Gospel Reconciliation, Chapter 41 – Chapter 42
CAP. 41. Why God wil not himſelf immediatly diſpute this Goſpel Reconciliation.
BUT further, it may be ſaid; why wil not God immediately himſelf preach this Doctrine of the Goſpel, The Miſtery of Reconciliation? we ſee many infirmities in men; Men are ready enough to ſtumble at al infirmities of the Miniſters of the Goſpel (which by the way ſhould teach Miniſters of the Goſpel to have a care how they walk) but becauſe there are ſo many things to be excepted againſt men we would be ready to think, if God would himſelf preach the goſpel from heaven men would regard it more.
No, but God wil not do ſo, though God wil aſſiſt the Miniſtery to make it effectual in the hearts of thoſe that ſhal be ſaved; yet he wil not ſpeak himſelf from Heaven, but he wil ſend men like themſelves, and let men hear or not, and howſoever, (though men think, if God ſhould ſpeak himſelf they would hear him) yet if they heare not men, they would not hear God. God ſpake himſelf from heaven in the delivering of the Law, but men did not keep the Law; but now God wil rather ſpeak by men; becauſe he doth delight to make uſe of every creature according to the capacity of it. The Lord takes a wonderful delight in the uſe of almeans that is ſuiteable to a creature, And therefore you ſhal find (which is very obſerveable) that though God did begin to ſpeak from Heaven to Saul that he did convert (who afterwards was called Paul) Chriſt ſpake at firſt from Heaven, but mark, he would not do the whol work himſelf immediately; but before the work ſhould be accompliſhed there ſhould be meanes uſed in Acts, 9.4. There Chriſt ſpeaks from Heaven; but I beſeech you obſerve it, what doth Chriſt ſpeak from Heaven? he doth not preach the goſpel; it is only the word of conviction Saul, Saul, Why perſecuteſt thou me? This was enough to ſtrike Saul with aſtoniſhment ſo that he fell upon the earth, and ſaid Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? But mark, what anſwer is given him? Go into the Citty and it ſhal be told thee. You muſt not think though I begin to ſpeak from Heaven to you, but that you muſt be content to ſet upon means, and ſo he did with Saul, he aroſe from the Earth in verſe, 8. God made him ſtay a good while before he would tel him what he ſhould do; he was three dayes and nights and eate nothing, and was praying al the while unto the Lord, and then in verſ, 10. Saith the Lord to Ananias (a Miniſter of his) Go to ſuch a place, and there thou ſhalt open to Saul my Mercy: this Doctrine of Reconciliation. It is true, I begin to think upon him; but I wil not go on in the work; you ſhal do it, and he ſhal attend upon your Miniſtery to let him know, what my mercy in Chriſt to his Soul is, and I wil bleſs your Miniſtery unto his Soul.
And thus you ſee how God ſtands upon the making uſe of the meanes, I make no queſtion but it is ſomething like to Gods dealing with many of you; though God at firſt begins himſelf, and ſtrikes ſome terror into your hearts. A man when he is going about his buſineſs, he hath ſome ſuddaine thought dents into his heart, Lord where am I? What if I ſhould now die? how can I anſwer for ſuch and ſuch things before God? And thus perhaps he comes to be troubled in his Conſcience by ſome immediate work of God, but he wil not go on in this work immediately, but he ſends him to the Miniſters of his word, and there he ſhews him what he muſt do concerning his good; I wil give you a notable text to ſhew you how God ſtands upon means; in Act. 10.2. He had ſome kind of the fear of God, but underſtood little of Chriſt; he was a ſouldier, a Centurion of the band called the Italian band; he had a greate many ſouldiers that were wicked, but yet he had ſome that were godly: But though he was in that place, yet he was a devout man and ful of prayer, (as it is commendable for Souldiers to be much in prayer,) becauſe carrying his life in his hands, he had need carry Grace in his heart, and then in the 3. verſe, (it is a very obſervable Scripture) firſt, God accepts of his prayers, and appeares in a Viſion to him, and ſends an Angel to him, and tels him that his prayers were accepted wel, but God had revealed ſo much of Chriſt to him which he was very ignorant of.
Object. You wil ſay, ſeing God did ſend an Angel to him, why did not God reveal Chriſt by the Angel? No, he would not, he ſends an Angel to Cornelius to this end, to bid him ſend for Peter that was a Miniſter of the Goſpel; This ſhould be the meſſage of the Angels, to tel him that God regarded his prayers, and almes. I but, as if the Angel ſhould ſay, God hath other things to tel you; but the truth is I have no commiſſion to tel you, my commiſſion is to tel you that you ſhould ſend for a Miniſter, he ſent for Peter, and Peter came and Preacht Chriſt unto him; as you may ſee in verſe, 34. ſo that you may ſee that God doth uſe to work upon men by means, and ſurely, herein God wil honor humane nature in taking it upon himſelf, and for Gods honoring of the Miniſter of his word, take this one note (which is likewiſe very obſervable) that Chriſt himſelf when he Preacht upon the Earth, we never read that his preaching was ſo efficatious to convert ſo many Souls, as the Miniſters of the Goſpel did; Peter when he came to preach the Goſpel, Converted three thouſand Souls at one Sermon, and you never read that Chriſt converted ſo many at a Sermon, Chriſt himſelf preaching immediatly the Goſpel did never convert ſo many as Peter did; The reaſon is to ſhew, that we muſt not expect ſo much the immediate preaching of God unto us; as God and Chriſt preaching to us by the Miniſtery of Man; that is the meaning of it: ſo that now you have had the point opened unto you; that God committs unto us the Miniſtery of Reconciliation.
I ſhal endeavour to apply it.
CHAP. 42.
Uſe, 1. The ſending of the Miniſters of the Goſpel is to be accounted a glorious bleſſing.
FIrſt, If this be the great work of the Miniſters that are ſent amongſt you to diſpence the Miniſtery of Reconciliation to you; O! then certainly the ſending of any of the miniſters of the goſpel among you, you are to account a glorious and a wonderful bleſſing of God upon you at any time; why? what is their errand? They come to treat with your ſouls about Reconciliation with God, and God hath appointed this the greate means of bringing ſouls unto himſelfe, to be reconciled unto himſelfe, and therefore it is one of the greateſt bleſſings in the world to have the mineſtry of the goſpel in any congregation. Bleſſed be your eyes ſaith Chriſt that you ſee ſuch things, and your ears that you heare ſuch things, that God hath diſpoſed you to live in thoſe times wherein you have the mighty things of the miniſtry of the goſpel ſhewed unto you; it is a good argument that god hath many ſouls to be reconciled unto when he ſends the miniſters of the goſpel unto a place, and therefore when Paul was going from a place, God appeared to him in the night, and bid him be of good courage and ſaith unto him, I have many ſouls in this City. When God in a ſpecial manner ſends the preaching of the goſpel into a place let them bleſs God from their ſouls, and take it as an argument that ſure God hath many ſouls in this place that he intends to be reconciled unto, for the minniſtry of the goſpel is the minniſtry of reconciliation; it is the fruit of the prayer of Jeſus Chriſt, and for that compare thoſe ſcriptures together and it wil be clear; in Eſay. 49 8. this is quoted in Cor. 2.6.2. now what is that? that is, when Paul was preaching to them, and he makes this the fulfilling of that prophecy in Eſay. 49. now it is clear, that, that prophecy is a prophecy of Chriſts praying to God the father; for thoſe that did belong to his election, that in due time they might have the doctrin of reconciliation opened to them; now ſaith God I have heard thee in an acceptable time, and ſaith Paul, now is the acceptable time, ſo that at any time when you come to heare a ſermon, and hear the doctrine of Reconciliation opened to you; you ſhould think thus much, This morning, or this day have I had the fruit of the prayer of Jeſus Chriſt for this congregation, and for my part in particular Chriſt was praying unto his father for this long before I was borne, and now do I come to have the fruit of the prayer of Jeſus Chriſt; This very ſound of the goſpel in my ears this morning, it is no other but the fruit of the prayer of Jeſus Chriſt unto God the father long before I had a being and the world was.