The Way of Life, Treatises 1 · Treatise 9
ZACH. 12.10.
And I will poure upon the house of David, &c.
THere is yet one note more frō these subjects upon whom the Spirit of grace is powred forth, who were these, The house of David, and the Inhabitants of Ierusalem; Were they not those that pierced Christ, that killed the Prophets, and stoned them, the same men that lived in that Age, of whom our Saviour said, That all the innocent blood of the Prophets that hath beene shed, shall be required of that Generation, Mat. 23.35. A generation of whom S. Paul said, that the Wrath of God was come upon them to the utmost, 1 Thes. 2.16. A People whom S. Peter cals, A froward Generation, Acts 2.40. Whose frowardnesse Paul doth fitly expresse, 1 Thes. 2.15. They have both pierced and killed the Lord of life, and persecuted us, God they pleased not, and are contrary is all men: Now these are the men, and we stand and wonder at it, of whom the Text saith, I will poure upon them a spirit of prayer and of supplication; Hence observe:
Doct. 9 That God doth sometimes poure out the Spirit of grace, upon the most bloody, and most haynous, and most desperate, and most prophane, and most abominable sinners.
Such as have pierced Christ, and killed the Lord of life, that had excommunicated him, and all that call upon him and professe his name; they at whose hands the blood of all the Prophets was to be required, &c. Men that expresly curse themselves to the nethermost hell, those that were mad against Christ; Upon these very men will God poure out a Spirit of grace and supplication; and lest you should thinke this to be peculiar to the Jewish Nation onelyonly, reade 1 Cor. 6.9, 10, 11. Such were some of you, such as all these, but yee are washed, and sanctified, &c. by the Spirit of our God, that is, by this Spirit of grace poured out upon them, some of all these sorts, and some that had them all together, the worst that you could name under the Sun, and such were some of you; But are you so still? No, But ye are now washed. So you see, the Spirit of grace may be poured out upon such as have beene Idolaters, Adulterers, &c. Notable is that speech of Paul to Titus, concerning Cretians his Countrymen, Titus 1.12, 13. The words are very elegant in the Originall: They were alwaies lyers, given to beastly courses, sluggish in any thing that was good; Now thinke you that ever these base spirited people should come on to be good Christians? yet, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; a signe the Apostle was not hopelesse of their estate: So Esay 1.10. Heare this ye Princes of Sodom, and ye people of Gomorrah, &c. To what purpose doe you come before me, and your hands are full of blood; yet notwithstanding ver, 16.17. Wash you, make you cleane, and then come and let us reason together; so wonderfull is the grace of God: let him speake to men that know him not so much as the Asse his owner, such as rebelled more and more when he chastened them, such whose hands were full of blood; yet let but such as these come & wash themselves, Cease to do evill, and learne to doe well, and then all these scarlet crimson sins shall be as snow. But of all the presidents in this kind, Manasses seemes to me to exceed them all, A man 2 Chron. 33.2. that gave himselfe to Witchcraft, to shed innocent blood, and yet notwithstanding, ver. 12. In his distresse he sought the Lord, and humbled himselfe greatly, and the Lord was intreated of him, which you would wonder at. Therefore sometimes God poures forth his grace upon such as are abominable and bloody sinners; what hope thinke yee were there of a mans salvation, when hee rejects the GOD of his salvation, there is no name under Heaven to bee saved by, but the name of Christ, Acts 4.12. and if we put out his name, where shall we have salvation? yet these men did so, and so Paul saith of himselfe, 1 Tim. 1.13. I was a blasphemer, an injurious person, a man that did another hurt with scathe and scorne; such an one was Paul, yet see how wonderfull God brings matters about, Acts. 9.12. Behold! now he prayes; Well might God put an Ecce unto it, a Behold; He that was before a blasphemer, a persecuter; behold! he is now fallen a praying, and he will never give over praying, till he heare some word of mercy in the pardon of his sins: so that God doth sometimes poure out Rivers of grace, not onelyonly upon those whose frame of spirit hath beene more civill, but upon those who have despised the holy One of Israel; they that before knew not what prayer meant, shall now pray and mourne bitterly.
Reas. 3 It is double, First, to magnifie the name of God, Where sinne hath abounded, there grace hath abounded much more, Rom. 5.20. God will ever give this honour to his grace, hee will never have it said but that there is more grace in him to forgive, then gracelesnesse in us to destroy our selves; never can a man be so empty of grace, but God is able to fill him: and this reason is mentioned, 1 Tim. 1.13, 14, 16. The grace of God was exceeding abundant towards me; It had been too little to have said, the grace of God was enough for mee, but the grace of God was abundant above my wickednesse; and if that were too strait a word, it was exceeding abundant towards me; and this hath God done unto me, To shew upon me an example of long sufferance, to all that hereafter shall beleeve on his name: not a singular example, such as never should be the like, but that all might see, there is an exceeding abundance of grace in God. It is a strange expression that of Balaam, Numb. 23.23. There is no Inchantment or sorcery against Iacob; It shall bee said of Israel what God hath wrought. Balaam and the Devill cannot prevaile against them, because it may be said, What God hath wrought.
And so for a second branch of this first Reason; God hath not onelyonly a purpose to magnifie his owne grace, but to magnifie the value and vertue of Christs blood, if it had been sufficient onelyonly to have saved honest orderly men, it had not come neare the value and vertue that is in it, but when it is sprinkled upon desperate sinners, the bloud of Christ is able to wash them away, 1 Iohn 1.7. No sinne, setting aside the sinne against the holy Ghost, but it will cleanse us from it, and that scornes to be sprinkled with it, Heb. 10.29. Sins of ignorance and of infirmity, of presumption and blasphemy, yet even those sins the blood of Christ will search to the bottome; it was by the vertue of this blood, that David was cleansed, Psal. 51.7. Purge me with hyssope; there is an emphasis in his own person, that speaks it, purge me, me, whose hands are full of blood, I that am stained with such beastly, grosse, and filthy lewdnesse, I that have given scandall to Religion, even me, Lord purge me, and I shall be cleane. Thus there is a value and vertue in Christs blood, to wash away even roaring desperate sins, and to make such white as snow.
And for a third branch of this reason. God in tended to magnifie the mighty power of the holy Ghost, the spirit of grace here shed abroad into the hearts of these men. The Spirit breathes where it listeth, Iohn 3.8. If he take pleasure to breathe in a man, there is nothing can hinder him, it will blow upon the most noysome dunghill in any place, and be never a whit the more defiled; and he is not onelyonly free, but mighty and powerfull through God to cast down every high thought, 2 Cor. 10.4, 5. The preaching of the Gospel by the help of the spirit is able to break the hard and stony heart, to cleanse the most prophane spirit.
There are yet some other reasons that move God hereunto as he hath respect to the enlargement of the hearts of his people: as, first, that he might enlarge the hearts of his people to an abundant measure of the love of God, and of the brethren, that he might ever keep alive a vein of brotherly love, and a child-like enlarged love to himselfe, he will have some of all sorts in every age, that shall still be comming in unto his grace, of the most notorious sinners under the Sun. Mary Magdalen a notorious harlot, yet she comes and expresses much love to our Saviour, and this testimony our Saviour gives of her, She loves much, because much is forgiven her, Luke 7.47. God meanes to have much love from some of his servants, others may strait it with him, but God will have some, that out of much sense of the much mischiefe they have wrought in the dayes of their vanity, shall love him abundantly; (for pardoning them) when it comes to the triall, they who have but a little forgiven them, will love but a little, but they who have much forgiven them will love much. And so also God delights much in the savor of an abundant spirit of love amongst Christians one towards another; he would have some not to be put out of their love, notwithstanding all the distempers of their brethren, and it is meet it should be so for the honour of his owne Grace. Paul though he is called a mover of sedition, a pestilent fellow, yet he is not distempered, The love of Christ constraines him, 2 Cor. 5.11, 14. Hee had known the terror of the Lord in his owne spirit, and he could not hold off his hands from perswading men to avoid it: so as if any should say, What need he be so forward to expose himselfe to such disestimation? why, the love of Christ constrained him, he knew Christ had forgiven him, that had been a desperate sinner, and being filled with the love of God himselfe, he could not hold where ever he came, but as much as in him lay endeavoured the salvation of all, he knew that they did not know the terror of the Lord: So David, if God would restore to him the joy of his salvation, then would he teach the wicked his wayes, and sinners should be converted to him, Ps. 51.13, 14. The love he received of God should reflect upon all wicked men, Shew all meeknesse to all men, for our selves in time past served divers lusts, and of his mercy he hath saved us; Let us therefore in all meeknesse instruct those that are contrary minded, 2 Tim. 2.25. Iohn it is likely had not much forgiven him, when he would have fire come down from heaven upon the Samaritanes, Luke 9.53, 54. He came very young to Christ, some conceive he was not above seventeen yeares old, and he lived till a hundred yeares after Christ, and he was not yet defiled with lusts and the world, and therefore see how little love he expresses when he is crost, but he being reproved, I doubt not but he repented, and afterward none breathed out a spirit of love more then Iohn did; In all his Epistles you reade little else, but either directions or motives to brotherly love. So Paul to the Galatians, Chap. 4.12, 16. Ye have not injuried me at all; he was full of the spirit of love, 1 Thess. 2.7. Wee are gentle among you, as a Nurse over her children; she hath many weary times with them, yet she is gentle towards them, and so ought we to be one towards another.
Reas. 2 That so God might thereby inlarge the hearts of his owne people to humility in doing his will, and to patience in suffering it, that they might never open their mouthes to any arrogancy of spirit in doing any homely service, Ezek. 16.48, 51, 60, to 63. that if ever after they did any good duty, they should never be proud of it, and if put to any meane service, not think themselves too good for it: had not God intended you great mercy, you had never knowne what mercy had meant, and therefore now you must for ever walk humbly and carry the shame of it in your faces, and never murmure with God any more; and that you may so doe, God will shew you an abundant mercy. Least of all the Apostles, 1 Cor. 15.9. Least of all Saints, Eph. 3.8. Chiefe of sinners, 1 Tim. 1.15. he remembers his former wicked life, and therefore thinks himselfe lesse then any. God bids Ananias talk no more of what he had been, for he shall suffer many great things for my Names sake. God will sometimes shew great mercy to great sinners, because they must suffer great evils for his Names sake. They have great things to suffer, and therefore they had need of great humility and patience. 1 Cor. 4.12.15, 16. he suffers much, and takes all in good part, because God hath done so much for him; so the Prodigall. Now no more worthy to be called thy son, Luke 15.18. The other brother, if the Father crosse him, he so loures, that he will neither eate nor drink with them; he that had but little forgiven him, he is apt to take offence for every occasion, but the Prodigall would now be content to be an hired drudge.
Further, they are inlarged to much fruitfulnesse in their course: there is no more ready way to make you a fruitfull Christian, then to have run a lewd course of life, and in the end to have our wils subdued, and brought to the knowledge of Christ: such a soule as hath been fruitfull in sin, is afterwards as fruitfull in the wayes of righteousnesse. So Paul, 1 Cor. 15.9, 10. as if the grace of God had been bestowed in vaine upon Paul, if he had not done more service then the rest of the Apostles; and I think the words will beare it, he compares his labours, to the labours of all other the Apostles, put all their labours in one ballance, and Pauls in another, and yet, not more then any one of them; which was much for a man that had been a Pharisee, an hypocrite, a malicious enemy of the Church: for him to have learned so much Religion, as any one of them in so short a time; it had been a large growth, but yet his labours was more then the labours of them all; as if Paul who had done more wickedly then they all, should not now be more in grace and godlinesse then they all, the grace of God had beene bestowed upon him in vain. A thing is then in vain, when it is disappointed of its end; God bestowes great grace on great sinners, he intends they should bring in more service to his will, and comfort to his people; then a dozen of other men, if he exceed not a dozen others in fruitfulnes, his grace is but in vain.
Vse 1 To reprove that desperate discouragement, sometimes found in the hearts of some sinfull men, that looking back at their former oathes and drunkennesse, &c. and what their present corruptions are, they begin to conceive they shall never over-master such distempers, it is impossible God should ever shew mercy upon such wretches as they are; and thereupon they begin to lay all care aside; now they are hardned in sin, they have gotten such a scarlet die, as it is impossible their sins should ever he washed away; and therefore take up Cains dessperate conclusion, goe from the presence of God; and say; My sins are greater then can be forgiven, Gen. 4.13, 16. But dost thou think that thy heart is more ungracious, then the God of heaven is gracious? hath thy sins deserved a greater punishment then the blood of Christ is of value to make atonement for thee? is thy heart so high, that God cannot lay it low be not so desperate as to stand so aloofe off from the grace of Christ, make not such desperate conclusions as these be; you find such inclinations to the world, but is not he that made the world, greater then the world? indeed if you still goe on in that course, because you think it is desperate, and goe not about to amend it, you will live to see the day, that others, that have run as desperate a course as you, and have had as proud hearts as yours be, and God hath humbled them, you shall see it, but shall not taste of it, 2 Reg. 7.19. Lay downe therefore all such thoughts as ever you desire to honour the grace of Christ.
Vse 2 To every ungodly soule, to stirre up himselfe for the obtaining of the spirit of grace; for it shall be poured out upon such as have pierced Christ, a bloody scornfull generation: remember therefore, that disease that hath been cured, or is curable in one, is not incurable in another, that which hath been done, may be done againe, as long as the same Physician lives. If thou hast been an Idolater, an Adulterer, &c. what if any, yea, what if all these? why, such were some of you: but ye are washed, and why may not we? What if you have been given to Witch-craft? what if thou hast been a Blasphemer? Manasses and Paul were such, and yet the grace of God was exceeding abundant towards them; so that unlesse you can make your estates worse then ever anyes was, delay the time no longer, but wrastle with God for grace.
But that none may be hardened in his presumption, let me say: First, if you have been greater sinners then others, make account you will stand in need of greater mercy then others; and therefore intreat God for tender mercy, Psal. 51.1, 2.
Secondly, that thou wilt stand in need of greater humiliation then other men; so Manasses humbled himselfe greatly, 2 Chron. 33.12. Great sins must have great humiliations; Paul fell downe trembling, Acts 9.6. The Jailor comes in trembling, Acts 16.29. But yet this I say, I had rather ninety nine hypocrites should goe to hell with presumption, then one poore sinner fall short of heaven for want of consolation: Yet there must ever be so much humiliation as makes sin most bitter, and Christ most sweet, Ier. 2.19.
You say, How shall I hate sin, as sin?
First, thou hatest all sinne, as well gainfull and pleasurable sins, as any thou hast least benefit by, Acts 19.19. When thou hatest sin, as it is a dishonour to God, and a piercing of Christ, and a crucifying him, Psal. 51.5.
2. Thou, hatest sin as sin; If thou beest grieved for sin, not as it is grievous to thy conscience, and an amazement to thy spirit, but as it is loaths;ome and filthy in the sight of God; when thou canst abhorre thy selfe for sin, Iob 42.6. A man takes up a coale and feels it hot, and throws it down again, not because it is black, and so might defile him, but because it is hot, and so might burn him; so many a man begins to lay down his sin, because it is too hot; God begins to speak wrath to his conscience; so it was with Iudas: But he that truly leaves sin, not because it brings him horrour and anguish, but because it is filthy in the sight of God, Ezra. 9.8.
3. Thou must be content to take great paines with thy soule, in the use of all good meanes: It is not small paines will serve the turne, but you must use great diligence. If a cloth be foully stained, it is not a little rinsing in cold water that will get it out, but it will take much rubbing, batting, and scouring; it is not a few teares, but washing throughly that you must looke for, Psal. 51.2.10.
4. You will stand in need of no small patience to wait long; you must be content to wait long upon God, who hath beene so patient to wait long upon you; and though it be all your dayes, and though you should never see peace in this world, yet say it is enough, if you may but see grace and favour towards you, before you depart hence and be no more seene, though it be but at the last gaspe, if but then you may find mercy, think that you are graciously dealt withall, Ioh. 14.14. I will wait and looke for the God of my salvation, Micah 7.7.9. You must beare all things patiently, yea the discouragements that shall befall you; and you that have friends and kindred in this condition, be you the more humbled for them, by how much the lesse they are humbled in themselves.
Vse 3 Of exhortion to every soule that hath found it selfe in a wofull case; if thou hast found thy selfe in a desperate case, by reason of thy sin, and the grace of God afterwards hath abundantly beene poured forth upon thee; then learne to see what God requires of you. First, you should for ever glorifie the rich grace of God, and for ever magnifie the value and vertue of Christs blood. Time was, when Davids bones were broken, Psal. 51.8. and all the comfort of his soule shattered to pieces, and doth God now shew David mercy? Then all my bones shal say, Lord who is like unto thee? Psal. 35.10.
You whom God hath forgiven much, hee lookes for much love from you. How love I the Lord? What shall I render to him for all his benefits? Psal. 116.1, 2. How ought wee to love the Lord Jesus, to grow in humility, and never thinke much to bee exposed to any life cortesie for his names sake? take paines with your brethren, by how much the Lord hath taken paines with you; if God hath forgiven your great sinnes, remember and consider it, that God hath done all this in vaine for you, if now, if now you doe not more service to God then a dozen other Christians, that never knew what such sins were, as you have committed; if you bee not more humble, more fruitfull, more patient, and more forward in every good dutie then others be, you walke unworthy of the mercy you have received, and therefore it behoves you, as you would not receive the grace of God in vaine, so to be much more abundant in the worke of the Lord, you must be filled with all the fruits of righteousnesse to the glory and praise of God, and the good of your brethren.