand in\nhand together, \u201cThe Kingdom of Heaven,\u201d that is, a visible company of\nprofessors of Christ, is likened to ten virgins, which took their\nlamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom, \u201cfive of them were wise,\nand five were foolish\u201d (Matt 25:1,2). These, in the first place, are\ncalled virgins\u2014that is, such as are clear from the pollutions of the\nworld; secondly, they are said to go forth\u2014that is, from the rudiments\nand traditions of men; thirdly, they do agree to take their lamps with\nthem\u2014that is, to profess themselves the servants of Jesus Christ, that\nwait upon Him, and for Him; and yet when He came, He found half of\nthem, even the virgins, that had lamps, that also went forth from the\npollutions of the world and the customs of men, to be such as lost\ntheir precious souls (verse 12) which they should not have done, had\nthey been under the Covenant of Grace, and so not under the law.\n\n2. They may attain to a great deal of honour in the said company of\nprofessors, that which may be accounted honour, insomuch that they may\nbe put in trust with church affairs, and bear the bag, as Judas did. I\nspeak not this to shame the saints, but, being beloved, I warn them;\nyet I speak this on purpose that it might, if the Lord will, knock at\nthe door of the souls of professors. Consider Demas!\n\n3. They may attain to speak of the Word as ministers, and become\npreachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, insomuch that the people where\nthey dwell may even take up a proverb concerning them, saying, \u201cIs he\namong the prophets?\u201d his gifts may be so rare, his tongue may be so\nfluent, and his matter may be so fit, that he may speak with a tongue\nlike an angel, and speak of the hidden mysteries, yea, of them all;\nmark that, and yet be nothing, and yet be none of the Lord\u2019s anointed\nones, with the Spirit of grace savingly, but may live and die under the\ncurse of the law (1 Cor 13:1-4).\n\n4. They may go yet further; they may have the gifts of the Spirit of\nGod, which may enable them to cast out devils, to remove the biggest\nhills or mountains in the world; nay, thou mayest be so gifted as to\nprophesy of things to come, the most glorious things, even the coming\nof the Lord Jesus Christ to reign over all His enemies, and yet be but\na Balaam, a wicked and a mad prophet (2 Peter 2:16; Num 24:16-25).\n\n5. There may not only stand thus for awhile, for a little season, but\nthey may stand thus till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with His\nholy angels; ay, and not be discovered of the saints till that very\nday. \u201cThen all those virgins arose,\u201d\u2014the wise and the foolish; then!\nwhen? why, when this voice was heard, \u201cBehold the Bridegroom cometh, go\nye out to meet him\u201d (Matt 25:1-6). And yet were out of the Lord Jesus\nChrist, and yet were under the law.\n\n6. Nay, further, they may not only continue in a profession till then,\nsupposing themselves to be under the grace of the Gospel, when indeed\nthey are under the curse of the law, but even when the Bridegroom is\ncome, they may still be so confident of their state to be good, that\nthey will even reason out the case with Christ why they are not let\ninto the kingdom of glory, saying, \u201cLord, Lord, we have eaten and drunk\nin Thy presence; and Thou hast taught in our streets.\u201d Nay, further,\n\u201cHave we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out\ndevils?\u201d Nay, not only thus, but, \u201cdone many,\u201d mark, we have \u201cdone many\nwonderful works.\u201d Nay, further, they were so confident, that they\ncommanded, in a commanding way, saying, \u201cLord, open to us.\u201d See here, I\nbeseech you, how far these went; they thought they had had intimate\nacquaintance with Jesus Christ, they thought He could not choose but\nsave them; they had eat and drunk with Him, sat at the table with Him,\nreceived power from Him, executed the same power. In Thy name have we\ndone thus and thus; even wrought many wonderful works (Matt 7:22; Luke\n13:25,26). And yet these poor creatures were shut out of the kingdom. O\nconsider this, I beseech you, before it be too late, lest you say,\nLord, let us come in, when Christ saith, Thrust him out (Verse 28).\nHears you cry, \u201cLord open to us,\u201d when He saith, \u201cDepart, I know you\nnot\u201d; lest though you think of having joy, you have \u201cweeping and\ngnashing of teeth.\u201d\n\nThird. But the third thing touched in the question was this\u2014What may\nsuch an one receive of God who is under the curse of the law?\n\n1. They may receive an answer to their prayers from God at some times,\nfor some things as they do stand in need of. I find in Scripture that\nGod did hear these persons that the Apostle saith were cast out (Gen\n21:17). \u201cAnd God heard the voice of the lad,\u201d even of cast-out Ishmael;\n\u201cand the angel of God called to Hagar\u201d which was the bond-woman, and\nunder the law (Gal 4:30). \u201cout of heaven, and said unto her, Fear not;\nfor God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.\u201d Friends, it may\nbe you may think, because you have your prayers answered in some\nparticular things, therefore you may suppose that as to your eternal\nstate your condition is very good. But you must know that God doth hear\nthe cry of a company of Ishmaelites, the sons of the bondwomen, who are\nunder the law as a Covenant of Works. I do not say He hears them as to\ntheir eternal state, but He heareth them as to several straits that\nthey go through in this life, ay, and gives them ease and liberty from\ntheir trouble. Here this poor wretch was almost perished for a little\nwater, and he cried, and God heard him, yea, He heard him out of\nHeaven. Read also Psalm 107:23-29. \u201cHe gave them their desire, but He\nsent leanness into their soul\u201d (Psa 106:15). 7\n\nBut some may say, Methinks this is yet more strange that God should\nhear the prayers, the cries of those that are under the law, and answer\nthem. Answ. I told you before, He doth not hear them as to their\neternal state, but as to their temporal state; for God as their Creator\nhath a care for them, and causeth the sun to shine upon them, and the\nrain to distill upon their substance (Matt 5:45). Nay, He doth give the\nbeasts in the field their appointed food, and doth hear the young\nravens when they cry, which are far inferior to man (Psa 147:9). I say,\ntherefore, that God doth hear the cries of His creatures, and doth\nanswer them too, though not as to their eternal state; but may damn\nthem nevertheless when they die for all that.\n\n2. They may receive promises from the mouth of the Lord. There are many\nthat have promises made to them by the Lord in a most eminent way, and\nyet, as I said before, are such as are cast out and called the children\nof the bond-woman, which is the law\u2014\u201cAnd the angel of God called to\nHagar out of Heaven,\u201d that was the bond-woman, saying, \u201cFear not; for\nGod hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the\nlad, and hold him in thine hand; FOR I WILL MAKE HIM,\u201d\u2014mark, there is\nthe promise,\u2014\u201cfor I will make him,\u201d of the son of the bond-woman, \u201ca\ngreat nation\u201d (Gen 21:17,18).\n\n3. Nay, they may go further; for they may receive another heart than\nthey had before, and yet be under the law. There is no man, I think,\nbut those that do not know what they say, that will think or say that\nSaul was under the Covenant of Grace; yet after he had talked with\nSamuel, and had turned his back to go from him, saith the Scripture,\n\u201cGod gave him another heart\u201d (1 Sam 10:9). Another heart, mark that,\nand yet an out-cast, a rejected person (1 Sam 15:26,29). Friends, I\nbeseech you, let not these things offend you, but let them rather beget\nin your hearts an inquiring into the truth of your condition, and be\nwilling to be searched to the bottom; and also, that everything which\nhath not been planted by the Lord\u2019s right hand may be rejected, and\nthat there may be a reaching after better things, even the things that\nwill not only make thy soul think thy state is good now, but that thou\nmayest be able to look sin, death, Hell, the curse of the law, together\nwith the Judge, in the face with comfort, having such a real, sound,\neffectual work of God\u2019s grace in thy soul, that when thou hearest the\ntrumpet sound, seest the graves fly open, and the dead come creeping\nforth out of their holes; when thou shalt see the judgment set, the\nbooks opened, and all the world standing before the judgment-seat; I\nsay, that then thou mayest stand, and have that blessed sentence spoken\nto thy soul, \u201cCome, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom\nprepared for you from the foundation of the world\u201d (Matt 25:34).\n\n[Objection to this head.] But, you will say, for all this, We cannot\nbelieve that we are under the law, for these reasons\u2014As, First. Because\nwe have found a change in our hearts. Second. Because we do deny that\nthe Covenant of Works will save any. Third. Because, for our parts, we\njudge ourselves far from legal principles; for we are got up into as\nperfect a Gospel order, as to matter of practice and discipline in\nchurch affairs, as any this day in England, as we judge.\n\n[Answer to reason first.] That man\u2019s belief that is grounded upon\nanything done in him, or by him only, that man\u2019s belief is not grounded\nupon the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of\nJesus Christ; for that man that hath indeed good ground of his eternal\nsalvation, his faith is settled upon that object which God is well\npleased or satisfied withal, which is that man that was born of Mary,\neven her first-born Son\u2014that is, he doth apply by faith to his soul the\nvirtues of His death, blood, righteousness, etc., and doth look for\nsatisfaction of soul nowhere else than from that, neither doth the soul\nseek to give God any satisfaction as to justification any other ways;\nbut doth willingly and cheerfully accept of and embrace the virtues of\nChrist\u2019s death, together with the rest of His things done by Himself on\nthe cross as a sacrifice, and since also as a priest, advocate,\nmediator, etc.; and doth so really and effectually receive the glories\nof the same, that thereby\u2014mark that\u2014thereby he is \u201cchanged into the\nsame image, from glory to glory\u201d (2 Cor 3:18). Thus in general; but yet\nmore particular\u2014\n\n1. To think that your condition is good because there is some change in\nyou from a loose profane life, to a more close, honest, and civil life\nand conversation; I say, to think this testimony sufficient to ground\nthe stress of thy salvation upon is very dangerous. First, because such\na soul doth not only lay the stress of its salvation besides the man\nChrist Jesus that died upon the cross; but secondly, because that his\nconfidence is not grounded upon the Saviour of sinners, but upon his\nturning from gross sins to a more refined life,\u2014and it may be to the\nperformance of some good duties\u2014which is no Saviour; I say, this is\nvery dangerous; therefore read it, and the Lord help you to understand\nit; for unless you lay the whole stress of the salvation of your souls\nupon the merits of another man\u2014namely, Jesus\u2014and that by what He did do\nand is adoing without you, for certain, as sure as God is in Heaven,\nyour souls will perish. And this must not be notionally neither, as\nwith an assenting of the understanding only; but it must be by the\nwonderful, invisible, invincible power of the Almighty God, working in\nyour souls by His Spirit such a real, saving, holy faith, that can,\nthrough the operation of the same Spirit by which it is wrought, lay\nhold on and apply these most heavenly, most excellent, most meritorious\nbenefits of the man Christ Jesus, not only to your heads and fancies,\nbut to your very souls and consciences, so effectually, that you may be\nable by the same faith to challenge the power, madness, malice, rage,\nand destroying nature either of sin, the law, death, the devil,\ntogether with Hell and all other evils, throwing your souls upon the\ndeath, burial, resurrection, and intercession of that man Jesus without\n(Rom 8:32-39). But,\n\n2. Do you think that there was no change in the five foolish virgins\nspoken of (Matt 25:1-3). Yes; there was such a change in those very\npeople, that the five wise ones could give them admittance of walking\nwith them in the most pure ways and institutions of the Gospel of\nChrist, and yet but foolish; nay, they walked with them, or shall walk\nwith them, until the Lord Jesus Christ shall break down from Heaven,\nand yet be but foolish virgins, and yet but under the law, and so under\nthe curse, as I said before.\n\n[Second part of objection.] But, say you, We have disowned the Covenant\nof Works, and turned from that also.\n\n[Answer to reason second.] This is sooner said than done. Alas, alas!\npoor souls think because they say, \u201cGrace, grace, it is freely by\ngrace,\u201d therefore they are under the Covenant of Grace. A very wide\nmistake. You must understand thus much, that though you be such as can\nspeak of the grace of the Gospel, yet if you yourselves be not brought\nunder the very Covenant of Grace, you are yet, notwithstanding your\ntalk and profession, very far wide of a sense and of a share in the\nCovenant of the Grace of God held forth in the Gospel.\n\nThe Jews were of a clearer understanding many of them than to conclude\nthat the law, and only the law, was the way to salvation; for they,\neven they that received not the Christ of God, did expect a Saviour\nshould come (John 7:27,41-43). But they were men that had not the\nGospel Spirit, which alone is able to lead them to the very life,\nmarrow, or substance of the Gospel in right terms; and so being muddy\nin their understandings, being between the thoughts of a Saviour and\nthe thoughts of the works of the law, thinking that they must be\naccomplished for the obtaining of a Saviour, and His mercy towards\nthem; I say, between these they fell short of a Saviour. As many poor\nsouls in these days, they think they must be saved alone by the\nSaviour, yet they think there is something to be done on their parts\nfor the obtaining of the good-will of the Saviour, as their humiliation\nfor sin, their turning from the same, their promises, and vows, and\nresolutions to become new men, join in church-fellowship, and what not;\nand thus they, bringing this along with them as a means to help them,\nthey fall short of eternal salvation if they are not converted; see\nthat Scripture (Rom 9:30-32). The Apostle saith there, that they that\nsought not did obtain, when they that did seek fell short. \u201cWhat shall\nwe say then?\u201d saith he. \u201cThat the Gentiles which sought not after\nrighteousness, have attained to righteousness,\u201d yea, \u201ceven the\nrighteousness which is of faith.\u201d And what else? Why, \u201cbut Israel which\nfollowed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law\nof righteousness.\u201d How came that to pass? \u201cBecause,\u201d saith he, \u201cthey\nsought it not by faith, but as it were\u201d\u2014mark, he doth not say,\naltogether, no, \u201cbut as it were\u201d\u2014that is, because as they sought, they\ndid a little by the bye lean upon the works of the law. And let me tell\nyou, that this is such a hard thing to beat men off of, that though\nPaul himself did take the work in hand, he did find enough to do\ntouching it; how is he fain to labour in the ten first chapters of his\nEpistle to the Romans, for the establishing of those that did even\nprofess largely in the doctrine of grace, and also in that Epistle to\nthe Galatians; and yet lost many, do what he could. Now, the reason why\nthe doctrine of grace doth so hardly down\u2014even with professors\u2014in\ntruth, effectually, it is because there is a principle naturally in man\nthat doth argue against the same, and that thus: Why, saith the soul, I\nam a sinner, and God is righteous, holy, and just; His holy Law,\ntherefore, having been broken by me, I must, by all means, if ever I\nlook to be saved, in the first place, be sorry for my sins; secondly,\nturn from the same; thirdly, follow after good duties, and practise the\ngood things of the law and ordinances of the Gospel, and so hope that\nGod for Christ\u2019s sake may forgive all my sins; which is not the way to\nGod as a Father in Christ, but the way, the very way to come to God by\nthe Covenant of Works, or the law, which things I shall more fully\nclear when I speak to the second doctrine.\n\nAgain, therefore, those that this day profess the Gospel, for the\ngenerality of them they are such, that, notwithstanding their\nprofession, they are very ignorant of that glorious influence and\nlustre of the same; I say, they are ignorant of the virtue and efficacy\nof the glorious things of Christ held forth by and in the Gospel, which\ndoth argue their not being under the Covenant of Grace, but rather\nunder the law or old covenant (2 Cor 4:3). As, for instance, if you do\ncome among some professors of the Gospel, in general you shall have\nthem pretty busy and ripe; also able to hold you in a very large\ndiscourse in several points of the same glorious Gospel; but if you\ncome to the same people and ask them concerning heart-work, or what\nwork the Gospel hath wrought on them, and what appearance they have had\nof the sweet influences and virtues on their souls and consciences, it\nmay be they will give you such an answer as this\u2014I do find by the\npreaching thereof that I am changed, and turned from my sins in a good\nmeasure, and also have learned (but only in tongue), to distinguish\nbetween the law and the Gospel, so that for the one\u2014that is, for the\nGospel\u2014I can plead, and also can show the weakness and unprofitableness\nof the other. And thus far, it is like they may go, which is not far\nenough to prove them under the Covenant of Grace, though they may have\ntheir tongues so largely tipped with the profession of the same (2\nPeter 2:20) where he saith \u201cFor if after they have escaped the\npollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour\nJesus Christ,\u201d which was not a saving knowledge, \u201cthey are again\nentangled therein, and overcome, the latter end\u201d of that man \u201cis worse\nthan the beginning\u201d (Matt 25:1-4, etc.; Matt 7:22).\n\nObject. But, you will say, is not this a fair declaring of the work of\ngrace, or doth it not discover that, without all gainsaying, we are\nunder the Covenant of Grace, when we are able, not only to speak of the\nglorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, but also to tell, and that by\nexperience, that we have been changed from worse to better, from sin to\na holy life, by leaving of the same, and that by hearing of the Word\npreached?\n\nAnswer 1. A man may, in the first place, be able to talk of all the\nmysteries of the Gospel, and that like an angel of God, and yet be no\nmore in God\u2019s account than the sounding of a drum, brass, or the\ntinkling of a cymbal, which are things that, notwithstanding their\nsound and great noise, are absolutely void of life and motion, and so\nare accounted with God as nothing\u2014that is, no Christians, no believers,\nnot under the Covenant of Grace for all that (1 Cor 13:1-4). 2. Men may\nnot only do this, but may also be changed in reality, for a season,\nfrom what they formerly were, and yet be nothing at all in the Lord\u2019s\naccount as to an eternal blessing. Read 2 Peter 2:20, the Scripture\nwhich I mentioned before; for, indeed, that one Scripture is enough to\nprove all that I desire to say as to this very thing; for, if you\nobserve, there is enfolded therein these following things\u2014(1.) That\nreprobates may attain to a knowledge of Christ. (2.) This knowledge may\nbe of such weight and force, that, for the present, it may make them\nescape the pollutions of the world, and this by hearing the Gospel.\n\u201cFor if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the\nknowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again\nentangled therein, and overcome, the latter end of that man is worse\nthan the beginning.\u201d [Some professors, take them at the best, they are\nbut like dogs, spewing out their filth for a time.] Now that they are\nreprobates, dogs, or sows, read further; \u201cBut,\u201d saith he, \u201cit is\nhappened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to\nhis own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in\nthe mire\u201d (Verse 22).\n\n[Third part of objection.] The last part of the objection. But, say\nyou, our practices in the worship of God shall testify for us that we\nare not under the law; for we have by God\u2019s goodness attained to as\nexact a way of waking in the ordinances of God, and as near the\nexamples of the Apostles, as ever any churches since the primitive\ntimes, as we judge.\n\n[Answer to reason third.] What then? Do you think that the walking in\nthe order of the churches of old, as to matter of outward worship, is\nsufficient to clear you of your sins at the judgment-day? or, do you\nthink that God will be contented with a little bodily subjection to\nthat which shall vanish and fade like a flower, when the Lord shall\ncome from Heaven in flaming fire, with His mighty angels (2 Thess\n1:7,8). Alas, alas, how will such professors as these are fall before\nthe judgment-seat of Christ! Then such a question as this, \u201cFriend, how\ncamest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?\u201d will make them be\nspeechless, and fall down into everlasting burnings, thousands on a\nheap; for you must know that it is not then your crying, Lord, Lord,\nthat will stand you in stead; not your saying, We have ate and drank in\nThy presence, that will keep you from standing on the left hand of\nChrist. It is the principle as well as the practice that shall be\ninquired into at that day.\n\nQuest. The principle, you will say, what do you mean by that?\n\nAnsw. My meaning is, the Lord Jesus Christ will then inquire and\nexamine whether the spirit from which you acted was legal or\nevangelical\u2014that is, whether it was the Spirit of adoption that did\ndraw you out to the thing you took in hand, or a mere moral principle,\ntogether with some shallow and common illuminations into the outward\nway of the worship of God, according to Gospel rule.\n\nQuest. But, you will say, it is like, How should this be made manifest\nand appear?\n\nAnsw. I shall speak briefly in answer hereunto as followeth\u2014First,\nthen, that man that doth take up any of the ordinances of God\u2014namely,\nas prayer, baptism, breaking of bread, reading, hearing, alms-deeds, or\nthe like; I say, he that doth practise any of these, or such like,\nsupposing thereby to procure the love of Christ to his own soul, he\ndoth do what he doth from a legal, and not from an evangelical or\nGospel spirit: as thus\u2014for a man to suppose that God will hear him for\nhis prayer\u2019s sake, for his alm\u2019s sake, for his humiliation\u2019s sake, or\nbecause he hath promised to make God amends hereafter, whereas there is\nno such thing as a satisfaction to be made to God by our prayers or\nwhatever we can do; I say, there is no such way to have reconciliation\nwith God in. And so also for men to think, because they are got into\nsuch and such an ordinance, and have crowded themselves into such and\nsuch a society, that therefore they have got pretty good shelter from\nthe wrath of the Almighty; when, alas, poor souls, there is no such\nthing. No, but God will so set His face against such professors, that\nHis very looks will make them to tear their very flesh; yea, make them\nto wish would they had the biggest millstone in the world hanged about\ntheir neck, and they cast into the midst of the sea. For, friends, let\nme tell you, though you can now content yourselves without the holy,\nharmless, undefiled, perfect righteousness of Christ; yet there is a\nday a-coming in which there is not one of you shall be saved but those\nthat are and shall be found clothed with that righteousness; God will\nsay to all the rest, \u201cTake them, bind them hand and foot, and cast them\ninto outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth\u201d\n(Matt 22:13). For Christ will not say unto men in that day, Come, which\nof you made a profession of Me, and walked in church-fellowship with My\nsaints: no; but then it shall be inquired into, who have the reality of\nthe truth of grace wrought in their hearts. And, for certain, he that\nmisseth of that shall surely be cast into the Lake of Fire, there to\nburn with the devils and damned men and women; there to undergo the\nwrath of an eternal God, and that not for a day, a month, a year, but\nfor ever, for ever, for ever and ever; there is that which cutteth to\nthe quick. Therefore, look to it, and consider now what you do, and\nwhereon you hang your souls; for it is not every pin that will hold in\nthe judgment, not every foundation that will be able to hold up the\nhouse against those mighty, terrible, soul-drowning floods and\ndestroying tempests which then will roar against the soul and body of a\nsinner (Luke 6:47-49). And, if the principle be rotten, all will fall,\nall will come to nothing. Now, the principle is this\u2014Not to do things\nbecause we would be saved, but to do them from this\u2014namely, because we\ndo really believe that we are and shall be saved. But do not mistake\nme; I do not say we should slight any holy duties; God forbid; but I\nsay, he that doth look for life because he doth do good duties, he is\nunder the Covenant of Works, the law; let his duties be never so\neminent, so often, so fervent, so zealous. Ay, and I say, as I said\nbefore, that if any man or men, or multitudes of people, do get into\nnever so high, so eminent; and clear practices and Gospel order, as to\nchurch discipline, if it be done to this end I have been speaking of,\nfrom this principle, they must and shall have these sad things fall to\ntheir share which I have made mention of.\n\nObject. But, you will say, can a man use Gospel ordinances with a legal\nspirit?\n\nAnsw. Yes, as easily as the Jews could use and practise circumcision,\nthough not the moral or Ten Commandments. For this I shall be bold to\naffirm, that it is not the commands of the New Testament administration\nthat can keep a man from using of its self [that administration] in a\nlegal spirit; for know this for certain, that it is the principle, not\nthe command, that makes the subjector to the same either legal or\nevangelical, and so his obedience from that command to be from legal\nconvictions or evangelical principles.\n\nNow, herein the devil is wondrous subtle and crafty, in suffering\npeople to practise the ordinances and commands of the Gospel, if they\ndo but do them in a legal spirit, [I beseech you, do not think because\nI say this, therefore I am against the ordinances of the Gospel, for I\ndo honour them in their places, yet would not that any of them should\nbe idolized, or done in a wrong spirit,] from a spirit of works; for he\nknows then, that if he can but get the soul to go on in such a spirit,\nthough they do never so many duties, he shall hold them sure enough;\nfor he knows full well that thereby they do set up something in the\nroom of, or, at the least, to have some, though but a little, share\nwith the Lord Jesus Christ in their salvation; and if he can but get\nthee here, he knows that he shall cause thee by thy depending a little\nupon the one, and so thy whole dependence being not upon the other,\nthat is, Christ, and taking of him upon his own terms, thou wilt fall\nshort of life by Christ, though thou do very much busy thyself in a\nsuitable walking, in an outward conformity to the several commands of\nthe Lord Jesus Christ. And let me tell you plainly, that I do verily\nbelieve that as Satan by his instruments did draw many of the Galatians\nby circumcision (though, I say, it was none of the commands of the\nmoral law) to be debtors to do upon pain of eternal damnation the whole\nof the moral law, so also Satan, in the time of the Gospel, doth use\neven the commands laid down in the Gospel, some of them, to bind the\nsoul over to do the same law; the thing being done and walked in, by\nand in the spirit; for, as I said before, it is not the obedience to\nthe command that makes the subjector thereto evangelical, or of a\nGospel spirit; but, contrariwise, the principle that leads out the soul\nto the doing of the command, that makes the persons that do thus\npractise any command, together with the command by them practised,\neither legal or evangelical. As, for instance, prayer\u2014it is a Gospel\ncommand; yet if he that prays doth it in a legal spirit, he doth make\nthat which in itself is a Gospel command an occasion of leading him\ninto a Covenant of Works, inasmuch as he doth it by and in that old\ncovenant spirit.\n\nAgain; giving of alms is a Gospel command; yet if I do give alms from a\nlegal principle, the command to me is not Gospel, but legal, and it\nbinds me over, as aforesaid, to do the whole law\u2014\u201cFor he is not a Jew,\u201d\nnor a Christian, \u201cwhich is one outwardly\u201d\u2014that is, one only by an\noutward subjection to the ordinances of prayer, hearing, reading,\nbaptism, breaking of bread, etc.\u2014\u201cBut he is a Jew,\u201d a Christian, \u201cwhich\nis one inwardly,\u201d who is rightly principled, and practiseth the\nordinances of the Lord from the leadings forth of the Spirit of the\nLord, from a true and saving faith in the Lord (Rom 2:28,29). Those men\nspoken of in the 7th of Matthew, for certain, for all their great\ndeclaration, did not do what they did from a right Gospel spirit; for\nhad they, no question but the Lord would have said, \u201cWell done, good\nand faithful servant.\u201d But in that the Lord Jesus doth turn them away\ninto Hell, notwithstanding their great profession of the Lord, and of\ntheir doing in His name, it is evident that notwithstanding all that\nthey did do, they were still under the law, and not under that covenant\nas true believers are\u2014to wit, the Covenant of Grace; and if so, then\nall their duties that they did, of which they boasted before the Lord,\nwas not in and by a right evangelical principle or spirit.\n\nAgain, saith the Apostle, \u201cWhatsoever is not of faith is sin,\u201d (Rom\n14:23); but there are some that do even practise baptism, breaking of\nbread, together with other ordinances, and yet are unbelievers;\ntherefore unbelievers doing these things, they are not done in faith\nbut sin. Now to do these things in sin, or without faith, it is not to\ndo things in an evangelical or Gospel spirit; also they that do these\nthings in a legal spirit, the very practising of them renders them not\nunder the law of Christ, as Head of His Church, but the works they do\nare so much contradiction to the Gospel of God, or the Covenant of\nGrace, that they that do them thus do even set up against the Covenant\nof Grace; and the very performance of them is of such force that it is\nsufficient to drown them that are subjects thereunto, even under the\nCovenant of Works; but this poor souls are not aware of, and there is\ntheir misery.\n\nQuest. But have you no other way to discover the things of the Gospel,\nhow they are done with a legal principle, but those you have already\nmade mention of?\n\nAnsw. That thou mightest be indeed satisfied herein, I shall show you\nthe very manner and way that a legal, or old-covenant-converted\nprofessor, bear with the terms, doth take both in the beginning,\nmiddle, and the end of his doing of any duty or command, or whatsoever\nit be that he doth do. 1. He thinking this or that to be his duty, and\nconsidering of the same, he is also presently persuaded in his own\nconscience that God will not accept of him if he leave it undone; he\nseeing that he is short of his duty, as he supposeth, while this is\nundone by him, and also judging that God is angry with him until the\nthing be done, he, in the second place, sets to the doing of the duty,\nto the end he may be able to pacify his conscience by doing of the\nsame, persuading of himself that now the Lord is pleased with him for\ndoing of it. 2. Having done it, he contents himself, sits down at his\nease, until some further convictions of his duty to be done, which when\nhe seeth and knoweth, he doth do it as aforesaid, from the same\nprinciple as he did the former, and so goeth on in his progress of\nprofession. This is to do things from a legal principle, and from an\nold-covenant spirit; for thus runs that covenant, \u201cThe man that doth\nthese things shall live in them,\u201d of \u201cby them\u201d (Lev 18:5; Gal 3:12; Rom\n10:5). But more of this in the use of this doctrine.\n\nObject. But, you will say, by these words of yours you do seem to deny\nthat there are conditional promises in the Gospel, as is clear, in that\nyou strike at such practices as are conditional, and commanded to be\ndone upon the same.\n\nAnsw. The thing that I strike at is this, that a man in or with a legal\nspirit should not, nay, cannot, do any conditional command of the\nGospel acceptably, as to his eternal state, because he doth it in an\nold-covenant spirit. \u201cNo man putteth new wine into old bottles\u201d; but\nnew wine must have new bottles, a Gospel command must have a Gospel\nspirit, or else the wine will break the bottles, or the principle will\nbreak the command.\n\nObject. Then you do grant that there are conditional promises in the\nNew Testament, as in the moral law, or Ten Commands.\n\nAnsw. Though this be true, yet the conditional promises in the New\nTestament do not call to the same people in the same state of\nunregeneracy to fulfill them upon the same conditions.\n\nThe Law and the Gospel being two distinct covenants, they are made in\ndivers ways, and the nature of the conditions also being not the same,\nas saith the Apostle, the righteousness of the law saith one thing, and\nthe righteousness of faith saith another (Rom 10:4-6). That is, the\ngreat condition in the law is, If you do these things, you shall live\nby them; but the condition, even the greatest condition laid down for a\npoor soul to do, as to salvation\u2014for it is that we speak of\u2014is to\nbelieve that my sins be forgiven me for Jesus Christ\u2019s sake, without\nthe works or righteousness of the law, on my part, to help forward. \u201cTo\nhim that worketh not,\u201d saith the Apostle [that is] for salvation, \u201cbut\nbelieveth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith\u201d\u2014mark, \u201chis\nfaith is counted for righteousness\u201d (Rom 4:5). So that we, saith, he,\n\u201cconclude that a man is justified by faith without\u201d\u2014mark again,\n\u201cwithout the deeds of the law\u201d (Rom 3:28).\n\nBut again; there is never a condition in the Gospel that can be\nfulfilled by an unbeliever; and therefore, whether there be conditions\nor whether there be none, it makes no matter to thee who art without\nthe faith of Christ; for it is impossible for thee in that state to do\nthem, so as to be ever the better as to thy eternal estate; therefore,\nlest thou shouldst split thy soul upon the conditions laid down in the\nGospel, as thou wilt do if thou go about to do them only with a legal\nspirit; but, I say, to prevent this, see if thou canst fulfill the\nfirst condition; that is, to believe that all thy sins are forgiven\nthee, not for any condition that hath been or can be done by thee, but\nmerely for the Man\u2019s sake that did hang on Mount Calvary, between two\nthieves, some sixteen hundred years ago and odd. And, I say, see if\nthou canst believe that at that time He did, when He hanged on the\nCross, give full satisfaction, for all thy sins, before thou in thy\nperson hadst committed ever a one. I say, see if thou canst believe\nthis; and take heed thou deceive not thyself with an historical,\nnotional, or traditional acknowledgment of the same. And, secondly, see\nif thou canst so well fulfill this condition, that the very virtue and\nefficacy that it hath on thy soul will engage thee to fulfill those\nother conditions, really in love to that Man whom thou shouldst believe\nhath frankly and freely forgiven thee all, without any condition acted\nby thee to move Him thereto, according to that saying in 2 Corinthians\n5:14, 15; and then thy doing will arise from a contrary principle than\notherwise it will do\u2014that is, then thou wilt not act and do because\nthou wouldst be accepted of God, but because thou hast some good hope\nin thy heart that thou art accepted of Him already, and not on thine,\nbut wholly and alone upon another man\u2019s account; for here runs the\nGospel spirit of faith: \u201cWe believe,\u201d\u2014mark, \u201cWe believe, and therefore\nspeak.\u201d So we believe, and therefore do (2 Cor 4:13). Take heed,\ntherefore, that you do not DO, that you may believe, but rather believe\nso effectually that you may DO, even all that Jesus doth require of you\nfrom a right principle, even out of love to your dear Lord Jesus\nChrist, which thing I shall speak to more fully by and by.\n\nObject. But what do you mean by those expressions? Do not do that you\nmay believe, but believe so effectually that you may do.\n\nAnsw. When I say, Do not do that you may believe, I mean, do not think\nthat any of the things that thou canst do will procure or purchase\nfaith from God unto thy soul; for that is still the old-covenant\nspirit, the spirit of the law, to think to have it for thy doing. They\nthat are saved, they are saved by grace, through faith, and that not of\nthemselves, not for anything that they can do, for they are both the\nfree gift of God, \u201cNot of\u201d doing, or of \u201cworks, lest any man should,\u201d\nbe proud, and \u201cboast\u201d (Eph 2:8,9). Now, some people be so ignorant as\nto think that God will give them Christ, and so all the merits of His,\nif they will be but valiant, and do something to please God, that they\nmay obtain Him at His hands; but let me tell them, they may lose a\nthousand souls quickly, if they had so many, by going this way to work,\nand yet be never the better; for the Lord doth not give His Christ to\nany upon such conditions, but He doth give Him freely; that is, without\nhaving respect to anything that is in thee (Rev 22:17; Isa 55:1,2). To\nhim that is athirst will I give; He doth not say, I will sell; but, I\nwill give him the water of life freely (Rev 21:6).\n\nNow, if Christ doth give it, and that freely, then He doth not sell if\nfor anything that is in the creature; but Christ doth give Himself, as\nalso doth His Father, and that freely, not because there is anything in\nus, or done by us, that moves Him thereunto. If it were by doing, then,\nsaith Paul, \u201cGrace is not grace,\u201d seeing it is obtained by works; but\ngrace is grace, and that is the reason it is given to men without their\nworks. And if it be by grace, that is, if it be a free gift from God,\nwithout anything foreseen as done, or to be done, by the creature, then\nit is not of works, which is clear; therefore it is grace, without the\nworks of the law. But if you say, Nay, it is of something in the man\ndone by him that moves God thereunto; then you must conclude that\neither grace is no grace, or else that works are grace and not works.\nDo but read with understanding (Rom 11:6).\n\nNow before I go any further, it may be necessary to speak a word or two\nto some poor souls that are willing to close in with Jesus Christ, and\nwould willingly take Him upon His own terms, only they being muddy in\ntheir minds, and have not yet attained the understanding of the terms\nand conditions of the two covenants, they are kept off from closing\nwith Christ; and all is, because they see they can do nothing [to merit\nHis favour]. As, for example, come to some souls, and ask them how they\ndo, they will tell you presently that they are so bad that it is not to\nbe expressed. If you bid them believe in Jesus Christ, they will answer\nthat they cannot believe; if you ask them why they cannot believe, they\nwill answer, because their hearts are so hard, so dead, so dull, so\nbackward to good duties; and if their hearts were but better, if they\nwere more earnest, if they could pray better, and keep their hearts\nmore from running after sin, then they could believe; but should they\nbelieve with such vile hearts, and presume to believe in Christ, and be\nso filthy? Now all this is because the spirit of the law still ruleth\nin such souls, and blinds them so that they cannot see the terms of the\nGospel. To clear this, take the substance or the drift of these poor\nsouls, which is this\u2014\u201cIf I were better, then I think I could believe;\nbut being so bad as I am, that is the reason that I cannot.\u201d This is\njust to do something that I may believe, to work that I may have\nChrist, to do the law that I may have the Gospel; or thus, to be\nrighteous that I may come to Christ. O man! thou must go quite back\nagain, thou art out of the way, thou must believe, because thou canst\nnot pray, because thou canst not do; thou must believe, because there\nis nothing in thee naturally that is good, or desireth after good, or\nelse thou wilt never come to Christ as a sinner; and if so, then Christ\nwill not receive thee; and if so, then thou mayest see that to keep off\nfrom Christ because thou canst not do, is to be kept from Christ by the\nlaw, and to stand off from Him because thou canst not buy Him. Thus\nhaving spoken something by the way for the direction of those souls\nthat would come to Christ, I shall return to the former discourse,\nwherein ariseth this objection\u2014\n\nObject. But you did but even now put souls upon fulfilling the first\ncondition of the Gospel, even to believe in Christ, and so be saved;\nbut now you say it is alone by grace, without condition; and therefore\nby these words, there is first a contradiction to your former sayings,\nand also that men may be saved without the condition of faith, which to\nme seems a very strange thing. I desire, therefore, that you would\nclear out what you have said, to my satisfaction.\n\nAnswer, 1. Though there be a condition commanded in the Gospel, yet He\nthat commands the condition doth not leave His children to their own\nnatural abilities, that in their own strength they should fulfill them,\nas the law doth; but the same God that doth command that the condition\nbe fulfilled, even He doth help His children by His Holy Spirit to\nfulfill the same condition; \u201cFor it is God which worketh in you,\u201d\u2014mark\n\u201cin you,\u201d believers, \u201cboth to will and to do of His own good pleasure\u201d\n(Phil 2:13). \u201cThou also hast wrought all our works in us, and for us\u201d\n(Isa 26:12). So that, if the condition be fulfilled, it is not done by\nthe ability of the creature. But,\n\n2. Faith, as it is a gift of God, or an act of ours, take it which way\nyou will, if we speak properly of salvation, it is not the first nor\nthe second cause of our salvation, but the third, and that but\ninstrumentally neither\u2014that is, it only layeth hold of and applieth to\nus that which saveth us, which is the love of God, through the merits\nof Christ, which are the two main causes of our salvation, without\nwhich all other things are nothing, whether it be faith, hope, love, or\nwhatever can be done by us. And to this the great Apostle of the\nGentiles speaks fully, for, saith he, \u201cGod, who is rich in mercy, loved\nus, even when we were dead in sins\u201d (Eph 2:4,5). That is, when we were\nwithout faith, and that was the cause why we believed for He thereby\nhath quickened us together, through the meritorious cause, which is\nChrist, and so hath saved us by grace\u2014that is, of His own voluntary\nlove and good will; the effect of which was this, He gave us faith to\nbelieve in Christ. Read soberly Ephesians 2:4-8. Faith, as the gift of\nGod, is not the Saviour, as our act doth merit nothing; faith was not\nthe cause that God gave Christ as the first, neither is it the cause\nwhy God converts men to Christ; but faith is a gift bestowed upon us by\nthe gracious God, the nature of which is to lay hold on Christ, that\nGod afore did give for a ransom to redeem sinners; this faith hath its\nnourishment and supplies from the same God that at the first did give\nit, and is the only instrument, through the Spirit, that doth keep the\nsoul in a comfortable frame, both to do and suffer for Christ; helps\nthe soul to receive comfort from Christ when it can get none from\nitself, beareth up the soul in its progress heavenwards. But that it is\nthe first cause of salvation, that I deny, or that it is the second, I\ndeny; but it is only the instrument, or hand, that receiveth the\nbenefits, that God hath prepared for thee before thou hadst any faith;\nso that we do nothing for salvation as we are men. But if we speak\nproperly, it was God\u2019s grace that moved Him to give Christ a ransom for\nsinners; and the same God, with the same grace, that doth give to the\nsoul faith to believe, and so, by believing, to close in with Him whom\nGod out of His love and pity did send into the world to save sinners,\nso that all the works of the creature are shut out as to justification\nand life, and men are saved freely by grace. I shall speak no more\nhere; but in my discourse upon the second covenant, I shall answer a\nHell-bred objection or two, to forewarn sinners how they turn the grace\nof God into wantonness.\n\nAnd thus, you see, I have briefly spoken to you something touching the\nlaw. First, what it is, and when given; secondly, how sad those men\u2019s\nconditions are that are under it; thirdly, who they are that be under\nit; fourthly, how far they may go, and what they may do and receive,\nand yet be under it; which hath been done by way of answers to several\nquestions, for the better satisfaction of those that may stand in doubt\nof the truth of what hath been delivered.\n\nNow, in the next place, I shall come to some application of the truth\nof that which hath been spoken; but I shall in the first place speak\nsomething to the second doctrine, and then afterwards I shall speak\nsomething by way of use and application to this first doctrine.\n\n[DOCTRINE SECOND.]\n\n\nThe second doctrine now to be spoken to is, TO SHOW THAT THE PEOPLE OF\nGOD ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW BUT UNDER GRACE\u2014\u201cFor ye are not under the\nlaw, but under grace\u201d (Rom 6:14).\n\nYou may well remember that from these words I did observe these two\ngreat truths of the Lord\u2014FIRST, That there are some in Gospel times\nthat are under the law, or Covenant of Works. SECOND, That there is\nnever a believer under the law, or Covenant of Works, but under grace.\nI have spoken something to the former of these truths\u2014to wit, that\nthere are some under the law, together with who they are, and what\ntheir condition is, that are under it. Now I am to speak to the second,\nand to show you who they are, and what their condition is, that are\nunder that [Covenant of Grace].\n\nBut before I come to that, I shall speak a few words to show you what\nthe word \u201cgrace\u201d in this place signifies; [I touched upon this in the\nfirst doctrine] for the word \u201cgrace\u201d in the Scripture referreth\nsometimes to favour with men (Gen 33:10; 39:4; 50:4). Sometimes to holy\nqualifications of saints (2 Cor 8:7). And sometimes to hold forth the\ncondescension of Christ in coming down from the glory which He had with\nHis Father before the world was, to be made of no reputation, and a\nservant to men (2 Cor 8:9; Phil 2:7). Again: sometimes it is taken for\nthe free, rich, and unchangeable love of God to man, through Jesus\nChrist, that for our cause and sakes did make Himself poor; and so it\nis to be understood in these words, \u201cFor ye are not under the law,\u201d to\nbe cursed, and damned, and sent headlong to Hell, \u201cbut\u201d you are \u201cunder\ngrace,\u201d to be saved, to be pardoned, to be preserved, \u201cand kept by the\nmighty power of God, through faith,\u201d which alone is the gift of grace,\n\u201cunto eternal glory.\u201d This one Scripture alone proves the same\u2014\u201cFor by\ngrace are ye saved\u201d (Eph 2:8), by free grace, by rich grace, by\nunchangeable grace. And you are saved from the curse of the law; from\nthe power, guilt, and filth of sin; from the power, malice, madness,\nand rage of the devil; from the wishes, curses, and desires of wicked\nmen; from the hot, scalding, flaming, fiery furnace of Hell; from being\narraigned as malefactors, convinced, judged, condemned, and fettered\nwith the chains of our sins to the devils to all eternity; and all this\nfreely, freely by His grace (Rom 3:24) by rich grace unchangeable\ngrace; for, saith He, \u201cI am the LORD, I change not: therefore ye sons\nof Jacob are not consumed\u201d (Mal 3:6). This is grace indeed.\n\nThe word \u201cgrace,\u201d therefore, in this Scripture (Rom 6:14) is to be\nunderstood of the free love of God in Christ to sinners, by virtue of\nthe new covenant, in delivering them from the power of sin, from the\ncurse and condemning power of the old covenant, from the destroying\nnature of sin, by its continual workings; as is all evident if you read\nwith understanding the words as they lie\u2014\u201cFor,\u201d saith he, \u201csin shall\nnot have dominion over you,\u201d or, it shall not domineer, reign, or\ndestroy you, though you have transgressed against the Covenant of\nWorks, the law; and the reason is rendered in these words, \u201cFor ye are\nnot under the law\u201d\u2014that is, under that which accuseth, chargeth,\ncondemneth and brings execution on the soul for sin,\u2014\u201cbut under grace\u201d;\nthat is, under that which frees you, forgives you, keeps you, and\njustifies you from all your sins, adversaries, or whatever may come in\nto lay anything to your charge to damn you. For that is truly called\ngrace in this sense that doth set a man free from all his sins, deliver\nhim from all the curses of the law, and what else can be laid to His\ncharge, freely, without any foresight in God to look at what good will\nbe done by the party that hath offended; and also that doth keep the\nsoul by the same power through faith\u2014which also is his own proper\ngift\u2014unto eternal glory.\n\nAgain; that it is a pardon not conditional, but freely given, consider,\nfirst, it is set in opposition to works\u2014\u201cYe are not under the law.\u201d\nSecondly, The promise that is made to them (saying, \u201cSin shall not have\ndominion over you\u201d) doth not run with any condition as on their part to\nbe done; but merely and alone because they were under, or because they\nhad the grace of God extended to them. \u201cSin shall not have dominion\nover you: for,\u201d mark the reason, \u201cye are not under the law, but under\ngrace.\u201d\n\nThe words being thus opened, and the truth thus laid down, HOW THERE IS\nNEVER A BELIEVER UNDER THE COVENANT OF WORKS, BUT UNDER GRACE, the\nfree, rich, unchangeable love of God, it remaineth that, in the first\nplace, we prove the doctrine, and after that proceed.\n\nTHE DOCTRINE PROVED.\n\n\nNow in the doctrine there are two things to be considered and\nproved\u2014FIRST, That believers are under grace. SECONDLY, Not under the\nlaw as a Covenant of Works; for so you must understand me. For these\ntwo we need go no further than the very words themselves; the first\npart of the words proves the first part of the doctrine, \u201cYe are not\nunder the law\u201d; the second part proves the other, \u201cbut\u201d ye are \u201cunder\ngrace.\u201d But besides these, consider with me a few things for the\ndemonstrating of these truths, as,\n\nFirst. They are not under the law, because their sins are pardoned,\nwhich could not be if they were dealt withal according to the law, and\ntheir being under it; for the law alloweth of no repentance, but\naccuseth, curseth and condemneth every one that is under it\u2014\u201cCursed is\nevery one that continueth not in all things which are written in the\nBook of the Law to do them\u201d (Gal 3:10). But, I say, believers having\ntheir sins forgiven them, it is because they are under another, even a\nnew covenant\u2014\u201cBehold, the days come, saith the LORD, when I will make a\nnew covenant with them.\u201d\u2014\u201cFor I will be merciful to their\nunrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no\nmore\u201d (Heb 8:12).\n\nSecond. They are not under the law, because their sins and iniquities\nare not only forgiven, but they are forgiven them freely. They that\nstand in the first covenant, and continue there, are to have never a\nsin forgiven them unless they can give God a complete satisfaction; for\nthe law calls for it at their hands, saying, \u201cPay me that thou owest.\u201d\nO! but when God deals with His saints by the Covenant of Grace it is\nnot so; for it is said, \u201cAnd when\u201d He saw \u201cthey had nothing to pay, He\nfrankly\u201d and freely \u201cforgave them\u201d all\u2014\u201cI will heal their backsliding;\nI will love them freely.\u201d\u2014I will blot \u201cout thy transgressions for Mine\nown sake,\u201d etc. (Luke 7:42; Hosea 14:4; Isa 43:25).\n\nThird. The saints are not under the law, because the righteousness that\nthey stand justified before God in is not their own actual\nrighteousness by the law, but by imputation, and is really the\nrighteousness of Another\u2014namely, of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21; Phil\n3:9). \u201cEven the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ\nunto all and upon all,\u201d that is, imputed to \u201cthem that believe\u201d (Rom\n3:22). But if they were under the old covenant, the Covenant of Works,\nthen their righteousness must be their own, [But it is impossible that\nthe righteousness of man by the law should save him.] or no forgiveness\nof sins\u2014\u201cIf thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?\u201d but if thou\ntransgress, \u201csin lieth at the door,\u201d saith the law (Gen 4:7).\n\nFourth. In a word, whatsoever they do receive, whether it be conversion\nto God; whether it be pardon of sin; whether it be faith or hope;\nwhether it be righteousness; whether it be strength; whether it be the\nSpirit, or the fruits thereof; whether it be victory over sin, death,\nor Hell; whether it be Heaven, everlasting life, and glory\ninexpressible; or whatsoever it be, it comes to them freely, God having\nno first eye to what they would do, or should do, for the obtaining of\nthe same. But to take this in pieces\u20141. In a word, are they converted?\nGod finds them first, for, saith He, \u201cI am found of them that sought Me\nnot\u201d (Isa 65:1). 2. Have they pardon of sin? They have that also\nfreely,\u2014\u201cI will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely\u201d (Hosea\n14:4). 3. Have they faith? It is the gift of God in Christ Jesus, and\nHe is not only the Author, that is, the beginner thereof, but He doth\nalso perfect the same (Heb 12:2). 4. Have they hope? It is God that is\nthe first cause thereof\u2014\u201cRemember the word unto Thy servant, upon which\nThou hast caused me to hope\u201d (Psa 119:49). 5. Have they righteousness?\nIt is the free gift of God (Rom 5:17). Have they strength to do the\nwork of God in their generations, or any other thing that God would\nhave them do? That also is a free gift from the Lord, for without Him\nwe neither do nor can do anything (John 15:5). 7. Have we comfort, or\nconsolation? We have it not for what we have done, but from God through\nChrist; for He is the God of all comforts and consolation (2 Cor\n1:3-7). 8. Have we the Spirit, or the fruits thereof? it is the gift of\nthe Father\u2014\u201chow much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy\nSpirit to them that ask Him (Luke 11:13)? \u201cThou has wrought all our\nworks in us\u201d (Isa 26:12).\n\nAnd so, I say, whether it be victory over sin, death, Hell, or the\ndevil, it is given us by the victory of Christ\u2014\u201cBut thanks be to God\nwhich giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (1 Cor\n15:57; Rom 7:24,25). Heaven and glory it is also the gift of Him who\ngiveth us richly all things to enjoy (Matt 25:34).\n\nSo that these things, if they be duly and soberly considered, will give\nsatisfaction in this thing. I might have added many more for the\nclearing of these things; as 1. When God came to man to convert him, He\nfound him a dead man (Eph 2:1,2). He found him an enemy to God, Christ,\nand the salvation of his own soul; He found him wallowing in all manner\nof wickedness; He found him taking pleasure therein; with all delight\nand greediness. 2. He was fain to quicken him by putting His Spirit\ninto him, and to translate him by the mighty operation thereof. He was\nfain to reveal Christ Jesus unto him, man being altogether senseless\nand ignorant of this blessed Jesus (Matt 11:25,27; 1 Cor 2:7-10). 4. He\nwas fain to break the snare of the devil, and to let poor man, poor\nbound and fettered man, out of the chains of the enemy.\n\n[THE NEW COVENANT FREE AND UNCHANGEABLE, WHO ARE UNDER IT, AND THEIR\nPRIVILEGES.]\n\n\nNow we are to proceed, and the things that we are to treat upon in the\nsecond place are these\u2014First. [Besides the reasons already given.] Why\nis it a free and unchangeable grace? SECOND. Who they are that are\nactually brought into His free and unchangeable Covenant of Grace, and\nhow they are brought in? THIRD. What are the privileges of those that\nare actually brought into this free and glorious grace of the glorious\nGod of Heaven and glory?\n\n[THE NEW COVENANT FREE AND UNCHANGEABLE BECAUSE MADE WITH CHRIST.]\n\nFIRST. WHY IT IS A FREE AND UNCHANGEABLE GRACE.\n\n\nAnd for the opening of this we must consider, first, How and through\nWhom this grace doth come to be, first, free to us, and, secondly,\nunchangeable? This grace is free to us through conditions in\nAnother\u2014that is, by way of covenant or bargain; for this grace comes by\nway of covenant or bargain to us, yet made with Another for us.\n\nFirst. That it comes by way of covenant, contract, or bargain, though\nnot personally with us, be pleased to consider these Scriptures, where\nit is said, \u201cI have made a covenant with My Chosen: I have sworn unto\nDavid [The word David in this place signifieth Christ, as also in these\nScriptures\u2014(Eze 34:23,24; 37:24,25).] My servant\u201d (Psa 89:3). \u201cAnd as\nfor Thee also, by the blood of Thy covenant,\u201d speaking of Christ, \u201cI\nhave sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water,\u201d\n(Zech 9:9-11). Again; \u201cYe have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall\nbe redeemed without money\u201d (Isa 52:3). \u201cBlessed be the Lord,\u201d\ntherefore, saith Zacharias, \u201cfor He hath visited and\u201d also \u201credeemed\nHis people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house\nof His servant David; as He spake by the mouth of His holy Prophets,\nwhich have been since the world began; that we should be saved from our\nenemies, and from the hands of all that hate us; to perform the mercy\npromised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant,\u201d or bargain\n(Luke 1:68-72). [I might give you more Scriptures; but pray consider\nthe second thing.] And if any should be offended with the plainness of\nthese words, as some poor souls may be through ignorance, let them be\npleased to read soberly Isaiah 49:1-12, and there they may see that it\nruns as plain a bargain as if two would be making of a bargain between\nthemselves, and concluding upon several conditions on both sides. But\nmore of this hereafter. Now,\n\nSecond. This covenant, I say, was made with One, not with many, and\nalso confirmed in the conditions of it with One, not with several.\nFirst, that the covenant was made with One (Gal 3:16). \u201cNow to Abraham\nand his Seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of\nmany; but as of one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ\u201d (Verse 17). \u201cAnd\nthis, I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God, in\nChrist,\u201d etc. The covenant was made with the Seed of Abraham; not the\nseeds, but the Seed, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Head and\nUndertaker in the things concerning the covenant.\n\nThird. The condition was made with One, and also accomplished by Him\nalone, and not by several; yet in the nature, and for the everlasting\ndeliverance of many; even by one man Jesus Christ, as it is clear from\nRomans 5:15-17, etc., and in Zechariah 9:11, the Lord saith to Christ,\n\u201cAnd as for Thee\u201d\u2014mark, \u201cAs for Thee also, by the blood of Thy\ncovenant,\u201d or as for Thee whose covenant was by blood; that is, the\ncondition of the covenant was, that Thou shouldst spill Thy blood;\nwhich having been done in the account of God, saith He, I according to\nMy condition have let go the prisoners, or sent them \u201cout of the pit\nwherein is no water.\u201d Those Scriptures in Galatians 3:16,17 that are\nabove cited, are notably to our purpose; Verse 16 saith it was made\nwith Christ, Verse 17 saith it was also confirmed in or with God in\nHim. Pray read with understanding. \u201cNow,\u201d saith Paul, \u201cthe promises\nwere not made unto seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed,\nwhich is Christ.\u201d . . . . \u201cThe law, which was four hundred and thirty\nyears after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none\neffect.\u201d Not that the covenant was made with Abraham and Christ\ntogether, as two persons that were the undertakers of the same; the\npromise was made with, or to, Abraham afterwards; but the covenant with\nChrist before.\n\n[Neither Abraham nor the fathers able to undertake the accomplishment\nof this covenant.]\n\nFurther, that the covenant was not personally made with Abraham, no,\nnor with any of the fathers, neither so as that they were the persons\nthat should stand engaged to be the accomplishers thereof, either in\nwhole or in part; which is very clear.\n\nFirst. Because this covenant was not made with God and the creature;\nnot with another poor Adam, that only stood upon the strength of\nnatural abilities; but this covenant was made with the second Person,\nwith the Eternal Word of God; with Him that was everyways as holy, as\npure, as infinite, as powerful, and as everlasting as God (Prov\n8:22-31; Isa 9:6; Zech 13:7; Phil 2:6; Heb 1; Rev 1:11-17; 22:13,17).\n\nSecond. This covenant or bargain was made in deed and in truth before\nman was in being. O! God thought of the salvation of man before there\nwas any transgression of man; for then, I say, and not since then, was\nthe Covenant of Grace made with the Undertaker thereof; for all the\nother sayings are to show unto us that glorious plot and contrivance\nthat was concluded on before time between the Father and the Son, which\nmay very well be concluded on for a truth from the Word of God, if you\nconsider, 1. That the Scripture doth declare that the price was agreed\non by the Son before time; 2. The promise was made to Him by the Father\nthat He should have His bargain before time; 3. The choice, and who\nthey were that should be saved was made before time, even before the\nworld began.\n\n1. For the first, That the price was agreed upon before the world\nbegan. Consider the word which speaketh of the price that was paid for\nsinners, even the precious blood of Christ; it saith of Him, \u201cWho\nverily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was\nmanifest in these last times for you, who by Him do believe,\u201d etc. (1\nPeter 1:20,21). Mark, it was foreordained or concluded on between the\nFather and the Son before the world began.\n\n2. The promise from God to the Son was also made in the same manner, as\nit is clear where the Apostle saith with comfort to his soul, that he\nhad \u201chope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before\nthe world began,\u201d (Titus 1:2) which could be to none but the Mediator\nof the new covenant, because there was none else to whom it should be\nmade but He.\n\n3. The choice was also made then, even before man had a being in this\nworld, as it is evident where he saith, \u201cBlessed be the God and Father\nof our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual\nblessings in heavenly places IN Christ: according as He hath chosen us\nin Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and\nwithout blame before Him in love\u201d (Eph 1:3,4). [Did I think this would\nmeet with any opposition, I should be in this more large.] Nay, did I\nlook upon it here to be necessary, I should show you very largely and\nclearly that God did not only make the covenant with Christ before the\nworld began, and the conditions thereof, but I could also show you that\nthe very saints\u2019 qualifications, as part of the covenant, was then\nconcluded on by the Father and the Son according to these Scriptures,\nwhich, it may be, I may touch upon further anon (Eph 1:3,4; 2:10; Rom\n8:28). But,\n\nThird. This covenant was not made with any of the fathers, neither in\nwhole nor in part, as the undertakers thereof; for then it must be also\nconcluded that they are co-partners with Christ in our salvation, and\nso that Christ is not Mediator alone; but this would be blasphemy for\nany once to surmise. And therefore, by the way, when thou readest of\nthe new covenant in Scripture as though it was made with Adam, Noah,\nAbraham, or David, thou art to consider thus with thyself\u20141. That God\nspake to them in such a way for to show or signify unto us how He did\nmake the covenant that He did make with Christ before the world began,\nthey being types of Him. 2. That He thereby might let them understand\nthat He was the same then as He is now, and now as He was then; and\nthat then it was resolved on between His Son and HIM, that in after\nages His Son should in their natures, from their loins, and for their\nsins, be born of a woman, hanged on the Cross, etc., for them: for all\nalong you may see that when He speaketh to them of the new covenant, He\nmentions their seed\u2014their seed\u2014still aiming at Christ; Christ, the Seed\nof the woman, was to break the serpent\u2019s head (Gen 3:15; 17; Psa\n89:36). Now to Abraham and his Seed was the promise made; his Seed\nshall endure for ever, and His throne as the days of Heaven, etc.;\nstill pointing at Christ. And, 3. To stir up their faith and\nexpectations to be constant unto the end in waiting for that which He\nand His Son had concluded on before time, and what He had since the\nconclusion declared unto the world by the Prophets. 4. It appeareth\nthat the heart of God was much delighted therein also, as is evident,\nin that He was always in every age declaring of that unto them which\nbefore He had prepared for them. O this good God of Heaven!\n\nObjection: But you will say, perhaps, the Scriptures say plainly that\nthe new covenant was and is made with believers, saying, \u201cThe days\ncome, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of\nIsrael, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that\nI made with their fathers in the day when I led them out of the land of\nEgypt,\u201d etc. (Heb 8:8-10). So that it doth not run with Christ alone,\nbut with believers also\u2014I will make a new covenant with the house of\nIsrael and Judah, etc. (Jer 31:33).\n\nAnswer first: It cannot be meant that the new covenant was made with\nChrist, and the house of Israel and Judah as the undertakers thereof;\nfor so it was made with Christ alone, which is clear, in that it was\nmade long before the house of Israel and Judah had a being, as I showed\nbefore. But,\n\nAnswer second: These words here are spoken, first, to show rather the\nend of the ceremonies than the beginning or rise of the new covenant.\nMind a little; the Apostle is labouring to beat the Jews, to whom he\nwrote this Epistle, off of the ceremonies of the law, of the priests,\naltar, offerings, temple, etc., and to bring them to the right\nunderstanding of the thing and things that they held forth, which were\nto come, and to put an end to those. If you do but understand the\nEpistle to the Hebrews, it is a discourse that showeth that the Son of\nGod being come, there is an end put to the ceremonies; for they were to\ncontinue so long and no longer\u2014\u201cIt,\u201d saith the Apostle, \u201cstood in meats\nand drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances imposed on them\nuntil the time of reformation\u201d; that is, until Christ did come. \u201cBut\nChrist being come an high priest of good things to come,\u201d etc., puts an\nend to the things and ordinances of the Levitical priesthood. Read the\n7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Chapters of Hebrews, and you will find this\ntrue. So, then, when He saith, \u201cThe days come in which I make a new\ncovenant,\u201d it is rather to be meant a changing of the administration,\ntaking away the type, the shadow, the ceremonies from the house of\nIsrael and Judah, and relieving by the birth of Christ, and the death\nof Christ, and the offering of the body of Him whom the shadows and\ntypes did point out to be indeed He whom God the Father had given for a\nransom by covenant for the souls of the saints; and also to manifest\nthe truth of that covenant which was made between the Father and the\nSon before the world began; for though the new covenant was made before\nthe world began, and also every one in all ages was saved by the virtue\nof that covenant, yet that covenant was never so clearly made manifest\nas at the coming, death, and resurrection of Christ; and therefore,\nsaith the Scripture, \u201cHe hath brought life and immortality to light\nthrough the Gospel.\u201d \u201cWho hath saved us, and called us with an holy\ncalling\u201d not according to the \u201cworks\u201d of righteousness which we have\ndone, \u201cbut according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us\nin Christ Jesus before the world began,\u201d there is the covenant, but it\nwas \u201cmade MANIFEST by the APPEARING of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who\nhath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to LIGHT through\nthe Gospel\u201d (2 Tim 1:9,10). Therefore, I say, these words are therefore\nto discover that the time was come to change the dispensation, to take\naway the type, and bring in the substance, and so manifesting that more\nclearly which before lay hid in dark sayings and figures. And this is\nusual with God to speak in this manner.\n\nAgain; if at any time you do find in Scripture that the Covenant of\nWorks is spoken of as the first covenant that was manifested, and so\nbefore the second covenant, yet you must understand that it was so only\nas to manifestation\u2014that is, it was first given to man, yet not made\nbefore that which was made with Christ; and indeed it was requisite\nthat it should be given or made known first, that thereby there might\nbe a way made for the second, by its discovering of sin, and the sad\nstate that man was in after the Fall by reason of that. And again, that\nthe other might be made the more welcome to the sons of men. Yet the\nsecond Adam was before the first, and also the second covenant before\nthe first. [This is a riddle]. And in this did Christ in time most\ngloriously answer Adam, who was the figure of Christ, as well as of\nother things. Romans 5. For, Was the first covenant made with the first\nAdam? so was the second covenant made with the second; for these are\nand were the two great public persons, or representators of the whole\nworld, as to the first and second covenants; and therefore you find God\nspeaking on this wise in Scripture concerning the new covenant\u2014\u201cMy\ncovenant shall stand fast with HIM.\u201d \u201cMy mercy will I keep for HIM for\nevermore,\u201d saith God: \u201cMy covenant shall stand fast with HIM\u201d (Psa\n89:28,34,35); this HIM is Christ, if you compare this with Luke 1:32,\n\u201cMy covenant will I not break\u201d\u2014namely, that which was made with\nHIM\u2014\u201cnor alter the thing that is gone out of My mouth. Once I have\nsworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David,\u201d [David here is to\nbe understood Christ.] to whom this was spoken figuratively in the\nPerson of Christ; for that was God\u2019s usual way to speak of the glorious\nthings of the Gospel in the time of the Law, as I said before.\n\nThe conditions of the new covenant.\n\nThe conditions also were concluded on and agreed to be fulfilled by\nHim: as it is clear, if you understand His saying in the 12th of John,\nat the 27th verse, where He foretelleth His death, and saith, \u201cNow is\nMy soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour:\nbut for this cause came I\u201d into the world \u201cunto this hour\u201d; as if He\nhad said, My business is now not to shrink from My sufferings that are\ncoming upon Me; for these are the things that are a great part of the\nconditions contracted in the covenant which stands between My Father\nand Me; therefore I shall not pray that this might be absolutely\nremoved from Me; For, \u201cfor this cause came I\u201d into the world; even this\nwas the very terms of the covenant. By this you may see, \u201cwe are under\ngrace.\u201d\n\nNow in a covenant there are these three things to be considered\u2014First.\nWhat it is that is covenanted for. Second. The conditions upon which\nthe persons who are concerned in it do agree. Third. If the conditions\non both sides be not according to the agreement fulfilled, then the\ncovenant standeth not, but is made void. And this new covenant in these\nparticulars is very exactly fulfilled and made out in Christ.\n\nFirst. The thing or things covenanted for was the salvation of man, but\nmade good in Christ\u2014\u201cThe Son of Man is come to seek and to save that\nwhich was lost. The Son of Man did not come to destroy men\u2019s lives, but\nto save them. I gave My life a ransom for many. And this is the will,\u201d\nor covenant, \u201cof Him that sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me,\nI should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day\u201d\n(John 6:39).\n\nSecond. As touching the conditions agreed on, they ran thus\u20141. On the\nMediator\u2019s side, that He should come into the world; and then on the\nFather\u2019s side, that He should give Him a body. This was one of the\nglorious conditions between the Father and Christ; \u201cWherefore, when He\ncometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest\nnot\u201d\u2014that is, the old covenant must not stand, but give way to another\nsacrifice which Thou hast prepared, which is the giving up My Manhood\nto the strokes of Thy justice\u2014\u201cfor a body Thou hast prepared Me\u201d (Heb\n10:5). This doth prove us under grace.\n\n2. On the Mediator\u2019s side, that He should be put to death; and on God\nthe Father\u2019s side, that He should raise Him up again; this was\nconcluded on also to be done between God the Father and His Son Jesus\nChrist. On Christ\u2019s side, that He should die to give the justice of His\nFather satisfaction, and so to take away the curse that was due to us,\nwretched sinners, by reason of our transgressions; and that God His\nFather, being every ways fully and completely satisfied, should by His\nmighty power revive and raise Him up again. He hath \u201cbrought again\u2014our\nLord Jesus\u201d; that is, from death to life, through the virtue or\neffectual satisfaction that He received from the blood that was shed\naccording to the terms \u201cof the Everlasting Covenant\u201d (Heb 13:20).\n\n3. On the Mediator\u2019s side, that He should be made a curse; and on the\nFather\u2019s side, that through Him sinners should be inheritors of the\nblessing. What wonderful love doth there appear by this in the heart of\nour Lord Jesus, in suffering such things for our poor bodies and souls?\n(Gal 3:13,14). This is grace.\n\n4. That on the Mediator\u2019s side there should be by Him a victory over\nHell, death, and the devil, and the curse of the Law; and on the\nFather\u2019s side, that these should be communicated to sinners, and they\nset at liberty thereby\u2014\u201cTurn you to the stronghold,\u201d saith God, \u201cye\nprisoners of hope; even today do I declare that I will render double\nunto thee\u201d (Zech 9:12). Why so? It is because of the blood of My Son\u2019s\ncovenant (Verse 11); which made Paul, though sensible of a body of\ndeath, and of the sting that death did strike into the souls of all\nthose that are found in their sins, bold to say, \u201cO death! where is thy\nsting? O grave! where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin.\u201d That\nis true, and the terrible Law of God doth aggravate and set it home\nwith insupportable torment and pain. But shall I be daunted at this?\nNo, \u201cI thank my God through Jesus Christ He hath given me this\nvictory.\u201d So that now, though I be a sinner in myself, yet I can, by\nbelieving in Jesus Christ, the Mediator of this new covenant, triumph\nover the devil, sin, death, and Hell; and say, Do not fear, my soul,\nseeing the victory is obtained over all my enemies through my Lord\nJesus Christ (1 Cor 15:55-57). This is the way to prove ourselves under\ngrace.\n\n5. That on the Mediator\u2019s side He should by thus doing bring in\neverlasting righteousness for saints (Dan 9:24); and that the Father\nfor this should give them an everlasting kingdom (1 Peter 1:3-5; Eph\n1:4; 2 Tim 4:18; Luke 22:28,29). But,\n\nThird. [How the conditions are fulfilled]. In the next place, this was\nnot all\u2014that is, the Covenant of Grace, with the conditions thereof,\nwas not only concluded on by both parties to be done, but Jesus Christ\n[Christ is put into office by the Father, to do all things contained in\nthe new covenant] must be authorized to do what was concluded on\ntouching this covenant by way of office. I shall therefore speak a word\nor two also touching the offices, at least, some of them, that Christ\nJesus did and doth still execute as the Mediator of the new covenant,\nwhich also were typed out in the Levitical law; for this is the way to\nprove that we are not under the law, but under grace. And,\n\nChrist is the Surety of the new covenant.\n\nFIRST. His first office, after the covenant was made and concluded\nupon, was that Jesus should become bound as a Surety, [His Suretyship].\nand stand engaged upon oath to see that all the conditions of the\ncovenant that were concluded on between Him and His Father should,\naccording to the agreement, be accomplished by Him; and that after\nthat, He should be the Messenger from God to the world to declare the\nmind of God touching the tenor and nature of both the covenants,\nespecially of the new one. The Scripture saith, that Jesus Christ was\nnot only made a priest by an oath, but also a Surety, or bondsman, as\nin Hebrews 7:21, 22. In the 21st Verse he speaketh of the priesthood of\nChrist, that it was with an oath; and saith, in the 22nd Verse, \u201cBy so\nmuch\u201d also \u201cwas Jesus made a Surety of a better testament,\u201d or\ncovenant.\n\nNow the covenant was not only made on Jesus Christ\u2019s side with an oath,\nbut also on God the Father\u2019s side, that it might be for the better\nground of establishment to all those that are, or are to be, the\nchildren of the promise. Methinks it is wonderful to consider that the\nGod and Father of our souls, by Jesus Christ, should be so bent upon\nthe salvation of sinners, that He would covenant with His Son Jesus for\nthe security of them, and also that there should pass an oath on both\nsides for the confirmation of Their resolution to do good. As if the\nLord had said, My Son, Thou and I have here made a covenant, that I on\nMy part should do thus and thus, and that Thou on Thy part shouldst do\nso and so. Now that We may give these souls the best ground of comfort\nthat may be, there shall pass an oath on both sides, that Our children\nmay see that We do indeed love them. \u201cWherein God, willing more\nabundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His\ncounsel,\u201d in making of the covenant, \u201cconfirmed it by an oath: that we\nmight have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold\nupon the hope set before us\u201d (Heb 6:17,18; 7:21). Mark, the 6th Chapter\nsaith, God confirmed His part by an oath; and the 7th saith, Christ was\nmade or set on His office also by an oath. Again, \u201cOnce,\u201d saith God,\n\u201chave I sworn by My holiness, that I will not lie unto David,\u201d \u201cnor\nalter the thing that is gone out of My mouth,\u201d (Psa 89:34,35) as was\nbefore cited.\n\nHerein you may see that God and Christ were in good earnest about the\nsalvation of sinners; for as soon as ever the covenant was made, the\nnext thing was, who should be bound to see all those things fulfilled\nwhich were conditioned on between the Father and the Son: the angels,\nthey could have no hands in it; the world could not do it; the devils\nhad rather see them damned than they would wish them the least good;\nthus Christ looked, and there was none to help; though the burden lay\nnever so heavy upon His shoulder, He must bear it Himself; for there\nwas none besides Himself to uphold, or so much as to step in to be\nbound, to see the conditions, before mentioned, fulfilled neither in\nwhole nor in part (Isa 63:1-7). So that He must not be only He with\nwhom the covenant was made, but He must also become the bondsman or\nsurety thereof, and so stand bound to see that all and every particular\nthing conditioned for should be, both in manner, and matter, at the\ntime and place, according to the agreement, duly and orderly fulfilled.\nIs not this grace?\n\nNow as touching the nature of a surety and his work, in some things it\nis well known to most men; therefore I shall be very brief upon it.\n\nFirst. You know a surety is at the bargain\u2019s making; and so was\nChrist\u2014\u201cThen was I beside Him\u201d (Prov 8:30).\n\nSecond. A surety must consent to the terms of the agreement, or\ncovenant; and so did Christ Jesus. Now that which He did engage should\nbe done for sinners, according to the terms of the covenant; it was\nthis\u20141. That there should be a complete satisfaction given to God for\nthe sins of the world; for that was one great thing that was agreed\nupon when the covenant was made (Heb 10:5,17). 2. That Jesus Christ\nshould, as aforesaid, bring in an everlasting righteousness to clothe\nthe saints (His body) withal (Dan 9:24,25). Here is grace. 3. That He\nshould take in charge to see all those forthcoming without spot or\nwrinkle at the day of His glorious appearing from Heaven in judgment,\nand to quit them before the Judgment-seat. Again,\n\nThird. In the work of a surety there is required by the creditor that\nthe surety should stand to what he is bound; and on the surety\u2019s side\nthere is a consenting thereunto. 1. The creditor looks, that in case\nthe debtor proves a bankrupt, that then the surety should engage the\npayment. Is not this grace? [However it is in other engagements, it is\nthus in this]. 2. The creditor looks that the surety should be an able\nman. Now our Surety was, and is, in this case, every way suitable; for\nHe is heir of all things. 3. The creditor appoints the day, and also\nlooks that the covenant should be kept, and the debt paid, according to\nthe time appointed; and it is required of sureties, as well as\nstewards, that they be found faithful\u2014namely, to pay the debt according\nto the bargain; and therefore it is said, \u201cWhen the fullness of the\ntime was come, God sent forth His Son\u2014made under the law, to redeem\nthem that were under the law,\u201d (Gal 4:4,5). Thus comes grace to saints.\n4. The creditor looks that his money should be brought into his house,\nto his own habitation. Jesus, our Surety, in this also is faithful; for\nby His own blood, which was the payment, He is entered into the holy\nplace, even into Heaven itself, which is God\u2019s dwelling-place, to\nrender the value and price that was agreed upon for the salvation of\nsinners. But I shall speak more of this in another head, therefore I\npass it. Again,\n\nFourth. If the surety stands bound, the debtor is at liberty; and if\nthe law do issue out any process to take any, it will be the surety.\n[Though the debtor, together with the surety, is liable to pay the debt\nby the law of man, yet Christ our Surety only by the Covenant of\nGrace]. And, O! how wonderfully true was this accomplished in that,\nwhen Christ our Surety came down from Heaven, God\u2019s Law did so seize\nupon the Lord Jesus, and so cruelly handle Him, and so exact upon Him,\nthat it would never let Him alone until it had accused Him and\ncondemned Him, executed Him, and screwed His very heart\u2019s blood out of\nHis precious heart and side; nay, and more than this too, as I shall\nshow hereafter. But,\n\nChrist the Messenger of the new covenant.\n\nSECOND. [His second office]. After that Jesus Christ had stood bound,\nand was become our Surety in things pertaining to this covenant, His\nnext office was to be the Messenger of God touching His mind and the\ntenor of the covenant unto the poor world; and this did the Prophet\nforesee long before, when he saith, \u201cBehold, I will send My messenger,\nand he shall prepare the way before Me\u201d; speaking of John the Baptist.\n\u201cAnd he shall prepare the way before Me.\u201d And then He speaketh of\nChrist to the people, saying, \u201cAnd the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly\ncome to His temple.\u201d Who is He? Even the Messenger of the covenant,\nwhom ye delight in, that is Christ. \u201cBehold, He shall come, saith the\nLORD of Hosts\u201d (Mal 3:1).\n\nNow the covenant being made before between the Father and the Son, and\nJesus Christ becoming bound to see all the conditions fulfilled, this\nbeing done, He could come down from Heaven to earth, to declare to the\nworld what God the Father and HE had concluded on before, and what was\nthe mind of the Father towards the world concerning the salvation of\ntheir souls; and indeed, who could better come on such an errand than\nHe that stood by when the covenant was made? than He that shook hands\nwith the Father in making of the covenant? than He that was become a\nSurety in the behalf of poor sinners, according to the terms of the\ncovenant.\n\nNow, you know, a messenger commonly when he cometh, doth bring some\nerrand to them to whom he is sent, either of what is done for them, or\nwhat they would have them whom they send unto do for them, or such\nlike. Now what a glorious message was that which our Lord Jesus Christ\ncame down from Heaven withal to declare unto poor sinners, and that\nfrom God His Father? I say, how glorious was it; and how sweet is it to\nyou that have seen yourselves lost by nature? and it will also appear a\nglorious one to you who are a seeking after Jesus Christ, if you do but\nconsider these following things about what He was sent\u2014\n\nFirst. Jesus Christ was sent from Heaven to declare unto the world from\nGod the Father that He was wonderfully filled with love to poor\nsinners. First, in that He would forgive their sins. Secondly, in that\nHe would save their souls. Thirdly in that He would make them heirs of\nHis glory. \u201cFor God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten\nSon.\u2014For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but\nthat the world through Him might be saved\u201d (John 3:16,17).\n\nSecond. God sent Jesus Christ to tell the poor world how that He would\ndo this for poor sinners, and yet be just, and yet do His justice no\nwrong; and that was to be done by Jesus Christ\u2019s dying of a cursed\ndeath in the room of poor sinners, to satisfy justice, and make way for\nmercy; to take away the stumbling-blocks, and set open Heaven\u2019s gates;\nto overcome Satan, and break off from sinners his chains (Luke 4:18) to\nset open the prison doors, and to let the prisoners go free (Isa\n61:1-3). And this was the message that Christ was to deliver to the\nworld by commandment from His Father; and this did He tell us when He\ncame of His errand, where he saith, \u201cI lay down My life for the\nsheep\u2014no man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have\npower to lay it down, and to take it again. This commandment have I\nreceived of My Father\u201d (John 10:15-18). Even this commandment hath My\nFather given Me, that I should both do this thing and also tell it unto\nyou.\n\nThird. He was not only sent as a Messenger to declare this His father\u2019s\nlove, but also how dearly He himself loved sinners, what a heart He had\nto do them good, where He saith, \u201cAll that the Father giveth Me shall\ncome to Me\u201d; and let me tell you, MY heart too, saith Christ\u2014\u201cHim that\ncometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out\u201d (John 6:37). As My Father is\nwilling to give you unto Me, even so am I as willing to receive you. As\nMy Father is willing to give you Heaven, so am I willing to make you\nfit for it, by washing you with My own blood; I lay down My life that\nyou might have life; and this I was sent to tell you of My Father.\n\nFourth. His message was further; He came to tell them how and which way\nthey should come to enjoy these glorious benefits; also by laying down\nmotives to stir them up to accept of the benefits. The way is laid down\nin John 3:14,15, where Christ saith, \u201cAs Moses lifted up the serpent in\nthe wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,\u201d or caused to\nbe hanged on the Cross, and die the death\u2014\u201cthat whosoever believeth in\nHim should not perish but have everlasting life.\u201d The way, therefore,\nthat thou shalt have the benefit and comfort of that which My Father\nand I have covenanted for, for thee, I am come down from Heaven to\nearth on purpose to give thee intelligence, and to certify thee of it.\nKnow, therefore, that as I have been born of a woman, and I have taken\nthis Body upon Me, it is on purpose that I might offer it up upon the\nCross a sacrifice to God, to give Him satisfaction for thy sins, that\nHis mercy may be extended to thy soul, without any wrong done to\njustice; and this thou art to believe, and not in the notion but from\nthy very whole soul. Now the motives are many. 1. If they do not leave\ntheir sins, and come to Jesus Christ, that their sins may be washed\naway by His blood, they are sure to be damned in Hell; for the law hath\ncondemned them already (John 3:18,19). 2. But if they do come, they\nshall have the bosom of Christ to lie in, the Kingdom of Heaven to\ndwell in, the angels and saints for their companions, shall shine there\nlike the sun, shall be there for ever, shall sit upon the thrones of\njudgment, etc. Here is grace.\n\nMethinks if I had but the time to speak fully to all things that I\ncould speak to from these two heavenly truths, and to make application\nthereof, surely, with the blessing of God, I think it might persuade\nsome vile and abominable wretch to lay down his arms that he hath taken\nup in defiance against God, and is marching Hellwards, post-haste with\nthe devil; I say, methinks it should stop them, and make them willing\nto look back and accept of salvation for their poor condemned souls,\nbefore God\u2019s eternal vengeance is executed upon them. O, therefore! you\nthat are upon this march, I beseech you consider a little. What! shall\nChrist become a drudge for you; and will you be drudges for the devil?\nShall Christ covenant with God for the salvation of sinners; and shall\nsinners covenant with Hell, death, and the devil for the damnation of\ntheir souls? Shall Christ come down from Heaven to earth to declare\nthis to sinners; and shall sinners stop their ears against these good\ntidings? Will you not hear the errand of Christ, although He telleth\nyou tidings of peace and salvation? How, if He had come, having taken a\ncommandment from His Father to damn you, and to send you to the devils\nin Hell? Sinner, hear His message; He speaketh no harm, His words are\nEternal Life; all men that give ear unto them, they have eternal\nadvantage by them; advantage, I say, that never hath an end. Besides,\ndo but consider these two things, it is like they have some sway upon\nthy soul\u20141. When He came on His message, He came with tears in His\neyes, and did even weepingly tender the terms of reconciliation to\nthem; I say, with tears in his eyes. And when He came near the\ncity\u2014i.e., with His message of peace\u2014beholding the hardness of their\nhearts, He wept over it, and took up a lamentation over it; because He\nsaw they rejected His mercy, which was tidings of peace; I say, wilt\nthou then slight a weeping Jesus, One that so loveth thy soul that,\nrather than He will lose thee, He will with tears persuade with thee?\n2. Not only so, but also when He came, He came all on a gore blood to\nproffer mercy to thee, to show thee still how dearly He did love thee;\nas if He had said, Sinner, here is mercy for thee; but behold My bloody\nsweat, My bloody wounds, My cursed death; behold and see what danger I\nhave gone through to come unto thy soul; I am come indeed unto thee,\nand do bring thee tidings of salvation, but it cost Me My heart\u2019s blood\nbefore I could come at thee, to give thee the fruits of My everlasting\nlove. But more of this anon.\n\nThus have I spoken something concerning Christ\u2019s being the Messenger of\nthe new covenant; but because I am not willing to cut too short of what\nshall come after, I shall pass by these things not half touched, and\ncome to the other which I promised even now; which was to show you,\nthat as there were Levitical ceremonies in or belonging to the first\ncovenant, so these types, or Levitical ceremonies, did represent the\nglorious things of the new covenant. In those ceremonies you read of a\nsacrifice, of a priest to offer up the sacrifice, the place where, and\nthe manner how, he was to offer it; of which I shall speak something.\n\nChrist the sacrifice of the new covenant.\n\nTHIRD. [A third office of Christ, in reference to the new covenant, was\nHis becoming the sacrifice]. As touching the sacrifice; you find that\nit was not to be offered up of all kind of beasts, as of lions, bears,\nwolves, tigers, dragons, serpents, or such like; to signify, that not\nall kind of creatures that had sinned, as devils, the fallen angels,\nshould be saved; but the sacrifice was to be taken out of some kind of\nbeasts and birds, to signify, that some of God\u2019s creatures that had\nsinned He would be pleased to reconcile them to Himself again; as poor\nfallen man and woman, those miserable creatures, God, the God of\nHeaven, had a good look for after their fall; but not for the cruel\ndevils, though more noble creatures by creation than we. Here is grace.\n\nNow though these sacrifices were offered, yet they were not offered to\nthe end they should make the comers to, or offerers thereof, perfect;\nbut the things were to represent to the world what God had in after\nages for to do, which was even the salvation of His creatures by that\noffering of the body of Jesus Christ, of which these were a shadow and\na type for the accomplishing of the second covenant. For Christ was by\ncovenant to offer a sacrifice, and that an effectual one too, if He\nintended the salvation of sinners\u2014\u201cA body hast Thou prepared for Me; I\nam come to do Thy will\u201d (Heb 10:5). I shall therefore show you, First.\nWhat was expected by God in the sacrifice in the type, and then show\nyou how it was answered in the antitype. Second. I shall show you the\nmanner of the offering of the type, and so answerable thereto to show\nyou the fitness of the sacrifice of the body of Christ, by way of\nanswering some questions.\n\nFirst. For the first of these, [What was expected by God in the\nsacrifice in the type, and how answered in the antitype]\u20141. God did\nexpect that sacrifice which He Himself had appointed, and not another,\nto signify, that none would serve His turn but the body and soul of His\nappointed Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant (John 1:29). 2. This\nsacrifice must not be lame nor deformed; it must have no scar, spot, or\nblemish; to signify, that Jesus Christ was to be a complete sacrifice\nby covenant (1 Peter 1:19). 3. This sacrifice was to be taken out of\nthe flock or herd; to signify, that Jesus Christ was to come out of the\nrace of mankind, according to covenant (Heb 10:5). But,\n\nSecond. As to the manner of it [The offering of the types, and so\nanswerable thereto, to show the fitness of the sacrifice of the body of\nChrist]\u20141. The sacrifice, before it was offered, was to have all the\nsins of the children of Israel confessed over it; to signify, that\nJesus Christ must bear the sins of all His children by covenant (Isa\n53:4-7; 1 Peter 2:24). \u201cAs for Thee also, by the blood of Thy\ncovenant,\u201d in His own body on the tree (Zech 9:11). 2. It must be had\nto the place appointed\u2014namely, without the camp of Israel; to signify,\nthat Jesus Christ must be led to the Mount Calvary (Luke 23:33). 3. The\nsacrifice was to be killed there; to signify, that Jesus Christ must\nand did suffer without the city of Jerusalem for our salvation. 4. The\nsacrifice must not only have its life taken away, but also some of its\nflesh burned upon the altar; to signify, that Jesus Christ was not only\nto die a natural death, but also that He should undergo the pains and\ntorments of the damned in Hell. 5. Sometimes there must be a living\noffering and a dead offering, as the goat that was killed, and the\nscape-goat, the dead bird and the living bird, to signify, that Jesus\nChrist must die, and come to life again (Lev 19:4-6). 6. The goat that\nwas to die was to be the sin-offering; that is, to be offered as the\nrest of the sin-offerings, to make an atonement as a type; and the\nother goat was to have all the sins of the children of Israel confessed\nover him, and then let go into the wilderness, never to be catched\nagain (Lev 16:7-22). To signify, that Christ\u2019s death was to make\nsatisfaction for sin, and His coming to life again was to bring in\neverlasting justification from the power, curse, and destroying nature\nof sin (Rom 4:25). 7. The scape-goat was to be carried by a fit man\ninto the wilderness; to signify that Jesus Christ should both be fit\nand able to carry our sins quite a way from us, so as they should never\nbe laid to our charge again. Here is grace. 8. The sacrifices under the\nlaw, commonly part of them must be eaten; to signify, that they that\nare saved should spiritually feed on the body and blood of Jesus\nChrist, or else they have no life by Him (Exo 12:5-11; John 6:51-53).\n9. This sacrifice must be eaten with unleavened bread; to signify, that\nthey which love their sins, that devilish leaven of wickedness, they do\nnot feed upon Jesus Christ. 8\n\nNow of what hath been spoken this is the sum, that there is a sacrifice\nunder the new covenant, as there were sacrifices under the old; and\nthat this sacrifice did every way answer that, or those; indeed, they\ndid but suffer for sin in show, but He in reality; they are the shadow,\nbut He as the substance. O! when Jesus Christ did come to make Himself\na sacrifice, or to offer Himself for sin, you may understand that our\nsins were indeed charged to purpose upon Him. O! how they scarred his\nsoul, how they brake His body, insomuch that they made the blood run\ndown His blessed face and from His precious side; therefore thou must\nunderstand these following things\u2014First, that Jesus Christ by covenant\ndid die for sin. Secondly, that His death was not a mere natural death,\nbut a \u201ccursed death,\u201d even such an one as men do undergo from God for\ntheir sins, though He Himself had none, even such a death as to endure\nthe very pains and torments of Hell. O sad pains and inexpressible\ntorments that this our Sacrifice for sin went under! The pains of His\nbody were not all; no, but the pains of His soul; for His soul was made\nan offering as well as His body, yet all but one sacrifice (Isa 53).\n[As Christ did not suffer in His body without suffering in soul, nor\nyet in soul without His suffering in body; it was because not the body\nwithout the soul, but both the body and soul of the saints should be\nfor ever saved]. To signify, that the suffering of Christ was not only\na bodily suffering, but a soul suffering; not only to suffer what man\ncould inflict upon Him, but also to suffer soul torments that none but\nGod can inflict, or suffer to be inflicted upon Him. O, the torments of\nHis soul! they were the torments indeed; His soul was that that felt\nthe wrath of God. \u201cMy soul,\u201d saith He, \u201cis exceeding sorrowful, even\nunto death\u201d (Matt 26:38). \u201cNow is My soul troubled, and what shall I\nsay?\u201d (John 12:27). The rock was not so rent as was His precious soul;\nthere was not such a terrible darkness on the face of the earth then as\nthere was on His precious soul. O! the torments of Hell and the\neclipsings of the Divine smiles of God were both upon Him at once; the\ndevils assailing of Him, and God forsaking of Him, and all at once! \u201cMy\nGod, My God,\u201d saith He, \u201cwhy hast Thou forsaken Me?\u201d (Matt 27:46). Now\nin my greatest extremity; now sin is laid upon Me, the curse takes hold\nof Me, the pains of Hell are clasped about Me, and Thou hast forsaken\nMe. O sad! Sinners, this was not done in pretence, but in reality; not\nin show, but in very deed; otherwise Christ had dissembled, and had not\nspoken the truth; but the truth of it His bloody sweat declares, His\nmighty cries declare, the things which and for what He suffered\ndeclare. Nay, I must say thus much, that all the damned souls in Hell,\nwith all their damnations, did never yet feel that torment and pain\nthat did this blessed Jesus in a little time. Sinner, canst thou read\nthat Jesus Christ was made an offering for sin, and yet go in sin?\nCanst thou hear that the load of thy sins did break the very heart of\nChrist, and spill His precious blood? and canst thou find in thy heart\nto labour to lay more sins upon His back? Canst thou hear that He\nsuffered the pains, the fiery flames of Hell, and canst thou find in\nthy heart to add to His groans by slighting of His sufferings? O\nhard-hearted wretch! how canst thou deal so unkindly with such a sweet\nLord Jesus?\n\nQuest. But why did Christ offer Himself in sacrifice?\n\nAnsw. That thou shouldst not be thrown to the very devils.\n\nQuest. But why did He spill His precious blood?\n\nAnsw. That thou mightest enjoy the joys of Heaven.\n\nQuest. But why did He suffer the pains of Hell?\n\nAnsw. That thou mightest not fry with the devil and damned souls.\n\nQuest. But could not we have been saved if Christ had not died?\n\nAnsw. No; for without the shedding of blood there is no remission; and\nbesides, there was no death that could satisfy God\u2019s justice but His,\nwhich is evident, because there was none in a capacity to die, or that\nwas able to answer an infinite God by His so suffering but He. 9\n\nQuest. But why did God let Him die?\n\nAnsw. He standing in the room of sinners, and that in their names and\nnatures, God\u2019s justice must fall upon Him; for justice takes vengeance\nfor sin wheresoever it finds it, though it be on His dear Son. Nay, God\nfavoured His Son no more, finding our sins upon Him, than He would have\nfavoured any of us; for, should we have died? so did He. Should we have\nbeen made a curse? so was He. Should we have undergone the pains of\nHell? so did He.\n\nQuest. But did He indeed suffer the torments of Hell?\n\nAnsw. Yea, and that in such a horrible way too, that it is unspeakable.\n\nQuest. Could He not have suffered without His so suffering? Would not\nHis dying only of a natural death have served the turn?\n\nAnsw. No, in nowise. [1]. The sins for which He suffered called for the\ntorments of Hell; the conditions upon which He died did call for the\ntorments of Hell; for Christ did not die the death of a saint, but the\ndeath of a sinner, of a cursed and damned sinner; because He stood in\ntheir room, the law to which He was subjected called for the torments\nof Hell; the nature of God\u2019s justice could not bate Him anything; the\ndeath which He was to suffer had not lost its sting; all these being\nput together do irresistibly declare unto us that He, as a sacrifice,\ndid suffer the torments of Hell (Gal 3:13). But, 2. Had He not died and\nsuffered the cursed death, the covenant had been made void, and His\nSuretyship would have been forfeited, and, besides this, the world\ndamned in the flames of Hell-fire; therefore, His being a sacrifice was\none part of the covenant; for the terms of the covenant were that He\nshould spill His blood. O blessed Jesus! O blessed grace! (Zech\n9:10,11).\n\nQuest. But why, then, is His death so slighted by some?\n\nAnsw. Because they are enemies to Him, either through ignorance or\npresumption; either for want of knowledge or out of malice; for surely\ndid they love or believe Him, they could not choose but break and bleed\nat heart to consider and to think of Him (Zech 12:10,11.)\n\nChrist the High Priest of the New Covenant.\n\nFOURTH, [A fourth office of Christ under the new covenant is His\npriestly]. Thus, passing this, I shall now speak something to Christ\u2019s\npriestly office. But, by the way, if any should think that I do spin my\nthread too long in distinguishing His priestly office from His being a\nsacrifice, the supposing that for Christ to be a priest and a sacrifice\nis all one and the same thing; and it may be it is, because they have\nnot thought on this so well as they should\u2014namely, that as He was a\nsacrifice He was passive, that is, led or had away as a lamb to His\nsufferings (Isaiah 53); but as a priest He was active\u2014that is, He did\nwillingly and freely give up His Body to be a sacrifice. \u201cHe hath given\nHis life a ransom for many.\u201d This consideration being with some weight\nand clearness on my spirit, I was and am caused to lay them down in two\nparticular heads.\n\nAnd therefore I would speak something to is this, that as there were\npriests under the first covenant, so there is a Priest under this,\nbelonging to this new covenant, a High Priest, the Chief Priest; as it\nis clear where it is said, We \u201chaving a high priest over the house of\nGod\u201d (Heb 3:1; 5:5,10; 7:24-26; 8:1, 4; 10:21).\n\nNow the things that I shall treat upon are these\u2014First, I shall show\nyou the qualifications required of a priest under the Law; Second, his\noffice; and, Third, how Jesus Christ did according to what was\nsignified by those under the law; I say, how He did answer the types,\nand where He went beyond them.\n\nFirst, For his qualifications:\u2014\n\n1. They must be called thereto of God\u2014\u201cNo man taketh this honour unto\nhimself, but he that is called of God, as Aaron\u201d (Heb 5:4). Now Aaron\u2019s\nbeing called of God to be a priest signifies that Jesus Christ is a\nPriest of God\u2019s appointment, such an one that God hath chosen, likes\nof, and hath set on work\u2014\u201cCalled of God an High Priest,\u201d etc. (Heb\n5:10).\n\n2. The priests under the law they must be men, complete, not\ndeformed\u2014\u201cSpeak unto Aaron,\u201d saith God to Moses, \u201csaying, Whosoever he\nbe of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not\napproach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that\nhath a blemish, he shall not approach; a blind man, or a lame, or he\nthat hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, or a man that is\nbroken-footed, or broken-handed, or crook-backt, or a dwarf, or that\nhath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones\nbroken; no man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest\nshall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire; he\nthat hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his\nGod\u201d (Lev 21:17-21). What doth all this signify but that, (1.) He must\nnot be lame, to signify he must not go haltingly about the work of our\nsalvation. (2.) He must not be blind, to signify that he must not go\nignorantly to work, but he must be quick of understanding in the things\nof God. (3.) He must not be scabbed, to signify that the priest must\nnot be corrupt of filthy in his office. (4.) In a word, he must be\nevery way complete, to signify to us that Jesus Christ was to be, and\nis, most complete and most perfect in things pertaining to God in\nreference to His second covenant.\n\n3. The priests under the law were not to be hard-hearted, but pitiful\nand compassionate, willing and ready, with abundance of bowels, to\noffer for the people, and to make an atonement for them (Heb 5:1,2). To\nsignify, that Jesus Christ should be a tender-hearted High Priest, able\nand willing to sympathize and be affected with the infirmities of\nothers, to pray for them, to offer up for them His precious blood; He\nmust be such an One who can have compassion on a company of poor\nignorant souls, and on them that are out of the way, to recover them,\nand to set them in safety (Heb 4:15). And that He might thus do, He\nmust be a man that had experience of the disadvantages that infirmity\nand sin did bring unto those poor creatures (Heb 2:17).\n\n4. The high priests under the law were not to be shy or squeamish in\ncase there were any that had the plague or leprosy, scab or blotches;\nbut must look on them, go to them, and offer for them (Lev 13), all\nwhich is to signify, that Jesus Christ should not refuse to take notice\nof the several infirmities of the poorest people, but to teach them,\nand to see that none of them be lost by reason of their infirmity, for\nwant of looking to or tending of. 10\n\nThis privilege also have we under this second covenant. This is the way\nto make grace shine.\n\n5. The high priests under the law they were to be anointed with very\nexcellent oil, compounded by art (Exo 29:7; 30:30). To signify, that\nJesus, the Great High Priest of this new covenant, would be in a most\neminent way anointed to His priestly office by the Holy Spirit of the\nLord.\n\n6. The priest\u2019s food and livelihood in the time of his ministry was to\nbe the consecrated and holy things (Exo 29:33). To signify, that it is\nthe very meat and drink of Jesus Christ to do His priestly office, and\nto save and preserve His poor, tempted, and afflicted saints. O what a\nnew-covenant High Priest have we!\n\n7. The priests under the law were to be washed with water (Exo 29:4).\nTo signify, that Jesus Christ should not go about the work of His\npriestly office with the filth of sin upon Him, but was without sin to\nappear as our High Priest in the presence of His Father, to execute His\npriestly office there for our advantage\u2014\u201cFor such a high priest became\nus, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made\nhigher than the heavens\u201d (Heb 7:26).\n\n8. The high priest under the law, before they went into the holy place,\nthere were to be clothed\u2014with a curious garment, a breastplate, and an\nephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle, and\nthey were to be made of gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and\nfine linen; and in his garment and glorious ornaments there must be\nprecious stones, and on those stones there must be written the names of\nthe children of Israel (read Exodus 28), and all this was to signify\nwhat a glorious High Priest Jesus Christ should be, and how in the\nrighteousness of God He should appear before God as our High Priest, to\noffer up the sacrifice that was to be offered for our salvation to God\nHis Father. But I pass that.\n\nSecond, Now I shall speak to His office. The office of the high priest\nin general was twofold. 1. To offer the sacrifice without the camp. 2.\nTo bring it within the veil\u2014that is, into the holiest of all, which did\ntype out Heaven.\n\n1. [First part of the high priest\u2019s office]. (1.) It was the office of\nthe priest to offer the sacrifice; and so did Jesus Christ; He did\noffer His own Body and Soul in sacrifice. I say, HE did OFFER it, and\nnot another, as it is written, \u201cNo man taketh away My life, but I lay\nit down of Myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to\ntake it again\u201d (John 10:17,18). And again it is said, \u201cWhen He,\u201d Jesus,\n\u201chad offered up one sacrifice for sin, for ever sat down on the right\nhand of God\u201d (Heb 10:12). (2.) The priests under the law must offer up\nthe sacrifice that God had appointed, and none else, a complete one\nwithout any blemish; and so did our High Priest, where He saith,\n\u201cSacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body has Thou prepared\nMe,\u201d and that I will offer (Heb 10:5). (3.) The priest was to take of\nthe ashes of the sacrifice, and lay them in a clean place; and this\nsignifies, that the Body of Jesus, after it had been offered, should be\nlaid into Joseph\u2019s sepulchre, as in a clean place, where never any man\nbefore was laid (Lev 6:11, compared with John 19:41,42).\n\n2. [Second part of the high priest\u2019s office]. This being one part of\nhis office, and when this was done, then in the next place he was, (1.)\nTo put on the glorious garment, when he was to go into the holiest, and\ntake of the blood, and carry it thither, etc., he was to put on the\nholy garment which signifieth the righteousness of Jesus Christ. (2.)\nHe was in this holy garment, which hath in it the stones, and in the\nstones the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, to\nappear in the holy place. \u201cAnd thou shalt take two onyx stones, and\ngrave on them the names of the children of Israel: six of their names\non one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone,\naccording to their birth\u201d (Exo 28:9,10). And this was to signify, that\nJesus Christ was to enter into the holiest, then He was there to bear\nthe names of His elect in the tables of His heart before the Throne of\nGod and the Mercy-seat (Heb 12:23). (3.) With this he was to take of\nthe blood of the sacrifices, and carry it into the holiest of all,\nwhich was a type of Heaven, and there was he to sprinkle the\nmercy-seat; and this was to be done by the high priest only; to\nsignify, that none but Jesus Christ must have this office and\nprivilege, to be the people\u2019s High Priest to offer for them. \u201cBut into\nthe second went the high priest alone once every year, not without\nblood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people\u201d\n(Heb 9:7). (4.) He was there to make an atonement for the people with\nthe blood, sprinkling of it upon the mercy-seat; but this must be done\nwith much incense. \u201cAnd Aaron shall bring the bullock of the\nsin-offering which is for himself, and for his house, and shall kill\nthe bullock of the sin-offering which is for himself: and he shall take\na censor full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the\nLord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it\nwithin the veil: and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the\nLord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat that is\nupon the testimony, that he die not: and he shall take of the blood of\nthe bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat\neastward, and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with\nhis finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of the\nsin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the\nveil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock,\nand sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat.\u201d (Lev\n16:11-15). Now this was for the priest and the people; all which doth\nsignify that Jesus Christ was after His death to go into Heaven itself,\nof which this holy place was a figure, and there to carry the sacrifice\nthat He offered upon the Cross into the presence of God, to obtain\nmercy for the people in a way of justice (Heb 9). And in that he is\nsaid to take his hands full of sweet incense, it signifies that Jesus\nChrist was to offer up His sacrifice in the presence of His Father in a\nway of intercession and prayers.\n\nI might have branched these things out into several particulars, but I\nwould be brief. I say, therefore, the office of the priest was to carry\nthe blood into the holy place, and there to present it before the\nmercy-seat, with his heart full of intercessions for the people for\nwhom he was a priest (Luke 1:8-11). This is Jesus Christ\u2019s work now in\nthe Kingdom of Glory, to plead His own blood, the nature and virtue of\nit, with a perpetual intercession to the God of Mercy on behalf of us\npoor miserable sinners (Heb 7:25).\n\n[Comfortable considerations from Christ\u2019s intercession]. Now, in the\nintercession of this Jesus, which is part of His priestly office, there\nare these things to be considered for our comfort\u2014\n\n1. There is a pleading of the virtue of His Blood for them that are\nalready come in, that they may be kept from the evils of heresies,\ndelusions, temptations, pleasures, profits, or anything of this world\nwhich may be too hard for them. \u201cFather, I pray not that Thou shouldest\ntake them out of the world,\u201d saith Christ, \u201cbut that Thou shouldest\nkeep them from the evil\u201d (John 17:15).\n\n2. In case the devil should aspire up into the presence of God, to\naccuse any of the poor saints, and to plead their backslidings against\nthem, as he will do if he can, then there is Jesus, our Lord Jesus,\nready in the Court of Heaven, at the right hand of God, to plead the\nvirtue of His Blood, not only for the great and general satisfaction\nthat He did give when He was on the Cross, but also the virtue that is\nin it now for the cleansing and fresh purging of His poor saints under\ntheir several temptations and infirmities; as saith the Apostle, \u201cFor\nif when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His\nSon, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life\u201d\u2014that\nis, by His intercession (Rom 5:10).\n\n3. The maintaining of grace, also, is by Jesus Christ\u2019s intercession,\nbeing the second part of His priestly office. O, had we not a Jesus at\nthe right hand of God making intercession for us, and to convey fresh\nsupplies of grace unto us through the virtue of His Blood being pleaded\nat God\u2019s right hand, how soon would it be with us as it is with those\nfor whom He prays not at all (John 17:9)? But the reason why thou\nstandest while others fall, the reason why thou goest through the many\ntemptations of the world, and shakest them off from thee, while others\nare ensnared and entangled therein, it is because thou hast an\ninterceding Jesus. \u201cI have prayed,\u201d saith He, \u201cthat thy faith fail not\u201d\n(Luke 22:32).\n\n4. It is partly by the virtue of Christ\u2019s intercession that the elect\nare brought in. There are many that are to come to Christ which are not\nyet brought in to Christ: and it is one part of His work to pray for\ntheir salvation too\u2014\u201cNeither pray I for these alone, but for them also\nwhich shall believe,\u201d though as yet they do not believe \u201con Me,\u201d but\nthat they may believe \u201cthrough their word\u201d (John 17:20). And let me\ntell thee, soul, for thy comfort, who art a-coming to Christ, panting\nand sighing, as if thy heart would break, I tell thee, soul, thou\nwouldst never have come to Christ, if He had not first, by the virtue\nof His blood and intercession, sent into thy heart an earnest desire\nafter Christ; and let me tell thee also, that it is His business to\nmake intercession for thee, not only that thou mightest come in, but\nthat thou mightest be preserved when thou art come in (Compare Heb\n7:25; Rom 8:33-39).\n\n5. It is by the intercession of Christ that the infirmities of the\nsaints in their holy duties are forgiven. Alas, if it were not for the\npriestly office of Christ Jesus, the prayers, alms, and other duties of\nthe saints might be rejected, because of the sin that is in them; but\nJesus being our High Priest, He is ready to take away the iniquities of\nour holy things, perfuming our prayers with the glory of His own\nperfections; and therefore it is that there is an answer given to the\nsaints\u2019 prayers, and also acceptance of their holy duties (Rev 8:3,4).\n\u201cBut Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a\ngreater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to\nsay, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves,\nbut by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having\nobtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of\ngoats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth\nto the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ,\nwho through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,\npurge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for\nthis cause He is the mediator of the New Testament,\u201d or covenant, \u201cthat\nby means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were\nunder the first testament, they which are called,\u201d notwithstanding all\ntheir sins, \u201cmight receive the promise of eternal inheritance\u201d (Heb\n9:11-15).\n\nThird. The third thing now to be spoken to is, to show where and how\nJesus Christ outwent and goes beyond these priests, in all their\nqualifications and offices, for the comfort of poor saints.\n\n1. They that were called to the priesthood under the law were but men;\nbut He is both God and man (Heb 7:3,28).\n\n2. Their qualifications were in them in a very scanty way; but Jesus\nwas every way qualified in an infinite and full way.\n\n3. They were consecrated but for a time, but He for evermore (Heb\n7:23,24).\n\n4. They were made without an oath, but He with an oath (Verses 20,21).\n\n5. They as servants; but He as a Son (Hebrews 3:6).\n\n6. Their garments were but such as could be made with hands, but His\nthe very righteousness of God (Exo 28; Rom 3:22; Phil 3:8,9).\n\n7. Their offerings were but the body and blood of beasts, and such\nlike, but His offering was His own body and soul (Heb 9:12,13; 10:4,5;\nIsa 53:10).\n\n8. Those were at best but a shadow or type, but He the very substance\nand end of all those ceremonies (Heb 9:1,10,11).\n\n9. Their holy place was but made by men, but His, or that which Jesus\nis entered, is into Heaven itself (Heb 9:2,3,24).\n\n10. When they went to offer their sacrifice, they were forced to offer\nfor themselves, as men compassed about with infirmity, but He holy,\nharmless, who did never commit the least transgression (Heb 7:26;\n10:11).\n\n11. They when they went to offer they were fain to do it standing, to\nsignify that God had no satisfaction therein; but He, when \u201cHe had\noffered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of\nGod,\u201d to signify that God was very well pleased with His offering (Heb\n10:12).\n\n12. They were fain to offer \u201coftentimes the same sacrifices, which can\nnever take away sins\u201d; but He, \u201cby one offering hath perfected for ever\nthem that are sanctified\u201d (Heb 10:11,14).\n\n13. Their sacrifices at the best could but serve for the cleansing of\nthe flesh, but His for cleansing both body and soul\u2014the blood of Jesus\nChrist doth purge the conscience from dead works, to live a holy life\n(Heb 9:13,14).\n\n14. Those high priests could not offer but once a year in the holiest\nof all, but our High Priest He ever liveth to make intercession for us\n(Heb 9:7; 12:24,25).\n\n15. Those high priests, notwithstanding they were priests, they were\nnot always to wear their holy garments; but Jesus never puts them off\nof Him, but is in them always.\n\n16. Those high priests, death would be too hard for them, but our High\nPriest hath vanquished and overcome that cruel enemy of ours, and\nbrought life and immortality to light through the glorious Gospel (Heb\n7:21,23; 2:15; 2 Tim 1:10).\n\n17. Those high priests were not able to save themselves; but this is\nable to save Himself, and all that come to God, by Him (Heb 7:25).\n\n18. Those high priests\u2019 blood could not do away sin; but the blood of\nJesus Christ, who is our High Priest, \u201ccleanseth us from all sin\u201d (1\nJohn 1:7).\n\n19. Those high priests sometimes by sin caused God to reject their\nsacrifices; but this High Priest doth always the things that please\nHim.\n\n20. Those high priests could never convey the Spirit by virtue of their\nsacrifices or office; but this High Priest, our Lord Jesus, He can and\ndoth give all the gifts and graces that are given to the sons of men.\n\n21. Those high priests could never by their sacrifices bring the soul\nof any sinner to glory by virtue of itself; but Jesus hath by one\noffering, as I said before, perfected for ever those that He did die\nfor. Thus in brief I have showed in some particulars how and wherein\nJesus our High Priest doth go beyond those high priests; and many more\nwithout question might be mentioned, but I forbear.\n\nChrist the forerunner of the saints.\n\nFIFTH. A fifth office of Christ in reference to the second covenant\nwas, that He should be the forerunner to Heaven before His saints that\nwere to follow after. First, He strikes hands in the covenant, [and\nthen] He stands bound as a Surety to see everything in the covenant\naccomplished that was to be done on His part; [next] He brings the\nmessage from Heaven to the world; and before He goeth back, He offereth\nHimself for the same sins that He agreed to suffer for; and so soon as\nthis was done, He goeth post-haste to Heaven again, not only to\nexercise the second part of His priestly office, but as our forerunner,\nto take possession for us, even into Heaven itself, as you may see,\nwhere it is said, \u201cWhither the Forerunner is for us entered\u201d (Heb\n6:20).\n\nFirst. He is run before to open Heaven\u2019s gates\u2014Be ye open, ye\neverlasting doors, that the King of Glory may enter in.\n\nSecond. He is run before us to take possession of glory in our natures\nfor us.\n\nThird. He is run before to prepare us our places against we come\nafter\u2014\u201cI go to prepare a place for you\u201d (John 14:1-3).\n\nFourth. He is run thither to make the way easy, in that He hath first\ntrodden the path Himself.\n\nFifth. He is run thither to receive gifts for us. All spiritual and\nheavenly gifts had been kept from us had not Christ, so soon as the\ntime appointed was come, run back to the Kingdom of Glory to receive\nthem for us. But I cannot stand to enlarge upon these glorious things,\nthe Lord enlarge them upon your hearts by meditation. [These things\nhave I spoken to show you that saints are under grace.]\n\nChrist completely fulfilled the conditions of the new covenant.\n\nHere now I might begin to speak of His prophetical and kingly office,\nand the privileges that do and shall come thereby, but that I fear I\nshall be too tedious, therefore at this time I shall pass them by. Thus\nyou may see how the Covenant of Grace doth run, and with Whom it was\nmade, and also what were the conditions thereof.\n\nNow, then, this grace, this everlasting grace of God, comes to be free\nto us through the satisfaction, according to the conditions, given by\nAnother for us; for though it be free, and freely given to us, yet the\nobtaining of it did cost our Head, our public Man, a very dear price.\n\u201cFor ye are bought with a price,\u201d even with the precious blood of\nChrist. So it is by Another, I say, not by us; yet it is as surely made\nover to us, even to so many of us as do or shall believe, as if we had\ndone it, and obtained the grace of God ourselves (1 Cor 6:20; 1 Peter\n1:9). Nay, surer; for consider, I say, this grace is free to us, and\ncomes upon a clear score, by virtue of the labour and purchase of\nAnother for us; mark, that which is obtained by Another for us is not\nobtained for us by ourselves\u2014No, but Christ hath, not by the blood of\ngoats and calves, \u201cobtained eternal redemption for us,\u201d which were\nthings offered by men under the law, \u201cbut by His own blood,\u201d meaning\nChrist\u2019s, \u201cHe entered in once into the holy place, having obtained\neternal redemption for us\u201d (Heb 9:12).\n\nIt comes to be unchangeable through the perfection of that satisfaction\nthat was given to God through the Son of Mary for us; for whatever the\nDivine, infinite, and eternal justice of God did call for at the hands\nof man, if ever he intended to be a partaker of the grace of God, this\nJesus, this one Man, this public Person, did, did completely give a\nsatisfaction to it, even so effectually; which caused God not only to\nsay, I am pleased, but \u201cI am well pleased\u201d; completely and sufficiently\nsatisfied with Thee on their behalf; for so you must understand it\n(Matt 3:17). Mark therefore these following words\u2014\u201cAnd, having made\npeace,\u201d or completely made up the difference, \u201cthrough the blood of His\ncross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say,\nwhether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that\nwere sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet\nnow hath He reconciled,\u201d how? \u201cin the body of His flesh through death,\nto present you holy,\u201d mark, \u201choly and unblameable and unreproveable in\nHis sight\u201d (Col 1:20-22). And thus it is grace, unchangeable grace to\nus; because it was obtained, yea, completely obtained, for us, by Jesus\nChrist, God-man.\n\nObject. But some may say, How was it possible that one man Jesus, by\none offering, should so completely obtain and bring in unchangeable\ngrace for such an innumerable company of sinners as are to be saved?\n\nAnsw. First. In that He was every way fitted for such a work. And,\nSecond. In that, as I said before, He did every way completely satisfy\nthat which was offended by our disobedience to the former covenant.\n\n[First. He was every way fitted for such a work]. And, for the clearing\nof this,\n\n1. Consider, was it man that had offended? He was Man that gave the\nsatisfaction\u2014\u201cFor since by man came death, by man came also the\nresurrection of the dead\u201d (1 Cor 15:21).\n\n2. Was it God that was offended? He was God that did give a\nsatisfaction\u2014\u201cUnto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.\u2014and His\nname shall be called The mighty God\u201d (Isa 9:6). \u201cHe thought it not\nrobbery to be equal with God: but,\u201d for our sakes, He \u201cmade Himself of\nno reputation,\u201d etc. (Phil 2:6-7).\n\n3. For the further clearing of this, to show you that in everything He\nwas rightly qualified for this great work, see what God Himself saith\nof Him; He calls Him, in the first place, Man; and, secondly, He owns\nHim to be His Fellow, saying, \u201cAwake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and\nagainst the Man\u201d\u2014mark, \u201cthe Man that is My Fellow, saith the LORD of\nhosts\u201d (Zech 13:7).\n\nSo that now, let Divine and infinite justice turn itself which way it\nwill, it finds one that can tell how to match it; for if it say, I will\nrequire the satisfaction of man, here is a Man to satisfy its cry; and\nif it say, But I am an infinite God, and must and will have an infinite\nsatisfaction; here is One also that is infinite, even fellow with God,\nfellow in His essence and being; fellow in His power and strength;\nfellow in His wisdom; fellow in His mercy and grace; together with the\nrest of the attributes of God; so that, I say, let justice turn itself\nwhich way it will, here is a complete Person to give a complete\nsatisfaction (Prov 8:23; 1 Cor 1:24; Titus 2:10; compared with Verse\n11). Thus much of the fitness of the Person.\n\nSecond. For the completeness of the satisfaction given by Him for us.\nAnd that is discovered in these particulars\u2014\n\n1. Doth justice call for the blood of that nature that sinned? here is\nthe heart-blood of Jesus Christ\u2014\u201cWe have redemption through His blood,\u201d\n(Eph 1:7,14; 1 Peter 1:18,19; Zech 9:10,11).\n\n2. Doth justice say that this blood, if it be not the blood of One that\nis really and naturally God, it will not give satisfaction to infinite\njustice? then here is God, purchasing His Church \u201cwith His own blood\u201d\n(Acts 20:28).\n\n3. Doth justice say, that it must not only have satisfaction for\nsinners, but they that are saved must be also washed and sanctified\nwith this blood? then here is He that so loved us, that He \u201cwashed us\nfrom our sins in His own blood\u201d (Rev 1:5).\n\n4. Is there to be a righteousness to clothe them with that is to be\npresented before Divine justice? there here is the righteousness of\nChrist, which is \u201ceven the righteousness of God by faith\u201d (Rom 3:22;\nPhil 3:8-10).\n\n5. Are there any sins now that will fly upon this Saviour like so many\nlions, or raging devils, if He take in hand to redeem man? He will be\ncontent to bear them all Himself alone, even in His own body upon the\ntree (1 Peter 2:24).\n\n6. Is there any law now that will curse and condemn this Saviour for\nstanding in our persons to give satisfaction to God for the\ntransgression of man? He will be willing to be cursed, yea, to be made\na curse for sinners, rather than they shall be cursed and damned\nthemselves (Gal 3:13).\n\n7. Must the great and glorious God, whose eyes are so pure that He\ncannot behold iniquity; I say, must He not only have the blood, but the\nvery life of Him that will take in hand to be the Deliverer and Saviour\nof us poor miserable sinners? He is willing to lay down His life for\nHis sheep (John 10:11).\n\n8. Must He not only die a natural death, but must His soul descend into\nhell, though it should not be left there, He will suffer that also\nPsalms 16:10; and Acts 2:31. 11\n\n9. Must He not only be buried, but rise again from the dead, and\novercome death, that He might be the first-fruits to God of them that\nsleep, which shall be saved? He will be buried, and also through the\nstrength of His Godhead, He will raise Himself out of the grave, though\ndeath hold Him never so fast, and the Jews lay never such a great stone\nupon the mouth of the selpulchre, and seal it never so fast (1 Cor\n15:4; Luke 24:34).\n\n10. Must He carry that body into the presence of His Father, to take\npossession of Heaven, and must He appear there as a priest, as a\nforerunner, as an advocate, as prophet, as a treasure-house, as an\ninterceder and pleader of the causes of His people? He will be all\nthese, and much more, to the end the grace of God by faith in Jesus\nChrist might be made sure to all the seed. \u201cWho then can condemn? It is\nGod that justifieth; because Christ hath died, yea rather, that is\nrisen again.\u201d Who, now seeing all this is so effectually done, shall\nlay anything, the least thing? who can find the least flaw, the least\nwrinkle, the least defect or imperfection, in this glorious\nsatisfaction (Rom 8:33-34; Heb 6:20; 9:24; John 14:2,3; 1 John 2:1)?\n\nObject. But is it possible that He should so soon give infinite justice\na satisfaction, a complete satisfaction? for the eternal God doth\nrequire an eternal lying under the curse, to the end He may be\neternally satisfied.\n\nAnsw. Indeed, that which is infinite must have an eternity to satisfy\nGod in\u2014that is, they that fall into the prison and pit of utter\ndarkness must be there to all eternity, to the end the justice of God\nmay have its full blow at them. But now He that I am speaking of is\nGod, and so is infinite (Isa 9:6; Titus 1:16,17; Heb 1:8,9; Phil\n2:4-6). Now, He which is true God is able to give in as little a time\nan infinite satisfaction as Adam was in giving the dissatisfaction.\nAdam himself might have given satisfaction for himself as soon as\nChrist had he been very God, as Jesus Christ was. For the reason why\nthe posterity of Adam, even so many of them as fall short of life, must\nlie broiling in Hell to all eternity is this\u2014they are not able to give\nthe justice of God satisfaction, they being not infinite, as aforesaid.\n\u201cBut Christ,\u201d that is, God-man, \u201cbeing come an High Priest,\u201d that is,\nto offer and give satisfaction, \u201cof good things to come, by a greater\nand more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not\nof this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His\nown,\u201d\u2014mark you that, \u201cbut by His own blood He entered in once into the\nholy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.\u201d But how? \u201cFor\nif the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer\nsprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how\nmuch more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit,\u201d\nwho through the power and virtue of His infinite Godhead, \u201coffered\nHimself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to\nserve the living God? And for this cause,\u201d that is, for that He is God\nas well as man, and so able to give justice an infinite satisfaction,\ntherefore, \u201cHe is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of\ndeath, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the\nfirst testament, they which are called might receive the promise of\neternal inheritance\u201d (Heb 9:11-15). As I said before.\n\nObject. This is much; but is God connected with this? Is He satisfied\nnow in the behalf of sinners by this Man\u2019s thus suffering? If He is,\nthen how doth it appear?\n\nAnsw. It is evident, yea, wonderful evident, that this hath pleased Him\nto the full, as appeareth by these following demonstrations.\u2014\n\nFirst. In that God did admit Him into His presence; yea, receive Him\nwith joy and music, even with the sound of the trumpet, at His\nascension into Heaven (Psa 47:5). And Christ makes it an argument to\nHis children that His righteousness was sufficient, in that He went to\nHis Father, and they saw Him no more, \u201cof righteousness,\u201d saith He,\n\u201cbecause I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more\u201d (John 16:10). As if\nHe had said, My Spirit shall show to the world that I have brought in a\nsufficient righteousness to justify sinners withal, in that when I go\nto appear in the presence of My Father on their behalf, He shall give\nMe entertainment, and not throw Me down from Heaven, because I did not\ndo it sufficiently.\n\nAgain; if you consider the high esteem that God the Father doth set on\nthe death of His Son, you will find that He hath received good content\nthereby. When the Lord Jesus, by way of complaint, told His Father that\nHe and His merits were not valued to the worth, His Father answered, It\nis a light thing that I should give Thee, O My Servant, to bring Jacob\nagain; \u201cI will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou\nmayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth\u201d (Isa 49:6). As if the\nLord had said, \u201cMy Son, I do value Thy death at a higher rate than that\nThou shouldst save the tribes of Israel only; behold the Gentiles, the\nbarbarous heathens, they also shall be brought in as the price of Thy\nblood. It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My Servant only to\nbring, or redeem, the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of\nIsrael: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou\nmayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth.\u201d 12\n\nAgain; you may see it also by the carriage of God the Father to all the\ngreat sinners to whom mercy was proffered. We do not find that God\nmaketh any objection against them to come to Him for the pardon of\ntheir sins; because He did want a satisfaction suitable to the\ngreatness of their sins. There was Manasseh, who was one that burned\nhis children in the fire to the devil, that used witchcraft, that used\nto worship the host of heaven, that turned his back on the Word that\nGod sent unto him; nay, that did worse than the very heathen that God\ncast out before the children of Israel (2 Chron 33:1-13). Also those\nthat are spoken of in the Nineteenth of Acts, that did spend so much\ntime in conjuration, and the like, for such I judge they were, that\nwhen they came to burn their books, they counted the price thereof to\nbe fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19:19). Simon Magus also, that\nwas a sorcerer, and bewitched the whole city, yet he had mercy\nproffered to him once and again (Acts 8). I say, it was not the\ngreatness of the sins of these sinners; no, nor of an innumerable\ncompany of others, that made God at all to object against the salvation\nof their souls, which justice would have constrained Him to had He not\nhad satisfaction sufficient by the blood of the Lord Jesus. Nay,\nfurther, I do find that because God the Father would not have the\nmerits of His Son to be undervalued, I say, He doth therefore freely by\nHis consent let mercy be proffered to the greatest sinners\u2014in the first\nplace, for the Jews, that were the worst of men in that day for\nblasphemy against the Gospel; yet the Apostle proffered mercy to them\nin the first place\u2014\u201cIt was necessary,\u201d saith he, \u201cthat the Word of God\nshould first have been spoken to you\u201d (Acts 3:26; 13:46). And Christ\ngave them commission so to do; for, saith He, Let repentance and\nremission of sins be preached in My name among all nations, and\nbegin\u2014mark that, \u201cbeginning at Jerusalem\u201d (Luke 24:47), Let them that\nbut the other day had their hands up to the elbows in My heart\u2019s blood\nhave the first proffer of My mercy. And, saith Paul, \u201cFor this cause I\nobtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all\nlongsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on\nHim to life everlasting\u201d (1 Tim 1:16). As the Apostle saith, those\nsinners that were dead, possessed with the devil, and the children of\nwrath, He hath quickened, delivered, and saved. That He might, even in\nthe very \u201cages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace\nin His kindness toward us,\u201d and that \u201cthrough Christ Jesus\u201d (Eph 2:7).\n\nSecond. It is evident that that which this Man did as a common person\nHe did it completely and satisfactorily, as appears by the openness, as\nI may so call it, which was in the heart of God to Him at His\nresurrection and ascension\u2014\u201cAsk of Me,\u201d saith He, \u201cand I shall give\nThee the\u201d very \u201cheathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts\nof the earth for Thy possession\u201d (Psa 2:8). And this was at His\nresurrection (Acts 13:33). Whereas, though He had asked, yet if He had\nnot given a full and complete satisfaction, justice would not have\ngiven Him any thing; for justice, the justice of God, is so pure, that\nif it be not completely satisfied in every particular, it giveth\nnothing but curses (Gal 3:10).\n\nThird. It is yet far more evident that He hath indeed pleased God in\nthe behalf of sinners, in that God hath given Him gifts to distribute\nto sinners, yea, the worst of sinners, as a fruit of His satisfaction,\nand that at His ascension (Psa 68:18). Christ hath so satisfied God,\nthat He hath given Him all the treasures both of Heaven and earth to\ndispose of as He seeth good; He hath so pleased God, that He hath given\nHim a name above every name, a sceptre above every sceptre, a crown\nabove every crown, a kingdom above every kingdom; He hath given Him the\nhighest place in Heaven, even His own right hand; He hath given Him all\nthe power of Heaven and earth, and under the earth, in His own hand, to\nbind whom He pleaseth, and to set free whom He thinks meet; He hath, in\na word, such a high esteem in the eyes of His Father, that He hath put\ninto His hands all things that are for the profit of His people, both\nin this world and that which is to come; and all this as the fruit of\nHis faithfulness in doing of His work, as the Mediator of the new\ncovenant (Phil 2:9; Rev 19:6). Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast\nled captivity captive, Thou hast received gifts\u2014mark, Thou hast\nreceived them\u2014for men, even for the worst of men, for the rebellious\nalso; and hath sent forth some, being furnished with these gifts; some,\nI say, for the work of the ministry, to the edifying of them that are\nalready called, and also for the calling in of all those for whom He\ncovenanted with His Father, till all come in the unity of faith, etc.\n(Eph 4:8-13).\n\nFourth. It doth still appear yet far more evident; for will you hear\nwhat the Father Himself saith for the showing of His well-pleasedness\nin these two particulars\u2014First, in that He bids poor souls to hear and\nto do as Christ would have them (Matt 3:17; Luke 9:35). Secondly, in\nthat He resolves to make them that turn their backs upon Him, that\ndishonour Him, which is done in a very great measure by those that lay\naside His merits done by Himself for justification; I say, He that\nresolved to make this His footstool, where He saith, \u201cSit Thou at My\nright hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool\u201d (Psa 110:1). Are\nthey enemies to Thee? saith God. I will be even with them. Do they\nslight Thy merits? Do they slight Thy groans, Thy tears, Thy blood, Thy\ndeath, Thy resurrection and intercession, Thy second coming again in\nheavenly glory? I will tear them and rend them; I will make them as\nmire in the streets; I will make Thy enemies Thy footstool (Matt 22:44;\nHeb 1:13; 10:13). Ay, saith He, and \u201cThou shalt dash them in pieces\nlike a potter\u2019s vessel\u201d (Psa 2:9). Look to it you that slight the\nmerits of the blood of Christ.\n\nFifth. Again further; yet God will make all the world to know that He\nhath been and is well pleased in His Son, in that God hath given, and\nwill make it appear He hath given, the world to come into His hand; and\nthat He shall raise the dead, bring them before His judgment-seat,\nexecute judgment upon them, which He pleaseth to execute judgment on to\ntheir damnation; and to receive them to eternal life whom He doth\nfavour, even so many as shall be found to believe in His name and\nmerits (Heb 2). \u201cFor as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He\ngiven to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given Him authority\nto execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man. For the hour is\ncoming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice,\nand shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection\nof life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of\ndamnation\u201d (John 5:26-29). Ay, and the worst enemy that Christ hath now\nshall come at that day with a pale face, with a quaking heart, and\nbended knees, trembling before Him, confessing the glory of His merits,\nand the virtue there was in them to save, \u201cto the glory of God the\nFather\u201d (Rom 14:11; Phil 2:11).\n\nMuch more might be added to discover the glorious perfection of this\nMan\u2019s satisfaction; but for you that desire to be further satisfied\nconcerning this, search the Scriptures, and beg of God to give you\nfaith and understanding therein; and as for you that slight these\nthings, and continue so doing, God hath another way to take with you,\neven to dash you in pieces like a potter\u2019s vessel; for this hath Christ\nreceived of His Father to do unto you (Rev 2:27).\n\nThus I have showed you in particular, that the Covenant of Grace of God\nis free and unchangeable to men\u2014that is, in that it hath been obtained\nfor men, and that perfectly, to the satisfying of justice, and taking\nall things out of the way that were any ways a hindrance to our\nsalvation (Col 2:14).\n\nThe Covenant of Grace unchangeable; the opposers answered.\n\nThe second thing for the discovering of this freeness and constancy of\nthe Covenant of Grace of God is manifested thus\u2014\n\nFirst. Whatsoever any man hath of the grace of God, he hath it as a\nfree gift of God through Christ Jesus the Mediator of this covenant,\neven when they are in a state of enmity to Him, whether it be Christ as\nthe foundation-stone, or faith to lay hold of Him, mark that (Rom\n5:8,9; Col 1:21,22). \u201cFor by grace are ye saved through faith; and that\nnot of yourselves,\u201d not for anything in you, or done by you for the\npurchasing of it, but \u201cit is the gift of God,\u201d (Eph 2:8) and that\nbestowed on you, even when ye \u201cwere dead in trespasses and sins\u201d (Eph\n2:1,9). Nay, if thou hast so much as one desire that is right, it is\nthe gift of God; for of ourselves, saith the Apostle, we are not able\nto speak a good word, or think a good thought (2 Cor 3:5).\n\nWas it not grace, absolute grace, that God made promise to Adam after\ntransgression? (Gen 3:15). Was it not free grace in God to save such a\nwretch as Manasseh was, who used enchantments, witchcraft, burnt his\nchildren in the fire, and wrought much evil? (2 Chron 33). Was it not\nfree grace to save such as those were that are spoken of in the 16th of\nEzekiel, which no eye pitied? Was it not free grace for Christ to give\nPeter a loving look after he had cursed, and swore, and denied Him? Was\nit not free grace that met Paul when he was agoing to Damascus to\npersecute, which converted him, and made him a vessel of mercy?\n\nAnd what shall I say of such that are spoken of in 1 Corinthians 6:9,\n10, speaking there of fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate,\nabusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards,\nrevilers, extortioners, the basest of sinners in the world, and yet\nwere washed, and yet were justified; was it not freely by grace? O\nsaints, you that are in heaven cry out, \u201cWe came hither by grace; and\nyou that are on the earth, I am sure you cry, If ever we do go thither,\nit must be freely by grace!\u201d\n\nSecond. In the next place, it appears to be unchangeable in this\u20141.\nBecause justice being once satisfied doth not use to call for the debt\nagain. No; let never such a sinner come to Jesus Christ, and so to God\nby Him, and justice, instead of speaking against the salvation of that\nsinner, it will say, I am just as well as faithful to forgive him his\nsins (1 John 1:9). When justice itself is pleased with a man, and\nspeaks on his side, instead of speaking against him, we may well cry\nout, Who shall condemn? 2. Because there is no law to come in against\nthe sinner that believes in Jesus Christ; for he is not under that, and\nthat by right comes in against none but those that are under it. But\nbelievers are not under that\u2014that is, not their Lord, therefore that\nhath nothing to do with them; and besides, Christ\u2019s blood hath not only\ntaken away the curse thereof, but also He hath in His own Person\ncompletely fulfilled it as a public Person in our stead. (Rom 7:1-4).\n3. The devil that accused them is destroyed (Heb 2:14,15). 4. Death,\nand the grave, and Hell are overcome (1 Cor 15:55; Hosea 13:14). 5.\nSin, that great enemy of man\u2019s salvation, that is washed away (Rev\n1:5). 6. The righteousness of God is put upon them that believe, and\ngiven to them, and they are found in it (Phil 3:8-10; Rom 3:22). 7.\nChrist is always in Heaven to plead for them, and to prepare a place\nfor them (Heb 7:24; John 14:1-4). 8. He hath not only promised that He\nwill not leave us, nor forsake us, but He hath also sworn to fulfill\nHis promises. O rich grace! O free grace! Lord, who desired Thee to\npromise? who compelled Thee to swear? We use to take honest men upon\ntheir bare word, but God, \u201cwilling more abundantly to show unto the\nheirs of promise the immutability of His counsel,\u201d hath \u201cconfirmed it\nby an oath: that by two immutable things,\u201d His promise and His oath,\n\u201cin which it was impossible for God to lie,\u201d or break either of them,\n\u201cwe might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay\nhold upon the hope set before us\u201d (Heb 6:17-18). I will warrant you,\nGod will never break His oath; therefore we may well have good ground\nto hope from such a good foundation as this, that God will never leave\nus indeed. Amen.\n\nThird. Not only thus, but, 1. God hath begotten believers again to\nHimself, to be His adopted and accepted children, in and through the\nLord Jesus (1 Peter 1:3). 2. God hath prepared a kingdom for them\nbefore the foundation of the world, through Jesus Christ (Matt 25:34).\n3. He hath given them an earnest of their happiness while they live\nhere in this world. \u201cAfter that ye believed, ye were sealed with that\nholy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until\nthe redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His\nglory,\u201d and that through this Jesus (Eph 1:13,14). [These things are\nmore fully laid down in that part of the book which containeth the\ndiscourse of the privileges of the new covenant]. 4. If His children\nsin through weakness, or by sudden temptation, they confessing of it,\nHe willingly forgives, and heals all their wounds, reneweth His love\ntowards them, waits to do them good, casteth their sins into the depths\nof the sea, and all this freely, without any work done by men as\nmen\u2014Not for your own sakes do I do this, O house of Israel, be it known\nunto you, saith the Lord, but wholly and alone by the blood of Jesus\n(Eze 36:23,23). 5. In a word, if you would see it altogether, God\u2019s\nlove was the cause why Jesus Christ was sent to bleed for sinners.\nJesus Christ\u2019s bleeding stops the cries of Divine justice; God looks\nupon them as complete in Him, gives them to Him as His by right of\npurchase. Jesus ever lives to pray for them that are thus given unto\nHim. God sends His Holy Spirit into them to reveal this to them, sends\nHis angels to minister for them; and all this by virtue of an\nEverlasting Covenant between the Father and the Son. Thrice happy are\nthe people that are in such a case!\n\nNay, further, He hath made them brethren with Jesus Christ, members of\nHis flesh and of His bones, the spouse of this Lord Jesus; and all to\nshow you how dearly, how really, how constantly He loveth us, who, by\nfaith of His operation, have laid hold upon Him. [These things I might\nhave treated upon more largely].\n\n[Further Arguments and Objections answered].\n\nI shall now lay down a few arguments for the superabundant clearing of\nit, and afterwards answer two or three objections that may be made\nagainst it, and so I shall fall upon the next thing.\n\nFirst. God loves the saints as He loves Jesus Christ; and God loves\nJesus Christ with an eternal love; therefore the saints also with the\nsame. \u201cThou hast loved them as Thou has loved Me\u201d (John 17:23).\n\nSecond. That love which is God Himself, must needs be everlasting love;\nand that is the love wherewith God hath loved His saints in Christ\nJesus; therefore His love towards His children in Christ must needs be\nan everlasting love. There is none dare say that the love of God is\nmixed with a created mixture; if not, then it must needs be Himself (1\nJohn 4:16). [You must not understand that love in God is a passion as\nit is in us; but the love of God is the very essence or nature of God].\n\nThird. That love which is always pitched upon us, in an object as holy\nas God, must needs be an everlasting love. Now the love of God was and\nis pitched upon us, through an object as holy as God Himself, even our\nLord Jesus; therefore it must needs be unchangeable.\n\nFourth. If He with whom the Covenant of Grace was made, did in every\nthing and condition do even what the Lord could desire or require of\nHim, that His love might be extended to us, and that for ever, then His\nlove must needs be an everlasting love, seeing everything required of\nus was completely accomplished for us by Him; and all this hath our\nLord Jesus done, and that most gloriously, even on our behalf;\ntherefore it must needs be a love that lasts for ever and ever.\n\nFifth. If God hath declared Himself to be the God that changeth not,\nand hath sworn to be immutable in His promise, then surely He will be\nunchangeable; and He hath done so; therefore it is impossible for God\nto lie, and so for His eternal love to be changeable (Heb 6:13-18).\nHere is an argument of the Spirit\u2019s own making! Who can contradict it?\nIf any object, and say, But still it is upon the condition of\nbelieving\u2014I answer, The condition also is His own free gift, and not a\nqualification arising from the stock of nature (Eph 2:8; Phil 1:28,29).\nSo that here is the love unchangeable; here is also the condition given\nby Him whose love is unchangeable, which may serve yet further for a\nstrong argument that God will have His love unchangeable. Sinner, this\nis better felt and enjoyed than talked of.\n\nObjection First. But if this love of God be unchangeable in itself, yet\nit is not unchangeably set upon the saints unless they behave\nthemselves the better. [The first objection].\n\nAnsw. As God\u2019s love at the first was bestowed upon the saints without\nanything foreseen by the Lord in them, as done by them, Deuteronomy\n9:4-6, so He goeth on with the same, Saying, \u201cI will never leave thee\nnor forsake thee\u201d (Heb 13:5).\n\nObjection Second. But how cometh it to pass then, that many fall off\nagain from the grace of the Gospel, after a profession of it for some\ntime; some to delusions, and some to their own sins again? [The second\nobjection].\n\nAnsw. They are all fallen away, not from the everlasting love of God to\nthem, but from the profession of the love of God to them. Men may\nprofess that God loves them when there is no such matter, and that they\nare the children of God, when the devil is their father; as it is in\nJohn 8:40-44. Therefore they that do finally fall away from a\nprofession of the grace of the Gospel, it is, first, because they are\nbastards and not sons. Secondly, because as they are not sons, so God\nsuffereth them to fall, to make it appear that they are not sons, not\nof the household of God\u2014\u201cThey went out from us, but they were not of\nus; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt,\u201d mark that, \u201cno\ndoubt,\u201d saith he, \u201cthey would have continued with us: but they went\nout,\u201d from us, \u201cthat they might be made manifest that they were not all\nof us\u201d (1 John 2:19). And though Hymeneus and Philetus do throw\nthemselves headlong to Hell, \u201cnevertheless the foundation of God\nstandeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His\u201d (2\nTim 2:17-19).\n\nObjection Third. But the Scripture saith that there are some that had\nfaith, yet lost it, and have made shipwreck of it. [The third\nobjection]. Now God loves no longer than they believe, as is evident;\nfor \u201che that believeth not shall be damned.\u201d So then, if some may have\nfaith, and yet lose it, and so lose the love of God because they have\nlost their faith, it is evident that God\u2019s love is not so immutable as\nyou say it is to every one that believeth.\n\nAnsw. There are more sorts of faith than one that are spoken of in\nScripture\u2014\n\n1. There is a faith that man may have, and yet be nothing, none of the\nsaints of God, and yet may do great things therewith (1 Cor 13:1-4).\n\n2. There is a faith that was wrought merely by the operation of the\nmiracles that were done in those days by Christ and his followers\u2014\u201cAnd\nmany of the people believed in Him.\u201d How came they by their faith? Why,\nby the operation of the miracles that He did among them; for said they,\n\u201cWhen Christ cometh, will He do more miracles than these which this man\nhath done?\u201d (John 7:31).\n\nThe great thing that wrought their faith in them, was only by seeing\nthe miracles that He did, John 2:23, which is not that saving faith\nwhich is called the faith of God\u2019s elect, as is evident; for there must\nnot be only miracles wrought upon outward objects to beget that\u2014that\nbeing too weak a thing\u2014but it must be by the same power that was\nstretched out in raising Christ from the dead; yea, the exceeding\ngreatness of that power (Eph 1:18,19). So there is a believing, being\ntaken with some marvelous work, visibly appearing to the outward sense\nof seeing; and there is a believing that is wrought in the heart by an\ninvisible operation of the Spirit, revealing the certainty of the\nsatisfaction of the merits of Christ to the soul in a more glorious\nway, both for certainty and for durableness, both as to the promise and\nthe constancy of it (Matt 16:17, 18).\n\n3. There is a faith of a man\u2019s own, of a man\u2019s self also; but the faith\nof the operation of God, in Scripture, is set in opposition to that,\nfor, saith He, you are saved by grace, \u201cthrough faith, and that not of\nyourselves,\u201d of your own making, but that which is the free gift of God\n(Eph 2:8).\n\n4. We say there is an historical faith\u2014that is, such as is begotten by\nthe co-operation of the Spirit with the Word.\n\n5. We say there is a traditional faith\u2014that is, to believe things by\ntradition, because others say they believe them; this is received by\ntradition, not by revelation, and shall never be able to stand, neither\nat the day of death, nor at the day of judgment; though possibly men,\nwhile they live here, may esteem themselves and states to be very good,\nbecause their heads are filled full of it.\n\n6. There is a faith that is called in Scripture a dead faith, the faith\nof devils, or of the devil; they also that have only this, they are\nlike the devil, and as sure to be damned as he, notwithstanding their\nfaith, if they get no better into their hearts; for it is far off from\nenabling of them to lay hold of Jesus Christ, and so to put Him on for\neternal life and sanctification, which they must do if ever they be\nsaved (James 2:19,26).\n\nBut all these are short of the saving faith of God\u2019s elect, as is\nmanifest; I say, first, Because these may be wrought, and not by that\npower so exceedingly stretched forth. Secondly, Because these are\nwrought, partly, (1.) By the sense of seeing\u2014namely, the miracles\u2014not\nby hearing; and, (2.) The rest is wrought by a traditional or\nhistorical influence of the words in their heads, not by a heavenly,\ninvisible, almighty, and saving operation of the Spirit of God in their\nhearts.\n\n7. I do suppose also that there is a faith that is wrought upon men\nthrough the influence of those gifts and abilities that God gives\nsometimes to those that are not His own by election, though by\ncreation; my meaning is, some men, finding that God hath given them\nvery great gifts and abilities,\u2014as to the gifts of preaching, praying,\nworking miracles, or the like\u2014I say, therefore do conclude that God is\ntheir Father, and they are His children; the ground of which confidence\nis still begotten, not by the glorious operation of the Spirit, but by\na considering of the great gifts that God hath bestowed upon them as to\nthe things before-mentioned. As thus, (1.) the poor soul considers how\nignorant it was, and now how knowing it is. (2.) Considering how vain\nit formerly was, and also now how civil it is, presently makes this\nconclusion\u2014Surely God loves me, surely He hath made me one of His, and\nwill save me. This is now a wrong faith, as is evident, in that it is\nplaced upon a wrong object; for mark, this faith is not placed\nassuredly on God\u2019s grace alone, through the blood and merits of Christ\nbeing discovered effectually to the soul, but upon God through those\nthings that God hath given it, as of gifts, either to preach, or pray,\nor do great works, or the like, which will assuredly come to nought as\nsure as God is in Heaven, if no better faith and ground of faith be\nfound out for thy soul savingly to rest upon.\n\nAs to the second clause of the objection, which runs to this effect,\nGod loves men upon the account of their believing, I answer, that God\nloves men before they believe; He loves them, He calls them, and gives\nthem faith to believe\u2014\u201cBut God, who is rich in mercy, for His great\nlove wherewith He loved us,\u201d when? when we believed, or before? \u201ceven\nwhen we were dead in sins,\u201d and so, far off from believers, \u201chath\nquickened us together with\u201d Christ, \u201cby grace ye are saved\u201d (Eph\n2:4,5).\n\nNow, also, I suppose that thou wilt say in thy heart, I would you would\nshow us then what is saving faith; which thing it may be I may touch\nupon a while hence, in the next thing that I am to speak unto. O they\nthat have that are safe indeed!\n\nSECOND. WHO AND HOW MEN ARE ACTUALLY BROUGHT INTO THE NEW COVENANT.\n\n\nThe SECOND thing that I am to speak unto is this\u2014WHO they are that are\nactually brought into this free and unchangeable grace; and also HOW\nthey are brought in.\n\nAnsw. Indeed, now we come to the pinch of the whole discourse; and if\nGod do but help me to run rightly through this, as I do verily believe\nHe will, I may do thee, reader, good, and bring glory to my God.\n\nThe question containeth these two branches\u2014FIRST. Who are brought in;\nSECOND. How they are brought in.\n\n[FIRST. Who are brought in?] The first is quickly answered\u2014\u201cChrist\nJesus came into the world to save sinners,\u201d Jewish sinners, Gentile\nsinners, old sinners, young sinners, great sinners, the chiefest of\nsinners. Publicans and harlots\u2014that is, whores, cheaters, and\nexactors\u2014shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (1 Tim 1:15; Rom\n5:7-11; 1 Cor 6:9,11; Matt 21:31). \u201cFor I come not,\u201d saith Christ, \u201cto\ncall the righteous, but sinners to repentance\u201d (Mark 2:17).\n\nA sinner in the Scripture is described in general to be a transgressor\nof the law\u2014\u201cWhosoever commiteth sin, transgresseth the law; for sin is\nthe transgression of the law\u201d (1 John 3:4). But particularly; they are\ndescribed in a more particular way, as, 1. Such as in whom dwelleth the\ndevil (Eph 2:2,3). 2. Such as will do the service of him (John 8:44).\n3. Such as are enemies to God (Col 1:21) 4. Such as are drunkards,\nwhoremasters, liars, perjured persons, covetous, revilers,\nextortionists, fornicators, swearers, possessed with devils, thieves,\nidolaters, witches, sorcerers, conjurors, murderers, and the like (1\nCor 6:9,10; 2 Chron 33:1-13; Acts 2:36,37; 9:1-6; 19:9; 1 Tim 1:14-16).\nThese are sinners, and such sinners that God hath prepared Heaven,\nhappiness, pardon of sin, and an inheritance of God, with Christ, with\nsaints, with angels, if they do come in and accept of grace, as I might\nprove at large; for God\u2019s grace is so great, that if they do come to\nHim by Christ, presently all is forgiven them; therefore never object\nthat thy sins are too great to be pardoned; but come, taste and see how\ngood the Lord is to any whosoever come unto Him.\n\n[SECOND.] The second thing is, How are these brought into this\nEverlasting Covenant of Grace?\n\nAnsw. When God doth in deed and in truth bring in a sinner into this\nmost blessed covenant, [Come to the Touchstone, sinner]. for so it is,\nHe usually goeth this way\u2014\n\nFirst. He slays or kills the party to all things besides Himself, and\nHis Son Jesus Christ, and the comforts of the Spirit. For the clearing\nof this I shall show you, 1. With what God kills; 2. How God kills; 3.\nTo what God kills those whom He makes alive in Jesus Christ.\n\n1. [What God kills]. When God brings sinners into the Covenant of\nGrace, He doth first kill them with the Covenant of Works, which is the\nmoral law, or Ten Commandments. This is Paul\u2019s doctrine, and also\nPaul\u2019s experience. It is his doctrine where he saith, \u201cThe ministration\nof death, written and engraven in stones\u2014the ministration of\ncondemnation,\u201d which is the law, in that place called the letter,\n\u201ckilleth\u201d (2 Cor 3:6-9). The letter, saith he, killeth; or the law, or\nthe ministration of death, which in another place is called \u201cthe voice\nof words\u201d (Heb 12:19), because they have no life in them, but rather\ndeath and damnation, through our inability to fulfill them, doth kill\n(Rom 8:3; 2 Cor 6). It is his experience where he saith, \u201cI was alive\u201d\nthat is, to my own things, \u201cwithout the law once,\u201d that is, before God\ndid strike him dead by it, \u201cbut when the commandment came,\u201d that is, to\ndo and exercise its right office on me, which was to kill me, then \u201csin\nrevived, and I died,\u201d and I was killed. \u201cAnd the commandment,\u201d or the\nlaw, \u201cwhich was ordained to\u201d be unto \u201clife, I found to be unto death.\nFor sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it\nslew me\u201d (Rom 7:9-11).\n\n2. But how doth God kill with this law, or covenant?\n\n1. By opening to the soul the spirituality of it\u2014\u201cThe law is\nspiritual,\u201d saith he, \u201cbut I am carnal, sold under sin\u201d (Rom 7:14). Now\nthe spirituality of the law is discovered this way\u2014\n\n(1.) By showing to the soul that every sinful thought is a sin against\nit. Ay, sinner, when the law doth come home indeed upon thy soul in the\nspirituality of it, it will discover such things to thee to be sins\nthat now thou lookest over and regardest not; that is a remarkable\nsaying of Paul when he saith, \u201cSin revived, and I died.\u201d Sin revived,\nsaith he; as if he had said, Those things that before I did not value\nnor regard, but looked upon them to be trifles, to be dead, and\nforgotten; but when the law was fastened on my soul, it did so raise\nthem from the dead, call them into mind, so muster them before my face,\nand put such strength into them, that I was overmastered by them, by\nthe guilt of them. Sin revived by the commandment, or my sins had\nmighty strength, life, and abundance of force upon me because of that,\ninsomuch that they killed me (Matt 5:28).\n\n(2.) It showeth that every such sin deserveth eternal damnation.\nFriends, I doubt there be but few of you that have seen the\nspirituality of the law of works. But this is one thing in which it\ndiscovereth its spirituality, and this is the proper work of the Law.\n\n(3.) God, with a discovery of this, doth also discover His own Divine\nand infinite justice, of which the law is a description, which backs\nwhat is discovered by the law, and that by discovering of its purity\nand holiness to be so Divine, so pure, so upright, and so far of from\nwinking at the least sin, that He doth by that law, without any favour,\ncondemn the sinner for that sin (Gal 3:10). Now, when He hath brought\nthe soul into this praemunire,13 into this puzzle, then,\n\n2. He showeth to the soul the nature and condition of the law as to its\ndealings with, or forbearing of, the sinner that hath sinned against\nit; which is to pass an eternal curse upon both soul and body of the\nparty so offending, saying to him, Cursed be the man that continueth\nnot in everything that is written in the Book of the Law to do it; for,\nsaith the law, this is my proper work; first, to show thee thy sins;\nand when I have done that, then, in the next place, to condemn thee for\nthem, and that without all remedy, as from ME, or anything within my\nbounds, for I am not to save any, to pardon any\u2014nay, not to favour any\nin the least thing that have sinned against me; for God did not send me\nto make alive, but to discover sin, and to condemn for the same. Now,\nso soon as this is presented to thy conscience, in the next place, the\nLord also by this law doth show that now there is no righteous act\naccording to the tenor of that covenant that can replieve him, or take\nhim off from all this horror and curse that lies upon him; because that\nis not an administration of pardon, as I said before, to forgive the\nsin, but an administration of damnation, because of transgression. O,\nthe very discovery of this striketh the soul into a deadly swoon, even\nabove half dead! But when God doth do the work indeed, He doth, in the\nnext place, show the soul that he is the man that is eternally under\nthis covenant by nature, and that it is he that hath sinned against\nthis law, and doth by right deserve the curse and displeasure of the\nsame, and that all that ever he can do will not give satisfaction to\nthat glorious justice that did give this law; holy actions, tears of\nblood, selling all, and giving it to the poor, or whatever else can be\ndone by thee, it comes all short and is all to no purpose (Phil 3). I\nwill warrant him, he that seeth this, it will kill him to that which he\nwas alive unto before, though he had a thousand lives. Ah, sinners,\nsinners, were you but sensible indeed of the severity and truth of\nthis, it would make you look about you to purpose! O, how would it make\nyou strive to stop at that that now you drink down with delight! How\nmany oaths would it make you bite asunder! Nay, it would make you bite\nyour tongues to think that they should be used as instruments of the\ndevil to bring your souls into such an unspeakable misery; then also we\nshould not have you hang the salvation of your souls upon such slender\npins as now you do; no, no; but you would be in another mind then. O,\nthen we should have you cry out, I must have Christ; what shall I do\nfor Christ? how shall I come at Christ? Would I was sure, truly sure of\nChrist. My soul is gone, damned, cast away, and must for ever burn with\nthe devils, if I do not get precious Jesus Christ!\n\n3. In the next place, when God hath done this, then He further shows\nthe soul that that covenant which it is under by nature is distinct\nfrom the Covenant of Grace; and also they that are under it are by\nnature without any of the graces which they have that are under the\nCovenant of Grace; as, (1.) That it hath no faith (John 16:9). (2.) No\nhope (Eph 2:12). Nor none of the Spirit to work these things in it by\nnature. (4.) Neither will that covenant give to them any peace with\nGod. (5.) No promise of safeguard from His revenging law by that\ncovenant. (6.) But lieth by nature liable to all the curses, and\ncondemnings, and thunderclaps of this most fiery covenant. (7.) That it\nwill accept of no sorrow, no repentance, no satisfaction, as from thee.\n(8.) That it calls for no less than the shedding of thy blood. (9.) The\ndamnation of thy soul and body. (10.) And if there be anything\nproffered to it by thee, as to the making of it amends, it throws it\nback again as dirt in thy face, slighting all that thou canst bring.\n\nNow, when the soul is brought into this condition, then it is indeed\ndead, killed to that to which it was once alive. And therefore,\n\n3. In the next place, to show you to what it is killed: and that is,\n\n1. To sin. O, it dares not sin! it sees Hell-fire is prepared for them\nthat sin, God\u2019s justice will not spare it if it live in sin; the Law\nwill damn it if it live in sin; the devil will have it if it follows\nits sins. [Here I am speaking of one that is effectually brought in].\nO, I say, it trembles at the very thoughts of sin! Ay, if sin do but\noffer to tempt the soul, to draw away the soul from God, it cries, it\nsighs, it shunneth the very appearance of sin, it is odious unto it. If\nGod would but serve you thus that love your pleasures, you would not\nmake such a trifle of sin as you do.\n\n2. It is killed to the Law of God as it is the Covenant of Works. O,\nsaith the soul, the law hath killed me to itself, \u201cI through the law am\ndead to the law\u201d (Gal 2:19). The law is another thing than I did think\nit was. I thought it would not have been so soul-destroying, so damning\na law! I thought it would not have been so severe against me for my\nlittle sins, for my playing, for my jesting, for my dissembling,\nquarreling, and the like. I had some thoughts, indeed, that it would\nhew great sinners, but let me pass! and though it condemned great\nsinners, yet it would pass me by! But now, would I were free from this\ncovenant, would I were free from this law! I will tell thee that a soul\nthus worked upon is more afraid of the Covenant of Works than he is of\nthe devil; for he sees it is the law that doth give him up into his\nhands for sin; and if he was but clear from that, he should not greatly\nneed to fear the devil. O, now every particular command tears the caul\nof his heart; now every command is a great gun well charged against his\nsoul; now he sees he had as good run into a fire to keep himself from\nburning, as to run to the law to keep himself from damning; and this he\nsees really, ay, and feels it too, to his own sorrow and perplexity. 14\n\n3. The soul also now is killed to his own righteousness, and counts\nthat but dung, but dross, not worth the dirt hanging on his shoes. O!\nthen, says he, thou filthy righteousness! how hast thou deceived me!\nHow hast thou beguiled my poor soul! (Isa 64:6). How did I deceive\nmyself with giving of a little alms; with abstaining from some gross\npollutions; with walking in some ordinances, as to the outside of them!\nHow hath my good words, good thinkings, good meanings, as the world\ncalls them, deceived my ignorant soul! I want the righteousness of\nfaith, the righteousness of God; for I see now there is no less will do\nme any good.\n\n4. It is also killed to its own faith, its notion of the Gospel, its\nown hope, its own repentings, its own promises and resolutions, to its\nown strength, its own virtue, or whatsoever it had before. Now, saith\nthe soul, that faith I thought I had, it is but fancy; that hope I\nthought I had, I see it is by hypocritical, but vain and groundless\nhope. [These things would be too tedious to enlarge upon]. Now the soul\nsees it hath by nature no saving faith, no saving hope, no grace at all\nby nature, by the first covenant. Now it crieth out, How many promises\nhave I broken! and how many times have I resolved in vain, when I was\nsick at such a time, and in such a strait at such a place! Indeed, I\nthought myself a wise man once, but I see myself a very fool now. O,\nhow ignorant am I of the Gospel now, and of the blessed experience of\nthe work of God on a Christian heart! In a word, it sees itself beset\nby nature with all evil, and destitute of all good, which is enough to\nkill the stoutest, hardest-hearted sinner that ever lived on the earth.\nO, friends, should you be plainly dealt withal by this discovery of the\ndealing of God with a sinner when He makes him a saint, and would\nseriously try your selves thereby, as God will try you one day, how few\nwould there be found of you to be so much as acquainted with the work\nof God in the notion, much less in the experimental knowledge of the\nsame! And indeed, God is fain to take this way with sinners, thus to\nkill them with the old covenant to all things below a crucified Christ.\n\nSix reasons of this discourse.\n\n1. Because otherwise there would be none in the world that would look\nafter this sweet Jesus Christ. There are but a few that go to Heaven in\nall, comparatively; and those few God is fain to deal with them in this\nmanner, or else His Heaven, His Christ, His glory, and everlasting\nhappiness must abide by themselves, for all sinners. Do you think that\nManasseh would have regarded the Lord, had He not suffered his enemies\nto have prevailed against him? (2 Chron 33:1-16). Do you think that\nEphraim would have looked after salvation, had not God first confounded\nhim with the guilt of the sins of his youth? (Jer 31:18). What do you\nthink of Paul? (Acts 9:4-6). What do you think of the jailer? (Acts\n16:30-32). What do you think of the three thousand? (Acts 2:36,37). Was\nnot this the way that the Lord was fain to take to make them close in\nwith Jesus Christ? Was He not fain to kill them to everything below a\nChrist, that were driven to their wits\u2019 ends, insomuch that they were\nforced to cry out, \u201cWhat shall we do to be saved?\u201d I say, God might\nhave kept Heaven and happiness to Himself, if He should not go this way\nto work with sinners. O stout-hearted rebels! O tender-hearted God!\n\n2. Because then, and not till then, will sinners accept of Jesus Christ\non God\u2019s terms. So long as sinners can make a life out of anything\nbelow Christ, so long they will not close with Christ without\nindenting; 15\n\nBut when the God of Heaven hath killed them to everything below Himself\nand His Son, then Christ will down on any terms in the world. And,\nindeed, this is the very reason why sinners, when they hear of Christ,\nyet will not close in with Him; there is something that they can take\ncontent in besides Him. The prodigal, so long as he could content\nhimself with the husks that the swine did eat, so long he did keep him\naway from his father\u2019s house; but when he could get no nourishment\nanywhere on this side of his father\u2019s house, then saith he, and not\ntill then, \u201cI will arise, and go to my father,\u201d etc.\n\nI say, this is the reason, therefore, why men come no faster, and close\nno more readily, with the Son of God, but stand halting and indenting\n16 about the terms they must have Christ upon; for, saith the drunkard,\nI look on Christ to be worth the having; but yet I am not willing to\nlose ALL for him; all but my pot, saith the drunkard; and all but the\nworld, saith the covetous. I will part with anything but lust and\npride, saith the wanton. But if Christ will not be had without I\nforsake all, cast away all, then it must be with me as it was with the\nyoung man in the Gospel, such news will make me sorry at the very\nheart.\n\nBut now, when a man is soundly killed to all his sins, to all his\nrighteousness, to all his comforts whatsoever, and sees that there is\nno way but the devil must leave him, but he must be damned in Hell if\nhe be not clothed with Jesus Christ; O, then, saith he, give me Christ\non any terms, whatsoever He cost; though He cost me friends, though He\ncost me comforts, though He cost me all that ever I have; yet, like the\nwise merchant in the Gospel, they will sell all to get that pearl. I\ntell you, when a soul is brought to see its want of Christ aright, it\nwill not be kept back; father, mother, husband, wife, lands, livings,\nnay, life and all, shall go rather than the soul will miss of Christ.\nAy, and the soul counteth Christ a cheap Saviour if he can get him upon\nany terms; now the soul indents17 no longer. Now, Lord, give me Christ\nupon any terms, whatsoever He cost; for I am a dead man, a damned man,\na castaway, if I have not Christ. What say you, O you wounded sinners?\nIs not this true as I have said? Would you not give ten thousand\nworlds, if you had so many, so be you might be well assured that your\nsins shall be pardoned, and your souls and bodies justified and\nglorified at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ?\n\n3. The Lord goeth this way for this reason also, that it might make the\nsoul sensible what it cost Christ to redeem it from death and Hell.\nWhen a man cometh to feel the sting and guilt of sin, death and Hell\nupon his conscience, then, and not till then, can he tell what it cost\nChrist to redeem sinners. O! saith the soul, if a few sins are so\nterrible, and lay the soul under such wrath and torment, what did\nChrist undergo, who bare the sins of thousands and thousands, and all\nat once?\n\nThis also is one means to make souls tender of sin (it is the burned\nchild that feareth the fire), to make them humble in a sense of their\nown vileness, to make them count everything that God giveth them a\nmercy, to make much of the least glimpse of the love of God, and to\nprize it above the whole world. O sinners, were you killed indeed [to\nsin], then Heaven would be Heaven, and Hell would be Hell indeed; but\nbecause you are not wrought upon in this manner, therefore you count\nthe ways of God as bad as a good man counteth the ways of the devil,\nand the ways of the devil and Hell as good as a saint doth count the\nways of God.\n\n4. Again, God is fain to go this way, and all to make sinners make sure\nof Heaven. So long as souls are senseless of sin, and what a damnable\nstate they are in by nature, so long they will even dally with the\nKingdom of Heaven and the salvation of their own poor souls; but when\nGod cometh and showeth them where they are, and what it is like to\nbecome of them if they miss of the crucified Saviour, O, then, saith\nthe soul, would I were sure of Jesus; what shall I do to get assurance\nof Jesus? And thus is God forced, as I may say, to whip souls to Jesus\nChrist, they being so secure, so senseless, and so much their own\nenemies, as not to look out after their own eternal advantage.\n\n5. A fifth reason why God doth deal thus with sinners it is, because He\nwould bring Christ and the soul together in a right way. Christ and\nsinners would never come together in a beloved posture, they would not\nso suitably suit each other, if they were not brought together this\nway, the sinner being killed. O, when the sinner is killed, and indeed\nstruck dead to everything below a naked Jesus, how suitably then doth\nthe soul and Christ suit one with another. Then here is a naked sinner\nfor a righteousness Jesus, a poor sinner to a rich Jesus, a weak sinner\nto a strong Jesus, a blind sinner to a seeing Jesus, an ignorant,\ncareless sinner to a wise and careful Jesus. O, how wise is God in\ndealing thus with the sinner! He strips him of his own knowledge, that\nHe may fill him with Christ\u2019s; He killeth him for taking pleasure in\nsin, that he may take pleasure in Jesus Christ, etc.\n\n6. God goeth this way with sinners, because He would have the glory of\ntheir salvation. Should not men and women be killed to their own\nthings, they would do sacrifice unto them, and instead of saying to the\nLamb, \u201cTHOU ART WORTHY,\u201d they would say their own arm, their own right\nhand hath saved them; but God will cut off boasting from ever entering\nwithin the borders of eternal glory; for He is resolved to have the\nglory of the beginning, the middle, and the end; of the contriving, and\nsaving, and giving salvation to them that enter in to the joys of\neverlasting glory (Rom 3:27; Eph 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; Rev 5:9). \u201cThat they\nmight be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that\nHe might be glorified\u201d (Isa 61:3). I might have run through many things\nas to this; but I shall pass them, and proceed.\n\nSecond. Now, the soul being thus killed to itself, [The soul that hath\nthe right work of God upon its heart, is not only killed to itself, but\nalso made alive to Christ]. its sins, its righteousness, faith, hope,\nwisdom, promises, resolutions, and the rest of its things which it\ntrusted in by nature; in the next place, it hath also given unto it a\nmost glorious, perfect, and never-fading life, which is\u2014\n\n1. A life imputed to it, yet so really, that the very thought of it in\nthe soul hath so much operation and authority, especially when the\nmediation of it is mixed with faith, as to make it, though condemned by\nthe law, to triumph, and to look its enemies in the face with comfort,\nnotwithstanding the greatness of the multitude, the fierceness of their\nanger, and the continuation of their malice, be never so hot against\nit.\n\nThis imputed life\u2014for so it is\u2014is the obedience of the Son of God as\nHis righteousness, in His suffering, rising, ascending, interceding,\nand so consequently triumphing over all the enemies of the soul, and\ngiven to me, as being wrought on purpose for me. So that, is there\nrighteousness in Christ? that is mine. Is there perfection in that\nrighteousness? that is mine. Did He bleed for sin? it was for mine.\nHath He overcome the law, the devil, and Hell? the victory is mine, and\nI am counted the conqueror, nay, more than a conqueror, through Him\nthat hath loved me. And I do count this a most glorious life; for by\nthis means it is that I am, in the first place, proclaimed both in\nHeaven and earth guiltless, and such an one who, as I am in Christ, am\nnot sinner, and so not under the law, to be condemned, but as holy and\nrighteous as the Son of God Himself, because He Himself is my holiness\nand righteousness, and so likewise having by this all things taken out\nof the way that would condemn me.\n\nSometimes I bless the Lord my soul hath had the life that now I am\nspeaking of, not only imputed to me, but the very glory of it upon my\nsoul; for, upon a time, when I was under many condemnings of heart, and\nfeared, because of my sins, my soul would miss of eternal glory,\nmethought I felt in my soul such a secret motion of this\u2014Thy\nrighteousness is in Heaven, together with the splendour and shining of\nthe Spirit of Grace in my soul, which gave me to see clearly that my\nrighteousness by which I should be justified from all that could\ncondemn, was the Son of God Himself in His own Person, now at the right\nhand of His Father representing me complete before the Mercy-seat in\nHis Ownself; so that I saw clearly that night and day, wherever I was,\nor whatever I was a doing, still there was my righteousness just before\nthe eyes of Divine glory; so that the Father could never find fault\nwith me for any insufficiency that was in my righteousness, seeing it\nwas complete; neither could He say, Where is it? because it was\ncontinually at His right hand. 18\n\nAlso, at another time, having contracted guilt upon my soul, and having\nsome distemper of body upon me, I supposed that death might now so\nseize upon as to take me away from among men; then, thought I, what\nshall I do now? is all right with my soul? Have I the right work of God\non my soul? Answering myself, \u201cNo, surely\u201d; and that because there were\nso many weaknesses in me; yes, so many weaknesses in my best duties.\nFor, thought I, how can such an one as I find mercy, whose heart is so\nready to evil, and so backward to that which is good, so far as it is\nnatural. Thus musing, being filled with fear to die, these words come\nin upon my soul, \u201cBeing justified freely by His grace through the\nredemption that is in Christ Jesus\u201d (Rom 3:24). As if God had said,\nSinner, thou thinkest because that thou hast had so many infirmities\nand weaknesses in thy soul while thou hast been professing of Me,\ntherefore now there can be no hopes of mercy; but be it known unto\nthee, that it was not anything done by thee at the first that moved Me\nto have mercy upon thee: neither is it anything that is done by thee\nnow that shall make me either accept or reject thee. Behold My Son, who\nstandeth by Me, He is righteous, He hath fulfilled My Law, and given me\ngood satisfaction; on Him, therefore, do I look, and on thee only as\nthou art in Him; and according to what He hath done, so will I deal\nwith thee. This having stayed my heart, and taken off the guilt through\nthe strength of its coming on my soul, anon after came in that word as\na second testimony\u2014\u201cWho hath saved us, and called us with an holy\ncalling, not according to our works,\u201d of righteousness which we have\ndone, \u201cbut according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us\nin Christ Jesus before the world began\u201d (2 Tim 1:9). And thus is the\nsinner made alive from the dead, being justified by grace through the\nrighteousness of Christ, which is unto all and upon all them that\nbelieve, according to the Scriptures\u2014\u201cAnd the life which I now live\u2014it\nis by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for\nme\u201d (Gal 2:20). \u201cI lay down my life for the sheep.\u201d \u201cI am come that\nthey might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly\u201d\n(John 10:10,15). \u201cFor if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to\nGod by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be\nsaved by His life. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might\ngrace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our\nLord\u201d (Rom 5:10,21).\n\n2. This life is not only imputed to him that is wrought on by the\nSpirit of Grace\u2014that is, not only counted his, but also there is put\ninto the soul an understanding, enlightened on purpose to know the\nthings of God, which is Christ and His imputed righteousness (1 John\n5:20) which it never thought of nor understood before (1 Cor 2:9-11).\nWhich understanding being enlightened and made to see such things that\nthe soul cannot be contented without it lay hold of and apply Christ\nunto itself so effectually; I say, that the soul shall be exceedingly\nrevived in a very heavenly measure with the application of this imputed\nrighteousness; for thereby it knoweth it shall find God speaking peace\nto itself, with a fatherly affection, saying, \u201cBe of good cheer, thy\nsins are forgiven thee\u201d; the righteousness of My Son I bestow upon\nthee; \u201cFor what the law could not do, in that it was weak through\nthee,\u201d thy \u201cflesh,\u201d \u201cI have sent forth My only Son, and have condemned\u201d\nthy sins in His flesh (Rom 8:3). And though thou hast gone astray like\na lost sheep, yet on Him I have laid thine iniquities; and though thou\nthereby didst undo and break thyself for ever, yet by His stripes I\nhave healed thee. Thus, I say, the Lord causeth the soul by faith to\napply that which He doth by grace impute unto it, for thus every soul\nmore or less is dealt withal; the soul being thus enlightened, thus\nquickened, thus made alive from that dead state it was in before, or at\nleast having the beginnings of this life, it hath these several\nvirtuous advantages, which they have not that are dead in their sins\nand trespasses, and under the law\u2014\n\n[Advantages possessed by the quickened].\n\nFirst. It seeth what a sad condition all men by nature are in, they\nbeing in that state which itself was in but a while since; but now by\ngrace it is a beginning to scrabble 19 out of it; now it seeth \u201cthe\nwhole world lieth in wickedness,\u201d and so liable to eternal vengeance,\nbecause of their wickedness (1 John 5:19). Ah, friends, let me tell\nyou, though you may be ignorant of your state and condition, yet the\npoor, groaning, hungering saints of God do see what a sad, woeful,\nmiserable state you are in, which sometimes makes them tremble to think\nof your most lamentable latter end, your dying so, and also to fly the\nfaster to their Lord Jesus, for very fear that they also should be\npartakers of that most doleful doom. [Like as the children of Israel,\nwho fled for fear when the ground opened its mouth to swallow up Korah\nand his company]. And this it hath by virtue of its own experience,\nknowing itself was but awhile ago in the same condition, under the same\ncondemnation. O! there is now a hearth blessing of God that ever He\nshould show to it its sad condition, and that He should incline its\nheart to seek after a better condition. O blessed be the Lord! saith\nthe soul, that ever He should awaken me, stir up me, and bring me out\nof that sad condition that I once with them was in (Psa 103:1-3). It\nmakes also the soul to wonder to see how foolishly and vainly the rest\nof its neighbours do spend their precious time, that they should be so\nvoid of understanding, so forgetful of their latter end, so senseless\nof the damning nature of their sins. O that their eyes were but\nenlightened to see whereabouts they are! surely they would be of\nanother mind than they are now in. Now, the soul wonders to see what\nslender pins those poor creatures do hang the stress of the eternal\nsalvation of their souls upon. O! methinks, saith the soul, it makes me\nmourn to see that some should think that they were born Christians; and\nothers, that their baptism makes them so; 20 others depend barely upon\na traditional, historical faith, which will leave their souls in the\nmidst of perplexity. That they should trust to such fables, fancies,\nand wicked sleights of the devil, as their good doings, their good\nthinkings, their civil walking and living with the world. O miserable\nprofession, and the end thereof will be a miserable end!\n\nBut now, when the soul is thus wrought upon, it must be sure to look\nfor the very gates of Hell to be set open against it with all their\nforce and might to destroy it. Now Hell rageth, the devil roareth, and\nall the world resolveth to do the best they can to bring the soul again\ninto bondage and ruin. Also, the soul shall not want enemies, even in\nits own heart\u2019s lust, [But this is but for the exercise of his faith.]\nas covetousness, adultery, blasphemy, unbelief, hardness of heart,\ncoldness, half-heartedness, ignorance, with an innumerable company of\nattendants, hanging, like so many blocks, at its heels, ready to sink\nit into the fire of Hell every moment, together with strange\napprehensions of God and Christ, as if now they were absolutely turned\nto be its enemies, which maketh it doubt of the certainty of its\nsalvation; for you must understand, that though a soul may in reality\nhave the righteousness of the Son of God imputed to it, and also some\nfaith in a very strong manner to lay hold upon it, yet at another time,\nthrough temptation, they may fear and doubt again, insomuch that the\nsoul may be put into a very great fear lest it should return again into\nthe condition it once was in (Jer 32:40). O, saith the soul, when I\nthink of my former state, how miserable it was, it makes me tremble;\nand when I think that I may fall into that condition again, how sad are\nthe thoughts of it to me! I would not be in that condition again for\nall the world. And this fear riseth still higher and higher, as the\nsoul is sensible of Satan\u2019s temptations, or of the working of its own\ncorruptions. Ah! these filthy lusts, these filthy corruptions. O that I\nwere rid of them, that they were consumed in a moment, that I could be\nquite rid of them, they do so disturb my soul, dishonour my God, so\ndefile my conscience, and sometimes so weaken my hands in the way of\nGod, and my comforts in the Lord; O how glad should I be if I might be\nstripped of them (Rom 7:24). Which fear puts the soul upon flying to\nthe Lord by prayer for the covering of His imputed righteousness, and\nfor strength against the devil\u2019s temptations and its own corruptions;\nthat God would give down His Holy Spirit to strengthen it against the\nthings that do so annoy its soul, and so discourage it in its way, with\na resolution, through grace, never to be contented while [until] it\ndoth find in itself a triumphing over it, by faith in the blood of a\ncrucified Jesus.\n\nSecond. The soul that hath been thus killed by the Law to the things it\nformerly delighted in, now, O now, it cannot be contented with that\nslender, groundless faith and hope that once it contented itself\nwithal. No, no; but now it must be brought into the right saving\nknowledge of Jesus Christ, now it must have Him discovered to the soul\nby the Spirit, now it cannot be satisfied because such and such do tell\nit is so. No; but now it will cry out, Lord, show me continually, in\nthe light of Thy Spirit, through Thy Word, that Jesus that was born in\nthe days of Caesar Augustus, when Mary, a daughter of Judah, went with\nJoseph to be taxed at Bethlehem, that He is the very Christ. Lord, let\nme see it in the light of Thy Spirit, and in the operation thereof; and\nlet me not be contented without such a faith that is so wrought even by\nthe discovery of His birth, crucifying, death, blood, resurrection,\nascension, intercession, and second\u2014which is His personal\u2014coming again,\nthat the very faith of it may fill my soul with comfort and holiness.\nAnd O, how afraid the soul is lest it should fall short of this faith,\nand of the hope that is begotten by such discoveries as these are! For\nthe soul knoweth that if it hath not this, it will not be able to stand\neither in death or judgment; and therefore, saith the soul, Lord,\nwhatever other poor souls content themselves withal, let me have that\nwhich will stand me in stead, and carry me through a dangerous world;\nthat may help me to resist a cunning devil; that may help me to suck\ntrue soul-satisfying consolation from Jesus Christ through Thy\npromises, by the might and power of Thy Spirit. And now, when the poor\nsoul at any time hath any discovery of the love of God through a\nbleeding, dying, risen, interceding Jesus, because it is not willing to\nbe deceived, O, how wary [But this may be its temptation, taking place\nthrough the timorousness of the soul.] is it of closing with it, for\nfear it should not be right, for fear it should not come from God!\nSaith the soul, Cannot the devil give one such comfort I trow? Cannot\nhe transform himself thus into an angel of light? So that the soul,\nbecause that it would be upon a sure ground, cries out, Lord, show me\nThy salvation, and that not once or twice, but, Lord, let me have Thy\npresence continually upon my heart, today, and tomorrow, and every day.\nFor the soul, when it is rightly brought from under the Covenant of\nWorks, and planted into the Covenant of Grace, then it cannot be,\nunless it be under some desperate temptation, contented without the\npresence of God, teaching, comforting, establishing, and helping of the\nsoul to grow in the things of the Lord Jesus Christ; because it knoweth\nthat if God hath but withdrawn His presence in any way from it, as He\ndoth do sometimes for a while, that then the devil will be sure to be\nnear at hand, working with his temptations, trying all ways to get the\nsoul into slavery and sin again; also the corrupt principle, that will\nbe joining and combining with the Wicked One, and will be willing to be\na co-partner with him to bring the soul into mischief; which puts a\nsoul upon an earnest, continual panting after more of the\nstrengthening, preserving, comforting, and teaching presence of God,\nand for strong supplies of faith, that it may effectually lay hold on\nhim.\n\nThird. The soul is quickened so that it is not satisfied now without it\ndo in deed and in truth partake of the peace of God\u2019s elect; now it is\nupon the examination of the reality of its joy and peace. Time was\nindeed that anything would serve its turn, any false conceits of its\nstate to be good; but now all kind of peace will not serve its turn,\nall kind of joy will not be accepted with it; now it must joy in God\nthrough Jesus Christ; now its peace must come through the virtues of\nthe blood of Christ speaking peace to the conscience by taking away\nboth the guilt and filth of sin by that blood; also by showing the soul\nits free acceptance with God through Christ, He hath completely\nfulfilled all the conditions of the first covenant, and freely placed\nit into the safety of what He hath done, and so presents the soul\ncomplete and spotless in the sight of God through His obedience. Now, I\nsay, he hath \u201cpeace through the blood of His Cross,\u201d and sees himself\nreconciled to God by the death of His Son, or else his comfort will be\nquestioned by him (Col 1:20,21). It is not every promise as cometh now\nupon his heart that will serve his turn, no, but he must see whether\nthe babe Jesus be presented to the soul in and through that promise.\nNow if the babe leap in his womb, as I may so say, it is because the\nLord\u2019s promise sounds aloud in his heart, coming to him big with the\nlove and pardoning grace of God in Jesus Christ; I say, this is the\nfirst and principal joy that the soul hath that is quickened and\nbrought into the Covenant of Grace.\n\nFourth. Now the man finds heavenly sanctification wrought in his soul\nthrough the most precious blood of the Man whose name is Jesus\nChrist\u2014\u201cJesus, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood,\nsuffered without the gate.\u201d Now the soul finds a change in the\nunderstanding, in the will, in the mind, in the affections, in the\njudgment, and also in the conscience; through the inward man a change,\nand through the outward man a change, from head to foot, as we use to\nsay, \u201cfor he that is in Christ,\u201d and so in this Covenant of Grace, \u201cis\na new creature,\u201d or hath been twice made\u2014made, and made again (2 Cor\n5:17). O, now the soul is resolved for Heaven and Glory; now it crieth\nout, Lord, if there be a right eye that is offensive to Thee, pluck it\nout; or a right foot, cut it off; or a right hand, take it from me. Now\nthe soul doth begin to study how it may honour God, and bring praise to\nHim. Now the soul is for a preparation for the second coming of Christ,\nendeavouring to lay aside everything that may hinder; and for the\nclosing in with those things that may make it in a beloved posture\nagainst that day.\n\nFifth. And all this is from a Gospel spirit, and not from a legal,\nnatural principle, for the soul hath these things as the fruits and\neffects of its being separated unto the Covenant of Grace, and so now\npossessed with that Spirit that doth attend, yea, and dwell in them\nthat are brought into the Covenant of Grace from under the old\ncovenant; I say, these things do spring forth in the soul from another\nroot and stock than any of the actings of other men do; for the soul\nthat is thus wrought upon is as well dead to the law and the\nrighteousness thereof\u2014as the first covenant\u2014as well as to its sins.\n\nSixth. Now the soul begins to have some blessed experience of the\nthings of God, even of the glorious mysteries of the Gospel.\n\n1. Now it knoweth the meaning of those words, \u201cMy flesh is meat indeed,\nand My blood is drink, indeed,\u201d and that by experience; for the soul\nhath received peace of conscience through that blood, by the effectual\napplication of it to the soul (John 6:55). First, by feeling the guilt\nof sin die off from the conscience by the operation thereof. Secondly,\nBy feeling the power thereof to take away the curse of the law.\nThirdly, By finding the very strength of Hell to fail when once the\nblood of that Man Jesus Christ is received in reality upon the soul.\n\n2. Now the soul also knoweth by experience the meaning of that\nScripture that saith, \u201cOur old man is crucified with Him, that the body\nof sin might be destroyed\u201d (Rom 6:6). Now it sees that when the Man\nJesus did hang on the tree on Mount Calvary, that then the body of its\nsins was there hanged up, dead and buried with Him, though it was then\nunborn, so as never to be laid to its charge, either here or hereafter;\nand also, so as never to carry it captive into perpetual bondage, being\nitself overcome by Him, even Christ, the Head of that poor creature.\nAnd indeed this is the way for a soul both to live comfortably as\ntouching the guilt of sin, and also as touching the power of the filth\nof sin; for the soul that doth or hath received this in deed and in\ntruth, finds strength against them both by and through that Man that\ndid for him and the rest of his fellow-sinners so gloriously overcome\nit, and hath given the victory unto them, so that now they are said to\nbe overcomers, nay, \u201cmore than conquerors through Him,\u201d the one Man\nJesus Christ (Rom 7:33-37).\n\n3. Now the soul hath received a faith indeed, and a lively hope indeed,\nsuch an one as now it can fetch strength from the fullness of Christ,\nand from the merits of Christ.\n\n4. Yea, now the soul can look on itself with one eye, and look upon\nChrist with another, and say, Indeed, it is true; I am an empty soul,\nbut Christ is a full Christ; I am a poor sinner, but Christ is a rich\nChrist; I am a foolish sinner, but Christ is a wise Christ; I am an\nunholy, ungodly, unsanctified creature in myself, but Christ is made of\nGod \u201cunto me, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and\nredemption\u201d (1 Cor 1:30).\n\n5. Now also that fiery law, that it could not once endure, nor could\nnot once delight in, I say, now it can delight in it after the inward\nman; now this law is its delight, it would always be walking in it, and\nalways be delighting in it, being offended with any sin or any\ncorruption that would be anyways an hinderance to it (Rom 7:24,25). And\nyet it will not abide, it will not endure that that, even that that law\nshould offer to take the work of its salvation out of Christ\u2019s hand;\nno, if it once comes to do that, then out of doors it shall go, if it\nwere as good again. For that soul that hath the right work of God\nindeed upon it, cries, Not my prayers, not my tears, not my works, not\nmy things, do they come from the work of the Spirit of Christ itself\nwithin me, yet these shall not have the glory of my salvation; no, it\nis none but the blood of Christ, the death of Christ, of the Man Christ\nJesus of Nazareth, the carpenter\u2019s son, as they called Him, that must\nhave the crown and glory of my salvation. None but Christ, none but\nChrist. And thus the soul labours to give Christ the preeminence (Col\n1:18).\n\nA word of experience.\n\nNow, before I go any further, I must needs speak a word from my own\nexperience of the things of Christ; and the rather, because we have a\ncompany of silly ones in this day of ignorance that do either comfort\nthemselves with a notion without the power, or else do both reject the\nnotion and the power of this most glorious Gospel; therefore, for the\nfurther conviction of the reader, I shall tell him, with David,\nsomething of what the Lord hath done for my soul; and indeed a little\nof the experience of the things of Christ is far more worth than all\nthe world. It would be too tedious for me to tell thee here all from\nthe first to the last; but something I shall tell thee, that thou\nmayest not think these things are fables. [This conviction seized on my\nsoul one Sabbath day, when I was at play, being one of the first that I\nhad, which when it came, though it scared me with its terror, yet\nthrough the temptation of the devil, immediately striking in therewith,\nI did rub it off again, and became as vile for some time as I was\nbefore, like a wretch that I was]. 21\n\nReader, when it pleased the Lord to begin to instruct my soul, He found\nme one of the black sinners of the world; He found me making a sport of\noaths, and also of lies; and many a soul-poisoning meal did I make out\nof divers lusts, as drinking, dancing, playing, pleasure with the\nwicked ones of the world. The Lord finding of me in this condition, did\nopen the glass of His Law unto me, wherein He showed me so clearly my\nsins, both the greatness of them, and also how abominable they were in\nHis sight, that I thought the very clouds were charged with the wrath\nof God, and ready to let fall the very fire of His jealousy upon me;\nyet for all this I was so wedded to my sin, that, thought I with\nmyself, I will have them though I lose my soul, (O wicked wretch that I\nwas!) but God, the great, the rich, the infinite merciful God, did not\ntake this advantage of my soul to cast me away, and say, Then take him,\nDevil, seeing he cares for Me no more; no, but He followed me still,\nand won upon my heart, by giving me some understanding, not only into\nmy miserable state, which I was very sensible of, but also that there\nmight be hopes of mercy; also taking away that love to lust, and\nplacing in the room thereof a love to religion; and thus the Lord won\nover my heart to some desire after the means, to hear the Word, and to\ngrow a stranger to my old companions, and to accompany the people of\nGod, together with giving of me many sweet encouragements from several\npromises in the Scriptures. But after this, the Lord did wonderfully\nset my sins upon my conscience, those sins especially that I had\ncommitted since the first convictions; temptations also followed me\nvery hard, and especially such temptations as did tend to the making me\nquestion of the very way of salvation\u2014viz., whether Jesus Christ was\nthe Saviour or no; and whether I had best to venture my soul upon His\nblood for salvation, or take some other course. But being through grace\nkept close with God, in some measure, in prayer and the rest of the\nordinances, but went about a year and upwards without any sound\nevidence as from God to my soul touching the salvation that comes by\nJesus Christ. But, at the last, as I may say, when the set time was\ncome, the Lord, just before the men called Quakers came into the\ncountry, did set me down so blessedly in the truth of the doctrine of\nJesus Christ, that it made me marvel to see, first, how Jesus Christ\nwas born of a virgin, walked in the world awhile with His disciples,\nafterwards hanged on the Cross, spilt His blood, was buried, rose\nagain, ascended above the clouds and heavens, there lives to make\nintercession, and that He also will come again at the last day to judge\nthe world, and take His saints unto Himself.\n\nThese things, I say, I did see so evidently, even as if I had stood\nwhen He was in the world, and also when He was caught up. I having such\na change as this upon my soul, it made me wonder; and musing with\nmyself at the great alteration that was in my spirit\u2014for the Lord did\nalso very gloriously give me in His precious Word to back the discovery\nof the Son of God unto me, so that I can say, through grace, it was\naccording to the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:1-4). And as I was musing with\nmyself what these things should mean, methought I heard such a word in\nmy heart as this\u2014I have set thee down on purpose, for I have something\nmore than ordinary for thee to do; which made me the more marvel,\nsaying, What, my Lord, such a poor wretch as I? Yet still this\ncontinued, I have set thee down on purpose, and so forth, with more\nfresh incomes of the Lord Jesus, and the power of the blood of His\nCross upon my soul, even so evidently that I saw, through grace, that\nit was the blood shed on Mount Calvary that did save and redeem\nsinners, as clearly and as really with the eyes of my soul as ever, me\nthought, I had seen a penny loaf bought with a penny; which things then\ndiscovered had such operation upon my soul, that I do hope they did\nsweetly season every faculty thereof. Reader, I speak in the presence\nof God, and He knows I lie not; much of this, and such like dealings of\nHis, could I tell thee of; but my business at this time is not so to\ndo, but only to tell what operation the blood of Christ hath had over\nand upon my conscience, and that at several times, and also when I have\nbeen in several frames of spirit.\n\nAs, first, sometimes, I have been so loaden with my sins, that I could\nnot tell where to rest, nor what to do; yea, at such times I thought it\nwould have taken away my senses; yet at that time God through grace\nhath all of a sudden so effectually applied the blood that was spilt at\nMount Calvary out of the side of Jesus, unto my poor, wounded, guilty\nconscience, that presently I have found such a sweet, solid, sober,\nheart-comforting peace, that it hath made me as if it [my terror] had\nnot been, and withal the same, I may say, and I ought to say, the power\nof it, hath had such a powerful operation upon my soul, that I have for\na time been in a strait and trouble to think that I should love and\nhonour Him no more, the virtue of His blood hath so constrained me.\n\nAgain; sometimes methinks my sins have appeared so big to me that I\nthought one of my sins have been as big as all the sins of all the men\nin the nation; ay, and of other nations too, reader; these things be\nnot fancies, for I have smarted for this experience, but yet the least\nstream of the heart blood of this Man 22 Jesus hath vanished all away,\nand hath made it to fly, to the astonishment of such a poor sinner; and\nas I said before, hath delivered me up into sweet and heavenly peace\nand joy in the Holy Spirit.\n\nAgain; sometimes when my heart hath been hard, dead, slothful, blind,\nand senseless, which indeed are sad frames for a poor Christian to be\nin, yet at such a time, when I have been is such a case, then hath the\nblood of Christ, the precious blood of Christ, the admirable blood of\nthe God of Heaven, that run out of His body when it did hang on the\nCross, so softened, livened, quickened, and enlightened my soul, that\ntruly, reader, I can say, O it makes me wonder!\n\nAgain; when I have been loaden with sin, and [I cannot stand here to\ntell thee of particular temptations]. pestered with several\ntemptations, and in a very sad manner, then have I had the trial of the\nvirtue of Christ\u2019s blood with the trial of the virtue of other things;\nand I have found that when tears would not do, prayers would not do,\nrepentings and all other things could not reach my heart; O then, one\ntouch, one drop, one shining of the virtue of the blood, of that blood\nthat was let out with the spear, it hath in a very blessed manner\ndelivered me, that it hath made me to marvel. O! methinks it hath come\nwith such life, such power, with such irresistible and marvelous glory,\nthat it wipes off all the slurs, silences all the outcries, and\nquenches all the fiery darts, and all the flames of Hell-fire, that are\nbegotten by the charges of the Law, Satan, and doubtful remembrances of\nmy sinful life.\n\nFriends, as Peter saith to the church, so I say to you, I have not\npreached to you cunningly devised fables in telling you of the blood of\nChrist, and what authority it hath had upon my conscience; O no, but as\nPeter saith touching the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world, so in\nsome measure I can say of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was\nshed when He did come into the world. There is not only my single\ntestimony touching this; no, but there are all the Prophets do agree in\nadvancing this in writing, and also all the saints do now declare the\nsame, in speaking forth the amiableness and many powerful virtues\nthereof. \u201cAs for Thee also, by the blood of Thy covenant,\u201d saith God to\nChrist, \u201cI have sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no\nwater\u201d (Zech 9:11). \u201cWe have redemption through His blood\u201d (Eph 1:7).\nAgain, \u201cWe have redemption through His blood\u201d (Col 1:14). Our robes are\nwashed and made \u201cwhite in the blood of the Lamb\u201d (Rev 7:14). The devil\nis overcome through \u201cthe blood of the Lamb\u201d (Rev 12:11). Yea, and\nconscience is purged, too, and that through the blood of the Lamb (Heb\n9:14). We have free recourse to the Throne of Grace through the blood\nof Jesus (Heb 10:19). I could bring thee a cloud of witnesses out of\nall the types and shadows, and out of the sundry Prophets, and much\nmore out of the New Testament, but I forebear, because I would not be\ntoo tedious to the reader in making too large a digression, though I\nhave committed here in this discourse no transgression, for the blood\nof Christ is precious blood (1 Peter 1:18,19).\n\nTHIRD. THE PRIVILEGES OF THE NEW COVENANT.\n\n\nIn the next place, I shall show you the several privileges and\nadvantages that the man or woman hath that is under this Covenant of\nGrace, over what they have that are under the Covenant of the Law and\nWorks. As,\n\nFirst. The Covenant of Grace is not grounded upon our obedience, but\nupon God\u2019s love, even His pardoning love to us through Christ Jesus.\nThe first covenant is stood to be broken or kept by us, and God\u2019s love\nor anger to be lost or enjoyed thereafter as we, as creatures, behaved\nourselves; but now, the very ground of the Covenant of Grace is God\u2019s\nlove, His mere love through Jesus Christ\u2014\u201cThe LORD did not set His love\nupon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any\npeople; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the LORD\nloved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto\nyour fathers\u201d (Deu 7:7,8). Again, \u201cIn His love and in His pity He\nredeemed them,\u201d \u201cand the angel of His presence saved them,\u201d that is,\nJesus Christ (Isa 63:9). And again, \u201cWho hath saved us\u2014not according to\nour works\u201d of righteousness which we have done, \u201cbut according to His\nown purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the\nworld began\u201d (2 Tim 1:9).\n\nSecond. This love is not conveyed to us through what we have done, as\nis before proved, but through what He hath done with Whom the covenant\nwas made, which was given us in Christ\u2014According as He hath chosen us\nin Christ. \u201cWho hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in\nheavenly places in Christ.\u201d \u201cGod for Christ\u2019s sake hath forgiven you,\u201d\nthat is, through Christ\u2019s doings, through Christ\u2019s sufferings (2 Tim\n1:9; Eph 1:3,4; 4:32). Now if this be but rightly understood, it doth\ndiscover abundance of comfort to them, that are within the bounds of\nthe Covenant of Grace. For,\n\n1. Here a believer seeth he shall stand, if Christ\u2019s doings and\nsufferings stand; which is sure foundation, for God dealeth with him\nthrough Christ. And so, secondly, he shall not fall, unless the\nsuffering and merits of Christ be thrown over the bar, being found\nguilty, which will never be, before the eyes of Divine justice; for\nwith Him the covenant was made, and He was the Surety of it; that is,\nas the covenant was made with Him, so He stood bound to fulfill the\nsame (Zech 9:11; Heb 7:22). For you must understand that the covenant\nwas made between the Father and the Son long before it was\naccomplished, or manifestly sealed with Christ\u2019s blood; it was made\nbefore the world began (Titus 1:2; Eph 1:4; 1 Peter 1:18-20). But the\nconditions thereof were not fulfilled until less than two thousand\nyears ago; and all that while did Jesus stand bound as a surety, as I\nsaid before, is used to do, till the time in which the payment should\nbe made. And it was by virtue of His Suretyship, having bound Himself\nby covenant to do all things agreed on by the Father and Him, that all\nthose of the election that were born before He came, that they might be\nsaved, and did enter into rest. For the forgiveness of sins that were\npast, though it was through the blood of Christ, yet it was also\nthrough the forbearance of God (Rom 3:25). That is, Christ becoming\nSurety for those that died before His coming, that He should in deed\nand in truth, at the fullness of time, or at the time appointed, give a\ncomplete and full satisfaction for them according to the tenor or\ncondition of the covenant. (Gal 4:4). Again,\n\n2. The second covenant, which believers are under, as the ground and\nfoundation, if it is safe, so the promises thereof are better, surer,\nfreer, and fuller, etc.\n\n(1.) They are better, if you compare the excellency of the one with the\nexcellency of the other. The first hath promised nothing but an early\nparadise\u2014Do this, and thou shalt live; namely, here in an earthly\nparadise. But the other doth bring the promise of a heavenly paradise.\n\n(2.) As the Covenant of Works doth promise an earthly paradise, yet it\nis a paradise or blessing, though once obtained, yet might be lost\nagain; for no longer than thou doest well, no longer art thou blessed\nby that. O, but the promises in the new covenant do bring unto us the\nbenefit of an eternal inheritance\u2014That \u201cthey which are called might\nreceive the promise of eternal inheritance.\u201d O rare! it is an \u201ceternal\ninheritance\u201d (Heb 9:15).\n\n(3.) The other, as it is not so good as this, so neither is it so sure\nas this; and therefore he calls the one such an one as might be, and\nwas, shaken, but this is said to be such an one that cannot be shaken.\n\u201cAnd this Word,\u201d saith he, treating of the two covenants from verse the\n8th to the 24th\u2014\u201cAnd this Word, yet once more, signifieth the removing\nof those things that are,\u201d or may be, \u201cshaken, as of things that are\nmade, that those things which cannot be shaken,\u201d which is the second\ncovenant, \u201cmay remain,\u201d (Heb 12:27); for, saith he (verse 28) \u201cwhich\ncannot be moved.\u201d Therefore, ye blessed saints, seeing you have\nreceived a kingdom \u201cwhich cannot be moved,\u201d therefore, \u201clet us have\ngrace, whereby we may serve\u201d our \u201cGod acceptably with reverence and\ngodly fear.\u201d\n\nThus in general, but more particularly.\n\n(4.) They are surer, in that they are founded upon God\u2019s love also, and\nthey come to us without calling for those things at our hands that may\nbe a means of putting of a stop to our certain enjoying of them. The\npromises under, or for the law, they might easily be stopped by our\ndisobedience; but the promises under the Gospel say, \u201cIf Heaven above\ncan be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched,\u201d then, and\nnot till then, \u201cI will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all\nthat they have done\u201d (Jer 31:37). Again, \u201cI, even I, am He that\nblotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own\u201d name\u2019s \u201csake, and will\nnot remember thy sins\u201d (Isa 43:25). I will make thee a partaker of My\npromise; and that I may so do, I will take away that which would\nhinder; \u201cI will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea,\u201d that\nMy promise may be sure to all the seed; and therefore, saith the\nApostle, when he would show us that the new-covenant promises were more\nsure than the old, he tells us plainly that the law and works are set\naside and they are merely made ours through the righteousness of faith,\nwhich is the righteousness of Christ\u2014\u201cFor the promise, that he\n[Abraham] should be the heir of the world,\u201d saith he, \u201cwas not to\nAbraham, or to his seed, through the law,\u201d or works, \u201cbut through the\nrighteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law,\u201d or of works,\n\u201cbe heirs,\u201d then \u201cfaith is made void, and the promise made of none\neffect. Therefore it is of faith\u2014to the end the promise might be sure\nto all the seed\u201d (Rom 4:13-14,16).\n\n(5.) Surer, because that as that is taken away that should hinder, so\nthey are committed to a faithful Friend of ours in keeping. For all the\npromises of God are in Christ, not yea and nay, but yea and amen;\ncertain and sure; sure, because they are in the hand of our Head, our\nFriend, our Brother, our Husband, our flesh and bones, even in the\nheart and hand of our precious Jesus.\n\n(6.) Because all the conditions of them are already fulfilled for us by\nJesus Christ, as aforesaid; every promise that is a new-covenant\npromise, if there be any condition in it, our Undertaker hath\naccomplished that for us, and also giveth us such grace as to receive\nthe sweetness as doth spring from them through His obedience to every\nthing required in them.\n\n(7.) Surer, because that as they are grounded upon the love of God,\neverything is taken out of the way, in the hand of a sure Friend. And\nas Christ hath fulfilled every condition as to justification that is\ncontained therein, so the Lord hath solemnly sworn with an oath for our\nbetter confidence in this particular\u2014\u201cFor when God made promise to\nAbraham,\u201d and so to all the saints, \u201cbecause He could swear by no\ngreater, He sware by Himself, saying, Surely, blessing I will bless\nthee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had\npatiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the\ngreater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife,\u201d\nthat there might be no more doubt or scruple concerning the certain\nfulfilling of the promise. \u201cWherein God, willing more abundantly to\nshow unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel,\u201d or\ncertain, constant, unchangeable decree of God in making of the promise,\nfor the comfort of his children, \u201cconfirmed it by an oath: that by two\nimmutable things,\u201d His promise backed with an oath, \u201cin which it was\nimpossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have\nfled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us\u201d (Heb 6:13-18).\n\n(8.) That they are better it appears also in that they are freer and\nfuller. That they are freer, it is evident, in that one saith, No\nworks, no life\u2014Do this, and then thou shalt live; if not, thou shalt be\ndamned. But the other saith, We are saved by believing in what Another\nhath done, without the works of the Law\u2014\u201cNow to him that worketh not,\nbut believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted\nfor righteousness\u201d (Rom 4:4,5). The one saith, Pay me that thou owest;\nthe other say, I do frankly and freely forgive thee all. The one saith,\nBecause thou hast sinned, thou shalt die; the other saith, Because\nChrist lives, thou shalt live also (John 15).\n\n(9.) And as they are freer, so they are fuller; fuller of\nencouragement, fuller of comfort; the one, to wit, the law, looks like\nPharaoh\u2019s seven ill-favoured kine, more ready to eat one up than to\nafford us any food; the other is like the full grape in the cluster,\nwhich for certain hath a glorious blessing in it. The one saith, If\nthou hast sinned, turn again; the other saith, If thou hast sinned,\nthou shalt be damned, for all I have a promise in me.\n\n3. They that are of the second are better than they that are of the\nfirst; and it also appeareth in this\u2014The promises of the Law, through\nthem we have neither faith, nor hope, nor the Spirit conveyed; but\nthrough the promises of the Gospel there are all these\u2014\u201cWhereby are\ngiven unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we\nmight be partakers of the Divine nature\u201d (2 Peter 1:4). O therefore\n\u201clet us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He\nis faithful that promised\u201d (Heb 10:23). \u201cIn hope of eternal life,\u201d how\nso? because \u201cGod, that cannot lie, promised it before the world began\u201d\n(Titus 1:2).\n\n4. They that are in this covenant are in a very happy state; for though\nthere be several conditions in the Gospel to be done, yet Christ Jesus\ndoth not look that they should be done by man, as man, but by His own\nSpirit in them, as it is written, \u201cThou hast wrought all our works in\nus.\u201d Is there that condition, they must believe? Why, then, He will be\nboth the \u201cauthor and finisher of their faith\u201d (Heb 12:2,3). Is there\nalso hope to be in His children? He also doth and hath given them \u201cgood\nhope through His grace\u201d (2 Thess 2:16). Again, are the people of God to\nbehave themselves to the glory of God the Father? then He will work in\nthem \u201cboth to will and to do of His own good pleasure\u201d (Phil 2:13).\n\n5. Again, as He works all our works in us and for us, so also by virtue\nof this covenant we have another nature given unto us, whereby, or by\nwhich we are made willing to be glorifying of God, both in our bodies\nand in our spirits, which are His\u2014\u201cThy people shall be willing in the\nday of Thy power\u201d (1 Cor 6:20; Psa 110:3).\n\n6. In the next place, all those that are under this second covenant are\nin a wonderful safe condition; for in case they should slip or fall\nafter their conversion into some sin or sins for who lives and sins\nnot? (Prov 24:16), yet through the merits and intercession of Christ\nJesus, who is their Undertaker in this covenant, they shall have their\nsins pardoned, their wounds healed, and they raised up again; which\nprivilege the children of the first covenant have not; for if they sin,\nthey are never afterwards regarded by that covenant\u2014They brake My\ncovenant and I regarded them not, saith the Lord (Heb 8:9). But when He\ncomes to speak of the Covenant of Grace, speaking first of the public\nperson under the name of David, He saith thus, \u201cHe shall cry unto Me,\nThou art My Father, My God, and the rock of My salvation. Also I will\nmake Him My firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy\nwill I keep for Him for evermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with\nHim. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and His throne as\nthe days of heaven. If His children forsake My law, and walk not in My\njudgments; If they break my statutes, and keep not My commandments;\nThen will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity\nwith stripes. Nevertheless My lovingkindness will I not utterly take\nfrom Him, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not\nbreak, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips. Once have I\nsworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall\nendure for ever, and His throne as the sun before Me. It shall be\nestablished for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven\u201d\n(Psa 89:26-37). \u201cMy covenant shall stand fast with him\u201d\u2014mark that. As\nif God had said, I did not make this covenant with man, but with My\nSon, and with Him I will perform it; and seeing He hath given Me\ncomplete satisfaction, though His children do, through infirmity,\ntransgress, yet My covenant is not therefore broken, seeing He with\nwhom it was made standeth firm, according to the desire of my heart; so\nthat My justice that is satisfied, and My Law, hath nothing to say, for\nthere is no want of perfection in the sacrifice of Christ. If you love\nyour souls, and would have them live in the peace of God, to the which\nyou are called in one body, even all believers, then I beseech you\nseriously to ponder, and labour to settle in your souls this one thing,\nthat the new covenant is not broken by our transgressions, and that\nbecause it was not made with us. The reason why the very saints of God\nhave so many ups and downs in this their travel towards Heaven, it is\nbecause they are so weak in the faith of this one thing; for they think\nthat if they fail of this or that particular performance, if their\nhearts be dead and cold, and their lusts mighty and strong, therefore\nnow God is angry, and now He will shut them out of His favour, now the\nnew covenant is broken, and now Christ Jesus will stand their Friend no\nlonger; now also the devil hath power again, and now they must have\ntheir part in the resurrection of damnation; when, alas! the covenant\nis not for all this never the more broken, and so the grace of God no\nmore straitened than it was before. Therefore, I say, when thou findest\nthat thou art weak here, and failing there, backward to this good, and\nthy heart forward to that evil; then be sure thou keep a steadfast eye\non the Mediator of this new covenant, and be persuaded that it is not\nonly made with Him, and His part also fulfilled, but that He doth look\nupon His fulfilling of it, so as not to lay thy sins to thy charge,\nthough He may as a Father chastise thee for the same\u2014\u201cIf His children\nforsake My law, and walk not in My judgments; if they break My\nstatutes, and keep not My commandments; then will I visit their\ntransgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.\nNevertheless,\u201d mark \u201cnevertheless My lovingkindness will I not utterly\ntake from HIM, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I\nnot break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.\u201d And what\nwas that? Why, that \u201cHis seed shall endure for ever, and His throne as\nthe sun before Me\u201d (Psa 89:30-34,36).\n\n7. Another privilege that the saints have by virtue of the new covenant\nis, that they have part of the possession or hold of Heaven and Glory\nalready, and that two manner of ways\u2014(1.) The Divine nature is conveyed\nfrom Heaven into them; and, secondly, the human nature, i.e., the\nnature of man, is received up, and entertained in, and hath got\npossession of Heaven. We have the first-fruits of the Spirit, saith the\nman of God; we have the earnest of the Spirit, which is instead of the\nwhole, for it is the earnest of the whole\u2014\u201cWhich is the earnest of our\ninheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the\npraise of His glory\u201d (Eph 1:13,14; Rom 8:8-11). (2.) The nature of man,\nour nature is got into glory as the first-fruits of mankind, as a\nforerunner to take possession till we all come thither (1 Cor 15:20).\nFor the Man born at Bethlehem is ascended, which is part of the lump of\nmankind, into glory as a public Person, as the first-fruits,\nrepresenting the whole of the children of God; so that in some sense it\nmay be said that the saints have already taken possession of the\nkingdom of Heaven by their Jesus, their public Person, He being in\ntheir room entered to prepare a place for them (John 14:1-4). I beseech\nyou consider, when Jesus Christ came down from Glory, it was that He\nmight bring us to Glory; and that He might be sure not to fail, He\nclothed Himself with our nature, as if one should take a piece out of\nthe whole lump instead of the whole, until the other comes, and\ninvesteth it in that glory which He was in before He came down from\nHeaven (Heb 2:14,15). And thus is that saying to be understood,\nspeaking of Christ and His saints, which saith, \u201cAnd\u201d He \u201chath raised\nus up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ\nJesus\u201d (Eph 2:6).\n\n8. Again, not only thus, but all the power of God, together with the\nrest of His glorious attributes, are on our side, in that they dwell in\nour nature, which is the Man Jesus, and doth engage for us poor,\nsimple, empty, nothing creatures as to our eternal happiness (1 Peter\n1:5). \u201cFor in Him,\u201d that is, in the Man Christ, who is our nature, our\nHead, our root, our flesh, our bone, \u201cdwelleth all the fullness of the\nGodhead bodily\u201d (Col 2:9,10). Mark how they are joined together, \u201cIn\nwhom dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead. And ye are complete in Him.\u201d\nGod dwelleth completely in Him, and you also are completely implanted\nin Him, which is the Head of all principality and power; and all this\nby the consent of the Father\u2014\u201cFor it pleased the Father that in Him\nshould all fullness dwell\u201d (Col 1:19). Now mark, the Godhead doth not\ndwell in Christ Jesus for Himself only, but that it may be in a way of\nrighteousness conveyed to us, for our comfort and help in all our\nwants\u2014\u201cAll power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth,\u201d saith He\n(Matt 28:18). And then followeth, \u201cAnd lo, I am with you alway, even\nunto the end of the world\u201d (Verse 20). \u201cHe hath received gifts for men,\nyea for the rebellious\u201d (Psa 68:18). \u201cOf His fullness have all we\nreceived, and grace for grace\u201d (John 1:16). And this the saints cannot\nbe deprived of, because the covenant made with Christ, in every tittle\nof it, was so completely fulfilled as to righteousness, both active and\npassive, that justice cannot object anything; holiness now can find\nfault with nothing; nay, all the power of God cannot shake anything\nthat hath been done for us by the Mediator of the new covenant; so that\nnow there is no Covenant of Works to a believer; none of the commands,\naccusations, condemnations, or the least tittle of the old covenant to\nbe charged on any of those that are the children of the second\ncovenant; no sin to be charged, because there is no law to be pleaded,\nbut all is made up by our middle man, Jesus Christ. O blessed covenant!\nO blessed privilege! Be wise, therefore, O ye poor drooping souls that\nare the sons of this second covenant, and \u201cstand fast in the liberty\nwherewith Christ hath made you free, and be not entangled AGAIN,\u201d nor\nterrified in your consciences, \u201cwith the yoke of bondage\u201d; neither the\ncommands, accusations, or condemnations of the Law of the old covenant\n(Gal 5:1).\n\nTwo Hell-bred objections answered.\n\nObject. If it be so, then one need not care what they do; they may sin\nand sin again, seeing Christ hath made satisfaction. [The first\nobjection].\n\nAnsw. If I were to point out one that was under the power of the devil,\nand going post-haste to Hell, for my life I would look no farther for\nsuch a man than to him that would make such a use as this of the grace\nof God. What, because Christ is a Saviour, thou wilt be a sinner!\nbecause His grace abounds, therefore thou wilt abound in sin! O wicked\nwretch! rake Hell all over, and surely I think thy fellow will scarce\nbe found! And let me tell thee this before I leave thee\u2014as God\u2019s\ncovenant with Christ for His children, which are of faith, stands sure,\nimmutable, unrevocable, and unchangeable, so also hath God taken such a\ncourse with thee, that unless thou canst make God forswear Himself, it\nis impossible that thou shouldst go to Heaven, dying in that\ncondition\u2014\u201cThey tempted Me, proved Me,\u201d and turned the grace of God\ninto lasciviousness, \u201cso I sware,\u201d mark that, \u201cso I sware,\u201d and that in\nMy wrath, too, that they should never enter into My rest. Compare\nHebrews 3:9-11, with 1 Corinthians 10:5-10. No, saith God; if Christ\nwill not serve their turns, but they must have their sins too, take\nthem, Devil; if Heaven will not satisfy them, take them, Hell; devour\nthem, Hell; scald them, fry them, burn them, Hell! God hath more places\nthan one to put sinners into. If they do not like Heaven, He will fit\nthem with Hell; if they do not like Christ, they shall be forced to\nhave the devil. Therefore we must and will tell of the truth of the\nnature of the Covenant of Grace of God to His poor saints for their\nencouragement and for their comfort, who would be glad to leap at\nChrist upon any terms; yet therewith, we can tell how, through grace,\nto tell the hogs and sons of this world what a hog-sty there is\nprepared for them, even such an one that God hath prepared to put the\ndevil and his angels into, is fitly prepared for them (Matt 25:41).\n\nObject. But if Christ hath given God a full and complete satisfaction,\nthen though I do go on in sin, I need not fear, seeing God hath already\nbeen satisfied. [The second objection]. It will be injustice in God to\npunish for those sins for which He is already satisfied for by Christ.\n\nAnsw. Rebel, rebel, there are some in Christ and some out of Him. [1].\nThey that are in Him have their sins forgiven, and they themselves made\nnew creatures, and have the Spirit of the Son, which is a holy, living,\nself-denying Spirit. And they that are thus in Jesus Christ are so far\noff from delighting in sin, that sin is the greatest thing that\ntroubleth them; and O how willing would they be rid of the very\nthoughts of it (Psa 119:113). It is the grief of their souls, when they\nare in a right frame of spirit, that they can live no more to the\nhonour and glory of God than they do; and in all their prayers to God,\nthe breathings of their souls are as much sanctifying grace as\npardoning grace, that they might live a holy life. They would as\nwilling live holy here as they would be happy in the world to come;\nthey would as willingly be cleansed from the filth of sin as to have\nthe guilt of it taken away; they would as willingly glorify God here as\nthey would be glorified by Him hereafter (Phil 3:6-22). [2]. But there\nare some that are out of Christ, being under the Law; and as for all\nthose, let them be civil or profane, they are such as God accounts\nwicked; and I say, as for those, if all the angels in Heaven can drag\nthem before the judgment-seat of Christ, they shall be brought before\nit to answer for all their ungodly deeds; and being condemned for them,\nif all the fire in Hell will burn them, they shall be burned there, if\nthey die in that condition (Jude 15). And, therefore, if you love your\nsouls, do not give way to such a wicked spirit. \u201cLet no man deceive you\nwith\u201d such \u201cvain words,\u201d as to think, because Christ hath made\nsatisfaction to God for sin, therefore you may live in your sins. O no,\nGod forbid that any should think so, \u201cfor because of these things\ncometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience\u201d (Eph 5:6).\n\nThus have I, reader, given thee a brief discourse touching the Covenant\nof Works and the Covenant of Grace, also of the nature of the one,\ntogether with the nature of the other. I have also in this discourse\nendeavoured to show you the condition of them that are under the Law,\nhow sad it is, both from the nature of the covenant they are under, and\nalso by the carriage of God unto them by that covenant. And now,\nbecause I would bring all into as little a compass as I can, I shall\nbegin with the use and application of the whole in as brief a way as I\ncan, desiring the Lord to bless it to thee.\n\n[USE AND APPLICATION].\n\n\nA use of examination about the old covenant.\n\nFirst. And, first of all, let us here begin to examine a little\ntouching the covenant you stand before God in, whether it be the\nCovenant of Works or the Covenant of Grace; [The first use is a use of\nexamination]. and for the right doing of this, I shall lay down this\nproposition\u2014namely, that all men naturally come into the world under\nthe first of these, which is called the old covenant, or the Covenant\nof Works, which is the Law; \u201cAnd were all by nature the children of\nwrath, even as others\u201d; which they could not be, had they not been\nunder the law; for there are none that are under the other covenant\nthat are still the children of wrath, but the children of faith, the\nchildren of the promise, the accepted children, the children not of the\nbond-woman, but of the free (Gal 4:28-31).\n\n[Quest.] Now here lieth the question. Which of these two covenants art\nthou under, soul?\n\nAnsw. I hope I am under the Covenant of Grace.\n\nQuest. But what ground hast thou to think that thou art under that\nblessed covenant, and not rather under the Covenant of Works, that\nstrict, that soul-damning covenant?\n\nAnsw. What ground? Why, I hope I am.\n\nQuest. But what ground hast thou for this thy hope? for a hope without\na ground is like a castle built in the air, that will never be able to\ndo thee any good, but will prove like unto that spoken of in Job 8,\n\u201cWhose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be\u201d like \u201ca\nspider\u2019s web. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand; he\nshall hold it fast,\u201d as thou wouldst thy hope, it is like, \u201cbut it\nshall not endure\u201d (Job 8:13-15).\n\nAnsw. My hope is grounded upon the promises; what else should it be\ngrounded upon?\n\nReply. Indeed, to build my hope upon Christ Jesus, upon God in Christ,\nthrough the promise, and to have this hope rightly, by the shedding\nabroad of the love of God in the heart, it is a right-grounded hope\n(Rom 5:1-7).\n\nQuest. But what promises in the Scripture do you find your hope built\nupon? and how do you know whether you do build your hope upon the\npromises in the Gospel, the promises of the new covenant, and not\nrather on the promises of the old covenant, for there are promises in\nthat as well as in the other?\n\nAnsw. I hope that if I do well I shall be accepted; because God hath\nsaid I shall (Gen 4:7).\n\nReply. O soul, if thy hope be grounded there, thy hope is not grounded\nupon the Gospel promises, or the new covenant, but verily upon the old;\nfor these words were spoken to Cain, a son of the old covenant; and\nthey themselves are the tenor and scope of that; for that runs thus:\n\u201cDo this, and thou shalt live. The man that doth these things shall\nlive by them. If thou do well, thou shalt be accepted\u201d (Lev 18:5; Eze\n20:11; Rom 10:5; Gal 3:12; Gen 4:7).\n\nReply. Why, truly, if a man\u2019s doing well, and living well, and his\nstriving to serve God as well as he can, will not help him to Christ, I\ndo not know what will; I am sure sinning against God will not.\n\nQuest. Did you never read that Scripture which saith, \u201cIsrael, which\nfollowed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law\nof righteousness\u201d? (Rom 9:30-32).\n\nObject. But doth not the Scripture say, \u201cBlessed are they that do His\ncommandments, that they may have right to the tree of life\u201d?\n(Rev 22:14).\n\nAnsw. There is first, therefore, to be inquired into, whether to keep\nHis commandments be to strive to keep the Law as it is a Covenant of\nWorks, or whether it be meant of the great commandments of the New\nTestament which are cited in 1 John 3:22,23\u2014\u201cAnd whatsoever we ask we\nreceive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things\nthat are pleasing in His sight.\u201d But what do you mean, John? Do you\nmean the covenant of the Law, or the covenant to the Gospel? Why, \u201cthis\nis His commandment,\u201d saith he, \u201cThat we should believe on the name of\nHis Son Jesus Christ, and love one another,\u201d as the fruits of this\nfaith, \u201cas He gave us commandment.\u201d If it be of the old covenant, as a\nCovenant of Works, then the Gospel is but a lost thing. If it were of\nworks, then no more of grace; therefore it is not the old covenant, as\nthe old covenant.\n\nQuest. But what do you mean by these words\u2014the old covenant as the old\ncovenant? Explain your meaning.\n\nAnsw. My meaning is, that the Law is not to be looked upon for life, so\nas it was handed out from Mount Sinai, if ever thou wouldst indeed be\nsaved; though after thou hast faith in Christ, thou mayest and must\nsolace thyself in it, and take pleasure therein, to express thy love to\nHim who hath already saved thee by His own blood, without thy obedience\nto the law, either from Sinai or elsewhere.\n\nQuest. Do you think that I do mean that my righteousness will save me\nwithout Christ? If so, you mistake me, for I think not so; but this I\nsay, I will labour to do what I can; and what I cannot do, Christ will\ndo for me.\n\nAnsw. Ah, poor soul, this is the wrong way too; for this is to make\nChrist but a piece of a Saviour; thou wilt do something, and Christ\nshall do the rest; thou wilt set thy own things in the first place, and\nif thou wantest at last, then thou wilt borrow of Christ; thou art such\nan one that dost Christ the greatest injury of all. First, in that thou\ndost undervalue His merits by preferring of thy own works before His;\nand, secondly, by mingling of thy works thy dirty, ragged righteousness\nwith His.\n\nQuest. Why, would you have us do nothing? Would you have us make Christ\nsuch a drudge as to do all, while we sit idling still?\n\nAnsw. Poor soul, thou mistakest Jesus Christ in saying thou makest Him\na drudge in letting Him do all; I tell thee, He counts it a great glory\nto do all for thee, and it is a great dishonour unto Him for thee so\nmuch as to think otherwise. And this the saints of God that have\nexperienced the work of grace upon their souls do count it also the\nsame\u2014\u201cSaying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals\nthereof\u201d (Rev 5:9). \u201cWorthy is the Lamb, that was slain, to receive\npower, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and\nblessing\u201d (Verse 12). And why so? read again in the 9th verse, \u201cFor\nThou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy\u201d own \u201cblood\u201d (See\nalso Eph 1:6,7). \u201cTo the praise of the glory of His grace\u2014in whom we\nhave redemption through His blood.\u201d\n\nReply. All this we confess, that Jesus Christ died for us; but he that\nthinks to be saved by Christ, and liveth in his sins, shall never be\nsaved.\n\nAnsw. I grant that. But this I say again, a man must not make his good\ndoings the lowest round of the ladder by which he goeth to Heaven\u2014that\nis, he that will and shall go to Heaven, must, wholly and alone,\nwithout any of his own things, venture his precious soul upon Jesus\nChrist and His merits.\n\nQuest. What, and come to Christ as a sinner?\n\nAnsw. Yea, with all thy sins upon thee, even as filthy as ever thou\ncanst.\n\nQuest. But is not this the way to make Christ to loath us? You know\nwhen children fall down in the dirt, they do usually before they go\nhome make their clothes as clean as they can, for fear their parents\nshould chide them; and so I think should we.\n\nAnsw. This comparison is wrongly applied, if you bring it to show us\nhow we must do when we come to Christ. He that can make himself clean\nhath no need of Christ; for the whole, the clean, and righteous have no\nneed of Christ, but those that are foul and sick. Physicians, you know,\nif they love to be honoured, they will not bid the patients first make\nthemselves whole, and then come to them; no, but bid them come with\ntheir sores all running on them, as the woman with her bloody issue\n(Mark 5). And as Mary Magdalene with her belly full of devils, and the\nlepers all scabbed; and that is the right coming to Jesus Christ.\n\nReply. Well, I hope that Christ will save me, for His promises and\nmercy are very large; and as long as He hath promised to give us life,\nI fear my state the less.\n\nAnsw. It is very true, Christ\u2019s promises are very large, blessed be the\nLord for ever; and also so is His mercy; but notwithstanding all that,\nthere are many go in at the broad gate; and therefore I say, your\nbusiness is seriously to inquire whether you are under the first or\nsecond covenant; for unless you are under the second, you will never be\nregarded of the Lord, forasmuch as you are a sinner (Heb 8:9). And the\nrather, because if God should be so good to you as to give you a share\nin the second, you shall have all your sins pardoned, and for certain\nhave eternal life, though you have been a great sinner. But do not\nexpect that thou shalt have any part or share in the large promises and\nmercy of God, for the benefit and comfort of thy poor soul, whilst thou\nart under the old covenant; because so long thou art out of Christ,\nthrough whom God conveyeth His mercy, grace, and love to sinners. \u201cFor\nall the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him amen.\u201d Indeed, His\nmercy, grace, and love are very great, but they are treasured up in\nHim, \u201cgiven forth in Him, through Him.\u201d \u201cBut God, who is rich in mercy,\nfor His great love wherewith He loved us\u2014that He might show the\nexceeding riches of His grace\u201d\u2014but which way?\u2014\u201cin His kindness towards\nus through Jesus Christ.\u201d\n\nBut out of Christ thou shalt find God a just God, a sin-avenging God, a\nGod that will by no means spare the guilty; and be sure that every one\nthat is found out of Jesus Christ will be found guilty in the\njudgment-day, upon whom the wrath of God shall smoke to their eternal\nruin. Now, therefore, consider of it, and take the counsel of the\nApostle, in 2 Corinthians 13:5, which is, to examine thyself whether\nthou art \u201cin the faith,\u201d and to prove thy ownself whether thou hast\nreceived the Spirit of Christ into thy soul, whether thou hast been\nconverted, whether thou hast been born again, and made a new creature,\nwhether thou hast had thy sins washed away in the blood of Christ,\nwhether thou hast been brought from under the old covenant into the\nnew; and do not make a slight examination, for thou hast a precious\nsoul either to be saved or damned.\n\nAnd that thou mayest not be deceived, consider that it is one thing to\nbe convinced, and another to be converted; one thing to be wounded, and\nanother to be killed, and so to be made alive again by the faith of\nJesus Christ. When men are killed, they are killed to all things they\nlived to before, both sin and righteousness, as all their old faith and\nsupposed grace that they thought they had. Indeed, the old covenant\nwill show thee that thou art a sinner, and that a great one too; but\nthe old covenant, the Law, will not show thee, without the help of the\nSpirit, that thou are without all grace by nature; no; but in the midst\nof thy troubles thou wilt keep thyself from coming to Christ by\npersuading thy soul that thou art come already, and hast some grace\nalready. O, therefore, be earnest in begging the Spirit, that thy soul\nmay be enlightened, and the wickedness of thy heart discovered, that\nthou mayest see the miserable state that thou art in by reason of sin\nand unbelief, which is the great condemning sin; and so in a sight and\nsense of thy sad condition, if God should deal with thee in severity\naccording to thy deservings. Do thou [now] cry to God for faith in a\ncrucified Christ, that thou mayest have all thy sins washed away in His\nblood, and such a right work of grace wrought in thy soul that may\nstand in the judgment-day. Again,\n\nSecond. In the next place, you know I told you that a man might go a\ngreat way in a profession, and have many excellent gifts, [Second use].\nso as to do many wondrous works, and yet be but under the Law; from\nhence you may learn not to judge yourselves to be the children of God,\nbecause you may have some gifts of knowledge or understanding more than\nothers: no, for thou mayest be the knowingest man in all the country as\nto head-knowledge, and yet be but under the law, and so consequently\nunder the curse, notwithstanding that, 1 Corinthians 13. Now, seeing it\nis so, that men may have all this and yet perish, then what will become\nof those that do no good at all, and have no understanding, neither of\ntheir own sadness, nor of Christ\u2019s mercy? O, sad! Read with\nunderstanding, Isaiah 27:11, \u201cTherefore He that made them will not have\nmercy on them, and He that formed them will show them no favour\u201d (See\nalso 2 Thess 1:8, 9).\n\nNow there is one thing which, for want of, most people do miscarry in a\nvery sad manner, and that is, because they are not able to distinguish\nbetween the nature of the Law and the Gospel. O, people, people, your\nbeing blinded here as to the knowledge of this is one great cause of\nthe ruining of many. As Paul saith, \u201cWhile Moses is read,\u201d or while the\nlaw is discovered, \u201cthe veil is upon their heart\u201d (2 Cor 3:15) that is,\nthe veil of ignorance is still upon their hearts, so that they cannot\ndiscern either the nature of the law or the nature of the Gospel, they\nbeing so dark and blind in their minds, as you may see, if you compare\nit with Chronicles 4:3, 4. And truly I am confident, that were you but\nwell examined, I doubt many of you would be found so ignorant that you\nwould not be able to give a word of right answer concerning either the\nLaw or the Gospel. Nay, my friends, set the case, one should ask you\nwhat time you spend, what pains you take, to the end you may understand\nthe nature and difference of these two covenants, would you not say, if\nyou should speak the truth, that you did not so much as regard whether\nthere were two or more? Would you not say, I did not think of\ncovenants, or study the nature of them? I thought that if I had lived\nhonestly, and did as well as I could, that God would accept of me, and\nhave mercy upon me, as He had on others. Ah, friends, this is the cause\nof the ruin of thousands; for if they are blinded to this, both the\nright use of the law, and also of the Gospel, is hid from their eyes,\nand so for certain they will be in danger of perishing most miserably,\npoor souls that they are, unless God, of His mere mercy and love, doth\nrend the veil from off their hearts, the veil of ignorance, for that is\nit which doth keep these poor souls in this besotted and blindfolded\ncondition, in which if they die they may be lamented for, but not\nhelped; they may be pitied, but not preserved from the stoke of God\u2019s\neverlasting vengeance.\n\nA legal spirit.\n\nIn the next place, if you would indeed be delivered from the first into\nthe second covenant, I do admonish you to the observing of these\nfollowing particulars. First. Have a care that you do not content\nyourselves, though you do good works\u2014that is, which in themselves are\ngood. Secondly. In and with a legal spirit, which are done these ways\nas followeth.\n\nFirst. If you do anything commanded in Scripture, and your doing of it\ndo think that God is well pleased therewith, because you, as you are\nreligious men, do do the same. Upon this mistake was Paul himself in\ndanger of being destroyed; for he thought, because he was zealous, and\none of the strictest sects for religion, therefore God would have been\ngood unto him, and have accepted his doings, as it is clear, for he\ncounted them his gain (Phil 3:4-8). Now this is done thus\u2014When a man\ndoth think that because he thinks he is more sincere, more liberal,\nwith more difficulty, or to the weakening of his estate; I say, if a\nman, because of this doth think that God accepteth his labour, it is\ndone from an old-covenant spirit.\n\nAgain; some men think that they shall be heard because they have prayer\nin their families, because they can pray long, and speak excellent\nexpressions, or express themselves excellently in prayer, that because\nthey have great enlargements in prayer, I say, that therefore to think\nthat God doth delight in their doings, and accept their works, this is\nfrom a legal spirit.\n\nAgain; some men think that because their parents have been religious\nbefore them, and have been indeed the people of God, they think if they\nalso do as to the outward observing of that which they learned from\ntheir forerunners, that therefore God doth accept them; but this also\nis from a wrong spirit; and yet how many are there in England at this\nday that think the better of themselves merely upon that account; ay,\nand think the people of God ought to think so too, not understanding\nthat it is ordinary for an Eli to have a Hophni and a Phinehas, both\nsons of Belial; also a good Samuel to have a perverse offspring;\nlikewise David an Absalom. I say, their being ignorant of, or else\nnegligent in regarding this, they do think that because they do spring\nfrom such and such, as the Jews in their generation did, that therefore\nthey have a privilege with God more than others, when there is no such\nthing; but for certain, if the same faith be not in them which was in\ntheir forerunners, to lay hold of the Christ of God in the same spirit\nas they did, they must utterly perish, for all their high conceits that\nthey have of themselves (John 8:33-35; Matt 3:7-9).\n\nSecond. When people come into the presence of God without having their\neye upon the Divine Majesty, through the flesh and blood of the Son of\nMary, the Son of God, then also do they come before God, and do\nwhatsoever they do from a legal spirit, an old-covenant spirit. As, for\ninstance, you have some people, it is true, they will go to prayer, in\nappearance very fervently, and will plead very hard with God that He\nwould grant them their desires, pleading their want, and the abundance\nthereof; they will also plead with God His great mercy, and also His\nfree promises; but yet they neglecting the aforesaid body or Person of\nChrist, the righteous Lamb of God, to appear before Him in, I say, in\nthus doing they do not appear before the Lord no otherwise than in an\nold-covenant spirit; for they go to God as a merciful Creator, and they\nthemselves as His creatures; not as He is, their Father in the Son, and\nthey His children by regeneration through the Lord Jesus. Ay, and\nthough they may call God their Father, in the notion\u2014not knowing what\nthey say, only having learned such things by tradition\u2014as the Pharisees\ndid, yet Christ will have His time to say to them, even to their faces,\nas He did once to the Jews, Your father, for all this your profession,\nis the devil, to their own grief and everlasting misery (John 8:44).\n\nThird. The third thing that is to be observed, if we would not be under\nthe Law, or do things in a legal spirit, is this\u2014to have a care that we\ndo none of the works of the holy Law of God for life, or acceptance\nwith Him; no, nor of the Gospel neither. To do the works of the law to\nthe end we may be accepted of God, or that we may please Him, and to\nhave our desires of Him, is to do things from a legal or old-covenant\nspirit, and that is expressly laid down where it is said, \u201cTo him that\nworketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt\u201d; that is, he\nappears before God through the Law, and his obedience to it (Rom\n4:4,5). And again, though they be in themselves Gospel-ordinances, as\nbaptism, breaking of bread, hearing, praying, meditating, or the like;\nyet, I say, if they be not done in the right spirit, they are thereby\nused as a hand by the devil to pull thee under the Covenant of Works,\nas in former times he used circumcision, which was no part of the\nCovenant of Works, the Ten Commands, but a seal of the righteousness of\nfaith; yet, I say, they being done in a legal spirit, the soul was\nthereby brought under the Covenant of Works, and so most miserably\ndestroyed unawares to itself, and that because there was not a right\nunderstanding of the nature and terms of the said covenants. And so it\nis now; souls being ignorant of the nature of the old covenant, do even\nby their subjecting to several Gospel ordinances, run themselves under\nthe old covenant, and fly off from Christ, even when they think they\nare acoming closer to him. O, miserable! If you would know when or how\nthis is done, whether in one particular or more, I shall show you as\nfolloweth\u2014\n\n1. That man doth bring himself under the Covenant of Works, by Gospel\nordinances, when he cannot be persuaded that God will have mercy upon\nhim except he do yield obedience to such or such a particular thing\ncommanded in the Word. This is the very same spirit that was in the\nfalse brethren (spoken of Acts 15; Galatians, the whole Epistle), whose\njudgment was, that unless such and such things were done, \u201cthey could\nnot be saved.\u201d As now-a-days we have also some that say, Unless your\ninfants be baptized they cannot be saved;23 and others say, unless you\nbe rightly baptized, you have no ground to be assured that you are\nbelievers, or members of churches; which is so far off from being so\ngood as a legal spirit, that it is the spirit of blasphemy, as is\nevident, because they do reckon that the Spirit, righteousness, and\nfaith of Jesus, and the confession thereof, is not sufficient to\ndeclare men to be members of the Lord Jesus; when, on the other side,\nthough they be rank hypocrites, yet if they do yield an outward\nsubjection to this or that, they are counted presently communicable\nmembers, which doth clearly discover that there is not so much honour\ngiven to the putting on the righteousness of the Son of God as there is\ngiven to that which a man may do, and yet go to Hell within an hour\nafter; nay, in the very doing of it doth shut himself for ever from\nJesus Christ.\n\n2. Men may do things from a legal or old-covenant spirit when they\ncontent themselves with their doing of such and such a thing, as\nprayers, reading, hearing, baptism, breaking of bread, or the like; I\nsay, when they can content themselves with the thing done, and sit down\nat ease and content because the thing is done. As, for instance, some\nmen being persuaded that such and such a thing is their duty, and that\nunless they do do it, God will not be pleased with them, nor suffer\nthem to be heirs of His kingdom, they from this spirit do rush into and\ndo the thing, which being done, they are content, as being persuaded\nthat now they are without doubt in a happy condition, because they have\ndone such things, like unto the Pharisee, who, because he had done this\nand the other thing, said therefore, in a bragging way, \u201cLord, I thank\nthee that I am not as this publican\u201d; for I have done thus and thus;\nwhen, alas! the Lord give him never a good word for his labour, but\nrather a reproof.\n\n3. That man doth act from a legal spirit who maketh the strictness of\nhis walking the ground of his assurance for eternal life. Some men, all\nthe ground they have to believe that they shall be saved, it is because\nthey walk not so loose as their neighbours, they are not so bad as\nothers are, and therefore they question not but that they shall do\nwell. Now this is a false ground, and a thing that is verily legal, and\nsavours only of some slight and shallow apprehensions of the old\ncovenant. I call them shallow apprehensions, because they are not right\nand sound, and are such as will do the soul no good, but beguile it, in\nthat the knowledge of the nature of this covenant doth not appear to\nthe soul, only some commanding power it hath on the soul, which the\nsoul endeavouring to give up itself unto, it doth find some peace and\ncontent, and especially if it find itself to be pretty willing to yield\nitself to its commands. And is not this the very ground of thy hoping\nthat God will save thee from the wrath to come? If one should ask thee\nwhat ground thou hast to think thou shalt be saved, wouldst thou not\nsay, Truly, because I have left my sins, and because I am more\ninclinable to do good, [Do not think that I am against the order of the\nGospel.] and to learn, and get more knowledge; I endeavour to walk in\nchurch order, as they call it, and therefore I hope God hath done a\ngood work for me, and I hope will save my soul. Alas, alas! this is a\nvery trick of the devil to make souls build the ground of their\nsalvation upon this their strictness, and abstaining from the\nwickedness of their former lives, and because they desire to be\nstricter and stricter. Now, if you would know such a man or woman, you\nshall find them in this frame\u2014namely, when they think their hearts are\ngood, then they think also that Christ will have mercy upon them; but\nwhen their corruptions work, then they doubt and scruple until again\nthey have their hearts more ready to do the things contained in the law\nand ordinances of the Gospel. Again, such men do commonly cheer up\ntheir hearts, and encourage themselves still to hope all shall be well,\nand that because they are not so bad as the rest, but more inclinable\nthan they, saying, I am glad I am not as this publican, but better than\nhe, more righteous than he (Luke 18:11).\n\n4. This is a legal and old-covenant spirit that secretly persuades the\nsoul that if ever it will be saved by Christ, if must be fitted for\nChrist by its getting of a good heart and good intentions to do this\nand that for Christ; I say, that the soul when it comes to Christ may\nnot be rejected or turned off; when in deed and in truth this is the\nvery way for the soul to turn itself from Jesus Christ, instead of\nturning to Him; for such a soul looks upon Christ rather to be a\npainted Saviour or a cypher than a very and real Saviour. Friend, if\nthou canst fit thyself, what need hast thou of Christ? If thou canst\nget qualifications to carry to Christ that thou mightst be accepted,\nthou dost not look to be accepted in the Beloved. Shall I tell thee?\nThou art as if a man should say, I will make myself clean, and then I\nwill go to Christ that He may wash me; or like a man possessed, that\nwill first cast the devils out of himself, and then come to Christ for\ncure from Him. Thou, must, therefore, if thou wilt so lay hold of\nChrist as not to be rejected by Him; I say, thou must come to Him as\nthe basest in the world, more fit to be damned, if thou hadst thy\nright, than to have the least smile, hope, or comfort from Him. Come\nwith the fire of Hell in thy conscience, come with thy heart hard,\ndead, cold, full of wickedness and madness against thy own salvation;\ncome as renouncing all thy tears, prayers, watchings, fastings; come as\na blood-red sinner; do not stay from Christ till thou hast a greater\nsense of thy own misery, nor of the reality of God\u2019s mercy; do not stay\nwhile thy heart is softer and thy spirit in a better frame, but go\nagainst thy mind, and against the mind of the devil and sin, throw\nthyself down at the foot of Christ, with a halter about thy neck, and\nsay, Lord Jesus, hear a sinner, a hard-hearted sinner, a sinner that\ndeserveth to be damned, to be cast into Hell; and resolve never to\nreturn, or to give over crying unto Him, till thou do find that He hath\nwashed thy conscience from dead works with His blood virtually, and\nclothed thee with His own righteousness, and made thee complete in\nHimself; this is the way to come to Christ.\n\nTHE USE OF THE NEW COVENANT\n\n\nNow a few words to the second doctrine, and so I shall draw towards a\nconclusion.\n\nFIRST USE. The doctrine doth contain in it very much comfort to thy\n[The use, for the second doctrine]. soul who art a new-covenant man, or\none of those who are under the new covenant. There is, First, pardon of\nsin; and, Second, the manifestation of the same; and, Third, as power\nto cause thee to persevere through faith to the very end of thy life.\n\nFirst, There is, first, pardon of sin, which is not in the old\ncovenant; for in that there is nothing but commands; and if not obeyed,\ncondemned. O, but there is pardon of sin, even of all thy sins, against\nthe first and second covenant, under which thou art, and that freely\nupon the account of Jesus Christ the righteousness, He having in thy\nname, nature, and in the room of thy person, fulfilled all the whole\nlaw in Himself for thee, and freely giveth it unto thee. O, though the\nlaw be a ministration of death and condemnation, yet the Gospel, under\nwhich thou art, is the ministration of life and salvation (2 Cor\n3:6-9). Though they that live and die under the first covenant, God\nregardeth them not (Heb 8:9). Yet they that are under the second are as\nthe apple of His eye (Deu 32:10; Psa 17:8; Zech 2:8). Though they that\nare under the first, the Law, are \u201ccalled to blackness, and darkness,\nand tempest, the sound of a trumpet,\u201d and a burning mountain, which\nsight was so terrible, that Moses said, \u201cI exceedingly fear and quake\u201d\n(Heb 12:18-22). \u201cBut ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of\nthe living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company\nof angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,\u201d whose\nnames \u201care written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the\nspirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus,\u201d to blessed Jesus, \u201cthe\nMediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that\nspeaketh better things than that of Abel\u201d (Heb 12:22-24). Even\nforgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7).\n\nSecond, The covenant that thou art under doth allow of repentance in\ncase thou chance to slip or fall by sudden temptation; but the law\nallows of none (Rev 2:5; Gal 3:10). The covenant that thou art under\nallows thee strength also; but the law is only a sound of words,\ncommanding words, but no power is given by them to fulfill the things\ncommanded (Heb 12:19). Thou that art under this second, art made a son;\nbut they that art under that first, are slaves and vagabonds (Gen\n4:12). Thou that art under this, hast a Mediator, that is to stand\nbetween justice and thee; but they under the other, their mediator is\nturned an accuser, and speaketh most bitter things against their souls\n(1 Tim 2:5; John 5:45). Again; the way that thou hast into Paradise is\na new and living way\u2014mark, a living way; but they that are under the\nold covenant, their way into Paradise is a killing and destroying way\n(Heb 10:20; Gen 3:24). Again; thou has the righteousness of God to\nappear before God withal; but they under the old covenant have nothing\nbut the righteousness of the Law, which Paul counts dirt and dung (Phil\n3:7-9). Thou hast that which will make thee perfect, but the other will\nnot do so\u2014\u201cThe law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a\nbetter hope did,\u201d which is the Son of God, \u201cby the which we draw nigh\nunto God\u201d (Heb 7:19).\n\nThird, The new covenant promiseth thee a new heart, as I said before;\nbut the old covenant promiseth none; and a new spirit, but the old\ncovenant promiseth none (Eze 36:26). The new covenant conveyeth faith,\nbut the old one conveyeth none (Gal 3). Through the new covenant the\nlove of God is conveyed into the heart; but through the old covenant\nthere is conveyed none of it savingly through Jesus Christ. Romans 5.\nThe new covenant doth not only give a promise of life, but also with\nthat the assurance of life, but the old one giveth none; the old\ncovenant wrought wrath in us and to us, but the new one worketh love\n(Rom 4:15; Gal 5:6). Thus much for the first use.\n\nSECOND USE. As all these, and many more privileges, do come to thee\nthrough or by the new covenant, and that thou mightst not doubt of the\ncertainty of these glorious privileges, God hath so ordered it that\nthey do all come to thee by way of purchase, being obtained for thee,\nready to thy hand, by that one Man Jesus, who is the Mediator, or the\nPerson that hath principally to do both with God and thy soul in the\nthings pertaining to this covenant; so that now thou mayst look on all\nthe glorious things that are spoken of in the new covenant, and say,\nAll these must be mine; I must have a share in them; Christ hath\npurchased them for me, and given them to me. Now I need not to say, O!\nbut how shall I come by them? God is holy, I am a sinner; God is just,\nand I have offended. No; but thou mayst say, Though I am vile, and\ndeserve nothing, yet Christ is holy, and He deserveth all things;\nthough I have so provoked God by breaking His law that He could not in\njustice look upon me, yet Christ hath so gloriously paid the debt that\nnow God can say, Welcome, soul, I will give thee grace, I will give\nthee glory, thou shalt lie in My bosom, and go no more out; My Son hath\npleased Me, He hath satisfied the loud cries of the Law and justice,\nthat called for speedy vengeance on thee; He hath fulfilled the whole\nLaw, He hath brought in everlasting righteousness (Dan 9:24,25). He\nhath overcome the devil, He hath washed away thy sins with His most\nprecious blood, He hath destroyed the power of death, and triumphs over\nall the enemies. This He did in His own Person, as a common Jesus, for\nall persons in their stead, even as for so many as shall come in to\nHim; for His victory I give to them, His righteousness I give to them,\nHis merits I bestow on them, and look upon them holy, harmless,\nundefiled, and for ever comely in my eye, through the victory of the\nCaptain of their salvation (1 Cor 15:55-57).\n\nAnd that thou mayest, in deed and in truth, not only hear and read this\nglorious doctrine, but be found one that hath the life of it in thy\nheart, thou must be much in studying of the two covenants, the nature\nof the one, and the nature of the other, and the conditions of them\nthat are under them both. Also, thou must be well-grounded in the\nmanner of the victory, and merits of Christ, how they are made thine.\n\nFirst, And here thou must, in the first place, believe that the babe\nthat was born of Mary, lay in a manger at Bethlehem, in the time of\nCaesar Augustus; that He, that babe, that child, was the very Christ.\n\nSecond, Thou must believe that in the days of Tiberius Caesar, when\nHerod was tetrarch of Galilee, and Pontius Pilate governor of Judea,\nthat in those days He was crucified, or hanged on a tree between two\nthieves, which by computation, or according to the best account, is\nabove sixteen hundred years since. 24\n\nThird, Thou must also believe that when He did hang upon that cross of\nwood on the Mount Calvary, that then He did die there for the sins of\nthose that did die before He was crucified; also for their sins that\nwere alive at the time of His crucifying, and also that He did by that\none death give satisfaction to God for all those that should be born\nand believe in Him after His death, even unto the world\u2019s end. I say,\nthis thou must believe, upon pain of eternal damnation, that by that\none death, that when He did die, He did put an end to the curse of the\nLaw and sin [This is the doctrine that I will live and die by, and be\nwilling to be damned if it saves me not. I am not ashamed of the Gospel\nof Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation; therefore I preach\nChrist crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks\nfoolishness (Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 1:23).] and at that time by His death on\nthe Cross, and by His resurrection out of Joseph\u2019s sepulchre, He did\nbring in a sufficient righteousness to clothe thee withal\ncompletely\u2014\u201cFor by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that\nare sanctified.\u201d Not that He should often offer Himself\u2014\u201cfor then must\nHe often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now ONCE\nin the end of the world hath He appeared to put,\u201d or do, \u201caway sin by\nthe sacrifice of Himself\u201d\u2014namely, when He hanged on the Cross. For it\nis by the offering up of the body of this blessed Jesus Christ ONCE for\nall. Indeed, other priests may offer oftentimes sacrifices and\nofferings which can never take away sins; but this Man, this Jesus,\nthis anointed and appointed sacrifice, when He had offered ONE\nsacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God (Heb\n10:14; 9:24,25).\n\n[A word of advice]. But because thou in thy pursuit after the faith of\nthe Gospel wilt be sure to meet with devils, heretics, particular\ncorruptions, as unbelief, ignorance, the spirit of works animated on by\nsuggestions, false conclusions, with damnable doctrines, I shall\ntherefore briefly, besides what hath been already said, speak a word or\ntwo before I leave thee of further advice, especially concerning these\ntwo things. First, How thou art to conceive of the Saviour. Second, How\nthou art to make application of Him.\n\nFirst. For the Saviour. 1. Thou must look upon Him to be very God and\nvery Man; not man only, nor God only, but God and Man in one Person,\nboth natures joined together, for the putting of Him in a capacity to\nbe a suitable Saviour; suitable, I say, to answer both sides and\nparties, with whom He hath to do in the office of His Mediatorship and\nbeing of a Saviour. 2. Thou must not only do this, but thou must also\nconsider and believe that even what was done by Jesus Christ, it was\nnot done by one nature without the other; but thou must consider that\nboth natures, both the Godhead and the manhood, did gloriously concur\nand join together in the undertaking of the salvation of our bodies and\nsouls; not that the Godhead undertook anything without the manhood,\nneither did the manhood do anything without the virtue and union of the\nGodhead; and thou must of necessity do this, otherwise thou canst not\nfind any sound ground and footing for thy soul to rest upon.\n\nFor if thou look upon any of these asunder\u2014that is to say, the Godhead\nwithout the manhood, or the manhood without the Godhead\u2014thou wilt\nconclude that what was done by the Godhead was not done for man, being\ndone without the manhood; or else, that that which was done with the\nmanhood could not answer Divine justice, in not doing what it did by\nthe virtue and in union with the Godhead; for it was the Godhead that\ngave virtue and value to the suffering of the manhood, and the manhood\nbeing joined therewith, that giveth us an interest into the heavenly\nglory and comforts of the Godhead.\n\nWhat ground can a man have to believe that Christ is his Saviour, if he\ndo not believe that He suffered for sin in his nature? And what ground\nalso can a man have to think that God the Father is satisfied, being\ninfinite, if he believe not also that He who gave the satisfaction was\nequal to Him who was offended?\n\nTherefore, beloved, when you read of the offering of the body of the\nSon of Man for our sins, then consider that He did it in union with,\nand by the help of, the eternal Godhead. \u201cHow much more shall the blood\nof Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without\nspot to God, purge your consciences from dead works,\u201d etc.\n\nAnd when thou readest of the glorious works and splendour of the\nGodhead in Christ, then consider that all that was done by the Godhead,\nit was done as it had union and communion with the manhood. And then\nthou shalt see that the devil is overcome by God-man; sin, death, Hell,\nthe grave, and all overcome by Jesus, God-man, and then thou shalt find\nthem overcome indeed. They must needs be overcome when God doth\novercome them; and we have good ground to hope the victory is ours,\nwhen in our nature they are overcome.\n\nSecond. The second thing is, how to apply, or to make application of\nthis Christ to the soul. And for this there are to be considered the\nfollowing particulars\u2014\n\n1. That when Jesus Christ did thus appear, being born of Mary, He was\nlooked upon by the Father as if the sin of the whole world was upon\nHim; nay, further, God did look upon Him and account Him the sin of\nman\u2014\u201cHe hath made Him to be sin for us,\u201d (2 Cor 5:21) that is, God made\nHis Son Jesus Christ our sin, or reckoned Him to be, not only a sinner,\nbut the very bulk of sin of the whole world, and condemned Him so\nseverely as if He had been nothing but sin. \u201cFor what the law could not\ndo, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in\nthe likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the\nflesh\u201d\u2014that is, for our sins condemned His Son Jesus Christ; as if He\nhad in deed and truth been our very sin, although altogether \u201cwithout\nsin\u201d (Rom 8:3; 2 Cor 5:21). Therefore, as to the taking away of thy\ncurse, thou must reckon Him to be made sin for thee. And as to His\nbeing thy justification, thou must reckon Him to be thy righteousness;\nfor, saith the Scripture, \u201cHe,\u201d that is, God, \u201chath made HIM to be SIN\nfor us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the RIGHTEOUSNESS\nof God in HIM.\u201d\n\n2. Consider for whose sakes all this glorious design of the Father and\nthe Son was brought to pass; and that you shall find to be for man, for\nsinful man (2 Cor 8:9).\n\n3. The terms on which it is made ours; and that you will find to be a\nfree gift, merely arising from the tender-heartedness of God\u2014you are\n\u201cjustified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in\nChrist, whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through faith in\nHis blood,\u201d etc. (Rom 3:25).\n\n4. How men are to reckon it theirs; and that is, upon the same terms\nwhich God doth offer it, which is freely, as they are worthless and\nundeserving creatures, as they are without all good, and also unable to\ndo any good. This, I say, is the right way of applying the merits of\nChrist to thy soul, for they are freely given to thee, a poor sinner,\nnot for anything that is in thee, or done by thee, but freely as thou\nart a sinner, and so standest in absolute need thereof.\n\nAnd, Christian, thou art not in this thing to follow thy sense and\nfeeling, but the very Word of God. The thing that doth do the people of\nGod the greatest injury, it is their too little hearkening to what the\nGospel saith, and their too much giving credit to what the Law, sin,\nthe devil, and conscience saith; and upon this very ground to conclude\nthat because there is a certainty of guilt upon the soul, therefore\nthere is also for certain, by sin, damnation to be brought upon the\nsoul. This is now to set the Word of God aside, and to give credit to\nwhat is formed by the contrary; but thou must give more credit to one\nsyllable of the written Word of the Gospel than thou must give to all\nthe saints and angels in Heaven and earth; much more than to the devil\nand thy own guilty conscience.\n\nLet me give you a parable:\u2014There was a certain man that had committed\ntreason against his king; but forasmuch as the king had compassion upon\nhim, he sent him, by the hand of a faithful messenger, a pardon under\nhis own hand and seal; but in the country where this poor man dwelt,\nthere were also many that sought to trouble him, by often putting of\nhim in mind of his treason, and the law that was to be executed on the\noffender. Now which way should this man so honour his king, but as by\nbelieving his handwriting, which was the pardon. Certainly he would\nhonour him more by so doing than to regard all the clamours of his\nenemies continually against him.\n\nJust thus it is here: thou having committed treason against the King of\nHeaven, He through compassion, for Christ\u2019s sake, hath sent thee a\npardon; but the devil, the Law, and thy conscience do continually seek\nto disturb thee by bringing thy sins afresh into thy remembrance. But\nnow, wouldst thou honour thy King? Why then, he that believeth \u201cthe\nrecord that God hath given of His Son,\u201d hath set to his seal that God\nis true. \u201cAnd this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal\nlife, and this life is in His Son\u201d (1 John 5:11). And therefore, my\nbrethren, seeing God our Father hath sent us damnable traitors a pardon\nfrom Heaven, even all the promises of the Gospel, and also hath sealed\nto the certainty of it with the heart-blood of His dear Son, let us not\nbe daunted, though our enemies, with terrible voices, do bring our\nformer life never so often into our remembrance.\n\nObject. But, saith the soul, how, if after I have received a pardon, I\nshould commit treason again? What should I do then?\n\nAnsw. Set the case: thou hast committed abundance of treason, He hath\nby Him abundance of pardons\u2014\u201cLet the wicked forsake his way, and the\nunrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He\nwill have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly\npardon\u201d (Isa 55:7).\n\nSometimes I myself have been in such a strait that I have been almost\ndriven to my wit\u2019s ends with the sight and sense of the greatness of my\nsins; but calling to mind that God was God in His mercy, pity, and\nlove, as well as in His holiness, justice, etc.; and again, considering\nthe ability of the satisfaction that was given to holiness and justice,\nto the end there might be way made for sinners to lay hold of this\nmercy; I say, I considering this, when tempted to doubt and despair, I\nhave answered in this manner\u2014\n\n\u201cLord, here is one of the greatest sinners that ever the ground bare; a\nsinner against the Law, and a sinner against the Gospel. I have sinned\nagainst light, and I have sinned against mercy. And now, Lord, the\nguilt of them breaks my heart. The devil also he would have me despair,\ntelling of me that Thou art so far from hearing my prayers in this my\ndistress, that I cannot anger Thee worse than to call upon Thee; for\nsaith he, Thou art resolved for ever to damn, and not to grant me the\nleast of Thy favour; yet, Lord, I would fain have forgiveness. And Thy\nWord, though much may be inferred from it against me, yet it saith, If\nI come unto Thee, Thou will in nowise cast me out. Lord, shall I honour\nThee most by believing Thou canst pardon my sins, or by believing Thou\ncanst not? Shall I honour Thee most by believing Thou wilt pardon my\nsins, or by believing Thou wilt not? Shall I honour the blood of Thy\nSon also by despairing that the virtue thereof is not sufficient, or by\nbelieving that it is sufficient to purge me from all my blood-red and\ncrimson sins? Surely, Thou that couldst find so much mercy as to pardon\nManasseh, Mary Magdalene, the three thousand murderers, persecuting\nPaul, murderous and adulterous David, and blaspheming Peter\u2014Thou that\nofferedst mercy to Simon Magus, a witch, and didst receive the\nastrologers and conjurors in the 19th of Acts\u2014Thou hast mercy enough\nfor one poor sinner. Lord, set the case: my sins were bigger than all\nthese, and I less deserved mercy than any of these, yet Thou hast said\nin Thy Word that he that cometh to thee Thou wilt in \u201cnowise cast out.\u201d\nAnd God hath given comfort to my soul, even to such a sinner as I am.\nAnd I tell you, there is no way so to honour God, and to beat out the\ndevil, as to stick to the truth of God\u2019s Word and the merits of\nChrist\u2019s blood by believing. When Abraham believed\u2014even against hope\nand reason\u2014he gave glory to God (Rom 4). And this is our victory, even\nour faith (1 John 5:4). Believe, and all things are possible to you. He\nthat believeth shall be saved. He that believeth on the Son hath\neverlasting life, and shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck\nthem out of Christ\u2019s Father\u2019s hands.\u201d\n\nAnd if thou dost indeed believe this, thou wilt not only confess Him as\nthe Quakers do\u2014that is, that He was born at Bethlehem of Mary, suffered\non Mount Calvary under Pontius Pilate, was dead and buried, rose again,\nand ascended, etc.; for all this they confess, and in the midst of\ntheir confession they do verily deny that His death on that Mount\nCalvary did give satisfaction to God for the sins of the world, and\nthat His resurrection out of Joseph\u2019s sepulchre is the cause of our\njustification in the sight of God, angels, and devils; but, I say, if\nthou dost believe these things indeed, thou dost believe that then, so\nlong ago, even before thou wast born, He did bear thy sins in His own\nbody, which then was hanged on the tree, and never before nor since;\nthat thy old man was then crucified with Him, namely, in the same body\nthen crucified (See 1 Peter 2:24; and Rom 6:6). This is nonsense to\nthem that believe not; but if thou do indeed believe, thou seest it so\nplain, and yet such a mystery, that it makes thee wonder. But,\n\n[THIRD USE]. In the third place, this glorious doctrine of the new\ncovenant, and the Mediator thereof, will serve for the comforting, and\nthe maintaining of the comfort, of the children of the new covenant\nthis way also\u2014that is, that He did not only die and rise again, but\nthat He did ascend in His own Person into Heaven to take possession\nthereof for me, to prepare a place there for me, standeth there in the\nsecond part of His suretyship to bring me safe in my coming thither,\nand to present me in a glorious manner, without spot or wrinkle, or any\nsuch thing; that He is there exercising of His priestly office for me,\npleading the perfection of His own righteousness for me, and the virtue\nof His blood for me; that He is there ready to answer the accusations\nof the Law, devil, and sin for me. Here thou mayst through faith look\nthe very devil in the face, and rejoice, saying, O Satan! I have a\nprecious Jesus, a soul-comforting Jesus, a sin-pardoning Jesus. Here\nthou mayst hear the biggest thunder-crack that the Law can give, and\nyet not be daunted. Here thou mayst say, O Law! thou mayst roar against\nsin, but thou canst not reach me; thou mayst curse and condemn, but not\nmy soul; for I have righteous Jesus, a holy Jesus, a soul-saving Jesus,\nand He hath delivered me from thy threats, from thy curses, from thy\ncondemnations; I am out of thy reach, and out of thy bounds; I am\nbrought into another covenant, under better promises, promises of life\nand salvation, free promises to comfort me without my merit, even\nthrough the blood of Jesus, the satisfaction given to God for me by\nHim; therefore, though thou layest my sins to my charge, and sayest\nthou wilt prove me guilty, yet so long as Christ is above ground, and\nhath brought in everlasting righteousness, and given that to me, I\nshall not fear thy threats, thy charges, thy soul-scarring\ndenunciations; my Christ is all, hath done all, and will deliver me\nfrom all that thou, and whatsoever else can bring an accusation against\nme. Thus also thou may say when death assaulteth thee\u2014O death, where is\nthy sting? Thou mayst bite indeed, but thou canst not devour; I have\ncomfort by and through the one Man Jesus; Jesus Christ, He hath taken\nthee captive, and taken away thy strength; He hath pierced thy heart,\nand let out all thy soul-destroying poison; therefore, though I see\nthee, I am not afraid of thee; though I feel thee, I am not daunted;\nfor thou hast lost thy sting in the side of the Lord Jesus; through Him\nI overcome thee, and set foot upon thee. Also, O Satan! though I hear\nthee grumble, and make a hellish noise, and though thou threaten me\nvery highly, yet my soul shall triumph over thee, so long as Christ is\nalive and can be heard in Heaven; so long as He hath broken thy head,\nand won the field of thee; so long as thou are in prison, and canst not\nhave thy desire. I, therefore, when I hear thy voice, do pitch my\nthoughts on Christ my Saviour, and do hearken when He will say, for He\nwill speak comfort; He saith, He hath got the victory, and doth give to\nme the crown, and causeth me to triumph through His most glorious\nconquest.\n\nNay, my brethren, the saints under the Levitical Law, who had not the\nnew covenant sealed or confirmed any further than by promise that it\nshould be; I say, they, when they thought of the glorious privileges\nthat God had promised should come, though at that time they were not\ncome, but seen afar off, how confidently were they persuaded of them,\nand embraced them, and were so fully satisfied as touching the\ncertainty of them, that they did not stick at the parting with all for\nthe enjoying of them. [Shall not we then that see all things already\ndone before us make it a strong argument to increase our faith (Heb\n11).] How many times doth David in the Psalms admire, triumph, and\npersuade others to do so also, through the faith that he had in the\nthing that was to be done? Also Job, in what faith doth he say he\nshould see his Redeemer, though He had not then shed one drop of blood\nfor him, yet because He had promised so to do; and this was signified\nby the blood of bulls and goats. Also Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah,\nZechariah, etc., how gloriously in confidence did they speak of Christ,\nand His death, blood, conquest, and everlasting priesthood, even before\nHe did manifest Himself in the flesh which He took of the Virgin. [For\nthey were so many sure promises, with a remembrance in them, also for\nthe better satisfaction of them that believed them]. We that have lived\nsince Christ, have more ground to hope than they under the old covenant\nhad, though they had the word of the just God for the ground of their\nfaith. Mark, they had only the promise that He should and would come;\nbut we have the assured fulfilling of those promises, because He is\ncome; they were told that He should spill His blood, but we do see He\nhath spilt His blood; they ventured all upon His standing Surety for\nthem, but we see He hath fulfilled, and that faithfully too, the office\nof His Suretyship, in that, according to the engagement, He hath\nredeemed us poor sinners; they ventured on the new covenant, though not\nactually sealed, only \u201cbecause He judged Him faithful who had promised\u201d\n(Heb 11:11). But we have the covenant sealed, all things are completely\ndone, even as sure as the heart-blood of a crucified Jesus can make it.\n\nThere is a great difference between their dispensation and ours for\ncomfort, even as much as there is between the making of a bond with a\npromise to seal it, and the sealing of the same. It was made indeed in\ntheir time, but it was not sealed until the time the blood was shed on\nthe Mount Calvary; and that we might indeed have our faith mount up\nwith wings like an eagle, he showeth us what encouragement and ground\nof faith we have to conclude we shall be everlastingly delivered,\nsaying, \u201cFor where a testament\u201d or covenant \u201cis, there must also of\nnecessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force\nafter men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the\ntestator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated\nwithout blood\u201d (Heb 9:16-18). As Christ\u2019s blood was the confirmation of\nthe new covenant, yet it was not sealed in Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob\u2019s\ndays to confirm the covenant that God did tell them of, and yet they\nbelieved; therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to believe\nthe things that we have heard, and not in any wise to let them be\nquestioned; and the rather, because you see the testament is not only\nnow made, but confirmed; not only spoken of and promised, but verily\nsealed by the death and blood of Jesus, who is the Testator thereof.\n\nMy brethren, I would not leave you ignorant of this one thing, that\nthough the Jews had the promise of a sacrifice, of an everlasting High\nPriest that should deliver them, yet they had but the promise; for\nChrist was not sacrificed, and was not then come a high priest of good\nthings to come; only the type, the shadow, the figure, the ceremonies\nthey had, together with Christ\u2019s engaging as Surety to bring all things\nto pass that were promised should come, and upon that account received\nand saved.\n\nIt was with them and their dispensation as this similitude gives you to\nunderstand:\u2014Set the case that there be two men who make a covenant that\nthe one should give the other ten thousand sheep on condition the other\ngive him two thousand pound; but forasmuch as the money is not to be\npaid down presently, therefore if he that buyeth the sheep will have\nany of them before the day of payment, the creditor requesteth a\nsurety; and upon the engagement of the surety there is part of the\nsheep given to the debtor even before the day of payment, but the other\nat and after. So it is here; Christ covenanted with His Father for His\nsheep\u2014\u201cI lay down My life for My sheep,\u201d saith He\u2014but the money was not\nto be paid down so soon as the bargain was made, as I have already\nsaid, yet some of the sheep were saved even before the money was paid,\nand that because of the Suretyship of Christ; as it is written, \u201cBeing\njustified,\u201d or saved, \u201cfreely by His grace through the redemption,\u201d or\npurchase, \u201cthat is in Christ Jesus. Whom God hath set forth to be a\npropitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness\nfor the remission of sins that are past,\u201d or the sinners who died in\nthe faith before Christ was crucified, through God\u2019s forbearing till\nthe payment was paid; to declare, I say, at this time His\nrighteousness; \u201cthat He might be just, and the justifier of him which\nbelieveth in Jesus\u201d (Rom 3:24-26).\n\nThe end of my speaking of this is, to show you that it is not wisdom\nnow to doubt whether God will save you or no, but to believe, because\nall things are finished as to our justification: the covenant not only\nmade, but also sealed; the debt paid, the prison doors flung off of the\nhooks, with a proclamation from Heaven of deliverance to the prisoners\nof hope, saying, \u201cTurn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope,\neven today do I declare,\u201d saith God, \u201cthat I will render double unto\nthee\u201d (Zech 9:12). And, saith Christ, when He was come, \u201cThe Spirit of\nthe Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel,\u201d\nthat is, good tidings \u201cto the poor,\u201d that their sins should be\npardoned, that their souls shall be saved. \u201cHe hath sent Me to heal the\nbroken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering\nof sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,\u201d and to\ncomfort them that mourn, \u201cto preach the acceptable year of the Lord\u201d\n(Luke 4:18,19).\n\nTherefore here, soul, thou mayst come to Jesus Christ for anything thou\nwantest, as to a common treasure-house, being the principal Man for the\ndistributing of the things made mention of in the new covenant, He\nhaving them all in His own custody by right of purchase; for He hath\nbought them all, paid for them all. Dost thou want faith? then come for\nit to the Man Christ Jesus (Heb 12:2). Dost thou want the Spirit? then\nask it of Jesus. Dost thou want wisdom? Dost thou want grace of any\nsort? Dost thou want a new heart? Dost thou want strength against thy\nlusts, against the devil\u2019s temptations? Dost thou want strength to\ncarry thee through afflictions of body, and afflictions of spirit,\nthrough persecutions? Wouldst thou willingly hold out, stand to the\nlast, and be more than a conqueror? then be sure thou meditate enough\non the merits of the blood of Jesus, how He hath undertaken for thee,\nthat He hath done the work of thy salvation in thy room, that He is\nfilled of God on purpose to fill thee, and is willing to communicate\nwhatsoever is in Him or about Him to thee. Consider this, I say, and\ntriumph in it.\n\nAgain; this may inform us of the safe state of the saints as touching\ntheir perseverance, that they shall stand though Hell rages, though the\ndevil roareth, and all the world endeavoureth the ruin of the saints of\nGod, though some, through ignorance of the virtue of the offering of\nthe body of Jesus Christ, do say a man may be a child of God today, and\na child of the devil tomorrow, which is gross ignorance; for what? Is\nthe blood of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ,\nof no more virtue than to bring in for us an uncertain salvation? or\nmust the effectualness of Christ\u2019s merits, as touching our\nperseverance, be helped on by the doings of man? Surely they that are\npredestinated are also justified; and they that are justified, they\nshall be glorified (Rom 8:30). Saints, do not doubt of the salvation of\nyour souls, unless you do intend to undervalue Christ\u2019s blood; and do\nnot think but that He that hath begun the good work of His grace in you\nwill perfect it to the second coming of our Lord Jesus (Phil 1:6).\nShould not we, as well as Paul, say, I am persuaded that nothing shall\nseparate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus (Rom 8). O\nlet the saints know, that unless the devil can pluck Christ out of\nHeaven, he cannot pull a true believer out of Christ. When I say a true\nbeliever, I do mean such an one as hath the faith of the operation of\nGod in his soul.\n\nLastly, Is there such mercy as this? such privileges as these? Is there\nso much ground of comfort, and so much cause to be glad? Is there so\nmuch store in Christ, and such a ready heart in Him to give it to me?\nHath His bleeding wounds so much in them, as that the fruits thereof\nshould be the salvation of my soul, of my sinful soul, as to save me,\nsinful me, rebellious me, desperate me? What then? Shall not I now be\nholy? Shall not I now study, strive, and lay out myself for Him that\nhath laid out Himself soul and body for me? Shall I now love ever a\nlust or sin? Shall I now be ashamed of the cause, ways, people, or\nsaints of Jesus Christ? Shall I now yield my members as instruments of\nrighteousness, seeing my end is everlasting life? (Rom 6). Shall Christ\nthink nothing too dear for me? and shall I count anything too dear for\nHim? Shall I grieve Him with my foolish carriage? Shall I slight His\ncounsel by following of my own will? Thus, therefore, the doctrine of\nthe new covenant doth call for holiness, engage to holiness, and maketh\nthe children of that covenant to take pleasure therein. Let no man,\ntherefore, conclude on this, that the doctrine of the Gospel is a\nlicentious doctrine; but if they do, it is because they are fools, and\nsuch as have not tasted of the virtue of the blood of Jesus Christ;\nneither did they ever feel the nature and sway that the love of Christ\nhath in the hearts of His. And thus also you may see that the doctrine\nof the Gospel is of great advantage to the people of God that are\nalready come in, or to them that shall at the consideration hereof be\nwilling to come in, to partake of the glorious benefits of this\nglorious covenant. But, saith the poor soul,\n\nObject. Alas! I doubt this is too good for me.\n\nInquirer. Why so, I pray you?\n\nObject. Alas! because I am a sinner.\n\nReply. Why, all this is bestowed upon none but sinners, as it is\nwritten, While we were ungodly, Christ died for us (Rom 5:6,8). \u201cHe\ncame into the world to save sinners\u201d (1 Tim 1:15).\n\nObject. O, but I am one of the chief of sinners.\n\nReply. Why, this is for the chief of sinners\u2014\u201cChrist Jesus came into\nthe world to save sinners, of whom I am chief,\u201d saith Paul (1 Tim\n1:15).\n\nObject. O, but my sins are so big, that I cannot conceive how I should\nhave mercy.\n\nReply. Why, soul? Didst thou ever kill anybody? Didst thou ever burn\nany of thy children in the fire to idols? Hast thou been a witch? Didst\nthou ever use enchantments and conjuration? [You that are resolved to\ngo on in your sins, meddle not with this]. Didst thou ever curse, and\nswear, and deny Christ? And yet if thou hast, there is yet hopes of\npardon; yea, such sinners as these have been pardoned, as appears by\nthese and the like Scriptures, 2 Chronicles 33:1-10, compared with\nverses 12, 13. Again, Acts 19:19, 20; 8:22, compared with verse 9;\nMatthew 26:74, 75.\n\nObject. But though I have not sinned in such kind of sins, yet it may\nbe I have sinned as bad.\n\nAnsw. That cannot likely be; yet though thou hast, still there is\nground of mercy for thee, forasmuch as thou art under the promise (John\n6:37).\n\nThe unpardonable sin.\n\nObject. Alas! man, I am afraid that I have sinned the unpardonable sin,\nand therefore there is no hope for me.\n\nAnsw. Dost thou know what the unpardonable sin, the sin against the\nHoly Ghost, is? and when it is committed?\n\nReply. It is a sin against light.\n\nAnsw. That is true; yet every sin against light is not the sin against\nthe Holy Ghost.\n\nReply. Say you so?\n\nAnsw. Yea, and I prove it thus\u2014If every sin against light had been the\nsin that is unpardonable, then had David and Peter and others sinned\nthat sin; but though they did sin against light, yet they did not sin\nthat sin; therefore every sin against light is not the sin against the\nHoly Ghost, the unpardonable sin.\n\nObject. But the Scripture saith, \u201cIf we sin willfully after that we\nhave received the knowledge of the Truth, there remaineth no more\nsacrifice for sins; but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and\nfiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.\u201d\n\nAnsw. Do you know what that willful sin is?\n\nReply. Why, what is it? Is it not for a man to sin willingly after\nenlightening?\n\nAnsw. 1. Yes; yet doubtless every willing sin is not that; for then\nDavid had sinned it when he lay with Bathsheba; and Jonah, when he fled\nfrom the presence of the Lord; and Solomon also, when he had so many\nconcubines. 2. But that sin is a sin that is of another nature, which\nis this\u2014For a man after he hath made some profession of salvation to\ncome alone by the blood of Jesus, together with some light and power of\nthe same upon his spirit; I say, for him after this knowingly,\nwillfully, and despitefully to trample upon the blood of Christ shed on\nthe Cross, and to count it an unholy thing, or no better than the blood\nof another man, and rather to venture his soul any other way than to be\nsaved by this precious blood. And this must be done, I say, after some\nlight (Heb 6:4,5) despitefully (Heb 10:29) knowingly (2 Peter 2:21) and\nwillfully (Heb 10:26 compared with verse 29) and that not in a hurry\nand sudden fit, as Peter\u2019s was, but with some time beforehand to pause\nupon it first, with Judas; and also with a continued resolution never\nto turn or be converted again; \u201cfor it is impossible to renew such\nagain to repentance,\u201d they are so resolved and so desperate (Heb 6).\n\nQuest. And how sayest thou now? Didst thou ever, after thou hadst\nreceived some blessed light from Christ, willfully, despitefully, and\nknowingly stamp or trample the blood of the Man Christ Jesus under thy\nfeet? and art thou for ever resolved so to do?\n\nAnsw. O no; I would not do that willfully, despitefully, and knowingly,\nnot for all the world.\n\nInquiry. But yet I must tell you, now you put me in mind of it, surely\nsometimes I have most horrible blasphemous thoughts in me against God,\nChrist, and the Spirit. May not these be that sin I trow?\n\nAnsw. Dost thou delight in them? Are they such things as thou takest\npleasure in?\n\nReply. O no; neither would I do it for a thousand worlds. O, methinks\nthey make me sometimes tremble to think of them. But how and if I\nshould delight in them before I am aware?\n\nAnsw. Beg of God for strength against them, and if at any time thou\nfindest thy wicked heart to give way in the least thereto, for that is\nlikely enough, and though thou find it may on a sudden give way to that\nHell-bred wickedness that is in it, yet do not despair, forasmuch as\nChrist hath said, \u201cAll manner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven\nto the sons of men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of\nman,\u201d that is Christ, as he may do with Peter, through temptation, yet\nupon repentance, \u201cit shall be forgiven him\u201d (Matt 12:31, 32).\n\nObject. But I thought it might have been committed all on a sudden,\neither by some blasphemous thought, or else by committing some other\nhorrible sin.\n\nAnsw. For certain, this sin and the commission of it doth lie in a\nknowing, willful, malicious, or despiteful, together with a final\ntrampling the blood of sweet Jesus under foot (Heb 10).\n\nObject. But it seems to be rather a resisting of the Spirit, and the\nmotions thereof, than this which you say; for, first, its proper title\nis the sin against the Holy Ghost; and again, \u201cThey have done despite\nunto the Spirit of grace\u201d; so that it rather seems to be, I say, that a\nresisting of the Spirit, and the movings thereof, is that sin.\n\nAnsw. First. For certain, the sin is committed by them that do as\nbefore I have said\u2014that is, by a final, knowing, willful, malicious\ntrampling under foot the blood of Christ, which was shed on Mount\nCalvary when Jesus was there crucified. And though it be called the sin\nagainst the Spirit, yet as I said before, every sin against the Spirit\nis not that; for if it were, then every sin against the light and\nconvictions of the Spirit would be unpardonable; but that is an evident\nuntruth, for these reasons\u2014First, Because there be those who have\nsinned against the movings of the Spirit, and that knowingly too, and\nyet did not commit that sin; as Jonah, who when God had expressly by\nHis Spirit bid him go to Nineveh, he runs thereupon quite another way.\nSecondly, Because the very people that have sinned against the movings\nof the Spirit are yet, if they do return, received to mercy. Witness\nalso Jonah, who though he had sinned against the movings of the Spirit\nof the Lord in doing contrary thereunto, \u201cyet when he called,\u201d as he\nsaith, \u201cto the Lord,\u201d out of the belly of Hell, \u201cthe LORD heard him,\nand gave him deliverance, and set him again about his work.\u201d Read the\nwhole story of that Prophet. But,\n\nAnsw. Second. I shall show you that it must needs be willfully,\nknowingly, and a malicious rejecting of the Man Christ Jesus as the\nSaviour\u2014that is, counting His blood, His righteousness, His\nintercession in His own Person, for he that rejects one rejects all, to\nbe of no value as to salvation; I say, this I shall show you is the\nunpardonable sin, and then afterwards in brief show you why it is\ncalled the sin against the Holy Ghost.\n\n[Must be a willfully and maliciously rejecting the Saviour.]\n\n1. That man that doth reject, as aforesaid, the blood, death,\nrighteousness, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of the Man\nChrist, doth reject that sacrifice, that blood, that righteousness,\nthat victory, that rest, that God alone hath appointed for\nsalvation\u2014\u201cBehold the Lamb,\u201d or sacrifice, \u201cof God\u201d (John 1:29). \u201cWe\nhave redemption through His blood\u201d (Eph 1:7). That I may \u201cbe found in\nHim\u201d\u2014to wit, in Christ\u2019s righteousness, with Christ\u2019s own personal\nobedience to His Father\u2019s will (Phil 3:7-10). By His resurrection comes\njustification (Rom 4:25). His intercession now in His own Person in the\nHeavens, now absent from His saints, is the cause of the saints\u2019\nperseverance (Rom 8:33-39).\n\n2. They that reject this sacrifice, and the merits of this Christ,\nwhich He by Himself hath brought in for sinners, have rejected Him\nthrough whom alone all the promises of the New Testament, together with\nall the mercy discovered thereby, doth come unto poor creatures\u2014\u201cFor\nall the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him amen, unto the glory\nof God\u201d (2 Cor 1:20). And all spiritual blessings are made over to us\nthrough Him; that is, through and in this Man, which is Christ, we have\nall our spiritual, heavenly, and eternal mercies (Eph 1:3,4).\n\n3. He that doth knowingly, willfully, and despitefully reject this Man\nfor salvation doth sin the unpardonable sin, because there is never\nanother sacrifice to be offered. \u201cThere is no more offering for\nsin.\u2014There remaineth no more sacrifice for sin,\u201d (Heb 10:18-26);\nnamely, than the offering of the body of Jesus Christ a sacrifice once\nfor all (Heb 10:10,14, compared with 18, 26). No; but they that shall,\nafter light and clear conviction, reject the first offering of His body\nfor salvation, do crucify Him the second time, which irrecoverably\nmerits their own damnation\u2014\u201cFor it is impossible for those who were\nonce enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made\npartakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good Word of God, and\nthe powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them\nagain unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God\nafresh, and put Him to an open shame\u201d (Heb 6:4-6). \u201cIf they shall fall\naway, to renew them again unto repentance.\u201d And why so? Seeing, saith\nthe Apostle, they do crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and\ndo put Him to an open shame. O, then, how miserably hath the devil\ndeceived some, in that he hath got them to reject the merits of the\nfirst offering of the body of Christ, which was for salvation, and got\nthem to trust in a fresh crucifying of Christ, which unavoidably brings\ntheir speedy damnation.\n\n4. They that do reject this Man, as aforesaid, do sin the unpardonable\nsin, because in rejecting Him they do make way for the justice of God\nto break out upon them, and to handle them as it shall find them; which\nwill be, in the first place, sinners against the first covenant; and\nalso despising of, even the life, and glory, and consolations, pardon,\ngrace, and love, that is discovered in the second covenant, forasmuch\nas they reject the Mediator and priest of the same, which is the Man\nJesus. And the man that doth so, I would fain see how his sins should\nbe pardoned, and his soul saved, seeing the means, which is the Son of\nMan, the Son of Mary, and His merits, are rejected; \u201cfor,\u201d saith He,\n\u201cif you believe not that I am He, you shall,\u201d mark, \u201cyou shall,\u201d do\nwhat you can; \u201cyou shall,\u201d appear where you can; \u201cyou shall,\u201d follow\nMoses\u2019 law, or any holiness whatsoever, \u201cye shall die in your sins\u201d\n(John 8:24). So that, I say, the sin that is called the unpardonable\nsin is a knowing, willful, and despiteful rejecting of the sacrificing\nof the Son of Man the first time for sin.\n\n[Why it is called the sin against the Holy Ghost.]\n\nAnd now to show you why it is called the sin against the Holy Ghost, as\nin these Scriptures, (Matt 12; Heb 10; Mark 3).\n\n1. Because they sin against the manifest light of the Spirit, as I said\nbefore; it is a sin against the light of the Spirit\u2014that is, they have\nbeen formerly enlightened into the nature of the Gospel and the merits\nof the Man Christ, and His blood, righteousness, intercession, etc.;\nand also professed and confessed the same, with some life and comfort\nin and through the profession of Him; yet now against all that light,\nmaliciously, and with despite to all their former profession, turn\ntheir backs and trample upon the same.\n\n2. It is called the sin against the Holy Ghost because such a person\ndoth, as I may say, lay violent hands on it; one that sets himself in\nopposition to, and is resolved to resist all the motions that do come\nin from the Spirit to persuade the contrary. For I do verily believe\nthat men, in this very rejecting of the Son of God, after some\nknowledge of Him, especially at their first resisting and refusing of\nHim, they have certain motions of the Spirit of God to dissuade them\nfrom so great a soul-damning act. But they, being filled with an\noverpowering measure of the spirit of the devil, do despite unto these\nconvictions and motions by studying and contriving how they may answer\nthem, and get from under the convincing nature of them, and therefore\nit is called a doing despite unto the Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29). And\nso,\n\n3. In that they do reject the beseeching of the Spirit, and all its\ngentle entreatings of the soul to tarry still in the same doctrine.\n\n4. In that they do reject the very testimony of the Prophets and\nApostles with Christ Himself; I say, their testimony, through the\nSpirit, of the power, virtue, sufficiency, and prevalency of the blood,\nsacrifice, death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of the Man\nChrist Jesus, of which the Scriptures are full both in the Old and New\nTestament, as the Apostle saith, for all the Prophets from Samuel, with\nthem that follow after, have showed of these days\u2014that is, in which\nChrist should be a sacrifice for sin (Acts 3:24, compared with verses\n6, 13-15, 18, 26). Again, saith, he, \u201cHe therefore that despiseth not\nman, but God; who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit\u201d (1\nThessalonians 4:8); that is, he rejecteth or despiseth the very\ntestimony of the Spirit.\n\n5. It is called the sin against the Holy Ghost, because he that doth\nreject and disown the doctrine of salvation by the Man Christ Jesus,\nthrough believing in Him, doth despise, resist, and reject the wisdom\nof the Spirit; for the wisdom of God\u2019s Spirit did never more appear\nthan its finding out a way for sinners to be reconciled to God by the\ndeath of this Man; and therefore Christ, as He is a sacrifice, is\ncalled the wisdom of God. And again, when it doth reveal the Lord Jesus\nit is called the \u201cSpirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of\nHim\u201d (Eph 1:17).\n\nObject. But, some may say, the slighting or rejecting of the Son of\nMan, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary, cannot be the sin that is\nunpardonable, as is clear from that Scripture in Matthew 12:32, where\nHe Himself saith, \u201cWhosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it\nshall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost,\nit shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the\nworld to come.\u201d Now by this it is clear that the sin that is\nunpardonable is one thing, and the sin against the Son of Man another;\nthat sin that is against the Son of Man is pardonable; but if that was\nthe sin against the Holy Ghost, it would not be pardonable; therefore\nthe sin against the Son of Man is not the sin against the Holy Ghost,\nthe unpardonable sin.\n\nAnsw. 1. I do know full well that there are several persons that have\nbeen pardoned, yet have sinned against the Son of Man, and that have\nfor a time rejected Him, as Paul (1 Tim 1:13, 14) also the Jews (Acts\n2:36,37). But there was an ignorant rejecting of Him, without the\nenlightening, and taste, and feeling of the power of the things of God,\nmade mention in Hebrews 6:3-6. 2. There is and hath been a higher\nmanner of sinning against the Son of Man, which also hath been, and is\nstill, pardonable; as in the case of Peter, who in a violent\ntemptation, in a mighty hurry, upon a sudden denied Him, and that after\nthe revelation of the Spirit of God from Heaven to him, that He, Jesus,\nwas the Son of God (Matt 16:16-18). This also is pardonable, if there\nbe a coming up again to repentance. O, rich grace! O, wonderful grace!\nthat God should be so full of love to His poor creatures, that though\nthey do sin against the Son of God, either through ignorance, or some\nsudden violent charge breaking loose from Hell upon them, but yet take\nif for certain that if a man do slight and reject the Son of God and\nthe Spirit in that manner as I have before hinted\u2014that is, for a man\nafter some great measure of the enlightening by the Spirit of God, and\nsome profession of Jesus Christ to be the Saviour, and His blood that\nwas shed on the mount without the gates of Jerusalem to be the\nAtonement; I say, he that shall after this knowingly, willfully, and\nout of malice and despite reject, speak against, and trample that\ndoctrine under foot, resolving for ever so to do, and if he there\ncontinue, I will pawn my soul upon it, he hath sinned the unpardonable\nsin, and shall never be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the\nworld to come; or else these Scriptures that testify the truth of this\nmust be scrabbled out, and must be looked upon for mere fables, which\nare these following\u2014\u201cFor if after they have escaped the pollutions of\nthe world, through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,\u201d\nwhich is the Son of Man (Matt 16:13) \u201cand are again entangled therein,\nand overcome,\u201d which must be by denying this Lord that brought them (2\nPeter 2:1) \u201cthe latter end is worse with them than the beginning,\u201d (2\nPeter 2:20). For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,\nand have tasted of the heavenly gift\u2014and have tasted the good Word of\nGod, and the powers of the world to come; if they shall fall away, not\nonly fall, but fall away, that is, finally (Heb 10:29) \u201cit is\nimpossible to renew them again unto repentance\u201d; and the reason is\nrendered, \u201cseeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God,\u201d which is\nthe Son of Man, \u201cafresh, and put Him to an open shame\u201d (Heb 6:4-6). Now\nif you would further know what it is to crucify the Son of God afresh,\nit is this\u2014for to undervalue and trample under foot the merits and\nvirtue of His blood for remission of sins, as is clearly manifested in\nHebrews 10:26-28, where it is said, \u201cFor if we sin willfully after that\nwe have received the knowledge of the Truth, there remaineth no more\nsacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and\nfiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised\nMoses\u2019 law died without mercy,\u2014of how much sorer punishment, suppose\nye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of\nGod,\u201d there is the second crucifying of Christ, which the Quakers think\nto be saved by, \u201cand hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith\nhe was sanctified, an unholy thing,\u201d\u2014and then followeth\u2014\u201cand hath done\ndespite unto the Spirit of Grace?\u201d (verse 29). All that Paul had to\nkeep him from this sin was, his ignorance in persecuting the Man and\nmerits of Jesus Christ (Acts 9). But I obtained mercy, saith he,\nbecause I did it ignorantly (1 Tim 1:13). And Peter, though he did deny\nHim knowingly, yet he did it unwillingly, and in a sudden and fearful\ntemptation, and so by the intercession of Jesus escaped that danger.\nSo, I say, they that commit this sin, they do it after light,\nknowingly, willfully, and despitefully, and in the open view of the\nwhole world reject the Son of Man for being their Lord and Saviour, and\nin that it is called the sin against the Holy Ghost. It is a name most\nfit for this sin to be called the sin against the Holy Ghost, for these\nreasons but now laid down; for this sin is immediately committed\nagainst the motions, and convictions, and light of the Holy Spirit of\nGod that makes it its business to hand forth and manifest the truth and\nreality of the merits and virtues of the Lord Jesus, the Son of Man.\nAnd therefore beware, Ranters and Quakers, for I am sure you are the\nnearest that sin by profession, which is, indeed, the right committing\nof it, of any persons that I do know at this day under the whole\nheavens, forasmuch as you will not venture the salvation of your souls\non the blood shed on Mount Calvary, out of the side of that Man that\nwas offered up in sacrifice for all that did believe (Luke 23:33). In\nthat His offering up of His body at that time, either before He offered\nit, or that have, do, or shall believe on it for the time since,\ntogether with that time that He offered it, though formerly you did\nprofess that salvation was wrought out that way, by that sacrifice then\noffered, and also seemed to have some comfort thereby; yea, insomuch\nthat some of you declared the same in the hearing of many, professing\nyourselves to be believers of the same. O, therefore, it is sad for you\nthat were once enlightened, and have tasted these good things, and yet,\nnotwithstanding all your profession, you are now turned from the\nsimplicity that is in Christ to another doctrine, which will be your\ndestruction, if you continue in it; for without blood there is no\nremission (Heb 9:22).\n\nMany other reasons might be given, but that I would not be too tedious;\nyet I would put in this caution, that if there be any souls that be but\nnow willing to venture their salvation upon the merits of a naked\nJesus, I do verily for the present believe they have not sinned that\nsin, because there is still a promise holds forth itself to such a soul\nwhere Christ saith, \u201cHim that cometh to me, I will in nowise,\u201d for\nnothing that he hath done, \u201ccast him out\u201d (John 6:37). That promise is\nworth to be written in letters of gold.\n\nObjections answered for their comfort who would have their part in the\nNew Covenant.\n\nObject. But, alas, though I should never sin that sin, yet I have other\nsins enough to damn me.\n\nAnsw. What though thou hadst the sins of a thousand sinners, yet if\nthou come to Christ, He will save thee (John 6:37; See also Hebrews\n7:25).\n\nObject. Alas, but how shall I come? I doubt I do not come as I should\ndo? My heart is naught and dead; and, alas! then how should I come?\n\nAnsw. Why, bethink thyself of all the sins that ever thou didst commit,\nand lay the weight of them all upon thy heart, till thou art down\nloaden with the same, and come to Him in such a case as this, and He\nwill give thee rest for thy soul (Matt 11:28-30). And again; if thou\nwouldst know how thou shouldst come, come as much undervaluing thyself\nas ever thou canst, saying, Lord, here is a sinner, the basest in all\nthe country; if I had my deserts, I had been damned in Hell-fire long\nago; Lord, I am not worthy to have the least corner in the Kingdom of\nHeaven; and yet, O that Thou wouldst have mercy! Come like Benhadad\u2019s\nservants to the king of Israel, with a rope about thy neck (1 Kings\n20:31,32) and fling thyself at Christ\u2019s feet, and lie there a while,\nstriving with Him by thy prayers, and I will warrant thee speed (Matt\n11:28-30; John 6:37).\n\nObject. O, but I am not sanctified.\n\nAnsw. He will sanctify thee, and be made thy sanctification also (1 Cor\n1:30; 6:10,11).\n\nObject. O, but I cannot pray.\n\nAnsw. To pray is not for thee to down on thy knees, and say over a many\nScripture words only; for that thou mayest do, and yet do nothing but\nbabble. But if thou from a sense of thy baseness canst groan out thy\nheart\u2019s desire before the Lord, He will hear thee, and grant thy\ndesire; for He can tell what is the meaning of the groanings of the\nSpirit (Rom 8:26,27).\n\nObject. O, but I am afraid to pray, for fear my prayers should be\ncounted as sin in the sight of the great God.\n\nAnsw. That is a good sign that thy prayers are more than bare words,\nand have some prevalence at the Throne of Grace through Christ Jesus,\nor else the devil would never seek to labour to beat thee off from\nprayer by undervaluing thy prayers, telling thee they are sin; for the\nbest prayers he will call the worst, and the worst he will call the\nbest, or else how should he be a liar?\n\nObject. But I am afraid the day of grace is past; and if it should be\nso, what should I do then?\n\nAnsw. Truly, with some men indeed it doth fare thus, that the day of\ngrace is at an end before their lives are at end. Or thus, the day of\ngrace is past before the day of death is come, as Christ saith, \u201cIf\nthou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which\nbelong unto thy peace,\u201d that is, the word of grace or reconciliation,\n\u201cbut now they are hid from thine eyes\u201d (Luke 19:41,42). But for the\nbetter satisfying of thee as touching this thing, consider these\nfollowing things\u2014\n\nFirst, Doth the Lord knock still at the door of thy heart by His Word\nand Spirit? If so, then the day of grace is not past with thy soul; for\nwhere He doth so knock, there He doth also proffer and promise to come\nin and sup, that is, to communicate of His things unto them, which he\nwould not do was the day of grace past with his soul (Rev 3:20).\n\nObject. But how should I know whether Christ do so knock at my heart as\nto be desirous to come in? That I may know also, whether the day of\ngrace be past with me or no?\n\nAnsw. Consider these things\u20141. Doth the Lord make thee sensible of thy\nmiserable state without an interest in Jesus Christ, and that naturally\nthou hast no share in Him, no faith in Him, no communion with Him, no\ndelight in Him, or love in the least to Him? If He hath, and is doing\nthis, He hath, and is knocking at thy heart. 2. Doth He, together with\nthis, put into thy heart an earnest desire after communion with Him,\ntogether with holy resolutions not to be satisfied without real\ncommunion with Him. 3. Doth He sometimes give thee some secret\npersuasions, though scarcely discernible, that thou mayest attain, and\nget an interest in Him? 4. Doth He now and then glance in some of the\npromises into thy heart, causing them to leave some heavenly savour,\nthough but for a very short time, on thy spirit? 5. Dost thou at some\ntime see some little excellency in Christ? And doth all this stir up in\nthy heart some breathing after Him? If so, then fear not, the day of\ngrace is not past with thy poor soul; for if the day of grace should be\npast with such a soul as this, then that Scripture must be broken where\nChrist saith, \u201cHim that cometh to Me, I will in nowise,\u201d for nothing,\nby no means, upon no terms whatsoever, \u201ccast out.\u201d (John 6:37).\n\nObject. But surely, if the day of grace was not past with me, I should\nnot be so long without an answer of God\u2019s love to my soul; that\ntherefore doth make me mistrust my state the more is, that I wait and\nwait, and yet am not delivered.\n\nAnsw. 1. Hast thou waited on the Lord so long as the Lord hath waited\non thee? It may be the Lord hath waited on thee these twenty, or\nthirty, yes, forty years or more, and thou hath not waited on Him seven\nyears. Cast this into thy mind, therefore, when Satan tells thee that\nGod doth not love thee, because thou hast waited so long without an\nassurance, for it is his temptation, for God did wait longer upon thee,\nand was fain to send to thee by His ambassadors time after time; and,\ntherefore, say thou, I will wait to see what the Lord will say unto me;\nand the rather, because He will speak peace, for He is the Lord\nthereof. But, 2. Know that it is not thy being under trouble a long\ntime that will be an argument sufficiently to prove that thou art past\nhopes; nay, contrariwise, for Jesus Christ did take our nature upon\nHim, and also did undertake deliverance for those, and bring it in for\nthem who \u201cwere all their LIFETIME subject to bondage\u201d (Heb 2:14,15).\n\nObject. But alas! I am not able to wait, all my strength is gone; I\nhave waited so long, I can wait no longer.\n\nAnsw. It may be thou hast concluded on this long ago, thinking thou\nshouldst not be able to hold out any longer; no, not a year, a month,\nor a week; nay, it may be, not so long. It may be in the morning thou\nhast thought thou shouldst not hold out till night; and at night, till\nmorning again; yet the Lord hath supported thee, and kept thee in\nwaiting upon Him many weeks and years; therefore that is but the\ntemptation of the devil to make thee think so, that he might drive thee\nto despair of God\u2019s mercy, and so to leave off following the ways of\nGod, and to close in with thy sins again. O therefore do not give way\nunto it, but believe that thou shalt \u201csee the goodness of the Lord in\nthe land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He\nshall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord\u201d (Psa 28:13,14).\nAnd that thou mayest so do, consider these things\u2014(1.) If thou, after\nthou hast waited thus long, shouldst now give over, and wait no longer,\nthou wouldst lose all thy time and pains that thou hast taken in the\nway of God hitherto, and wilt be like to a man that, because he sought\nlong for gold, and did not find it, therefore turned back from seeking\nafter it, though he was hard by it, and had almost found it, and all\nbecause he was loath to look and seek a little further. (2.) Thou wilt\nnot only lose thy time, but also lose thy own soul, for salvation is\nnowhere else but in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). (3.) Thou wilt sin the\nhighest sin that ever thou didst sin before, in drawing finally back,\ninsomuch that God may say, My soul shall have no pleasure in him (Heb\n10:38). But, 2. Consider, thou sayest, all my strength is gone, and\ntherefore how should I wait? Why, at that time when thou feelest and\nfindest thy strength quite gone, even that is the time when the Lord\nwill renew and give thee fresh strength. \u201cThe youths shall faint and be\nweary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon\nthe Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as\neagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk, and not\nfaint\u201d (Isa 40:30,31).\n\nObject. But though I do wait, yet if I be not elected to eternal life,\nwhat good will all my waiting do me? \u201cFor it is not of him that\nwilleth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.\u201d\nTherefore, I say, if I should not be elected, all is in vain.\n\nAnsw. 1. Why in the first place, to be sure thy backsliding from God\nwill not prove thy election, neither thy growing weary of waiting upon\nGod. But, 2. Thou art, it may be, troubled to know whether thou art\nelected; and, sayest thou, If I did but know that, that would encourage\nme in my waiting on God. Answ. I believe thee; but mark, thou shalt not\nknow thy election in the first place, but in the second\u2014that is to say,\nthou must first get acquaintance with God in Christ, which doth come by\nthy giving credit to His promises, and records which He hath given of\nJesus Christ\u2019s blood and righteousness, together with the rest of His\nmerits\u2014that is, before thou canst know whether thou are elected, thou\nmust believe in Jesus Christ so really, that thy faith laying hold of,\nand drinking and eating the flesh and blood of Christ, even so that\nthere shall be life begotten in thy soul by the same; life from the\ncondemnings of the Law; life from the guilt of sin; life over the filth\nof the same; life also to walk with God in His Son and ways; the life\nof love to God the Father, and Jesus Christ His Son, saints and ways\nand that because they are holy, harmless, and such that are altogether\ncontrary to iniquity.\n\nFor these things must be in thy soul as a forerunner of thy being made\nacquainted with the other; God hath these two ways to show His children\ntheir election\u2014(1.) By testimony of the Spirit\u2014that is, the soul being\nunder trouble of conscience and grieved for sin, the Spirit doth seal\nup the soul by its comfortable testimony; persuading of the soul that\nGod, for Christ\u2019s sake, hath forgiven all those sins that lie so heavy\non the conscience, and that do so much perplex the soul, by showing it\nthat that Law, which doth utter such horrible curses against it, is by\nChrist\u2019s blood satisfied and fulfilled (Eph 1:13,14). (2.) By\nconsequence\u2014that is, the soul finding that God hath been good unto it,\nin that He hath showed it its lost state and miserable condition, and\nalso that He hath given it some comfortable hope that He will save it\nfrom the same; I say, the soul, from a right sight thereof, doth, or\nmay, draw this conclusion, that if God had not been minded to have\nsaved it, He would not have done for it such things as these. But for\nthe more sure dealing with thy soul, it is not good to take any of\nthese apart\u2014that is, it is not good to take the testimony of the\nSpirit, as thou supposest thou hast, apart from the fruits thereof, so\nas to conclude the testimony thou hast received to be a sufficient\nground without the other; not that it is not, if it be the testimony of\nthe Spirit, but because the devil doth also deceive souls by the\nworkings of his spirit in them, pretending that it is the Spirit of\nGod. And again; thou shouldst not satisfy thyself, though thou do find\nsome seekings in thee after that which is good, without the testimony\nof the other\u2014that is to say, of the Spirit\u2014for it is the testimony of\ntwo that is to be taken for the truth; therefore, say I, as thou\nshouldst be much in praying for the Spirit to testify assurance to\nthee, so also thou shouldst look to the end of it when thou thinkest\nthou hast it; which is this, to show thee that it is alone for Christ\u2019s\nsake that thy sins are forgiven thee, and also thereby a constraining\nof thee to advance Him, both by words and works, in holiness and\nrighteousness all the days of thy life. From hence thou mayst boldly\nconclude thy election\u2014\u201cRemembering without ceasing your work of faith,\nand labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in\nthe sight of God and our Father. Knowing, brethren,\u201d saith the Apostle,\n\u201cbeloved, your election of God.\u201d But how? why by this, \u201cFor our Gospel\ncame not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy\nGhost, and in much assurance. And ye became followers of us, and of the\nLord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy\nGhost: so that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and\nAchaia. And to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the\ndead, even Jesus, which\u201d hath \u201cdelivered us from the wrath to come\u201d (1\nThess 3:4-6, 10).\n\nObject. But alas, for my part, instead of finding in me anything that\nis good, I find in me all manners of wickedness, hard-heartedness,\nhypocricy, coldness of affection to Christ, very great unbelief,\ntogether with everything that is base and of an ill savour. What hope\ntherefore can I have?\n\nAnsw. If thou wast not such an one, thou hadst no need of mercy. If\nthou wast whole, thou hadst no need of the physician. Dost thou\ntherefore see thyself in such a sad condition as this? Thou hast the\nmore need to come to Christ, that thou mayst be not only cleansed from\nthese evils, but also that thou mayst be delivered from that wrath they\nwill bring upon thee, if thou dost not get rid of them, to all\neternity.\n\nQuest. But how should I do? and what course should I take to be\ndelivered from this sad and troublesome condition?\n\nAnsw. Dost thou see in thee all manner of wickedness? The best way that\nI can direct a soul in such a case is, to pitch a steadfast eye on Him\nthat is full, and to look so steadfastly upon Him by faith, that\nthereby thou mayst even draw down of His fullness into thy heart; for\nthat is the right way, and the way that was typed out, before Christ\ncame in the flesh, in the time of Moses, when the Lord said unto him,\n\u201cMake thee a fiery serpent\u201d of brass, which was a type of Christ \u201cand\nset it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass\u201d that when a serpent hath\nbitten any man, \u201cwhen he looketh upon it, shall live\u201d (Num 21:8). Even\nso now in Gospel times, when any soul is bitten with the fiery\nserpents\u2014their sins\u2014that then the next way to be healed is, for the\nsoul to look upon the Son of Man, who, as the serpent was, was hanged\non a pole, or tree, that whosoever shall indeed look on Him by faith\nmay be healed of all their distempers whatever (John 3:14,15).\n\nAs now to instance in some things. 1. Is thy heart hard? Why, then,\nbehold how full of bowels and compassion is the heart of Christ towards\nthee, which may be seen in His coming down from Heaven to spill His\nheart-blood for thee. 2. Is thy heart slothful and idle? Then see how\nactive the Lord Jesus is for thee in that He did not only die for thee,\nbut also in that He hath been ever since His ascension into Heaven\nmaking intercession for thee (Heb 7:25). 3. Dost thou see and find in\nthee iniquity and unrighteousness? Then look up to Heaven, and see\nthere a righteous Person, even thy righteous Jesus Christ, now\npresenting thee in His own perfection before the throne of His Father\u2019s\nglory (1 Cor 1:30). 4. Dost thou see that thou art very much void of\nsanctification? Then look up, and thou shalt see that thy\nsanctification is in the presence of God a complete sanctification,\nrepresenting all the saints as righteous, as sanctified ones in the\npresence of the great God of Heaven. And so whatsoever thou wantest, be\nsure to strive to pitch thy faith upon the Son of God, and behold Him\nsteadfastly, and thou shalt, by so doing, find a mighty change in thy\nsoul. For when we behold Him as in a glass, even the glory of the Lord,\nwe are changed, namely, by beholding, \u201cfrom glory to glory, even as by\nthe Spirit of the Lord\u201d (2 Cor 3:18). This is the true way to get both\ncomfort to thy soul, and also sanctification and right holiness into\nthy soul.\n\nPoor souls that are under the distemper of a guilty conscience, and\nunder the workings of much corruption, do not go the nearest way to\nHeaven if they do not in the first place look upon themselves as cursed\nsinners by Law; and yet at that time they are blessed, for ever blessed\nsaints by the merits of Jesus Christ. \u201cO wretched man that I am,\u201d saith\nPaul; and yet, O blessed man that I am, through my Lord Jesus Christ;\nfor that is the scope of the Scripture (Rom 7:24,25).\n\nObject. But, alas, I am blind, and cannot see; what shall I do now?\n\nAnsw. Why, truly, thou must go to Him that can make the eyes that are\nblind to see, even to our Lord Jesus, by prayer, saying, as the poor\nblind man did, \u201cLord, that I might receive my sight\u201d; and so continue\nbegging Him, till thou do receive sight, even a sight of Jesus Christ,\nHis death, blood, resurrection, ascension, intercession, and that for\nthee, even for thee. And the rather, because, 1. He hath invited thee\nto come and buy such eye-salve of Him that may make thee see (Rev\n3:18). 2. Because thou shalt never have any true comfort till thou dost\nthus come to see and behold the Lamb of God that hath taken away thy\nsins (John 1:29). 3. Because that thereby thou wilt be able through\ngrace, to step over and turn aside from the several stumbling-blocks\nthat Satan, together with his instruments, hath laid in our way, which\notherwise thou wilt not be able to shun, but will certainly fall when\nothers stand, and grope and stumble when others go upright, to the\ngreat prejudice of thy poor soul.\n\nObject. But, alas, I have nothing to carry with me; how then should I\ngo?\n\nAnsw. Hast thou no sins? If thou hast, carry them, and exchange them\nfor His righteousness; because He hath said, \u201cCast thy burden upon the\nLord, and He shall sustain thee\u201d (Psa 54:22); and again, because He\nhath said, though thou be heavy laden, yet if thou do but come to Him,\nHe will give thee rest (Matt 11:28).\n\nObject. But, you will say, Satan telleth me that I am so cold in\nprayers, so weak in believing, so great a sinner, that I do go so\nslothfully on in the way of God, that I am so apt to slip at every\ntemptation, and to be entangled therewith, together with other things,\nso that I shall never be able to attain those blessed things that are\nheld forth to sinners by Jesus Christ; and therefore my trouble is much\nupon this account also, and many times I fear that will come upon me\nwhich Satan suggesteth to me\u2014that is, I shall miss of eternal life.\n\nAnsw. 1. As to the latter part of the objection, that thou shalt never\nattain to everlasting life, that is obtained for thee already, without\nthy doing, either thy praying, striving, or wrestling against sin. If\nwe speak properly, it is Christ that hath in His own body abolished\ndeath on the Cross, and brought light, life, and glory to us through\nthis His thus doing. But this is the thing that thou aimest at, that\nthou shalt never have a share in this life already obtained for so many\nas do come by faith to Jesus Christ; and all because thou art so\nslothful, so cold, so weak, so great a sinner, so subject to slip and\ncommit infirmities. 2. I answer, Didst thou never learn for to outshoot\nthe devil in his own bow, and to cut off his head with his own sword,\nas David served Goliath, who was a type of him.\n\nQuest. O how should a poor soul do this? This is rare, indeed.\n\nAnsw. Why, truly thus\u2014Doth Satan tell thee thou prayest but faintly,\nand with very cold devotion? Answer him thus, and say, I am glad you\ntold me, for this will make me trust the more to Christ\u2019s prayers, and\nthe less to my own; also I will endeavour henceforth to groan, to sigh,\nand to be so fervent in my crying at the Throne of Grace, that I will,\nif I can, make the heavens rattle again with the mighty groans thereof.\nAnd whereas thou sayest that I am so weak in believing, I am glad you\nmind me of it; I hope it will henceforward stir me up to cry the more\nheartily to God for strong faith, and make me the more restless till I\nhave it. And seeing thou tellest me that I run so softly, and that I\nshall go near to miss of glory, this also shall be, through grace, to\nmy advantage, and cause me to press the more earnestly towards the mark\nfor the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And seeing\nthou dost tell me that my sins are wondrous great, hereby thou bringest\nthe remembrance of the unsupportable vengeance of God into my mind, if\nI die out of Jesus Christ, and also the necessity of the blood, death,\nand merits of Christ to help me; I hope it will make me fly the faster,\nand press the harder after an interest in Him; and the rather, because,\nas thou tellest me, my state will be unspeakably miserable without Him.\nAnd so all along, if he tell thee of thy deadness, dullness, coldness,\nor unbelief, or the greatness of thy sins, answer him, and say, I am\nglad you told me, I hope it will be a means to make me run faster, seek\nearnestlier, and to be the more restless after Jesus Christ. If thou\ndidst but get this art as to outrun him in his own shoes, as I may say,\nand to make his own darts to pierce himself, then thou mightst also\nsay, how doth Satan\u2019s temptations, as well as all other things, work\ntogether for my good, for my advantage (Rom 8:28).\n\nObject. But I do find many weaknesses in every duty that I do perform,\nas when I pray, when I read, when I hear, or any other duty, that it\nmaketh me out of conceit with myself, it maketh me think that my duties\nare nothing worth.\n\nAnsw. I answer, it may be it is thy mercy that thou art sensible of\ninfirmities in thy best things thou doest; ay, a greater mercy than\nthou art aware of.\n\nQuest. Can it be a mercy for me to be troubled with my corruptions? Can\nit be a privilege for me to be annoyed with my infirmities, and to have\nmy best duties infected with it? How can it possibly be?\n\nAnsw. Verily, thy sins appearing in thy best duties, do work for thy\nadvantage these ways\u20141. In that thou findest ground enough thereby to\nmake thee humble; and when thou hast done all, yet to count thyself but\nan unprofitable servant. And, 2. Thou by this means art taken off from\nleaning on anything below a naked Jesus for eternal life. It is like,\nif thou wast not sensible of many by-thoughts and wickednesses in thy\nbest performances, thou wouldst go near to be some proud, abominable\nhypocrite, or a silly, proud dissembling wretch at the best, such an\none as would send thy soul to the devil in a bundle of thy own\nrighteousness. But now, thou, through grace, seest that in all and\neverything thou doest there is sin enough in it to condemn thee. This,\nin the first place, makes thee have a care of trusting in thy own\ndoings; and, secondly, showeth thee that there is nothing in thyself\nwhich will do thee any good by working in thee, as to the meritorious\ncause of thy salvation. No; but thou must have a share in the birth of\nJesus, in the death of Jesus, in the blood, resurrection, ascension,\nand intercession of a crucified Jesus. And how sayest thou? Doth not\nthy finding of this in thee cause thee to fly from a depending on thy\nown doings? And doth it not also make thee more earnestly to groan\nafter the Lord Jesus? Yea, and let me tell thee also, it will be a\ncause to make thee admire the freeness and tender heartedness of Christ\nto thee, when He shall lift up the light of His countenance upon thee,\nbecause He hath regarded such an one as thou, sinful thou; and\ntherefore, in this sense, it will be mercy to the saints that they do\nfind the relics of sin still struggling in their hearts. But this is\nnot simply the nature of sin, but the mercy and wisdom of God, who\ncauseth all things to work together for the good of those that love and\nfear God (Rom 8). And, therefore, whatever thou findest in thy soul,\nthough it be sin of never so black a soul-scarring nature, let it move\nthee to run the faster to the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt not be\nashamed\u2014that is, of thy running to Him.\n\nBut when thou dost apprehend that thou art defiled, and also thy best\nduties annoyed with many weaknesses, let that Scripture come into thy\nthoughts which saith, \u201cOf Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is\nmade unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and\nredemption\u201d; and if thou shalt understand that, what thou canst not\nfind in thyself thou shalt find in Christ. Art thou a fool in thyself?\nthen Christ is made of God thy wisdom. Art thou unrighteous in thyself?\nChrist is made of God thy righteousness. Dost thou find that there is\nbut very little sanctifying grace in thy soul? still here is Christ\nmade thy sanctification; and all this in His own Person without thee,\nwithout thy wisdom, without thy righteousness, without thy\nsanctification, without in His own Person in thy Father\u2019s presence,\nappearing there perfect wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification in\nHis own Person; I say, as a public Person for thee; so that thou mayest\nbelieve, and say to thy soul, My soul, though dost find innumerable\ninfirmities in thyself, and in thy actions, yet look upon thy Jesus,\nthe Man Jesus; He is wisdom, and that for thee, to govern thee, to take\ncare for thee, and to order all things for the best for thee. He is\nalso thy righteousness now at God\u2019s right hand, always shining before\nthe eyes of His glory; so that there it is unmoveable, though thou art\nin never such a sad condition, yet thy righteousness, which is the Son\nof God, God-man, shines as bright as ever, and is as much accepted of\nGod as ever. O this sometimes hath been life to me; and so, whatever\nthou, O my soul, findest wanting in thyself, through faith thou shalt\nsee all laid up for thee in Jesus Christ, whether it be wisdom,\nrighteousness, sanctification, or redemption. Nay, not only so, but, as\nI said before, He is all these in His own Person without thee in the\npresence of His Father for thee.\n\nObject. But now, if any should say in their hearts, O, but I am one of\nthe old-covenant men, I doubt\u2014that is, I doubt I am not within this\nglorious Covenant of Grace. And how if I should not?\n\nAnsw. Well, thou fearest that thou are one of the old covenant, a son\nof the bond-woman. [1.] In the first place, know that thou wast one of\nthem by nature, for all by nature are under that covenant; but set the\ncase that thou art to this day under that, yet let me tell thee, in the\nfirst place, there are hopes for thee; for there is a gap open, a way\nmade for souls to come from under the Covenant of Works, by Christ,\n\u201cfor He hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us\u201d and\nyou (Eph 2:14). And therefore, if thou wouldst be saved, thou mayest\ncome to Christ; if thou wantest a righteousness, as I said before,\nthere is one in Christ; if thou wouldst be washed, thou mayest come to\nChrist; and if thou wouldst be justified, there is justification enough\nin the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the first. [2.] And thou canst not be\nso willing to come to Christ as He is willing thou shouldst come to\nHim. Witness His coming down from Heaven, His humiliation, His spilling\nof His blood from both His cheeks, by sweat under the burden of sin\n(Luke 22:44) and His shedding of it by the spear when He hanged on the\nCross. It appears also by His promises, by His invitations, by His\nsending forth His messengers to preach the same to poor sinners, and\nthreateneth damnation upon this very account, namely, the neglect of\nHim; and declares that all the thousands and ten thousands of sins in\nthe world should not be able to damn those that believed in Him; that\nHe would pardon all, forgive and pass by all, if they would but come\nunto Him; moreover, promiseth to cast out none, no, not the poorest,\nvilest, contemptiblest creature in the whole world. \u201cCome unto Me all,\u201d\nevery one, though you be never so many, so vile, though your load be\nnever so heavy and intolerable, though you deserve no help, not the\nleast help, no mercy, not the least compassion, yet \u201ccast your burden\nupon Me, and you shall find rest for your souls.\u201d Come unto Me and I\nwill heal you, love you, teach you, and tell you the way to the Kingdom\nof Heaven. Come unto Me, and I will succour you, help you, and keep you\nfrom all devils and their temptations, from the Law and its curses, and\nfrom being for ever overcome with any evil whatever. Come unto Me for\nwhat you need, and tell Me what you would have, or what you would have\nMe do for you, and all My strength, love, wisdom, and interest that I\nhave with My Father shall be laid out for you. Come unto Me, your sweet\nJesus, your loving and tender-hearted Jesus, your everlasting and\nsin-pardoning Jesus. Come unto Me, and I will wash you, and put My\nrighteousness upon you, pray to the Father for you, and send My Spirit\ninto you, that you might be saved. Therefore,\n\nConsider, besides this, what a privilege thou shalt have at the Day of\nJudgment above thousands, if thou do in deed and in truth close in with\nthis Jesus and accept of Him; for thou shalt not only have a privilege\nin this life, but in the life everlasting, even at the time of Christ\u2019s\nsecond coming from Heaven; for then, when there shall be the whole\nworld gathered together, and all the good angels, bad angels, saints,\nand reprobates, when all thy friends and kindred, with thy neighbours\non the right hand and on the left shall be with thee, beholding of the\nwonderful glory and majesty of the Son of God; then shall the Son of\nGlory, even Jesus, in the very view and sight of them all, smile and\nlook kindly upon thee; when a smile or a kind look from Christ shall be\nworth more than ten thousand worlds, then thou shalt have it. You know\nit is counted an honour for a poor man to be favourably looked upon by\na judge, or a king, in the sight of lords, earls, dukes, and princes;\nwhy, thus it will be with thee in the sight of all the princely saints,\nangels, and devils, in the sight of all the great nobles in the world;\nthen, even thou that closest in with Christ, be thou rich or poor, be\nthou bond or free, wise or foolish, if thou close in with Him, He will\nsay unto thee, \u201cWell done, good and faithful servant,\u201d even in the\nmidst of the whole world; they that love thee shall see it, and they\nthat hate thee shall all to their shame behold it; for if thou fear Him\nhere in secret, He will make it manifest even at that day upon the\nhouse-tops.\n\nSecondly, Not only thus, but thou shalt also be lovingly received and\ntenderly embraced of Him at that day, when Christ hath thousands of\ngallant saints, as old Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah,\ntogether with all the Prophets, and Apostles, and martyrs, attending on\nHim; together with many thousands of glittering angels ministering\nbefore Him; besides, when the ungodly shall appear there with their\npale faces, with their guilty consciences, and trembling souls, that\nwould then give thousands and ten thousands of worlds, if they had so\nmany, if they could enjoy but one loving look from Christ. I say, then,\nthen shalt thou have the hand of Christ, reached to thee kindly to\nreceive thee, saying, Come, thou blessed, step up hither; thou was\nwilling to leave all for Me, and now will I give all to thee; here is a\nthrone, a crown, a kingdom, take them; thou wast not ashamed of Me when\nthou wast in the world among my enemies, and now will not I be ashamed\nof thee before thine enemies, but will, in the view of all these devils\nand damned reprobates promote thee to honour and dignity. \u201cCome, ye\nblessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the\nfoundation of the world.\u201d Thou shalt see that those who have served Me\nin truth shall lose nothing by the means. No; but ye shall be as\npillars in My temple, and inheritors of My glory, and shall have place\nto walk in among My saints and angels (Zech 3:7). O! who would not be\nin this condition? who would not be in this glory? It will be such a\nsoul-ravishing glory, that I am ready to think the whole reprobate\nworld will be ready to run mad, to think that they should miss of it\n(Deu 28:34). Then will the vilest drunkard, swearer, liar, and unclean\nperson willingly cry, \u201cLord, Lord, open to us,\u201d yet be denied of\nentrance; and thou in the meantime embraced, entertained, made welcome,\nhave a fair mitre set upon thy head, and clothed with immortal glory\n(Zech 3:5). O, therefore, let all this move thee, and be of weight upon\nthy soul to close in with Jesus, this tender-hearted Jesus. And if yet,\nfor all what I have said, thy sins do still stick with thee, and thou\nfindest thy hellish heart loath to let them go, think with thyself in\nthis manner\u2014Shall I have my sins and lose my soul? Will they do me any\ngood when Christ comes? Would not Heaven be better to me than my sins?\nand the company of God, Christ, saints, and angels, be better than the\ncompany of Cain, Judas, Balaam, with the devils in the furnace of fire?\nCanst thou now that readest or hearest these lines turn thy back, and\ngo on in your sins? Canst thou set so light of Heaven, of God, of\nChrist, and the salvation of thy poor, yet precious soul? Canst thou\nhear of Christ, His bloody sweat and death, and not be taken with it,\nand not be grieved for it, and also converted by it? If so, I might lay\nthee down several considerations to stir thee up to mend thy pace\ntowards Heaven; but I shall not; there is enough written already to\nleave thy soul without excuse and to bring thee down with a vengeance\ninto Hell-fire, devouring fire, the Lake of Fire, eternal everlasting\nfire; O to make thee swim and roll up and down in the flames of the\nfurnace of fire!\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1 These words are quoted from the Genevan or Breeches Bible (Mark\n2:17).\u2014Ed.\n\n2 This quotation is from the Genevan translation (Eph 2:3).\u2014Ed.\n\n3 It is observable that the reason given for the punishment of the\nmurderer with death (Gen 9:6) is taken from the affront he offers to\nGod, not from the injury he does to man.\u2014Scott.\n\n4 The reader need scarcely be reminded, that by \u201cpublic person\u201d is\nmeant the Saviour, in whom all His people have an equal right. \u201cFor He\nmade Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us\u201d (2 Cor 5:21).\u2014ED.\n\n5 Bunyan\u2019s first sight of the spiritual, inward, and extensive\nrequirements of the law filled his heart with despair; see \u201cGrace\nAbounding,\u201d No. 28. It was like the alarming sound of the drum Diabolus\nmentioned in the \u201cHoly War,\u201d which caused Mansoul to shake with terror\nand dismay. Thus the soul is stripped of self-righteousness, and flies\nto Christ, whose blood alone cleanseth from all sin.\u2014ED.\n\n6 \u201cCrank,\u201d brisk, jolly, lusty, spiritful, buxom.\u2014ED.\n\n7 From the Puritan or Genevan version.\u2014ED.\n\n8 These nine particulars are very methodically arranged, and are all\ndeeply interesting. Very few of those who read the scriptural law of\nsacrifices see how clearly they pointed as types to Christ the great\nAntitype.\u2014ED.\n\n9 It is a mark of prying and dangerous, if not wicked curiosity to\ninquire whether God could have found any other way of salvation than by\nthe atoning death of our blessed Lord. Instead of such vain researches,\nhow much more consistent would it be to call upon our souls, and all\nthat is within us, to bless His name, who hath thus provided abundant\npardon, full remission, even to the chief of sinners.\u2014ED.\n\n10 The duty of the priests, under the law, led them to be familiar with\nthe most loathsome and catching diseases; and doubtless they took every\nprecaution to avoid contagion. Poor sin-sick soul, do you consider your\nstate more loathsome and dangerous than the leprosy? Fly to Christ, our\nHigh Priest and Physician; He will visit you in the lowest abyss of\nmisery, without fear of contagion, and with full powers to heal and\nsave.\u2014ED.\n\n11 The word \u201chell\u201d in the two verses means the unseen place of the\ndead, the invisible world, or the grave.\u2014ED.\n\n12 How awful and vast must have been the sufferings of the Saviour,\nwhen He paid the redemption price for the countless myriads of His\nsaints; redeemed \u201cout of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and\nnation.\u201d How magnificent His glory when \u201cten thousand times ten\nthousands, and thousands of thousands, shall sing with a loud voice,\nWorthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and\nwisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing, for ever and\never.\u201d Such were the ecstatic vision which Bunyan enjoyed, drawn from\nthe unerring pages of eternal truth.\u2014ED.\n\n13 This singular use of the law term \u201cpremunire,\u201d meaning that the soul\nhas trusted in a foreign jurisdiction, incurred God\u2019s anger, and\nforfeited its liberty and all its goods.\u2014ED.\n\n14 These are solemn truths, in homely, forcible language. Let the soul\nbe convinced that by the obedience of Christ it is released from the\nlaw, it has no fear of Satan or of future punishment; Christ is all and\nin all.\u2014ED.\n\n15 \u201cIndenture\u201d; a written agreement, binding one party to reward the\nother for specified services. As man is by nature bound to love God\nwith all his soul, he cannot be entitled to any reward for anything\nbeyond his duty. When he feels that he has failed in his obedience, he\nmust fly to Christ for that mercy which he can never obtain by\nindenture of service or merit and reward.\u2014ED.\n\n16 Same as 15\u2014Ed.\n\n17 Same as 15\u2014Ed.\n\n18 For a deeply affecting account of the author\u2019s experience about this\nperiod read Grace Abounding, No. 259-261.\u2014ED.\n\n19 \u201cScrabble\u201d; to go on the hands and feet or knees. See a remarkable\nillustration of the word \u201cscrabble\u201d in Grace Abounding, No. 335.\u2014ED.\n\n20 As Bunyan was a Baptist, this is full proof that his friends did not\nascribe regeneration to water baptism. It is an awful delusion to\nsuppose that immersion in or sprinkling with water can effect or\npromote the new birth or spiritual regeneration of the soul.\u2014ED.\n\n21 This is one of the very thrilling circumstances described by Bunyan\nin his Grace Abounding, No. 24:\u2014Sunday sports were then allowed by the\nState, and after hearing a sermon on the evil of Sabbath-breaking, he\nwent as usual to his sport. On that day it was a game at cat, and as he\nwas about to strike, \u201ca voice did suddenly dart from Heaven into my\nsoul, which said, Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to Heaven, or have\nthy sins and go to Hell?\u201d\u2014ED.\n\n22 The word Man was essential in Bunyan\u2019s days, as an antidote to the\njargon of the Ranters, who affirmed that Jesus only existed in the\nheart of the believer.\u2014ED.\n\n23 Same As 20\u2014Ed.\n\n24 Same as 22\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nISRAEL\u2019S HOPE ENCOURAGED;\n\nOR,\n\nWHAT HOPE IS, AND HOW DISTINGUISHED FROM FAITH:\n\nWITH ENCOURAGEMENTS FOR A HOPING PEOPLE.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\u2018Auspicious hope! in thy sweet garden grow\nWreaths for each toil, a charm for every woe.\u2019\n\n\nChristian hope is a firm expectation of all promised good, but\nespecially of eternal salvation and happiness in heaven, where we shall\nbe like the Son of God. This hope is founded on the grace, blood,\nrighteousness, and intercession of Christ\u2014the earnest of the Holy\nSpirit in our hearts, and the unchangeable truths and enlightening\npower of God.[1] \u2018Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth\nhimself even as God is pure\u2019 (1 John 3:3). Blessed hope! (Titus 2:13).\nWell might the apostle pray for the believing Romans, \u2018That ye may\nabound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost\u2019 (15:13). \u2018Which is\nChrist in you the hope of glory\u2019 (Col 1:27). This is the sacred, the\nsolemn, the all-important subject which Bunyan in his ripe age makes\nthe theme of his meditations and of his deeply impressive exhortations.\n\nWhen drawing near the end of his pilgrimage\u2014while in the fullest\nfruition of his mental powers\u2014he gives the result of his long and\nhallowed experience to comfort and cherish his fellow pilgrims in their\ndangerous heaven-ward journey. One of his last labours was to prepare\nthis treatise for the press, from which it issued three years after his\ndecease, under the care of his pious friend Charles Doe.\n\nHere, as drawn from the holy oracles of God, we contemplate Hope, the\nhelmet of salvation, without which our mental powers are exposed to be\nled captive into despair at the will of Satan. Our venerable author\npictures most vividly the Christian\u2019s weakness and the power of his\nenemies; \u2018Should you see a man that could not go from door to door but\nhe must be clad in a coat of mail, a helmet of brass upon his head, and\nfor his lifeguard a thousand men, would you not say, surely this man\nhas store of enemies at hand?\u2019 This is the case, enemies lie in wait\nfor Israel in every hole, he can neither eat, drink, wake, sleep, work,\nsit still, talk, be silent\u2014worship his God in public or private, but he\nis in danger. Poor, lame, infirm, helpless man, cannot live without\ntender\u2014great\u2014rich\u2014manifold\u2014abounding mercies. \u2018No faith, no hope,\u2019 \u2018to\nhope without faith is to see without eyes, or expect without reason.\u2019\nFaith is the anchor which enters within the vail; Christ in us the hope\nof glory is the mighty cable which keeps us fast to that anchor. \u2018Faith\nlays hold of that end of the promise that is nearest to us, to wit, in\nthe Bible\u2014Hope lays hold of that end that is fastened to the\nmercy-seat.\u2019 Thus the soul is kept by the mighty power of God. They who\nhave no hope, enter Doubting Castle of their own free will\u2014they place\nthemselves under the tyranny of Giant Despair\u2014that he may put out their\neyes, and send them to stumble among the tombs, and leave their bones\nin his castle-yard, a trophy to his victories, and a terror to any poor\npilgrim caught by him trespassing on Bye-path Meadow.[2] Hope is as a\nguardian angel\u2014it enables us to come boldly to a throne of grace \u2018in a\ngoodly sort.\u2019 The subject is full of consolation. Are we profanely apt\nto judge of God harshly, as of one that would gather where he had not\nstrawn? Hope leads us to form a holy and just conception of the God of\nlove. \u2018Kind brings forth its kind, know the tree by his fruit, and God\nBY HIS MERCY IN CHRIST. What has God been doing for and to his church\nfrom the beginning of the world, but extending to and exercising\nloving-kindness and mercy for them? Therefore he laid a foundation for\nthis in mercy from everlasting.\u2019 \u2018There is no single flowers in God\u2019s\ngospel garden, they are all double and treble; there is a wheel within\na wheel, a blessing within a blessing in all the mercies of God; they\nare manifold, a man cannot receive one but he receives many, many\nfolded up one within another.\u2019 Bless the Lord, O my soul!!\n\nReader, my deep anxiety is that you should receive from this treatise\nthe benefits which its glorified author intended it to produce. It is\naccurately printed from the first edition. My notes are intended to\nexplain obsolete words or customs or to commend the author\u2019s\nsentiments. May the Divine blessing abundantly replenish our earthen\nvessels with this heavenly hope.\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1. Cruden.\n\n2. Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\n\nIsrael\u2019s Hope Encouraged;\n\n\u2018Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and\nwith him is plenteous redemption.\u2019\u2014Psalms 130:7\n\nThis Psalm is said to be one of \u2018the Psalms of Degrees,\u2019 which some\nsay, if I be not mistaken, the priests and Levites used to sing when\nthey went up the steps into the temple.[1] But to let that pass, it is\na psalm that gives us a relation of the penman\u2019s praying frame, and of\nan exhortation to Israel to hope in God.\n\nVerse 1. \u2018Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord\u2019; that is,\nout of deep or great afflictions, and said, \u2018Lord, hear my voice, let\nthine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.\u2019 The latter\nwords explain the former; as who should say, By voice I mean the\nmeaning and spirit of my prayer. There are words in prayer, and spirit\nin prayer, and by the spirit that is in prayer, is discerned whether\nthe words be dead, lifeless, feigned, or warm, fervent, earnest; and\nGod who searcheth the heart, knoweth the meaning of the Spirit, because\nhe maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God (Rom\n8:27). Verse 3. \u2018If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who\nshall stand?\u2019 Here he confesseth, that all men by the law must fall\nbefore God for ever; for that they have broken it, but cannot make\namends for the transgression thereof. But, he quickly bethinking\nhimself of the mercy of God in Christ, he saith, verse 4, \u2018But there is\nforgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.\u2019 Then he returns,\nsaying, verse 5, \u2018I wait for the Lord,\u2019 that is, in all his\nappointments; yea, he doubleth it, saying, \u2018My soul doth wait, and in\nhis word do I hope.\u2019 By which repetition he insinuates, that many are\ncontent to give their bodily presence to God in his appointments, while\ntheir hearts were roving to the ends of the earth; but for his part he\ndid not so. Verse 6. \u2018My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that\nwatch for the morning, I say, more than they that watch for the\nmorning.\u2019 As who should say, even as it is with those that are tired\nwith the night, either by reason of dark or wearisome journies, or\nbecause of tedious sickness, to whom the night is most doleful and\nuncomfortable, waiting for spring of day; so wait I for the Lord, that\nhis presence might be with my soul. So and more too I say, \u2018More than\nthey that wait for the morning.\u2019 Then he comes to the words which I\nhave chosen for my text, saying, \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with\nthe Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.\u2019\n\nIn which words we have, FIRST, AN EXHORTATION; SECOND, A REASON OF THAT\nEXHORTATION; and THIRD, AN AMPLIFICATION OF THAT REASON. \u2018Let Israel\nhope in the Lord\u2019; there is the exhortation; \u2018For with the Lord there\nis mercy\u2019; there is the reason of it; \u2018And with him is plenteous\nredemption\u2019; there is the amplification of that reason.\n\n[FIRST. AN EXHORTATION.]\n\n\nIn the exhortation there are three things to be inquired into. FIRST,\nThe matter contained in it; SECOND, The manner by which it is\nexpressed; THIRD, The inferences that do naturally flow therefrom.\n\n[FIRST. The matter contained in the exhortation.]\n\nWe will speak first to the matter contained in the text, and that\npresenteth itself unto us under three heads. First, A duty. Second, A\ndirection for the well management of that duty. Third, The persons that\nare so to manage it.\n\nFirst, Then, to speak to the duty, and that is HOPE; \u2018Let Israel HOPE.\u2019\nBy which word there is something pre-admitted, and something of great\nconcern insinuated.\n\nThat which is pre-admitted is faith; for when we speak properly of\nhope, and put others distinctly to the duty of hoping, we conclude that\nsuch have faith already; for no faith, no hope. To hope without faith,\nis to see without eyes, or to expect without a ground: for \u2018Faith is\nthe substance of things hoped for,\u2019 as well with respect to the grace,\nas to the doctrine of faith (Heb 11:1). Doth such a one believe? No.\nDoth he hope? Yes. If the first is true, the second is a lie; he that\nnever believed, did never hope in the Lord. Wherefore, when he saith,\n\u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord,\u2019 he pre-supposeth faith, and signifieth\nthat he speaketh to believers.\n\nThat which is of great concern insinuated, is, that hope has in it an\nexcellent quality to support Israel in all its troubles. Faith has its\nexcellency in this, hope in that, and love in another thing. Faith will\ndo that which hope cannot do. Hope can do that which faith doth not do,\nand love can do things distinct from both their doings. Faith goes in\nthe van, hope in the body, and love brings up the rear: and thus \u2018now\nabideth faith, hope,\u2019 and \u2018charity\u2019 (1 Cor 13:13). Faith is the\nmother-grace, for hope is born of her, but charity floweth from them\nboth.\n\nBut a little, now we are upon faith and hope distinctly, to let you see\na little. 1. Faith comes by hearing (Rom 10:17), hope by experience\n(Rom 5:3,4). 2. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, hope by the\ncredit that faith hath given to it (Rom 4:18). 3. Faith believeth the\ntruth of the Word, hope waits for the fulfilling of it. 4. Faith lays\nhold of that end of the promise that is next to us, to wit, as it is in\nthe Bible; hope lays hold of that end of the promise that is fastened\nto the mercy-seat; for the promise is like a mighty cable, that is\nfastened by one end to a ship, and by the other to the anchor: the soul\nis the ship where faith is, and to which the hither[2] end of this\ncable is fastened; but hope is the anchor that is at the other end of\nthis cable, and which entereth into that within the vail. Thus faith\nand hope getting hold of both ends of the promise, they carry it safely\nall away. 5. Faith looketh to Christ, as dead, buried, and ascended;\nand hope to his second coming (1 Cor 15:1-4). Faith looks to him for\njustification, hope for glory (Rom 4:1-8). 6. Faith fights for\ndoctrine, hope for a reward (Acts 26:6,7). Faith for what is in the\nbible, hope for what is in heaven (Col 1:3-5). 7. Faith purifies the\nheart from bad principles (1 John 5:4,5). Hope from bad manners (2\nPeter 3:11,14; Eph 5:8; 1 John 3:3). 8. Faith sets hope on work, hope\nsets patience on work (Acts 28:20, 9:9). Faith says to hope, look for\nwhat is promised; hope says to faith, So I do, and will wait for it\ntoo. 9. Faith looks through the word to God in Christ; hope looks\nthrough faith beyond the world to glory (Gal 5:5).\n\nThus faith saves, and thus hope saves. Faith saves by laying hold of\nGod by Christ (1 Peter 1:5). Hope saves by prevailing with the soul to\nsuffer all troubles, afflictions, and adversities that it meets with\nbetwixt this and the world to come, for the sake thereof (Rom 8:24).\nTake the matter in this plain similitude. There was a king that adopted\nsuch a one to be his child, and clothed him with the attire of the\nchildren of the king, and promised him, that if he would fight his\nfather\u2019s battles, and walk in his father\u2019s ways, he should at last\nshare in his father\u2019s kingdoms. He has received the adoption, and the\nking\u2019s robe, but not yet his part in the kingdom; but now, hope of a\nshare in that will make him fight the king\u2019s battles, and also tread\nthe king\u2019s paths. Yea, and though he should meet with many things that\nhave a tendency to deter him from so doing, yet thoughts of the\ninterest promised in the kingdom, and hopes to enjoy it, will make him\nout his way through those difficulties, and so save him from the ruin\nthat those destructions would bring upon him, and will, in conclusion,\nusher him into a personal possession and enjoyment of that inheritance.\nHope has a thick skin, and will endure many a blow; it will put on\npatience as a vestment, it will wade through a sea of blood, it will\nendure all things, if it be of the right kind, for the joy that is set\nbefore it. Hence patience is called, \u2018Patience of hope,\u2019 because it is\nhope that makes the soul exercise patience and long-suffering under the\ncross, until the time comes to enjoy the crown (1 Thess 1:3). The\nPsalmist, therefore, by this exhortation, persuadeth them that have\nbelieved the truth, to wait for the accomplishment of it, as by his own\nexample he did himself\u2014\u2018I wait for the Lord,\u2019 \u2018my soul waiteth,\u2019 \u2018and\nin his word do I hope.\u2019 It is for want of hope that so many brisk\nprofessors that have so boasted and made brags of their faith, have not\nbeen able to endure the drum[3] in the day of alarm and affliction.\nTheir hope in Christ has been such as has extended itself no further\nthan to this life, and therefore they are of all men the most\nmiserable.\n\nThe Psalmist therefore, by exhorting us unto this duty, doth put us in\nmind of four things. I. That the best things are yet behind, and in\nreversion for the saints. II. That those that have believed, will yet\nmeet with difficulties before they come at them. III. The grace of hope\nwell exercised, is the only way to overcome these difficulties. IV.\nThey therefore that have hope, and do exercise it as they should, shall\nassuredly at last enjoy that hope that is laid up for them in heaven.\n\nI. For the first of these, that the best things are yet behind, and in\nreversion for believers; this is manifest by the natural exercise of\nthis grace. For \u2018hope that is seen, is not hope; for what a man seeth,\nwhy doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do\nwe with patience wait for it\u2019 (Rom 8:24,25). Hope lives not by sight,\nas faith doth; but hope trusteth faith, as faith trusts the Word, and\nso bears up the soul in a patient expectation at last to enjoy what God\nhas promised. But I say, the very natural work of this grace proveth,\nthat the believer\u2019s best things are behind in reversion.\n\nYou may ask me, what those things are? and I may tell you, first, in\ngeneral, they are heavenly things, they are eternal things, they are\nthe things that are where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God (John\n3:12; 2 Cor 4:18; Col 3:1). Do you know them now? They are things that\n\u2018eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor that have entered into the heart\nof man to conceive of\u2019 (Isa 64:4; 1 Cor 2:9). Do you know them now?\nThey are things that are referred to the next world, for the saints\nwhen they come into the next world; talked of they may be now, the real\nbeing of them may be believed now, and by hope we may, and it will be\nour wisdom to wait for them now; but to know what they are in the\nnature of them, or in the enjoyment of them, otherwise than by faith,\nhe is deceived that saith it. They are things too big as yet to enter\ninto our hearts, and things too big, if they were there to come out, or\nto be expressed by our mouths.\n\nThere is heaven itself, the imperial heaven; does any body know what\nthat is? There is the mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the\ninnumerable company of angels; doth any body know what all they are?\nThere is immortality and eternal life: and who knows what they are?\nThere are rewards for services, and labour of love showed to God\u2019s name\nhere; and who knows what they will be? There are mansion-houses, beds\nof glory, and places to walk in among the angels; and who knows what\nthey are? There will be badges of honour, harps to make merry with, and\nheavenly songs of triumph; doth any here know what they are? There will\nbe then a knowing, an enjoying and a solacing of ourselves with\nprophets, apostles, and martyrs, and all saints; but in what glorious\nmanner we all are ignorant of. There we shall see and know, and be with\nfor ever, all our relations, as wife, husband, child, father, mother,\nbrother, or sister that have died in the faith; but how gloriously they\nwill look when we shall see them, and how gloriously we shall love when\nwe are with them, it is not for us in this world to know (1 Thess\n4:16,17). There are thoughts, and words, and ways for us, which we\nnever dreamed on in this world. The law was but the shadow, the gospel\nthe image; but what will be the substance that comes to us next, or\nthat rather we shall go unto, who can understand? (Heb 10:1). If we\nnever saw God nor Christ as glorified, nor the Spirit of the Lord, nor\nthe bottom of the Bible, nor yet so much as one of the days of\neternity,, and yet all these things we shall see and have them, how can\nit be that the things laid up for us, that should be the object of our\nhope, should by us be understood in this world? Yet there are\nintimations given us of the goodness and greatness of them.[4]\n\n1. Of their goodness, and that, (1.) In that the Holy Ghost scorns that\nthings that are here should once be compared with them; hence all\nthings here are called vanities, nothings, less than nothings (Isa\n40:15-17). Now, if the things, all the things that are here, are so\ncontemptuously considered, when compared with the things that are to be\nhereafter, and yet these things so great in the carnal man\u2019s esteem, as\nthat he is willing to venture life and soul, and all to have them, what\nare the things that God has prepared for them that wait, that is, that\nhope for him? (2.) Their goodness also appears in this, that whoever\nhas had that understanding of them, as is revealed in the Word, whether\nking or beggar, wise mean or fool, he has willingly cast this world\nbehind him in contempt and scorn, for the hope of that (Psa 73:25; Heb\n11:24-26, 37-40). (3.) The goodness of them has even testimony in the\nvery consciences of them that hate them. Take the vilest man in the\ncountry, the man who is so wedded to his lusts, that he will rather run\nthe hazard of a thousand hells than leave them; and ask this man his\njudgment of the things of the next world, and he will shake his head,\nand say, They are good, they are best of all. (4.) But the saints have\nthe best apprehension of their goodness, for that the Lord doth\nsometimes drop some of the juice of them out of the Word, into their\nhungry souls.\n\n2. But as they are good, so they are great: \u2018O how great is thy\ngoodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou\nhast wrought for them that trust,\u2019 that hope, \u2018in thee before the sons\nof men!\u2019 (Psa 31:19). (1.) Their greatness appears, in that they go\nbeyond the Word; yea, beyond the word of the Holy Ghost; it doth not\nyet appear to us by the Word of God to the full, the greatness of what\nis prepared for God\u2019s people. \u2018Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and\nit doth not yet appear what we shall be\u2019 (1 John 3:2). It doth not\nappear in the Word; there is a greatness in the things that we are to\nhope for, that could never be expressed: they are beyond word, beyond\nthought, beyond conceiving of! Paul, when he was come down again from\nout of paradise, into which he was caught up, could not speak a word\nabout the words he heard, and the things that there he saw. They were\nthings and words which he saw and heard, \u2018which it is not possible[5]\nfor a man to utter.\u2019 (2.) Their greatness is intimated by the word\nEternal; he that knows the bottom of that word, shall know what things\nthey are. \u2018The things which are not seen are eternal\u2019 (2 Cor 4:18).\nThey are \u2018incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,\u2019\nreserved in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:4). (3.) Their greatness is showed\nin that one right thought of them will fill the heart so full, that\nboth it and the eyes will run over together; yea, so full, that the\ncreature shall not be able to stand up under the weight of glory that\nby it is laid upon the soul. Alas! all the things in this world will\nnot fill one heart; and yet one thought that is right, of the things\nthat God has prepared, and laid up in heaven for us, will, yea, and\nover fill it too. (4.) The greatness of the things of the next world\nappears, in that when one of the least of them are showed to us, we are\nnot able, without support from thence, to abide the sight thereof. I\ncount that the angels are of those things that are least in that world;\nand yet the sight of one of them, when the sight of them was in use,\nwhat work would it make in the hearts and minds of mortal men, the\nscripture plainly enough declares (John 13:22).[6] (5.) Their greatness\nis intimated, in that we must be as it were new made again, before we\ncan be capable of enjoying them, as we must enjoy them with comfort\n(Luke 20:36). And herein will be a great part of our happiness, that we\nshall not only see them, but be made like unto them, like unto their\nKing. For \u2018when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see\nhim as he is\u2019 (1 John 3:2). We shall see him, and therefore must be\nlike him, for else the sight of him would overcome us and destroy us;\nbut because we are to see him with comfort and everlasting joy,\ntherefore we must be like him in body and mind (Rev 1:17; Phil\n3:20,21).\n\nII. But to come to the second thing, namely, That those that have\nbelieved, there are such things as these, will meet with difficulties\nbefore they come at them. This is so grand a truth, that nothing can be\nsaid against it. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; and we must\nthrough many tribulations enter into the kingdom of heaven (Acts\n14:22). The cause from whence these afflictions arise is known to be,\n\n1. From ourselves; for sin having got such hold in our flesh, makes\nthat opposition against our soul and the welfare of that, that puts us\ncontinually to trouble. Fleshly lusts work against the soul, and so do\nworldly lusts too (1 Peter 2:11); yea, they quench our graces, and make\nthem that would live, \u2018ready to die\u2019 (Rev 3:2). Yea, by reason of\nthese, such darkness, such guilt, such fear, such mistrust, ariseth in\nus, that it is common for us, if we live any while, to make a thousand\nconclusions, twice told, that we shall never arrive with comfort at the\ngates of the kingdom of heaven. The natural tendency of every struggle\nof the least lust against grace is, if we judge according to carnal\nreason, to make us question the truth of a work of grace in us, and our\nright to the world to come. This it was that made Paul cry out, \u2018O\nwretched man that I am! who shall deliver me!\u2019 (Rom 7:24). Only he had\nmore wisdom than to follow the natural conclusions that carnal reason\nwas apt to make thereupon, and so hoisted up his soul to hope.\n\n2. Sin, by its working in us, doth not only bring darkness, guilt,\nfear, mistrust, and the like; but it doth oft-times as it were\nhamstring us, and disable us from going to God by faith and prayer for\npardon. It makes the heart hard, senseless, careless, lifeless,\nspiritless as to feeling, in all Christian duty; and this is a grievous\nthing to a gracious soul. The other things will create a doubt, and\ndrive it up to the head into the soul; but these will go on the other\nside and clench it.[7] Now all these things make hoping difficult.\n\n3. For by these things the judgment is not only clouded, and the\nunderstanding greatly darkened, but all the powers of the soul made to\nfight against itself, conceiving, imagining, apprehending, and\nconcluding things that have a direct tendency to extirpate and\nextinguish, if possible, the graces of God that are planted in the\nsoul; yea, to the making of it cry out, \u2018I am cut off from before thine\neyes!\u2019 (Psa 31:22).\n\n4. Add to these, the hidings of the face of God from the soul; a thing\nto it more bitter than death; yet nothing more common among them that\nhope in the Lord. He \u2018hideth his face from the house of Jacob!\u2019 (Isa\n8:17). Nor is this done only in fatherly displeasure, but by this means\nsome graces are kept alive; faith is kept alive by the word, patience\nby hope, and hope by faith; but oft-times a spirit of prayer, by the\nrod, chastisement, and the hiding of God\u2019s face (Hosea 5:14,15; Isa\n26:16; Cant 5:6). But I say, this hiding of this sweet face is bitter\nto the soul, and oft-times puts both faith and hope to a sad and most\nfearful plunge. For at such a day, it is with the soul as with the ship\nat sea, that is benighted and without light; to wit, like a man\nbewildered upon the land; only the text saith, for the help and succour\nof such, \u2018Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the\nvoice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let\nhim trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God\u2019 (Isa 50:10).\nYet as it is with children, so it is with saints; we are a great deal\nmore subject to fears in the night than in the day. That, therefore,\nthat tendeth to the help of some graces, if there be not great care\ntaken, will prove an hindrance to others.\n\n5. Nor is the ruler of the darkness of this world wanting to apply\nhimself and his engines, so as, if possible, to make use of all these\nthings for the overthrowing of faith, and for the removing of our hope\nfrom the Lord, as a tree is removed from rooting in the ground (Job\n19:10). Behold! he can expound all things, so as that they shall fall\ndirectly in the way of our believing. As thus, we have sin, therefore\nwe have no grace; sin struggleth in us, therefore we fear not God;\nsomething in us sideth with sin, therefore we are wholly unregenerate;\nsin is in our best performances, therefore wherefore should I hope?\nThus I say, he can afflict us in our pilgrimage, and make hope\ndifficult to us. Besides the hiding of God\u2019s face, he can make not only\na cause of sorrow, for that indeed it should, but a ground of despair,\nand as desperately concluding he will never come again. How many good\nsouls has he driven to these conclusions, who afterwards have been made\nto unsay all again?\n\n6. And though spiritual desertions, darkness of soul, and guilt of sin,\nare the burdens most intolerable, yet they are not all; for there is to\nbe added to all these, that common evil of persecution, another device\ninvented to make void our hope. In this, I say, we are sure to be\nconcerned; that is, if we be godly. For though the apostle doth not\nsay, \u2018All that will live in Christ,\u2019 that is, in the common profession\nof him, shall suffer persecution; yet he saith, \u2018All that will live\ngodly in him shall\u2019 (2 Tim 3:12). Now this in itself is a terror to\nflesh and blood, and hath a direct tendency in it to make hope\ndifficult (1 Peter 3:6,14). Hence men of a persecuting spirit, because\nof their greatness, and of their teeth (the laws), are said to be a\nterror, and to carry amazement in their doings; and God\u2019s people are\napt to be afraid of them though they should die, and to forget God\ntheir Maker; and this makes hoping hard work (Isa 51:12,13).[8]\n\n7. For besides that grimness that appears in the face of persecutors,\nSatan can tell how to lessen, and make to dwindle in our apprehensions,\nthose truths unto which our hearts have joined themselves afore, and to\nwhich Christ our Lord has commanded us to stand. So that they shall now\nappear but little, small, inconsiderable things; things not worth\nengaging for; things not worth running those hazards for, that in the\nhour of trial may lie staring us in the face. Moreover, we shall not\nwant false friends in every hole, such as will continually be boring\nour ears with that saying, Master, do good to thyself. At such times\nalso, \u2018stars\u2019 do use to \u2018fall from heaven, and the powers of the\nheavens shall be shaken\u2019; and so every thing tends to weaken, or at\nleast to lay stumbling-blocks in their way, who are commanded to hope\nin the Lord (Matt 24).\n\n8. Again, as Satan can make use of his subtilty, thus to afflict and\nweaken the hands and hearts of those that hope in God, so he can add to\nthese the dismalness of a suffering state. He can make the loss of\ngoods, in our imagination, ten times bigger than it is in itself; he\ncan make an informer a frightful creature, and a jail look like hell\nitself; he can make banishment and death utterly intolerable, and\nthings that must be shunned with the hazard of our salvation. Thus he\ncan greaten and lessen, lessen and greaten, for the troubling of our\nhearts, for the hindering of our hope.[9]\n\n9. Add to all these, that the things that we suffer for were never seen\nby us, but are quite beyond our sight: things that indeed are said to\nbe great and good; but we have only the word and the Bible for it. And\nbe sure if he that laboureth night and day to devour us, can help it,\nour faith shall be molested and perplexed at such a time, that it may,\nif possible, be hard to do the commandment that here the text enjoins\nus to the practice of; that is, to hope in the Lord. And this brings me\nto the third particular.\n\nIII. That the grace of hope well exercised, is the only way to overcome\nthose difficulties.\u2014Abraham had never laughed for joy, had he not hoped\nwhen the angel brought him tidings of a son; yea, had he not hoped\nagainst all things that could have been said to discourage (Gen 17:17).\nHence it is said, that \u2018against hope\u2019 he \u2018believed in hope, that he\nmight become the father of many nations, according to that which was\nspoken, so shall thy seed be\u2019 (Rom 4:18). There is hope against hope;\nhope grounded on faith, against hope grounded on reason. Hope grounded\non reason, would have made Abraham expect that the promise should\nsurely have been ineffectual, because of the deadness of Abraham\u2019s\nbody, and of the barrenness of Sarah\u2019s womb. But he hoped against the\ndifficulty, by hope that sprang from faith, which confided in the\npromise and power of God, and so overcame the difficulty, and indeed\nobtained the promise. Hope, therefore, well exercised, is the only way\nto overcome. Hence Peter bids those that are in a suffering condition,\n\u2018Be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought\nunto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ\u2019 (1 Peter 1:13). And\ntherefore it is, as you heard before, that we are said to be \u2018saved by\nhope\u2019 (Rom 8:24).\n\nHope is excellent, 1. Against those discouragements that arise up out\nof our bowels. 2. It is excellent to embolden a man in the cause of\nGod. 3. It is excellent at helping one over the difficulties that men,\nby frights and terrors may lay in our way.\n\n1. It is excellent to help us against those discouragements that arise\nout of our own bowels (Rom 4). This is clear in the instance last\nmentioned about Abraham, who had nothing but discouragements arising\nfrom himself; but he had hope, and as well he exercised it; wherefore,\nafter a little patient enduring, he overcame the difficulty, and\nobtained the promise (Heb 6:13-18). The reason is, for that it is the\nnature of true hope to turn away its ear from opposing difficulties, to\nthe word and mouth of faith; and perceiving that faith has got hold of\nthe promise, hope, notwithstanding difficulties that do or may attempt\nto intercept, will expect, and so wait for the accomplishment thereof.\n\n2. Hope is excellent at emboldening a man in the cause of God. Hence\nthe apostle saith, \u2018Hope maketh not ashamed\u2019; for not to be ashamed\nthere, is to be emboldened (Rom 5:5). So again, when Paul speaks of the\ntroubles he met with for the profession of the gospel, he saith, that\nthey should turn to his salvation. \u2018According,\u2019 saith he, \u2018to my\nearnest expectation, and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed,\nbut that with all boldness, as always, so now Christ shall be magnified\nin my body, whether it be by life or by death\u2019 (Phil 1:19,20). See\nhere, a man at the foot of the ladder, now ready in will and mind, to\ndie for his profession; but how will he carry it now? Why, with all\nbrave and innocent boldness! But how will he do that? O! By the hope of\nthe gospel that is in him; for by that he is fully persuaded that the\ncause he suffereth for will bear him up in the day of God, and that he\nshall then be well rewarded for it.[10]\n\n3. It is also excellent at helping one over those difficulties that\nmen, by frights and terrors, may lay in our way. Hence when David was\nalmost killed with the reproach and oppression of his enemies, and his\nsoul full sorely bowed down to the ground therewith; that he might\nrevive and get up again, he calls to his soul to put in exercise the\ngrace of hope, saying, \u2018Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art\nthou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise\nhim, who is the health of my countenance, and my God\u2019 (Psa 42:11). So\nagain saith he in the next Psalm after, as afore he had complained of\nthe oppression of the enemy, \u2018Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and\nwhy art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise\nhim, who is the health of my countenance and my God\u2019 (Psa 43:5). Hope,\ntherefore, is a soul-encouraging grace, a soul-emboldening grace, and a\nsoul-preserving grace. Hence it is called our helmet or head-piece, the\nhelmet of salvation (Eph 6:17; 1 Thess 5:8). This is one piece of the\narmour with which the Son of God was clothed, when he came into the\nworld; and it is that against which nothing can prevail (Isa 49:17).\nFor as long as I can hope for salvation, what can hurt me! This word\nspoken in the blessed exercise of grace, I HOPE FOR SALVATION, drives\ndown all before it. The truth of God is that man\u2019s \u2018shield and buckler\u2019\nthat hath made the Lord his hope (Psa 91:4).\n\n[Encouragements to exercise this grace.]\u2014And now to encourage thee,\ngood man, to the exercise of this blessed grace of hope as the text\nbids, let me present thee with that which followeth. 1. God, to show\nhow well he takes hoping in him at our hands, has called himself \u2018the\nGod of hope\u2019 (Rom 15:13), that is, not only the author of hope, but the\nGod that takes pleasure in them that exercise it, \u2018The Lord taketh\npleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy\u2019 (Psa\n147:11). 2. He will be a shield, a defence to them that hope in him.\n\u2018Thou art my hiding-place and my shield,\u2019 saith David, \u2018I hope in thy\nword\u2019; that is, he knew he would be so; for he hoped in his word (Psa\n119:114). 3. He has promised us the life we hope for, to encourage us\nstill to hope, and to endure all things to enjoy it (Titus 1:2). \u2018That\nhe that ploweth should plow in hope, and that he that thresheth in\nhope, should be partaker of his hope\u2019 (1 Cor 9:10).\n\nQuest. But you may say, What is it to exercise this grace aright?\n\nAnsw. 1. You must look well to your faith, that that may prosper, for\nas your faith is, such your hope will be. Hope is never ill when faith\nis well; nor strong if faith be weak. Wherefore Paul prays that the\nRomans might be filled \u2018with all joy and peace in believing,\u2019 that they\nmight \u2018abound in hope\u2019 (Rom 15:13). When a man by faith believes to joy\nand peace, then hope grows strong, and with an assurance looketh for a\nshare in the world to come. Wherefore look to your faith, and pray\nheartily that the God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace in\nbelieving. 2. Learn of Abraham not to faint, stumble, or doubt, at the\nsight of your own weakness; for if you do, hope will stay below, and\ncreak in the wheels as it goes, because it will want the oil of faith.\nBut say to thy soul, when thou beginnest to faint and sink at the sight\nof these, as David did to his, in the places made mention of before. 3.\nBe much in calling to mind what God has done for thee in former times.\nKeep thy experience as a choice thing (Rom 5:4). \u2018Remember all the way\nthe Lord led thee these forty years in the wilderness\u2019 (Deut 8:2). \u2018O\nmy God,\u2019 saith David, \u2018my soul is cast down within me, therefore will I\nremember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites from the\nhill Mizar\u2019 (Psa 42:6). 4. Be much in looking at the end of things, or\nrather to the end of this, and to the beginning of the next world. What\nwe enjoy of God in this world, may be an earnest of hope, or a token\nthat the thing hoped for is to be ours at last; but the object of hope\nis in general the next world (Heb 11:1). We must therefore put a\ndifference betwixt the mother of hope, Faith; the means of hope, the\nWord; the earnest of hope, Christ in us; and the proper object of hope,\nto wit, the world to come, and the goodness thereof (Psa 119:49; Col\n1:27).\n\nIf Christians have not much here, their hope, as I may so say, lies\nidle, and as a grace out of its exercise. For as faith cannot feed upon\npatience, but upon Christ, and as the grace of hungering and thirsting\ncannot live upon self-fulness, but upon the riches of the promise; so\nhope cannot make what is enjoyed its object: \u2018for what a man seeth why\ndoth he yet hope for?\u2019 (Rom 8:24). But the proper object of hope is,\nthat we see not. Let faith then be exercised upon Christ crucified for\nmy justification, and hope upon the next world for my glorification;\nand let love show the truth of faith in Christ, by acts of kindness to\nChrist and his people; and patience, the truth of hope, by a quiet\nbearing and enduring that which may now be laid upon me for my sincere\nprofession\u2019s sake, until the hope that is laid up for us in heaven\nshall come to us, or we be gathered to that, and then hope is in some\nmeasure in good order, and exercised well. But,\n\nIV. We now come to the last thing propounded to be spoken to, which is,\nthey that have hope and exercise it well, shall assuredly at last enjoy\nthat hope that is laid up for them in heaven; that is, they that do\nregularly exercise the grace of hope shall at last enjoy the object of\nit, or the thing hoped for. This must of necessity be concluded, else\nwe overthrow the whole truth of God at once, and the expectation of the\nbest of men; yea, if this be not concluded, what follows, but that\nAtheism, unbelief, and irreligion, are the most right, and profane and\ndebauched persons are in the rightest way?\n\n1. But to proceed, this must be, as is evident; for that the things\nhoped for are put under the very name of the grace that lives in the\nexpectation of them. They are called HOPE; \u2018looking for that blessed\nhope\u2019; \u2018for the hope that is laid up for them in heaven\u2019 (Titus 2:13;\nCol 1:5). God has set that character upon them, to signify that they\nbelong to hope, and shall be the reward of hope. God doth in this, as\nyour great traders do with the goods that their chapmen have either\nbought or spoke for; to wit, he sets their name or mark upon them, and\nthen saith, This belongs to this grace, and this belongs to that; but\nthe kingdom of heaven belongs to HOPE, for his name is set upon it.\nThis therefore is one thing, to prove that the thing hoped for shall be\nthine; God has marked it for thee: nor can it be given to those that do\nnot hope. That is, to the same purpose that you read of, \u2018That ye may\nbe counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer\u2019 (2\nThess 1:5). Suffering flows from hope; he that hopes not for an house\nin heaven, will not for it choose to suffer the loss of the pleasures\nand friendships of this world. But they that suffer for it, and that\nall do, one way or other, in whom is placed this grace of hope, they\nGod counteth worthy of it, and therefore, hath marked it with their\nmark, HOPE; for that it belongs to hope, and shall be given to those\nthat hope. That is the first.\n\n2. They that do, as afore is said, exercise this grace of hope, shall\nassuredly enjoy the hope that is laid up for them in heaven, as is\nevident also from this; because, as God has marked and set it apart for\nthem, so what he has done to and with our Lord and Head, since his\ndeath, he hath done it to this very end; that is, to beget and maintain\nour hope in him as touching this thing. He \u2018hath begotten us again unto\na lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ form the dead\u2019 (1\nPeter 1:3). The meaning is, Christ is our undertaker, and suffered\ndeath for us, that we might enjoy happiness and glory: and God, to show\nhow wiling he was that we should have this glory, raised up Christ\nagain, and delivered him from their sorrows of death. Wherefore,\nconsidering this, Paul said, \u2018He rejoiced in hope of the glory of God\u2019;\nto wit, of that glory, that sin, had he not had Jesus for his\nundertaker, would have caused that he should certainly have come short\nof (Rom 3:23, 5:2). But, again, God \u2018raised him up from the dead, and\ngave him glory,\u2019 too, and that to this very end, \u2018that your faith and\nhope might be in God\u2019 (1 Peter 1:21). I say, he did it to this very\nend, that he might beget in you this good opinion of him, as to hope in\nhim, that he would give you that good thing hoped for\u2014to wit, eternal\nlife. He \u2018gave him glory,\u2019 and put it into his hand for you who is your\nhead and Saviour, that you might see how willing God is to give you the\nhope you look for, \u2018that your faith and hope might be in God.\u2019\n\n3. That we that have hope and rightly exercise it, might assuredly\nenjoy that hope that is laid up for us in heaven: God has promised it,\nand that to our Saviour for us. Had he promised it to us, we might yet\nhave feared, for that with our faults we give a cause of continual\nprovocation to him. But since he hath promised it to Christ, it must\nassuredly come to us by him, because Christ, to whom it is promised,\nnever gave occasion of provocation to him to take it back. And that it\nwas promised to Christ, it is evident, because it was promised before\nthe world began: \u2018In hope of eternal life,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018which God,\nthat cannot lie, promised before the world began\u2019 (Titus 1:2). And this\nis, that we might hope. Men that use to hope to enjoy that money or\nestate, that by those that are faithful is promised to them, and put\ninto the hands of trusty persons for them; why this is the case, God\nthat cannot lie, has promised it to the hopers, and has put it into the\nhand of the trusty Jesus for us, therefore let us hope that in his\ntimes we shall both see and enjoy the same we hope for.\n\n4. Yea, that all ground of doubt and scruple as to this might be\nremoved out of the way, when Christ, who as to what was last said, is\nour hope (1 Tim 1:1), shall come, he shall bring that grace and mercy\nwith him that shall even from before his judgment-seat remove all those\nthings that might have any tendency in them to deprive us of our hope,\nor of the thing hoped for by us. Hence Peter bids us, \u2018Be sober and\nhope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the\nrevelation of Jesus Christ\u2019 (1 Peter 1:13). Also as to this, Jude, the\nservant of Jesus Christ, joins with him, saying, \u2018Keep yourselves in\nthe love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto\neternal life\u2019 (Jude 21). Here then you see that there is grace and\nmercy still for us in reversion; grace and mercy to be brought unto us\nat the revelation, or second coming of Jesus Christ. How then can we be\nhindered of our hope? For transporting mercy will then be busy for them\nthat indeed have here the hope of eternal life. \u2018And they shall be\nmine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels;\nand I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him\u2019\n(Mal 3:17). None knows the mystery of God\u2019s will in all things revealed\nin his Word. Therefore many texts are looked over, or laid by, as those\nwhose key doth go too hard; nor will I boast of any singular knowledge\nin any particular thing.[11] Yet methinks since grace and mercy was not\nonly brought by Christ when he came into the world, but shall be\nbrought again with him when he comes in his Father\u2019s glory, it\nsignifies, that as the first brought the beginning of eternal life to\nus while we were enemies, this second will bring the full enjoyment of\nit to us while we are saints, attended with many imperfections. And\nthat as by the first grace of all unworthiness was pardoned and passed\nby; so by this second grace, the grace that is to be brought unto us at\nthe revelation of Jesus Christ, all shortness in duties, and failings\nin performances, shall be spared also; and we made possessors by virtue\nof this grace and mercy of the blessings hoped for, to wit, the\nblessings of eternal life. But thus much for the duty contained in the\nexhortation, to wit, of hoping.\n\n[Second. A direction to the well managing of the duty of hope.]\n\nI shall therefore come, in the next place, to treat of the well\nmanaging of this duty with reference to this primary object, which is\nthe Lord himself. \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord.\u2019 There is a general\nobject of hope, and there is a particular object; there is a common\nobject, and there is a special one. Of the general and common object,\nto wit, of heaven and happiness, I have said something already;\nwherefore it remains that now we come and treat of this particular and\nspecial object of our hope: \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord.\u2019 The Lord,\ntherefore, is to be the particular and special object of our hope: \u2018Let\nIsrael hope in the Lord.\u2019 Now in that there is not only a duty here\nexhorted to, but a direction for the better management of that duty, to\nthe particular and special object upon which this duty should be\nexercised, it suggesteth, how apt good men are, especially in times of\ntrouble, the case of Israel now, to fix their hopes in other things\nthan on the Lord. We have seen a great deal of this in our days; our\ndays indeed have been days of trouble, especially since the discovery\nof the Popish plot, for then we began to fear cutting of throats, of\nbeing burned in our beds, and of seeing our children dashed in pieces\nbefore our faces. But looking about us, we found we had a gracious\nking, brave parliaments, a stout city, good lord-mayors, honest\nsheriffs, substantial laws against them, and these we made the object\nof our hope, quite forgetting the direction in this exhortation, \u2018Let\nIsrael hope in the Lord.\u2019 For indeed the Lord ought to be our hope in\ntemporals, as well as in spirituals and eternals. Wherefore Israel of\nold were checked, under a supposition of placing their hope for\ntemporals in men; \u2018It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put\nconfidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put\nconfidence in princes\u2019 (Psa 118:8,9). And again, \u2018Put not your trust in\nprinces, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help\u2019 (Psa 146:3).\nThis implieth that there is in us an incidency to forget God our hope,\nand to put confidence in something else. And to be sure we shall find\nit the more difficult to make the Lord our hope only, when things that\nare here, though deceitfully, proffer us their help.[12] But my design\nis not to treat of the object of hope but with reference to the next\nworld. And as to that we must take heed that we set our hope in God, in\nGod in the first place, and in nothing below or besides himself. To\nthis end it is that he has given us his word, and appointed a law to\nIsrael.\n\nI. Because of his own grace he is become the special object of hope,\ndesignating himself in the most special sense to be the portion of his\npeople (Psa 78:5-7)\u2014\u2018The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore\nwill I hope in him\u2019 (Lam 2:24). Wherefore this we must look well to,\nand take heed that we miss not of this object (Psa 146:5). This is the\nspecial object, the ultimate object, the object that we cannot be\nwithout; and that, short of which, we cannot be happy as, God willing,\nshall be showed more anon (Jer 50:7). God is not only happiness in\nhimself, but the life of the soul, and he that puts goodness into every\nthing in the next world, in which goodness shall be found (Jer 17:13).\nAnd this our Lord Jesus Christ himself affirmeth, when he saith, \u2018I am\nthe way,\u2019 to wit, the way to life and happiness. And yet he saith, \u2018I\nam the way to the Father,\u2019 for that it is HE that is the fountain and\nocean of happiness and bliss.\n\nSo then, that we might in the next world be heirs of the highest good,\nGod has made us heirs of his own good self; \u2018Heirs of God, and joint\nheirs with Christ\u2019; heirs of God through Christ (Rom 18:17; Gal 4:7).\nThis God, this eternal God, therefore, is of necessity to be the object\nof our hope, because he is, of grace, become our hope. The church in\nheaven, called the body and temple of God, is to be an habitation for\nhimself, when it is finished, to dwell in for ever and ever. This then\nwe hope for, to wit, to be possessed at that day with eternal life;\neternal glory (1 Tim 6:12,19). Now this eternal life and eternal glory\nis through God the hope of his people (1 Peter 5:10; 1 John 5:20). And\nfor this end, and to this bliss, are we called and regenerate in this\nworld, \u2018That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs,\naccording to the hope of eternal life\u2019 (Titus 3:7). Nor can it be, that\nheaven and happiness should ever be the portion of them that make not\nGod their hope, any more than such a lady should hope to enjoy the\nestate of such a lord, who first makes not the lord himself her\nhusband.[13] Heaven, heaven is the talk of the ignorant, while the God\nof heaven they cannot abide. But shall such ever come to glory? But,\n\nII. God must be the special object of our hope, and him in special that\nmust be enjoyed by us in the next world, or nothing can make us happy.\nWe will suppose now, for the illustrating of this matter, that which is\nnot to be supposed. As,\n\n1. Suppose a man, when he dieth, should go to heaven, that golden\nplace, what good would this do him, if he was not possessed of the God\nof it? It would be, as to sweetness, but a thing unsavoury; as to\ndurableness, but a thing uncertain; as to society, as a thing forlorn;\nand as to life, but a place of death. All this is made to appear by the\nangels that fell; for when fallen, what was heaven to them? Suppose\nthey staid but one quarter of an hour there after their fall, before\nthey were cast out, what sweetness found they there, but guilt? What\nstay, but a continual fall of heart and mind? What society, but to be\nabandoned of all? And what life, but death in its perfection? Yea, if\nit be true that some think, that for the promoting of grace, they are\nadmitted yet to enter that place to accuse the saints on earth, yet\nwhat do they find there but what is grievous to them? It is the\npresence of God that makes heaven Heaven in all its beauteousness.\nHence David, when he speaks of heaven, says, \u2018Whom have I in heaven but\nthee?\u2019 (Psa 73:25). As who should say, What would heaven yield to me\nfor delights, if I was there without my God? It is the presence of God\nthat will make heaven sweet to those who are his. And as it is that\nthat makes the place, so it is interest in him that makes the company,\nand the deeds that are done there, pleasant to the soul. What solace\ncan he that is without God, though he were in heaven, have with\nAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the prophets and angels? How could he join\nin their thanks, and praises, and blessings of him for ever and ever,\nin whose favour, mercy, and grace, they are not concerned?\n\n2. Suppose a man, when he dieth, should be made to live for ever, but\nwithout the enjoyment of God, what good would his life do him? Why, it\nwould be filled full of horror, darkness, desolation, sorrow, and all\nthings that would tend to make it bitter to the soul. Witness they that\nlive in hell; if it be proper to say they live in hell? It is no more\npossible for a man to live happily, were he possessed of all that\nheaven and life could afford him, suppose him to be without interest in\nGod, than it is for a man that hath all the enjoyments of this world,\nif the sun was taken from him out of the firmament. As all things,\nwhether it be heaven, angels, heavenly pleasures and delights, have had\ntheir being of him, so their being is continued by him, and made sweet\nof him.\n\nNow, for the well managing of our hope, with reference to this special\nobject of it, there are these things to be considered. And now I speak\nto all. We must know him right, we must come to him right. (1.) We must\nknow him right. It is essential to happiness, and so to the making of\nthe God of heaven our hope, to know him rightly (John 17:1-3). It is\nnot every fancy, or every imagination of God, that thou mayst have,\nthat will prove that therefore thou knowest God aright. In him there\n\u2018is no variableness, neither shadow of turning\u2019 (James 1:17). He only\nis what he is, what imaginations soever we have of him. We may set up\nidols and images of him, as much in our minds as some do in their\nhouses and in their temples, and be as great, though not so gross\nidolaters as they.[14] Now if thou wouldst know him, thou must\ndiligently feel for him in his works, in his Word, and in his ways, if\nperhaps thou mayst find the knowledge of him (Prov 2:1-5; Acts 17:27).\n(2.) Beware, when thou hast found him, that thou go to him by his Son,\nwhom he has sanctified and sent into the world, to be the way for\nsinners to go to God; and see that thou keepest in this path always,\nfor out of him he is found intolerable, and a consuming-fire. (3.) Busy\nthyself with all thy might to make an interest in his Son, and he will\nwillingly be thy Saviour, for he must become thine before his Father\ncan be the object of thy hope (John 3:36). He that hath the Son, hath\nthe Father, but contrariwise, he that hath not him has neither (2 John\n9). (4.) Stay not in some transient comforts, but abide restless till\nthou seest an union betwixt thee and this Blessed One; to wit, that he\nis a root, and thou a branch; that he is head, and thou a member. And\nthen shalt thou know that the case is so between thee and him, when\ngrace and his Spirit has made thee to lay the whole stress of thy\njustification upon him and has subdued thy heart and mind to be \u2018one\nspirit\u2019 with him (Rom 4:4,5; 1 Cor 6:17). (5.) This done, hope thou in\nGod, for he is become thy hope, that is, the object of it. And for thy\nencouragement so to do, consider that he is able to bear up thy heart,\nand has said he will do it, as to this very thing, to all those that\nthus hope in him. \u2018Be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine\nheart,\u2019 all ye that hope in the Lord (Psa 31:24). It is manifest, as\nwas said before, that many difficulties lie in the way of hoping; but\nGod will make those difficulties easy, by strengthening the heart of\nhim that hopeth, to hope. He has a way to do that, which no creature\ncan hinder, by the blessed work of his Holy Spirit. He can show us he\nloves us, that he may encourage our hope. And as he can work in us for\nour encouragement, so he can and will, as was said before, himself, in\nhis time, answer our hope, by becoming our hope himself. \u2018The Lord\nshall be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of\nIsrael\u2019 (Joel 3:16).\n\nHis faithfulness also is a great encouragement to his, to hope for the\naccomplishment of all that he hath promised unto his people. \u2018Hath he\nsaid it, and shall he not make it good?\u2019 When he promised to bring\nIsrael into the land of Canaan, he accomplished it to a tittle. \u2018There\nfailed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the\nhouse of Israel; all came to pass\u2019 (Josh 21:45, 23:14). Also what he\nwith his mouth had promised to David, with his hand he fulfilled to\nSolomon in the view of all the thousands of Israel (1 Kings 8:22-24; 2\nChron 6:7-10).\n\n[Third. The persons who are concerned in the management of this duty of\nhope.]\n\nI will omit making mention again of the encouragements spoken of\nbefore, and shall now come to the third thing specified in this part of\nthe text, to wit, to show more distinctly, who, and what particular\npersons they are, who are concerned in this exhortation to hope.\n\nThey are put, as you see, under this general term Israel; \u2018Let Israel\nhope in the Lord.\u2019 And, \u2018He shall save Israel from all his troubles.\u2019\nIsrael is to be taken three ways, in the Scripture. 1. For such that\nare Israel after the flesh. 2. For such as are such neither after the\nflesh nor the Spirit; but in their own fancies and carnal imaginations\nonly. 3. For such as are Israel after God, or the Spirit.\n\n1. Israel is to be taken for those that are such after the flesh; that\nis, for those that sprang from the loins of Jacob, and are called,\n\u2018Israel after the flesh, the children of the flesh.\u2019 Now these, as\nsuch, are not the persons interested in this exhortation, for by the\nflesh comes no true spiritual and eternal grace (Rom 9:6-8; 2 Cor\n1:10-18). Men are not within the bounds of the promise of eternal life,\nas they are the children of the flesh, either in the more gross or more\nrefined sense (Phil 3:4-6). Jacob was as spiritual a father as any HE,\nI suppose that now professeth the gospel; but his spiritualness could\nnot convey down to this children, that were such only after the flesh,\nthat spirit and grace that causeth sound conversion, and salvation by\nJesus Christ. Hence Paul counts it a carnal thing to glory in this; and\ntells us plainly, If he had heretofore known Christ thus, that is, to\nhave been his brother or kinsman, according to the flesh, or after\nthat, he would henceforth know him, that is, so, \u2018no more\u2019 (2 Cor\n5:16-18). For though the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,\nyet not that multitude, but the remnant that the Lord hath chosen and\nshall call, shall be saved (Rom 9:27; Joel 2:32). This, therefore, is\nas an arrow against the face of that false doctrine that the Jews\nleaned upon, to wit, that they were in the state of grace, and\neverlasting favour of God, because the children and offspring of\nAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But,\n\n2. Israel may be taken for such as are neither so after the flesh, nor\nthe Spirit, but in their own fancy and imagination only. And such I\ntake to be all those that you read of in Revelation 2:9 which said\n\u2018they were Jews, and were not,\u2019 \u2018but did lie\u2019 (3:9).\n\nThese I take to be those carnal gospellers,[15] that from among the\nGentiles pretended themselves to be Jews inwardly, whose circumcision\nis that of the heart in the spirit, when they were such only in their\nown fancies and conceits, and made their profession out as a lie (Rom\n2:28,29). Abundance of these there are at this day in the world; men\nwho know neither the Father, nor the Son, nor anything of the way of\nthe Spirit, in the work of regeneration; and yet presume to say, \u2018They\nare Jews\u2019; that is, truly and spiritually the seed of Abraham, Isaac,\nand Jacob. \u2018For\u2019 now, \u2018he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither\nis that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew\nwhich is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the\nspirit,\u2014whose praise is not of men, but of God.\u2019 And although it may\nplease some now to say, as they of old said to them of the captivity,\n\u2018We seek your God as ye do\u2019 (Ezra 4:2); yet at last it will be found,\nthat as they, such have \u2018no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in\nJerusalem\u2019 (Neh 2:20). And I would from hence caution all to take heed\nof presuming to count themselves Jews, unless they have a substantial\nground so to do. For to do this without a good bottom, makes all our\nprofession a lie; and not only so, but it hindereth us of a sight of a\nwant of an interest in Jesus Christ, without which we cannot be saved;\nyea, such an one is the great self-deceiver, and so the worst deceiver\nof all: for he that deceives his own self, his own heart, is a deceiver\nin the worst sense; nor can any disappointment be like unto that which\ncasts away soul and body at once (James 1:22,26). O slender thread!\nthat a man should think, that because he fancieth himself \u2018an Israelite\nindeed,\u2019 that therefore he shall go for such an one in the day of\njudgment; or that he shall be able to cheat God with a pitiful say-so!\n\n3. But the Israel under consideration in the text, is Israel after God,\nor the Spirit; hence they are called \u2018the Israel of God,\u2019 because they\nare made so of him, not by generation, nor by fancy, but by Divine\npower (Can 6:16). And thus was the first of this name made so, \u2018Thy\nname shall be called no more Jacob but Israel\u2019 (Gen 32:28). This then\nis the man concerned in the text, \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord\u2019; to\nwit, Israel that is so of God\u2019s making, and of God\u2019s allowance: for men\nare not debarred from calling themselves after this most godly name,\nprovided they are so indeed; all that is dangerous is, when men shall\nthink this privilege comes by carnal generation, or that their fancying\nof themselves to be such will bear them out in the day of judgment.\nOtherwise, if men become the true servants of God by Christ, they have,\nas I said, an allowance so to subscribe themselves. \u2018One shall say, I\nam the Lord\u2019s and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and\nanother shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname\nhimself by the name of Israel\u2019 (Isa 44:5). But then, for the further\ndescribing of such, they must be men of circumcised and tender hearts;\nthey must be such \u2018which worship God in the spirit, and that rejoice in\nChrist Jesus, and that have no confidence in the flesh\u2019 (Phil 3:3), for\nthese are the Nathaniels, the Israelites indeed in whom there is no\nguile (John 1:47), and these are they that are intended in the\nexhortation, when he saith, \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord.\u2019\n\nFor these are formed for that very end, that they might hope in the\nLord; yea, the word and testament are given to them for this purpose\n(Psa 78:5-7). These are prisoners of hope all the time they are in the\nstate of nature, even as the whole creation is subjected under hope,\nall the time of its bondage, by the sin and villainy of man; and unto\nthem it shall be said, in the dispensation of the fullness of time,\n\u2018Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope\u2019 (Zech 9:12); as\ncertainly as that which is called the creature itself shall be\ndelivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of\nthe children of God (Rom 8:18-21). Only here, as I said before, let all\nmen have a care in this thing: this is the pinnacle, the point; he that\nis right here, is right in all that is necessary to salvation; but he\nthat misses here, can by no means be right anywhere to his soul\u2019s\nadvantage in the other world.\n\n[Improvement.] If I should a little improve the text where this title\nis first given to man, and show the posture he was in when it was said\nto him, \u2018Thy name shall be called Israel\u2019; and should also debate upon\nthe cause or ground of that, \u2018An Israelite indeed,\u2019 thou mightest not\nrepent it who shall read it; and therefore a few words to each.\n\n1. When Jacob received the name of Israel, he was found wrestling with\nthe angel; yea, and so resolved a wrestler was he, that he purposed,\nnow he had begun, not to give out without a blessing, \u2018I will not let\nthee go,\u2019 said he, \u2018except thou bless me\u2019 (Gen 32:26). Discouragements\nhe had while he wrestled with him, to have left off, before he obtained\nhis desire; for the angel bid him leave off; \u2018let me go,\u2019 said he. He\nhad wrestled all night, and had not prevailed; and now the day brake\nupon him, and consequently his discouragement was like to be the\ngreater, for that now the majesty and terribleness of him with whom he\nwrestled would be seen more apparently; but this did not discourage\nhim: besides, he lost the use of a limb as he wrestled with him; yet\nall would not put this Israel out. Pray he did, and pray he would, and\nnothing should make him leave off prayer, until he had obtained, and\ntherefore he was called \u2018Israel.\u2019 \u2018For as a prince hast thou power with\nGod and with men, and hast prevailed\u2019 (Gen 32:28,30). A wrestling\nspirit of prayer is a demonstration of an Israel of God; this Jacob\nhad, this he made use of, and by this he obtained the name of \u2018Israel.\u2019\nA wrestling spirit of prayer in straits, difficulties, and distresses;\na wrestling spirit of prayer when alone in private, in the night, when\nnone eye seeth but God\u2019s then to be at it, then to lay hold of God,\nthen to wrestle, to hold fast, and not to give over until the blessing\nis obtained, is a sign of one that is an Israel of God.\n\n2. \u2018Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile\u2019 (John 1:47). This\nwas the testimony of the Lord Jesus concerning Nathaniel (v 46).\nNathaniel was persuaded by Philip to come to Jesus, and as he was\ncoming, Jesus saith to the rest of the disciples concerning him,\n\u2018Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.\u2019 Then said Nathaniel\nto Jesus, \u2018Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him,\nBefore that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree I saw\nthee\u2019 (v 15). Nathaniel, as Jacob, was at prayer, at prayer alone under\nthe fig-tree, wrestling in prayer, for what no man can certainly tell,\nbut probably for the Messias, or for the revelation of him: for the\nseeing Jews were convinced that the time of the promise was out; and\nall men were in expectation concerning John, whether he might not be he\n(Luke 3:15). But Nathaniel was under the fig-tree, alone with God, to\ninquire of him, and that with great earnestness and sincerity; else the\nLord Jesus would not thus have excused him of hypocrisy, and justified\nhis action as he did, concluding from what he did there that he was a\ntrue son of Jacob; and ought, as he, to have his name changed from what\nhis parents gave him, to this given him of Christ, \u2018An Israelite\nindeed.\u2019 Wherefore, from both these places, it is apparent, that a\nwrestling spirit of prayer, in private, is one of the best signs that\nthis or that man or woman is of Israel; and, consequently, such who are\nwithin the compass of the exhortation here, saying, \u2018Let Israel hope in\nthe Lord.\u2019 I say, it is this wrestling spirit of prayer with God alone;\nfor as for that of public prayer, though I will not condemn it, it\ngives not ground for this character, notwithstanding all the flourishes\nand excellencies that may therein appear. I am not insensible what\npride, what hypocrisy, what pretences, what self-seekings of\ncommendations and applause, may be countenanced by those concerned in,\nor that make public prayers; and how little thought or savour of God\nmay be in all so said; but this closet, night, or alone prayer, is of\nanother stamp, and attended, at least so I judge, with that sense,\nthose desires, that simplicity, and those strugglings, wherewith that\nin public is not.[16] Nay, I think verily a man cannot addict himself\nto these most solemn retirements, without some of Jacob\u2019s and\nNathaniel\u2019s sense and sincerity, wrestlings and restlessness for mercy;\nwherefore, laying aside all other, I shall abide by this, That the man\nthat is as I have here described, is not an Israelite of the flesh, nor\none so only in his fancy or imagination, but one made so of God; one\nthat is called a child of promise, and one to whom this exhortation\ndoth belong: \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord\u2019; to wit, they that serve God\nby prayer day and night (Luke 2:37; Acts 26:5-7). These, I say, are\nIsrael, the Israel of God, and let these hope in the Lord, from now,\n\u2018henceforth, and for ever\u2019 (Psa 131:3).\n\n[SECOND. The manner by which the exhortation is expressed.]\n\nHaving thus briefly touched upon those three things that are contained\nin the matter of the exhortation, I now come to speak a word to the\nmanner of praises by which the exhortation is presented to us, \u2018Let\nIsrael hope\u2019; he doth not say, Israel hath hoped; Israel did hope; or\nIsrael can hope, but \u2018let Israel hope in the Lord.\u2019 \u2018Let\u2019 is a word\nvery copious, and sometimes signifies this, and sometimes that, even\naccording as the nature or reason of the thing under debate, or to be\nexpressed, will with truth and advantage bear. Let him hope,\n\nFirst. Sometimes \u2018let\u2019 is equivalent to a command; \u2018Let every soul be\nsubject to the higher powers,\u2019 this is a command. \u2018Let all things be\ndone decently and in order,\u2019 this also is a command. So here, \u2018Let\nIsrael hope,\u2019 this also is a command; and so enjoins a duty upon\nIsrael; for why, since they seek for mercy, should they not have it;\nnow a command lays a very strong obligation upon a man to do this or\nanother duty. \u2018He commandeth all men every where to repent\u2019; but Israel\nonly to hope in his mercy. Now take the exhortation and convert it into\na commandment, and it showeth us, (1.) in what good earnest God offers\nhis mercy to his Israel; he commands them to hope in him, as he is and\nwill be so to them. (2.) It supposes an impediment in Israel, as to the\nfaculty of receiving or hoping in God for mercy; we that would have God\nbe merciful, we that cry and pray to him to show us mercy, have yet\nthat weakness and impediment in our faith, which greatly hindereth us\nfrom a steadfast hoping in the Lord for mercy. (3.) It suggesteth also,\nthat Israel SINS, if he hopeth not in God, God would not that all\nshould attempt to hope, because they have no faith; for he is for\nhaving of them first believe, knowing that it is in vain to think of\nhoping, until they have believed; but Israel has believed, and\ntherefore God has commanded them to hope, and they sin if they obey him\nnot in this, as in all other duties. He commands thee, I say, since\nthou hast believed in his Son, to hope, that is, to expect to see his\nface in the next world with joy and comfort; this is hoping, this is\nthy duty, this God commands thee.\n\nSecond. As this word \u2018let\u2019 is sometimes equivalent to a command, so it\nis expressed sometimes also to show a grant, leave, or license, to do a\nthing: such are these that follow, \u2018Let us come boldly to the throne of\ngrace\u2019 (Heb 4:6). \u2018Let us draw near with a true heart\u2019 (ch 10). \u2018Let us\nhold fast the profession of our faith without wavering\u2019 (vv 22,23).\nHere also this manner of expressing the thing may be taken in the same\nsense, to wit, to show that Israel has a grant, a leave, a license, to\ntrust in the Lord. And O! what a privilege is this, but who believes\nit? And yet as truly as God has granted to Jacob, to Israel, repentance\nunto life, and by that means has made him fly for refuge, to lay hold\nof Christ set before him as a justifier; so has he granted him leave\nand license to trust in him for ever, and to hope for his favour in the\nnext world.\n\nAnd if you take the word in this sense, to wit, for a grant, leave, or\nlicense, to hope in God; then (1.) This shows how liberal God is of\nhimself, and things, to Israel. Let Israel hope in me, trust to me,\nexpect good things at my hand; I give him leave and license to do it.\nLet him live in a full expectation of being with me, and with my Son in\nglory; I give him leave to do so; he has license from me to do so. (2.)\nUnderstand the word thus, and it shows us with what boldness and\nconfidence God would have us hope in him. They that have leave and\nlicense to do a thing, may do it with confidence and boldness, without\nmisgivings and reluctance of mind; this is our privilege; we may live\nin a full assurance of hope unto the end, we may hope perfectly to the\nend, we have leave, license, and a grant to do it. (3.) Understand the\nword thus, and it also shows you how muddy, how dark those of Israel\nare, and how little they are acquainted with the goodness of their God,\nwho stand shrinking at his door like beggars, and dare not in a godly\nsort be bold, with his mercy. Wherefore standest thou thus with thy Ifs\nand thy O-buts, O thou poor benighted Israelite. Wherefore puttest thou\nthy hand in thy bosom, as being afraid to touch the hem of the garment\nof the Lord? Thou hast a leave, a grant, a license, to hope for good to\ncome, thy Lord himself has given it to thee, saying, \u2018LET Israel hope\nin the Lord.\u2019\n\nThird. This word \u2018let\u2019 is also sometimes used by way of rebuke and\nsnub; \u2018Let her alone, for her soul is vexed\u2019 (2 Kings 4:27). \u2018Let her\nalone, why trouble ye her?\u2019 (Mark 14:6). \u2018Refrain from these men, and\nlet them alone\u2019 (Acts 5:38). And it may also so be taken here. But if\nso, then it implies, that God in this exhortation rebuketh those evil\ninstruments, those fallen angels, with all others that attempt to\nhinder us in the exercise of this duty. As Boaz said to his servants,\nwhen Ruth was to glean in his field, \u2018let her glean even among the\nsheaves, and reproach her not\u2019 (Ruth 2:15,16). We have indeed those\nthat continually endeavour to hinder us of living in the full assurance\nof hope, as to being with God and with Christ in glory: but here is a\nrebuke for such, \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord.\u2019 And it shows us, 1.\nThat what suggestions come from Satan to make us that are Israelites to\ndoubt, come not for that end, by virtue of any commission that he hath\nfrom God. God has rebuked him in the text, and you may see it also\nelsewhere. These temptations, therefore, are rather forged of malice,\nand of despite to our faith and hope; and so should be accounted by us\n(Zech 1:1-3). 2. This shows us also that we should take heed of\ncrediting of that which comes unto us to hinder our hope in the Lord;\nlest we take part with Satan, while God rebuketh him, and countenanceth\nthat which fights against the grace of God in us. 3. It shows us also\nthat as faith, so hope, cannot be maintained with great difficulty, and\nthat we should endeavour to maintain it, and hope through every\ndifficulty.\n\nFourth. This word \u2018LET\u2019 is sometimes used by way of request or\nintreaty. \u2018I pray thee, LET Tamar my sister come\u2019 (2 Sam 13:6). \u2018LET it\nbe granted to the Jews to do,\u2019 &c. (Esth 9:13). And if it be so to be\ntaken here, or if in the best sense this interpretation of it may here\nbe admitted, the consideration thereof is amazing; for then it is all\none as if God by the mouth of his servant, the penman of this psalm,\ndid intreat us to hope in him. And why this may not be implied here, as\nwell as expressed elsewhere, I know not. \u2018God did beseech you by us; we\npray you in Christ\u2019s stead, be ye reconciled to God\u2019 (2 Cor 5:20). Why\nshould God beseech us to reconcile to him, but that we might hope in\nhim? and if it be thus taken here, it shows, 1. The great condescension\nof God, in that he doth not only hold out to us the advantages of\nhoping in God, but desires that we should hope, that we might indeed be\npartakers of those advantages. 2. It teaches us also humility, and that\nalways in the acts of faith and hope we should mix blushing, and shame,\nwith our joy and rejoicing. Kiss the ground, sinner; put \u2018thy mouth in\nthe dust, if so be there may be hope\u2019 (Lam 3:29).\n\nFifth. And lastly, This word is used sometimes by way of caution. \u2018Let\nhim that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall\u2019 (1 Cor 10:12).\n\u2018Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into\nhis rest, any of you should seem to come short of it\u2019 (Heb 4:1), and if\nit should be so taken here, then, 1. This shows us the evil of despair,\nand that we at times are incident to it; our daily weaknesses, our\nfresh guilt, our often decays, our aptness to forget the goodness of\nGod, are direct tendencies unto this evil, of which we should be aware;\nfor it robs God of his glory, and us of our comfort, and gratifies none\nbut the devil and unbelief. 2. It showeth us that despair is a fall, a\nfalling down from our liberty; our liberty is to hope; it is our\nportion from God; for he hath said that himself will be the hope of his\npeople. To do the contrary, is therefore a falling from God, a\ndeparting from God through an evil heart of unbelief. It is the\ngreatest folly in the world for an Israelite to despair; \u2018Why sayest\nthou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel. My way is hid from the Lord, and\nmy judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou\nnot heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends\nof the earth, fainteth not? There is no searching of his understanding.\nHe giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might, he\nincreaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the\nyoung men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon,\u2019 that is, hope\nin, \u2018the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with\nwings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk\nand not faint\u2019 (Isa 40:27-31).\n\n[THIRD. Inferences from the exhortation.]\n\nNow we come to those inferences that do naturally flow from this\nexhortation, and they are in number four.\n\nFirst. That hope and the exercise of it, is as necessary in its place,\nas faith, and the exercise of it. All will grant that there is need of\na daily exercise of faith; and we are bid to hope unto the end, because\nhope is the grace that relieveth the soul when dark and weary. Hope is\nas the bottle to the faint and sinking spirit. Hope calls upon the soul\nnot to forget how far it is arrived in its progress towards heaven.\nHope will point and show it the gate afar off; and therefore it is\ncalled the hope of salvation. Hope exerciseth itself upon God.\n\n1. By those mistakes that the soul hath formerly been guilty of, with\nreference to the judgment that it hath made of God, and of his dealings\nwith it. And this is an excellent virtue. \u2018I said,\u2019 once says the\nchurch, that \u2018my hope is perished from the Lord,\u2019 but I was deceived;\n\u2018this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope\u2019; that is, why, if I\ngive way to such distrusting thoughts, may I not be wrong again? (Lam\n3:18-21). Therefore will I hope! This virtue is that which belongs to\nthis grace only; for this and this only is it that can turn unbelief\nand doubts to advantage. \u2018I said in my haste,\u2019 said David, \u2018I am cut\noff from before thine eyes\u2019; nevertheless I was mistaken; \u2018thou\nheardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee\u2019 (Psa\n31:22). And what use doth he make of this? Why, an exhortation to all\ngood men to hope, and to take advantage to hope from the same mistakes.\nI think I am cast off from God, says the soul; so thou thoughtest\nafore, says memory, but thou wast mistaken then, and why not the like\nagain? and therefore will I hope. When I had concluded that God would\nnever come near me more, yet after that he came to me again, and as I\nwas then, so I am now; therefore will I hope.\n\n2. True hope, in the right exercise of it upon God, makes no stick at\nweakness or darkness; but rather worketh up the soul to some stay, by\nthese. Thus Abraham\u2019s hope wrought by his weakness (Rom 4). And so\nPaul, when I am weak, then I am strong; I will most gladly therefore\nrejoice in mine infirmities (2 Cor 12). But this cannot be done where\nthere is no hope, nor but by hope: for it is hope, and the exercise of\nit, that can say, Now I expect that God should bring good out of all\nthis. And as for the dark, it is its element to act in that: \u2018But hope\nthat is seen is not hope\u2019 (Rom 8:24). But we must hope for that we see\nnot. So David, \u2018Why art thou cast down, O my soul? hope thou in God.\u2019\nChristians have no reason to mistrust the goodness of God, because of\ntheir weakness, &c. \u2018I had fainted unless I had believed to see\u2019 (Psa\n27:13). By believing there, he means hoping to see, as the exhortation\ndrawn from thence doth import.\n\n3. Hope will make use of our calling, to support the soul, and to help\nit, by that, to exercise itself in a way of expectation of good from\nGod. Hence the apostle prays for the Ephesians, that they may be made\nto see what is \u2018the hope of their calling\u2019; that is, what good that is\nwhich by their calling they have ground to hope is laid up in heaven,\nand to be brought unto them at the appearance of Jesus Christ (Eph\n1:17,18). For thus the soul by this grace of hope will reason about\nthis matter: God has called me; surely it is to a feast. God has called\nme to the fellowship of his Son, surely it is that I may be with him in\nthe next world. God has given me the spirit of faith and prayer; surely\nit is that I might hope for what I believe is, and wait for what I pray\nfor. God his given me some tastes already; surely it is to encourage me\nto hope that he purposeth to bring me into the rich fruition of the\nwhole.\n\n4. Hope will exercise itself upon God by those breakings wherewith he\nbreaketh his people for their sins. \u2018The valley of Achor\u2019 must be given\n\u2018for a door of hope\u2019 (Hosea 2:15). The valley of Achor; what is that?\nWhy, the place where Achan was stoned for his wickedness, and the place\nwhere all Israel was afflicted for the same (Josh 7). I say, hope can\ngather by this, that God has a love to the soul; for when God hateth a\nman he chastiseth him not for his trespasses.[17] \u2018If ye be without\nchastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not\nsons\u2019 (Heb 12:8). Hence Moses tells Israel, that when the hand of God\nwas upon them for their sins, they should consider in their heart,\n\u2018that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee\u2019\n(Deut 8:5). And why thus consider, but that a door might be opened for\nhope to exercise itself upon God by this? This is that also that is\nintended in Paul to the Corinthians, \u2018When we are judged we are\nchastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world\u2019\n(1 Cor 11:32). Is not here a door of hope? And why a door of hope, but\nthat by it, God\u2019s people, when afflicted, should go out by it from\ndespair by hope?\n\n[Second.] But it is to be inferred, secondly, That the exercise of hope\nupon God is very delightful to him: else he would not have commanded\nand granted us a liberty to hope, and have snibbed those that would\nhinder. \u2018Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him; upon\nthem that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to\nkeep them alive in famine\u2019 (Psa 33:18,19). That God is much delighted\nin the exercise of this grace, is evident, because of the preparation\nthat he has made for this grace, wherewith to exercise itself. \u2018For\nwhatsoever things were writ aforetime, were written for our learning,\nthat we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope\u2019\n(Rom 15:4). Mark, the whole history of the Bible, with the relation of\nthe wonderful works of God with his people from the beginning of the\nworld, are written for this very purpose, that we, by considering and\ncomparing, by patience and comfort of them, might have hope. The Bible\nis the scaffold or stage that God has builded for hope to play his part\nupon in this world. It is therefore a thing very delightful to God to\nsee hope rightly given its colour before him; hence he is said, \u2018to\nlaugh at the trial of the innocent\u2019 (Job 9:23). Why at his trial?\nBecause his trial puts him upon the exercise of hope: for then indeed\nthere is work for hope, when trials are sharp upon us. But why is God\nso delighted in the exercise of this grace of hope?\n\n1. Because hope is a head-grace and governing. There are several lusts\nin the soul that cannot be mastered, if hope be not in exercise;\nespecially if the soul be in great and sore trials. There is\npeevishness and impatience, there is fear and despair, there is\ndoubting and misconstruing of God\u2019s present hand; and all these become\nmasters, if hope be not stirring; nor can any grace besides put a stop\nto their tumultuous raging in the soul. But now hope in God makes them\nall hush, takes away the occasion of their working, and lays the soul\nat the foot of God. \u2018Surely,\u2019 saith the Psalmist, \u2018I have behaved and\nquieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother, my soul is even\nas a weaned child.\u2019 But how came he to bring his soul into so good a\ntemper? Why, that is gathered by the exhortation following, \u2018Let Israel\nhope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever\u2019 (Psa 131:2,3). It was by\nhoping in the Lord that he quieted his soul, and all its unruly sinful\npassions.\n\n2. As hope quasheth and quieteth sinful passions, so it putteth into\norder some graces that cannot be put into order without it: as\npatience, meekness, silence, and long-suffering, and the like. These\nare all in a day of trial out of place, order, and exercise, where hope\nforbeareth to work. I never saw a distrusting man, a patient man, a\nquiet man, a silent man, and a meek man, under the hand of God, except\nhe was \u2018dead in sin\u2019 at the time. But we are not now talking of such.\nBut now let a man hope in the Lord, and he presently concludes this\naffliction is for my good, a sign God loves me, and that which will\nwork out for me a far more and exceeding and eternal weight of glory;\nand so it puts the graces of the soul into order (Luke 21:19).\nWherefore patience, by which a man is bid to possess or keep his soul\nunder the cross, is called \u2018the patience of hope\u2019 (1 Thess 1:3). So in\nanother place, when he would have the church patient in tribulation,\nand continue instant in prayer, he bids them \u2018rejoice in hope,\u2019 knowing\nthat the other could not be done without it (Rom 12:12).\n\n3. God takes much delight in the exercise of hope, because it\nconstrueth all God\u2019s dispensations, at present, towards it, for the\nbest: \u2018When he hath tried me I shall come forth like gold\u2019 (Job 23:10).\nThis is the language of hope. God, saith the soul, is doing of me good,\nmaking of me better, refining of my inward man. Take a professor that\nis without hope, and either he suffereth affliction of pride and\nostentation, or else he picks a quarrel with God and throws up all. For\nhe thinks that God is about to undo him; but hope construeth all to the\nbest, and admits no such unruly passions to carry the man away.\n\n4. Therefore hope makes the man, be the trials what they will, to keep\nstill close to the way and path of God. \u2018My foot,\u2019 said hoping Job,\n\u2018hath held his steps, his way have I kept and not declined, neither\nhave I gone back from the commandment of his lips\u2019 (Job 23:11,12). And\nagain, \u2018Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined\nfrom thy way: though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons,\nand covered us with the shadow of death\u2019 (Psa 44:18,19). But how came\nthey thus patiently to endure? Why, they by hope put patience and\nprayer into exercise. They knew that their God was as it were but\nasleep, and that in his time he would arise for their help; and when he\ndid arise he would certainly deliver. Thus is this psalm applied by\nPaul (Rom 8).\n\n[Third.] There is also inferred from this exhortation, that the hope of\nthose that are not Israelites is not esteemed of God. \u2018Let Israel\nhope.\u2019 The words are exclusive, shutting out the rest. He doth not say,\nLet Amalek hope, let Babylon, or the Babylonians hope; but even in and\nby this exhortation shutteth out both the rest and their hope from his\nacceptance. This being concluded, it follows, that some may hope and\nnot be the better for their hope. \u2018The hypocrite\u2019s hope shall perish\u2019\n(Job 8:13); their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost (11:20).\n\u2018For what is the hope of the hypocrite?\u2019 (27:8). Again, \u2018The hope of\nunjust men perisheth\u2019 (Prov 11:7). There is a hope that perisheth, both\nit and he that hoped with it together. The reasons are,\n\n1. Because it floweth not from faith and experience, but rather from\nconceit and presumption. Hope, as I have told you, if it be right,\ncometh of faith, and is brought forth by experience: but the hope now\nunder consideration is alone, and has no right original, and therefore\nnot regarded. It is not the hope of God, but the hope of man; that is,\nit is not the hope of God\u2019s working, but the hope that standeth in\nnatural abilities. \u2018Thou washest away the things which grow out of the\ndust of the earth, and thou destroyest the hope of man\u2019 (Job 14:19).\nWhatsoever in religious matters is but of a carnal and earthly\nexistence, must be washed away, when the overflowing scourge shall at\nthe end pass over the world (Isa 28:17-19).\n\n2. Because the Lord\u2019s mercy is not the object of it. The worldly man\nmakes gold, or an arm of flesh his hope; that is, the object of it, and\nso he despiseth God (Job 31:24; Jer 3:23). Or if he be a religious\nhypocrite, his hope terminates in his own doings: he trusteth, or\nhopeth, in himself, that he is righteous (Luke 18:9). All these things\nare abhorred of God, nor can he, with honour to his name, or in a\ncompliance with his own eternal designs, give any countenance to such a\nhope as this.\n\n3. This hope has no good effect on the heart and mind of him that hath\nit. It purifieth not the soul, it only holds fast a lie, and keeps a\nman in a circuit, at an infinite distance from waiting upon God.\n\n4. This hope busieth all the powers of the soul about things that are\nof the world, or about those false objects on which it is pitched; even\nas the spider diligently worketh in her web\u2014unto which also this hope\nis compared\u2014in vain. This hope will bring that man that has it, and\nexercises it, to heaven, when leviathan is pulled out of the sea with a\nhook; or when his jaw is bored through with a thorn: but as he that\nthinks to do this, hopeth in vain; so, even so, will the hope of the\nother be as unsuccessful; \u2018So are the paths of all that forget God, and\nthe hypocrite\u2019s hope shall perish; whose hope shall be cut off, and\nwhose trust shall be a spider\u2019s web. He shall lean upon his house, but\nit shall not stand; he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure\u2019\n(Job 8:13-15, 41:1-9). This is the hope that is not esteemed of God,\nnor the persons that have it, preferred by him a whit before their own\ndung (Job 20:4-8).\n\n[Fourth.] There is also inferred from these words, That Israel himself\nis subject to swerve in his soul about the object of hope. For this\ntext is to him as a command and grant, so an instruction by which he is\nto be informed, how and upon whom to set his hope. That Israel is apt\nto swerve as to the object of his hope, is evident, for that so much\nado is made by the prophets to keep him upon his God; in that so many\nlaws and statutes are made to direct him to set his hope in God: and\nalso by his own confession (Psa 78:7; Jer 3:23-25; Lam 4:17). The fears\nalso and the murmurings and the faintings that attend the godly in this\nlife, do put the truth of this inference out of doubt. It is true, the\napostle said, that he had the sentence of death in himself, that he\nmight not trust or hope in himself, but in God that raiseth the dead.\nBut this was an high pitch; Israel is not always here; there are many\nthings that hinder. (1.) The imperfection of our graces. There is no\ngrace perfected in the godly. Now it is incident to things defective,\nto be wanting in their course. Faith is not perfect; and hence the\nsensible Christian feels what follows: love is not perfect, and we see\nwhat follows; and so of hope and every other grace; their imperfection\nmakes them stagger. 2. Israel is not yet beyond temptations. There is a\ndeal to attend him with temptations, and he has a soul so disabled by\nsin, that at all times he cannot fix on God that made him, but is apt\nto be turned aside to lying vanities: the very thing that Jonah was\nensnared with (2:8).\n\n3. The promising helps that seem to be in other things, are great\nhindrances to a steady fixing, by hope, on God; there are good frames\nof heart, enlargements in duties, with other the like, that have\nthrough the darkness, and the legality of our spirits been great\nhindrances to Israel. Not that their natural tendency is to turn us\naside; but our corrupt reason getting the upper hand, and bearing the\nstroke in judgment, converts our minds and consciences to the making of\nwrong conclusions upon them. 4. Besides, as the mind and conscience, by\nreason, is oft deluded to draw these wrong conclusions upon our good\nframes of heart, to the removing of our hope from the right object unto\nthem; so by like reason, are we turned by unwholesome doctrines, and a\ncarnal understanding of the Word, to the very same thing: \u2018cisterns,\nbroken cisterns that can hold no water,\u2019 Israel, even God\u2019s people, are\napt to make unto themselves to the forsaking of their God (Jer\n2:11-13).\n\nThus have I gone through the first part of the text, which consists of\nan exhortation to hope in the Lord. And have showed you, 1. The matter\ncontained therein. 2. Something of the reason of the manner of the\nphrase. 3. And have drawn, as you see, some inferences from it.\n\n[SECOND. THE REASON URGED TO ENFORCE THE EXHORTATION.]\n\n\nI now come to the second part of the text, which is a reason urged to\nenforce the exhortation, \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord.\u2019 Why? \u2018For with\nthe Lord there is mercy.\u2019 There is the reason, let him hope, for there\nis mercy; let him hope in the Lord, for with him there is mercy. The\nreason is full and suitable. For what is the ground of despair, but a\nconceit that sin has shut the soul out of all interest in happiness?\nand what is the reason of that, but a persuasion that there is no help\nfor him in God? Besides, could God do all but show mercy, yet the\nbelief of that ability would not be a reason sufficient to encourage\nthe soul to hope in God. For the block SIN, which cannot be removed but\nby mercy, still lies in the way. The reason therefore is full and\nsuitable, having naturally an enforcement in it, to the exhortation.\nAnd,\n\nFirst. To touch upon the reason in a way general, and then [Second] to\ncome to it more particularly. \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with\nthe Lord there is mercy,\u2019 mercy to be bestowed, mercy designed to be\nbestowed.\n\n1. Mercy to be bestowed. This must be the meaning. What if a man has\nnever so much gold or silver, or food, or raiment: yet if he has none\nto communicate, what is the distressed, or those in want, the better?\nWhat if there be mercy with God, yet if he has none to bestow, what\nforce is there in the exhortation, or what shall Israel, if he hopeth,\nbe the better. But God has mercy to bestow, to give. \u2018He saith on this\nwise, I will give you the sure mercies of David\u2019 (Acts 13:34). And\nagain, \u2018The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus\u2019 (2 Tim\n1:16). Now then, here lies the encouragement. The Lord has mercy to\ngive; he has not given away ALL his mercy; his mercy is not clean gone\nfor ever (Psa 77:8). He has mercy yet to give away, yet to bestow upon\nhis Israel. \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is\nmercy.\u2019\n\n2. As there is with God mercy to be bestowed, so there is mercy\ndesigned to be bestowed or given to Israel. Some men lay by what they\nmean to give away, and put that in a bag by itself, saying, This I\ndesign to give away, this I purpose to bestow upon the poor. Thus God;\nhe designeth mercy for his people (Dan 9:4). Hence the mercy that God\u2019s\nIsrael are said to be partakers of, is a mercy kept for them. And\n\u2018thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor,\u2019 and laid up\nfor them (Psa 68:10). This is excellent and is true, \u2018Let Israel hope\nin the Lord, for there is with him mercy,\u2019 kept, prepared, and laid up\nfor them! (Psa 61:7). When God designs the bestowing of mercy, we may\nwell hope to be partakers (Psa 31:19). The poor will go merrily to\nweddings and funerals, and hope for an alms all the way they go, when\nthey come to understand that there is so much kept, prepared, and laid\nup for them by the bridegroom, &c.[18] But \u2018He keepeth mercy for\nthousands!\u2019 (Exo 34:7).\n\n3. As God has mercies to bestow, and as he has designed to bestow them,\nso those mercies are no fragments or the leavings of others: but\nmercies that are full and complete to do for thee, what thou wantest,\nwouldst have, or canst desire. As I may so say, God has his bags that\nwere never yet untied, never yet broken up, but laid by him through a\nthousand generations, for those that he commands to hope in his mercy.\nAs Samuel kept the shoulder for Saul, and as God brake up that decreed\nplace for the sea, so hath he set apart, and will break up his mercy\nfor his people: mercy and grace that he gave us before we had a being,\nis the mercy designed for Israel (2 Tim 1:9). Whole mercies are\nallotted to us; however, mercy sufficient (1 Sam 9:23-24; Job 38:10).\nBut to be a little more distinct.\n\n[Second, particularly.] I find that the goodness of God to his people\nis diversely expressed in his word: sometimes by the word grace;\nsometimes by the word love; and sometimes by the word mercy; even as\nour badness against him is called iniquity, transgression, and sin.\nWhen it is expressed by that word \u2018grace,\u2019 then it is to show that what\nhe doth is of his princely will, his royal bounty, and sovereign\npleasure. When it is expressed by that word \u2018love,\u2019 then it is to show\nus that his affection was and is in what he doth, and that he doth what\nhe doth for us, with complacency and delight. But when it is set forth\nto us under the notion of \u2018mercy,\u2019 then it bespeaks us to be in a state\nboth wretched and miserable, and that his bowels and compassions yearn\nover us in this our fearful plight. Now, the Holy Ghost chooseth\u2014as it\nshould seem\u2014in this place, to present us with that goodness that is in\nGod\u2019s heart towards us, rather under the term of mercy; for that, as I\nsaid before, it so presenteth us with our misery, and his pity and\ncompassion; and because it best pleaseth us when we apprehend God in\nChrist as one that has the love of compassion and pity for us. Hence we\nare often presented with God\u2019s goodness to us to cause us to hope,\nunder the name of pity and compassion. \u2018In his pity he redeemed them,\u2019\nand \u2018like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them\nthat fear him\u2019 (Isa 63:9; Psa 103:13). \u2018The Lord is very pitiful and of\ntender mercy,\u2019 he also is gracious and \u2018full of compassion\u2019 (James\n5:11; Psa 78:38). \u2018Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion,\u2019 and thy\n\u2018compassions fail not\u2019 (Psa 86:15, 111:4; Lam 3:22).\n\nThe words being thus briefly touched upon, I shall come to treat of two\nthings. FIRST, more distinctly, I shall show you what kind of mercy is\nwith the Lord, as a reason to encourage Israel to hope. SECONDLY, And\nthen shall show what is to be inferred from this reason, \u2018Let Israel\nhope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy.\u2019\n\n[FIRST, The kind of mercy that Israel is to hope for.]\n\nFirst, \u2018With him there is TENDER MERCY, and therefore let Israel hope\u2019\n(Psa 25:6, 103:4, 119:156). Tender mercy is mercy in mercy, and that\nwhich Israel of old had in high estimation, cried much for, and chose\nthat God would deal with their souls by that. \u2018Withhold not thou thy\ntender mercies from me,\u2019 said David, and \u2018according unto the multitude\nof thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions\u2019 (Psa 40:11, 51:1).\nAnd again, \u2018Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live\u2019 (Psa\n119:77). Now of this sort of mercies God has a great many, a multitude\nto bestow upon his people. And they are thus mentioned by the word, to\ncause us to hope in him. And is not this alluring, is not this enticing\nto the Israel of God to hope, when the object of their hope is a God\n\u2018very pitiful, and of tender mercy?\u2019 Yea, a God whose tender mercies\nare great and many. There are two things that this word tender mercy\nimporteth. 1. The first is, that sin will put a believer, if he giveth\nway thereto, into a very miserable condition. 2. That God would have\nthem hope, that though sin may have brought any of them into this\ncondition, the Lord will restore them with much pity and compassion.\n\u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord,\u2019 for with the Lord there is mercy, tender\nmercy.\n\n1. For the first of these, That sin will put a believer, if he gives\nway thereto, into a very miserable condition, and that upon a double\naccount. (1.) For that it will bring him into fears of damnation. (2.)\nIn that it will make his soul to be much pained under those fears.\n\nWe will wave the first, and come to the second of these. The pains that\nguilt will make, when it wounds the conscience, none knows but those to\nwhom sin is applied by the Spirit of God, in the law. Yet all may read\nof it in the experience of the godly; where this pain is compared to a\nwound in the flesh, to fire in the bones, to the putting of bones out\nof joint, and the breaking of them asunder (Psa 38:3,5,7,8, 102:3,\n22:14; Lam 1:13, 3:4). He that knows what wounds and broken bones are,\nknows them to be painful things. And he that knows what misery sin will\nbring the soul into with its guilt, will conclude the one comes no whit\nshort of the other. But now he that hath these wounds, and also these\nbroken bones, the very thoughts of a man that can cure, and of a\nbonesetter, will make him afraid, yea, quake for fear; especially if he\nknows that though he has skill, he has a hard heart, and fingers that\nare like iron. He that handleth a wound, had need have fingers like\nfeathers or down; to be sure the patient wisheth they were! Tenderness\nis a thing of great worth to such; and such men are much inquired after\nby such; yea, their tenderness is an invitation to such to seek after\nthem. And the thing is true in spirituals (Isa 42:3). Wherefore David\ncried, as I said before, \u2018Have mercy upon me, O God! according unto the\nmultitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions\u2019 (Psa\n51:1). O handle me tenderly, Lord, handle me tenderly, cried David. O\ncure me, I beseech thee, and do it with thy tender mercy.\n\nNow, answerable to this, the Lord is set forth to Israel, as one with\nwhom is mercy, consequently tender mercy. Let Israel hope in the Lord,\nfor with the Lord there is tender mercy. God therefore would have the\nwounded and bruised, and those whose pains may be compared to the pains\nand pangs of broken bones, to hope that he will restore them with much\npity and compassion, or as you have it before, in pity and tender\nmercy. See how he promiseth to do it by the prophet. \u2018A bruised reed\nshall he not break; and the smoking flax shall he not quench\u2019 (Isa\n42:3). See how tender he is in the action. \u2018When he saw him, he had\ncompassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in\noil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn,\nand took care of him\u2019 (Luke 10:33-35). Every circumstance is full of\ntenderness and compassion. See also how angry he maketh himself with\nthose of his servants that handle the wounded or diseased without this\ntenderness; and how he catcheth them out of their hand, with a purpose\nto deal more gently with them himself. \u2018The diseased,\u2019 saith he, \u2018have\nye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick;\nneither have ye bound up that which was broken; neither have ye brought\nagain that which was driven away; neither have ye sought that which was\nlost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them; therefore, ye\nshepherds, hear the words of the Lord: I will feed my flock, and I will\ncause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was\nlost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that\nwhich was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick\u2019 (Eze\n34:4,7,15,16). Here is encouragement to hope, even according to the\nreason urged: \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is\nmercy,\u2019 tender mercy. Second. As with him is mercy tender, so there is\nwith him mercy that is GREAT, for with him is great mercy. \u2018The Lord is\nlong-suffering, and of great mercy\u2019 (Num 14:18). When tenderness\naccompanies want of skill, the defect is great; but when tenderness and\ngreat skill meet together, such a surgeon is a brave accomplished man.\nBesides, some are more plagued with the sense of the greatness of their\nsins than others are; the devil having placed or fixed the great sting\nthere. These are driven by the greatness of sin into despairing\nthoughts, hotter than fire: these have the greatness of their sin\nbetwixt God and them, like a great mountain; yea, they are like a cloud\nthat darkeneth the sun and air.[19] This man stands under Cain\u2019s\ngibbet, and has the halter of Judas, to his own thinking, fastened\nabout his neck.\n\nAnd now, cries, he, \u2018GREAT mercy or NO mercy; for little mercy will do\nme no good\u2019; such a poor creature thus expostulateth the case with God,\n\u2018Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise\nthee?\u2019 (Psa 88:10). Lord, I have destroyed myself, can I live? My sins\nare more than the sands, can I live? Lord, every one of them are sins\nof the first rate, of the biggest size, of the blackest line, can I\nlive? I never read that expression but once in all the whole Bible;\n\u2018For thy name\u2019s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great\u2019\n(Psa 25:11). Not that there was but one man in Israel that had\ncommitted great iniquities, but because men that have so done, have\nrather inclined to despair, than to an argument so against the wind. If\nhe had said, Pardon, for they are little, his reason had carried reason\nin it; but when he saith, Pardon, for they are great, he seems to stand\nlike a man alone. This is the common language, \u2018if our transgressions\nbe upon us, and we pine away in them, How should we then live?\u2019 (Eze\n33:10). Or thus, \u2018Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost, and we are\ncut off for our parts\u2019 (Eze 37:11). Wherefore to such as these, good\nwishes, tender fingers, and compassion, without GREAT mercy, can do\nnothing. But behold, O thou man of Israel, thou talkest of great sins;\nanswerable to this, the Scripture speaks of great mercy; and thy great\nsins are but the sins of a man, but these great mercies are the mercies\nof a God; yea, and thou art exhorted, even because there is mercy with\nhim, therefore to trust thy soul with him, \u2018let Israel trust in the\nLord; for with the Lord there is mercy,\u2019 great mercy. This therefore is\na truth of singular consolation, that mercy is with the Lord, that\ntender mercy is with him, that great mercy is with him, both TENDER and\nGREAT. What would man have more? But,\n\nThird. As great mercy is with the Lord to encourage us to hope, so this\nmercy that is great, is RICH. \u2018God is rich in mercy\u2019 (Eph 2:4). There\nis riches of goodness and riches of grace with him (Rom 2:4; Eph 1:7).\nThings may be great in quantity, and little of value; but the mercy of\nGod is not so. We use to prize small things when great worth is in\nthem; even a diamond as little as a pea, is preferred before a pebble,\nthough as big as a camel. Why, here is rich mercy, sinner; here is\nmercy that is rich and full of virtue! a drop of it will cure a\nkingdom. \u2018Ah! but how much is there of it?\u2019 says the sinner. O,\nabundance, abundance! for so saith the text\u2014\u2018Let us fall now into the\nhand of the Lord, for his\u2019 rich \u2018mercies are great\u2019 (2 Sam 24:14). Some\nthings are so rich, and of such virtue, that if they do but touch a\nman, if they do but come nigh a man, if a man doth but look upon them,\nthey have a present operation upon him; but the very mentioning of\nmercy, yea, a very thought of it, has sometimes had that virtue in it\nas to cure a sin-sick soul. Here is virtuous mercy!\n\nIndeed mercy, the best of mercies, are little worth to a self-righteous\nman, or a sinner fast asleep; we must not, therefore, make our esteems\nof mercy according to the judgment of the secure and heedless man, but\naccording to the verdict of the Word; nay, though the awakened sinner,\nhe that roareth for mercy all day long, by reason of the disquietness\nof his heart is the likeliest among sinful flesh, or as likely as\nanother, to set a suitable estimate upon mercy; yet his verdict is not\nalways to pass in this matter. None can know the riches of mercy to the\nfull, but he that perfectly knoweth the evil of sin, the justice of\nGod, all the errors of man, the torments of hell, and the sorrows that\nthe Lord Jesus underwent, when mercy made him a reconciler of sinners\nto God. But this can be known by none but the God whose mercy it is.\nThis is the pearl of great price.\n\nThe richness of mercy is seen in several things. It can save from sin,\nfrom great sin, from all sin (Titus 3:5; Matt 15:22,28). It can save a\nsoul from the devil, from all devils (Matt 17:15,18). It can save a\nsoul from hell, from all hells (Psa 116:3,5,6). It can hold us up in\nthe midst of all weaknesses (Psa 94:18). It can deliver from eternal\njudgment (Rom 9:23). Yea, what is it that we have, or shall need, that\nthis virtuous mercy cannot do for us: \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord: for\nwhich the Lord is RICH mercy,\u2019 mercy full of virtue, and that can do\ngreat things.\n\nFourth. As the mercies that are with the Lord are tender, great, and\nrich, so there is a MULTITUDE of them, and they are called \u2018manifold,\u2019\nthere is a multitude of these rich and virtuous mercies (Psa 69:13; Rev\n9:19). By multitude, I understand mercies of every sort or kind;\nmercies for this, and mercies for the other malady; mercies for every\nsickness, a salve for every sore. Some things that are rich and very\nfull of virtue, have yet their excellency extending itself but to one,\nor two, or three things for help; and this is their leanness in the\nmidst of their excellencies. But it is not thus with the mercy of God.\nSome things that are rich and virtuous, are yet so only but at certain\nseasons; for there are times in which they can do nothing. But it is\nnot so with this tender, great, and rich mercy of God. There are some\nthings, though rich, that are sparingly made use of. But it is not so\nwith this mercy of God. There is a multitude of them; so if one will\nnot another will. There is a multitude of them; so one or other of them\nis always in their season. There is a multitude of them; and therefore\nit must not be supposed that God is niggardly as to the communicating\nof them.\n\nAs they are called a multitude, so they are called mercies manifold.\nThere is no single flower in God\u2019s gospel-garden, they are all double\nand treble; there is a wheel within a wheel, a blessing within a\nblessing, in all the mercies of God. Manifold; a man cannot receive\none, but he receives many, many folded up, one within another. For\ninstance,\n\n1. If a man receiveth Christ, who is called God\u2019s tender mercy; why, he\nshall find in him all the promises, pardons, justifications,\nrighteousnesses, and redemptions, that are requisite to make him stand\nclear before the justice of the law, in the sight of God, from sin\n(Luke 1:76-79; 1 Cor 1:30; Eph 4:32; 2 Cor 1:20).\n\n2. If a man receive the Spirit, he shall have as folded up in that, for\nthis is the first unfolding itself, many, very many mercies (Ezra 1:4).\nHe shall have the graces, the teachings, the sanctifications, the\ncomforts, and the supports of the Spirit: When he saith in one place,\n\u2018He will give the Spirit,\u2019 he calleth that in another place, \u2018the good\nthings\u2019 of God (Luke 11:13; Matt 7:11).\n\n3. If a man receive the mercy of the resurrection of the body, and\nGod\u2019s people shall assuredly receive that in its time, what a bundle of\nmercies will be received, as wrapt up in that? He will receive\nperfection, immortality, heaven, and glory; and what is folded up in\nthese things, who can tell?\n\nI name but these three, for many more might be added, to show you the\nplenteousness, as well as the virtuousness of the tender, great, and\nrich mercy of God. A multitude! There is converting mercy, there is\npreserving mercy, there is glorifying mercy: and how many mercies are\nfolded up in every one of these mercies, none but God can tell. A\nmultitude! There are mercies for the faithful followers of Christ, for\nthose of his that backslide from him, and also for those that suffer\nfor him; and what mercies will by these be found folded up in their\nmercies, they will better know when they come to heaven. A multitude of\npreventing mercies in afflictions, in disappointments, in cross\nprovidences, there are with God: and what mercies are folded up in\nthese afflicting mercies, in these disappointing mercies, and in these\nmerciful cross providences, must rest in the bosom of him to be\nrevealed, who only is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. A\nmultitude of common mercies; of every day\u2019s mercies, of every night\u2019s\nmercies, of mercies in relations, of mercies in food and raiment, and\nof mercies in what of these things there is; and who can number them?\nDavid said, He daily was loaded with God\u2019s benefits. And I believe, if,\nas we are bound, we should at all times return God thanks for all\nparticular mercies, particularly, it would be a burden intolerable, and\nwould kill us out of hand! (Psa 68:19). And all this is written, that\nIsrael might hope in the Lord: \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with\nthe Lord there is mercy.\u2019\n\nFifth. As the mercies that are with the Lord are tender, great, rich, a\nmultitude, and manifold; so they are mercies that DIMINISH NOT in the\nusing, but that rather increase in the exercising of them. Hence it is\nsaid, grace aboundeth, and hath abounded unto many; and that God is\nable to make all grace abound towards us (Rom 5:15; 2 Cor 9:8; Eph\n1:7,8). The grace of forgiveness I mean, wherein he hath abounded\ntowards us. Now, to abound, is to flow, to multiply, to increase, to\ngreaten, to be more and more; and of this nature is the mercy that is\nwith the Lord; mercy that will abound and increase in the using. Hence\nhe is said to pardon abundantly, to pardon and multiply to pardon: and,\nagain, to exercise loving-kindness; to exercise it, that is, to draw it\nout to the length; to make the best advantage and improvement of every\ngrain and quality of it (Isa 55:7; Jer 9;24). \u2018The Lord, the Lord God,\nmerciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and\ntruth\u2019 (Exo 34:6).\n\nMercy to a man under guilt, and fear of hell-fire, seems as a little,\nshrunk-up, or shrivelled thing; there appears no quantity in it. There\nis mercy, said Cain, but there is not enough; and he died under that\nconceit (Gen 4:13). Nor is it as to judgment and thought many times\nmuch better with the Israel of God. But behold when God sets mercy to\nwork, it is like the cloud that at first was but like a man\u2019s hand, it\nincreaseth until it hath covered the face of heaven. Many have found it\nthus, yea they have found it thus in their distress (1 Kings 18:41-44).\nPaul has this expression, \u2018The grace of our Lord was exceeding\nabundant,\u2019 that is, increased towards me exceedingly (1 Tim 1:13-15).\nAnd this is the cause of that change of thoughts that is wrought at\nlast in the hearts of the tempted; at first they doubt, at last they\nhope; at first they despair, at last they rejoice; at first they quake,\nwhile they imagine how great their sins are, and how little the grace\nof God is; but at last they see such a greatness, such a largeness,\nsuch an abundance of increase, in this multiplying mercy of God, that\nwith gladness of heart, for their first thoughts, they call themselves\nfools, and venture their souls, the next world, and their interest in\nit, upon this mercy of God.\n\nI tell you, Sirs, you must not trust your own apprehensions nor\njudgments with the mercy of God; you do not know how he can cause it to\nabound; that which seems to be short and shrunk up to you, he can draw\nout, and cause to abound exceedingly. There is a breadth, and length,\nand depth, and height therein, when God will please to open it; that\nfor the infiniteness can swallow up not only all thy sins, but all thy\nthoughts and imaginations, and that can also drown thee at last. \u2018Now\nunto him that is able,\u2019 \u2018as to mercy,\u2019 \u2018to do exceeding abundantly\nabove all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in\nus, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all\nages, world without end. Amen!\u2019 (Eph 3:20,21). This, therefore, is a\nwonderful thing, and shall be wondered at to all eternity; that that\nriver of mercy, that at first did seem to be but ankle deep, should so\nrise, and rise, and rise, that at last it became \u2018waters to swim in, a\nriver that could not be passed over!\u2019 (Eze 47:3-5). Now all this is\nwritten, that Israel might hope. \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with\nthe Lord there is mercy.\u2019\n\nSixth. As there are with God mercies, tender, great, rich, a multitude,\nand mercy that abounds; so to encourage us to trust in him, there is\nmercy to COMPASS US ROUND ABOUT. \u2018Many sorrows shall be to the wicked,\nbut he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about\u2019 (Psa\n32:10). This is, therefore, the lot of the Israel of God, that they\nshall, they trusting in their God, be compassed with mercy round about.\nThis is mercy to do for us in this world, that we may arrive safely in\nthat world which is to come. Another text saith, \u2018For thou, Lord, wilt\nbless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a\nshield\u2019 (Psa 5:12). As with a shield. This compassing of them,\ntherefore, is, to the end they may be defended and guarded from them\nthat seek their hurt. When Elisha was in danger, by reason of the army\nof the Syrians, \u2018behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of\nfire, round about him,\u2019 to deliver him (2 Kings 6:15-17). Round about\non every side; or as David hath it, \u2018Thou shalt increase my greatness,\nand comfort me on every side\u2019 (Psa 71:21). \u2018I will encamp about mine\nhouse,\u2019 saith God, \u2018because of the army, because of him that passeth\nby, and him that returneth\u2019 (Zech 9:1).\n\nThis, therefore, is the reason why, notwithstanding all our weaknesses,\nand also the rage of Satan, we are kept and preserved in a wicked\nworld; we are compassed round about. Hence, when God asked Satan\nconcerning holy Job, he answered, \u2018Hast thou not made a hedge about\nhim, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?\u2019\n(Job 1:10). I cannot come at him; thou compassest him, and keepest me\nout. By this, then, is that scripture opened, \u2018Thou art my\nhiding-place, thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt compass\nme about with songs of deliverance\u2019 (Psa 32:7). And, indeed, it would\nbe comely, if we, instead of doubting and despairing, did sing in the\nways of the Lord: have we not cause thus to do, when the Lord is round\nabout us with sword and shield, watching for us against the enemy, that\nhe may deliver us from their hand? (Jer 31:12).\n\nThis also is the reason why nothing can come at us, but that it may do\nus good. If the mercy of God is round about us, about us on every side;\nthen no evil thing can by any means come at us, but it must come\nthrough this mercy, and so must be seasoned with it, and must have its\ndeadly poison, by it, taken away. Hence Paul, understanding this,\nsaith, \u2018And we know that all things work together for good to them that\nlove God\u2019 (Rom 8:28). But how can that be, did they not come to us\nthrough the very sides of mercy? and how could they come to us so,\nsince Satan pryeth to wound us deadly in every, or in some private\nplace, if mercy did not compass us round about, round about as with a\nshield? He went round about Job, to see by what hog-hole he might get\nat him, that he might smite him under the fifth rib.[20] But, behold,\nhe found he was hedged out round about; wherefore he could not come at\nhim but through the sides of mercy; and, therefore, what he did to him\nmust be for good. Even thus also shall it be in conclusion with all the\nwrath of our enemies, when they have done what they can; by the mercy\nof God, we shall be made to stand. \u2018Why boasteth thou thyself in\nmischief,\u2019 said David, \u2018O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth\ncontinually\u2019 (Psa 52:1). And that will sanctify to me whatever thou\ndoest against me! This, therefore, is another singular encouragement to\nIsrael to hope in the Lord; for that there is with him mercy to compass\nus round about.\n\nHere is, I say, room for hope, and for the exercise thereof; when we\nfeel ourselves after the worst manner assaulted. \u2018Wherefore should I\nfear,\u2019 said David, \u2018in the day of evil, when the iniquity of my heels\nshall compass me about?\u2019 (Psa 49:5). Wherefore? Why now there is all\nthe reason in the world to fear the day of evil is come upon thee, and\nthe iniquity of thy heels doth compass thee about. The hand of God is\nupon thee, and thy sins, which are the cause, stand round about thee,\nto give in evidence against thee; and therefore thou must fear. No,\nsaith David, that is not a sufficient reason; he that trusteth in the\nLord, Mercy shall compass him about. Here is ground also to pray in\nfaith, as David, saying, \u2018Keep me as the apple of the eye, hid me under\nthe shadow of thy wings, from the wicked that oppress me, from my\ndeadly enemies, who compass me about\u2019 (Psa 17:8,9).\n\nSeventh. As all this tender, great, rich, much abounding mercy,\ncompasseth us about; so that we may hope in the God of our mercy, it is\nsaid this mercy IS TO FOLLOW US. \u2018Surely goodness and mercy shall\nfollow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the\nLord for ever\u2019 (Psa 23:6). It shall follow me, go with me, and be near\nme, in all the way that I go (Psa 32:8). There are these six things to\nbe gathered out of this text, for the further support of our hope.\n\n1. It shall follow us to guide us in the way. I will guide thee with\nmine eye, says God, that is, in the way that thou shalt go. The way of\nman to the next world, is like the way from Egypt to Canaan, a way not\nto be wound out but by the pillar of a cloud by day, and a flame of\nfire by night; that is, with the Word and Spirit. \u2018Thou shalt guide me\nwith thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory\u2019 (Psa 73:24). Thou\nshalt guide me from the first step to the last that I shall take in\nthis my pilgrimage: Goodness and mercy shall follow me.\n\n2. As God in mercy will guide, so by the same he will uphold our goings\nin his paths. We are weak, wherefore though the path we go in were\nnever so plain, yet we are apt to stumble and fall. But \u2018when I said my\nfoot slippeth, thy mercy, O Lord, held me up\u2019 (Psa 94:18). Wherefore we\nshould always turn our hope into prayer, and say, Lord, \u2018hold up my\ngoings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not\u2019 (Psa 17:5). Be not\nmoved; let mercy follow me.\n\n3. As the God of our mercy has mercy to guide us, and uphold us; so by\nthe same will he instruct us when we are at a loss, at a stand. \u2018I led\nIsrael about,\u2019 says God, \u2018I instructed him, and kept him as the apple\nof mine eye\u2019 (Deut 32:10). I say we are often at a loss; David said,\nafter all his brave sayings, in Psalm 119, \u2018I have gone astray like a\nlost sheep: seek thy servant\u2019 (v 176). Indeed a Christian is not so\noften out of the way, as he is at a stand therein, and knows not what\nto do. But here also is his mercy as to that. \u2018Thine ears shall hear a\nword behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn\nto the right hand, and when ye turn to the left\u2019 (Isa 30:21). Mercy\nfollows for this.\n\n4. Mercy shall follow to carry thee when thou art faint. We have many\nfainting and sinking fits as we go. \u2018He shall gather the lambs with his\narm, and carry them in his bosom,\u2019 or upon eagles\u2019 wings (Isa 40:11).\nHe made Israel to ride on the high places of the earth, and made him to\nsuck honey out of the rock (Deut 32:13).\n\n5. Mercy shall follow us, to take us up when we are fallen, and to heal\nus of those wounds that we have caught by our falls. \u2018The Lord\nupholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all _those that be_ bowed down\u2019\n(Psa 145:14). And again: \u2018The Lord openeth _the eyes of_ the blind; the\nLord raiseth them that are bowed down; the Lord loveth the righteous\u2019\n(Psa 146:8). Or, as we have it in another place, \u2018The steps of a good\nman are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way. Though he\nfall he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with\nhis hand\u2019 (Psa 37:23,24). Here is mercy for a hoping Israelite; and yet\nthis is not all.\n\n6. Mercy shall follow us to pardon our sins as they are committed. For\nthough by the act of justification, we are for ever secured from a\nstate of condemnation; yet as we are children, we need forgiveness\ndaily, and have need to pray, \u2018Our Father, forgive us our trespasses.\u2019\nNow, that we may have daily forgiveness for our daily sins and\ntrespasses, mercy and goodness must follow us; or as Moses has it, \u2018And\nhe said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord! let my Lord, I\npray thee, go amongst us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon\nour iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance\u2019 (Exo\n34:9). Join to this that prayer of his, which you find in Numbers: \u2018Now\nI beseech thee let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou\nhast spoken, saying, The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy,\nforgiving iniquity, and transgression, and by no means clearing the\nguilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the\nthird and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of\nthis people according to the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast\nforgiven this people from Egypt even until now,\u2019 or hitherto (Num\n14:17-19). How many times, think you, did Israel stand in need of\npardon, from Egypt, until they came to Canaan? Even so many times wilt\nthou need pardon from the day of thy conversion to the day of death; to\nthe which God will follow Israel, that he may dwell in the house of the\nLord for ever.\n\nEighth. As all this tender, great, rich, abounding, compassing mercy,\nshall follow Israel to do him good; so shall it do him EVERY GOOD TURN,\nin delivering of him from every judgment that by sin he hath laid\nhimself obnoxious to, with rejoicing. For \u2018mercy rejoiceth against\njudgment\u2019 (James 2:13). That is, applying it to the mercy of God\ntowards his, it rejoiceth in delivering us form the judgments that we\nhave deserved; yea, it delivereth us from all our woes with rejoicing.\nIn the margin it is \u2018glorieth\u2019; it glorieth in doing this great thing\nfor us. I have thought, considering how often I have procured judgments\nand destructions to myself, that God would be weary of pardoning, or\nelse that he would pardon with grudging. But the Word said, \u2018He\nfainteth not nor is weary\u2019 (Isa 40;28). \u2018I will rejoice over them to do\nthem good,\u2014with my whole heart, and with my whole soul\u2019 (Jer 32:41).\nThis doing of us good with rejoicing, this saving of us from deserved\njudgments with rejoicing, this getting the victory over our\ndestructions for us, with rejoicing; O! it is a marvellous thing! \u2018O\nsing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvellous things: his\nright hand, and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory\u2019; the victory\nfor us (Psa 98:1). And as Paul said, \u2018We are more than conquerors\nthrough him\u2019 (Rom 8:37); and this he did with triumph and rejoicing\n(Col 2:15). The heart is seen oft-times, more in the manner than in the\nact that is acted; more in the manner of doing than in doing of the\nthing. The wickedness of the heart of Moab was more seen in the manner\nof action than in the words that he spake against Israel. \u2018For since\nthou spakest [of] against him thou skippedst for joy\u2019 (Jer 48:27). So\nEdom rejoiced at the calamity of his brother; he looked on it and\nrejoiced: and in his rejoicing appeared the badness of his heart, and\nthe great spite that he had against his brother Jacob (Oba 10:14).\n\nNow, my brethren, I beseech you consider, that God hath not only showed\nyou mercy, but hath done it with rejoicing. Mercy doth not only follow\nyou, but it follows you with rejoicing: yea, it doth not only prevent\nyour ruin, by our repeated transgressions procured, but it doth it with\nrejoicing. Here is the very heart of mercy seen, in that it rejoiceth\nagainst judgment. Like unto this is that in Zephaniah: \u2018The Lord thy\nGod in the midst of thee is mighty: he will save, he will rejoice over\nthee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with\nsinging\u2019 (Zeph 3:17,18).\n\nThere are many things that show with what an heart mercy is of God\nextended, as is afore described, to Israel for his salvation; but this,\nthat it acteth with rejoicing, that it saveth with rejoicing, and gets\nthe victory over judgment with rejoicing! is a wonderful one, and one\nthat should be taken notice of by Israel, for his encouragement to\nhope. \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with him there is mercy,\u2019\ntender, great, rich, multiplying mercy, mercy that compasseth us about,\nthat goeth with us all the way, and mercy that rejoiceth to overcome\nevery judgment that seeketh our destruction, as we go toward our\nFather\u2019s house and kingdom!\n\nIt is said in the Word, God delighteth in mercy. \u2018Who is a God like\nunto thee that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of\nthe remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever,\nbecause he delighteth in mercy\u2019 (Micah 7:18). Here then is a reason of\nthe rejoicing of mercy against judgment. Why, mercy is God\u2019s delight;\nor, as another hath it, \u2018Mercy pleaseth thee.\u2019 What a man delights in,\nthat he will set on foot, and that he will seek to manage, that he will\npromote, and that he will glory in the success and prosperity of. Why,\nthe text saith, God delighteth in mercy: nor do I believe, how odious\nsoever the comparison may seem to be, that ever man delighteth more in\nsin, than God hath delighted in showing mercy. Has man given himself\nfor sin? God has given his Son for us, that he might show us mercy\n(John 3:16). Has man lain at wait for opportunities for sin? God has\nwaited to be gracious, that he might have mercy upon us (Isa 30:10).\nHas man, that he might enjoy his sin, brought himself to a morsel of\nbread? Why Christ, Lord of all, that he might make room for mercy, made\nhimself the poorest man (Luke 9:58; 2 Cor 8:9). Has man, when he has\nfound his sin, pursued it with all his heart? Why God, when he sets a\nshowing mercy, shows it with rejoicing, for he delighteth in mercy.\n\nHere also you may see the reason why all God\u2019s paths are mercy and\ntruth to his (Psa 25:10). I have observed that what a man loveth he\nwill accustom himself unto, whether it be fishing, hunting, or the\nlike. These are his ways, his course, the paths wherein he spends his\nlife, and therefore he is seldom found out of one or another of them.\n\u2018Now,\u2019 saith David, \u2018all the paths of the Lord are mercy\u2019 (Psa 25:10).\nHe is never out of them: for wherever he is, still he is coming towards\nhis Israel in one or other of these paths, stepping steps of mercy.\nHence again it is that you find that at the end of every judgment there\nis mercy; and that God in the midst of this remembers that (Habb 2:3).\nYea, judgment is in mercy; and were it not for that, judgment should\nnever overtake his people (1 Cor 11:32). Wherefore let Israel hope in\nthe Lord, seeing with him is all this mercy.\n\nNinth. Besides all this, the mercy that is with God, and that is an\nencouragement to Israel to hope in him, IS EVERLASTING: \u2018The mercy of\nthe Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him\u2019\n(Psa 103:17). From everlasting to everlasting; that is more, more than\nI said. Well,\n\n1. Then from everlasting; that is, from before the world began; so\nthen, things that are, and are to be hereafter, are to be managed\naccording to those measures that God in mercy took for his people then.\nHence it is said, that he has blessed us according as he chose us in\nChrist, before the world began; that is, according to those measures\nand grants that were by mercy allotted to us then (Eph 1:4). According\nto that other saying, \u2018according to his mercy he saved us,\u2019 that is,\naccording as mercy had allotted for us before the world began (Titus\n3:5). \u2018According to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in\nChrist before the world began\u2019 (2 Tim 1:9). This is mercy from\neverlasting, and is the ground and bottom of all dispensations that\nhave been, are, or are to come to his people. And now, though it would\nbe too great a step to a side, to treat of all those mercies that of\nnecessity will be found to stand upon that which is called mercy from\neverlasting, yet it will be to our purpose, and agreeable to our\nmethod, to conclude that mercy to everlasting stands upon that; even as\nvocation, justification, preservation, and glorification, standeth upon\nour being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Rom\n8:29,30). Here then is the mercy that is with God and that should\nencourage Israel to hope. The mercy that has concerned itself with\nthem, is mercy from everlasting. Nor may it be thought that a few\nquarrels of some brain-sick fellows will put God upon taking new\nmeasures for his people; what foundation has been laid for his, before\nhe laid the foundation of the world, shall stand; for that it was laid\nin Christ by virtue of mercy: that is, from everlasting (Rom 9:11). The\nold laws, which are the Magna Charta, the sole basis of the government\nof a kingdom, may not be cast away for the pet that is taken by every\nlittle gentleman against them.[21] We have indeed some professors that\ntake a great pet against that foundation of salvation, that the mercy\nthat is from everlasting has laid; but since the kingdom, government,\nand glory of Christ is wrapped up in it, and since the calling,\njustification, perseverance, and glorification of his elect, which are\ncalled his body and fulness, is wrapt up therein, it may not be laid\naside nor despised, nor quarrelled against by any, without danger of\ndamnation.\n\nHere then is the mercy with which Israel is concerned, and which is\nwith God as an encouragement to them that should hope, to hope in him.\nIt is mercy from everlasting; it is mercy of an ancient date; it is\nmercy in the root of the thing. For it is from this mercy in the root\nof the thing. For it is from this mercy, this mercy from everlasting,\nthat all, and all those sorts of mercies, of which we have discoursed\nbefore, do flow. It is from this that Christ the Saviour flows; this is\nit, from which that tender mercy, that great mercy, that rich mercy\nthat aboundeth towards us, doth flow; and so of all the rest. Kind\nbrings forth its kind; know the tree by his fruit; and God by his mercy\nin Christ; yea, and know what God was doing before he made the world,\nby what he has been doing ever since. And what has God been doing for\nand to his church from the beginning of the world, but extending to,\nand exercising loving-kindness and mercy for them? therefore he laid a\nfoundation for this in mercy from everlasting.\n\n2. But mercy from everlasting is but the beginning, and we have\ndiscoursed of those mercies that we have found in the bowels of this\nalready, wherefore a word of that which is to everlasting also. \u2018From\neverlasting to everlasting.\u2019 Nothing can go beyond to everlasting;\nwherefore this, to everlasting, will see an end of all. The devil will\ntempt us, sin will assault us, men will persecute; but can they do it\nto everlasting? If not, then there is mercy to come to God\u2019s people at\nlast; even when all evils have done to us what they can. After the\nprophet had spoken of the inconceivable blessedness that God hath\nprepared for them that wait for him, he drops to present wrath, and the\nsin of God\u2019s people in this life. This done, he mounts up again to the\nfirst, and saith, \u2018in those is continuance\u2019; that is, the things laid\nup for us are everlasting, and therefore \u2018we shall be saved\u2019 (Isa\n64:4,5). How many things since the beginning have assaulted the world\nto destroy it, as wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, &c., and yet\nto this day it abideth. But what is the reason of that? Why, God\nliveth, upon whose word, and by whose decree it abideth. \u2018He hath\nestablished the earth, and it abideth\u2019; it standeth fast, and \u2018cannot\nbe moved\u2019 (Psa 119:90, 93:1, 96:10). Why, my brethren, mercy liveth,\nmercy is everlasting; \u2018His mercy endureth for ever!\u2019 (Psa 136). And\ntherefore the church of God liveth; and when all her enemies have done\ntheir all, this is the song that the church shall sing over them: \u2018They\nare brought down and fallen, but we are risen, and stand upright!\u2019 (Psa\n20:8). Everlasting mercy, with everlasting arms, are underneath (Deut\n33:27).\n\nAnd as this shows the cause of the life of the church, notwithstanding\nher ghostly and bodily enemies, so it showeth the cause of her\ndeliverance from her repeated sins. As God said of leviathan \u2018I will\nnot conceal his parts,\u2019 &c. (Job 41:12). So it is very unbecoming of\nGod\u2019s people to conceal their sins and miscarriages, for it diminisheth\nthis mercy of God. Let therefore sin be acknowledged, confessed, and\nnot be hid nor dissembled; it is to the glory of mercy that we confess\nto God and one another what we are; still remembering this, but mercy\nis everlasting!\n\nAs this shows the reason of our life, and the continuance of that,\nnotwithstanding our repeated sins, so it shows the cause of the\nreceiving [or renewing] of our graces, from so many decays and\nsickness. For this mercy will live, last, and outlast, all things that\nare corruptible and hurtful unto Israel. Wherefore \u2018let Israel hope in\nthe Lord,\u2019 for this reason, \u2018for with the Lord there is mercy.\u2019 1.\nTender mercy for us. 2. Great mercy for us. 3. Rich mercy. 4. Manifold\nmercy. 5. Abounding mercy towards us. 6. Compassing mercy wherewith we\nare surrounded. 7. Mercy to follow us wherever we go. 8. Mercy that\nrejoiceth against judgment. And, 9. Mercy that is from everlasting to\neverlasting. All these mercies are with God, to allure, to encourage,\nand uphold Israel in hope.\n\n[SECOND. What is to be inferred from this reason.]\n\nI come now to the second thing, which is to show what is to be inferred\nfrom this reason. And,\n\nFirst. This, to be sure, is to be inferred, That Israel, as the child\nof God, is a pitiful thing of himself; one that is full of weaknesses,\ninfirmities, and defects, should we speak nothing of his\ntransgressions. He that is to be attended with so many mercies,\nabsolutely necessary mercies, for there is not in these mercies one\nthat can be spared, must needs be in himself a poor indigent creature.\nShould you see a child attended with so many engines to make him go, as\nthe child of God is attended with mercies to make him stand, you would\nsay, What an infirm, decrepit, helpless thing is this![22] Alas! I have\nhere counted up mercies in number nine. If I had counted up nine\nhundred and ninety-nine, all had been the same, for the child of God\nwould not have one to spare. The text saith, \u2018The earth, O Lord, is\nfull of thy mercy,\u2019 and all little enough to preserve his Israel (Psa\n119:64). Indeed, those that I have presented the reader with are the\nchief heads of mercies; or the head-mercies from which many others\nflow. But, however, were they but single mercies, they show with great\nevidence our deficiency; but being double, they show it much more.\n\nShould it be said there is such a lord has a son, a poor decrepit\nthing; he is forced to wear things to strengthen his ancles, things to\nstrengthen his knees, things to strengthen his loins, things to keep up\nhis bowels, things to strengthen his shoulders, his neck, his hands,\nfingers; yea, he cannot speak but by the help of an engine, nor chew\nhis food but by the help of an engine. What would you say? What would\nyou think? Would you not say such a one is not worth the keeping, and\nthat his father cannot look for any thing from him, but that he should\nlive upon high charge and expense, as long as he liveth; besides all\nthe trouble such an one is like to be of to others. Why this is the\ncase: Israel is such an one, nay, a worse. He cannot live without\ntender mercy, without great mercy, without rich mercy, without manifold\nmercy and unless mercy abounds towards him. He cannot stand if mercy\ndoth not compass him round about, nor go unless mercy follows him. Yea,\nif mercy that rejoiceth against judgment doth not continually flutter\nover him, the very moth will eat him up, and the canker will consume\nhim (Job 4:19). Wherefore it is necessary to the making of Israel live\nand flourish, that everlasting mercy should be over his head, and\neverlasting mercy under his feet, with all the afore-mentioned mercies,\nand more in the bowels of it. But I say doth not this sufficiently\nshow, had we but eyes to see it, what a sad and deplorable creature the\nchild of God of himself is? O! this is not believed nor considered as\nit should. Vain man would be wise; sinful man would be holy; and poor,\nlame, infirm, helpless man, would be strong, and fain persuade others\nthat he hath a sufficiency of himself. But I say, if it be so, what\nneed all this mercy? If thou canst go lustily, what mean thy crutches?\nNo, no, Israel, God\u2019s Israel, when awake, stands astonished at his\nbeing surrounded with mercies, and cries out, \u2018I am not worthy of the\nleast [I am less than the least] of all thy mercies, and of all the\ntruth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant\u2019 (Gen 32:10).\n\nSecond. This also showeth how sorely the enemies of Israel are bent to\nseek his destruction. The devil is, by way of eminency, called the\nenemy of God\u2019s people: \u2018the devil, your adversary\u2019 (1 Peter 5:8). And\nthis, that there are so many mercies employed about us, and all to\nbring us to the place which God hath appointed for us, doth demonstrate\nit. Should you see a man that was not to go from door to door, but he\nmust be clad in a coat of mail, must have a helmet of brass upon his\nhead, and for his life-guard not so few as a thousand men to wait upon\nhim; would you not say, Surely this man has store of enemies at hand,\nsurely this man goes continually in danger of his life? Why, this is\nthe case, enemies lie in wait for poor Israel in every hole; he can\nneither eat, drink, wake, sleep, work, sit still, talk, be silent;\nworship his God in public or in private, but he is in danger of being\nstabbed, or being destroyed. Hence, as was said before, he is compassed\nabout with mercy as with a shield (Micah 7:20). And again it is said\nconcerning these, \u2018God\u2019s truth,\u2019 his mercy, \u2018shall be thy shield and\nbuckler\u2019 (Psa 91:4). And again, \u2018He is a buckler to all them that trust\nin him\u2019 (2 Sam 22:31). Yea, David being a man sensible of his own\nweakness, and of the rage and power of his enemies, cries out to his\nGod to take hold of shield and buckler, and to stand up for his help\n(Psa 35:2). But what need these things be asserted, promised, or prayed\nfor? if Israel had no enemies, or none but such, he could, as we say,\nmake his party good with all. Alas, their cries, their tears, sighs,\nwatchings, and outcries, at sundry times, make this, beyond all show of\ndoubt, a truth.\n\nIf Solomon used to have about his bed no less than threescore of the\nvaliantest of Israel, holding swords, and being expert in war, every\none with his sword upon his thigh, because of fear in the night\u2014and yet\nthese fears were only concerning men\u2014what guard and safe-guard doth\nGod\u2019s poor people need, who are continually, both night and day, roared\nupon by the unmerciful fallen angels of hell! (Can 3:7,8). I will add,\nif it be but duly considered, all this guard and safeguard by mercy\nnotwithstanding, how hardly this people do escape being destroyed for\never, yea, how with hearts broken, and loins broken, many of them with\nmuch difficulty get to the gates of heaven! it will be easily\nconcluded, that her enemies are swifter than eagles, stronger than\nlions; and that they often overtake her between the straits.\n\nTo say nothing of the many thousands that dare not so much as once\nthink of true religion, because of the power of the enemy which they\nbehold, when alas! they see nobody but the very scarecrows which the\ndevil hath set up for I count the persecutor of God\u2019s people but the\ndevil\u2019s scarecrow, the old one himself lies quiet\u2014yet, I say, how are\nthey frighted! how are they amazed! What a many of the enemies of\nreligion have these folks seen today![23] yea, and they will as soon\nventure to run the hazard of hell-fire, as to be engaged by these\nenemies in this way. Why, God\u2019s people are fain to go through them all,\nand yet no more able than the other to do it of themselves. They\ntherefore are girded, compassed, and defended by this mercy, which is\nthe true cause indeed of their godly perseverance.\n\nThird. A third thing that I infer from these words is, What a loving\nGod has Israel! \u2018Truly God is good to Israel. Let the redeemed of the\nLord say so.\u2019 A loving God, that should take this care of him, and\nbestow so many mercies upon him. Mercies of all sorts, for all cases,\nfor all manner of relief and help against all manner of perils. What is\nman that God should so unweariedly attend upon him, and visit him every\nmoment? Is he a second God? Is he God\u2019s fellow? Is he of the highest\norder of the angels? or what is he? O! he is a flea, a worm, a dead\ndog, sinful dust and ashes; he comes up like a flower and is cut down,\nand what a thing is it that God should so much as open his eyes upon\nsuch a one! (1 Sam 26:20; Job 25:6, 45:2,3). But then, what a thing is\nit that God should magnify him, and that he should set his heart upon\nhim! (Job 7:17). Yea, that he should take him into acquaintance with\nhim, give his angels to be all ministering spirits for him! Yea, engage\nhis mercy for him, his tender, great, manifold, and everlasting mercy\nfor him, to compass him round withal, as with a shield, that nothing\nmight work his ruin for ever and ever!\n\nIt may well be said, \u2018God is love\u2019! (1 John 4:16). Man may well say so,\n\u2018O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth\nfor ever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed\nfrom the hand of the enemy\u2019 (Psa 107:1-3). If it be love for a\nfellow-creature to give a bit of bread, a coat, a cup of cold water,\nwhat shall we call this? when God, the great God, the former of all\nthings, shall not only give an alms, an alms to an enemy, but shall\nrise up, take shield and buckler, and be a guard, a protection, a\ndeliverer from all evil, until we come into his heavenly kingdom? This\nlove is such as is not found on earth, nor to be paralleled among the\ncreatures. None hopes this but one that is good. Nor does any believe\nas they should, that God doth love as these things declare he does. Our\nheart staggereth at the greatness of the thing, and who is it that has\nany reason left in him, and knows anything of what a wretched thing sin\nhath made him, that can without starting so much as hear of all this\nmercy! But,\n\nFourth. Another thing that I infer from these words is this, What\nground is here to Israel to hope in the Lord! The Lord is not that\nbroken reed of Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand\nand pierce it. God\u2019s word is steadfast for ever, even the word by which\nwe are here exhorted to hope. Nor shall we have cause to doubt of the\ncause of the exhortation to such a soul-quieting duty; for mercy is\nwith the Lord: \u2018Let Israel rejoice in him that made him; let the\nchildren of Zion be joyful in their king\u2019 (Psa 149:2). For with the\nLord there is mercy, wherewith to beautify the meek with salvation.\nWhat sayest thou, child of God? Has sin wounded, bruised thy soul, and\nbroken thy bones? Why, with the Lord there is tender mercy. Art thou a\nsinner of the first rate, of the biggest size? Why, with the Lord there\nis great mercy for thee? Have thy sins corrupted thy wounds, and made\nthem putrefy and stink? Why, with the Lord there is rich, that is,\nvirtuous[24] mercy for thee. Art thy sins of diverse sorts? Why, here\nis a multitude of manifold mercies for thee. Dost thou see thyself\nsurrounded with enemies? Why, with the Lord there is mercy to compass\nthee about withal. Is the way dangerous in which thou art to go? Surely\ngoodness and mercy shall follow thee all the days of thy life. Doth\niniquity prevail against thee? The mercy of this Lord aboundeth towards\nthee. Doth judgments for thy miscarriages overtake thee; There is with\nthy Lord mercy that rejoiceth to deliver thee from those judgments.\nWhat shall I say? There is mercy from everlasting to everlasting upon\nthee. What wouldst thou have? There is mercy underneath, mercy above,\nand mercy for thee on every side; therefore \u2018let Israel hope in the\nLord!\u2019 I will add, it is the greatest unkindness thou canst return to\nthe Lord to doubt this mercy notwithstanding. Why, what wilt thou make\nof God? Is there no truth nor trust to be put in him, notwithstanding\nall that he hath said? O the depravedness of man\u2019s nature! Because he\nspeaketh the truth, therefore we believe him not! (John 8:45). The\nodiousness of unbelief is manifest by this, yea, also the\nunreasonableness thereof. God is true, his Word is true; and to help us\nto hope in him, how many times has he fulfilled it to others, and that\nbefore our eyes? Hope then; it is good that a man should hope. Hope\nthen; it pleases God that thou shouldest hope. Hope then to the end,\nfor the grace that is to be brought unto thee will surely come, with\nChrist thy Saviour.\n\nMen that have given up themselves to their sins, hope to enjoy some\nbenefit by them, though the curse of God, and his wrath, is revealed\nfrom heaven against them for it (Rom 1:18). And yet thou that hast\ngiven thyself to God by Christ, art afraid to hope in his mercy! For\nshame, hope, and do not thus dishonour thy God, would thine own soul,\nand set so bad an example to others. I know thou hast thy objections in\na readiness to cast in my way, and were they made against doctrine,\nreason would that some notice should be taken of them; but since they\nare made against duty, duty urged from, and grounded upon, a word which\nis stedfast for ever, thou deservest to be blamed, and to be told, that\nof all sins that ever thou didst commit, thou now art managing the\nvilest, while thou art giving way to, and fortifying of, unbelief and\nmistrust, against this exhortation to hope, and against the reason for\nencouragement to the duty.\n\n[THIRD. THE AMPLIFICATION OF THE REASON \u2018TO HOPE IN THE LORD.\u2019]\n\n\nBut I shall pass from this to the third thing found in the text, and\nthat is the AMPLIFICATION of the reason. I told you that there were in\nthe text these three things, I. An exhortation to the children of God\nto hope in the Lord: \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord.\u2019 II. A reason to\nenforce that exhortation, \u2018For with the Lord there is mercy.\u2019 III. An\namplification of that reason, \u2018And with him is plenteous redemption.\u2019 I\nhave gone through the two first, and shall now come to this last.\n\nIn these last words, which I call the Amplification of the reason, we\nhave two things. FIRST. A more particular account of the nature of the\nmercy propounded for an encouragement to Israel to hope. SECOND. An\naccount of the sufficiency of it. The nature of the mercy propounded,\nis expressed by that word \u2018redemption.\u2019 The sufficiency of it is\nexpressed by that word \u2018plenteous.\u2019 \u2018Let Israel hope in the Lord; for\nwith the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.\u2019\n\n[FIRST. The nature of the mercy propounded.]\n\nRedemption may be diversely taken, as shall be further showed anon; but\nforasmuch as the term here is made mention of indefinitely, without\nnominating of this or that part of redemption particularly, I shall\nspeak to it in the general, with respect at least to the main heads\nthereof.\n\nTo redeem is to fetch back, by sufficient and suitable means, those at\npresent in an enthralled, captivated, or an imprisoned condition; and\nthere are two sorts of this redemption. First, Redemption by purchase.\nSecond, Redemption by power. Redemption by purchase is from the cause\nof captivities. Redemption by power is from the effects.\n\nFirst, If we speak of redemption by purchase, then three things present\nthemselves to our consideration\u2014I. The person redeeming. II. The nature\nof the price paid to redeem withal. III. The thing or state from which\nthis redeemer with this price redeemeth.\n\n[I. The Person redeeming.] The subject of this redemption, or person\nredeemed, is Israel, of him we have spoken before. For the person\nredeeming, it is Jesus of Nazareth; Jesus that was born at Bethlehem,\nat the time, and as the Scriptures relate (Matt 1; Luke 2). Now, with\nreference to his person, we have two things to inquire after. What this\nperson was. How he addressed himself to this work.\n\n1. What this person was. This Jesus was and is the natural and eternal\nSon of God Almighty, without beginning or end, from everlasting; the\nCreator and Upholder of the world (Prov 8; John 1; Heb 1).\n\n2. How he addressed himself to the work of redeeming, take as follows.\nHe became true man: for he was conceived through the power of the Holy\nGhost in the womb of a maid, and in the fulness of time brought forth\nof her, true, real, natural man; I say, though not in the worst, yet in\nthe best sense (Luke 2:31-35). Being thus brought forth without spot or\nblemish, he began to address himself to the work. (1.) By works\npreparatory, and then, (2.) By the act itself.\n\n(1.) The works preparatory were as follow. He prepares himself a\npriestly robe, which was his own obediential righteousness; for without\nthese holy garments he might not adventure to come into the presence of\nGod to offer his gift (Rom 5:19; Exo 28:40, 40:13). Before he offered\nhis gift for the people, he was to be himself sanctified to his office:\nand that\u2014by blood\u2014by prayers and tears (1 Peter 1:19). (a.) By blood;\nfor before Aaron was to offer his sacrifice for the people, he must\nhimself be sprinkled with blood (Exo 29:19-22). And because Jesus could\nnot be sprinkled with the blood of beasts, therefore was he sprinkled\nwith that of his own: not as Aaron was, upon the tip of his ear, and\nupon the tip of his toe; but from top to toe, from head to foot, his\nsweat was blood (Luke 22:44). So that from his agony in the garden to\nthe place where he was to lay down the price of our redemption, he went\nas consecrated in his own blood. (b.) He offered also his sacrifice of\nstrong crying and tears, as his drink-offering to God, as a sacrifice\npreparatory, not propitiatory, in pursuit of his office; not to purge\nhis person (Heb 5:5-8). This is the person redeeming, and this was his\npreparation to the work.\n\n(2.) The act itself. Now the redemption is often ascribed particularly\nto his blood; yet in general, the act of his redeeming of us must\neither more remotely or more nearly be reckoned from his whole\nsuffering for us in the flesh; which suffering I take to begin at his\nagony, and was finished when he was raised again from the dead. By his\nflesh I understand his whole man, as distinguished from his Divine\nnature; and so that word doth comprehend his soul as well as his body,\nas by the 53rd of Isaiah appears. His soul after that manner which was\nproper to it; and his body after that manner which was proper to it.\n\n[II. The nature of the price paid to redeem.] His sufferings began in\nhis soul, some time before his body was touched, by virtue of which was\nhis bloody sweat in his body. The sorrows of his soul began at the\napprehension of what was coming from God, for our sakes, upon him; but\nthe bloody sweat of his body was from that union it had with such a\nsoul. His sufferings were from the hand of God, not of man; not by\nconstraint, but of his own will (Lev 1:3; John 10:18); and they differ\nfrom ours in these six things. 1. His sufferings were by the rigour of\nthe law; ours according to the tenor of the gospel (Gal 3:13; Heb\n12:10). 2. His sufferings were from God\u2019s hand immediately; ours by and\nthrough a Mediator (Isa 53:6; Heb 9:22). 3. God delighted himself in\nevery stroke he gave him; he doth not willingly grieve nor afflict his\npeople (Isa 53; Psa 103; Lam 3:33). 4. He suffereth as a common or\npublic person; we for our own private offences (1 Cor 15:3; Lam 3:39).\n5. He suffered to make amends to justice for the breach of a holy law;\nwe to receive some small correction, and to be taught to amend our\nlives (Heb 9:26; Rom 10:3,4; Deut 8:5; 2 chron 6:27). 6. He was\ndelivered from the nature of suffering by the merit of his person and\nsufferings; we from ours by the mercy of God through Christ (Acts 2:24;\nEph 4:32, 5:2). Redemption, then, by a price, was this; the blood of\nChrist, which he willingly suffered to be spilt on the cross, before\nthe face of God.\n\n[III. The state from which this price redeemeth.] The cause of this\nprice was our sins; by which we were justly delivered up to the curse,\nthe devil, death, and hell; and should everlastingly have so continued,\nbut that this price of redemption was for us paid. Hence it is said,\nChrist died for us. Christ died for our sins. Christ gave himself for\nour sins. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of\nsins. And that we are bought with this price. Now, in all this Christ\nrespected the holiness of the law, and the worth of our souls; giving\nfull satisfaction to the one, for the love that he bare to the other.\nAnd this has redeemed his people from sin and the curse, the cause of\nour captivity.\n\nSecond, But besides this, there is redemption by power, and that\nrespecteth that, or those things, unto which we become not legally\nindebted by our transgression. There was that unto which we became\nlegally indebted, and that was the justice and holiness of the law (Gen\n2:17). Now from this, because God had said it, for his Word made it so,\nthere could be no deliverance, but by a reverend and due respect to its\ncommand and demand, and an answer to every whit of what it would\nrequire; for not one tittle, not one jot or tittle of the law could\nfail (Matt 5:18). Jesus Christ, therefore, with respect to the law,\nthat he might redeem us, paid a full and sufficient price of\nredemption; but as for these things that hold us captive, not for any\ninjury we have done to them, but of power, tyranny, or the like; from\nthem he redeemed us by power (Eph 4). Hence, when he had made\nsatisfaction or amends for us to the law, he is said to \u2018lead captivity\ncaptive, to spoil principalities and powers, and to make a show of them\nopenly\u2019 (Col 2). But to take captive, and to spoil, must be understood\nof what he did, not to the law, but to those others of our enemies from\nwhich we were to be redeemed, not by price but by power. And this\nsecond part of redemption is to be considered under a twofold head. 1.\nThat these were overcome personally, in and by himself, for us. 2. That\nthey shall be overcome also, in and by his church, through the power of\nhis Spirit.\n\n1. For the first, these were overcome personally, in and by himself for\nus; to wit, at his resurrection from the dead. For as by his death he\nmade amends for our breach of the law, so by his resurrection he\nspoiled those other enemies, to wit, death, the devil, and the grave,\n&c., unto which we were subjected, not for any offence we had committed\nagainst them, but for our sin against the law; and men when they have\nanswered to the justice of the law, are by law and power delivered from\nthe prison. Christ therefore, by power, by his glorious power, did\novercome the devil, hell, sin, and death, then when he arose and\nrevived from his grave, and so got the victory over them, in and by\nhimself, for us. For he engaging as a common or public person for us,\ndid on our behalf what he did, both in his death and resurrection. So\nthen, as he died for us, he rose for us; and as by his death he\nredeemed us from some, so by his resurrection from other, of our\nenemies. Only it must be considered, that this redemption, as to the\nfulness of it as yet, resides in his own person only, and is set out to\nhis church as she has need thereof, and that orderly too. First, that\npart thereof which respecteth our redemption from the law; and then\nthat part of it which respecteth our redemption from those other\nthings. And although we are made partakers of redemption from the curse\nof the law in this life, so far forth as to be justified therefrom; and\nalso as to the receiving of an earnest while here, of being wholly\npossessed of the glory of the next world hereafter; yet we neither are,\nnor shall be redeemed from all those things, which yet our head has, as\nhead, got a complete and eternal victory over, until just before he\nshall deliver up the kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all;\nfor \u2018the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death\u2019 (1 Cor 15:26).\nDeath, as it has hold upon us, for death as it had hold on our head,\nwas destroyed, when he rose from the dead, but death, as we are subject\nto it, shall not be destroyed until we all and every one of us shall\nattain to the resurrection from the dead; a pledge of which we have by\nour spiritual resurrection, from a state of nature to a state of grace\n(Col 3:1-4). A promise of which we have in the word of the truth of the\ngospel; and an assurance of it we have by the resurrection of Christ\nfrom the dead (Eph 4:30; Luke 20:35; Acts 17:30,31). Wherefore let us\nhope!\n\nNow, as to redemption from the law, and from those other things from\nwhich we are, and are to be redeemed with power; do but consider the\ndifferent language which the Holy Ghost useth, with reference to our\nredemption from each.\n\nWhen it speaketh of our redemption from the just curse of the law,\nwhich we have sufficiently deserved, it is said to be done, not by\ndestroying, but by fulfilling the law. \u2018Think not,\u2019 says Christ, \u2018that\nI am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy,\nbut to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass,\none jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be\nfulfilled\u2019 (Matt 5:17,18). For it became him, as our Redeemer, to\nfulfil all, and all manner of righteousness, by doing and suffering\nwhat justly should have been done or borne of us (Rom 8:3-5; Gal\n3:13,14).\n\nBut now when our redemption from those other things is made mention of,\nthe dialect is changed; for then we read, to the end we might be\ndelivered from them, Christ was to destroy and abolish them (2 Tim\n1:10); \u2018that through death he might destroy him that had the power of\ndeath, that is, the devil,\u2019 and so deliver (Heb 2:14). And again, \u2018O\ndeath, I will be thy plagues! O grace, I will be thy destruction!\u2019\n(Hosea 13:14). And again, \u2018that the body of sin might be destroyed\u2019\n(Rom 6:6); and I have the keys of hell and of death (Rev 1:18). Having\nthereby sufficiently declared that the power of it is destroyed as to\nIsrael, who are the people concerned in this redemption.\n\n2. They shall be overcome by his church through the power of his\nSpirit. Now, as was hinted before, the redemption is already obtained,\nand that completely, by the person of Christ for us (Heb 9:24), as it\nis written, \u2018Having obtained eternal redemption for us\u2019; yet these\nenemies, sin, death, the devil, hell, and the grave, are not so under\nthe feet of his [saints] as he will put them, and as they shall be in\nconclusion under the feet of Christ (Heb 2:8,9). I say they are not;\nwherefore, as the text also concludeth, this redemption is with the\nLord, and under our feet they shall be by the power of God towards us\n(2 Cor 13:4). And for this let Israel hope. The sum then is, God\u2019s\npeople have with the Lord redemption, and redemption in reversion;\nredemption, and redemption to come; all which is in the hand of the\nLord for us, and of all we shall be possessed in his time. This is that\ncalled plenteous redemption. \u2018For with him is plenteous redemption.\u2019 A\nlittle therefore to touch upon the redemption that we have in\nreversion, or of the redemption yet to come.\n\n(1.) There is yet much sin and many imperfections that cleave to our\npersons and to our performances, from which, though we be not yet in\nthe most full sense delivered, yet this redemption is with our Lord,\nand we shall have it in his time; and in the meantime it is said, It\nshall not have dominion over us. \u2018Sin shall not have dominion over you;\nfor ye are not under the law, but under grace\u2019 (Rom 6:14). We are, by\nwhat Christ has done, taken from under the law, the curse; and must, by\nwhat Christ will do, be delivered from the very being of sin. \u2018He gave\nhimself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity\u2019; that he\nmight present us to himself a glorious church, not having spot or\nwrinkle, or any such thing, but that we should be without blemish\n(Titus 2:13,14; Eph 5:25,27). That we are already without the being of\nsin, none but fools and madmen will assert; and that we shall never be\ndelivered from it, none but such men will affirm neither. It remains\nthen, that there is a redemption for Israel in reversion, and that from\nthe being of sin. And of this it is that the text also discourseth, and\nfor which let the godly hope.\n\n(2.) We are not yet quite free from Satan\u2019s assaulting of us, though\nour Head by himself, and that for us, has got a complete conquest over\nhim; but the time is coming, and himself knows that it is but a little\nwhile to it, in which he shall forever be bruised under our feet. Be\nwise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil, and the God\nof peace shall bruise, tread down Satan under your feet shortly (Rom\n16:20). Some may think that this text will have a fulfilling in the\nruin and downfall of Antichrist; and so it may; but yet it will never\nbe wholly fulfilled, as long as Satan shall have any thing to do with\none of the children of God. There is therefore a redemption in\nreversion for the children of God from Satan, which they are to hope\nfor, because this redemption is with the Lord their Head, and that to\nmanage and bring about for them. For he shall bruise him under their\nfeet in his time.\n\n(3.) There is yet belonging to the church of God a redemption from what\nremains of Antichrist, although as yet he is stronger than we, which I\nalso call a redemption in reversion, for that it is yet to come, nor\nshall it be accomplished till the time appointed. In this redemption,\nnot only saints, but truths will have a share; yea, and many also of\nthe men that belong not to the kingdom of Christ and of God. This\nredemption God\u2019s people are also to hope for, for it is with their\nLord, and he has promised it to them, as the Scripture doth plentifully\ndeclare.\n\n(4.) There is yet a redemption to come, which is called the redemption\nof our body (Rom 8:23). Of this redemption we have both the earnest and\nthe seal, to wit, the Spirit of God (Eph 1:14, 4:30). And because the\ntime to it is long, therefore we are to wait for it; and because it\nwill be that upon which all our blessedness will be let out to us, and\nwe also let in to it, therefore we should be comforted at all the signs\nof the near approach thereof; \u2018then,\u2019 saith Christ, \u2018look up and lift\nup your heads\u2019 (Luke 21:28). The bodies of saints are called the\npurchased possession; possession, because the whole of all that shall\nbe saved shall be for a temple or house for God to dwell in, in the\nheavens. A purchased possession, because the body, as well as the soul,\nis bought with the price of blood (1 Cor 6:14-20). But what then doth\nhe mean by the redemption of this purchased possession? I answer, he\nmeaneth the raising it up from the dead; \u2018I will ransom them from the\npower of the grave, I will redeem them from death\u2019 (Hosea 13:14). And\nthen shall be brought to pass that saying that is written, \u2018Death is\nswallowed up in victory\u2019; that saying, that is this, and that in\nIsaiah, for they speak both the selfsame thing (1 Cor 15; Isa 25:8).\n\nAnd this was signified by Moses, where he speaks of the year of\njubilee, and of the redemption of the house that was sold in Israel,\nhow of that year it should return to the owner (Lev 25). Our bodies of\nright are God\u2019s, but sin still dwells in them; we have also sold and\nforfeited them to death and the grave, and so they will abide; but at\nthe judgment day, that blessed jubilee, God will take our body, which\noriginally is his, and will deliver it from the bondage of corruption,\nunto which, by our souls, through sin, it has been subjected; he will\ntake it, I say, because it is his, both by creation and redemption, and\nwill bring it to that perfect freedom that is only to be found in\nimmortality and eternal life. And for this should Israel hope! From\nwhat hath been said to this first thing, it appears that the mercy that\nis with God for his people, as it is in general what has been described\nbefore, so it is redeeming mercy, or mercy that has with it the virtue\nof redemption; of the advantageousness of this mercy, we will further\ndiscourse by and by, but now we will look into the second thing, that\nfrom this amplification of the reason was propounded to be spoken to,\nto wit,\n\n[SECOND. The sufficiency of this redemption.]\n\nAn account of the sufficiency of this redemption. \u2018Let Israel hope in\nthe Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous\nredemption.\u2019 The sufficiency or plenteousness of it may be spoken to,\nas it respecteth the many difficulties and dangers that by sin we have\nbrought ourselves into; or as it respecteth the superabundant worth\nthat is found therein, let the dangers attending us be what they will,\nthough we should not be acquainted with the half or the hundredth part\nthereof.\n\nTo speak to it as it respecteth those particular difficulties and\ndangers that by sin we have brought ourselves unto; and that, First. By\nshowing the suitableness of it. Second. By showing the sufficiency of\nthe suitableness thereof.\n\nFirst. The suitableness of it lieth in the fit application thereof to\nall the parts of thraldom and bondage. Have we sinned? Christ had our\nsins laid upon his back; yea, of God was made, that is, reputed, sin\nfor us (Isa 53; 2 Cor 5:21). Were we under the curse of the law by\nreason of sin? Christ was made under the law, and bare the curse\nthereof to redeem (Gal 4:4, 3:13; Rom 3:24). Had sin set us at an\nindefinite distance from God? Christ has become, by the price of his\nredeeming blood, a reconciler of man to God again (Col 1:20). Were we\nby sin subject to death? Christ died the death to set us free therefrom\n(Rom 6:23). Had our sins betrayed us into and under Satan\u2019s slavery?\nChrist has spoiled and destroyed this work, and made us free citizens\nof heaven (Acts 26:18; 2 Tim 2:26; Heb 2:14; Eph 2:19). Thus was our\nRedeemer made, as to those things, a suitable recoverer, taking all and\nmissing nothing that stood in the way of our happiness; according to\nthat a little below the text, \u2018And he shall redeem Israel from all his\niniquities,\u2019 that is, from them, together with their evil fruits.\n\nSecond. Now as to the sufficiency that was in this suitableness, that\nis declared by his resurrection, by his ascension, by his exaltation to\nthe right hand of God; that is also declared by God\u2019s putting all\nthings under his feet, and by giving of him to be head over all things\nfor his redeemed\u2019s sake. It is also further declared in that God now\nthreateneth none but those that refuse to take Jesus for their Saviour,\nand for that he is resolved to make his foes his footstool. What are\nmore natural consequences flowing from anything, than that by these\nthings is the sufficiency of the suitableness of redemption by Christ\nproved? For all these things followed Christ, for, or because he\nhumbled himself to the death of the cross, that he might become a\nRedeemer; therefore God raised him up, took him to his throne, and gave\nhim glory, that your faith and hope might be in God by him (Phil 2).\n\nBut alas! what need we stand to prove the sun is light, the fire hot,\nthe water wet? What was done by him was done by God, for he was true\nGod; and what comparison can there be betwixt God and the creature,\nbetwixt the worth of God\u2019s acts, and the merit of the sin of poor man!\nAnd can death, or sin, or the grave hold us, when God saith, \u2018Give up?\u2019\nYea, where is that, or he, that shall call into question the\nsuperabounding sufficiency that is in the merit of Christ, when God\ncontinueth to discharge, day by day, yea, hourly, and every moment,\nsinners from their sin, and death, and hell, for the sake of the\nredemption that is obtained for us by Christ?\n\nGod be thanked here is plenty; but no want of anything! Enough and to\nspare! It will be with the merit of Christ, even at the end of the\nworld, as it was with the five loaves and two fishes, after the five\nthousand men, besides women and children, had sufficiently eaten\nthereof. There was, to the view of all at last, more than showed itself\nat fist. At first there was but five loaves and two fishes, which a lad\ncarried. At last there were twelve baskets full, the weight of which, I\nsuppose, not the strongest man could bear away. Nay, I am persuaded,\nthat at the end of the world, when the damned shall see what a\nsufficiency there is left of merit in Christ, besides what was bestowed\nupon them that were saved by him, they will run mad for anguish of\nheart to think what fools they were not to come to him, and trust in\nhim that they might be saved, as their fellow-sinners did. But this is\nrevealed that Israel, that the godly may hope and expect. Let Israel\ntherefore hope in the Lord, for with him is plenteous redemption.\n\n[Amplifying reasons as a conclusion of the whole.]\n\nNow as this last clause, as I termed it, is the amplification of the\nreason going before; so itself yieldeth amplifying reasons as a\nconclusion of the whole. For,\n\nFirst. Add redemption unto mercy, and then things still are heightened\nand made greater. And it must, because the text adds it, and because\nboth the nature of God, the holiness of his law, and the present state\nof the sinner that is to be saved, requireth that it should be so. God\nis justice as well as mercy; the law is holy and just; that man that is\nto be saved is not only a sinner, but polluted. Now, then, that mercy\nand justice may meet and kiss in the salvation of the sinner, there\nmust be a redemption; that the sinner may be saved, and the law retain\nits sanction and authority, there must be a redemption; that the sinner\nmay be purged as well as pardoned, there must be a redemption. And, I\nsay, as there must, so there is: \u2018For with the Lord there is mercy, and\nwith him is plenteous redemption.\u2019 Mercy is the original, the cause,\nand the manager of our redemption. Redemption is the manifestation, and\nthe completing of that mercy. If there had been no mercy, there had\nbeen no redemption. Mercy had been defective as to us, or must have\noffered violence to the law and justice of God, and have saved us\ncontrary to that word, \u2018In the day thou eatest thou shalt die,\u2019 and\n\u2018Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the\nbook of the law to do them.\u2019 But now, redemption coming in by mercy,\nthe sin is done away, and the sinner saved, in a way of righteousness.\n\nSecond. By law as well as grace; that is, in a way of justice as well\nas in a way of mercy. Hence it saith we are \u2018justified freely by his\ngrace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus\u2019 (Rom 3:24).\nThrough the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom God hath set forth\nto be a propitiation through faith in his blood, and so to show the\nworld the equity of his proceeding with sinners in the saving of their\nsouls. As if God should say to all those who stumble at the salvation\nof sinners by grace, Behold, I act according to law and justice. For of\ngrace I save them through a redemption, and therefore am faithful and\njust to my law, as well as free and liberal of my mercy. Wherefore thus\nI declare I am righteous, faithful, and just in passing over or\nremitting of sin. Nay, the matter so standeth now betwixt me and the\nsinful world, that I could not be just if I did not justify him that\nhath faith in the blood of Jesus, since by that blood my justice is\nappeased for all that this or that sinner has done against my law!\n\nThis is a way that God, nor any child of his, need be ashamed of before\nany that shall call in question the legality and justice of this\nprocedure. For why may not God be merciful, and why may not God be\njust? And since he can be both merciful and just in the salvation of\nsinners, why may he not also save them from death and hell? Christ is\nGod\u2019s salvation, and to show that he is not ashamed of him, he hath\npresented him, and the way of redemption by him, before the face of all\npeople (Luke 2:30-32). Nor is the Son, who is become, with respect to\nthe act of redemption, the author of eternal salvation, ashamed of this\nhis doings. \u2018I gave my back to the smiters,\u2019 saith he, \u2018and my cheeks\nto them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and\nsmiting\u2019 (Isa 50:6). This he speaks to show what were some of his\nsufferings when he engaged in the work of our redemption, and how\nheartily he did bear and go through them. \u2018For,\u2019 says he, \u2018the Lord God\nwill help me,\u2019 that is, justify me in it, \u2018therefore shall I not be\nconfounded, therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that\nI shall not be ashamed\u2019 (v 7). And if God, and his Son Jesus Christ,\nare neither of them ashamed to own this way of salvation, why should\nthe sinners concerned thereabout be afraid thereupon to venture their\nsoul? I know, saith he, \u2018I shall not be ashamed\u2019; I shall not, that is,\nwhen all things come to light, and everything shall appear above board;\nwhen the heart and soul of this undertaking of mine shall be proclaimed\nupon the house-tops, I know I shall not be ashamed.\n\nIt was also upon this account that Paul said he was not ashamed of the\ngospel (Rom 1). For he knew that it was a declaration of the highest\nact of wisdom that ever God did spread before the face of the sons of\nmen. And of what wisdom is the gospel a declaration but of that of\nforgiveness of sins by grace, through the redemption that is by the\nblood of Jesus Christ? \u2018In whom we have redemption through his blood,\u2019\neven \u2018the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace,\nwherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence\u2019 (Eph\n1:7,8).\n\nAnd as Paul speaketh here as a minister, so he speaketh after the same\nmanner also as he is a believer, saying, \u2018I am not ashamed\u2019 of this\ngospel, \u2018for I know whom I have believed,\u2019 or trusted with my soul,\n\u2018and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed\nunto him against that day\u2019 (2 Tim 1:11,12). Wherefore seeing that mercy\nis not presented to us alone, or singly, but as accompanying and\nconcurring with redemption; it is manifest enough that mercy standeth\nnot above, and consequently that it saveth none but in, by, and through\na Redeemer. He that believeth not in Christ shall be damned. But what\nneeds that, if mercy could save the soul without the redemption that is\nby him? If any say, Christ is the mercy of God to us. True, if you\ncount him a Redeemer, a worker out of a redemption for us by his death\nand blood upon the cross. But otherwise he is none; I mean, if you make\nhim a lawgiver, and a Saviour, only as he has set an example to us to\nget to heaven by doing commandments, or by treading in his steps. Yea,\nthough you say his commandment is that we believe in him: for, take the\nwork of redemption by his blood from the curse, out of his hand, and\nthen what concerning him is left from me to believe, but, as was said\nbefore, that he is a lawgiver, and as such, at best, but a pattern to\nus to get to heaven, as here? And whoso counteth him as such, is so far\noff from counting of Christ the mercy of God to us, that they make him\na contradictor of mercy, both in the fountain and all the streams of\nit. For to propound life eternal to us, through the observation of\nlaws, is to set before us that which contradicteth grace and mercy, let\nthe work be what it will; nor will it help at all to say, that they\nthat do the law of Christ, or that take him for their law and example,\nshall be sure of mercy to pass by their shortness of attaining to the\nperfection of what is set before them. For all this might have been\ndone, and not one drop of blood spilt for the redemption of man.\nBesides, this makes Christ\u2019s death, as a Redeemer, as an act\nunadvisedly undertaken; for what need he have died, if his doctrine and\nexample had been sufficient, through that which they call mercy, to\nhave brought the soul to glory? \u2018If righteousness come by the law, then\nChrist is dead in vain\u2019 (Gal 2:21). I will add, put man\u2019s\nrighteousness, God\u2019s mercy, and Christ\u2019s redemption, all together, and\nthey will not save a man; though the last two alone will sufficiently\ndo it: but this third is a piece when put to that, does, instead of\nmending, make the rent worse. Besides, since man\u2019s righteousness cannot\nbe joined in justification with God\u2019s mercy and Christ\u2019s redemption,\nbut through a disbelief of the sufficiency of them, should it be\nadmitted as a cause, though but the least cause thereof, what would\nfollow, but to make that cursed sin of unbelief a good inventor, and a\nnecessary worker in the manner of the justification of a sinner? For, I\nsay, unbelief is the cause of this hodge-podge in any; and the effects\nof it are showed in the 9th chapter of the epistle of Paul to the\nRomans, at the latter end thereof (vv 31-35).\n\nAnd there are three things that follow upon that opinion that denieth\nthe absolute necessity of the shedding of the blood of Christ for the\nredemption of man, that mercy might be let out to him.\n\n1. It followeth from thence, that there is no such attribute as\nabsolute justice in God; justice to stand to his word, and to vindicate\nevery tittle of his law. For let but this be granted, and the death of\nChrist must be brought in, or by justice the floodgate of mercy still\nbe shut against sinful man; or that God must have mercy upon man, with\nthe breach of his Word.\n\n2. It also followeth from the premises, that Christ\u2019s death was of\npleasure only, and not of necessity also; contrary to the Scripture,\nthat makes his death the effect of both; of pleasure, to show how\nwilling God the Father was that Christ should die for man: of\nnecessity, to show that man could not be saved without it; of pleasure,\nto show how justice did deal with him for our sin; of necessity, to\nshow that mercy could not be communicated to us without it (Isa 53:10;\nMatt 26:39; Acts 17:3).\n\n3. There also followeth therefrom, that by the blood of Christ we have\nnot redemption from law, and justice, as to the condemning part of\nboth, but that rather this title is given to it for honour and glory,\nto dignify it; as the name of God is also given to him: for they that\naffirm the one, are bold to affirm the other. For as by them is\nconcluded, that there is no necessity why the blood of Christ should be\ncounted the absolutely necessary price of our redemption from the curse\nof the law and severity of justice; so by them it is concluded, that it\nis not necessary to hold that Christ the Redeemer is naturally and\nco-eternally God, as the Father. But \u2018let Israel hope in the Lord, for\nwith the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.\u2019\n\nThird. Must there be redemption by blood added to mercy, if the soul be\nsaved? This shows us what an horrible thing the sin of man is. Sin, as\nto the nature of it, is little known in the world. O! it sticks so fast\nto us, as not to be severed from us by all the mercy of God: do but\nexclude redemption by the blood of Christ. I will say it over again.\nAll the mercy of God cannot save a sinner, without respect to\nredemption from the curse of the law, by the death and blood of Christ.\n\u2018Without shedding of blood is no remission\u2019 (Heb 9:22). No remission,\nno pardon, or passing by of the least transgression, without it. Tears!\nChrist\u2019s tears will not do it. Prayers! Christ\u2019s prayers will not do\nit. An holy life! the holy life that Christ lived, will not do it, as\nsevered from his death and blood. The word redemption, therefore, must\nbe well understood, and close stuck to, and must not be allowed, as\nproperly spoken, when we talk of deliverance from sin, the law, and\nGod\u2019s curse, unless it be applied particularly to the death and blood\nof Christ (Eph 1:7). We have redemption through his blood (Rev 1:5).\n\u2018Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse\nfor us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree\u2019\n(Gal 3:13). He has redeemed us to God by his blood. \u2018For thou wast\nslain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood\u2019 (Rev 5:9). This is the\nredemption that is joined with mercy, yea, that is the fruit thereof;\nand it is that without which sin cannot be removed out of the sight of\nGod. Moses, that was a better preacher of the law, and the sufficiency\nof the righteousness thereof, than any now can pretend to be, yet he\nfull well declared by all his bloody sacrifices, that the blood and\ndeath of Jesus Christ is of absolute necessity for the redemption of\nthe soul. Besides, he tells us that the man that should flee to the\ncity of refuge, from the avenger of blood, should not be at liberty\nfrom the law, unless he kept himself close in that city until the death\nof the high-priest. Mark the words, \u2018Ye shall take no satisfaction for\nhim that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again\nto dwell in the land, until the death of the\u2019 high \u2018priest\u2019 (Num\n35:32). Wherefore, Christian man, know thou thy sin in the nature of it\nand persuade thyself, that the removing of it from before the face of\nGod is by no less means than the death and blood of Christ. But it is a\npoor shift that the enemies of the truth are put to, when, to defend\ntheir errors, they are forced to diminish sin, and to enlarge the\nborders of their fig-leaf garments, and to deny or cast away, as much\nas in them lies, one of the attributes, the justice of God. Indeed they\nwill say they abhor to do thus, and all erroneous persons will put the\nbest face they can upon their bad matters; but the natural consequences\nof things amount to it; nor can they, when men stick close to their\nsides, avoid the charge.\n\nFourth. Then here you see the reason of that free course that mercy\nhath among the sons of men, and why it doth, as has been showed before\nwhat it doth. Why justice is content. Blood hath answered the demand of\njustice. The law hath nothing to object against his salvation that\nbelieveth in Jesus Christ. Blood has set the door open for us with\nboldness to go to God for mercy, and for God to come with his abundant\ngrace to us. We have \u2018boldness, brethren, to enter into the holiest by\nthe blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated\nfor us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh\u2019 (Heb 10:19,20).\nThis is the way that Moses desired to find, when God so largely spake\nto him of his mercy. \u2018Thou hast said,\u2019 says Moses to God, \u2018I know thee\nby name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now, therefore, I\npray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way that\nI may know thee,\u2019 &c. (Exo 33:12,13). What if it should be applied\nthus? thou now talkest of mercy, but in thy words to us from the Mount,\nthou spakest fire and justice; and since thou hast delivered us to holy\na law, and are resolved that the least tittle thereof shall by no means\nfall to the ground; by what means is it that mercy should come unto us?\nWell, saith God, I will show thee my way, I will put thee in a clift of\nthe rock, which was a figure of Christ, for Christ says, \u2018I am the way\u2019\n(Exo 34; John 14:6). This done, he proclaimed his name, and showed him\nhow he could be gracious, and gave him the sign of his being merciful,\na promise that his presence should go with him. The breaking then of\nthe body of Jesus was, the renting of the vail, that out of which came\nblood, that the way to God might be living; and not death, or sword, or\nflame, to the poor children of men. Out hence therefore bubbleth\ncontinually the tender mercy, the great mercy, the rich mercy, the\nabundant mercy, the multiplying mercy, and every other mercy of God to\nus for our present and everlasting good.\n\nNot that God was sparing of his mercy, and would not part with it\nunless paid for it; for this way of redemption by blood was his\ncontrivance, the fruit of his wisdom (Eph 1:8). So then, God was big\nwith mercy for a sinful world; but to be continually extending of\nmercy, since sin and justice, because of the sanction of the law, lay\nin the way as a turning flaming sword, there did lie the work (Gen\n3:24); so it was concluded, that mercy might, in a way of justice, be\nlet out to sinners; Christ, the Son of God, should die for the sin of\nman. By which means the outcries of the law and justice against us for\nour sins did cease, and mercy flowed from heaven like the waters of\nNoah, until it became a sea (Micah 7:18,19).\n\nBy redemption by blood, therefore, is this great mystery\u2014That a just\nGod can save that man that has broken that law, that God has said he\nwill inflict the penalty for the breach thereof upon, and do his\njustice no wrong\u2014expounded; not by a relaxation of the punishment, as\nthe doltish wisdom of this world imagines; but by an inflicting of the\nexactest justice upon that nature that has offended. If the question be\nasked, How a just God can save that man from death, that by sin has put\nhimself under the sentence of it? any fool can answer, \u2018By a pardon.\u2019\nAnd if it be asked, But what will become of the threatening wherewith\nhe threatened the offender? He that knows no mysteries can say, Why,\nman must repent of his sin, and God of his threatening. But if it be\nasked, How God can execute his threatening to the utmost, and yet\ndeliver the sinner by his mercy from it; the sinner that has deserved\nit, and yet be just to his law, faithful to his law, and one that will\nstand by every tittle of his law? this, to expound, is too high for a\nfool; therefore these men are for despising of mysteries, and for\ncounting of mysteries in the gospel, follies.\n\nBut this key of heaven is no where but in the Word of the Spirit; it is\nnot seen in the law, nor in the reason or righteousness of the world.\nTo punish \u2018the just for the unjust,\u2019 and to make him \u2018to be sin for us,\nwho knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in\nhim,\u2019 seems unreasonable; so cross to the wisdom of man are the wards\nof this lock (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Cor 5:21). Wherefore usually, when they\ncome at this doctrine, they belch out their frumps, their taunts, their\nscoffs, and their scorns against it; and in opposition thereto,\ncomment, exalt, cry up, and set on high, Socinianism, Mahometanism,\nman\u2019s ragged righteousness, or anything. But we will pass these things.\n\nFifth. The knowledge of redemption, and the faith of redemption, is the\nonly means of settling, composing, and upholding the soul of the\nthoroughly awakened, in the hope of enjoying a portion in mercy for\never. What senseless, secure, besotted, and deluded men, conclude of\nthemselves, and of the means of future happiness, is one thing; and\nwhat the thoroughly awakened soul concludes upon, is another. And I\nsay, one thoroughly awakened about the nature of God, the nature of\nsin, and the worth of the soul, will find but little ease of mind,\nnotwithstanding notions of mercy, until he comes and sees that he must\nbe saved by mercy and justice both; and that to be sure he shall never\ndo, until he is taught that by the blood of Christ the law is, as to\nthe curse that is in it against the sinner, taken out of the way (Col\n2).\n\nThese things, sin and justice, are too great to be played with by him\nthat shall see them in the light of the law, and that shall feel them\nin their terror upon a trembling conscience. But when the soul shall\nsee that a propitiation is made to justice by blood, then, and not till\nthen, it sees sin taken away: and when it sees, by this means, sin\ntaken away, then it can behold to hope in the mercy of God. Yea, and it\nwill be as hard to wring off him that is settled here, from this belief\nto another, as it would be to persuade him that stands upon sound\nground to venture his life upon a shaking bottomless quag. O! It is a\npleasant thing for the wounded conscience to taste the sweetness of\nredeeming blood! (John 6:51-56). This is like the best wine that goes\ndown sweetly; this carries with the last of it the very tang[25] of\neternal life! (Heb 9:14). And know that dead works, or works of death,\nwill abide in the conscience, notwithstanding all talk and notions of\nmercy, until that be purged with blood applied thereto, by the Spirit\nand faith. This is one of the three that abide to witness on earth,\nthat \u2018God hath given us eternal life, and that this life is in his\nSon\u2019; because he died for us, and rose again (1 John 5:8-11).\n\nThis, therefore, is that that will establish a man with that peace that\nshall not be shaken, because by this such an one seeth the justice of\nGod is quieted. For peace is made by the blood of the cross; peace with\nGod for sinners (Col 1:20). Yea, God himself, by the blood of the\ncross, has made it, that by him, Christ, he might reconcile to himself\nall things, whether they be things on earth, or things in heaven. Nor\nwill a man that is truly spiritually wise, rest till he comes where God\ntowards man doth rest; but that can be only there, where such means are\noffered for the taking away of sin, that are of a sweet-smelling savour\nto God. Now this is the offering that Christ offered, to wit, himself;\nfor Christ loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a\nsacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savour (Eph 5:2). Therefore it\nis by it, the body of his flesh, through death, that we are presented\nholy, unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight (Col 1:21). Wherefore\nit must be true which was said before, to wit, That the knowledge of\nredemption, and the faith of redemption, is the only means of settling,\ncomposing, and upholding of the soul of the thoroughly awakened, in the\nhope of enjoying a portion in mercy for ever. He that hath the Son of\nGod, hath the Father, hath life; because with him is the means of peace\nwith the Father, and so of eternal life (1 John 2:23). But then, to\nhave the Son, is to believe on him, and on the Father through him (1\nJohn 5:10-12). On him, that he is the Saviour by his blood; and on the\nFather through him, as believing that he, for his Son\u2019s sufferings, is\npacified with us, and of his grace hath forgiven us, through him, all\ntrespasses (2 John 9; Eph 4:32).\n\nSixth. The knowledge and faith of this redemption fortifieth the\nChristian against temptations. We that do believe, know what it is to\nbe assaulted by the devil, and to have knotty objections cast into our\nminds by him. We also know what advantage the vile sin of unbelief will\nget upon us, if our knowledge and faith in this redemption be in the\nleast, below the common faith of saints, defective. If we talk of\nmercy, he can talk of justice; if we talk of grace, he can talk of the\nlaw. And all his words, when God will suffer it, we shall find as\nsharp, and subject to stick in our minds, as bearded arrows are to\nstick in flesh. Besides, he can and doth, and that often, work in our\nfancies and imaginations such apprehensions of God, that he shall seem\nto be to us one that cannot abide us, one that hates us, and that lieth\nin wait to destroy us. And now, if any body speaks to us of mercy, we\nthink we might hope in that, had we nothing to trouble us but the guilt\nof actual sins. But we see our nature as full of the filth of sin, as\nthe egg is of meat, or the toad of poison: which filth vilely recoileth\nagainst the commandments, flieth in the face of God, and continueth all\nhis judgments.[26] This is felt, this is seen by the sinner, who cannot\nhelp it; nor can he be brought to that consideration as to say, \u2018It is\nno more I\u2019 (Rom 7). Now, what shall this man do? Shall he look to the\ncommandment? There is death? Shall he look to God? There is justice!\nShall he look to himself? There is sin out of measure! Let him look,\nthen, to one as dying, to the \u2018lamb as it had been slain,\u2019 and there\nlet him see himself by this Lamb, as cursed, and a dying of a cursed\ndeath for this sin that doth so fright and so distress the soul (Rev\n5:6). Then let him turn again, and behold this Lamb alive and well, and\nhighly exalted by this God, that but just before laid the curse of the\nlaw upon him; but let him be sure to reckon that he has died for his\nsins by the person of Christ, and it will follow that this man is now\nacquitted, because Christ is still alive. Say I these things as a man?\nSaith not the gospel the very same? 1. As to Christ\u2019s dying for us; as\nalso that we are dead to the law by the body of Christ (Rom 6:6; 7). 2.\nAnd that we should so reckon as to this matter, because that God has\ntransferred our sin from us to him.\n\n1. Did not Christ die for us; and dying for us, are we not become dead\nto the law by the death of his body? or will the law slay both him and\nus, and that for the same transgression? (Rom 7:1,2). If this be\nconcluded in the affirmative, what follows but that Christ, though he\nundertook, came short in doing for us? But he was raised up from the\ndead, and believing marrieth us to him as risen, and that stops the\nmouth of all. I am crucified with Christ, our old man was crucified\nwith him, and we are become dead to the law by the body of Christ (Rom\n5:3,4). What then?\n\n2. Why, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto\nGod through Jesus Christ. Ay, but says the soul, \u2018How can I reckon\nthus, when sin is yet strong in me?\u2019 Answ. Read the words again, He\nsaith not, Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, in yourselves;\nbut dead unto it through Jesus Christ. Not alive unto God in\nyourselves, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ. For Christ in his\ndeath and resurrection representeth me. As I died by him, I arose again\nby him, and live through the faith of the gospel in the presence of God\nby him. This must in the first place be allowed and believed, or no\ntrue peace can come near the soul, nor the soul be prepared to assoil\nthe assaults of the adversary. Let therefore thy faith, if thou wouldst\nbe a warrior, O thou faint-hearted Christian, be well instructed in\nthis! Then will thy faith do thee a twofold kindness. 1. It will\nconform thee to the death and resurrection of Christ. And, 2. It will\ngive thee advantage, when thou seest sin strong in thyself, yet to\nconclude that by Christ thou art dead thereto, and by him alive\ntherefrom. Nor can there but two objections be made against this. The\nfirst is to question whether any are said to die and rise, by the death\nand resurrection of Christ? or if it so may be said; yet whether thou\nart one of them? To the first the scripture is full. To the second, thy\nfaith must be strong: for let go faith here, and all falls flat to the\nground, I mean as to comfort and consolation. Christ died for us, or in\nour stead; therefore, by the Word of God, I am allowed so to reckon.\nChrist rose and revived, though he died for me; therefore I rose and\nrevived by Christ: unless any does hold, that though he died in a\ncommon, yet he arose as considered but in a single capacity. Now, then,\nif Satan comes and tells me of my sins, I answer, \u2018Christ has taken\nthem upon himself.\u2019 If he comes and tells me of the death that is due\nto me for sin, by the curse of the holy law, I answer, I have already\nundergone that by Christ. If he asks me, How I know that the law will\nnot lay hold of me also? I answer, Because Christ is risen from the\ndead. If he asks me, By what authority I take upon me thus to reason? I\ntell him, By the authority and allowance of the holy and most blessed\ngospel, which saith, He \u2018was delivered for our offences, and was raised\nagain for our justification\u2019 (Rom 4). And to encourage thee thus to\nbelieve, and thus to hold, when thou art in an hour of temptation, this\nis the way to see mercy stand and smile upon thee; for mercy will smile\nupon him that shall thus believe (2 Cor 3:16-18). This is the way to\nput faith and hope both to work against the devil; and to do this is\nvery pleasing to God. This the way to make that hell-hound retreat and\nleave off to assault (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9). And this is the way to\nfind an answer to many scriptures, with which else thou wilt not know\nwhat to do, as with many of the types and shadows; yea, and with the\nmoral law itself.\n\nBesides, thus believing setteth thy soul against the fear of death, and\njudgment to come; for if Christ be raised from the dead who died for\nour sins; and if Christ who died for our sins is entered into glory: I\nsay again, if Christ who died for our sins has purchased us to himself,\nand is purposed that the fruit of this his purchase shall be, that we\nmay behold his face in glory; then, cast off slavish fear of death and\njudgment: for Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death\nhath no more dominion over him!\n\nSeventh. The knowledge and faith of this redemption prepareth man to a\nholy life. By a holy life, I mean a life according to the moral law,\nflowing from a spirit of thankfulness to God for giving of his Son to\nbe my Redeemer. This I call a holy life, because it is according to the\nrule of holiness, the law, and this I call a holy life, because it\nfloweth from such a principle as giveth to God the heart, and life, for\nthe gift bestowed on us. What pretences soever there are to holiness,\nif it floweth not from thankfulness for mercy received, it floweth from\na wrong principle, and so cannot be good. Hence, men were required of\nold, to serve the Lord with joyfulness, \u2018for the abundance of all\nthings\u2019; and threatened, if they did not, that \u2018they should serve their\nenemies in hunger and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in the want of\nall things\u2019 (Deut 28:47,48). But then, though there are many mercies\nthat lay an obligation upon men to be holy, yet he that shall want the\nobligation that is begotten by the faith of redeeming mercy, wanteth\nthe main principle of true holiness: nor will any other be found\nsufficiently to sanctify the heart to the causing of it to produce such\na life; nor can such holiness be accepted, because it comes not forth\nin the name of Christ. That that obliged David was forgiving and\nredeeming mercy; and that that obliged Paul was the love that Christ\nshowed to him, in dying for his sins, and in rising from the dead (Psa\n103:1-5; 2 Cor 5:14,15). Paul also beseecheth the Romans, by the\nredeeming, justifying, preserving, and electing mercy of God, that they\npresent their body \u2018a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God; which\nis,\u2019 saith he, \u2018your reasonable service\u2019 (Rom 12:1). For we must be\nholy and without blame before him in love (Eph 4:1).\n\nHence, all along, they that are exhorted to holiness in the New\nTestament, are exhorted to it upon the supposition of the benefit of\nredemption which they have received by Jesus Christ. \u2018Walk in love as\nChrist also hath loved us\u2019 (Eph 5:2). \u2018If there be any consolation in\nChrist, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any\nbowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having\nthe same love,\u2019 &c. (Phil 2:1,2). \u2018If ye then be risen with Christ,\nseek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right\nhand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the\nearth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When\nChrist, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with\nhim in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth,\u2019\n&c. (Col 3:1-5). \u2018Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile, and\nhypocrisies, and envies, and all evil-speakings, as new-born babes\ndesire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, if so be\nye have tasted that the Lord is gracious\u2019 (1 Peter 2:1-3). I will\nconclude this with that of Peter, to those to whom he wrote concerning\nthis very thing. Be \u2018obedient children,\u2019 saith he, \u2018not fashioning\nyourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but as he\nwhich hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of\nconversation: because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy, And if\nye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according\nto every man\u2019s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.\nForasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,\nas silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition\nfrom your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb\nwithout blemish and without spot\u2019 (1 Peter 1:14-19).\n\nFrom all which it appears, that mercy by Christ, or from the benefit of\nredemption by the precious blood of Christ, I say, from the faith of\nthat, flows that which is holiness indeed. And I believe that those\nvery men that are pleased to taunt at this kind of inference, would\ncondemn a man was he laid under these obligations concerning things of\nthis life, and yet did carry it as one not touched thereby. We will\nmake an instance: Suppose a Socinian should, through his contracting a\ngreat debt, be forced to rot in prison, unless redeemed by silver and\ngold: and suppose a man, unto whom this Socinian was an enemy, should\nlay down the whole debt to the creditor, that this Socinian might be at\nliberty, might trade, and live comfortably in this world; and if, after\nthis, this Socinian should taunt at them that should tell him he is\nengaged to this redeemer, ought to love and respect this redeemer; what\nwould they say but that this Socinian that was a debtor is an\ninconsiderate and stupefied rascal? Why, this is the case; Paul was a\ndebtor to the law and justice of God; Jesus Christ his Son, that Paul\nmight not perish for ever, paid for him a price of redemption, to wit,\nhis most precious blood. But what! Shall Paul now, though redeemed from\nperpetual imprisonment in hell, be as one that never was beholden to\nJesus Christ; or if others say he was, taunt at them for their so\nsaying? No, he scorns it. Though the love of Christ, in dying to pay a\nprice of redemption, will not engage a Socinian, yet it will engage a\ntrue Christian to think and believe that he ought to live to Jesus,\nthat died for him and rose again.\n\nI know it will be objected that the Satisfactionists, as the quaking\nPenn is pleased to call them, show but little of this to the world; for\ntheir pride, covetousness, false dealing, and the like, since they\nprofess as I have said, shows them as little concerned to the full as\nto the Socinian under consideration. I answer, it must be that the name\nof Christ should be scandalized through some that profess him; and they\nmust answer it at the tribunal of the great Judge; yet what I have said\nstands fast as a rock that cannot be moved.\n\nEighth. The knowledge and faith of redemption is a very great\nencouragement to prayer. It is great encouragement for the poor to go\neven to a prince for what he wanteth, when he considereth that what he\ngoeth to him for is the price of redemption. All things that we want,\nwe must ask the Father for, in the name of Christ: we must ask it of\nhim for the sake of his redeeming blood, for the sake of the merit of\nhis passion (John 15:16). Thus David means, when he says, \u2018For thy\nname\u2019s sake\u2019 do it (Psa 25:11); and Daniel when he saith here, \u2018For the\nLord\u2019s sake\u2019 (9:17). For Jesus Christ is God\u2019s great name; and to do\nfor his sake is to do for what worthiness is in him.\n\nUnworthiness! The consideration of unworthiness is a great\nstumbling-block to the tempted when he goes to seek the Lord. But now,\nremembering the worthiness of Christ, and that he is now on the right\nhand of God, on purpose to plead that on the behalf of the petitioner,\nthis is great encouragement. The Jews, by God\u2019s ordinance, when they\nwent morning and evening by their priest to speak with God, were to\noffer a lamb for a burnt-offering, and it must be thus continually (Exo\n29:38-46). Now this lamb was a figure of the sacrificing of the body of\nChrist which was to be offered for them in time to come; and, in that\nit was to be continually, morning and evening, so repeated, what doth\nit signify, but that we should remember to go, when we went to God, in\nthe name and faith of the merits of Jesus Christ for what we stood in\nneed of? This will support, and this will encourage, for now we see\nthat the thing desired\u2014it being according to his will\u2014is obtained for\nus by the sacrificing of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.\n\nWhen Israel begged of Samuel that he would not cease to cry to the Lord\ntheir God for them, it is said he took a sucking lamb and offered it\nfor a burnt-offering wholly unto the Lord; and Samuel cried unto the\nLord for Israel, and the Lord heard him (1 Sam 7:8,9). But why did he\ntake a sucking lamb, and why did he offer it, and that wholly unto the\nLord, as he cried, but to show to Israel that he was not heard for his\nown, or for his righteousness sake, but for the sake of Christ, whose\nmerits were prefigured by Samuel\u2019s burning of the lamb?\n\nAlso when David spake for himself to Saul, he put himself upon this,\n\u2018If,\u2019 saith he, \u2018the Lord hath stirred thee up against me, let him\naccept an offering, a smell, a sweet-smelling sacrifice; a figure of\nthe satisfactoriness of the sufferings of Jesus Christ\u2019 (1 Sam 26:19).\nWhat is the meaning of all these passages, if not to show that when we\ngo to pray to God, we should turn away our face from every thing of\nours, and look to God, only by the price of redemption paid for us by\nJesus Christ, and plead that alone with him as the great prevailing\nargument, and that by and for the sake of which he giveth pardon and\ngrace to help in time of need? Wherefore, wouldst thou be a praying\nman, a man that would pray and prevail? why, pray to God in the faith\nof the merits of Christ, AND SPEED.[27]\n\nNinth. For this is the very cause why this is added in the text, to\nwit, the plenteousness of redemption, it is, I say, that men should\nhope to partake by it, of the goodness and mercy of God. \u2018Let Israel\nhope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is\nplenteous redemption.\u2019 Mercy and redemption, mercy through a Redeemer,\ntherefore \u2018let Israel hope\u2019! It must also be noted, that this word\nredemption is, as it were, the explicatory part of the text, for the\nhelping of Israel to hope. As who should say, as there is with God\nmercy, so there is with him a way to his mercy, and that way is\nredemption, or a price paid for your sins; and that you should not be\ndiscouraged through the greatness of your sins, I tell you there is\nwith God plenty of this redemption, or a price paid to the full; to an\nover and above. It also is as if he had said, Forget not this, for this\nis the key of all the rest, and the great support to the saints in\nprayer, or while they wait upon God in any of his appointments to\nencourage them to hope.\n\nTenth. And lastly, This also should teach the saints, when they sin or\npraise the Lord, they should not sing of mercy only, but of mercy and\njudgment too; \u2018I will sing of mercy and judgment; unto thee, O Lord,\nwill I sing\u2019 (Psa 101:1). Of mercy and judgment, or justice in the\nmanifestation of it, as smiling upon our forgiveness. When Hannah sang\nof, and rejoiced in God\u2019s salvation, she sang aloud of holiness,\nsaying, \u2018There is none holy as the Lord\u2019 (1 Sam 2:1,2). Holy in keeping\nhis word, though it cost the blood of his Son. This also is that that\nis called a helping of his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy,\nand the performing of the mercy promised; even the oath that he sware\nto our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being\ndelivered out of the hands of our enemies\u2014by a Redeemer\u2014might serve him\nwithout fear, &c. (Luke 1:49,54). When you praise, therefore, remember\nChrist and his blood, and how justice and judgment took hold on him,\nthat they might not take hold on thee; yea, how they by taking hold on\nhim, left a way to thee to escape. Isaac should have been sacrificed,\nhad not the Lord provided a ram; and thou thyself shouldest have been\ndamned, had not the Lord provided a lamb (Gen 22; Rev 5). Hence Christ\nis called the \u2018Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world,\u2019\nthat taketh them away by the sacrifice of himself. Sing therefore in\nyour praises unto God, and to the Lamb!\n\n[THE APPLICATION OR USE OF THE WHOLE.]\n\n\nI would come now to speak one short word of use to the whole. And,\n\nFirst. This still shows more and more, what a sad state God\u2019s people\nhave brought themselves into by sin. I told you before that the\nrevelation of so much mercy as is presented unto us by the first part\nof the text, sufficiently declared our state to be miserable by sin.\nBut what shall we say, when there must be added to that the heart blood\nof the Son of God, and all to make our salvation complete? For albeit\nmercy is essential to our salvation, and that without which there can\nbe no salvation; yet it is the blood that maketh the atonement for the\nsoul, THAT propitiates, and so makes capable of enjoying of it. It was\nmercy and love, as I said afore, that sent one to shed his blood for\nus; and it is the blood of him that was sent, that puts us into the\nenjoyment of mercy. O! I have thought sometimes, what bloody creatures\nhath sin made us![28] The beasts of the field must be slain by\nthousands before Christ came, to signify to us we should have a\nSaviour; and after that, he must come himself, and die a worse death\nthan died those beasts, before the work of saving could be finished. O\nredemption, redemption by blood, is the heart-endearing consideration!\nThis is that which will make the water stand in our eyes, that will\nbreak a heart of flint, and that will make one do as they do, that are\n\u2018in bitterness for their first-born\u2019 (Zech 12:10).\n\nSinner, wouldst thou have mercy? wouldst thou be saved? Go thou then to\nthe blood of the cross, as set forth in the word of the truth of the\ngospel, and there thou shalt find that mercy that thou hast need of\nfirst; for there is a mercy that may be called a FIRST mercy, and that\nis the mercy that gives admittance into, and an interest in all the\nrest. Now the mercy that doth this, is that which reconcileth us to\nGod; but that other things cannot do, if we stand off from the blood of\nthe cross. Wherefore we are said to be reconciled to God, by the death\nof his Son. \u2018For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by\nthe death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by\nhis life\u2019 (Rom 5:10). According to that other saying, \u2018He that spared\nnot his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with\nhim also freely give us all things?\u2019 (8:32). In both these places the\nSon of God, and our Redeemer, is set forth to us in the first place, as\nthe only one that reconcileth to God the sinner by the blood of his\ncross; wherefore to this Christ, as crucified, the sinner must come\nfirst; because nothing else can reconcile to God; and if thou be not\nreconciled to God, what art thou but an enemy to him, partake of what\nmercy thou canst? (Col 1:20). Go to him, did I say? receive him into\nthe arms of thy faith; hold him fast, for he is a Saviour; yea, carry\nhim as set forth by the gospel, dying for thee, and pray God for his\nsake to bestow upon thee all those mercies that will compass thee about\nas with a shield, and follow thee all thy days, till thou enterest in\nat the doors of eternity; and this is the way to speed! For he that\nhath the Son hath life, in the beginning of it; and he that holds fast\nthe Son, shall have life in the consummation of it. I do the oftener\ntouch upon this matter, because this Christ is the door, in at which\nwhosoever entereth shall be saved; but he that climbs up any other way,\nshall be judged as a thief and a robber (John 10:1).[29] But,\n\nSecond. Is Christ, as crucified, the way and door to all spiritual and\neternal mercy? And doth God come to the sinner, and the sinner again go\nto God in a saving way by him, and by him only? And is there no other\nway to the Father but by his blood, and through the veil, that is to\nsay, his flesh? (Heb 10:19,20). Then this shows the danger, upon what\npretence soever, of casting off the daily sacrifice, and setting up in\nits place the abomination that maketh desolate. I mean, of casting away\na crucified Christ, and the setting up the vanity of moral obedience as\nthe more substantial and most acceptable thing with God. I call not a\ncrucified Christ the daily sacrifice, as if I thought he often suffered\nfor sin, since the foundation of the world; but because the virtue of\nthat one offering is that, and only that, by the which we daily draw\nnigh unto God; and because the virtuousness of that one sacrifice will\nfor ever abide beneficial to them that come to God, to the world\u2019s end\nby him.\n\nBut I say, into what a miserable plight have such people put\nthemselves, that have cast off coming to God by Christ, as he is the\npropitiation for their sins, and that seek to come another way? Such\nare lapsed again to Gentilism, to Paganism, to Heathenism; nor will it\nhelp at all to say they rely on the mercy and goodness of God, for\nthere is no such thing as spiritual and eternal mercy can come from God\nto him, that comes not to him by Christ. The Turks, if I be not\nmistaken, have this for the beginning of every chapter of their\nAlcoran, \u2018The Lord, God, gracious and merciful,\u2019[30] yet are counted\nunbelievers, and are verily so, for they have not received the faith of\nChrist. The Lord God, gracious and merciful, will not save them, no not\nby grace and mercy, unless repenting of their presuming upon mercy,\nwithout a bloody sacrifice, they come to him by his Son (Acts 4:12).\nMen therefore that have laid aside the necessity of reconciliation to\nGod by the precious blood of Christ, are in a damned state; nor will it\nhelp at all to say they do indeed believe in him. I am not so void of\nreason as to think that they that have cast away Christ, as he is a\npropitiatory sacrifice with God for sin, should also cast away his name\nout of their mouth; no, his name is too honorable, and the profession\nof it too glorious for them to do such a thing. But retaining his name,\nand the notion of him as a Saviour, they yet cast him off, and that in\nthose very things wherein the essential part of his sacrifice, the\nmerit of it, and his everlasting priesthood, consists; and in this lies\nthe mystery of their iniquity.\n\nThey will have him to be a Saviour, but it must not be by fulfilling of\nthe law for us; but it must not be by the putting of his glorious\nrighteousness, that which he performed by subjecting himself to the\nlaw, on our behalf, upon us; but it must not be by washing of us from\nour sins in his own blood; but it must be by his kingly and prophetical\noffices. When, as for his kingly and prophetical offices, he puts those\npeople under the government of them that he has afore made to stand\njustified before God, from the curse of the law by his priesthood. Nor\ndare they altogether deny that Christ doth save his people as a priest,\nbut then their art is to confound these offices, by pleading that they\nare in effect but one and the self-same thing; and then with a noise of\nmorality and government, they jostle the merit of his blood, and the\nperfection of his justifying righteousness, out of doors; and so\nretaining the name of Christ in their mouths, they cast those things of\nChrist, that they like not, under feet; which things, they who have not\nthe faith of, must not, cannot see the kingdom of God.\n\nThe term of mercy is but a general sound, and is as an arrow shot at\nrovers, unless the blood and death of the Son of God be set before us,\nas the mark or mean by which our spirits are to be directed to it. What\nprofit shall a man have, and what shelter or succour shall he find, in\nhearing of the most exact relation of the strength of the most\nimpregnable castle in the world, unless he knows the door, and entereth\nin by that, into that place of strength, in the time when the enemy\nshall pursue him? Why, this is the case: We hear a noise of mercy, and\nof being at peace with God; what a good God, God is, and what a blessed\nthing it is to be a child of God; how many privileges the children of\nGod have, and what will be their exaltation and glory in the next\nworld! And all the while they that tell us these things conceal from us\nthe way thereto, which is Christ, not in the naming of him, but in the\nright administration of his gospel to us.\n\nChrist, and faith in him as a Saviour, not in the name only, but in the\ntrue sense thereof, is the mark, as I have said, from which if any\nswerve, they err from the saving way, and so come nothing near that\nmercy that can save them. Hence Christ is called a standard, an ensign\n(Isa 5:26). \u2018And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which\nshall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek,\nand his rest shall be glorious\u2019 (Isa 11:10). And again, \u2018Thus saith the\nLord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles; and set up\nmy standard to the people\u2019 (49:22). \u2018Go through, go through the gates,\nprepare ye the way of the people,\u2014gather out the stones, lift up a\nstandard for the people. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed to the end of\nthe world; say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold thy salvation cometh.\nBehold his reward is with him, and his work before him\u2019 (62:10,11).\nHence again he is called the captain, the chieftain, of our salvation,\nand him without whom there neither is nor can be any.\n\nBut now the men of this confederacy, rather than they will submit\nthemselves to the righteousness of God, will lay odiums and scandals\nupon them that preach they should (Rom 10:2,4). Not forsooth, if you\nwill believe them, but that they are highly for the righteousness of\nGod, let it be that which they count so; but then to be sure it shall\nnever be the personal performances of Christ, by which they that\nbelieve in him are justified from all things; but that which they call\n\u2018first principles,\u2019 \u2018dictates of human nature,\u2019 \u2018obedience to a moral\nprecept,\u2019 followed and done as they have Christ for an example; not\nunderstanding that Christ, in his own doings, is the end of all these\nthings to every one that believeth. But if it be urged that Gentiles\nand Pagans are possessed with those very principles, only they have not\ngot the art, as our men have, to cover them with the name of Christ and\nprinciples of Christianity, then they fall to commending the heathens\nand their philosophers, and the natural motives and principles by which\nthey were actuated; preferring of them much before what by others are\ncalled the graces of the Spirit, and principles upon what the doctrine\nof the free grace and mercy of God by Christ are grounded. But, as I\nsaid, all the good that such preachers can do as to the next world, is,\nto draw the people away from their ensign and their standard, and so\nlead them among the Gentiles and infidels, to seek by their rules the\nway to this unspeakable mercy of God. Wherefore their state being thus\ndeplorable, and their spirits thus incorrigible, they must be pitied,\nand left, and fled from, if we would live.\n\nThird. Is Christ Jesus the redemption; and, as such, the very door and\ninlet into all God\u2019s mercies? Christian man, look well to thyself, that\nthou goest no whither, and dost nothing, I mean in any part of\nreligious worship, &c., but as thou art in him (2 Cor 12:18,19).[31]\nWalk in him, speak in him, grow in him, for he is THE ALL (Col 2:6,7).\nAnd though others regard not to \u2018hold the head, from which all the body\nby joints and bands have nourishment ministered,\u2019 yet have thou a care!\n(Eph 4:15; Col 2:19). This is he that is thy life, and the length of\nthy days, and without whom no true happiness can be had. Many there be\nthat count this but a low thing; they desire to soar aloft, to fly into\nnew notions, and to be broaching of new opinions, not counting\nthemselves happy, except they can throw some new-found fangle, to be\napplauded for, among their novel-hearers. But fly thou to Christ for\nlife; and that thou mayest so do, remember well thy sins, and the\njudgment and wrath of God; and know also that he is merciful, but at\nmercy none can come, but through the cursed death Christ underwent. And\nalthough some of the wanton professors of our age may blame thee for\nporing so much upon thy sins, and the pollution of thy nature, yet know\nthat there is an advantage in it. There be some alive in the world,\nwho, though they count the nature and commission of sin the very evil\nof evils, yet can say that the remembrance of how vile they are, and of\nwhat evils they have committed, has been to them a soul-humbling, a\nChrist-advancing, and a creature-emptying consideration. Though sin\nmade death bitter to Christ, yet sin makes Christ sweet to his. And\nthough none should sin, that grace might abound, yet where sin has\nabounded, grace doth much more abound, not only as an act of God, but\nalso in the eye of faith.\n\nA sight of the filth, and a sense of the guilt of sin, makes a pardon\nto such a soul more than empty notion; and makes the mean through which\nthe pardon comes more to be desired than is either life or limb. This\nis it that makes the sensible soul prize the Lord Jesus, while the\nself-justiciary[32] laugheth him to scorn. This is it which makes the\nawakened sinner cast away his own righteousness, while the\nself-conceited one makes it his advocate with the Father.\n\nSome, indeed, count their own doings the only darling of their soul,\nwhile others cast it to the dogs. And why should a man cumber himself\nwith what is his, when the good of all that is in Christ is laid, and\nto be laid out for him? Not that a believer casts off to do good, for\nhe knows that what good thing is done in faith and love, is acceptable\nto God, and profitable to his neighbour. But this is it, he setteth not\nhis good deed against the judgment of God; he cometh not in his own\ngood. When he comes to God for forgiveness of sins, then he sees\nnothing, knows nothing, mentions nothing as righteousness, but that\nwhich Christ wrought out in the days of his flesh, and that only. But\nhow then is what he doth accepted of God? Verily as the duty of a son,\nand as the work of one that is justified. We must therefore conclude\nthat there is acceptation, and acceptation: acceptation of the person,\nand acceptation of his performance. Acceptation of the person may be\nconsidered with respect to justification from the curse, and so\nacceptation there can be none, but through the one offering of the body\nof Jesus Christ once for all. Also the acceptation of a duty done by\nsuch a person is, by virtue of the self-same offering, the person being\nconsidered as standing just through Christ before God. And the reason\nwhy a justified person must have his duties accepted the same way, as\nis his person, is because justifying righteousness sets not the person\nfree from sin, save only in the sight of God and conscience; he\nremaineth still infirm in himself, and standeth still in need of the\nfresh and continual application of the merits of the Lord Jesus, which\nalso the soul receiveth by virtue of Christ\u2019s intercession. I speak now\nof acceptation with reference to the justice of the law, and the\njudgment of God upon person or work, according to the self-same law.\nFor so they both must be accepted through the self-same Mediator, or\nthey cannot be accepted at all. Nor is it a thing to be wondered at,\nthat a man should stand just in the sight of God, when polluted and\ndefiled in his own sight. He stands just before God in the justice of\nhis Son, upon whom God looks, and for whose sake he accepts him. May\nnot a scabbed, mangy man, a man all over-run with blains and blotches,\nbe yet made beautiful to the view of a beholder, through the silken,\nsilver, golden garment that may be put upon him, and may cover all his\nflesh? Why, the righteousness of Christ is not only unto but upon all\nthem that believe (Rom 3:22). And whoso considers the parable of the\nwretched infant, shall find, that before it was washed with water it\nwas wrapped up or covered, as it was found, in its blood, in and with\nthe skirt of his garment that found it in its filth. And then he washed\nit with water, and then he sanctified it by the anointing oil of the\nSpirit of God (Eze 16:8,9). I speak thus to thee, Christian reader,\npartly because in the faith of these things is thy life; and because I\nwould yet enforce the exhortation upon thee with the reason and the\namplification thereof, to wit, to put thee upon trusting in the Lord\nthrough the encouragement that thou hast in redeeming mercy so to do.\n\nSome may say, Will God see that which is not? and will he judge a man\njust that is a sinner? But I will answer, The man that had the rainbow\nabout his head, was to look on, or be looked upon, while he shone like\na jasper and a sardix-stone (Rev 4:3). The blood of the paschal lamb\nwas to be looked upon by him that came to destroy the land of Egypt in\ntheir firstborn (Exo 12:13). I add, The rainbow that God gave to Noah\nfor a token that he would no more destroy the earth with the waters of\nthe flood, was to be looked upon, that God might remember to show mercy\nto his people (Gen 9:8-17). Now all these meet in the man Christ Jesus,\nwho is the only one, for the sake of whom the sinner that believeth in\nhim stands acquitted in the sight of God. His is the blood, he is the\nprince, that is more than the token of the covenant: nor do all the\ncolours in the rainbow appear so beautiful in the eyes of man, as does\nthe garment of Christ; which is from his loins, even upward, and from\nhis loins, even downward, in the eyes of the God of heaven (Eze\n1:27,28). And wilt thou say these are things that are not? Also, he can\nlegally judge a man just, that is a sinner. Do but admit of a diverse\nconsideration, and God will so consider of that sinner which he\njustifieth, in despite of all the teeth in thy proud mouth! \u2018He\njustifieth the ungodly\u2019 (Rom 4:5). Not that were, but that are such\nnow, in the judgment and verdict of the law, might deal with them in\ntheir own persons as men (Rom 5:5-10). He will then consider them in\nhis Son; in, and under the skirt of his Son. He will consider them as\nwashed in the blood of his Son, and will also consider \u2018that in him is\nno sin,\u2019 and so he will deal with them. \u2018We know that he was manifested\nto take away our sins, and in him is no sin\u2019 (1 John 3:5).\n\nWhat though I have broke a thousand pound in my creditor\u2019s debt\u2014yet if\nanother will discharge the whole freely, what has the law to do with me\nas to that? Or what if I cannot but live upon the spend all my days,\nyet if my friend will always supply my need, and, through his bounty,\nkeep me from writ, bailiff, or jail, is it not well for me? Yea, what\nif what I can get shall be laid up for me for hereafter, and that my\nfriend, so long as there is death or danger in the way, will himself\nsecure me, and bear my charges to the world\u2019s end; may I not accept\nthereof, and be thankful? Blessed be God for Jesus Christ! I believe he\nis more than all this to me. \u2018In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel\nbe justified, and shall glory\u2019 (Isa 45:25). I know similitudes will not\nhold in all things; but we that believe are set free from the curse of\nthe law by another man\u2019s obedience. For \u2018by the obedience of one shall\nmany be made righteous\u2019 (Rom 5:19). Let then the believer, as was said,\nstudy and pray, and read God\u2019s Word continually, for the sake of the\nglory of this truth, that it may be made more his own, and that his\nconscience may be more and more settled in the power and glory\nthereof.[33]\n\nFourth. As the Christian should most labour to get into the power and\nglory of this doctrine, so let him see that he holds it fast. This\ndoctrine is foreign to flesh and blood; it is not earthly, but from\nheaven (Matt 16:17). It is with many that begin with this doctrine, as\nit is with boys that go to the Latin school; they learn till they have\nlearned the grounds of their grammar, and then go home and forget all.\nHow have many, that as to the grounds of Christian religion, one would\nthink, had been well taught, yet not taking such heed thereto as they\nshould, they have let slip all, and their hearts have been filled with\nthe world again, or else have drunk in some opinion that has been\ndiametrically opposite to what they professed of the truth before (Heb\n2:1-4). Wherefore hast thou anything of the truth of Christ in thy\nheart? \u2018Hold that fast, that no man take thy crown\u2019 (Rev 3:11). Yea\n\u2018grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus\nChrist\u2019 (2 Peter 3:18).\n\nHe that will retain and hold fast the doctrine of redemption, and so by\nthat have, through faith, an inlet into all the abounding mercy of God,\nmust not deal in God\u2019s matters with a slack hand. It is not enough for\nthem that would do so, to be content with sermons, family duties, and\nother public assemblies for worship, but there must be a continual\nexercise of the mind about these matters, and a labour of the soul to\nretain them in their glory and sweetness; else they will, first as to\ntheir excellency, then as to the very notion of them, slip from the\nheart and be gone (Heb 2:1-3). Not that there is treachery or deceit\ntherein, but the deceit lies in the heart about them. He that will keep\nwater in a sieve, must use more than ordinary diligence. Our heart is\nthe leaking vessel; and \u2018therefore we ought to give the more earnest\nheed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let\nthem slip.\u2019\n\nThat this doctrine may remain with us, we must also mortify our carnal\nreason: for that makes head against the truth thereof, and what can\nfoolishness do else? And the wisdom of this world, which is carnal\nreason in its improvements, is foolishness with God (1 Cor 1:20-25). It\nis not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. It judges\nthis doctrine that we have been speaking of, foolishness; wherefore it\nmust be avoided, opposed and mortified, and the word of faith the more\ncarefully submitted to. \u2018Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and\nlean not unto thine own understanding\u2019 (Rom 3:5). See here, that\ntrusting in the Lord, and leaning to our own understanding, are\nopposites; wherefore they must either be reconciled, or one quite\nadhered unto, in a way of mortification of the other. Now, it is safest\nin this matter to keep a continual guard upon our carnal powers; and to\ngive up ourselves to the conduct of our God, and in all our ways\nacknowledge him, that he, not ourselves, may direct our paths (v 6). It\nis a great thing for a man, when the Word and his reason clashes, then\nto adhere to the Word, and let his reason fall to the ground. And this\nindeed is Christianity in the practical part thereof. The Spirit of\nChrist in the Word is to be hearkened unto, above all things (2 Cor\n10:3-5).\n\nThere must also be a continual war maintained upon all the lusts of the\nflesh, that they may not draw away the heart from the study and\ndelight, the love and faith, of the things that are hid in Christ (Isa\n28:9). This, I say, must be done, else the heart cannot be at liberty\nto wait upon the Lord without distraction, for the further\ncommunications of himself in his Son, according to his blessed gospel\nto us. Many Christians are lean in their faith and too barren in their\nlives, and all for want of being diligent here. Wherefore having faith\nin this blessed Lord Jesus Christ, as has been afore discoursed; in the\nnext place, \u2018giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to\nvirtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance,\npatience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly\nkindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in\nyou and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor\nunfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord\u2019 and Saviour \u2018Jesus Christ\u2019 (2\nPeter 1:5-8). There is a method that the Holy Ghost has prescribed in\nthe Word, for them that hath faith to observe, and without the\nobservation thereof, though they indeed may be of the number of them\nthat shall be saved, yet they shall not have much, nor do much, for\nChrist and his name, in this world. Now the unskilful, that are so in\nthe word of righteousness, finding this method, and not discerning to\nwhom it belongs, forthwith apply it to all; and forgetting that faith\nmust go before, they press them as duties preparatory to faith, or else\nso call that which is not so; and so the blind leading of the blind,\nboth fall into the ditch, and are smothered. But do thou, O child of\nGod, distinguish, and keep faith and duty for justification of thy\nperson in the sight of God far asunder; also be sure to let faith go\nbefore, and be always with thy Saviour, but add unto thy faith, virtue,\n&c., not as though thy faith could not lay hold of Christ, unless\naccompanied with these, but to show that thy faith is of the right\nkind, as also for the emboldening of thee to an holy endeavour yet to\npress further into his everlasting kingdom and his word; for he that\nlacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and has\nforgotten that he was purged from his old sins.\n\nFifth. That thou mayest keep steadfast to this doctrine take heed of\nbeing offended, or of stumbling at the Word, because of the offensive\nlives and conversations of some that are professors of the same. There\nwill be offences, and it is needful there should; yea, scandals and\nheresies also, that they that are approved of God \u2018may be made manifest\namong you\u2019 (1 Cor 11:19). There are many causes of the offensive lives\nof them that profess this faith, some of which I will give a touch upon\nhere.\n\n1. Many that adhere to, and profess this gospel, are short of the power\nand glory of the things which they profess: now the word, the word\nonly, will not bring those that profess it into a conformity to it;\ninto a conformity in heart and life (1 Cor 4:18-20). Wherefore they\nthat know it only in word, live scandalous lives, to the reproach of\nthe faith, the emboldening of its enemies, the stumbling of the\nignorant, and grief of the godly, that are so indeed, and such must\nbear their judgment in the next world.\n\n2. This also flows from the wisdom of hell: the devil knows that the\nfaith of the gospel rightly professed, is, not only saving to those in\nwhom it is, but alluring unto beholders: wherefore that he may prevent\nthe beauteous lustre thereof, he sows his tares among God\u2019s wheat, and\ngoes his way, that is, to the end those that stumble may not see what\nhe hath done, or whose are the tares indeed. Now by these the sunshine\nof the faith of the true professors of the blessed gospel is clouded;\nyea, and the world made believe, that such as the worst are, such are\nthe best; but there is never a barrel better herring,[34] but that the\nwhole lump of them are, in truth, a pack of knaves. Now has the devil\ngot the point aimed at, and has caused many to fall; but behold ye now\nthe good reward these tares shall have at the day of reward for their\ndoings. \u2018As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so\nshall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth\nhis angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that\noffend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace\nof fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth\u2019 (Mat 13:37-42).\n\n3. It also happeneth, sometimes, through the anger and judgment of God\nagainst sinners, that some of them truly gracious do fall, as David,\nPeter, &c., the which is a great trial to the godly, a wound to the\npersons fallen, and a judgment of God to the world. For since these\nlast would not be converted, nor made turn to God by the convincing\nglory that has attended their faith in a holy and unblameable life\nannexed, God has suffered them to fall, that they also might stumble\nand fall, and be dashed in pieces by their vices. But thou, Christian\nman, be not thou offended at any of these things; do thou look unto\nJesus, do thou look unto his Word, do thou live by faith, and think\nmuch of thy latter end; do thou be base in thine own eyes, be humble\nand tender, and pray to God always; do thou add to thy faith virtue,\nand to virtue what else is mentioned; and \u2018give diligence to make thy\ncalling and election sure; for if thou doest these things thou shalt\nnever fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly,\ninto the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ\u2019 (2\nPeter 1:10,11).\n\nSixth. If it be so, that there is so much mercy in the heart of God for\nhis people, and that Jesus his Son has by his blood made so living a\nway for us that we might enjoy it, and the benefit of it for ever,\n\u2018then let Israel hope\u2019: for to that end is this goodness revealed: \u2018Let\nIsrael hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him\nis plenteous redemption.\u2019 Hope! Who would not hope to enjoy life\neternal, that has an inheritance in the God of Israel? \u2018Happy art thou,\nO Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield\nof thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency?\u2019 (Deut 33:29). Did\nbut the people of God see to what they are born, and how true the God\nof truth will be to what by his Word they look for at his hands, they\nwould be above alway; they would be weary of life, of estates, of\nrelations; they would groan earnestly under all their enjoyments to be\nwith him, who is their life, their portion, and their glory for ever.\nBut we profess, and yet care not for dying; we profess, and yet long\nnot for the coming of the day of God; we profess the faith, and yet by\nour whole life show to them that can see how little a measure of it we\nhave in our hearts. The Lord lead us more into the power of things;\nthen shall the virtues of him that has saved us, and called us out of\ndarkness into his marvellous light, and the savour of his good\nknowledge, be made known to others far otherwise than it is. Amen.\n\nSeventh. And lastly, Sinner, doth not all this discourse make thy heart\ntwitter after the mercy that is with God, and after the way that is\nmade by this plenteous redemption thereto? Methinks it should; yea,\nthou couldst not do otherwise, didst thou but see thy condition: look\nbehind thee, take a view of the path thou hast trodden these many\nyears. Dost thou think that the way that thou art in will lead thee to\nthe strait gate, sinner? Ponder the path of thy feet with the greatest\nseriousness, thy life lies upon it; what thinkest thou? But make no\nanswer till in the night, till thou art in the night-watches. \u2018Commune\nwith your own heart upon your bed\u2019 (Psa 4:4), and then say what thou\nthinkest of, whether thou art going?\n\nO that thou wert serious! Is not it a thing to be lamented, that\nmadness and folly should be in thy heart while thou livest, and after\nthat to go to the dead, when so much life stands before thee, and light\nto see the way to it? (Eccl 9:3). Surely, men void of grace, and\npossessed of carnal minds, must either think that sin is nothing, that\nhell is easy, and that eternity is short; or else that whatever God has\nsaid about the punishing of sinners, he will never do as he has said;\nor that there is no sin, no God, no heaven, no hell, and so no good or\nbad hereafter; or else they could not live as they do. But perhaps thou\npresumest upon it, and sayest, I shall have peace, though I live so\nsinful a life. Sinner, if this wicked thought be in thy heart, tell me\nagain, dost thou thus think in earnest? Canst thou imagine thou shalt\nat the day of account out-face God, or make him believe thou wast what\nthou wast not? or that when the gate of mercy is shut up in wrath, he\nwill at thy pleasure, and to the reversing of his own counsel, open it\nagain to thee? Why shall thy deceived heart turn thee aside, that thou\ncanst not deliver thy soul, \u2018nor say, Is there not a lie in my right\nhand?\u2019 (Isa 44:20).\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n[1] The titles to the Psalms have puzzled all the commentators. Bunyan\nfollows Luther; who adds, that the title to the Psalms of Degrees does\nnot pertain to any doctrine, but only to the ceremony of the singers.\nAinsworth applies it to the place or tone of voice of the singers, or\nto a special excellency of the Psalm. Calmet and Bishop Horsley\nconsider that the title refers to the progress of the soul towards\neternal felicity, ascending by degrees. Watford imagines that these\nPsalms were written or selected to be sung on the ascent of the Jews\nfrom the captivity in Babylon. Luther wisely concludes that the\nChristian has only to do with the brief and very notable doctrine\ncontained in these fifteen steps or degrees.\u2014Ed.\n\n[2] \u2018The hither,\u2019 or nearest end; now obsolete.\u2014Ed.\n\n[3] When Diabolus, in the Holy War, marched against Mansoul, his\ninfernal drum affrighted the backsliding Mansoul with its roaring.\n\u2018This, to speak truth, was amazingly hideous to hear; it frighted all\nmen seven miles round.\u2019 This drum was beat every night, and \u2018when the\ndrum did go, behold darkness and sorrow over Mansoul; the light was\ndarkened in the heaven thereof, no noise was ever heard upon earth more\nterrible; Mansoul trembled, and looked to be swallowed up.\u2019 This awful\nalarm\u2014this terrible drum\u2014is a want of a good hope through faith, which\npurifieth the heart.\u2014Ed.\n\n[4] How comforting is that declaration of the Holy Spirit, \u2018For now we\nsee through a glass darkly, but then face to face\u2019! however we may have\nhad a glimpse of glory to strengthen us in the way. This revelation was\nthrough one who had been \u2018caught up into paradise,\u2019 and who had\n\u2018abundance of revelations,\u2019 so great that it was needful for him to\nhave \u2018a thorn in the flesh,\u2019 to keep him humble. Blessed is Israel\u2019s\n\u2018Hope\u2019 of happiness, inconceivable and eternal.\u2014Ed.\n\n[5] See the marginal reading to this text.\u2014Ed.\n\n[6] Ecclesiastical writers, previous to Bunyan\u2019s time, made an\nhierarchy of nine orders of celestial spirits, viz., seraphim,\ncherubim, thrones, dominions, virtues, powers, principalities,\narchangels, and angels; agreeing with Bunyan as to the angels being the\nlowest order in these celestial hierarchies. The angels are ministering\nspirits. May not the glorified saints become angels? Who was that angel\nwho said to John, \u2018I and thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the\nprophets\u2019 (Rev 22:9).\u2014Ed.\n\n[7] This is a striking illustration. Fear \u2018makes us question our right\nto the world to come,\u2019 and nails us to the earth; but it is sin which\nclenches the nail, and makes us cry, O wretched man that I am! who can\ndeliver me? Poor Bunyan, in his Grace Abounding, mournfully illustrates\nthis fact.\u2014Ed.\n\n[8] In Bunyan\u2019s days, persecution for conscience sake was more\nextensive under the Protestant Church of England than it was even in\nthe fiery days of Mary. Tens of thousands fled to seek an asylum among\nsavages in America, who were not permitted to live among men worse than\nsavages in England. Thousands were immured in prisons, where many\nhundreds perished, and with those who suffered a violent death received\nthe crown of martyrdom. Even now they that will live godly in Christ\nJesus, must submit to taunts, jeers, and reproaches. May we forget not\nthe Saviour\u2019s comforting declaration, \u2018Blessed are you when persecuted,\nreviled, and spoken against falsely for my sake.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[9] This is the language of an eye-witness, and not a theory. Our\nauthor had associated with every man in jail, whose bitter suffering,\nand that of their families, tried the faith and patience of the saints,\nand winnowed the church of formal professors.\u2014Ed.\n\n[10] Often have God\u2019s saints rejoiced in tribulation, and, like\nStephen, when put to death with excruciating torments, have prayed for\ntheir enemies. Bunyan\u2019s fear was, when threatened to be hung for\npreaching Christ, that he should make but \u2018a scrabbling shift to\nclamber up the ladder.\u2019 He was, however, comforted with the hope that\nhis dying speech might be blessed to some of the spectators.\u2014Grace\nAbounding, Nos. 334, 335.\u2014Ed.\n\n[11] How forcibly does this remind us of the escape of the poor\ndoubting pilgrims from the castle of Giant Despair. The outer gate,\nlike that of the prison in which Peter was confined, was of iron (Acts\n12:10). But Peter had a heavenly messenger as his guide, and faith was\nin lively exercise, so that \u2018the gate opened to them of his own\naccord.\u2019 \u2018God cut the gates of iron in sunder\u2019 (Psa 107:16). The\npilgrims lay for four days under dreadful sufferings, bordering on\nblack despair. He had overlooked or laid by the \u2018key that doth go too\nhard\u2019; prayer brought it to his recollection, and he cried out, \u2018What a\nfool am I thus to be in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at\nliberty.\u2019 He recollected the \u2018key called promise,\u2019 which will open ALL\nthe gates in Doubting Castle; and although the lock of that iron gate\nwent damnable hard, yet the key did open it, and the prisoners escaped;\nsee Grace Abounding, Nos 261-263. Fellow-pilgrims \u2018look not over,\u2019 nor\n\u2018lay by,\u2019 those keys that \u2018go too hard,\u2019 the prayerful use of which may\nsave us much bitter dejection and gloomy doubts.\u2014Ed.\n\n[12] The murder of Sir E. Godfrey, and the fears of a Popish plot,\ngreatly alarmed the country at this time. The recollection of the\nfrightful atrocities committed by the Papists upon the unoffending and\nunarmed Protestants in Ireland, led to the fears which are here so\nforcibly, but naturally, expressed. Although we are here directed to\nthe sole ground of hope in the spiritual warfare, yet doubtless, in\ntemporal things, Bunyan felt the necessity of human agency. Had he\nlived to witness the punishment inflicted on these murderers by William\nIII, he would have owned with gratitude the services rendered to the\nnation by that warlike king and his brave parliament.\u2014Ed.\n\n[13] How infinite is the condescension of Jehovah to enter into such a\nrelationship with every member of his mystical body, the church. \u2018Thy\nMaker is thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name\u2019 (Isa 14:5). Surely\nit hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive the riches of\nthat endowment, the magnificence of that estate.\u2014Ed.\n\n[14] Beware lest an evil heart, and Satan\u2019s devices, lead us to\nidolatry. All our ideas of God must be formed and governed by his\nrevelation of himself in his Word.\u2014Ed.\n\n[15] Gospellers was the nick-name for those who loved the gospel at the\nReformation, as Puritan or Methodist in a later age.\u2014Ed.\n\n[16] These are solemn and bitter truths. While the public assembly is\nat times the gate of heaven to the soul, sincerity is better evidenced\nby heart-wrestling with God in private. No duty draws down such\nblessings from heaven, nor has greater opposition from Satan, than\nearnest closet prayer. While it humbles the soul before God, it excites\nour zeal in good works and a heavenly conduct towards man.\u2014Ed.\n\n[17] \u2018For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son\nwhom he receiveth\u2019 (Heb 12:6,7).\u2014Ed.\n\n[18] In Popish times, the poor wretchedly and lazily depended upon the\nalms of the rich, which were especially bestowed at a funeral, to buy\ntheir prayers for the repose of the soul; and at wedding, for a\nblessing on the newly-married couple. Happily for them they are now\ntaught, by gospel light, to depend, under God, upon their honest\nexertions to produce the means of existence and enjoyment, as the most\nvaluable class of society.\u2014Ed.\n\n[19] Bunyan had felt all this. \u2018Alas!\u2019 says he, \u2018I could neither hear\nChrist, nor see him, nor feel him, nor savour any of his things; I was\ndriven with a tempest, my heart would be unclean, the Canaanites would\ncome into the land.\u2019\u2014Grace Abounding, No. 78.\u2014Ed.\n\n[20] See 2 Samuel 2:23, 3:27. To smite under the fifth rib is to give a\nmortal blow.\u2014Ed.\n\n[21] Human laws we must obey, unless they infringe upon the prerogative\nof God and upon conscience; to such we must refuse obedience, and count\nit an honour to suffer as Daniel and the Hebrew youths. These laws we\nmay strive to get repealed or amended; but the laws of God are\nimmutable and eternal\u2014they must be obeyed, or we perish.\u2014Ed.\n\n[22] How striking an exemplification is this of our utter helplessness\nand the unbounded love of God. O my soul, it is impossible to number or\nrecollect all his mercies, but take heed lest thou forget them all.\u2014Ed.\n\n[23] The reader will easily understand this passage if he considers\n\u2018these folks\u2019 to mean those who were deterred from making a public\nprofession of faith, by the fear of \u2018the enemies,\u2019 or persecutors,\nproperly called the devil\u2019s scarecrows. \u2018Today,\u2019 refers to the time in\nwhich this encouraging treatise was written. Then persecutors and\ninformers were let loose upon the churches, like a swarm of locusts.\nMany folks were terrified, and much defection prevailed. But for such a\ntime God prepared Bunyan, Baxter, Owen, Howe, and many others of equal\npiety. Thus, when the enemy cometh in like a flood, the Spirit of the\nLord shall lift up a standard against him.\u2014Ed.\n\n[24] The word \u2018virtuous\u2019 is now very rarely used in this sense; it\nmeans, \u2018efficacious by inherent qualities,\u2019 or having great or powerful\nproperties, as, \u2018By virtue of our Lord\u2019s intercession\u2019; see Imperial\nDictionary.\u2014Ed.\n\n[25] \u2018Tang\u2019; a strong sense, flavour, or relish.\u2014Ed.\n\n[26] \u2018O the unthought of imaginations, frights, fears, and terrors that\nare affected by a thorough application of guilt, yielded to\ndesperation! This is the man that hath his dwelling among the\ntombs.\u2019\u2014Bunyan\u2019s experience in Grace Abounding, No. 185.\u2014Ed.\n\n[27] This is not merely an exhortation to diligence in the Christian\ncalling, but it is meant to convey to all the certain fact, that the\nprayer of faith in the merits of the Redeemer will and must be followed\nby renewed speed in running the race that is set before us.\u2014Ed.\n\n[28] There is something about the word blood at which the mind recoils,\nas if intended to impress upon us the evils of sin and its awful\npunishment\u2014the death, spiritual and eternal, of the sinner. \u2018Without\nshedding of blood is no remission.\u2019 Blessed are those who were in\nChrist when his precious blood was shed as an atoning sacrifice.\u2014Ed.\n\n[29] See the character of Ignorance in the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\u2014Ed.\n\n[30] The words are, \u2018In the name of God, gracious and merciful,\u2019 before\neach of the 114 chapters of which Alcoran consists.\u2014Ed.\n\n[31] No service on the part of those who are out of Christ, can be\naccepted (Prov 15:8). We are accepted IN the Beloved (Eph 1:6).\u2014Ed.\n\n[32] One who justifies himself; the self-righteous. The word is only\nused by religious writers, and never now.\u2014Ed.\n\n[33] What is this to me, O law, that thou accusest me, and sayest that\nI have committed many sins? Indeed, I grant that I have committed many\nsins, yea, and still do commit sins daily without number. This toucheth\nme nothing. Thou talkest to me in vain. I am dead unto thee.\u2014Luther. In\nthe person of his Surety, the believer has died, and paid the penalty\nof the law. It can have no claim on him.\u2014Ed.\n\n[34] A proverbial saying, which means that all are alike, \u2018there is no\none barrel better than another, the whole cargo is bad.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nI WILL PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING ALSO-\n\nOR,\n\nA DISCOURSE TOUCHING PRAYER;\n\nWHEREIN IS BRIEFLY DISCOVERED,\n\n1. WHAT PRAYER IS. 2. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT. 3. WHAT IT IS\nTO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING ALSO.\n\nWRITTEN IN PRISON, 1662. PUBLISHED, 1663.\n\n\n\u201cFor we know not what we should pray for as we ought:\u2014the\nSpirit\u2014helpeth our infirmities\u201d (Rom 8:26).\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nThere is no subject of more solemn importance to human happiness than\nprayer. It is the only medium of intercourse with heaven. \u201cIt is that\nlanguage wherein a creature holds correspondence with his Creator; and\nwherein the soul of a saint gets near to God, is entertained with great\ndelight, and, as it were, dwells with his heavenly Father.\u201d1 God, when\nmanifest in the flesh, hath given us a solemn, sweeping declaration,\nembracing all prayer\u2014private, social, and public\u2014at all times and\nseasons, from the creation to the final consummation of all things\u2014\u201cGod\nis a Spirit, and they that worship him MUST WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND\nIN TRUTH\u201d (John 4:24).\n\nThe great enemy of souls, aided by the perverse state of the human\nmind, has exhausted his ingenuity and malice to prevent the exercise of\nthis holy and delightful duty. His most successful effort has been to\nkeep the soul in that fatal lethargy, or death unto holiness, and\nconsequently unto prayer, into which it is plunged by Adam\u2019s\ntransgression. Bunyan has some striking illustrations of Satan\u2019s\ndevices to stifle prayer, in his history of the Holy War. When the\ntroops of Emmanuel besiege Mansoul, their great effort was to gain\n\u201ceargate\u201d as a chief entrance to Mansoul, and at that important gate\nthere were placed, by order of Diabolous, \u201cthe Lord Will-be-will, who\nmade one old Mr. Prejudice, an angry and ill-conditioned fellow,\ncaptain of that ward, and put under his power sixty men called Deafmen\nto keep it,\u201d and these were arrayed in the most excellent armour of\nDiabolous, \u201cA DUMB AND PRAYERLESS SPIRIT.\u201d Nothing but the irresistible\npower of Emmanuel could have overcome these obstacles. He conquers and\nreigns supreme, and Mansoul becomes happy; prayer without ceasing\nenables the new-born man to breathe the celestial atmosphere. At length\nCarnal Security interrupts and mars this happiness. The Redeemer\ngradually withdraws. Satan assaults the soul with armies of doubts,\nand, to prevent prayer, Diabolous \u201clands up Mouthgate with dirt.\u201d2\nVarious efforts are made to send petitions, but the messengers make no\nimpression, until, in the extremity of the soul\u2019s distress, two\nacceptable messengers are found, not dwelling in palaces, but in \u201ca\nvery mean cottage,\u201d3 their names were \u201cDesires Awake and Wet Eyes,\u201d\nillustrating the inspired words, \u201cThus saith the High and lofty One\nthat inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy: I dwell\u2014with him\u2014that is\nof a contrite and humble spirit\u201d (Isa 57:15). By this we are taught the\nutter worthlessness of depending upon the prayers of saints on earth,\nor the glorified spirits of heaven. Our own prayers alone are availing.\nOur own \u201cDesires-awake\u201d and \u201cWet-eyes,\u201d our own aspirations after God,\nour own deep repentance and sense of utter helplessness drives us to\nthe Saviour, through whom ALONE we can find access and adoption into\nthe family of our Father who is in heaven.\n\nThe soul that communes with God attains an aptitude in prayer which no\nhuman learning can give; devotional expressions become familiar; the\nSpirit of adoption leads them with deep solemnity to approach the\nInfinite Eternal as a father. Private prayer is so essentially\nspiritual that it cannot be reduced to writing. \u201cA man that truly prays\none prayer, shall after that never be able to express with his mouth,\nor pen the unutterable desires, sense, affection, and longing that went\nto God in that prayer\u201d. Prayer leads to \u201cpure religion and undefiled,\u201d\n\u201cto visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,\u201d and to\npreserve us \u201cunspotted from the world\u201d (James 1:27). Blessed indeed are\nthose who enjoy an abiding sense of the Divine presence; the\nChristian\u2019s divine life may be measured by his being able to \u201cpray\nwithout ceasing,\u201d to \u201cseek God\u2019s face continually.\u201d Men ought \u201calways\nto pray,\u201d and to \u201ccontinue in prayer.\u201d This does not consist in\nperpetually repeating any form of prayer, but in that devotional frame\nof mind which enables the soul to say, \u201cFor me to live is Christ.\u201d When\nDavid was compassed about with the sorrows of hell, he at once\nejaculates, \u201cO Lord, I beseech thee deliver my soul.\u201d When the\ndisciples were in danger they did not recite the Lord\u2019s Prayer, or any\nother form, but at once cried, \u201cLord, save us, we perish.\u201d Bunyan,\nspeaking of private prayer, keenly inquires, will God not hear thee\n\u201cexcept thou comest before him with some eloquent oration?\u201d \u201cIt is not,\nas many take it to be, even a few babbling, prating, complimentary\nexpressions, but a sensible feeling in the heart.\u201d Sincerity and a\ndependence upon the mediatorial office of Christ is all that God\nrequires. \u201cThe Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him\u2014IN TRUTH\u201d\n(Psa 145:18). In all that related to the individual approach of the\nspirit to its heavenly Father, our pious author offended not; but\nhaving enjoyed communion with God, he was, as all Christians are,\ndesirous of communion with the saints on earth, and in choosing the\nforms of public worship, he gave great offence to many by rejecting the\nBook of Common Prayer.\n\nTo compel or to bribe persons to attend religious services is\nunjustifiable, and naturally produces hypocrisy and persecution. So it\nwas with the decree of King Darius, (Dan 6); and so it has ever been\nwith any royal or parliamentary interference with Christian liberty.\n\u201cWho art thou that judgest another man\u2019s servant? to his own master he\nstandeth or falleth\u201d (Rom 14:4). \u201cEVERY ONE of us shall give account of\nhimself to God\u201d (Rom 14:12). All the solemnities of the day of judgment\npoint not merely to the right, but to the necessity of private decision\non all questions of faith, worship, and conduct, guided solely by the\nvolume of inspiration. Mansoul, in its regenerate state, is the temple\nwhich the Creator has chosen for his worship; and it is infinitely more\nglorious than earthly edifices, which crumble into dust, while God\u2019s\ntemples will be ever glorious as eternity rolls on.\n\nBunyan, to the sixteenth year of his age, had, when he attended public\nworship, listened to the Book of Common Prayer. At that time an Act of\nParliament prohibited its use under severe and unjust penalties, and\nordered the services to be conducted by the rules of a directory. In\nthis an outline is given of public thanksgivings, confessions, and\npetitions; but no form of prayer. In the preface the Puritans record\ntheir opinion, that the Liturgy of the Church of England,\nnotwithstanding all the pains and religious intentions of its\ncompilers, hath proved an offence; unprofitable ceremonies hath\noccasioned much mischief; its estimation hath been raised by prelates,\nas if there were no other way of worship; making it an idol to the\nignorant and superstitious, a matter of endless strife, and of\nincreasing an idle ministry. Bunyan had weighed these observations, and\nrecollected his former ignorance and superstition, when he counted all\nthings holy connected with the outward forms, and did \u201cvery devoutly\nsay and sing as others did.\u201d4 But when he arose from the long and dread\nconflict with sin, and entered upon his Christian life, he decidedly\npreferred emancipation from forms of prayer, and treated them with\ngreat severity. He considered that the most essential qualification for\nthe Christian ministry is the gift of prayer. Upon this subject learned\nand pious men have differed; but the opinions of one so eminently\npious, and so well-taught in the Scriptures, are worthy of our careful\ninvestigation. Great allowances must be made for all that appears harsh\nin language, because urbanity was not the fashion of that day in\nreligious controversy. He had been most cruelly imprisoned, with\nthreats of transportation, and even an ignominious death, for refusing\nconformity to the Book of Common Prayer. Being conscientiously and\nprayerfully decided in his judgment, he set all these threats at\ndefiance, and boldly, at the risk of his life, published this treatise,\nwhile yet a prisoner in Bedford jail; and it is a clear, concise, and\nscriptural discourse, setting forth his views upon this most important\nsubject.\n\nAny preconceived form would have fettered Bunyan\u2019s free spirit; he was\na giant in prayer, and commanded the deepest reverence while leading\nthe public devotions of the largest congregations. The great question\nas to public prayer is whether the minister should, relying upon Divine\nassistance, offer up prayer to God in the Saviour\u2019s name, immediately\nconceived under a sense of His presence; or whether it is better, as it\nis certainly easier, to read a form of prayer, from time to time,\nskillfully arranged, and with every regard to beauty of language? Which\nof these modes is most in accordance with the directions of the Sacred\nScriptures, and most likely to be attended with spiritual benefit to\nthe assembled church? Surely this inquiry does not involve the charge\nof schism or heresy upon either party. \u201cLet every man be fully\npersuaded in his own mind.\u201d Nor should such differences lead us to\ndespise each other. Let our first inquiry be, whether the Saviour\nintended a fixed form of prayer? And if so, did he give His church any\nother than that most beautiful and comprehensive form called the Lord\u2019s\nPrayer? And did he license any one, and if so, who, to alter, add to,\nor diminish from it? On the other hand, should we conclude that \u201cWe\nknow not what we should pray for as we ought, only as the Spirit\nhelpeth our infirmities,\u201d then must we rely, as Bunyan did, upon the\npromised aid of that gracious Spirit. Blessed, indeed, are those whose\nintercourse with heaven sheds an influence on their whole conduct,\ngives them abundance of well-arranged words in praying with their\nfamilies and with the sick or dejected, and\u2014whose lives prove that they\nhave been with Jesus, and are taught by him, or who, in Scripture\nlanguage, \u201cpray with the spirit and with the understanding also.\u201d\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nON PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT.\n\n\n\u201cI WILL PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT, AND I WILL PRAY WITH THE UNDERSTANDING\nALSO\u201d\u2014(I Cor 14:15).\n\nPRAYER is an ORDINANCE of God, and that to be used both in public and\nprivate; yea, such an ordinance as brings those that have the spirit of\nsupplication into great familiarity with God; and is also so prevalent\nin action, that it getteth of God, both for the person that prayeth,\nand for them that are prayed for, great things.5 It is the opener of\nthe heart of God, and a means by which the soul, though empty, is\nfilled. By prayer the Christian can open his heart to God, as to a\nfriend, and obtain fresh testimony of God\u2019s friendship to him. I might\nspend many words in distinguishing between public and private prayer;\nas also between that in the heart, and that with the vocal voice.\nSomething also might be spoken to distinguish between the gifts and\ngraces of prayer; but eschewing this method, my business shall be at\nthis time only to show you the very heart of prayer, without which, all\nyour lifting up, both of hands, and eyes, and voices, will be to no\npurpose at all. \u201cI will pray with the Spirit.\u201d\n\nThe method that I shall go on in at this time shall be, FIRST. To show\nyou what true prayer is. SECOND. To show you what it is to pray with\nthe Spirit. THIRD. What it is to pray with the Spirit and understanding\nalso. And so, FOURTHLY. To make some short use and application of what\nshall be spoken.\n\nWHAT PRAYER IS.\n\n\nFIRST, What [true] prayer is. Prayer is a sincere, sensible,\naffectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ,\nin the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as\nGod hath promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the\nchurch, with submission, in faith, to the will of God.\n\nIn this description are these seven things. First, It is a sincere;\nSecond, A sensible; Third, An affectionate, pouring out of the soul to\nGod, through Christ; Fourth, By the strength or assistance of the\nSpirit; Fifth, For such things as God hath promised, or, according to\nhis word; Sixth, For the good of the church; Seventh, With submission\nin faith to the will of God.\n\nFirst. For the first of these, it is a SINCERE pouring out of the soul\nto God. Sincerity is such a grace as runs through all the graces of God\nin us, and through all the actings of a Christian, and hath the sway in\nthem too, or else their actings are not any thing regarded of God, and\nso of and in prayer, of which particularly David speaks, when he\nmentions prayer. \u201cI cried unto him,\u201d the Lord \u201cwith my mouth, and he\nwas extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord\nwill not hear\u201d my prayer (Psa 66:17,18). Part of the exercise of prayer\nis sincerity, without which God looks not upon it as prayer in a good\nsense (Psa 16:1-4). Then \u201cye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall\nsearch for me with all your heart\u201d (Jer 29:12-13). The want of this\nmade the Lord reject their prayers in Hosea 7:14, where he saith, \u201cThey\nhave not cried unto me with their heart,\u201d that is, in sincerity, \u201cwhen\nthey howled upon their beds.\u201d But for a pretence, for a show in\nhypocrisy, to be seen of men, and applauded for the same, they prayed.\nSincerity was that which Christ commended in Nathaniel, when he was\nunder the fig tree. \u201cBehold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.\u201d\nProbably this good man was pouring out of his soul to God in prayer\nunder the fig tree, and that in a sincere and unfeigned spirit before\nthe Lord. The prayer that hath this in it as one of the principal\ningredients, is the prayer that God looks at. Thus, \u201cThe prayer of the\nupright is his delight\u201d (Prov 15:8).\n\nAnd why must sincerity be one of the essentials of prayer which is\naccepted of God, but because sincerity carries the soul in all\nsimplicity to open its heart to God, and to tell him the case plainly,\nwithout equivocation; to condemn itself plainly, without dissembling;\nto cry to God heartily, without complimenting. \u201cI have surely heard\nEphraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou has chastised me, and I was\nchastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke\u201d (Jer 31:18).\nSincerity is the same in a corner alone, as it is before the face of\nthe world. It knows not how to wear two vizards, one for an appearance\nbefore men, and another for a short snatch in a corner; but it must\nhave God, and be with him in the duty of prayer. It is not lip-labour\nthat it doth regard, for it is the heart that God looks at, and that\nwhich sincerity looks at, and that which prayer comes from, if it be\nthat prayer which is accompanied with sincerity.\n\nSecond. It is a sincere and SENSIBLE pouring out of the heart or soul.\nIt is not, as many take it to be, even a few babbling, prating,\ncomplimentary expressions, but a sensible feeling there is in the\nheart. Prayer hath in it a sensibleness of diverse things; sometimes\nsense of sin, sometimes of mercy received, sometimes of the readiness\nof God to give mercy, &c.\n\n1. A sense of the want of mercy, by reason of the danger of sin. The\nsoul, I say, feels, and from feeling sighs, groans, and breaks at the\nheart. For right prayer bubbleth out of the heart when it is\noverpressed with grief and bitterness, as blood is forced out of the\nflesh by reason of some heavy burden that lieth upon it (I Sam 1:10;\nPsa 69:3). David roars, cries, weeps, faints at heart, fails at the\neyes, loseth his moisture, &c., (Psa 38:8-10). Hezekiah mourns like a\ndove (Isa 38:14). Ephraim bemoans himself (Jer 31:18). Peter weeps\nbitterly (Matt 26:75). Christ hath strong cryings and tears (Heb 5:7).\nAnd all this from a sense of the justice of God, the guilt of sin, the\npains of hell and destruction. \u201cThe sorrows of death compassed me, and\nthe pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.\u201d Then\ncried I unto the Lord (Psa 116:3,4). And in another place, \u201cMy sore ran\nin the night\u201d (Psa 77:2). Again, \u201cI am bowed down greatly; I go\nmourning all the day long\u201d (Psa 38:6). In all these instances, and in\nhundreds more that might be named, you may see that prayer carrieth in\nit a sensible feeling disposition, and that first from a sense of sin.\n\n2. Sometimes there is a sweet sense of mercy received; encouraging,\ncomforting, strengthening, enlivening, enlightening mercy, &c. Thus\nDavid pours out his soul, to bless, and praise, and admire the great\nGod for his loving-kindness to such poor vile wretches. \u201cBless the\nLord, O my soul; and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless\nthe Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.6 Who forgiveth\nall thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy\nlife from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and\ntender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy\nyouth is renewed like the eagle\u2019s\u201d (Psa 103:1-5). And thus is the\nprayer of saints sometimes turned into praise and thanksgiving, and yet\nare prayers still. This is a mystery; God\u2019s people pray with their\npraises, as it is written, \u201cBe careful for nothing, but in every thing\nby prayer, and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be\nmade known unto God\u201d (Phil 4:6). A sensible thanksgiving, for mercies\nreceived, is a mighty prayer in the sight of God; it prevails with him\nunspeakably.\n\n3. In prayer there is sometimes in the soul a sense of mercy to be\nreceived. This again sets the soul all on a flame. \u201cThou, O lord of\nhosts,\u201d saith David, \u201chast revealed to thy servant, saying I will build\nthee an house; therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to\npray\u2014unto thee\u201d (II Sam 7:27). This provoked Jacob, David, Daniel, with\nothers\u2014even a sense of mercies to be received\u2014which caused them, not by\nfits and starts, nor yet in a foolish frothy way, to babble over a few\nwords written in a paper; but mightily, fervently, and continually, to\ngroan out their conditions before the Lord, as being sensible,\nsensible, I say, of their wants, their misery, and the willingness of\nGod to show mercy (Gen 32:10,11; Dan 9:3,4).\n\nA good sense of sin, and the wrath of God, with some encouragement from\nGod to come unto him, is a better Common-prayer-book than that which is\ntaken out of the Papistical mass-book,7 being the scraps and fragments\nof the devices of some popes, some friars, and I wot not what.\n\nThird. Prayer is a sincere, sensible, and an AFFECTIONATE pouring out\nof the soul to God. O! the heat, strength, life, vigour, and affection,\nthat is in right prayer! \u201cAs the hart panteth after the water-brooks,\nso panteth my soul after thee, O God\u201d (Psa 42:1). \u201cI have longed after\nthy precepts\u201d (Psa 119:40). \u201cI have longed for thy salvation\u201d (ver\n174). \u201cMy soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord;\nmy heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God\u201d (Psa 84:2). \u201cMy\nsoul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all\ntimes\u201d (Psa 119:20). Mark ye here, \u201cMy soul longeth,\u201d it longeth, it\nlongeth, &c. O what affection is here discovered in prayer! The like\nyou have in Daniel. \u201cO Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and\ndo; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God\u201d (Dan 9:19). Every syllable\ncarrieth a mighty vehemency in it. This is called the fervent, or the\nworking prayer, by James. And so again, \u201cAnd being in an agony, he\nprayed more earnestly\u201d (Luke 22:44). Or had his affections more and\nmore drawn out after God for his helping hand. O! How wide are the most\nof men with their prayers from this prayer, that is, PRAYER in God\u2019s\naccount! Alas! The greatest part of men make no conscience at all of\nthe duty; and as for them that do, it is to be feared that many of them\nare very great strangers to a sincere, sensible, and affectionate\npouring out their hearts or souls to God; but even content themselves\nwith a little lip-labour and bodily exercise, mumbling over a few\nimaginary prayers. When the affections are indeed engaged in prayer,\nthen, then the whole man is engaged, and that in such sort, that the\nsoul will spend itself to nothing, as it were, rather than it will go\nwithout that good desired, even communion and solace with Christ. And\nhence it is that the saints have spent their strengths, and lost their\nlives, rather than go without the blessing (Psa 69:3; 38:9,10; Gen\n32:24,26).\n\nAll this is too, too evident by the ignorance, profaneness, and spirit\nof envy, that reign in the hearts of those men that are so hot for the\nforms, and not the power of praying. Scarce one of forty among them\nknow what it is to be born again, to have communion with the Father\nthrough the Son; to feel the power of grace sanctifying their hearts:\nbut for all their prayers, they still live cursed, drunken, whorish,\nand abominable lives, full of malice, envy, deceit, persecuting of the\ndear children of God. O what a dreadful after-clap is coming upon them!\nwhich all their hypocritical assembling themselves together, with all\ntheir prayers, shall never be able to help them against, or shelter\nthem from.\n\nAgain, It is a pouring out of the heart or soul. There is in prayer an\nunbosoming of a man\u2019s self, an opening of the heart to God, an\naffectionate pouring out of the soul in requests, sighs, and groans.\n\u201cAll my desire is before thee,\u201d saith David, \u201cand my groaning is not\nhid from thee\u201d (Psa 38:9). And again, \u201cMy soul thirsteth for God, for\nthe living God. When shall I come and appear before God? When I\nremember these things, I pour out my soul in me\u201d (Psa 42:2,4). Mark, \u201cI\npour out my soul.\u201d It is an expression signifying, that in prayer there\ngoeth the very life and whole strength to God. As in another place,\n\u201cTrust in him at all times; ye people,\u2014pour out your heart before him\u201d\n(Psa 62:8). This is the prayer to which the promise is made, for the\ndelivering of a poor creature out of captivity and thralldom. \u201cIf from\nthence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou\nseek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul\u201d (Deut 4:29).\n\nAgain, It is a pouring out of the heart or soul TO GOD. This showeth\nalso the excellency of the spirit of prayer. It is the great God to\nwhich it retires. \u201cWhen shall I come and appear before God?\u201d And it\nargueth, that the soul that thus prayeth indeed, sees an emptiness in\nall things under heaven; that in God alone there is rest and\nsatisfaction for the soul. \u201cNow she that is a widow indeed, and\ndesolate, trusteth in God\u201d (I Tim 5:5). So saith David, \u201cIn thee, O\nLord, do I put my trust; let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me\nin thy righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline thine ear to me,\nand save me. Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually\nresort:\u2014for thou art my rock and my fortress; deliver me, O my God,\u2014out\nof the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For thou art my hope, O\nLord God, thou art my trust from my youth\u201d (Psa 71:1-5). Many in a\nwording way speak of God; but right prayer makes God his hope, stay,\nand all. Right prayer sees nothing substantial, and worth the looking\nafter, but God. And that, as I said before, it doth in a sincere,\nsensible, and affectionate way.\n\nAgain, It is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart\nor soul to God, THROUGH CHRIST. This through Christ must needs be\nadded, or else it is to be questioned, whether it be prayer, though in\nappearance it be never so eminent or eloquent.\n\nChrist is the way through whom the soul hath admittance to God, and\nwithout whom it is impossible that so much as one desire should come\ninto the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (John 14:6). \u201cIf ye shall ask\nanything in my name\u201d; \u201cwhatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, I\nwill do it\u201d (John 14:13,14). This was Daniel\u2019s way in praying for the\npeople of God; he did it in the name of Christ. \u201cNow therefore, O our\nGod, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause\nthy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord\u2019s\nsake\u201d (Dan 9:17). And so David, \u201cFor thy name\u2019s sake,\u201d that is, for thy\nChrist\u2019s sake, \u201cpardon mine iniquity, for it is great\u201d (Psa 25:11). But\nnow, it is not every one that maketh mention of Christ\u2019s name in\nprayer, that doth indeed, and in truth, effectually pray to God in the\nname of Christ, or through him. This coming to God through Christ is\nthe hardest part that is found in prayer. A man may more easily be\nsensible of his works, ay, and sincerely too desire mercy, and yet not\nbe able to come to God by Christ. That man that comes to God by Christ,\nhe must first have the knowledge of him; \u201cfor he that cometh to God,\nmust believe that he is\u201d (Heb 11:6). And so he that comes to God\nthrough Christ, must be enabled to know Christ. Lord, saith Moses,\n\u201cshow me now thy way, that I may know thee\u201d (Exo 33:13).\n\nThis Christ, none but the Father can reveal (Matt 11:27). And to come\nthrough Christ, is for the soul to be enabled of God to shroud itself\nunder the shadow of the Lord Jesus, as a man shroudeth himself under a\nthing for safeguard (Matt 16:16).8 Hence it is that David so often\nterms Christ his shield, buckler, tower, fortress, rock of defence,\n&c., (Psa 18:2; 27:1; 28:1). Not only because by him he overcame his\nenemies, but because through him he found favour with God the Father.\nAnd so he saith to Abraham, \u201cFear not, I am thy shield,\u201d &c., (Gen\n15:1). The man then that comes to God through Christ, must have faith,\nby which he puts on Christ, and in him appears before God. Now he that\nhath faith is born of God, born again, and so becomes one of the sons\nof God; by virtue of which he is joined to Christ, and made a member of\nhim (John 3:5,7; 1:12). And therefore, secondly he, as a member of\nChrist, comes to God; I say, as a member of him, so that God looks on\nthat man as a part of Christ, part of his body, flesh, and bones,\nunited to him by election, conversion, illumination, the Spirit being\nconveyed into the heart of that poor man by God (Eph 5:30). So that now\nhe comes to God in Christ\u2019s merits, in his blood, righteousness,\nvictory, intercession, and so stands before him, being \u201caccepted in his\nBeloved\u201d (Eph 1:6). And because this poor creature is thus a member of\nthe Lord Jesus, and under this consideration hath admittance to come to\nGod; therefore, by virtue of this union also, is the Holy Spirit\nconveyed into him, whereby he is able to pour out himself, to wit, his\nsoul, before God, with his audience. And this leads me to the next, or\nfourth particular.\n\nFourth. Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate, pouring out of the\nheart or soul to God through Christ, by the strength or ASSISTANCE OF\nTHE SPIRIT. For these things do so depend one upon another, that it is\nimpossible that it should be prayer, without there be a joint\nconcurrence of them; for though it be never so famous, yet without\nthese things, it is only such prayer as is rejected of God. For without\na sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart to God, it\nis but lip-labour; and if it be not through Christ, it falleth far\nshort of ever sounding well in the ears of God. So also, if it be not\nin the strength and assistance of the Spirit, it is but like the sons\nof Aaron, offering with strange fire (Lev 10:1,2). But I shall speak\nmore to this under the second head; and therefore in the meantime, that\nwhich is not petitioned through the teaching and assistance of the\nSpirit, it is not possible that it should be \u201caccording to the will of\nGod\u201d (Rom 8:26,27).\n\nFifth. Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the\nheart, or soul, to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance\nof the Spirit, FOR SUCH THINGS AS GOD HATH PROMISED, &c., (Matt 6:6-8).\nPrayer it is, when it is within the compass of God\u2019s Word; and it is\nblasphemy, or at best vain babbling, when the petition is beside the\nbook. David therefore still in his prayer kept his eye on the Word of\nGod. \u201cMy soul,\u201d saith he, \u201ccleaveth to the dust; quicken me according\nto thy word.\u201d And again, \u201cMy soul melteth for heaviness, strengthen\nthou me according unto thy word\u201d (Psa 119:25-28; see also 41, 42, 58,\n65, 74, 81, 82, 107, 147, 154, 169, 170). And, \u201cremember thy word unto\nthy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope\u201d (ver 49). And\nindeed the Holy Ghost doth not immediately quicken and stir up the\nheart of the Christian without, but by, with, and through the Word, by\nbringing that to the heart, and by opening of that, whereby the man is\nprovoked to go to the Lord, and to tell him how it is with him, and\nalso to argue, and supplicate, according to the Word; thus it was with\nDaniel, that mighty prophet of the Lord. He understanding by books that\nthe captivity of the children of Israel was hard at an end; then,\naccording unto that word, he maketh his prayer to God. \u201cI Daniel,\u201d\nsaith he, \u201cunderstood by books,\u201d viz., the writings of Jeremiah, \u201cthe\nnumber of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah,\u2014that\nhe would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And\nI set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications,\nwith fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes\u201d (Dan 9:2,3). So that I say, as\nthe Spirit is the helper and the governor of the soul, when it prayeth\naccording to the will of God; so it guideth by and according to, the\nWord of God and his promise. Hence it is that our Lord Jesus Christ\nhimself did make a stop, although his life lay at stake for it. I could\nnow pray to my Father, and he should give me more than twelve legions\nof angels; but how then must the scripture be fulfilled that thus it\nmust be? (Matt 26:53,54). As who should say, Were there but a word for\nit in the scripture, I should soon be out of the hands of mine enemies,\nI should be helped by angels; but the scripture will not warrant this\nkind of praying, for that saith otherwise. It is a praying then\naccording to the Word and promise. The Spirit by the Word must direct,\nas well in the manner, as in the matter of prayer. \u201cI will pray with\nthe Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also\u201d (I Cor 14:15).\nBut there is no understanding without the Word. For if they reject the\nword of the Lord, \u201cwhat wisdom is in them?\u201d (Jer 8:9).\n\nSixth. FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH. This clause reacheth in whatsoever\ntendeth either to the honour of God, Christ\u2019s advancement, or his\npeople\u2019s benefit. For God, and Christ, and his people are so linked\ntogether that if the good of the one be prayed for, to wit, the church,\nthe glory of God, and advancement of Christ, must needs be included.\nFor as Christ is in the Father, so the saints are in Christ; and he\nthat toucheth the saints, toucheth the apple of God\u2019s eye; and\ntherefore pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and you pray for all that is\nrequired of you. For Jerusalem will never be in perfect peace until she\nbe in heaven; and there is nothing that Christ doth more desire than to\nhave her there. That also is the place that God through Christ hath\ngiven to her. He then that prayeth for the peace and good of Zion, or\nthe church, doth ask that in prayer which Christ hath purchased with\nhis blood; and also that which the Father hath given to him as the\nprice thereof. Now he that prayeth for this, must pray for abundance of\ngrace for the church, for help against all its temptations; that God\nwould let nothing be too hard for it; and that all things might work\ntogether for its good, that God would keep them blameless and harmless,\nthe sons of God, to his glory, in the midst of a crooked and perverse\nnation. And this is the substance of Christ\u2019s own prayer in John 17.\nAnd all Paul\u2019s prayers did run that way, as one of his prayers doth\neminently show. \u201cAnd this I pray, that your love may abound yet more\nand more in knowledge, and in all judgment; that ye may approve things\nthat are excellent; that ye may be sincere, and without offence, till\nthe day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which\nare by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God\u201d (Phil 1:9-11).\nBut a short prayer, you see, and yet full of good desires for the\nchurch, from the beginning to the end; that it may stand and go on, and\nthat in the most excellent frame of spirit, even without blame,\nsincere, and without offence, until the day of Christ, let its\ntemptations or persecutions be what they will (Eph 1:16-21; 3:14-19;\nCol 1:9-13).\n\nSeventh. And because, as I said, prayer doth SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF GOD,\nand say, Thy will be done, as Christ hath taught us (Matt 6:10);\ntherefore the people of the Lord in humility are to lay themselves and\ntheir prayers, and all that they have, at the foot of their God, to be\ndisposed of by him as he in his heavenly wisdom seeth best. Yet not\ndoubting but God will answer the desire of his people that way that\nshall be most for their advantage and his glory. When the saints\ntherefore do pray with submission to the will of God, it doth not argue\nthat they are to doubt or question God\u2019s love and kindness to them. But\nbecause they at all times are not so wise, but that sometimes Satan may\nget that advantage of them, as to tempt them to pray for that which, if\nthey had it, would neither prove to God\u2019s glory nor his people\u2019s good.\n\u201cYet this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask\nanything according to his will, he heareth us; and if we know that he\nhear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we\ndesired of him,\u201d that is, we asking in the Spirit of grace and\nsupplication (I John 5:14,15). For, as I said before, that petition\nthat is not put up in and through the Spirit, it is not to be answered,\nbecause it is beside the will of God. For the Spirit only knoweth that,\nand so consequently knoweth how to pray according to that will of God.\n\u201cFor what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which\nis in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of\nGod\u201d (I Cor 2:11). But more of this hereafter. Thus you see, first,\nwhat prayer is. Now to proceed.\n\n[WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT.]\n\n\nSECOND. I will pray with the Spirit. Now to pray with the Spirit\u2014for\nthat is the praying man, and none else, so as to be accepted of God\u2014it\nis for a man, as aforesaid, sincerely and sensibly, with affection, to\ncome to God through Christ, &c.; which sincere, sensible, and\naffectionate coming must be by the working of God\u2019s Spirit.\n\nThere is no man nor church in the world that can come to God in prayer,\nbut by the assistance of the Holy Spirit. \u201cFor through Christ we all\nhave access by one Spirit unto the Father\u201d (Eph 2:18). Wherefore Paul\nsaith, \u201cFor we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the\nSpirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be\nuttered. And he that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what is the mind of\nthe Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to\nthe will of God\u201d (Rom 8:26,27). And because there is in this scripture\nso full a discovery of the spirit of prayer, and of man\u2019s inability to\npray without it; therefore I shall in a few words comment upon it.\n\n\u201cFor we.\u201d Consider first the person speaking, even Paul, and, in his\nperson, all the apostles. We apostles, we extraordinary officers, the\nwise master-builders, that have some of us been caught up into paradise\n(Rom 15:16; I Cor 3:10; II Cor 12:4). \u201cWe know not what we should pray\nfor.\u201d Surely there is no man but will confess, that Paul and his\ncompanions were as able to have done any work for God, as any pope or\nproud prelate in the church of Rome, and could as well have made a\nCommon Prayer Book as those who at first composed this; as being not a\nwhit behind them either in grace or gifts.9\n\n\u201cFor we know not what we should pray for.\u201d We know not the matter of\nthe things for which we should pray, neither the object to whom we\npray, nor the medium by or through whom we pray; none of these things\nknow we, but by the help and assistance of the Spirit. Should we pray\nfor communion with God through Christ? should we pray for faith, for\njustification by grace, and a truly sanctified heart? none of these\nthings know we. \u201cFor what man knoweth the things of a man, save the\nspirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no\nman, but the Spirit of God\u201d (I Cor 2:11). But here, alas! the apostles\nspeak of inward and spiritual things, which the world knows not (Isa\n29:11).\n\nAgain, as they know not the matter, &c., of prayer, without the help of\nthe Spirit; so neither know they the manner thereof without the same;\nand therefore he adds, \u201cWe know not what we should pray for as we\nought\u201d; but the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, with sighs and groans\nwhich cannot be uttered. Mark here, they could not so well and so fully\ncome off in the manner of performing this duty, as these in our days\nthink they can.\n\nThe apostles, when they were at the best, yea, when the Holy Ghost\nassisted them, yet then they were fain to come off with sighs and\ngroans, falling short of expressing their mind, but with sighs and\ngroans which cannot be uttered.\n\nBut here now, the wise men of our days are so well skilled as that they\nhave both the manner and matter of their prayers at their finger-ends;\nsetting such a prayer for such a day, and that twenty years before it\ncomes. One for Christmas, another for Easter, and six days after that.\nThey have also bounded how many syllables must be said in every one of\nthem at their public exercises. For each saint\u2019s day, also, they have\nthem ready for the generations yet unborn to say. They can tell you,\nalso, when you shall kneel, when you shall stand, when you should abide\nin your seats, when you should go up into the chancel, and what you\nshould do when you come there. All which the apostles came short of, as\nnot being able to compose so profound a manner; and that for this\nreason included in this scripture, because the fear of God tied them to\npray as they ought.\n\n\u201cFor we know not what we should pray for as we ought.\u201d Mark this, \u201cas\nwe ought.\u201d For the not thinking of this word, or at least the not\nunderstanding it in the spirit and truth of it, hath occasioned these\nmen to devise, as Jeroboam did, another way of worship, both for matter\nand manner, than is revealed in the Word of God (I Kings 12:26-33).\nBut, saith Paul, we must pray as we ought; and this WE cannot do by all\nthe art, skill, and cunning device of men or angels. \u201cFor we know not\nwhat we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit\u201d; nay, further, it\nmust be \u201cthe Spirit ITSELF\u201d that helpeth our infirmities; not the\nSpirit and man\u2019s lusts; what man of his own brain may imagine and\ndevise, is one thing, and what they are commanded, and ought to do, is\nanother. Many ask and have not, because they ask amiss; and so are\nnever the nearer the enjoying of those things they petition for (James\n4:3). It is not to pray at random that will put off God, or cause him\nto answer. While prayer is making, God is searching the heart, to see\nfrom what root and spirit it doth arise (I John 5:14). \u201cAnd he that\nsearcheth the heart knoweth,\u201d that is, approveth only, the meaning \u201cof\nthe Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to\nthe will of God.\u201d For in that which is according to his will only, he\nheareth us, and in nothing else. And it is the Spirit only that can\nteach us so to ask; it only being able to search out all things, even\nthe deep things of God. Without which Spirit, though we had a thousand\nCommon Prayer Books, yet we know not what we should pray for as we\nought, being accompanied with those infirmities that make us absolutely\nincapable of such a work. Which infirmities, although it is a hard\nthing to name them all, yet some of them are these that follow.\n\nFirst. Without the Spirit man is so infirm that he cannot, with all\nother means whatsoever, be enabled to think one right saving thought of\nGod, of Christ, or of his blessed things; and therefore he saith of the\nwicked, \u201cGod is not in all his thoughts,\u201d (Psa 10:4); unless it be that\nthey imagine him altogether such a one as themselves (Psa 50:21). For\n\u201cevery imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil,\u201d and\nthat \u201ccontinually\u201d (Gen 6:5; 8:21). They then not being able to\nconceive aright of God to whom they pray, of Christ through whom they\npray, nor of the things for which they pray, as is before showed, how\nshall they be able to address themselves to God, without the Spirit\nhelp this infirmity? Peradventure you will say, By the help of the\nCommon Prayer Book; but that cannot do it, unless it can open the eyes,\nand reveal to the soul all these things before touched. Which that it\ncannot, it is evident; because that is the work of the Spirit only. The\nSpirit itself is the revealer of these things to poor souls, and that\nwhich doth give us to understand them; wherefore Christ tells his\ndisciples, when he promised to send the Spirit, the Comforter, \u201cHe\nshall take of mine and show unto you\u201d; as if he had said, I know you\nare naturally dark and ignorant as to the understanding any of my\nthings; though ye try this course and the other, yet your ignorance\nwill still remain, the veil is spread over your heart, and there is\nnone can take away the same, nor give you spiritual understanding but\nthe Spirit. The Common Prayer Book will not do it, neither can any man\nexpect that it should be instrumental that way, it being none of God\u2019s\nordinances; but a thing since the Scriptures were written, patched\ntogether one piece at one time, and another at another; a mere human\ninvention and institution, which God is so far from owning of, that he\nexpressly forbids it, with any other such like, and that by manifold\nsayings in his most holy and blessed Word. (See Mark 7:7,8, and Col\n2:16-23; Deut 12:30-32; Prov 30:6; Deut 4:2; Rev 22:18). For right\nprayer must, as well in the outward part of it, in the outward\nexpression, as in the inward intention, come from what the soul doth\napprehend in the light of the Spirit; otherwise it is condemned as vain\nand an abomination, because the heart and tongue do not go along\njointly in the same, neither indeed can they, unless the Spirit help\nour infirmities (Mark 7; Prov 28:9; Isa 29:13). And this David knew\nfull well, which did make him cry, \u201cLord, open thou my lips, and my\nmouth shall show forth thy praise\u201d (Psa 51:15). I suppose there is none\ncan imagine but that David could speak and express himself as well as\nothers, nay, as any in our generation, as is clearly manifested by his\nword and his works. Nevertheless when this good man, this prophet,\ncomes into God\u2019s worship, then the Lord must help, or he can do\nnothing. \u201cLord, open thou my lips, and\u201d then \u201cmy mouth shall show forth\nthy praise.\u201d He could not speak one right word, except the Spirit\nitself gave utterance. \u201cFor we know not what we should pray for as we\nought, but the Spirit itself helpeth our infirmities.\u201d But,\n\nSecond. It must be a praying with the Spirit, that is, the effectual\npraying; because without that, as men are senseless, so hypocritical,\ncold, and unseemly in their prayers; and so they, with their prayers,\nare both rendered abominable to God (Matt 23:14; Mark 12:40; Luke\n18:11, 12; Isa 58:2, 3). It is not the excellency of the voice, nor the\nseeming affection, and earnestness of him that prayeth, that is\nanything regarded of God without it. For man, as man, is so full of all\nmanner of wickedness, that as he cannot keep a word, or thought, so\nmuch less a piece of prayer clean, and acceptable to God through\nChrist; and for this cause the Pharisees, with their prayers, were\nrejected. No question but they were excellently able to express\nthemselves in words, and also for length of time, too, they were very\nnotable; but they had not the Spirit of Jesus Christ to help them, and\ntherefore they did what they did with their infirmities or weaknesses\nonly, and so fell short of a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring\nout of their souls to God, through the strength of the Spirit. That is\nthe prayer that goeth to heaven, that is sent thither in the strength\nof the Spirit. For,\n\nThird. Nothing but the Spirit can show a man clearly his misery by\nnature, and so put a man into a posture of prayer. Talk is but talk, as\nwe use to say, and so it is but mouth-worship, if there be not a sense\nof misery, and that effectually too. O the cursed hypocrisy that is in\nmost hearts, and that accompanieth many thousands of praying men that\nwould be so looked upon in this day, and all for want of a sense of\ntheir misery! But now the Spirit, that will sweetly show the soul its\nmisery, where it is, and what is like to become of it, also the\nintolerableness of that condition. For it is the Spirit that doth\neffectually convince of sin and misery, without the Lord Jesus, and so\nputs the soul into a sweet, sensible, affectionate way of praying to\nGod according to his word (John 16:7-9).\n\nFourth. If men did see their sins, yet without the help of the Spirit\nthey would not pray. For they would run away from God, with Cain and\nJudas, and utterly despair of mercy, were it not for the Spirit. When a\nman is indeed sensible of his sin, and God\u2019s curse, then it is a hard\nthing to persuade him to pray; for, saith his heart, \u201cThere is no\nhope,\u201d it is in vain to seek God (Jer 2:25; 18:12). I am so vile, so\nwretched, and so cursed a creature, that I shall never be regarded! Now\nhere comes the Spirit, and stayeth the soul, helpeth it to hold up its\nface to God, by letting into the heart some small sense of mercy to\nencourage it to go to God, and hence it is called \u201cthe Comforter\u201d (John\n14:26).\n\nFifth. It must be in or with the Spirit; for without that no man can\nknow how he should come to God the right way. Men may easily say they\ncome to God in his Son: but it is the hardest thing of a thousand to\ncome to God aright and in his own way, without the Spirit. It is \u201cthe\nSpirit\u201d that \u201csearcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God\u201d (I Cor\n2:10). It is the Spirit that must show us the way of coming to God, and\nalso what there is in God that makes him desirable: \u201cI pray thee,\u201d\nsaith Moses, \u201cshow me now thy way, that I may know thee\u201d (Exo 33:13).\nAnd, He shall take of mine, and \u201cshow it unto you\u201d (John 16:14).\n\nSixth. Because without the Spirit, though a man did see his misery, and\nalso the way to come to God; yet he would never be able to claim a\nshare in either God, Christ, or mercy, with God\u2019s approbation. O how\ngreat a task is it, for a poor soul that becomes sensible of sin and\nthe wrath of God, to say in faith, but this one word, \u201cFather!\u201d I tell\nyou, however hypocrites think, yet the Christian that is so indeed\nfinds all the difficulty in this very thing, it cannot say God is its\nFather. O! saith he, I dare not call him Father; and hence it is that\nthe Spirit must be sent into the hearts of God\u2019s people for this very\nthing, to cry Father: it being too great a work for any man to do\nknowingly and believingly without it (Gal 4:6). When I say knowingly, I\nmean, knowing what it is to be a child of God, and to be born again.\nAnd when I say believingly, I mean, for the soul to believe, and that\nfrom good experience, that the work of grace is wrought in him. This is\nthe right calling of God Father; and not as many do, to say in a\nbabbling way, the Lord\u2019s prayer (so called) by heart, as it lieth in\nthe words of the book. No, here is the life of prayer, when in or with\nthe Spirit, a man being made sensible of sin, and how to come to the\nLord for mercy; he comes, I say, in the strength of the Spirit, and\ncrieth Father. That one word spoken in faith, is better than a thousand\nprayers, as men call them, written and read, in a formal, cold,\nlukewarm way. O how far short are those people of being sensible of\nthis, who count it enough to teach themselves and children to say the\nLord\u2019s prayer, the creed, with other sayings; when, as God knows, they\nare senseless of themselves, their misery, or what it is to be brought\nto God through Christ! Ah, poor soul! Study your misery, and cry to God\nto show you your confused blindness and ignorance, before you be so\nrife in calling God your Father, or teaching your children either so to\nsay. And know, that to say God is your Father, in a way of prayer or\nconference, without any experiment of the work of grace on your souls,\nit is to say you are Jews and are not, and so to lie. You say, Our\nFather; God saith, You blaspheme! You say you are Jew, that is, true\nChristians; God saith, You lie! \u201cBehold I will make them of the\nsynagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie\u201d\n(Rev 3:9). \u201cAnd I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews,\nand are not, but are the synagogue of Satan\u201d (Rev 2:9). And so much the\ngreater the sin is, by how much the more the sinner boasts it with a\npretended sanctity, as the Jews did to Christ, in the 8th of John,\nwhich made Christ, even in plain terms, to tell them their doom, for\nall their hypocritical pretences (John 8:41-45). And yet forsooth every\ncursed whoremaster, thief, and drunkard, swearer, and perjured person;\nthey that have not only been such in times past, but are even so still:\nthese I say, by some must be counted the only honest men, and all\nbecause with their blasphemous throats, and hypocritical hearts, they\nwill come to church, and say, \u201cOur Father!\u201d Nay further, these men,\nthough every time they say to God, Our Father, do most abominably\nblaspheme, yet they must be compelled thus to do. And because others\nthat are of more sober principles, scruple the truth of such vain\ntraditions; therefore they must be looked upon to be the only enemies\nof God and the nation: when as it is their own cursed superstition that\ndoth set the great God against them, and cause him to count them for\nhis enemies (Isa 53:10). And yet just like to Bonner, that blood-red\npersecutor, they commend, I say, these wretches, although never so\nvile, if they close in with their traditions, to be good churchmen, the\nhonest subjects; while God\u2019s people are, as it hath always been, looked\nupon to be a turbulent, seditious, and factious people (Ezra 4:12-16).\n\nTherefore give me leave a little to reason with thee, thou poor, blind,\nignorant sot.\n\n(1.) It may be thy great prayer is to say, \u201cOur Father which art in\nheaven,\u201d &c. Dost thou know the meaning of the very first words of this\nprayer? Canst thou indeed, with the rest of the saints, cry, Our\nFather? Art thou truly born again? Hast thou received the spirit of\nadoption? Dost thou see thyself in Christ, and canst thou come to God\nas a member of him? Or art thou ignorant of these things, and yet\ndarest thou say, Our Father? Is not the devil thy father? (John 8:44).\nAnd dost thou not do the deeds of the flesh? And yet darest thou say to\nGod, Our Father? Nay, art thou not a desperate persecutor of the\nchildren of God? Hast thou not cursed them in thine heart many a time?\nAnd yet dost thou out of thy blasphemous throat suffer these words to\ncome, even our Father? He is their Father whom thou hatest and\npersecutest. But as the devil presented himself amongst the sons of\nGod, (Job 1), when they were to present themselves before the Father,\neven our Father, so is it now; because the saints were commanded to\nsay, Our Father, therefore all the blind ignorant rabble in the world,\nthey must also use the same words, Our Father.\n\n(2.) And dost thou indeed say, \u201cHallowed be thy name\u201d with thy heart?\nDost thou study, by all honest and lawful ways, to advance the name,\nholiness, and majesty of God? Doth thy heart and conversation agree\nwith this passage? Dost thou strive to imitate Christ in all the works\nof righteousness, which God doth command of thee, and prompt thee\nforward to? It is so, if thou be one that can truly with God\u2019s\nallowance cry, \u201cOur Father.\u201d Or is it not the least of thy thoughts all\nthe day? And dost thou not clearly make it appear, that thou art a\ncursed hypocrite, by condemning that with thy daily practice, which\nthou pretendest in thy praying with thy dissembling tongue?\n\n(3.) Wouldst thou have the kingdom of God come indeed, and also his\nwill to be done in earth as it is in heaven? Nay, notwithstanding, thou\naccording to the form, sayest, Thy kingdom come, yet would it not make\nthee ready to run mad, to hear the trumpet sound, to see the dead\narise, and thyself just now to go and appear before God, to reckon for\nall the deeds thou hast done in the body? Nay, are not the very\nthoughts of it altogether displeasing to thee? And if God\u2019s will should\nbe done on earth as it is in heaven, must it not be thy ruin? There is\nnever a rebel in heaven against God, and if he should so deal on earth,\nmust it not whirl thee down to hell? And so of the rest of the\npetitions. Ah! How sadly would even those men look, and with what\nterror would they walk up and down the world, if they did but know the\nlying and blaspheming that proceedeth out of their mouth, even in their\nmost pretended sanctity? The Lord awaken you, and teach you, poor\nsouls, in all humility, to take heed that you be not rash and unadvised\nwith your heart, and much more with your mouth! When you appear before\nGod, as the wise man saith, \u201cBe not rash with thy mouth, and let not\nthine heart be hasty to utter any thing,\u201d (Eccl 5:2); especially to\ncall God Father, without some blessed experience when thou comest\nbefore God. But I pass this.\n\nSeventh. It must be a praying with the Spirit if it be accepted,\nbecause there is nothing but the Spirit that can lift up the soul or\nheart to God in prayer: \u201cThe preparations of the heart in man, and the\nanswer of the tongue, is from the Lord\u201d (Prov 16:1). That is, in every\nwork for God, and especially in prayer, if the heart run with the\ntongue, it must be prepared by the Spirit of God. Indeed the tongue is\nvery apt, of itself, to run without either fear or wisdom: but when it\nis the answer of the heart, and that such a heart as is prepared by the\nSpirit of God, then it speaks so as God commands and doth desire.\n\nThey are mighty words of David, where he saith, that he lifteth his\nheart and his soul to God (Psa 25:1). It is a great work for any man\nwithout the strength of the Spirit, and therefore I conceive that this\nis one of the great reasons why the Spirit of God is called a Spirit of\nsupplications, (Zech 12:10), because it is that which helpeth the heart\nwhen it supplicates indeed to do it; and therefore saith Paul, \u201cPraying\nwith all prayer and supplication in the Spirit\u201d (Eph 6:18). And so in\nmy text, \u201cI will pray with the Spirit.\u201d Prayer, without the heart be in\nit, is like a sound without life; and a heart, without it be lifted up\nof the Spirit, will never pray to God.\n\nEighth. As the heart must be lifted up by the Spirit, if it pray\naright, so also it must be held up by the Spirit when it is up, if it\ncontinue to pray aright. I do not know what, or how it is with others\u2019\nhearts, whether they be lifted up by the Spirit of God, and so\ncontinued, or no: but this I am sure of, First, That it is impossible\nthat all the prayer-books that men have made in the world, should lift\nup, or prepare the heart; that is the work of the great God himself.\nAnd, in the second place, I am sure that they are as far from keeping\nit up, when it is up. And indeed here is the life of prayer, to have\nthe heart kept with God in the duty. It was a great matter for Moses to\nkeep his hands lifted up to God in prayer; but how much more then to\nkeep the heart in it! (Exo 17:12).\n\nThe want of this is that which God complains of; that they draw nigh to\nhim with their mouth, and honour him with their lips, but their hearts\nwere far from him (Isa 29:13; Eze 33), but chiefly that they walk after\nthe commandments and traditions of men, as the scope of Matthew 15:8, 9\ndoth testify. And verily, may I but speak my own experience, and from\nthat tell you the difficulty of praying to God as I ought, it is enough\nto make your poor, blind, carnal men to entertain strange thoughts of\nme. For, as for my heart, when I go to pray, I find it so loth to go to\nGod, and when it is with him, so loth to stay with him, that many times\nI am forced in my prayers, first to beg of God that he would take mine\nheart, and set it on himself in Christ, and when it is there, that he\nwould keep it there. Nay, many times I know not what to pray for, I am\nso blind, nor how to pray, I am so ignorant; only, blessed be grace,\nthe Spirit helps our infirmities (Psa 86:11).\n\nO! the starting-holes that the heart hath in the time of prayer; none\nknows how many bye-ways the heart hath, and back-lanes, to slip away\nfrom the presence of God. How much pride also, if enabled with\nexpressions. How much hypocrisy, if before others. And how little\nconscience is there made of prayer between God and the soul in secret,\nunless the Spirit of supplication be there to help? When the Spirit\ngets into the heart, then there is prayer indeed, and not till then.\n\nNinth. The soul that doth rightly pray, it must be in and with the help\nand strength of the Spirit; because it is impossible that a man should\nexpress himself in prayer without it. When I say, it is impossible for\na man to express himself in prayer without it, I mean, that it is\nimpossible that the heart, in a sincere and sensible affectionate way,\nshould pour out itself before God, with those groans and sighs that\ncome from a truly praying heart, without the assistance of the Spirit.\nIt is not the mouth that is the main thing to be looked at in prayer,\nbut whether the heart is so full of affection and earnestness in prayer\nwith God, that it is impossible to express their sense and desire; for\nthen a man desires indeed, when his desires are so strong, many, and\nmighty, that all the words, tears, and groans that can come from the\nheart, cannot utter them: \u201cThe Spirit\u2014helpeth our infirmities,\u2014and\nmaketh intercession for us with [sighs and] groanings which cannot be\nuttered\u201d (Rom 8:26).\n\nThat is but poor prayer which is only discovered in so many words. A\nman that truly prays one prayer, shall after that never be able to\nexpress with his mouth or pen the unutterable desires, sense,\naffection, and longing that went to God in that prayer.\n\nThe best prayers have often more groans than words: and those words\nthat it hath are but a lean and shallow representation of the heart,\nlife, and spirit of that prayer. You do not find any words of prayer,\nthat we read of, come out of the mouth of Moses, when he was going out\nof Egypt, and was followed by Pharaoh, and yet he made heaven ring\nagain with his cry (Exo 14:15). But it was inexpressible and\nunsearchable groans and cryings of his soul in and with the Spirit. God\nis the God of spirits, and his eyes look further than at the outside of\nany duty whatsoever (Num 16:22). I doubt this is but little thought on\nby the most of them that would be looked upon as a praying people (I\nSam 16:7).\n\nThe nearer a man comes in any work that God commands him to the doing\nof it according to his will, so much the more hard and difficult it is;\nand the reason is, because man, as man, is not able to do it. But\nprayer, as aforesaid, is not only a duty, but one of the most eminent\nduties, and therefore so much the more difficult: therefore Paul knew\nwhat he said, when he said, \u201cI will pray with the Spirit.\u201d He knew well\nit was not what others writ or said that could make him a praying\nperson; nothing less than the Spirit could do it.\n\nTenth. It must be with the Spirit, or else as there will be a failing\nin the act itself, so there will be a failing, yea, a fainting, in the\nprosecution of the work. Prayer is an ordinance of God, that must\ncontinue with a soul so long as it is on this side glory. But, as I\nsaid before, it is not possible for a man to get up his heart to God in\nprayer; so it is as difficult to keep it there, without the assistance\nof the Spirit. And if so, then for a man to continue from time to time\nin prayer with God, it must of necessity be with the Spirit.\n\nChrist tells us, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke\n18:1). And again tells us, that this is one definition of a hypocrite,\nthat either he will not continue in prayer, or else if he do it, it\nwill not be in the power, that is, in the spirit of prayer, but in the\nform, for a pretence only (Job 27:10; Matt 23:14). It is the easiest\nthing of a hundred to fall from the power to the form, but it is the\nhardest thing of many to keep in the life, spirit, and power of any one\nduty, especially prayer; that is such a work, that a man without the\nhelp of the Spirit cannot so much as pray once, much less continue,\nwithout it, in a sweet praying frame, and in praying, so to pray as to\nhave his prayers ascend into the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth.\n\nJacob did not only begin, but held it: \u201cI will not let thee go, unless\nthou bless me\u201d (Gen 32). So did the rest of the godly (Hosea 12:4). But\nthis could not be without the spirit of prayer. It is through the\nSpirit that we have access to the Father (Eph 2:18).\n\nThe same is a remarkable place in Jude, when he stirreth up the saints\nby the judgment of God upon the wicked to stand fast, and continue to\nhold out in the faith of the gospel, as one excellent means thereto,\nwithout which he knew they would never be able to do it. Saith he,\n\u201cBuilding up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy\nGhost\u201d (Jude 20). As if he had said, Brethren, as eternal life is laid\nup for the persons that hold out only, so you cannot hold out unless\nyou continue praying in the Spirit. The great cheat that the devil and\nantichrist delude the world withal, it is to make them continue in the\nform of any duty, the form of preaching, of hearing, or praying, &c.\nThese are they that have \u201ca form of godliness, but denying the power\nthereof; from such turn away\u201d (II Tim 3:5).\n\nHere followeth the third thing; to wit,\n\nWHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT, AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING.\n\n\nTHIRD. And now to the next thing, what it is to pray with the Spirit,\nand to pray with the understanding also. For the apostle puts a clear\ndistinction between praying with the Spirit, and praying with the\nSpirit and understanding: therefore when he saith, \u201che will pray with\nthe Spirit,\u201d he adds, \u201cand I will pray with the understanding ALSO.\u201d\nThis distinction was occasioned through the Corinthians not observing\nthat it was their duty to do what they did to the edification of\nthemselves and others too: whereas they did it for their own\ncommendations. So I judge: for many of them having extraordinary gifts,\nas to speak with divers tongues, &c., therefore they were more for\nthose mighty gifts than they were for the edifying of their brethren;\nwhich was the cause that Paul wrote this chapter to them, to let them\nunderstand, that though extraordinary gifts were excellent, yet to do\nwhat they did to the edification of the church was more excellent. For,\nsaith the apostle, \u201cif I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth,\nbut my understanding,\u201d and also the understanding of others, \u201cis\nunfruitful\u201d (I Cor 14:3, 4, 12, 19, 24, 25. Read the scope of the whole\nchapter). Therefore, \u201cI will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with\nthe understanding also.\u201d\n\nIt is expedient then that the understanding should be occupied in\nprayer, as well as the heart and mouth: \u201cI will pray with the Spirit,\nand I will pray with the understanding also.\u201d That which is done with\nunderstanding, is done more effectually, sensibly, and heartily, as I\nshall show farther anon, than that which is done without it; which made\nthe apostle pray for the Colossians, that God would fill them \u201cwith the\nknowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding\u201d (Col\n1:9). And for the Ephesians, that God would give unto them \u201cthe spirit\nof wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of him\u201d (Eph 1:17). And so\nfor the Philippians, that God would make them abound \u201cin knowledge, and\nin all judgment\u201d (Phil 1:9). A suitable understanding is good in\neverything a man undertakes, either civil or spiritual; and therefore\nit must be desired by all them that would be a praying people. In my\nspeaking to this, I shall show you what it is to pray with\nunderstanding.\n\nUnderstanding is to be taken both for speaking in our mother-tongue,\nand also experimentally. I pass the first, and treat only on the\nsecond.\n\nFor the making of right prayers, it is to be required that there should\nbe a good or spiritual understanding in all them who pray to God.\n\nFirst. To pray with understanding, is to pray as being instructed by\nthe Spirit in the understanding of the want of those things which the\nsoul is to pray for. Though a man be in never so much need of pardon of\nsin, and deliverance from wrath to come, yet if he understand not this,\nhe will either not desire them at all, or else be so cold and lukewarm\nin his desires after them, that God will even loathe his frame of\nspirit in asking for them. Thus it was with the church of the\nLaodiceans, they wanted knowledge or spiritual understanding; they knew\nnot that they were poor, wretched, blind, and naked. The cause whereof\nmade them, and all their services, so loathsome to Christ, that he\nthreatens to spew them out of his mouth (Rev 3:16, 17). Men without\nunderstanding may say the same words in prayer as others do; but if\nthere be an understanding in the one, and none in the other, there is,\nO there is a mighty difference in speaking the very same words! The one\nspeaking from a spiritual understanding of those things that he in\nwords desires, and the other words it only, and there is all.\n\nSecond. Spiritual understanding espieth in the heart of God a readiness\nand willingness to give those things to the soul that it stands in need\nof. David by this could guess at the very thoughts of God towards him\n(Psa 40:5). And thus it was with the woman of Canaan; she did by faith\nand a right understanding discern, beyond all the rough carriage of\nChrist, tenderness and willingness in his heart to save, which caused\nher to be vehement and earnest, yea, restless, until she did enjoy the\nmercy she stood in need of (Matt 15:22-28).\n\nAnd understanding of the willingness that is in the heart of God to\nsave sinners, there is nothing will press the soul more to seek after\nGod, and to cry for pardon, than it. If a man should see a pearl worth\nan hundred pounds lie in a ditch, yet if he understood not the value of\nit, he would lightly pass it by: but if he once get the knowledge of\nit, he would venture up to the neck for it. So it is with souls\nconcerning the things of God: if a man once get an understanding of the\nworth of them, then his heart, nay, the very strength of his soul, runs\nafter them, and he will never leave crying till he have them. The two\nblind men in the gospel, because they did certainly know that Jesus,\nwho was going by them, was both able and willing to heal such\ninfirmities as they were afflicted with: therefore they cried, and the\nmore they were rebuked, the more they cried (Matt 20:29-31).\n\nThird. The understanding being spiritually enlightened, hereby there is\nthe way, as aforesaid, discovered, through which the soul should come\nunto God; which gives great encouragement unto it. It is else with a\npoor soul, as with one who hath a work to do, and if it be not done,\nthe danger is great; if it be done, so is the advantage. But he knows\nnot how to begin, nor how to proceed; and so, through discouragement,\nlets all alone, and runs the hazard.\n\nFourth. The enlightened understanding sees largeness enough in the\npromises to encourage it to pray; which still adds to it strength to\nstrength. As when men promise such and such things to all that will\ncome for them, it is great encouragement to those that know what\npromises are made, to come and ask for them.\n\nFifth. The understanding being enlightened, way is made for the soul to\ncome to God with suitable arguments, sometimes in a way of\nexpostulation, as Jacob (Gen 32:9). Sometimes in way of supplication,\nyet not in a verbal way only, but even from the heart there is forced\nby the Spirit, through the understanding, such effectual arguments as\nmoveth the heart of God. When Ephraim gets a right understanding of his\nown unseemly carriages towards the Lord, then he begins to bemoan\nhimself (Jer 31:18-20). And in bemoaning of himself, he used such\narguments with the Lord, that it affects his heart, draws out\nforgiveness, and makes Ephraim pleasant in his eyes through Jesus\nChrist our Lord: \u201cI have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus,\u201d\nsaith God, \u201cThou hast chastised me, and I was chastised; as a bullock\nunaccustomed to the yoke; turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou\nart the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented, and\nafter that I was instructed,\u201d or had a right understanding of myself,\n\u201cI smote upon my thigh, I was ashamed; yea, even confounded; because I\ndid bear the reproach of my youth.\u201d These be Ephraim\u2019s complaints and\nbemoanings of himself; at which the Lord breaks forth into these\nheart-melting expressions, saying, \u201cIs Ephraim my dear son? Is he a\npleasant child? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember\nhim still; therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have\nmercy upon him, saith the Lord.\u201d Thus, you see, that as it is required\nto pray with the Spirit, so it is to pray with the understanding also.\nAnd to illustrate what hath been spoken by a similitude:\u2014set the case,\nthere should come two a-begging to your door; the one is a poor, lame,\nwounded, and almost starved creature, the other is a healthful lusty\nperson; these two use the same words in their begging; the one saith he\nis almost starved, so doth the other: but yet the man that is indeed\nthe poor, lame, or maimed person, he speaks with more sense, feeling,\nand understanding of the misery that is mentioned in their begging,\nthan the other can do; and it is discovered more by his affectionate\nspeaking, his bemoaning himself. His pain and poverty make him speak\nmore in a spirit of lamentation than the other, and he shall be pitied\nsooner than the other, by all those that have the least dram of natural\naffection or pity. Just thus it is with God: there are some who out of\ncustom and formality go and pray; there are others who go in the\nbitterness of their spirits: the one he prays out of bare notion and\nnaked knowledge; the other hath his words forced from him by the\nanguish of his soul. Surely that is the man that God will look at,\n\u201ceven to him that is poor,\u201d of an humble \u201cand of a contrite spirit, and\ntrembleth at my word\u201d (Isa 66:2).\n\nSixth. An understanding well enlightened is of admirable use also, both\nas to the matter and manner of prayer. He that hath his understanding\nwell exercised, to discern between good and evil, and in it placed a\nsense either of the misery of man, or the mercy of God; that soul hath\nno need of the writings of other men to teach him by forms of prayer.\nFor as he that feels the pain needs not to be taught to cry O! even so\nhe that hath his understanding opened by the Spirit needs not so to be\ntaught of other men\u2019s prayers, as that he cannot pray without them. The\npresent sense, feeling, and pressure that lieth upon his spirit,\nprovokes him to groan out his request unto the Lord. When David had the\npains of hell catching hold on him, and the sorrows of hell compassing\nhim about, he needs not a bishop in a surplice to teach him to say, \u201cO\nLord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul\u201d (Psa 116:3, 4). Or to look into\na book, to teach him in a form to pour out his heart before God. It is\nthe nature of the heart of sick men, in their pain and sickness, to\nvent itself for ease, by dolorous groans and complainings to them that\nstand by. Thus it was with David, in Psalm 38:1-12. And thus, blessed\nbe the Lord, it is with them that are endued with the grace of God.\n\nSeventh. It is necessary that there be an enlightened understanding, to\nthe end that the soul be kept in a continuation of the duty of prayer.\n\nThe people of God are not ignorant how many wiles, tricks, and\ntemptations the devil hath to make a poor soul, who is truly willing to\nhave the Lord Jesus Christ, and that upon Christ\u2019s terms too; I say, to\ntempt that soul to be weary of seeking the face of God, and to think\nthat God is not willing to have mercy on such a one as him. Ay, saith\nSatan, thou mayest pray indeed, but thou shalt not prevail. Thou seest\nthine heart is hard, cold, dull, and dread; thou dost not pray with the\nSpirit, thou dost not pray in good earnest, thy thoughts are running\nafter other things, when thou pretendest to pray to God. Away\nhypocrite, go no further, it is but in vain to strive any longer! Here\nnow, if the soul be not well informed in its understanding, it will\npresently cry out, \u201cthe Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath\nforgotten me\u201d (Isa 49:14). Whereas the soul rightly informed and\nenlightened saith, Well, I will seek the Lord, and wait; I will not\nleave off, though the Lord keep silence, and speak not one word of\ncomfort (Isa 40:27). He loved Jacob dearly, and yet he made him wrestle\nbefore he had the blessing (Gen 32:25-27). Seeming delays in God are no\ntokens of his displeasure; he may hide his face from his dearest saints\n(Isa 8:17). He loves to keep his people praying, and to find them ever\nknocking at the gate of heaven; it may be, says the soul, the Lord\ntries me, or he loves to hear me groan out my condition before him.\n\nThe woman of Canaan would not take seeming denials for real ones; she\nknew the Lord was gracious, and the Lord will avenge his people, though\nhe bear long with them (Luke 18:1-6). The Lord hath waited longer upon\nme than I have waited upon him; and thus it was with David, \u201cI waited\npatiently,\u201d saith he; that is, it was long before the Lord answered me,\nthough at the last \u201che inclined\u201d his ear \u201cunto me, and heard my cry\u201d\n(Psa 40:1). And the most excellent remedy for this is, an understanding\nwell informed and enlightened. Alas, how many poor souls are there in\nthe world, that truly fear the Lord, who, because they are not well\ninformed in their understanding, are oft ready to give up all for lost,\nupon almost every trick and temptation of Satan! The Lord pity them,\nand help them to \u201cpray with the Spirit, and with the understanding\nalso.\u201d Much of mine own experience could I here discover; when I have\nbeen in my fits of agony of spirit, I have been strongly persuaded to\nleave off, and to seek the Lord no longer;10 but being made to\nunderstand what great sinners the Lord hath had mercy upon, and how\nlarge his promises were still to sinners; and that it was not the\nwhole, but the sick, not the righteous, but the sinner, not the full,\nbut the empty, that he extended his grace and mercy unto. This made me,\nthrough the assistance of his Holy Spirit, to cleave to him, to hang\nupon him, and yet to cry, though for the present he made no answer; and\nthe Lord help all his poor, tempted, and afflicted people to do the\nlike, and to continue, though it be long, according to the saying of\nthe prophet (Hab 2:3). And to help them (to that end) to pray, not by\nthe inventions of men, and their stinted forms, but \u201cwith the Spirit,\nand with the understanding also.\u201d\n\n[Queries and Objections answered.]\n\nAnd now to answer a query or two, and so to pass on to the next thing.\n\nQuery First. But what would you have us poor creatures to do that\ncannot tell how to pray? The Lord knows I know not either how to pray,\nor what to pray for.\n\nAnsw. Poor heart! thou canst not, thou complainest, pray. Canst thou\nsee thy misery? Hath God showed thee that thou art by nature under the\ncurse of his law? If so, do not mistake, I know thou dost groan and\nthat most bitterly. I am persuaded thou canst scarcely be found doing\nany thing in thy calling, but prayer breaketh from thy heart. Have not\nthy groans gone up to heaven from every corner of thy house? (Rom\n8:26). I know it is thus; and so also doth thine own sorrowful heart\nwitness thy tears, thy forgetfulness of thy calling, &c. Is not thy\nheart so full of desires after the things of another world, that many\ntimes thou dost even forget the things of this world? Prithee read this\nscripture, Job 23:12.\n\nQuery Second. Yea, but when I go into secret, and intend to pour out my\nsoul before God, I can scarce say anything at all.\n\nAnsw. 1. Ah! Sweet soul! It is not thy words that God so much regards,\nas that he will not mind thee, except thou comest before him with some\neloquent oration. His eye is on the brokenness of thine heart; and that\nit is that makes the very bowels of the Lord to run over. \u201cA broken and\na contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise\u201d (Psa 51:17).\n\n2. The stopping of thy words may arise from overmuch trouble in thy\nheart. David was so troubled sometimes, that he could not speak (Psa\n77:3, 4). But this may comfort all such sorrowful hearts as thou art,\nthat though thou canst not through the anguish of thy spirit speak\nmuch, yet the Holy Spirit stirs up in thine heart groans and sighs, so\nmuch the more vehement: when the mouth is hindered, yet the spirit is\nnot. Moses, as aforesaid, made heaven ring again with his prayers, when\n(that we read of) not one word came out of his mouth (Exo 14:15). But,\n\n3. If thou wouldst more fully express thyself before the Lord, study,\nfirst, Thy filthy estate; secondly, God\u2019s promises; thirdly, The heart\nof Christ. Which thou mayest know or discern, (1.) By his condescension\nand bloodshed. (2.) By the mercy he hath extended to great sinners\nformerly, and plead thine own vileness, by way of bemoaning; Christ\u2019s\nblood by way of expostulation; and in thy prayers, let the mercy that\nhe hath extended to other great sinners, together with his rich\npromises of grace, be much upon thy heart. Yet let me counsel thee,\n(a.) Take heed that thou content not thyself with words. (b.) That thou\ndo not think that God looks only at them neither. But, (c.) However,\nwhether thy words be few or many, let thine heart go with them; and\nthen shalt thou seek him, and find him, when thou shalt seek him with\nthy whole heart (Jer 29:13).\n\nObjection. But though you have seemed to speak against any other way of\npraying but by the Spirit, yet here you yourself can give direction how\nto pray.\n\nAnsw. We ought to prompt one another forward to prayer, though we ought\nnot to make for each other forms of prayer. To exhort to pray with\nChristian direction is one thing, and to make stinted forms for the\ntying up the Spirit of God to them is another thing. The apostle gives\nthem no form to pray withal, yet directs to prayer (Eph 6:18; Rom\n15:30-32). Let no man therefore conclude, that because we may with\nallowance give instructions and directions to pray, that therefore it\nis lawful to make for each other forms of prayer.\n\nObject. But if we do not use forms of prayer, how shall we teach our\nchildren to pray?\n\nAnsw. My judgment is, that men go the wrong way to teach their children\nto pray, in going about so soon to teach them any set company of words,\nas is the common use of poor creatures to do.\n\nFor to me it seems to be a better way for people betimes to tell their\nchildren what cursed creatures they are, and how they are under the\nwrath of God by reason of original and actual sin; also to tell them\nthe nature of God\u2019s wrath, and the duration of the misery; which if\nthey conscientiously do, they would sooner teach their children to pray\nthan they do. The way that men learn to pray, it is by conviction for\nsin; and this is the way to make our sweet babes do so too. But the\nother way, namely, to be busy in teaching children forms of prayer,\nbefore they know any thing else, it is the next way to make them cursed\nhypocrites, and to puff them up with pride. Teach therefore your\nchildren to know their wretched state and condition; tell them of\nhell-fire and their sins, of damnation, and salvation; the way to\nescape the one, and to enjoy the other, if you know it yourselves, and\nthis will make tears run down your sweet babes\u2019 eyes, and hearty groans\nflow from their hearts; and then also you may tell them to whom they\nshould pray, and through whom they should pray: you may tell them also\nof God\u2019s promises, and his former grace extended to sinners, according\nto the word.\n\nAh! Poor sweet babes, the Lord open their eyes, and make them holy\nChristians. Saith David, \u201cCome ye children, hearken unto me; I will\nteach you the fear of the Lord\u201d (Psa 34:11). He doth not say, I will\nmuzzle you up in a form of prayer; but \u201cI will teach you the fear of\nthe Lord\u201d; which is, to see their sad states by nature, and to be\ninstructed in the truth of the gospel, which doth through the Spirit\nbeget prayer in every one that in truth learns it. And the more you\nteach them this, the more will their hearts run out to God in prayer.\nGod never did account Paul a praying man, until he was a convinced and\nconverted man; no more will it be with any else (Acts 9:11).\n\nObject. But we find that the disciples desired that Christ would teach\nthem to pray, as John also taught his disciples; and that thereupon he\ntaught them that form called the LORD\u2019S PRAYER.\n\nAnsw. 1. To be taught by Christ, is that which not only they, but we\ndesire; and seeing he is not here in his person to teach us, the Lord\nteach us by his Word and Spirit; for the Spirit it is which he hath\nsaid he would send to supply in his room when he went away, as it is\n(John 14:16; 16:7).\n\n2. As to that called a form, I cannot think that Christ intended it as\na stinted form of prayer. (1.) Because he himself layeth it down\ndiversely, as is to be seen, if you compare Matthew 6 and Luke 11.\nWhereas if he intended it as a set form, it must not have been so laid\ndown, for a set form is so many words and no more. (2.) We do not find\nthat the apostles did ever observe it as such; neither did they\nadmonish others so to do. Search all their epistles, yet surely they,\nboth for knowledge to discern and faithfulness to practice, were as\neminent as any HE ever since in the world which would impose it.\n\n[3.] But, in a word, Christ by those words, \u201cOur Father,\u201d &c., doth\ninstruct his people what rules they should observe in their prayers to\nGod. (1.) That they should pray in faith. (2.) To God in the heavens.\n(3.) For such things as are according to his will, &c. Pray thus, or\nafter this manner.\n\nObject. But Christ bids pray for the Spirit; this implieth that men\nwithout the Spirit may notwithstanding pray and be heard. (See Luke\n11:9-13).\n\nAnsw. The speech of Christ there is directed to his own (verse 1).\nChrist\u2019s telling of them that God would give his Holy Spirit to them\nthat ask him, is to be understood of giving more of the Holy Spirit;\nfor still they are the disciples spoken to, which had a measure of the\nSpirit already; for he saith, \u201cwhen ye pray, say, Our Father,\u201d (verse\n2) I say unto you (verse 8). And I say unto you, (verse 9) \u201cIf ye then,\nbeing evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much\nmore shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask\nhim,\u201d (verse 13). Christians ought to pray for the Spirit, that is, for\nmore of it, though God hath endued them with it already.\n\nQuest. Then would you have none pray but those that know they are the\ndisciples of Christ?\n\nAnsw. Yes.\n\n1. Let every soul that would be saved pour out itself to God, though it\ncannot through temptation conclude itself a child of God. And,\n\n2. I know if the grace of God be in thee, it will be as natural to thee\nto groan out thy condition, as it is for a sucking child to cry for the\nbreast. Prayer is one of the first things that discovers a man to be a\nChristian (Acts 9:12). But yet if it be right, it is such prayer as\nfolloweth. (1.) To desire God in Christ, for himself, for his holiness,\nlove, wisdom, and glory. For right prayer, as it runs only to God\nthrough Christ, so it centers in him, and in him alone. \u201cWhom have I in\nheaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire,\u201d long for,\nor seek after, \u201cbeside thee\u201d (Psa 73:25). (2.) That the soul might\nenjoy continually communion with him, both here and hereafter. \u201cI shall\nbe satisfied, when I awake with\u201d thine image, or in \u201cthy likeness,\u201d\n(Psa 17:15). \u201cFor in this we groan earnestly,\u201d &c., (II Cor 5:2). (3.)\nRight prayer is accompanied with a continual labour after that which is\nprayed for. \u201cMy soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for\nthe morning\u201d (Psa 130:6). \u201cI will rise now, I will seek him whom my\nsoul loveth\u201d (Song 3:2). For mark, I beseech you, there are two things\nthat provoke to prayer. The one is a detestation to sin, and the things\nof this life; the other is a longing desire after communion with God,\nin a holy and undefiled state and inheritance. Compare but this one\nthing with most of the prayers that are made by men, and you shall find\nthem but mock prayers, and the breathings of an abominable spirit; for\neven the most of men either do pray at all, or else only endeavour to\nmock God and the world by so doing; for do but compare their prayer and\nthe course of their lives together, and you may easily see that the\nthing included in their prayer is the least looked after by their\nlives. O sad hypocrites!\n\nThus have I briefly showed you, FIRST, What prayer is; SECOND, What it\nis to pray with the Spirit; THIRD, What it is to pray with the Spirit,\nand with the understanding also.\n\nFOURTH. [USE AND APPLICATION.]\n\n\nI shall now speak a word or two of application, and so conclude with,\nFirst, A word of information; Second, A word of encouragement; Third, A\nword of rebuke.\n\nUSE First, A word of information.\n\nFor the first to inform you; as prayer is the duty of every one of the\nchildren of God, and carried on by the Spirit of Christ in the soul; so\nevery one that doth but offer to take upon him to pray to the Lord, had\nneed be very wary, and go about that work especially with the dread of\nGod, as well as with hopes of the mercy of God through Jesus Christ.\n\nPrayer is an ordinance of God, in which a man draws very near to God;\nand therefore it calleth for so much the more of the assistance of the\ngrace of God to help a soul to pray as becomes one that is in the\npresence of him. It is a shame for a man to behave himself irreverently\nbefore a king, but a sin to do so before God. And as a king, if wise,\nis not pleased with an oration made up with unseemly words and\ngestures, so God takes no pleasure in the sacrifice of fools (Eccl 5:1,\n4). It is not long discourses, nor eloquent tongues, that are the\nthings which are pleasing in the ears of the Lord; but a humble,\nbroken, and contrite heart, that is sweet in the nostrils of the\nheavenly Majesty (Psa 51:17; Isa 57:15). Therefore for information,\nknow that there are these five things that are obstructions to prayer,\nand even make void the requests of the creature.\n\n1. When men regard iniquity in their hearts, at the time of their\nprayers before God. \u201cIf I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will\nnot hear\u201d my prayer (Psa 66:18). For the preventing of temptation, that\nby the misunderstanding of this may seize thy heart, when there is a\nsecret love to that very thing which thou with thy dissembling lips\ndost ask for strength against. For this is the wickedness of man\u2019s\nheart, that it will even love, and hold fast, that which with the mouth\nit prays against: and of this sort are they that honour God with their\nmouth, but their heart is far from him (Isa 29:13; Eze 33:31). O! how\nugly would it be in our eyes, if we should see a beggar ask an alms,\nwith an intention to throw it to the dogs! Or that should say with one\nbreath, Pray, you bestow this upon me; and with the next, I beseech\nyou, give it me not! And yet thus it is with these kind of persons;\nwith their mouth they say, \u201cThy will be done\u201d; and with their hearts\nnothing less. With their mouth say, \u201cHallowed be thy name\u201d; and with\ntheir hearts and lives they delight to dishonour him all the day long.\nThese be the prayers that become sin (Psa 109:7), and though they put\nthem up often, yet the Lord will never answer them (II Sam 22:42).\n\n2. When men pray for a show to be heard, and thought somebody in\nreligion, and the like; these prayers also fall far short of God\u2019s\napprobation, and are never like to be answered, in reference to eternal\nlife. There are two sorts of men that pray to this end.\n\n(1.) Your trencher chaplains, that thrust themselves into great men\u2019s\nfamilies, pretending the worship of God, when in truth the great\nbusiness is their own bellies; and were notably painted out by Ahab\u2019s\nprophets, and also Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s wise men, who, though they\npretended great devotion, yet their lusts and their bellies were the\ngreat things aimed at by them in all their pieces of devotion.\n\n(2.) Them also that seek repute and applause for their eloquent terms,\nand seek more to tickle the ears and heads of their hearers than\nanything else. These be they that pray to be heard of men, and have all\ntheir reward already (Matt 6:5). These persons are discovered thus,\n(a.) They eye only their auditory in their expressions. (b.) They look\nfor commendation when they have done. (c.) Their hearts either rise or\nfall according to their praise or enlargement. (d.) The length of their\nprayer pleaseth them; and that it might be long, they will vainly\nrepeat things over and over (Matt 6:7). They study for enlargements,\nbut look not from what heart they come; they look for returns, but it\nis the windy applause of men. And therefore they love not to be in\ntheir chamber, but among company: and if at any time conscience thrusts\nthem into their closet, yet hypocrisy will cause them to be heard in\nthe streets; and when their mouths have done going their prayers are\nended; for they wait not to hearken what the Lord will say (Psa 85:8).\n\n3. A third sort of prayer that will not be accepted of God, it is, when\neither they pray for wrong things, or if for right things, yet that the\nthing prayed for might be spent upon their lusts, and laid out to wrong\nends. Some have not, because they ask not, saith James, and others ask\nand have not, because they ask amiss, that they may consume it on their\nlusts (James 4: 2-4). Ends contrary to God\u2019s will is a great argument\nwith God to frustrate the petitions presented before him. Hence it is\nthat so many pray for this and that, and yet receive it not. God\nanswers them only with silence; they have their words for their labour;\nand that is all. Object. But God hears some persons, though their\nhearts be not right with him, as he did Israel, in giving quails,\nthough they spent them upon their lusts (Psa 106:14). Answ. If he doth,\nit is in judgment, not in mercy. He gave them their desire indeed, but\nthey had better have been without it, for he \u201csent leanness into their\nsoul\u201d (Psa 106:15). Woe be to that man that God answereth thus.\n\n4. Another sort of prayers there are that are not answered; and those\nare such as are made by men, and presented to God in their own persons\nonly, without their appearing in the Lord Jesus. For though God hath\nappointed prayer, and promised to hear the prayer of the creature, yet\nnot the prayer of any creature that comes not in Christ. \u201cIf ye shall\nask anything in my name.\u201d And whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye\ndo, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Col 3:17). \u201cIf ye\nshall ask anything in my name,\u201d &c., (John 14:13, 14), though you be\nnever so devout, zealous, earnest and constant in prayer, yet it is in\nChrist only that you must be heard and accepted. But, alas! the most of\nmen know not what it is to come to him in the name of the Lord Jesus,\nwhich is the reason they either live wicked, pray wicked, and also die\nwicked. Or else, that they attain to nothing else but what a mere\nnatural man may attain unto, as to be exact in word and deed betwixt\nman and man, and only with the righteousness of the law to appear\nbefore God.\n\n5. The last thing that hindereth prayer is, the form of it without the\npower. It is an easy thing for men to be very hot for such things as\nforms of prayer, as they are written in a book; but yet they are\naltogether forgetful to inquire with themselves, whether they have the\nspirit and power of prayer. These men are like a painted man, and their\nprayers like a false voice. They in person appear as hypocrites, and\ntheir prayers are an abomination (Prov 28:9). When they say they have\nbeen pouring out their souls to God he saith they have been howling\nlike dogs (Hosea 7:14).\n\nWhen therefore thou intendest, or art minded to pray to the Lord of\nheaven and earth, consider these following particulars. 1. Consider\nseriously what thou wantest. Do not, as many who in their words only\nbeat the air, and ask for such things as indeed they do not desire, nor\nsee that they stand in need thereof. 2. When thou seest what thou\nwantest, keep to that, and take heed thou pray sensibly.\n\nObject. But I have a sense of nothing; then, by your argument, I must\nnot pray at all.\n\nAnsw. 1. If thou findest thyself senseless in some sad measure, yet\nthou canst not complain of that senselessness, but by being sensible\nthere is a sense of senselessness. According to thy sense, then, that\nthou hast of the need of anything, so pray; (Luke 8:9), and if thou art\nsensible of thy senselessness, pray the Lord to make thee sensible of\nwhatever thou findest thine heart senseless of. This was the usual\npractice of the holy men of God. \u201cLord, make me to know mine end,\u201d\nsaith David (Psa 39:4). \u201cLord, open to us this parable,\u201d said the\ndisciples (Luke 8:9). And to this is annexed the promise, \u201cCall unto me\nand I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which\nthou knowest not,\u201d that thou art not sensible of (Jer 33:3). But,\n\nAnsw. 2. Take heed that thy heart go to God as well as thy mouth. Let\nnot thy mouth go any further than thou strivest to draw thine heart\nalong with it. David would lift his heart and soul to the Lord; and\ngood reason; for so far as a man\u2019s mouth goeth along without his heart,\nso far it is but lip-labour only; and though God calls for, and\naccepteth the calves of the lips, yet the lips without the heart\nargueth, not only senselessness, but our being without sense of our\nsenselessness; and therefore if thou hast a mind to enlarge in prayer\nbefore God, see that it be with thy heart.\n\nAnsw. 3. Take heed of affecting expressions, and so to please thyself\nwith the use of them, that thou forget not the life of prayer.\n\nI shall conclude this use with a caution or two.\n\nCaution 1. And the first is, take heed thou do not throw off prayer,\nthrough sudden persuasions that thou hast not the Spirit, neither\nprayest thereby. It is the great work of the devil to do his best, or\nrather worst, against the best prayers. He will flatter your false\ndissembling hypocrites, and feed them with a thousand fancies of\nwell-doing, when their very duties of prayer, and all other, stink in\nthe nostrils of God, when he stands at a poor Joshua\u2019s hand to resist\nhim, that is, to persuade him, that neither his person nor performances\nare accepted of God (Isa 65:5; Zech 3:1). Take heed, therefore, of such\nfalse conclusions and groundless discouragements; and though such\npersuasions do come in upon thy spirit, be so far from being\ndiscouraged by them, that thou use them to put thee upon further\nsincerity and restlessness of spirit, in thy approaching to God.\n\nCaution 2. As such sudden temptations should not stop thee from prayer,\nand pouring out thy soul to God; so neither should thine own heart\u2019s\ncorruptions hinder thee. (Let not thy corruptions stop thy prayers). It\nmay be thou mayest find in thee all those things before mentioned, and\nthat they will be endeavouring to put forth themselves in thy praying\nto him. Thy business then is to judge them, to pray against them, and\nto lay thyself so much the more at the foot of God, in a sense of thy\nown vileness, and rather make an argument from thy vileness and\ncorruption of heart, to plead with God for justifying and sanctifying\ngrace, than an argument of discouragement and despair. David went this\nway. \u201cO Lord,\u201d saith he, \u201cpardon mine iniquity, for it is great\u201d (Psa\n25:11).\n\nUSE Second. A word of encouragement.\n\nAnd therefore, secondly, to speak a word by way of encouragement, to\nthe poor, tempted, and cast down soul, to pray to God through Christ.\nThough all prayer that is accepted of God in reference to eternal life\nmust be in the Spirit\u2014for that only maketh intercession for us\naccording to the will of God, (Rom 8:27)\u2014yet because many poor souls\nmay have the Holy Spirit working on them, and stirring of them to groan\nunto the Lord for mercy, though through unbelief they do not, nor, for\nthe present, cannot believe that they are the people of God, such as he\ndelights in; yet forasmuch as the truth of grace may be in them,\ntherefore I shall, to encourage them, lay down further these few\nparticulars.\n\n1. That scripture in Luke 11:8 is very encouraging to any poor soul\nthat doth hunger after Christ Jesus. In verses 5-7, he speaketh a\nparable of a man that went to his friend to borrow three loaves, who,\nbecause he was in bed, denied him; yet for his importunity-sake, he did\narise and give him, clearly signifying that though poor souls, through\nthe weakness of their faith, cannot see that they are the friends of\nGod, yet they should never leave asking, seeking, and knocking at God\u2019s\ndoor for mercy. Mark, saith Christ, \u201cI say unto you, though he will not\nrise and give him, because he is his friend; yet because of his\nimportunity,\u201d or restless desires, \u201che will rise and give him as many\nas he needeth.\u201d Poor heart! thou criest out that God will not regard\nthee, thou dost not find that thou art a friend to him, but rather an\nenemy in thine heart by wicked works (Col 1:21). And thou art as though\nthou didst hear the Lord saying to thee, Trouble me not, I cannot give\nunto thee, as he in the parable; yet I say, continue knocking, crying,\nmoaning, and bewailing thyself. I tell thee, \u201cthough he will not rise\nand give thee, because thou art his friend; yet, because of thy\nimportunity, he will arise and give thee as many as thou needest.\u201d The\nsame in effect you have discovered, Luke 18, in the parable of the\nunjust judge and the poor widow; her importunity prevailed with him.\nAnd verily, mine own experience tells me, that there is nothing that\ndoth more prevail with God than importunity. Is it not so with you in\nrespect of your beggars that come to your door? Though you have no\nheart to give them anything at their first asking, yet if they follow\nyou, bemoaning themselves, and will take no nay without an alms, you\nwill give them; for their continual begging overcometh you. Are there\nbowels in you that are wicked, and will they be wrought upon by an\nimportuning beggar? Go thou and do the like. It is a prevailing motive,\nand that by good experience, he will arise and give thee as many as\nthou needest (Luke 11:8).\n\n2. Another encouragement for a poor trembling convinced soul is to\nconsider the place, throne, or seat, on which the great God hath placed\nhimself to hear the petitions and prayers of poor creatures; and that\nis a \u201cthrone of grace\u201d (Heb 4:16). \u201cThe mercy-seat\u201d (Exo 25:22). Which\nsignifieth that in the days of the gospel God hath taken up his seat,\nhis abiding-place, in mercy and forgiveness; and from thence he doth\nintend to hear the sinner, and to commune with him, as he saith (Exo\n25:22),\u2014speaking before of the mercy-seat\u2014\u201cAnd there I will meet with\nthee,\u201d mark, it is upon the mercy-seat: \u201cThere I will meet with thee,\nand\u201d there \u201cI will commune with thee, from above the mercy-seat.\u201d Poor\nsouls! They are very apt to entertain strange thoughts of God, and his\ncarriage towards them: and suddenly to conclude that God will have no\nregard unto them, when yet he is upon the mercy-seat, and hath taken up\nhis place on purpose there, to the end he may hear and regard the\nprayers of poor creatures. If he had said, I will commune with thee\nfrom my throne of judgment, then indeed you might have trembled and\nfled from the face of the great and glorious Majesty. But when he saith\nhe will hear and commune with souls upon the throne of grace, or from\nthe mercy-seat, this should encourage thee, and cause thee to hope,\nnay, to \u201ccome boldly unto the throne of grace, that thou mayest obtain\nmercy, and find grace to help in time of need\u201d (Heb 4:16).\n\n3. There is yet another encouragement to continue in prayer with God:\nand that is this:\n\nAs there is a mercy-seat, from whence God is willing to commune with\npoor sinners; so there is also by his mercy-seat, Jesus Christ, who\ncontinually besprinkleth it with his blood. Hence it is called \u201cthe\nblood of sprinkling\u201d (Heb 12:24). When the high-priest under the law\nwas to go into the holiest, where the mercy-seat was, he might not go\nin \u201cwithout blood\u201d (Heb 9:7).\n\nWhy so? Because, though God was upon the mercy-seat, yet he was\nperfectly just as well as merciful. Now the blood was to stop justice\nfrom running out upon the persons concerned in the intercession of the\nhigh-priest, as in Leviticus 16:13-17, to signify that all thine\nunworthiness that thou fearest should not hinder thee from coming to\nGod in Christ for mercy. Thou criest out that thou art vile, and\ntherefore God will not regard thy prayers; it is true, if thou delight\nin thy vileness, and come to God out of a mere pretence. But if from a\nsense of thy vileness thou do pour out thy heart to God, desiring to be\nsaved from the guilt, and cleansed from the filth, with all thy heart;\nfear not, thy vileness will not cause the Lord to stop his ear from\nhearing of thee. The value of the blood of Christ which is sprinkled\nupon the mercy-seat stops the course of justice, and opens a floodgate\nfor the mercy of the Lord to be extended unto thee. Thou hast\ntherefore, as aforesaid, \u201cboldness to enter into the holiest by the\nblood of Jesus,\u201d that hath made \u201ca new and living way\u201d for thee, thou\nshalt not die (Heb 10:19, 20).\n\nBesides, Jesus is there, not only to sprinkle the mercy-seat with his\nblood, but he speaks, and his blood speaks; he hath audience, and his\nblood hath audience; insomuch that God saith, when he doth but see the\nblood, he \u201cwill pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you,\u201d\n&c., (Exo 12:13).\n\nI shall not detain you any longer. Be sober and humble; go to the\nFather in the name of the Son, and tell him your case, in the\nassistance of the Spirit, and you will then feel the benefit of praying\nwith the Spirit and with the understanding also.\n\nUSE Third. A word of reproof.\n\n1. This speaks sadly to you who never pray at all. \u201cI will pray,\u201d saith\nthe apostle, and so saith the heart of them that are Christians. Thou\nthen art not a Christian that art not a praying person. The promise is\nthat every one that is righteous shall pray (Psa 32:6). Thou then art a\nwicked wretch that prayest not. Jacob got the name of Israel by\nwrestling with God (Gen 32). And all his children bare that name with\nhim (Gal 6:16). But the people that forget prayer, that call not on the\nname of the Lord, they have prayer made for them, but it is such as\nthis, \u201cPour out thy fury upon the heathen,\u201d O Lord, \u201cand upon the\nfamilies that call not on thy name\u201d (Jer 10:25). How likest thou this,\nO thou that art so far off from pouring out thine heart before God,\nthat thou goest to bed like a dog, and risest like a hog, or a sot, and\nforgettest to call upon God? What wilt thou do when thou shalt be\ndamned in hell, because thou couldst not find in thine heart to ask for\nheaven? Who will grieve for thy sorrow, that didst not count mercy\nworth asking for? I tell thee, the ravens, the dogs, &c., shall rise up\nin judgment against thee, for they will, according to their kind, make\nsigns, and a noise for something to refresh them when they want it; but\nthou hast not the heart to ask for heaven, though thou must eternally\nperish in hell, if thou hast it not.\n\n2. This rebukes you that make it your business to slight, mock at, and\nundervalue the Spirit, and praying by that. What will you do, when God\nshall come to reckon for these things? You count it high treason to\nspeak but a word against the king, nay, you tremble at the thought of\nit; and yet in the meantime you will blaspheme the Spirit of the Lord.\nIs God indeed to be dallied with, and will the end be pleasant unto\nyou? Did God send his Holy Spirit into the hearts of his people, to\nthat end that you should taunt at it? Is this to serve God? And doth\nthis demonstrate the reformation of your church? Nay, is it not the\nmark of implacable reprobates? O fearful! Can you not be content to be\ndamned for your sins against the law, but you must sin against the Holy\nGhost?\n\nMust the holy, harmless, and undefiled Spirit of grace, the nature of\nGod, the promise of Christ, the Comforter of his children, that without\nwhich no man can do any service acceptable to the Father\u2014must this, I\nsay, be the burthen of your song, to taunt, deride, and mock at? If God\nsent Korah and his company headlong to hell for speaking against Moses\nand Aaron, do you that mock at the Spirit of Christ think to escape\nunpunished? (Num 16; Heb 10:29). Did you never read what God did to\nAnanias and Sapphira for telling but one lie against it? (Acts 5:1-8).\nAlso to Simon Magus for but undervaluing of it? (Acts 8:18-22). And\nwill thy sin be a virtue, or go unrewarded with vengeance, that makest\nit thy business to rage against, and oppose its office, service, and\nhelp, that it giveth unto the children of God? It is a fearful thing to\ndo despite unto the Spirit of grace (Compare Matt 12:31, with Mark\n3:28-30).\n\n3. As this is the doom of those who do openly blaspheme the Holy Ghost,\nin a way of disdain and reproach to its office and service: so also it\nis sad for you, who resist the Spirit of prayer, by a form of man\u2019s\ninventing. A very juggle of the devil, that the traditions of men\nshould be of better esteem, and more to be owned than the Spirit of\nprayer. What is this less than that accursed abomination of Jeroboam,\nwhich kept many from going to Jerusalem, the place and way of God\u2019s\nappointment to worship; and by that means brought such displeasure from\nGod upon them, as to this day is not appeased? (I Kings 12:26-33). One\nwould think that God\u2019s judgments of old upon the hypocrites of that day\nshould make them that have heard of such things take heed and fear to\ndo so. Yet the doctors of our day are so far from taking of warning by\nthe punishment of others, that they do most desperately rush into the\nsame transgression, viz., to set up an institution of man, neither\ncommanded nor commended of God; and whosoever will not obey herein,\nthey must be driven either out of the land or the world.\n\nHath God required these things at your hands? If he hath, show us\nwhere? If not, as I am sure he hath not, then what cursed presumption\nis it in any pope, bishop, or other, to command that in the worship of\nGod which he hath not required? Nay further, it is not that part only\nof the form, which is several texts of Scripture that we are commanded\nto say, but even all must be confessed as the divine worship of God,\nnotwithstanding those absurdities contained therein, which because they\nare at large discovered by others, I omit the rehearsal of them. Again,\nthough a man be willing to live never so peaceably, yet because he\ncannot, for conscience sake, own that for one of the most eminent parts\nof God\u2019s worship, which he never commanded, therefore must that man be\nlooked upon as factious, seditious, erroneous, heretical\u2014a\ndisparagement to the church, a seducer of the people, and what not?\nLord, what will be the fruit of these things, when for the doctrine of\nGod there is imposed, that is, more than taught, the traditions of men?\nThus is the Spirit of prayer disowned, and the form imposed; the Spirit\ndebased, and the form extolled; they that pray with the Spirit, though\nnever so humble and holy, counted fanatics; and they that pray with the\nform, though with that only, counted the virtuous! And how will the\nfavorers of such a practice answer that Scripture, which commandeth\nthat the church should turn away from such as have \u201ca form of\ngodliness, and deny the power thereof\u201d? (II Tim 3:5). And if I should\nsay that men that do these things aforesaid, do advance a form of\nprayer of other men\u2019s making, above the spirit of prayer, it would not\ntake long time to prove it. For he that advanceth the book of Common\nPrayer above the Spirit of prayer, he doth advance a form of men\u2019s\nmaking above it. But this do all those who banish, or desire to banish,\nthem that pray with the Spirit of prayer; while they hug and embrace\nthem that pray by that form only, and that because they do it.\nTherefore they love and advance the form of their own or others\u2019\ninventing, before the Spirit of prayer, which is God\u2019s special and\ngracious appointment.\n\nIf you desire the clearing of the minor, look into the jails in\nEngland, and into the alehouses of the same; and I trow you will find\nthose that plead for the Spirit of prayer in the jail, and them that\nlook after the form of men\u2019s inventions only in the alehouse. It is\nevident also by the silencing of God\u2019s dear ministers, though never so\npowerfully enabled by the Spirit of prayer, if they in conscience\ncannot admit of that form of Common Prayer. If this be not an exalting\nthe Common Prayer Book above either praying by the Spirit, or preaching\nthe Word, I have taken my mark amiss. It is not pleasant for me to\ndwell on this. The Lord in mercy turn the hearts of the people to seek\nmore after the Spirit of prayer; and in the strength of that, to pour\nout their souls before the Lord. Only let me say it is a sad sign, that\nthat which is one of the most eminent parts of the pretended worship of\nGod is Antichristian, when it hath nothing but the tradition of men,\nand the strength of persecution, to uphold or plead for it.\n\nTHE CONCLUSION.\n\n\nI shall conclude this discourse with this word of advice to all God\u2019s\npeople. 1. Believe that as sure as you are in the way of God you must\nmeet with temptations. 2. The first day therefore that thou dost enter\ninto Christ\u2019s congregation, look for them. 3. When they do come, beg of\nGod to carry thee through them. 4. Be jealous of thine own heart, that\nit deceive thee not in thy evidences for heaven, nor in thy walking\nwith God in this world. 5. Take heed of the flatteries of false\nbrethren. 6. Keep in the life and power of truth. 7. Look most at the\nthings which are not seen. 8. Take heed of little sins. 9. Keep the\npromise warm upon thy heart. 10. Renew thy acts of faith in the blood\nof Christ. 11. Consider the work of thy generation. 12. Count to run\nwith the foremost therein.\n\nGrace be with thee.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1 Dr. Watt\u2019s Guide to Prayer.\n\n2 Vol iii., p. 346.\n\n3 Vol iii., p. 298.\n\n4Pilgrimage of Perfection, 4to, 1526, vol. iii., p. 9.\n\n5 Effectual fervent prayer is wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost,\nand those objects for which HE inclines the soul to pray are bestowed\nby God. Thus great things were obtained by Jacob, (Gen 32:24-28); by\nMoses, (Exo 30:11-14; Num 14:13-21); by Joshua, (10:12-14); by\nHezekiah, (II Kings 19:14-37); by the woman of Canaan, (Matt 15:21-28).\nThe effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, (James\n5:16).\u2014ED.\n\n6 How easy to forget all God\u2019s benefits, and how impossible it is to\nremember them all!\u2014ED.\n\n7 See Mr. Fox\u2019s citation of the mass, in the last volume of the Book of\nMartyrs.\n\n8 Jesus Christ has opened the way to God the Father, by the sacrifice\nHe made for us upon the cross. The holiness and justice of God need not\nfrighten sinners and keep them back. Only let them cry to God in the\nname of Jesus, only let them plead the atoning blood of Jesus, and they\nshall find God upon a throne of grace, willing and ready to hear. The\nname of Jesus is a never-failing passport to our prayers. In that name\na man may draw near to God with boldness, and ask with confidence. God\nhas engaged to hear him. Reader, think of this; is not this\nencouragement?\u2014J. C. Ryle\u2014ED.\n\n9 See Mr. Fox\u2019s Acts and Monuments, v.2.\n\n10 \u201cIn these days, I should find my heart to shut itself up against the\nLord, and against his holy Word: I have found my unbelief to set, as it\nwere, the shoulder to the door to keep him out.\u201d\u2014Grace Abounding, No.\n81.\u2014ED.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SAINTS\u2019 PRIVILEGE AND PROFIT;\n\nOR,\n\nTHE THRONE OF GRACE\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nThe churches of Christ are very much indebted to the Rev. Charles Doe,\nfor the preservation and publishing of this treatise. It formed one of\nthe ten excellent manuscripts left by Bunyan at his decease, prepared\nfor the press. Having treated on the nature of prayer in his searching\nwork on \u2018praying with the spirit and with the understanding also,\u2019 in\nwhich he proves from the sacred scriptures that prayer cannot be merely\nread or said, but must be the spontaneous effusions of the heart\nprincipally in private, or at the domestic altar upon set times in the\nmorning and evening, or more publicly in social meetings for praise and\nprayer, or in the public assembly of the church\u2014all being acceptable,\nonly as it is offered up in spirit and in truth\u2014he now directs us to\nthe proper medium which our mental powers should use in drawing near to\nthe Divine Being. We have to approach the universal spirit, the\ncreator, the preserver, the bountiful benefactor of our race; and, at\nthe same time, the infinitely holy one, the supreme judge and just\nrewarder or punisher of all creatures. How shall we, who are impure and\nunclean by nature and by practice, draw near unto him who is so\ninfinitely holy? Others of our race who were equally guilty have held\nacceptable converse with God, and received special marks of his favour.\nWe all know that a talented man, high in office, retired at certain\ntimes for prayer; this gave offence, and a law was made, by which\nprayer to God was interdicted for thirty days. He refused obedience to\na human law which interfered with the divine authority, and for this he\nwas cast into the den of lions; but they hurt him not, although they\ndevoured his persecutors. When a beloved minister was seized and\nimprisoned for his love to Christ, the church held a prayer meeting on\nhis account, and while they were praying God sent his angel to the\nprison. In vain four quaternions of soldiers kept guard, two of them in\nthe prisoner\u2019s cell, while the servant of Christ, who was loaded with\nchains and doomed to an ignominious death, slept sweetly between the\narmed men. The angel awakes him, his chains fall off, no noise can\nawake his guard, the prison doors open, and he was restored to his\nbeloved charge. They were yet imploring his deliverance, when he stood\nin their midst to tell the wondrous miracle, wrought in answer to their\nprayer. Again, two of their much-loved ministers were seized and\nbeaten, and cast into jail, their feet being made fast in the stocks.\nIn the dark hour of midnight they prayed and praised God, when an\nearthquake was sent, which shook the prison and threw open its doors,\nand the jailor, with his house, became converts to the faith. Millions\nof instances might have been recorded of prayer heard and answered. The\nchild Samuel, and also Ishmael. The Magdalene. The thief on the cross.\nAnanias, who was directed to relieve the stricken persecutor Saul, for\n\u2018behold he prayeth.\u2019 But innumerable prayers have been read and offered\nup which have not been answered. What then is the acceptable form, and\nwhat the appointed medium consecrated for our access to God, by which\nprayer is sanctified and accepted? If ye love me, saith the Saviour,\nkeep my commandments, and whatsoever ye shall ask IN MY NAME that will\nI do. A sense of our want and unworthiness leads us to God in that new\nand living way consecrated by Christ though the veil, that is to say,\nhis flesh (Heb 10:20). By that way we can \u2018come boldly,\u2019 because it is\n\u2018a throne of grace,\u2019 and there and there only we can \u2018obtain mercy and\nfind grace to help in time of need.\u2019 Wondrous throne! Blessed\nencouragement to the poor pilgrim, traversing the desert surrounded by\nenemies, his own heart by nature being one of the most formidable of\nthem!\n\nIt is of great importance to all, and especially to the young, to\nattain correct definite ideas of religious truths. Bunyan had\nremarkably clear views, arising from his strong feelings and the rugged\npath by which he was led to Christ. His definition of the difference\nbetween grace and mercy is very striking: \u2018Mercy signifies pitifulness\nto objects in a miserable condition. Grace acts as a free agent, not\nwrought upon by our misery but of God\u2019s own princely mind.\u2019 Christ is\nthe throne of grace\u2014in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead, and\nyet he was found in fashion as a man, he took on him the seed of\nAbraham, and was made like unto his brethren, and offered himself up as\nthe sacrifice for sin. Thus he is the throne of grace on the mercy-seat\ncovering the law. Here he is an object of worship to the angels on the\nright hand of God. In him the uncreated glory, the dazzling effulgence\nof God, is so veiled in his glorified body, that man, poor sinful man,\ncan lift up his eyes to behold the place where God\u2019s honour most richly\ndwelleth, and find acceptance and grace to help in every time of need.\n\nTake heed, sinner, this is your only access to heaven. The mercy-seat\nand throne of grace is God\u2019s resting-place; the throne which governs\nhis church, and which eventually will govern all nations. This throne,\ninvisible to mortal eyes, is present at all times and in all places.\nAfter the saints have been supplied with all needful grace in this\nworld, their glorified spirits will see the great white throne, and\nhear the voice proceeding from it, saying, Come, ye blessed of my\nFather, inherit the kingdom prepared for you; while from that throne\nthe direful thunderbolts will be hurled upon the despisers of divine\ngrace, and they will hurry into irretrievable misery. The safety of the\nChristian entirely depends upon his being found \u2018looking unto Jesus\u2019:\nhis glorified human body is the throne of grace\u2014the source of all\nblessedness to his worshippers\u2014the gate of heaven\u2014the way, the truth\nand the life. Yes, proud nature, HE who was the babe at Bethlehem, the\npoor carpenter\u2019s son, who, notwithstanding his miracles of wisdom,\npower, and mercy, was despised and rejected of men, HIM hath God\nexalted to be a prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and the\nremission of sins, the only medium of access to heaven. Before him\nevery knee shall bow. Wonders of grace to God belong. \u2018Busy thyself,\nfellow christian, about this blessed office of Christ. It is full of\ngood, it is full of sweet, it is full of heaven, it is full of relief\nand succour for the tempted and dejected; wherefore, I say again, study\nthese things, give thyself wholly to them.\u2019 Reader, listen to these\nwords of Bunyan, and may the Divine blessing attend the reading of his\nworks.\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nTHE SAINTS\u2019 PRIVILEGE AND PROFIT\n\n\n\u2018LET US THEREFORE COME BOLDLY UNTO THE THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY\nOBTAIN MERCY, AND FIND GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED.\u2019\u2014HEBREWS 4:16\n\nThis epistle is indited and left to the church by the Holy Ghost, to\nshow particularly, and more distinctly, the high priesthood of Jesus\nChrist, and the excellent benefits that his people have thereby. In\nwhich both the excellency of his person, and transcendent glory of his\noffice, beyond either priest or priesthood of the law, is largely set\nforth before us, in chapter 1:2, &c.\n\nWherefore, in order to our beneficial reading of this epistle, the\nSpirit of God calls upon us, first, most seriously to consider what an\none this excellent person is: \u2018Wherefore, holy brethren,\u2019 saith he, you\nthat are \u2018partakers of the heavenly calling,\u2019 consequently you that are\nrelated to and that are concerned in the undertaking of this holy one,\n\u2018consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus\u2019\n(Heb 3:1). Consider how great and how fit this man is for so holy and\nglorious a calling. He being so high, as to be far above all heavens;\nso great, as to be the Son of, and God equal with the Father. Consider\nhim also as to his humanity, how that he is really flesh of our flesh;\nsinlessly so, sympathisingly so, so in all the compassions of a man; he\nis touched with, compassioneth, pitieth, loveth, succoureth us, and\nfeeleth our infirmities, and maketh our case his own. Nay, he again,\nfrom the consideration of his greatness and love, puts us upon a\nconfident reliance on his undertaking, and also presseth us to a bold\napproach of that throne of grace where he continually abideth in the\nexecution of his office: \u2018Seeing then,\u2019 saith he, \u2018that we have a great\nhigh priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let\nus hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which\ncannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities: but was in all\npoints tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come\nboldly unto the throne of grace\u2019 (Heb 3:14-16).\n\nIn the words we have, First, An exhortation; [and] Second, An\nimplication that we shall reap a worthy benefit, if we truly put the\nexhortation into practice. The exhortation is that we shall come boldly\nto the throne of grace: \u2018Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne\nof grace.\u2019 In all we have an intimation of five things.\n\nFIRST, That God hath more thrones than one; else the throne of grace\nneed not to be specified by name. \u2018Let us come unto the throne of\ngrace.\u2019 SECOND, That the godly can distinguish one throne from another.\nFor the throne here is not set forth by where or what signs it should\nbe known; it is only propounded to us by its name, and so left for\nsaints to make their approach unto it: \u2018Let us come unto the throne of\ngrace.\u2019 THIRD, The third thing is, the persons intended by this\nexhortation, \u2018Let us therefore come.\u2019 Us: What us? or who are they that\nby this exhortation are called upon to come? \u2018Let us.\u2019 FOURTH, The\nmanner of the coming of these persons to this throne of grace; and that\nis through the veil, boldly, confidently: \u2018Let us come boldly unto the\nthrone of grace.\u2019 FIFTH, the motive to this exhortation; and that is\ntwofold, First, Because we have so great an high priest, one that\ncannot but be touched with the feeling of our infirmities: \u2018Let us\ntherefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.\u2019 And, second, because\nwe are sure to speed: \u2018That we may obtain mercy, and find grace,\u2019 &c. I\nshall, as God shall help me, handle these things in order.\n\n[THAT GOD HATH MORE THRONES THAN ONE.]\n\n\nFIRST. For the first, That God hath more thrones than one. He hath a\nthrone in heaven, and a throne on earth: \u2018The Lord\u2019s throne is in\nheaven,\u2019 and \u2018they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord\u2019 (Psa\n11:4; Jer 3:17). He ruleth over the angels; he ruleth in his church.\n\u2018He ruleth in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth\u2019 (Psa 59:13). Yea, he\nhas a throne and seat of majesty among the princes and great ones of\nthe world. He ruleth or \u2018judgeth among the gods\u2019 (Psa 82:1). There is a\nthrone for him as a Father, and a throne for Christ as a giver of\nreward to all faithful and overcoming Christians: \u2018To him that\novercometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also\novercame, and am set down with my Father in his throne\u2019 (Rev 3:21).\n\nThere is also to be a throne of judgment, on which God by Christ, at\nthe great and notable day, shall sit to give to the whole world, their\nlast or final sentence; from which, no, not, not by any means, they\nshall never be released. This throne is made mention of in the New\nTestament, and is called by Christ \u2018the throne of his glory,\u2019 and \u2018a\ngreat white throne\u2019 (Matt 25:31; Rev 20:11). And his presence, when he\nsits upon this throne, will be so terrible, that nothing shall be able\nto abide it that is not reconciled to God by him before.\n\nWherefore it is not amiss that I give you this hint, because it may\ntend to inform unwary Christians, when they go to God, that they\naddress not themselves to him at rovers, or at random; but that when\nthey come to him for benefits, they direct their prayer to the throne\nof grace, or to God as considered on a throne of grace.[1] For he is\nnot to be found a God merciful and gracious, but as he is on the throne\nof grace. This is his holy place, out of which he is terrible to the\nsons of men, and cannot be gracious unto them. For as when he shall sit\nat the last day upon his throne of judgment, he will neither be moved\nwith the tears of misery of the world to do any thing for them, that in\nthe least will have a tendency to a relaxation of the least part of\ntheir sorrow; so now let men take him where they will, or consider him\nas they list, he gives no grace, no special grace, but as considered on\nthe throne of grace: wherefore they that will pray, and speed, they\nmust come to a throne of grace: to a God that sitteth on a throne of\ngrace: \u2018Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we\nmay obtain,\u2019 &c.\n\nThe unbeliever, the erroneous and superstitious, consider not this:\nwherefore they speak to God as their fancies lead them, not as the word\ndirects them, and therefore obtain nothing. Ask the carnal man to whom\nhe prays? he will say to God. Ask him where this God is? he will say in\nheaven. But ask him how, or under what notion he is to be considered\nthere? and he will give a few generals, but cannot direct his soul unto\nhim as he is upon a throne of grace, as the apostle here biddeth,\nsaying, \u2018Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace.\u2019 Wherefore they\ncome and go, or rather go and come to no advantage at all: they find\nnothing but their labour or words for their pains. For the right\nconsidering of God when I go unto him, and how or where I may find him\ngracious and merciful, is all in all; and mercy and grace is then\nobtained when we come to him as sitting upon a throne of grace.\n\n[THE GODLY CAN DISTINGUISH ONE THRONE FROM ANOTHER.]\n\n\nSECOND. We will therefore come to the second thing, to wit, that the\ngodly can distinguish one thing from another. And the reason why I so\nconclude, is, as I said, because the throne here is not set forth unto\nus here, by where or what signs it should be known; it is only\npropounded to us by its name, a throne of grace, and so left for saints\nto make their approach thereto: \u2018Let us therefore come boldly unto the\nthrone of grace.\u2019 We will therefore take this conclusion into two\nparts, and consider it under this double position. FIRST, That there is\na throne of grace. SECOND, That it is the privilege of the godly to\ndistinguish from all other thrones whatever this throne of grace.\n\nFIRST, There is a throne of grace. This must be true, because the text\nsaith it;[2] also it is that of which the mercy-seat, so often made\nmention of in the Old Testament, was a type, shadow, or figure; nor is\nthe terms of seat and throne of any strength to make this supposition\nvoid. For it is common for the antitype to be put forth in words unto\nus more glorious than is the figure or shadow of that thing. And the\nreason is, for that the heavenly things themselves are far more\nexcellent than the shadow by which they are represented. What is a\nsheep, a bull, an ox, or calf, to Christ, or their blood to the blood\nof Christ? What is Jerusalem that stood in Canaan, to that new\nJerusalem that shall come down from heaven? or the tabernacle made with\ncorruptible things, to the body of Christ, or heaven itself? No marvel\nthen, if they be set forth unto us by words of an inferior rank; the\nmost full and aptest being reserved to set out the highest things\nwithal.\n\nBefore I proceed to give you a more particular description of this\nthrone of grace, as also how it may be know, I will a little touch upon\nthe terms themselves, and show briefly what must be implied by them.\n\n[Import of the term grace.]\n\nFirst, By this word grace, we are to understand God\u2019s free, sovereign,\ngood pleasure, whereby he acteth in Christ towards his people. Grace\nand mercy therefore are terms that have their distinct significations;\nmercy signifies pitifulness, or a running over of infinite bowels to\nobjects in a miserable and helpless condition. But grace signifies that\nGod still acts in this as a free agent, not being wrought upon by the\nmisery of the creature, as a procuring cause; but of his own princely\nmind.\n\nWere there no objects of pity among those that in the old world\nperished by the flood, or that in Sodom were burned with fire from\nheaven? doubtless, according to our apprehension, there were many: but\nNoah, and he only, found grace in God\u2019s eyes; not because that of\nhimself he was better than the rest, but God acted as a gracious prince\ntowards him, and let him share in mercy of his own sovereign will and\npleasure. But this at first was not so fully made manifest as it was\nafterwards. Wherefore the propitiatory was not called, as here, a\nthrone of grace, but a mercy-seat, albeit there was great glory in\nthese terms also; for, by mercy-seat was showed, not only that God had\ncompassion for men, but that also to be good was as his continual\nresting-place, whither he would at length retire, and where he would\nsit down and abide, whatever terrible or troublesome work for his\nchurch was on the wheel[3] at present. For a seat is a place of rest,\nyea, is prepared for that end; and in that here mercy is called that\nseat, it is to show, as I said, that whatever work is on the wheel in\nthe world, let it be never so dreadful and amazing, yet to God\u2019s church\nit shall end in mercy, for that is God\u2019s resting-place. Wherefore after\nGod had so severely threatened and punished his church under the name\nof a whorish woman, as you may read in the prophet Ezekiel, he saith,\n\u2018So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall\ndepart from thee; and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.\u2019 And\nagain, speaking of the same people and of the same punishments, he\nsaith, \u2018Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with thee in the days\nof thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.\u2019\nAnd again, \u2018I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know\nthat I am the Lord; that thou mayest remember and be confounded, and\nnever open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified\ntoward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God\u2019 (Eze\n16:42,60-63). These, with many more places, show that mercy is God\u2019s\nplace of rest, and thither he will retire at last, and from thence will\nbless his church, his people.\n\nBut yet these terms, a throne, the throne of grace, doth more exceed in\nglory: not only because the word grace shows that God, by all that he\ndoth towards us in saving and forgiving, acts freely as the highest\nLord, and of his own good-will and pleasure, but also for that he now\nsaith, that his grace is become a king, a throne of grace. A throne is\nnot only a seat for rest, but a place of dignity and authority. This is\nknown to all. Wherefore by this word, a throne, or the throne of grace,\nis intimated, that God ruleth and governeth by his grace. And this he\ncan justly do: \u2018Grace reigns through righteousness, unto eternal\nlife,[4] through Jesus Christ out Lord\u2019 (Rom 5:21). So then, in that\nhere is mention made of a throne of grace, it showeth that sin, and\nSatan, and death, and hell, must needs be subdued. For these last\nmentioned are but weakness and destruction; but grace is life, and the\nabsolute sovereign over all these to the ruling of them utterly down. A\nthrone of grace!\n\nBut this then God plainly declareth, that he is resolved this way to\nrule, and that he pointeth at sin as his deadly foe: and if so, then,\n\u2018where sin aboundeth, grace must much more abound\u2019 (Rom 5:20).[5] For\nit is the wisdom and discretion of all that rule, to fortify themselves\nagainst them that rebel against them what they can. Wherefore he saith\nagain, \u2018Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the\nlaw, but under grace\u2019 (Rom 6:14). Sin seeks for the dominion, and grace\nseeks for the dominion; but sin shall not rule, because it has no\nthrone in the church among the godly. Grace is king. Grace has the\nthrone, and the people of God are not under the dominion of sin, but of\nthe grace of God, the which they are here implicitly bid to\nacknowledge, in that they are bid to come boldly to it for help: \u2018That\nwe may obtain mercy, and find grace to help; to help in time of need.\u2019\nFor as from the hand and power of the king comes help and succour to\nthe subject, when assaulted by an enemy; so from the throne of grace,\nor from grace as it reigns, comes the help and health of God\u2019s people.\nHence it is said again, \u2018A glorious high throne from the beginning is\nthe place of our sanctuary\u2019 (Jer 17:12). Here then the saints take\nshelter from the roaring of the devil, from the raging of their lusts,\nand from the fury of the wicked. That also is a very notable place, \u2018He\nwill subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the\ndepths of the sea\u2019 (Micah 7:19). He speaks here of God as solacing\nhimself in mercy, and as delighting of himself in the salvation of his\npeople, and that without comparison: \u2018Who is a God like unto thee, that\npardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of\nhis heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he\ndelighteth in mercy\u2019 (Micah 7:18). Thus is mercy and grace got into the\nthrone, reigns, and will assuredly conquer all; yea, will conquer, and\nthat with a shout. \u2018Mercy rejoiceth against judgment\u2019 (James 2:13).\nYea, glorieth when it getteth the victory of sin, and subdueth the\nsinner unto God and to his own salvation, as is yet more fully showed\nin the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15). But this, briefly to show\nyou something of the nature of the terms, and what must necessarily be\nimplied thereby.\n\n[What is to be inferred from the term \u2018throne of grace.\u2019]\n\nSecond. We will in the next place show what is to be inferred from\nhence. And,\n\n1. To be sure this is inferred, that converted men are not every way,\nor in every sense, free from the being of sin. For, were they, they\nneed not betake themselves to a throne of grace for help; when it saith\nthere is grace in God, it inferreth, that there is sin in the godly;\nand when it saith, grace reigns, as upon a throne, it implies, that sin\nwould ascend the throne, would reign, and would have the dominion over\nthe children of God. This also is manifest, when he saith, \u2018Let not sin\ntherefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the\nlusts thereof\u2019 (Rom 7:12). And the only way to prevent it is to apply\nourselves, as by the text we are directed, to the throne of grace for\nhelp against it.\n\n2. The text implies, that at certain times the most godly man in the\nworld may be hard put to it by the sin that dwelleth in him; yea, so\nhard put to it, as that there can be no ways to save himself from a\nfall, but by imploring heaven and the throne of grace for help. This is\ncalled the needy time, the time when the wayfaring man that knocked at\nDavid\u2019s door shall knock at ours (2 Sam 12); or when we are got into\nthe sieve into which Satan did get Peter (Luke 22:31); or when those\nfists are about our ears that were about Paul\u2019s; and when that thorn\npricks us that Paul said was in his flesh (2 Cor 12:7,8). But why, or\nhow comes it to pass, that the godly are so hard put to it at these\ntimes, but because there is in them, that is, in their flesh, no good\nthing, but consequently all aptness to close in with the devil and his\nsuggestions, to the overthrow of the soul? But now here we are\npresented with a throne of grace, unto which, as presented with a\nthrone of grace, unto which, as David says, we must \u2018continually\nresort\u2019; and that is the way to obtain relief, and to find help in time\nof need (Psa 71:3).\n\n3. As Christians are sometimes in imminent dangers of falling, so\nsometimes it is so, that they are fallen, are down, down dreadfully,\nand can by no means lift up themselves. And this happeneth unto them\nbecause they have been remiss as to the conscionable performance of\nwhat by this exhortation they are enjoined to. They have not been\nconstant supplicants at this throne for preserving grace; for had they,\nthey should, as the text suggests, most certainly have kept from such a\nfall; help should have been granted them in their needful time. But\nthat is it, of which such are guilty, which is written in the prophet\nIsaiah, \u2018But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been\nweary of me, O Israel\u2019 (Isa 43:22). Therefore thou art profaned,\ntherefore thou art given to reproaches (Isa 43:28). Now, as they which\nare falling are kept from coming down by coming to this throne of\ngrace, so those that are fallen must rise by the sceptre of love\nextended to them from thence. Men may fall by sin, but cannot raise up\nthemselves without the help of grace. Wherefore, it is worthy of our\ninquiry after a more thorough knowledge of this throne of grace,\nwhence, as we may well perceive, our help comes, and by what comes from\nthence we are made to stand. I therefore come now to a more particular\ndescription of this throne of grace; and to show how the godly know, or\nmay know it, from other thrones of God.\n\n[What this throne of grace is.]\n\nFirst, then, this throne of grace is the humanity, or heart and soul of\nJesus Christ, in which God sits and resteth for ever in love towards\nthem that believe in him. Forasmuch as Christ did, by the body of his\nflesh, when here, reconcile them unto the Father. \u2018The key of the house\nof David,\u2019 saith God, \u2018will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open\nand none shall shut; and he shall shut and none shall open. And I will\nfasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious\nthrone to his Father\u2019s house\u2019 (Isa 22:22,23). For a glorious throne to\nhis Father\u2019s house, that is, for his Father\u2019s house, to come to their\nFather by; for that they shall always find him thereon; or, as another\nscripture saith, in Christ reconciling them unto him, not imputing to\nthem their trespasses and sins (2 Cor 5:19). Nor is it possible, that\nwe lay aside the human nature of Christ, for us to find any such thing\nas a throne of grace, either in earth or heaven; for that then nothing\ncan be found to be the rest of God. \u2018This is my beloved Son, in whom I\nam well pleased,\u2019 is God\u2019s own language; but there is none other of\nwhom he hath so said (Matt 3:17). Wherefore he resteth in him towards\nus, and in him only. Besides, grace cannot be extended towards us but\nin a way of justice; for that the law and our sin obstructeth another\nway (Gen 3:24). But, lay the human nature of Christ aside, and where\nwill you find, THAT that shall become such a sacrifice to justice for\nthe sin of men, as that God, for the sake of that, shall both forgive,\nand cause that grace for ever should reign towards us in such a way? It\nreigns through righteousness, or justice, by Jesus Christ, and no way\nelse. Christ Jesus, therefore, is this throne of grace; or him, or\nthat, by which grace reigns towards the children of God (Rom 5:21).\n\nThat scripture also gives us a little light herein, \u2018And I beheld, and\nlo! in the midst of the throne,\u2019 &c., \u2018stood a Lamb, as it had been\nslain\u2019 (Rev 5:6). This is to show the cause why grace is so freely let\nout to us, even for that there stands there, in the midst of the\nthrone, and in the midst of the elders, a lamb as it had been slain,\nor, as it was made a sacrifice for our sin; for, as a slain lamb, he\nnow lives in the midst of the throne, and is the meritorious cause of\nall the grace that we enjoy. And though it seems by this text that the\nthrone is one thing and the Lamb another, yet the Lamb of God is the\nthrone, though not as a lamb or sacrifice, but as one that by his\nsacrifice has made way for grace to run like a river into the world.\nThe Son of God, Jesus Christ, is ALL; he is the throne, the altar, the\npriest, the sacrifice, and all: but he is the throne, the priest, the\naltar, and the sacrifice, under divers considerations. He is not the\nthrone as he is the priest; he is not the priest as he is the\nsacrifice; he is not the sacrifice as he is the altar; yet is truly all\nthese. Yea, there is no throne of grace, no high priest, no\npropitiatory sacrifice, &c., but he. Of all which we may yet speak\nfurther before we conclude this treatise. I conclude, then, that Christ\nJesus, in his human nature, is this throne of grace. In his human\nnature, I say, he has by that completely accomplished all things\nnecessary for the making way for grace to be extended to men; and that\nthat is not only God\u2019s place of rest, but that by and from which, as\nupon a glorious throne, his grace shall reign over devil, death, sin,\nhell, and the grave, for ever. This human nature of Christ is also\ncalled the tabernacle of God; for the fullness of the Godhead dwells in\nit bodily. It is God\u2019s habitation, his dwelling-place, his chair and\nthrone of state. He doth all in and by it, and without it he doth not\nany thing. But to pass this, let us come to the next thing.\n\n[Where the throne of grace is erected.]\n\nSecond. We will now come to discourse of the placing of this throne of\ngrace, or to discover where it is erected. And for this we must repair\nto the type, which, as was said before, is called the mercy-seat; the\nwhich we find, not in the outward court, nor yet within the first veil\n(Heb 9:3-5); which signifies, not in the world, nor in the church on\nearth, but in the holy of the holies, or after the second veil, the\nflesh of Christ (Heb 10:20). There then is this throne of God, this\nthrone of grace, and no where here below. And for as much as it is\ncalled the throne of God, of grace, and is there, it signifieth that it\nis the highest and most honourable. Hence he is said to be far above\nall heavens, and to have a name above every name. Wherefore he that\nwill come to this throne of grace, must know what manner of coming it\nis by which he must approach it; and that is, not personally,[6] but by\nrunnings out of heart; not by himself, but by his Priest, his High\nPriest; for so it was in the type (Heb 9:7). Into the second, where the\nmercy-seat was, went the high priest alone, that is, personally, and\nthe people by him, as he made intercession for them. This then must be\ndone by those that will approach this throne of grace. They must go to\nGod, as he is enthroned IN Christ; BY Christ, as he is the High Priest\nof his church; and they must go to him in the holiest, by him.\n\nBut again, as this throne of grace is in the Holiest, not in the world,\nnot in the church on earth, so it is in this Holiest set up above the\nark of the testimony; for so was the mercy-seat, it was set up in the\nmost holy place, above the ark of the testimony (Deut 10:1-5; 1 Kings\n8:9; 2 Chron 5:10). The ark of the testimony. What was that? Why it was\nthe place of the law, the ark in which it was kept: the testimony was\nthe law, the ark was prepared to put that in. This ark in which was put\nthis law was set up in the holiest, and the mercy-seat was set above\nit, for so was Moses commanded to place them. Thou shalt make an ark,\nsaith God, \u2018and thou shalt make a mercy-seat\u2019: the ark shall be called\nthe ark of the testimony, and there \u2018thou shalt put the testimony that\nI shall give thee,\u2019 that is, the law, \u2018and thou shalt put the\nmercy-seat above upon the ark, and there I will meet with thee, from\nabove the mercy-seat between the two cherubims, which are upon,\u2019 that\nis, above, \u2018the ark of the testimony,\u2019 \u2018shadowing the mercy-seat\u2019 (Exo\n25:16-22; Heb 9:5).\n\nThus, then, were things of old ordained in the type, by which we gather\nwhat is now to be minded in our worshipping of God. There was an ark\nmade, and the two tables of stone, in which the law was writ, was put\ntherein (Deut 10:2-5). This ark, with these two tables, were put into\nthe holiest, and this mercy-seat was set above it. The Holy Ghost, in\nmy mind, thus signifying that grace sits upon a throne that is higher\nthan the law, above the law; and that grace, therefore, is to rule\nbefore the law, and notwithstanding all the sentence of the law; for it\nsitteth, I say, upon a throne, but the law sits on none; a throne, I\nsay, which the law, instead of accusing, justifieth and approveth. For\nalthough it condemneth all men, yet it excepteth Christ, who, in his\nmanhood, is this throne of grace. Him, I say, it condemneth not, but\napproveth, and liketh well of all his doings; yea, it granteth him, as\nhere we see, as a throne of grace, to be exalted above itself: yea, it\ncannot but so do, because by wisdom and holiness itself, which is also\nthe Lord of the law, it is appointed so to do. Here, then, is the\nthrone of God, the throne of grace, namely, above the ark of the\ntestimony; on this God and his grace sits, reigns, and gives leave to\nsinners to approach his presence for grace and mercy. He gives, I say\nfor those sinners so to do, that have washed before in the brazen laver\nthat is prepared to wash in first, of which we may speak more anon.\nNow, behold the wisdom of God in his thus ordaining of things; in his\nplacing, in the first place, the law, and Christ the ark of the\ntestimony, and the mercy-seat, or throne of grace, so nigh together;\nfor doubtless it was wisdom that thus ordained them, and it might so\nordain for these reasons\u2014\n\n[Why the law and the mercy-seat are so near together.]\n\n1. That we that approach the throne of grace might, when we come there,\nbe made still to remember that we are sinners\u2014\u2018for by the law is the\nknowledge of sin\u2019 (Rom 3:20)\u2014and behold just before us is this ark in\nwhich are the two tables that condemn all flesh: yea, we must look that\nway, if we look at all; for just above it is the mercy-seat or throne\nof grace. So then here is a memento for them that come to God, and to\nhis throne of grace, for mercy, to wit, the law, by which they are\nafresh put in remembrance of themselves, their sins, and what need they\nhave of fresh supplies of grace. I read that the laver of brass and the\nfoot of it was made of the looking-glasses of the women that assembled\nat the door of the tabernacle (Exo 38:8), methinks to signify, that men\nmight see their smyrches[7] when they came to wash; so here you see the\nlaw is placed even with the mercy-seat, only that stood above, whereby\nthose that come to the throne of grace for mercy might also yet more be\nput in mind that they are sinners.\n\n2. This also tendeth to set an edge upon prayer, and to make us the\nmore fervent in spirit when we come to the throne of grace. Should a\nking ordain that the axe and halter should be before all those that\nsupplicate him for mercy, it would put yet an edge upon all their\npetitions for his grace, and make them yet the more humbly and\nfervently implore his majesty for favour. But, behold, the mercy-seat\nstands above, is set up above the ark and testimony that is in it.\nHere, therefore, we have encouragement to look for good. For observe,\nthough here is the law, and that too in the holiest of all, whither we\ngo; yet above it is the mercy-seat and throne of grace triumphant, unto\nwhich we should look, and to which we should direct our prayers. Let us\ntherefore come boldly to the throne of grace, notwithstanding the ark\nand testimony is by; for the law cannot hurt us when grace is so nigh;\nbesides, God is now not in the law, but upon the throne of grace that\nis above it, to gave forth pardons, and grace, and helps at a time of\nneed.\n\nThis, then, may serve to inform some whereabout they are, when they are\nin their closets, and at prayer. Art thou most dejected when thou art\nat prayer? Hear me, thou art not far from the throne of grace; for thy\ndejection proceedeth from thy looking into the ark, into which God hath\nordained that whosoever looks shall die (1 Sam 6:19). Now if thou art\nindeed so near as to see thy sins, by thy reading of thyself by the\ntables in the ark, cast but up thine eyes a little higher, and behold,\nthere is the mercy-seat and throne of grace to which thou wouldest\ncome, and by which thou must be saved. When David came to pray to God,\nhe said he would direct his prayer to God, and would look up (Psa 5:3).\nAs who should say, When I pray, I will say to my prayers, O my prayers,\nmount up, stay not at the ark of the testimony, for there is the law\nand condemnation; but soar aloft to the throne that stands above, for\nthere is God, and there is grace displayed, and there thou mayest\nobtain what is necessary to help in time of need. Some, indeed, there\nbe that know not what these things mean; they never read their sin nor\ncondemnation for it; when they are upon their knees at their devotion,\nand so are neither dejected at the sight of what they are, nor driven\nwith sense of things to look higher for help at need; for need, indeed,\nthey see none. Of such I shall say, they are not concerned in our text,\nnor can they come hither before they have been prepared so to do, as\nmay appear before we come to an end.\n\n[How the godly distinguish the throne of grace.]\n\nSECOND. And thus have I showed you what this throne of grace is, and\nwhere it stands. And now I shall come to show you how you shall find\nit, and know when you are come to it, by several other things.\n\nFirst, then, about the throne of grace there is \u2018a rainbow\u2014in sight\nlike unto an emerald\u2019 (Rev 4:1-3). This was the first sight that John\nsaw after he had received his epistles for the seven churches. Before\nhe received them, he had the great vision of his Lord, and heard him\nsay to him, I am he that was dead and am alive, or \u2018that liveth and was\ndead, and behold I am alive for evermore, amen; and have the keys of\nhell and of death\u2019 (Rev 1:18). And a good preparation it was for a work\nof that nature that now he was called unto; to wit, that he might the\nmore warmly, and affectionately, and confidently attest the truth which\nhis Lord had now for him to testify to them. So here, before he\nentereth upon his prophecy of things to come, he hears a first voice,\nand sees a first sight. The first voice that he heard was, \u2018Come up\nhither,\u2019 and the first sight that he saw was a throne with a rainbow\nround about it. \u2018And immediately,\u2019 saith he, \u2018I was in the Spirit; and\nbehold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he\nthat sat was to look upon like a jasper, and a sardine stone, and there\nwas a rainbow round about the throne\u2019 (Rev 4:1-3).\n\nThe firs time that we find in God\u2019s Word mention made of a rainbow, we\nread also of its spiritual signification, to wit, that it was a token\nof the firmness of the covenant that God made with Noah, as touching\nhis not drowning the earth any more with the waters of a flood. \u2018I do\nset,\u2019 saith he, \u2018my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a\ncovenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I\nbring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud.\nAnd I will remember my covenant which is between me and you, and every\nliving creature of all flesh: and the waters shall no more become a\nflood to destroy all flesh\u2019 (Gen 9:13-15). The first use, therefore, of\nthe rainbow, it was to be a token of a covenant of mercy and kindness\nto the world; but that was not the utmost end thereof. For that\ncovenant was but a shadow of the covenant of grace which God hath made\nwith his elect in Christ, and that bow but a shadow of the token of the\npermanency and lastingness of that covenant. Wherefore the next time we\nread of the rainbow is in the first of Ezekiel, and there we read of it\nonly with reference to the excellencies of its colour; for that it is\nthere said to be exactly like the colour of the glory of the man that\nthe prophet there saw as sitting upon a throne (v 28). The glory, that\nis, the priestly robes; for he is a priest upon the throne, and his\nrobes become his glory and beauty (Zech 6:13). His robes\u2014what are they\nbut his blessed righteousness, with the skirts of which he covereth the\nsinful nakedness of his people, and with the perfection of which he\ndecketh and adorneth them, \u2018as a bride adorneth herself with her\njewels\u2019 (Exo 28:2; Eze 16:8; Isa 61:10).\n\nNow here again, in the third place, we find a rainbow, a rainbow round\nabout the throne; round about the throne of grace. A rainbow\u2014that is, a\ntoken of the covenant, a token of the covenant of grace in its\nlastingness; and that token is the appearance of the man Christ. The\nappearance\u2014that is, his robes, his righteousness, \u2018from the appearance\nof his loins even upward,\u2019 and \u2018from the appearance of his loins even\ndownward\u2019 (Eze 1:27); even down to the foot, as you have it in the book\nof the Revelation (1:13). \u2018As the appearance of the bow that is in the\ncloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round\nabout. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the\nLord\u2019 (Eze 1:28). The sum then is, that by the rainbow round about the\nthrone of grace upon which God sitteth to hear and answer the petitions\nof his people, we are to understand the obedential righteousness of\nJesus Christ, which in the days of his flesh he wrought out and\naccomplished for his people; by which God\u2019s justice is satisfied, and\ntheir person justified, and they so made acceptable to him. This\nrighteousness, that shines in God\u2019s eyes more glorious than the rainbow\nin the cloud doth in ours, saith John, is round about the throne. But\nfor what purpose? Why, to be looked upon. But who must look upon it?\nWhy, God and his people; the people when they come to pray, and God\nwhen he is about to hear and give. \u2018And the bow shall be in the cloud\u2019;\nsays God, \u2018and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting\ncovenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is\nupon the earth\u2019 (Gen 9:16). And, I say, as the bow is for God to look\non, so it is also for our sight to behold. A rainbow round about the\nthrone, in sight; in whose sight? in John\u2019s and his companions, like\nunto an emerald.\n\nWe read of Solomon\u2019s great throne of ivory, that though there was not\nits like in any kingdom, yet he was not willing that the bow of it\nshould stand before him. It was round behind (1 Kings 10:18-20). O! but\nGod\u2019s throne has the bow before, even round about to view, to look upon\nin sight. Solomon\u2019s was but a shadow, and therefore fit to be put\nbehind; but this is the sum and substance, and therefore fit to be\nbefore, in view, in sight, for God and his people to behold. Thus you\nsee that a rainbow is round about the throne of grace, and what this\nrainbow is. Look then, when thou goest to prayer, for the throne; and\nthat thou mayest not be deceived with a fancy, look for the rainbow\ntoo. The rainbow, that is, as I have said, the personal performances of\nChrist thy Saviour for thee. Look, I say, for that, it is his\nrighteousness; the token of the everlastingness of the covenant of\ngrace; the object of God\u2019s delight, and must be the matter of the\njustification of thy person and performances before God. God looks at\nit, look thou at it, and at it only (Psa 71:16). For in heaven or\nearth, if that be cast away, there is nothing to be found that can\nplease God, or justify thee. If it be said faith pleases God; I answer,\nfaith is a relative grace; take then the relative away, which, as to\njustification, is this spangling robe, this rainbow, this righteousness\nof Christ, and faith dies, and becomes, as to what we now treat of,\nextinct and quenched as tow.\n\nAnd a very fit emblem the rainbow is of the righteousness of Christ;\nand that in these particulars. 1. The rainbow is an effect of the sun\nthat shines in the firmament; and the righteousness by which this\nthrone of grace is encompassed, is the work of the Son of God. 2. The\nrainbow was a token that the wrath of God in sending the flood was\nappeased; this righteousness of Christ is that for the sake of which\nGod forgiveth us all trespasses. 3. The rainbow was set in the cloud,\nthat the sinful man might look thereon, and wax confident in common\nmercy; this righteousness is showed us in the word, that we may by it\nbelieve unto special mercy. 4. The bow is seen but now and then in the\ncloud; Christ\u2019s righteousness is but here and there revealed in the\nWord. 5. The bow is seen commonly upon, or after rain; Christ\u2019s\nrighteousness is apprehended by faith upon, or soon after the\napprehensions of wrath. 6. The bow is seen sometimes more, sometimes\nless; and so is this righteousness, even according to the degree or\nclearness of the sight of faith. 7. The bow is of that nature, as to\nmake whatever you shall look upon through it, to be of the same colour\nof itself, whether that thing be bush, or man, or beast; and the\nrighteousness of Christ is that that makes sinners, when God looks upon\nthem through it, to look beautiful, and acceptable in his sight, for we\nare made comely through his comeliness, and made accepted in the\nBeloved (Eze 16:14; Eph 1:6).\n\nOne word more of the rainbow, and then to some other things. As here\nyou read that the rainbow is round about the throne; so if you read on\neven in the same place, you shall find the glorious effects thereof to\nbe far more than all that I have said. But,\n\nSecond. As the throne of grace is known by the rainbow that is round\nabout it; so also thou shalt know it by this, the high priest is\ncontinually ministering before it; the high priest, or Christ as\npriest, is there before God in his high priest\u2019s robes, making\ncontinual intercession for thy acceptance there. Now, as I said before,\nChrist is priest and throne and all; throne in one sense, priest in\nanother; even as he was priest, and sacrifice, and altar too, when he\nbecame our reconciler to God.\n\nAs a priest here, he is put under the notion of an angel, of an angel\nthat came and stood at the altar to offer incense for the church, all\nthe time that the seven angels were to sound out with trumpets the\nalarm of God\u2019s wrath against the anti-christian world; lest that wrath\nshould swallow them up also. \u2018And,\u2019 saith John, \u2018another angel came and\nstood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto\nhim much incense, that he should offer _it_ with the prayers of all\nsaints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke\nof the incense _which came_ with the prayers of the saints, ascended up\nbefore God out of the angel\u2019s hand\u2019 (Rev 8:1-4).\n\nHere then you have before the throne, that is, the throne or\nmercy-seat, the high priest; for there it was that God appointed that\nthe altar of incense, or that to burn incense on, should be placed (Exo\n30:1-7). This incense-altar in the type was to be overlaid with gold;\nbut here the Holy Ghost implies, that it is all of gold. This throne\nthen is the mercy-seat, or throne of grace, to which we are bid to\ncome; and, as you see, here is the angel, the high priest with his\ngolden censer, and his incense, ready to wait upon us. For so the text\nimplies, for he is there to offer his incense with the prayers of all\nsaints that are waiting without at his time of offering incense within\n(Luke 1:10). So, then, at the throne of grace, or before it, stands the\nhigh priest of our propitiation, Christ Jesus, with his golden censer\nin his hand, full of incense, therewith to perfume the prayers of\nsaints, that come thither for grace and mercy to help in time of\nneed.[8] And he stands there, as you see, under the name of an angel,\nfor he is the angel of God\u2019s presence, and messenger of his covenant.\n\nBut now it is worth our considering, to take notice how, or in what\nmethod, the high priest under the law was to approach the\nincense-altar. When he came to make intercession for the saints before\nthe throne, he was to go in thither to do this work in his robes and\nornaments; not without them, lest he died. The principal of these\nornaments were, \u2018a breast-plate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a\nbroidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle\u2019 (Exo 28:4). These are briefly\ncalled his garments, in Revelation the first, and in the general they\nshow us, that he is clothed with righteousness, girded with truth and\nfaithfulness, for that is the girdle of his reins to strengthen him\n(Isa 11:5). And that he beareth upon his heart the names of the\nchildren of Israel that are Israelites indeed; for as on Aaron\u2019s\nbreast-plate was fixed the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and he\nwas to bear the weight of them by the strength of his shoulders, so are\nwe on the heart of Christ (Isa 22:21).\n\nThus therefore is our high priest within the holiest to offer incense\nupon the golden altar of incense, that is, before the throne.\nWherefore, when thou goest thither, even to \u2018the throne of grace,\u2019 look\nfor him, and be not content, though thou shouldst find God there, if\nthou findest him not there, I suppose now an impossibility, for\nedification\u2019s sake, for without him nothing can be done; I say, without\nhim as a priest. He is the throne, and without him as a throne, God has\nno resting-place as to us; he is a priest, and without him as such we\ncan make no acceptable approach to God; for by him as priest our\nspiritual sacrifices are accepted (1 Peter 2:5). \u2018By him, therefore,\nlet us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,\u2014giving\nthanks,\u2019 and confessing to and \u2018in his name\u2019 (Heb 13:15). And for our\nfurther edification herein, let us consider, that as God has chosen and\nmade him his throne of grace; so he has sworn, that he shall be\naccepted as a priest for ever there. For his natural qualifications we\nmay speak something to them afterwards; in the meantime know, that\nthere is no coming to God, upon pain of death without him.\n\nNor will it out of my mind, but that his wearing the rainbow upon his\nhead doth somewhat belong to him as priest, his priestly vestments\nbeing for glory and beauty, as afore was said, compared to the colour\nof it (Rev 10:1; Eze 1). But why doth he wear the rainbow upon his\nhead; but to show, that the sign, that the everlastingness of the\ncovenant of grace is only to be found in him; that he wears it as a\nmitre or frontlet of gold, and can always plead it with acceptance to\nGod, and for the subduing of the world and good of his people. But,\n\nThirdly, The throne of grace is to be known by the sacrifice that is\npresented there. The high priest was not to go into the holiest, nor\ncome near the mercy-seat; the which, as I have showed you, was a type\nof our throne of grace, \u2018without blood.\u2019 \u2018But into the second went the\nhigh priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered\nfor himself, and for the errors of the people\u2019 (Heb 9:7). Yea, the\npriest was to take of the blood of his sacrifice, and sprinkle it seven\ntimes before the Lord, that is, before the mercy-seat, or throne of\ngrace; and was to put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of\nincense before the Lord (Lev 4:5-7, 16:13-15). So then the throne of\ngrace is known by the blood that is sprinkled thereon, and by the\natonement that by it is made there. I told you before that before the\nthrone of grace there is our high-priest; and now I tell you, there is\nhis sacrifice too; his sacrifice which he there presenteth as amends\nfor the sins of all such as have a right to come with boldness to the\nthrone of grace. Hence, as I mentioned before, there is said to be in\nthe midst of the throne, the same throne of which we have spoken\nbefore, \u2018a lamb as it had been slain\u2019 (Rev 5:6). The words are to the\npurpose, and signify that in the midst of the throne is our sacrifice,\nwith the very marks of his death upon him; showing to God that sitteth\nupon the throne, the holes of the thorns, of the nails, of the spear;\nand how he was disfigured with blows and blood when at his command he\ngave himself a ransom for his people; for it cannot be imagined that\neither the exaltation or glorification of the body of Jesus Christ\nshould make him forget the day in which he died the death for our sins;\nspecially since that which puts worth into his whole intercession is\nthe death he died, and the blood he shed upon the cross, for our\ntrespasses.\n\nBesides, there is no sight more taketh the heart of God, than to see of\nthe travail of the soul, and the bruisings of the body of his Son for\nour transgressions. Hence it is said, He \u2018is in the midst of the\nthrone\u2019 as he died, or as he had been slain (Rev 7:17). It is said\nagain, \u2018The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them.\u2019\nThe Lamb, that is, the Son of God as a sacrifice, shall be always in\nthe midst of the throne to feed and comfort his people. He is the\nthrone, he is the priest, he is the sacrifice. But then how as a Lamb\nis he in the midst of the throne? Why, the meaning in mine opinion is,\nthat Christ, as a dying and bleeding sacrifice, shall be chief in the\nreconciling of us to God; or that his being offered for our sins shall\nbe of great virtue when pleaded by him as priest, to the obtaining of\ngrace, mercy, and glory for us (Heb 9:12). By his blood he entered into\nthe holy place; by his blood he hath made an atonement for us before\nthe mercy-seat. His blood it is that speaketh better for us than the\nblood of Abel did for Cain (Heb 12:24). Also it is by his blood that we\nhave bold admittance into the holiest (Heb 10:19). Wherefore no marvel\nif you find him here a Lamb, as it had been slain, and that in the\nmidst of the throne of grace.\n\nWhile thou art therefore thinking on him, as he is the throne of grace,\nforget him not as he is priest and sacrifice; for as a priest he makes\natonement; but there is no atonement made for sin without a sacrifice.\nNow, as Christ is a sacrifice, so he is to be considered as passive, or\na sufferer; as he is a priest, so he is active, or one that hath\noffered up himself; as he is an altar, so he is to be considered as\nGod; for in and upon the power of his Godhead he offered up himself.\nThe altar then was not the cross, as some have foolishly imagined. But\nas a throne, a throne of grace; so he is to be considered as distinct\nfrom these three things, as I also have hinted before. Wouldst thou\nthen know this throne of grace, where God sits to hear prayers and give\ngrace? then cast the eyes of thy soul about, and look till thou findest\nthe Lamb there; a Lamb there \u2018as it had been slain,\u2019 for by this thou\nshalt know thou art right. A slain Lamb, or a Lamb as it had been\nslain, when it is seen by a supplicant in the midst of the throne,\nwhither he is come for grace, is a blessed sight! A blessed sight\nindeed! And it informs him he is where he should be.\n\nAnd thou must look for this, the rather because without blood is no\nremission. He that thinks to find grace at God\u2019s hand, and yet enters\nnot into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, will find himself mistaken,\nand will find a DEAD,[9] instead of \u2018a living way\u2019 (Heb 10:19). For if\nnot anything below, or besides blood, can yield remission on God\u2019s\npart, how should remission be received by us without our acting faith\ntherein? We are justified by his blood, through faith in his blood (Rom\n5:6-9). Wherefore, I say, look when thou approachest the throne of\ngrace, that thou give diligence to see for the Lamb; that is, \u2018as it\nhad been slain\u2019 in the midst of the throne of grace; and then thou wilt\nhave, not only a sign that thou presentest thy supplications to God,\nwhere, and as thou shouldst; but there also wilt thou meet with matter\nto break, to soften, to bend, to bow, and to make thy heart as thou\nwouldst have it; for if the blood of a goat will, as some say, dissolve\nan adamant, a stone that is harder than flint;[10] shall not the sight\nof \u2018a Lamb as it had been slain\u2019 much more dissolve and melt down the\nspirit of that man that is upon his knees before the throne of grace\nfor mercy; especially when he shall see, that not his prayers, not his\ntears, not his wants, but the blood of the Lamb, has prevailed with a\nGod of grace to give mercy and grace to an undeserving man? This then\nis the third sign by which thou shalt know when thou art at the throne\nof grace: that throne is sprinkled with blood; yea, in the midst of\nthat throne there is to be seen to this day, a Lamb as it had been\nslain; and he is in the midst of it, to feed those that come to that\nthrone, and to lead them by and to \u2018living fountains of waters\u2019 (Rev\n7:17). Wherefore,\n\nFourth. The throne of grace is to be known, by the streams of grace\nthat continually proceed therefrom, and that like a river run\nthemselves out into the world. And, saith John, \u2018He showed me a pure\nriver of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne\nof God and of the Lamb\u2019 (Rev 22:1). Mark you, here is again a throne;\nthe throne of God, which, as we have showed, is the human nature of his\nSon; out of which, as you read, proceeds a river, a river of water of\nlife, clear as crystal. And the joining of the Lamb also here with God\nis to show that it comes, I say, from God, by the Lamb; by Christ, who\nas a lamb or sacrifice for sin, is the procuring cause of the running\nof this river; it proceedeth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.\nBehold, therefore, how carefully here the Lamb is brought in, as one\nfrom or through whom proceeds the water of life to us. God is the\nspring-head; Christ the golden pipe of conveyance; the elect the\nreceivers of this water of life. He saith not here, \u2018the throne of the\nLamb,\u2019 but \u2018and of the Lamb, to show, I say, that he it is out of or\nthrough whom this river of grace should come.\u2019 But and if it should be\nunderstood that it proceedeth from the throne of the Lamb, it may be to\nshow that Christ also has power as a mediator, to send grace like a\nriver into the church. And then it amounts to this, that God, for\nChrist\u2019s sake, gives this river of grace, and that Christ, for his\nmerits sake, has power to do so too. And hence is that good wish, so\noften mentioned in the epistles, \u2018Grace to you, and peace from God our\nFather, and the Lord Jesus Christ\u2019 (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Gal\n1:3; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2; Col 1:2; 1 Thess 1:2; 2 Thess 1:2; Phile 3).\nAnd again, \u2018Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord\nJesus Christ\u2019 (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2; Titus 1:4). For Christ has power\nwith the Father to give grace and forgiveness of sins to men (John\n5:21-26; Mark 2:10). But let us come to the terms in this text. Here we\nhave a throne, a throne of grace; and to show that this throne is it\nindeed, therefore there proceeds therefrom a river of this grace, put\nhere under the term of \u2018water of life,\u2019 a term fit to express both the\nnature of grace and the condition of him that comes for it to the\nthrone of grace.\n\nIt is called by the name of water of life, to show what a reviving\ncordial the grace of God in Christ is, shall be, and will be found to\nbe, of all those that by him shall drink thereof. It shall be in him,\neven in him that drinks it, \u2018a well of water springing up into\neverlasting life\u2019 (John 4:14). It will therefore beget life, and\nmaintain it; yea, will itself be a spring of life, in the very heart of\nhim that drinks it. Ah! it will be such a preservative also to\nspiritual health, as that by its virtue the soul shall for ever be\nkept, I say, the soul that drinks it, from total and final decay; it\nshall be in them a well of living water, springing up into everlasting\nlife.\n\nBut there is also by this phrase or term briefly touched the present\nstate of them that shall come hither to drink; they are not the\nhealthful, but the sick. It is with the throne of grace, as it is with\nthe Bath, and other places of sovereign and healing waters, they are\nmost coveted of them that are diseased, and do also show their virtues\non those that have their health and limbs; so, I say, is the throne of\ngrace; its waters are for healing, for soul-healing, that is their\nvirtue (Eze 47:8,9). Wherefore, as at those waters above mentioned, the\nlame leave their crutches, and the sick [obtain] such signs of their\nrecovery as may be a sign of their receiving health and cure there; so\nat the throne of grace, it is where true penitents, and those that are\nsick for mercy, do leave their sighs and tears; \u2018and the Lamb that is\nin the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto\nliving fountains of waters; and God shall,\u2019 there, \u2018wipe away all tears\nfrom their eyes\u2019 (Rev 7:17). Wherefore, as Joseph washed his face, and\ndried his tears away, when he saw his brother Benjamin, so all God\u2019s\nsaints shall here, even at the throne of grace, where God\u2019s Benjamin,\nor the Son of his right hand, is, wash their souls from sorrow, and\nhave their tears wiped from their eyes. Wherefore, O thou that are\ndiseased, afflicted, and that wouldst live, come by Jesus to God as\nmerciful and gracious; yea, look for this river when thou art upon thy\nknees before him, for by that thou shalt find whereabout is the throne\nof grace, and so where thou mayest find mercy.\n\nBut again, as that which proceeds out of this throne of grace is called\n\u2018water of life,\u2019 so it is said to be a river, a river of water of life.\nThis, in the first place, shows, that with God is plenty of grace, even\nas in a river there is plenty of water; a pond, a pool, a cistern, will\nhold much, but a river will hold more; from this throne come rivers and\nstreams of water of life, to satisfy those that come for life to the\nthrone of God. Further, as by a river is showed what abundance of grace\nproceeds from God through Christ, so it shows the unsatiable thirst and\ndesire of one that comes indeed aright to the throne of grace for\nmercy. Nothing but rivers will satisfy such a soul; ponds, pools, and\ncisterns, will do nothing: such an one is like him of whom it is said,\n\u2018Behold he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not; he trusteth that he\ncan draw up Jordan into his mouth\u2019 (Job 40:23). This David testifies\nwhen he saith, \u2018As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth\nmy soul after thee, O God\u2019 (Psa 42:1). Hence the invitation is\nproportionable, \u2018Drink abundantly\u2019 (Cant 5:1), and that they that are\nsaved, are saved to receive abundance of grace; \u2018they which receive\nabundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in\nlife by one, Jesus Christ\u2019 (Rom 5:17). And hence it is said again,\n\u2018When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their\ntongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of\nIsrael will not forsake them.\u2019 But, Lord, how wilt thou quench their\nboundless thirst? \u2018I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in\nthe midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water,\nand the dry land springs of water\u2019 (Isa 41:17,18). Behold here is a\npool of water as big as a wilderness, enough one would think to satisfy\nany thirsty soul. O, but that will not do! wherefore he will open\nrivers, fountains, and springs, and all this is to quench the drought\nof one that thirsteth for the grace of God, that they have enough.\n\u2018They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and\nthou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures, for with thee\nis the fountain of life\u2019; &c. (Psa 36:8,9).\n\nThis abundance the throne of grace yieldeth for the help and health of\nsuch as would have the water of life to drink, and to cure their\ndiseases withal: it yields a river of water of life. Moreover, since\ngrace is said here to proceed as a river from the throne of God and of\nthe Lamb, it is to show the commonness of it; rivers you know are\ncommon in the stream, however they are at the head (Judg 5). And to\nshow the commonness of it, the apostle calls it \u2018the common salvation\u2019;\nand it is said in Ezekiel and Zecharias, to go forth to the desert, and\ninto the sea, the world, to heal the beasts and fish of all kinds that\nare there (Eze 47:8; Zech 14:8). This, therefore, is a text that shows\nus what it is to come to a throne, where the token of the covenant of\ngrace is, where the high priest ministereth, and in the midst of which\nthere is a Lamb, \u2018as it had been slain\u2019: for from thence there cometh\nnot drops, nor showers, but rivers of the grace of God, a river of\nwater of life.\n\nAgain, as the grace that we here read of is said, as it comes from this\nthrone, to come as a river of water of life; so it is said to be pure\nand clear as crystal. Pure is set in opposition to muddy and dirty\nwaters, and clear is set in opposition to those waters that are black,\nby reason of the cold and icyish nature of them; therefore there is\nconjoined to this phrase the word crystal, which all know is a clear\nand shining stone (Eze 34:19; Job 6:15,16). Indeed the life and spirit\nthat is in this water, will keep it from looking black and dull; and\nthe throne from whence it comes will keep it from being muddy, so much\nas in the streams thereof. \u2018The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich,\nand he addeth no sorrow with it\u2019 (Prov 10:22). Indeed, all the sorrow\nthat is mixed with our Christianity, it proceedeth, as the procuring\ncause, from ourselves, not from the throne of grace; for that is the\nplace where our tears, as was showed you, are wiped away; and also\nwhere we hang up our crutches. The streams thereof are pure and clear,\nnot muddy nor frozen, but warm and delightful, and that \u2018make glad the\ncity of God\u2019 (Psa 46).\n\nThese words also show us, that this water of itself can do without a\nmixture of anything of ours. What comes from this throne of grace is\npure grace, and nothing else; clear grace, free grace, grace that is\nnot mixed, nor need be mixed with works of righteousness which we have\ndone; it is of itself sufficient to answer all our wants, to heal all\nour diseases, and to help us at a time of need. It is grace that\nchooses, it is grace that calleth, it is grace that preserveth, and it\nis grace that brings to glory: even the grace that like a river of\nwater of life proceedeth from this throne. And hence it is, that from\nfirst to last, we must cry, \u2018Grace, grace unto it!\u2019[11]\n\nThus you see what a throne the Christian is invited to; it is a throne\nof grace whereon doth sit the God of all grace; it is a throne of grace\nbefore which the Lord Jesus ministereth continually for us; it is a\nthrone of grace sprinkled with the blood, and in the midst of which is\na Lamb as it had been slain; it is a throne with a rainbow round about\nit, which is the token of the everlasting covenant, and out of which\nproceeds, as here you read, a river, a pure river of water of life,\nclear as crystal. Look then for these signs of the throne of grace, all\nyou that would come to it, and rest not, until by some of them you know\nthat you are even come to it; they are all to be seen have you but\neyes; and the sight of them is very delectable, and has a natural\ntendency in them, when seen, to revive and quicken the soul. But,\n\nFifth. As the throne of grace is known and distinguished by the things\nabove named, so it is by the effects which these things have wrought.\nThere is about that throne \u2018four and twenty seats, and upon the seats\nfour and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they have\non their heads crowns of gold\u2019 (Rev 4:4). There is no throne that has\nthese signs and effects belonging to it but this; wherefore, as by\nthese signs, so by the effects of them also, one may know which is, and\nso when he is indeed come to the throne of grace. And a little as we\ncommented upon what went before, we will also touch upon this.\n\n1. By seats, I understand places of rest and dignity; places of rest,\nfor that they that sit on them do rest from their labours; and places\nof dignity, for that they are about the throne (Rev 14:13). \u2018And the\nfour and twenty elders which sat before God on their seats, fell upon\ntheir faces and worshipped God\u2019 (Rev 11:16). And forasmuch as the seats\nare mentioned, before they are mentioned that sat thereon, it is to\nshow, that the places were prepared before they were converted.\n\n2. The elders, I take to be the twelve patriarchs and the twelve\napostles, or the first fathers of the churches; for they are the elders\nof both the churches, that is, both of the Jewish and Gentile church of\nGod; they are the ancients, as also they are called in the prophet\nIsaiah, which are in some sense the fathers of both these churches (Isa\n24:23). These elders are well set forth by that four and twenty that\nyou read of in the book of Chronicles, who had every one of them for\nsons twelve in number. There therefore the four and twenty are (1 Chron\n25:8-31).\n\n3. Their sitting denoteth also their abiding in the presence of God.\n\u2018Sit thou at my right hand,\u2019 was the Father\u2019s word to the Son, and also\nsignifieth the same (Psa 110:1). It is then the throne of grace where\nthe four and twenty seats are, and before which the four and twenty\nelders sit.\n\n4. Their white robes are Christ\u2019s righteousness, their own good works\nand glory; not that their works brought them thither, for they were of\nthemselves polluted, and were washed white in the blood of the Lamb;\nbut yet God will have all that his people have done in love to him to\nbe rewarded. Yea, and they shall wear their own labours, being washed\nas afore is hinted, as a badge of their honour before the throne of\ngrace, and this is grace indeed. \u2018They have washed their robes, and\nmade them white in the blood of the Lamb, therefore are they before the\nthrone of God\u2019 (Rev 7:14,15). They have washed as others did do before\nthem.\n\n5. \u2018And they had on their heads crowns of gold\u2019 (Rev 4:4). This denotes\ntheir victory, and also that they are kings, and as kings shall reign\nwith him for ever and ever (Rev 5:10).\n\n6. But what! were they silent? did they say, did they do nothing while\nthey sat before the throne? Yes, they were appointed to be singers\nthere. This was signified by the four and twenty that we made mention\nof before, who with their sons were instructed in the songs of the\nLord, and all that were cunning to do so then, were two hundred\nfourscore and eight (1 Chron 25:7). These were the figure of that\nhundred forty and four thousand redeemed from the earth. For as the\nfirst four and twenty, and their sons, are said to sing and to play\nupon cymbals, psalteries, and harps; and as they are there said to be\ninstructed and cunning in the songs of the Lord; so these that sit\nbefore the throne are said also to sing with harps in their hands their\nsong before the throne; and such song it was, and so cunningly did they\nsing it, that \u2018no man could learn it, but the hundred and forty and\nfour thousand which were redeemed from the earth\u2019 (Rev 14:3).\n\nNow, as I said, as he at first began with four and twenty in David, and\nended with four and twenty times twelve, so here in John he begins with\nthe same number, but ends with such a company that no man could number.\nFor, he saith, \u2018After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no\nman could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues\nstood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes,\nand palms in their hands. And cried with a loud voice, saying,\nSalvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.\nAnd all the angels stood round about the throne, and the elders, and\nthe four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and\nworshipped God\u2019 (Rev 7:9-11). This numberless number seems to have got\nthe song by the end;[12] for they cry aloud, \u2018Salvation, salvation to\nour God and to the Lamb\u2019; which to be sure is such a song that none can\nlearn but them that are redeemed from the earth.\n\nBut I say, what a brave encouragement is it for one that is come for\ngrace to the throne of grace, to see so great a number already there,\non their seats, in their robes, with their palms in their hands, and\ntheir crowns upon their heads, singing of salvation to God, and to the\nLamb! And I say again, and speak now to the dejected, methinks it would\nbe strange, O thou that art so afraid that the greatness of thy sins\nwill be a bar unto thee, if amongst all this great number of pipers and\nharpers that are got to glory, thou canst not espy one that when here\nwas as vile a sinner as thyself. Look man, they are there for thee to\nview them, and for thee to take encouragement to hope, when thou shalt\nconsider what grace and mercy has done for them. Look again, I say, now\nthou art upon thy knees, and see if some that are among them have not\ndone worse than thou hast done. And yet behold, they are set down; and\nyet behold they have their crowns on their heads, their harps in their\nhands, and sing aloud of salvation to their God, and to the Lamb.\n\nThis then is a fifth note or sign that doth distinguish the throne of\ngrace from other thrones. There are, before that, to be seen, for our\nencouragement, a numberless number of people sitting and singing round\nabout it. Singing, I say, to God for his grace, and to the Lamb for his\nblood, by which they are secured from the wrath to come. \u2018And the four\nand twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them\nharps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of\nsaints, and they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the\nbook, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast\nredeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and\npeople, and nation; and hast made us unto our God, kings and priests,\nand we shall reign on the earth\u2019 (Rev 5:8-10). Behold, tempted soul,\ndost thou not yet see what a throne of grace here is, and what\nmultitudes are already arrived thither, to give thanks unto his name\nthat sits thereon, and to the Lamb for ever and ever? And wilt thou\nhang thy harp upon the willows, and go drooping up and down the world,\nas if there was no God, no grace, no throne of grace, to apply thyself\nunto, for mercy and grace to help in time of need? Hark! dost thou not\nhear them what they say, \u2018Worthy,\u2019 say they, \u2018is the Lamb that was\nslain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and\nhonour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in\nheaven,\u2019 where they are, \u2018and on the earth,\u2019 where thou art, \u2018and under\nthe earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard\nI saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be unto him that\nsitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever\u2019 (Rev\n5:12,13).\n\nAll this is written for our learning, that we through patience and\ncomfort of the scriptures might have hope; and that the drooping ones\nmight come boldly to the throne of grace, to obtain grace and find\nmercy to help in time of need. They bless, they all bless; they thank,\nthey all thank; and wilt thou hold thy tongue? \u2018They have all received\nof his fulness, and grace for grace\u2019; and will he shut thee out? Or is\nhis grace so far gone, and so near spent, that now he has not enough to\npardon, and secure, and save one sinner more? For shame, leave off this\nunbelief! Wherefore, dost thou think, art thou told of all this, but to\nencourage thee to come to the throne of grace? And wilt thou hang back\nor be sullen, because thou art none of the first? since he hath said,\n\u2018The first shall be last, and the last first.\u2019 Behold the legions, the\nthousands, the untold and numberless number that stand before the\nthrone, and be bold to hope in his mercy.\n\nSixth. [The throne of grace is known by what proceeds from it.] As the\nthrone of grace is distinguished from other thrones by these, so \u2018out\nof this throne proceeds lightnings, and thunderings, and voices.\u2019 Also\nbefore this throne are \u2018seven lamps of fire burning, which are the\nseven spirits of God\u2019 (Rev 4:5). This then is another thing by which\nthe throne of grace may be known as an effect of what is before. So\nagain, chapter the eighth, it is said, that from the altar of incense\nthat stood before the throne, \u2018there were voices, and thunderings, and\nlightnings, and an earthquake\u2019 (Rev 8:5). All these then come out of\nthe holiest, where the throne is, and are inflamed by this throne, and\nby him that sits thereon.\n\n1. Lightnings here are to be taken for the illuminations of the Spirit\nin the gospel (Heb 10:32). As it is said in the book of Psalms, \u2018They\nlooked unto him,\u2019 on the throne, \u2018and were lightened\u2019 (Psa 34:5). Or,\nas it is said in other places, \u2018The voice of thy thunder was in the\nheaven, the lightnings lightened the world\u2019 (Psa 77:18). And again,\n\u2018His lightnings enlightened the world, the earth saw and trembled\u2019 (Psa\n97:4). This lightning therefore communicates light to them that sit in\ndarkness. \u2018God,\u2019 saith the apostle, \u2018who commanded the light to shine\nout of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the\nknowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ\u2019 (2 Cor 4:6).\nIt was from this throne that the light came that struck Paul off his\nhorse, when he went to destroy it and the people that professed it\n(Acts 9:3). These are those lightnings by which sinners are made to see\ntheir sad condition, and by which they are made to see the way out of\nit. Art thou then made to see thy condition how bad it is, and that the\nway out of it is by Jesus Christ? for, as I said, he is the throne of\ngrace. Why then, come orderly in the light of these convictions to the\nthrone from whence thy light did come, and cry there, as Samuel did to\nEli, \u2018Here am I, for thou has called[13] me\u2019 (1 Sam 3:8). Thus did Saul\nby the light that made him see; by it he came to Christ, and cried,\n\u2018Who art thou, Lord?\u2019 and, \u2018What wouldst thou have me do?\u2019 (Acts\n9:5,6). And is it not an encouragement to thee to come to him, when he\nlights thy candle that thou mightest see the way; yea, when he doth it\non purpose that thou mightest come to him? \u2018He gives light to them that\nsit in darkness, and in the shadow of death,\u2019 what to do? \u2018to guide our\nfeet into the way of peace\u2019 (Luke 1:79). This interpretation of this\nplace seems to me most to cohere with what went before; for first you\nhave here a throne, and one sitting on it; then you have the elders,\nand in them presented to you the whole church, sitting round about the\nthrone; then you have in the words last read unto you, a discourse how\nthey came thither, and that is, by the lightnings, thunderings, and\nvoices that proceed out of the throne.\n\n2. As you have here lightnings, so thereto is adjoined thunders. There\nproceeded out of this throne lightnings and thunders. By thunders, I\nunderstand that powerful discovery of the majesty of God by the word of\ntruth, which seizeth the heart with a reverential dread and awe of him:\nhence it is said, \u2018The voice of the Lord is full of majesty; the voice\nof the Lord breaketh the cedars\u2019 (Psa 29:45). The voice, that is, his\nthundering voice. \u2018Canst thou thunder with a voice like him?\u2019 (Job\n40:9). And \u2018the thunder of his power who can understand?\u2019 (Job 26:14).\nIt was upon this account that Peter, and James, and John, were called\n\u2018the sons of thunder,\u2019 because, in the word which they were to preach,\nthere was to be not only lightnings, but thunders; not only\nilluminations, but a great seizing of the heart, with the dread and\nmajesty of God, to the effectual turning of the sinner to him (Mark\n3:16,17).\n\nLightnings without thunder are in this case dangerous, because they\nthat receive the one without the other are subject to miscarry. They\nwere \u2018once enlightened,\u2019 but you read of no thunder they had; and they\nwere subject to fall into an irrecoverable state (Heb 6:4-6). Saul had\nthunder with his lightnings to the shaking of his soul; so had the\nthree thousand; so had the jailor (Acts 2, 9, 16). They that receive\nlight without thunder are subject to turn the grace of God into\nwantonness; but they that know the terror of God will persuade men (Rom\n3:8; Jude 4; 2 Cor 5:11). So then, when he decrees to give the rain of\nhis grace to a man, he makes \u2018a way for the lighting of the thunder,\u2019\nnot the one without the other, but the one following the other (Job\n28:26). Lightning and thunder is made a cause of rain, but lightning\nalone is not: \u2018Who hath divided a water-course for the overflowing of\nwaters? or a way for the lightning of thunder to cause it to rain on\nthe earth, where no man is: on the wilderness wherein there is no man?\u2019\n(Job 38:25,26).\n\nThus therefore you may see how in the darkest sayings of the Holy Ghost\nthere is as great an harmony with truth as in the most plain and easy;\nthere must be thunder with light, if thy heart be well poised and\nbalanced with the fear of God: we have had great lightnings in this\nland of late years, but little thunders; and that is one reason why so\nlittle grace is found where light is, and why so many professors run on\ntheir heads in such a day as this is, notwithstanding all they have\nseen. Well then, this also should be a help to a soul to come to the\nthrone of grace; the God of glory has thundered, has thundered to\nawaken thee, as well as sent lightnings to give thee light; to awaken\nthee to a coming to him, as well as to the enabling of thee to see his\nthings; this then has come from the throne of grace to make thee come\nhither; wherefore observe, where it is by these signs made mention of\nbefore, and by these effects; and go, and come to the throne of grace.\n\n3. As there proceeds from this throne lightnings and thunders, so from\nhence it is said voices proceed also: now these voices may be taken for\nsuch as are sent with this lightning and thunder to instruct, or for\nsuch [instruction] as this lightning and thunder begets in our hearts.\n\n(1.) It may be taken in the first sense for light and dread, when it\nfalleth from God into the soul, is attended with a voice or voices of\ninstruction to the soul, to know what to do (Acts 2:3-7). This it was\nin Paul\u2019s case. He had light and dread, and voices for his instruction;\nhe had lightnings, and thunderings, and voices: \u2018Good and upright is\nthe Lord; therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he\nguide in judgment; and the meek will he teach his way\u2019 (Psa 25:8,9).\n\n(2.) Or by voices you may understand, such as the lightning and thunder\nbegets in our hearts: for though man is as mute as a fish to Godward,\nbefore this thunder and lightning comes to him, yet after that he is\nfull of voices (2 Cor 4:13, 7:14). And how much more numerous are the\nvoices that in the whole church on earth are begot by these lightnings\nand thunders that proceed from the throne of grace; their faith has a\nvoice, their repentance has a voice, their subjection to God\u2019s word has\na voice in it; yea, there is a voice in their prayers, a voice in their\ncry, a voice in their tears, a voice in their groans, in their\nroarings, in their bemoaning of themselves, and in their triumphs! (1\nThess 1:2-8; Psa 5:3, 7:17, 20:2-5, 22:1, 138:5; Jer 31:18).\n\nThis then is an effect of the throne of grace; hence it is said that\nthey proceed from it, even the lightning, and the thunder, and the\nvoices; that is, effectual conversion to God. It follows then, that if\nall these are with thy soul, the operations of the throne of grace have\nbeen upon thee to bring thee to the throne of grace; first in thy\nprayers, and then in thy person. And this leads me to the next thing\npropounded to be spoken to, which is to show who are the persons\ninvited here to come to the throne of grace. \u2018Let us therefore come.\u2019\n\n[THE PERSONS INTENDED BY THIS EXHORTATION.]\n\n\nTHIRD. Now the persons here called upon to come to the throne of grace,\nare not all or every sort of men, but the men that may properly be\ncomprehended under this word Us and We; \u2018let Us therefore come boldly,\nthat We may obtain.\u2019 And they that are here put under these particular\nterms, are expressed both before and after, by those that have\nexplication in them.\n\nThey are called [in the epistle to the Hebrews], 1. Such as give the\nmost earnest heed to the word which they have heard (Heb 2:1). 2. They\nare such as see Jesus crowned with glory and honour (Heb 2:9). 3. They\nare called the children (Heb 2:14). 4. They are called the seed of\nAbraham (Heb 2:16). 5. They are called Christ\u2019s brethren (Heb 2:17).\n\nSo, chapter the third, they are called holy brethren, and said to be\npartakers of the heavenly calling, and the people of whom it is said\nthat Christ Jesus is the apostle and high priest of their profession\n(Heb 3:1-6). They are called Christ\u2019s own house, and are said to be\npartakers of Christ (Heb 3:14). They are said to be the believers,\nthose that do enter in into rest, those that have Christ for a high\npriest, and with the feeling of whose infirmities he is touched and\nsympathiseth (Heb 4:3,14,15).\n\nSo, in chapter the sixth, they are called beloved, and the heirs of\npromise; they that have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set\nbefore them; they are called those that have hope as an anchor, and\nthose for whom Christ as a forerunner hath entered and taken possession\nof heaven (Heb 6:9,17-20). So, chapter the seventh, they are said to be\nsuch as draw nigh unto God (Heb 7:19). And, chapter the eighth, they\nare said to be such with whom the new covenant is made in Christ.\nChapter the ninth, they are such for whom Christ has obtained eternal\nredemption, and such for whom he has entered the holy place (Heb\n9:12,22). Chapter the tenth, they are such as are said to be sanctified\nby the will of God, such as have boldness to enter into the holiest by\nthe blood of Jesus; such as draw near with a true heart, in full\nassurance of faith, or that have liberty to do so, having their hearts\nsprinkled from an evil conscience, and their bodies washed with pure\nwater; they were those that had suffered much for Christ in the world,\nand that became companions of them that so were used (Heb\n10:10,19,22-25). Yea, he tells them, in the eleventh chapter, that they\nand the patriarchs must be made perfect together (Heb 11:40). He also\ntells them, in the twelfth chapter, that already they are come to Mount\nZion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an\ninnumerable company of angels; to the general assembly and church of\nthe first born which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of\nall; and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the\nmediator of the New Testament, and to the blood of sprinkling, that\nspeaketh better things than that of Abel (Heb 12:22-24).\n\nThus you see what terms, characters, titles, and privileges, they are\ninvested with that are here exhorted to come to the throne of grace.\nFrom whence we may conclude that every one is not capable of coming\nthither, no not every one that is under convictions, and that hath a\nsense of the need of and a desire after the mercy of God in Christ.\n\n[The orderly coming to the throne of grace.]\n\nWherefore we will come, in the next place, to show the orderly coming\nof a soul to the throne of grace for mercy: and for this we must first\napply ourselves to the Old Testament, where we have the shadow of what\nwe now are about to enter upon the discourse of, and then we will come\nto the antitype, where yet the thing is far more explained.\n\nFirst. Then, the mercy-seat was for the church, not for the world; for\na Gentile could not go immediately from his natural state to the\nmercy-seat, by the high priest, but must first orderly join himself, or\nbe joined, to the church, which then consisted of the body of the Jews\n(Exo 12:43-49). The stranger then must first be circumcised, and\nconsequently profess faith in the Messiah to come, which was signified\nby his going from his circumcision directly to the passover, and so\norderly to other privileges, specially to this of the mercy-seat which\nthe high priest was to go but once a year into (Eze 44:6-9).\n\nSecond. The church is again set forth unto us by Aaron and his sons.\nAaron as the head, his sons as the members; but the sons of Aaron were\nnot to meddle with any of the things of the Holiest, until they had\nwashed in a laver: \u2018And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Thou shalt\nalso make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash in; and\nthou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the\naltar, and thou shalt put water therein. For Aaron and his sons shall\nwash their hands and their feet thereat. When they go into the\ntabernacle of the congregation they shall wash with water, that they\ndie not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn\nofferings made by fire unto the Lord. So they shall wash their hands\nand their feet that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever\nunto them, even to him, and to his seed throughout their generations.\u2019\nSee the margin (Exo 30:17-21, 40:30-32).[14]\n\nThird. Nay, so strict was this law, that if any of Israel, as well as\nthe stranger, were defiled by any dead thing, they were to wash before\nthey partook of the holy things, or else to abstain: but if they did\nnot, their sin should remain upon them (Lev 17:15,16). So again, \u2018the\nsoul that hath touched any such\u2019 uncleanness \u2018shall be unclean until\neven, and shall not eat of the holy things,\u2019 much less come within the\ninner veil, \u2018unless he wash his flesh with water\u2019 (Lev 22:4-6). Now, I\nwould ask, what all this should signify, if a sinner, as a sinner,\nbefore he washes, or is washed, may immediately go unto the throne of\ngrace? Yea, I ask again, why the apostle supposes washing as a\npreparation to the Hebrews entering into the holiest, if men may go\nimmediately from under convictions to a throne of grace? For thus, he\nsays, \u2018let us draw near\u2019 \u2018the holiest\u2019 (Heb 12:19), \u2018with a true heart,\nin full assurance of faith; having our hearts sprinkled from an evil\nconscience, and our bodies washed with pure water\u2019 (Heb 12:22). Let us\ndraw near; he saith not that we may have; but having FIRST been washed\nand sprinkled.\n\nThe laver then must first be washed in; and he that washed not first\nthere, has not right to come to the throne of grace; wherefore you have\nhere also a sea of glass standing before the throne of grace, to\nsignify this thing (Rev 4:6). It stands before the throne, for them to\nwash in that would indeed approach the throne of grace. For this sea of\nglass is the same that is shadowed forth by the laver made mention of\nbefore, and with the brazen sea that stood in Solomon\u2019s temple, whereat\nthey were to wash before they went into the holiest. But you may ask\nme, What the laver or molten sea should signify to us in the New\nTestament? I answer, It signifieth the word of the New Testament, which\ncontaineth the cleansing doctrine of remission of sins, by the precious\nblood of Jesus Christ (John 15:3).[15] Wherefore we are said to be\nclean through the Word, through the washing of water by the Word (Titus\n3:5). The meaning then is, A man must first come to Christ, as set\nforth in the Word, which is this sea of glass, before he can come to\nChrist in heaven, as he is the throne of grace. For the Word, I say, is\nthis sea of glass that stands before the throne, for the sinner to wash\nin first. Know therefore, whoever thou art, that art minded to be\nsaved, thou must first begin with Christ crucified, and with the\npromise of remission of sins through his blood; which crucified Christ\nthou shalt not find in heaven as such; for there he is alive; but thou\nshalt find him in the Word; for there he is to this day set forth in\nall the circumstances of his death, as crucified before our eyes (Gal\n3:1,2). There thou shalt find that he died, when he died, what death he\ndied, why he died, and the Word open to thee to come and wash in his\nblood. The word therefore of Christ\u2019s Testament is the laver for all\nNew Testament priests, and every Christian is a priest to God, to wash\nin.\n\nHere therefore thou must receive thy justification, and that before\nthou goest one step further; for if thou art not justified by his\nblood, thou wilt not be saved by his life. And the justifying efficacy\nof his blood is left behind, and is here contained in the molten sea,\nor laver, or word of grace, for thee to wash in. Indeed, there is an\ninterceding voice in his blood for us before the throne of grace, or\nmercy-seat; but that is still to bring us to wash, or for them that\nhave washed therein, as it was shed upon the cross. We have boldness\ntherefore to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, that is, by\nfaith in his blood, as shed without the gate; for as his blood was shed\nwithout the gate, so it sanctifies the believer, and makes him capable\nto approach the holy of holies. Wherefore, after he had said, \u2018That he\nmight sanctify the people with his own blood,\u2019 he \u2018suffered without the\ngate\u2019 (Heb 13:11-15). Let us by him therefore, that is, because we are\nfirst sanctified by faith in his blood, offer to God the sacrifice of\npraise continually, that is, the fruits of our lips, giving thanks in\nhis name. Wherefore the laver of regeneration, or Christ set forth by\nthe Word as crucified, is for all coming sinners to wash in unto\njustification; and the throne of grace is to be approached by saints,\nor as sinners justified by faith in a crucified Christ; and so, as\nwashed from sin in the sea of his blood, to come to the mercy-seat.\n\nAnd it is yet far more evident; for that those that approach this\nthrone of grace, they must do it through believing; for, saith the\napostle, \u2018How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed,\u2019\nof whom they have not heard, and in whom they have not believed? for to\nthat purpose runs the text (Rom 10:14). \u2018How then shall they call on\nhim in whom they have not believed,\u2019 antecedent to their calling on\nhim, \u2018and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard\u2019\nfirst? So then hearing goes before believing, and believing before\ncalling upon God, as he sits on the throne of grace. Now, believing is\nto be according to the sound of the beginning of the gospel, which\npresenteth us, not first with Christ as ascended, but as Christ dying,\nburied, and risen.[16] \u2018For I delivered unto you first of all, that\nwhich I also received; how that Christ died for our sins according to\nthe scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the\nthird day, according to the scriptures\u2019 (1 Cor 15:3,4).\n\nI conclude then, as to this, that the order of heaven is, that men wash\nin the laver of regeneration, to wit, in the blood of Christ, as held\nforth in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is the ordinance of\nGod; for there sinners, as sinners, or men as unclean, may wash, in\norder to their approach to God as he sits upon the throne of grace.\n\nAnd besides, Is it possible that a man that passeth by the doctrine of\nChrist as dead, should be admitted with acceptance to a just and holy\nGod for life; or that he that slighteth and trampleth under foot the\nblood of Christ, as shed upon the cross, should be admitted to an\ninterest in Christ, as he is the throne of grace? It cannot be. He must\nthen wash there first, or die\u2014let his profession, or pretended faith,\nor holiness, be what it will. For God sees iniquity in all men; nor can\nall the nitre or soap in the world cause that our iniquity should not\nbe marked before God (Jer 2:22). \u2018For without shedding of blood is NO\nremission\u2019 (Heb 9:22). Nothing that polluteth, that defileth, or that\nis unclean, must enter into God\u2019s sanctuary; much less into the most\nholy part thereof, but by their sacrifice, by which they are purged,\nand for the sake of the perfection thereof, they believing are\naccepted. We have \u2018therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the\nholiest by the blood of Jesus,\u2019 and no way else (Heb 10:19).\n\n[HOW WE ARE TO APPROACH THE THRONE OF GRACE.]\n\n\nFOURTH. But this will yet be further manifest by what we have yet to\nsay of the manner of our approach unto the throne of grace.\n\nFIRST, then, we must approach the throne of grace by the second veil;\nfor the throne of grace is after the second veil. So, then, though a\nman cometh into the tabernacle or temple, which was a figure of the\nchurch, yet if he entered but within the first veil, he only came where\nthere was no mercy-seat or throne of grace (Heb 9:3). And what is this\nsecond veil, in, at, or through which, as the phrase is, we must, by\nblood, enter into the holiest? why, as to the law, the second veil did\nhang up between the holy and the most holy place, and it did hide what\nwas within the holiest from the eyes or sight of those that went no\nfurther than into the first tabernacle. Now this second veil in the\ntabernacle or temple was a figure of the second veil that all those\nmust go through that will approach the throne of grace; and that veil\nis the flesh of Christ.\n\nThis is that which the holy apostle testifies in his exhortation, where\nhe saith, We have \u2018boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of\nJesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through\nthe veil, that is to say, his flesh\u2019 (Heb 10:19,20). The second veil\nthen is the flesh of Christ, the which until a man can enter or go\nthrough by his faith, it is impossible that he should come to the\nholiest where the throne of grace is, that is, to the heart and soul of\nJesus, which is the throne. The body of Christ is the tabernacle of\nGod, and so that in which God dwells; for the fulness of the Godhead\ndwells in him bodily (Col 2:9). Therefore, as also has been hinted\nbefore, Christ Jesus is the throne of grace. Now, since his flesh is\ncalled the veil, it is evident that the glory that dwells within him,\nto wit, God resting in him, cannot be understood but by them that by\nfaith can look through, or enter through, his flesh to that glory. For\nthe glory is within the veil; there is the mercy-seat, or throne of\ngrace; there sitteth God as delighted, as at rest, in and with sinners,\nthat come to him by and through that flesh, and the offering of it for\nsin without the gate. \u2018I am the way,\u2019 saith Christ; but to what? and\nhow? (John 14:6). Why, to the Father, through my flesh. \u2018And having\nmade peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all\nthings to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or\nthings in heaven. And you that were sometime alienated, and enemies in\nyour mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled [but how?] in the\nbody of his flesh, [that then must be first: to what?] to present you\nholy and unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight\u2019 (Col 1:20-22).\nThat is, when you enter into his presence, or approach by this flesh,\nthe mercy-seat, or the throne of grace.\n\nThis therefore is the manner of our coming, if we come aright to the\nthrone of grace for mercy, we must come by blood through his flesh, as\nthrough the veil; by which, until you have entered through it, the\nglory of God, and that he is resolved that grace shall reign, will be\nutterly hid from your eyes. I will not say, but by the notion of these\nthings, men may have their whirling fancies,[17] and may create to\nthemselves wild notions and flattering imaginations of Christ, the\nthrone of grace, and of glory; but the gospel knowledge of this is of\nabsolute necessity to my right coming to the throne of grace for mercy.\nI must come by his blood, through his flesh, or I cannot come at all,\nfor here is no back door. This then is the sum, Christ\u2019s body is the\ntabernacle, the holiest; \u2018thy law,\u2019 saith he, \u2018is within my heart,\u2019 or\nin the midst of my bowels (Psa 40:7,8). In this tabernacle then God\nsitteth, to wit, on the heart of Christ, for that is the throne of\ngrace. Through this tabernacle men must enter, that is, by a godly\nunderstanding of what by this tabernacle or flesh of Christ has been\ndone to reconcile us to God that dwells in him. This is the way, all\nthe way, for there is no way but this to come to the throne of grace.\nThis is the new way into the heavenly paradise, for the old way is\nhedged and ditched up by the flaming sword of cherubims (Gen 3:24). The\nNEW and LIVING way, for to go the other is present death; so then, this\n\u2018new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil,\nthat is to say, his flesh,\u2019 is the only way into the holiest, where the\nthrone of grace is (Heb 10:20).\n\nSECOND. We must approach this throne of grace, as having our hearts,\nfirst, sprinkled from an evil conscience. The priest that was the\nrepresentator of all Israel, when he went into the holiest, was not to\ngo in, but as sprinkled with blood first (Exo 29). Thus it is written\nin t he law; \u2018not without blood\u2019; and thus it is written in the gospel\n(Heb 9:7). And now since by the gospel we have all admittance to enter\nin through the veil, by faith, we must take heed that we enter not in\nwithout blood; for if the blood, virtually, be not seen upon us, we\ndie, instead of obtaining mercy, and finding the help of grace. This I\npress the oftener, because there is nothing to which we are more\nnaturally inclined, than to forget this. Who, that understands himself,\nis not sensible how apt he is to forget to act faith in the blood of\nJesus, and to get his conscience sprinkled with the virtue of that,\nthat attempteth to approach the throne of grace? Yet the scripture\ncalls upon us to take heed that we neglect not THUS to prepare\nourselves. \u2018Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of\nfaith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,\u2019 to wit,\nwith the blood of Christ, lest we die (Heb 10:22, 9:14). In the law all\nthe people were to be sprinkled with blood, and it was necessary that\nthe patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these,\nthat is, with the blood of bulls, but the heavenly things themselves\nwith better sacrifices than these, that is, with the offering of the\nbody, and shedding of the blood of Christ. By this then must thou be\npurified and sprinkled, who by Christ wouldst approach the throne of\ngrace.\n\nTHIRD. Therefore it is added, \u2018And our bodies washed with pure water.\u2019\nThis the apostle taketh also out of the law; where it was appointed, as\nwas showed before. Christ also, just before he went to the Father, gave\nhis disciples a signification of this, saying to Peter, and by him to\nall the rest, \u2018If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me\u2019 (John\n13:8). This pure water is nothing but the wholesome doctrine of the\nword mixed with Spirit, by which, as the conscience was before\nsprinkled with blood, the body and outward conversation is now\nsanctified and made clean. \u2018Now ye are clean through the word,\u2019 saith\nChrist, \u2018which I have spoken unto you\u2019 (John 15:3). Hence, washing, and\nsanctifying, and justifying, are put together, and are said to come by\nthe name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor\n6:11). Thou must then be washed with water, and sprinkled with blood,\nif thou wouldst orderly approach the throne of grace: if thou wouldst\norderly approach it with a true heart, in full assurance of faith; or\nif thou wouldst, as the text biddeth thee here, to wit, \u2018come boldly\nunto the throne of grace, to obtain mercy, and find grace to help in\ntime of need.\u2019\n\nTo tell you what it is to come boldly, is one thing; and to tell you\nhow you should come boldly, is another. Here you are bid to come\nboldly, and are also showed how that may be done. It may be done\nthrough the blood of sprinkling, and through the sanctifying operations\nof the Spirit which are here by faith to be received. And when what can\nbe said shall be said to the utmost, there is no boldness, godly\nboldness, but by blood. The more the conscience is a stranger to the\nsprinkling of blood, the further off it is of being rightly bold with\nGod, at the throne of grace; for it is the blood that makes the\natonement, and that gives boldness to the soul (Lev 17:11; Heb 10:19).\nIt is the blood, the power of it by faith upon the conscience, that\ndrives away guilt, and so fear, and consequently that begetteth\nboldness. Wherefore, he that will be bold with God at the throne of\ngrace, must first be well acquainted with the doctrine of the blood of\nChrist; namely, that it was shed, and why, and that it has made peace\nwith God, and for whom. Yea, thou must be able by faith to bring\nthyself within the number of those that are made partakers of this\nreconciliation, before thou canst come boldly to the throne of grace.\nBut,\n\n[What it is to come to the throne of grace without boldness.]\n\nFirst. There is a coming to the throne of grace before or without this\nboldness; but that is not the coming to which by these texts we are\nexhorted; yet that coming, be it never so deficient, if it is right, it\nis through some measure an inlet into the death and blood of Christ,\nand through some management, though but very little, or perhaps scarce\nat all discerned of the soul, to hope for grace from the throne; I say,\nit must arise, the encouragement must, from the cross, and from Christ\nas dying there. Christ himself went that way to God, and it is not\npossible but we must go the same way too. So, then, the encouragement,\nbe it little, be it much\u2014and it is little or much, even as the faith is\nin strength or weakness, which apprehendeth Christ\u2014it is according to\nthe proportion of faith; strong faith gives great boldness, weak faith\ndoth not so, nor can it.\n\nSecond. There is a sincere coming to the throne of grace without this\nboldness, even a coming in the uprightness of one\u2019s heart without it.\nHence a true heart and full assurance are distinguished. \u2018Let us draw\nnear with a true heart, in full assurance of faith\u2019 (Heb 10:22).\nSincerity may be attended with a great deal of weakness, even as\nboldness may be attended with pride; but be it what kind of coming to\nthe throne of grace it will, either a coming with boldness, or with\nthat doubting which is incident to saints, still the cause of that\ncoming, or ground thereof, is some knowledge of redemption by blood,\nredemption which the soul seeth it has faith in, or would see it has\nfaith in. For Christ is precious, sometimes in the sight of the worth,\nsometimes in the sight of the want, and sometimes in the sight of the\nenjoyment of him.[18]\n\nThird. There is an earnest coming to the throne of grace even with all\nthe desire of one\u2019s soul. When David had guilt and trouble, and that so\nheavy that he knew not what to do, yet he could say, \u2018Lord, all my\ndesire is before thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee\u2019 (Psa\n38:1-9). He could come earnestly to the throne of grace; he could come\nthither with all the desire of his soul: but still this must be from\nthat knowledge that he had of the way of remission of sins by the blood\nof the Son of God.\n\nFourth. There is also a constant coming to the throne of grace. \u2018Lord,\u2019\nsaid Heman, \u2018I have cried day and night before thee, let my prayer come\nbefore thee, incline thine ear unto my cry, for my soul is full of\ntroubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave\u2019 (Psa 88:1-3). Here\nyou see is constant crying before the throne of grace, crying night and\nday; and yet the man that cries seems to be in a very black cloud, and\nto find hard work to bear up in his soul; yet this he had, namely, the\nknowledge of how God was the God of salvation; yea, he called him his\nGod as such, though with pretty much difficulty of spirit, to be sure.\nWherefore it must not be concluded, that they come not at all to the\nthrone of grace, that come not with a full assurance; or that men must\nforbear to come, till they come with assurance; but this I say, they\ncome not at all aright, that take not the ground of their coming from\nthe death and blood of Christ; and that they that come to the throne of\ngrace, with but little knowledge of redemption by blood, will come with\nbut little hope of obtaining grace and mercy to help in time of need.\n\nI conclude then, that it is the privilege, the duty and glory of a man,\nto approach the throne of grace as a prince, as Job said, could he but\nfind it, he would be sure to do. \u2018O that I knew where I might find\nhim!\u2019 saith he, \u2018that I might come even to his seat: I would order my\ncause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments: I would know the\nwords which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto\nme. Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put\nstrength in me. There the righteous might dispute with him: so should I\nbe delivered for ever from my judge\u2019 (23:3-7). Indeed, God sometimes\ntries us. \u2018He holdeth back,\u2019 sometimes, \u2018the face of his throne, and\nspreadeth his cloud upon it\u2019 (Job 26:9). And this seems to be Job\u2019s\ncase here, which made him to confess he was at a loss, and to cry out,\n\u2018O that I knew where I might find him!\u2019 And this he doth for trial, and\nto prove our honesty and constancy; for the hypocrite will not pray\nalways. Will he always call upon God? No, verily; especially not when\nthou bindest them, afflictest them, and makest praying hard work to\nthem (Job 36:13).\n\nBut difficulty as to finding of God\u2019s presence, and the sweet shining\nof the face of his throne, doth not always lie in the weakness of\nfaith. Strong faith may be in this perplexity, and may be hard put to\nit to stand at times. It is said here, that God did hold back the face\nof his throne, and did spread a cloud upon it; not to weaken Job\u2019s\nfaith, but to try Job\u2019s strength, and to show to men of after ages how\nvaliant a man Job was. Faith, if it be strong, will play the man in the\ndark; will, like a mettled horse, flounce in bad way, will not be\ndiscouraged at trials, at many or strong trials: \u2018Though he slay me,\nyet will I trust in him,\u2019 is the language of that invincible grace of\nGod (Job 13:15). There is also an aptness in those that come to the\nthrone of grace, to cast all degrees of faith away, that carrieth not\nin its bowels self-evidence of its own being and nature, thinking that\nif it be faith, it must be known to the soul; yea, if it be faith, it\nwill do so and so: even so as the highest degrees of faith will do.\nWhen, alas! faith is sometimes in a calm, sometimes up, and sometimes\ndown, and sometimes at it with sin, death, and the devil, as we say,\nblood up to the ears.[19] Faith now has but little time to speak peace\nto the conscience; it is now struggling for life, it is now fighting\nwith angels, with infernals; all it can do now, is to cry, groan,\nsweat, fear, fight, and gasp for life.[20]\n\nIndeed the soul should now run to the cross, for there is the water, or\nrather the blood and water, that is provided for faith, as to the\nmaintaining of the comfort of justification; but the soul whose faith\nis thus attacked will find hard work to do this, though much of the\nwell-managing of faith, in the good fight of faith, will lie in the\nsoul\u2019s hearty and constant adhering to the death and blood of Christ;\nbut a man must do as he can. Thus now have I showed you the manner of\nright coming to the throne of grace, for mercy and grace to help in\ntime of need.\n\n[None but the godly know the throne of grace.]\n\nThe next thing that I am to handle, is, first, To show you, that it is\nthe privilege of the godly to distinguish from all thrones whatsoever\nthis throne of grace. This, as I told you, I gathered from the apostle\nin the text, for that he only maketh mention thereof, but gives no sign\nto distinguish it by; no sign, I say, though he knew that there were\nmore thrones than it. \u2018Let us come boldly,\u2019 saith he, \u2018to the throne of\ngrace,\u2019 and so leaves it, knowing full well that they had a good\nunderstanding of his meaning, being Hebrews (Heb 9:1-8). They being now\nalso enlightened from what they were taught by the placing of the ark\nof the testimony, and the mercy-seat in the most holy place; of which\nparticular the apostle did then count it, not of absolute necessity\ndistinctly to discourse. Indeed the Gentiles, as I have showed, have\nthis throne of grace described and set forth before them, by those\ntokens which I have touched upon in the sheets that go before\u2014for with\nthe book of Revelation the Gentiles are particularly concerned\u2014for that\nit was writ to churches of the Gentiles; also the great things\nprophesied of there relate unto Gentile-believers, and to the downfall\nof Antichrist, as he standeth among them.\n\nBut yet, I think that John\u2019s discourse of the things attending the\nthrone of grace were not by him so much propounded, because the\nGentiles were incapable of finding of it without such description, as\nto show the answerableness of the antitype with the type; and also to\nstrengthen their faith, and illustrate the thing; for they that know,\nmay know more, and better of what they know; yea, may be greatly\ncomforted with another\u2019s dilating on what they know. Besides, the Holy\nGhost by the word doth always give the most perfect description of\nthings; wherefore to that we should have recourse for the completing of\nour knowledge. I mean not, by what I say, in the least to intimate, as\nif this throne of grace was to be known without the text, for it is\nthat that giveth revelation of Jesus Christ: but my meaning is, that a\nsaint, as such, has such a working of things upon his heart, as makes\nhim able by the Word to find out this throne of grace, and to\ndistinguish it to himself from others. For,\n\nFirst. The saint has strong guilt of sin upon his conscience,\nespecially at first; and this makes him better judge what grace, in the\nnature of grace, is, than others can that are not sensible of what\nguilt is. What it was to be saved, was better relished by the jailor\nwhen he was afraid of and trembled at the apprehensions of the wrath of\nGod, than ever it was with him all his life before (Acts 16:29-33).\nPeter then also saw what saving was, when he began to sink into the\nsea: \u2018Lord, save me,\u2019 said he, I perish (Matt 14:30). Sin is that\nwithout a sense of which a man is not apprehensive what grace is. Sin\nand grace, favour and wrath, death and life, hell and heaven, are\nopposites, and are set off, or out, in their evil or good, shame or\nglory, one by another. What makes grace so good to us as sin in its\nguilt and filth? What makes sin so horrible and damnable a thing in our\neyes, as when we see there is nothing can save us from it but the\ninfinite grace of God? Further, there seems, if I may so term it, to be\na kind of natural instinct in the new creature to seek after the grace\nof God; for so saith the Word, \u2018They that are after the flesh, do mind\nthe things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things\nof the Spirit\u2019 (Rom 8:5). The child by nature nuzzles in its mother\u2019s\nbosom for the breast; the child by grace does by grace seek to live by\nthe grace of God. All creatures, the calf, the lamb, &c., so soon as\nthey are fallen from their mother\u2019s belly, will by nature look for, and\nturn themselves towards the teat, and the new creature doth so too (1\nPeter 2:1-3). For guilt makes it hunger and thirst, as the hunted hart\ndoes pant after the water brooks. Hunger directs to bread, thirst\ndirects to water; yea, it calls bread and water to mind. Let a man be\ndoing other business, hunger will put him in mind of his cupboard, and\nthirst of his cruse of water; yea, it will call him, make him, force\nhim, command him, to bethink what nourishing victuals is, and will also\ndrive him to search out after where he may find it, to the satisfying\nof himself. All right talk also to such an one sets the stomach and\nappetite a craving; yea, into a kind of running out of the body after\nthis bread and water, that it might be fed, nourished, and filled\ntherewith. Thus it is by nature, and thus it is by grace; thus it is\nfor the bread that perisheth, and for that which endureth to\neverlasting life. But,\n\nSecond. As nature, the new nature, teaches this by a kind of heavenly\nnatural instinct; so experience also herein helpeth the godly much. For\nthey have found all other places, the throne of grace excepted, empty,\nand places or things that hold no water. They have been at Mount Sinai\nfor help, but could find nothing there but fire and darkness, but\nthunder and lightning, but earthquake and trembling, and a voice of\nkilling words, which words they that heard them once could never endure\nto hear them again; and as for the sight of vengeance there revealed\nagainst sin, it was so terrible, that Moses, even Moses, said, \u2018I\nexceedingly fear and quake\u2019 (Heb 12:18-21; Exo 19; 2 Cor 3). They have\nsought for grace by their own performances; but alas! they have yielded\nthem nothing but wind and confusion; not a performance, not a duty, not\nan act in any part of religious worship, but they looking upon it in\nthe glass of the Lord, do find it spaked[21] and defective (Isa\n64:5-8). They have sought for grace by their resolutions, their vows,\ntheir purposes, and the like; but alas! they all do as the other,\ndiscover that they have been very imperfectly managed, and so such as\ncan by no means help them to grace. They have gone to their tears,\ntheir sorrow, and repentance, if perhaps they might have found some\nhelp there; but all has either fled away like the early dew, or if they\nhave stood, they have stunk even in the nostrils of those whose they\nwere. How much more, then, in the nostrils of a holy God!\n\nThey have gone to God, as the great Creator, and have beheld how\nwonderful his works have been; they have looked to the heavens above,\nto the earth beneath, and to all their ornaments, but neither have\nthese, nor what is of [or resulting from] them, yielded grace to those\nthat had sensible want thereof. Thus have they gone, as I said, with\nthese pitchers to their fountains, and have returned empty and ashamed;\nthey found no water, no river of water of life; they have been as the\nwoman with her bloody issue, spending and spending till they have spent\nall, and been nothing better, but rather grew worse (Mark 5). Had they\nsearched into nothing but the law, it had been sufficient to convince\nthem that there was no grace, nor throne of grace, in the world. For\nsince the law, being the most excellent of all the things of the earth,\nis found to be such as yieldeth no grace\u2014for grace and truth comes by\nJesus Christ, not by Moses (John 1:17)\u2014how can it be imagined that it\nshould be found in anything inferior? Paul, therefore, not finding it\nin the law, despairs to find it in anything else below, but presently\nbetakes himself to look for it there where he had not yet sought it\u2014for\nhe sometimes sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the\nlaw (Phil 3:6-8)\u2014he looked for it, I say, by Jesus Christ, who is the\nthrone of grace, where he found it, and rejoiced in hope of the glory\nof God (Rom 9:29-31, 5:1-3). But,\n\nThird. Saints come to know and distinguish the throne of grace from\nother thrones, by the very direction of God himself; as it is said of\nthe well that the nobles digged in the wilderness\u2014they digged it by the\ndirection of the lawgiver, so saints find out the throne of grace by\nthe direction of the grace-giver. Hence Paul prays, that the Lord would\ndirect the hearts of the people into the love of God (2 Thess 3:5).\nMan, as man, cannot aim directly at this throne; but will drop his\nprayers short, besides, or the like, if he be not helped by the Spirit\n(Rom 8:26). Hence the Son saith of himself, \u2018No man can come to me,\nexcept the Father which hath sent me draw him\u2019 (John 6:44). Which text\ndoth not only justify what is now said, but insinuates that there is an\nunwillingness in man of himself to come to this throne of grace; he\nmust be drawn thereto. He setteth us in the way of his steps, that is,\nin that way to the throne by which grace and mercy is conveyed unto us.\n\nFourth. We know the throne of grace from other thrones, by the glory\nthat it always appears in, when revealed to us of God: its glory\noutbids all; there is no such glory to be seen anywhere else, either in\nheaven or earth. But, I say, this comes by the sight that God gives,\nnot by any excellency that there is in my natural understanding as\nsuch; my understanding and apprehension, simply as natural, is blind\nand foolish. Wherefore, when I set to work in mine own spirit, and in\nthe power of mine own abilities, to reach to this throne of grace, and\nto perceive somewhat of the glory thereof, then am I dark, rude,\nfoolish, see nothing; and my heart grows fat, dull, savourless,\nlifeless, and has no warmth in the duty. But it mounts up with wings\nlike an eagle, when the throne is truly apprehended. Therefore that is\nanother thing by which the Christian knows the throne of grace from all\nothers; it meets with that good there that it can meet with nowhere\nelse. But at present let these things suffice for this.\n\n[MOTIVES FOR COMING BOLDLY TO THE THRONE OF GRACE.]\n\n\nFIFTH. I come now to the motives by which the apostle stirreth up the\nHebrews, and encourageth them to come boldly to the throne of grace.\nFIRST. The first is, because we have there such an high priest, or an\nhigh priest so and so qualified. SECOND. Because we that come thither\nfor grace are sure there to speed, or find grace and obtain it.\n\n[The first motive, because we have such an high priest there.]\n\nFIRST. For the first of these, to wit, we have an encouragement to move\nus to come with boldness to the throne of grace, because we have an\nhigh priest there; because we have such an high priest there. \u2018For we\nhave not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our\ninfirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without\nsin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.\u2019 Of this\nhigh priest I have already made mention before, to wit, so far as to\nshow you that Christ Jesus is he, as well as he is the altar, and\nsacrifice, and throne of grace, before which he also himself makes\nintercession. But forasmuch as by the apostle here, he is not only\npresented unto us as a throne of grace, but as an high priest\nministering before it, it will not be amiss if I do somewhat\nparticularly treat of his priesthood also. But the main or chief of my\ndiscourse will be to treat of his qualifications to his office, which I\nfind to be in general of two sorts. I. LEGAL. II. NATURAL.\n\n[THE LEGAL qualifications of Jesus Christ for the office of high\npriest.]\n\nI. LEGAL. When I say legal, I mean, as the apostle\u2019s expression is, not\nby \u2018the law of a carnal commandment,\u2019 but by an eternal covenant, and\n\u2018the power of an endless life\u2019 thereby; of which the priesthood of old\nwas but a type, and the law of their priesthood but a shadow (Heb 7:16,\n9:15,24). But because their law, and their entrance into their\npriesthood thereby, was, as I said, \u2018a shadow of good things to come,\u2019\ntherefore where it will help to illustrate, we will make use thereof so\nto do; and where not, there we will let it pass (Heb 10:1). The thing\nto be now spoken to is, that the consideration of Jesus Christ being an\nhigh priest before the throne of grace, is a motive and encouragement\nto us to come boldly thither for grace: \u2018Seeing then that we have a\ngreat high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of\nGod, let us hold fast our profession,\u2019 and \u2018come boldly unto the throne\nof grace\u2019 (Heb 4:14,16). Now, how he was made an high priest; for so is\nthe expression, \u2018made an high priest for ever after the order of\nMelchisedec\u2019 (Heb 6;20).\n\nFirst. He took not his honour upon himself without a lawful call\nthereto. Thus the priests under the law were put into office; and thus\nthe Son of God. No man taketh this honour to himself, but he that is\ncalled of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be\nmade a high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, today\nhave I begotten thee. Wherefore he was \u2018called of God an high priest\nafter the order of Melchisedec\u2019 (Heb 5:4-6,10). Thus far, therefore,\nthe law of his priesthood answereth to the law of the priesthood of\nold; they both were made priests by a legal call to their work or\noffice. But yet the law by which this Son was made high priest\nexcelleth, and that in these particulars\u2014\n\n1. He was made a priest after the similitude of Melchisedec, for he\ntestifieth, \u2018Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec\u2019\n(Heb 7:17). Thus they under the law were not made priests but after the\norder of Aaron, that is, by a carnal commandment, not by an everlasting\ncovenant of God.\n\n2. And, saith he, \u2018inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest,\nfor those priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath, by\nhim that said unto him, The Lord sware, and will not repent, thou art a\npriest for ever after the order of Melchisedec\u2019 (Heb 7:20,21).\n\n3. The priesthood under the law, with their law and sacrifices, were\nfading, and were not suffered to continue, by reason of the death of\nthe priest, and ineffectualness of his offering (Heb 7:23). \u2018But this\nman, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood\u2019 (v\n24). \u2018For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity, but the\nword of the oath which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is\nconsecrated for evermore\u2019 (v 28). From what hath already been said, we\ngather, (1.) What kind of person it is that is our high priest. (2.)\nThe manner of his being called to, and stated[22] in that office.\n\n(1.) What manner of person he is. He is the Son, the Son of God, Jesus\nthe Son of God. Hence the apostle saith, \u2018we have a great high priest,\u2019\nsuch an high priest \u2018that is passed into the heavens\u2019 (Heb 4:14). Such\nan high priest as is \u2018made higher than the heavens\u2019 (Heb 7:26). And why\ndoth he thus dilate upon the dignity of his person, but because thereby\nis insinuated the excellency of his sacrifice, and the prevalency of\nhis intercession, by that, to God for us. Therefore he saith again,\n\u2018Every\u2019 Aaronical \u2018priest standeth daily ministering and offering\noftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but\nthis man,\u2019 this great man, this Jesus, this Son of God, \u2018after he had\noffered one,\u2019 one only, one once, but one (Heb 9:25,26), \u2018sacrifice for\nsins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth\nexpecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering\nhe hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified\u2019 (Heb 10:11-14).\nThus, I say, the apostle toucheth upon the greatness of his person,\nthereby to set forth the excellency of his sacrifice, and prevalency of\nhis intercession. \u2018Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly\ncalling, consider the Apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ\nJesus\u2019 (Heb 3:1). Or, as he saith again, making mention of Melchisedec,\n\u2018consider how great this man was\u2019 (Heb 7:4), we have such a high\npriest, so great a high priest; one that is entered into the heavens:\nJesus the Son of God.\n\n(2.) The manner also of his being called to and stated in his office,\nis not to be overlooked. He is made a priest after the power of an\nendless life, or is to be such an one as long as he lives, and as long\nas we have need of his mediation. Now Christ being raised from the\ndead, dies no more; death hath no more dominion over him. He is himself\nthe Prince of life. Wherefore it follows, \u2018he hath an unchangeable\npriesthood.\u2019 And what then? Why, then \u2018he is able also to save them to\nthe uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make\nintercession for them\u2019 (Heb 7:24,25). But again, he is made a priest\nwith an oath, \u2018the Lord sware, and will not repent, thou art a priest\nfor ever.\u2019 Hence I gather, (a) That before God there is no high priest\nbut Jesus, nor ever shall be. (b) That God is to the full pleased with\nhis high priesthood; and so with all those for whom he maketh\nintercession. For this priest, though he is not accepted for the sake\nof another, yet he is upon the account of another. \u2018For every high\npriest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to\nGod,\u2019 to make reconciliation for the sins of the people (Heb 5:1,2).\nAnd again, he is entered \u2018into heaven itself, now to appear in the\npresence of God for us\u2019 (Heb 9:24). God therefore, in that he hath made\nhim a priest with an oath, and also determined that he will never\nrepent of his so doing, declareth that he is, and for ever will be,\nsatisfied with his offering. And this is a great encouragement to those\nthat come to God by him; they have by this oath a firm ground to go\nupon, and the oath is, \u2018Thou art a priest for ever,\u2019 shalt be accepted\nfor ever for every one for whom thou makest intercession; nor will I\never reject any body that comes to me by thee; therefore here is ground\nfor faith, for hope and rejoicing; for this consideration a man has\nground to come boldly to the throne of grace.\n\nSecond. But again, as Christ is made a priest by call and with an oath,\nand so, so far legally; so he, being thus called, has other preparatory\nlegal qualifications. The High Priest under the law was not by law to\ncome into the holiest, but in those robes that were ordained for him to\nminister in before God; which robes were not to be made according to\nthe fancy of the people, but according to the commandment of Moses (Exo\n28). Christ our high priest in heaven has also his holy garment, with\nwhich he covereth the nakedness of them that are his, which robe was\nnot made of corruptible things, as silver and gold, &c., but by a\npatient continuance in a holy life, according to the law of Moses, both\nmoral and ceremonial. Not that either of these were that eternal\ntestament by which he was made a priest; but the moral law was to be\nsatisfied, and the types of the ceremonial law to be as to this\neminently fulfilled; and he was bound by that eternal covenant by which\nhe is made a mediator to do so. Wherefore, before he could enter the\nholiest of all, he must have these holy garments made; neither did he\ntrust others, as in the case of Aaron, to make these garments for him,\nbut he wrought them all himself, according to all that Moses commanded.\n\nThis garment Christ was a great while a-making. What time, you may ask,\nwas required? And I answer, All the days of his life; for all things\nthat were written concerning him, as to this, were not completed till\nthe day that he hanged upon the cross. For then it was that he said,\n\u2018It is finished; and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost\u2019 (John\n19:28-30). This robe is for glory and for beauty. This is it that afore\nI said was of the colour of the rainbow, and that compasseth even round\nabout this throne of grace, unto which we are bid to come. This is that\ngarment that reaches down to his feet, and that is girt to him with a\ngolden girdle (Rev 1:13). This is that garment that covereth all his\nbody mystical, and that hideth the blemishes of such members from the\neye of God, and of the law. And it is made up of his obedience to the\nlaw, by his complete perfect obedience thereto (Rom 5:19). This Christ\nwears always, he never puts it off, as the [former] high priests put\noff theirs by a ceremonial command. He ever lives to make intercession;\nconsequently he ever wears this priestly robe. He might not go into the\nholy place without it, upon danger of death, or at least of being sent\nback again; but he died not, but lives ever; is not sent back, but is\nset down at God\u2019s right hand; and there shall sit till his foes are\nmade his footstool (John 16:10).\n\nThis is that for the sake of which all are made welcome, and embraced\nand kissed, forgiven and saved, that come unto God by him. This is that\nrighteousness, that mantle spotless, that Paul so much desired to be\nfound wrapt in; for he knew that being found in that he must be\npresented thereby to God a glorious man, not having spot, or wrinkle,\nor any such thing. This therefore is another of the Lord Jesus\u2019 legal\nqualifications, as preparatory to the executing of his high priest\u2019s\noffice in heaven. But of this something has been spoken before; and\ntherefore I shall not enlarge upon it here.\n\nThird. When the high priest under the law was thus accomplished by a\nlegal call, and a garment suitable to his office, then again there was\nanother thing that must be done, in order to his regular execution of\nhis office; and that was, he must be consecrated, and solemnly ushered\nthereunto by certain offerings, first presented to God for himself.\nThis you have mention made of in the Levitical law; you have there\nfirst commanded, that, in order to the high priest\u2019s approaching the\nholiest for the people, there must first be an offering of consecration\nfor himself, and this is to succeed his call, and the finishing of his\nholy garments (Exo 29:5-7,19-22). For this ceremony was not to be\nobserved until his garments were made and put upon him; also the blood\nof the ram of consecration was to be sprinkled upon him, his garments,\n&c., that he might be hallowed, and rightly set apart for the high\npriest\u2019s office (Lev 8). The Holy Ghost, I think, thus signifying that\nJesus the Son of God, our great high priest, was not only to sanctify\nthe people with his blood; but first, by blood must to that work be\nsanctified himself; \u2018For their sakes,\u2019 saith he, \u2018I sanctify myself,\nthat they also might be sanctified through the truth\u2019 (John 17:19).\n\nBut it may be asked, When was this done to Christ, or what sacrifice of\nconsecration had he precedent to the offering up of himself for our\nsins? I answer, It was done in the garden when he was washed in his own\nblood, when his sweat was in great drops of blood, falling down to the\nground. For there it was he was sprinkled with his blood, not only the\ntip of his ear, his thumb, and toe, but there he was washed all over;\nthere therefore was his most solemn consecration to his office; at\nleast, so I think. And this, as Aaron\u2019s was, was done by Moses; it was\nMoses that sprinkled Aaron\u2019s garments. It was by virtue of an agony\nalso that his bloody sweat was produced; and what was the cause of that\nagony, but the apprehension of the justice and curse of Moses\u2019 law,\nwhich now he was to undergo for the sins of the people.\n\nWith this sacrifice he then subjoined another, which was also\npreparatory to the great acts of his high priest\u2019s office, which he was\nafterwards to perform for us. And that was his drink-offering, his\ntears, which were offered to God with strong cries (Exo 29:40; Num\n28:7). For this was the place and time that in a special manner he\ncaused his strong wine to be poured out, and that he drank his tears as\nwater. This is called his offering, his offering for his own acceptance\nwith God. After \u2018he had offered up prayers and supplications, with\nstrong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him,\u2019 he \u2018was\nheard\u2019 for his piety, for his acceptance as to this office, for he\nmerited his office as well as his people (Heb 5:7). Wherefore it\nfollows, \u2018and being made perfect,\u2019 that is, by a complete performance\nof all that was necessary for the orderly attaining of his office as\nhigh priest, \u2018he became the author of eternal salvation, unto all them\nthat obey him\u2019 (Heb 5:9).\n\nFor your better understanding of me as to this, mind that I speak of a\ntwofold perfection in Christ; one as to his person, the other as to his\nperformances. In the perfection of his person, two things are to be\nconsidered; first, the perfection of his humanity, as to the nature of\nit; it was at first appearing, wholly without pollution of sin, and so\ncompletely perfect; but yet this humanity was to have joined to this\nanother perfection; and that was a perfection of stature and age. Hence\nit is said that as to his humanity he increased, that is, grew more\nperfect. For this his increasing was, in order to a perfection, not of\nnature, simply as nature, but of stature. \u2018Jesus increased in wisdom\nand stature\u2019 (Luke 2:52). The paschal lamb was a lamb the first day it\nwas yeaned; but it was not to be sacrificed until it attained such a\nperfection of age as by the law of God was appointed to it (Exo\n12:5,6). It was necessary, therefore, that Christ as to his person\nshould be perfect in both these senses. And indeed \u2018in due time Christ\ndied for the ungodly\u2019 (Rom 5:6).\n\nAgain, as there was a perfection of person, or of nature and personage\nin Christ, so there was to be a perfection of performances in him also.\nHence it is said, that Jesus increased in favour with God (Luke 2:52);\nthat is, by perfecting of his obedience to him for us. Now, his\nperformances were such as had a respect to his bringing in of\nrighteousness for us in the general; or such as respected preparations\nfor his sacrifice as a high priest. But let them be applied to both, or\nto this or that in particular; it cannot be, that while the most part\nof his performances were wanting, he should be as perfect as when he\nsaid, \u2018The things concerning me have an end\u2019 (Luke 22:37).\n\nNot but that every act of his obedience was perfect, and carried in it\na length and breadth proportionable to that law by which it was\ndemanded. Nor was there at any time in his obedience that which made to\ninterfere one commandment with another. He did all things well, and so\nstood in the favour of God. But yet one act was not actually all,\nthough virtually any one of his actions might carry in it a merit\nsufficient to satisfy and quiet the law. Hence, as I said, it is told\nus, not only that he is the Son of God\u2019s love, but that he increased in\nfavour with God; that is, by a going on in doing, by a continuing to do\nthat always that pleased the God of heaven.\n\nA man that pays money at the day appointed, beginning first at one\nshilling, or one pound, and so ceaseth not until he hath in current\ncoin told over the whole sum to the creditor, does well at the\nbeginning; but the first shilling, or first pound, not being the full\ndebt, cannot be counted or reckoned the whole, but a part; yet is it\nnot an imperfect part, nor doth the creditor find fault at all, because\nthere is but so much now told; but concludes that all is at hand, and\naccepteth of this first, as a first-fruits: so Christ, when he came\ninto the world, began to pay, and so continued to do, even until he had\npaid the whole debt, and so increased in favour with God. There was\nthen a gradual performance of duties, as to the number of them, by our\nLord when he was in the world, and consequently a time wherein it might\nbe said that Christ had not, as to act, done all, as was appointed him\nto do, to do as preparatory to that great thing which he was to do for\nus. Wherefore, in conclusion, he is said to be made perfect, \u2018and being\nmade perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to all them\nthat obey him\u2019 (Heb 5:9).\n\nIt will be objected, then, that at some time it might be said of Christ\nthat he was imperfect in his obedience. Answ. There was a time wherein\nit might have been said, Christ had not done all that he was to do for\nus on earth. But it doth not follow thereupon, that he therefore was\nimperfect in his obedience; for that all his acts of obedience were\ndone in their proper time, and when they should, according to the will\nof God. The timing of performances adds or diminishes as to the\nperfection of obedience, or the imperfection of it. Had these Jews\nkilled the passover three days sooner than the time appointed, they had\ntransgressed (Exo 12:6). Had the Jews done that on the fourth day to\nJericho, which was to have been done on the seventh day, they had\nsinned (Josh 6:10-16). Duty is beautiful in its time, and the Son of\nGod observed the time. \u2018I must,\u2019 saith he, \u2018work the works of him that\nsent me, while it is day,\u2019 that is, in their seasons. You must keep in\nmind that we speak all this while of that part of Christ\u2019s perfection,\nas to duties, which stood in the number of performances, and not in the\nnature or quality of acts. And I say, as to the thing in hand, Christ\nhad duty to do, with respect to his office as high priest for us, which\nimmediately concerned himself; such duties as gave him a legal\nadmittance unto the execution thereof; such duties, the which, had they\nnot orderly been done, the want of them would have made him an undue\napproacher of the presence of God, as to that. Wherefore, as I said\nafore, by what he did thereabout, he consecrated, or sanctified himself\nfor that work, according to God, and was accepted for his piety, or in\nthat he feared and did orderly do what he should do.\n\nFourth. The next thing preparatory to the execution of this office of\nhigh priest was the sacrifice itself. The sacrifice, you know, must, as\nto the being of it, needs precede the offering of it; it must be before\nit can be offered. Nor could Christ have been an high priest, had he\nnot had a sacrifice to offer. \u2018For every high priest is ordained to\noffer gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is of necessity that this man\nhave somewhat also to offer\u2019 (Heb 8:3). And I bring in the sacrifice as\nthe last thing preparatory, not that it was last, as to being, for it\nwas before he could be capable of doing any of the afore-named duties,\nbeing his body, in and by which he did them, but it was the last as to\nfitness; it was not to be a sacrifice before the time, the time\nappointed of the Father; for since he had prepared it to that end, it\nwas fit as to the time of its being offered, that that should be when\nGod thought best also (Heb 10:5).\n\nBehold then, here is the high priest with his sacrifice; and behold\nagain, how he comes to offer it. He comes to offer his burnt-offering\nat the call of God; he comes to do it in his priestly garments,\nconsecrated and sanctified in his own blood; he comes with blood and\ntears, or by water and blood, and offereth his sacrifice, himself a\nsacrifice unto God for the sin of the world; and that too at a time\nwhen God began to be weary of the service and sacrifices of all the\nworld. \u2018Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice\nand offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me,\u2019 thou\nhast fitted me; \u2018in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast\nhad no pleasure; then said I, Lo I come, in the volume of the book it\nis written of me, to do thy will, O God\u2019 (Heb 10:5-7).\n\n[Christ the sacrifice as well as the high priest, and how he offered\nit.]\n\nThus you see our high priest proceeded to the execution of his priestly\noffice; and now we are come to his sacrifice, we will consider a little\nof the parts thereof, and how he offered, and pleads the same. The\nburnt-offering for sin had two parts, the flesh and the fat, which fat\nis called the fat of the inwards, of the kidneys, and the like (Lev\n3:12-16). Answerable to this, the sacrifice of Christ had two parts,\nthe body and the soul. The body is the flesh, and his soul the fat;\nthat inward part that must not by any means be kept from the fire (Isa\n53:10). For without the burning of the fat, the burnt-offering and\nsin-offering, both which was a figure of the sacrifice of our high\npriest, was counted imperfect, and so not acceptable.\n\nAnd it is observable, that in these kind of offerings, when they were\nto be burned, the fat and the head must be laid and be burned together;\nand the priest \u2018shall cut it into his pieces with his head and his fat;\nand the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire\nwhich is upon the altar\u2019 (Lev 1:12). To signify, methinks, the feeling\nsense that this sacrifice of his body and soul should have of the curse\nof God due to sin, all the while that it suffered for sin. And\ntherefore it is from this that this sacrifice has the name of\nburnt-offering, it is the burnt-offering for the burning, because of\nthe burning upon the altar all night, until the morning; and the fire\nof the altar shall be burning in it.\n\nThe fat made the flame to increase and to ascend; wherefore God speaks\naffectionately of the fat, saying, The fat of mine offerings. And\nagain, \u2018He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied\u2019\n(Isa 53:10-12). The soul-groans, the soul-cries, the soul-conflicts\nthat the Son of God had, together with his soul-submission to his\nFather\u2019s will, when he was made a sacrifice for sin, did doubtless\nflame bright, ascend high, and cast out a sweet savour unto the\nnostrils of God, whose justice was now appeasing for the sin of men.\n\nHis flesh also was part of this sacrifice, and was made to feel that\njudgment of God for sin that it was capable of. And it was capable of\nfeeling much, so long as natural life, and so, bodily sense, remained.\nIt also began to feel with the soul, by reason of the union that was\nbetwixt them both; the soul felt, and the body bled; the soul was in an\nagony, and the body sweat blood; the soul wrestled with the judgment\nand curse of the law, and the body, to show its sense and sympathy,\nsent out dolorous cries, and poured out rivers of tears before God. We\nwill not here at large speak of the lashes, of the crown of thorns, of\nhow his face was bluft[23] with blows and blood; also how he was\nwounded, pierced, and what pains he felt while life lasted, as he\nsuffered for our sins; though these things are also prefigured in the\nold law, by the nipping or wringing of the head, the cutting of the\nsacrifice in pieces, and burning it in the fire (Lev 1). Now, you must\nknow, that as the high priest was to offer his sacrifice, so he was to\nbring the blood thereof to the mercy-seat or throne of grace, where now\nour Jesus is; he was to offer it at the door of the tabernacle, and to\ncarry the blood within the veil; of both which a little.\n\n[Christ a willing and an effectual sacrifice.]\n\n1. He was to offer it, and how? Not grudgingly, nor as by compulsion,\nbut of a voluntary will and cheerful mind: \u2018If his offering be a\nburnt-sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he\nshall offer it of his own voluntary will\u2019 (Lev 1:3). Thus did Christ\nwhen he offered up himself, as is manifest by that which follows. (1.)\nHe offered a male, \u2018himself,\u2019 without blemish (Heb 7:27). (2.) He gave\nhimself a ransom; he \u2018gave his life a ransom\u2019 (Matt 20;28). (3.) He\nlaid down his life of himself (John 10:18; Luke 12:5). (4.) He longed\nfor the day of his death, that he might die to redeem his people. (5.)\nNor was he ever so joyful in all his life, that we read of, as when his\nsufferings grew near; then he takes the sacrament of his body and blood\ninto his own hands, and with thanksgiving bestows it among his\ndisciples; then he sings an hymn, then he rejoices, then he comes with\na \u2018Lo, I come.\u2019 O the heart, the great heart, that Jesus Christ had for\nus to do us good! He did it with all the desire of his soul.\n\n2. He did it, not only voluntarily, and of a free will, but of love and\naffection to the life of his enemies. Had he done thus for the life of\nhis friends, it had been much; but since he did it out of love to the\nlife of his enemies, that is much more. \u2018Scarcely for a righteous man\nwill one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to\ndie; but God commended his love toward us, in that while we were yet\nsinners, Christ died for us\u2019 (Rom 5:7,8).\n\n3. He did it without relinquishment of mind, when he was in: no\ndiscouragement disheartened him; cry and bleed he did, yea, roar by\nreason of the troubles of his soul, but his mind was fixed; his Father\nsware and did not repent, that he should be his priest; and he vowed,\nand said he would not repent that he had threatened to be the plague\nand death of death (Hosea 13:13,14).\n\n4. He did it effectually and to purpose: he hath stopped the mouth of\nthe law with blood; he hath so pacified justice, that it now can\nforgive; he hath carried sin away from before the face of God, and set\nus quit in his sight; he hath destroyed the devil, abolished death, and\nbrought life and immortality to light through the gospel; he hath\nwrought such a change in the world by what he has done for them that\nbelieve, that all things work together for their good, from\nthenceforward and for ever.\n\n[Christ the altar.]\n\nI should now come to the second part of the office of this high-priest,\nand speak to that; as also to those things that were preparatory unto\nhis executing it; but first, I think convenient a little to treat of\nthe altar also upon which this sacrifice was offered to God.\n\nSome, I conceive, have thought the altar to be the cross on which the\nbody of Christ was crucified, when he gave himself an offering for sin;\nbut they are greatly deceived, for he also himself was the altar\nthrough which he offered himself; and this is one of the treasures of\nwisdom which are hid in him, and of which the world and Antichrist are\nutterly ignorant. I touched this in one hint before, but now a little\nmore express. The altar is always greater than the gift; and since the\ngift was the body and soul of Christ\u2014for so saith the text, \u2018He gave\nhimself for our sins\u2019\u2014the altar must be something else than a sorry bit\nof wood, or than a cursed tree. Wherefore I will say to such, as one\nwiser than Solomon said to the Jews, when they superstitiated the gift,\nin counting it more honourable than the altar, \u2018Ye fools, and blind,\nfor whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the\ngift?\u2019 (Matt 23:18,19).\n\nIf the altar be greater than the gift, and yet the gift so great a\nthing as the very humanity of Christ, can it\u2014I will now direct my\nspeech to the greatest fool\u2014can that greater thing be the cross? Is,\nwas the cross, the wooden cross, the cursed tree, that some worship,\ngreater than the gift, to wit, than the sacrifice which Christ offered,\nwhen he gave himself for our sins! O idolatry, O blasphemy![24]\n\nQuest. But what then was the altar? Answ. The divine nature of Christ,\nthat Eternal Spirit, by and in the assistance of which he \u2018offered\nhimself without spot to God\u2019; he, through the Eternal Spirit \u2018offered\nhimself\u2019 (Heb 9:14).\n\n1. And it must be THAT, because, as was said, the altar is greater than\nthe gift; but there is nothing but Christ\u2019s divine nature greater than\nhis human; to be sure, a sorry bit of wood, a tree, the stock of a\ntree, is not.\n\n2. It must be this, because the text says plainly \u2018the altar sanctifies\nthe gift,\u2019 that is, puts worth and virtue into it; but was it the tree,\nor the Godhead of Christ, that put virtue and efficacy into this\nsacrifice that he offered to God for us? If thou canst but tell thy\nfingers, judge.\n\n3. The altar was it of old that was to bear up the sacrifice until it\nwas consumed; and with reference to the sacrifice under consideration,\nthe tree could not bear up that; for our sacrifice being a man,\nconsisting of soul and body, that which could bear him up in his\nsuffering condition, must be that that could apply itself to his\nreasonable and sensible part for relief and succour, and that was of\npower to keep him even in his spirit, and in a complete submissiveness\nto God, in the present condition in which he was; and could the tree do\nthis, think you? Had the tree that command and government of the soul\nand sense of Christ, of the reason and feeling of the Lord Jesus, as to\nkeep him in this bitter suffering, in that evenness and spotlessness in\nhis torment, as to cause that he should come off this great work,\nwithout the least smell or tang[25] of imperfection? No, no; it was\nthrough the Eternal Spirit that he \u2018offered himself without spot to\nGod.\u2019\n\nQuest. Wherefore then served the cross? Answ. I ask, and wherefore then\nserved the wood by which the sacrifices were burned? The sacrifices\nwere burned with wood upon the altar; the wood then was not that altar,\nthe wood was that instrument by which the sacrifice was consumed, and\nthe cross that by which Christ suffered his torment and affliction. The\naltar then was it that did bear both the wood and sacrifice, that did\nuphold the wood to burn, and the sacrifice to abide the burning. And\nwith reference to the matter in hand, the tree on which Christ was\nhanged, and the sacrifice of his body, were both upheld by his divine\npower; yet the tree was no more a sacrifice, nor an altar, than was the\nwood upon the altar; nor was the wood, but the fire, holy, by which the\nsacrifice was consumed. Let the tree then be the tree, the sacrifice\nthe sacrifice, and the altar the altar; and let men have a care how, in\ntheir worship, they make altars upon which, as they pretend, they offer\nthe body of Christ; and let them leave off foolishly to dote upon wood,\nand the works of their hands: the altar is greater than the gift or\nsacrifice that was, or is, upon it.\n\n[How Christ executes the office of high-priest.]\n\nWe come now to the second part of the office of this high-priest and to\nshow how he performeth that. In order to which, I must, as I did with\nreference to the first, show you what things, as preparatory, were to\nprecede the execution of it. We have here, as you see, \u2018our passover\nsacrificed for us,\u2019 for our encouragement to come to the throne of\ngrace; and now let us look to it, as it is presented in the holiest of\nall, and to the order of its being so presented.\n\n1. First, then, before there was anything further done, I mean by this\nhigh-priest, as to a further application of his offering, the judgment\nof God was waited for by him, with respect to his estimation of what\nwas already done, to wit, how that was resented[26] by him; the which\nhe declared to the full by raising him from the dead. For in that he\nwas raised from the dead, when yet he died for our sins, it is evident\nthat his offering was accepted, or esteemed of value sufficient to\neffect that for the which it was made a sacrifice, which was for our\nsins; this, therefore, was in order to his being admitted into heaven.\nGod, by raising him from the dead, justified his death, and counted it\nsufficient for the saving of the world. And this Christ knew would be\nthe effect of his death, long before he gave himself a ransom; where he\nsaith, \u2018This also shall please the Lord better than an ox, or bullock\nthat hath horns and hoofs\u2019 (Psa 69:31). And again, \u2018For the Lord God\nwill help me, therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set\nmy face like a flint, and I know I shall not be ashamed. He is near\nthat justifieth me; who will contend with me? Let us stand together;\nwho is mine adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God\nwill help me; who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they all shall wax\nold as a garment, the moth shall eat them up\u2019 (Isa 50:7-9). All this is\nthe work of the Lord God, his Father, and he had faith therein, as I\nsaid before. And since it was God who was to be appeased, it was\nrequisite that he should be heard in the matter, to wit, whether he was\npacified or no: the which he has declared, I say, in raising him up\nfrom the dead. And this the apostles, both Paul and Peter, insinuate,\nwhen they ascribe his resurrection to the power of another, rather than\nto his raising of himself, saying, \u2018this Jesus hath God raised up\u2019\n(Acts 2:32). \u2018God hath raised\u2019 him up \u2018from the dead\u2019 (3:15), \u2018whom God\nraised from the dead,\u2019 and the like (4:10, 5:30, 8:56, 13:30). I say,\ntherefore, that God, by raising up Christ from the dead, hath said,\nthat thus far his offering pleased him, and that he was content.\n\n2. But lest the world, being besotted by sin, should not rightly\ninterpret actions, therefore God added to his raising him up from the\ndead, a solemn exposing of him to view, not to all men, but to such as\nwere faithful, and that might be trusted with the communicating of it\nto others: \u2018Him,\u2019 saith Peter, \u2018God raised\u2019 from the dead, \u2018and showed\nhim openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before of\nGod, even to us who did eat and drink with him, after he rose from the\ndead\u2019 (Acts 10:40,41). And this was requisite, not for that it added\nanything to the value and worth of his sacrifice, but for the help of\nthe faith of them that were to have eternal salvation by him. And it is\nfor this cause that Paul so enlargeth upon this very thing, to wit,\nthat there were them that could testify that God had raised him up from\nthe dead, namely, that men might see that God was well pleased, and\nthat they had encouragement to come boldly by him to the throne of\ngrace for mercy (1 Cor 15:1-8). And this exposing of him to view, was\nnot for the length of a surprising or dazzling moment, but days and\nnights, to the number of no less than forty; and that to the self-same\npersons, to wit, \u2018the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also,\u2019 says\nthe text, \u2018he showed himself alive after his passion, by many\ninfallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the\nthings pertaining to the kingdom of God\u2019 (Acts 1:2,3). Thus God\ntherefore being willing more abundantly to show him unto the world,\nordered this great season betwixt his resurrection and ascension, that\nthe world might see that they had ground to believe an atonement was\nmade for sin.\n\n3. But again, a third thing that was to precede the execution of the\nsecond part of this his priestly office was, the manner and order of\nhis going into the holiest; I say, the manner and order of his going.\nHe was to go thither in that robe of which mention was made before, to\nwit, in the virtue of his obedience, for it was that which was to make\nhis way for him as now sprinkled with his blood. He was to go thither\nwith a noise which the Holy Ghost calls a shout, saying, \u2018God is gone\nup with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet\u2019 (Psa 47:5). This\nwas prefigured by the bells, as I said, which did hang on the border of\nAaron\u2019s garments. This shout seems to signify the voice of men and\nangels; and this trumpet the voice and joy of God; for so it says, he\nshall descend: \u2018For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a\nshout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God\u2019 (1\nThess 4:16). Even as he ascended and went up; for Aaron\u2019s bells were to\nbe heard when he went into, and when he came out of, the holy place\n(Exo 28:33-35). But what men were to ascend with him, but, as was said\nafore, the men that \u2018came out of the graves after his resurrection?\u2019\n(Matt 27:53). And what angels but those that ministered to him here in\nthe day of his humiliation? As for the evil ones, he then rode in\ntriumph over their heads, and crushed them as captives with his chariot\nwheels. He is ascended on high, he has \u2018led captivity captive, he has\nreceived gifts for men\u2019 (Eph 4:8).\n\nThus then he ascended unto, into the holy paradise, where he was waited\nfor of a multitude of the heavenly host, and of thousands of millions\nof the spirits of just men made perfect. So approaching the highest\nheavens, the place of the special presence of God, he was bid sit down\nat his right hand, in token that, for his sufferings\u2019 sake, God had\nmade him the highest of every creature, and given him a name above\nevery name, and commanded that at the name of Jesus now all things in\nheaven should bow, and promised, that at the day of judgment, all on\nearth, and under it, should bow too, to the glory of God the Father\n(Phil 2:6-11). Thus he presented himself on our behalf unto God, a\nsacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour, in which God resteth for ever,\nfor that the blood of this sacrifice has always with him a pleasing and\nprevailing voice. It cannot be denied, it cannot be outweighed by the\nheaviness, circumstances, or aggravations of any sin whatsoever, of\nthem that come unto God by him. He is always, as I said before, in the\nmidst of the throne, and before the throne, \u2018a Lamb as it had been\nslain,\u2019 now appearing in the presence of God for us. Of the manner of\nhis intercession, whether it was vocal or virtual, whether by voice of\nmouth, or merit of deed, or both, I will not determine; we know but\nlittle while here, how things are done in heaven, and we may soon be\ntoo carnal, or fantastical in our apprehensions. Intercession he makes,\nthat is, he manages the efficacy and worth of his suffering with God\nfor us, and is always prevalent in his thus managing of his merits on\nour behalf. And as to the manner, though it be in itself infinitely\nbeyond what we can conceive while here, yet God hath stooped to our\nweakness, and so expressed himself in this matter, that we might\nsomewhat, though but childishly, apprehend him (1 Cor 13:11,12). And we\ndo not amiss if we conceive as the Word of God hath revealed; for the\nscriptures are the green poplar, hazel, and the chestnut rods that lie\nin the gutters where we should come to drink; all the difficulty is, in\nseeing the white strakes, the very mind of God there, that we may\nconceive by it.\n\nBut the text says he prayeth in heaven, he makes intercession there.\nAgain, it saith his blood speaks, and, consequently, why may not his\ngroans, his tears, his sighs, and strong cries, which he uttered here\nin the days of flesh? I believe they do, and have a strong voice with\nGod for the salvation of his people. He may then intercede both vocally\nand virtually; virtually to be sure he does, and we are allowed so to\napprehend, because the text suggesteth such a manner of intercession to\nus; and because our weakness will not admit us to understand fully the\nthing as it is, our belief that he maketh intercession for us has also\nthe advantage of being purged from its faultiness by his intercession,\nand we shall be saved thereby, because we have relied upon his blood\nshed, and the prevalency of the worthiness of it with God for us;\nthough as to this circumstance, the manner of his interceding, we\nshould be something at a loss.\n\nThe Word says that we have yet but the image of heavenly things, or of\nthings in the heavens. I do not at all doubt but that many of those\nthat were saved before Christ came in the flesh, though they were, as\nto the main, right, and relied upon him to the saving of their souls,\nyet came far short of the knowledge of many of the circumstances of his\nsuffering for them (Heb 10:1). Did they all know that he was to be\nbetrayed of Judas? that he was to be scourged of the soldiers? that he\nwas to be crowned with thorns? that he was to be crucified between two\nthieves, and to be pierced till blood and water came out of his side?\nor that he was to be buried in Joseph\u2019s sepulchre? I say, did all that\nwere saved by faith that he was to come and die for them, understand\nthese, with many more circumstances that were attendants of him to\ndeath? It would be rude to think so; because for it we have neither\nscripture nor reason. Even so, we now that believe that \u2018he ever liveth\nto make intercession for us,\u2019 are also very short of understanding of\nthe manner or mode of his so interceding. Yet we believe that he died,\nand that his merits have a voice with God for us; yea, that he manages\nhis own merits before God in way of intercession for us, far beyond\nwhat we, while here, are able to conceive.\n\nThe scripture saith that \u2018all the fulness of the Godhead\u2019 dwells in him\n\u2018bodily\u2019 (Col 2:9). It also saith that he is the throne of God, and yet\nagain, that he sits \u2018on the right hand of the throne\u2019 (Isa 22:23; Heb\n12:2). These things are so far from being comprehended by the weakest,\nthat they strain the wits and parts of the strongest, yet there is a\nheavenly truth in all. Heavenly things are not easily believed, no not\nof believers themselves, while here on earth, and when they are, they\nare so but weakly and infirmly.[27] I believe that the very appearing\nof Christ before God is an intercession as a priest, as well as a plea\nof an advocate; and I believe again, that his very life there is an\nintercession there, a continual intercession (Heb 9:24; Rom 5:10).\n\nBut there is yet something further to be said: Christ, the humanity of\nChrist, if in it dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, how then\nappears he before him to make intercession? or if Christ is the throne\nof grace and mercy-seat, how doth he appear before God as sitting\nthere, to sprinkle that now with his blood? Again, if Christ be the\naltar of incense, how stands he as a priest by that altar to offer the\nprayers of all the saints thereon, before the throne?\n\n[How these mysteries are to be learned.]\n\nThat all this is written is true; and that it is all truth, is as true:\nbut that it is all understood by every one that is saved I do not\nbelieve is true. I mean, so understood as that they could all reconcile\nthe seeming contradictions that are in these texts. There are therefore\nthree lessons that God has set us as to the perfecting of our\nunderstanding in the mysteries of God. 1. Letters. 2. Words. 3.\nMeanings.\n\n1. Letters. I call the ceremonial law so; for there all is set forth\ndistinctly, everything by itself; as letters are to children: there you\nhave a priest, a sacrifice, an altar, a holy place a mercy-seat: and\nall distinct.\n\n2. Words. Now in the gospel these letters are put all in a word, and\nChrist is that word, that word of God\u2019s mind; and therefore the gospel\nmakes Christ that priest, Christ that sacrifice, Christ that altar,\nChrist that holy place, Christ that throne of grace, and all; for\nChrist is all: all these meet in him as several letters meet in one\nword.\n\n3. Meanings. Next to the word you have the meaning, and the meaning is\nmore difficult to be learned than either the letters or the word; and\ntherefore the perfect understanding of that is reserved till we arrive\nto a higher form, till we arrive to a perfect man; \u2018But when that which\nis perfect is come, then that\u2019 knowledge \u2018which is in part, shall be\ndone away\u2019 (1 Cor 13:10). Meantime our business is to learn to bring\nthe letters into a word, to bring the ceremonies to Christ, and to make\nthem terminate in him; I mean, to find the priesthood in Christ, the\nsacrifice in Christ, the altar in Christ, the throne of grace in\nChrist, and also God in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself by\nhim. And if we can learn this well, while here, we shall not at all be\nblamed! for this is the utmost lesson set us, to wit, to learn Christ\nas we find him revealed in the gospel: \u2018I determined,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018not\nto know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified\u2019 (1\nCor 2:2). And Christians, after some time, I mean those that pray and\npry into the Word well, do attain to some good measure of knowledge of\nhim. It is life eternal to know him, as he is to be known here, as he\nis to be known by the Holy Scriptures (James 17:3). Keep then close to\nthe Scriptures, and let thy faith obey the authority of them, and thou\nwilt be sure to increase in faith; \u2018for therein is the righteousness of\nGod revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live\nby faith\u2019 (Rom 1:17, 16:25-27).[28]\n\nBelieve then that Christ died, was buried, rose again, ascended, and\never liveth to make intercession for thee: and take heed of prying too\nfar, for in mysteries men soon lose their way. It is good therefore\nthat thou rest in this, to wit, that he doth so, though thou canst not\ntell how he doth it. A man at court gets by his intercession a pardon\nfor a man in the country; and the party concerned, after he had\nintelligence of it, knows that such an one hath obtained his pardon,\nand that by his interceding, but for all that he may be ignorant of his\nmethods of intercession, and so are we, at least in part, of Christ.\nThe meaning then is that I should believe, that for Christ\u2019s sake God\nwill save me since he has justified me with his blood; \u2018being now\njustified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him\u2019 (Rom\n5:9). Through his intercession, or through his coming between the God\nwhom I have offended and me, a poor sinner: through his coming between\nwith the voice of his blood and merits, which speaketh on my behalf to\nGod, because that blood was shed for me, and because those merits, in\nthe benefit of them, are made over to me by an act of the grace of God,\naccording to his eternal covenant made with Christ. This is what I know\nof his intercession; I mean with reference to the act itself; to wit,\nHOW he makes intercession. And since all the fulness of the Godhead\ndwells in him bodily, and since he also, as to his humanity, is the\nthrone of grace; yea, and since he also is the holiest of all, and the\nrest of God for ever, it has been some scruple to me, whether it be not\ntoo carnal to imagine as if Christ stood distinct in his humanity;\ndistinct, I say, as to space, from the Father as sitting upon a throne,\nand as so presenting his merits, and making vocal prayers for the life\nand salvation of his people. The more true meaning in my apprehension\nis, that the presence and worth of the human nature, being with the\ndivine, yea, taken into union with God for ever, for the service that\nwas done by God for it, in the world, in reconciling his elect unto\nhim, is still, and ever will be, so deserving in his sight as to\nprevail\u2014I know not how else to express it\u2014with the divine nature, in\nwhom alone is a power to subdue all impossibilities to itself, to\npreserve those so reconciled to eternal life.\n\nWhen I speak of the human nature, I mean the man Christ, not bereft of\nsense and reasons, nor of the power of willing and affecting;[29] but\nthus I mean, that the human nature so terminates in the will of the\ndivine; and again, the will of the divine so terminates, as to saving\nof sinners, in the merit and will of the human, that what the Father\nwould the Son wills, and what the Son wills the Father acquiesces in\nfor ever. And this the Son wills, and his will is backed with infinite\nmerit, in which also the Father rests, that those, all those whom the\nFather hath given him, be with him where he is, that they may behold\nhis glory (John 17:24). And now I am come to the will and affections of\nthe high-priest.\n\nII. NATURAL. [The natural qualifications of Jesus Christ to be our high\npriest.]\n\nThis leads me to the second head, namely, to the natural qualifications\nof him. And,\n\nFirst. This is one thing that I would urge, he is not of a nature\nforeign to that of man; the angels love us well, but they are not so\ncapable of sympathising with us in our distresses, because they are not\npartakers of our nature. Nature hath a peculiar sympathy in it; now he\nis naturally one with us, sin only excepted, and that is our advantage\ntoo. He is man as we are, flesh and blood as we are: born of a woman,\nand in all points made like unto us, that excepted which the Holy Ghost\nexcepteth. \u2018Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and\nblood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. For verily he\ntook not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of\nAbraham\u2019 (Heb 2:14,16). This doth qualify him much; for, as I said\nbefore, there is a sympathy in nature. A man will not be so affected\nwith the hurt that comes to a beast, as he naturally will with the hurt\nthat comes to a man: a beast will be more affected with those attempts\nthat are made upon its own kind to hurt it, than it will be with those\nthat are made upon man. Wherefore? Why, there is a sympathy in nature.\nNow that Christ, the high priest of the house of God, is naturally one\nwith us, you see the Scriptures plainly affirm. \u2018God sent forth his\nSon, made of a woman\u2019 (Gal 4:4); he was \u2018made of the seed of David,\naccording to the flesh\u2019 (Rom 1:3); from the fathers of whom, \u2018as\nconcerning the flesh Christ came,\u2019 &c. (Rom 9:5; 2 Tim 2:8). And this\nmust needs then to make him a well-qualified high priest (Heb 2:14,15).\nWe will not now speak of the necessity of his taking upon him the human\nnature, to wit, that he might destroy him that had the power of death,\nthat is, the devil, and deliver his people; for that would be here too\nmuch beside our matter, and be a diversion to the reader. We are now\nupon his High Priest\u2019s office, and of those natural qualifications that\nattend him, as to that; and I say, nature is a great qualification,\nbecause in nature there is sympathy; and where there is sympathy, there\nwill be a provocation to help, a provocation to help with jealousy and\nindignation against those that afflict. A bear robbed of her whelps is\nnot more provoked than is the Lord Jesus when there are means used to\nmake them miss of life eternal, for whom he hath died, and for whom he\never lives to make intercession. But,\n\nSecond. As there is natural sympathy in Christ to those for whom he is\nan High Priest, so there is relative sympathy; he has not only taken to\nor upon him our nature, but he is become one brotherhood with us; now\nyou know brotherhood will carry a man further than nature; so then,\nwhen nature and relation meet, there is a double obligation. \u2018For both\nhe that sanctifieth,\u2019 which is Christ, \u2018and they who are sanctified,\u2019\nhis saints, \u2018are all of one,\u2019 which is God; and they are all of God, as\nchildren of a Father; \u2018for which cause he is not ashamed to call them\nbrethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the\nmidst of the church will I sing praise unto thee\u2019 (Heb 2:11,12). Now a\nrelation is much, and a natural relation most of all. Why, here is a\nnatural relation betwixt Christ the High Priest, and those for whom \u2018he\never liveth to make intercession\u2019; a natural relation, I say, and that\nwith respect to the humanity which is the nature subject to affliction\nand distress; \u2018Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh\nand blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same\u2019 (Heb 2:14).\nSo then it is for a brother that he is engaged, for a brother that he\ndoth make intercession. When Gideon knew by the confession of Zeba and\nZalmunna, that the men that they slew at Tabor were his brethren, his\nfury came into his face, and he sware they should therefore die (Judg\n8:18-21). Relation is a great matter. And therefore it is said again,\n\u2018In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that\nhe might be a merciful High Priest\u2019 (Heb 2:17). A brother is born for\nadversity; and a brother will go far. This therefore is a second thing\nor another qualification, with which Christ Jesus is furnished to be an\nHigh Priest; he is a brother, there is a brotherly relation betwixt him\nand us; therefore by virtue of this relation he maketh intercession for\nus more affectionately.\n\nThird. There are other things in Christ Jesus that makes him naturally\nof an excellent qualification with reference to his priesthood for us,\nand they are the temptations and infirmities wherewith he was exercised\nin the days of his humiliation. It is true, temptations and\ninfirmities, strictly considered, are none of our nature, no more are\nthey of his; but yet, if it be proper to say temptations and\nafflictions have a nature, his and ours were naturally the same; and\nthat in all points too; for so says the text, \u2018He was tempted in all\npoints, like as we are, yet without sin\u2019 (Heb 4:15). Are we tempted to\ndistrust God? so was he: are we tempted to murder ourselves? so was he:\nare we tempted with the bewitching vanities of this world? so was he:\nare we tempted to commit idolatry, and to worship the devil? so was he\n(Matt 4:3-10; Luke 4:1-13). So that herein we also were alike; yea,\nfrom his cradle to his cross he was a man of sorrows and acquainted\nwith griefs, a man of affliction throughout the whole course of his\nlife.\n\nAnd observe it, He was made so, or subjected thereto by the ordinance\nof God; nay, further, it behoved him to be made so, that is, to be made\nlike unto us in all things, the better to capacitate him to the work of\nhis priesthood, with the more bowels and compassion. We will read to\nyou the text; \u2018Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like\nunto his brethren, that he might be,\u2019 qualified to be, \u2018a merciful and\nfaithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make\nreconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath\nsuffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted\u2019\n(Heb 2:17,18). See here how he is qualified, and to what end; he was\ntempted as we are, suffered by temptations as we do, in all points and\nthings as we are; that he might be bowels, that he might be a merciful\nand faithful High Priest, in things pertaining to God, to make up the\ndifference that is made by sin between God and his people, to make\nreconciliation for the sins of the people. Yea, he by being tempted,\nand by suffering as he did, he is prepared and enabled so to do; \u2018for\nin that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour\nthem that are tempted.\u2019 Wherefore, I also call this qualification both\nnatural and necessary; natural, because in kind the same with ours;\nthat is, his temptations were the same with ours; the same in nature,\nthe same in design, the same as to their own natural tendency; for\ntheir natural tendency was to have ruined both him and us, but God\nprevented. They also were necessary, though not of themselves, yet made\nso by him that can bring good out of evil, and light out of darkness;\nmade so, I say, to us, for whose sakes they were suffered to assault\nand afflict him, namely, that he might be able to be merciful,\nfaithful, and succouring to us.\n\nFourth. Another qualification with which our High Priest is furnished,\nfor the better fitting of him to make intercession for us, is, that we\nare his members; to be a member is more than to be of the same nature,\nor the nearest of relations, that excepted. So, then, now he makes\nintercession for his own self, for his own body, and for the several\nmembers of his body. The High Priest under the law did use to offer up\nsacrifice for himself; first \u2018for himself,\u2019 for his own sins, and then\n\u2018for the errors of the people.\u2019 I will not say that Christ had any sin\nthat was personally, or by his act, his own; for that would be to\nblaspheme the name of that Holy One; but yet I will say, he made the\nsins of the people his own (Psa 69:5). Yea, God the Father made them\nhis; those also for whom he ever liveth to make intercession, are\nunited to him, made members of his body, of his flesh, and of his\nbones; and so are any part of himself (2 Cor 5:21).\n\nBut we are now about his natural qualifications, and this is one; that\nthey for whom he ever liveth to make intercession are his members, the\nmembers of his body; \u2018we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of\nhis bones,\u2019 so saith the Word (Eph 5:30). Wherefore here is a near\nconcern, for that his church is part of himself; it is his own concern,\nit is for our own flesh. \u2018No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but\nnourisheth and cherisheth it\u2019 (Eph 5:29).\u2014Things are thus spoken,\nbecause of the infirmity of our flesh.\u2014So that had Christ no love to us\nas we are sinners, yet because we are part of himself, he cannot but\ncare for us, nature puts him upon it; yea, and the more infirm and weak\nwe are, the more he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, the\nmore he is afflicted for us: \u2018For we have not an High Priest which\ncannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities\u2019 (Heb 4:15). He\nat no time loseth this his fellow-feeling, because he always is our\nhead, and we the members of his. I will add, the infirm member is most\ncared for, most pitied, most watched over to be kept from harms, and\nmost consulted for.[30]\n\nI love to play the child with little children, and have learned\nsomething by so doing; I have met with a child that has had a sore\nfinger; yea, so sore as to be altogether at present useless; and not\nonly so, but by reason of its infirmity, has been a let or hindrance to\nthe use of all the fingers that have been upon that hand, then have I\nbegan to bemoan the child, and said, Alas! my poor boy, or girl, hast\ngot a sore finger! Ah! quoth the child, with water in its eyes, and\nhath come to me to be bemoaned. Then I have begun to offer to touch the\nsore finger. O! saith the child, pray do not hurt me: I then have\nreplied, Canst thou do nothing with this finger? No, saith the child,\nnor with this hand either; then have I said, Shall we cut off this\nfinger, and buy my child a better, a brave golden finger? At this the\nchild has started, stared in my face, gone back from me, and\nentertained a kind of indignation against me, and has no more cared to\nbe intimate with me. Then have I begun to make some use of that good\nsermon which this little child has preached unto me; and thus have I\ngone on. If membership be so dear, if this child has such tenderness to\nthe most infirm, the most useless of its members; if it counts me its\nfriend no longer than when I have a mouth to bemoan and carriages that\nshow tenderness to this useless finger; what an interest doth\nmembership give on in the body, and what compassions hath the soul for\nsuch an useless thing, because it is a member! and turning all this\nover to Jesus Christ, then instead of matter and corruption, there\npresently comes honey to me out of this child\u2019s sore finger; I take\nleave to tell you now how I use to play. And though I have told this\ntale upon so grave a truth, as is the membership of Christians with\ntheir head, yet bear with me; no child can be so tender of its sore\nfinger as is the Son of God of his afflicted members; he cannot but be\ntouched with the feeling of our infirmities.[31]\n\nAh! who would not make many supplications, prayers, and intercessions,\nfor a leg, for an eye, for a foot, for a hand, for a finger, rather\nthan they will lose it? And can it be imagined that Christ alone shall\nbe like the foolish ostrich, hardened against his young, yea, against\nhis members? It cannot be.\n\nShould he lose a member, he would be disfigured, maimed, dismembered,\nimperfect, next to monstrous. For his body is called his fulness, yea,\nthe fulness of him that fills all in all. This has naturally a respect\nfor those for whom he ever liveth to make intercession; yea, an\nunfathomable respect for them, because they are his members.\n\nFifth. But again, when nature, relation, and membership is urged to\nshow the fit qualifications wherewith Christ is endued, I intend not to\nintimate, as if the bottom of all lay here; for then it might be urged\nthat one imperfect has all these; for who knows not that sinful man has\nall these qualifications in him towards his nature, relations, and\nmembers? I have therefore, as I said, thus discoursed, only for\ndemonstration-sake, and to suit myself with the infirmity of your\nflesh. I might come, also, in the next place, to tell you, that Jesus\nChrist our High Priest is thus, with reference to other designs. We are\nhis purchase and he counts us so; his jewels, and he counts us so; his\nestate real, and he counts us so (Psa 16:5,6). And you know a man will\ndo much, speak much, intercede much and long, for that which he thus is\ninterested in. But we will come to speak more particularly of the\nexceeding excellency of his natural qualifications, and show you that\nhe hath such as are peculiar to himself alone, and that we are\nconcerned in them.\n\n[The peculiar natural qualifications of Christ as our High Priest.]\n\n1. He is holy, and so a suitable High Priest. There is a holiness that\nsets further from, and a holiness that brings one nearer to, and to be\nconcerned the more with the condition of those in affliction; and that\nholiness is that which is entailed unto office. When a man is put into\nan office, the more unholy he is, the worse he performs his office; and\nthe more holy, the better he performs his office. For his holiness\nobliges him to be faithful unto men, wherein he is concerned by his\noffice. Hence you read, that he is \u2018a faithful High Priest,\u2019 because he\nis a holy one, and \u2018such an High Priest became us, who is holy,\u2019 &c.\n(Heb 2:17, 7:26). \u2018Good and upright is the Lord\u2019 Jehovah, Christ Jesus,\n\u2018therefore will he teach sinners in the way\u2019 (Psa 25:8). \u2018He that\nruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God\u2019 (2 Sam 23:3).\nI mention these texts to show you, that holiness, when entailed to\noffice, makes a man do that office the better. Now then, Christ is\nholy, and he is made, called, and made of God an High Priest, after the\norder of Melchisedec, and is to manage that his office for thee with\nGod; that is to say, to continue to make reconciliation for iniquity;\nfor that iniquity that cleaveth unto thee, and that spuriously\nbreaketh, or issueth from thy flesh after thou art called and\nconverted. For we are now upon the second part of the execution of the\npriesthood of Christ; that which he executeth, I say; and by executing\ntakes away the iniquity of our holy things and of our life, after our\nturning to God by him. Now he that is to do this is holy, and so one\nthat will make conscience of performing that office for us, with which\nhe is intrusted of God. Hence he is set in opposition to those high\npriests that had infirmities, that were not holy, and upon this very\naccount preferred above them. \u2018For the law maketh men high priests\nwhich have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the\nlaw, maketh the Son, who is consecrated,\u2019 perfected, or holy \u2018for\nevermore\u2019 (Heb 7:28). This therefore is a great thing, to wit, that we\nhave an High Priest that is holy, and so one that will not fail to\nperform to the utmost the trust committed to him in our behalf, to wit,\n\u2018to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins\u2019 (Heb 5:1). This is one\nthing.\n\n2. There is added to this of his holiness another; and that is\nharmless. \u2018For such an High Priest became us who is holy, harmless\u2019\n(Heb 7:26). A harmful man, when he is in office, O how much mischief\nmay he do! Such an one is partial in doing his office, such an one will\nput the poor by his right, such an one will buy and sell a cause, a\nman, an interest, will do or not do, as his harmfulness prompts him to\nit; \u2018so is a wicked ruler over the poor people\u2019 (Prov 28:15). But now\nour Jesus, our High Priest, is holy, harmless; he will wrong no man, he\nwill deprive no man, he will contemn no man, he will deny to no man\nthat comes to God by him, the benefit and advantage of his blessed\nintercession; he respecteth not persons, nor taketh reward. A harmful\nman will stomach, and hate, and prejudice a man; will wait for an\nopportunity to do him a mischief; will take the advantage, if he can,\nto deny him his right, and keep from him his due, when yet it is in the\npower of his hand to help him. O! but Christ is harmless, harmless as a\ndove, he thinks no ill, intends no ill, doth no ill; but graciously,\ninnocently, harmlessly, makes intercession for thee; nor will he be\nprevailed with to prejudice thy person, or to forbear to take up thy\nname into his lips, be thy infirmities, and weaknesses, and\nprovocations never so many, if thou indeed comest to God by him. He is\nholy, and harmless, and so the more fit to become our High Priest and\nto make intercession for us.\n\n3. But again, this is not all, he also is undefiled; \u2018For such an High\nPriest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled.\u2019 This term is put\nin to show, that he neither is, nor can be found, neither now, nor at\nany time, faulty in his office. A man that is holy may yet be defiled;\na man that is harmless may yet be defiled. We are bid to be holy and\nharmless; and in a gospel sense so every Christian is. O! but Christ is\nso in a legal sense; in the eye of the law, perfectly so. This is a\ngreat matter, for it shows, that as nothing done by us can tempt him to\nbe hurtful to us; so there is nothing in himself that can tempt him so\nto be. A man that is defiled has that within him that will put him upon\nusing of his office unfaithfully, though he should have no provocation\nfrom those for whose good he is to execute his office; but he that is\nundefiled\u2014undefiled in a law sense\u2014as our Lord Jesus is, is such an one\nas doth not only not do hurt, and not act falsely in his office, but\none that cannot, one that knoweth not, how to be unfaithful to his\ntrust. He is holy, harmless, undefiled, this therefore is a great\nthing. He has not the original of hurtfulness in him, there is no such\nroot there; there is a root of bitterness, springing up in us, by which\nnot only ourselves, but ofttimes others are defiled (Heb 12:15). O! but\nour High Priest is undefiled, he is not corrupt, nor corrupteth; he\ndoth his office fairly, faithfully, holily, justly, according to, or\nanswering, our necessities, and the trust reposed in him, and committed\nto him. But,\n\n4. This is not all; as he is holy, harmless, and undefiled; so he is\nseparate from sinners, both in his conception, in his composition, and\nthe place ordained for him to execute this part of his High Priest\u2019s\noffice in. He was not conceived in the womb by carnal generation; he\nwas not made up of polluted and defiled nature; he officiateth not with\nthose materials that are corrupt, stained, or imperfect; but with those\nthat are unspotted, even with the spotless sacrifice of his own\nunblemished offering. He, nor his offering, has any such tang, as had\nthe priests, and their sacrifices under the law, to wit, sin and\nimperfection; he is separate from them in this respect, further than is\nan angel from a beast. He has none of the qualities, actions, or\ninclinations of sinners; his ways are only his own; he never saw them,\nnor learned them, but of the Father; the none upright among men,\nwherefore he is separated from them to be a priest. Again,\n\n5. As he is thus, so again, he is said to be \u2018higher than the heavens.\u2019\nFor such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, and\nundefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. The\ntext saith, that neither saint, nor heavens, are clean in God\u2019s sight.\n\u2018Behold he puts no trust in his servants,\u2019 he chargeth his angels with\nfolly; and again, \u2018Behold he putteth no trust in his saints, yea, the\nheavens are not clean in his sight\u2019 (Job 4:18, 15:15). Wherefore, by\nthis expression, he shows us that our High Priest is more noble than\neither heaven or angel: yea, more clean and perfect than any. It shows\nus also that all the heavenly host are at his command, to do as his\nintercession shall prevail with the Father for us. All angels worship\nhim, and at his word they become, they all become ministering spirits\nfor them who shall be heirs of salvation.\n\nBesides, by this word he shows, that it is impossible that our High\nPriest should degenerate or decay; for that he is made \u2018higher than the\nheavens\u2019; the spirits sometimes in the heavens have decayed (2 Peter\n2:4). The heavens themselves decay and wax old; and that is the\nfarthest that by the Word we are admitted to go (Heb 1:10-12). But as\nfor him that is above the heavens, that is made higher than the\nheavens, that is ascended up far above all heavens; he is the same, and\n\u2018his years fail not\u2019 (Heb 1:12). \u2018The same yesterday, today, and for\never\u2019 (Heb 13:8). This therefore is added, to show that Christ is\nneither as the angels, nor heavens, subject to decay, or degenerate, or\nto flag and grow cold in the execution of his office; but that he will\nbe found even at the last, when he is come to the end of this work, and\nis about to come out of the holy place, as affectionate, as full of\nlove, as willing, and desirous after our salvation, as he was the first\nmoment that he was made High Priest, and took upon him to execute that\nhis blessed office for us. Wherefore our High Priest is no such one as\nyou read of in the law (Lev 21:18). He is no dwarf, hath no blemish,\nnor any imperfection; therefore is not subject to flag or fail in due\nexecution of his office, but is able to save to the uttermost them that\ncome unto God by him, \u2018seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for\nthem.\u2019 And it is well worth our consideration, that it is said he is\nmade thus; that is, appointed, instituted, called, and qualified thus\nof God; this shows the Father\u2019s heart as well as the Son\u2019s, to usward,\nto wit, that this priesthood was of him, and the glorious effects\nthereof by him. \u2018Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,\nthat we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.\u2019\n\n[The second motive, we are sure to speed.]\n\nSECOND. I come now to the second motive, to wit, that we may find grace\nand mercy to help in time of need; or we shall find grace and mercy to\nhelp, if we come as we should, to the throne of grace. In this motive\nwe have these three things considerable. First, That saints are like to\nmeet with needy times while they are in this world. Second, That\nnothing can carry us through our needy times but more, or a continual\nsupply of mercy and grace. Third, That mercy and grace is to be had at\nthe throne of grace, and we must fetch it from thence by prayer, if we\nwould, as we should, go through these needy times.\n\nFirst. For the first of these, that saints are like to meet with needy\ntimes, or with such times as will show them that they need a continual\nassistance of the grace of God, that they may go rightly through this\nworld. This is therefore a motive, that weareth a spur in the heel of\nit, a spur to prick us forward to supplicate at the throne of grace.\nThis needy time is in other places called the perilous time, the evil\nday, the hour and power of darkness, the day of temptation, the cloudy\nand dark day (2 Tim 3:1; Eph 6:13; Luke 22:53; Heb 3:8; Eze 34:12; Gen\n47:9; Matt 6:34). And indeed, in the general, all the days of our\npilgrimage here are evil, yea, every day has a sufficiency of evil in\nit to destroy the best saint that breatheth, were it not for the grace\nof God. But there are also, as I have hinted, particular special times,\ntimes more eminently dangerous and hazardous unto saints. As,\n\n[Ten special times of need.]\n\nThere are their young days, the days of their youth, and childhood in\ngrace. This day is usually attended with much evil towards him or them\nthat are asking the way to Zion with their faces thitherward. Now the\ndevil has lost a sinner; there is a captive has broke prison, and one\nrun away from his master: now hell seems to be awakened from sleep, the\ndevils are come out, they roar, and roaring they seek to recover their\nrunaway. Now tempt him, threaten him, flatter him, stigmatise him,\nthrow dust into his eyes, poison him with error, spoil him while he is\nupon the potter\u2019s wheel; any thing to keep him from coming to Jesus\nChrist. And is not this a needy time; doth not such an one want\nabundance of grace? is it not of absolute necessity that thou, if thou\nart the man thus beset, shouldst ply it at the throne of grace, for\nmercy and grace to help thee in such a time of need as this? To want a\nspirit of prayer now, is as much as thy life is worth. O, therefore,\nyou that know what I say, you that are broke loose from hell, that are\nfled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before you, and that do\nhear the lion roar after you, and that are kept awake with the\ncontinual voice of his chinking chain, cry as you fly; yea, the promise\nis, that they that come to God with weeping, with supplication, he will\nlead them. Well, this is one needy time, now thy hedge is low, now thy\nbranch is tender, now thou art but in the bud. Pray that thou beest not\nmarred in the potter\u2019s hand.\n\n2. The time of prosperity is also a time of need, I mean of thy\nspiritual prosperity. For as Satan can tell how to suit temptations for\nthee in the day of thy want, so he has those that can entangle thee in\nthe day of thy fulness. He has his spiritual wickednesses in the high\nand heavenly places (Eph 6:12). He can tell how to lay a snare for thee\nin the land of Canaan, as well as in the wilderness; in thy time of\nreceiving good things, as well as in thy hungry and empty hours. Nay,\nsuch times seem to be the most dangerous, not in themselves, but\nthrough the deceits of our heart. Hence Moses gives this caution to the\nchildren of Israel, that when God had given them the promised land, and\nvineyards, and wells, and olive trees, and when they had eaten and were\nfull, \u2018Then,\u2019 says he, \u2018beware lest thou forget the Lord which brought\nthee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage\u2019 (Deut\n6:10-13). And again, he doubleth this caution, saying, \u2018When thou hast\neaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God, for the\ngood land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the\nLord thy God in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and\nhis statutes, which I command thee this day; lest when thou hast eaten\nand art full,\u2019 and thou in all good things art increased, \u2018then thine\nheart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought\nthee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage\u2019; all\nthis may be applied spiritually (Deut 8:10-14). For there are, as I\nsaid, snares laid for us in our best things; and he that has great\nenjoyments, and forgets to pray for grace to keep him humble then,\nshall quickly be where Peter was, after his knowledge of the Lord Jesus\nby the revelation of the Father.\n\n3. Another needy time is a time when men are low and empty, as to\nworldly good; this time is full of temptations and snares. At this\ntime, men will, if they look not well to their doings and goings, be\ntempted to strain curtesies both with conscience and with God\u2019s Word,\nand adventure to do things that are dangerous, and that have a tendency\nto make all their religion and profession vain. This holy Agur was\naware of; so he prayed, Let me not be rich and full, lest I deny thee;\nlet me not be poor, lest I steal, and take the name of my God in vain\n(Prov 30:7-9). There are many inconveniences that attend him that is\nfallen into decay in this world. It is an evil day with him, and the\ndevils will be as busy with him, as the flies are with a lean and\nscabbed sheep. It shall go hard but such a man shall be full of\nmaggots; full of silly, foolish, idle inventions, to get up, and to\nabound with fulness again. It is not a time now, will Satan say, to\nretain a tender conscience, to regard thy word or promise, to pay for\nwhat thou buyest, or to stick at pilfering, and filch from thy\nneighbour.[32] This Agur was afraid of; therefore he prayed that God\nwould keep him from that which would be to him a temptation to do it.\nHow many in our day have, on these very accounts, brought religion to a\nvery ill savour, and themselves unto the snare of the devil, and all\nbecause they have not addicted themselves to pray to God for grace to\nhelp in this time of need, but rather have left off the thing that is\ngood, and given up themselves to the temptations of the devil, and the\nsubtle and ensnaring motions of the flesh.\n\n4. Another needy time is the day of persecution; this is called, as was\nhinted before, \u2018the hour of darkness,\u2019 \u2018the cloudy and dark day.\u2019 This\nday, therefore, is full of snares, and of evils of every kind. Here is\nthe fear of man, the terrors of a prison, of loss of goods and\nlife.[33] Now all things look black, now the fiery trial is come. He\nthat cannot now pray; he that now applieth not himself to God on the\nthrone of grace, by the priesthood of Jesus Christ, is like to take a\nfall before all men upon the stage; a foul fall, a fall that will not\nonly break his own bones, but also the hearts of those that fear God\nand behold it: \u2018Come therefore boldly unto the throne of grace, that ye\nmay obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.\u2019\n\n5. Another time of need is that time wherein thou changest thy\ncondition, and enterest into a new relation. For here also the snares\nand traps lie waiting for thee. There is a hopeful child goes to\nservice, or to be an apprentice; there is a young man, a young maid,\nentereth into a married condition, and though they pray before, yet\nthey leave off to pray then. Why, these people are oftentimes ruined\nand undone; the reason is, this change is attended with new snares,\nwith new cares, and with new temptations, of the which, because through\nunwatchfulness they are not aware, they are taken, drawn to perdition\nand destruction by them. Many in my short day have gone, I doubt, down\nto the pit, THIS way, that have sometimes been to appearance the very\nforemost and hopefulest in the place where they have lived. O how soon\nhas their fire gone out; has their lamps forborne to burn! How quickly\nhave they lost their love to their ministers, by whom they were\nilluminated, and to the warmest Christians, through communion with whom\nthey used to be kept awake and savoury! How quickly have they found\nthem out new friends, new companions, new ways and methods of life, and\nnew delights to feed their foolish minds withal! Wherefore, O thou that\nart in this fifth head concerned, \u2018Come boldly unto the throne of\ngrace, to obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.\u2019\n\n6. Another time of need is, when the generality of professors are\ndecayed; when the custom of fancies and fooleries have taken away all\ngravity and modesty from among the children of men. Now pray, or thou\ndiest; yea, pray against those decays, those vain customs, those\nfoolish fancies, those light and vain carriages that have overtaken\nothers, else they will assuredly knock at thy door, and obtain favour\nat thy hand, the which if they do, they will quickly bring thee down\ninto the dirt with others, and put thee in peril of damnation as well\nas they.\n\n7. Another time of need is, the time of guilt contracted, and of the\nhiding of God\u2019s face. This is a dangerous time. If thou now shalt\nforbear to pray, thou art undone, for the natural tendency of guilt is\nto drive a man from God. So it served our first father; and ofttimes\nwhen God hides his face, men run into desperation, and so throw up all\nduties, and say as he of old, \u2018What should I wait for the Lord any\nlonger?\u2019 (2 Kings 6:33). Now thy great help against this is prayer,\ncontinuing in prayer. Prayer wrestleth with the devil, and will\noverthrow him: prayer wrestleth with God, and will overcome him: prayer\nwrestleth with all temptations, and makes them fly. Great things have\nbeen done by prayer, even by the prayer of those that have contracted\nguilt, and that have by their sins lost the smiles and sense of the\nfavour of God. Wherefore, when this needy, this evil time has overtaken\nthee, pray: \u2018Come boldly unto the throne of grace, to obtain mercy, and\nfind grace to help in time of need.\u2019\n\n8. The day of reproach and slander is another time of need, or a day in\nwhich thou wilt want supplies of grace. Sometimes we meet with such\ndays wherein we are loaden with reproaches, slanders, scandals, and\nlies. Christ found the day of reproach a burdensome day unto him; and\nthere is many a professor driven quite away from all conscience towards\nGod, and open profession of his name, by such things as these (Psa\n69:7). Reproach is, when cast at a man, as if he was stoning to death\nwith stones. Now ply it hard at the throne of grace, for mercy and\ngrace to bear thee up, or thou wilt either miscarry or sink under\nground by the weight of reproach that may fall upon thee.[34]\n\n9. Another time of need is that wherein a man\u2019s friends desert and\nforsake him, because of his gospel principles, or of those temptations\nthat attend his profession. This is a time that often happeneth to\nthose that are good. Thus it was with Christ, with Paul, with Job, with\nHeman, and so has been with many other of God\u2019s servants in the day of\ntheir temptations in this world; and a sore time it is. Job complained\nunder it, so did Heman, Paul, and Christ (John 6:66; 2 Tim 1:15; Job\n19:13-19). Now a man is as forlorn as a pelican in the wilderness, as\nan owl in the desert, or as a sparrow upon the house-top. If a man\ncannot now go to the throne of grace by prayer, through Christ, and so\nfetch grace for his support from thence, what can he do? He cannot live\nof himself (John 15:4). Wherefore this is a sore evil.\n\n10. Another time of need is the day of death, when I am to pack up and\nto be gone from hence, the way of all the earth.[35] Now the greatest\ntrial is come, excepting that of the day of judgment. Now a man is to\nbe stripped of all, but that which cannot be shaken. Now a man grows\nnear the borders of eternity. Now he begins to see into the skirts of\nthe next world. Now death is death, and the grave the grave indeed! Now\nhe begins to see what it is for body and soul to part, and what to go\nand appear before God (Eccl 12:5). Now the dark entry, and the thoughts\nof what is in the way from a deathbed to the gate of the holy heaven,\ncomes nearer the heart than when health and prosperity do compass a man\nabout. Wherefore this is like to be a trying time, a time of need\nindeed. A prudent man will make it one of the great concerns of his\nwhole life to get, and lay up a stock of grace for this day, though the\nfool will rage and be confident: for he knows all will be little enough\nto keep him warm in his soul, while cold death strokes his hand over\nhis face, and over his heart, and is turning his blood into jelly;\nwhile strong death is loosing his silver cord, and breaking his golden\nbowl! (Eccl 12:6). Wherefore, I say, this motive weareth a spur on his\nheel, a spur to prick us on to the throne of grace for mercy, and grace\nto help in time of need. But,\n\n[Continual supplies of grace essential to our welfare.]\n\nSecond. I come now to the next thing, which is, to show that nothing\ncan carry us through our needy times, but more or a continual supply of\nmercy and grace. This the text fully implies, because it directeth us\nto the throne of grace, for mercy and grace for that very end. And had\nthere been any thing else that could have done it, the apostle would\nhave made mention of it, and would also have directed the saints unto\nit. But forasmuch as he here makes mention of the needy time, and\ndirects them to the throne of grace for mercy and grace to help, it\nfolloweth that mercy and grace, and that only, can help us in the evil\ntime. Now mercy and grace are to be distinctly considered. 1. Mercy,\nfor that by it we have through Christ the continuation and\nmultiplication of forgivenesses, without which there is no salvation.\n2. Grace, for that by it we are upheld, supported, and enabled to go\nthrough our needy times, as Christians, without which there is no\nsalvation neither. The first all will grant, the second is clear: \u2018If\nany man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him; but we are\nnot of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to\nthe saving of the soul\u2019 (Heb 10:38,39).\n\n1. Mercy is that by which we are pardoned, even all the falls, faults,\nfailings, and weaknesses, that attend us, and that we are incident to,\nin this our day of temptation; and for this mercy we should pray, and\nsay, \u2018Our Father, forgive us our trespasses\u2019 (Matt 6:9-12). For though\nmercy is free in the exercise of it to usward, yet God will have us\nask, that we may have; as he also saith in the text, \u2018Let us come\nboldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy.\u2019 Here then\nwe have one help, and that is, the mercy of God is to be extended to us\nfrom his throne through Jesus Christ, for our pardon and forgiveness in\nall those weaknesses that we are attended with in the needy or evil\ntimes; and we should come to God for this very thing. This is that\nwhich David means, when he says, \u2018Surely goodness and mercy shall\nfollow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the\nLord for ever\u2019 (Psa 23:6). And again, \u2018When I said my foot slippeth;\nthy mercy, O Lord, held me up\u2019 (Psa 94:18). Set me clear and free from\nguilt, and from the imputation of sin unto death, by Christ.\n\nNor can any thing help where this is wanting; for our parts, our\nknowledge, our attainments, nor our graces, cannot so carry us through\nthis world, but that we shall be guilty of that that will sink us down\nto hell, without God\u2019s pardoning mercy. It is not the grace that we\nhave received can do it, nor the grace that is to be received that can\ndo it; nothing can do it but the pardoning mercy of God: for because\nall our graces are here imperfect, they cannot produce a spotless\nobedience. But where there is not a spotless obedience, there must of\nnecessity follow a continuation of pardon and forgiveness by mercy, or\nI know what will become of the soul. Here, therefore, the apostle lays\nan obligation upon thee to the throne of grace, to wit, that thou\nmayest obtain mercy, a continuation of mercy, mercy as long as thou art\nlike to live this vain life on the earth; mercy that will reach through\nall thy days. For there is not a day, nor a duty; not a day that thou\nlivest, nor a duty that thou dost, but will need that mercy should come\nafter to take away thy iniquity.[36] Nay, thou canst not receive mercy\nso clearly, as not to stand in need of another act of mercy to pardon\nweakness in thy no better receiving the last. We receive not our\nmercies so humbly, so readily, so gladly, and with that thankfulness as\nwe should: and therefore, for the want of these, have the need of\nanother, and another act of God\u2019s sin-pardoning mercy, and need shall\nhave thereof, as long as evil time shall last with us.\n\nBut is not this great grace, that we should thus be called upon to come\nto God for mercy? Yea, is not God unspeakably good, in providing such a\nthrone of grace, such a sacrifice, such a high priest, and so much\nmercy for us, and then to invite us to come with boldness to him for\nit? Nay, doth not his kindness yet further appear, by giving of us\nitems and intimations of needy times, and evil days, on purpose to\nprovoke us to come to him for mercy? This then shows us, as also we\nhave hinted before, that the throne of grace, and Christ Jesus our High\nPriest, are both provided upon the account of our imperfections,\nnamely, that we who are called might not be, by remaining weaknesses,\nhindered of, but obtain eternal inheritance. Weaknesses, such\nweaknesses remain in the justified, and such slips and failings are\nfound in and upon them, that call for a course of mercy and forgiveness\nto attend them. Farther, this also intimates, that God\u2019s people should\nnot be dejected at the apprehensions of their imperfections; I say, not\nso dejected, as therefore to cast off faith, and hope, and prayer; for\na throne of grace is provided for them, to the which they may, they\nmust, they ought continually to resort for mercy, sin-pardoning mercy.\n\n2. As we are here to obtain mercy, so we are here to find grace. They\nthat obtain mercy, shall find grace, therefore they are put together.\nThat they may obtain mercy and find grace; only they must find mercy\nfirst; for as forgiveness at first goes before sanctification in the\ngeneral, so forgiveness afterwards goes before particular acts of grace\nfor further sanctification. God giveth not the spirit of grace to those\nthat he has not first forgiven by mercy, for the sake of Christ.[37]\nAlso so long as he as a Father forbears to forgive us as his adopted,\nso long we go without those further additions of grace that are here\nsuggested in the text. But when we have obtained mercy to forgive, then\nwe also find grace to our renewing. Therefore he saith, First obtain\nmercy, and then find grace.\n\nGrace here I take to be that grace which God has appointed for us, to\ndwell in us; and that by and through the continual supply of which we\nare to be enabled to do and suffer, and to manage ourselves in doing\nand suffering according to the will of God. \u2018Let us have grace whereby\nwe may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear\u2019 (Heb 12:28).\nSo again, \u2018he giveth more grace; wherefore he saith, God resisteth the\nproud, but giveth grace unto the humble\u2019 (James 4:6; Prov 3:34; 1 Peter\n5:5). The grace, therefore, that this text intends, is grace given or\nto be given; grace received or to be received; grace a root, a\nprinciple of grace, with its continual supplies for the perfecting of\nthat salvation that God has designed for us. This was that which\ncomforted Paul, when the messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him, it\nwas said unto him by Christ, \u2018My grace is sufficient for thee\u2019 (2 Cor\n12:9). As who should say, Paul, be not utterly cast down, I have\nwherewith all to make thee stand, and overcome, and that is my grace,\nby which thou shalt be supported, strengthened, comforted, and made to\nlive a triumphant life, notwithstanding all that oppress thee. But this\ncame to him upon his praying; for this I prayed to God thrice, saith\nhe. So again, \u2018God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye\nalways have all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good\nwork\u2019 (2 Cor 9:8). Thus you see, that by grace in these places is meant\nthat spirit, and those principles of grace, by the increase and\ncontinual supply of which we are inwardly strengthened, and made to\nabound to every good work.\n\nThis then is the conclusion, That as there is mercy to be obtained by\nus at the throne of grace, for the pardon of all our weaknesses; so\nthere is also grace there to be found that will yet strengthen us more,\nto all good walking and living before him. He giveth more grace, and\nthey receive one time or another abundance of grace that shall reign in\nlife by one Jesus Christ. This then teaches us several things, some of\nwhich I will mention. As,\n\n[What this should teach us.]\n\n1. That nature, as nature, is not capable of serving of God: no, not\nnature where grace dwells, as considered abstract from that grace that\ndwells in it. Nothing can be done aright without grace, I mean no part\nnor piece of gospel-duty. \u2018Let us have grace whereby we may serve God\nacceptably.\u2019 Nature, managed by grace, seasoned with grace, and held up\nwith grace, can serve God acceptably. Let us have grace, seek for and\nfind grace to do so; for we cannot do so but by grace: \u2018By the grace of\nGod I am what I am; and his grace which was bestowed upon me, was not\nin vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but\nthe grace of God which was with me\u2019 (1 Cor 15:10). What can be more\nplain than this beautiful text? For the apostle doth here quite shut\nout nature, sanctified nature, for he indeed was a sanctified man, and\nconcludes that even he, as of himself, did nothing of all the great\nworks that he did; but they were done, he did them by the grace of God\nthat was in him. Wherefore nature, sanctified nature, as nature, can of\nitself do nothing to the pleasing of God the Father.\n\nIs not this the experience of all the godly? Can they do that at all\ntimes which they can do at some times? Can they pray, believe, love,\nfear, repent, and bow before God always alike? No. Why so? they are the\nsame men, the same human nature, the same saints. Aye, but the same\ngrace, in the same degree, operation, and life of grace, doth not so\nnow work on that man, that nature, that saint; therefore,\nnotwithstanding he is what he is, he cannot do at all times alike. Thus\ntherefore it is manifest, that nature, simply as such, is a great way\noff of doing that which is acceptable with God. Refined, purified,\nsanctified nature, cannot do but by the immediate supplies, lifts, and\nhelps of that spirit and principle of grace by the which it is so\nsanctified.\n\n2. As nature, even where grace is, cannot, without the assistance of\nthat grace, do anything acceptably before God; so grace received, if it\nbe not also supplied with more grace, cannot cause that we continue to\ndo acceptable service to God. This also is clear by the text, For he\nspeaketh there to them that had received grace; yea, puts himself into\nthe number, saying, \u2018Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that\nwe may find grace to help in time of need.\u2019 If grace received would do,\nwhat need for more? What need we pray for more? What need we go to the\nthrone of grace for more? This very exhortation saith it will not:\npresent supplies of grace are proportioned to our present need, and to\nhelp us to do a present work or duty.[38] But is our present need all\nthe need that we are like to have, and the present work all the work\nthat we have to do in the world? Even so the grace that we have\nreceived at present, though it can help us to do a present work, it\ncannot, without a further supply, help us to do what is to be done\nhereafter. Wherefore, the apostle saith, that his continuing to do was\nthrough his obtaining help, continual help of God: \u2018Having, therefore,\u2019\nsaith he, \u2018obtained help of God, I continue unto this day witnessing\nboth to small and great,\u2019 &c. (Acts 26:22). There must be a daily\nimploring of God for daily supplies from him, if we will do our daily\nbusiness as we should.\n\nA present dispensation of grace is like a good meal, a seasonable\nshower, or a penny in one\u2019s pocket, all which will serve for the\npresent necessity. But will that good meal that I ate last week, enable\nme, without supply, to do a good day\u2019s work in this? or will that\nseasonable shower which fell last year, be, without supplies, a\nseasonable help to the grain and grass that is growing now? or will\nthat penny that supplied my want the other day, I say, will the same\npenny also, without a supply, supply my wants today? The same may, I\nsay, be said of grace received; it is like the oil in the lamp, it must\nbe fed, it must be added to. And there, there shall be a supply,\n\u2018wherefore he giveth more grace.\u2019 Grace is the sap, which from the root\nmaintaineth the branches: stop the sap, and the branch will wither. Not\nthat the sap shall be stopped where there is union, not stopped for\naltogether; for as from the root the branch is supplied, so from Christ\nis every member furnished with a continual supply of grace, if it doth\nas it should; \u2018of his fulness have all we received, and grace for\ngrace\u2019 (John 1:16).\n\nThe day of grace is the day of expense: this is our spending time.\nHence we are called pilgrims and strangers in the earth, that is,\ntravellers from place to place, from state to state, from trial to\ntrial (Heb 11:13). Now, as the traveller at a fresh inn is made to\nspend fresh money; so Christians, at a fresh temptation, at a new\ntemptation, are made to spend afresh, and a new supply of grace. Great\nmen, when and while their sons are travellers, appoint that their bags\nof money be lodged ready, or conveniently paid in at such and such a\nplace, for the suitable relief of them; and so they meet with supplies.\nWhy, so are the sons of the Great One, and he has allotted that we\nshould travel beyond sea, or at a great distance from our Father\u2019s\nhouse: wherefore he has appointed that grace shall be provided for us,\nto supply at such a place, such a state or temptation, as need\nrequires: but withal, as my lord expecteth his son should acquaint him\nwith the present emptiness of his purse, and with the difficulty he\nhath now to grapple with; so God our Father expects that we should\nplead by Christ our need at the throne of grace, in order to a supply\nof grace:[39] \u2018Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,\nthat we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.\u2019\n\nNow then, this shows the reason why many Christians that are indeed\npossessed with the grace of God, do yet walk so oddly, act so poorly,\nand live such ordinary lives in the world. They are like to those\ngentlemen\u2019s sons that are of the more extravagant sort, that walk in\ntheir lousy hue, when they might be maintained better. Such young men\ncare not, perhaps scorn to acquaint their fathers with their wants, and\ntherefore walk in their threadbare jackets, with hose and shoes out at\nheels! a right emblem of the uncircumspect child of God. This also\nshows the reason of all those dreadful falls and miscarriages that many\nof the saints sustain, they made it not their business to watch to see\nwhat is coming, and to pray for a supply of grace to uphold them; they,\nwith David, are too careless, or, with Peter, too confident, or, with\nthe disciples, too sleepy, and so the temptation comes upon them; and\ntheir want like an armed man. This also shows the reason why some that,\nto one\u2019s thinking, would fall every day; for that their want of parts,\ntheir small experience, their little knowledge of God\u2019s matters, do\nseem to bespeak it; yet stand, walk better, and keep their garments\nmore white than those that have, when compared with them, twice as much\nas they. They are praying saints, they are often at the throne of\ngrace, they are sensible of their weakness, keep a sight of their\ndanger before their faces, and will not be contented without more\ngrace.\n\nThird. And this leads me, in the third place, to show you, that were we\nwise, and did we ply it at the throne of grace for grace, as we should,\nO what spotless lives might we live! We should then have always help in\ntime of need; for so the text insinuates, \u2018That we may obtain mercy,\nand find grace to help in time of need.\u2019 This is that which Peter\nmeans, when he says, \u2018And besides this,\u2019 that is, besides your faith in\nChrist, and besides your happy state of justification, \u2018giving all\ndiligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to\nknowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience,\ngodliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly\nkindness, charity. For if these things be in you and abound,\u2019 and be\ncontinually supplied with a supply from the throne of grace, \u2018they make\nyou that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of\nour Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and\ncannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old\nsins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your\ncalling and election sure: for if you do these things, ye shall never\nfall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into\nthe everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ\u2019 (2 Peter\n1:5-11).\n\nThe greatest part of professors now-a-days take up their time in\ncontracting of guilt, and asking for pardon, and yet are not much the\nbetter. Whereas, if they had but the grace to add to their faith,\nvirtue, &c., they might have more peace, live better lives, and not\nhave their heads so often in a bag as they have. \u2018To him that ordereth\nhis conversation aright, will I show the salvation of God\u2019 (Psa 50:23).\nTo him that disposeth his way aright; now this cannot be done without a\nconstant supplicating at the throne of grace for more grace. This then\nis the reason why every new temptation that comes upon thee, so foils,\nso overcomes thee, that thou wilt need a new conversion to be recovered\nfrom under the power and guilt that cleaves to thee by its\novershadowing of thee. A new temptation, a sudden temptation, an\nunexpected temptation, usually foils those that are not upon their\nwatch; and that have not been before with God to be inlaid with grace\nproportionable to what may come upon them.\n\n\u2018That ye may find grace to help in time of need\u2019! There is grace to be\nfound at the throne of grace that will help us under the greatest\nstraits. \u2018Seek and ye shall find\u2019; it is there, and it is to be found\nthere; it is to be found there of the seeking soul, of the soul that\nseeketh him. Wherefore I will conclude as I did begin; \u2018Let us\ntherefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain\nmercy, and find grace to help in time of need.\u2019\n\n[CONCLUSION. Some lessons to be learned from this text.]\n\nWe will now speak something by way of conclusion, and so wind up the\nwhole.\n\nFirst. You must remember that we have been hitherto speaking of the\nthrone of grace, and showing what it is. That we have also been\nspeaking of Christ\u2019s sacrifice, and how he manages his high priest\u2019s\noffice before the throne of grace. We have also here, as you see, been\nspeaking of the mercy and grace that is to be obtained and found at\nthis throne of grace, and of what advantage it is to us in this our\npilgrimage. Now, from all this it follows, that sin is a fearful thing:\nfor all this ado is, that men might be saved from sin! What a devil\nthen is sin? it is the worst of devils; it is worse than all devils;\nthose that are devils sin hath made them so; nor could anything else\nhave made them devils but sin. Now, I pray, what is it to be a devil,\nbut to be under, for ever, the power and dominion of sin, an implacable\nspirit against God? Such an one, from which implacableness all the\npower in heaven and earth cannot release them, because God of his\njustice has bound them over to judgment. These spirits are by sin\ncarried quite away from themselves, as well as from God that made them;\nthey cannot design their own good; they cannot leave that which yet\nthey know will be everlasting mischievous to themselves. Sin has bound\nthem to itself so fast, that there can be no deliverance for them, but\nby the Son of God, who also has refused them, and left them to\nthemselves, and to the judgment which they have deserved. Sin also has\ngot a victory over man, has made him an enemy to God and to his own\nsalvation; has caught him, captivated him, carried away his mind, and\nwill, and heart, from God; and made him choose to be vain, and to run\nthe hazard of eternal damnation, with rejoicing and delight. But God\nleft not man where he left those wicked spirits, to wit, under the\neverlasting chains of darkness, reserved unto judgment; but devised\nmeans for their ransom and reconciliation to himself; which is the\nthing that has been discoursed of in the foregoing part of this book (2\nSam 15:15). But, I say, what a thing is sin, what a devil and master of\ndevils is it, that it should, where it takes hold, so hang that nothing\ncan unclinch its hold but the mercy of God and the heart-blood of his\ndear Son! O the fretting, eating, infecting, defiling, and poisonous\nnature of sin, that it should so eat into our flesh and spirit, body\nand soul, and so stain us with its vile and stinking nature: yea, it\nhas almost turned man into the nature of itself; insomuch as that\nsometimes, when nature is mentioned, sin is meant; and when sin is\nmentioned, nature is meant (Eph 2:3, 5:8). Wherefore sin is a fearful\nthing; a thing to be lamented, a thing to be abhorred, a thing to be\nfled from with more astonishment and trembling than one would fly from\nany devil, because it is the worst of things; and that without which\nnothing can be bad, and because where it takes hold it so fasteneth\nthat nothing, as I have said, can release whom it has made a captive,\nbut the mercy of God and the heart-blood of his dear Son. O what a\nthing is sin!\n\nSecond. As by what hath been said sin appears to be exceeding sinful;\nso, from hence it also follows, that the soul is a precious thing. For\nyou must know all this is for the redemption of the soul. The\nredemption of the soul is precious (Psa 49:8,20). I say, it is for the\nredemption of the soul; it was for this that Christ was made a priest,\na sacrifice, an altar, a throne of grace; yea, sin, a curse, and what\nnot, that was necessary for our deliverance from sin, and death, and\neverlasting damnation. He that would know what a soul is, let him read\nin letters of blood the price and purchase of the soul. It was not for\na light, a little, an inconsiderable thing, that Christ Jesus underwent\nwhat he suffered when he was in the world, and gave himself a ransom\nfor souls. No, no! The soul is a great, a vast great thing,\nnotwithstanding it is so little set by of some. Some prefer anything\nthat they fancy, above the soul; a slut, a lie, a pot, an act of\nfraudulency, the swing of a prevailing passion, anything shall be\npreferred when the occasion offereth itself.[40] If Christ had set as\nlittle by souls as some men do, he had never left his Father\u2019s bosom,\nand the glory that he had with him; he had never so humbled himself, so\ngave himself to punishment, affliction, and sorrow; and made himself so\nthe object of scorn, and contempt, and reproach, as he did, and all\nthat the souls of sinners might live a life in glory with him.\n\nBut methinks this is the mystery of all as to this, that the soul\nshould take that pains, contrive such ways, and take such advantages\nagainst itself! For it is the soul that sins, that the soul might die!\nO! sin, what art thou? What hast thou done? and what still wilt thou\nfurther do, if mercy, and blood and grace doth not prevent thee? O\nsilly soul! what a fool has sin made of thee? what an ass art thou\nbecome to sin? that ever an immortal soul, at first made in the image\nof God, for God, and for his delight, should so degenerate from its\nfirst station, and so abase itself that it might serve sin, as to\nbecome the devil\u2019s ape, and to play like a Jack Pudding for him upon\nany stage or theatre in the world! But I recall myself; for if sin can\nmake one who was sometimes a glorious angel in heaven, now so to abuse\nhimself as to become, to appearance, as a filthy frog, a toad, a rat, a\ncat, a fly, a mouse, a dog, or bitch\u2019s whelp,[41] to serve its ends\nupon a poor mortal, that it might gull them of everlasting life, no\nmarvel if the soul is so beguiled as to sell itself from God, and all\ngood, for so poor a nothing as a momentary pleasure is. But,\n\nThird. If sin and the soul are such great things, then behold the love\nand care of God; the love to souls, the care he hath taken to deliver\nthem from sin. Sin, as I have said, is such a thing as from which no\nman can deliver himself; the soul is such a thing, so rich and valuable\nin the nature of it, that scarce one in twenty thousand counts of it as\nthey should. But God, the lover of mankind, and the greatest enemy to\nsin, has provided means effectually to overthrow the one, and to save\nand secure the other. Behold, therefore, the love of God, the care of\nGod for us; for when we neither loved nor cared for ourselves, God both\nloved us and cared for us. God commended his love towards us in sending\nhis Son to be the propitiation for our sins.\n\nLet it be then concluded that \u2018GOD IS LOVE,\u2019 and that the love that God\nhath to us is such as we never had for ourselves. We have been often\ntried about our own love to ourselves, and it has been proved over, and\nover, and over, that sometimes even we that are Christians could, and\nwould, had it been possible, have pawned ourselves, our souls, and our\ninterest in Christ, for a foul and beastly lust. But God, who is rich\nin mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, would not suffer it\nso to be. Now, if we are so fickle and uncertain in our love to\nourselves, as to value our salvation at so low and so base a rate, can\nit be imagined that ever we should, had it been left to our choice,\nhave given the best of what we have for the salvation of our souls? Yet\nGod gave his Son to be the Saviour of the world. I say again, if our\nlove is so slender to our own souls, can any think that it should be\nmore full to the souls of others? And yet God had such love to us, as\nto give his only begotten Son for our sins. Yet again, how should it be\nthat we, who are usually so affected with the conceit of our own\nhappiness, since we care no more for our own souls, do our best to\nsecure the souls of others? and yet God, who is infinitely above all\ncreatures, has so condescended, as to concern himself, and to give the\nbest of his flock, even his only beloved Son, for very dust and ashes.\nWherefore, \u2018Herein is love, not that we loved God,\u2019 or our neighbour,\n\u2018but that God loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our\nsins\u2019 (1 John 4:10).\n\nFourth. Is sin so vile a thing? is the soul so precious a thing? and is\nGod\u2019s love and care of the salvation of the souls of sinners infinitely\ngreater than is their own care for their own souls? Then this should\nteach those concerned to blush, to blush, I say, and to cover their\nfaces with shame. There is nothing, as I know of, that more becomes a\nsinner, than blushing and shame doth; for he is the harbourer, the\nnurse, and the nourisher of that vile thing called sin; that so great\nan enemy of God, and that so great an enemy to the soul. It becomes him\nalso, if he considers what a creature God has made him, and how little\nhe hath set by his own creation, and by the matter of which God hath\nmade his soul. Let him also consider unto what base things he hath\nstooped and prostrated himself, while things infinitely better have\nstood by and offered themselves unto him freely; yea, how he has cast\nthat God that made him, and his Son that came to redeem him, quite\nbehind his back, and before their faces embraced, loved, and devoted\nhimself unto him that seeks nothing more than the damnation of his\nsoul.\n\nAh, Lord! when will foolish man be wise, and come to God with his hands\nupon his head, and with his face covered with shame, to ask him\nforgiveness for that wickedness which he has committed? which is\nwickedness committed not only against holiness and justice, against\nwhich also men by nature have an antipathy, but against mercy and love,\nwithout which man cannot tell what to do. Blush, sinner, blush. Ah,\nthat thou hadst grace to blush! But this is God\u2019s complaint, \u2018Were they\nashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all\nashamed, neither could they blush\u2019 (Jer 8:12). It is a sad thing that\nmen should be thus void of consideration, and yet they are so. They are\nat a continual jest with God and his Word, with the devil and sin, with\nhell and judgment. But they will be in earnest one day; but that one\nday will be too late!\n\nFifth. Is it so that God, though sin is so fearful a thing, has\nprepared an effectual remedy against it, and purposed to save us from\nthe evil and damning effects thereof? (1.) Then this should beget\nthankfulness in the hearts of the godly, for they are made partakers of\nthis grace; I say, it should beget thankfulness in thy heart. \u2018Thanks\nbe unto God for his unspeakable gift,\u2019 said the apostle, when he\nseriously thought of that which was much inferior to what we have been\na discoursing of (2 Cor 9:15). That was about man\u2019s willingness to do\ngood; this is about God\u2019s. That was about men\u2019s willingness to give\nmoney to poor saints; this about God\u2019s willingness to give Christ Jesus\nhis Son to the world. It was the thoughts of this redemption and\nsalvation that made David say, \u2018Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that\nis within me, bless his holy name\u2019 (Psa 103:1). O! they that are\npartakers of redeeming grace, and that have a throne of grace, a\ncovenant of grace, and a Christ, that is the Son of God\u2019s love, to come\nto, and to live by, should be a thankful people. \u2018By him therefore let\nus offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,\u2014giving thanks in\nhis name\u2019 (Heb 13:15). How many obligations has God laid upon his\npeople, to give thanks to him at every remembrance of his holiness.\n(2.) Study the priesthood, the high priesthood of Jesus Christ, both\nthe first and second part thereof. The first part was that when he\noffered up himself without the gate, when he bare our sins in his own\nbody on the tree. The second part is that which he executeth there\nwhither he is now gone, even in heaven itself, where the throne of\ngrace is. I say, study what Christ has done, and is adoing. O! what is\nhe adoing now? he is sprinkling his blood with his priestly robes on,\nbefore the throne of grace; that is too little thought on by the saints\nof God: \u2018We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of\nthe throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary,\nand of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man\u2019 (Heb\n8:1,2). Busy thyself, fellow-Christian, about this blessed office of\nChrist. It is full of good, it is full of sweet, it is full of heaven,\nit is full of relief and succour for the tempted and dejected;\nwherefore, I say again, study these things, give thyself wholly to\nthem.\n\nSixth. Since God has prepared himself a lamb, a sacrifice, a priest, a\nthrone of grace, and has bid thee come to him, come to him as there\nsitting; come, come boldly, as he bids thee. What better warrant canst\nthou have to come, than to be bid to come of God? When the goodman\nhimself bids the beggar come to his house, then he may come, then he\nmay come boldly; the consideration of the invitation doth encourage.\nThat we have our friend at court, should also make us come boldly.\nJesus, as has been showed, as sacrifice and high priest, is there, \u2018in\nwhom we have boldness, and access with confidence by the faith of him\u2019\n(Eph 3:12). Again, \u2018By whom also we have access by faith into this\ngrace, wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God\u2019 (Rom\n5:2). Again, \u2018We have boldness, brethren, to enter into the holiest by\nthe blood of Jesus\u2019 (Heb 10:19,20). What can be more plain, more\nencouraging, more comfortable to them that would obtain mercy, \u2018and\nfind grace to help in time of need.\u2019 It is a dishonour to God,\ndisadvantage to thee, and an encouragement to Satan, when thou hangest\nback, and seemest afraid to \u2018come boldly unto the throne of grace.\u2019\n\u2018Let us,\u2019 therefore, \u2018draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of\nfaith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our\nbodies washed with pure water; let us hold fast the profession of our\nfaith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised, and let us\nconsider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works\u2019 (Heb\n10:22-24). Farewell.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n1. How many thousands rush into the presence of God with unholy,\nthoughtless familiarity, by repeating the form called the Lord\u2019s\nprayer. His infinite holiness should make us tremblingly apply to his\nthrone of grace. In the name of the Redeemer, and in his mediation\nalone, the sinner can find access, and be emboldened to draw nigh and\nreceive grace to help in our everyday time of need.\u2014Ed.\n\n2. \u2018Though the phrase, \u201cthrone of grace,\u201d be only once named in the\nBible, yet the thing signified is so savoury, significant, and\nsuitable, that this form of speaking is become famous among Christians,\nand will be used to the end of time.\u2019\u2014Traill.\u2014Ed.\n\n3. This is an allusion to Jeremiah 18:1-10 the potter and his wheel,\nupon which he forms his vessels of clay to honour or to dishonour as he\npleaseth. So God worketh all things according to his will, all tending\nto the good of his church, because his resting-place is the\nmercy-seat.\u2014Ed.\n\n4. Quoted from the Genevan or puritan version.\u2014Ed.\n\n5. \u2018Grace was poured so plentifully from heaven, that it did not only\ncountervail sin, but above measure passeth it.\u2019 Note to the Genevan\nBible.\u2014Ed.\n\n6. Not by the person or body, but mentally. It matters little whether\nthe body is sitting, kneeling, or standing; riding, walking, or lying\ndown; the throne of grace is equally accessible, if the spirit is\nprostrate before it\u2014the spontaneous effusions of the soul in sighs or\ngroans, or joyful exclamations, or the pouring forth of heart-felt\nwords; but all must be under a sense of the mediation of Jesus.\u2014Ed.\n\n7. Smutches or smudges. \u2018And with a kind of amber smirch my\nface.\u2019\u2014Shakespeare.\u2014Ed.\n\n8. \u2018In all our distresses, infirmities, and darkness in this world, we\nshould get up to that mountain of myrrh and hill of frankincense,\nCanticles 4:6;\u2014the passion of Christ, which was bitter like myrrh; and\nto the intercession of Christ, which is sweet like incense.\u2019\u2014Dr.\nBates.\u2014Ed.\n\n9. How dreadful for a sinner to enter upon a way, expecting it to be a\nliving way to life and happiness, and find it the dead way to death and\neternal destruction. O my soul, try thy way, and, by the assistance of\nthe Holy Spirit, ascertain whether it is the living way to everlasting\nlife, or the dead way to eternal misery.\u2014Ed.\n\n10. Such was the opinion of naturalists in the olden time, Bartolomeus,\non the properties of things, thus speaks of goats\u2019 blood\u2014\u2018The goat\u2019s\nhot blood neshethe (softeneth) and carveth the hard ardamant stone,\nthat neither fire nor iron may overcome.\u2019 Book 18 cap. 60.\u2014Ed.\n\n11. What laid the cornerstone of this throne, but grace? What brings in\nthe inhabitants, preserves them, perfects them, but grace?\u2014Traill.\n\n   \u2018Grace all the work shall crown,\n        Thro\u2019 everlasting days;\n    It lays in heaven the topmost stone,\n        And well deserves the praise.\u2019\u2014Rippon.\n\n12. Perfectly impressed upon their memories.\u2014Ed.\n\n13. From the Genevan version.\u2014Ed.\n\n14. Bunyan here refers to the marginal note in the Genevan bible,\nExodus 30. The high priest\u2019s washing \u2018signifying that he that cometh to\nGod must be washed from all sin and corruption.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n15. This sea was full of pure water, a figure of the word, without\nmixture of men\u2019s inventions. See the typical meaning of the molten sea\nand the laver, fully explained and illustrated by Bunyan, in Solomon\u2019s\nTemple Spiritualized of this edition.\u2014Ed.\n\n16. Our first lesson is of sin, righteousness, and judgment; second,\nChrist\u2019s obedience unto death for our salvation; third, Christ ascended\nto God\u2019s right hand, the Mediator and Advocate. Thus the bitter comes\nbefore the sweet, to make the sweet the sweeter.\u2014Ed.\n\n17. Alluding to these destructive operations of nature, the whirlwind\nand the whirlpool, the first whirling fancies that Christ saves from\nthe punishment, and not from the power of sin, takes them from the\ngospel hope, and the second receives them into the vortex of misery. O\nmy soul, be watchful unto prayer at a throne of grace, for who can\nwithstand the whirlpool if once within its influence?\u2014Ed.\n\n18. To see the fulness and freeness of the treasures of grace in\nChrist\u2014to see that we must partake of it or perish\u2014to be looking unto\nJesus the author and finisher of our faith, are indeed powerful\nincentives to keep us near the throne of grace.\u2014Ed.\n\n19. Probably a frightful military saying heard by Bunyan, when serving\nin the debauched army of Charles I, from some of Prince Rupert\u2019s\ncavaliers.\u2014Ed.\n\n20. How much this paragraph reminds us of the experience of poor\nChristian in his fearful battle with the fiend! \u2018In this combat no man\ncan imagine, unless he had seen and heard as I did, what yelling and\nhideous roaring Apollyon made all the time of the fight\u2014he spake like a\ndragon; and, on the other side, what sighs and groans burst from\nChristian\u2019s heart. I never saw him, all the while, give so much as one\npleasant look, till he perceived he had wounded Apollyon with his\ntwo-edged sword; then, indeed, he did smile and look upward; but it was\nthe dreadfullest fight that ever I saw.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n21. \u2018Spaked\u2019; marked with small spots.\u2014Ed.\n\n22. Instituted, inducted, or installed.\u2014Ed.\n\n23. Exposed to violence\u2014blindfolded or hoodwinked.\u2014Ed.\n\n24. Protestants can have little idea of the idolatry used in the Church\nof Rome. Something may be gathered from the following directions, given\nin a very beautiful office for Good Friday, corrected by royal\nauthority, in conformity with the breviary and missal of our holy\nfather Pope Urban VIII, printed at Paris by Posset:\u2014\n\n\u2018The priest having retired a little behind the altar, the deacon takes\nthe cross (a plain wooden cross without the figure), covered with a\nveil, and gives it to the priest, who turns to the people and shows the\ntop of the cross, before which they all prostrate themselves and kiss\nthe ground, singing Ecce lignum crucis. He then removes the veil from\nthe right limb of the cross, and lifts it up, singing, still louder,\nBehold the wood of the cross; again the people prostrate themselves.\nThe priest then comes to the middle of the altar, and taking off the\nveil, exhibits the wooden cross to be adored; then setting it down, he\ngoes on his knees, and rising, takes off his shoes and approaches the\ncross to worship it, making three genuflections, and kisses it. All the\nclergy who are present take off their shoes, prostrate themselves,\nworship and kiss the cross in the order of their dignity. All the\nofficers of the church, and all the people, follow in the same manner\nto adore it, while solemn music and chanting attends and completes the\nceremony.\u2019 Thus a wooden board, made into the shape of a cross by some\njoiner, receives Divine honours. Talk not of heathen idols. Who can\nwonder that honest John Bunyan felt indignation, and exclaimed, \u2018O\nidolatry! O blasphemy!\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n25. An extraneous taste that leaves a sting behind, as, \u2018She had a\ntongue with a tang.\u2019 \u2018The wine has a tang of the cask.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n26. This use of the word \u2018resent\u2019 has been long obsolete; it expressed\na deep sense or strong perception of good as well as evil; in this\nplace it means, \u2018proved to have been satisfactory or gratifying.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n27. How sublime is the Christian system, in its adaptation to all God\u2019s\nintelligent creatures! So lovely in its simplicity, that the child\u2014nay,\neven the poor Bushman of Africa, or the half-idiot native of New South\nWales\u2014is able readily to comprehend how God, for Christ\u2019s sake, can\nblot out all iniquities and transgressions; while the noblest intellect\nadmires and adores its vast and extensive ramifications of mercies.\nBlessings numerous and unbounded are developed, reaching, in their\nultimate effects, far beyond the utmost stretch of human perception,\neven when the most brilliant imagination is enlightened and sanctified\nby the Holy Ghost. The intentions of mercy commence in the purposes of\nGod before the creation\u2014are infinite in extent\u2014and eternal in duration.\nHow is Divine wisdom and mercy thus displayed in the adaptation of the\ngospel to the personal inquiry and reception of every individual of the\nhuman race!\u2014Ed.\n\n28. The beginning, increase, and perfection of life eternal, consists\nin holy knowledge; that God and Christ are of the same nature, equal in\npower and glory. As Christ is the most excellent object, therefore the\nknowledge of Christ is, and must be the most excellent knowledge; not\nonly all the excellencies of the creatures are found in him, but all\nexcellencies, yea, the fulness of the Godhead, dwells in him bodily.\nAll learning, in comparison of the knowledge of Christ, is the most\ncontemptible ignorance. He is the wisdom of God, and our highest wisdom\nwill be, with holy Paul, to part with whatever is most dear and\nprecious to us, that we may win Christ, receiving him as he is revealed\nin the word of truth.\u2014Mason.\n\n29. Power of exercising affection and feeling.\u2014Ed.\n\n30. Bunyan\u2019s daughter, Mary, was blind, and thus became an object of\nhis tenderest solicitude. When he was sent to prison for preaching, he\nfelt for her far more than for all other worldly objects. \u2018My poor\nblind child. O the thoughts of the hardship she might go under would\nbreak my heart to pieces.\u2019\u2014Grace Abounding, No. 320 and 329.\u2014Ed.\n\n31. It is a stupendous and unspeakably blessed privilege that Christ\nand believers are one flesh. Husband and wife, soul and body, are not\nso closely united as Christ and believers are to each other. He has\ncarried their sorrows, borne their punishment, and procured complete\nredemption for them. And eternal blessings on him! he now ever liveth\nin heaven to act and intercede for them. He there exercises a tender\nand compassionate spirit towards his suffering children and servants\nhere on earth. His love and pity to every individual of his church,\ninfinitely exceeds that of the most affectionate parent towards their\noffspring. Our extremity is his opportunity\u2014he is touched with the\nfeeling of our infirmities, will give consolation under, sanctify, and\nat length deliver the godly out of all temptations and\nafflictions.\u2014Mason.\n\n32. As this is Satan\u2019s temptation in the time of poverty, so the time\nof prosperity is equally dangerous\u2014the love of gain, when it possesses\nthe soul, is insatiable. Satan whispers into the ear, and the heart too\nreadily entertains the wicked thought\u2014\u2018Get money; if you cannot do it\nhonestly, still get money.\u2019 The most contemptible meannesses have been\npractised by the wealthy. O beware of that ruinous idolatry,\ncovetousness.\u2014Ed.\n\n33. Query, is this that part of a Christian\u2019s experience referred to in\nthe Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, the second part of the Valley of the Shadow of\nDeath?\u2014Ed.\n\n34. No man could speak more experimentally on the pain inflicted by\nslander, although utterly unfounded, than John Bunyan. So eminent a man\nbecame a mark for Satan and his emissaries to shoot at. He was charged\nwith witchcraft, called a highwayman, and every slander that malice\ncould invent was heaped upon him. His remedy, his consolation, was the\nthrone of grace\u2014a specific that never did, nor ever will fail.\u2014Ed.\n\n35. The late Rev. John Newton, who lived to a good old age, in his\nlatter days used to tell his friends\u2014\u2018I am like a parcel, packed up and\ndirected, only waiting the carrier to take me to my destination\u2019;\nblessed tranquility under such solemn circumstances.\u2014Ed.\n\n36. This is illustrated by the account of Hopeful\u2019s experience in the\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress; he says, \u2018If I look narrowly into the best of what\nI do now, I still see sin, new sin, mixing itself with the best of that\nI do; so that now I am forced to conclude, that, notwithstanding my\nformer fond conceits of myself and duties, I have committed sin enough\nIN ONE DUTY to send me to hell, though my former life had been\nfaultless.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n37. Grace, mercy, peace, justification, sanctification, and\nglorification, all flow from Christ the propitiatory sacrifice, in\nwhom, as his beloved, the Father accepts us graciously, and loves us\nfreely.\u2014Mason.\n\n38. Spiritual strength, like bodily food, must be renewed day by day.\nThe necessity of daily food for our bodies should remind us of that\nbread that cometh down from heaven, and that water of life which, as a\nriver, maketh glad the city of our God. \u2018As oft as ye do this,\u2019 eat and\ndrink, \u2018ye do show the Lord\u2019s death.\u2019 O that such a recollection may\nhave an abiding influence upon our souls!\u2014Ed.\n\n39. In those days travellers did well to advance as far in a day as we\nnow do in an hour. To make a country tour, required then the same\nprecautions, as to supplies, as it now does to make the grand tour of\nEurope. To have carried coin would have been a great encumbrance, as\nwell as risk from robbers. How accurately Bunyan knew the mode used in\nsuch cases to secure supplies, and with what beautiful simplicity it is\nspiritualized.\u2014Ed.\n\n40. How truly and solemnly is the downward road of a sinner here\nportrayed. 1. Drawn aside by lust. 2. A lie to conceal his wicked\nfolly. 3. Intoxication, to drown his convictions and harden his\nconscience. 4. The consequent ruin of his worldly prospects; and, 5. A\nvain effort by fraud to keep up his credit!!!\u2014Ed.\n\n41. It was in Bunyan\u2019s time the universally received opinion that Satan\nappeared in the shape of animals to allure poor wretches into\nsin\u2014Shakespeare, Judge Hale, Cotton Mather, Baxter, with all our\neminent men, believed in these supernatural appearances.\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE;\n\nOR,\n\nTHE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART:\n\nSHOWING THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND PROPER EFFECTS OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT.\n\nBEING THE LAST WORKS OF THAT EMINENT PREACHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER OF\nJESUS CHRIST, MR. JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD.\n\nWITH A PREFACE PREFIXED THEREUNTO BY AN EMINENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL\nIN LONDON.\n\n\nLondon: Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates,\n1692.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.\n\n\nThe very excellent preface to this treatise, written by George Cokayn,\nwill inform the reader of the melancholy circumstances under which it\nwas published, and of the author\u2019s intention, and mode of treatment.\nVery little more need be said, by way of introducing to our readers\nthis new edition of Bunyan\u2019s Excellency of a Broken Heart. George\nCokayn was a gospel minister in London, who became eventually connected\nwith the Independent denomination. He was a learned man\u2014brought up at\nthe university\u2014had preached before the House of Commons\u2014was chaplain to\nthat eminent statesman and historian, Whitelocke\u2014was rector of St.\nPancras, Soper Lane\u2014remarkable for the consistency of his conduct and\npiety of his life\u2014but as he dared not to violate his conscience, by\nconformity to ceremonies or creeds which he deemed antichristian, he\nsuffered under persecution, and, with upwards of two thousand godly\nministers, was ejected from his living, and thrown upon the care of\nDivine Providence for daily food. The law ordered him to be silent, and\nnot to set forth the glories of his Saviour; but his heavenly Father\nhad ordained him to preach. There was no hesitation as to whom he would\nobey. At the risk of imprisonment, transportation, and death, he\npreached; and God honoured his ministry, and he became the founder of a\nflourishing church in Hare Court, London. His preface bears the date of\nSeptember, 1688; and, at a good old age, he followed Bunyan to the\ncelestial city, in 1689. It is painful to find the author\u2019s Baptist\nfriends keeping aloof because of his liberal sentiments; but it is\ndelightful to witness the hearty affection with which an Independent\nminister recommends the work of a Baptist; and truly refreshing to hear\nso learned a man commending most earnestly the work of a poor,\nunlettered, but gigantic brother in the ministry. Surely there is water\nenough connected with that controversy to quench any unholy fire that\ndifferences of opinion might ignite. George Cokayn appears to have\npossessed much a kindred spirit with John Bunyan. Some of his\nexpressions are remarkably Bunyanish. Thus, when speaking of the\njailor, \u2018who was a most barbarous, hard-hearted wretch; yet, when God\ncame to deal with him, he was soon tamed, and his heart became\nexceeding soft and tender.\u2019 And when alluding to the Lord\u2019s voice, in\nsoftening the sinner\u2019s heart, he says: \u2018This is a glorious work indeed,\nthat hearts of stone should be dissolved and melted into waters of\ngodly sorrow, working repentance.\u2019\n\nThe subject of a broken heart is one of vital importance, because it is\nessential to salvation. The heart, by nature, is hard, and cannot, and\nwill not break itself. Angels have no power to perform this miracle of\nmercy and of justice. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in the NEW\nBIRTH. Some have supposed that God always prepares the heart for this\nsolemn, this important change, by a stroke of his providence; but it is\nnot so. Who dares limit the Almighty? He takes his own way with the\nsinner\u2014one by a whisper, another by a hurricane. Some are first alarmed\nby the preaching of the Word\u2014many by conversation with a pious friend\nor neighbour; some by strokes of Providence\u2014but all are led to a\nprayerful searching of the holy oracles, until there, by the\nenlightening influence of the Spirit, they find consolation. The great\nquestion is, not as to the means, but the fact\u2014Have I been born again?\nHave I been grafted into Christ? Do I bring forth the fruits of\ngodliness in mourning over my sins, and, in good words and works, am I\na living epistle known and read of all\u2014men, angels, devils\u2014and of the\nOmniscient God? These are the all-important inquiries which, I trust,\nwill deeply influence every reader. Let two of Bunyan\u2019s remarks make an\nindelible impression on every mind: \u2018God will break ALL hearts for sin,\neither here to repentance and happiness, or in the world to come to\ncondemnation and misery.\u2019 \u2018Consider thou must die but once; I mean but\nonce as to this world, for if thou, when thou goest hence, dost not die\nwell, thou canst not come back again and die better.\u2019 May our spirits\nbe baptized into these solemn truths, and our broken hearts be an\nacceptable sacrifice to God.\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nA PREFACE TO THE READER.\n\n\nThe author of the ensuing discourse\u2014now with God, reaping the fruit of\nall his labour, diligence, and success, in his Master\u2019s service\u2014did\nexperience in himself, through the grace of God, the nature,\nexcellency, and comfort of a truly broken and contrite spirit. So that\nwhat is here written is but a transcript out of his own heart: for\nGod\u2014who had much work for him to do\u2014was still hewing and hammering him\nby his Word, and sometimes also by more than ordinary temptations and\ndesertions. The design, and also the issue thereof, through God\u2019s\ngoodness, was the humbling and keeping of him low in his own eyes. The\ntruth is, as himself sometimes acknowledged, he always needed the thorn\nin the flesh, and God in mercy sent it him, lest, under his\nextraordinary circumstances, he should be exalted about measure; which\nperhaps was the evil that did more easily beset him than any other. But\nthe Lord was pleased to overrule it, to work for his good, and to keep\nhim in that broken frame which is so acceptable unto him, and\nconcerning which it is said, that \u2018He healeth the broken in heart, and\nbindeth up their wounds\u2019 (Psa 147:3). And, indeed, it is a most\nnecessary qualification that should always be found in the disciples of\nChrist, who are most eminent, and as stars of the first magnitude in\nthe firmament of the church. Disciples, in the highest form of\nprofession, need to be thus qualified in the exercise of every grace,\nand the performance of every duty. It is that which God doth\nprincipally and more especially look after, in all our approaches and\naccesses to him. It is to him that God will look, and with him God will\ndwell, who is poor, and of a contrite spirit (Isa 57:15, 66:2). And the\nreason why God will manifest so much respect to one so qualified, is\nbecause he carries it so becomingly towards him. He comes and lies at\nhis feet, and discovers a quickness of sense, and apprehensiveness of\nwhatever may be dishonourable and distasteful to God (Psa 38:4). And if\nthe Lord doth at any time but shake his rod over him, he comes\ntrembling, and kisses the rod, and says, \u2018It is the Lord; let him do\nwhat seemeth him good\u2019 (1 Sam 3:18). He is sensible he hath sinned and\ngone astray like a lost sheep, and, therefore, will justify God in his\nseverest proceedings against him. This broken heart is also a pliable\nand flexible heart, and prepared to receive whatsoever impressions God\nshall make upon it, and is ready to be moulded into any frame that\nshall best please the Lord. He says, with Samuel, \u2018Speak, Lord, for thy\nservant heareth\u2019 (1 Sam 3:10). And with David, \u2018When thou saidst, Seek\nye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek\u2019 (Psa\n27:8). And so with Paul, who tremblingly said, \u2018Lord, what wilt thou\nhave me to do?\u2019 (Acts 9:6).\n\nNow, therefore, surely such a heart as this is must needs be very\ndelightful to God. He says to us, \u2018My son, give me thine heart\u2019 (Prov\n23:26). But, doubtless, he means there a broken heart: an unbroken\nheart we may keep to ourselves; it is the broken heart which God will\nhave us to give to him; for, indeed, it is all the amends that the best\nof us are capable of making, for all the injury we have done to God in\nsinning against him. We are not able to give better satisfaction for\nbreaking God\u2019s laws, than by breaking our own hearts; this is all that\nwe can do of that kind; for the blood of Christ only must give the due\nand full satisfaction to the justice of God for what provocations we\nare at any time guilty of; but all that we can do is to accompany the\nacknowledgments we make of miscarriages with a broken and contrite\nspirit. Therefore we find, that when David had committed those two foul\nsins of adultery and murder, against God, he saw that all his\nsacrifices signified nothing to the expiating of his guilt; therefore\nhe brings to God a broken heart, which carried in it the best\nexpression of indignation against himself, as of the highest respect he\ncould show to God (2 Cor 7:11).\n\nThe day in which we live, and the present circumstances which the\npeople of God and these nations are under, do loudly proclaim a very\ngreat necessity of being in this broken and tender frame; for who can\nforesee what will be the issue of these violent fermentations that are\namongst us? Who knows what will become of the ark of God? Therefore it\nis a seasonable duty with old Eli to sit trembling for it. Do we not\nalso hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of wars; and ought we\nnot, with the prophet, to cry out, \u2018My bowels, my bowels! I am pained\nat my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me, I cannot hold my\npeace,\u2019 &c. (Jer 4:19). Thus was that holy man affected with the\nconsideration of what might befall Jerusalem, the temple and ordinances\nof God, &c., as the consequence of the present dark dispensations they\nwere under. Will not a humble posture best become us when we have\nhumbling providences in prospect? Mercy and judgment seem to be\nstruggling in the same womb of providence; and which will come first\nout we know not; but neither of them can we comfortably meet, but with\na broken and a contrite spirit. If judgment comes, Josiah\u2019s posture of\ntenderness will be the best we can be found in; and also to say, with\nDavid, \u2018My flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy\njudgments\u2019 (Psa 119:120). It is very sad when God smites, and we are\nnot grieved; which the prophet complains of, \u2018Thou hast stricken them,\nbut they have not grieved,\u2019 &c. \u2018They have made their faces harder than\na rock, they have refused to return\u2019 (Jer 5:3).\n\nBut such as know the power of his anger will have a deep awe of God\nupon their hearts, and, observing him in all his motions, will have the\ngreatest apprehensions of his displeasure. So that when he is coming\nforth in any terrible dispensation, they will, according to their duty,\nprepare to meet him with a humble and broken heart. But if he should\nappear to us in his goodness, and farther lengthen out the day of our\npeace and liberty, yet still the contrite frame will be most\nseasonable; then will be a proper time, with Job, to abhor ourselves in\ndust and ashes, and to say, with David, \u2018Who am I that thou hast\nbrought me hitherto\u2019! (Job 42:6; 2 Sam 7:18).\n\nBut we must still know that this broken tender heart is not a plant\nthat grows in our own soil, but is the peculiar gift of God himself. He\nthat made the heart must break the heart. We may be under\nheart-breaking providences, and yet the heart remain altogether\nunbroken; as it was with Pharaoh, whose heart, though it was under the\nhammers of ten terrible judgments, immediately succeeding one another,\nyet continued hardened against God. The heart of man is harder than\nhardness itself, till God softeneth and breaks it. Men move not, they\nrelent not, let God thunder never so terribly; let God, in the greatest\nearnest, cast abroad his firebrands, arrows, and death, in the most\ndreadful representations of wrath and judgment, yet still man trembles\nnot, nor is any more astonished than if in all this God were but in\njest, till he comes and falls to work with him, and forces him to cry\nout, What have I done? What shall I do?\n\nTherefore let us have recourse to him, who, as he gives the new heart,\nso also therewith the broken heart. And let men\u2019s hearts be never so\nhard, if God comes once to deal effectually with them, they shall\nbecome mollified and tender; as it was with those hardened Jews who, by\nwicked and cruel hands, murdered the Lord of life: though they stouted\nit out a great while, yet how suddenly, when God brought them under the\nhammer of his Word and Spirit, in Peter\u2019s powerful ministry, were they\nbroken, and, being pricked in their hearts, cried out, \u2018Men and\nbrethren, what shall we do?\u2019 (Acts 2:37).\n\nAnd the like instance we have in the jailor, who was a most barbarous,\nhard-hearted wretch; yet, when God came to deal with him, he was soon\ntamed, and his heart became exceeding soft and tender (Acts 16:29,30).\n\nMen may speak long enough, and the heart not at all be moved; but \u2018The\nvoice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is full of\nmajesty,\u2019 and breaketh the rocks and cedars (Psa 29:4). He turns \u2018the\nrock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters\u2019 (Psa\n114:8). And this is a glorious work indeed, that hearts of stone should\nbe dissolved and melted into waters of godly sorrow, working repentance\nnot to be repented of (2 Cor 7:10).\n\nWhen God speaks effectually the stoutest heart must melt and yield.\nWait upon God, then, for the softening thy heart, and avoid whatsoever\nmay be a means of hardening it; as the apostle cautions the Hebrews,\n\u2018Take heed,\u2014lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of\nsin\u2019 (Heb 3:13).\n\nSin is deceitful, and will harden all those that indulge it. The more\ntender any man is to his lust, the more will he be hardened by it.\nThere is a native hardness in every man\u2019s heart; and though it may be\nsoftened by gospel means, yet if those means be afterwards neglected,\nthe heart will fall to its native hardness again: as it is with the wax\nand the clay. Therefore, how much doth it behove us to keep close to\nGod, in the use of all gospel-means, whereby our hearts being once\nsoftened, may be always kept so; which is best done by repeating the\nuse of those means which were at first blessed for the softening of\nthem.\n\nThe following treatise may be of great use to the people of God\u2014through\nhis blessing accompanying it\u2014to keep their hearts tender and broken,\nwhen so many, after their hardness and impenitent heart, are treasuring\nup wrath against the day of wrath (Rom 2:5).\n\nO let none who peruse this book herd with that generation of hardened\nones, but be a companion of all those that mourn in Zion and whose\nhearts are broken for their own, the church\u2019s, and the nation\u2019s\nprovocations; who, indeed, are the only likely ones that will stand in\nthe gap to divert judgments. When Shishak, king of Egypt, with a great\nhost, came up against Judah, and having taken their frontier fenced\ncities, they sat down before Jerusalem, which put them all under a\ngreat consternation; but the king and princes upon this humbled\nthemselves; the Lord sends a gracious message to them by Shemaiah the\nprophet, the import whereof was, That because they humbled themselves,\nthe Lord would not destroy them, nor pour out his wrath upon them, by\nthe hand of Shishak (2 Chron 12:5-7).\n\nThe greater the party is of mourning Christians, the more hope we have\nthat the storm impending may be blown over, and the blessings enjoyed\nmay yet be continued. As long as there is a sighing party we may hope\nto be yet preserved; at least, such will have the mark set upon\nthemselves which shall distinguish them from those whom the\nslaughtermen shall receive commission to destroy (Eze 9:4-6).\n\nBut I shall not further enlarge the porch, as designing to make way for\nthe reader\u2019s entrance into the house, where I doubt not but he will be\npleased with the furniture and provision he finds in it. And I shall\nonly further assure him, that this whole book was not only prepared\nfor, but also put into, the press by the author himself, whom the Lord\nwas pleased to remove\u2014to the great loss and unexpressible grief of many\nprecious souls\u2014before the sheets could be all wrought off.\n\nAnd now, as I hinted in the beginning, that what was transcribed out of\nthe author\u2019s heart into the book, may be transcribed out of the book\ninto the hearts of all who shall peruse it, is the desire and prayer of\n\nA lover and honourer of all saints as such,\n\nGeorge Cokayn September 21, 1688\n\nTHE ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE;\n\nOR,\n\nTHE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART.\n\n\n\u2018THE SACRIFICES OF GOD ARE A BROKEN SPIRIT: A BROKEN AND A CONTRITE\nHEART, O GOD, THOU WILT NOT DESPISE.\u2019\u2014Psalm 51:17\n\nThis psalm is David\u2019s penitential psalm. It may be fitly so called,\nbecause it is a psalm by which is manifest the unfeigned sorrow which\nhe had for his horrible sin, in defiling of Bathsheba, and slaying\nUriah her husband; a relation at large of which you have in the 11th\nand 12th of the Second of Samuel. Many workings of heart, as this psalm\nshoweth, this poor man had, so soon as conviction did fall upon his\nspirit. One while he cries for mercy, then he confesses his heinous\noffences, then he bewails the depravity of his nature; sometimes he\ncries out to be washed and sanctified, and then again he is afraid that\nGod will cast him away from his presence, and take his Holy Spirit\nutterly from him. And thus he goes on till he comes to the text, and\nthere he stayeth his mind, finding in himself that heart and spirit\nwhich God did not dislike; \u2018The sacrifices of God,\u2019 says he, \u2018are a\nbroken spirit\u2019; as if he should say, I thank God I have that. \u2018A broken\nand a contrite heart,\u2019 says he, \u2018O God, thou wilt not despise\u2019; as if\nhe should say, I thank God I have that.\n\n[I. THE TEXT OPENED IN THE MANY WORKINGS OF THE HEART.]\n\n\nThe words consist of two parts. FIRST. An assertion. SECOND. A\ndemonstration of that assertion. The assertion is this, \u2018The sacrifices\nof God are a broken spirit.\u2019 The demonstration is this, \u2018Because a\nbroken and a contrite heart God will not despise.\u2019\n\nIn the assertion we have two things present themselves to our\nconsideration. First. That a broken spirit is to God a sacrifice.\nSecond. That it is to God, as that which answereth to, or goeth beyond,\nall sacrifices. \u2018The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.\u2019\n\nThe demonstration of this is plain: for that heart God will not despise\nit. \u2018A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.\u2019\nWhence I draw this conclusion: That a spirit rightly broken, a heart\ntruly contrite, is to God an excellent thing. That is, a thing that\ngoeth beyond all external duties whatever; for that is intended by this\nsaying, The sacrifices, because it answereth to all sacrifices which we\ncan offer to God; yea it serveth in the room of all: all our sacrifices\nwithout this are nothing; this alone is all.\n\nThere are four things that are very acceptable to God. The\n\nFirst is The sacrifice of the body of Christ for our sins. Of this you\nread (Heb 10) for there you have it preferred to all burnt-offerings\nand sacrifices; it is this that pleaseth God; it is this that\nsanctifieth, and so setteth the people acceptable in the sight of God.\n\nSecond. Unfeigned love to God is counted better than all sacrifices, or\nexternal parts of worship. \u2018And to love him [the Lord thy God] with all\nthe heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and\nwith all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more\nthan all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices\u2019 (Mark 12:33).\n\nThird. To walk holily and humbly, and obediently, towards and before\nGod, is another. Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and\nsacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?\u2014\u2018Behold, to obey is\nbetter than sacrifice; and to hearken than the fat of rams\u2019 (Micah\n6:6-8; 1 Sam 15:22).\n\nFourth. And this in our text is the fourth: \u2018The sacrifices of God are\na broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not\ndespise.\u2019\n\nBut note by the way, that this broken, this broken and contrite heart,\nis thus excellent only to God: \u2018O God,\u2019 saith he, \u2018THOU wilt not\ndespise it.\u2019 By which is implied, the world have not this esteem or\nrespect for such a heart, or for one that is of a broken and a contrite\nspirit. No, no, a man, a woman, that is blessed with a broken heart, is\nso far off from getting by that esteem with the world, that they are\nbut burdens and trouble houses wherever they are or go. Such people\ncarry with them molestation and disquietment: they are in carnal\nfamilies as David was to the king of Gath, troublers of the house (1\nSam 21).\n\nTheir sighs, their tears, their day and night groans, their cries and\nprayers, and solitary carriages, put all the carnal family out of\norder.[1] Hence you have them brow-beaten by some, contemned by others,\nyea, and their company fled from and deserted by others. But mark the\ntext, \u2018A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise,\u2019\nbut rather accept; for not to despise is with God to esteem and set a\nhigh price upon.\n\n[II. THE DOCTRINE, ASSERTION, DEMONSTRATION, AND CONCLUSION, THAT A\nBROKEN AND TRULY CONTRITE HEART IS AN EXCELLENT HEART.]\n\n\nBut we will demonstrate by several particulars, that a broken spirit, a\nspirit RIGHTLY broken, an heart TRULY contrite, is to God an excellent\nthing.\n\nFirst. This is evident from the comparison, \u2018Thou desirest not\nsacrifice, else would I give it, thou delightest not in burnt-offering.\nThe sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,\u2019 &c. Mark, he rejecteth\nsacrifices, offerings and sacrifices: that is, all Levitical ceremonies\nunder the law, and all external performances under the gospel; but\naccepteth a broken heart. It is therefore manifest by this, were there\nnothing else to be said, that proves, that a heart rightly broken, a\nheart truly contrite, is to God an excellent thing; for as you see such\na heart is set before all sacrifice; and yet they were the ordinances\nof God, and things that he commanded; but lo, a broken spirit is above\nthem all, a contrite heart goes beyond them, yea, beyond them when put\nall together. Thou wilt not have the one, thou wilt not despise the\nother. O brethren, a broken and a contrite heart is an excellent thing.\nHave I said a broken heart, a broken and a contrite heart is esteemed\nabove all sacrifices; I will add,\n\nSecond. It is of greater esteem with God than is either heaven or\nearth; and that is more than to be set before external duties. \u2018Thus\nsaith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool,\nwhere is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my\nrest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things\nhave been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him\nthat is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word\u2019 (Isa\n66:1,2). Mark, God saith, he hath made all these things, but he doth\nnot say, that he will look to them, that is, take complacency and\ndelight in them; no, there is that wanting in all that he hath made\nthat should take up and delight his heart. But now, let a\nbroken-hearted sinner come before him; yea, he ranges the world\nthroughout to find out such an one, and having found him, \u2018To this\nman,\u2019 saith he, \u2018will I look.\u2019 I say again, that such a man to him is\nof more value than is either heaven or earth; \u2018They,\u2019 saith he, \u2018shall\nwax old\u2019; \u2018they shall perish\u2019 and vanish away; but this man he\ncontinues: he, as is presented to us in another place, under another\ncharacter, \u2018he shall abide for ever\u2019 (Heb 1:10-12; 1 John 2:17).\n\n\u2018To this man will I look,\u2019 with this man will I be delighted; for so to\nlook doth sometimes signify. \u2018Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister,\nmy spouse,\u2019 saith Christ to his humble-hearted, \u2018thou hast ravished my\nheart with one of thine eyes\u2019 (Cant 4:9). While it is as a conduit to\nlet the rivers out of thy broken heart. I am taken, saith he, \u2018with one\nchain of thy neck\u2019 (Can 4:9). Here you see he looks and is ravished, he\nlooks and is taken, as it saith in another place, \u2018The king is held in\nthe galleries\u2019; that is, is taken with his beloved, with the dove\u2019s\neyes of his beloved, with the contrite spirit of his people (Cant 7:5,\n1:15). But it is not thus reported of him with respect to heaven or\nearth: them he sets more lightly by, them he \u2018reserves unto fire\nagainst the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men\u2019 (2 Peter\n3:7), but the broken in heart are his beloved, his jewels.\n\nWherefore, what I have said as to this must go for the truth of God, to\nwit, That a broken-hearted sinner, a sinner with a contrite spirit, is\nof more esteem with God than is either heaven or earth. He saith he\nhath made them, but he doth not say he will look to them. He saith they\nare his throne and footstool, but he doth not say they have taken or\nravished his heart. No, it is those that are of a contrite spirit do\nthis. But there is yet more in the words, \u2018To this man will I look\u2019:\nthat is, For this man will I care, about this man will I camp, I will\nput this man under my protection; for so to look to one doth sometimes\nsignify; and I take the meaning in this place to be such (Prov 27:23;\nJer 39:12, 40:4). \u2018The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all\nthose that be bowed down\u2019 (Psa 145:14). And the broken-hearted are of\nthis number; wherefore he careth for, campeth about, and hath set his\neyes upon such an one for good. This, therefore, is a second\ndemonstration to prove, that the man that hath his spirit rightly\nbroken, his heart truly contrite, is of great esteem with God.\n\nThird. Yet further, God doth not only prefer such an one, as has been\nsaid, before heaven and earth, but he loveth, he desireth to have that\nman for an intimate, for a companion; he must dwell; he must cohabit\nwith him that is of a broken heart, with such as are of a contrite\nspirit. \u2018For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth\neternity, whose name is Holy, I will dwell in the high and holy place,\nwith him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit\u2019 &c. (Isa 57:15).\n\nBehold here both the majesty and condescension of the high and lofty\nOne; his majesty, in that he is high, and the inhabiter of eternity; \u2018I\nam the high and lofty One,\u2019 saith he, \u2018I inhabit eternity.\u2019 Verily this\nconsideration is enough to make the broken-hearted man creep into a\nmouse-hole to hide himself from such a majesty! But behold his heart,\nhis condescending mind; I am for dwelling also with him that hath a\nbroken heart, with him that is of a contrite spirit; that is the man\nthat I would converse with, that is the man with whom I will cohabit;\nthat is, he, saith God, I will choose for my companion. For to desire\nto dwell with one supposeth all these things; and verily, of all the\nmen in the world, none have acquaintance with God, none understand what\ncommunion with him, and what his teachings mean, but such as are of a\nbroken and contrite heart. \u2018He is nigh unto them that are of a broken\nspirit\u2019 (Psa 34:18). These are they intended in the 14th Psalm, where\nit is said, \u2018The Lord looked down from heaven,\u2014to see if any did\nunderstand and seek God\u2019; that he might find some body in the world\nwith whom he might converse; for indeed there is none else that either\nunderstand, or that can tend to hearken to him. God, as I may say, is\nforced to break men\u2019s hearts, before he can make them willing to cry to\nhim, or be willing that he should have any concerns with them; the rest\nshut their eyes, stop their ears, withdraw their hearts, or say unto\nGod, Be gone (Job 21:14). But now the broken in heart can tend it; he\nhas leisure, yea, leisure, and will, and understanding, and all; and\ntherefore is a fit man to have to do with God. There is room also in\nthis man\u2019s house, in this man\u2019s heart, in this man\u2019s spirit, for God to\ndwell, for God to walk, for God to set up a kingdom.\n\nHere, therefore, is suitableness. \u2018Can two walk together,\u2019 saith God,\n\u2018except they be agreed?\u2019 (Amos 3:3). The broken-hearted desireth God\u2019s\ncompany; when wilt thou come unto me? saith he. The broken-hearted\nloveth to hear God speak and talk to him. Here is a suitableness. \u2018Make\nme,\u2019 saith he, \u2018to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou\nhast broken may rejoice\u2019 (Psa 51:8). But here lies the glory, in that\nthe high and lofty One, the God that inhabiteth eternity, and that was\na high and holy place for his habitation, should choose to dwell with,\nand to be a companion of the broken in heart, and of them that are of a\ncontrite spirit. Yea, and here also is great comfort for such.\n\nFourth. God doth not only prefer such a heart before all sacrifices,\nnor esteems such a man above heaven and earth; nor yet only desire to\nbe of his acquaintance, but he reserveth for him his chief comforts,\nhis heart-reviving and soul-cherishing cordials. \u2018I dwell,\u2019 saith he,\nwith such to revive them, and to support and comfort them, \u2018to revive\nthe spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones\u2019\n(Isa 57:15). The broken-hearted man is a fainting man; he has his\nqualms, his sinking fits; he ofttimes dies away with pain and fear; he\nmust be stayed with flagons, and comforted with apples, or else he\ncannot tell what to do: he pines, he pines away in his iniquity; nor\ncan any thing keep him alive and make him well but the comforts and\ncordials of Almighty God (Exo 33:10,11). Wherefore with such an one God\nwill dwell, to revive the heart, to revive the spirit. \u2018To revive the\nspirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.\u2019\n\nGod has cordials, but they are to comfort them that are cast down (2\nCor 7:6); and such are the broken-hearted; as for them that are whole,\nthey need not the physician (Mark 2:17). They are the broken in spirit\nthat stand in need of cordials; physicians are men of no esteem but\nwith them that feel their sickness; and this is one reason why God is\nso little accounted of in the world, even because they have not been\nmade sick by the wounding stroke of God. But now when a man is wounded,\nhas his bones broken, or is made sick, and laid at the grave\u2019s mouth,\nwho is of that esteem with him as is an able physician? What is so much\ndesired as are the cordials, comforts, and suitable supplies of the\nskilful physician in those matters. And thus it is with the\nbroken-hearted; he needs, and God has prepared for him plenty of the\ncomforts and cordials of heaven, to succour and relieve his sinking\nsoul.\n\nWherefore such a one lieth under all the promises that have succour in\nthem, and consolation for men, sick and desponding under the sense of\nsin and the heavy wrath of God; and they, says God, shall be refreshed\nand revived with them. Yea, they are designed for them; he hath\ntherefore broken their hearts, he hath therefore wounded their spirits,\nthat he might make them apt to relish his reviving cordials, that he\nmight minister to them his reviving comforts. For indeed, so soon as he\nhath broken them, his bowels yearn, and his compassions roll up and\ndown within him, and will not suffer him to abide afflicting. Ephraim\nwas one of these; but so soon as God had smitten him, behold his heart,\nhow it works towards him. \u2018Is Ephraim,\u2019 saith he, \u2018my dear son?\u2019 that\nis, he is so; \u2018is he a pleasant child?\u2019 that is, he is so; \u2018for since I\nspake against him, I do earnestly remember him still; therefore my\nbowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith\nthe Lord\u2019 (Jer 31:18-20). This therefore is another demonstration.\n\nFifth. As God prefers such a heart, and esteems the man that has it\nabove heaven and earth; as he covets intimacy with such an one, and\nprepares for him his cordials; so when he sent his Son Jesus into the\nworld to be a Saviour, he gave him in special a charge to take care of\nsuch; yea, that was one of the main reasons he sent him down from\nheaven, anointed for his work on earth. \u2018The Spirit of the Lord God is\nupon me,\u2019 saith he; \u2018because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel\nto the poor; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,\u2019 &c. (Luke\n4:18; Isa 61:1). Now that this is meant of Christ, is confirmed by his\nown lips; for in the days of his flesh he takes this book in his hand,\nwhen he was in the synagogue at Nazareth, and read this very place unto\nthe people; and then tells them that that very day that Scripture was\nfulfilled in their ears (Luke 6:16-18).\n\nBut see, these are the souls whose welfare is contrived in the heavens.\nGod consulted their salvation, their deliverance, their health, before\nhis Son came down from thence. Doth not therefore this demonstrate,\nthat a broken-hearted man, that a man of a contrite spirit, is of great\nesteem with God. I have often wondered at David that he should give\nJoab and the men of war a charge, that they take heed that they carry\nit tenderly to that young rebel Absalom his son (2 Sam 18:5). But that\nGod, the high God, the God against whom we have sinned, should, so soon\nas he has smitten, give his Son a command, a charge, a commission to\ntake care of, to bind up and heal the broken in heart; this is that\nwhich can never be sufficiently admired or wondered at by men or\nangels.\n\nAnd as this was his commission, so he acted; as is evidently set forth\nby the parable of the man who fell among thieves. He went to him,\npoured into his wounds wine and oil; he bound him up, took him, set him\nupon his own beast, had him to an inn, gave the host a charge to look\nwell to him, with money in hand, and a promise at his return to\nrecompence him in what farther he should be expensive while he was\nunder his care (Luke 10:30-35). Behold, therefore, the care of God\nwhich he has for the broken in heart; he has given a charge to Christ\nhis Son, to look well to them, and to bind up and heal their wounds.\nBehold also the faithfulness of Christ, who doth not hide, but read\nthis commission as soon as he entereth upon his ministry, and also\nfalls into the practical part thereof. \u2018He healeth the broken in heart,\nand bindeth up their wounds\u2019 (Psa 147:3).\n\nAnd behold again into whose care a broken heart and a contrite spirit\nhath put this poor creature; he is under the care of God, the care and\ncure of Christ. If a man was sure that his disease had put him under\nthe special care of the king and the queen, yet could he not be sure of\nlife, he might die under their sovereign hands. Ay, but here is a man\nin the favour of God, and under the hand of Christ to be healed; under\nwhose hand none yet ever died for want of skill and power in him to\nsave their life; wherefore this man must live; Christ has in commission\nnot only to bind up his wounds, but to heal him. He has of himself so\nexpounded it in reading his commission; wherefore he that has his heart\nbroken, and that is of a contrite spirit, must not only be taken in\nhand, but healed; healed of his pain, grief, sorrow, sin, and fears of\ndeath and hell-fire; wherefore he adds, that he must give unto such\n\u2018beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise\nfor the spirit of heaviness,\u2019 and must \u2018comfort all that mourn\u2019 (Isa\n61:2,3). This, I say, he has in the commission, the broken-hearted are\nput into his hand, and he has said himself he will heal him. Hence he\nsays of that same man, \u2018I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will\nlead him also, and restore comforts unto him, and to his mourners;\u2014and\nI will heal him\u2019 (Isa 57:18,19). And this is a fifth demonstration.\n\nSixth. As God prefers such a heart, and so esteems the man that has it;\nas he desires his company, has provided for him his cordials, and given\na charge to Christ to heal him, so he has promised in conclusion to\nsave him. \u2018He saveth such as be of a contrite spirit,\u2019 or, as the\nmargin has it, that be \u2018contrite of spirit\u2019 (Psa 34:18).\n\nAnd this is the conclusion of all; for to save a man is the end of all\nspecial mercy. \u2018He saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.\u2019 To save, is\nto forgive; for without forgiveness of sins we cannot be saved. To\nsave, is to preserve one in this miserable world, and to deliver one\nfrom all those devils, temptations, snares, and destructions that\nwould, were we not kept, were we not preserved of God, destroy us body\nand soul for ever. To save, is to bring a man body and soul to glory,\nand to give him an eternal mansion house in heaven, that he may dwell\nin the presence of this good God, and the Lord Jesus, and to sing to\nthem the songs of his redemption for ever and ever. This it is to be\nsaved; nor can any thing less than this complete the salvation of the\nsinner. Now, this is to be the lot of him that is of a broken heart,\nand the end that God will make with him that is of a contrite spirit.\n\u2018He saveth such as be contrite of spirit.\u2019 He saveth such! This is\nexcellent!\n\nBut, do the broken in spirit believe this? Can they imagine that this\nis to be the end that God has designed them to, and that he intended to\nmake with them in the day in which he began to break their hearts? No,\nno; they, alas! think quite the contrary. They are afraid that this is\nbut the beginning of death, and a token that they shall never see the\nface of God with comfort, either in this world or that which is to\ncome. Hence they cry, \u2018Cast me not away from thy presence\u2019; or, Now I\nam \u2018free among the dead whom God remembers no more\u2019 (Psa 51:11,\n88:4,5). For indeed there goes to the breaking of the heart a visible\nappearance of the wrath of God, and a home charge from heaven of the\nguilt of sin to the conscience. This to reason is very dreadful; for it\ncuts the soul down to the ground; \u2018for a wounded spirit who [none] can\nbear?\u2019 (Prov 18:14).\n\nIt seems also now to this man, that this is but the beginning of hell;\nbut as it were the first step down to the pit; when, indeed, all these\nare but the beginnings of love, and but that which makes way for life.\nThe Lord kills before he makes alive; he wounds before his hands make\nwhole. Yea, he does the one in order to, or because he would do the\nother; he wounds, because his purpose is to heal; \u2018he maketh sore, and\nbindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole\u2019 (Deut 32:39; 1 Sam\n2:6; Job 5:18). His design, I say, is the salvation of the soul. He\nscourgeth, he breaketh the heart of every son whom he receiveth, and\nwoe be to him whose heart God breaketh not.\n\nAnd thus have I proved what at first I asserted, namely, that a spirit\nrightly broken, an heart truly contrite, is to God an excellent thing.\n\u2018A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.\u2019 For this\nsay I, First. This is evident; for that it is better than sacrifices,\nthan all sacrifice. Second. The man that has it is of more esteem with\nGod than heaven or earth. Third. God coveteth such a man for his\nintimate and house companion. Fourth. He reserveth for them his\ncordials and spiritual comforts. Fifth. He has given his Son a Charge,\na commandment to take care that the broken-hearted be healed; and he is\nresolved to heal them. Sixth. And concluded, that the broken-hearted,\nand they that are of a contrite spirit, shall be saved, that is,\npossessed of the heavens.\n\n[III. WHAT A BROKEN HEART, AND WHAT A CONTRITE SPIRIT IS.]\n\n\nI come now in order to show you what a broken heart and what a contrite\nspirit is. This must be done, because in the discovery of this lies\nboth the comfort of them that have it, and the conviction of them that\nhave it not. Now, that I may do this the better, I must propound and\nspeak to these four things. FIRST. I must show you what an one that\nheart is that is not broken, that is not contrite. SECOND. I must show\nyou how, or with what the heart is broken and made contrite. THIRD.\nShow you how, and what it is, when broken and made contrite. And,\nFOURTH. I shall, last of all, give you some signs of a broken and\ncontrite heart.\n\nFIRST. For the first of these, to wit, What an one that heart is, that\nis not a broken, that is not a contrite heart.\n\nFirst. The heart, before it is broken, is hard and stubborn, and\nobstinate against God, and the salvation of the soul (Zech 7:12; Deut\n2:30, 9:27).\n\nSecond. It is a heart full of evil imaginations and darkness (Gen\n18:12; Rom 1:21).\n\nThird. It is a heart deceitful and subject to be deceived, especially\nabout the things of an eternal concernment (Isa 44:20; Deut 11:16).\n\nFourth. It is a heart that rather gathereth iniquity and vanity to\nitself than anything that is good for the soul (Psa 41:6, 94:11).\n\nFifth. It is an unbelieving heart, and one that will turn away from God\nto sin (Heb 3:12; Deut 17:17).\n\nSixth. It is a heart not prepared for God, being uncircumcised, nor for\nthe reception of his holy word (2 Chron 12:14; Psa 78:8; Acts 7:51).\n\nSeventh. It is a heart not single, but double; it will pretend to serve\nGod, but will withal lean to the devil and sin (Psa 12:2; Eze 33:31).\n\nEighth. It is a heart proud and stout: it loves not to be controlled,\nthough the controller be God himself (Psa 101:5; Prov 16:5; Mal 3:13).\n\nNinth. It is a heart that will give place to Satan, but will resist the\nHoly Ghost (Acts 5:3, 7:51).\n\nTenth. In a word, \u2018It is deceitful above all things, and desperately\nwicked\u2019; so wicked that none can know it (Jer 17:9).\n\nThat the heart before it is broken is such, and worse than I have\ndescribed it to be, is sufficiently seen by the whole course of the\nworld. Where is the man whose heart has not been broken, and whose\nspirit is not contrite, that according to the Word of God deals\nhonestly with his own soul? It is one character of a right heart, that\nit is sound in God\u2019s statutes, and honest (Psa 119:18; Luke 8:15). Now,\nan honest heart will not put off itself, nor be put off with that which\nwill not go for current money with the merchant; I mean, with that\nwhich will not go for saving grace at the day of judgment. But alas!\nalas! but few men, how honest soever they are to others, have honesty\ntowards themselves; though he is the worst of deceivers who deceiveth\nhis own soul, as James has it, about the things of his own soul\n(1:22,26). But,\n\nSECOND. I now come to show you with what and how the heart is broken,\nand the spirit made contrite.\n\n[First. With what the heart is broken, and the spirit made contrite.]\n\nThe instrument with which the heart is broken, and with which the\nspirit is made contrite, is the Word. \u2018Is not my word like as a fire,\nsaith the Lord; and like a hammer, that breaketh the rock in pieces?\u2019\n(Jer 23:29). The rock, in this text, is the heart, which in another\nplace is compared to an adamant, which adamant is harder than flint\n(Zech 7:11,12; Eze 3:9). This rock, this adamant, this stony heart, is\nbroken and made contrite by the Word. But it only is so, when the Word\nis as a fire, and as a hammer to break and melt it. And then, and then\nonly, it is as a fire, and a hammer to the heart to break it, when it\nis managed by the arm of God. No man can break the heart with the Word;\nno angel can break the heart with the Word; that is, if God forbears to\nsecond it by mighty power from heaven. This made Balaam go without a\nheart rightly broken, and truly contrite, though he was rebuked by an\nangel; and the Pharisees die in their sins, though rebuked for them,\nand admonished to turn from them, by the Saviour of the world.\nWherefore, though the Word is the instrument with which the heart is\nbroken, yet it is not broken with the Word, till that Word is managed\nby the might and power of God.\n\nThis made the prophet Isaiah, after long preaching, cry out, that he\nhad laboured for nought, and in vain; and this made him cry to God, \u2018to\nrend the heavens and come down,\u2019 that the mountains, or rocky hills, or\nhearts, might be broken, and melt at his presence (Isa 44:4, 64:1,2).\nFor he found by experience, that as to this no effectual work could be\ndone, unless the Lord put to his hand. This also is often intimated in\nthe Scriptures, where it saith, when the preachers preached effectually\nto the breaking of men\u2019s hearts, \u2018the Lord wrought with them;[2] the\nhand of the Lord was with them,\u2019 and the like (Mark 16:20; Acts 11:21).\n\nNow when the hand of the Lord is with the Word, then it is mighty: it\nis \u2018mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds\u2019 (2 Cor\n10:4). It is sharp, then, as a sword in the soul and spirit; it sticks\nlike an arrow in the hearts of sinners, to the causing of the people to\nfall at his foot for mercy (Heb 4:12). Then it is, as was said afore,\nas a fire and as a hammer to break this rock in pieces (Psa 110:3). And\nhence the Word is made mention of under a double consideration. 1. As\nit stands by itself. 2. As attended with power from heaven.\n\n1. As it stands by itself, and is not seconded with saving operation\nfrom heaven, it is called the Word only, the Word barely, or as if it\nwas only the word of men (1 Thess 1:5-7; 1 Cor 4:19,20; 1 Thess 2:13).\nBecause, then, it is only as managed by men, who are not able to make\nit accomplish that work. The Word of God, when in a man\u2019s hand only, is\nlike the father\u2019s sword in the hand of the sucking child; which sword,\nthough never so well pointed, and though never so sharp on the edges,\nis not now able to conquer a foe, and to make an enemy fall and cry out\nfor mercy, because it is but in the hand of the child. But now, let the\nsame sword be put into the hand of a skilful father\u2014and God is both\nskilful and able to manage his Word\u2014and then the sinner, and then the\nproud helpers too, are both made to stoop, and submit themselves;\nwherefore, I say, though the Word be the instrument, yet of itself doth\ndo no saving good to the soul; the heart is not broken, nor the spirit\nmade contrite thereby; it only worketh death, and leaveth men in the\nchains of their sins, still faster bound over to eternal condemnation\n(2 Cor 2:15,16).\n\n2. But when seconded by mighty power, then the same Word is as the\nroaring of a lion, as the piercing of a sword, as a burning fire in the\nbones, as thunder and as a hammer that dashes all to pieces (Jer 25:30;\nAmos 1:2, 3:8; Acts 2:37; Jer 20:9; Psa 29:3-9). Wherefore, from hence\nit is to be concluded, that whoever has heard the Word preached, and\nhas not heard the voice of the living God therein, has not as yet had\ntheir hearts broken, nor their spirits made contrite for their sins.\n\n[Second. How the heart is broken, and the spirit made contrite.]\n\nAnd this leads me to the second thing, to wit, To show how the heart is\nbroken and the spirit made contrite by the Word, and verily it is when\nthe Word comes home with power. But yet this is but general; wherefore,\nmore particularly,\n\n1. Then the Word works effectually to this purpose, when it findeth out\nthe sinner and his sin, and shall convince him that it has found him\nout. Thus it was with our first father; when he had sinned, he sought\nto hide himself from God; he gets among the trees of the garden, and\nthere he shrouds himself; but yet, not thinking himself secure, he\ncovers himself with fig-leaves; and now he lieth quiet. Now God shall\nnot find me, thinks he, nor know what I have done. But lo! by and by,\nhe \u2018hears the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden.\u2019 And now,\nAdam, what do you mean to do? Why, as yet, he skulketh, and hides his\nhead, and seeks yet to lie undiscovered; but behold, the voice cries\nout, ADAM! and now he begins to tremble. \u2018Adam, where art thou?\u2019 says\nGod; and now Adam is made to answer (Gen 3:7-11). But the voice of the\nLord God doth not leave him here: no, it now begins to search, and to\ninquire after his doings, and to unravel what he had wrapt together and\ncovered, until it made him bare and naked in his own sight before the\nface of God. Thus, therefore, doth the Word, when managed by the arm of\nGod. It findeth out, it singleth out the sinner; the sinner finds it\nso; it finds out the sins of the sinner; it unravels his whole life, it\nstrips him and lays him naked in his own sight before the face of God;\nneither can the sinner nor his wickedness be longer hid and covered;\nand now begins the sinner to see what he never saw before.\n\n2. Another instance for this is David, the man of our text. He sins, he\nsins grossly, he sins and hides it; yea, and seeks to hide it from the\nface of God and man. Well, Nathan is sent to preach a preaching to him,\nand that in common, and that in special: in common, by a parable; in\nspecial, by a particular application of it to him. While Nathan only\npreached in common, or in general, David was fish-whole,[3] and stood\nas right in his own eyes as if he had been as innocent and as harmless\nas any man alive. But God had a love for David; and therefore commands\nhis servant Nathan to go home, not only to David\u2019s ears, but to David\u2019s\nconscience. Well, David now must fall. Says Nathan, \u2018Thou art the man\u2019;\nsays David, \u2018I have sinned,\u2019 and then his heart was broken, and his\nspirit made contrite; as this psalm and our text doth show (2 Sam\n12:1-13).\n\n3. A third instance is that of Saul; he had heard many a sermon, and\nwas become a great professor, yea, he was more zealous than were many\nof his equals; but his heart was never broken, nor his spirit ever made\ncontrite, till he heard one preach from heaven, till he heard God, in\nthe Word of God, making inquiry after his sins: \u2018Saul, Saul, why\npersecutest thou me?\u2019 says Jesus; and then he can stand no longer: for\nthen his heart brake, then he falls to the ground, then he trembles,\nthen he cries out, \u2018Who art thou, Lord?\u2019 and, \u2018Lord, what wilt thou\nhave me to do?\u2019 (Acts 9). Wherefore, as I said, Then the word works\neffectually to this purpose, when it findeth out the sinner and his\nsin, and also when it shall convince him that it has found him out.\nOnly I must join here a caution, for every operation of the Word upon\nthe conscience is not saving; nor doth all conviction end in the saving\nconversion of the sinner. It is then only such an operation of the Word\nthat is intended, namely, that shows the sinner not only the evil of\nhis ways, but brings the heart unfeignedly over to God by Christ. And\nthis brings me to the third thing.\n\nTHIRD. I am therefore come to show you how and what the heart is when\nbroken and made contrite. And this I must do, by opening unto you the\ntwo chief expressions in the text. First. What is meant by this word\nbroken. Second. What is meant by this word contrite.\n\nFirst. For this word broken, Tindal renders it a troubled heart;[4] but\nI think there is more in it. I take it, therefore, to be a heart\ndisabled, as to former actions, even as a man whose bones are broken is\ndisabled, as to his way of running, leaping, wrestling, or ought else,\nwhich vainly he was wont to do; wherefore, that which was called a\nbroken heart in the text, he calls his broken bones, in verse the\neighth: \u2018Cause me,\u2019 saith he, \u2018to hear joy and gladness, that the bones\nwhich thou hast broken may rejoice\u2019 (Psa 51:8). And why is the breaking\nof the heart compared to the breaking of the bones? but because as when\nthe bones are broken, the outward man is disabled as to what it was\nwont to do; so when the spirit is broken, the inward man is disabled as\nto what vanity and folly it before delighted in; hence, feebleness is\njoined with this brokenness of heart. \u2018I am feeble,\u2019 saith he, \u2018and\nsore broken\u2019 (Psa 38:8). I have lost my strength and former vigour, as\nto vain and sinful courses.\n\nThis, then, it is to have the heart broken; namely, to have it lamed,\ndisabled, and taken off by sense of God\u2019s wrath due to sin, from that\ncourse of life it formerly was conversant in; and to show that this\nwork is no fancy, nor done but with great trouble to the soul, it is\ncompared to the putting the bones out of joint, the breaking of the\nbones, the burning of the bones with fire, or as the taking the natural\nmoisture from the bones, the vexing of the bones, &c. (Psa 23:14; Jer\n20:9; Lam 1:13; Psa 6:2; Prov 17:22). All which are expressions adorned\nwith such similitudes, as do undeniably declare that to sense and\nfeeling a broken heart is a grievous thing.\n\nSecond. What is meant by the word contrite. A contrite spirit is a\npenitent one; one sorely grieved, and deeply sorrowful, for the sins it\nhas committed against God, and to the damage of the soul; and so it is\nto be taken in all those places where a contrite spirit is made mention\nof; as in Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 57:15, 66:2.\n\nAs a man that has by his folly procured a broken leg or arm, is\nheartily sorry that ever he was so foolish as to be engaged in such\nfoolish ways of idleness and vanity; so he whose heart is broken with a\nsense of God\u2019s wrath due to his sin, hath deep sorrow in his soul, and\nis greatly repentant that ever he should be such a fool, as by\nrebellious doings to bring himself and his soul to so much sharp\naffliction. Hence, while others are sporting themselves in vanity, such\na one doth call his sin his greatest folly. \u2018My wounds stink, and are\ncorrupt,\u2019 saith David, \u2018because of my foolishness.\u2019 And again, \u2018O God,\nthou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from thee\u2019 (Psa\n38:5, 69:5).\n\nMen, whatever they say with their lips, cannot conclude, if yet their\nhearts want breaking, that sin is a foolish thing. Hence it says, \u2018The\nfoolishness of fools is folly\u2019 (Prov 14:24). That is, the foolishness\nof some men, is that they take pleasure in their sins; for their sins\nare their foolishness, and the folly of their soul lies in their\ncountenancing of this foolishness. But the man whose heart is broken,\nhe is none of these, he cannot be one of these, no more than he that\nhas his bones broken can rejoice that he is desired to play a match at\nfootball. Hence, to hear others talk foolishly, is to the grief of\nthose whom God has wounded: or, as it is in another place, their words\nare \u2018like the piercings of a sword\u2019 (Psa 69:26; Prov 12:18). This,\ntherefore, I take to be the meaning of these two words, a broken and a\ncontrite spirit.\n\nFOURTH. Lastly, As to this, I now come more particularly to give you\nsome signs of a broken heart, of a broken and a contrite spirit.\n\nFirst. A broken-hearted man, such as is intended in the text, is a\nsensible man; he is brought to the exercise of all the senses of his\nsoul. All others are dead, senseless, and without true feeling of what\nthe broken-hearted man is sensible of.\n\n1. He sees himself to be what others are ignorant of; that is, he sees\nhimself to be not only a sinful man, but a man by nature in the gall\nand bond of sin. In the gall of sin: it is Peter\u2019s expression to Simon,\nand it is a saying common to all men: for every man in a state of\nnature is in the gall of sin; he was shapen in it, conceived in it; it\nhas also possession of, and by that possession infected the whole of\nhis soul and body (Psa 51:5; Acts 8:23). This he sees, this he\nunderstands; every professor sees not this, because the blessing of a\nbroken heart is not bestowed on every one. David says, \u2018There is no\nsoundness in my flesh\u2019; and Solomon suggests that a plague or running\nsore is in the very heart. But every one perceives not this (Psa 38:3;\n1 Kings 8:38). He saith again, that his \u2018wounds stank, and were\ncorrupted\u2019: that his \u2018sore ran, and ceased not\u2019 (Psa 38:5, 77:2). But\nthese things the brutish man, the man whose heart was never broken, has\nno understanding of. But the broken-hearted, the man that has a broken\nspirit, he sees, as the prophet has it, he sees his sickness, he sees\nhis wound: \u2018When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound\u2019; he\nsees it to his grief, he sees it to his sorrow (Hosea 5:13).\n\n2. He feels what others have no sense of; he feels the arrows of the\nAlmighty, and that they stick fast in him (Psa 38:2). He feels how sore\nand sick, by the smiting of God\u2019s hammer upon his heart to break it,\nhis poor soul is made. He feels a burden intolerably lying upon his\nspirit (Hosea 5:13). \u2018Mine iniquities,\u2019 saith he, \u2018are gone over mine\nhead; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me\u2019 (Psa 38:4). He feels\nalso the heavy hand of God upon his soul, a thing unknown to carnal\nmen. He feels pain, being wounded, even such pain as others cannot\nunderstand, because they are not broken. \u2018My heart,\u2019 saith David, \u2018is\nsore pained within me.\u2019 Why so? Why! \u2018The terrors of death are fallen\nupon me\u2019 (Psa 55:4). The terrors of death cause pain, yea, pain of the\nhighest nature; hence that which is here called pains, is in another\nplace called pangs (Isa 21:3).\n\nYou know broken bones occasion pain, strong pain, yea, pain that will\nmake a man or woman groan \u2018with the groanings of a deadly wounded man\u2019\n(Eze 30:24). Soul pain is the sorest pain, in comparison to which the\npain of the body is a very tolerable thing (Prov 18:14). Now here is\nsoul pain, here is heart pain; here we are discoursing of a wounded, of\na broken spirit; wherefore this is pain to be felt to the sinking of\nthe whole man, neither can any support this but God. Here is death in\nthis pain, death for ever, without God\u2019s special mercy. This pain will\nbring the soul to, and this the broken-hearted man doth feel. \u2018The\nsorrows of death,\u2019 saith David, \u2018compassed me, and the pains of hell\ngat hold upon me, I found trouble and sorrow\u2019 (Psa 116:3). Ay, I\u2019ll\nwarrant thee, poor man, thou foundest trouble and sorrow indeed; for\nthe pains of hell and sorrows of death are pains and sorrow the most\nintolerable. But this the man is acquainted with that has his heart\nbroken.[5]\n\n3. As he sees and feels, so he hears that which augments his woe and\nsorrow. You know, if a man has his bones broken, he does not only see\nand feel, but oft-times also hears what increases his grief; as, that\nhis wounds are incurable; that his bone is not rightly set; that there\nis danger of a gangrene; that he may be lost for want of looking to.\nThese are the voices, the sayings, that haunt the house of one that has\nhis bones broken. And a broken-hearted man knows what I mean by this;\nhe hears that which makes his lips quiver, and at the noise of which he\nseems to feel rottenness enter into his bones; he trembleth in himself,\nand wishes that he may hear joy and gladness, that the bones, the\nheart, and spirit, which God has broken, may rejoice (Habb 3:16; Psa\n51:8). He thinks he hears God say, the devil say, his conscience say,\nand all good men to whisper among themselves, saying, there is no help\nfor him from God. Job heard this, David heard this, Heman heard this;\nand this is the common sound in the ears of the broken-hearted.\n\n4. The broken-hearted smell what others cannot scent. Alas! sin never\nsmelled so to any man alive as it smells to the broken-hearted. You\nknow wounds will stink: but [there is] no stink like that of sin to the\nbroken-hearted man. His own sins stink, and so doth the sins of all the\nworld to him. Sin is like carrion; it is of a stinking nature; yea, it\nhas the worst of smells; however, some men like it (Psa 38:5). But none\nare offended with the scent thereof but God and the broken-hearted\nsinner. \u2018My wounds stink, and are corrupt,\u2019 saith he, both in God\u2019s\nnostrils and mine own. But, alas! who smells the stink of sin? None of\nthe carnal world; they, like carrion-crows, seek it, love it, and eat\nit as the child eats bread. \u2018They eat up the sin of my people,\u2019 saith\nGod, \u2018and they set their heart on their iniquity\u2019 (Hosea 4:8). This, I\nsay, they do, because they do not smell the nauseous scent of sin. You\nknow, that what is nauseous to the smell cannot be palatable to the\ntaste. The broken-hearted man doth find that sin is nauseous, and\ntherefore cries out it stinketh. They also think at times the smell of\nfire, of fire and brimstone, is upon them, they are so sensible of the\nwages due to sin.\n\n5. The broken-hearted is also a tasting man. Wounds, if sore, and full\nof pains, of great pains, do sometimes alter the taste of a man; they\nmake him think his meat, his drink, yea, that cordials have a bitter\ntaste in them. How many times doth the poor people of God, that are the\nonly men that know what a broken-heart doth mean, cry out that gravel,\nwormwood, gall, and vinegar, was made their meat (Lam 3:15,16,19). This\ngravel, gall, and wormwood, is the true temporal taste of sin; and God,\nto make them loathe it for ever, doth feed them with it till their\nhearts both ache and break therewith. Wickedness is pleasant of taste\nto the world; hence it is said they feed on ashes, they feed on the\nwind (Isa 44:20; Hosea 12:1). Lusts, or any thing that is vile and\nrefuse, the carnal world think relishes well; as is set out most\nnotably in the parable of the prodigal son. \u2018He would fain have filled\nhis belly,\u2019 saith our Lord, \u2018with the husks that the swine did eat\u2019\n(Luke 15:16). But the broken-hearted man has a relish that is true as\nto these things, though, by reason of the anguish of his soul, it\nabhors all manner of dainty meat (Job 33:19,20; Psa 107:17-19). Thus I\nhave showed you one sign of a broken-hearted man; he is a sensible man,\nhe has all the senses of his soul awakened, he can see, hear, feel,\ntaste, smell, and that as none but himself can do. I come now to\nanother sign of a broken and contrite man.\n\nSecond. And that is, he is a very sorrowful man. This, as the other, is\nnatural; it is natural to one that is in pain, and that has his bones\nbroken, to be a grieved and sorrowful man. He is none of the jolly ones\nof the times; nor can he, for his bones, his heart, his heart is\nbroken.\n\n1. He is sorry for that he feels and finds in himself a pravity of\nnature; I told you before he is sensible of it, he sees it, he feels\nit; and here I say he is sorry for it. It is this that makes him call\nhimself a wretched man; it is this that makes him loathe and abhor\nhimself; it is this that makes him blush, blush before God and be\nashamed (Rom 7:24; Job 42:5,6; Eze 36:31). He finds by nature no form\nnor comeliness in himself, but the more he looks in the glass of the\nWord, the more unhandsome, the more deformed he perceiveth sin has made\nhim. Every body sees not this, therefore every body is not sorry for\nit; but the broken in heart sees that he is by sin corrupted, marred,\nfull of lewdness and naughtiness; he sees that in him, that is, in his\nflesh, dwells no good thing; and this makes him sorry, yea, it makes\nhim sorry at heart. A man that has his bones broken finds he is\nspoiled, marred, disabled from doing as he would and should, at which\nhe is grieved and made sorry.\n\nMany are sorry for actual transgressions, because they do oft bring\nthem to shame before men; but few are sorry for the defects that sin\nhas made in nature, because they see not those defects themselves. A\nman cannot be sorry for the sinful defects of nature, till he sees they\nhave rendered him contemptible to God; nor is it any thing but a sight\nof God that can make him truly see what he is, and so be heartily sorry\nfor being so. Now \u2018mine eye seeth thee,\u2019 saith Job, now \u2018I abhor\nmyself.\u2019 \u2018Woe is me, for I am undone,\u2019 saith the prophet, \u2018for mine\neyes have seen the King the Lord.\u2019 And it was this that made Daniel say\nhis \u2018comeliness was turned in him into corruption\u2019; for he had now the\nvision of the Holy One (Job 42:6; Isa 6:1-5; Dan 10:8). Visions of God\nbreak the heart, because, by the sight the soul then has of his\nperfections, it sees its own infinite and unspeakable disproportion,\nbecause of the vileness of its nature.\n\nSuppose a company of ugly, uncomely, deformed persons dwelt together in\none house; and suppose that they never yet saw any man or woman more\nthan themselves, or that were arrayed with the splendours and\nperfections of nature; these would not be capable of comparing\nthemselves with any but themselves, and consequently would not be\naffected and made sorry for their uncomely natural defections. But now\nbring them out of their cells and holes of darkness, where they have\nbeen shut up by themselves, and let them take a view of the splendour\nand perfections of beauty that are in others, and then, if at all, they\nwill be sorry and dejected at the view of their own defects. This is\nthe case; men by sin are marred, spoiled, corrupted, depraved, but they\nmay dwell by themselves in the dark; they see neither God, nor angels,\nnor saints, in their excellent nature and beauty: and therefore they\nare apt to count their own uncomely parts their ornaments and their\nglory. But now let such, as I said, see God, see saints, or the\nornaments of the Holy Ghost, and themselves as they are without them,\nand then they cannot but must be affected with and sorry for their own\ndeformity. When the Lord Christ put forth but little of his excellency\nbefore his servant Peter\u2019s face, it raised up the depravity of Peter\u2019s\nnature before him to his great confusion and shame; and made him cry\nout to him in the midst of all his fellows, \u2018Depart from me, for I am a\nsinful man, O Lord\u2019 (Luke 5:4-8).\n\nThis therefore is the cause of a broken heart, even a sight of divine\nexcellencies, and a sense that I am a poor, depraved, spoiled defiled\nwretch; and this sight having broken the heart, begets sorrow in the\nbroken-hearted.\n\n2. The broken-hearted is a sorrowful man; for that he finds his\ndepravity of nature strong in him, to the putting forth itself to\noppose and overthrow what his changed mind doth prompt him to; \u2018When I\nwould do good,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018evil is present with me\u2019 (Rom 7:21). Evil\nis present to oppose, to resist, and make head against the desires of\nmy soul. The man that has his bones broken, may have yet a mind to be\nindustriously occupied in a lawful and honest calling; but he finds, by\nexperience, that an infirmity attends his present condition that\nstrongly resists his good endeavours; and at this he shakes his head,\nmakes complaints, and with sorrow of heart he sighs and says, I \u2018cannot\ndo the thing that I would\u2019 (Rom 7:15; Gal 5:17). I am weak, I am\nfeeble; I am not only depraved, but by that depravity deprived of\nability to put good motions,[6] good intentions and desires into\nexecution, to completeness; O says he, I am ready to halt, my sorrow is\ncontinually before me!\n\nYou must know that the broken-hearted loves God, loves his soul, loves\ngood, and hates evil. Now, for such an one to find in himself an\nopposition and continual contradiction to this holy passion, it must\nneeds cause sorrow, godly sorrow, as the apostle Paul calls it. For\nsuch are made sorrow after a godly sort. To be sorry for that thy\nnature is with sin depraved, and that through this depravity thou art\ndeprived of ability to do what the Word and thy holy mind doth prompt\nthee to, is to be sorry after a godly sort. For this sorrow worketh\nthat in thee of which thou wilt never have cause to repent; no, not to\neternity (2 Cor 7:9-11).\n\n3. The broken-hearted man is sorry for those breaches that, by reason\nof the depravity of his nature, are made in his life and conversation.\nAnd this was the case of the man in our text. The vileness of his\nnature had broken out to the defiling of his life, and to the making of\nhim, at this time, base in conversation. This, this was it, that all\nto[7] brake his heart. He saw in this he had dishonoured God, and that\ncut him, \u2018Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in\nthy sight\u2019 (Psa 51:4). He saw in this he had caused the enemies of God\nto open their mouths and blaspheme; and this cut him to the heart. This\nmade him cry, I have sinned against thee, Lord. This made him say, \u2018I\nwill declare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin\u2019 (Psa 38:18).\n\nWhen a man is designed to do a matter, when his heart is set upon it,\nand the broken-hearted doth design to glorify God, an obstruction to\nthat design, the spoiling of this work, makes him sorrowful. Hannah\ncoveted children, but could not have them, and this made her \u2018a woman\nof a sorrowful spirit\u2019 (1 Sam 1:15). A broken-hearted man would be well\ninwardly, and do that which is well outwardly; but he feels, he finds,\nhe sees he is prevented, prevented at least in part. This makes him\nsorrowful; in this he groans, groans earnestly, being burdened with his\nimperfections (2 Cor 5:1-3). You know one with broken bones has\nimperfections many, and is more sensible of them, too, as was said\nafore, than any other man; and this makes him sorrowful, yea, and makes\nhim conclude that he shall go softly all his days in the bitterness of\nhis soul (Isa 38:15).\n\nThird. The man with a broken heart is a very humble man; or, true\nhumility is a sign of a broken heart. Hence, brokenness of heart,\ncontrition of spirit, and humbleness of mind, are put together. \u2018To\nrevive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the\ncontrite ones\u2019 (Isa 57:15).\n\nTo follow our similitude. Suppose a man, while in bodily health, stout\nand strong, and one that fears and cares for no man; yet let this man\nhave but a leg or an arm broken, and his courage is quelled; he is now\nso far off from hectoring of it with a man, that he is afraid of every\nlittle child that doth but offer to touch him. Now he will court the\nmost feeble that has ought to do with him, to use him and handle him\ngently. Now he is become a child in courage, a child in fear, and\nhumbleth himself as a little child.\n\nWhy, thus it is with that man that is of a broken and contrite spirit.\nTime was, indeed, he could hector, even hector it with God himself,\nsaying, \u2018What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?\u2019 or what\nprofit shall I have if I keep his commandments? (Job 21:15; Mal\n3:13,14). Ay! But now his heart is broken; God has wrestled with him,\nand given him a fall, to the breaking of his bones, his heart; and now\nhe crouches, now he cringes, now he begs of God that he will not only\ndo him good, but do it with tender hands. \u2018Have mercy upon me, O God,\u2019\nsaid David; yea, \u2018according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies,\nblot out my transgressions\u2019 (Psa 51:1).\n\nHe stands, as he sees, not only in need of mercy, but of the tenderest\nmercies. God has several sorts of mercies, some more rough, some more\ntender. God can save a man, and yet have him a dreadful way to heaven!\nThis the broken-hearted sees, and this the broken-hearted dreads, and\ntherefore pleads for the tenderest sort of mercies; and here we read of\nhis gentle dealing, and that he is very pitiful, and that he deals\ntenderly with his. But the reason of such expressions no man knows but\nhe that is broken-hearted; he has his sores, his running sores, his\nstinking sores; wherefore he is pained, and therefore covets to be\nhandled tenderly. Thus God has broken the pride of his spirit, and\nhumbled the loftiness of man. And his humility yet appears,\n\n1. In his thankfulness for natural life. He reckoneth at night, when he\ngoes to bed, that like as a lion, so God will tear him to pieces before\nthe morning light (Isa 38:13). There is no judgment that has fallen\nupon others, but he counts of right he should be swallowed up by it.\n\u2018My flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments\u2019\n(Psa 119:120). But perceiving a day added to his life, and that he in\nthe morning is still on this side hell, he cannot choose but take\nnotice of it, and acknowledge it as a special favour, saying, God be\nthanked for holding my soul in life till now, and for keeping my life\nback from the destroyer (Job 33:22; Psa 56:13, 86:13).\n\nMan, before his heart is broken, counts time his own, and therefore he\nspends it lavishly upon every idle thing. His soul is far from fear,\nbecause the rod of God is not upon him; but when he sees himself under\nthe wounding hand of God, or when God, like a lion, is breaking all his\nbones, then he humbleth himself before him, and falleth at his foot.\nNow he has learned to count every moment a mercy, and every small\nmorsel a mercy.\n\n2. Now also the least hopes of mercy for his soul, O how precious is\nit! He that was wont to make orts[8] of the gospel, and that valued\npromises but as stubble, and the words of God but as rotten wood; now,\nwith what an eye doth he look on the promise? Yea, he counted a\nperadventure of mercy more rich, more worth, than the whole world. Now,\nas we say, he is glad to leap at a crust; now, to be a dog in God\u2019s\nhouse is counted better by him than to \u2018dwell in the tents of the\nwicked\u2019 (Matt 15:16,27; Luke 15:17-19).\n\n3. Now he that was wont to look scornfully upon the people of God, yea,\nthat used to scorn to show them a gentle cast of his countenance; now\nhe admires and bows before them, and is ready to lick the dust of their\nfeet, and would count it his greatest, the highest honour, to be as one\nof the least of them. \u2018Make me as one of thy hired servants,\u2019 says he\n(Luke 15:19).\n\n4. Now he is, in his own eyes, the greatest fool in nature; for that he\nsees he has been so mistaken in his ways, and has not yet but little,\nif any true knowledge of God. Every one now, says he, have more\nknowledge of God than I; every one serves him better than I (Psa\n73:21,22; Prov 30:2,3).\n\n5. Now may he be but one, though the least in the kingdom of heaven!\nNow may he be but one, though the least in the church on earth! Now may\nhe be but loved, though the least beloved of saints! How high an\naccount doth he set thereon!\n\n6. Now, when he talketh with God or men, how doth he debase himself\nbefore them! If with God, how does he accuse himself, and load himself\nwith the acknowledgments of his own villanies, which he committed in\nthe days wherein he was the enemy of God! \u2018Lord,\u2019 said Paul, that\ncontrite one, \u2018I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that\nbelieved on thee. And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I\nalso was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the\nraiment of them that slew him\u2019 (Acts 22:19,20). Yea, I punished thy\nsaints \u2018oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and\nbeing exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange\ncities\u2019 (Acts 26:9-11).\n\nAlso, when he comes to speak to saints, how doth he make himself vile\nbefore them! \u2018I am,\u2019 saith he, \u2018the least of the apostles; that am not\nmeet to be called an apostle\u2019; I am \u2018less than the least of all\nsaints\u2019; I was a blasphemer; I was a persecutor, and injurious, &c. (1\nCor 15:9; Eph 3:8; 1 Tim 1:13). What humility, what self-abasing\nthoughts, doth a broken heart produce! When David danced before the ark\nof God, also how did he discover his nakedness to the disliking of his\nwife; and when she taunted him for his doings, says he, \u2018It was before\nthe Lord,\u2019 &c., \u2018and I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be\nbase in mine own sight\u2019 (2 Sam 6:20-22). O, the man that is, or that\nhas been kindly broken in his spirit, and that is of a contrite heart,\nis a lowly, humble man.\n\nFourth. The broken-hearted man is a man that sees himself in spirituals\nto be poor. Therefore, as humble and contrite, so poor and contrite are\nput together in the Word. \u2018But to this man will I look, even to him\nthat is poor, and of a contrite spirit\u2019 (Isa 66:1,2). And here we still\npursue our metaphor. A wounded man, a man with broken bones, concludes\nhis condition to be but poor, very poor. Ask him how he does, and he\nanswers, \u2018Truly, neighbours, in a very poor condition!\u2019 Also you have\nthe spiritual poverty of such as have, or have had their hearts broken,\nand that have been of contrite spirits, much made mention of in the\nWord. And they go by two names to distinguish them from others. They\nare called THY poor, that is, God\u2019s poor; they are also called \u2018the\npoor in spirit\u2019 (Psa 72:2, 74:19; Matt 5:3). Now, the man that is poor\nin his own eyes, for of him we now discourse, and the broken-hearted is\nsuch an one, is sensible of his wants. He knows he cannot help himself,\nand therefore is forced to be content to live by the charity of others.\nThus it is in nature, thus it is in grace.\n\n1. The broken-hearted now knows his wants, and he knew it not till now.\nAs he that has a broken bone, knew no want of a bone-setter till he\nknew his bone was broken. His broken bone makes him know it; his pain\nand anguish makes him know it; and thus it is in spirituals. Now he\nsees to be poor indeed is to want the sense of the favour of God; for\nhis great pain is a sense of wrath, as hath been shown before. And the\nvoice of joy would heal his broken bones (Psa 51:8). Two things he\nthinks would make him rich. (1) A right and title to Jesus Christ, and\nall his benefits. (2) And saving faith therein. They that are\nspiritually rich are rich in him, and in the faith of him (2 Cor 8:9;\nJames 2:5).\n\nThe first of these giveth us a right to the kingdom of heaven; and the\nsecond yields the soul the comfort of it; and the broken-hearted man\nwants the sense and knowledge of his interest in these. That he knows\nhe wants them is plain; but that he knows he has them is what, as yet,\nhe wants the attainment of. Hence he says\u2014\u2018The poor and needy seek\nwater, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst\u2019 (Isa\n41:17). There is none in their view; none in their view for them. Hence\nDavid, when he had his broken heart, felt he wanted washing, he wanted\npurging, he wanted to be made white. He knew that spiritual riches lay\nthere but he did not so well perceive that God had washed and purged\nhim. Yea, he rather was afraid that all was going, that he was in\ndanger of being cast out of God\u2019s presence, and that the Spirit of\ngrace would be utterly taken from him (Psa 51). That is the first\nthing. The broken-hearted is poor, because he knows his wants.\n\n2. The broken-hearted is poor, because he knows he cannot help himself\nto what he knows he wants. The man that has a broken arm, as he knows\nit, so he knows of himself he cannot set it. This therefore is a second\nthing that declares a man is poor, otherwise he is not so. For suppose\na man wants never so much, yet if he can but help himself, if he can\nfurnish himself, if he can supply his own wants out of what he has, he\ncannot be a poor man. Yea, the more he wants, the greater are his\nriches, if he can supply his own wants out of his own purse.\n\nHe then is the poor man, that knows his spiritual want, and also knows\nhe cannot supply or help himself. But this the broken-hearted knows,\ntherefore he in his own eyes is the only poor man. True, he may have\nsomething of his own, but that will not supply his want, and therefore\nhe is a poor man still. I have sacrifices, says David, but thou dost\nnot desire them, therefore my poverty remains (Psa 51:16). Lead is not\ngold, lead is not current money with the merchants. There is none has\nspiritual gold to sell but Christ (Rev 3:18). What can a man do to\nprocure Christ, or procure faith, or love? Yea, had he never so much of\nhis own carnal excellencies, no, not one penny of it will go for pay in\nthat market where grace is to be hand. \u2018If a man would give all the\nsubstance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned\u2019 (Can\n8:7).\n\nThis the broken-hearted man perceives, and therefore he sees himself to\nbe spiritually poor. True he has a broken heart, and that is of great\nesteem with God; but that is not of nature\u2019s goodness, that is a gift,\na work of God; and that is the sacrifices of God. Besides, a man cannot\nremain content and at rest with that; for that, in the nature of it,\ndoes but show him he is poor, and that his wants are such as himself\ncannot supply. Besides, there is but little ease in a broken heart.\n\n3. The broken-hearted man is poor, and sees it; because he finds he is\nnow disabled to live any way else but by begging. This David betook\nhimself to, though he was a king; for he knew, as to his soul\u2019s health,\nhe could live no way else. \u2018This poor man cried,\u2019 saith he, \u2018and the\nLord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles\u2019 (Psa 34:6). And\nthis leads me to the fifth sign.\n\nFifth. Another sign of a broken heart is a crying, a crying out. Pain,\nyou know, will make one cry. Go to them that have upon them the anguish\nof broken bones, and see if they do not cry; anguish makes them cry.\nThis, this is that which quickly follows, if once thy heart be broken,\nand thy spirit indeed made contrite.\n\n1. I say, anguish will make thee cry. \u2018Trouble and anguish,\u2019 saith\nDavid, \u2018have taken hold on me\u2019 (Psa 119:143). Anguish, you know, doth\nnaturally provoke to crying; now, as a broken bone has anguish, a\nbroken heart has anguish. Hence the pains of one that has a broken\nheart are compared to the pangs of a woman in travail (John 16:20-22).\n\nAnguish will make one cry alone, cry to one\u2019s self; and this is called\na bemoaning of one\u2019s self. \u2018I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning\nhimself,\u2019 saith God (Jer 31:18). That is, being at present under the\nbreaking, chastising hand of God. \u2018Thou hast chastised me,\u2019 saith he,\n\u2018and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke.\u2019 This is\nhis meaning also who said, \u2018I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise.\u2019\nAnd why? Why, \u2018My heart is sore pained within me\u2019 (Psa 4:2-4).\n\nThis is a self-bemoaning, a bemoaning themselves in secret and retired\nplaces. You know it is common with them who are distressed with\nanguish, though all alone, to cry out to themselves of their present\npains, saying, O my leg! O my arm! O my bowels! Or, as the son of the\nShunammite, \u2018My head! my head!\u2019 (2 Kings 4:19). O the groans, the\nsighs, the cries, that the broken-hearted have, when by themselves, or\nalone! O, say they, my sins! my sins! my soul! my soul! How am I loaden\nwith guilt! How am I surrounded with fear! O this hard, this desperate,\nthis unbelieving heart! O how sin defileth my will, my mind, my\nconscience! \u2018I am afflicted and ready to die\u2019 (Psa 88:15).[9]\n\nCould some of you carnal people but get behind the chamber-door, to\nhear Ephraim when he is at the work of self-bemoaning, it would make\nyou stand amazed to hear him bewail that sin in himself in which you\ntake delight; and to hear him bemoan his misspending of time, while you\nspend all in pursuing your filthy lusts; and to hear him offended with\nhis heart, because it will not better comply with God\u2019s holy will,\nwhile you are afraid of his Word and ways, and never think yourselves\nbetter than when farthest off from God. The unruliness of the passions\nand lusts of the broken-hearted make them often get into a corner, and\nthus bemoan themselves.\n\n2. As they thus cry out in a bemoaning manner of and to themselves, so\nthey have their outcries of and against themselves to others; as she\nsaid in another case, \u2018Behold and see, if there be any sorrow like unto\nmy sorrow\u2019 (Lam 1:12). O the bitter cries and complaints that the\nbroken-hearted have, and make to one another! Still every one imagining\nthat his own wounds are deepest, and his own sores fullest of anguish,\nand hardest to be cured. Say they, if our iniquities be upon us, and we\npine away in them, how can we then live? (Eze 33:10).\n\nOnce being at an honest woman\u2019s house, I, after some pause, asked her\nhow she did? She said, Very badly. I asked her if she was sick? she\nanswered, No. What then, said I, are any of your children ill? She told\nme, No. What, said I, is your husband amiss, or do you go back in the\nworld? No, no, said she, but I am afraid I shall not be saved. And\nbroke out with heavy heart, saying, \u2018Ah, Goodman Bunyan! Christ and a\npitcher; if I had Christ, though I went and begged my bread with a\npitcher, it would be better with me than I think it is now!\u2019 This woman\nhad her heart broken, this woman wanted Christ, this woman was\nconcerned for her soul. There are but few women, rich women, that count\nChrist and a pitcher better than the world, their pride, and pleasures.\nThis woman\u2019s cries are worthy to be recorded; it was a cry that carried\nin it, not only a sense of the want, but also of the worth of Christ.\nThis cry, \u2018Christ and a pitcher,\u2019 made a melodious noise in the ears of\nthe very angels![10]\n\nBut, I say, few women cry out thus; few women are so in love with their\nown eternal salvation, as to be willing to part with all their lusts\nand vanities for Jesus Christ and a pitcher. Good Jacob also was thus:\n\u2018If the Lord,\u2019 said he, \u2018will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put\non, then he shall be my God.\u2019 Yea, he vowed it should be so. \u2018And Jacob\nvowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this\nway that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on; so\nthat I come again to my father\u2019s house in peace: then shall the Lord be\nmy God\u2019 (Gen 28:20).\n\n3. As they bemoan themselves, and make their complaints to one and\nanother, so they cry to God. \u2018O God,\u2019 said Heman, \u2018I have cried day and\nnight before thee.\u2019 But when? Why, when his soul was full of trouble,\nand his life drew near to the grave (Psa 88:1-3). Or, as it says in\nanother place, out of the deep, \u2018out of the belly of hell cried I\u2019 (Psa\n130:1; Jonah 2:2). By such words expressing what painful condition they\nwere in when they cried.\n\nSee how God himself words it. \u2018My pleasant portion,\u2019 says he, is become\n\u2018a desolate wilderness, _and being_ desolate, it mourneth unto me\u2019 (Jer\n12:11). And this also is natural to those whose hearts are broken.\nWhether goes the child, when it catcheth harm, but to its father, to\nits mother? Where doth it lay its head, but in their laps? Into whose\nbosom doth it pour out its complaint, more especially, but into the\nbosom of the father, of a mother, because there are bowels, there is\npity, there is relief and succour? And thus it is with them whose\nbones, whose hearts are broken. It is natural to them; they must cry;\nthey cannot but cry to him. \u2018Lord, heal me,\u2019 said David, \u2018for my bones\nare vexed; Lord, heal me, for my soul is also sore vexed\u2019 (Psa 6:1-3).\nHe that cannot cry feels no pain, sees no want, fears no danger, or\nelse is dead.\n\nSixth. Another sign of a broken heart, and of a contrite spirit is, it\ntrembleth at God\u2019s Word. \u2018To him that is poor, and of a contrite\nspirit, and trembleth at my Word\u2019 (Isa 66:2).\n\nThe Word of God is an awful Word to a broken-hearted man. Solomon says,\n\u2018The word of a king is as the roaring of a lion\u2019; and if so, what is\nthe Word of God? for by the wrath and fear is meant the authoritative\nword of a king. We have a proverb, \u2018The burnt child dreads the fire,\nthe whipped child fears the rod\u2019; even so the broken-hearted fears the\nWord of God. Hence you have a remark set upon them that tremble at\nGod\u2019s Word, to wit, they are they that keep among the godly; they are\nthey that keep within compass; they are they that are aptest to mourn,\nand to stand in the gap, when God is angry; and to turn away his wrath\nfrom a people.\n\nIt is a sign the Word of God has had place, and wrought powerfully,\nwhen the heart trembleth at it, is afraid, and stands in awe of it.\nWhen Joseph\u2019s mistress tempted him to lie with her, he was afraid of\nthe Word of God. \u2018How then can I do this great wickedness,\u2019 said he,\n\u2018and sin against God?\u2019 He stood in awe of God\u2019s Word, durst not do it,\nbecause he kept in remembrance what a dreadful thing it was to rebel\nagainst God\u2019s Word. When old Eli heard that the ark was taken, his very\nheart trembled within him; for he read by that sad loss that God was\nangry with Israel, and he knew the anger of God was a great and\nterrible thing. When Samuel went to Bethlehem, the elders of the town\ntrembled; for they feared that he came to them with some sad message\nfrom God, and they had had experience of the dread of such things\nbefore (Gen 39:7-9; 1 Sam 4:13, 16:1-4). When Ezra would have a\nmourning in Israel for the sins of the land, he sent, and there came to\nhim \u2018every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because\nof the transgressions of those that had been carried away\u2019 (Ezra 9:4).\n\nThere are, I say, a sort of people that tremble at the words of God,\nand that are afraid of doing ought that is contrary to them; but they\nare only such with whose souls and spirits the Word has had to do. For\nthe rest, they are resolved to go on their course, let God say what he\nwill. \u2018As for the word\u2019 of the Lord, said rebellious Israel to\nJeremiah, \u2018that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we\nwill not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing\ngoeth forth out of our own mouth\u2019 (Jer 44:16). But do you think that\nthese people did ever feel the power and majesty of the Word of God to\nbreak their hearts? No, verily; had that been so, they would have\ntrembled at the words of God; they would have been afraid of the words\nof God. God may command some people what he will, they will do what\nthey list. What care they for God? what care they for his Word? Neither\nthreats nor promises, neither punishments or favours will make them\nobedient to the Word of God; and all because they have not felt the\npower of it, their hearts have not been broken with it. When king\nJosias did but read in God\u2019s Book what punishment God had threatened\nagainst rebellious Israel, though he himself was a holy and good man,\nhe humbled himself, \u2018he rent his clothes,\u2019 and wept before the Lord,\nand was afraid of the judgment threatened (2 Kings 22; 2 Chron 34). For\nhe knew what a dreadful thing the Word of God is. Some men, as I said\nbefore, dare do anything, let the Word of God be never so much against\nit; but they that tremble at the Word dare not do so. No, they must\nmake the Word their rule for all they do; they must go to the Holy\nBible, and there inquire what may or may not be done; for they tremble\nat the Word. This then is another sign, a true sign, that the heart has\nbeen broken, namely, \u2018When the heart is made afraid of, and trembleth\nat the Word\u2019 (Acts 9:4-6, 16:29,30). Trembling at the Word is caused by\na belief of what is deserved, threatened, and of what will come, if not\nprevented by repentance; and therefore the heart melts, and breaks\nbefore the Lord.\n\n[IV. THE NECESSITY THERE IS THAT THE HEART MUST BE BROKEN.]\n\n\nI come, in the next place, to speak to this question.\n\nBut what necessity is there that the heart must be broken? Cannot a man\nbe saved unless his heart be broken? I answer, Avoiding secret things,\nwhich only belong to God, there is a necessity of breaking the heart,\nin order to salvation; because a man will not sincerely comply with the\nmeans conducing thereunto until his heart is broken. For,\n\nFirst. Man, take him as he comes into the world, as to spirituals, as\nto evangelical things, in which mainly lies man\u2019s eternal felicity, and\nthere he is as one dead, and so stupefied, and wholly in himself, as\nunconcerned with it. Nor can any call or admonition, that has not a\nheart-breaking power attending of it, bring him to a due consideration\nof his present state, and so unto an effectual desire to be saved.\n\nMany ways God has manifested this. He has threatened men with temporal\njudgments; yea, sent such judgments upon them, once and again, over and\nover, but they will not do. What! says he, \u2018I have given you cleanness\nof teeth in all your cities; I have withholden the rain from you; I\nhave smitten you with blasting and mildew; I have sent among you the\npestilence; I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and\nGomorrah. Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord\u2019 (Amos\n4:6-11). See here! Here is judgment upon judgment, stroke after stroke,\npunishment after punishment, but all will not do, unless the heart is\nbroken. Yea, another prophet seems to say that such things, instead of\nconverting the soul, sets it further off. If heart-breaking work attend\nsuch strokes, \u2018Why should ye be stricken any more?\u2019 says he, \u2018ye will\nrevolt more and more\u2019 (Isa 1:5).\n\nMan\u2019s heart is fenced, it is grown gross; there is a skin that, like a\ncoat of mail, has wrapped it up, and inclosed it in on every side. This\nskin, this coat of mail, unless it be cut off and taken away, the heart\nremains untouched, whole; and so as unconcerned, whatever judgments or\nafflictions light upon the body (Matt 13:15; Acts 28:27). This which I\ncall the coat of mail, the fence of the heart, has two great names in\nScripture. It is called, \u2018the foreskin of the heart,\u2019 and the armour in\nwhich the devil trusteth (Deut 10:16; Luke 11:22).\n\nBecause these shield and fence the heart from all gospel doctrine, and\nfrom all legal punishments, nothing can come at it till these are\nremoved. Therefore, in order unto conversion, the heart is said to be\ncircumcised; that is, this foreskin is taken away, and this coat of\nmail is spoiled. \u2018I will circumcise thy heart,\u2019 saith he, \u2018to love the\nLord thy God with all thine heart\u2019\u2014and then the devil\u2019s goods are\nspoiled\u2014\u2018that thou mayst live\u2019 (Deut 30:6; Luke 11:22).\n\nAnd now the heart lies open, now the Word will prick, cut, and pierce\nit; and it being cut, pricked, and pierced, it bleeds, it faints, it\nfalls, and dies at the foot of God, unless it is supported by the grace\nand love of God in Jesus Christ. Conversion, you know, begins at the\nheart; but if the heart be so secured by sin and Satan, as I have said,\nall judgments are, while that is so, in vain. Hence Moses, after he had\nmade a long relation of mercy and judgment unto the children of Israel,\nsuggests that yet the great thing was wanting to them, and that thing\nwas, an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear unto that\nday (Deut 29:2,3). Their hearts were as yet not touched to the quick,\nwere not awakened, and wounded by the holy Word of God, and made\ntremble at its truth and terror.\n\nBut I say, before the heart be touched, pricked, made smart, &c., how\ncan it be thought, be the danger never so great, that it should repent,\ncry, bow, and break at the foot of God, and supplicate there for mercy!\nand yet thus it must do; for thus God has ordained, and thus God has\nappointed it; nor can men be saved without it. But, I say, can a man\nspiritually dead, a stupid man, whose heart is past feeling, do this;\nbefore he has his dead and stupid heart awakened, to see and feel its\nstate and misery without it? But,\n\nSecond. Man, take him as he comes into the world\u2014and how wise soever he\nis in worldly and temporal things\u2014he is yet a fool as to that which is\nspiritual and heavenly. Hence Paul says, \u2018the natural man receiveth not\nthe things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him,\u2019\nbecause he is indeed a fool to them; \u2018neither,\u2019 says the text, \u2018can he\nknow them, because they are spiritually discerned\u2019 (1 Cor 2:14). But\nhow now must this fool be made wise? Why, wisdom must be put into his\nheart (Job 38:36). Now, none can put it there but God; and how doth he\nput it there, but by making room there for it, by taking away the thing\nwhich hinders, which is that folly and madness which naturally dwelleth\nthere? But how doth he take that away but by a severe chastising of his\nsoul for it, until he has made him weary of it? The whip and stripes\nare provided for the natural fool, and so it is for him that is\nspiritually so (Prov 19:29).\n\nSolomon intimates, that it is a hard thing to make a fool become wise.\n\u2018Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a\npestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him\u2019 (Prov 27:22). By\nthis it appears that it is a hard thing to make a fool a wise man. To\nbray one in a mortar is a dreadful thing, to bray one there with a\npestle; and yet it seems a whip, a mortar, and a pestle is the way. And\nif this is the way to make one wise in this world, and if all this will\nhardly do, how must the fool that is so in spirituals be whipped and\nbeaten, and stripped before he is made wise therein? Yea, his heart\nmust be put into God\u2019s mortar, and must be beaten; yea, brayed there\nwith the pestle of the law, before it loves to hearken unto heavenly\nthings. It is a great word in Jeremiah, \u2018Through deceit,\u2019 that is,\nfolly, \u2018they refuse to know me, saith the Lord.\u2019 And what follows? Why,\n\u2018Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold I will melt them, and\ntry them,\u2019 that is, with fire, \u2018for how shall I do for the daughter of\nmy people\u2019 (Jer 9:6,7). I will melt them: I will put them into my\nfurnace, and there I will try them; and there will I make them know me,\nsaith the Lord. When David was under spiritual chastisement for his\nsin, and had his heart under the breaking hand of God, then he said,\nGod should make him know wisdom (Psa 51:6). Now he was in the mortar,\nnow he was in the furnace, now he was bruised and melted; yea, now his\nbones, his heart, was breaking, and now his folly was departing. Now,\nsays he, thou shalt make me to know wisdom. If I know anything of the\nway of God with us fools, there is nothing else will make us wise men;\nyea, a thousand breakings will not make us so wise as we should be.\n\nWe say, Wisdom is not good till it is bought; and he that buys it,\naccording to the intention of that proverb, usually smarts for it. The\nfool is wise in his own conceit; wherefore there is a double difficulty\nattends him before he can be wise indeed. Not only his folly, but his\nwisdom, must be removed from him; and how shall that be, but by ripping\nup of his heart by some sore conviction, that may show him plainly that\nhis wisdom is his folly, and that which will undo him. A fool loves his\nfolly; that is, as treasure, so much is he in love with it. Now then,\nit must be a great thing that must make a fool forsake his folly. The\nfoolish will not weigh, nor consider, nor compare wisdom with their\nfolly. \u2018Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom.\u2019 \u2018As a dog\nreturneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly\u2019 (Prov 15:21,\n26:11). So loth are they when driven from it to let it go, to let it\ndepart from them. Wherefore there must go a great deal to the making of\na man a Christian; for as to that, every man is a fool, yea, the\ngreatest fool, the most unconcerned fool, the most self-willed fool of\nall fools; yea, one that will not be turned from his folly but by the\nbreaking of his heart. David was one of these fools; Manasseh was one\nof these fools; Saul, otherwise called Paul, was one of these fools;\nand so was I\u2014and that the biggest of all.[11]\n\nThird. Man, take him as he comes into the world, and he is not only a\ndead man, and a fool, but a proud man also. Pride is one of those sins\nthat first showeth itself to children, yea, and it grows up with them,\nand mixeth itself with all they do: but it lies most hid, most deep in\nman as to his soul-concerns. For the nature of sin, as sin, is not only\nto be vile, but to hide its vileness from the soul. Hence many think\nthey do well when they sin. Jonah thought he did well to be angry with\nGod (Jonah 4:9). The Pharisees thought they did well when they said,\nChrist had a devil (John 8:48). And Paul thought verily, that he ought\nto do many things against, or contrary to, the name of Jesus; which he\nalso did with great madness (Acts 26:9,10). And thus sin puffs up men\nwith pride, and a conceit of themselves, that they are a thousand times\nbetter than they are. Hence they think they are the children of God,\nwhen they are the children of the devil; and that they are something as\nto Christianity, when they neither are such, nor know what it is that\nthey must have to make them such (John 8:41-44; Gal 6:3).\n\nNow, whence flows this but from pride, and a self-conceit of\nthemselves, and that their state is good for another world, when they\nare yet in their sins, and under the curse of God? Yea, and this pride\nis so strong and high, and yet so hid in them, that all the ministers\nin the world cannot persuade them that this is pride, not grace, in\nwhich they are so confident. Hence they slight all reproofs, rebukes,\nthreatenings, or admonitions that are pressed upon them, to prevail\nwith them to take heed, that they be not herein deceived. \u2018Hear ye,\u2019\nsaith the prophet, \u2018and give ear: be not proud, for the Lord hath\nspoken.\u2019 \u2018But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret\nplaces for your pride\u2019 (Jer 13:15-17). And what was the conclusion?\nWhy, all the proud men stood out still, and maintained their resistance\nof God and his holy prophet (Jer 43:2).\n\nNor is there any thing that will prevail with these to the saving of\ntheir souls, until their hearts are broken. David, after he had defiled\nBathsheba, and slain her husband, yet boasted himself in his justice\nand holiness, and would by all means have the man put to death that had\nbut taken the poor man\u2019s lamb, when, alas! poor soul, himself was the\ngreat transgressor. But would he believe it? No, no; he stood upon the\nvindicating of himself to be a just doer; nor would he be made to fall\nuntil Nathan, by authority from God, did tell him that he was the man\nwhom himself had condemned; \u2018Thou art the man,\u2019 said he: at which word\nhis conscience was awakened, his heart wounded, and so his soul made to\nfall under the burden of his guilt, at the feet of the God of heaven\nfor mercy (2 Sam 12:1-13).\n\nAh! pride, pride! thou art that which holds many a man in the chains of\nhis sins; thou art it, thou cursed self-conceit, and keepest them from\nbelieving that their state is damnable. \u2018The wicked, through the pride\nof his countenance, will not seek after God\u2019 (Psa 10:4). And if there\nis so much in the pride of his countenance, what is there, think you,\nin the pride of his heart? Therefore Job says it is to hide pride from\nman, and so to save his soul from hell, that God chasteneth him with\npain upon his bed, until the multitude of his bones stick out, and\nuntil his life draws nigh to the destroyer (Job 33:17-22).\n\nIt is a hard thing to take a man off his pride, and make him, instead\nof trusting in, and boasting of his goodness, wisdom, honesty, and the\nlike, to see himself a sinner, a fool, yea, a man that is cruel, as to\nhis own immortal soul. Pride of heart has a power in it, and is\ntherefore compared to an iron sinew, and an iron chain, by which they\nare made stout, and with which they are held in that stoutness, to\noppose the Lord, and drive his Word from their hearts (Lev 26:19; Psa\n73:6).\n\nThis was the sin of devils, and it is the sin of man, and the sin, I\nsay, from which no man can be delivered until his heart is broken; and\nthen his pride is spoiled, then he will be glad to yield. If a man be\nproud of his strength or manhood, a broken leg will maul him; and if a\nman be proud of his goodness, a broken heart will maul him; because, as\nhas been said, a broken heart comes by the discovery and charge of sin,\nby the power of God upon the conscience.\n\nFourth. Man, take him as he comes into the world, and he is not only a\ndead man, a fool, and proud, but also self-willed and headstrong (2\nPeter 2:10). A stubborn ungain creature is man before his heart is\nbroken. Hence they are so often called rebels, rebellious, and\ndisobedient: they will only do what they list. \u2018All day long,\u2019 says\nGod, \u2018have I stretched out my hand to a disobedient and gainsaying\npeople.\u2019 And hence, again, they are compared to a self-willed or\nheadstrong horse, that will, in spite of his rider, rush into the\nbattle. \u2018Every one,\u2019 says God, \u2018turneth to his course, as the horse\nrusheth into battle\u2019 (Jer 8:6). They say, \u2018With our tongue will we\nprevail, our lips are our own; who is lord over us\u2019 (Psa 12:4).\n\nHence they are said to stop their ears, to pull away their shoulder, to\nshut their eyes, and harden their hearts, \u2018against the words of God,\nand contemned the counsel of the Most High\u2019 (Psa 107:11; Zech 7:10,12).\nThey are fitly compared to the rebellious son who would not be ruled by\nhis parents, or to the prodigal, who would have all in his own hand,\nand remove himself far away from father and father\u2019s house (Deut 21:20;\nLuke 15:13). Now for such creatures, nothing will do but violence. The\nstubborn son must be stoned till he dies; and the prodigal must be\nfamished out of all; nothing else, I say, will do. Their self-willed\nstubborn heart will not comply with the will of God before it is broken\n(Deut 21:21; Luke 15:14-17). These are they that are called the\nstout-hearted; these are said to be far from righteousness, and so will\nremain until their hearts are broken; for so they must be made to know\nthemselves (Isa 9:9-11).\n\nFifth. Man, as he comes into the world, is not only a dead man, a fool,\nproud, and self-willed, but also a fearless creature. \u2018There is,\u2019 saith\nthe text, \u2018no fear of God before their eyes\u2019 (Rom 3:18). No fear of\nGod! There is fear of man, fear of losing his favour, his love, his\ngood-will, his help, his friendship; this is seen everywhere. How do\nthe poor fear the rich, the weak fear the strong, and those that are\nthreatened, them that threaten! But come now to God; why, none fear\nhim; that is, by nature, none reverence him; they neither fear his\nfrowns, nor seek his favour, nor inquire how they may escape his\nrevenging hand that is lifted up against their sins and their souls\nbecause of sin. Little things they fear the losing of them; but the\nsoul they are not afraid to lose. \u2018They fear not me, saith the Lord\u2019\n(Mal 3:5).\n\nHow many times are some men put in mind of death by sickness upon\nthemselves, by graves, by the death of others? How many times are they\nput in mind of hell by reading the Word, by lashes of conscience, and\nby some that go roaring in despair out of this world? How many times\nare they put in mind of the day of judgment. As, 1. By God\u2019s binding\nthe fallen angels over to judgment. 2. By the drowning of the old world\n(2 Peter 2:4,5; Jude 6,7). 3. By the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah with\nfire from heaven (2 Peter 2:6; Jude 7). 4. By appointing a day (Acts\n17:29-31). 5. By appointing a judge (Acts 10:40-42). 6 By reserving\ntheir crimes in records (Isa 30:8; Rev 20:12). 7. By appointing and\npreparing of witnesses (Rom 2:15). 8. And by promising, yea,\nthreatening, yea, resolving, to call the whole world to his bar, there\nto be judged for all which they have done and said, and for every\nsecret thing (Matt 25:31-33, 12:36; Eccl 11:9, 12:14).\n\nAnd yet they fear not God: alas! they believe not these things. These\nthings, to carnal men, are like Lot\u2019s preaching to his sons and\ndaughters that were in Sodom. When he told them that God would destroy\nthat place, he seemed unto them as one that mocked; and his words to\nthem were as idle tales (Gen 19:14). Fearless men are not won by words;\nblows, wounds, and killings, are the things that must bring them under\nfear. How many struggling fits had Israel with God in the wilderness?\nHow many times did they declare that there they feared him not? And\nobserve, they were seldom, if ever, brought to fear and dread his\nglorious name, unless he beset them round with death and the grave.\nNothing, nothing but a severe hand, will make the fearless fear. Hence,\nto speak after the manner of man, God is put upon it to go this way\nwith sinners when he would save their souls; even bring them, and lay\nthem at the mouth, and within sight of hell and everlasting damnation:\nand there also charge them with sin and guilt, to the breaking of their\nhearts, before they will fear his name.\n\nSixth. Man, as he comes into the world, is not only a dead man, a fool,\nproud, self-willed, and fearless, but he is a false believer concerning\nGod. Let God report of himself never so plainly, man by nature will not\nbelieve this report of him. No, they are become vain in their\nimaginations, and their foolish heart is darkened; wherefore they turn\nthe glory of God, which is his truth, into a lie (Rom 1:21-25). God\nsays, He sees; they say, He seeth not; God saith, He knows; they say,\nHe doth not know: God saith, None is like himself; yet they say, He is\naltogether like to them: God saith, None shall keep his door for\nnaught; they say, It is in vain, and to no profit to serve him: he\nsaith, He will do good; they say, He will neither do good nor evil (Job\n22:13,14; Psa 50:21; Job 21:14,15; Mal 3:14; Zeph 1:12). Thus they\nfalsely believe concerning God; yea, as to the word of his grace, and\nthe revelation of his mercy in Christ, they stick not to say by their\npractice\u2014for a wicked man speaketh with his feet (Prov 6:13)\u2014that that\nis a stark lie, and not to be trusted to (1 John 5:10).\n\nNow, what shall God do to save these men? If he hides himself and\nconceals his glory, they perish. If he sends to them by his messengers,\nand forbears to come to them himself, they perish. If he comes to them\nand forbears to work upon them by his word, they perish: if he worketh\non them, but not effectually, they perish. If he works effectually he\nmust break their hearts, and make them, as men wounded to death, fall\nat his feet for mercy, or there can be no good done on them; they will\nnot rightly believe until he fires them out of their misbelief, and\nmakes them to know, by the breaking of their bones for their false\nfaith, that he is, and will be, what he has said of himself in his holy\nWord.[12] The heart, therefore, must be broken before the man can come\nto good.\n\nSeventh. Man, as he comes into the world, is not only a dead man, a\nfool, proud, self-willed, fearless, and a false believer, but a great\nlover of sin; he is captivated, ravished, drowned in the delights of\nit. Hence it [the Word] says, they love sin, delight in lies, do take\npleasure in iniquity, and in them that do it; that they sport\nthemselves in their own deceivings, and glory in their shame (John\n3:19; Psa 62:4; Rom 1:32; 2 Peter 2:13; Phil 3:19).\n\nThis is the temper of man by nature; for sin is mixed with and has the\nmastery of all the powers of his soul. Hence they are said to be\ncaptives to it, and to be led captive into the pleasures of it, at the\nwill of the devil (2 Tim 2:26). And you know it is not an easy thing to\nbreak love, or to take the affections off that object on which they are\nso deeply set, in which they are so deeply rooted, as man\u2019s heart is in\nhis sins. Alas! how many are there that contemn all the allurements of\nheaven, and that trample upon all the threatenings of God, and that\nsay, \u2018Tush,\u2019 at all the flames of hell, whenever these are propounded\nas motives to work them off their sinful delights! so fixed are they,\nso mad are they, upon these beastly idols. Yea, he that shall take in\nhand to stop their course in this their way, is as he that shall\nattempt to prevent the raging waves of the sea from their course, when\ndriven by the mighty winds.\n\nWhen men are somewhat put to it, when reason and conscience shall begin\na little to hearken to a preacher, or a judgment that shall begin to\nhunt for iniquity, how many tricks, evasions, excuses, demurs, delays,\nand hiding-holes will they make, invent, and find, to hide and preserve\ntheir sweet sins with themselves and their souls, in the delights of\nthem, to their own eternal perdition? Hence they endeavour to stifle\nconscience, to choke convictions, to forget God, to make themselves\natheists, to contradict preachers that are plain and honest, and to\nheap to themselves such of them only as are like themselves, that speak\nunto them smooth things, and prophesy deceits; yea, they say themselves\nto such preachers, \u2018Get you out of the way; turn aside out of the path;\ncause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us\u2019 (Isa 30:8-11). If\nthey be followed still, and conscience and guilt shall, like\nblood-hounds, find them out in their secret places, and roar against\nthem for their wicked lives, then they will flatter, cogg, dissemble,\nand lie against their soul, promising to mend, to turn, to repent, and\ngrow better shortly; and all to daff[13] off convictions and\nmolestations in their wicked ways, that they may yet pursue their\nlusts, their pleasures, and sinful delights, in quiet, and without\ncontrol.\n\nYea, further, I have known some that have been made to roar like bears,\nto yell like dragons, and to howl like dogs, by reason of the weight of\nguilt, and the lashes of hell upon their conscience for their evil\ndeeds; who have, so soon as their present torments and fears were gone,\nreturned again with the \u2018dog to his vomit; and as the sow that was\nwashed, to her wallowing in the mire\u2019 (Hosea 7:14; 2 Peter 2:20-22).\n\nOnce again, some have been made taste of the good Word of God, of the\njoy of heaven, and of the powers of the world to come, and yet could\nnot by any one, nay, by all of these, be made to break their league for\never with their lusts and sins (Heb 6:4,5; Luke 8:13; John 5:33-35). O\nLord! what is man, that thou art mindful of him? Wherein is he to be\naccounted of? He has sinned against thee; he loves his sins more than\nthee. He is a lover of pleasures more than he is a lover of God!\n\nBut now, how shall this man be reclaimed from this sin? How shall he be\nbrought, wrought, and made, to be out of love with it? Doubtless it can\nbe by no other means, by what we can see in the Word, but by the\nwounding, breaking, and disabling of the heart that loves it, and by\nthat means making it a plague and gall unto it. Sin may be made an\naffliction, and as gall and wormwood to them that love it; but the\nmaking of it so bitter a thing to such a man, will not be done but by\ngreat and sore means. I remember we had in our town some time since, a\nlittle girl that loved to eat the heads of foul tobacco-pipes, and\nneither rod nor good words could reclaim her, and make her leave them.\nSo her father takes advice of a doctor, to wean her from them, and it\nwas this: Take, saith he, a great many of the foulest tobacco-pipe\nheads you can get, and boil them in milk, and make a posset of that\nmilk, and make your daughter drink the posset-drink up. He did so, and\ngave his girl it, and made her drink it up; the which became so irksome\nand nauseous to her stomach, and made her so sick, that she could never\nabide to meddle with tobacco-pipe heads any more, and so was cured of\nthat disease. Thou lovest thy sin, and neither rod nor good words will\nas yet reclaim thee. Well, take heed; if thou wilt not be reclaimed,\nGod will make thee a posset of them, which shall be so bitter to thy\nsoul, so irksome to thy taste, so loathsome to thy mind, and so\nafflicting to thy heart, that it shall break it with sickness and\ngrief, till it be loathsome to thee. I say, thus he will do if he loves\nthee; if not, he will suffer thee to take thy course, and will let thee\ngo on with thy tobacco-pipe heads!\n\nThe children of Israel will have flesh, must have flesh; they weep,\ncry, and murmur, because they have not flesh; the bread of heaven, that\nis but light and sorry stuff in their esteem (Num 11:1-6). Moses goes\nand tells God how the people despised his heavenly bread, and how they\nlonged, lusted, and desired to be fed with flesh. Well, says God, they\nshall have flesh, they shall have their fill of flesh; I will feed them\nwith it; they shall have to the full; and that \u2018ye shall not eat one\nday, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;\nbut even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be\nloathsome unto you; because ye have despised the Lord\u2019 (Num 11:11-20).\nHe can tell how to make that loathsome to thee on which thou most dost\nset thine evil heart. And he will do so, if he loves thee; else, as I\nsaid, he will not make thee sick by smiting of thee nor punish thee for\nor when thou committest whoredom, but will let thee alone till the\njudgment-day, and call thee to a reckoning for all thy sins then. But\nto pass this.\n\nEighth. Man, as he comes into the world, is not only a dead man, a\nfool, proud, self-willed, fearless, a false believer, and a lover of\nsin, but a wild man. He is of the wild olive tree, of that which is\nwild by nature (Rom 11:17,24). So, in another place, man by nature is\ncompared to the ass, to a wild ass. \u2018For vain or empty man would be\nwise, though man be born like a wild ass\u2019s colt\u2019 (Job 11:12). Isaac was\na figure of Christ, and of all converted men (Gen 4:28). But Ishmael\nwas a figure of man by nature; and the Holy Ghost, as to that, saith\nthis of him, \u2018And he will be a wild man\u2019 (Gen 16:12). This man, I say,\nwas a figure of all carnal men, in their wildness or estrangedness from\nGod. Hence it is said of the prodigal, at his conversion, that he came\nto himself then; implying that he was mad, wild, or out of his wits\nbefore (Luke 15:17). I know there is a difference sometimes betwixt\none\u2019s being wild and mad; yet sometimes wildness arriveth to that\ndegree as to give one rightly the denomination of being mad. And it is\nalways true in spirituals; namely, that he that is wild, as to God, is\nmad, or besides himself, and so not capable, before he is tamed, of\nminding his own eternal good as he should. There are these several\nthings that are tokens of one wild or mad; and they all meet in a\ncarnal man.\n\n1. A wild or mad man gives no heed to good counsel; the frenzy of his\nhead shuts all out, and by its force leads him away from men that are\nwise and sober. And thus it is with carnal men; good counsel is to them\nas pearls are that are cast afore swine; it is trampled under foot of\nthem, and the man is despised that brings it (Matt 7:6). \u2018The poor\nman\u2019s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard\u2019 (Eccl 9:16).\n\n2. A wild or mad man, let him alone, and he will greatly busy himself\nall his life to accomplish that which, when it is completed, amounts to\nnothing. The work, the toil, the travel of such a one comes to nothing,\nsave to declare that he was out of his wits that did it. David,\nimitating of such a one, scrabbled upon the gate of the king, as fools\ndo with chalk; and like to this is all the work of all carnal men in\nthe world (1 Sam 21:12,13). Hence, such a one is said to labour for the\nwind, or for what will amount to no more than if he filled his belly\nwith the east wind (Eccl 5:16; Job 15:2).\n\n3. A wild or mad man, if you set him to do anything, and he does it, he\nwill yet do it, not by or according to your bidding, but after the\nfolly of his own wild fancy; even as Jehu executed the commandment of\nthe Lord; he did it in his own madness, taking no heed to the\ncommandment of the Lord (2 Kings 9:20, 10:31). And thus do carnal men\ndo, when they meddle with any of God\u2019s matters, as hearing, praying,\nreading, professing; they do all according to their own wild fancy;\nthey take no heed to do these after the commandment of the Lord.\n\n4. Wild or mad men, if they deck or array themselves with ought, as\nmany times they do, why, the spirit of their wildness or frenzy appears\neven in the mode and way in which they do it. Either the things\nthemselves which they make use of for that purpose are very toys and\ntrifles; or if they seem to be better, they are put on after an antic\nmanner, rather to the rendering of them ridiculous, than to bespeak\nthem sober, judicious, or wise; and so do natural men array themselves\nwith what they would be accepted in with God. Would one in his wits\nthink to make himself fine or acceptable to men by arraying himself in\nmenstruous cloths, or by painting his face with dross and dung? And yet\nthis is the finery of carnal men, when they approach for acceptance\ninto the presence of God (Isa 64:6; Phil 3:7,8).\n\nO the wildness, the frenzy, the madness, that possesses the heart and\nmind of carnal men! they walk according to the course of this world,\naccording to or after that spirit which is in truth the spirit of the\ndevil, which worketh in the children of disobedience (Eph 2:1-3). But\ndo they believe that thus it is with them? No, they are, in their own\naccount, as other madmen are, the only ones in the world. Hence they\nare so taken and tickled with their own frantic notions, and deride all\nelse that dwell in the world. But which is the way to make one that is\nwild, or a madman, sober? To let him alone will not do it; to give him\ngood words only will not do it; no, he must be tamed; means must be\nused to tame him. \u2018He brought down their hearts with labour,\u2019 or by\ncontinual molestation; as you have it (Psa 107:10-12). He speaketh\nthere of madmen that are kept up in darkness, and bound in afflictions\nand irons, because they rebelled against the words of God, and\ncontemned the counsel of the Most High.\n\nThis, therefore, is the way to deal with such, and none but God can so\ndeal with them. They must be taken, they must be separated from men;\nthey must be laid in chains, in darkness, afflictions, and irons; they\nmust be blooded, half-starved, whipped, purged, and be dealt with as\nmad people are dealt with. And thus they must be dealt with till they\ncome to themselves, and cry out in their distresses. And then they cry\nto the Lord in their troubles, and he saveth them out of their\ndistresses; then he brings them out of darkness, and the shadow of\ndeath, and breaks their bands in sunder (Psa 107:13-15). Thus, I say,\nGod tames the wild, and brings mad prodigals to themselves, and so to\nhim for mercy.\n\nNinth. Man, as he comes into the world, is not only a dead man, a fool,\nproud, self-willed, fearless, a false believer, a lover of sin, and a\nwild man; but a man that disrelishes the things of the kingdom of God.\nI told you before, that unconverted man is such as did not taste\nthings; but now I add, that he disrelishes things; he calls bitter\nthings sweet, and sweet bitter; he judges quite amiss. These are they\nthat God threateneth with a woe. \u2018Woe unto them that call evil good,\nand good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;\nthat put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter\u2019 (Isa 5:20).\n\nThis latter part of this text shows us evidently that the things of God\nare disrelished by some. They call his sweet things bitter, and the\ndevil\u2019s bitter things sweet; and all this is for want of a broken\nheart. A broken heart relishes otherwise than a whole or unbroken one\ndoth. A man that has no pain, or bodily distress, cannot find or feel\nvirtue or good in the most sovereign plaister, were it applied to arm\nor leg; no, he rather says, Away with these stinking daubing things. O!\nbut lay the same plaisters where there is need, and the patient will\nrelish, and taste, and savour the goodness of them; yea, will prize and\ncommend them to others.\n\nThus it is in spirituals. The world, they know not what the anguish or\npain of a broken heart means; they say, \u2018Who will show us any good,\u2019\nthat is, better than we find in our sports, pleasures, estates, and\npreferments. \u2018There be many,\u2019 says the Psalmist, speak after this sort.\nBut what says the distressed man? Why, \u2018Lord, lift thou up the light of\nthy countenance upon us\u2019; and then adds, \u2018Thou hast put gladness in my\nheart\u2019; namely, by the light of thy countenance, for that is the\nplaister for a broken heart. \u2018Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more\nthan in the time that their corn and their wine increaseth\u2019 (Psa\n4:1-7). O! a broken heart can savour pardon, can savour the\nconsolations of the Holy Ghost. Yea, as a hungry or thirsty man prizes\nbread and water in the want thereof, so do the broken in heart prize\nand set a high esteem on the things of the Lord Jesus. His flesh, his\nblood, his promise, and the light of his countenance, are the only\nsweet things both to scent and taste, to those that are of a wounded\nspirit. The full soul loatheth the honey-comb; the whole despise the\ngospel, they savour not the things that are of God.\n\nIf twenty men were to hear a pardon read, and but one of those twenty\nwere condemned to die, and the pardon was for none but such; which of\nthese men, think you, would taste the sweetness of that pardon, they\nwho are not, or he that was condemned? The condemned man, doubtless.\nThis is the case in hand. The broken in heart is a condemned man; yea,\nit is a sense of condemnation, with other things, that has indeed\nbroken his heart; nor is there anything but sense of forgiveness that\ncan bind it up, or heal it. But could that heal it, could he not taste,\ntruly taste, or rightly relish this forgiveness? no; forgiveness would\nbe to him as it is to him that has not sense of want of it.\n\nBut, I say, what is the reason some so prize what others so despise,\nsince they both stand in need of the same grace and mercy of God in\nChrist? Why, the one sees, and the other sees nothing, of this woeful\nmiserable state. And thus have I showed you the necessity of a broken\nheart. 1. Man is dead, and must be quickened. 2. Man is a fool, and\nmust be made wise. 3. Man is proud, and must be humbled. 4. Man is\nself-willed, and must be broken. 5. Man is fearless, and must be made\nto consider. 6. Man is a false believer, and must be rectified. 7. Man\nis a lover of sin, and must be weaned from it. 8. Man is wild, and must\nbe tamed. 9. Man disrelishes the things of God, and can take no savour\nin them, until his heart is broken.\n\n[V. THE REASONS WHY A BROKEN HEART IS ESTEEMED BY GOD SUCH AN EXCELLENT\nTHING.]\n\n\nAnd thus have I done with this, and shall come next to the reasons of\nthe point, namely, to show you, why or how it comes to pass, that a\nbroken heart, a heart truly contrite, is to God such an excellent\nthing. That to him it is so, we have proved by six demonstrations; what\nit is, we have showed by the six signs thereof; that it must be, is\nmanifest by those nine reasons but now urged; and why it is with God or\nin his esteem an excellent thing, that is shown by that which follows.\n\nFirst. A broken heart is the handiwork of God; an heart of his own\npreparing, for his own service; it is a sacrifice of his own providing,\nof his providing for himself; as Abraham said in another case, \u2018God\nwill provide himself a lamb\u2019 (Gen 22:8).\n\nHence it is said, \u2018The preparations of the heart in man, &c., is from\nthe Lord.\u2019 And again, \u2018God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty\ntroubleth me\u2019 (Job 23:16). The heart, as it is by nature hard, stupid,\nand impenetrable, so it remains, and so will remain, until God, as was\nsaid, bruiseth it with his hammer, and melts it with his fire. The\nstony nature of it is therefore said to be taken away of God. \u2018I will\ntake away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you,\u2019\nsaith he, \u2018an heart of flesh\u2019 (Eze 36:26). I will take away the stony\nheart, or the stoniness, or the hardness of your heart, and I will give\nyou a heart of flesh; that is, I will make your heart sensible, soft,\nwieldable, governable, and penitent. Sometimes he bids men rend their\nhearts, not because they can, but to convince them rather, that though\nit must be so, they cannot do it; so he bids them make themselves a new\nheart, and a new spirit, for the same purpose also; for if God doth not\nrend it, it remains unrent; if God makes it not new, it abides an old\none still.\n\nThis is that that is meant by his bending of men for himself, and of\nhis working in them that which is pleasing in his sight (Zech 9:13).\nThe heart, soul, or spirit, as in itself, as it came from God\u2019s\nfingers, a precious thing, a thing in God\u2019s account worth more than all\nthe world. This heart, soul, or spirit, sin has hardened, the devil has\nbewitched, the world has deceived. This heart, thus beguiled, God\ncoveteth and desireth: \u2018My son,\u2019 saith he, \u2018give me thine heart, and\nlet thine eyes observe my ways\u2019 (Prov 23:26).\n\nThis man cannot do this thing: for that his heart has the mastery of\nhim, and will not but carry him after all manner of vanity. What now\nmust be done? Why, God must take the heart by storm, by power, and\nbring it to a compliance with the Word; but the heart of itself will\nnot; it is deluded, carried away to another than God. Wherefore God now\nbetakes him to his sword, and bring down the heart with labour, opens\nit, and drives out the strong man armed that did keep it; wounds it;\nand makes it smart for its rebellion, that it may cry; so he rectifies\nit for himself. \u2018He maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his\nhands make whole\u2019 (Job 5:18). Thus having wrought it for himself, it\nbecomes his habitation, his dwelling-place: \u2018That Christ may dwell in\nyour hearts by faith\u2019 (Eph 3:17).\n\nBut I would not swerve from the thing in hand. I have told you a broken\nheart is the handiwork of God, a sacrifice of his own preparing; a\nmaterial fitted for himself.\n\n1. By breaking of the heart he openeth it, and makes it a receptacle\nfor the graces of his Spirit; that is the cabinet, when unlocked, where\nGod lays up the jewels of the gospel; there he puts his fear; \u2018I will\nput my fear in their hearts\u2019; there he writes his law; \u2018I will write my\nlaw in their heart\u2019; there he puts his Spirit: \u2018I will put my Spirit\nwithin you\u2019 (Jer 31:31-33, 32:39-41; Eze 36:26,27). The heart, I say,\nGod chooses for his cabinet: there he hides his treasure; there is the\nseat of justice, mercy, and of every grace of God; I mean, when it is\nbroken, made contrite; and so regulated by the holy Word.\n\n2. The heart, when broken, is like sweet gums and spices when beaten;\nfor as such cast their fragrant scent into the nostrils of men, so the\nheart when broken casts its sweet smells in the nostrils of God. The\nincense, which was a type of prayer of old, was to be beaten or\nbruised, and so to be burned in the censer. The heart must be beaten or\nbruised, and then the sweet scent will come out: even groans, and\ncries, and sighs, for the mercy of God; which cries, &c. to him, are a\nvery excellent thing, and pleasing in his nostrils.\n\nSecond. A broken heart is in the sight of God an excellent thing;\nbecause a broken heart is submissive; it falleth before God, and giveth\nto him his glory. All this is true from a multitude of scriptures,\nwhich I need not here mention. Hence such a heart is called an honest\nheart, a good heart, a perfect heart, a heart fearing God, and such as\nis sound in God\u2019s statutes.\n\nNow, this cannot but be an excellent thing, if we consider, that by\nsuch a heart, unfeigned obedience is yielded unto him that calleth for\nit. \u2018Ye have obeyed from the heart,\u2019 says Paul to them at Rome, \u2018that\nform of doctrine which was delivered you\u2019 (Rom 6:17). Alas! the heart,\nbefore it is broken and made contrite, is quite of another temper: \u2018It\nis not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.\u2019 The great\nstir before the heart is broken, is about who shall be Lord, God or the\nsinner. True, the right of dominion is the Lord\u2019s; but the sinner will\nnot suffer it, but will be all himself; saying \u2018Who is Lord over us?\u2019\nand again, say they to God, \u2018We are lords, we will come no more unto\nthee\u2019 (Psa 12:4; Jer 2:31).\n\nThis also is evident by their practice; God may say what he will, but\nthey will do what they list. Keep my sabbath, says God; I will not,\nsays the sinner. Leave your whoring, says God; I will not, says the\nsinner. Do not tell lies, nor swear, nor curse, nor blaspheme my holy\nname, says God; O but I will, says the sinner. Turn to me, says God; I\nwill not, says the sinner. The right of dominion is mine, says God;\nbut, like that young rebel (1 Kings 1:5), I will be king, says the\nsinner. Now, this is intolerable, this is unsufferable, and yet every\nsinner by practice says thus; for they have not submitted themselves\nunto the righteousness of God.\n\nHere can be no concord, no communion, no agreement, no fellowship.\nHere, here is enmity on the one side, and flaming justice on the other\n(2 Cor 6:14-16; Zech 11:8). And what delight, what content, what\npleasure, can God take in such men. None at all; no, though they should\nbe mingled with the best of the saints of God; yea, though the best of\nsaints should supplicate for them. Thus, says Jeremiah, \u2018Then said the\nLord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,\u2019 that is, to\npray for them, \u2018yet my mind could not be toward this people; cast them\nout of my sight, and let them go forth\u2019 (Jer 15:1).\n\nHere is nought but open war, acts of hostility, and shameful rebellion,\non the sinner\u2019s side; and what delight can God take in that? Wherefore,\nif God will bend and buckle the spirit of such an one, he must shoot an\narrow at him, a bearded arrow, such as may not be plucked out of the\nwound: an arrow that will stick fast, and cause that the sinner falls\ndown as dead at God\u2019s foot (Psa 33:1,2). Then will the sinner deliver\nup his arms, and surrender up himself as one conquered, into the hand\nof, and beg for the Lord\u2019s pardon, and not till then; I mean not\nsincerely.\n\nAnd now God has overcome, and his right hand and his holy arm has\ngotten him the victory. Now he rides in triumph with his captive at his\nchariot wheel; now he glories; now the bells in heaven do ring; now the\nangels shout for joy, yea, are bid to do so, \u2018Rejoice with me, for I\nhave found my sheep which was lost\u2019 (Luke 15:1-10). Now also the\nsinner, as a token of being overcome, lies grovelling at his foot,\nsaying, \u2018Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king\u2019s enemies,\nwhereby the people fall under thee\u2019 (Psa 45:3-5).\n\nNow the sinner submits, now he follows his conqueror in chains, now he\nseeks peace, and would give all the world, were it his own, to be in\nthe favour of God, and to have hopes by Christ of being saved. Now this\nmust be pleasing, this cannot but be a thing acceptable in God\u2019s sight:\n\u2018A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.\u2019 For it\nis the desire of his own heart, the work of his own hands.\n\nThird. Another reason why a broken heart is to God such an excellent\nthing is this, a broken heart prizes Christ, and has a high esteem for\nhim. The whole have no need of a physician, but the sick; this sick man\nis the broken-hearted in the text; for God makes men sick by smiting of\nthem, by breaking of their hearts. Hence sickness and wounds are put\ntogether; for that the one is a true effect of the other (Mark 2:17;\nMicah 6:13; Hosea 5:13). Can any think that God should be pleased, when\nmen despise his Son, saying, He hath no form nor comeliness, and when\nwe shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him? And yet\nso say they of him whose hearts God has not mollified; yea, the elect\nthemselves confess, that before their hearts were broken, they set\nlight by him also. He is, say they, \u2018despised and rejected of men,\u2014and\nwe hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed\nhim not\u2019 (Isa 53:2,3).\n\nHe is indeed the great deliverer; but what is a deliverer to them that\nnever saw themselves in bondage, as was said before? Hence it is said\nof him that delivered the city, \u2018No man remembered that same poor man\u2019\n(Eccl 9:15). He has sorely suffered, and been bruised for the\ntransgression of man, that they might not receive the smart, and hell,\nwhich by their sins they have procured to themselves. But what is that\nto them that never saw ought but beauty, and that never tasted anything\nbut sweetness in sin? It is he that holdeth by his intercession the\nhands of God, and that causes him to forbear to cut off the drunkard,\nthe liar, and unclean person, even when they are in the very act and\nwork of their abomination; but their hard heart, their stupefied heart,\nhas no sense of such kindness as this, and therefore they take no\nnotice of it. How many times has God said to this dresser of his\nvineyard, \u2018Cut down the barren fig-tree,\u2019 while he yet, by his\nintercession, has prevailed for a reprieve for another year! But no\nnotice is taken of this, no thanks is from them returned to him for\nsuch kindness of Christ. Wherefore such ungrateful, unthankful,\ninconsiderate wretches as these must needs be a continual eye-sore, as\nI may say, and great provocation to God; and yet thus men will do\nbefore their hearts are broken (Luke 13:6-9).\n\nChrist, as I said, is called a physician; yea, he is the only\nsoul-physician. He heals, how desperate soever the disease be; yea, and\nheals who he undertakes for ever. \u2018I give unto them eternal life,\u2019 and\ndoth all of free cost, of mere mercy and compassion (John 10:28). But\nwhat is all this to one that neither sees his sickness, that sees\nnothing of a wound? What is the best physician alive, or all the\nphysicians in the world, put all together, to him that knows no\nsickness, that is sensible of no disease? Physicians, as was said, may\ngo a-begging for all the healthful. Physicians are of no esteem, save\nonly to the sick, or upon a supposition of being so now, or at any\nother time.\n\nWhy, this is the cause Christ is so little set by in the world. God has\nnot made them sick by smiting of them; his sword has not given them the\nwound, his dart has not been struck through their liver; they have not\nbeen broken with his hammer, nor melted with his fire. So they have no\nregard to his physician; so they slight all the provision which God has\nmade for the salvation of the soul. But now, let such a soul be\nwounded; let such a man\u2019s heart be broken; let such a man be made sick\nthrough the sting of guilt, and be made to wallow himself in ashes\nunder the burden of his transgressions; and then, who but Christ, as\nhas been showed afore, then the physician; then, wash me, Lord, then\nsupple my wounds, then pour thy wine and oil into my sore; then Lord\nJesus cause me to hear the voice of joy and gladness, that the bones\nwhich thou hast broken may rejoice. Nothing now so welcome as healing;\nand so nothing, no man, so desirable now as Christ. His name to such is\nthe best of names; his love to such is the best of love; himself being\nnow not only in himself, but also to such a soul, the chiefest of ten\nthousand (Can 5:10).\n\nAs bread to the hungry, as water to the thirsty, as light to the blind,\nand liberty to the imprisoned; so, and a thousand times more, is Jesus\nChrist to the wounded, and to them that are broken-hearted. Now, as was\nsaid, this must needs be excellent in God\u2019s eyes, since Christ Jesus is\nso glorious in his eyes. To contemn what a man counts excellent, is an\noffence to him; but to value, esteem, or think highly of that which is\nof esteem with me, this is pleasing to me, such an opinion is excellent\nin my sight. What says Christ? \u2018My Father loveth you, because ye loved\nme\u2019 (John 16:27). Who hath an high esteem for Christ, the Father hath\nan high esteem for them. Hence it is said, \u2018He that hath the Son, hath\nthe Father\u2019; the Father will be his, and will do for him as a Father,\nwho receiveth and sets an honourable esteem on his Son.\n\nBut none will, none can do this, but the broken-hearted; because they,\nand they only, are sensible of the want and worth of an interest in\nhim.\n\nI dare appeal to all the world as to the truth of this; and do say\nagain, that these, and none but these, have hearts of esteem in the\nsight of God. Alas! \u2018the heart of the wicked is little worth,\u2019 for it\nis destitute of a precious esteem of Christ, and cannot but be\ndestitute, because it is not wounded, broken, and made sensible of the\nwant of mercy by him (Prov 10:20).\n\nFourth. A broken heart is of great esteem with God, because it is a\nthankful heart for that sense of sin and of grace it has received. The\nbroken heart is a sensible heart. This we touched upon before. It is\nsensible of the dangers which sin leadeth to; yea, and has cause to be\nsensible thereof, because it has seen and felt what sin is, both in the\nguilt and punishment that by law is due thereto. As a broken heart is\nsensible of sin, in the evil nature and consequences of it; so it is\nalso sensible of the way of God\u2019s delivering the soul from the day of\njudgment; consequently it must be a thankful heart. Now he that praises\nme, glorifies me, saith God; and God loves to be glorified. God\u2019s glory\nis dear unto him; he will not part with that (Psa 50:23; Isa 42:8).\n\nThe broken-hearted, say I, forasmuch as he is the sensible soul, it\nfollows that he is the thankful soul. \u2018Bless the Lord, O my soul,\u2019 said\nDavid, \u2018and all that is within me bless his holy name.\u2019 Behold what\nblessing of God is here! and yet not content herewith, he goes on with\nit again, saying, \u2018Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his\nbenefits.\u2019 But what is the matter? O! he has \u2018forgiven all thine\niniquities, and healed all thy diseases. He has redeemed thy life from\ndestruction, and crowneth thee with loving kindnesses and tender\nmercies\u2019 (Psa 103:1-4). But how came he to be affected with this? Why,\nhe knew what it was to hang over the mouth of hell for sin; yea, he\nknew what it was for death and hell to beset and compass him about;\nyea, they took hold of him, as we have said, and were pulling of him\ndown into the deep; this he saw to the breaking of his heart. He saw\nalso the way of life, and had his soul relieved with faith and sense of\nthat, and that made him a thankful man. If a man who has had a broken\nleg, is but made to understand, that by the breaking of that he kept\nfrom breaking of his neck, he will be thankful to God for a broken leg.\n\u2018It is good for me,\u2019 said David, \u2018that I have been afflicted.\u2019 I was by\nthat preserved from a great danger; for before that I went astray (Psa\n119:67,71).\n\nAnd who can be thankful for a mercy that is not sensible that they want\nit, have it, and have it of mercy? Now, this the broken-hearted, this\nthe man that is of a contrite spirit, is sensible of; and that with\nreference to mercies of the best sort, and therefore must needs be a\nthankful man, and so have a heart of esteem with God, because it is a\nthankful heart.\n\nFifth. A broken heart is of great esteem with, or an excellent thing\nin, the sight of God, because it is a heart that desires now to become\na receptacle or habitation for the spirit and graces of the Spirit of\nGod. It was the devil\u2019s hold before, and was contented so to be. But\nnow it is for entertaining of, for being possessed with, the Holy\nSpirit of God. \u2018Create in me a clean heart,\u2019 said David, \u2018and renew a\nright spirit within me. Take not thy Holy Spirit from me, uphold me\nwith thy free Spirit\u2019 (Psa 51:10-12). Now he was for a clean heart and\na right spirit; now he was for the sanctifying of the blessed spirit of\ngrace; a thing which the uncircumcised in heart resist, and do despite\nunto (Acts 7:51; Heb 10:29).\n\nA broken heart, therefore, suiteth with the heart of God; a contrite\nspirit is one spirit with him. God, as I told you before, covets to\ndwell with the broken in heart, and the broken in heart desire\ncommunion with him. Now here is an agreement, a oneness of mind; now\nthe same mind is in thee which was also in Christ Jesus. This must\nneeds be an excellent spirit; this must needs be better with God, and\nin his sight, than thousands of rams, or ten thousand rivers of oil.\nBut does the carnal world covet this, this spirit, and the blessed\ngraces of it? No, they despise it, as I said before; they mock at it,\nthey prefer and countenance any sorry, dirty lust rather; and the\nreason is, because they want a broken heart, that heart so highly in\nesteem with God, and remain for want thereof in their enmity to God.\n\nThe broken-hearted know, that the sanctifying of the Spirit is a good\nmeans to keep from that relapse, out of which a man cannot come unless\nhis heart be wounded a second time. Doubtless David had a broken heart\nat first conversion, and if that brokenness had remained, that is, had\nhe not given way to hardness of heart again, he had never fallen into\nthat sin out of which he could not be recovered, but by the breaking of\nhis bones a second time. Therefore, I say, a broken heart is of great\nesteem with God; for it\u2014and I will add, so long as it retains its\ntenderness\u2014covets none but God, and the things of his Holy Spirit; sin\nis an abomination to it.\n\n[VI. ADVANTAGES THAT A CHRISTIAN GETS BY KEEPING HIS HEART TENDER.]\n\n\nAnd here, as in a fit place, before I go any further, I will show you\nsome of the advantages that a Christian gets by keeping of his heart\ntender. For, as to have a broken heart, is to have an excellent thing,\nso to keep this broken heart tender, is also very advantageous.\n\nFirst. This is the way to maintain in thy soul always a fear of sinning\nagainst God. Christians do not wink at, or give way to sin, until their\nhearts begin to lose their tenderness. A tender heart will be affected\nat the sin of another, much more it will be afraid of committing of sin\nitself (2 Kings 22:19).\n\nSecond. A tender heart quickly yieldeth to prayer, yea, prompteth to\nit, puts an edge and fire into it. We never are backward to prayer\nuntil our heart has lost its tenderness; though then it grows cold,\nflat, and formal, and so carnal to and in that holy duty.\n\nThird. A tender heart has always repentance at hand for the least fault\nor slip, or sinful thought that the soul is guilty of. In many things\nthe best offend; but if a Christian loseth his tenderness, if he says\nhe has his repentance to seek, his heart is grown hard\u2014has lost that\nspirit, that kind spirit of repentance, it was wont to have. Thus it\nwas with the Corinthians; they were decayed, and lost their tenderness;\nwherefore their sin\u2014yea, great sins\u2014remained unrepented of (2 Cor\n12:20).\n\nFourth. A tender heart is for receiving often its communion with God,\nwhen he that is hardened, though the seed of grace is in him, will be\ncontent to eat, drink, sleep, wake, and go days without number without\nhim (Isa 17:10; Jer 2:32).\n\nFifth. A tender heart is a wakeful, watchful heart. It watches against\nsin in the soul, sin in the family, sin in the calling, sin in\nspiritual duties and performances, &c. It watches against Satan,\nagainst the world, against the flesh, &c. But now, when the heart is\nnot tender, there is sleepiness, unwatchfulness, idleness, a suffering\nthe heart, the family, and calling to be much defiled, spotted, and\nblemished with sin; for a hard heart departs from God, and turns aside\nin all these things.\n\nSixth. A tender heart will deny itself, and that in lawful things, and\nwill forbear even that which may be done\u2014for some Jew, or Gentile, or\nthe church of God, or any member of it, should be offended, or made\nweak thereby; whereas the Christian that is not tender, that has lost\nhis tenderness, is so far off of denying himself in lawful things, that\nhe will even adventure to meddle in things utterly forbidden, whoever\nis offended, grieved, or made weak thereby. For an instance of this, we\nneed go no further than to the man in the text, who, while he was\ntender, trembled at little things; but when his heart was hardened, he\ncould take Bathsheba to satisfy his lust, and kill her husband to cover\nhis wickedness.\n\nSeventh. A tender heart\u2014I mean, the heart kept tender\u2014preserves from\nmany a blow, lash, and fatherly chastisement; because it shuns the\ncauses, which is sin, of the scourging hand of God. \u2018With the pure thou\nwilt show thyself pure, but with the froward thou wilt shew thyself\nunsavoury\u2019 (2 Sam 22:27; Psa 18:25-27).\n\nMany a needless rebuke and wound doth happen to the saints of God\nthrough their unwise behaviour. When I say needless, I mean they are\nnot necessary, but to reclaim us from our vanities; for we should not\nfeel the smart of them, were it not for our follies. Hence the\nafflicted is called a fool, because his folly brings his affliction\nupon him. \u2018Fools,\u2019 says David, \u2018because of their transgression, and\nbecause of their iniquities, are afflicted\u2019 (Psa 107:17). And therefore\nit is, as was said before, that he call his sin his foolishness. And\nagain, \u2018God will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints; but\nlet them not turn again to folly\u2019 (Psa 38:5, 85:8). \u2018If his children\ntransgress my laws, then will I visit their transgression with the rod,\nand their iniquity with stripes\u2019 (Psa 89:30-32).\n\n[How to keep the heart tender.]\n\nQUEST. But what should a Christian do, when God has broke his heart, to\nkeep it tender?\n\nANSW. To this I will speak briefly. And, first, give you several\ncautions; secondly, several directions.\n\n[First\u2014Several cautions.]\n\n1. Take heed that you choke not those convictions that at present do\nbreak your hearts, by labouring to put those things out of your minds\nwhich were the cause of such convictions; but rather nourish and\ncherish those things in a deep and sober remembrance of them. Think,\ntherefore, with thyself thus, What was it that at first did wound my\nheart? And let that still be there, until, by the grace of God, and the\nredeeming blood of Christ, it is removed.\n\n2. Shun vain company. The keeping of vain company has stifled many a\nconviction, killed many a desire, and made many a soul fall into hell,\nthat once was hot in looking after heaven. A companion that is not\nprofitable to the soul, is hurtful. \u2018He that walketh with wise men\nshall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed\u2019 (Prov\n13:20).\n\n3. Take heed of idle talk, that thou neither hear nor join with it. \u2018Go\nfrom the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the\nlips of knowledge\u2019 (Prov 14:7). \u2018Evil communications corrupt good\nmanners. And a fool\u2019s lips are the snare of his soul.\u2019 Wherefore take\nheed of these things (Prov 18:7; 1 Cor 15:33).\n\n4. Beware of the least motion to sin, that it be not countenanced, lest\nthe countenancing of that makes way for a bigger.[14] David\u2019s eye took\nhis heart, and so his heart nourishing the thought, made way for the\nwoman\u2019s company, the act of adultery, and bloody murder. Take heed,\ntherefore, brethren, \u2018lest any of you be hardened through the\ndeceitfulness of sin\u2019 (Heb 3:12,13). And remember, that he that will\nrend the block, puts the thin end of the wedge first thereto, and so,\nby driving, does his work.\n\n5. Take heed of evil examples among the godly; learn of no man to do\nthat which the word of God forbids. Sometimes Satan makes use of a good\nman\u2019s bad ways, to spoil and harden the heart of them that come after.\nPeter\u2019s false doing had like to have spoiled Barnabas, yea, and several\nothers more. Wherefore take heed of men, of good men\u2019s ways, and\nmeasure both theirs and thine own by no other rule but the holy Word of\nGod (Gal 2:11-13).\n\n6. Take heed of unbelief, or atheistical thoughts; make no question of\nthe truth and reality of heavenly things: for know unbelief is the\nworst of evils; nor can the heart be tender that nourisheth or gives\nplace unto it. \u2018Take heed, therefore, lest there be in any of you an\nevil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God\u2019 (Heb 3:12).\nThese cautions are necessary to be observed with all diligence, of all\nthem that would, when their heart is made tender, keep it so. And now\nto come,\n\n[Second]\u2014to the Directions.\n\n1. Labour after a deep knowledge of God to keep it warm upon thy heart;\nknowledge of his presence, that is everywhere. \u2018Do not I fill heaven\nand earth, saith the Lord?\u2019 (Jer 23:24). (1.) Knowledge of his piercing\neye, that it runneth to and fro through the earth, beholding in every\nplace the evil and the good; that his eyes behold, and his eyelids try\nthe children of men (Prov 15:3). (2.) The knowledge of his power, that\nhe is able to turn and dissolve heaven and earth into dust and ashes;\nand that they are in his hand but as a scroll or vesture (Heb 1:11,12).\n(3.) The knowledge of his justice, that the rebukes of it are as\ndevouring fire (Heb 12:19). (4.) The knowledge of his faithfulness, in\nfulfilling promises to them to whom they are made, and of his\nthreatenings on the impenitent (Matt 5:18, 24:35; Mark 13:31).\n\n2. Labour to get and keep a deep sense of sin in its evil nature, and\nin its soul-destroying effects upon thy heart; be persuaded, that it is\nthe only enemy of God, and that none hate, or are hated of God, but\nthrough that. (1.) Remember it turned angels into devils, thrust them\ndown from heaven to hell. (2.) That it is the chain in which they are\nheld and bound over to judgment (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). (3.) That it was\nfor that that Adam was turned out of paradise; that for which the old\nworld was drowned; that for which Sodom and Gomorrah was burned with\nfire from heaven; and that which cost Christ his blood to redeem thee\nfrom the curse it has brought upon thee; and that, if anything, will\nkeep thee out of heaven for ever and ever. (4.) Consider the pains of\nhell. Christ makes use of that as an argument to keep the heart tender;\nyea, to that end repeats and repeats, and repeats, both the nature and\ndurableness of the burning flame thereof, and of the gnawing of the\nneverdying worm that dwells there (Mark 9:43-48).\n\n3. Consider of death, both as to the certainty of thy dying, and\nuncertainty of the time when. We must die, we must needs die; our days\nare determined\u2014the number of our months are with God, though not with\nus; nor can we pass them, would we, had we them, give a thousand worlds\nto do it (2 Sam 14:14; Job 7:1, 14:1-5). Consider thou must die but\nonce\u2014I mean but once as to this world; for if thou, when thou goest\nhence, dost not die well, thou canst not come back again and die\nbetter. \u2018It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the\njudgment\u2019 (Heb 9;27).\n\n4. Consider also of the certainty and terribleness of the day of\njudgment, when Christ shall sit upon his great white throne, when the\ndead shall, by the sound of the trump of God, be raised up; when the\nelements, with heaven and earth, shall be on a burning flame; when\nChrist shall separate men one from another, as a shepherd divideth his\nsheep from the goats; when the books shall be opened, the witnesses\nproduced, and every man be judged according to his works; when heaven\u2019s\ngate shall stand open to them that shall be saved, and the jaws of hell\nstand gaping for them that shall be damned (Acts 5:30-31, 10:42; Matt\n25:31,32,34,4; Rev 2:11; 1 Cor 15:51; Rev 20:12,15; 2 Peter 3:7,10,12;\nRom 2:2,15,16; Rev 22:12).\n\n5. Consider, Christ Jesus did use no means to harden his heart against\ndoing and suffering those sorrows which were necessary for the\nredemption of thy soul. No; though he could have hardened his heart\nagainst thee in the way of justice and righteousness, because thou\nhadst sinned against him, he rather awakened himself, and put on all\npity, bowels, and compassion; yea, tender mercies, and did it. In his\nlove and in his pity he saved us. His tender mercies from on high hath\nvisited us. He loved us, and gave himself for us. Learn, then, of\nChrist, to be tender of thyself, and to endeavour to keep thy heart\ntender to God-ward, and to the salvation of thy soul. But to draw to a\nconclusion.\n\nVII. THE USE.\n\n\nLet us now, then, make some use of this doctrine. As,\n\nFIRST USE. From the truth of the matter, namely, that the man who is\ntruly come to God has had his heart broken\u2014his heart broken in order to\nhis coming to him. And this shows us what to judge of the league that\nis between sin and the soul, to wit, that it is so firm, so strong, so\ninviolable, as that nothing can break, disannul, or make it void,\nunless the heart be broken for it. It was so with David, yea, his new\nleague with it could not be broken until his heart was broken.\n\nIt is amazing to consider what hold sin has on some men\u2019s souls,\nspirits, will, and affections. It is to them better than heaven, better\nthan God\u2014than the soul, ay, than salvation; as is evident, because,\nthough all these are offered them upon this condition, if they will but\nleave their sins, yet they will choose rather to abide in them, to\nstand and fall by them. How sayest thou, sinner? Is not this a truth?\nHow many times hast thou had heaven and salvation offered to thee\nfreely, wouldst thou but break thy league with this great enemy of God?\nOf God, do I say; if thou wouldst but break this league with this great\nenemy of thy soul? but couldst never yet be brought unto it; no,\nneither by threatening nor by promise couldst thou ever yet be brought\nunto it.\n\nIt is said of Ahab he sold himself to work wickedness: and in another\nplace, yea, \u2018for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves\u2019 (1 Kings\n21:25; Isa 50:1). But what is this iniquity? Why, a thing of nought;\nnay, worse than nought a thousand times; but because nought is as we\nsay nought, therefore it goes under that term, where God saith again to\nthe people, \u2018Ye have sold yourselves for nought\u2019 (Isa 52:3). But, I\nsay, what an amazing thing is this, that a rational creature should\nmake no better a bargain; that one that is so wise in all terrene\nthings, should be such a fool in the thing that is most weighty? And\nyet such a fool he is, and he tells every one that goes by the way that\nhe is such an one, because he will not break his league with sin until\nhis heart is broken for it. Men love darkness rather than light. Ay,\nthey make it manifest they love it, since so great a proffer will not\nprevail with them to leave it.\n\nSECOND USE. Is this a truth, that the man that truly comes to God in\norder thereto has had his heart broken? then this shows us a reason why\nsome men\u2019s hearts are broken; even a reason why God breaks some men\u2019s\nhearts for sin; namely, because he would not have them die in it, but\nrather come to God that they might be saved? Behold, therefore, in this\nhow God resolved as to the saving of some men\u2019s souls! He will have\nthem, he will save them, he will break their hearts, but he will save\nthem; he will kill them, that they may live; he will wound them, that\nhe may heal them. And it seems by our discourse that now there is no\nway left but this; fair means, as we say, will not do; good words, a\nglorious gospel, entreatings, beseeching with blood and tears, will not\ndo. Men are resolved to put God to the utmost of it; if he will have\nthem he must fetch them, follow them, catch them, lame them; yea, break\ntheir bones, or else he shall not save them.\n\nSome men think an invitation, an outward call, a rational discourse,\nwill do; but they are much deceived, there must a power, an exceeding\ngreat and mighty power, attend the Word, or it worketh not effectually\nto the salvation of the soul. I know these things are enough to leave\nmen without excuse, but yet they are not enough to bring men home to\nGod. Sin has hold of them, they have sold themselves to it; the power\nof the devil has hold of them, they are his captives at his will; yea,\nand more than all this, their will is one with sin, and with the devil,\nto be held captive thereby: and if God gives not contrition,\nrepentance, or a broken heart, for sin, there will not be no not so\nmuch as a mind in man to forsake this so horrible a confederacy and\nplot against his soul (2 Tim 2:24,25).\n\nHence men are said to be drawn from these breasts, that come, or that\nare brought to him (Isa 26:9; John 6:44). Wherefore John might well\nsay, \u2018Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us!\u2019\nHere is cost bestowed, pains bestowed, labour bestowed, repentance\nbestowed; yea, and an heart made sore, wounded, broken, and filled with\npain and sorrow, in order to the salvation of the soul.\n\nTHIRD USE. This then may teach us what estimation to set upon a broken\nheart. A broken heart is such as God esteems, yea, as God counts better\nthan all external service: a broken heart is that which is in order to\nsalvation, in order to thy coming to Christ for life. The world know\nnot what to make of it, nor what to say to one that has a broken heart,\nand therefore do despise it, and count that man that carries it in his\nbosom a moping fool, a miserable wretch, an undone soul: \u2018But a broken\nand a contrite spirit, O God, thou wilt not despise\u2019; a broken heart\ntakes thine eye, thy heart: thou choosest it for thy companion, yea,\nhas given thy Son a charge to look well to such a man, and has promised\nhim thy salvation, as has afore been proved.\n\nSinner, hast thou obtained a broken heart? has God bestowed a contrite\nspirit upon thee? He has given thee what himself is pleased with; he\nhas given thee a cabinet to hold his grace in; he has given thee a\nheart that can heartily desire his salvation, an heart after his own\nheart, that is, such as suits his mind. True, it is painful now,\nsorrowful now, penitent now, grieved now; now it is broken, now it\nbleeds, now, now it sobs, now it sighs, now it mourns and crieth unto\nGod. Well, very well; all this is because he hath a mind to make thee\nlaugh; he has made thee sorry on earth that thou mightest rejoice in\nheaven. \u2018Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be\ncomforted.\u2014Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh\u2019 (Matt 5:4;\nLuke 6:21).\n\nBut, soul, be sure thou hast this broken heart. All hearts are not\nbroken hearts, nor is every heart that seems to have a wound, a heart\nthat is truly broken. A man may be cut to, yet not into the heart; a\nman may have another, yet not a broken heart (Acts 7:54; 1 Sam 10:9).\nWe know there is a difference betwixt a wound in the flesh and a wound\nin the spirit; yea, a man\u2019s sin may be wounded, and yet his heart not\nbroken: so was Pharaoh\u2019s, so was Saul\u2019s, so was Ahab\u2019s; but they had\nnone of them the mercy of a broken heart. Therefore, I say, take heed;\nevery scratch with a pin, every prick with a thorn, nay, every blow\nthat God giveth with his Word upon the heart of sinners, doth not\ntherefore break them. God gave Ahab such a blow that he made him stoop,\nfast, humble himself, gird himself with and lie in sackcloth, which was\na great matter for a king, and go softly, and yet he never had a broken\nheart (1 Kings 21:27,29). What shall I say? Pharaoh and Saul confessed\ntheir sins, Judas repented himself of his doings, Esau sought the\nblessing, and that carefully with tears, and yet none of these had a\nheart rightly broken, or a spirit truly contrite; Pharaoh, Saul, and\nJudas, were Pharaoh, Saul, and Judas still; Esau was Esau still; there\nwas no gracious change, no thorough turn to God, no unfeigned parting\nwith their sins, no hearty flight for refuge, to lay hold on the hope\nof glory, though they indeed had thus been touched (Exo 10:16; 1 Sam\n26:21; Matt 27:3; Heb 12:14-17).\n\nThe consideration of these things call aloud to us to take heed, that\nwe take not that for a broken and a contrite spirit that will not go\nfor one at the day of death and judgment. Wherefore, seeking soul, let\nme advise thee, that thou mayest not be deceived as to this thing of so\ngreat weight.\n\nFirst. To go back towards the beginning of this book, and compare\nthyself with those six or seven signs of a broken and contrite heart,\nwhich there I have, according to the Word of God, given to thee for\nthat end; and deal with thy soul impartially about them.\n\nSecond. Or, which may and will be great help to thee if thou shalt be\nsincere therein, namely, to betake thyself to the search of the Word,\nespecially where thou readest of the conversion of men, and try if thy\nconversion be like, or has a good resemblance or oneness with theirs.\nBut in this have a care that thou dost not compare thyself with those\ngood folk of whose conversion thou readest not, or of the breaking of\nwhose heart there is no mention made in Scripture; for all that are\nrecorded in the Scripture for saints have not their conversion, as to\nthe manner or nature of it, recorded in the Scripture.\n\nThird. Or else, do thou consider truly of the true signs of repentance\nwhich are laid down in Scripture; for that is the true effect of a\nbroken heart, and of a wounded spirit. And for this see Matthew 3:5,6;\nLuke 18:13, 19:8; Acts 2:37-40, &c., 16:29,30, 19:18,19; 2 Corinthians\n7:8-11.\n\nFourth. Or else, take into consideration how God has said, they shall\nbe in their spirits that he intends to save. And for this read these\nscriptures: (1.) That in Jeremiah 31, \u2018They shall come with weeping,\nand with supplications will I lead them\u2019 &c. (v 9). (2.) Read Jeremiah\n50:4,5: \u2018In those days, and in that time, the children of Israel shall\ncome, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they\nshall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion\nwith their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves\nto the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.\u2019 (3.)\nRead Ezekiel 6:9: \u2018And they that escape of you shall remember me among\nthe nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken\nwith their whorish heart, which have departed from me, and with their\neyes, which go a-whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe\nthemselves for the evils which they have committed in all their\nabominations.\u2019 (4.) Read Ezekiel 7:16: \u2018But they that escape of them\nshall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys,\nall of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.\u2019 (5.) Read Ezekiel\n20:43: \u2018And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings,\nwherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your\nown sight for all your evils that ye have committed.\u2019 (6.) Read Ezekiel\n37:31: \u2018Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that\nwere not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your\niniquities and for your abominations.\u2019 (7.) Read Zechariah 12:10: \u2018And\nI will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of\nJerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall\nlook upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as\none mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as\none that is in bitterness for his first-born.\u2019\n\nNow all these are the fruits of the Spirit of God, and of the heart,\nwhen it is broken: wherefore, soul, take notice of them, and because\nthese are texts by which God promiseth that those whom he saveth shall\nhave this heart, this spirit, and these holy effects in them; therefore\nconsider again, and examine thyself, whether this is the state and\ncondition of thy soul. And that thou mayest do it fully, consider\nagain, and do thou,\n\n1. Remember that here is such a sense of sin, and of the irksomeness\nthereof, as maketh the man not only to abhor that, but himself, because\nof that; this is worth the noting by thee.\n\n2. Remember again that here is not only a self-abhorrence, but a\nsorrowful kind mourning unto God, at the consideration that the soul by\nsin has affronted, contemned, disregarded, and set at nought, both God\nand his holy Word.\n\n3. Remember also that here are prayers and tears for mercy, with\ndesires to be now out of love with sin for ever, and to be in heart and\nsoul firmly joined and knit unto God.\n\n4. Remember also that this people here spoken of have all the way from\nSatan to God, from sin to grace, from death to life, scattered with\ntears and prayers, with weeping and supplication; they shall go\nweeping, and seeking the Lord their God.\n\n5. Remember that these people, as strangers and pilgrims do, are not\nashamed to ask the way of those they meet with to Zion, or the heavenly\ncountry; whereby they confess their ignorance, as became them, and\ntheir desire to know the way to life: yea, thereby they declare that\nthere is nothing in this world, under the sun, or this side heaven,\nthat can satisfy the longings, the desire, and cravings of a broken and\na contrite spirit. Reader, be advised, and consider of these things\nseriously, and compare thy soul with them, and with what else thou\nshalt find here written for thy conviction and instruction.\n\nFOURTH USE. If a broken heart and a contrite spirit be of such esteem\nwith God, then this should encourage them that have it to come to God\nwith it. I know the great encouragement for men to come to God is, for\nthat there \u2018is a mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus\u2019 (1\nTim 2:5). This, I say, is the great encouragement, and in its place\nthere is none but that; but there are other encouragements subordinate\nto that, and a broken and a contrite spirit is one of them: this is\nevident from several places of Scripture.\n\nWherefore, thou that canst carry a broken heart and a sorrowful spirit\nwith thee, when thou goest to God, tell him thy heart is wounded within\nthee, that thou hast sorrow in thy heart, and art sorry for thy sins;\nbut take heed of lying.[15] Confess also thy sins unto him, and tell\nhim they are continually before thee. David made an argument of these\nthings, when he went to God by prayer. \u2018O Lord,\u2019 saith he, \u2018rebuke me\nnot in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.\u2019 But why\nso? O! says he, \u2018Thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth\nme sore. There is no soundness in my flesh, because of thine anger:\nneither is there any rest in my bones, because of my sin. For mine\niniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too\nheavy for me. My wounds stink, and are corrupt, because of my\nfoolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all\nthe day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and\nthere is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken; I have\nroared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire\nis before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth,\nmy strength faileth me: as for the light for mine eyes, it also is gone\nfrom me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore\u2019: and so he\ngoes on (Psa 38:1-4, &c.).\n\nThese are the words, sighs, complaints, prayers, and arguments of a\nbroken heart to God for mercy; and so are they\u2014\u2018Have mercy upon me, O\nGod, according to thy loving kindness; according unto the multitude of\nthy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from\nmine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my\ntransgressions; and my sin is ever before me\u2019 (Psa 51:1-3).\n\nGod alloweth poor creatures that can, without lying, thus to plead and\nargue with him. \u2018I am poor and sorrowful,\u2019 said the good man to him,\n\u2018let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high\u2019 (Psa 69:29). Wherefore\nthou that hast a broken heart take courage, God bids thee take courage;\nsay therefore to thy soul, \u2018Why are thou cast down, O my soul?\u2019 as\nusually the broken-hearted are. \u2018And why art thou disquieted within me?\nHope thou in God.\u2019 \u2018I had fainted,\u2019 if I had not been of good courage;\ntherefore \u2018be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart\u2019\n(Psa 42:11, 43:5, 27:12-14).\n\nBut alas! the broken-hearted are far off from this; they faint; they\nreckon themselves among the dead; they think God will remember them no\nmore: the thoughts of the greatness of God, and his holiness, and their\nown sins and vilenesses, will certainly consume them. They feel guilt\nand anguish of soul; they go mourning all the day long; their mouth is\nfull of gravel and gall, and they are made to drink draughts of\nwormwood and gall; so that he must be an artist indeed at believing,\nwho can come to God under his guilt and horror, and plead in faith that\nthe sacrifices of God are a broken heart, such as he had; and that \u2018a\nbroken and a contrite spirit God will not despise.\u2019\n\nFIFTH USE. If a broken heart, if a broken and contrite spirit, is of\nsuch esteem with God, then why should some be, as they are, so afraid\nof a broken heart, and so shy of a contrite spirit?\n\nI have observed that some men are as afraid of a broken heart, or that\nthey for their sins should have their hearts broken, as the dog is of\nthe whip. O! they cannot away with such books, with such sermons, with\nsuch preachers, or with such talk, as tends to make a man sensible of,\nand to break his heart, and to make him contrite for his sins. Hence\nthey heap to themselves such teachers, get such books, love such\ncompany, and delight in such discourse, as rather tends to harden than\nsoften; to make desperate in, than sorrowful for their sin. They say to\nsuch sermons, books, and preachers, as Amaziah said unto Amos, \u2018O thou\nseer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread,\nand prophesy there, but prophesy not again any more at Bethel; for it\nis the king\u2019s chapel, and it is the king\u2019s court\u2019 (Amos 7:12,13).\n\nBut do these people know what they do? Yes, think they, for such\npreachers, such books, such discourses tend to make one melancholy or\nmad; they make us that we cannot take pleasure in ourselves, in our\nconcerns, in our lives. But, O fool in grain![16] let me speak unto\nthee. Is it a time to take pleasure, and to recreate thyself in\nanything, before thou hast mourned and been sorry for thy sins? That\nmirth that is before repentance for sin will certainly end in\nheaviness. Wherefore the wise man, putting both together, saith that\nmourning must be first. There is \u2018a time to weep, and a time to laugh;\na time to mourn, and a time to dance\u2019 (Eccl 3:4). What, an unconverted\nman, and laugh! Shouldst thou see one singing merry songs that is\nriding up Holborn to Tyburn,[17] to be hanged for felony, wouldst thou\nnot count him besides himself, if not worse? and yet thus it is with\nhim that is for mirth while he standeth condemned by the Book of God\nfor his trespasses. Man! man! thou hast cause to mourn; yea, thou must\nmourn if ever thou art saved. Wherefore my advice is, that instead of\nshunning, thou covet both such books, such preachers, and such\ndiscourses, as have a tendency to make a man sensible of, and to break\nhis heart for sin; and the reason is, because thou wilt never be as\nthou shouldst, concerned about, nor seek the salvation of thine own\nsoul, before thou hast a broken heart, a broken and a contrite spirit.\nWherefore be not afraid of a broken heart; be not shy of a contrite\nspirit. It is one of the greatest mercies that God bestows upon a man\nor a woman. The heart rightly broken at the sense of, and made truly\ncontrite for transgression, is a certain forerunner of salvation. This\nis evident from those six demonstrations which were laid down to prove\nthe point in hand, at first.\n\nAnd for thy awakening in this matter, let me tell thee, and thou wilt\nfind it so, thou must have thy heart broken whether thou wilt or no.\nGod is resolved to break ALL hearts for sin some time or other. Can it\nbe imagined, sin being what it is, and God what he is\u2014to wit, a\nrevenger of disobedience\u2014but that one time or other man must smart for\nsin? smart, I say, either to repentance or to condemnation. He that\nmourns not now, while the door of mercy is open, must mourn for sin\nwhen the door of mercy is shut.\n\nShall men despise God, break his law, contemn his threats, abuse his\ngrace, yea, shut their eyes when he says, See; and stop their ears when\nhe says, Hear; and shall they so escape? No, no, because he called, and\nthey refused; he stretched out his hand, and they regarded it not;\ntherefore shall calamity come upon them, as upon one in travail; and\nthey shall cry in their destruction, and then God will laugh at their\ndestruction, and mock when their fear cometh. Then, saith he, \u2018they\nshall cry\u2019 (Prov 1:24-26). I have often observed that this threatening\nis repeated at least seven times in the New Testament, saying, \u2018There\nshall be weeping and gnashing of teeth\u2019; \u2018there shall be wailing and\ngnashing of teeth\u2019 (Matt 8:12, 13:42,50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30; Luke\n13:28). There. Where? In hell, and at the bar of Christ\u2019s tribunal,\nwhen he comes to judge the world, and shall have shut to the door to\nkeep them out of glory, that have here despised the offer of his grace,\nand overlooked the day of his patience. \u2018There shall be wailing and\ngnashing of teeth.\u2019 They shall weep and wail for this.\n\nThere are but two scriptures that I shall use more, and then I shall\ndraw towards a conclusion. One is that in Proverbs, where Solomon is\ncounselling of young men to beware of strange, that is, of wanton,\nlight, and ensnaring women. Take heed of such, said he, lest \u2018thou\nmourn at the last,\u2019 that is, in hell, when thou art dead, \u2018when thy\nflesh and thy body are consumed, and say, How have I hated instruction,\nand my heart despised reproof, and have not obeyed the voice of my\nteachers, nor inclined mine ears to them that instructed me!\u2019 (Prov\n5:11-13).\n\nThe other scripture is that in Isaiah, where he says, \u2018Because when I\ncalled, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil\nbefore mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.\nTherefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but\nye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be\nthirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed;\nbehold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for\nsorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit\u2019 (Isa 65:13,14).\n\nHow many beholds are here! and every behold is not only a call to\ncareless ones to consider, but as a declaration from heaven that thus\nat last it shall be with all impenitent sinners; that is, when others\nsing for joy in the kingdom of heaven, they, they shall sorrow in hell,\nand howl for vexation of spirit there.\n\nWherefore, let me advise that you be not afraid of, but that you rather\ncovet a broken heart, and prize a contrite spirit; I say, covet it now,\nnow the white flag is hung out, now the golden sceptre of grace is held\nforth to you. Better mourn now God inclines to mercy and pardon, than\nmourn when the door is quite shut up. And take notice, that this is not\nthe first time that I have given you this advice.\n\nUSE SIXTH. Lastly, If a broken heart be a thing of so great esteem with\nGod as has been said, and if duties cannot be rightly performed by a\nheart that has not been broken, then this shows the vanity of those\npeoples\u2019 minds, and also the invalidity of their pretended Divine\nservices, who worship God with a heart that was never broken, and\nwithout a contrite spirit. There has, indeed, at all times been great\nflocks of such professors in the world in every age, but to little\npurpose, unless to deceive themselves, to mock God, and lay\nstumbling-blocks in the way of others; for a man whose heart was never\ntruly broken, and whose spirit was never contrite, cannot profess\nChrist in earnest, cannot love his own soul in earnest; I mean, he\ncannot do these things in truth, and seek his own good the right way,\nfor he wants a bottom for it, to wit, a broken heart for sin, and a\ncontrite spirit.\n\nThat which makes a man a hearty, an unfeigned, a sincere seeker after\nthe good of his own soul, is sense of sin, and a godly fear of being\novertaken with the danger which it brings a man into. This makes him\ncontrite or repentant, and puts him upon seeking of Christ the Saviour,\nwith heart-aching and heart-breaking considerations. But this cannot\nbe, where this sense, this godly fear, and this holy contrition is\nwanting. Profess men may, and make a noise, as the empty barrel maketh\nthe biggest sound; but prove them, and they are full of air, full of\nemptiness, and that is all.\n\nNor are such professors tender of God\u2019s name, nor of the credit of that\ngospel which they profess; nor can they, for they want that which\nshould oblige them thereunto, which is a sense of pardon and\nforgiveness, by the which their broken hearts have been replenished,\nsuccoured, and made to hope in God. Paul said, the love of Christ\nconstrained him. But what was Paul but a broken-hearted and a contrite\nsinner? (Acts 9:3-6; 2 Cor 5:14). When God shows a man the sin he has\ncommitted, the hell he has deserved, the heaven he has lost; and yet\nthat Christ, and grace, and pardon may be had; this will make him\nserious, this will make him melt, this will break his heart, this will\nshow him that there is more than air, than a noise, than an empty sound\nin religion; and this is the man, whose heart, whose life, whose\nconversation and all, will be engaged in the matters of the eternal\nsalvation of his precious and immortal soul.\n\n[VIII. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.]\n\n\nObject. First. But some may object, that in this saying I seem too\nrigid and censorious; and will, if I moderate not these lines with\nsomething milder afterward, discourage many an honest soul.\n\nAnsw. I answer, Not a jot, not an honest soul in all the world will be\noffended at my words; for not one can be an honest soul, I mean with\nreference to its concerns in another world, that has not had a broken\nheart, that never had a contrite spirit. This I will say, because I\nwould be understood aright, that all attain not to the same degree of\ntrouble, nor lie so long there under, as some of their brethren do. But\nto go to heaven without a broken heart, or to be forgiven sin without a\ncontrite spirit, is no article of my belief. We speak not now of what\nis secret; revealed things belong to us and our children; nor must we\nventure to go further in our faith. Doth not Christ say, \u2018The whole\nhave no need of a physician\u2019; that is, they see no need, but Christ\nwill make them see their need before he ministers his sovereign grace\nunto them; and good reason, otherwise he will have but little thanks\nfor his kindness.\n\nObject. Second. But there are those that are godly educated from their\nchildhood, and so drink in the principles of Christianity they know not\nhow.\n\nAnsw. I count it one thing to receive the faith of Christ from men\nonly, and another to receive it from God by the means. If thou art\ntaught by an angel, yet if not taught of God, thou wilt never come to\nChrist; I do not say thou wilt never profess him. But if God speaks,\nand thou shalt hear and understand him, that voice will make such work\nwithin thee as was never made before. The voice of God is a voice by\nitself, and is so distinguished by them that are taught thereby (John\n6:44,45; Psa 29; Habb 3:12-16; Eph 4:20,21; 1 Peter 2:2,3).\n\nObject. Third. But some men are not so debauched and profane as some,\nand so need not to be so hammered and fired as others; so broken and\nwounded as others.\n\nAnsw. God knows best what we need. Paul was as righteous before\nconversion as any that can pretend to civility now, I suppose; and yet\nthat notwithstanding he was made to shake, and was astonished at\nhimself at his conversion. And truly I think the more righteous any is\nin his own eyes before conversion, the more need he has of\nheart-breaking work, in order to his salvation; because a man is not by\nnature so easily convinced that his righteousness is to God abominable,\nas he is that his debauchery and profaneness is.\n\nA man\u2019s goodness is that which blinds him most, is dearest to him, and\nhardly parted with; and therefore when such an one is converted, that\nthinks he has goodness of his own enough to commend him in whole or in\npart to God, but, but few such are converted, there is required a great\ndeal of breaking work upon his heart, to make him come to Paul\u2019s\nconclusion, \u2018What! are we better than they? No, in no wise\u2019 (Rom 3:9).\nI say, before he can be brought to see his glorious robes are filthy\nrags, and his gainful things but loss and dung (Isa 64; Phil 3).\n\nThis is also gathered from these words, \u2018Publicans and harlots enter\ninto the kingdom of God before the Pharisees\u2019 (Matt 21:31). Why before\nthem? But because they lie fairer for the Word, are easier convinced of\ntheir need of Christ, and so are brought home to him without, as I may\nsay, all that ado that the Holy Ghost doth make to bring home one of\nthese to him.\n\nTrue; nothing is hard or difficult to God. But I speak after the manner\nof men. And let who will take to task a man debauched in this life, and\none that is not so, and he shall see, if he laboureth to convince them\nboth that they are in a state of condemnation by nature, that the\nPharisee will make his appeals to God, with a great many God, I thank\nthees; while the Publican hangs his head, shakes at heart, and smites\nupon his breast, saying, \u2018God be merciful to me a sinner\u2019 (Luke\n18:11-13).\n\nWherefore a self-righteous man is but a painted Satan, or a devil in\nfine clothes; but thinks he so of himself? No! no! he saith to others,\nStand back, come not near me, I am holier than thou. It is almost\nimpossible, that a self-righteous man should be saved. But he that can\ndrive a camel through the eye of a needle, can cause that even such a\none shall see his lost condition, and that he needeth the righteousness\nof God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. He can make him see, I say,\nthat his own goodness did stand more in his way to the kingdom of\nheaven than he was aware of; and can make him feel too, that his\nleaning to that is as great iniquity as any immorality that men commit.\nThe sum then is, that men that are converted to God by Christ, through\nthe Word and Spirit\u2014for all this must go to effectual conversion\u2014must\nhave their hearts broken, and spirits made contrite; I say, it MUST be\nso, for the reasons showed before. Yea, and all decayed, apostatized,\nand backslidden Christians must, in order to their recovery again to\nGod, have their hearts broken, their souls wounded, their spirits made\ncontrite, and sorry for their sins.\n\nCome, come, conversion to God is not so easy and so smooth a thing as\nsome would have men believe it is. Why is man\u2019s heart compared to\nfallow ground, God\u2019s Word to a plough, and his ministers to ploughmen?\nif the heart indeed has no need of breaking, in order to the receiving\nof the seed of God unto eternal life (Jer 4:3; Luke 9:62; 1 Cor 9:10).\nWho knows not that the fallow ground must be ploughed, and ploughed too\nbefore the husbandman will venture his seed; yea, and after that oft\nsoundly harrowed, or else he will have but a slender harvest?\n\nWhy is the conversion of the soul compared to the grafting of a tree,\nif that be done without cutting? The Word is the graft, the soul is the\ntree, and the Word, as the scion, must be let in by a wound; for to\nstick on the outside, or to be tied on with a string, will do no good\nhere. Heart must be set to heart, and back to back, or your pretended\ningrafting will come to nothing (Rom 11:17,24; Jer 1:21).\n\nI say, heart must be set to heart, and back to back, or the sap will\nnot be conveyed from the root to the branch; and I say, this must be\ndone by a wound. The Lord opened the heart of Lydia, as a man openeth\nthe stock to graft in the scions, and so the word was let into her\nsoul, and so the word and her heart cemented, and became one (Acts\n16:14).\n\nWhy is Christ bid to gird his sword upon his thigh? and why must he\nmake his arrows sharp, and all, that the heart may with this sword and\nthese arrows be shot, wounded, and made to bleed? Yea, why is he\ncommanded to let it be so, if the people would bow and fall kindly\nunder him, and heartily implore his grace without it? (Psa 45; 55:3,4).\nAlas! men are too lofty, too proud, too wild, too devilishly resolved\nin the ways of their own destruction; in their occasions, they are like\nthe wild asses upon the wild mountains; nothing can break them of their\npurposes, or hinder them from ruining of their own precious and\nimmortal souls, but the breaking of their hearts.\n\nWhy is a broken heart put in the room of all sacrifices which we can\noffer to God, and a contrite spirit put in the room of all offerings,\nas they are, and you may see it so, if you compare the text with that\nverse which goes before it; I say, why is it counted better than all,\nwere they all put together, if any one part or if all external parts of\nworship, were they put together, could be able to render the man a\nsound and a rightly made new creature without it? \u2018A broken heart, a\ncontrite spirit, God will not despise\u2019; but both thou, and all thy\nservice, he will certainly slight and reject, if, when thou comest to\nhim, a broken heart be wanting; wherefore here is the point, Come\nbroken, come contrite, come sensible of, and sorry for thy sins, or thy\ncoming will be counted no coming to God aright; and if so, consequently\nthou wilt get no benefit thereby.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n[1] This is beautifully and most impressively described in the\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress, when the bitter feelings of poor Christian under\nconvictions of sin, alarm his family and put it quite \u2018out of\norder.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[2] This quotation is from the Genevan or Puritan version of the\nBible.\u2014Ed.\n\n[3]. \u2018Fish-whole\u2019 is a very striking and expressive term, highly\nillustrative of the feelings and position of David when he was accosted\nby the prophet. The word \u2018whole\u2019 is from the Saxon, which language\nabounded in Bunyan\u2019s native county of Bedford\u2014first introduced by an\nancient colony of Saxons, who had settled there. It means hale, hearty,\nfree from disease, as a fish is happy in its native element\u2014\u2018They that\nare WHOLE, need not a physician, but they that are sick,\u2019 Luke 5:31.\nDavid had no smitings of conscience for his cruelty and enormous guilt;\nhe was like a \u2018fish whole,\u2019 in the full enjoyment of every providential\nblessing; while, spiritually, he was dead in sin. God loved and pitied\nhim, and sent a cunning angler. Nathan the prophet there in the bait,\nwhich David eagerly seized; the hook entered his conscience, and he\nbecame as a fish wounded, and nigh unto death.\u2014Ed.\n\n[4] The words of Tindal are, \u2018The sacrifice of God is a troubled\nsprete, a broken and a contrite hert, O God, shalt thou not despise.\u2019\nThe same Hebrew word occurs in the original, both as to the spirit and\nthe heart. Bunyan is quite right in preferring our authorised version\nof this verse. Coverdale, Tindal, Taverner, and Cranmer, all agree. The\nGenevan uses \u2018a contrite spirit,\u2019 and the Bishops \u2018a mortified\nspirit.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[5] No one could speak more feelingly upon this subject than our\nauthor. He had been in deep waters\u2014in soul-harrowing fear, while his\nheart\u2014hard by nature\u2014was under the hammer of the Word.\u2014\u2018My soul was\nlike a broken vessel. O, the unthought of imaginations, frights, fears,\nand terrors, that are affected by a thorough application of guilt,\nyielded to desperation!\u2019 Like the man that had his dwelling among the\ntombs.\u2014Grace Abounding, No. 186.\n\n[6] The Christian, if he thinks of possessing good motions, joins with\nsuch thoughts his inability to carry them into effect. \u2018When I would do\ngood, evil is present with me.\u2019 How different is this to the\nself-righteous Ignorance, so vividly pictured in the Pilgrim\u2019s\nProgress:\u2014\n\nIgnor.\u2014I am always full of good motions that come into my mind, to\ncomfort me as I walk.\n\nChris.\u2014What good motions? pray tell us.\n\nIgnor.\u2014Why, I think of God and heaven.\n\nChris.\u2014So do the devils and damned souls!\u2019\n\nThe whole of that deeply interesting dialogue illustrates the\ndifficulty of self-knowledge, which can only be acquired by the\nteaching of the Holy Spirit.\n\n[7] \u2018All to brake\u2019; an obsolete mode of expression for \u2018altogether\nbroke.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[8] \u2018Orts\u2019; an obsolete word in England, derived from the Anglo-Saxon.\nAny worthless leaving or refuse. It is thus used by Shakespeare in his\nTroylus and Cresida, act 5, s. 2:\u2014\n\n   \u2018The fractions of her faith, orts of her love:\n    The fragments, scraps, the bits and greasy relics\n    Of her ore-eaten faith.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[9] This is in exact agreement with the author\u2019s experience, which he\nhad published twenty-two years before, under the title of Grace\nAbounding to the Chief of Sinners,\u2014\u2018I was more loathsome in my own eyes\nthan was a toad, and I thought I was so in God\u2019s eyes too. Sin and\ncorruption, I said, would as naturally bubble out of my heart as water\nwould out of a fountain. I thought that none but the devil himself\ncould equal me for inward wickedness and pollution of mind.\u2019 A sure\nsign that God, as his heavenly Father, was enlightening his memory by\nthe Holy Spirit.\u2014Ed.\n\n[10] This account of the author\u2019s interview with a pious, humble woman,\nis an agreeable episode, which relieves the mind without diverting it\nfrom the serious object of the treatise. It was probably an event which\ntook place in one of those pastoral visits which Bunyan was in the\nhabit of making, and which, if wisely made, so endears a minister to\nthe people of his charge. Christ and a crust is the common saying to\nexpress the sentiment that Christ is all in all. The pitcher has\nreference to the custom of pilgrims in carrying at their girdle a\nvessel to hold water, the staff having a crook by which it was dipped\nup from a well or river.\u2014Ed.\n\n[11] However hard, and even harsh, these terms may appear, they are\nfully justified; and with all the author\u2019s great ability and renown, he\nhas the grace of humility to acknowledge that, by nature and practice,\nhe had been the biggest of fools.\u2014Ed.\n\n[12] Man must be burnt out of the stronghold in which he trusted.\n\u2018Saved, yet so as by fire.\u2019 \u2018Baptized with the Holy Ghost, even fire.\u2019\n\u2018His word is as a fire.\u2019 Reader, the work of regeneration and\npurification is a trying work; may each inquire, Has this fire burnt up\nmy wood, hay, stubble?\u2014Ed.\n\n[13] To \u2018daff\u2019 or \u2018doff\u2019; to do off or throw aside\u2014used by Shakespeare,\nbut now obsolete,\u2014\n\n    Where is his son,\n    The nimble-footed madcap, Prince of Wales,\n    And his comrades, that daft the world aside\n    And let it pass?\u2014Ed.\n\n[14] \u2018Sin will at first, just like a beggar, crave One penny or one\nhalfpenny to have; And if you grant its first suit, \u2019twill aspire From\npence to pounds, and so will still mount higher To the whole\nsoul!\u2019\u2014Bunyan\u2019s Caution Against Sin.\u2014Ed.\n\n[15] This is faithful dealing. How many millions of lies are told to\nthe All-seeing God, with unblushing effrontery, every Lord\u2019s day\u2014when\nthe unconcerned and careless, or the saint of God, happy, most happy in\nthe enjoyment of Divine love, are led to say, \u2018Have mercy upon us\nmiserable sinners.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[16] \u2018In grain\u2019 is a term used in dyeing, when the raw material is dyed\nbefore being spun or wove; the colour thus takes every grain, and\nbecomes indelible. So with sin and folly; it enters every grain of\nhuman nature.\u2014Ed.\n\n[17] These frightful exhibitions, by drawing a criminal from Newgate to\nTyburn to be executed, were of common occurrence until the reign of\nGeorge III, when such numbers were put to death that it was found\nhandier for the wholesale butchery to take place at Newgate, by a new\ndrop, where twenty or thirty could be hung at once!! When will such\nbrutalizing exhibitions cease?\u2014Ed.\n\n\n\n\nPAUL\u2019S DEPARTURE AND CROWN;\n\nOR,\n\nAN EXPOSITION UPON 2 TIM. IV. 6-8\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR\n\n\nHow great and glorious is the Christian\u2019s ultimate destiny\u2014a kingdom\nand a crown! Surely it hath not entered into the heart of man to\nconceive what ear never heard, nor mortal eye ever saw? the mansions of\nthe blest\u2014the realms of glory\u2014\u2018a far more exceeding and eternal weight\nof glory.\u2019 For whom can so precious an inheritance be intended? How are\nthose treated in this world who are entitled to so glorious, so\nexalted, so eternal, and unchangeable an inheritance in the world to\ncome? How do the heirs to immortality conduct themselves in such a\nprospect? An inheritance sure and certain\u2014an absolute reversion which\nno contingency can possibly affect. All these are inquiries of the\ndeepest interest\u2014the most solemn importance. Above all, when we inquire\nas to our personal title to the heavenly mansions\u2014Am I one of the heirs\nof God and joint heirs with Christ?\u2014most intensely should this question\nagitate the soul, when we reflect that, unless we are entitled to this\ninestimable reversion, we must be plunged into the most awful, the most\nirretrievable and external torments! There is no middle way\u2014no escape\nfrom hell, but by going to heaven. Is heaven reserved only for the\nnoble and the learned, like Paul? God forbid! but, on the contrary, we\nhear the voice of the divinity proclaiming, \u2018Not many wise men after\nthe flesh\u2014not many mighty\u2014not many noble.\u2019 \u2018Thus saith the Lord, Heaven\nis my throne, the earth my footstool.\u2019 He looketh upon the high and\nlow\u2014the learned and the noble\u2014the mighty princes and the unlettered\nlabourer; and then makes this wondrous declaration\u2014\u2018To this man will I\nlook, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth\nat my word.\u2019 The world will treat such humble ones as it treated the\nLord of life and glory, with scorn, contempt, insult, robbery\u2014death.\nThey bear all with patience\u2014return good for evil\u2014are the followers of\nhim who went about doing good\u2014are known as living epistles, because\nthey have been with Christ; they daily enjoy his guidance and\nprotection, and in their desires after conformity to his image, they\nbreathe the atmosphere of heaven. This is what the heir of glory\nstrives after; but, alas! he has to encounter an evil heart, an\nensnaring world, and the reproaches and revilings of his fellow-men,\naided by satanic influence. Can we wonder, then, that he who is thus\nbesieged, and believes that his work is finished, should, with Paul, be\nready to depart and receive his rich inheritance? The lapse of time\naffects not the strong consolations of hope; as it was with Paul, so\nBunyan felt. His longings after the heavenly manna abounded when the\ncold hand of death pressed upon his brow; his desire was \u2018to be\ndissolved, and to be with Christ\u2019; when his course of temple and\nrelative duty was run, he waited for the messenger from the celestial\ncity to conduct him home. Christian, are you actively engaged in\nfulfilling the duties of your course? or, in the humble hope that your\ncourse is accomplished, are you patiently waiting the heavenly\nmessenger? If the Christian\u2019s state is one of trial now, it was much\nmore so in former times. We can have very little idea of the feelings\nof a dissenter from the religion of the State, like Paul, under the\ncruel Nero, or like Bunyan, under the debauched Charles the Second\u2014both\nof them liable, without a moment\u2019s warning, to be carried away to\nprison, or to be murdered, privately or publicly, for refusing\nsubmission to civil governors in matters of faith or worship. Although\nthey possessed every loyal and patriotic feeling, they dared not obey\nthose human laws which usurped the prerogatives of God, by interfering\nwith divine worship. Their lives were in their hands; in the midst of\nimminent danger they boldly avowed the truth, and set us a noble\nexample. Their intercourse with heaven was doubly sweet from the\nuncertainty of liberty and life. For them to live was Christ, and\ntherefore they well knew the gain of dying. In proportion as temporal\nblessings were eminently doubtful, so spiritual and eternal benefits\nwere precious.\n\nThis treatise was one of those ten excellent manuscripts found already\nprepared for the press, after the unexpected decease of its pious\nauthor. It bears the marks of having been composed, and perhaps\npreached, towards the end of his pilgrimage. Had his valuable life been\nspared a few months longer, this work would, very probably, have been\nenlarged, and the sub-divisions somewhat improved. The principal heads\nare now inserted as separate lines, to assist the reader in referring\nto its several parts; and notes are added to explain old words and\ncustoms, and, in some cases, to point out a few of the beautiful and\nstriking passages with which it abounds. Many of these ought to be\nindelibly impressed upon our minds. \u2018The words of the Lord are pure\nwords; as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times\u2019\n(Psa 12:6). The question naturally arises\u2014What is this \u2018furnace of\nearth\u2019 in which the Lord\u2019s words are purified? Seven being the number\nof perfection, conveys the idea that it will be in the furnace until it\nappears perfectly refined. Bunyan considers that these earthen furnaces\nare the bodies of the saints. In the trials, troubles, and persecutions\nto which they are subjected, the Word bears them up triumphantly, so\nthat the purity and excellency of the holy oracles conspicuously\nappears, like the trial of faith mentioned by Peter (1 Peter 1:7). Dr.\nGill considers that these crucibles mean Christ and his ministers;\nwhile Bunyan, with his enlarged mind, identifies them with the whole of\nChrist\u2019s followers. Some of these crucibles prove not to be genuine,\nand perish in the using, not being able to abide the fire. Such was the\ncase with one of Mr. Bunyan\u2019s friends. John Childs, who, for fear of\npersecution, conformed, became horror-stricken for the denial of his\nMaster, and notorious for having destroyed himself.\n\nIn this treatise it is most affectionately impressed upon us to heap up\ntreasures that will go with us into the unseen world, as of greater\nimportance than those things which perish with the using. \u2018A Christian,\nand spend thy time, thy strength, and parts,\u2019 for that which maketh to\nitself wings and fleeth away! \u2018Remember thou art a man of another\nworld, a subject of a more noble kingdom\u2014that of God, and of heaven.\nMake not heavenly things stoop to the world; but hoist up thy mind to\nthe things that are above, and practically hold forth before all the\nworld the blessed word of life.\u2019 If death is the king of terrors to\nfallen humanity, still there are truths abounding with consolation,\nthat when the Christian departs, the angels are ready, as in the case\nof Lazarus, to convey the happy spirit to Abraham\u2019s bosom; the struggle\nis short, and then comes the reward. In this world we must have\ntribulation; but in heaven white robes, the palm of victory, and the\nconqueror\u2019s crown, await the saints. Paul heard a voice which raised\nhis soul above the fears of death, and gave him a desire to depart; its\nmelodious sound invited him home\u2014it was the voice of eternal truth,\nsaying, \u2018Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord; yea, saith the\nSpirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do\nfollow them.\u2019\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nPAUL\u2019S DEPARTURE AND CROWN.\n\n\n\u2018For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at\nhand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have\nkept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of\nrighteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at\nthat day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his\nappearing.\u2019\u20142 Timothy 4:6-8\n\nThese words were, by the apostle Paul, written to Timothy, whom he had\nbegot to the faith, by the preaching of the gospel of Christ; in which\nare many things of great concernment both for instruction and\nconsolation; something of which I shall open unto you for your profit\nand edification. But before I come to the words themselves, as they are\na relation of Paul\u2019s case, I shall take notice of something from them\nas they depend upon the words going before, being a vehement\nexhortation to Timothy to be constant and faithful in his work; which,\nin brief, may be summed up in these particulars: 1st, A solemn binding\ncharge before God and Jesus Christ our Lord, that he be constant in\npreaching the Word, whether in or out of season, reproving, rebuking,\nand exhorting with all long-suffering and doctrine; and that because of\nthat ungodly spirit that would possess professors after he was dead;\nfor the time will come, saith he, that they will not endure sound\ndoctrine, neither sound reproof, nor sound trial of their state and\ncondition by the Word, but after their own lusts shall they heap to\nthemselves teachers, having itching ears,\u2014the plague that once God\nthreatened to rebellious Israel (Deut 28:27)\u2014and be turned unto fables.\nMuch like this is that in the Acts of the Apostles, \u2018For I know this,\nthat after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not\nsparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking\nperverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch,\nand remember, that by the space of three years, I ceased not to warn\nevery one night and day with tears\u2019 (Acts 20:29-31)\n\nThis evil then is to be prevented:\u2014by a diligent watchfulness in\nministers;\u2014By a diligent preaching the word of the Lord;\u2014and, By sound\nand close rebukes, reproofs, and exhortations to those in whosoever the\nleast there appears any swerving or turning aside from the gospel. The\nministers of the gospel have each of them all that authority that\nbelongs to their calling and office, and need not to stay for power\nfrom men to put the laws of Christ in his church into due and full\nexecution (Titus 2:15). This \u2018remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of\nmany people as a dew from the Lord,\u2014that tarrieth not for man, nor\nwaiteth for the sons of men\u2019 (Micah 5:7). Therefore he adds, \u2018Watch\nthou in all things, endure afflictions,\u2019 if thou shouldst be opposed in\nthy work, \u2018do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy\nministry\u2019 (2 Tim 4:5).[1] How our time-serving and self-saving\nministers will salve their conscience from the stroke that God\u2019s Word\nwill one day give them, and how they will stand before the\njudgment-seat to render an account of this their doings, let them see\nto it; surely God will require it of their hand!\n\nBut, O Timothy, do thou be diligent, do thou watch in all things, do\nthou endure affliction, do thou the work of an evangelist, make thou\nfull proof of thy ministry, \u2018for I am not ready to be offered,\u2019 &c. The\nwords, then, of my text are a reason of this exhortation to Timothy,\nthat he should continue watchful, and abide faithful in his calling.\n\u2018For I am now ready to be offered\u2019; that is, to be put to death for the\ngospel.\n\nHence then learn two things,\n\nFirst, That the murders and outrage that our brethren suffer at the\nhands of wicked men should not discourage those that live, from a full\nand faithful performance of their duty to God and man, whatever may be\nthe consequence thereof. Or thus, when we see our brethren before us\nfall to the earth by death, through the violence of the enemies of God,\nfor their holy and Christian profession, we should covet to make good\ntheir ground against them, though our turn should be the next. We\nshould valiantly do in this matter, as is the custom of soldiers in\nwar; take great care that the ground be maintained, and the front kept\nfull and complete. \u2018Thou, therefore,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018endure hardness as a\ngood soldier of Jesus Christ\u2019 (2 Tim 2:3). And in another place, We\nshould not be moved by these afflictions, but endure by resisting even\nunto blood (1 Thess 3:3). Wherefore Paul saith again, \u2018Be not thou\ntherefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his\nprisoner; but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel,\naccording to the power of God\u2019 (2 Tim 1:8). Thus let the spirit of\nMoses rest upon Joshua (Num 27:20), and the spirit of Elijah rest upon\nElisha (2 Kings 2:15). Stand up, therefore, like valiant worthies, as\nthe ministers of my God, and fly not every man to his own, while the\ncause, and ways, and brethren of our Lord are buffeted and condemned by\nthe world. And remember, that those that keep the charge of the Lord\nwhen most go a-whoring from under their God, they, when he turns the\ncaptivity of his people, shall be counted worthy to come nigh unto him,\n\u2018to offer the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God.\u2019 But for the rest,\nthough they may yet stand before the people, because they stood before\nthem in a way of idolatry, yet it shall not be to their honour, nor to\ntheir comfort; but to their shame, as the same scripture saith (Eze\n44:10-16).\n\n1. Let this therefore smite with conviction those that, in this day of\nJacob\u2019s trouble, have been false with God, his cause, and people: I\nsay, those first and especially as the chief ringleaders of this\ncowardliness, who have done it against light, profession, and\nresolutions. Behold, thou hast sinned against the Lord, and be sure thy\nsins will find thee out; and though thou mayest now have as a judgment\nof God upon thee, thy right eye darkened that thou mayest not see, yet\nawakening time will overtake thee, and that too between the straits,\nwhen he will show thee, to the great confusion of thy face, and the\namazement of them that behold thee, how great an affront he counts it\nto be left by thee, in a day when his truth is cast down to the ground\n(Rom 11:10). I have often thought of that prophet that went down from\nJudah to Bethel, to prophesy against the idolatry that was there set up\nby the King; who, because he kept not the commandment of God, but did\neat and drink in that place, at the persuasion of a lying prophet, was\nmet at last by a lion, who slew him there in the way, where his carcase\nwas made a spectacle of God to passengers (1 Kings 13). If thou be\nspiritual, judge what I say; and think not to be one of that number\nthat shall have the harps of God, when God appears for Zion, and that\nshall sing that song of Moses, and also the song of the Lamb; for that\nis only for those who have fought the godly fight, and gotten the\nvictory over the beast, his image, mark, number, and name.\n\n2. Let this also be an awe to thee, who hast hankerings to do as the\nother: Beware, and remember Judas, and the end God brought upon him; he\nwill not always bear such things; these times have showed us already\nthat he beholds them with great dislike; why should thou hang up in\nchains as a terror to all that know thee? And never object that some\nhave done it, and yet are at peace in their souls; for peace in a\nsinful course is one of the greatest of curses. And \u2018the man that\nwandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the\ncongregation of the dead\u2019 (Prov 21:6).\n\n[Second.] The Second thing to be learned from these words, as they have\na relation to them going before, is encouragement to those that are yet\nin the storm; and that from three great arguments.\n\n1. Paul\u2019s peace and comfort now at the time of his death, which he\nsignifieth to Timothy by these three expressions, \u2018I have fought a good\nfight\u2014I have finished my course\u2014I have kept the faith.\u2019\n\n2. By the blessed reward he should have for his labour from Christ in\nanother world, together with all those that love the appearing of the\nLord, at \u2018that great and notable day.\u2019\n\n3. That now his last act should not be inferior to any act he did for\nGod, while he was alive and preached in the world; for his body should\nnow be an offering, a sacrifice well-pleasing to God. To all which I\nshall speak something in my discourse upon these words; and, therefore,\nto come to them:\n\n\u2018I AM NOW READY TO BE OFFERED.\u2019\n\n\nIn these words we have to inquire into two things. FIRST. What it is to\nbe \u2018offered.\u2019 SECOND. What it is to be \u2018ready to be offered up.\u2019 \u2018I am\nnow ready to be offered.\u2019\n\n[WHAT IT IS TO BE OFFERED.]\n\n\nFIRST. For the first of these. Paul, by saying he was \u2018to be offered,\u2019\nalludeth to some of the sacrifices that of old were under the law; and\nthereby signifieth to Timothy that his death and martyrdom for the\ngospel should be both sweet in the nostrils of God, and of great profit\nto his church in this world; for so were the sacrifices of old. Paul,\ntherefore, lifts his eyes up higher than simply to look upon death, as\nit is the common fate of men; and he had good reason to do it, for his\ndeath was violent; it was also for Christ, and for his church and\ntruth; and it is usual with Paul thus to set out the suffering of the\nsaints, which they undergo for the name and testimony of Jesus. Yea, he\nwill have our prayers a sacrifice; our praises, thanksgiving, and\nmortification, sacrifices; almsdeed, and the offering up of the\nGentiles, sacrifices, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost; and here his\ndeath also must be for a sacrifice, and an acceptable offering to God\n(Heb 13:15,16; Rom 12:1,2, 15:16).\n\nPeter also saith, We are priests \u2018to offer up spiritual sacrifices\nacceptable to God by Jesus Christ\u2019 (1 Peter 2:5). Of which sacrifices,\nit seems by Paul, the death of a Christian for Jesus\u2019 sake must needs\nbe counted one. Besides, Paul further insinuates this by some other\nsentences in his epistles; as by that in the epistle to the Colossians,\nwhere he saith, \u2018I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up\nthat which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his\nbody\u2019s sake, which is the church\u2019 (Col 1:24). Not by way of merit, for\nso Christ alone, and that by once being offered himself, hath perfected\nfor ever them that are sanctified (Heb 10:10-14). But his meaning is,\nthat as Christ was offered in sacrifice for his church as a Saviour, so\nPaul would offer himself as a sacrifice for Christ\u2019s church, as a\nsaint, as a minister, and one that was counted faithful. \u2018Yea,\u2019 saith\nhe, \u2018and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith,\nI joy and rejoice with you all\u2019 (Phil 2:17). This, then, teacheth us\nseveral things worthy our consideration.\n\nFirst. That the blood of the saints, that they lose for his name, is a\nsweet savour to God. And so saith the Holy Ghost, \u2018Precious in the\nsight of the Lord is the death of his saints\u2019 (Psa 116:15). And again,\n\u2018He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious\nshall their blood be in his sight\u2019 (Psa 72:14).\n\nSecond. Those that suffer for Christ are of great benefit to his\nchurch, as the sacrifices of old were confirming and strengthening to\nIsrael; wherefore Paul saith, his bonds encouraged his brethren, and\nmade them much more bold in the way of God to speak his word without\nfear (Phil 1:14).\n\nThird. The sufferings, or offering of the saints in sacrifice, it is of\ngreat use and advantage to the gospel; of use, I say, many ways. (1.)\nThe blood of the saints defends it; (2.) confirmeth it; and (3.)\nredeemeth that thereof that hath been lost in antichristian darkness.\n\n1. They do thereby defend and preserve it from those that would take it\nfrom us, or from those that would impose another upon us. \u2018I am set,\u2019\nsaith Paul, \u2018for the defence of the gospel,\u2019 and my sufferings have\nfallen out for the furtherance of it (Phil 1:17). That is, it hath not\nonly continued to hold its ground, but hath also got more by my\ncontentions, sufferings, and hazards for it.\n\n2. It confirms it; and this is part of the meaning of Paul in those\nlarge relations of his sufferings for Christ, saying, \u2018Are they\nministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more\u2014in prisons more\nfrequent,\u2019 &c.; as he saith again, and these things \u2018I do for the\ngospel\u2019s sake.\u2019 And again, That the truth of the \u2018gospel might be\ncontinued with you.\u2019 So again, \u2018I suffer,\u2019 saith he, in the gospel \u2018as\nan evil-doer even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound; yea,\u2019\nsaith he, \u2018therefore I endure all things for the elect\u2019s sake\u2019 (2 Tim\n2:9,10). That is, that the gospel may be preserved entire, that the\nsouls that are yet unborn may have the benefit of it, with eternal\nglory.\n\n3. The sufferings of the saints are of a redeeming virtue; for, by\ntheir patient enduring and losing their blood for the word, they\nrecover the truths of God that have been buried in Antichristian\nrubbish, from that soil and slur that thereby hath for a long time\ncleaved unto them; wherefore it is said, They overcame him, the beast,\n\u2018by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they\nloved not their lives unto the death\u2019 (Rev 12:11). They overcame him;\nthat is, they recovered the truth from under his aspersions, and\ndelivered it from all its enemies. David saith, \u2018The words of the Lord\nare\u2014as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times\u2019 (Psa\n12:6). What is this furnace of earth but the body of the saints of God,\nin which the Word is tried, as by fire in persecution, yea, \u2018purified\nseven times\u2019; that is, brought forth at last by the death of the\nChristians in its purity before the world. How hath the headship and\nlordship of Christ, with many other doctrines of God, been taken away\nfrom the Pope by the sufferings of our brethren before us? While their\nflesh did fry in the flames, the Word of God was cleansed, and by such\nmeans purified in these their earthen furnaces, and so delivered to us.\nThe lamps of Gideon were then discovered when his soldiers\u2019 pitchers\nwere broken; if our pitchers were broke for the Lord and his gospel\u2019s\nsake, those lamps will then be discovered that before lay hid and\nunseen (Judg 7:15-22). Much use might be made of this good doctrine.\n\nLearn thus much:\u2014\n\n1. [Learn] The judgment that is made of our sufferings by carnal men is\nnothing at all to be heeded; they see not the glory that is wrapped up\nin our cause, nor the innocence and goodness of our conscience in our\nenduring of these afflictions; they judge according to the flesh,\naccording to outward appearance. For so, indeed, we seem to lie under\ncontempt, and to be in a disgraceful condition; but all things here are\nconverted to another use and end. That which is contemptible when\npersons are guilty, is honourable when persons are clear; and that\nwhich brings shame when persons are buffeted for their faults, is\nthankworthy in those that endure grief, suffering wrongfully (1 Peter\n2:19-22). Though to suffer for sin be the token of God\u2019s displeasure,\nyet to those that suffer for righteousness, it is a token of greatest\nfavour; wherefore matter not how the world doth esteem of thee and thy\npresent distress, that thou bearest with patience for God and his Word;\nbut believe that those things that are both shame and dishonour to\nothers, are glory and honour to thee (2 Thess 1:4-10). O for a man to\nbe able to say, \u2018For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain\u2019\n(Acts 28:20). It makes his face to shine like the face of an angel, and\nhis lips to drop like the honey-comb (Cant 4:11).\n\n2. We learn also from hence, the reason why some in days before us have\nmade light of the rage of the world; but they have laughed at\ndestruction when it cometh (Job 5:21,22). And have gone forth to meet\nthe armed men; and with Job\u2019s war-horse, \u2018mocketh at fear, and is not\naffrighted, neither turneth he back from the sword; the quiver rattleth\nagainst him, the glittering spear and the shield, he said among the\ntrumpets, Ha, ha\u2019 (Job 39:22,25). It hath been their [God\u2019s fearers]\nglory to suffer for Christ; as it is said of the saints of old, \u2018they\ndeparted from the presence of the counsel, rejoicing that they were\ncounted worthy to suffer shame for his name\u2019 (Acts 5:41). As Paul also\nsaith, \u2018most gladly I will,\u2019 mark, \u2018most gladly, rather glory in mine\ninfirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me\u2019 (2 Cor\n12:9,10). Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in\nnecessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ\u2019s sake, &c. Let\nthose that suffer for theft and murder hang down their heads like a\nbulrush, and carry it like those that are going to hanging; but let\nthose whose trials are for the Word of God know, by these very things\nthey are dignified.\n\n3. Learn also in this to be confident, that thy sufferings have their\nsound and a voice before God and men. First, Before God, to provoke him\nto vengeance, \u2018when he maketh inquisition for blood\u2019 (Psa 9:12; Gen\n4:9-11). The blood of Abel cried until it brought down wrath upon Cain;\nand so did the blood of Christ and his apostles, till it had laid\nJerusalem upon heaps. Secondly, Thy blood will also have a voice before\nmen, and that possibly for their good. The faithful Christian, in his\npatient suffering, knows not what work he may do for God; who knows but\nthy blood may be so remembered by thy children, neighbours, and\nenemies, as to convince them thou wert for the truth? Yea, who knows\nbut their thoughts of thy resolution for Christ, in thy resisting unto\nblood, may have so good an effect upon some, as to persuade them to\nclose with his ways? The three children in the fiery furnace made\nNebuchadnezzar cry out there was no God like theirs! Indeed, this is\nhard labour, but be content, the dearer thou payest for it to win the\nsouls of others, the greater will be thy crown, when the Lord, the\nrighteous Judge, shall appear; and in the meanwhile, thy death shall be\nas a sacrifice pleasing to God and his saints.\n\n[WHAT IT IS TO BE NOW READY TO BE OFFERED.]\n\n\nSECOND. The second thing that I would inquire into is this: What it is\nto be \u2018ready to be offered up\u2019? Or how we should understand this word\n\u2018ready\u2019: \u2018I am now ready to be offered up.\u2019 Which I think may be\nunderstood three manner of ways.\n\nFirst. With respect to that readiness that was continually in the heart\nof those that hated him, to destroy him with his doctrines; Second. Or\nit may be understood with respect to the readiness of this blessed\napostle\u2019s mind, his being ready and willing always to embrace the cross\nfor the word\u2019s sake; or, Third. We may very well understand it that he\nhad done his work for God in this world, and therefore was ready to be\ngone.\n\n[Readiness of enemies to destroy the apostle and his doctrine.]\n\nFirst. For the first of these: The enemies of God and his truth, they\nnever want will and malice to oppose the Word of God; they are also\nalways so far forth in readiness to murder and slaughter the saints, as\nthe prophet cries to Jerusalem, \u2018Behold the princes of Israel, every\none were in thee to their power to shed blood\u2019 (Eze 22:6), that is,\nthey had will and malice always at hand to oppose the upright in heart.\nAnd therefore our Lord Jesus saith, \u2018they are they that kill the body\u2019;\nhe doth not say they can do it as relating to their will, and their\ncustom, if let loose; and we may understand thereby that it is no more\nto them to kill the people of God, than it is to butchers to kill sheep\nand oxen. For though it be indeed a truth that God\u2019s hand is always\nsafe upon the hilt of their sword, yet by them we are killed all the\nday long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter (Psa 44:22; Rom\n8:36). That is, in their desires always, as well as by their deeds,\nwhen they are let loose, as Paul\u2019s kinsman said to the captain, \u2018There\nlie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound\nthemselves with a curse,[2] that they will neither eat nor drink till\nthey have killed him; and now are they ready, looking for a promise\nfrom thee\u2019 (Acts 23:12,13,21). And hence it is, that by the Word they\nare called dragons, lions, bears, wolves, leopards, dogs, and the like;\nall which are beasts of prey, and delight to live by the death of\nothers.[3] Paul therefore seeing and knowing that this readiness was in\nhis enemies to pour out his bowels to the earth, he cried out to\nTimothy, saying, \u2018make thou full proof of thy ministry, for\u2019 I am now\nready to be slain; \u2018I am now ready to be offered\u2019 (2 Tim 4:5,6). These\nwords thus understood may be useful many ways.\n\n1. To show us we live, not because of any good nature or inclination\nthat is in our enemies towards us; for they, as to their wills, are\nready to destroy us; but they are in the hand of God, in whose hand is\nalso our times (Psa 31:15). Wherefore, though by the will of our\nenemies, we are always delivered to death, yet \u2018behold we live\u2019 (2 Cor\n6:9). Therefore in this sense it may be said, \u2018Where is the fury of the\noppressor?\u2019 It is not in his power to dispose of, therefore here it may\nbe said again, he is not \u2018ready to destroy\u2019 (Isa 51:13). The cup that\nGod\u2019s people in all ages have drank of, even the cup of affliction and\npersecution, it is not in the hand of the enemy, but in the hand of\nGod; and he, not they, poureth out of the same (Psa 75:8). So that\nthey, with all their raging waves, have banks and bounds set to them,\nby which they are limited within their range, as the bear is by his\nchain. \u2018Surely the wrath of men shall praise thee, the remainder of\nwrath thou shalt restrain\u2019 (Psa 76:10; Job 38:10,11).\n\n2. This should encourage us not to forsake the way of our Lord Jesus,\nwhen threatened by our adversaries, because they are in his chain:\nindeed they are ready in their wills to destroy us; but as to power and\nliberty to do it, that is not at all with them; who would fear to go,\neven by the very nose of a lion, if his chain would not suffer him to\nhurt us.[4] It is too much below the spirit of a Christian to fear a\nman that shall die (Isa 51:12,13). And they that have so done, have\nforgotten the Lord their Maker, who preserveth the hairs of our head\n(Luke 12:7). Yea, let me tell you he that so doth, he feareth to trust\nthe Lord with his life, estate, and concernments, and chooseth rather\nto trust to himself, and that too out of God\u2019s way; and though such\npersons may lick themselves whole now, while they are fallen and\nsenseless, they must count for these things again, and then they shall\nsee that fear of men, and to be ashamed of Christ, will load them with\nno light burden. Also, it is an uncomely thing for any man in his\nprofession to be in and out with the times; and to do this when winked\nat by men, that they would not do if they frowned. Do such fear God?\nnay, they fear the fear of men, when they should sanctify the Lord\nhimself, and let him be their dread, and let him be their fear (Isa\n8:12,13).\n\n3. Let the readiness that is in the enemies of God to destroy, provoke\nthee to make ready also, as I said a little before; go out to meet the\narmed men; \u2018David ran to meet Goliath\u2019; rub up man,[5] put on thy\nharness, \u2018put on the whole armour of God, that thou mayest be ready,\u2019\nas well as thy adversaries, as blessed Paul was here, \u2018I am now ready\nto be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand\u2019 (1 Sam\n17:46-48). But because this will fall in fittest under the second head,\nI shall, therefore, discourse of it there.\n\n[The readiness IN MIND of the blessed apostle to suffer.]\n\nSecond. The second thing considered in the words is this, that to be\nready might be understood with respect to the blessed apostle\u2019s mind,\nthat was graciously brought over into a willingness to embrace the\ncross for the Word\u2019s sake; and thus in other places he himself expounds\nit. \u2018I am ready,\u2019 saith he, \u2018not to be bound only, but also to die at\nJerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus\u2019 (Acts 21:13). That also\nimplies as much where he saith, \u2018Neither count I my life dear unto\nmyself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry\nwhich I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the\ngrace of God\u2019 (Acts 20:24). As the enemies, then, were ready and\nwilling in their hearts, so he was ready and willing in his. This man\nwas like to those mighty men of Solomon, that were ready prepared for\nthe war, and waited on the king, fit to be sent at any time upon the\nmost sharp and pinching service (2 Chron 17:12-19). A thing fitly\nbecoming all the saints, but chiefly those that minister in the word\nand doctrine. Understand the words thus, and they also teach us many\nthings, both for conviction and for edification.\n\n1. Here we see that a Christian\u2019s heart should be unclenched from this\nworld; for he that is ready to be made a sacrifice for Christ and his\nblessed Word, he must be one that is not entangled with the affairs of\nthis life: how else can he please him who hath chosen him to be a\nsoldier? Thus was it with this blessed man; he was brought to God\u2019s\nfoot with Abraham, and crucified to this world with Christ; he had\npassed a sentence of death upon all earthly pleasures and profits\nbeforehand, that they might not deaden his spirit when he came to\nsuffer for his profession (2 Tim 2:4; 2 Cor 1:8,9; Gal 2:20, 6:14).\n\n2. This shows us the true effects of unfeigned faith and love, for they\nwere the rise of this most blessed frame of heart; read 2 Corinthians\n4:8-13, and compare it with 2 Corinthians 12:9,10; and men may talk\nwhat they will of their faith and love to the Lord Jesus, and to his\nholy gospel. But if they throw up their open profession of his name for\nfear of those that hate him, it is evident their mouths go before their\nhearts, and that their words are bigger than their graces. \u2018If thou\nfaint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small,\u2019 and so thy faith\nand love (Prov 24:10). Herein is love, \u2018that a man lay down his life\nfor his friends\u2019 (John 15:13).\n\n3. This shows us the true effects of a right sight and sense of the\nsufferings that attend the gospel; that they shall become truly\nprofitable to those that shall bear them aright. What made he ready\nfor? it was for sufferings; and why made he ready for them but because\nhe saw they wrought out for him a \u2018far more exceeding and eternal\nweight of glory?\u2019 (2 Cor 4:17). This made Moses also spurn at a crown\nand a kingdom; to look with a disdainful eye upon all the glory of\nEgypt. He saw the reward that was laid up in heaven for those that\nsuffered for Christ. Therefore, \u2018he refused to be called the son of\nPharaoh\u2019s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the\npeople of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;\nesteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in\nEgypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of reward. By faith he\nforsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured, as\nseeing him who is invisible\u2019 (Heb 11:21-27). Every one cannot thus look\nupon the afflictions and temptations that attend the gospel; no, not\nevery one that professeth it, as appears by their shrinking and\nshirking at the noise of the trumpet, and alarum to war. They can be\ncontent, as cowards in a garrison, to lie still under some smaller\npieces of service, as hearing the Word, entering in, to follow with\nloving in word and in tongue, and the like; but to \u2018go forth unto him\nwithout the camp, bearing his reproach,\u2019 and to be in jeopardy every\nhour for the truth of the glorious gospel, that they dare not do (Heb\n13:13; 1 Cor 15:30). Nay, instead of making ready with Paul to engage\nthe dragon and his angels, they study how to evade and shun the cross\nof Christ; secretly rejoicing if they can but delude their conscience,\nand make it still and quiet, while they do yet unworthily (Rev 12:7-9).\n\n4. By this readiness we may discern who are unfeignedly willing to find\nout that they may do the whole will of God; even those that are already\nmade willing to suffer for his sake; they are still inquiring, \u2018Lord,\nwhat wouldst thou have me to do?\u2019 not mattering nor regarding the cross\nand distress that attends it. \u2018The Holy Ghost witnesseth\u2019 to me, saith\nPaul, that \u2018in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me;\nbut none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto\nmyself, so that I may finish my course with joy,\u2019 &c. (Acts 20:23,24).\nCounting that to see and be doing of heavenly things, will countervail\nall the trouble and sorrow that attends them; this therefore sharply\nrebuketh those that can be glad to be ignorant of the knowledge of some\ntruths, especially of them that are persecuted; still answering those\nthat charge them with walking irregularly, that they do but according\nto their light. Whereas the hearts that be full of love to the name and\nglory of Christ, will in quiet return and come; yea, and be glad, if\nthey find the words of God, and will eat them with savour and sweet\ndelight, how bitter soever they are to the belly: because of that\ntestimony they bind us up to maintain before peoples, and nations, and\nkings (Rev 10:10,11). \u2018I am now ready to be offered.\u2019\n\n[Paul ready to depart, having done his work for God in this world.]\n\nThird. The third thing to be considered in the words is this, That the\napostle, by saying, \u2018I am now ready,\u2019 doth signify that now he had done\nthat work that God had appointed him to do in the world. \u2018I am now\nready,\u2019 because I have done my work; this is further manifest by the\nfollowing words of the text; \u2018I am now ready to be offered, and the\ntime of my departure is at hand\u2019; namely, my time to depart this world.\nThe words also that follow are much to the purpose, \u2018I have fought a\ngood fight, I have finished my course,\u2019 &c., much like that of our Lord\nJesus. \u2018I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do\u2019 (John\n17:4). Now then, put all these things together, namely, that I am to be\noffered a sacrifice, and for this my enemies are ready, my heart is\nalso ready; and because I have done my work, I am therefore every way\nready. This is a frame and condition that deserveth not only to stand\nin the Word of God for Paul\u2019s everlasting praise, but to be a provoking\nargument to all that read or hear thereof, to follow the same steps. I\nshall therefore, to help it forward, according to grace received, draw\none conclusion from the words, and speak a few words to it. The\nconclusion is this: That it is the duty and wisdom of those that fear\nGod so to manage their time and work that he hath allotted unto them,\nthat they may not have part of their work to do when they should be\ndeparting the world.\n\n[THE CHRISTIAN\u2019S DUTY AND WISDOM TO BE THUS READY.]\n\n\nThis truth I might further urge from the very words of the text, they\nbeing written on purpose by Paul to stir up Timothy and all the godly\nto press hard after this very thing. But to pass that, and to mind you\nof some other scriptures that press it hard as a duty, and then to\nproceed to some few examples of the wise and most eminent saints. Which\nwhen I have done I shall, 1. Show you reason for it. 2. Give you\nencouragement to it. 3. Press it with several motives. 4. Make some use\nand application of the whole, and so conclude.\n\nThat this is the duty and wisdom of those that fear God, you may see by\nChrist\u2019s exhortation to watchfulness, and to prepare for his second\ncoming; \u2018Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour as ye think not,\nthe Son of man cometh\u2019 (Matt 24:44). These words, as they are spoken to\nstir up the godly to be ready to meet their Lord at his coming, so\nbecause the godly must meet him as well in his judgments and\nprovidences here, as at his personal appearing at the last day;\ntherefore they should be diligent to be fitting themselves to meet him\nin all such dispensations. \u2018And because,\u2019 saith God, \u2018I will do this\nunto thee; prepare to meet thy God, O Israel\u2019 (Amos 4:12). Now death is\none of the most certain of those dispensations; yea, and such, that it\nleaveth to those no help at all, or means to perform for ever, that\nwhich, shouldst thou want it, that is lacking to thy work. Wherefore\nSolomon also doth press us to this very work, and that from this\nconsideration, \u2018whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy\nmight, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in\nthe grave, whither thou goest\u2019 (Eccl 9:10). Baulk nothing of thy duty,\nneither defer to do it; for thou art in thy way to thy grave, and there\nthou canst not finish ought that by neglect thou leavest undone;\ntherefore be diligent while life lasts.[6]\n\nAnother scripture is that in Peter\u2019s epistle to those that were\nscattered abroad. \u2018Seeing,\u2019 saith he, \u2018that ye look for such things, be\ndiligent, that ye may be found of him in peace,\u2019 &c. (2 Peter 3:14). He\nis there discoursing of the coming of Christ to judgment, as Christ\nalso was in the other; and from the certainty and dread of that day he\ndoth press them on to a continual diligence, and is to be understood as\nthat of Paul to Timothy, a diligent watching in all things, that as he\nsaith again, they may stand complete in all the will of God, not\nlacking this or that of that work which was given them to do of God and\nthis world (2 Tim 4:5). Much might be said for the further proof of\nthis duty; but to give you some examples of the godly men of old,\nwhereby it will appear, that as it is our duty to do it so it is also\nour wisdom. And hence,\n\nIt is said of Enoch, that he \u2018walked with God\u2019 (Gen 5:22), and of Noah,\nthat he was faithful in his generation, and also \u2018walked with God\u2019 (Gen\n6:9). That is, they kept touch[7] with him, still keeping up to the\nwork and duty that every day required; not doing their duty by fits and\nby starts, but in a fervent spirit they served the Lord. So again it is\nsaid of Abraham, that his work was to walk before God in a way of faith\nand self-denial, which he with diligence performed. And therefore the\nHoly Ghost saith, he \u2018died in a good old age\u2019 (Gen 25:8); thereby\ninsinuating that he made both ends meet[8] together, the end of his\nwork with the end of his days, and so came to his grave, \u2018in a full\nage, as a shock of corn cometh in in his season\u2019 (Job 5:26). Jacob\nalso, when he blessed his sons, as he lay upon his death-bed before\nthem, doth sweetly comfort himself with this, after all his toil and\ntravel, saying, \u2018I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord,\u2019[9] as if he\nhad said, Lord, I have faithfully walked before thee in the days of my\npilgrimage, through the help and power of thy grace; and now having\nnothing to do but to die, I lie waiting for thy coming to gather me up\nto thyself and my father: so, when he \u2018had made an end of commanding\nhis sons,\u2019 now his bottom was wound,[10] \u2018he gathered up his feet into\nthe bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people\u2019\n(Gen 49:18-33). Caleb and Joshua are said to be men of excellent\nspirit, because they were faithful in this their work (Num 14:24).\nDavid was eminent this way, and had done his work before his death-day\ncame: \u2018After he had served his own generation by the will of God,\u2019 then\nhe \u2018fell on sleep\u2019 (Acts 13:36). Which in the Old Testament is\nsignified by three passages, 1. By his losing his heat before his\ndeath, thereby showing his work for God was done, he now only waited to\ndie. 2. By that passage, \u2018these are the last words of David,\u2019 even the\nwind up of all the doctrines of that sweet psalmist of Israel (2 Sam\n23:1,2). 3. That in the Psalms is very significant, \u2018The prayers of\nDavid the son of Jesse are ended\u2019 (Psa 72:20). In the whole, they all\ndo doubtless speak forth this in the main, that David made great\nconscience of walking with God, by labouring to drive his work before\nhim, that his work and life might meet together: for that indeed is a\ngood man\u2019s wisdom. Job had great conscience also as to this very thing,\nas witness both God\u2019s testimony and his own conscience for him (Job\n1:8, 31). Elijah had brought his work to that issue that he had but to\nanoint Hazael to be king of Assyria, Jehu to be king of Israel, and\nElisha prophet in his room, and then to be caught up into heaven (1\nKings 19:15,16). What shall I say? I might come to Hezekiah,\nJehoshaphat, Josias; with old Simeon also, whose days were lengthened\nchiefly, not because he was behind with God and his conscience as to\nhis work for God in the world, but to see with his eyes now at last the\nLord\u2019s Christ: a sweet forefitting for death! Zacharias, with Elizabeth\nhis wife, that good old couple also, how tender and doubtful were they\nin this matter, to walk \u2018in all the commandments and ordinances of the\nLord,\u2019 in a blessed blameless way! (Luke 1:6, 2:25). Their son also is\nnot to be left out, who rather than he would be put out of his way, and\nhindered from fulfilling his course, would venture the loss of the love\nof a king, and the loss of his head for a word (Mark 6:17,18). All\nthese, with many more, are as so many mighty arguments for the praise\nof that I asserted before, to wit, that it is the duty and wisdom of\nthose that fear God, so to manage their time and work, that he hath\nhere allotted unto them, that they may not have part of their work to\ndo when they should be departing this world. I might urge also many\nreasons to enforce this truth upon you, as,\n\n[Reasons to enforce this duty.]\n\nFirst. Otherwise, the great and chief design of God in sending us into\nthe world, especially in converting us and possessing our souls with\ngifts and graces, and many other benefits, that we might here be to the\nglory of his grace, is as much as in us lies, frustrate and\ndisappointed. \u2018This people have I formed for myself,\u2019 saith he, \u2018they\nshall show forth my praise\u2019 (Isa 43:21): and so again, \u2018ye have not\nchosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go\nand bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain\u2019 (John 15:16).\nGod never intended, when he covered thy nakedness with the\nrighteousness of his dear Son, and delivered thee from the condemning\npower of sin and the law, that thou shouldst still live as do those who\nknow not God. \u2018This I say therefore,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018and testify in the\nLord; that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles, in the vanity of\ntheir mind\u2019 (Eph 4:17). What, a Christian, and live as does the world?\n(John 17:16). A Christian, and spend thy time, thy strength, and parts,\nfor things that perish in the using? Remember, man, if the grace of God\nhath taken hold of thy soul, thou art a man of another world, and\nindeed a subject of another and more noble kingdom, the kingdom of God,\nwhich is the kingdom of the gospel, of grace, of faith and\nrighteousness, and the kingdom of heaven hereafter (Rom 14:16-18). In\nthese things thou shouldst exercise thyself; not making heavenly things\nwhich God hath bestowed upon thee to stoop to things that are of the\nworld, but rather here beat down thy body, mortify thy members; hoist\nup thy mind to the things that are above, and practically hold forth\nbefore all the world that blessed word of life (1 Cor 9:26,27). This, I\nsay, is God\u2019s design; this is the tendency, the natural tendency of\nevery grace of God bestowed upon thee: and herein is our Father\nglorified, that we bring forth much fruit (Col 3:1-4; John 15:8).\n\nSecond. A second reason why Christians should so manage their time and\nthe work that God hath appointed them to do for his name in this world,\nthat they may not have part thereof to do when they should be departing\nthis world, it is because, if they do not, dying will be a hard work\nwith them especially if God awakeneth them about their neglect of their\nduty (1 Cor 11:30-32). The way of God with his people is to visit their\nsins in this life; and the worst time for thee to be visited for them,\nis when thy life is smitten down, as it were to the dust of death, even\nwhen all natural infirmities break in like a flood upon thee, sickness,\nfainting, pains, wearisomeness, and the like; now I say, to be charged\nalso with the neglect of duty, when in no capacity to do it; yea,\nperhaps so feeble, as scarce able to abide to hear thy dearest friend\nin this life speak to thee; will not this make dying hard. Yea, when\nthou shalt seem both in thine own eyes, as also in the eyes of others,\nto fall short of the kingdom of heaven for this and the other\ntransgression, will not this make dying hard? (Heb 4:1,2). David found\nit hard, when he cried, \u2018O spare me\u2019 a little, \u2018that I may recover\nstrength before I go hence, and be no more\u2019 (Psa 39:13). David at this\ntime was chastened for some iniquity; yea, brought for his folly to the\ndoors of the shadow of death. But here he could not enter without great\ndistress of mind; wherefore he cries out for respite and time to do the\nwill of God, and the work allotted to him. So again, \u2018The sorrows of\ndeath compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me; I found\ntrouble and sorrow: then called I upon the name of the Lord.\u2019 Ay, this\nwill make thee cry, though thou be as good as David! Wherefore learn by\nhis sorrow, as he himself also learned, at last, to serve his own\ngeneration by the will of God, before he fell asleep. God can tell how\nto pardon thy sins, and yet make them such a bitter thing, and so heavy\na burden to thee, that thou wouldst not, if thou wast but once\ndistressed with it, come there again for all this world, Ah! it is easy\nwith him to have this pardon in his bosom, when yet he is breaking all\nthy bones, and pouring out thy gall upon the ground; yea, to show\nhimself then unto thee in so dreadful a majesty, that heaven and earth\nshall seem to thee to tremble at his presence! Let then the thoughts of\nthis prevail with thee, as a reason of great weight to provoke thee to\nstudy to manage thy time and work in wisdom while thou art well.[11]\n\nThird. Another reason, why those that fear God should so manage their\ntime and work for God in this world, that they may not have part to do\nwhen they should be departing this life, it is, because loitering in\nthy work doth, as much as in it lieth, defer and hold back the second\ncoming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. One thing, amongst many,\nthat letteth[12] the appearing of Christ in the clouds of heaven, is,\nthat his body, with the several members thereof, are not yet complete\nand full; they are not all yet come to the knowledge of the Son of God,\n\u2018to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ\u2019 (Eph 4:8-13);\nthat is, to the complete making up of his body; for as Peter saith,\n\u2018The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count\nslackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any\nshould perish, but that all should come to repentance\u2019 (2 Peter 3:9).\nAnd so also to the complete performance of all their duty and work they\nhave for God in this world. And I say, the faster the work of\nconversion, repentance, faith, self-denial, and the rest of the\nChristian duties, are performed by the saints in their day, the more\nthey make way for the coming of the Lord from heaven. Wherefore Peter\nsaith again, \u2018Seeing then that\u2019 we look for such things, \u2018what manner\nof persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness,\nlooking for, and hasting unto,\u2019 or, as it is in the margin, \u2018hasting\nthe coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall\nbe dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat\u2019 (2 Peter\n3:11,12). When the bride hath made herself ready, \u2018the marriage of the\nLamb is come\u2019 (Rev 19:7). That is, the Lord will then wait upon the\nworld no longer, when his saints are fit to receive him. As he said to\nLot when he came to burn down Sodom, \u2018Haste thee\u2019 to Zoar, \u2018for I\ncannot do anything till thou be come thither\u2019 (Gen 19:20-22). So\nconcerning the great day of judgment to the world, which shall be also\nthe day of blessedness and rest to the people of God, it cannot come\nuntil the Lamb\u2019s wife hath made herself ready; until all the saints\nthat belong to glory are ready. And before I go further, what might I\nyet say to fasten this reason upon the truly gracious soul? What! wilt\nthou yet loiter in the work of thy day? wilt thou still be unwilling to\nhasten righteousness? dost thou not know that thou by so doing\ndeferrest the coming of thy dearest Lord? Besides, that is the day of\nhis glory, the day when he shall come in the glory of his Father and of\nthe holy angels; and wilt not thou by thy diligence help it forwards?\nMust also the general assembly and church of the first-born wait upon\nthee for their full portions of glory? Wilt thou by thus doing\nendeavour to keep them wrapt up still in the dust of the earth, there\nto dwell with the worm and corruption? The Lord awaken thee, that thou\nmayst see thy loitering doth do this, and doth also hinder thy own soul\nof the inheritance prepared for thee.[13]\n\n4. Another reason why saints should press hard after a complete\nperforming their work that God hath allotted unto them is, because, so\nfar forth as they fall short, in that they impair their own glory. For\nas the Lord hath commanded his people to work for him in this world, so\nalso he of grace hath promised to reward whatever they Christianly do.\nFor whatsoever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of\nthe Lord, whether he be bound or free. Yea, he counts it\nunrighteousness to forget their work of faith and labour of love, but a\nrighteous thing to recompense them for it in the day of our Lord Jesus\n(Heb 6:10; 2 Thess 1:6,7). This, well considered, is of great force to\nprevail with those that are covetous of glory, such as Moses and Paul,\nwith the rest of that spirit. As the apostle saith also to the saints\nat Corinth, \u2018Be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of\nthe Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the\nLord\u2019 (1 Cor 15:50).\n\nHaving thus given you the reasons why God\u2019s people should be diligent\nin that work that God hath allotted for them to be doing for him in\nthis world, I shall, in the next place, give you some directions, as\nhelps to further you in this work. And they are such as tend to take\naway those hindrances that come upon thee, either by discouragement, or\nby reason of hardness and benumbedness of spirit; for great hindrances\novertake God\u2019s people from both these impediments.\n\n[Directions, as helps to further in this work.]\n\nFirst. If thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that God hath\nallotted thee to do in this world for his name, labour to live much in\nthe favour and sense of thy freedom and liberty by Jesus Christ; that\nis, keep this, if possible, ever before thee, that thou art a redeemed\none, taken out of this world, and from under the curse of the law, out\nof the power of the devil, &c., and placed in a kingdom of grace, and\nforgiveness of sins for Christ\u2019s sake. This is of absolute use in this\nmatter; yea, so absolute, that it is impossible for any Christian to do\nhis word Christianly without some enjoyment of it. For this, in the 1st\nof Luke, is made the very ground of all good works, both as to their\nnature and our continuance in them; and is also reckoned there an\nessential part of that covenant that God made with our fathers; even\n\u2018that he would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hands\nof our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and\nrighteousness, before him all the days of our life\u2019 (Luke 1:74,75). And\nindeed, take this away, and what ground can there be laid for any man\nto persevere in good works? None at all. For take away grace and\nremission of sins for Christ\u2019s sake, and you leave men nothing to help\nthem but the terrors of the law and judgment of God, which, at best,\ncan beget but a servile and slavish spirit in that man in whom it\ndwells; which spirit is so far off from being an help to us in our\npursuit of good works, that it makes us we cannot endure that which is\ncommanded, but, Israel-like, it flieth from God even as from the face\nof a serpent (Heb 12:20; Exo 19). As Solomon saith, \u2018A servant will not\nbe corrected by words, for, though he understand, he will not answer\u2019\n(Prov 29:19). Get thou then thy soul possessed with the spirit of the\nSon, and believe thou art set perfectly free by him from whatsoever\nthou by sin hast deserved at the hand of revenging justice. This\ndoctrine unlooseth thy bands, takes off thy yoke, and lets thee go\nupright. This doctrine puts spiritual and heavenly inclinations into\nthy soul; and the faith of this truth doth show thee that God hath so\nsurprised thee, and gone beyond thee, with his blessed and everlasting\nlove, that thou canst not but reckon thyself his debtor for ever.\n\u2018Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after\nthe flesh\u2019 (Rom 8:12). That argument of Paul to Philemon is here true\nin the highest degree, thou owest to God for his grace to thee, \u2018even\nthine own self besides\u2019 (Phile 19). This Paul further testifies, both\nin the 6th and 7th of the Romans. In the one he saith, we are \u2018free\nfrom sin\u2019; in the other he saith, we are \u2018dead to the law,\u2019 that our\nfruit might be unto holiness: that we might \u2018bring forth fruit unto\nGod\u2019 (Rom 6:22, 7:4). For, as I said, if either thy ungodly lusts, or\nthe power and force of the law, have dominion over thy spirit, thou art\nnot in a condition now to be performing thy work to God in this world.\nI have heretofore marvelled at the quarrelsome spirit that possessed\nthe people that Malachi speaketh of, how they found fault with, in a\nmanner, all things that were commanded them to do; but I have since\nobserved their ungodly disposition was grounded upon this, their\ndoubting of the love of God, \u2018Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?\u2019\n(Mal 1:2). And, indeed, if people once say to God, by way of doubt,\n\u2018Wherein hast thou loved us?\u2019 no marvel though that people be like\nthose in Malachi\u2019s time, a discontented, a murmuring, backward people\nabout everything that is good. Read that whole book of Malachi.\n\nSecond. If thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that God hath\nallotted thee to do in this world for his name, then labour to see a\nbeauty and glory in holiness, and in every good work: this tends much\nto the engaging of thy heart. \u2018O worship the Lord in the beauty of\nholiness; fear before him, all the earth\u2019 (Psa 96:9). And for thy help\nin this, think much on this in general, that \u2018Thus saith the Lord\u2019 is\nthe wind-up of every command; for, indeed, much of the glory and beauty\nof duties doth lie in the glory and excellency of the person that doth\ncommand them; and hence it is that \u2018Be it enacted by the King\u2019s most\nexcellent Majesty\u2019 is in the head of every law, because that law should\ntherefore be reverenced by, and be made glorious and beautiful to all.\nAnd we see, upon this very account, what power and place the precepts\nof kings do take in the hearts of their subjects, every one loving and\nreverencing the statute, because there is the name of their king. Will\nyou rebel against the king? is a word that shakes the world.[14] Well,\nthen, turn these things about for an argument to the matter in hand,\nand let the name of God, seeing he is wiser and better, and of more\nglory and beauty than kings, beget in thy heart a beauty in all things\nthat are commanded thee of God. And, indeed, if thou do not in this act\nthus, thou wilt stumble at some of thy duty and work thou hast to do;\nfor some of the commands of God are, in themselves, so mean and low,\nthat take away the name of God from them, and thou wilt do as Naaman\nthe Syrian, despise, instead of obeying. What is there in the Lord\u2019s\nsupper, in baptism, yea, in preaching the Word, and prayer, were they\nnot the appointments of God? His name being entailed to them, makes\nthem every one glorious and beautiful. Wherefore, no marvel if he that\nlooks upon them without their title-page goeth away in a rage, like\nNaaman, preferring others before them. What is Jordan? \u2018Are not Abana\nand Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel;\nmay I not wash in them and be clean?\u2019 saith he (2 Kings 5:10-12). This\nwas because he remembered not that the name of God was in the command.\nIsrael\u2019s trumpets of ram\u2019s horns (Josh 6:2-4), and Isaiah\u2019s walking\nnaked (Isa 20:3), and Ezekiel\u2019s wars against a tile (Eze 4:1-4), would,\ndoubtless, have been ignoble acts, but that the name of God was that\nwhich gave them reverence, power, glory, and beauty. Set therefore the\nname of God, and \u2018Thus saith the Lord,\u2019 against all reasonings,\ndefamings, and reproaches, that either by the world, or thy own heart,\nthou findest to arise against thy duty, and let his name and authority\nalone be a sufficient argument with thee, \u2018to behold the beauty\u2019 that\nhe hath put upon all his ways, \u2018and to inquire in his temple\u2019 (Psa\n27:4).\n\nThird. Wouldst thou be faithful to do that work that God hath appointed\nthee to do in this world for his name? then make much of a trembling\nheart and conscience; for though the Word be the line and rule whereby\nwe must order and govern all our actions, yet a trembling heart and\ntender conscience is of absolute necessity for our so doing. A hard\nheart can do nothing with the word of Jesus Christ. \u2018Hear the word of\nthe Lord, ye that tremble at his word\u2019 (Isa 66:5). \u2018Serve the Lord with\nfear, and rejoice with trembling\u2019 (Psa 2:11). I spake before against a\nservile and slavish frame of spirit, therefore you must not understand\nme here as if I meant now to cherish such a one; no, it is a heart that\ntrembleth for, or at the grace of God; and a conscience made tender by\nthe sprinkling of the blood of Christ. Such a conscience as is awakened\nboth by wrath and grace, by the terror and the mercy of God; for it\nstands with the spirit of a son to fear before his father; yea, to fear\nchastings, though not to fear damnation. Let, therefore, destruction\nfrom God be a terror to thy heart, though not that destruction that\nattends them that perish by sin for ever (Job 31:23). Though this I\nmight add further; it may do thee no harm, but good, to cast an eye\nover thy shoulder at those that now lie roaring under the vengeance of\neternal fire; it may put thee in mind of what thou wast once, and of\nwhat thou must yet assuredly be, if grace by Christ preventeth not (Isa\n66:24). Keep, then, thy conscience awake with wrath and grace, with\nheaven and hell; but let grace and heaven bear sway. Paul made much of\na tender conscience, else he had never done as he did, nor suffered\nwhat we read of. \u2018And herein,\u2019 saith he, \u2018do I exercise myself, to have\nalways a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men\u2019 (Acts\n24:16). But this could not a stony, benumbed, bribed, deluded, or a\nmuzzled conscience do. Paul was like the nightingale with his breast\nagainst the thorn.[15] That his heart might still keep waking, he would\naccustom himself to the meditation of those things that should beget\nboth love and fear; and would always be very chary, lest he offended\nhis conscience. \u2018Herein do I exercise myself,\u2019 &c. Be diligent, then,\nin this matter, if thou wouldst be faithful with God. A tender\nconscience, to some people, is like Solomon\u2019s brawling woman, a burthen\nto those that have it (Prov 25:24). But let it be to thee like those\nthat invited David to go up to the house of the Lord (Psa 122:1). Hear\nit, and cherish it with pleasure and delight.\n\nFourth. If thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that God hath\nappointed thee to do in this world for his name; then let religion be\nthe only business to take up thy thoughts and time. \u2018Whatsoever thy\nhand findeth to do, do it with thy might\u2019 (Eccl 9:10). With all thy\nheart, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. Religion, to most\nmen, is but a by-business, with which they use to fill up spare hours;\nor as a stalking-horse, which is used to catch the game.[16] How few\nare there in the world that have their conversation \u2018only as becometh\nthe gospel\u2019! (Phil 1:27). A heart sound in God\u2019s statutes, a heart\nunited to the fear of God, a heart moulded and fashioned by the Word of\nGod, is a rare thing; rare, because it is hard to be found, and rare\nbecause it is indeed the fruit of an excellent spirit, and a token of\none saved by the Lord (Psa 119:80, 86:11). But this indifferency in\nreligion, this fashioning ourselves in our language, gesture,\nbehaviour, and carriage, to the fancies and fopperies of this world, as\nit is in itself much unbecoming a people that should bear the name of\ntheir God in their foreheads, so it cannot be but a very great and sore\nobstruction to thy faithful walking with God in this world (Rom 6:17).\nGird up, then, thy loins like a man,[17] let God and his Christ, and\nhis Word, and his people, and cause, be the chief in thy soul; and as\nheretofore thou hast afforded this world the most of thy time, and\ntravel, and study, so now convert all these to the use of religion. \u2018As\nye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity\nunto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness\nunto holiness\u2019 (Rom 6:19). Holy things must be in every heart where\nthis is faithfully put in practice.\n\n1. Daily bring thy heart and the Word of God together, that thy heart\nmay be levelled by it, and also filled with it. The want of performing\nthis sincerely, is a great cause of that unfaithfulness that is in us\nto God. Bring, then, thy heart to the Word daily, to try how thou\nbelievest the Word today, to try how it agrees with the Word today.\nThis is the way to make clean work daily, to keep thy soul warm and\nliving daily. \u2018Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?\u2019 saith\nDavid. \u2018By taking heed thereto according to thy Word\u2019 (Psa 119:9). So\nagain, \u2018Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips, I have\nkept me from the paths of the destroyer\u2019 (Psa 17:4). And again, \u2018Thy\nWord have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee\u2019 (Psa\n119:11). He that delighteth \u2018in the law of the Lord, and in his law\ndoth meditate day and night, he shall be like a tree planted by the\nrivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf\nalso shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper\u2019 (Psa\n1:2,3).\n\n2. A continual remembrance that to every day thou hast thy work\nallotted thee; and that sufficient for that day are the evils that\nattend thee (Matt 6:34). This remembrance set Paul upon his watch\ndaily; made him die to himself and this world daily, and provoked him\nalso daily to wind up the spirit of his mind; transforming himself by\nthe power of the Word, from that proneness that was in his flesh to\ncarnal things (1 Cor 15:30-33). This will make thee keep the knife at\nthy throat in all places, and business, and company (Prov 23:2).\n\n3. Let thy heart be more affected with what concerns the honour of God,\nand the profit and glory of the gospel, than with what are thy\nconcernments as a man, with all earthly advantages. This will make thee\nrefuse things that are lawful, if they appear to be inexpedient. Yea,\nthis will make thee, like the apostles of old, prefer another man\u2019s\npeace and edification before thine own profit, and to take more\npleasure in the increase of the power of godliness in any, than in the\nincrease of thy corn and wine.\n\n4. Reckon with thy own heart every day, before thou lie down to sleep,\nand cast up both what thou hast received from God, done for him, and\nwhere thou hast also been wanting. This will beget praise and humility,\nand put thee upon redeeming the day that is past; whereby thou wilt be\nable, through the continual supplies of grace, in some good measure to\ndrive thy work before thee, and to shorten it as thy life doth shorten;\nand mayst comfortably live in the hope of bringing both ends sweetly\ntogether. But to pass this.\n\nFifth. If thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that God hath\nappointed thee to do in this world for his name, then beware thou do\nnot stop and stick when hard work comes before thee. It is with\nChristians as it is with other scholars, they sometimes meet with hard\nlessons; but these thou must also learn, or thou canst not do thy work.\nThe Word and Spirit of God come sometimes like chain-shot to us, as if\nit would cut down all; as when Abraham was to offer up Isaac, and the\nLevites to slay their brethren (Gen 22; Exo 32:26-28). Paul also must\ngo from place to place to preach, though he knew beforehand he was to\nbe afflicted there (Acts 20:23). God may sometimes say to thee, as he\nsaid to his servant Moses, \u2018Take the serpent by the tail\u2019; or, as the\nLord Jesus said to Peter, Walk upon the sea (Exo 4:3,4). These are hard\nthings, but have not been rejected when God hath called to do them. O\nhow willingly would our flesh and blood escape the cross of Christ! The\ncomforts of the gospel, the sweetness of the promise, how pleasing is\nit to us! Like Ephraim here, we love to tread out the corn (Hosea\n10:11), and to hear those pleasant songs and music that gospel sermons\nmake, where only grace is preached, and nothing of our duty as to works\nof self-denial; but as for such, God will tread upon their fair neck,\nand yoke them with Christ\u2019s yoke; for there they have a work to do,\neven a work of self-denial.[18]\n\nNow this work sometimes lieth in acts that seem to be desperate, as\nwhen a man must both leave and hate his life, and all he hath for\nChrist, or else he cannot serve him nor be counted his disciple (Luke\n14:26-33). Thus it seemed with Christ himself when he went his fatal\njourney up to Jerusalem; he went thither, as he knew, to die, and\ntherefore trod every step as it were in his own bowels;[19] but yet, no\ndoubt, with great temptation to shun and avoid that voyage; and\ntherefore it is said, \u2018He set his face steadfastly to go up,\u2019 scorning\nto be invited to the contrary, and to prevent the noise of his weak\ndisciples, Master, save thyself (Luke 9:51). It is said he ascended\nbefore them, insomuch that they were amazed to see his resolution,\nwhile they themselves were afraid of that dreadful effect that might\nfollow (Mark 10:32-34). Also when he came there, and was to be\napprehended, he went to the garden that Judas knew, his old accustomed\nplace; so when they asked him the killing question, he answered, \u2018I am\nhe\u2019 (John 18:1-5).\n\nSometimes in acts that seem to be foolish, as when men deny themselves\nof those comforts, and pleasures, and friendships, and honours, of the\nworld that formerly they used to have, and choose rather to associate\nthemselves with the very abjects of this world[20]\u2014I mean, such as\ncarnal men count so\u2014counting their ways and manners of life, though\nattended with a thousand calamities, more profitable, and pleasing, and\ndelightful, than all former glory. Thus Elisha left his father\u2019s house,\nthough to pour water upon the hands of Elijah (2 Kings 3:11). And thus\nthe disciples left their fathers\u2019 ships and nets, to live a beggarly\nlife with Jesus Christ; as Paul did leave the feet of Gamaliel for the\nwhip, and the stocks, and the deaths that attended the blessed gospel.\nOne would have thought that had been a simple way of Peter to leave all\nfor Christ, before he knew what Christ would give him, as that 19th of\nMatthew seems to import; but Christ will have it so (v 27). He that\nwill save his life must lose it; and he that will lose his life in this\nworld for Christ, shall keep it to life eternal (John 12:25). I might\nadd many things of this nature, to show you what hard chapters\nsometimes God sets his best people; but thy work is, if thou wouldst be\nfaithful, not to stop nor stick at anything (Matt 10:37). Some, when\nthey come at the cross, they will either there make a stop and go no\nfurther, or else, if they can, they will step over it; if not, they\nwill go round about: do not thou do this, but take it up and kiss it,\nand bear it after Jesus.[21] \u2018God forbid,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018that I should\nglory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is\ncrucified unto me, and I unto the world\u2019 (Gal 6:14).\n\nNow, for thy better performing this piece of service for our Lord and\nSaviour Jesus Christ: O it is hard work to pocket up the reproaches of\nall the foolish people, as if we had found great spoil; and to suffer\nall their revilings, lies, and slanders, without cursing them, as\nElisha did the children; to answer them with prayers and blessings for\ntheir cursings. It is far more easy to give them taunt for taunt, and\nreviling for reviling; to give them blow for blow; yea, to call for\nfire from heaven against them. But to \u2018bless them that curse you, and\nto pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you\u2019\u2014even of\nmalice, of old grudge, and on purpose to vex and afflict our mind, and\nto make us break out into a rage\u2014this is work above us; now our\npatience should look up to unseen things; now remember Christ\u2019s\ncarriage to them that spilt his blood; or all is in danger of bursting,\nand thou of miscarrying in these things. I might here also dilate upon\nJob\u2019s case, and the lesson God set him, when, at one stroke, he did\nbeat down all (Job 1:15), only spared his life, but made that also so\nbitter to him that his soul chose strangling rather than it (Job 7:15).\nO when every providence of God unto thee is like the messengers of Job,\nand the last to bring more heavy tidings than all that went before him\n(Job 1); when life, estate, wife, children, body, and soul, and all at\nonce, seem to be struck at by heaven and earth; here are hard lessons;\nnow to behave myself even as a weaned child, now to say, \u2018The Lord\ngave, and the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of the\nLord\u2019 (Job 1:21). Thus, with few words, Job ascribeth righteousness to\nhis Maker; but though they were but few, they proceeded from so blessed\na frame of heart, that causeth the penman of the Word to stay himself\nand wonder, saying, \u2018In all this Job sinned not\u2019 with his lips, \u2018nor\ncharged God foolishly.\u2019 In all this\u2014what a great deal will the Holy\nGhost make of that which seems but little when it flows from an upright\nheart! and it indeed may well be so accounted of all that know what is\nin man, and what he is prone unto.\n\n1. Labour to believe that all these things are tokens of the love of\nGod (Heb 12:6; Rev 3:19). 2. Remember often that thou art not the first\nthat hath met with these things in the world. \u2018It hated me,\u2019 saith\nChrist, \u2018before it hated you\u2019 (John 15:18). 3. Arm thyself with a\npatient and quiet mind to bear and suffer for his sake (1 Peter 4:1-3).\n4. Look back upon thy provocations wherewith thou mayst have provoked\nGod (Deut 9:7; Lev 26:41,42); then wilt thou accept of the punishment\nfor thy sins, and confess it was less than thine iniquities deserve\n(Ezra 9:13). 5. Pray thou mayst hear the voice of the rod, and have a\nheart to answer the end of God therein (Micah 6:9). 6. Remember the\npromise\u2014\u2018All things work together for good to them that love God, to\nthem who are the called according to his purpose\u2019 (Rom 8:28).\n\nSixth. If thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that God hath\nappointed thee to do in this world for his name, then labour away to\npossess thy heart with a right understanding, both of the things that\nthis world yieldeth, and of the things that shall be hereafter. I am\nconfident that most, if not all the miscarriages of the saints and\npeople of God, they have their rise from deceivable thoughts here. The\nthings of this world appear to us more, and those that are to come\nless, than they are; and hence it is that many are so hot and eager for\nthings that be in the world, and so cold and heartless for those that\nbe in heaven. Satan is here a mighty artist, and can show us all\nearthly things in a multiplying glass; but when we look up to things\nabove, we see them as through sackcloth of hair;[22] but take thou\nheed, be not ruled by thy sensual appetite that can only savour fleshly\nthings, neither be thou ruled by carnal reason, which always darkeneth\nthe things of heaven. But go to the Word, and as that says, so judge\nthou. That tells thee all things under the sun are vanity, nay worse,\nvexation of spirit (Eccl 1:2). That tells thee the world is not, even\nthen when it doth most appear to be; wilt thou set thine heart upon\nthat which is not? \u2018for riches certainly make themselves wings, they\nfly away as an eagle toward heaven\u2019 (Prov 23:5). The same may be said\nfor honours, pleasures, and the like; they are poor, low, base things\nto be entertained by a Christian\u2019s heart. The man that hath most of\nthem may \u2018in the fulness of his sufficiency be in straits\u2019; yea, \u2018when\nhe is about to fill his belly with them, God may cast the fury of his\nwrath upon him\u2019 (Job 20:22,25); \u2018so is he that layeth up treasure for\nhimself\u2019 on earth, \u2018and is not rich towards God\u2019 (Luke 12:20,21). A\nhorse that is loaden with gold and pearls all day, may have a foul\nstable and a galled back at night. And woe be to him that increaseth\nthat which is not his, and that ladeth himself with thick clay. O man\nof God, throw this bone to the dogs; suck not at it, there is no marrow\nthere (Heb 2:6). Set thine affections on \u2018things that are above, where\nChrist sitteth on the right hand of God\u2019 (Col 3:1-4). Behold what God\nhath prepared for them that love him. And if God hath blessed thee with\nought, set not thine heart upon it; honour the Lord with thy substance.\nLabour to \u2018be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to\ncommunicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation\nagainst the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life\u2019 (1\nTim 6:17-19). Further, to lighten thine eyes a little, and,\n\n1. Concerning the glory of the world.\n\n(1.) It is that which God doth mostly give to those that are not his;\nfor the poor receive the gospel; not many rich, \u2018not many mighty, not\nmany noble are called\u2019 (1 Cor 1:26).\n\n(2.) Much of this world and its glory is permitted of God to be\ndisposed of by the devil, and he is called both the prince and god\nthereof (John 14:30; 2 Cor 4:4). Yea, when Satan told Christ he could\ngive it to whom he would, Christ did not say, Thou liest, but answered,\nby the Word, \u2018It is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and\nhim only shalt thou serve\u2019 (Luke 4:6-8). Implying also, that commonly\nwhen men get much of the honours and glory of this world, it is by\nbending the knee too low to the prince and god thereof.\n\n(3.) The nature of the best of worldly things, if hankered after, is to\ndeaden the spirit (Rom 8:6,7), to estrange the heart from God, to\npierce thee through with many sorrows, and to drown thee in perdition\nand destruction (1 John 2:15). \u2018O man of God, flee those things, and\nfollow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,\nmeekness\u2019; and \u2018Fight the good fight, lay hold on eternal life,\nwhereunto thou art also called,\u2019 &c. (1 Tim 6:9-12).\n\n2. As to the things of God, what shall I say? the things of his Word,\nand Spirit, and kingdom, they so far go beyond the conceivings of the\nheart of man, that none can utter them but by the Holy Spirit; but\nthere is no deceit in them; \u2018no lie is of the truth,\u2019 what they promise\nthey will perform with additions of amazing glory (1 John 2:21). Taste\nthem first, and then thou shalt see them. \u2018O\u2019 come \u2018taste and see that\nthe Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him\u2019 (Psa 34:8).\nTo stoop low is a good work, which is an act of thine, if it be done in\nfaith and love, though but by a cup of cold water; it is really more\nworth in itself, and of higher esteem with God, than all worldly and\nperishing glory; there is no comparison, the one perisheth with the\nusing, and for the other is laid up \u2018a far more exceeding and eternal\nweight of glory\u2019 (2 Cor 4:17). But again, as thou shouldst labour to\npossess thy heart with a right understanding of the perishing nature of\nthe riches and pleasures of this world, and of the durable riches and\nrighteousness that is in Christ, and all heavenly things; so thou\nshouldst labour to keep always in thy eye what sin is, what hell is,\nwhat the wrath of God and everlasting burnings are. Transfer them to\nthyself, as it were on a finger,[23] that thou mayst learn to think of\nnothing more highly than is meet, but to give to what thou beholdst\ntheir own due weight; then thou wilt fear where thou shouldst fear,\nlove what is worthy thy love, and slight that which is of no worth.\nThese are just weights, and even balances; now thou dealest not with\ndeceitful weights; and this is the way to be rich in good works, and to\nbring thy work, that God hath appointed, to a good issue against thy\ndying day.\n\nSeventh. But again, if thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that\nGod hath appointed thee to do in this world, for his name, then beware\nthat thou slip not, or let pass by, the present opportunity that\nprovidence layeth before thee. Work while it is called today, \u2018the\nnight cometh when no man can work\u2019 (John 9:4). In that parable of the\nman that took a far journey, it is said, as he gave to every servant\nhis work, so he \u2018commanded the porter to watch\u2019; that is, for his\nLord\u2019s coming back, and in the mean time, for all opportunities to\nperform the work he left in their hand, and committed unto their trust\n(Mark 13:34,35).[24] Seest thou the poor? seest thou the fatherless?\nseest thou thy foe in distress? draw out thy breast, shut not up thy\nbowels of compassion, deal thy bread to the hungry, bring the poor that\nare cast out into thine house, hide not thyself from thine own flesh,\ntake the opportunity that presents itself to thee, either by the eye or\nthe hearing of the ear, or by some godly motion that passeth over thy\nheart (Isa 58:7; Rom 12:20). \u2018Say not\u2019 to such messengers, \u2018go, and\ncome again tomorrow; if thou hast it by thee\u2019; now the opportunity is\nput into thy hand, delay not to do it, and the Lord be with thee! (Prov\n3:28). Good opportunities are God\u2019s seasons for the doing of thy work;\nwherefore watch for them, and take them as they come. Paul tells us \u2018he\nwas in watchings often\u2019 (2 Cor 11:26,27); surely it was that he might\ntake the season that God should give him to do this work for him; as he\nalso saith to Timothy, \u2018Watch thou in all things,\u2014do the work,\u2019 &c.\nOpportunities as to some things come but once in one\u2019s lifetime, as in\nthe case of Esther, and of Nicodemus, and holy Joseph; when Esther\nbegged the life of the Jews, and the other the body of Jesus; which\nonce had they let slip or neglected, they could not have recovered it\nagain for ever. Watch then for the opportunity. 1. Because it is God\u2019s\nseason; which, without doubts, is the best season and time for every\npurpose (Eccl 3:11). 2. Because Satan watches to spoil, by mistiming as\nwell as by corrupting whatever thou shalt do for God. \u2018When I would do\ngood,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018evil is present,\u2019 that is, either to withdraw me\nfrom my purpose, or else to infect my work (Rom 7:21). 3. This is the\nway to be profitable unto others. Thy wickedness may hurt a man, as\nthou art, and thy righteousness may profit the son of man (Job 35:8).\n4. This is also the way to be doing good to thyself (Job 22:2). \u2018He\nthat watereth shall be watered himself\u2019 (Prov 11:25). \u2018Cast thy bread\nupon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days\u2019 (Eccl 11:1;\nDeut 15:10). As God said to Coniah, \u2018Did not thy father eat and drink,\nand do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged\nthe cause of the poor and needy, then it was well with him\u2019 (Jer\n22:15,16).\n\nAnd I say, that the opportunity may not slip thee, either for want of\ncare or provision, (1.) Sit always loose from an overmuch affecting\nthine own concernments, and believe that thou wast not born for\nthyself; \u2018a brother is born for adversity\u2019 (Prov 17:17). (2.) Get thy\nheart tenderly affected with the welfare and prosperity of all things\nthat bear the stamp and image of God (2 Cor 11:29). (3.) Study thy own\nplace and capacity that God hath put thee in, in this world; for\nsuitable to thy place thy work and opportunities are (1 Cor 7:24). (4.)\nMake provision beforehand, that when things present themselves thou\nmayst come up to a good performance; be \u2018prepared to every good work\u2019\n(2 Tim 2:21). (5.) Take heed of carnal reasonings, keep thy heart\ntender; but set thy face like a flint for God (Gal 1:9). (6.) And look\nwell to the manner of every duty.\n\nEighth. Wouldst thou be faithful to do that work that God hath\nappointed thee to do in this world for his name? believe then, that\nwhatever good thing thou dost for him, if done according to the Word,\nit is not only accepted by him now, but recorded, to be remembered for\nthee, against the time to come; yea, laid up for thee as treasure in\nchests and coffers, to be brought out to be rewarded before both men\nand angels, to thy eternal comfort, by Jesus Christ our Lord. \u2018Lay not\nup,\u2019 saith Christ, \u2018treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth\ncorrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for\nyourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth\ncorrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal\u2019 (Matt\n6:19,20). The treasure that here our Lord commands we should with\ndiligence lay up in heaven, is found both in Luke, and Paul, and Peter,\nto be meant by doing good work.\n\n1. Luke renders it thus, \u2018Sell that ye have and give alms; provide\nyourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that\nfaileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth,\u2019 the\nlatter part of the verse expounding the former (Luke 12:33).\n\n2. Paul saith thus, \u2018Charge them that are rich in this world, that they\nbe not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living\nGod, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy: that they do good, that\nthey be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to\ncommunicate: laying up in store for themselves a good foundation\nagainst the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life\u2019 (1\nTim 6:17,19).\n\n3. Peter also acknowledgeth and asserteth this, where, in his\nexhortation to elders to do their duty faithfully, and with\ncheerfulness, he affirms, if they do so, they \u2018shall receive a crown of\nglory that fadeth not away\u2019 (1 Peter 5:2-4); which Paul also calleth a\nreward for cheerful work (1 Cor 9:17; 2 Tim 4:2). And that as an act of\njustice by the hand of a righteous judge, in the day when the Lord\nshall come to give reward to his servants the prophets, and to his\nsaints, and to all that fear his name, small and great; for \u2018every man\nshall receive his own reward, according to his own labour\u2019 (1 Cor 3:8).\n\n[Objections answered.]\n\nBut before I go any further, I must answer three objections that may be\nmade by those that read this book.\n\nThe First Objection. The first is this; some godly heart may say, I\ndare not own that what I do shall ever be regarded, much less rewarded\nby God in another world because of the unworthiness of my person, and\nbecause of the many infirmities and sinful weaknesses that attend me\nevery day.\n\nAnswer. This objection is built partly upon a bashful modesty, partly\nupon ignorance, and partly upon unbelief. My answer to it is as\nfolloweth.\n\nYou must remind and look back to what but now hath been proved, namely,\nThat both Christ and his apostles do all agree in this, that there is a\nreward for the righteous, and that their good deeds are laid up as\ntreasures for them in heaven, and are certainly to be bestowed upon\nthem in the last day with abundance of eternal glory. 2. Now then, to\nspeak to thy case, and to remove the bottom of thy objection, that the\nunworthiness of thy person, and thy sinful infirmities, that attend\nthee in every duty, do make thee think thy works shall not be either\nregarded or rewarded in another world. But consider, first, as to the\nunworthiness of thy person. They that are in Christ Jesus are always\ncomplete before God, in the righteousness that Christ hath obtained,\nhow infirm, and weak, and wicked soever they appear to themselves.\nBefore God, therefore, in this righteousness thou standest all the day\nlong, and that upon a double account; first, by the act of faith,\nbecause thou hast believed in him that thou mightest be justified by\nthe righteousness of Christ; but if this fail, I mean the act of\nbelieving, still thou standest justified by God\u2019s imputing this\nrighteousness to thee, which imputation standing purely upon the grace\nand good pleasure of God to thee, that holds thee still as just before\nGod, though thou wantest at present the comfort thereof. Thus,\ntherefore, thy person stands always acccepted; and, indeed, no man\u2019s\nworks can at all be regarded, if his person, in the first place, be not\nrespected. The Lord had respect first to Abel, and after to his\noffering (Gen 4:4; Heb 11:4). But he can have respect to no man before\nworks done, unless he find them in the righteousness of Christ; for\nthey must be accepted through a righteousness, which, because they have\nnone of their own, therefore they have one of God\u2019s imputing, even that\nof his Son, which he wrought for us when he was born of the Virgin, &c.\nAs to thy sinful infirmities that attend thee in every work, they\ncannot hinder thee from laying up treasure in heaven, thy heart being\nupright in the way with God; nor will he be unrighteous at all to\nforget thy good deeds in the day when Christ shall come from heaven.\n\n1. Because by the same reason then he must disown all the good works of\nall his prophets and apostles; for they have all been attended with\nweaknesses and sinful infirmities; from the beginning hitherto there is\nnot a man, \u2018not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not\u2019\n(Eccl 7:20). The best of our works are accompanied with sin: \u2018When I\nwould do good,\u2019 saith Paul, \u2018evil is present with me\u2019 (Rom 7:21). This,\ntherefore, must not hinder. And for thy further satisfaction in this,\nconsider, as Christ presents thy person before God, acceptable without\nthy works, freely and alone by his righteousness, so his office is to\ntake away the iniquity of thy holy things, that they also by him may be\naccepted of God (Exo 28:36-38; 1 Peter 2:5). Wherefore, it is further\nsaid, for the encouragement of the weak and feeble, He shall not break\na bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, but shall bring forth\njudgment unto victory (Matt 12:20). The bruised reed, you know, is\nweak; and by bruises we should understand sinful infirmities. And so\nalso concerning the smoking flax; by smoking you must understand sinful\nweakness; but none of these shall either hinder the justification of\nthy person, or the acceptation of thy performance, they being done in\nfaith and love, let thy temptations be never so many, because of Jesus\nChrist his priestly office now at the right hand of God. By him,\ntherefore, let us offer spiritual sacrifices; for they shall be\nacceptable to God and our Father.\n\n2. Because otherwise God and Christ would prove false to their own\nword, which is horrible blasphemy once to imagine; who hath promised\nthat when the Son of God shall come to judgment, he shall render to\n\u2018every man according to his work\u2019 (Rev 22:12); and doth upon this very\naccount encourage his servants to a patient enduring of the hottest\npersecutions: \u2018for great is your reward in heaven\u2019 (Matt 5:12; Luke\n6:23,35; Matt 6:1, 10:41,42). From this also he bindeth his saints and\nservants to be sincerely liberal, and good, and kind to all; first,\nbecause otherwise, they have no reward of their Father which is in\nheaven, that is, for what they do not; but if they do it, then, though\nit be but a cup of cold water given to a prophet or righteous man, they\nshall receive a prophet\u2019s reward, a righteous man\u2019s reward; yea, they\nshall receive it in any wise, \u2018they shall in no wise lose their\nreward.\u2019\n\n3. It must be so, otherwise he should deny a reward to the works and\noperations of his own good grace he hath freely bestowed upon us; but\nthat he will not do. He is not unfaithful to forget your work of faith\nand labour of love (Heb 6:10). And so of all other graces, \u2018our work\nshall not be in vain in the Lord\u2019 (1 Cor 4:58). And, as I said before,\ntemptations, weaknesses, and sins, shall not hinder the truly gracious\nof this their blessed reward. Nay, they shall further it, \u2018if need be,\nye are in heaviness, through manifold temptations; that the trial of\nyour faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, might\nbe found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus\nChrist\u2019 (1 Peter 1:6,7). And the reason is, because the truth and\nsincerity of God\u2019s grace in us doth so much the more discover itself,\nby how much it is opposed and resisted by weakness and sin. It is\nrecorded to the everlasting renown of three of David\u2019s mighties, that\nthey would break through a host of giant-like enemies, to fetch water\nfor their longing king; for it bespake their valour, their love, and\ngood-will to him; the same also is true concerning thy graces, and\nevery act of them when assaulted with an host of weaknesses (1 Chron\n11:12,15-18).\n\nThe Second Objection. And now I come to the second objection, and that\nariseth from our being completely justified freely by the grace of God\nthrough Christ; and by the same means alone brought to glory; and may\nbe framed thus:\u2014but seeing we are freely justified, and brought to\nglory by free grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ;\nand seeing the glory that we shall be possessed of upon the account of\nthe Lord Jesus, is both full and complete, both for happiness and\ncontinuing therein, what need will there be that our work should be\nrewarded? Nay, may not the doctrine of reward for good works be here\nnot only needless, but indeed an impairing and lessening the\ncompleteness of that glory to which we are brought, and in which we\nshall live inconceivably happy for ever, by free grace?\n\nAnswer. That we are justified in the sight of the Divine Majesty, from\nthe whole lump of our sins, both past, present, and to come, by free\ngrace, through that one offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for\nall, I bless God I believe it, and that we shall be brought to glory by\nthe same grace, through the same most blessed Jesus, I thank God by his\ngrace I believe that also. Again, that the glory to which we shall be\nbrought by free grace, through the only merits of Jesus, is unspeakably\nglorious and complete, I question no more than I question the blessed\ntruths but now confessed. But yet, notwithstanding all this, there is a\nreward for the righteous, a reward for their works of faith and love,\nwhether in a doing or a suffering way, and that not principally to be\nenjoyed here, but hereafter; \u2018great is your reward in heaven,\u2019 as I\nproved in the answer to the first objection. And now I shall answer\nfurther:\u2014\n\n1. If this reward had been an impairing or derogation to the free grace\nof God that saveth us, he would never have mentioned it for our\nencouragement unto good works, nor have added a promise of reward for\nthem that do them, nor have counted himself unfaithful if he should not\ndo it.\n\n2. The same may be said concerning Jesus Christ, who doubtless loveth\nand tendereth the honour of his own merits, as much as any who are\nsaved by him can do, whether they be in heaven or earth; yet he hath\npromised a reward to a cup of cold water, or giving of any other alms;\nand hath further told us, they that do these things, they do lay up\ntreasure in heaven, namely, a reward when their Lord doth come, then to\nbe received by them to their eternal comfort.\n\n3. Paul was as great a maintainer of the doctrine of God\u2019s free grace,\nand of justification from sin, by the righteousness of Christ imputed\nby grace, as any he that ever lived in Christ\u2019s service, from the\nworld\u2019s beginning till now: and yet he was for this doctrine; he\nexpected himself, and encouraged others also to look for such a reward,\nfor doing and suffering for Christ, which he calls \u2018a far more\nexceeding and eternal weight of glory\u2019 (2 Cor 4:17). Surely, as Christ\nsaith, in a case not far distant from this in hand, \u2018if it were not so,\nhe would have told us\u2019 (John 14:1-3). Now could I tell what those\nrewards are that Christ hath prepared, and will one day bestow upon\nthose that do for him in faith and love in this world, I should therein\nalso say more than now I dare or ought; yet this let me say in general,\nthey are such as should make us leap to think on, and that we should\nremember with exceeding joy, and never think that it is contrary to the\nChristian faith, to rejoice and be glad for that which yet we\nunderstand not (Matt 5:11,12; Luke 6:23). \u2018Beloved, now are we the sons\nof God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be,\u2019 &c. But \u2018every\nman that hath this hope in him,\u2019 namely, that he shall be more than\nhere he can imagine, \u2018purifieth himself even as he is pure\u2019 (1 John\n3:2,3). Things promised when not revealed to be known by us while here,\nare therefore not made known, because too big and wonderful. When Paul\nwas up in paradise, he heard unspeakable words not possible for man to\nutter (2 Cor 12:3,4). Wherefore, a reward I find, and that laid up in\nheaven, but what it is I know not, neither is it possible for any here\nto know it any further, than by certain general words of God, such as\nthese, praise, honour, glory, a crown of righteousness, a crown of\nglory, thrones, judging of angels, a kingdom, with a far more exceeding\nand eternal weight of glory, &c. (1 Cor 4:5; 1 Peter 1:7; 2 Tim 4:8; 1\nPeter 5:4; Matt 25:34-36). Wherefore, to both these objections, let me\nyet answer thus a few words. Though thy modesty or thy opinion will not\nsuffer thee to look for a reward for what thou dost here for thy Lord,\nby the faith and love of the gospel; yea, though in the day of judgment\nthou shouldst there slight all thou didst on earth for thy Lord,\nsaying, When, Lord, when did we do it? he will answer, Then, even then\nwhen ye did it to the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me\n(Matt 25:37-40).\n\nThe Third Objection. But is not the reward that God hath promised to\nhis saints, for their good works to be enjoyed only here?\n\nAnswer. 1. For concerning holy walking, according to God\u2019s command,\nyieldeth even here abundance of blessed fruits, as he saith, \u2018in\nkeeping of them there is great reward,\u2019 and again, \u2018this man shall be\nblessed in his deed,\u2019 that is, now, even in this time, as he saith in\nanother place; for indeed there is so much goodness and blessedness to\nbe found in a holy and godly life, that were a man to have nothing\nhereafter, the present comfort and glory that lieth as the juice in the\ngrape, in all things rightly done for God, it were sufficient to answer\nall our travail and self-denial in our work of faith and labour of\nlove, to do the will of God.[25]\n\n2. Dost thou love thy friends, dost thou love thine enemies, dost thou\nlove thy family or relations, or the church of God? then cry for\nstrength from heaven, and for wisdom, and a heart from heaven to walk\nwisely before them. For if a man be remiss, negligent, and careless in\nhis conversation, not much mattering whom he offends, displeases, or\ndiscourages, by doing this or that, so he may save himself, please his\nfoolish heart, and get this world, or the like, this man hath lost a\ngood report of them that are without, and is fallen into reproach and\nthe snare of the devil (1 Tim 3:7). He is fallen into reproach, and is\nslighted, disdained, both he, his profession, and all he says, either\nby way of reproof, rebuke, or exhortation: physician, cure thyself, say\nall to such a one; this man is a sayer, but not a doer, say they; he\nbelieveth not what he says; yea, religion itself is made to stink by\nthis man\u2019s ungodly life. This is he that hardens his children, that\nstumbleth the world, that grieveth the tender and godly Christian; but\nI say, he that walketh uprightly, that tenders[26] the name of God, the\ncredit of the gospel, and the welfare of others, seeking with Paul, not\nhis own profit, but the profit of others, that they may be saved; this\nman holds forth the Word of life, this man is a good savour of Christ\namongst them that are saved; yea, may prove, by so doing, the\ninstrument in God\u2019s hand of the salvation of many souls.\n\n3. This is the way to be clear from the blood of all men, the way not\nto be charged with the ruin and everlasting misery of poor immortal\nsouls. Great is the danger that attends an ungodly life, or an ungodly\naction, by them that profess the gospel (Jer 2:33). When wicked men\nlearn to be wicked of professors, when professors cause the enemies of\nGod to blaspheme, doubtless sad and woeful effects must needs be the\nfruit of so doing (2 Sam 12:14). How many in Israel were destroyed for\nthat which Aaron, Gideon, and Manasseh, unworthily did in their day?\n(Exo 32:25; Judg 8:24-27). A godly man, if he take not heed to himself,\nmay do that in his life that may send many to everlasting burnings,\nwhen he himself is in everlasting bliss. But on the contrary, let men\nwalk with God, and there they shall be excused; the blood of them that\nperish shall lie at their own door, and thou shalt be clear. \u2018I am pure\nfrom the blood of all men,\u2019 saith Paul (Acts 20:26). And again, \u2018your\nblood be upon your own heads, I am clean\u2019 (Acts 18:6). Yea, he that\ndoth thus, shall leave in them that perish an accusing conscience, even\nbegotten by his good conversation, and by that they shall be forced to\njustify God, his people, and way, in the day of their visitation; in\nthe day when they are descending into the pit to the damned (1 Peter\n2:12).\n\n4. This is the way to maintain always the answer, the echoing answer of\na good conscience in thy own soul. Godliness is of great use in this\nway; for the man that hath a good conscience to Godward, hath a\ncontinual feast in his own soul: while others say there is casting\ndown, he shall say there is lifting up; for he shall save the humble\nperson (Job 22:23-30). Some indeed, in the midst of their profession,\nare reproached, smitten, and condemned of their own heart, their\nconscience still biting and stinging of them, because of the\nuncleanness of their hands, and they cannot lift up their face unto\nGod; they have not the answer of a good conscience toward him, but must\nwalk as persons false to their God, and as traitors to their own\neternal welfare; but the godly upright man shall have the light shine\nupon his ways, and he shall take his steps in butter and honey. \u2018The\nwork of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness,\nquietness and assurance for ever\u2019 (Isa 32:17). \u2018If our heart condemn\nus, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things; beloved, if\nour heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God\u2019 (1 John\n3:20-22).\n\n5. The godly man that walketh with God, that chiefly careth to do the\nwork that God hath allotted him to do for his name in this world, he\nhath not only these advantages, but further, he hath as it were a\nprivilege of power with God, he can sway much with him; as it is said\nof Jacob, as a prince he had power with God to prevail in times of\ndifficulty (Gen 32:28). And so again, it is said of Judah, being\nfaithful with the saints, he ruled with God (Hosea 11:12). How many\ntimes did that good man Moses turn away the wrath of God from the many\nthousands of Israel; yea, as it were, he held the hands of God, and\nstaved off the judgments not once nor twice; the effectual fervent\nprayer of a righteous man availeth much (2 Sam 5:10). One man that\nwalketh much with God, may work wonders in this very thing; he may be a\nmeans of saving whole countries and kingdoms from those judgments their\nsins deserve. How many times, when Israel provoked the Lord to anger,\ndid he yet defer to destroy them? and the reason of that forbearance,\nhe tells them it was for David\u2019s sake; for my servant David\u2019s sake I\nwill not do it. As the Lord said also concerning Paul, \u2018Lo, God hath\ngiven thee all them that sail with thee\u2019; that is, to save their lives\nfrom the rage of the sea (Acts 27:24). Yea, when a judgment is not only\nthreatened, but the decree gone forth for its execution, then godly\nupright men may sometimes cause the very decree itself to cease without\nbringing forth (Zech 2:1-3). Or else may so time the judgment that is\ndecreed, that the church shall best be able to bear it (Matt 24:20).\n\n6. The man that is tender of God\u2019s glory in this world, still ruling\nand governing his affairs by the Word, and desirous to be faithful to\nthe work and employment that God hath appointed him to do for his name;\nthat man shall still be let into the secrets of God; he shall know that\nwhich God will reserve and hide from many; \u2018Shall I hide from Abraham\nthat thing which I do,\u2019 saith the Lord?\u2014\u2018For I know him, that he will\ncommand his children and his household after him, and they shall keep\nthe way of the Lord,\u2019 &c. (Gen 18:17,19). So again, \u2018The secret of the\nLord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant\u2019\n(Psa 25:14). \u2018And to him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I\nshew the salvation of God\u2019 (Psa 50:23). Such a man shall have things\nnew as well as old. His converse with the Father, and the Son, and the\nSpirit, shall be turned into a kind of familiarity; he shall be led\ninto the Word, and shall still increase in knowledge: when others shall\nbe stinted and look with old faces, being black and dry as a stick, he\nshall be like a fatted calf, like the tree that is planted by the\nrivers of water, his flesh shall be fresh as the flesh of a child, and\nGod will renew the face of his soul.\n\n7. If any escape public calamities, usually they are such as are very\ntender of the name of God, and that make it their business to walk\nbefore him. They either escape by being mercifully taken away before\nit, or by being safely preserved in the midst of the judgment, until\nthe indignation be overpast. Therefore God saith in one place, the\n\u2018righteous are taken away from the evil to come\u2019 (Isa 57:1). But if not\nso, as all be not, then they shall have their life for a prey (Jer\n39:15-18). Caleb and Joshua escaped all the plagues that befel to\nIsrael in the wilderness, for they followed God (Num 14:24). Somewhat\nof this you have also in that scripture, \u2018Seek ye the Lord all ye meek\nof the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek\nmeekness, it may be, ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord\u2019s anger\u2019\n(Zeph 2:3). According to this is that in Luke, \u2018Watch ye, therefore,\nand pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these\nthings that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man\u2019\n(Luke 21:36). When a man\u2019s ways please the Lord, he will make his\nenemies to be at peace with him. Marvellous is the work of God in the\npreservation of his saints that are faithful with him, when dangers and\ncalamities come; as Joseph, David, Jeremiah, and Paul, with many\nothers, may appear. \u2018He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in\nseven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee\nfrom death; and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid\nfrom the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of\ndestruction when it cometh\u2019 (Job 5:19-21).\n\n8. If afflictions do overtake thee, for whom the Lord loveth he\nchasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, yet those\nafflictions shall not befal thee for those causes for which they befal\nthe slothful and backsliding Christian; neither shall they have that\npinching and galling operation upon thee, as on those who have left\ntheir first love and tenderness for God\u2019s glory in the world.\n\n(1.) Upon the faithful upright man, though he also may be corrected and\nchastised for sin, yet, I say, he abiding close with God, afflictions\ncome rather for trial and for the exercise of grace received, than as\nrebukes for this or that wickedness; when upon the backsliding\nheartless Christian these things shall come from fatherly anger and\ndispleasure, and that for their sins against him. Job did acknowledge\nhimself a sinner, and that God therefore might chastise him: but yet he\nrather believed it was chiefly for the trial of his grace, as indeed,\nand in truth, it was (Job 7:20, 23:10). \u2018He is a perfect man,\u2019 saith\nGod to Satan, \u2018and one that feareth God, and escheweth evil, and still\nhe holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to\ndestroy him without cause\u2019 (Job 2:3). God will not say thus of every\none when affliction is laid upon them, though they yet may be his\nchildren; but rather declareth and pronounceth that it is for their\ntransgressions, because they have wickedly departed from him (Psa\n39:11, 38:1-4).\n\n(2.) Now, affliction arising from these two causes, their effects in\nthe manner of their working, though grace turns them both for good, is\nvery different one from the other; he who hath been helped to walk with\nGod, is not assaulted with those turnings and returnings of guilt when\nhe is afflicted, as he who hath basely departed from God; the one can\nplead his integrity, when the other blusheth for shame. See both these\ncases in one person, even that goodly beloved David. When the Lord did\nrebuke him for sin, then he cries, O blood guiltiness, O \u2018cast me not\naway from thy presence\u2019 (Psa 51:11). But when he at another time knew\nhimself guiltless, though then also sorely afflicted, behold with what\nboldness he turns his face unto God; \u2018O Lord, my God,\u2019 saith he, \u2018if I\nhave done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; if I have rewarded\nevil unto him that was at peace with me; [yea, I have delivered him\nthat without cause is mine enemy] let the enemy persecute my soul, and\ntake it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine\nhonour in the dust. Selah,\u2019 &c. (Psa 7:3-5).\n\nThis, therefore, must needs be a blessed help in distress, for a man to\nhave a good conscience when affliction hath taken hold on him; for a\nman then, in his looking behind and before, to return with peace to his\nown soul, that man must needs find honey in this lion, that can plead\nhis innocency and uprightness. All the people curse me, saith Jeremiah,\nbut that without a cause, for I have neither lent nor taken on usury;\nwhich it seems was a sin at that day (Jer 15:10).\n\n9. When men are faithful with God in this world, to do the work he hath\nappointed for them, by this means a dying bed is made easier, and that\nupon a double account. (1.) By reason of that present peace such shall\nhave, even in their time of languishing. (2.) By reason of the good\ncompany such shall have at their departure.\n\n(1.) Such souls usually abound in present peace; they look not back\nupon the years they have spent with that shame as the idle and slothful\nChristian does. \u2018Remember now, Lord,\u2014how I have walked before thee in\ntruth, and with a perfect heart\u2019 (Isa 38:3). Blessed is the man that\nconsidereth the poor, the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The\nLord will preserve him, and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed\nupon the earth; and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his\nenemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; thou\nwilt make all his bed in his sickness (Psa 41:1-3).\n\nAh! when God makes the bed,[27] he must needs lie easy that weakness\nhath cast thereon; a blessed pillow hath that man for his head, though\nto all beholders it is hard as a stone. Jacob, on his deathbed, had two\nthings that made it easy:\u2014(a) The faith of his going to rest, \u2018I am to\nbe gathered unto my people\u2019; that is, to the blessed that have yielded\nup the ghost before me (Gen 49:29). (b) The remembrance of the sealings\nof the countenance of God upon him, when he walked before him in the\ndays of his pilgrimage: when Joseph came to see him, before he left\nthis world, Israel, saith the Word, \u2018strengthened himself and sat upon\nhis bed\u2019; and the first word that dropt out of this good man\u2019s mouth, O\nhow full of glory was it! \u2018God Almighty appeared unto me,\u2019 saith he,\n\u2018at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,\u2019 &c. (Gen 48:1-3). O\nblessed discourse for a sick bed, when those can talk thus that lie\nthereon, from as true a ground as Jacob; but thus will God make the bed\nof those who walk close with him in this world.\n\n(2.) The dying bed of such a man is made easy by reason also of the\ngood company such shall have at their departure; and that is, (1) The\nangels; (b) Their good works they have done for God in the world.\n\n(a) The angels of heaven shall wait upon them, as they did upon blessed\nLazarus, to carry them into Abraham\u2019s bosom (Luke 16:22). I know all\nthat go to paradise are by these holy ones conducted thither; but yet,\nfor all that, such as die under the clouds for unchristian walking with\nGod, may meet with darkness in that day\u2014may go heavily hence,\nnotwithstanding that (Job 5:14). Yea, their bed may be as uncomfortable\nto them as if they lay upon nothing but the cords, and their departing\nfrom it, as to appearance, more uncomfortable by far. But as for those\nwho have been faithful to their God, they shall see before them, shall\nknow their tabernacles, \u2018shall be in peace\u2019 (Job 5:24), \u2018the\neverlasting gates shall be opened unto them,\u2019 in all which, from earth,\nthey shall see the glory (Acts 7:55,56).[28] I once was told a story of\nwhat happened at a good man\u2019s death, the which I have often remembered,\nwith wonderment and gladness. After he had lain for some time sick, his\nhour came that he must depart, and behold, while he lay, as we call it,\ndrawing on, to the amazement of the mourners, there was heard about his\nbed such blessed and ravishing music as they never heard before; which\nalso continued till his soul departed, and then began to cease, and\ngrow, as to its sound, as if it was departing the house, and so still\nseemed to go further and further off, till at last they could hear it\nnot longer. \u2018Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered\ninto the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that\nlove him\u2019: behold, then, how God can make thy sick bed easy! (1 Cor\n2:9).\n\n(b) A dying bed is made easy by those good works that men have done in\ntheir life for the name of God: \u2018Blessed are the dead which die in the\nLord: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and\ntheir works do follow them\u2019; yea, and go before them too (Rev 14:13).\nNo man need be afraid to be accompanied by good deeds to heaven. Be\nafraid of sins, they are like bloodhounds at the heels; and be sure thy\nsins will find thee out, even thee who hast not been pardoned in the\nprecious blood of Christ; but as for those who have submitted\nthemselves to the righteousness of God for their justification, and who\nhave, through faith and love to his name, been frequent in deeds of\nrighteousness, they shall not appear empty before their God, \u2018their\nworks,\u2019 their good works, \u2018follow them.\u2019 These shall enter into rest,\nand walk with Christ in white. I observe, when Israel had passed over\nJordan, they were to go to possess between Mount Ebal and Mount\nGerizim, from whence was to be pronounced the blessing and the cursing\n(Deut 27). The gospel meaning of which I take to be as followeth: I\ntake Jordan to be a type of death: and these two mountains, with the\ncursing and blessing, to be a type of the judgment that comes on every\nman, so soon as he goes from hence\u2014\u2018and after death the judgment\u2019\u2014so\nthat he that escapes the cursing, he alone goes into blessedness; but\nhe that Mount Ebal smiteth, he falls short of heaven! O! none knows the\nnoise that doth sound in sinners\u2019 souls from Ebal and Gerizim when they\nare departed hence; yet it may be they know not what will become of\nthem till they hear these echoings from these two mountains: but here\nthe good man is sure Mount Gerizim doth pronounce him blessed. Blessed,\nthen, are the dead that die in the Lord, for their works will follow\nthem till they are past all danger. These are the Christian\u2019s train\nthat follow him to rest; these are a good man\u2019s company that follow him\nto heaven.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n[1] Solemn indeed is the responsibility of a Christian minister, and\nevery follower of the Lamb bears that office privately, and should be\nearnest in prayer that public ministers may do the work of evangelists,\nnot only by insisting upon the necessity of the new birth and its\nsolemn reality, the happiness of a close walk with God, and the\nglorious rest that remaineth, but to visit the poor and rich at their\nown habitations, in sickness and health, and watch over their people as\nthose that must give an account.\u2014Ed.\n\n[2] \u2018With a curse,\u2019 is from the Puritan version.\u2014Ed.\n\n[3] Wretched are the persecutors, like a troubled sea, casting up mire\nand filth, vainly opposing the sinner\u2019s duty of personal inquiry for\nsalvation, and harassing him if he refuses to submit to human dogmas,\ncreeds, catechisms, and liturgies\u2014the inventions of men. Although the\npower is curtailed, the disposition remains the same; restless and\nunwearied, they stick at nothing to glut their revenge upon the\ndisciples of Christ. But all in vain; the gospel spreads although the\npersecutor kicks; it is against the sharp goads; he rushes upon\nJehovah\u2019s buckler and crushes himself; is wretched in this life and\nlost to all eternity; unless, as in the case of Saul, unspeakable mercy\narrests him\u2014Ed.\n\n[4] The lions growled and roared upon the pilgrims in Bunyan\u2019s days, to\nprevent their making a public profession of Christ by uniting with one\nof his churches; represented in the Pilgrim\u2019s Progress by the palace\njustly called Beautiful. Many were then kept back, to their serious\ninjury or ruin, by fear of enormous penalties or imprisonment, but NOW,\nwhat keeps you back, O Christian. Fears for the loss of property,\nliberty, or life, would have been a wretched plea for the loss of the\nsoul, how much less the fear of ridicule from ungodly friends or\nrelatives.\u2014Ed.\n\n[5] A familiar expression; \u2018rub up,\u2019 prepare for action. \u2018Put on thy\nharness,\u2019 an obsolete term for armour, weapons, and habiliments of war;\nthe spiritual warfare, \u2018put on the whole armour of God.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[6] Would you be ready to die in peace? then seek a close walk and\ncommunion with God in time of health. A life of faith ensures a life of\nglory. Live and walk in the Spirit; as strangers and pilgrims abstain\nfrom fleshly lusts. To live thus is Christ; to die is gain, the more\nsudden the more joyful and glorious.\u2014Ed.\n\n[7] This meaning of the word \u2018touch\u2019 is now obsolete. It refers to\ntouching the seal on a deed, called sealing it; a solemn, deliberate\npledge to keep close to your covenants. \u2018I keep touch with my promise.\u2019\nSir Thomas More.\u2014Ed.\n\n[8] \u2018To make both ends meet,\u2019 is a proverbial expression, meaning that\nour expenses should not exceed our income; but, in this more solemn\nsense we should fulfil our daily duties as they approach, as all our\nmoments have duties assigned to them. Omissions can never be recovered;\nhence the necessity of forgiveness for Christ\u2019s sake, who fulfilled\nevery duty, and hence the necessity of perpetual watchfulness.\u2014Ed.\n\n[9] How delightfully does this exclamation flow from the lips of the\npious patriarch, overcome by his exertion in this solemn death-bed\nscene. He pauses, and then, with his recovering breath, appeals to\nheaven\u2014\u2018I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.\u2019 Poor old man, the\ncold sweat of death is on thy brow, the angels stand ready to open the\ngate of the celestial city; finish thy solemn instructions to thy\nchildren, and then thou shalt enter upon the fruition of all thy\npatient waiting, thy fearing, fighting, trembling, doubting, shall be\nabsorbed in immeasurable, eternal bliss.\u2014Ed.\n\n[10] This is a very illustrative allusion. When a spinner has wound up\nall his material, the technical term is, \u2018The bottom is wound.\u2019 When a\npoor spinner by age or infirmity, is incapable of work, it would be\nsaid, \u2018Ah! his bottom is wound.\u2019 In this text, Jacob had finally made\nan end of all his earthly duties, and had now only to close his eyes\nfor the last time upon the world.\u2014Ed.\n\n[11] These are solemn and most weighty arguments to press upon us the\nfulfilment of our daily duties. How incomprehensible are the ways of\nGod. His love is proved by bitterly convicting us of sin, of\nrighteousness, and of judgment. Like Christian and Hopeful in Doubting\nCastle, sometimes so overwhelming as to drive us to the verge of\ndespair and self-destruction. We fall not down the precipice, for still\nthere is hope and pardon in his bosom, and at the proper time it will\nbe revealed.\u2014Ed.\n\n[12] That preventeth; \u2018letteth\u2019 is from the old verb to let or hinder,\nas used Romans 1:13.\u2014Ed.\n\n[13] This language is probably founded on Revelation 22:14, \u2018Blessed\nare they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree\nof life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.\u2019 Until the\nwork that is assigned to us is done, we cannot cross the river and\nascend to the New Jerusalem. \u2018He which testifieth these things saith,\nSurely I come quickly. Amen.\u2019 He who is diligent to finish his work may\nreply with truth, \u2018Even so, come, Lord Jesus.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[14] Bunyan was in his politics a thorough loyalist. When a young man\nhe even fought at the siege of Leicester, when it was besieged by the\nroyal army. Probably the horrible cruelties practised upon the peaceful\ninhabitants, by the cavaliers, at the taking of that city, induced him\nto leave the service. His pastor, J. Gifford, had also served in the\nroyal army as an officer; both of them narrowly escaped. This may\naccount for Bunyan\u2019s high monarchial principles, they appear very\nprominently in many of his works.\u2014Ed.\n\n[15] Many extraordinary tales are told of the nightingale, as to their\ngreat memory, and facility in imitating the human voice. Sitting in\nthorns is more for protection than penance. See Goldsmith\u2019s Animated\nNature. It was a generally received opinion that the nightingale, to\nkeep himself awake in the night, sat on a tree of thorn, so that if he\nnodded he would be pricked in the breast. The learned and witty Dr.\nThomas Fuller thus alludes to it:\u2014\u2018I am sure the nightingale which\nwould wake will not be angry with the thorn which pricketh her breast\nwhen she noddeth.\u2019 How useful would it be if a thorn could be so placed\nas to prick those who nod at church!\u2014Ed.\n\n[16] A painted figure of a horse, behind which the sportsman stealthily\napproaches the game.\n\n   \u2018One underneath his horse, to get a shoot doth stalk\n    Another over dykes upon his stilts doth walk.\u2019\n           \u2014Drayton\u2019s Polyolbion, vol. iii. p. 25.\u2014Ed.\n\n[17] So dress as to pass without being noticed; neither precise nor\nformal, slovenly nor dandyish; dress like a man or woman. Conduct\nyourself as one that fears God.\u2014Ed.\n\n[18] The head having been crowned with thorns, it is unsuitable that\nthe feet should tread on rose leaves.\u2014Mason.\n\n[19] How very striking is this expression. O! that it may assist in\nriveting upon our souls a vivid remembrance of the Saviour\u2019s\nsufferings.\u2014Ed.\n\n[20] Some Pharisees, falsely called by the Romish churches \u2018saints,\u2019\nhave claimed merit from associating with dirt and filth, and vermin,\nbeggars, and vagabonds, upon dunghills, to show their contempt of the\nworld! All this was to gain the applause of the world. God\u2019s saints\nwill associate with the salt of the earth, with God\u2019s fearers, who\nwhether rich or poor, are equally despised by the world.\u2014Ed.\n\n[21] Reader, do not mistake this to mean a piece of wood shaped as a\ncross. It means cherish, love, be conformed to the conduct or image of\nChrist, follow him in reproaches and revilings, and count it your\nhonour to suffer for his sake. \u2018Kiss it,\u2019 has the same meaning as the\nwords of the Psalmist, \u2018Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish.\u2019\nIt is the soul mentally kissing the Saviour, and not a bit of wood,\nwhich would then be an idol, inflicting the deep guilt of idolatry.\u2014Ed.\n\n[22] Upon the opening of the sixth seal in the book of Revelation,\nthere was \u2018a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of\nhair, and the moon as blood.\u2019 A preternatural and awful darkness broods\nover nature, preparatory to its final dissolution. Thus Satan darkens\nthe things above to the natural man, so that he cannot discern\nspiritual things, while those of time and sense are magnified and\nmultiplied in his estimation.\u2014Ed.\n\n[23] This refers to the phylacteries worn by every Jew while in his\ndaily prayers. These are long strips of leather, having small boxes\ncontaining the law minutely written in Hebrew, worn upon the forehead\nand wrist, and bound round the fingers. A custom founded on Exodus\n13:9, 16; Proverbs 7:3. That the Divine law should direct the head and\nfingers, as representing the mind and conduct, so would Bunyan have all\nChristians carry, at all times, in the mind and conduct, the riches and\nrighteousness of Christ.\u2014Ed.\n\n[24] There are no idlers in God\u2019s Israel, every one has his appointed\nwork to fulfil against his appointed day. Christian, watch against\nidleness.\n\n   \u2018For Satan has some mischief still\n    For idle hands to do.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[25] Godliness, saith Paul, has the \u2018promise of the life that now is,\nand of that which is to come.\u2019 This should be more dwelt upon by our\nministers, as Bunyan sets the example. The mind of a Christian has the\nrichest enjoyments, however his body may be persecuted, for over that\nonly the enemy has power. A prison may be the gate of heaven. With God\nas our Father, a wall of fire round about, and the glory in our midst,\n\u2018what can we want beside?\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[26] To tender; to care for, to guard. \u2018He had provoked others to\ntender and seek the glory of God.\u2019\u2014Udal. Not frequently used in this\nsense.\u2014Ed.\n\n[27] How tenderly does the Psalmist exhibit the love of God to his\nchosen under this figure, \u2018Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.\u2019\nHe will never leave nor forsake them; and, when heart and flesh shall\nfail, he will guide them and receive them to his glory. \u2018Wonders of\ngrace to God belong.\u2019 Christian women! with such an example, can you\nhesitate to go and make the bed of a poor sick and afflicted\nneighbour?\u2014Ed.\n\n[28]\n\n   \u2018Jesus can make a dying bed\n        Feel soft as downy pillows are,\n    While on his breast I lean my head,\n        And breath my life out sweetly there.\u2019\u2014Dr. Watts.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DESIRE OF THE RIGHTEOUS GRANTED;\n\nOR,\n\nA DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN\u2019S DESIRES.\n\nADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR\n\n\nAs the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man\u2019s heart\nknown by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone\nor standard of Christian sincerity\u2014the evidence of the new birth\u2014the\nspiritual barometer of faith and grace\u2014and the springs of obedience.\nChrist and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes\u2014the foundation\nupon which all our desires after God and holiness are built\u2014and the\nroot by which they are nourished. It is from this principle of Divine\nlife which flows from Christ to his members, that these desires and\nstruggles after holiness of thought and conduct arise, and are kept\nalive. They prove a fountain of consolation to the harassed and tried\nbeliever; for if we are in the sense of this scripture \u2018righteous,\u2019 we\nshall have those desires to enjoy the presence of God on earth, and\nwith him felicity in heaven, which the voice of the Omnipotent\ndeclareth SHALL be granted. O! the blessedness of those in whose hearts\nare planted \u2018the desires of the righteous.\u2019\n\nThis brings us to the most important of all the subjects of\nself-examination\u2014am I one of the \u2018righteous\u2019? or, in other words, \u2018am I\nborn again?\u2019 Upon this solemn heart-trying inquiry hangs all our hopes\nof escape from misery and ascension to glory\u2014a kingdom, a crown, a\nbright, a happy, an eternal inheritance, on the one hand, or the gloomy\nabodes of wretchedness on the other hand, are for ever to be decided.\nWhat are our desires? To guide our anxious inquiries into this\nall-important subject, our author unlocks the heavenly treasures, and\nin every point furnishes us with book, and chapter, and verse, that we\nmay carefully and prayerfully weigh all that he displays in the\nunerring scales of the sanctuary. A desire after the presence of God\u2014of\nconformity to his image and example\u2014for a greater hatred of sin\u2014yea, as\nBunyan expresses it, a desire to desire more of those blessed fruits of\nthe Spirit, inspires the inquirer with the cheering hope that he has\npassed from death unto life\u2014that he has been born again, and has been\nmade righteous. And if, as we progress in the Divine life, our\nexperience of the delights of communion with God enables us to say with\nDavid, \u2018My soul panteth,\u2019 or crieth, or, as the margin of our Bibles\nhave, brayeth, \u2018yea, thirsteth after God,\u2019 however we may be assaulted\nby the enemies within and without, we may say with confidence, \u2018Why art\nthou disquieted, O my soul? hope thou in God, for I SHALL yet praise\nhim.\u2019\n\nDeeply are the churches of Christ indebted to the Holy Spirit for\nhaving assisted his honoured servant to write this treatise; and we are\nunder great obligation to his friend, Charles Doe, for having handed it\ndown to us, as he found it prepared for the press, with other excellent\ntreatises, among the author\u2019s papers after his decease. It abounds with\nthose striking ideas peculiar to the works of the author of the\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress; most faithful home thrusts at conscience, which\nthose who really desire to know themselves will greatly prize. It has\nbeen very properly observed that the words used by the author, as\ndescriptive of the text, may, with great propriety, be applied to this\ntreatise\u2014\u2018It is a sharp and smart description\u2019 of the desires of a\nrighteous man.\n\nThe desires of the righteous are very graphically impersonated and\ndescribed. They reach beyond time and peep into eternity. \u2018The\nrighteous have desires that reach further than this world, desires that\nhave so long a neck as to look into the world to come.\u2019 \u2018So forcible\nand mighty are they in operation\u2019; \u2018is there not life and mettle in\nthem? They loose the bands of nature\u2014harden the soul against\nsorrow\u2014they are the fruits of an eagle-eyed confidence.\u2019 They enable\nthe soul \u2018to see through the jaws of death\u2014to see Christ preparing\nmansion-houses for his poor ones that are now kicked to and fro, like\nfootballs in the world!\u2019 \u2018A desire will take a man upon its back and\ncarry him away to God, if ten thousand men oppose it.\u2019 \u2018It will carry\nhim away after God to do his will, let the work be never so hard.\u2019 The\nnew man is subject to transient sickness, during which desire fails in\nits power when the inner man has caught a cold.\n\nBunyan\u2019s views of church fellowship are always lovely; they are\ndelightfully expressed. He also introduces us to the unsearchable\nriches of Christ. \u2018The righteous desire a handful, God gives them a\nseaful; they desire a country, God prepares for them a city.\u2019 Wonders\nof grace to God belong.\n\nBunyan\u2019s pictures of the natural man are equally faithful and\nstriking\u2014when guilt and conviction take hold on him\u2014when pestilence\nthreatens to break up his house-keeping\u2014and death takes him by the\nthroat and hauls him down stairs to the grave; then he, who never\nprayed, crieth, Pray for me, and the poor soul is as loath to go out of\nthe body for fear the devil should catch it, as the poor bird is to go\nout of the bush while she sees the hawk waiting to receive her. But I\nmust not detain the reader longer from entering on this solemn and\nimpressive treatise, but commend it to the Divine blessing.\n\nGEO. OFFOR.\n\nTHE DESIRE OF THE RIGHTEOUS GRANTED.\n\n\n\u2018The desire of the righteous is only good.\u2019\u2014Proverbs 11:23\n\n\u2018The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him; but the desire of the\nrighteous shall be granted.\u2019\u2014Proverbs 10:24\n\nThis book of the Proverbs is so called because it is such as containeth\nhard, dark, and pithy sentences of wisdom, by which is taught unto\nyoung men knowledge and discretion (1-6). Wherefore this book is not\nsuch as discloseth truths by words antecedent or subsequent to the\ntext, so as other scriptures generally do, but has its texts or\nsentences more independent; for usually each verse standeth upon its\nown bottom, and presenteth by itself some singular thing to the\nconsideration of the reader; so that I shall not need to bid my reader\ngo back to what went before, nor yet to that which follows, for the\nbetter opening of the text; and shall therefore come immediately to the\nwords, and search into them for what hidden treasures are contained\ntherein.\n\n[First.] The words then, in the first place, present us with the\ngeneral condition of the whole world; for all men are ranked under one\nof these conditions, the wicked or the righteous; for he that is not\nwicked is righteous, and he that is not righteous is wicked. So again,\n\u2018Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous,\nspoil not his resting-place.\u2019 I might give you out of this book many\nsuch instances, for it flows with such; but the truth hereof is plain\nenough.\n\nThe world is also divided by other general terms, as by\nthese\u2014believers, unbelievers; saints, sinners; good, bad; children of\nGod, and children of the wicked one, &c. These, I say, are general\nterms, and comprehend not this or that sect, or order of each, but the\nwhole. The believer, saint, good, and child of God, are one\u2014to wit, the\nrighteous; the unbeliever, the sinner, the bad, and the child of the\ndevil, is one\u2014to wit, the wicked; as also the text expresses it. So\nthat I say, the text, or these two terms in it, comprehend all men; the\none all that shall be saved, the other all that shall be damned for\never in hell-fire (Psa 9:17, 11:6). The wicked; who is he but the man\nthat loves not God, nor to do his will? The righteous; who is he but\nthe man that loveth God, and his holy will, to do it?\n\nOf the wicked there are several sorts, some more ignorant, some more\nknowing; the more ignorant of them are such as go to be executed, as\nthe ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the\nstocks; that is, as creatures whose ignorance makes them as\nunconcerned, while they are going down the stairs to hell. But, alas!\ntheir ignorance will be no plea for them before the bar of God; for it\nis written, \u2018It is a people of no understanding; therefore he that made\nthem will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show\nthem no favour\u2019 (Isa 27:11; Prov 7:22).\n\nThough, I must confess, the more knowing the wicked is, or the more\nlight and goodness such a one sins against, the greater will his\njudgment be; these shall have greater damnation: it shall be more\ntolerable at the judgment for Sodom than for them (Luke 10:12, 20:47).\nThere is a wicked man that goes blinded, and a wicked man that goes\nwith his eyes open to hell; there is a wicked man that cannot see, and\na wicked man that will not see the danger he is in; but hell-fire will\nopen both their eyes (Luke 16:23). There are that are wicked, and cover\nall with a cloak of religion, and there are that proclaim their\nprofaneness; but they will meet both in the lake that burns with fire\nand brimstone; \u2018The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the\nnations that forget God\u2019 (Psa 9:17).\n\nThere are also several sorts, if I may so express myself, of those that\nare truly righteous, as children, young men, fathers, or saints that\nfear God, both small and great (Rev 11:18; 1 John 2). Some have more\ngrace than some, and some do better improve the grace they have than\nothers of their brethren do; some also are more valiant for the truth\nupon the earth than others of their brethren are; yea, some are so\nswallowed up with God, and love to his word and ways, that they are fit\nto be a pattern or example in holiness to all that are about them; and\nsome again have their light shining so dim, that they render themselves\nsuspicious to their brethren, whether they are of the number of those\nthat have grace or no.[1] But being gracious they shall not be lost,\nalthough such will at the day of reward suffer loss; for this is the\nwill of the Father that sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world,\n\u2018That of all which he had given him he should lose nothing, but should\nraise it up again at the last day\u2019 (John 6:37-39; 1 Cor 3:15).\n\n[Second.] In the next place, we are here presented with some of the\nqualities of the wicked and the righteous; the wicked has his fears,\nthe righteous has his desires. The wicked has his fears. \u2018The fear of\nthe wicked, it shall come upon him; but the desire of the righteous\nshall be granted.\u2019 Indeed, it seems to the godly that the wicked\nfeareth not, nor doth he after a godly sort; for he that feareth God\naright must not be reputed a wicked man. The wicked, through the pride\nof his countenance, declareth that he feareth not God aright, because\nhe doth not graciously call upon him; but yet for all that, the wicked\nat times are haunted, sorely haunted, and that with the worst of fears.\n\u2018Terrors,\u2019 says Bildad, \u2018shall make him afraid on every side.\u2019 And\nagain, \u2018His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it\nshall bring him to the king of terrors\u2019 (Job 18:11-14).\n\nA wicked man, though he may hector it at times with his proud heart, as\nthough he feared neither God nor hell, yet again, at times, his soul is\neven drowned with terrors. \u2018The morning is to them even as the shadow\nof death; if one knew them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of\ndeath\u2019 (Job 24:14-17). At times, I say, it is thus with them,\nespecially when they are under warm convictions that the day of\njudgment is at hand, or when they feel in themselves as if death was\ncoming as a tempest, to steal them away from their enjoyments, and\nlusts, and delights; then the bed shakes on which they lie, then the\nproud tongue doth falter in their mouth, and their knees knock one\nagainst another; then their conscience stares, and roars, and tears,\nand arraigns them before God\u2019s judgment-seat, or threatens to follow\nthem down to hell, and there to wreck its fury on them, for all the\nabuses and affronts this wicked wretch offered to it in the day in\nwhich it controlled his unlawful deeds. O! none can imagine what\nfearful plights a wicked man is in sometimes; though God in his just\njudgment towards them suffers them again and again to stifle and choke\nsuch awakenings, from a purpose to reserve them unto the day of\njudgment to be punished (2 Peter 2:7-9).\n\n[Third.] In the third place, as the wicked has his fears, so the\nrighteous has his desires. \u2018The desire of the righteous shall be\ngranted\u2019; but this must not be taken exclusively, as if the wicked had\nnothing but fears, and the righteous nothing but desires. For, both by\nScripture and experience also, we find that the wicked has his desires,\nand the righteous man his fears.\n\n1. For the wicked, they are not without their desires. \u2018Let me die the\ndeath of the righteous, and let my last end be like his,\u2019 was the\ndesire of wicked Balaam (Num 23:10), and another place saith, \u2018the\nwicked boasteth of his heart\u2019s desire\u2019; that he is for heaven as well\nas the best of you all, but yet, even then, \u2018he blesseth the covetous,\nwhom the Lord abhorreth\u2019 (Psa 10:3). Wicked men have their desires and\ntheir hopes too, but the hope and desire of unjust men perisheth (Prov\n11:7, 14:32). Yea, and though they look and long, too, all the day\nlong, with desires of life and glory, yet their fears, and them only,\nshall come upon them; for they are the desires of the righteous that\nshall be granted (Psa 112:10).\n\nThe desires of the wicked want a good bottom; they flow not from a\nsanctified mind, nor of love to the God, or the heaven now desired; but\nonly from such a sense as devils have of torments, and so, as they,\nthey cry out, \u2018I beseech thee torment me not\u2019 (Luke 8:28, 16:24). But\ntheir fears have a substantial foundation, for they are grounded upon\nthe view of an ill-spent life, the due reward of which is hell-fire;\n\u2018the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God,\u2019 their place is\nwithout; \u2018for without are dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and\nmurderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie\u2019 (1 Cor\n6:9,10; Rev 22:15).\n\nTheir fears, therefore, have a strong foundation; they have also matter\nto work upon, which is guilt and justice, the which they shall never be\nable to escape, without a miracle of grace and mercy (Heb 2:3).\nTherefore it saith, and that with emphasis, \u2018The fear of the wicked it\nshall come upon him\u2019; wherefore his desires must die with him: for the\npromise of a grant of that which is desired is only entailed to\nrighteousness. \u2018The desire of the righteous shall be granted,\u2019 but\n\u2018grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked,\u2019 saith David (Psa\n140:8).\n\n2. Nor are the righteous without their fears, and that even all their\nlife long. Through fear of death, they, some of them, are all their\nlife time subject to bondage (Heb 2:15). But as the desires of the\nwicked shall be frustrate, so shall also the fears of the godly; hence\nyou have them admonished, yea commanded, not to be afraid neither of\ndevils, death, nor hell; for the fear of the righteous shall not come\nupon them to eternal damnation (Isa 35:4, 41:10-14, 43:1, 44:28; Luke\n8:50, 12:32; Rev 1:17).\n\n\u2018The desire of the righteous shall be granted.\u2019 No, they are not to\nfear what sin can do unto them, nor what all their sins can do unto\nthem; I do not say they should not be afraid of sinning, nor of those\ntemporal judgments that sin shall bring upon them, for of such things\nthey ought to be afraid, as saith the Psalmist, \u2018My flesh trembleth for\nfear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments\u2019 (Psa 119:120). But of\neternal ruin, of that, they ought not to be afraid of with slavish\nfear. \u2018Wherefore should I fear,\u2019 said the prophet, \u2018in the days of\nevil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?\u2019 (Psa\n49:5). And again, \u2018Ye have done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside\nfrom following the Lord;\u2014for the Lord will not forsake his people, for\nhis great name\u2019s sake\u2019 (1 Sam 12:20-22).\n\nThe reason is, because the righteous are secured by their faith in\nChrist Jesus; also their fears stand upon a mistake of the nature of\nthe covenant, in which they are wrapped up, which is ordered for them\nin all things, and sure (2 Sam 23:5; Isa 55:3). Besides, God has\npurposed to magnify the riches of his grace in their salvation;\ntherefore goodness and mercy shall, to that end, follow them all the\ndays of their life, that they may \u2018dwell in the house of the Lord for\never\u2019 (Psa 23:6; Eph 1:3-7). They have also their intercessor and\nadvocate ready with God, to take up matters for them in such a way as\nmay maintain true peace betwixt their God and them; and as may\nencourage them to be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is\nto be brought unto them at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter\n1:13; 1 John 2:1,2). Wherefore, though the godly have their fears, yea,\nsometimes dreadful fears, and that of perishing for ever and ever; yet\nthe day is coming, when their fears and tears shall be done away, and\nwhen their desires only shall be granted. \u2018The fear of the wicked, it\nshall come upon them; but the desire of the righteous shall be\ngranted.\u2019\n\nThe words, then, are a prediction or prophecy, and that both concerning\nthe wicked and the righteous, with reference to time and things to\ncome, and shall certainly be fulfilled in their season. Hence it is\nsaid concerning the wicked, that their triumphing is short, and that\nthe joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment (Job 20:5). O, their end\nwill be bitter as wormwood, and will cut like a two-edged sword! Of\nthis Solomon admonishes youth, when he saith. \u2018Rejoice, O young man, in\nthy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and\nwalk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but\nknow thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment\u2019\n(Eccl 11:9).\n\nThis, therefore, showeth the desperate spirit that possesses the\nchildren of men, who, though they hear and read all this, yet cannot be\nreclaimed from courses that are wicked, and that lead to such a\ncondition (Prov 5:7-14). I say they will not be reclaimed from such\ncourses as lead to ways that go down to hell, where their soul must\nmourn, even then when their flesh and their body are consumed. O! how\ndear bought are their pleasures, and how will their laughter be turned\ninto tears and anguish unutterable! and that presently, for it is\ncoming! Their \u2018judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their\ndamnation slumbereth not\u2019 (2 Peter 2:3). But what good will their\ncovenant of death then do them? And will their agreement of hell yield\nthem comfort? Is not God as well mighty to punish as to save? (Isa\n28:18). Or can these sinners believe God out of the world, or cause\nthat he should not pay them home for their sins, and recompense them\nfor all the evil they have loved, and continued in the commission of?\n(Job 21:29-31). \u2018Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong in\nthe days that God shall deal with thee?\u2019 (Eze 22:14). Thou art bold\nnow, I mean bold in a wicked way; thou sayest now thou wilt keep thy\nsweet morsels of sin under thy tongue, thou wilt keep them still within\nthy mouth. Poor wretch! Thy sins shall lie down in the dust with thee\n(Job 20:11). Thou hast sucked the poison of asps, and the viper\u2019s\ntongue shall slay thee (Job 20:16). \u2018Thou shalt not see the rivers, the\nstreaming floods, the brooks of butter and honey\u2019 (Job 20:17). \u2018All\ndarkness shall be hid in thy secret places, a fire not blown shall\nconsume thee.\u2019 \u2018This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the\nheritage appointed to him by God\u2019 (Job 20:26-29).\n\nAnd as they [the Scriptures] predict or prophesy what shall become of\nthe wicked; so also they plentifully foretell what shall happen to the\nrighteous, when he saith their desire shall be granted: of which more\nanon. Only here I will drop this short hint, That the righteous have\ngreat cause to rejoice; for what more pleasing, what more comfortable\nto a man, than to be assured, and that from the Spirit of truth, that\nwhat he desireth shall be granted? And this the righteous are assured\nof here; for he saith it in words at length, \u2018The desire of the\nrighteous shall be granted.\u2019 This, then, should comfort them against\ntheir fears, and the sense of their unworthiness; it should also make\nthem hold up their heads under all their temptations, and the affronts\nthat is usual for them to meet with in the world. The righteous! Who so\nvilified as the righteous? He, by the wise men of the world, is counted\na very Abraham,[2] a fool; like to him who is the father of us all. But\nas he left all for the desire that he had of a better country, and at\nlast obtained his desire; for after he had patiently endured, he\nobtained the promise; so those that walk in the steps of that faith\nwhich our father Abraham had, even those also in the end shall find\nplace in Abraham\u2019s bosom; wherefore it is meet that we should cheer up\nand be glad, because what we desire shall be granted unto us (Heb 6).\n\nTHE NATURE OF THE WORDS.\n\n\nBut I shall here leave off this short way of paraphrasing upon the\ntext, and shall come more distinctly to inquire into the nature of the\nwords; but my subject-matter shall be the last part of the verse, \u2018The\ndesire of the righteous shall be granted.\u2019 From which words there are\nthese things to be inquired into.\n\nFIRST. What, or who is the righteous man? SECOND. What are the desires\nof a righteous man? THIRD. What is meant or to be understood by the\ngranting of the desires of the righteous? \u2018The desire of the righteous\nshall be granted.\u2019\n\n[WHO IS THE RIGHTEOUS MAN?]\n\n\nFIRST. For the first of these, namely, \u2018WHAT OR WHO IS THE RIGHTEOUS\nMAN?\n\nMy way of prosecuting this head shall be to show you, first, that I\nintend a righteous man not in every sense, but in that which is the\nbest; otherwise I shall miscarry as to the intendment of the Holy\nGhost; for it may not be supposed that these words reach to them that\nare righteous in a general, but in a special sense; such, I mean, that\nare so in the judgment of God. For, as I hinted, there are several\nsorts of righteous men that yet have nothing to do with this blessed\npromise, or that shall never, as such, have their desires granted.\n\nFIRST. There is one that is righteous in his own eyes, and is yet far\nenough off from the blessing of the text: \u2018There is a generation that\nare pure\u2019 or righteous \u2018in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from\ntheir filthiness\u2019 (Prov 29:12). These are they that you also read of in\nthe evangelist Luke, that are said to trust \u2018in themselves that they\nwere righteous, and despised others\u2019 (Luke 18:9). These are set so low,\nby this their foolish confidence, in the eyes of Jesus Christ, that he\neven preferred a praying publican before them (Luke 18:13,14).\nWherefore these cannot be the men, I mean those righteous men, to whom\nthis promise is made.\n\nSECOND. There are those that by others are counted righteous; I mean\nthey are so accounted by their neighbours. Thus Korah and his company\nare called the people of the Lord, and all the congregation by them\nalso called holy, every one of them (Num 16:3,41). But as he who\ncommends himself is not approved, so it is no great matter if all the\nworld shall count us righteous, if God esteemeth us not for such: \u2018For\nnot he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends\u2019\n(2 Cor 10:18).\n\nTHIRD. There are those that indeed are righteous when compared with\nothers: \u2018I came not to call the righteous\u2019; \u2018for scarcely for a\nrighteous man will one die,\u2019 and the like, are texts thus to be\nunderstood. For such as these are, as to life moral, better than\nothers. But these, if they are none otherwise righteous than by acts\nand works of righteousness of their own, are not the persons contained\nin the text that are to have their desires granted.\n\nFOURTH. The righteous man therefore in the text is, and ought to be,\nthus described: 1. He is one whom God makes righteous, by reckoning him\nso. 2. He is one that God makes righteous, by possessing of him with a\nprinciple of righteousness. 3. He is one that is practically righteous.\n\nFirst. He is one that God makes righteous. Now, if God makes him\nrighteous, his righteousness is not his own, I mean this sort of\nrighteousness: \u2018Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord\u2019 (Isa\n54:17). God then makes a man righteous by putting righteousness upon\nhim\u2014by putting the righteousness of God upon him (Phil 3:6-9). Hence we\nare said to be made the righteousness of God in Christ: \u2018For God hath\nmade him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the\nrighteousness of God in him\u2019 (2 Cor 5:21). Thus God, therefore,\nreckoneth one righteous, even by imputing that unto us which is able to\nmake us so: \u2018Christ of God is made unto us\u2014righteousness\u2019 (1 Cor 1:30).\nWherefore he saith again, \u2018In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be\njustified and shall glory\u2019 (Isa 45:25).\n\nThe righteousness then by which a man is made righteous, with\nrighteousness to justification of life before God, for that is it we\nare speaking of now, is the righteousness of another than he who is\njustified thereby. Hence it is said again by the soul thus justified\nand made righteous, \u2018The Lord hath clothed me with the garments of\nsalvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness\u2019 (Isa\n61:10). As he also saith in another place, \u2018I spread my skirts over\nthee, and covered thy nakedness\u2019 (Eze 16:8). This we call a being made\nrighteous by reckoning, by the reckoning of God; for none is of power\nto reckon one righteous but God, because none can make one so to be but\nhim. He that can make me rich, though I am in myself the poorest of\nmen, may reckon me rich, if together with his so reckoning, he indeed\ndoth make me rich. This is the case, God makes a man righteous by\nbestowing of righteousness upon him\u2014by counting the righteousness of\nhis Son for his. He gives him righteousness, a righteousness already\nperformed and completed by the obedience of his Son (Rom 5:19).\n\nNot that this righteousness, by being bestowed upon us, is severed from\nJesus Christ; for it is still his and in him. How then, may some say,\ndoth it become ours? I answer, by our being put into him. For of God\nare we in Christ Jesus, who is made unto us, of him, \u2018righteousness.\u2019\nAnd again, we are made \u2018the righteousness of God in him.\u2019 So then, the\nrighteousness of Christ covereth his, as a man\u2019s garments cover the\nmembers of his body, for we are \u2018the body of Christ, and members in\nparticular\u2019 (1 Cor 12:27). The righteousness therefore is Christ\u2019s;\nresideth still in him, and covereth us, as the child is lapped up in\nits father\u2019s skirt, or as the chicken is covered with the feathers of\nthe hen. I make use of all these similitudes thereby to inform you of\nmy meaning; for by all these things are set forth the way of our being\nmade righteous to justification of life (Matt 23:37; Eze 16:8; Psa\n36:7).\n\nNow thus a man is made righteous, without any regard to what he has, or\nto what is of him; for as to him, it is utterly another\u2019s. Just as if I\nshould, with the skirts of my garments, take up and clothe some poor\nand naked infant that I find cast out into the open field. Now if I\ncover the person, I cover scabs and sores, and ulcers, and all\nblemishes. Hence God, by putting this righteousness upon us, is said to\nhide and cover our sins. \u2018Blessed are they whose iniquities are\nforgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the\nLord will not impute sin\u2019 (Rom 4:7,8). For since this righteousness is\nChrist\u2019s, and counted or reckoned ours by the grace of God, it is\ntherefore bestowed upon us, not because we are, but to make us\nrighteous before the face of God. Hence, as I said, it is said to make\nus righteous, even as gay clothes do make a naked body fine. \u2018He hath\nmade him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the\nrighteousness of God in him.\u2019\n\nThis is of absolute necessity to be known, and to be believed. For\nwithout this no man can be counted righteous before God; and if we\nstand not righteous before God, it will benefit us nothing as to life\neternal, though we should be counted righteous by all the men on earth.\nBesides, if God counts me righteous, I am safe, though in and of myself\nI am nothing but a sinner, and ungodly. The reason is, because God has\na right to bestow righteousness upon me, for he has righteousness to\nspare; he has also a right to forgive, because sin is the transgression\nof the law. Yea, he has therefore sent his Son into the world to\naccomplish righteousness for sinners, and God of his mercy bestows it\nupon those that shall receive it by faith. Now, if God shall count me\nrighteous, who will be so hardy as to conclude I yet shall perish? \u2018It\nis God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that\ndied, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of\nGod, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from\nthe love of Christ?\u2019 (Rom 8:33-35).\n\nThus therefore is a man made righteous, even of God by Christ, or\nthrough his righteousness. Now if, as was said, a man is thus made\nrighteous, then in this sense he is good before God, before he has done\nanything of that which the law calls good before men; for God maketh\nnot men righteous with this righteousness, because they have been, or\nhave done good, but before they are capable of doing good at all. Hence\nwe are said to be justified while ungodly, even as an infant is clothed\nwith the skirt of another, while naked, as touching itself (Rom 4:4,5).\nWorks therefore do not precede, but follow after this righteousness;\nand even thus it is in nature, the tree must be good before it bear\ngood fruit, and so also must a man. It is as impossible to make a man\nbring forth good fruit to God, before he is of God made good, as it is\nfor a thorn or bramble bush to bring forth figs or grapes (Matt\n7:15,16).\n\nBut again, a man must be righteous before he can be good; righteous by\nimputation, before his person, his intellectuals, can be qualified with\ngood, as to the principle of good. For neither faith, the Spirit, nor\nany grace, is given unto the sinner before God has made him righteous\nwith this righteousness of Christ. Wherefore it is said, that after he\nhad spread his skirt over us, he washed us with water, that is, with\nthe washing of sanctification (Eze 16:8,9). And to conclude otherwise,\nis as much as to say that an unjustified man has faith, the Spirit, and\nthe graces thereof; which to say is to overthrow the gospel. For what\nneed of Christ\u2019s righteousness if a man may have faith and the Spirit\nof Christ without it, since the Spirit is said to be the earnest of our\ninheritance, and that by which we are sealed unto the day of redemption\n(Eph 1, 4). But the truth is, the Spirit which makes our person good, I\nmean that which sanctifies our natures, is the fruit of the\nrighteousness which is by Jesus Christ. For as Christ died and rose\nagain before he sent the Holy Ghost from heaven to his, so the benefit\nof his death and resurrection is by God bestowed upon us, in order to\nthe Spirit\u2019s possessing of our souls.\n\nSecond. And this leads me to the second thing, namely, That God makes a\nman righteous by possessing[3] of him with a principle of\nrighteousness, even with the spirit of righteousness (Rom 4:4,5). For\nthough, as to justification before God from the curse of the law, we\nare made righteous while we are ungodly, and yet sinners; yet being\nmade free from sin thus, we forthwith become, through a change which\nthe Holy Ghost works in our minds, the servants of God (Rom 5:7-9).\nHence it is said, \u2018There is therefore now no condemnation to them which\nare in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the\nSpirit\u2019 (Rom 8:1). For though, as the apostle also insinuates here,\nthat being in Christ Jesus is antecedent to our walking after the\nSpirit; yet a man can make no demonstration of his being in Christ\nJesus, but by his walking in the Spirit; because the Spirit is an\ninseparable companion of imputed righteousness, and immediately follows\nit, to dwell with whosoever it is bestowed upon. Now it dwelling in us,\nprinciples[4] us in all the powers of our souls, with that which is\nrighteousness in the habit and nature of it. Hence the fruits of the\nSpirit are called \u2018the fruits of goodness and righteousness,\u2019 as the\nfruits of a tree are called the fruit of that tree (Eph 5:9).\n\nAnd again, \u2018He that doth righteousness is righteous,\u2019 not only in our\nfirst sense, but even in this also. For who can do righteousness\nwithout he be principled so to do? who can act reason that hath not\nreason? So none can bring forth righteousness that hath not in him the\nroot of righteousness, which is the Spirit of God, which comes to us by\nvirtue of our being made sons of God (1 John 2:19, 3:7; Gal 4:5-7).\nHence the fruits of the Spirit are called \u2018the fruits of righteousness,\nwhich are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God\u2019 (Phil\n1:11). This then is the thing we say, to wit, that he that is made\nrighteous unto justification of life before God, is also habituated\nwith a principle of righteousness, as that which follows that\nrighteousness by which he stood just before. I say, as that which\nfollows it; for it comes by Jesus Christ, and by our being justified\nbefore God, and made righteous through him.\n\nThis second then also comes to us before we do any act spiritually\ngood. For how can a man act righteousness but from a principle of\nrighteousness? And seeing this principle is not of or by nature, but of\nand by grace, through Christ, it follows that as no man is just before\nGod that is not covered with the righteousness of Christ, so no man can\ndo righteousness but by the power of the Spirit of God which must dwell\nin him. Hence we are said through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of\nthe body, which works are preparatory to fruitful actions. The\nhusbandman, says Paul, that laboureth, must first be partaker of the\nfruit; so he that worketh righteousness, must first be blessed with a\nprinciple of righteousness (2 Tim 2:1-6). Men must have eyes before\nthey see, tongues before they speak, and legs before they go; even so\nmust a man be made habitually good and righteous before he can work\nrighteousness. This then is the second thing. God makes a man righteous\nby possessing him with a principle of righteousness; which principle is\nnot of nature, but of grace; not of man, but of God.\n\nThird. The man in the text is practically righteous, or one that\ndeclareth himself by works that are good; a virtuous, a righteous man,\neven as the tree declares by the apple or plum it beareth what manner\nof tree it is: \u2018Ye shall know them by their fruits\u2019 (Matt 7:16). Fruits\nshow outwardly what the heart is principled with: show me then thy\nfaith, which abideth in the heart, by thy works in a well spent life.\nMark how the apostle words it, We being, saith he, \u2018made free from sin,\nand become servants to God, have our fruit unto holiness, and the end\neverlasting life\u2019 (Rom 6:23).\n\nMark his order: first we are made free from sin; now that is by being\njustified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in\nJesus Christ, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith\nin his blood. Now this is God\u2019s act, without any regard at all to any\ngood that the sinner has or can accomplish; \u2018not by works of\nrighteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy\u2019 thus he\nsaveth us (Titus 3:5; Rom 3:24; 2 Tim 1:9). Now, being made free from\nsin, what follows? We become the servants of God, that is, by that turn\nwhich the Holy Ghost makes upon our heart when it reconciles it to the\nWord of God\u2019s grace. For that, as was said afore, is the effect of the\nindwelling and operation of the Holy Ghost. Now having our hearts thus\nchanged by God and his Word, the fruits of righteousness put forth\nthemselves by us. For as when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin,\nwhich is in our members, did bring forth fruit unto death, so now, if\nwe are in the Spirit, and we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,\nif so be the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, by the motions and workings\nof that we have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life\n(Rom 8:6,9).\n\nBut now by these fruits we are neither made righteous nor good; for the\napple maketh not the tree good, it only declares it so to be. Here\ntherefore all those are mistaken that think to be righteous by doing of\nrighteous actions, or good by doing good. A man must first be\nrighteous, or he cannot do righteousness; to wit, that which is\nevangelically such. Now if a man is, and must be righteous, before he\nacts righteousness, then all his works are born too late to make him\njust before God; for his works, if they be right, flow from the heart\nof a righteous man, of a man that had, before he had any good work, a\ntwofold righteousness bestowed on him; one to make him righteous in the\nsight of God, the other to principle him to be righteous before the\nworld. \u2018That he might be called a tree of righteousness, the planting\nof the Lord, that he might be glorified\u2019 (Isa 63:3).\n\nThe want of understanding of this, is that which keeps so many in a\nmist of darkness about the way of salvation. For they, poor hearts!\nwhen they hear of the need that they have of a righteousness to commend\nthem to God, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, that is, of\nthat which God imputeth to a man, and that by which he counteth him\nrighteous, have it not in their thoughts to accept of that unto\njustification of life. But presently betake themselves to the law of\nworks, and fall to work there for the performing of a righteousness,\nthat they may be accepted of God for the same; and so submit not\nthemselves to the righteousness of God, by which, and by which only,\nthe soul stands just before God (Rom 10:1-3). Wherefore, I say, it is\nnecessary that this be distinctly laid down. That a man must be\nrighteous first, even before he doth righteousness; the argument is\nplain from the order of nature: \u2018For a corrupt tree cannot bring forth\ngood fruit\u2019: wherefore make the tree good, and so his fruit good; or\nthe tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt (Luke 6:43).\n\nReason also says the same, for how can Blacks beget white children,\nwhen both father and mother are black? How can a man without grace, and\nthe spirit of grace, do good; nature is defiled even to the mind and\nconscience; how then can good fruit come from such a stock? (Titus\n1:15). Besides, God accepteth not any work of a person which is not\nfirst accepted of him; \u2018The Lord hath respect unto Abel and to his\noffering\u2019 (Gen 4:4). To Abel first, that is, before that Abel offered.\nBut how could God have respect to Abel, if Abel was not pleasing in his\nsight? and how could Abel be yet pleasing in his sight, for the sake of\nhis own righteousness, when it is plain that Abel had not yet done good\nworks? he was therefore first made acceptable in the sight of God, by\nand for the sake of that righteousness which God of his grace had put\nupon him to justification of life; through and by which also the Holy\nGhost in the graces of it dwelt in Abel\u2019s soul. Now Abel being\njustified, and also possessed with this holy principle, he offers his\nsacrifice to God. Hence it is said, that he offered \u2018by faith,\u2019 by the\nfaith which he had precedent to his offering; for if through faith he\noffered, he had that faith before he offered; that is plain. Now his\nfaith looked not for acceptance for the sake of what he offered, but\nfor the sake of that righteousness which it did apprehend God had\nalready put upon him, and by which he was made righteous; wherefore his\noffering was the offering of a righteous man, of a man made righteous\nfirst; and so the text saith, \u2018By faith Abel offered unto God a more\nexcellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was\nrighteous\u2019 (Heb 11:4); that is antecedent to his offering; for he had\nfaith in Christ to come, by which he was made righteous; he also had\nthe spirit of faith, by which he was possessed with a righteous\nprinciple; and so being in this manner made righteous, righteous before\nGod, and also principled to work, he comes and offereth his more\nacceptable sacrifice to God. For this, all will grant, namely, that the\nworks of a righteous man are more excellent than are even the best\nworks of the wicked. Hence Cain\u2019s works came behind; for God had not\nmade him righteous, had no respect unto his person, had not given him\nthe Spirit and faith, whereby alone men are made capable to offer\nacceptably: \u2018But unto Cain and to his offering, the Lord had not\nrespect\u2019 (Gen 4:5).\n\nFrom all which it is manifest, that the person must be accepted before\nthe duty performed can be pleasing unto God. And if the person must\nfirst be accepted, it is evident that the person must first be\nrighteous; but if the person be righteous before he doth good, then it\nfollows that he is made righteous by righteousness that is none of his\nown, that he hath no hand in, further than to receive it as the\ngracious gift of God. Deny this, and it follows that God accepteth men\nwithout respect to righteousness; and then what follows that, but that\nChrist is dead in vain?\n\nWe must not therefore be deceived, \u2018He that doeth righteousness is\nrighteous, even as he,\u2019 the Lord, \u2018is righteous\u2019 (1 John 3:7). He doth\nnot say he that doth righteousness shall be righteous; as if his doing\nworks would make him so before God; but he that doth righteousness IS\nrighteous, antecedent to his doing righteousness. And it must be thus\nunderstood, else that which follows signifies nothing; for he saith,\n\u2018He that doth righteousness is righteous, even as he,\u2019 the Lord his\nGod, \u2018is righteous.\u2019 But how is the Lord righteous? Even antecedent to\nhis works. The Lord was righteous before he wrought righteousness in\nthe world; and even so are we, to wit, every child of God. \u2018As he is,\nso are we, in this world\u2019! (1 John 4:17). But we must in this admit of\nthis difference; the Lord was eternally and essentially righteous\nbefore he did any work, but we are imputatively righteous, and also\nmade so by a second work of creation, before we do good works. It holds\ntherefore only as to order; God was righteous before he made the world,\nand we are righteous before we do good works. Thus, therefore, we have\ndescribed the righteous man. First. He is one whom God makes righteous,\nby reckoning or imputation. Second. He is one that God makes righteous\nby possessing of him with a principle of righteousness. Third. He is\none that is practically righteous. Nor dare I give a narrower\ndescription of a righteous man than this; nor otherwise than thus.\n\n1. I dare not give a narrower description of a righteous man than this,\nbecause whoever pretends to justification, if he be not sanctified,\npretends to what he is not; and whoever pretends to sanctification, if\nhe shows not the fruits thereof by a holy life, he deceiveth his own\nheart, and professeth but in vain (James 1:22-27).[5]\n\n2. Nor dare I give this description otherwise than thus, because there\nis a real distinction to be put between that righteousness by which we\nshould be just before God, and that which is in us a principle of\nsanctification; the first being the obedience of the Son of God without\nus, the second being the work of the Spirit in our hearts. There is\nalso a difference to be put betwixt the principle by which we work\nrighteousness, and the works themselves; as a difference is to be put\nbetwixt the cause and the effect, the tree and the apple.\n\n[WHAT ARE THE DESIRES OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN?]\n\n\nSECOND. I come now to the second thing into which we are to inquire,\nand that is,\n\nWHAT ARE THE DESIRES OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN?\n\n\nMy way of handling this question shall be, FIRST, To speak of the\nnature of desire in the general. SECOND, And then to show you, more\nparticularly, what are the desires of the righteous.\n\n[Desires in general.]\n\nFIRST. For the first; desires in general may be thus described:\u2014They\nare the workings of the heart or mind, after that of which the soul is\npersuaded that it is good to be enjoyed; this, I say, is so without\nrespect to regulation; for we speak not now of good desires, but of\ndesires themselves, even as they flow from the heart of a human\ncreature; I say, desires are or may be called, the working of the heart\nafter this or that; the strong motions of the mind unto it. Hence the\nlove of women to their husbands is called \u2018their desires\u2019 (Gen 3:16);\nand the wife also is called \u2018the desire of thine\u2019 the husband\u2019s \u2018eyes\u2019\n(Eze 24:16). Also love to woman, to make her one\u2019s wife, is called by\nthe name of \u2018desire\u2019 (Deut 21:10,11). Now, how strong the motions or\npassions of love are, who is there that is an utter stranger thereto?\n(Cant 8:6,7).\n\nHunger is also a most vehement thing; and that which is called \u2018hunger\u2019\nin one place, is called \u2018desire\u2019 in another; and he desired \u2018to be fed\nwith the crumbs which fell from the rich man\u2019s table\u2019 (Luke 16:21; Psa\n145:16). Exceeding lustings are called \u2018desires,\u2019 to show the vehemency\nof desires (Psa 106:14, 78:27-30). Longings, pantings, thirstings,\nprayers, &c., if there be any life in them, are all fruits of a\ndesirous soul. Desires therefore flow from the consideration of the\ngoodness, or profitableness, or pleasurableness of a thing; yea, all\ndesires flow from thence; for a man desires not that about which he has\nhad no consideration, nor that neither on which he has thought, if he\ndoth not judge it will yield him something worth desiring.\n\nWhen Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was a beautiful tree\u2014though her\nsight deceived her\u2014then she desired it, and took thereof herself, and\ngave to her husband, and he did eat; yea, saith the text, \u2018when she saw\nthat it was a tree to be desired, to make one wise, she took\u2019 (Gen\n3:6). Hence that which is called \u2018coveting\u2019 in one place, is called\n\u2018desiring\u2019 in another; for desires are craving; and by desires a man\nseeks to enjoy what is not his (Exo 20:17; Deut 5:21). From all these\nthings, therefore, we see what desire is. It is the working of the\nheart, after that which the soul is persuaded that it is good to be\nenjoyed; and of them there are these two effects.\n\nFirst. One is\u2014on a supposition that the soul is not satisfied with what\nit has\u2014to cause the soul to range and hunt through the world for\nsomething that may fill up that vacancy that yet the soul finds in\nitself, and would have supplied. Hence desires are said to be\nwandering, and the soul said to walk by them; \u2018Better is the sight of\nthe eyes than the wandering of the desire,\u2019 or than the walking of the\nsoul (Eccl 6:8,9). Desires are hunting things, and how many things do\nsome empty souls seek after, both as to the world, and also as to\nreligion, who have desirous minds!\n\nSecond. The second effect is, If desires be strong, they carry all away\nwith them; they are all like Samson, they will pull down the gates of a\ncity; but they will go out abroad; nothing can stop the current of\ndesires, but the enjoyment of the thing desired, or a change of opinion\nas to the worth or want of worth of the thing that is desired.\n\n[What are the desires of the righteous.]\n\nSECOND. But we will now come to the thing more particularly intended,\nwhich is, To show what are the desires of the righteous; that is that\nwhich the text calls us to the consideration of, because it saith, \u2018The\ndesire of the righteous shall be granted.\u2019\n\nWe have hitherto spoken of desires, as to the nature of them, without\nrespect to them as good or bad; but now we shall speak to them as they\nare the effects of a sanctified mind, as they are the breathings,\npantings, lustings, hungerings, and thirstings of a righteous man. The\ntext says \u2018the desire of the righteous shall be granted\u2019; what then are\nthe desires of the righteous? Now I will, First. Speak to their desires\nin the general, or with reference to them as to their bulk. Second. I\nwill speak to them more particularly as they work this way and that.\n\n[The desires of the righteous in the general.]\n\nFirst. For their desires in the general: the same Solomon that saith,\n\u2018The desire of the righteous shall be granted,\u2019 saith also, \u2018The desire\nof the righteous is only good\u2019 (Prov 11:23). This text giveth us, in\nthe general, a description of the desires of a righteous man; and a\nsharp and smart description it is: for where, may some say, is then the\nrighteous man, or the man that hath none but good desires? and if it be\nanswered they are good in the main, or good in the general, yet that\nwill seem to come short of an answer: for in that he saith \u2018the desires\nof the righteous are only good,\u2019 it is as much as to say, that a\nrighteous man has none but good desires, or desireth nothing but things\nthat are good. Wherefore, before we go any further, I must labour to\nreconcile the experience of good men with this text, which thus gives\nus a description of the desires of the righteous.\n\nA righteous man is to be considered more generally, or more strictly.\n\n1. More generally, as he consisteth of the whole man, of flesh and\nspirit, of body and soul, of grace and nature; now consider him thus,\nand you can by no means reconcile the text with his experience, nor his\nexperience with the text. For as he is body, flesh, and nature\u2014for all\nthese are with him, though he is a righteous man\u2014so he has desires\nvastly different from those described by this text, vastly differing\nfrom what is good; yea, what is it not, that is naught, that the flesh\nand nature, even of a righteous man, will not desire? \u2018Do ye think that\nthe Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to\nenvy?\u2019 (James 4:5). And again, \u2018In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth\nno good thing\u2019 (Rom 7:18). And again, \u2018The flesh lusteth against the\nspirit\u2019 (Gal 5:17). And again, The lusts thereof do \u2018war against the\nsoul\u2019 (1 Peter 2:11).\n\nFrom all these texts we find that a righteous man has other workings,\nlusts, and desires than such only that are good; here then, if we\nconsider of a righteous man thus generally, is no place of agreement\nbetwixt him and this text. We must consider of him, then, in the next\nplace, more strictly, as he may and is to be distinguished from his\nflesh, his carnal lusts, and sinful nature.\n\n2. More strictly. Then a righteous man is taken sometimes as to or for\nhis best part, or as he is A SECOND CREATION; and so, or as so\nconsidered, his desires are only good.\n\n(1.) He is taken sometimes as to or for his best part, or as he is a\nsecond creation, as these scriptures declare: \u2018If any man be in Christ,\nhe is a new creature,\u2014all things are become new\u2019 (2 Cor 5:17). \u2018Created\nin Christ Jesus\u2019 (Eph 2:10). \u2018Born of God\u2019 (John 3; 1 John 3:9). Become\nheavenly things, renewed after the image of him that created them:\nColossians 3:10; Hebrews 9:23 and the like. By all which places, the\nsinful flesh, the old man, the law of sin, the outward man, all which\nare corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, are excluded, and so\npared off from the man, as he is righteous; for his \u2018delight in the law\nof God\u2019 is \u2018after the inward man.\u2019 And Paul himself was forced thus to\ndistinguish of himself, before he could come to make a right judgment\nin this matter; saith he, \u2018That which I do, I allow not; what I would,\ndo I not; but what I hate, that do I.\u2019 See you not here how he cleaves\nhimself in twain, severing himself as he is spiritual, from himself as\nhe is carnal; and ascribeth his motions to what is good to himself only\nas he is spiritual, or the new man: \u2018If then I do that which I would\nnot, I consent to the law that it is good\u2019 (Rom 7).\n\nBut I trow, Sir, your consenting to what is good is not by that part\nwhich doth do what you would not; no, no, saith he, that which doth do\nwhat I would not, I disown, and count it no part of sanctified Paul:\n\u2018Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me;\nfor\u2014in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is\npresent with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not: for\nthe good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I\ndo: Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin\nthat dwells in me\u2019 (Rom 7). Thus you see Paul is forced to make two men\nof himself, saying, I and I; I do; I do not; I do, I would not do; what\nI hate, that I do. Now it cannot be the same I unto whom these\ncontraries are applied; but his sinful flesh is one I, and his godly\nmind the other: and indeed so he concludes it in this chapter, saying,\n\u2018So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the\nflesh the law of sin.\u2019\n\nThus therefore the Christian man must distinguish concerning himself;\nand doing so, he shall find, though he has flesh, and as he is such, he\nhath lusts contrary to God: yet as he is a new creature, he allows not,\nbut hates the motions and desires of the flesh, and consents to, and\nwills and delights in the law of God (Rom 15:17-22). Yea, as a new\ncreature, he can do nothing else: for the new man, inward man, or\nhidden man of the heart, being the immediate work of the Holy Ghost,\nand consisting only of that which is divine and heavenly, cannot\nbreathe, or act, or desire to act, in ways and courses that are carnal.\nWherefore, in this sense, or as the righteous man is thus considered,\n\u2018his desires are only good.\u2019\n\n(2.) As the righteous man must here be taken for the best part, for the\nI that would do good, for the I that hates the evil; so again, we must\nconsider of the desires of this righteous man, as they flow from that\nfountain of grace, which is the Holy Ghost within him; and as they are\nimmediately mixed with those foul channels, in and through which they\nmust pass, before they can be put forth into acts. For though the\ndesire, as to its birth, and first being, is only good; yet before it\ncomes into much motion, it gathers that from the defilements of the\npassages through which it comes, as makes it to bear a tang of flesh\nand weakness in the skirts of it; and the evil that dwells in us is so\nuniversal, and also always so ready, that as sure as there is any\nmotion to what is good, so sure evil is present with it; \u2018for when\u2019 or\nwhenever \u2018I would do good,\u2019 says Paul, \u2018evil is present with me\u2019 (Rom\n7:21). Hence it follows, that all our graces, and so our desires,\nreceive disadvantage by our flesh, that mixing itself with what is\ngood, and so abates the excellency of the good.\n\nThere is a spring that yieldeth water good and clear, but the channels\nthrough which this water comes to us are muddy, foul, or dirty: now, of\nthe channels the waters receive a disadvantage, and so come to us as\nsavouring of what came not with them from the fountain, but from the\nchannels. This is the cause of the coolness, and of the weakness, of\nthe flatness, and of the many extravagancies that attend some of our\ndesires. They come warm from the Spirit and grace of God in us; but as\nhot water running through cold pipes, or as clear water running through\ndirty conveyances, so our desires [cool and] gather soil.\n\nYou read in Solomon\u2019s Ecclesiastes of a time when desires fail, for\nthat \u2018man goeth to his long home\u2019 (Eccl 12:5). And as to good desires,\nthere is not one of them, when we are in our prime, but they fail also\nas to the perfecting of that which a man desires to do. \u2018To will is\npresent with me,\u2019 says Paul, \u2018but how to perform that which is good I\nfind not\u2019 (Rom 7:18). To will or to desire, that is present with me,\nbut when I have willed or desired to do, to perform is what I cannot\nattain to. But why not attain to a performance? Why, says he, I find a\nlaw \u2018in my members warring against the law of my mind\u2019; and this law\ntakes me prisoner, and brings \u2018me into captivity to the law of sin,\nwhich is in my members\u2019 (Rom 7:23). Now, where things willed and\ndesired meet with such obstructions, no marvel if our willing and\ndesiring, though they set out lustily at the beginning, come yet lame\nhome in conclusion.\n\nThere is a man, when he first prostrates himself before God, doth it\nwith desires as warm as fire coals; but erewhile he finds, for all\nthat, that the metal of those desires, were it not revived with fresh\nsupplies, would be quickly spent and grow cold.[6] But yet the desire\nis good, and only good, as it comes from the breathing of the Spirit of\nGod within us. We must therefore, as I said, distinguish betwixt what\nis good and that which doth annoy it, as gold is to be distinguished\nfrom the earth and dross that doth attend it. The man that believed\ndesired to believe better, and so cries out, \u2018Lord, help mine unbelief\u2019\n(Mark 9:24). The man that feared God desired to fear him better,\nsaying, \u2018I desire to fear thy name\u2019 (Neh 1:11). But these desires\nfailed, as to the performance of what was begun, so that they were\nforced to come off but lamely, as to their faith and fear they had; yet\nthe desires were true, good, and such as was accepted of God by Christ;\nnot according to what they had not, but as to those good motions which\nthey had. Distinguish then the desires of the righteous in the nature\nof them, from that corruption and weakness of ours that cleaveth to\nthem, and then again, \u2018they are only good.\u2019\n\n(3.) There is another thing to be considered, and that is, the\ndifferent frames that our inward man is in while we live as pilgrims in\nthe world. A man, as he is not always well without, so neither is he\nalways well within. Our inward man is subject to transient, though not\nto utter decays (Isa 1:5). And as it is when the outward man is sick,\nstrength and stomach, and lust, or desire fails, so it is when our\ninward man has caught a cold likewise (Eze 34:4).\n\nThe inward man I call the new creature, of which the Spirit of God is\nthe support, as my soul supports my body. But, I say, this new man is\nnot always well. He knows nothing that knows not this. Now being sick,\nthings fail. As when a man is not in health of body, his pulse beats so\nas to declare that he is sick; so when a man is not well within, his\ninward pulse, which are his desires\u2014for I count the desires for the\npulse of the inward man\u2014they also declare that the man is not well\nwithin. They beat too little after God, weak and faintly after grace;\nthey also have their halts, they beat not evenly, as when the soul is\nwell, but so as to manifest all is not well there.\n\nWe read that the church of Sardis was under sore sickness, insomuch\nthat some of her things were quite dead, and they that were not so were\nyet ready to die (Rev 3:2). Yet \u2018life is life,\u2019 we say, and as long as\nthere is a pulse, or breath, though breath scarce able to shake a\nfeather, we cast not away all hope of life. Desires, then, though they\nbe weak, are, notwithstanding, true desires, if they be the desires of\nthe righteous thus described, and therefore are truly good, according\nto our text. David says he \u2018opened his mouth and panted,\u2019 for he longed\nfor God\u2019s commandments (Psa 119:131). This was a sickness, but not such\na one as we have been speaking of. The spouse also cried out that she\nwas \u2018sick of love.\u2019 Such sickness would do us good, for in it the pulse\nbeats strongly well (Cant 5:8).\n\n[Some objections answered.]\n\nObject. But it may be objected, I am yet in doubt of the goodness of my\ndesires, both because my desires run both ways, and because those that\nrun towards sin and the world seem more and stronger than those that\nrun after God, and Christ, and grace.\n\nAnsw. There is not a Christian under heaven but has desires that run\nboth ways, as is manifest from what hath been said already. Flesh will\nbe flesh; grace shall not make it otherwise. By flesh I mean that body\nof sin and death that dwelleth in the godly (Rom 6:6). As grace will\nact according to its nature, so sin will act according to the nature of\nsin (Eph 2:3). Now, the flesh has desires, and the desires of the flesh\nand of the mind are both one in the ungodly; thank God it is not so in\nthee! (Rom 7:24). The flesh, I say, hath its desires in the godly;\nhence it is said to lust enviously; it lusts against the Spirit; \u2018The\nflesh lusteth against the Spirit\u2019 (Gal 5:17). And if it be so audacious\nas to fly in the face of the Holy Ghost, wonder that thou art not\nwholly carried away with it! (Rom 7:25).\n\nObject. But those desires that run to the world and sin seem most and\nstrongest in me.\n\nAnsw. The works of the flesh are manifest; that is, more plainly\ndiscovered even in the godly than are the works of the Holy Ghost (Gal\n5:19). And this their manifestation ariseth from these following\nparticulars:\n\n1. We know the least appearance of a sin better by its native hue than\nwe know a grace of the Spirit. 2. Sin is sooner felt in its bitterness\nto and upon a sanctified soul than is the grace of God. A little aloes\nwill be sooner tasted than will much sweet, though mixed therewith. 3.\nSin is dreadful and murderous in the sight of a sanctified soul:\nwherefore the apprehending of that makes us often forget, and often\nquestion whether we have any grace or no. 4. Grace lies deep in the\nhidden part, but sin lies high, and floats above in the flesh;\nwherefore it is easier, oftener seen than is the grace of God (Psa\n51:6). The little fishes swim on the top of the water, but the biggest\nand best keep down below, and so are seldomer seen. 5. Grace, as to\nquantity, seems less than sin. What is leaven, or a grain of mustard\nseed, to the bulky lump of a body of death (Matt 13:31-33). 6. Sin is\nseen by its own darkness, and also in the light of the Spirit; but the\nSpirit itself neither discovers itself, nor yet its graces, by every\nglance of its own light. 7. A man may have the Spirit busily at work in\nhim, he may also have many of his graces in their vigorous acts, and\nyet may be greatly ignorant of either; wherefore we are not competent\njudges in this case. There may a thousand acts of grace pass through\nthy soul, and thou be sensible of few, if any, of them.[7] 8. Do you\nthink that he that repents, believes, loves, fears, or humbles himself\nbefore God, and acts in other graces too, doth always know what he\ndoth? No, no; grace many times, even in a man, is acted by him,\nunawares unto him. Did Gideon, think you, believe that he was so strong\nin grace as he was? Nay, was he not ready to give the lie to the angel,\nwhen he told him God was with him? (Judg 6:12,13). Or what do you think\nof David, when he said he was cast off from God\u2019s eyes? (Psa 31:22). Or\nof Heman, when he said he was free among them whom God remembered no\nmore? (Psa 88). Did these, then, see their graces so clear, as they saw\nthemselves by their sins to be unworthy ones? I tell you it is a rare\nthing for some Christians to see their graces, but a thing very common\nfor such to see their sins; yea, and to feel them too, in their lusts\nand desires, to the shaking of their souls.\n\nQuest. But since I have lusts and desires both ways, how shall I know\nto which my soul adheres?\n\nAnsw. This may be known thus: 1. Which wouldest thou have prevail? the\ndesires of the flesh, or the lusts of the spirit, whose side art thou\nof? Doth not thy soul now inwardly say, and that with a strong\nindignation, O let God, let grace, let my desires that are good,\nprevail against my flesh, for Jesus Christ his sake? 2. What kind of\nsecret wishes hast thou in thy soul when thou feelest the lusts of thy\nflesh to rage? Dost thou not inwardly, and with indignation against\nsin, say, O that I might never, never feel one such motion more? O that\nmy soul were so full of grace, that there might be longer no room for\never for the least lust to come into my thoughts! 3. What kind of\nthoughts hast thou of thyself, now thou seest these desires of thine\nthat are good so briskly opposed by those that are bad? Dost thou not\nsay, O! I am the basest of creatures, I could even spew at myself?\nThere is no man in all the world in my eyes so loathsome as myself is.\nI abhor myself; a toad is not so vile as I am.[8] O Lord, let me be\nanything but a sinner, anything, so thou subduest mine iniquities for\nme! 4. How dost thou like the discovery of that which thou thinkest is\ngrace in other men? Dost thou not cry out, O, I bless them in my heart!\nO, methinks grace is the greatest beauty in the world! Yea, I could be\ncontent to live and die with those people that have the grace of God in\ntheir souls. A hundred times, and a hundred, when I have been upon my\nknees before God, I have desired, were it the will of God, that I might\nbe in their condition. 5. How art thou when thou thinkest that thou\nthyself hast grace? O then, says the soul, I am as if I could leap out\nof myself; joy, joy, joy then is with my heart. It is, methinks, the\ngreatest mercy under heaven to be made a gracious man.\n\nAnd is it thus with thy soul indeed? Happy man! It is grace that has\nthy soul, though sin at present works in thy flesh. Yea, all these\nbreathings are the very actings of grace, even of the grace of desire,\nof love, of humility, and of the fear of God within thee. Be of good\ncourage, thou art on the right side. Thy desires are only good; for\nthat thou hast desired against thy sin, thy sinful self; which indeed\nis not thyself, but sin that dwells in thee.[9]\n\n[The distinct or particular desires of the righteous.]\n\nSecond. I come next to speak of desires more distinctly, or\nparticularly, as they work this way and that. First, then, the desires\nof the righteous are either such as they would have accomplished here;\nor else, Second, such as they know they cannot come at the enjoyment of\ntill after death.\n\n[Desires that may be accomplished or enjoyed in this life.]\n\nFirst. For the first of these, the desires of the righteous are for\nsuch good things as they could have accomplished here; that is, in this\nworld, while they are on this side glory. And they, in general, are\ncomprised under these two general heads:\u20141. Communion with their God in\nspirit, or spiritual communion with him; 2. The liberty of the\nenjoyment of his holy ordinances. And, indeed, this second is, that\nthey may both attain to, and have the first maintained with them. But\nfor the first:\n\n1. They desire now communion with God. \u2018With my soul,\u2019 said she, \u2018have\nI desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek\nthee early\u2019 (Isa 26:9). The reason of this she renders in the verse\nforegoing, saying, \u2018The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the\nremembrance of thee.\u2019\n\nNow, thus to desire, declares one already made righteous. For herein\nthere appears a mind reconciled to God. Wherefore the wicked are set on\nthe other side, even in that opposition to these; \u2018they say unto God,\nDepart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways\u2019 (Job\n21:14). They neither love his presence, nor to be frequenters of his\nordinances. \u2018What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what\nprofit should we have if we pray unto him?\u2019 (Job 21:15). So, again,\nspeaking of the wicked, he saith, \u2018Ye have said it is vain to serve\nGod, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance?\u2019 (Mal\n3:14). This, then, to desire truly to have communion with God, is the\nproperty of a righteous man, of a righteous man only; for this desire\narises from a suitableness which is in the righteous unto God; \u2018Whom,\u2019\nsaid the Prophet, \u2018have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon\nearth that I desire beside thee\u2019 (Psa 73:25). This could never be the\ndesire of a man, were he not a righteous man, a man with a truly\nsanctified mind. \u2018The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not\nsubject to the law of God, neither indeed can be\u2019 (Rom 8:7).\n\nWhen Moses, the man of God, was with the children of Israel in the\nwilderness, he prays that God would give them his presence unto Canaan,\nor else to let them die in that place. It was death to him to think of\nbeing in the wilderness without God! And he said unto God, \u2018If thy\npresence go not with me, carry us not up hence\u2019 (Exo 33:14,15). Here,\nthen, are the desires of a righteous man\u2014namely, after communion with\nGod. He chooses rather to be a stranger with God in the world, than to\nbe a citizen of the world and a stranger to God. \u2018For I am,\u2019 said\nDavid, \u2018a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were\u2019\n(Psa 39:12). Indeed, he that walketh with God is but a stranger to this\nworld. And the righteous man\u2019s desires are to, for, and after communion\nwith God, though he be so.\n\nThe reasons of these desires are many. In communion with God is life\nand favour; yea, the very presence of God with a man is a token of it\n(Psa 30:3-5). For by his presence he helps, succours, relieves, and\nsupports the hearts of his people, and therefore is communion with him\ndesired. \u2018I will,\u2019 said David, \u2018behave myself wisely in a perfect way;\nO when wilt thou come unto me?\u2019 (Psa 101:2). The pleasures that such a\nsoul finds in God that has communion with him are surpassing all\npleasures and delights, yea, infinitely surpassing them. \u2018In thy\npresence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for\nevermore\u2019 (Psa 16:11). Upon this account he is called the desire of all\nnations\u2014of all in all nations that know him. Job desired God\u2019s\npresence, that he might reason with God. \u2018Surely,\u2019 said he, \u2018I would\nspeak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God\u2019 (Job 13:3). And\nagain, \u2018O that one would hear me! Behold my desire is that the Almighty\nwould answer me\u2019 (Job 31:35). But why doth Job thus desire to be in the\npresence of God! O! he knew that God was good, and that he would speak\nto him that which would do him good. \u2018Will he plead against me with his\ngreat power? No: but he would put strength into me. There the righteous\nmight dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my\njudge\u2019 (Job 23:6,7).\n\nGod\u2019s presence is the safety of a man. If God be with one, who can hurt\none? As HE said, \u2018If God be for us, who can be against us?\u2019 Now, if so\nmuch safety flows from God\u2019s being for one, how safe are we when God is\nwith us? \u2018The beloved of the Lord,\u2019 said Moses, \u2018shall dwell in safety\nby him, and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall\ndwell between his shoulders\u2019 (Deut 33:12). God\u2019s presence keeps the\nheart awake to joy, and will make a man sing in the night (Job 35:10).\n\u2018Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom\nis with them?\u2019 (Matt 9:15). God\u2019s presence is feasting, and feasting is\nmade for mirth (Rev 3:20; Eccl 10:19). God\u2019s presence keeps the heart\ntender, and makes it ready to fall in with what is made known as duty\nor privilege (Isa 64:1). \u2018I will run the ways of thy commandments,\u2019\nsaid the Psalmist, \u2018when thou shalt enlarge my heart\u2019 (Psa 119:32). The\npresence of God makes a man affectionately and sincerely good; yea,\nmakes him willing to be searched and stripped from all the remains of\niniquity (Psa 26:1-3).\n\nWhat, what shall I say? God\u2019s presence is renewing, transforming,\nseasoning, sanctifying, commanding, sweetening, and enlightening to the\nsoul! Nothing like it in all the world; his presence supplies all\nwants, heals all maladies, saves from all dangers; is life in death,\nheaven in hell; all in all. No marvel, then, if the presence of, and\ncommunion with, God, is become the desire of a righteous man (Psa\n26:9). To conclude this, by the presence of God being with us, it is\nknown to ourselves, and to others, what we are. \u2018If thy presence,\u2019 said\nMoses, \u2018go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be\nknown here, that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight, is it\nnot in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy\npeople, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth\u2019 (Exo\n33:15,16).\n\nThey are then best known to themselves. They know they are his people,\nbecause God\u2019s presence is with them. Therefore he saith, \u2018My presence\nshall go with thee, and I will give thee rest\u2019 (Exo 33:14). That is,\nlet thee know that thou hast found grace in my sight, and art accepted\nof me. For if God withdraws himself, or hides his presence from his\npeople, it is hard for them to bear up in the steadfast belief that\nthey belong to him. \u2018Be not silent to me,\u2019 O Lord, said David, \u2018lest I\nbecome like them that go down into the pit\u2019 (Psa 28:1). \u2018Be not silent\nunto me,\u2019 that is, as he has it in another place, \u2018Hide not thy face\nfrom me. Hear me speedily, O Lord,\u2019 saith he, \u2018my spirit faileth; hide\nnot thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the\npit\u2019 (Psa 143:7). So that God\u2019s presence is the desire of the righteous\nfor this cause also, even for that by it they gather that God\ndelighteth in them. \u2018By this I know that thou favourest me, because\nmine enemies doth not triumph over me\u2019 (Psa 41:11). And is this all?\nNo. \u2018And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me\nbefore thy face for ever\u2019 (Psa 41:12).\n\nAs by the presence of God being with us we know ourselves to be the\npeople of God: so by this presence of God the world themselves are\nsometimes convinced who we are also.\n\nThus Abimelech saw that God was with Abraham (Gen 21:22). Thus\nAbimelech saw that God was with Isaac (Gen 26:20,29). Pharaoh knew that\nGod was with Joseph (Gen 41:38). Saul \u2018saw and knew that the Lord was\nwith David\u2019 (1 Sam 18:28). Saul\u2019s servant knew that the Lord was with\nSamuel (1 Sam 9:6). Belshazzar\u2019s queen knew, also, that God was with\nDaniel. Darius knew, also, that God was with Daniel. And when the enemy\nsaw the boldness of Peter and John, \u2018they took knowledge of them that\nthey had been with Jesus\u2019 (Acts 4:13). The girl that was a witch, knew\nthat Paul was a servant of the most high God (Acts 16:17). There is a\nglory upon them that have God with them, a glory that sometimes glances\nand flashes out into the faces of those that behold the people of God;\n\u2018And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly upon him, saw\nStephen\u2019s face, as it had been the face of an angel\u2019; such rays of\nDivine majesty did show themselves therein (Acts 6:15).\n\nThe reason is, for that, (1.) such have with them the wisdom of God (2\nSam 14:17-20). (2.) Such, also, have special bowels and compassions of\nGod for others. (3.) Such have more of his majesty upon them than\nothers (1 Sam 16:4). (4.) Such, their words and ways, their carriages\nand doings, are attended with that of God that others are destitute of\n(1 Sam 3:19,20). (5.) Such are holier, and of more convincing lives in\ngeneral, than other people are (2 Kings 4:9). Now there is both comfort\nand honour in this; for what comfort like that of being a holy man of\nGod? And what honour like that of being a holy man of God? This,\ntherefore, is the desire of the righteous, to wit, to have communion\nwith God. Indeed none like God, and to be desired as he, in the\nthoughts of a righteous man.\n\n2. And this leads me to the second thing, namely, The liberty of the\nenjoyment of his holy ordinances; for, next to God himself, nothing is\nso dear to a righteous man as the enjoyment of his holy ordinances.\n\n\u2018One thing,\u2019 said David, \u2018have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek\nafter,\u2019 namely, \u2018that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days\nof my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his\ntemple\u2019 (Psa 27:4). The temple of the Lord was the dwelling-house of\nGod, there he recorded his name, and there he made known himself unto\nhis people (Psa 11:4; Habb 2:20). Wherefore this was the cause why\nDavid so earnestly desired to dwell there too, \u2018To behold,\u2019 saith he,\n\u2018the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.\u2019 There he had\npromised his presence to his people, yea, and to bring thither a\nblessing for them; \u2018In all places where I record my name, I will come\nunto thee, and I will bless thee\u2019 (Exo 20:24). For this cause,\ntherefore, as I said, it is why the righteous do so desire that they\nmay enjoy the liberty of the ordinances and appointments of their God;\nto wit, that they may attain to, and have communion maintained with\nhim. Alas! the righteous are as it were undone, if God\u2019s ordinances be\ntaken from them: \u2018How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. My\nsoul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord, my heart\nand my flesh crieth out for the living God\u2019 (Psa 84:1,2). Behold what a\ntaking the good man was in, because at this time he could not attain to\nso frequent a being in the temple of God as his soul desired. It even\nlonged and fainted, yea, and his heart and his flesh cried out for the\nGod that dwelt in the temple at Jerusalem.\n\nYea, he seems in the next words to envy the very birds that could more\ncommonly frequent the temple than he: \u2018The sparrow,\u2019 saith he, \u2018hath\nfound a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay\nher young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God\u2019\n(Psa 84:3). And then blesseth all them that had the liberty of temple\nworship, saying, \u2018Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will\nbe still praising thee\u2019 (Psa 84:4). Then he cries up the happiness of\nthose that in Zion do appear before God (Psa 84:7). After this he cries\nout unto God, that he would grant him to be partaker of this high\nfavour, saying, \u2018O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer,\u2019 &c. \u2018For a day\nin thy courts is better than a thousand: I had rather be a door-keeper\nin the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness\u2019 (Psa\n84:8-10).\n\nBut why is all this? what aileth the man thus to express himself? Why,\nas I said, the temple was the great ordinance of God; there was his\ntrue worship performed, there God appeared, and there his people were\nto find him. This was, I say, the reason why the Psalmist chose out,\nand desired this one thing, above all the things that were under\nheaven, even \u2018to behold there the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in\nhis temple.\u2019 There were to be seen the shadows of things in the\nheavens; the candlestick, the table of shewbread, the holiest of all,\nwhere was the golden censer, the ark of the covenant overlaid round\nabout with gold, the golden pot that had manna, Aaron\u2019s rod that\nbudded, the tables of the covenant, and the cherubims of glory\novershadowing the mercy-seat, which were all of them then things by\nwhich God showed himself merciful to them (Heb 9:1-5 compared with 9:23\nand 8:5).\n\nDo you think that love-letters are not desired between lovers? Why\nthese, God\u2019s ordinances, they are his love-letters, and his love-tokens\ntoo. No marvel then if the righteous do so desire them: \u2018More to be\ndesired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than\nhoney and the honey-comb\u2019 (Psa 19:10, 119:72-127). Yea, this judgment\nwisdom itself passes upon these things. \u2018Receive,\u2019 saith he, \u2018my\ninstruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For\nwisdom is better than rubies: and all the things that may be desired,\nare not to be compared to it\u2019 (Prov 8:10,11). For this cause therefore\nare the ordinances of God so much desired by the righteous. In them\nthey meet with God; and by them they are builded, and nourished up to\neternal life. \u2018As new born babes,\u2019 says Peter, \u2018desire the sincere milk\nof the word, that ye may grow thereby\u2019 (1 Peter 2:2). As milk is\nnourishing to children, so is the word heard, read, and meditated on,\nto the righteous. Therefore it is their desire.\n\nChrist made himself known to them in breaking of bread; who, who would\nnot then, that loves to know him, be present at such an ordinance?\n(Luke 24:35). Ofttimes the Holy Ghost, in the comfortable influence of\nit, has accompanied the baptized in the very act of administering\nit.[10] Therefore, \u2018in the way of thy judgments,\u2019 or appointments, \u2018O\nLord, we thy people have waited for thee: the desire of their soul is\nto thy name, and to the remembrance of thee\u2019 (Isa 26:8). Church\nfellowship, or the communion of saints, is the place where the Son of\nGod loveth to walk; his first walking was in Eden, there he converted\nour first parents: \u2018And come, my beloved,\u2019 says he, \u2018let us get up to\nthe vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender\ngrape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth; there will I give thee my\nloves\u2019 (Cant 7:12). Church fellowship, rightly managed, is the glory of\nall the world. No place, no community, no fellowship, is adorned and\nbespangled with those beauties as is a church rightly knit together to\ntheir head, and lovingly serving one another. \u2018In his temple doth every\none speak of his glory\u2019 (Psa 29:9). Hence the church is called the\nplace of God\u2019s desire on earth. \u2018This is my rest for ever, here I will\ndwell, for I have desired it\u2019 (Psa 132:13-16). And again, thus the\nchurch confesseth when she saith, \u2018I am my beloved\u2019s, and his desire is\ntowards me\u2019 (Cant 7:10).[11]\n\nNo marvel then if this be the one thing that David desired, and that\nwhich he would seek after, namely, \u2018to dwell in the house of the Lord\nall the days of his life.\u2019 And this also shows you the reason why God\u2019s\npeople of old used to venture so hardly for ordinances, and to get to\nthem with the peril of their lives, \u2018because of the sword of the\nwilderness\u2019 (Lam 5:9).[12]\n\nThey were their bread, they were their water, they were their milk,\nthey were their honey. Hence the sanctuary was called \u2018the desire of\ntheir eyes, and that which their soul pitieth, or the pity of their\nsoul.\u2019 They had rather have died than lost it, or than that it should\nhave been burned down as it was (Eze 24:21,25).\n\nWhen the children of Israel had lost the ark, they count that the glory\nwas departed from Israel. But when they had lost all, what a complaint\nmade they then! \u2018He hath violently taken away his tabernacles, as if it\nwere of a garden, he hath destroyed his places of the assembly. The\nLord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in\nSion, and hath despised, in the indignation of his anger, the king and\nthe priest\u2019 (Lam 2:6). Wherefore, upon this account, it was that the\nchurch in those days counted the punishment of her iniquity greater\nthan the punishment of Sodom (Lam 4:6; 1 Sam 4:22).\n\nBy these few hints you may perceive what is the \u2018desire of the\nrighteous.\u2019 But this is spoken of with reference to things present, to\nthings that the righteous desire to enjoy while they are here;\ncommunion with God while here; and his ordinances in their purity while\nhere. I come, therefore, in the second place, to show you that the\nrighteous have desires that reach further, desires that have so long a\nneck as to look into the world to come.\n\n[Desires that can only be accomplished or enjoyed in eternity.]\n\nSecond. Then the desires of the righteous are after that which yet they\nknow cannot be enjoyed till after death. And those are comprehended\nunder these two heads\u20141. They desire that presence of their Lord which\nis personal. 2. They desire to be in that country where their Lord\npersonally is, that heavenly country.\n\n1. [They desire that presence of their Lord which is personal.] For the\nfirst of these, says Paul, \u2018I have a desire to depart, and to be with\nChrist.\u2019 Thus you have it in Philippians 1:23, \u2018I have a desire to be\nwith Christ.\u2019\n\nIn our first sort of desires, I told you that the righteous desired\nspiritual communion with God; and now I tell you they desire to be with\nChrist\u2019s person\u2014\u2018I have a desire to be with Christ\u2019; that is, with his\nperson, that I may enjoy his personal presence, such a presence of his\nas we are not capable to enjoy while here. Hence he says, \u2018I have a\ndesire to depart, that I might be with him; knowing,\u2019 as he says in\nanother place, \u2018that whilst we are at home in the body, we are,\u2019 and\ncannot but be, \u2018absent from the Lord\u2019 (2 Cor 5:6). Now this desire, as\nI said, is a desire that hath a long neck; for it can look over the\nbrazen wall of this, quite into another world; and as it hath a long\nneck, so it is very forcible and mighty in its operation.\n\n(1.) This desire breeds a divorce, a complete divorce, betwixt the soul\nand all inordinate love and affections to relations and worldly\nenjoyments. This desire makes a married man live as if he had no wife;\na rich man lives as if he possessed not what he has, &c. (1 Cor\n7:29,30). This is a soul-sequestering desire. This desire makes a man\nwilling rather to be absent from all enjoyments, that he may be present\nwith the Lord. This is a famous desire; none hath this desire but a\nrighteous man. There are that profess much love to Christ, that yet\nnever had such a desire in them all their life long. No, the relation\nthat they stand in to the world, together with those many\nflesh-pleasing accommodations with which they are surrounded, would\nnever yet suffer such a desire to enter into their hearts.\n\n(2.) The strength of this desire is such, that it is ready, so far\nforth as it can, to dissolve that sweet knot of union that is betwixt\nbody and soul, a knot more dear to a reasonable creature than that can\nbe which is betwixt wife and husband, parent and child, or a man and\nhis estate. For even \u2018all that a man hath will he give for his life,\u2019\nand to keep body and soul firmly knit together. But now, when this\ndesire comes, this \u2018silver cord is loosed\u2019; is loosed by consent. This\ndesire grants to him that comes to dissolve this union leave to do it\ndelightfully. \u2018We are confident and willing rather to be absent from\nthe body, and to be present with the Lord\u2019 (2 Cor 5:8). Yea, this\ndesire makes this flesh, this mortal life, a burden. The man that has\nthis desire exercises self-denial, while he waits till his desired\nchange comes. For were it not that the will of God is that he should\nlive, and did he not hope that his life might be serviceable to the\ntruth and church of God, he would not have wherewith to cool the heart\nof this desire, but would rather, in a holy passion with holy Job, cry\nout, \u2018I loathe,\u2019 or I abhor it, \u2018I would not live alway: let me alone,\u2019\nthat I may die, \u2018for my days are vanity\u2019 (Job 7:15-17).\n\n(3.) The strength of this desire shows itself in this also, namely, in\nthat it is willing to grapple with the king of terrors, rather than to\nbe detained from that sweet communion that the soul looks for when it\ncomes into the place where its Lord is. Death is not to be desired for\nitself; the apostle chose rather to be clothed upon with his house\nwhich is from heaven, \u2018that mortality might be swallowed up of life\u2019 (2\nCor 5:1-4). But yet, rather than he would be absent from the Lord, he\nwas willing to be absent from the body. Death, in the very thoughts of\nit, is grievous to flesh and blood; and nothing can so master it in our\napprehensions as that by which we attain to these desires. These\ndesires do deal with death, as Jacob\u2019s love to Rachel did deal with the\nseven long years which he was to serve for her. It made them seem few,\nor but a little time; now so, I say, doth these desires deal with death\nitself. They make it seem little, nay, a servant, nay, a privilege; for\nthat, by that a man may come to enjoy the presence of his beloved Lord.\n\u2018I have a desire to depart,\u2019 to go from the world and relations, to go\nfrom my body, that great piece of myself; I have a desire to venture\nthe tugs and pains, and the harsh handling of the king of terrors, so I\nmay be with Jesus Christ! These are desires of the righteous.\n\nAre not these therefore strong desires? is there not life and mettle in\nthem? have they not in them power to loose the bands of nature, and to\nharden the soul against sorrow? flow they not, think you, from faith of\nthe finest sort, and are they not bred in the bosom of a truly\nmortified soul? are these the effects of a purblind spirit? are they\nnot rather the fruits of an eagle-eyed confidence? O these desires!\nthey are peculiar to the righteous; they are none others but the\ndesires of the righteous.\n\nQuest. But why do the righteous desire to be with Christ?\n\nAnsw. And I ask, Why doth the wife\u2014that is, as the loving hind\u2014love to\nbe in the presence of her husband?\n\n1. Christ in glory is worth the being with. If the man out of whom the\nLord Jesus did cast a legion, prayed that he might be with him,\nnotwithstanding all the trials that attended him in this life, how can\nit be but that a righteous man must desire to be with him now he is in\nglory? What we have heard concerning the excellency of his person, the\nunspeakableness of his love, the greatness of his sufferings, and the\nthings that he still is doing for us, must needs command our souls into\na desire to be with him. When we have heard of a man among us that has\ndone for us some excellent thing, the next thing that our hearts doth\npitch upon is, I would I could set mine eyes upon him. But was ever\nheard the like to what Jesus Christ has done for sinners? who then that\nhath the faith of him can do otherwise but desire to be with him? It\nwas that which some time comforted John, that the time was coming that\nhe should see him (1 John 3:2). But that consideration made him bray\nlike a hart,[13] to hasten the time that he might set his eyes upon him\nquickly (Rev 22:20). To see Jesus Christ, then, to see him as he is, to\nsee him as he is in glory, is a sight that is worth going from\nrelations, and out of the body, and through the jaws of death to see;\nfor this is to see him head over all, to see him possessed of heaven\nfor his church, to see him preparing of mansion-houses for those his\npoor ones that are now by his enemies kicked to and fro, like footballs\nin the world; and is not this a blessed sight?\n\n2. I have a desire to be with him, to see myself with him; this is more\nblessed still; for, for a man to see himself in glory, this is a sight\nworthy seeing. Sometimes I look upon myself, and say, Where am I now?\nand do quickly return answer to myself again, Why, I am in an evil\nworld, a great way from heaven; in a sinful body, among devils and\nwicked men; sometimes benighted, sometimes beguiled, sometimes fearing,\nsometimes hoping, sometimes breathing, sometimes dying, and the like.\nBut then I turn the tables, and say, But where shall I be shortly?\nwhere shall I see myself anon, after a few times more have passed over\nme? And when I can but answer this question thus\u2014I shall see myself\nwith Jesus Christ; this yields glory, even glory to one\u2019s spirit now:\nno marvel, then, if the righteous desire to be with Christ.\n\n3. I have a desire to be with Christ; there the spirits of the just are\nperfected; there the spirits of the righteous are as full as they can\nhold (Heb 12:23). A sight of Jesus in the Word, some know how it will\nchange them from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18), but how then shall we be\nchanged and filled, when we shall see him as he is? \u2018When he shall\nappear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is\u2019 (1 John\n3:2). Moses and Elias appeared to Peter, and James, and John, at the\ntransfiguration of Christ, in glory. How so? Why, they had been in the\nheavens, and came thence with some of the glories of heaven upon them.\nGild a bit of wood, yea, gild it seven times over, and it must not\ncompare in difference to wood not gilt, to the soul that but a little\nwhile has been dipped in glory! Glory is a strange thing to men that\nare on this side of the heavens; it is that which eye hath not seen,\nnor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man to conceive of; only\nthe Christian has a Word and Spirit that at times doth give a little of\nthe glimmering thereof unto him. But O! when he is in the Spirit, and\nsees in the Spirit, do you think his tongue can tell? But, I say, if\nthe sight of heaven, at so vast a distance, is so excellent a prospect,\nwhat will it look like when one is in it? No marvel, then, if the\ndesires of the righteous are to be with Christ.\n\nObject. But if this be the character of a righteous man, to desire to\ndepart and to be with Christ, I am none of them, for I never had such a\ndesire in my heart; no, my fears of perishing will not suffer me either\nto desire to die to be with Christ, nor that Christ should come to\njudge the world.\n\nAnsw. Though thine is a case that must be excepted, for that thy\ndesires may not as yet be grown so high; yet if thou art a righteous\nman, thy heart has in it the very seeds thereof. There are therefore\ndesires, and desires to desire; as one child can reach so high, and the\nother can but desire to do so. Thou, if thou art a righteous man, hast\ndesires, these desires ready to put forth into act, when they are grown\na little stronger, or when their impediment is removed. Many times it\nis with our desires as it is with saffron,[14] it will bloom and\nblossom, and be ripe, and all in a night. Tell me, dost thou not desire\nto desire? Yea, dost thou not vehemently desire to desire to depart and\nto be with Christ? I know, if thou art a righteous man, thou dost.\nThere is a man sows his field with wheat, but as he sows, soon it is\ncovered with great clods; now, that grows as well as the rest, though\nit runs not upright as yet; it grows, and yet is kept down, so do thy\ndesires; and when one shall remove the clod, the blade will soon point\nupwards.\n\nI know thy mind; that which keeps thee that thou canst not yet arrive\nto this\u2014to desire to depart and to be with Christ, is because some\nstrong doubt or clod of unbelief, as to thy eternal welfare, lies hard\nupon thy desiring spirit. Now let but Jesus Christ remove this clod,\nand thy desires will quickly start up to be gone. I say, let but Jesus\nChrist give thee one kiss, and with his lips, as he kisses thee,\nwhisper to thee the forgiveness of thy sins, and thou wilt quickly\nbreak out, and say, Nay then, Lord, let me die in peace, since my soul\nis persuaded of thy salvation!\n\nThere is a man upon the bed of languishing; but O! he dares not die,\nfor all is not as he would have it betwixt God and his poor soul; and\nmany a night he lies thus in great horror of mind; but do you think\nthat he doth not desire to depart? Yes, yes, he also waits and cries to\nGod to set his desires at liberty. At last the visitor comes and sets\nhis soul at ease, by persuading of him that he belongs to God: and what\nthen? \u2018O! now let me die, welcome death!\u2019 Now he is like the man in\nEssex, who, when his neighbour at his bedside prayed for him that God\nwould restore him to health, started up in his bed, and pulled him by\nthe arm, and cried out, No, no, pray that God will take me away, for to\nme it is best to go to Christ.\n\nThe desires of some good Christians are pinioned, and cannot stir,\nespecially these sort of desires; but Christ can and will cut the cord\nsome time or other: and then thou that wouldst shalt be able to say, \u2018I\nhave a desire to depart, and to be with Jesus Christ.\u2019 Meantime, be\nthou earnest to desire to know thy interest in the grace of God; for\nthere is nothing short of the knowledge of that can make thee desire to\ndepart, that thou mayest be with Christ. This is that that Paul laid as\nthe ground of his desires to be gone: \u2018We know,\u2019 says he, \u2018that if our\nearthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of\nGod, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this\nwe groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which\nis from heaven\u2019 (2 Cor 5:1,2). And know, that if thy desires be right\nthey will grow as other graces do, from strength to strength; only in\nthis they can grow no faster than faith grows as to justification, and\nthen hope grows as to glory. But we will leave this and come to the\nsecond thing.\n\n2. [They desire to be in that country where their Lord personally is.]\nAs the righteous men desire to be present with Jesus Christ, so they\ndesire to be with him in that country where he is: \u2018But now they desire\na better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to\nbe called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city\u2019 (Heb\n11:14-16). \u2018But now they desire a better country.\u2019 Here is a\ncomparison. There was another country, to wit, their native country,\nthe country from whence they came out, that in which they left their\nfriends and their pleasures for the sake of another world, which,\nindeed, is a better country, as is manifest from its character. \u2018It is\nan heavenly.\u2019 As high as heaven is above the earth, so much better is\nthat country which is a heavenly, than is this in which now we are.\n\nA heavenly country, where there is a heavenly Father (Matt 6:14-16,\n15:13, 18:35), a heavenly host (Luke 2:13), heavenly things (John\n3:12), heavenly visions (Acts 26:19), heavenly places (Eph 1:3,20), a\nheavenly kingdom (2 Tim 4:18), and the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22),\nfor them that are partakers of the heavenly calling (Heb 3:1), and that\nare the heavenly things themselves (Heb 9:23). This is a country to be\ndesired, and therefore no marvel if any, except those that have lost\ntheir wits and senses, refuse to choose themselves an habitation here.\nHere is the \u2018Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly\nJerusalem, and an innumerable company of angels: here is the general\nassembly and church of the firstborn, and God the Judge of all, and\nJesus, and the spirits of just men made perfect\u2019 (Heb 12:22-24). Who\nwould not be here? This is the country that the righteous desire for a\nhabitation: \u2018but now they desire a better country, that is, an\nheavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he\nhath prepared for them a city\u2019 (Heb 11:16).\n\nMark, they desire a country, and God prepareth for them a city; he goes\nbeyond their desires, beyond their apprehensions, beyond what their\nhearts could conceive to ask for. There is none that are weary of this\nworld from a gracious disposition that they have to an heavenly, but\nGod will take notice of them, will own them, and not be ashamed to own\nthem; yea, such shall not lose their longing. They desire a handful,\nGod gives them a seaful; they desire a country, God prepares for them a\ncity; a city that is an heavenly; a city that has foundation, a city\nwhose builder and maker is God (Heb 11:10; Rev 3:12). And all this is,\nthat the promise to them might be fulfilled,, \u2018The desire of the\nrighteous shall be granted.\u2019 And this is the last thing propounded to\nbe spoken to from the text. Therefore,\n\n[WHAT IS MEANT BY GRANTING THESE DESIRES.]\n\n\nTHIRD. We then, in conclusion, come to inquire into WHAT IS MEANT, or\nto be understood, BY THE GRANTING OF THE RIGHTEOUS THEIR DESIRES; \u2018The\ndesire of the righteous shall be granted.\u2019\n\nFIRST. To grant is to yield to what is desired, to consent that it\nshall be even so as is requested: \u2018The Lord hear thee in the day of\ntrouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; send thee help from\nthe sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion, remember all\nthy\u2014sacrifices: grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfil all\nthy counsel\u2019 (Psa 20:1-4). SECOND. To grant is to accomplish what is\npromised; thus God granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life,\nnamely, for that he had promised it by the prophets from the days of\nold (Acts 11:18; Rom 15:9-12). THIRD. To grant, therefore, is an act of\ngrace and condescending favour; for if God is said to humble himself\nwhen he beholds things in heaven, what condescension is it for him to\nhearken to a sinful wretch on earth, and to tell him, Have the thing\nwhich thou desireth. A wretch, I call him, if compared to him that\nhears him, though he is a righteous man, when considered as the new\ncreation of God. FOURTH. To grant, then, is not to part with the thing\ndesired, as if a desire merited, purchased, earned, or deserved it, but\nof bounty and goodwill, to bestow the thing desired upon the humble.\nHence God\u2019s grants are said to be gracious ones (Psa 119:29). FIFTH. I\nwill add, that to grant is sometimes taken for giving one authority or\npower to do, or possess, or enjoy such and such privileges; and so it\nmay be taken here: for the righteous has a right to a power, to enjoy\nthe things bestowed on them by their God. So, then, to grant is to\ngive, to accomplish, even of free grace, the desire of the righteous.\n\nThis is acknowledged by David, where he saith to God, \u2018Thou hast given\nhim his heart\u2019s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his\nlips\u2019 (Psa 21:2). And this is promised unto all that delight themselves\nin God, \u2018Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the\ndesires of thy heart\u2019 (Psa 37:4). And again, \u2018He will fulfil the desire\nof them that fear him, he also will hear their cry, and will save them\u2019\n(Psa 145:19). By all these places it is plain, that the promise of\ngranting desires is entailed to the righteous, and also that the grant\nto them is an act of grace and mercy. But it also follows, that though\nthe desires of the righteous are not meritorious, yet they are pleasing\nin his sight; and this is manifest several ways, besides the promise of\na grant of them.\n\nFirst. In that the desires of God, and the desires of the righteous,\njump or agree in one, they are of one mind in their desires: God\u2019s\ndesire is to the work of his hands, and the righteous are for\nsurrendering that up to him. 1. In giving up the heart unto him; \u2018My\nson,\u2019 says God, \u2018give me thy heart\u2019 (Prov 23:26). \u2018I lift my soul to\nthee,\u2019 says the righteous man (Psa 25:1, 86:4; Lam 3:41). Here,\ntherefore, there is an agreement between God and the righteous; it is,\nI say, agreed on both sides that God should have the heart: God desires\nit, the righteous man desires it, yea, he desires it with a groan,\nsaying, \u2018Incline my heart unto thy testimony\u2019 (Psa 119:36). \u2018Let my\nheart be sound in thy statutes\u2019 (Psa 119:80). 2. They are also agreed\nabout the disposing of the whole man: God is for body, and soul, and\nspirit; and the righteous desires that God should have it all. Hence\nthey are said to give themselves to the Lord (2 Cor 8:5), and to addict\nthemselves to his service (1 Cor 15:16). 3. God desireth truth in the\ninward parts, that is, that truth may be at the bottom of all (Psa\n51:6,16), and this is the desire of the righteous man likewise: \u2018Thy\nword have I hid in my heart,\u2019 said David, \u2018that I might not sin against\nthee\u2019 (Psa 119:11). 4. They agree in the way of justification, in the\nway of sanctification, in the way of preservation, and in the way of\nglorification, to wit, which way to come at and enjoy all: wherefore,\nwho should hinder the righteous man, or keep him back from enjoying the\ndesire of his heart? 5. They also agree about the sanctifying of God\u2019s\nname in the world, saying, \u2018Thy will be done on earth as it is in\nheaven.\u2019 There is a great agreement between God and the righteous; \u2018he\nthat is joined to the Lord is one spirit\u2019 (1 Cor 6:17). No marvel,\nthen, if their desires in the general, so far as the righteous man doth\nknow the mind of his God, are one, consequently their desires must be\ngranted, or God must deny himself.\n\nSecond. The desires of the righteous are the life of all their prayers;\nand it is said, \u2018The prayer of the upright is God\u2019s delight.\u2019\n\nJesus Christ put a difference betwixt the form and spirit that is in\nprayer, and intimates the soul of prayer is in the desires of a man;\n\u2018Therefore,\u2019 saith he, \u2018I say unto you, What things soever ye desire\nwhen ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them\u2019\n(Mark 11:24). If a man prays never so long, and has never so many brave\nexpressions in prayer, yet God counts it prayer no further than there\nare warm and fervent desires in it, after those things the mouth maketh\nmention of. David saith, \u2018Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my\ngroaning is not hid from thee\u2019 (Psa 38:9). Can you say you desire, when\nyou pray? or that your prayers come from the braying, panting, and\nlonging of your hearts? If not, they shall not be granted: for God\nlooks, when men are at prayer, to see if their heart and spirit is in\ntheir prayers; for he counts all other but vain speaking. Ye shall seek\nme, and find me, says he, when you shall search for me with all your\nheart (Rom 8:26,27; Matt 6:7; Jer 29:12). The people that you read of\nin 2 Chronicles 15 are there said to do what they did \u2018with all their\nheart, and with all their soul.\u2019 \u2018For they sought God with their whole\ndesire\u2019 (2 Chron 15:11-15). When a man\u2019s desires put him upon prayer,\nrun along with him in his prayer, break out of his heart and ascend up\nto heaven with his prayers, it is a good sign that he is a righteous\nman, and that his desire shall be granted.\n\nThird. By desire a righteous man shows more of his mind for God, than\nhe can by any manner of way besides; hence it is said, \u2018The desire of\nman is his kindness, and a poor man,\u2019 that is sincere in his desires,\n\u2018is better than\u2019 he that with his mouth shows much love, if he be \u2018a\nliar\u2019 (Prov 19:22).\n\nDesires, desires, are copious things; you read that a man may \u2018enlarge\nhis desire as hell\u2019 (Habb 2:5), that is, if they be wicked; yea, and a\nrighteous man may enlarge his desires as heaven (Psa 73:25). No grace\nis so extensive as desires. Desires out-go all. Who believes as he\ndesires to believe? and loves as he desires to love? and fears as he\ndesires to fear God\u2019s name? (Neh 1:11). Might it be as a righteous man\ndoth sometimes desire it should be, both with God\u2019s church, and also\nwith his own soul, stranger things would be than there are; faith, and\nlove, and holiness, would flourish more than it does! O! what does a\nrighteous man desire? What do you think the prophet desired, when he\nsaid, \u2018O that thou wouldest rend the heavens and\u2014come down?\u2019 (Isa\n54:1). And Paul, when he said, he could wish that himself were accursed\nfrom Christ, for the vehement desire that he had that the Jews might be\nsaved? (Rom 9:1-3, 10:1). Yea, what do you think John desired, when he\ncried out to Christ to come quickly?\n\nLove to God, as I said, is more seen in desires than in any Christian\nact. Do you think that the woman with her two mites cast in all that\nshe desired to cast into the treasury of God? Or do you think, when\nDavid said that he had prepared for the house of God with all his\nmight, that his desires stinted when his ability was at its utmost? (1\nChron 29). No, no; desires go beyond all actions; therefore I said it\nis the desires of a man that are reckoned for his kindness. Kindness is\nthat which God will not forget; I mean the kindness which his people\nshow to him, especially in their desires to serve him in the world.\nWhen Israel was come out of Egypt, you know how many stumbles they had\nbefore they got to Canaan. But forasmuch as they were willing or\ndesirous to follow God, he passes by all their failures, saying, \u2018I\nremember thee,\u2019 and that almost a thousand years after,[15] \u2018the\nkindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest\nafter me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown\u2019 (Jer 2:2).\nIsrael was holiness to the Lord, and the first fruits of his increase.\nThere is nothing that God likes of ours better than he likes our true\ndesires. For indeed true desires, they are the smoke of our incense,\nthe flower of our graces, and the very vital part of our new man. They\nare our desires that ascend, and they that are the sweet of all the\nsacrifices that we offer to God. The man of desires is the man of\nkindness.\n\nFourth. Desires, true and right desires, they are they by which a man\nis taken up from the ground, and brought away to God, in spite of all\nopposers. A desire will take a man upon its back, and carry him away to\nGod, if ten thousand men stand by and oppose it. Hence it is said, that\n\u2018through desire a man having separated himself,\u2019 to wit, from what is\ncontrary to the mind of God, and so \u2018seeketh and intermeddleth with all\nwisdom\u2019 (Prov 18:1).\n\nAll convictions, conversions, illuminations, favours, tastes,\nrevelations, knowledge, and mercies, will do nothing if the soul abides\nwithout desires. All, I say, is but like rain upon stones, or favours\nbestowed upon a dead dog. O! but a poor man with desires, a man that\nsees but little, that knows but little, that finds in himself but\nlittle, if he has but strong desires, they will supply all. His desires\ntake him up from his sins, from his companions, from his pleasures, and\ncarry him away to God. Suppose thou wast a minister, and wast sent from\nGod with a whip, whose cords were made of the flames of hell, thou\nmightest lash long enough before thou couldest so much as drive one man\nthat abides without desires to God, or to his kingdom, by that thy so\nsore a whip. Suppose again that thou wast a minister, and wast sent\nfrom God to sinners with a crown of glory in thy hand, to offer to him\nthat first comes to thee for it; yet none can come without desires: but\ndesire takes the man upon its back, and so brings him to thee.[16] What\nis the reason that men will with mouth commend God, and commend Christ,\nand commend and praise both heaven and glory, and yet all the while fly\nfrom him, and from his mercy, as from the worst of enemies? Why, they\nwant good desires; their desires being mischievous, carry them another\nway. Thou entreatest thy wife, thy husband, and the son of thy womb, to\nfall in with thy Lord and thy Christ, but they will not. Ask them the\nreason why they will not, and they know none, only they have no\ndesires. \u2018When we shall see him, there is no beauty in him that we\nshould desire him\u2019 (Isa 53:1-3). And I am sure if they do not desire\nhim, they can by no means be made to come to him.\n\nBut now, desires, desires that are right, will carry a man quite away\nto God, and to do his will, let the work be never so hard. Take an\ninstance or two for this.\n\nYou may see it in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The text says plainly,\nthey were not mindful of that country from whence they came out,\nthrough their desires of a better (Heb 11:8-16). God gave them\nintimation of a better country, and their minds did cleave to it with\ndesires of it; and what then? Why, they went forth, and desired to go,\nthough they did not know whither they went. Yea, they all sojourned in\nthe land of promise, because it was but a shadow of what was designed\nfor them by God, and looked to by their faith, as in a strange country;\nwherefore they also cast that behind their back, looking for that city\nthat had foundations, of which mention was made before. Had not now\nthese men desires that were mighty? They were their desires that thus\nseparated them from their dearest and choice relations and enjoyments.\nTheir desires were pitched upon the heavenly country, and so they broke\nthrough all difficulties for that.\n\nYou may see it in Moses, who had a kingdom at his foot, and was the\nalone visible heir thereof; but desire of a better inheritance made him\nrefuse it, and choose rather to take part with the people of God in\ntheir afflicted condition, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a\nseason. You may say, the Scripture attributes this to his faith. I\nanswer, so it attributes to Abraham\u2019s faith his leaving of his country.\nBut his faith begat in him these desires after the country that is\nabove. So indeed Moses saw these things by faith; and therefore his\nfaith begat in him these desires. For it was because of his desires\nthat he did refuse, and did choose as you read. And here we may\nopportunely take an opportunity to touch upon the vanity of that faith\nthat is not breeding, and that knows not how to bring forth strong\ndesires of enjoying what is pretended to be believed; all such faith is\nfalse. Abraham\u2019s, Isaac\u2019s, Jacob\u2019s, and Moses\u2019 faith, bred in them\ndesires, strong desires; yea, desires so strong as to take them up, and\nto carry them after what, by their faith, was made known unto them.\nYea, their desires were so mightily set upon the things made known to\nthem by their faith, that neither difficulties nor dangers, nor yet\nfrowns nor flatteries, could stop them from the use of all lawful\nattempts of enjoying what they believed was to be had, and what they\ndesired to be possessed of.\n\nThe women also that you read of, and others that would not, upon\nunworthy terms, accept of deliverance from torments and sundry trials,\nthat they might,, or because they had a desire to, be made partakers of\na better resurrection. \u2018And others,\u2019 saith he, \u2018had trial of cruel\nmockings and scourgings; yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments.\nThey were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with\nthe sword; they wandered about in sheep skins, and goat skins, being\ndestitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy. They\nwandered in deserts, and in mountains, and caves of the earth\u2019 (Heb\n11:35-38).\n\nBut we will come to the Lord Jesus himself. Whither did his desires\nbring him? Whither did they carry him? and to what did they make him\nstoop? For they were his desires after us, and after our good, that\nmade him humble himself to do as he did (Cant 7:10). What was it, think\nyou, that made him cry out, \u2018I have a baptism to be baptized with, and\nhow am I straitened till it be accomplished\u2019! (Luke 12:50). What was\nthat baptism but his death? and why did he so long for it, but of\ndesire to do us good? Yea, the passover being to be eaten on the even\nof his sufferings, with what desires did he desire to eat it with his\ndisciples? (Luke 22:15). Yea, his desires to suffer for his people made\nhim go with more strength to lay down his life for them than they, for\nwant of them, had to go to see him suffer. And they were in their way\ngoing up to Jerusalem, he to suffer, and they to look on, \u2018And Jesus\nwent before them, and they were amazed, and as they followed, they were\nafraid\u2019 (Mark 10:32; Matt 20:17).\n\nI tell you, desires are strange things, if they be right; they jump\nwith God\u2019s mind; they are the life of prayer; they are a man\u2019s kindness\nto God, and they which will take him up from the ground, and carry him\naway after God to do his will, let the work be never so hard. Is it any\nmarvel, then, if the desires of the righteous are so pleasing to God as\nthey are, and that God has so graciously promised that the desires of\nthe righteous shall be granted? But we come now to\n\n[THE USE AND APPLICATION.]\n\n\nTHE FIRST USE SHALL BE A USE OF INFORMATION. You have heard what hath\nbeen said of desires, and what pleasing things right desires are unto\nGod. But you must know that they are the desires of his people, of the\nrighteous, that are so. No wicked man\u2019s desires are regarded (Psa\n112:10). This men must be informed of, lest their desires become a\nsnare to their souls. You read of a man whose \u2018desire killeth him\u2019\n(Prov 21:25). And why? but because he rests in desiring, without\nconsidering what he is, whether such a one unto whom the promise of\ngranting desires is made; he coveteth greedily all the day long, but to\nlittle purpose. The grant of desires, of the fulfilling of desires, is\nentailed to the righteous man. There are four sorts of people that\ndesire, that desire the kingdom of heaven; consequently, desires have a\nfourfold root from whence they flow.\n\nFirst. The natural man desires to be saved, and to go to heaven when he\ndies. Ask any natural man, and he will tell you so. Besides, we see it\nis so with them, especially at certain seasons. As when some guilt or\nconviction for sin takes hold upon them; or when some sudden fear\nterrifies them; when they are afraid that the plague or pestilence will\ncome upon them, and break up house-keeping for them; or when death has\ntaken them by the throat, and is hauling them down stairs to the grave.\nThen, O then, \u2018Lord, save me, Lord, have mercy upon me; good people,\npray for me! O! whither shall I go when I die, if sweet Christ has not\npity for my soul?\u2019 And now the bed shakes, and the poor soul is as\nloath to go out of the body, for fear the devil should catch it, as the\npoor bird is to go out of the bush, while it sees the hawk waits there\nto receive her. But the fears of the wicked, they must come upon the\nwicked; they are the desires of the righteous that must be granted.\nPray, take good notice of this. And to back this with the authority of\nGod, consider that scripture, \u2018The wicked man travaileth with pain all\nhis days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. A\ndreadful sound is in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer shall come\nupon him. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail\nagainst him as a king ready to the battle\u2019 (Job 15:20-24).[17]\n\nCan it be imagined that when the wicked are in this distress, but that\nthey will desire to be saved? Therefore he saith again, \u2018Terrors take\nhold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. The\neast wind,\u2019 that blasting wind, \u2018carrieth him away, and he departeth,\nand as a storm hurleth him out of\u2019 the world, \u2018his place. For God shall\ncast upon him, and not spare\u2019; in flying \u2018he would fain fly out of his\nhand\u2019 (Job 27:20-23). Their terrors and their fears must come upon\nthem: their desires and wishes for salvation must not be granted (Isa\n65:13, 66:4). \u2018They shall call upon me,\u2019 says God, \u2018but I will not\nanswer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me\u2019 (Prov\n1:28).\n\nSecond. There is the hypocrite\u2019s desire. Now his desire seems to have\nlife and spirit in it. Also he desires, in his youth, his health, and\nthe like; yet it comes to naught. You shall see him drawn to the life\nin Mark 10:17. He comes running and kneeling, and asking, and that, as\nI said, in youth and health; and that is more than men merely natural\ndo. But all to no purpose; he went as he came, without the thing\ndesired. The conditions propounded were too hard for this hypocrite to\ncomply withal (Mark 10:21,22).[18] Some indeed make a great noise with\ntheir desires over some again do; but in conclusion all comes to one,\nthey meet together there where they go, whose desires are not granted.\n\n\u2018For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained\u2019 to a\nhigher strain of desires, \u2018when God taketh away his soul?\u2019 \u2018Will God\nhear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?\u2019 (Job 27:8,9). Did he not,\neven when he desired life, yet break with God in the day when\nconditions of life were propounded to him? Did he not, even when he\nasked what good things were to be done that he might have eternal life,\nrefuse to hear or to comply with what was propounded to him? How then\ncan his desires be granted, who himself refused to have them answered?\nNo marvel then if he perishes like his own dung, if they that have seen\nhim shall say they miss him among those that are to have their desires\ngranted.\n\nThird. There are the desires of the cold formal professor; the desires,\nI say, of him whose religion lies in a few of the shells of religion;\neven as the foolish virgins who were content with their lamps, but gave\nnot heed to take oil in their vessels. These I take to be those whom\nthe wise man calls the slothful: \u2018The soul of the sluggard desireth,\nand hath nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat\u2019 (Prov\n13:4). The sluggard is one that comes to poverty through idleness\u2014that\ncontents himself with forms: \u2018that will not plough\u2019 in winter \u2018by\nreason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest,\u2019 or at the day\nof judgment, \u2018and have nothing\u2019 (Prov 20:4).\n\nThus you see that there are many that desire; the natural man, the\nhypocrite, the formalist, they all desire. For heaven is a brave place,\nand nobody would go to hell. \u2018Lord, Lord, open to us,\u2019 is the cry of\nmany in this world, and will be the cry of more in the day of judgment.\nOf this therefore thou shouldst be informed; and that for these\nreasons:\u2014\n\nBecause ignorance of this may keep thee asleep in security, and cause\nthee to fall under such disappointments as are the worst, and the worst\nto be borne. For, for a man to think to go to heaven because he desires\nit, and when all is done to fall into hell, is a frustration of the\nmost dismal complexion. And yet thus it will be when desires shall\nfail, \u2018when man goes to his long home, and when the mourners go about\nthe streets\u2019 (Eccl 12:5). Because, as was said before, else thy\ndesires, and that which should be for thy good, will kill thee. They\nkill thee at death, when thou shalt find them every one empty. And at\njudgment, when thou shalt be convinced that thou oughtest to go without\nwhat thou desirest, because thou wast not the man to whose desires the\npromise was made, nor the man that didst desire aright. To be informed\nof this is the way to put thee upon such sense and sight of thy case as\nwill make thee in earnest betake thyself in that way to him that is\nacceptable, who grants the desires of the righteous. And then shalt\nthou be happy when thou shunnest to desire as the natural man desireth,\nas the hypocrite desireth, or as the formalist desireth. When thou\ndesirest as the righteous do, thy desire shall be granted.\n\nTHE SECOND USE IS OF EXAMINATION. If this be so, then what cause hast\nthou that art conscious to thyself that thou art a desiring man to\nexamine thyself whether thou art one whose desires shall be granted?\nFor to what purpose should a man desire, or what fruits will desire\nbring him whose desires shall not be granted? Such a man is but like to\nher that longs, but loses her longing; or like to him that looks for\npeace while evil overtakes him.\n\nThou hast heard it over and over that the grant of desires belong to\nthe righteous: shouldst thou then not inquire into thy condition, and\nexamine thyself whether thou art a righteous man or no? The apostle\nsaid to the Corinthians, \u2018Examine yourselves whether ye be in the\nfaith; prove your own selves; know you not\u2014how that Jesus Christ is in\nyou, except ye be reprobates?\u2019 (2 Cor 13:5). You may be reprobates and\nnot be aware of it, if you do not examine and prove your own selves. It\nis therefore FOR THY LIFE, wherefore do not deceive thyself. I have\ngiven you before a description of a righteous man, namely, that he is\none made so of God by imputation\u2014by an inward principle, and one that\nbrings forth fruit to God. Now, this last thou mayst think thou hast;\nfor it is easy and common for men to think when they bring forth fruit\nto themselves, that they bring it forth to God. Wherefore examine\nthyself.\n\nFirst. Art thou righteous? If thou sayest, Yea; I ask, How comest thou\nrighteous? If thou thinkest that obedience to the law of righteousness\nhas made thee so, thou art utterly deceived; for he that thus seeks\nrighteousness, yet is not righteous, because he cannot, by so doing,\nattain that thing he seeketh for (Rom 9:31,32). Did not I tell thee\nbefore, that a man must be righteous before he doth one good work, or\nhe can never be righteous? The tree must be good first, even before it\nbrings forth one good apple.\n\nSecond. Art thou righteous? In whose judgment art thou righteous? Is it\nin the judgment of God, or of man? If not of God, it is no matter\nthough all the men on earth should justify thee; thou for that art no\nwhit the more righteous.\n\nThird. Art thou righteous in the judgment of God? Who told thee so? or\ndost thou but dream thereof? Indeed, to be righteous in God\u2019s sight is\nthat, and only that, which can secure a man from wrath to come; for \u2018if\nGod justifies, who is he that condemns?\u2019 (Rom 8:33,34). And this only\nis the man whose desires shall be granted.\n\nFourth. But still, I say, the question is, How comest thou to know that\nthou art righteous in the judgment of God? Dost thou know by what it is\nthat God makes a man righteous? Dost thou know where that is by or with\nwhich God makes a man righteous? and also how God doth make a man\nrighteous with it? These are questions, in the answer of which thou\nmust have some heavenly skill, or else all that thou sayest about thy\nbeing righteous will seem without a bottom.\n\nFifth. Now, if thou answerest, That that which makes me righteous is\nthe obedience of Christ to his Father\u2019s will, that this righteousness\nis before the throne of God, and that it is made mine by an act of\nGod\u2019s free grace; I shall ask thee yet again,\n\nSixth. How camest thou to see thy need of this righteousness? And by\nwhat is this righteousness by thee applied to thyself? For this\nrighteousness is bestowed upon those that see their need thereof. This\nrighteousness is the refuge whereto the guilty fly for succour, that\nthey may be sheltered from the wrath to come. Hast thou then fled, or\ndost thou indeed fly to it? (Heb 6:16-19).\n\nSeventh. None flies to this righteousness for life, but those who feel\nthe sentence of condemnation by God\u2019s law upon their conscience; and\nthat in that extremity have sought for righteousness first elsewhere,\nbut cannot find it in all the world.\n\nEighth. For man, when he findeth himself at first a sinner, doth not\nstraightway betake himself for righteousness to God by Christ; but, in\nthe first place, seeks it in the law on earth, by labouring to yield\nobedience thereto, to the end he may, when he stands before God at\ndeath and judgment, have something to commend him to him, and for the\nsake of which he may at least help forward his acceptance with him.\n\nNinth. But being wearied out of this, and if God loves him he will\nweary him out of it, then he looks unto heaven and cries to God for\nrighteousness; the which God shows him in his own good time he hath\nreckoned to him, for the sake of Jesus Christ.\n\nTenth. Now by this very discovery the heart is also principled with the\nspirit of the gospel; for the Spirit comes with the gospel down from\nheaven to such an one, and fills his soul with good; by which he is\ncapacitated to bring forth fruit, true fruit, which are the fruits of\nrighteousness imputed, and of righteousness infused, to the glory and\npraise of God.\n\nEleventh. Nor can anything but faith make a man see himself thus made\nrighteous; for this righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, from\nthe object of faith to the grace of faith, by the Spirit of faith. A\nfaithless man, then, can see this no more than a blind man can see\ncolours; nor relish this, no more than a dead man tasteth victuals. As,\ntherefore, blind men talk of colours, and as dead men relish food, so\ndo carnal men talk of Jesus Christ; to wit, without sense or savour;\nwithout sense of the want, or savour of the worth and goodness of him\nto the soul.\n\nTwelfth. Wherefore, I say, it is of absolute necessity that with thy\nheart thou deal in this point, and beware of self-deceiving; for if\nthou fail here, thy desires will fail thee for ever: \u2018for the desire of\nthe righteous,\u2019 and that only, \u2018must be granted.\u2019\n\nTHE THIRD USE IS CAUTIONARY. Let me here, therefore, caution thee to\nbeware of some things, by which else, perhaps, thou mayest deceive\nthyself.\n\nFirst. Take heed of taking such things for grants of desires, that\naccidentally fall out; accidentally, I mean, as to thy desires; for it\nis possible that that very thing that thou desirest may come to pass in\nthe current of providence, not as an answer of thy desires. Now, if\nthou takest such things for a grant of thy desires, and consequently\nconcludest thyself a righteous man, how mayest thou be deceived? The\nark of God was delivered into the hand of the Philistines, which they\ndesired; but not for the sake of their desires, but for the sins of the\nchildren of Israel. The land of Canaan was given unto Israel, not for\nthe sake of their desires, but for the sins of those whom God cast out\nbefore them; and to fulfil the promise that God, before they were born,\nhad made unto their fathers (Deut 9:5,6). Israel was carried away\ncaptive out of their own land, not to fulfil the desires of their\nenemies, but to punish them for their transgressions. These, with many\nof smaller importance, and more personal, might be mentioned, to show\nthat many things happen to us, some to our pleasing, and some to the\npleasing of our enemies; which, if either we or they should count the\nreturns of our prayer, or the fruits of our desires, and so draw\nconclusions of our estate to be for the future happy, because in such\nthings we seemed to be answered of God, we might greatly swerve in our\njudgments, and become the greatest at self-deceiving.\n\nSecond. Or shouldest thou take it for granted that what thou enjoyest\nthou hast it as the fruit of thy desires; yet if the things thou boast\nof are things pertaining to this life, such may be granted thee as thou\nart considered of God as his creature, though thyself art far enough\noff from being a righteous man. \u2018Thou openest thy hand,\u2019 says the\nPsalmist, \u2018and satisfiest the desire of every living thing\u2019 (Psa\n145:16). Again, \u2018He feeds the young ravens that cry to him; and the\nyoung lions seek their meat from God\u2019 (Psa 147:9, 104:21). Cain,\nIshmael, Ahab too, had in some things their desires granted them of God\n(Gen 4:14,15, 21:17,18; 1 Kings 21:29). For if God will hear the desire\nof the beast of the field, the fishes of the sea, and of the fowls of\nheaven; no marvel if the wicked also may boast him of his heart\u2019s\ndesire (Psa 10:3). Into whose hand, as he saith in another place, \u2018God\nbringeth abundantly.\u2019 Take heed, therefore, neither these things, nor\nthe grant of them, are any signs that thou art a righteous man, or that\nthe promise made to the righteous in granting their desires are\naccomplished upon thee. I think a man may say, that the men that know\nnot God have a fuller grant, I mean generally, of their desires of\ntemporal things, than has the child of God himself; for his portion\nlying in better things, his desires are answered another way.\n\nThird. Take heed, God grants to some men their desires in anger, and to\ntheir destruction. He gave to some \u2018their own desire,\u2019 \u2018but sent\nleanness into their soul\u2019 (Psa 78:29, 106:15; Jer 42:22). All that God\ngives to the sons of men, he gives not in mercy; he gives to some an\ninferior, and to some a superior portion; and yet so also he answereth\nthem in the joy of their heart. Some men\u2019s hearts are narrow upwards,\nand wide downwards; narrow as to God, but wide for the world; they gape\nfor the one, but shut themselves up against the other; so as they\ndesire they have of what they desire; \u2018whose belly thou fillest with\nthy hid treasure,\u2019 for that they do desire; but \u2018as for me,\u2019 said\nDavid, these things will not satisfy, \u2018I shall be satisfied when I\nawake, with thy likeness\u2019 (Psa 17:14,15).\n\nI told you before, that the heart of a wicked man was widest downward,\nbut it is not so with the righteous: therefore the portion of Jacob is\nnot like them; God has given to him himself. The temple that Ezekiel\nsaw in the vision was still widest upward; it spread itself toward\nheaven (Eze 41:7). So is the church, and so is the righteous, and so\nare his desires. Thy great concern, therefore, is to consider, since\nthou art confident that God also heareth thy desires; I say, to\nconsider, whether he answereth thee in his anger; for if he doth so,\nthy desires come with a woe; therefore, I say, look to thyself. A full\npurse and a lean soul, is a sign of a great curse. \u2018He gave them their\ndesire, but he sent leanness into their soul.\u2019 Take heed of that; many\nmen crave by their desires, as the dropsical man craves drink; his\ndrinking makes his belly swell big, but consumes other parts of his\nbody. O! it is a sad grant, when the desire is granted, only to make\nthe belly big, the estate big, the name big; when even by this bigness\nthe soul pines, is made to dwindle, to grow lean, and to look like an\nanatomy.\n\nI am persuaded that it is thus with many, who, while they were lean in\nestates, had fat souls; but the fattening of their estates has made\ntheir souls as to good, as lean as a rake. They cannot now breathe\nafter God; they cannot now look to their hearts; they cannot now set\nwatch and ward over their ways; they cannot now spare time to examine\nwho goes out, or who comes in. They have so much their desires in\nthings below, that they have no leisure to concern themselves with, or\nto look after things above; their hearts are now as fat as grease;\ntheir eyes do now too much start out, to be turned and made to look\ninward (Psa 119:70, 83:7). They are now become, as to their best part,\nlike the garden of the slothful, all grown over with nettles and\nbriars, that cover the face thereof; or, like Saul, removed from a\nlittle estate, and low condition, to much, even worse and worse. Men do\nnot know what they do in desiring things of this life, things over and\nabove what are necessary; they desire them, and they have them with a\nwoe. \u2018Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly,\u2019 his belly is\ntaken for his conscience (Prov 20:27). \u2018He shall not save of that which\nhe desired,\u2019 to help him in an evil day (Job 20:20, 1 Tim 6:17-19).\n\nI shall not here give my caution to the righteous, but shall reserve\nthat for the next use. But, O! that men were as wise in judging of the\nanswering of the desires, as they are in judging of the extravagancies\nof their appetites. You shall have a man even from experience reclaim\nhimself from such an excess of eating, drinking, smoking, sleeping,\ntalking, or pleasurable actions, as by his experience he finds is\nhurtful to him, and yet all this may but hurt the body, at least the\nbody directly; but how blind, how unskilled are they in the evils that\nattend desires! For, like the man in the dropsy, made mention of\nbefore, they desire this world, as he doth drink, till they desire\nthemselves quite down to hell. Look to it, therefore, and take heed;\nGod\u2019s granting the things pertaining to this life unto thee, doth\nneither prove that thou art righteous, nor that he acts in mercy\ntowards thee, by giving of thee thy desires.\n\nTHE FOURTH USE IS FOR ENCOURAGEMENT. Is it so? shall the desire of the\nrighteous be granted? Then this should encourage them that in the first\nplace have sought the kingdom of God and his Son\u2019s righteousness, to go\non in their desires. God has given thee his Son\u2019s righteousness to\njustify thee; he has also, because thou art a son, sent forth the\nSpirit of his Son into thy heart to sanctify thee, and to help thee to\ncry unto him, Father, Father. Wilt thou not cry? wilt thou not desire?\nthy God has bidden thee \u2018open thy mouth wide\u2019; he has bid thee open it\nwide, and promised, saying, \u2018And I will fill it\u2019; and wilt thou not\ndesire? (Psa 81:10). O! thou hast a licence, a leave, a grant to\ndesire; wherefore be not afraid to desire great mercies of the God of\nheaven; this was Daniel\u2019s way, and he set others to do it too (Dan\n2:18).\n\nObject. But I am an unworthy creature.\n\nAnsw. That is true; but God gives to no man for his worthiness, nor\nrejects any for their sinfulness, that come to him sensible of the want\nand worth of mercy for them. Besides, I told thee before, that the\ndesires of a righteous man, and the desires of his God, do jump or\nagree. God has a desire to thee; thou hast a desire to him (Job 14:15).\nGod desires truth in the inward parts, and so dost thou with all thy\nheart (Psa 5:1-6; Hosea 6:5). God desires mercy, and to show it to the\nneedy; that is it thou also wantest, and that which thy soul craves at\nhis hand. Seek, man, ask, knock, and do not be discouraged; the Lord\ngrant all thy desires. Thou sayest thou art unworthy to ask the biggest\nthings, things spiritual and heavenly; well, will carnal things serve\nthee, and answer the desires of thy heart? Canst thou be content to be\nput off with a belly well filled, and a back well clothed? O! better I\nnever had been born!\n\nSee, thou wilt not ask the best, and yet canst not make shift without\nthem. Shift, no, no shift without them; I am undone without them,\nundone for ever and ever, sayest thou; well then desire; so I do,\nsayest thou. Ah! but desire with more strong desires, desire with more\nlarge desires, desire spiritual gifts, covet them earnestly, thou hast\na licence too to do so (1 Cor 14:1). God bids thee do so; and I, says\nthe apostle, \u2018desire that ye faint not\u2019 (Eph 3:13), that is, in the\nprosecution of your desires, what discouragements soever you may meet\nwith in the way; for he hath said, \u2018The desire of the righteous shall\nbe granted.\u2019\n\nObject. But I find it not so, says one: for though I have desired and\ndesired, a thousand times upon my knees, for something that I want, yet\nI have not my desire; and indeed the consideration of this hath made me\nquestion whether I am one of those to whom the promise of granting\ndesires is made.\n\nAnsw. To this objection many things must be replied. First. By way of\nquestion. Second. Then by way of answer.\n\nFirst. By way of question; what are the things thou desirest, are they\nlawful or unlawful? for a Christian may desire unlawful things; as the\nmother of Zebedee\u2019s children did when she came to Christ, nay, her sons\nthemselves had their hearts therein, saying, \u2018Master, we would that\nthou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire\u2019 (Mark 10:35; Matt\n20:20). They came with a wide mouth, but their desire was unlawful, as\nis evident, for that Christ would not grant it. James also himself\ncaught those unto whom he wrote, in such a fault as this, where he\nsays, \u2018Ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain\u2019 (James 4:2).\n\nThere are four things that are unlawful to be desired. To desire the\nlife of thine enemy is unlawful (1 Kings 3:11; Deut 5:21). To desire\nanything that is thy neighbour\u2019s is unlawful. To desire to share in the\nprosperity of the wicked is unlawful (Psa 73:3). To desire spiritual\nthings for evil ends is unlawful (Prov 24:1,19; James 4:2-4).\n\nAre they lawful things which thou desirest? Yet the question is, Are\nthey absolutely or conditionally promised? If absolutely promised, hold\non in desiring; if conditionally promised, then thou must consider\nwhether they are such as are essential to the well-being of thy soul in\nthy Christian course in this life. Or whether they are things that are\nof a more inferior sort.\n\nIf they are such as are essential to the well-being of thy soul in thy\nChristian course in this world, then hold on in thy desires; and look\nalso for the conditions that that word calls for, that proffereth them\nto thee; and if it be not possible to find them in thyself, look for\nthem in Christ, and cry to God for them, for the Lord\u2019s sake. But if\nthey be of an inferior sort, and thou canst be a good Christian without\nthem, desire them, and yet be content to go without them; for who knows\nbut it may be better that thou shouldest be denied, than that thou\nshouldest have now a grant of some things thou desirest? and herein\nthou hast thy Lord for thy pattern; who, though he desired that his\nlife might be prolonged, yet wound up that prayer with a \u2018nevertheless,\nnot my will, but thine be done\u2019 (Matt 26:39-42; Mark 14:36).\n\nSecond. By way of answer; but we will suppose that the thing thou\ndesirest is good; and that thy heart may be right in asking; as suppose\nthou desirest more grace; or as David has it, more \u2018truth in the inward\nand hidden part\u2019 (Psa 51:6). Yet there are several things for thy\ninstruction, may be replied to thy objection, as,\n\n1. Thou, though thou desirest more of this, mayest not yet be sensible\nof the worth of what thou askest, as perhaps God will have thee be,\nbefore he granteth thy desire; sometimes Christians ask for good things\nwithout having in themselves an estimate proportionable to the worth of\nwhat they desire; and God may hold it therefore back, to learn them to\nknow better the worth and greatness of that thing they ask for. The\ngood disciples asked they knew not what (Mark 10:38). I know they asked\nwhat was unlawful, but they were ignorant of the value of that thing;\nand the same may be thy fault when thou askest for things most lawful\nand necessary.\n\n2. Hast thou well improved what thou hast received already? Fathers\nwill hold back more money, when the sons have spent that profusely\nwhich they had received before. \u2018He that is faithful in that which is\nleast, is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least, is\nunjust also in much.\u2019 \u2018And if ye have not been faithful in that which\nis another man\u2019s, who shall give you that which is your own?\u2019 (Luke\n16:10,12). See here an objection made against a further supply, or\nrather against such a supply as some would have, because they have\nmisspent, or been unfaithful in what they have already had. If thou,\ntherefore, hast been faulty here, go, humble thyself to thy friend, and\nbeg pardon for thy faults that are past, when thou art desiring of him\nmore grace.\n\n3. When God gives to his the grant of their desires, he doth it so as\nmay be best for our advantage; now there are times wherein the giving\nof grace may be best to our advantage; as, (1.) Just before a\ntemptation comes, then, if it rains grace on thee from heaven, it may\nbe most for thy advantage. This is like God\u2019s sending of plenty in\nEgypt just before the years of famine came. (2.) For God to restrain\nthat which thou desirest, even till the spirit of prayer is in a manner\nspent, may be further to inform thee, that though prayer and desires\nare a duty, and such also to which the promise is made; yet God sees\nthose imperfections in both thy prayers and desires, as would utterly\nbind his hands, did he not act towards thee merely from motives drawn\nfrom his own bowels and compassion, rather than from any deserving that\nhe sees in thy prayers. Christians, even righteous men, are apt to lean\ntoo much to their own doings; and God, to wean them from them, ofttimes\ndefers to do what they by doing expect, even until in doing their\nspirits are spent, and they as to doing can do no longer. When they\nthat cried for water had cried till their spirits failed, and their\ntongue clave to the roof of their mouth for thirst; then the Lord did\nhear, and then the God of Israel did give them their desire. Also when\nJonas his soul fainted under the consideration of all the evils that he\nhad brought upon himself; then his prayer came unto God into his holy\ntemple (Jonah 2:7; Isa 41:17,18). The righteous would be too light in\nasking, and would too much overprize their works, if their God should\nnot sometimes deal in this manner with them. (3.) It is also to the\nadvantage of the righteous, that they be kept and led in that way which\nwill best improve grace already received, and that is, when they spin\nit out and use it to the utmost; when they do with it as the prophet\ndid with that meal\u2019s meat that he ate under the juniper-tree, \u2018he went\nin the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights, even to the\nmount of God\u2019 (1 Kings 19:8). Or when they do as the widow did, spend\nupon their handful of flour in the barrel, and upon that little oil in\nthe cruse, till God shall send more plenty (1 Kings 17:9-16). The\nrighteous are apt to be like well fed children, too wanton, if God\nshould not appoint them some fasting days. Or they would be apt to cast\naway fragments, if God should give them every day a new dish. So then\nGod will grant the desires of the righteous in that way which will be\nmost for their advantage. And that is, when they have made the best of\nthe old store (1 Kings 19:4-8). If God should give us two or three\nharvests in a year, we should incline to feed our horse and hogs with\nwheat; but being as it is, we learn better to husband the matter.\n\nBy this means, we are also made to see, that there is virtue sufficient\nin our old store of grace to keep us with God in the way of our duty,\nlonger than we could imagine it would. I myself have cried out I can\nstand no longer, hold out no longer, without a further supply of grace;\nand yet I have by my old grace been kept even after this, days, and\nweeks, and months, in a way of waiting on God. A little true grace will\ngo a great way, yea, and do more wonders than we are aware of. If we\nhave but grace enough to keep us groaning after God, it is not all the\nworld that can destroy us.[19]\n\n4. Perhaps thou mayest be mistaken. The grace thou prayest for, may in\ngreat measure be come unto thee. Thou hast been desiring of God, thou\nsayest, more grace; but hast it not.\n\nBut how, if whilst thou lookest for it to come to thee at one door, it\nshould come to thee in at another? And that we may a little inquire\ninto the truth of this, let us a little consider what are the effects\nof grace in its coming to the soul, and then see if it has not been\ncoming unto thee almost ever since thou hast set upon this fresh desire\nafter it. (1.) Grace, in the general effect of it, is to mend the soul,\nand to make it better disposed. Hence when it comes, it brings\nconvincing light along with it, by which a man sees more of his\nbaseness than at other times. More, I say, of his inward baseness. It\nis through the shinings of the Spirit of grace that those cobwebs and\nstinks that yet remain in thee are discovered: \u2018In thy light shall we\nsee light.\u2019 And again, whatsoever makes manifest is light. If then thou\nseest thyself more vile than formerly, grace by its coming to thee has\ndone this for thee. (2.) Grace, when it comes, breaks and crumbles the\nheart, in the sense and sight of its vileness. A man stands amazed and\nconfounded in himself; breaks and falls down on his face before God; is\nashamed to lift up so much as his face to God, at the sight and\napprehension of how wicked he is. (3.) Grace, when it comes, shows to a\nman more of the holiness and patience of God; his holiness to make us\nwonder at his patience, and his patience to make us wonder at his\nmercy, that yet, even yet, such a vile one as I am, should be admitted\nto breathe in the land of the living, yea more, suffered to come to the\nthrone of grace. (4.) Grace is of a heart-humbling nature: it will make\na man count himself the most unworthy of anything, of all saints. It\nwill make a man put all others afore him, and be glad too, if he may be\none beloved, though least beloved, because most unworthy. It will make\nhim with gladness accept of the lowest room, as counting all saints\nmore worthy of exaltation than himself. (5.) Grace will make a man\nprize other men\u2019s graces and gracious actions above his own. As he\nthinks every man\u2019s candle burns brighter than his, every man improves\ngrace better than he, every good man does more sincerely his duty than\nhe. And if these be not some of the effects of the renewings of grace,\nI will confess I have taken my mark amiss. (6.) Renewings of grace\nbeget renewed self-bemoanings, self-condemnation, self-abhorrences.\n\nAnd say thou prayest for communion with, and the presence of God. God\ncan have communion with thee, and grant thee his presence, and all this\nshall, instead of comforting of thee at present, more confound thee,\nand make thee see thy wickedness (Isa 6:1-5). Some people think they\nnever have the presence and the renewings of God\u2019s grace upon them but\nwhen they are comforted, and when they are cheered up; when, alas! God\nmay be richly with them, while they cry out, By these visions my\nsorrows are multiplied; or, because I have seen God, I shall die (Dan\n10:8-17; Judg 13:22).\n\nAnd tell me now, all these things considered, has not grace, even the\ngrace of God, which thou hast so much desired, been coming to thee, and\nworking in thee in all these hidden methods? And so doing, has it not\nalso accommodated thee with all the aforenamed conveniences? The which\nwhen thou considerest, I know thou wouldest not be without for all the\ngood of the world. Thus, therefore, thy desire is accomplishing; and\nwhen it is accomplished, will be sweet to thy soul (Prov 13:19).\n\n5. But we will follow thee a little in the way of thy heart. Thou\nsayest thou desirest, and desirest grace, yea, hast been a thousand\ntimes upon thy knees before God for more grace, and yet thou canst not\nattain. I answer,\n\n(1.) It may be the grace which thou prayest for, is worthy thy being\nupon thy knees yet a thousand times more. We find, that usually they\nthat go to king\u2019s courts for preferment, are there at great expenses;\nyea, and wait a great while, even until they have spent their whole\nestates, and worn out their patience too. Yet they at last prevail, and\nthe thing desired comes. Yea, and when it is come, it sets them up\nanew, and makes them better men\u2014though they did spend all that they had\nto obtain it\u2014than ever they were before. Wait, therefore, wait, I say,\non the Lord (Psa 27:14). Wait therefore with David, wait patiently; bid\nthy soul cheer up, and wait (Psa 37:7, 62:5). \u2018Blessed are all they\nthat wait for him\u2019 (Isa 30:18).\n\n(2.) Thou must consider, that great grace is reserved for great\nservice; thou desirest abundance of grace, thou dost well, and thou\nshalt have what shall qualify and fit thee for the service that God has\nfor thee to do for him, and for his name in the world. The apostles\nthemselves were to stay for great grace until the time of their work\nwas come (Acts 1:4-8, 4:33). I will not allot thy service, but assure\nthyself, when thy desire cometh, thou wilt have occasion for it; new\nwork, new trials, new sufferings, or something that will call for the\npower and virtue of all the grace thou shalt have to keep thy spirit\neven, and thy feet from slipping, while thou art exercised in new\nengagements. Assure thyself, thy God will not give thee straw, but he\nwill expect brick: \u2018For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be\nmuch required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will\nask the more\u2019 (Luke 12:48). Wherefore, as thou art busy in desiring\nmore grace, be also desirous that wisdom to manage it with faithfulness\nmay also be granted unto thee. Thou wilt say, Grace, if I had it, will\ndo all this for me. It will, and will not. It will, if thou watch and\nbe sober; it will not, if thou be foolish and remiss. Men of great\ngrace may grow consumptive in grace, and idleness may turn him that\nwears a plush jacket into rags.[20] David was once a man of great\ngrace, but his sin made the grace which he had to shrink up, and\ndwindle away, as to make him cry out, O! \u2018take not thy holy spirit\u2019\nutterly \u2018from me\u2019 (Psa 51:11, 119:8). Or, perhaps God withholds what\nthou wouldest have, that it may be the more prized by thee when it\ncomes: \u2018Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire\ncometh, it is a tree of life\u2019 (Prov 13:12).\n\n6. Lastly, but dost thou think that thy more grace will exempt thee\nfrom temptations? Alas! the more grace, as was hinted, the greater\ntrials. Thou must be, for all that, like the ship of which thou\nreadest, sometimes high, sometimes low; sometimes steady, sometimes\nstaggering; sometimes in, and sometimes even at the end of thy very\nwits. For \u2018so he brings us to our desired haven\u2019 (Psa 107:23-30). Yet\ngrace is the gold and preciousness of the righteous man: yea, and\nherein appears the uprightness of his soul, in that though all these\nthings attend the grace of God in him, yet he chooseth grace here above\nall, for that it makes him the more like God and his Christ, and for\nthat it seasons his heart best to his own content; and also for that it\ncapacitates him to glorify God in the world.\n\n[THE CONCLUSION.]\n\n\nIs it so? Is this the sum of all, namely, That \u2018the fear of the wicked\nit shall come upon him,\u2019 and that \u2018the desire of the righteous shall be\ngranted?\u2019 Then this shows us what is determined concerning both.\nConcerning the wicked, that all his hopes shall not bring him to\nheaven; and concerning the righteous, that all his fears shall not\nbring him to hell. But what a sad thing is it for one to be a wicked\nman! Nothing can help him, his wickedness is too strong for him: \u2018His\nown iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden\nwith the cords of his sins\u2019 (Prov 5:22). He may twist and twine, and\nseek to work himself from under the sentence passed upon him; but all\nwill do him no pleasure: \u2018the wicked is driven away in his wickedness.\nBut the righteous hath hope in his death\u2019 (Prov 14:32). Loth he is to\nbe righteous now; and as loth he will be to be found in his sins at the\ndreadful day of doom. But so it must be: \u2018Upon the wicked God shall\nrain snares, fire, and brimstone, and a horrible\u2019 burning \u2018tempest:\nthis shall be the portion of their cup\u2019 (Psa 11:6).\n\n\u2018Woe unto the wicked\u2019 therefore: \u2018it shall be ill with him, for the\nreward of his hands shall be given him\u2019 (Isa 3:10). The just God will\nrecompense both the righteous and the wicked, even according to their\nworks. And yet for all this the wicked will not hear! When I read God\u2019s\nWord, and see how the wicked follow their sins, yea, dance in the ways\nof their own destruction, it is astonishing to me. Their actions\ndeclare them, though not Atheists in principle, yet such in\npractice.[21] What do all their acts declare, but this, that they\neither know not God, or fear not what he can do unto them? But, O! how\nwill they change their note, when they see what will become of them!\nHow wan will they look! Yea, the hair of their heads will stand on end\nfor fear; for their fear is their portion; nor can their fears, nor\ntheir prayers, nor their entreaties, nor their wishes, nor their\nrepentings, help them in this day. And thus have I showed you what are\nthe \u2018desires of the righteous,\u2019 and that the \u2018fear of the wicked shall\ncome upon him, but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.\u2019\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n[1] How blessed are those whose light shines so clearly as to be known\nand read of all men. A brand plucked from the burning bears the marks\nof fire, but is not consuming.\u2014Ed.\n\n[2] \u2018A very Abraham,\u2019 or an Abraham cove. Cant terms formerly applied\nto poor silly half-naked men, or to sturdy beggars. Thus the fraternity\nof Vacabondes, 1575, describes them:\u2014\u2018An Abraham man is he that walketh\nbare-armed or bare-legged, and fayneth hymselfe mad, and caryeth a\npacke of wool, or a stycke with baken on it, or suche lyke toy, and\nnameth poore Tom.\u2019 Shakespeare alludes to them under the name of Bedlam\nBeggars.\u2014Ed.\n\n[3] To possess with or of; to cause to possess or to be possessed with\u2014\n\n    \u2018At the port (Lord) he give her to thy hand,\n    And by the way possesse thee what she is.\u2019\n            Troylus and Cressida, act 4, s. 4.\n\n    __________ \u2018thou hast given me to possess\n    Life in myself for ever.\u2019\n            Milton\u2019s Paradise Lost, book iii, 243.\n\n[4] Establishes our opinions, or fixes them in us. \u2018Our young men being\nprincipled by these new philosophers.\u2019\u2014Cudworth.\n\n   \u2018A Parliament so principled will sink\n    All ancient schools of empire in disgrace.\u2019\n            Dr. Young.\u2014Ed.\n\n[5] Where is the man, except he be a willful perverter of Divine truth,\nwho can charge the doctrines of grace with licentiousness? All hope of\nelection or predestination arises from conformity to the image of\nChrist. Vain is hope except it is founded upon redemption from the\ncurse, to walk in newness and holiness of life; equally vain is a hope\nfounded on the wicked assumption of man to the power of forgiveness of\nsin.\u2014Ed.\n\n[6] This is admirably illustrated by the Interpreter in the Pilgrim\u2019s\nProgress. He shows Christian a fire burning against the wall, and one\nstanding by it, always casting much water upon it to quench it, yet did\nthe fire burn higher and hotter. Christian wonders until he is taken\nbehind the wall, and sees Christ secretly pouring the oil of grace into\nthe fire. Before Bunyan had been behind the wall, he was scared by the\nfather of lies, who suggested to him\u2014\u2018You are very hot for mercy, but I\nwill cool you, though I be seven years in chilling your heart.\u2019 Grace\nAbounding, No. 118.\u2014Ed.\n\n[7] As we escape a thousand bodily dangers unseen and unknown to us in\ntime, so, doubtless, acts of grace pass through the soul without our\nbeing sensible of them, although they may be the means of saving us\nfrom severe tribulations. How wondrous will be the review of our lives\nwhen we shall see face to face, and know all things.\u2014Ed.\n\n[8] However disgusting the appearance of a toad may be, this is not the\nfirst time that Bunyan considered sin as rendering its slave more\nloathsome even than a toad. \u2018Now I blessed,\u2019 said he, \u2018the condition of\nthe dog and the toad, and counted the state of everything that God had\nmade far better than this state of mine.\u2019 Grace Abounding, No. 104.\u2014Ed.\n\n[9] \u2018This inward conflict between opposing principles constitutes the\nvery distinction between the regenerate and the unregenerate, and forms\npart of the recorded experience of the most advanced, and elevated, and\nspiritually-minded believers. Freedom from this conflict is not to be\nexpected here by any child of God.\u2019\u2014Dr. Wardlaw.\n\n[10] This is one of the very few instances, if not the only one, in\nwhich Bunyan\u2019s attachment to believers\u2019 baptism appears, except when\nwriting expressly upon the subject. Of all men, he was the most eminent\nfor non-sectarian feelings, arising from his soul being so baptized\ninto Christ as to leave no room for controversy upon ceremonial\nobservances. I feel bound to confirm the truth of his observation, for\nif ever I enjoyed a heaven upon earth, it was on the Lord\u2019s day\nmorning, when, publicly professing my faith in the Redeemer, I was\nsolemnly baptized. Nor have I ever witnessed this ceremony since\nwithout the strongest emotions of love, and joy, and hope.\u2014Ed.\n\n[11] Church fellowship, rightly managed, abounds with blessings, when\nthe bishops or elders and the people are united in gospel bonds to\npromote each other\u2019s peace and holy enjoyments\u2014their great happiness\nbeing to extend the benign influence of the Redeemer\u2019s kingdom. Let\nWatchful be the porter; Discretion admit the members; Prudence take the\noversight; Piety conduct the worship; and Charity endear the members to\neach other, and it is a house \u2018beautiful.\u2019 \u2018Christians are like the\nseveral flowers in a garden; they have upon each of them the dew of\nheaven, which, being shaken, they let fall at each other\u2019s roots, and\nare jointly nourished and nourishers of each other.\u2019 Bunyan\u2019s Pilgrim\nand Christian Behaviour.\u2014Ed.\n\n[12] Blessed be God the sword is for the present sheathed. Marvellous\nwas the indomitable courage of the martyrs under papacy, and, in a\nlater day, of the Scottish Covenanters. They saw their friends and\nministers tortured and murdered\u2014the pain of the boots must have been\ninconceivable\u2014the bones of their legs were crushed between pieces of\niron, and, even when death had released the victim, savage barbarity\nwas practised upon his mutilated remains; the head and hands were cut\noff and exhibited upon a pike, the hands fixed as in the attitude of\nprayer, to mock the holiest duty. Can we wonder that lambs became\nlions, overthrew the horrid enemy, and drove out State Episcopacy for\never?\u2014Ed.\n\n[13] The noise made by animals of the stag or hart species is called,\nby Goldsmith, bellowing. It strikes the ear as something beneath the\ndignity of a hart to bray like an ass. Bunyan found the word in the\nmargin of Psalm 42:1, \u2018The hart panteth.\u2019 Heb. \u2018Brayeth, after the\nwater brooks.\u2019\u2014Ed.\n\n[14] Saffron was formerly cultivated near Bunyan\u2019s residence, but,\nalthough sold at a very high price, it scarcely paid for its expense.\nIn the flowering season, it was needful to gather the flowers every\nmorning as they came to perfection.\u2014Ed.\n\n[15] The Israelites entered the wilderness fourteen hundred and\nninety-one years before Christ. The prophecy of Jeremiah was delivered\nsix hundred and twenty-nine years before Christ. This remembrance was\neight hundred and sixty-two years after that memorable event. With God\nthere can be no forgetfulness; a thousand years in his sight are but as\nyesterday.\u2014Ed.\n\n[16] How striking the contrast, but yet how true! A whip, whose cords\nwere made of the flames of hell, could no more arouse a sinner dead in\ntrespass and sins than a crown of glory could allure him. With all the\ndread realities of the world to come pressed upon the conscience by a\nfaithful minister, still, alas! how many maintain their downward\ncourse. The duty is ours to prophesy upon the dry bones. God and his\ngracious Spirit alone can raise them up to holy, happy enjoyments.\u2014Ed.\n\n[17] This language is as expressive and original as it is like Bunyan.\nDeath takes the sinner by the throat, and \u2018hands him down stairs to the\ngrave.\u2019 The indulgence in any sinful propensity has this downward,\ndeathly tendency. Every lust, whether for riches or honours, for\ngambling, wine, or women, leads the deluded wretched votary step by\nstep to the chambers of death. There is no hope in the dread prospect;\ntrouble and anguish possess the spirit. Hast thou escaped, O my soul,\nfrom the net of the infernal fowler? Never forget that it is as a brand\nsnatched from the burning. O to grace how great a debtor.\u2014Ed.\n\n[18] It is not usual to call the rich young man a hypocrite. To outward\nappearance he was in earnest. Negatively, he had kept the commandments.\nNow he is required to perform positive duties, and to live by faith.\nHere the mask falls off, and he concludes that eternal life is not\nworth the sacrifice.\u2014Ed.\n\n[19] We have here an additional section to the Grace Abounding to the\nChief of Sinners. The result of long experience convinced him that if\nhe possessed a spark of grace which impelled him to groan after God,\nall the powers of earth and hell could not destroy him.\u2014Ed.\n\n[20] As it is in temporal things, so it is in spiritual. If new\ndiscoveries of Divine love lead to want of watchfulness, trial and\nsorrow must ensue. About sixty years ago a next door neighbour, a\nhatter, gained a prize in the lottery of ten thousand pounds\u2014he became\nintoxicated with his wealth, moved to the fashionable end of London,\nwent into a large way of business, dissipated his fortune, and died in\na workhouse! Christian, if you have unexpected enjoyments, be watchful;\nit is to fit you for trials.\u2014Ed.\n\n[21] This is one of the most decisive proofs of the awfully degraded\nstate of human nature. Men believe, or pretend to believe, that this\nlife is but a span in companions with eternity\u2014that there is a heaven\nto reward the righteous and a hell to receive the unconverted sinner;\nand yet make no personal inquiry at the holy oracles of God whether\nthey have been born again to newness of life, or whether they remain in\ntheir sins. The great mass of mankind prefer paying their pence to a\npriest to mislead them to destruction, than to trouble themselves with\nGod\u2019s holy Word. O for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that men may\nbe released from such bondage and slavery, and enter upon the happy\nglorious liberty of the sons of God.\u2014Ed.","title":"Works of John Bunyan \u2014 Volume 01","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":880528}