The Method of Grace, Sermon 9
The Ninth SERMON.Serm. 9.
MATTH. 11. 28.Text. Containing the first general use of Exhortation, inviting all men to apply Jesus Christ.
Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden; and I will give you rest.
THe Impetration of our Redemption by Jesus Christ, being finished in the first part, and the way and means by which Christ is applied to sinners in the foregoing part of this Treatise, I am now orderly come to the general Use of the whole; which in the first place shall be by way of Exhortation to invite and perswade all men to come unto Christ, who in all the former Sermons hath been represented in his garments of salvation, red in his apparel, prepared and offered to sinners as their all-sufficient and only remedy: and in the following Sermons will be represented in his perfumed garments coming out of his Ivory Palaces, Psal. 45. 8. to allure and draw all men unto him.
For a general head to this Use which will be large, I have chosen this Scripture, Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
These words are the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in which there is a vital ravishing sound: 'tis your mercy to have such a joyful sound in your ears this day: and in them I will consider their dependance, parts and scope.
As to their dependance it is manifest they have an immediate relation to the foregoing verse, wherein Christ opens his Commission and declares the fulness of his authority and saving power, and the impossibility of coming to God any other way: all things are delivered to me of my Eather, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father: neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him, v. 27.
This 28 verse is brought in proleptically to obviate the discouragements of any poor convinced and humbled soul, who might thus object, Lord, I am fully satisfied of the fulness of thy saving power, but greatly doubt whether ever I shall have the benefit thereof. For I see so much sin and guilt in my self, so great vileness, andutter unworthiness, that I am over-weighed and even sink under the burden of it: my soul is discouraged because of sin. This objection is prevented in the words of my Text, Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, Q. d. let not the sense of your sin and misery drive you from your only remedy: be your sins never so many, and the sense and burthen of them never so heavy; yet for all that, come unto me: you are the persons whom I invite and call. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
In the words three things are especially remarkable.
1. The souls spiritual distress and burthen: weary and heavy laden.
2. Its invitation to Christ under that barthen, come unto me.
3. Its incouragement to that great duty, I will give you rest.
First, The souls spiritual distress and burthen, exprest in 1. foreign qui laboratis, scil. ad defatigationem us que hac enim Emphasi differt Tò foreign à verbo foreign quod in genere significat laborare. Piscator in Loc. (i. e.) Qui sentitis …nus peccatorum & sub illo tant… non succumbitis. Chrysostomus intelligit oneratos legalib… oneribus, nos vero in genere intelligimus universos eos qui peccatorum pondere, naturae que corruptae malitiâ quam sentiunt pressi, ad ejiciendam pravitatem & assequendam justitiam lucta t ur. Mu… c…lus in Loc.two very Emphatical words, foreign, ye that labour and are heavy laden: the word which we translate labour signifies a labouring even to faintness and tiring, to the consumption and wast of the spirits: and the other word signifies such a pressure by a burden that is too heavy to be born that we do even sink down under it.
There is some difference among expositors about the quality of this burthen. Chrysost. & some others after him expound it of burden of the legal rites & Ceremonies, which was a heavy burden indeed such as neither they, nor their fathers could bear: under the task and burden of these legal observances they did sweat and toyl to obtain a righteousness to justifie them before God, & all in vain; and this is a pious sense, but others expound it of the burthen of sin in general; the corruption of nature, and evils of practice, which souls are convinced have brought them under the curse, and will bring them to hell, and therefore labour and strive all that in them lyes, by repentance and reformation to clear themselves from it, but all in vain; whilest they strive in their own strength. Such are they that are here called to come to Christ, which is the second thing, namely
Secondly, The Invitation of burthened souls to Christ. Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden: come unto me, (i. e.) believe in me, lean and rest your burthened souls upon me. I am able to ease all your burthens, in me is that righteousness and peace which you seek in vain in all the legal rites and Ceremonies: or in your repentance, reformations and duties, but it will give you no ease, 'twill be no benefit to you except you come unto me. Faith is often expressed under this notion, see Joh. 6. 37. and Joh. 7. 37. 2.and it is to be further noted that [all] burthened souls are invited to come. All ye that labour: whatever your sin or guilt hath been, whatever your fears or discouragements are, yet come (i. e.) believe in me.
Thirdly, Here is the encouragement Christ gives to this duty, And I will give you rest: foreign—I will refresh you, 3. Quid alibi quaeritis, quod non licet invenire? ego is sum qui possum vos juvare solus. Musc. in Loc.I will give you rest from your labour, your Consciences shall be pacified, your heart at rest and quiet in that pardon, peace and favour of God which I will procure for you by my death. But here it must be heedfully noted, that this promise of rest in Christ is not made to men simply as they are sinners, nor yet as they are burthened, and heavy laden sinners: but as they come to Christ, (i. e.) as they are believers. For let a man break his heart with sin, let him weep out his eyes for sin, let him mourn as a dove, and shed as many tears for sin (if it were possible) as ever there fell drops of rain upon the ground, yet if he come not to Christ by faith, his repentance shall not save him, nor all his sorrows bring him to true rest.
Hence Note,
Doct. 1. That some souls are heavy laden with the burthensome sense of sin.Doct. 1.
Doct. 2. That all burthened souls are solemnly invited to come to Christ.Doct. 2.
Doct. 3. That there is rest in Christ for all that come to him under the heavy burthen of sin.Doct. 3.
Doct. 1.
Some souls are heavy laden with the burthensome sense of sin.
I Do not say all are so, for fools make a mock of sin, Prov. Doct. 1.14. 9. 'tis so far from being burthensome to some, that it is a sport to them, Prov. 10. 23. but when a mans eyes are opened to see the evil that is in sin, and the eternal misery that follows it, (sin and hell being linkt together with such strong chains as nothing but the blood of Christ can loose) then no burthen is like that of sin: a wounded conscience who can bear? Prov. 18. 14. For let us but consider the efficacy that the Law of God hath upon the consciences of men, when it comes in the spirituality and power of it to convince and humble the soul of a sinner. For then
First, The memory of sin long since committed is refresht and revived as if it had been but yesterday: there are fresh recognitions 1. What inward troubles for sin are.of sin long since acted, and forgotten, as if they had never been: what was done in our youth is fetcht back again, and by a new impression of fear and horror set home upon the trembling conscience. Job 13. 26. Thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the sins of my youth. Conscience can call back the days that are past, and draw up a new charge upon the score of old sins, Gen. 42. 21. all that ever we did is recorded and entred into the book of Conscience, and now is the time to open that book, when the Lord will convince and awaken sinners: we read in Job 14. 17. of sealing up iniquities in a bag, which is an allusion to the Clerk of the Assizes, that takes all the indictments that are made against persons at the Assizes, and seals them up in a bag, in order to a Tryal. This is the first office and work of conscience, upon which
The second, namely its Accusations, do depend: these accusations of Conscience are terrible things, who can stand 2.before them? they are full, they are clear, and all of them referring to the approaching Judgement of the great and terrible God.
Conscience dives into all sins, secret as well as open, and Prima est haec ultio, quod se judice, nemo uocens absolvitur.into all the circumstances and aggravations of sin, as being committed against light, against mercy, against the strivings, warnings, and regretts of conscience. So that we may say of the efficacy of conscience as it is said Psal. 19. 6. of the influence of the Sun, nothing is hid from the heat or power thereof. Come (saith the woman of Samaria) see a man that hath told me all that ever I did, Joh. 4. 29, Christ convinced her but of one sin by that discourse, but conscience by that one fetcht in and charged all the rest upon her. And as the accusations of conscience are full, so they are clear, and undeniable: a man becomes self-convinced, and there remains no shift, excuse, or plea to defend himself: a thousand witnesses cannot prove any point more clearly than one testimony of conscience doth, Matth. 22. 12. the man was speechless, foreign & ille capistratus er at.a mute; muzzled (as the word signifies) by the clear testimony of his own conscience: these accusations are the second work or office of conscience, and they make way for the third, namely,
Thirdly, The sentence and condemnation of Conscience: and truly this is an insupportable burthen: the condemnation 3.of conscience is nothing else but its application of the condemning sentence of the Law to a mans person: the Law curseth every one that transgresseth it, Gal. 3. 10. conscience applys this curse to the guilty sinner. So that it sentences the sinner in Gods name and authority, from which there is no appeal: the voice of conscience is the voice of God, and what it pronounces in Gods name and authority, he will confirm and ratifie, 1 Joh. 3. 20. if our hearts (i. e.) our consciences, condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things: this is that torment which no man can endure. See the effects of it in Cain, in Judas, and in Spira, 'tis a real foretast of hell torments: this is that worm that never dyes, Mark 9. 44. For look as a worm in the body is bred of the corruption that is there, so the accusations and condemnations of conscience are bred in the soul by the corruption and guilt that is there: as the worm in the body preys and bites upon the tender sensible inward parts, so doth conscience touch the very quick. This is its third effect or work to sentence and condemn, and this also makes way for a fourth, namely,
Fourthly, To upbraid and reproach the sinner under his misery: 4.and this makes a man a very terrour to himself: to be pittied in misery is some relief, but to be upbraided and reproached doubles our affliction: you know it was one of the aggravations of Christs sufferings, to be reproached by the tongue of his enemies, whilest he hanged in torments upon the cursed tree: but all the scoffs and reproaches, the bitter jeers and Sarcas…s in the world are nothing to these of a mans own conscience: this will cut to the very bone.
O when a mans conscience shall say to him in a day of trouble, as Reuben to his afflicted brethren, Gen. 42. 22. Spake I not unto you saying, do not sin against the child: and ye would not hear, therefore behold also his blood is required. So conscience, Did I not warn you, threaten you, perswade you in time against these evils? but you would not hearken to me, therefore behold now you must suffer to all eternity for it: the wrath of God is kindled against thy soul for it: this is the fruit of thy own wilful madness and obstinacy. Now thou shalt know the price of sinning against God, against light, and conscience. O this is terrible! every bite of conscience makes a poor soul to startle, and in a terrible fright to cry, Oh the worm! Oh the bitter foretast of Hell! a wounded spirit who can bear?
This is a fourth wound of conscience, and it makes way for a fifth, for here it is as in the pouring out of the vials, and the sounding of those woe-trumpets in the Revelation, one woe is past, and another cometh. After all these deadly blows of conscience upon the very heart of a sinner, comes another as dreadful as any that is yet named, and that is,
Fifthly, The fearful expectations of wrath to come which 5.it begets in the soul of a guilty sinner: of this you read Heb. 10. 27. a fearful looking for of Judgement, and fiery indignation: and this makes the stoutest sinner quail and faint under the burthen of sin. For the tongue of man cannot declare what it is to lye down and rise with those fearful expectations: the case of such sinners is somewhat like that which is described in Deut. 28. 65, 66, 67. The Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind, and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have no assurance of thy life: in the morning thou shalt say Would God it were evening, and at even thou shalt say Would God it were morning, for the fear of thine heart, wherewith thou shalt fear, &c. Only in this it differs, in this Scripture you have the terrours of those described, whose temporal life hangs in doubtful suspense, but in the persons I am speaking of it is a trembling under the apprehensions and expectations of the vengeance of eternal fire.
Believe it Friends, words cannot express what those poor creatures feel, that lye down and rise under these fears and frights of conscience. Lord what will become of me! I am free among the dead, yea, among the damned. I hang by the frail thred of a momentany life, which will and must break shortly, and may break the next moment, over the everlasting burnings: no pleasant bread is eaten in these days, but what is like the bread of condemned men.
And thus you see what the burden of sin is, when God makes it to bear upon the consciences of men, no burden of affliction is like it: losses of dearest relations: sorrows for an only son are not so pungent, and penetrating as these, For
First, No creature enjoyment is pleasant under these inward troubles: in other troubles they may signifie something to a mans relief, but here they are nothing, the wound is too deep to be healed by any thing but the blood of Jesus Christ: Conscience requires as much to satisfie it, as God requires to satisfie him. When God is at peace with thee (saith Conscience) then will I be at peace with thee too; but till then, expect no rest nor peace from me: all the pleasures and diversions in the world shall never stop my mouth: go where thou wilt, I will follow thee like thy shadow: be thy portion in the world as sweet as it will, I will drop in Gall and Wormwood into thy cup, that thou shalt tast no sweetness in any thing, till thou hast got thy pardon.
These inward troubles for sin, alienate the mind from all former pleasures and delights, there's no more taste or savour in them, than in the white of an Egg. Musick is out of tune, all instruments jarr and groan. Ornaments have no beauty, what heart hath a poor creature to deck that body, in which dwells such a miserable soul! to feed and pamper that carcass that hath been the souls inducement to, and instrument in sin, and must be its companion in everlasting misery.
Secondly, These inward troubles for sin, put a dread into death beyond whatever the soul saw in it before. Now it looks like the King of terrours indeed: you read in Heb. 2. 15. of some that through fear of death are all their life long subject to bondage. O what a lively comment is a soul in this case able to make upon such a Text? they would not scare at the pale horse, nor at him that sits on him though his name be called death, if it were not for what follows him, Rev. 6. 8. but when they consider that hell follows, they tremble at the very name, or thoughts of death.
Thirdly, Such is the nature of these inward troubles of spirit that they swallow up the sense of all other outward troubles: alas these are all lost in the deeps of soul sorrows as the little rivulets are in the vast Sea: he that is wounded at the heart, will not cry Oh at the bite of a Flea: and surely no greater is the proportion betwixt outward and inward sorrows: a small matter formerly would discompose a man, and put him into a fret, now ten thousand outward troubles are lighter than a feather. For, saith he, why doth the living man complain? am I yet on this side eternal burnings? O let me not complain then, whatever my condition be: have I losses in the world, or pains upon my body? alas these are not to be named with the loss of God, and the feeling of his wrath and indignation for evermore. Thus you see what troubles inward troubles for sin be.
Secondly, If you ask in the second place, how it comes 2. How souls are supported under such troubles.to pass that any soul is supported under such strong troubles of Spirit that all that feel them do not sink under them; that all that go down into these deep waters of sorrow, are not drowned in them: The Answer is,
First, Though this be a very sad time with the soul (much like that of Adam, betwixt the breach of the first Covenant, and the first promise of Christ made to him) yet the souls that are thus heavy laden do not sink, because God hath a most tender care over them, and regard to them: underneath them are the everlasting arms, and thence it is they sink not: were they left to grapple with these troubles in their own strength, they could never stand: but God takes care of these mourners that their Spirits do not fail before him, and the souls that he hath made, I mean those of his Elect whom he is this way preparing for, and bringing unto Christ.
Secondly, The Lord is pleased to nourish still some hope in the soul under the greatest fears and troubles of Spirit: though it have no comfort or joy, yet it hath some hope in the bottom and that keeps up the heart: the afflicted soul doth in this case as the afflicted Church, Lam. 3. 29. he putteth his mouth in the dust if yet there may be hope: he saith, its good for a man to hope, and quietly to wait for the salvation of God: there are usually some glimmerings or dawnings of mercy through Christ in the midnight darkness of inward troubles: non dantur purae tenebrae, in hell indeed there is no hope to enlighten the darkness, but it is not so upon earth.
Thirdly, The experiences of others who have been in the same deeps of trouble are also of great use to keep up the soul foreign ut & foreign est primum picturae lineamentum: sumitur hic pro exemplo, ut viderent quid sibi sp…randum sit … domino: gratiam esse uberiorem ac potentiorem peccato… quis qui credit diffidereti sibi paratam esse veniam. Poli Synops. in Loc.above water. The experience of another is of great use to prop up a desponding mind, whilest as yet it hath none of its own: and indeed for the support of souls in such cases they were recorded 1 Tim. 1. 16. For this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting: for an encouraging pattern, an eminent precedent to all poor sinners that were to come after him: that none might absolutely despair of finding mercy through Christ. You know if a man be taken sick, and none can tell what the disease is, none can say that ever they heard of such a disease before, it's exceeding frightful; but if one and another, it may be twenty, come to the sick mans bedside and tell him, Sir, be not afraid, I have been in the very same case that you now are, and so have many more, and all did well at last, why this is half a cure to the sick man. So it is here a great support to hear the experiences of other Saints.
Fourthly, As the experiences of others support the soul under these burdens, so the riches of free grace through Jesus Christ uphold it: 'tis rich and abundant, Psal. 130. ult. plenteous redemption, and 'tis free and to the worst of sinners, Isa. 1. 18. and under these troubles it finds it self in the way and proper method of mercy, for so my Text (a Text that hath upheld many thousand drooping hearts) states it: all this gives hope, and encouragement under trouble.
Fifthly, Lastly, Though the state of the soul be sad and sinking, yet Jesus Christ usually makes haste in the extremity of the trouble to relieve it, by sweet and seasonable discoveries of his grace: cum duplicantur lateres, venit Moses: in the Mount of the Lord it shall be seen. It is with Christ as it was with Joseph whose bowels yearned towards his brethren, and he was in pain till he had told them I am Joseph your brother. This is sweetly exhibited to us in that excellent parable of the Prodigal, Luke 15. when his Father saw him, being yet a great way off, he ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him: mercy runs nimbly to help when souls are ready to fail under the pressure of sin. And thus you see both how they are burthened, and how upheld under the burthen.
Thirdly, If it be enquired in the last place, why God makes the burden of sin press so heavy upon the hearts of poor 3. Why doth God make the burden of sin lie so heavy upon the souls of some sinners.sinners, 'tis answered,
First, He doth it to divorce their hearts from sin, by giving them an experimental taste of the bitterness and evil that is in sin: mens hearts are naturally glewed with delight to their sinful courses: all the perswasions and arguments in the world are too weak to separate them and their beloved lusts. The morsels of sin go down smoothly and sweetly: they roll them with much delectation under their tongues; and it is but need that such bitter potions as these should be administred to make their stomachs rise against sin, as that word used by the Apostle in 2 Cor. 7. 11. signifies, in that ye foreign indignatio, stomochatio. Leigh's Critica, in verb.sorrowed after a godly sort, what indignation it wrought: it notes the rising of the stomach with rage, a being angry even unto sickness, and this is the way, the best and most effectual way to separate the soul of a sinner from his Lusts: for in these troubles conscience saith, as it is in Jer. 4. 18. Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is great, because it reacheth unto thy heart.
Secondly, The Lord doth this, to make Jesus Christ most welcome and desirable to the soul. Christ is not sweet, till sin be made bitter to us. Matth. 9. 12. They that be whole need not a Physician, but they that be sick. If once God wound the heart of a sinner with the stinging sense of sin, then nothing in the world is so precious, so necessary, so vehemently desired, and panted for, as Jesus Christ. O that I had Christ, if I did go in raggs, if I did feed upon no other food all my dayes, but the bread and water of affliction! This is the language of a soul filled with the sense of the evil of sin.
Thirdly, The Lord doth this to advance the riches of his free grace in the eyes of sinners. Grace never appears Grace, till sin appear to be sin. The deeper our sense of the evil of sin is, the deeper our apprehensions of the free grace of God in Christ will be. The louder our groans have been under the burden of sin, the louder will our acclamations and praises be for our salvation from it by Jesus Christ. To me (saith Paul) the chiefest of sinners was this grace given, 1 Tim. 1. 15. Never doth the grace of a Prince melt the heart of a Traytor, as when Tryal, Sentence, and all preparations for his execution have past, before his unexpected pardon comes.
Fourthly, The Lord doth this to prevent relapses into sin: In that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought! 2 Cor. 2. 7. The burnt Child dreads the fire; the Bird that is delivered out of the Tallons of the Hawk, trembles afterward at the noise of his Bells. After such a deliverance as this, should we again break thy Commandments? Ezra 9. 13, 14. Ask a poor penitent soul, that hath been in the deeps of sorrow for sin, Will you return to your former course of sin again? and it sounds in his ears, as if you should ask him, Will you run into the fire, will you go to the Rack again? No…o tanti emere poenitentiam.O no: it hath cost him dear already.
Fifthly, Lastly, This the Lord doth, to make them both skilful and compassionate in relieving others that are under like inward troubles. None can speak so judiciously, so pertinently, so feelingly to anothers case, as he that hath been in the Haud ignara mali, miseris …currere disco. Dido.same case himself: this furnishes them with the tongue of the learned, to speak a word in season to the weary soul: By this means they are able to comfort others with the same comforts wherewith they themselves have been comforted of God, 2 Cor. 1. 4.
Thus you have had a brief account, what the burden of sin is, how souls are supported under that burden, and why the Lord causes sin to lye so heavy upon the souls of some sinners. The improvement of all will be in a double Use: viz.
of
Information, and
Direction.
First Use for Insormation.
Inference 1.Use.
Is there such a load and burden in sin? What then was the Inference 1.burden that our Lord Jesus Christ felt and bare for us, upon whom the dead weight of all the sins of all Gods elect lay! Isa. 53. 6. He hath made the iniquities of us all to meet on him. Our burden is heavy, but nothing to Christ. O there's a vast difference betwixt that which Christ bare, and that which we bear. We feel but the single weight of our own sins. Christ felt the whole weight of all our sins. You do not feel the whole weight that is in any one sin: alas, it would sink you, if God should let it bear in all its aggravations and effects upon you, Psal. 130. 2, 3. If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquity, O Lord who shall stand! You would quail and sink presently: you can no more stand under it, than under the weight of a mighty Mountain. But Christ bare all the burden upon himself: his understanding was deep and large: he knew the extent of its evil, which we do not: we have many reliefs and helps under our burden, he had none: we have friends to counsel, comfort and pity us; all his friends and familiars forsook him and fled in the day of his trouble: we have comforts from heaven, he had frowns from heaven: My God, my God (saith he in that doleful day) why hast thou forsaken me? there's no compare betwixt our load and Christ's.
Inference 2.
If there be such a burden in sin, Then certainly sinners will pay Inscrence 2.dear for all the pleasure they find in sin in the dayes of their vanity. What one saith of crafty counl…s, we may say of Consilia callida prima specie laeta; tractatu dura; aventu tristia. Livy.all sins; though they seem pleasant in their first appearance, they will be found sad in the event: they are honey in the mouth, but the gall of Asps in the belly: they tickle the fancy, but rend the conscience. O sinner, thy mirth will certainly be turned into mourning, as sure as thou livest, that vain and frothy breast of thine shall be wounded: thou shalt feel the s…ing and pain, as well as relish the sweet and pleasure of sin. O that thou wouldst but give thy self the leisure seriously to ponder those Scriptures in the Margent: Prov. 20. 7. Prov. 23. 31, 32. Job 20. 12, 13, 14. James 1. 15. Rom. 6. 21.me thinks they should have the same effect that the hand-writing upon the plaister of the wall had upon that Jovial King in the height of a frolick, Dan. 5. 5. Reason thus with thine own heart, and thou wilt find the conclusion unavoidable: Either I shall repent for sin, or I shall not: if I shall not, then must I howl under the wrath of God for sin in the lowest Hell for evermore. If I shall, then by what I have now read of the throbs and wounds of conscience, I see what this heart of mine, this vain heart of mine must feel in this world. O how much wiser was the choice that Moses made, Heb. 11. 25. the worst of sufferings, rather than the best of sin, the pleasures of sin which are but for a season!
Inference 3.
Is there such a burden in sin, Then the most tender compassion Inference 3.is due debt to souls afflicted and heavy laden with sin. Their condition cryes for pity, whatever their tongues do: they seem to call upon you, as Job upon his friends, Have pity, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me, Job 19. 21. and O let all that have felt the wounds and anguish of an afflicted conscience themselves, learn from their own experience tenderly to pity and help others, foreign, luxata membra in suum locum restituere.Gal. 6. 1. You that are spiritually minded restore (or set him in joint again) in the spirit of meekness, considering thy self.
Israel was commanded to be kind to strangers, for saith God, you know the heart of a stranger: and surely if any case in the world require help, pity and all compassionate tenderness, this doth: and yet how do some slight spiritual troubles upon others? Parents slight them in their own children, Masters in their servants; the more bruitish and wicked they. O had you but felt your selves what they feel, you would never handle them as you do. But let this comfort such poor creatures, Christ hath felt them, and will pity and help them; yea, he therefore would feel them himself, that he might have compassion upon you. If men will not, God will pity you: if men be so cruel to persecute him whom God hath smitten, God will be so kind, to pour balm into the wounds that sin hath made: if they pull away the shoulder from you, and will not be concerned about your troubles, except it be to aggravate them, God will not serve you so: but certainly you that have past through the same difficulties, you cannot be without compassion to them that are now grapling with them.
Inference 4.
How unexpressibly dreadful is the state of the damned, who must bear the burden of all their sins upon themselves without relief or Inference 4.hope of deliverance! Mark 9. 44. where their worm dyeth not, and the fire is not quenched.
O if sin upon the soul that's coming to Christ for deliverance be so burdensome, what is it upon the soul that is shut out from Christ, and all hopes of deliverance for ever! For do but ponder these differences betwixt these two burdens.
First, No soul is so capacious now, to take in the fulness of the evil and misery of sin, as they are, who are gone down to the place of torments. Even as the joyes of Gods face above are much unknown to them that have the foretastes and first-fruits of them here by faith; so the misery of the damned is much unknown, even to them that have in their consciences now the bitterest taste and sense of sin in this world: as we have the visions of heaven, so we have the visions of hell also but darkly through a glass.
Secondly, No burden of sin presseth so continually upon the soul here, as it doth there: afflicted souls on earth have intermissions and breathing times; but in hell there are no Lucid intervals: the wrath of God there is still flowing: it is in fluxu continu…, Isa. 30. 33. a stream of brimstone.
Thirdly, No burden of sin lyes upon any of Gods elect so long, as the damned do and must bear it: our troubles about sin are but short, though they should run parallel with the line of life; but the troubles of the damned are parallel with the endless line of eternity.
Fourthly, Under these troubles the soul hath hope, but there all hope is cut off: all the Gospel is full of hope; it breathes nothing but hope to sinners that are moving Christward under their troubles: but in hell the pangs of desperation rend their consciences for ever. So that upon all accounts the state of the damned is inexpressibly dreadful.
Inference 5.
If the burden os sin be so heavy, how sweet then must the Inference 5.pardon of sin be to a sin-burdened soul! Is it a refreshment to a prisoner, to have his chains knockt off? a comfort to a debtor, to have his debts paid, and obligations cancelled? What joy must it then be to a sin-burthened soul, to hear the voice of pardon and peace in his trembling conscience? Is the light of the morning pleasant to a man after a weary tiresome night? the Spring of the year pleasant after a hard and tedious Winter? they are so indeed; but nothing so sweet, as the favour, peace and pardon of God to a soul that hath been long restless and anxious under the terrors and fears of conscience: for though after pardon and peace a man remembers sin still, yet it is as one that remembers the dangerous pits and deep waters from which he hath been wonderfully delivered, and had a narrow escape. O the unconceivable sweetness of a pardon! Who can read it, and not wet it with tears of joy? Are we glad when the grinding pain of the Stone, or racking fits of the Colick are over? and shall we not be transported, when the accusations and condemnations of conscience are over? Tongue cannot express what these things are; this joy is something that no words can convey to the understanding of another, that never felt the anguish of sin.
Inference 6.
Lastly, In how sad a case are those that never felt any burden in Inference 6.sin, that never were kept waking and restless one night for sin?
There is a burthened conscience, and there is a benummed conscience. The first is more painful, but the last more dangerous. O 'tis a fearful blow of God upon a mans soul, to strike it senseless and stupid, so that though mountains of guilt lye upon it, it feels no pain or pressure: and this is so much the more sad, because it incapacitates the soul for Christ, and is a presage and fore-runner of hell. It would grieve the heart of a man, to see a delirious person in the rage and height of a fevor, to laugh at those that are weeping for him, call them fools, and telling them, he is as well as any of them: much so is the case of many thousand souls, the God of mercy pity them.
Second Use for Counsel.
The only further Use I shall make of this Point here, shall Use 2.be to direct and counsel souls that are weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin, in order to their obtaining true rest and peace. And first,
First Counsel.
Satisfie not your selves in fruitless complaints to men. Many 1. Counsel.do so, but it's never the near. I grant it's lawful in spiritual distresses to complain to men; yea, and it is a great mercy if we have any near us in times of trouble, that are judicious, tender and faithful, into whose bosomes we may pour out our troubles: but to rest in this short of Christ, is no better than a snare of the Devil to destroy us. Is there not a God to go to in trouble? The best of men in the neglect of Christ are but Physicians of no value. Be wise and wary in your choice of Christian friends to whom you open your complaints: some are not clear themselves in the doctrine of Christ and faith, others are of a dark and troubled spirit as you are, and will but entangle you more. As for me (saith Job) is my complaint to man, and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? Job 21. 4. One hour betwixt Christ and thy soul in secret, will do more to thy true relief, than all other counsellors and comforters in the world can do.
Second Counsel.
Beware of a false peace, which is more dangerous than your trouble for sin can be. Many men are afraid of their troubles, 2. Counsel.but I think they have more cause to fear their peace a great deal. There is a twofold peace that ruines most men. Peace in sin, and peace with sin. O how glad are some persons when their troubles are gone, but I dare not rejoyce with them: It's like him that rejoyces his Ague is gone, though it hath left him in a deep Consumption. You are got rid of your troubles, but God knows how you have left them: your wounds are skinn'd over, better they were kept open. There's no wise woman would desire to have her pains and throes cease till the Child be born. And surely they have much to answer, that help on these delusions, healing the hurt of souls slightly, by crying peace, peace, when there is no peace. The false peace you beget in them, will be a real trouble to your selves in the issue, Jer. 6. 14.
Third Counsel.
Let all that are under inward troubles for sin, take heed of 3. Counsel.drawing desperate conclusions against themselves and the final state of their own souls. Though your case be sad, 'tis not desperate: though the night be troublesome and tedious, keep on in the way to Christ, and light will spring up. To mourn for sin is your duty; to conclude there is no hope for you in Christ, is your sin. You have wronged God enough already, do'nt add a farther and greater abuse to all the rest, by an absolute despair of mercy. 'Twas your sin formerly to presume beyond any promise, 'tis your sin now to despair against many commands. I would say as the Apostle in another case, I would not have you mourn as men that have no hope: your condition is sad as it is, but yet it's much better than once it was: you were once full of sin, and void of sense; now you have the sense of sin which is no small mercy: you were once quite out of the way and method of mercy, now you are in that very path wherein mercy meets the elect of God. Keep hope therefore at the bottom of all your troubles.
Fourth Counsel.
Observe whether your troubles for sin produce such fruits and effects in your souls, as theirs do which end at last in Christ and 4. Counsel.everlasting peace.
First, One that is truly burdened with sin, will not allow himself to live in the secret practice of sin: either your trouble will put an end to your course of sinning, or your sinning will put an end to your troubles. Consult 2 Cor. 7. 11.
Secondly, True sorrow for sin will give you very low and vile thoughts of your selves: as you were covered with pride before, so you will be covered with shame after God hath convinced and humbled you, Rom. 6. 21.
Thirdly, A soul really burdened with sin, will never stand in his own justification before God, nor extenuate and mince it in his confessions to him, Psal. 51. 3, 4.
Fourthly, The burdens of sin will make a man set light by all other burdens of affliction, Lam. 3. 22. Mic. 7. 9. The more you feel sin, the less you feel affliction.
Fifthly, A soul truly burdened for sin, will take no hearty joy or comfort in any outward enjoyment of this world, till Christ come and speak peace to the soul, Lam. 3. 28. Just so the soul sits alone and keepeth silence; merry company is a burden, and musick is but howling to him.
Fifth Counsel.
Beware of those things that make your troubles longer than they 5. Counsel.ought to be. There be several errors and mistakes that hold poor souls much longer in their fears and terrors than else they might be: And such are,
First, Ignorance of the nature of saving faith, and the necessity of it: till you come to believe, you cannot have peace, and while you mistake the nature, or apprehend not the necessity of faith, you are not like to fall into that path of peace.
Secondly, Labouring to heal the wounds that the Law hath made upon your consciences by a more strict obedience to it for the future, in the neglect of Christ and his righteousness.
Thirdly, Inobservance of what God hath already done for you, in these preparatory works of the Law in order to your salvation by Jesus Christ. O if you would but compare what you now are, with what you lately were, it would give some relief: but the last and principal thing is this:
Sixth Counsel.
Hasten to Christ in the way of faith, and you shall find rest; and till then all the world cannot give you true rest. The sooner 6. Counsel.you transact with Christ in the way of faith, the sooner you shall be at peace, and enter into his rest: for those that believe, do now enter into rest. You may tugg and strive, look this way and that, but all in vain; Christ and peace come together. No sooner do you come to him, and roll your burden on him, receive him as he offers himself, but the soul feels it self eased on a suddain, being justified by faith we have peace with God, Rom. 5. 1. And thus in finishing the first, we are brought home to the second Observation.
Doct. 2.Doct. 2.
That Sin-burdened souls are solemnly invited to come to Christ.
THIS Point sounds sweetly in the ear of a distressed sinner, it is the most joyful voice that ever the soul heard; the voice of blessing from Mount Gerezim, the ravishing voice from Mount Sion, Ye are come to Jesus the Mediator. In opening of it I will shew,
1. What it is to come to Christ.
2. How Christ invites men to come to him.
3. Why his invitation is directed to burdened souls.
First, We will enquire what it is to come to Christ, and 1.how many things are involved in it.
In general, To come to Christ, is a phrase aequipollent, or of the same amount with believing in Christ. It is an expression that carries the nature and necessity of faith in it, and is reciprocated with believing, John 6. 35. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. Coming to Christ, is believing in Christ; and believing in Christ, is coming to Christ: they are Synonyma's, and import the self same thing: only in this notion of faith there are many rich and excellent things hinted to us, which no other word can so aptly convey to our minds: as,
First, It hints this to us, That the souls of convinced and burdened sinners, do not only discern the reality of Christ, or that he is; but also the necessity of applying Christ, and that their eternal life is in their union with him: for this is most certain, that the object of faith must be determinate and fixed; the soul must believe that Christ is, or else there can be no emotions of the soul after him: all coming presupposes a fixed term to which we come, Heb. 11. 6. He that cometh to God, must believe that God is. Take away this, and all motion after Christ presently stops. No wonder then that souls in their first motions to Christ find themselves clogg'd with so many atheistical temptations, shaking their assent to the truth of the Gospel at the very root and foundation of it: but they that come to Christ do see that he is, and that their life and happiness lyes in their union with him; else they would never come to him upon such terms as they do.
Secondly, Coming to Christ, implyes the souls despair of salvation any other way: the way of faith is a supernatural way, and souls will not attempt it, until they have tryed all natural wayes to help and save themselves, and find it all in vain: therefore the Text describes these Comers to Christ as weary persons, that have been tugging and striving all other wayes for rest, but can find none; and so are forced to relinquish all their fond expectations of salvation in any other way, and come to Christ as their last and only remedy.
Thirdly, Coming to Christ, notes a supernatural and almighty power acting the soul quite above its own natural abilities in this motion, John 6. 44. No man can come to me except my father which hath sent me draw him. It is as possible for the ponderous mountains to start from their Bases and Centres, mount themselves aloft into the air, and there flye like wandring Atoms hither and thither; as it is for any man of himself, (i. e.) by a pure natural power of his own, to come to Christ: it was not a stranger thing for Peter to come to Christ walking upon the Waves of the Sea, than for his or any mans soul to come to Christ in the way of faith.
Fourthly, Coming to Christ, notes the voluntariness of the soul in its motion to Christ. 'Tis true, there's no coming without the Fathers drawing; but that drawing hath nothing of co-action in it; it doth not destroy, but powerfully, and with an overcoming sweetness perswade the will. 'Tis not forced or driven, but it comes: being made willing in the day of Gods power, Psal. 110. 3. Ask a poor distressed sinner in that season, Are you willing to come to Christ? O rather than live. Life is not so necessary as Christ is. O with all my heart, ten thousand worlds for Jesus Christ if he could be purchased, were nothing answerable to his value in mine eyes. The souls motion to Christ is free and voluntary, 'tis coming.
Fifthly, It implyes this in it, That no duties or Ordinances (which are but the wayes or means by which we come to Christ) are or ought to be Central and terminative to the soul: (i. e.) the soul of a believer is not to sit down and rest in them; but to come by them, or through them to Jesus Christ, and take up his rest in him only. No duties, no reformations, no Ordinances of God how excellent soever these things are in themselves, and how necessary soever they are in their proper place and use, can give rest to the weary and heavy laden soul: it cannot centre in any of them; and you may see it cannot, because it still gravitates, and inclines to another thing, even Christ; and cannot terminate its motion till it be come to him. Christ is the term to which a believer moves; and therefore cannot sit down by the way as well satisfied, as if he were at his journeys end. Ordinances and duties have the nature and use of means to bring us to Christ, but not to be to any man instead of Christ.
Sixthly, Coming to Christ, implies an hope or expectation Venite ad me, (i. e.) affectibus fidei, & spei religiosae, & desiderii. Burgensis in loc.from Christ in the coming soul. If it have no hope, why doth it move forward? as good sit still, and resolve to perish where it is, as come to Christ, if there be no ground to expect salvation by him. Hope is the spring of motion and industry: if you cut off hope, you hamstring faith: it cannot move to Christ, except it be satisfied at least of the possibility of mercy and salvation by him. Hence it is, that when comers to Christ are strugling with the doubts and fears of the issue, the Lord is pleased to enliven their faint hopes, by setting on such Scriptures as that John 6. 37. He that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out: and Heb. 7. 25. He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. This puts life into hope, and hope puts life into industry and motion.
Seventhly, Coming to Christ for rest, implies that believers have, and lawfully may have an eye to their own happiness in closing with the Lord Jesus Christ. The poor soul comes for rest: it comes for salvation: its eye and aim is upon it: and this aim of the soul at its own good is legitimated and allowed by that expression of Christ, John 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life. If Christ blame them for not coming to him that they might have life, sure he would not blame them, had they come to him for life.
Eighthly, But Lastly, and which is the principal thing carried in this expression, Coming to Christ, notes the all-sufficiency of Christ to answer all the needs and wants of distressed souls, and their betaking themselves accordingly to him only for relief, being content to come to Christ for whatever they need, and live upon that fulness that is in him. If there were not an all-sufficiency in Christ, no soul would come to him: for this is the very ground upon which men come, Heb. 7. 25. he is able to save to the uttermost, all that come to God by him: foreign, to the uttermost: in the greatest plunges, difficulties and dangers: he hath a fulness of saving power in him; and this encourages souls to come unto him. One beggar uses not to wait at the door of another, but all at the doors of them they conceive able to relieve them. And as this notes the fulness of Christ as a Saviour, so it must needs note the emptiness and humility of the soul as a comer to him. This is call'd submission in Rom. 10. 3. Proud nature must be deeply distressed, humbled and moulded into another temper, before it will be perswaded to live upon those terms, to come to Christ for every thing it wants, to live upon Christ's fulness in the way of grace and favour, and have no stock of its own to live upon. O this is hard, but it's the way of faith.
Secondly, In the next place let us see how Christ invites 2.men to come unto him, and you shall find the means employ'd in this work, are either internal and principal, namely the Spirit of God, who is Christ's Vice-gerent, and comes to us in his name and room to perswade us to believe, Joh. 15. 26. or external, namely the preaching of the Gospel by Commissionated Embassadors, who in Christ's stead beseech men to be reconciled to God: (i. e.) to come to Christ by faith in order to their reconciliation and peace with God. But all means and instruments employ'd in this work of bringing men to Christ, entirely depend upon the blessing and concurrence of the Spirit of God, without whom they signifie nothing: how long may Ministers preach, before one soul come to Christ, except the Spirit co-operate in that work? Now as to the manner in which men are perswaded, and their wills wrought upon to come to Christ, I will briefly note several acts of the Spirit in order thereunto.
First, There is an illustrating work of the Spirit upon the minds of sinners, opening their eyes to see their danger and misery. Till this be discovered, no man stirs from his place: 'tis sense of danger that rouzes the secure sinner, that distresses him and makes him look about for deliverance, crying, What shall I do to be saved? and 'tis the discovery of Christs ability to save, which is the ground and reason, (as was observed above) of its motion to Christ. Hence, seeing the Son, is joyned with believing or coming to him, in John 6. 40.
Secondly, There is the Authoritative call, or commanding voice of the Spirit in the Word; a voice that's full of awful majesty and power, 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. This call of the Spirit to come to Christ rolls one great block, namely the fear of presumption, out of the souls way to Christ, and instead of presumption in coming, makes it rebellion, and inexcusable obstinacy to refuse to come. This answers all pleas against coming to Christ from our unworthiness and deep guilt, and mightily encourages the soul to come to Christ, whatever it hath been or done.
Thirdly, There are soul-encouraging conditional promises to all that do come to Christ in obedience to the Command. Such is that in my Text, I will give you rest: and that in John 6. 37. Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out: and these breathe life and encouragement into poor souls that hang back and are daunted through their own unworthiness.
Fourthly, There are dreadful threatnings denounced by the Spirit in the Word against all that refuse or neglect to come to Christ, which are of great use to engage and quicken souls in their way to Christ, Mark 16. 16. He that believes not, shall be damned. Dye in his sins, John 8. 24. The wrath of God shall remain on him, John 3. ult. Which is as if the Lord had said, Sinners don't dally with my Christ: don't be alwayes treating and never concluding or resolving: for if there be Justice in heaven, or Fire in hell, every soul that comes not to Christ, must and shall perish to all eternity: upon your own heads let the blood and destruction of your own souls be for ever, if you will not come unto him.
Fifthly, There are moving and working examples set before souls in the Word, to prevail with them to come, alluring and encouraging Examples of such as have come to Christ under deepest guilt and discouragement, and yet found mercy, 1 Tim. 1. 15, 16. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief: howbeit (or nevertheless) for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe in him to life everlasting. Who would not come to Christ after such an example as this? And if this will not prevail, there are dreadful examples recorded in the Word setting before us the miserable condition of all such as refuse the calls of the Word to come to Christ, 1 Pet. 3. 19, 20. By which also he went and preached to the spirits which are in prison, which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah. The meaning is, the sinners that lived before the Flood, but now are in hell, clapt up into that prison, had the offers of grace made them, but despised them, and now lye for their disobedience in prison, under the wrath of God for it, in the lowest hell.
Sixthly and Lastly, There is an effectual perswading, overcoming and victorious work of the Spirit upon the hearts and wills of sinners, under which they come to Jesus Christ. Of this I have spoken at large before in the fourth Sermon, and therefore shall not add any thing more here. This is the way and manner, in which souls are prevailed with to come to Jesus Christ.
Thirdly, In the last place, if you enquire why Christ makes his invitations to weary and heavy laden souls, and to 3.no other: the answer is briefly this:
First, Because in so doing, he follows the Commission which he received from his Father; for so you will find it runs in Isa. 61. 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tydings to the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the Captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. You see here how Christs Commission binds him up: his Father sent him to poor broken hearted sinners, and he will keep close to his Commission. He came not to call the righteous, but sinners (i. e. sensible burthened sinners) to repentance, Matth. 9. 13. I am not sent (saith he) but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Thus his Instructions and Commission from the Father, limit him only to sensible and burthened souls, and he will be faithful to his Commission.
Secondly, The very order of the Spirits work in bringing men to Christ, shews us to whom the invitations and offers of grace in Christ are to be made. For none are convinced of righteousness, (i. e.) of the compleat and perfect righteousness which is in Christ for their Justification, until first they be convinced of sin; and consequently, no man will or can come to Christ by faith, till convictions of sin have awakened and distressed them, John 16. 8, 9. This being the due order of the Spirits operation, the same order must be observed in Gospel offers and invitations.
Thirdly, It behoves, that Christ should provide for his own glory as well as for our safety, and not expose that, to secure this; but save us in that way which will bring him most honour and praise. And certainly such a way is this, by first convincing, humbling and burthening the souls of men, and then bringing them to rest in himself.
Alas! Let those that never saw or felt the evil of sin, be told of rest, peace and pardon in Christ, they will but despise it, as a thing of no value, Luke 5. 31. The whole need not a Physician, but those that are sick. Bid a man that thinks himself sound and whole, go to the Physician, and he will but laugh at the motion. If you offer him the richest composition, he will refuse it, slight it, and it may be spill it upon the ground: ay, but if the same man did once feel an acute disease, and were made to sweat and groan under strong pains, if ever he come to know what sick dayes and restless nights are, and to apprehend his life to be in eminent hazard; then messengers are sent one after another in post-haste to the Physician; then he begs him with tears to do what in him lyes for his relief; he thankfully takes the bitterest potions, and praises the care and skill of his Physician with tears of joy; and so the Patients safety and the Physicians honour are both secured. So is it in this method of grace. The Uses follow.
Inference 1.Use.
If sin-burthened souls are solemnly invited to come to Inference 1.Christ, Then it follows, that whatever guilt lye upon the Conscience of a poor humbled sinner, 'tis no presumption, but his duty to come to Christ notwithstanding his own apprehended vileness and great unworthiness.
Let it be carefully observed how happily that universal particle all is inserted in Christs invitation for the encouragement of sinners. Come unto me [All] ye that labour: q. d. let no broken-hearted sinner exclude himself, whenas he is not by me excluded from mercy: my grace is my own, I may bestow it where I will, and upon whom I will. 'Tis not I, but Satan that impales and incloses my mercy from humbled souls that are made willing to come unto me: he calls that your presumption, which my invitation makes your Duty.
But I doubt my case is excepted by Christ himself in Matth. Object. 1.12. 31. where blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is exempted from pardon: and I have had many horrid blasphemous thoughts injected into my soul.
Art thou a burdened and heavy laden soul? If so, thy case is not in that, or any other Scripture exempted from mercy: Sol.for the unpardonable sin is alwayes found in an impenitent heart: as that sin finds no pardon with God, so neither is it followed with contrition and sorrow in the soul that commits it.
But if I am not guilty of that sin, I am certainly guilty of many Object. 2.great and heinous abominations of another kind, too great for me to expect mercy for, and therefore I dare not go to Christ.
The greater your sins have been, the more need you have to go to Jesus Christ. Let not a Motive to Christ, be made Sol.an Obstacle in your way to him. Great sinners are expresly called Isa. 1. 18. great sinners have come to Christ and found mercy, 1 Cor. 6. 7. And to conclude, it's an high reproach and dishonour to the blood of Christ, and mercy of God which flowes so freely through him, to object the greatness of sin to either of them. Certainly you have not sinned beyond the extent of mercy, or beyond the efficacy of the blood of of Christ: but pardon and peace may be had, if you will thus come to Christ for it.
Oh but it's now too late; I have had many thousand calls by the Gospel, and refused them; many purposes in my heart 3. Obj.to go to Christ, and quenched them: my time therefore is past, and now 'tis to no purpose.
If the time of grace be past, and God intends no mercy for thee, how comes it to pass thy soul is now filled with trouble Sol.and distress for sin? Is this the frame of a mans heart that is past hope? Do such signs as these appear in men that are hopeless? Beside, the time of grace is a secret hid in the breast of God; but coming to Christ is a duty plainly revealed in the Text: and why will you object a thing that is secret and uncertain, against a duty that is so plain and evident? Nor do you your selves believe what you object: for at the same time that you say your seasons are over, it is too late; you are notwithstanding found repenting, mourning, praying and striving to come to Christ. Certainly if you knew it were too late, you would not be found labouring in the use of means. Go on therefore, and the Lord be with you. 'Tis not presumption but obedience, to come when Christ calls; as here he doth, Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden:
Inference 2.
Hence it follows, That none have cause to be troubled, when God makes the souls of their friends or relations sick with the Inference 2.sense of sin. It was the saying (as I remember) of Hierom to Sabinian, Nothing (said he) makes my heart sadder, than that nothing can make thy heart sad. 'Tis matter of joy to all that rightly understand the matter, when God smites the heart of any man with the painful sense of sin; of such sickness it may be said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. Yet how do many carnal relations lament and bewail this as a misery, as an undoing to their friends and acquaintance; as if then they must be reckon'd lost, and never till then that Christ is finding and saving them. O if your hearts were spiritual and wise, their groans for sin, would be as musick in your ears. When they go alone to bewail their sin, you would go alone also to bless God for such a mercy; that ever you should live to such a happy day: you would say, now is my friend in the blessed pangs of the new birth: now is he in the very way of mercy: never in so hopeful a condition as now. I had rather he should groan now at the feet of Christ, than groan hereafter under the wrath of God for ever. O Parents, beware as you love the souls of your Children, that you don't damp and discourage them, tempt or threaten them, divert or hinder them in such cases as this; lest you bring the blood of their souls upon your own heads.
Inference 3.
It also follows from hence, That those to whom sin was never Inference 3.any burthen, are not yet come to Christ, nor have they any interest in him. We may as well suppose a Child to be born without any pangs or throes, as a soul to be born again, and united to Christ without any sense or sorrow for sin. I know many have great frights of conscience, that never were made duly sensible of the evil of sin: many are afraid of burning, that never were afraid of sinning. Slight and transient troubles some have had, but it's vanisht like an early cloud, lickt up like a morning dew. Few men are without checks and throbs of conscience at one time or other, but instead of going to the Closet, they run to the Ale house or Tavern for a cure: If their sorrow for sin had been right, nothing but the sprinkling of the blood of Christ could have appeased their consciences, Heb. 10. 22. How cold should the consideration of this thing strike to the hearts of such persons! Methinks Reader, if this be thy case, it should send thee away with an aking heart: Thou hast not yet tasted the bitterness of sin, and if thou do not, then shalt thou never taste the sweetness of Christ, his pardons and peace.
Inference 4.
How great a mercy is it for sin-burthened souls, to be within the Inference 4.sound and call of Christ in the Gospel!
There be many thousands in the Pagan and Popish parts of the world, that labour under distresses of conscience as well as we, but have no such reliefs or means of peace and comfort as we have that live within the joyful sound of the Gospel. If the conscience of a Papist be burdened with guilt, all the relief he hath, is to afflict his body to quiet his soul: a penance or pilgrimage is all the relief they have. If a Pagan be in trouble for sin, he hath no knowledge of Christ, nor notion of a satisfaction made by him. The voice of nature is, Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? The damned endure the terrible blows and wounds of conscience for sin, they roar under that terrible lash, but no voice of peace or pardon is heard among them. It is not, come unto me ye that labour and are heavy laden, but depart from me ye cursed.
Blessed are your ears, for you hear the voice of peace, you are come to Jesus the Mediator, and to the blood of sprinkling. O you can never set a due value upon this priviledge.
Inference 5.
How sweet and unspeakably relieving is the closing of a burdened Inference 5.soul with Jesus Christ by faith! 'Tis rest to the weary soul.
Soul troubles are spending and wasting troubles. The pains of a distressed conscience are the most acute pains. A poor soul would fain be at rest, but knows not where: he tryes this duty and that, but finds none: at last he falls into the way of believing; he casts himself with his burden of guilt and fear upon Christ, and there is the rest his soul desired. Christ and rest come together: till faith bring you to the bosome of Jesus, you can find no true rest; the soul is rolling and tossing, sick and weary upon the billows of its own guilt and fears. Now the soul is come like a Ship tossed with storms and tempests, out of a raging Ocean into the quiet harbour, or like a lost Sheep that hath been wandring in weariness, hunger and danger, into the fold. Is a soft bed in a quiet chamber sweet to one that is spent and tired with travel? Is the sight of a shoar sweet to the shipwrackt Mariner that looks for nothing but death? much more sweet is Christ to a soul that comes to him pressed in conscience, and broken in spirit under the sinking weight of sin.
How did the Italians rejoyce after a long & dangerous voyage to see Italy again! Crying with loud and united voices which made the very heavens ring again, Italy, Italy! But no shoar is so sweet to the weather-beaten passenger, as Christ is to a Italiam, Italiam, l…to clamore salutant. Virg.broken-hearted sinner: this brings the soul to a sweet repose, Heb. 4. 3. We which have believed, do enter into rest: and this endears the way of faith to their souls ever after.
Inference 6.
Learn hence the usefulness of the Law, to bring souls to Jesus Inference 6.Christ. It's utterly useless as a Covenant to justifie us, but exceeding useful to convince and humble us. It cannot relieve or ease us, but it can and doth awaken and rouze us: it's a fair glass to shew us the face of sin; and till we have seen that, we cannot see the face of Jesus Christ.
The Law like the Fiery Serpents smites, stings and torments the conscience: this drives us to the Lord Jesus lifted up in the Gospel, like the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness to heal us. The use of the Law, is to make us feel our sickness; this makes us look out for a Physician. I was alive once without the Law (saith Paul) but when the Commandment came sin revived, and I dyed, Rom. 7. 9. The hard, vain, proud hearts of men require such an hammer to break them to pieces.
Inference 7.
It's the immediate duty of weary and heavy laden sinners to Inference 7.come to Christ by faith, and not stand off from Christ, or delay to accept him upon any pretence whatsoever.
Christ invites and commands such to come unto him, 'tis therefore your sin to neglect, draw back, or deferr, whatever seeming reasons and pretences there may be to the contrary. When the Jaylor was brought (where I suppose thee now to be) to a pinching distress that made him cry, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? the very next counsel the Apostles gave him, was, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, Acts 16. 30, 31. And for your encouragement know, he that calleth you to come, knows your burden, what your sins have been, and troubles are, yet he calls you: if your sin hinder not Christ from calling, neither should it hinder you from coming. He that calls you, is able to ease you; to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him, Heb. 7. 25. Whatever fulness of sin be in you, there is a greater fulness of saving power in Christ. Moreover, he that calls you to come, never yet rejected any poor burdened soul that came to him: and hath said he never will, Joh. 6. 37. He that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. Fear not therefore, he will not begin with thee, or make thee the first instance and example of the feared rejection.
And Lastly, Bethink thy self, what wilt thou do, and whither wilt thou go in this case, if not to Jesus Christ? Nothing shall ease or relieve thee, till thou dost come to him. Thou art under an happy necessity to go to him. With him only is found rest for the weary soul. Which brings us to the third and last Observation.
Doct. 3.Doct. 3.
That there is rest in Christ for all that come unto him under the heavy burden of Sin.
REST, is a sweet word to a weary soul, all seek it, none but believers find it. We which have believed Non dicit foreign ingressi sumus, sed foreign ingredimur, significans, initia quietis fideles nunc habere: plenam quietem suo tempor… consecuturos. Pareus in loc.(saith the Apostle) do enter into rest, Heb. 4. 3. he doth not say they shall, but they do enter into rest; noting their spiritual rest to be already begun by faith on earth in the tranquillity of conscience, and shall be consummated in heaven in the full enjoyment of God. There is a sweet calm upon the troubled soul after believing, an ease or rest of the mind, which is an unspeakable mercy to a poor weary soul. Christ is to it, as the Ark was to the Dove when she wandred over the watery World, and found not a place to rest the soal of her foot. Faith centres the unquiet spirit of man in Christ, brings it to repose it self and its burden on him. It is the souls dropping anchor in a storm, which stayes and settles it.
The great debate which cost so many anxious thoughts, is now issued into this resolution; I will venture my all upon Christ, let him do with me as seemeth him good. It was impossible for the soul to find rest whilest it knew not where to bestow it self, or how to be secured from the wrath to come; but when all is embarqued in Christ for eternity, and the soul fully resolved to lean upon him, and trust to him; now it feels the very initials of eternal rest in it self: it finds an heavy burden unloaded from its shoulders: it is come as it were into a new world: the case is strangely altered. The word rest in this place notes, (and is so rendered by some) a recreation: 'tis restored, renewed and recreated as it Recreabo vos, nempe à lassitudine, à molestia, & onere. Vatab. & Erasm.were, by that sweet repose it hath upon Christ. Believers know, that faith is the sweetest recreation you can take. Others seek to divert and lose their troubles by sinful recreations, vain company and the like; but they little know what that recreation, and sweet restoring rest that faith gives the soul, is. You find in Christ what they seek in vain among the creatures. Believing is the highest recreation known in this world. But to prevent mistakes, three Cautions need to be premised, lest we do in ipso limine impingere, stumble at the threshold, and so lose our way all along afterward.
Caution 1.
You are not to conceive, that all the souls fears, troubles and sorrows are presently over and at an end, as soon as it is come to Caution 1.Christ by faith. They will have many troubles in the world after that, it may be more than ever they had in their lives: Luther upon his conversion was so buffeted by Satan, ut nec calor, nec sanguis, nec sensus, nec vox superesset.Our flesh (saith Paul) had no rest, 2 Cor. 7. 5. They will be infested with many temptations after that, it may be the assaults of Satan may be more violent upon their souls than ever: horribilia de deo, terribilia de fide: Injections that make the very bones to quake, and the belly to tremble: they will not be freed from sin, that rest remains for the people of God, nor from inward trouble and grief of soul about sin. These things are not to be expected presently.
Caution 2.
We may not think that all believers do immediately enter into Caution 2.the full actual sense of rest and comfort; but they presently enter into the state of rest. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, Rom. 5. 1. (i. e.) we enter into the state of peace immediately. Peace is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart, Psal. 97. 11. And he is a rich man that hath a thousand acres of corn in the ground, as well as he that hath so much in his barn, or the money in his purse. They have rest and peace in the seed of it, when they have it not in the fruit: they have rest in the promise, when they have it not in possession: and he is a rich man that hath good Bonds and Bills for a great summ of money, if he have not twelve pence in his pocket. All believers have the promise, have rest and peace granted them under Gods own hand in many promises; which faith brings them under: and we know that the truth and faithfulness of God stands engaged to make good every line and word of the promise to them. So that though they have not a full and clear actual sense and feeling of rest, they are nevertheless by faith come into the state of rest.
Caution 3.
We may not conceive, that faith it self is the souls rest, but Caution 3.the means and instrument of it only. We cannot find rest in any work or duty of our own, but we may find it in Christ, whom faith apprehends for Justification and Salvation.
Having thus guarded the point against misapprehensions by these needful cautions, I shall next shew you, how our coming to Christ by faith brings us to rest in him. And here let it be considered what those things are that burden, grieve and disquiet the soul before its coming to Christ, and how it is relieved and eased in all those respects by▪ its coming to the Lord Jesus: and you shall find,
First, That one principal ground of trouble, is the guilt 1.of sin upon the conscience, of which I spake in the former point. The curse of the Law lyes heavy upon the soul, so heavy that nothing is found in all the world able to relieve it under that burthen: as you see in a condemned man, spread a Table in Prison with the greatest dainties, and send for the rarest Musicians, all will not charm his sorrow; but if you can produce an authentick pardon, you ease him presently: just so it is here, faith plucks the thorn out of the conscience which so grieved it, unites the soul with Christ, and then that ground of trouble is removed: for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ, Rom. 8. 11. The same moment the soul comes to Christ, it is past from death to life; is no more under the Law, but Grace. If a mans debt be paid by his surety, he need not fear to shew his face boldly abroad: he may freely meet the Sergeant at the prison door.
Secondly, The soul of a convinced sinner is exceedingly 2.burdened with the uncleanness and filthiness wherewith sin hath defiled and polluted it. Conviction discovers the universal pollution of heart and life, so that a man loaths and abhorrs himself by reason thereof: If he do not look into his own corruptions, he cannot be safe: and if he do, he cannot bear the sight of it; he hath no quiet: Nothing can give rest, but what gives relief against this evil. And this only is done by faith uniting the soul with Jesus Christ. For though it be true, that the pollution of sin be not presently and perfectly taken away by coming to Christ; yet the burden thereof is exceedingly eased: for upon our believing, there is an heart-purifying principle planted into the soul, which doth by degrees cleanse that fountain of corruption, and will at last perfectly free the soul from it, Acts 15. 9. Purifying their hearts by faith: and being once in Christ, he is concerned for the soul, as a member now of his own mystical body to purifie and cleanse it, that at last he may present it perfect to the Father without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, Eph. 5. 26. The reigning power of it is gone immediately upon believing, and the very existence and being of it shall at last be destroyed. O what rest must this give under those troubles for sin?
Thirdly, It was an intolerable burthen to the soul to be under the continual fears, aiarms and frights of death and 3.damnation. Its life hath been a life of bondage upon this account, ever since the Lord opened his eyes to see his condition. Poor souls lye down with tremblings for fear what a night may bring forth. 'Tis a sad life indeed to live in continual bondage to such fears. But faith sweetly relieves the trembling Conscience, by removing the guilt which breeds it; fears. The sting of death is sin; when guilt is removed, fears vanish. Smite Lord, smite, said Luther, for my sins are forgiven. Now if sickness come, 'tis another thing than it was Feri Domine, feri, nam à peccatis meis absolutus sum, Luth.wont to be, Isai. 33. 21. The Inhabitant shall not say I am sick, the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities: a man scarce feels his sickness in comparison to what he did, whilst he was without Christ, and hope of pardon.
Fourthly, A convinced sinner out of Christ sees every thing 4.against him: nothing yields any comfort, yea every thing increases and aggravates his burthen, whether he look to things past, present, or to come. If he reflect upon things past, his soul is filled with anguish to remember the sins committed, and the seasons neglected; and the precious mercies that have been abused: if he look upon things present, the case is doleful and miserable: nothing but trouble and danger; Christless, and comfortless: and if he look forward to things to come, that gives him a deeper cut to the heart than any thing else; for though it be sad and miserable for the present, yet he fears it will be much worse hereafter; all these are but the beginning of sorrows: and thus the poor awakened sinner becomes a Magor missabib; fear round about.
But upon his coming to Christ all things are marvellously altered: a quite contrary face of things appears to him: every thing gives him hope and comfort which way soever he looks: so speaks the Apostle, 1 Cor. 3. 22, 23. All things are yours (saith he) whether life, or death; or things present, or things to come, all is yours, and ye are Christs, and Christ is Gods: they are ours (i. e.) for our advantage, benefit and comfort; more particularly upon our coming to Christ▪
First, Things past are ours, they conduce to our advantage and comfort. Now the soul can begin to read the gracious end and design of God, in all its preservations and deliverances; whereby it hath been reserved for such a day as this. O! it melts his heart to consider, his Companions in sin and Vanity are cut off, and he spared; and that for a day of such mercy as the day of his espousals with Christ is. Now all his past sorrows and deep troubles of spirit which God hath exercised him with, begin to appear the greatest mercies that ever he received; being all necessary, and introductive to this blessed union with Christ.
Secondly, Things present are ours, though it be not yet with us as we would have it; Christ is not sure enough, the heart is not pure enough; sin is too strong, and grace is too weak; many things are yet out of order; yet can the soul bless God for this with tears of joy, and praise him for this brimful of admiration, and holy astonishment; that it is, as it is; that he is where he is, though he be not yet where he would be. O 'tis a blessed life to live as a poor recumbent, by acts of trust and affiance, though as yet it have but little evidence: that it is resolved to trust all with Christ, though it be not yet certain of the issue. O this is a comfortable station, a sweet condition to what it was, either when it wallowed in sin in the days before conviction, or was swallowed up in fears and troubles for sin after conviction: now it hath hope though it want assurance; and hope is sweet to a soul coming out of such deep distresses: now it sees the remedy, and is applying it, whereas before the wound seemed desperate: now all hesitations and debates are at an end in the Soul, 'tis no longer bivious and unresolved what to do; all things have been deeply considered, and after consideration, issued into this resolve or decree of the will. I will go to Christ; I will venture all upon his Command and Call; I will imbarque my eternal interests in that Bottom: here I fix; and upon this ground I resolve to live and dye. O how much better is this, than that floating life it lived before, rolling upon the billows of inward fears and troubles, not able to drop Anchor any where, nor knowing where to find an Harbour.
Thirdly, Things to come are ours: and this is the best and sweetest of all: man is a prospecting creature, his eye is much upon things to come, and it will not satisfie him that it is well at present, except he have a prospect that it shall be so hereafter: but now the soul hath committed it self and all its concernments to Christ for eternity, and this being done, it's greatly relieved against evils to come.
I cannot (saith the Believer) think all my troubles over, and that I shall never meet any more afflictions, it were a fond vanity to dream of that; but I leave all these things where I have left my soul: he that hath supported me under inward, will carry me through outward troubles also. I cannot think all my temptations to sin past, O, I may yet meet with sore assaults from Satan: yet it is infinitely better to be watching, praying and striving against sin, than it was when I was obeying it in the lusts of it. God that hath delivered me from the love of sin, will, I trust, preserve me from ruine by sin. I know also death is to come, I must feel the pangs and agonies of it; but yet the aspect of death is much more pleasant than it was. I come Lord Jesus to thee, who art the death of death, whose death hath disarmed death of its sting. I fear not its dart, if I feel not its sting. And thus you see briefly, how by faith Believers enter into rest. How Christ gives rest even at present to them that come to him, and all this but as a beginning of their everlasting rest.
Inference 1.
Is there rest in Christ for weary souls that come unto him, Then certainly it's a design of Satan against the peace and welfare Inference 1.of mens souls to discourage them from coming to Christ in the way of faith.
He is a restless spirit himself, and would make us so too: it is an excellent note of Minutius Foelix, Those desperate Ad Solamen calamitatis suae, non definunt per i…i perdere. Minut. Felix.and restless Spirits (saith he) have no other pleasure, but in bringing us to the same misery themselves are in: he goeth about as a roaring Lyon, seeking whom he may devour. It frets and grates his proud and envious mind to see others find rest, when he can find none: an effectual Plaister applied to heal our wound, when his own must bleed to eternity: and he obtains his end fully, if he can but keep off souls from Christ: look therefore upon all those objections and discouragements raised in your hearts against coming to Christ, as so many Artifices and cunning Devices of the Devil to destroy and ruine your souls. 'Tis true, they have a very specious and colourable appearance, they are guilded over with pretences of the Justice of God, the heinous nature of sin; the want of due and befitting qualifications for so holy and pure a God: the lapsing of the reason of mercy, and an hundred other of like nature: but I beseech you lay down this as a sure conclusion, and hold it fast; that whatever it be that discourages and hinders you from coming to Christ, is directly against the interest of your souls, and the hand of the Divil is certainly in it.
Inference 2.
Hence also it follows, That unbelief is the true reason of all that disquietness and trouble, by which the minds of poor sinners are Inference 2.so rackt and tortured.
If you will not believe, you cannot be established: till you come to Christ, peace cannot come to you: Christ and peace are undivided. Good souls consider this, you have tryed all other ways, you have tried duties, and no rest comes; you have tried reformation, restitution, and a stricter course of life, yet your wounds are still open and fresh bleeding: these things, I grant, are in their places both good and necessary, but of themselves, without Christ, utterly insufficient to give what you expect from them: why will you not try the way of faith? why will you not carry your burthen to Christ? O that you would be perswaded to it, how soon would you find what so long you have been seeking in vain! how long will you thus oppose your own good! how long will you keep your selves upon the rack of Conscience! is it easie to go under the throbs and wounds of an accusing and condemning Conscience? You know it is not: you look for peace, but no good comes, for a time of healing, and behold trouble: alas, it must and will be so still, untill you fall into the way of faith, which is the true and only method to obtain rest.
Inference 3.
What cause have we all to admire the goodness of God, in providing for us a Christ, in whom we may find rest to our Inference 3.souls!
How hath the Lord filled and furnished Jesus Christ with all that is suitable to a Believers wants! Doth the guilt of sin terrifie his Conscience? Lo, in him is perfect righteousness to remove that guilt, so that it shall neither be imputed to his person, nor reflected by his Conscience in the way of condemnation as it was before. In him also is a Fountain opened for washing and for cleansing the filth of sin from our souls: in him is the fulness both of Merit, and of Spirit, two sweet Springs of Peace to the souls of men: well might the Apostle say, Christ the wisdom of God, 1 Cor. 1. 30. and well might the Church say, he is altogether lovely, Cant 5. 16. Had not God provided Jesus Christ for us, we had never known one hours rest to all eternity.
Inference 4.
How unreasonable and wholly inexcusable in Believers is the sin of backsliding from Christ? Have you found rest in him, Inference 4.when you could not find it in any other? Did he receive and ease your souls when all other persons and things were Physicians of no value? and will you after this backslide from him again? O what madness is this! Will a man leave the Snow of Lebanon which cometh from the Rock of the Field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place, be forsaken? No man that is in his wits would leave the pure cold refreshing streams of a Crystal Fountain, to go to a filthy pudled Lake, or an empty Cistern, as the best enjoyments of this world are in comparison with Jesus Christ.
It was Christs melting expostulation with the Disciples, Joh. 6. 67, 68. when some had forsaken him, will ye also go away? and it was a very suitable return they made, Lord, whither away from thee should we go! q. d. from thee, Lord, no no, where can we mend our selves? Be sure of it, when ever you go from Christ, ye go from rest to trouble. Had Judas rest? had Spira rest? and do you think you shall have re… no no, The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways, Prov. 14. 14. you shall have your bellies full of it: Cursed be the man that departeth from him, he shall be as the Heath in the Desart, that seeth not when good cometh, and shall inhabit the parched places of the wilderness, Jer. 17. 5. If fear of sufferings and worldly temptations ever draw you off from Christ, you may come to those straights and terrors of Conscience, that will make you wish your selves back again with Christ in a Prison, with Christ at a Stake.
Inference 5.
Let all that come to Christ, learn to improve him to the rest and peace of their own souls, in the midst of all the troubles and Inference 5.outward distresses they meet with in the world.
Surely rest may be found in Christ in any condition: he is able to give you peace in the midst of all your troubles here. So he tells you in Joh. 16. ult. These things have I spoken to you, that in me you might have peace; in the world you shall have tribulation: by peace he means not a deliverance from troubles by taking off affliction from them, or taking them away by death from all afflictions; but it is something they enjoy from Christ in the very thick of troubles, and amidst all their afflictions, that quiets and gives them rest, so that troubles cannot hurt them: certainly Believers, you have peace in Christ, when there is little in your own hearts: and your hearts might be filled with peace too, if you would exercise faith upon Christ for that end: 'tis your own fault, if you be without rest in any condition in this world. Set your selves to study the fulness of Christ, and to clear your interest in him, believe what the Scriptures reveal of him, and live as you believe, and you will quickly find the peace of God filling your hearts and minds.
Blessed be God for Jesus Christ.