Christ Inviting Sinners to Come to Him for Rest, Treatise · Chapter 27
CHAP. XXVII.
The inſufficiency of every thing beſides Chriſt to give Reſt to the Soul is further enlarged, with ſeveral Choice Conſiderations,
FIrſt, There are ſome that are ſo vile, as the cheifeſt Reſt and comfort of their Souls is in the pleaſure of ſin, in the delight that they do take in ſatisfying of their ſinful luſts, that is the comfort and Reſt of their Souls, if they be troubled at home, Wife, Children, or Servants do but trouble them, what do they do to eaſe themſelves, they go abroad among company, and there drink, and play, and ſwear, and perhaps be unclean. And others, when they are croſſed, how do they eaſe themſelves by venting their paſſion, and the truth is, it is a moſt holy truth I am ſpeaking of, Oh! That ever it ſhould enter into the Heart of a creature, to make it to be the greateſt quiet, eaſe, and Reſt of his Soul, to ſatisfie himſelf in ſinning againſt the bleſſed God, and yet, I appeal unto you, do not your conſciences tel you, ſome of you, that this is your condition? And do you not know Men, that the greateſt comfort, eaſe, quiet and Reſt of heart that they have in this world, is in the ſatisfying of their ſinful luſts? How far is this from ſeeking out Reſt in Chriſt, in the Son of God, in the great Mediator of the Covenant; yet this is the condition of moſt people, take away the ſatisfaction of their Souls in their ſinful luſts, and they have nothing to quiet their Hearts with, but when they are there, now they are ſafe, now they are quiet. Do but conſider of this one thing that now I am ſpeaking of, That to have Reſt, and quiet, in any way of ſin, it is no other, but juſt as if a man had a burning Feaver, and he cals for a pot of Water, gets it to his mouth, and drinks it up every drop; now in the very time he is pouring this down his Throat, he hath ſome Reſt, ſome eaſe, he finds ſome eaſe from the fit of the feaver while he is drinking down the pot of Water; but do you think this wil be Reſt to him? Do but ſtay a quarter of an hour, or may be an hour or two, then you wil find him in his ſcalding burning fit, then he burnes ten times more than he did before, and it is like to coſt him his life, but he finds trouble and diſquiet, and that gives him eaſe, and therefore he drinks it down and this indangers his Life afterwards. So it is with men, that ſeek after eaſe and Reſt unto their Souls in any way of ſin, thy pleaſure in thy ſinful waies, take all the pleaſure of thy Life from thy youth to the day of thy death, and put it altogether, yet in reſpect of eternity, it is but juſt like the eaſe that a poor man in a Feaver hath, while the water is going down his Throat, all thy pleaſure is no more, and thou art like to be ſcalding and burning in Gods wrath to al eternity for that one draught of thine, for the eaſe and Reſt that thou hadſt in the way of ſin; I am ſure when Chriſt had the burden of our ſins upon him, he found it no Reſt, and therefore it cannot be eaſe to thy Spirit.
Secondly, There are others, though not ſo vile, yet they Reſt not in the act of ſin, but in the creature, if they can have good trading, quick voyages, and have as their neighbors have, then they are ready as the rich man in the Goſpel to ſay, Soul, take thine eaſe, eat and drink, for thou haſt goods laid up for many yeares; and this is the reſt that moſt people in the world do ſeek after; they think, that if they might have as ſuch and ſuch have, then they had reſt enough, but be it knowne unto you, that this is an argument that thou doeſt not underſtand nor ſavor the things of God, if thou thinkeſt that al the creatures in the world, yea, if God ſhould give thee the poſſeſſion of al the creatures in heaven and earth, if thou ſhouldeſt think that they would give thee reſt, I ſay, thou doſt not ſavour at al the things of God; but thoſe that underſtand what God is, yea, thoſe that have but one ſparke of true ſaving grace, this ſpark of grace doth ſo inlarge the ſoul, that al the creatures in heaven and earth cannot give reſt, cannot give quiet, but ſtil it hath a higher good to ſeek after than al the creatures in al the world. There is a notable text of Scripture which we have in the book of Job, in the 26. of Job, and 7. verſe He Stretcheth forth the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. Wilt thou ſeek thy reſt in that which hangs upon nothing? the whole earth hath nothing to reſt upon, and therefore nothing in the earth can be reſt unto thy ſoul. In Micah 2.10. as it is ſaid there in that place, ſo I may ſay of creatures, Ariſe ye and depart, for here is not your reſt. The whole world is as a wheel, in a continual motion, and therefore in James 3.6. Where the text ſpeakes of the courſe of nature, or the wheel of nature, the whole world is as a wheel running up and down, and therefore there can be no reſt in the enjoyment of the creature.
Wel, but there are ſome yet would fain have reſt there, having got good eſtates, ſome of you have got good voyages, and God hath proſpered you in your young dayes, and having got great eſtates, now you would have reſt, that is, to live idlely, and to live uſeleſly, and to keep at home, and let al things go which way they wil, it is good to be quiet in ones old dayes, when God hath delivered you from many dangers at ſea, now you think the only way is to live quietly at home, and to meddle with nothing, and this is the reſt of your ſouls, this is the reſt that many men have after their yonger time is paſt, and how then to live and do nothing, this is their reſt, now: Oh! that God would but ſpeak to the hearts of theſe men.
1. Do but conſider this, That by living thus idlely and unuſefully thou comeſt to have al thy parts and thy ſpirits to corrupt; juſt as a ſtanding water, as waters in a pond do corrupt, and putrifie by their ſtanding, ſo men that live uſeleſly and are not active for God, and for the publique good, according to the opportunities that God puts into their hands, their hearts do putrifie and grow corrupt, there is a corruption that comes upon al their parts, the beauty, the excellency, the quickneſs, the livelineſs of their parts are taken away, and they begin to putrifie more and more, becauſe they are not imployed for God, what ever we have that we imploy not for God, and are not active in for God, it putrifies, and however many men think it a great happineſs, becauſe they have eſtates, and they may live and do nothing, there is not a greater miſery to a gracious heart, than to be uſeleſs for God, and for God to lay them aſide as ſuch as are uſeleſs, not to uſe them in his ſervice, it is the greateſt affliction to a Godly heart in the world; if God ſhould take away their eſtates, it would not be ſuch a great affliction, as to lay them aſide and do nothing for God, and therefore let no man think, becauſe he hath got a great eſtate, that therefore he may ly ſtil, & do nothing, Oh! what wil this man do when he ſhal be called to account for al his time, for al his opportunity for al his eſtate? certainly this wil not be ſufficient, that he can ſay, he did no hurt, no, but thou ſhouldeſt have been active for God, God is active for thee in ſaving thy ſoul, al the Atributes of God is working for thee, and al the paſſages of his providence is working for thee if thou be ſaved, and therefore this is a wretched condition, for men to think no higher reſt but meerly freedome from outward trouble, and if there be any whoſe conſcience tels them, this is the truth, this is my condition, and God ſpeakes to my heart this day, this is the reſt that I have ſought after, know, that thou art not acquainted with the wayes of God, for certainly the reſt of an immortal ſoul is a high thing, Jeſus Chriſt came into the world from the boſom of his father, and laid down his life to purchaſe reſt for the ſoul, and doſt thou think that Chriſt did this only to purchaſe this, that thou mayeſt be freed from ſome outward trouble in this world? and that we might ſit in the …himny corner and do nothing? Oh! there is another reſt for the Children of God than this.
Object. I but ſome go further, ſome wil ſay, We truſt in the mercy of God for reſt for our ſoules.
Anſw. Now for that, though this be better than al the other, yet a man and woman may miſtake in this, thou truſteſt in Gods mercy for reſt to thy ſoul, what hath God revealed to thy ſoul concerning the mediator of the covenant? this may ſeem difficult to ſome, and that is this, that al the mercy of God in heaven cannot be ſufficient for the reſt of any ſoul, but through a Mediator in Chriſt; the ſoul muſt be brought to this mercy by the hand of Chriſt the mediator; thou muſt firſt come to Chriſt the mediator, before thou canſt have any reſt, even in the mercy of God it ſelf. You muſt know, and if you know any thing of the miſtery of the Goſpel you muſt know this, that though God be an infinite current of mercy, yet al the current of Gods mercy is ſtopt by mans ſin, ſo as it can only be opened by the blood of Jeſus Chriſt, and therefore thou muſt know God in Chriſt, and you muſt know how you come unto God in and through Chriſt, before you can reſt upon the mercy of God, this is that which doth undo many ſoules, thoſe that are of the better ſort, they think to rely upon Gods mercy, think to reſt in that, and that is a ſure reſt to their ſoules, but they little underſtand how al the current of the mercy of God is ſtopt, and there is no coming to it but by the hand of a mediator between God and man.
Others they wil ſay, they do many good things, they do many good actions, they ſerve God, and they reſt in this, they do not commit the groſs ſins of the world, and they do performe duties, they pray in their families, and in their cloſets, & this is that they reſt in, but the reſt of an immortal ſoul muſt have a better foundation than this, than al the duties, than al the ſorrows for their ſins, than al that God himſelf works in them, it muſt be ſomewhat without them, that muſt be reſt to their ſouls, and nothing wrought in us, no not the grace of God in us can be reſt to our ſouls, it muſt be the perfect righteouſneſs of a mediator, though it be wrought in us by faith can be reſt to our ſouls, yet nothing in us: So that you may miſtake and performe duties in a formal manner, but ſuppoſe you performed them in a gracious manner, yet you muſt not reſt in them, you muſt go higher than al the beſt duties that ever you performed. Wo to Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob, if they had no other reſt but what their duties brought them, you muſt look higher than whatever you are, or can be inabled to do for your reſt.
You wil ſay, what is there that can be higher than what we are inabled to do by God? There is a righteouſneſs in Jeſus Chriſt by which you muſt come, there is an inſufficiency in al the creatures in the world to give reſt, and yet the truth is, the greateſt part of the world make al their reſt in theſe things: much might be ſpoken concerning the danger of this, and much of the ſignes when our ſoules have true reſt in Chriſt, but we ſhal meet with that in the other point, in handling the Reſt that we have in Chriſt, I wil therefore paſs over this, about the inſufficiency of the Reſt in al other things, only with this one thing. Know this, That that Heart that is touched with Jeſus Chriſt, as the Iron is with the Load-ſtone, can never be quiet either in creature comforts, or in hope of mercy, or in any Duty or performance, it can never be quiet til it gets union with Jeſus Chriſt. Juſt as it is with a Needle that is touched with a Load-Stone, ſhake it which way you wil, it wil never be at Reſt til it come to the North, and when it gets North, then it ſtands there: ſo it is with a heart that is touched with Jeſus Chriſt, there is the touch of the ſpirit of Jeſus Chriſt upon the Heart of a beleever, and when the Heart is but touched with Jeſus Chriſt, it ſhakes, is ful of fears and doubts, and offer it this creature comfort, and the other creature comfort, it wil not do it, the Heart is not at reſt. But now, when there is the manifeſtation of Chriſt unto the Soul, let them come to a Sermon where ſome bleſſed promiſe to the Goſpel is opened to them, and Jeſus Chriſt preſented to them, and they find this to be the Reſt of their Souls, their Hearts come preſently and cloſe with this, and they are able to lay the weight of their eternities upon the promiſe of the Goſpel, upon the free Grace of God in Chriſt, they are able to lay the weight of their eternal eſtates here; however others think, that the promiſe of the Goſpel is but a notion, yet here they are able to lay the weight of their eternal eſtates, and they can ſay with Simeon, Lord, now letteſt thou thy Servant depart in peace for mine Eyes have ſeen thy Salvation. Here I ſee Reſt for my Soul, my Heart was ful of Terrors, fears and doubts, and I ſought for Reſt and eaſe in this, and the other creature comfort, and could not find it. But now Chriſt is made known to me, and here is the Reſt of my Soul. It is true, Godly people may be troubled for a while, but it is as the trouble of the ſhaking of a Needle in the compaſs, and other men they are troubled too, there are ſome people troubled in conſcience for their ſins, they come to a Sermon, and hear the evil of ſin opened, and God meets with their Particular ſin, ſome ſecret ſin that they live in, they are troubled, and they ſhake too, I but they are like a falſ Needle not rightly touched, that ſhakes as the other doth, but it wil ſtand at any point, do but put it this way or that way, and it wil ſtand here and there: would marriners give any thing for ſuch a Needle, that would ſtand at this point and the other point? So it is with wicked men when they are troubled, the Devil, the world, and their corruptions come and quiet their conſciences out of Chriſt, and ſo indeed this hinders them from coming to Jeſus Chriſt, becauſe they find quiet ſome where elſe. The Saints they are troubled, but their trouble and ſhaking in the world is like the trouble of a ſhip that is in the Haven at ſhore, that lies at Anchor; a ſhip that lies at Anchor, though the waves toſs it up and down, yet it is toſt up and down at Anchor: So here is the difference for al the world, between al the troubles of the Saints, and the trouble of ungodly men. Now when you have a ſhip at Sea, and have no Anchor, and the ſtorm drives it any way, when there comes a mighty Tempeſt and hurries it up and down, and you do not know but you may light upon a Rock, and be ſplit, you are troubled; But the Saints they are at Anchor, and you count your ſelves at Reſt though you are toſt by the Waves, when you are at Anchor.