Balm for Bleeding England and Ireland, Sermon 19
USEFULL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THESE Evill Times.
COLOSS. 1.12.
foreign.Giving thankes unto the Father, which hath made us fit, to the part of the [Lot] of Saints, in light.
THE greateſt favours, come moſt immediate to us. Eternall mercies fall as a Lot in our lap; no art, no medium, no merit. Gods own finger points them to perſons; to ſuch, and not to ſuch. —Who hath made us fit to the [Lot] of Saints.
Doct. Providence hath a mediate, and an immediate courſe, to give out favours to man This, that expreſſion of the wiſe man gives us. Houſe and riches are the inheritance of fathers, but a prudent wife (ſaith he) is of a higher deſcent, is from the Lord. The mercy is higher, and therefore diſpoſed by a more immediate and ſpeciall providence. As things riſe in the Nobility of their owne nature, ſo they riſe in the manner of their birth and bringing forth to us. Grace and glory are ſimply and abſolutly, the nobleſt natur'd things, and theſe in the nobleſt way deſcend upon us, by a very immediate diſpoſing hand of God, like a Lot.
Things are of a double deſcent. There is mans off-ſpring, and Gods off-ſpring. [wee] are his off-ſpring ſaith the Apoſtle. The nobleſt things are onelyonly Gods off-ſpring: the great things of eternity, come onelyonly out of the wombe of a God; Heaven comes forth, from betweene his … Some things come down along in ſuch a line to us, through ſo many wombes, through ſo many hands, into our hands: Heaven comes out but of one wombe, but that wombe as bleſſed as God, from Gods immediate hand, by providence not to be explained, juſt as a Lot.—the Lot of Saints, &c.
Some things have ſucceſſion, others have none. Melchiſedeck, neither father nor mother. The great'ſt favours come all ſo into the World, neither father nor mother but God. Out of nothing came al: from nothing comes al ſtil, to the Saints; heaven which is a Saints al, from nothing but from Heaven. From what houſe doth that great houſe deſcend upon us, to be ours? From what progenitors, but Chriſt? Is it not diſpoſed to ſuch and ſuch ſecretly, wonderfully, by a hand and power unknowne to all the World? Upon Chriſts veſture they did caſt Lots, and as that fell, ſo the veſture went, by a ſupreme hand onelyonly. Heaven is Chriſts veſture, the Sons beſt garment, his robe of ſtate and glory, and this goes by Lot too; tis put, upon the back of none, by any art of their owne, but by a power ſupreme, by that hand which diſpoſeth Lots which none ſees; ſo all the Saints, get their greatneſſe.—The lot of the Saints, &c.
As power did create ſo providence doth diſpoſe. A very unknowne creation, had the Heaven of Heavens,*Above ſpeculation, therefore not ſubjected to it: wiſdome would nor dazell, weake eyes. The Angels, and all the ſtate and glory, of that brave World to come. Doe you finde any piece of that ſtately building above, ſo much as once expreſſely mentioned, in the dayes of Creation? Tis diſpoſed as 'twas created, in a very cloſe way, as a Lot, by ſuch a power and providence as no Ceature can explaine, or peep into. This World was made by an immediate hand, but that above after a more cloſe, more entire, and more ſupreme, way (i) utterly without all hint to be gueſſed at. So this World is diſpoſed of by a providence of God, but by a providence working very externally, and very humanely (i) al-along in ſuch and ſuch humane and ſecular wayes as uſually knowne unto us. But that glorious World above, is diſpoſed by ſuch a providence, as workes very internally, very hiddenly, in utter unlikely meanes, and in theſe moves, utterly out of our ſight and reach, juſt as that hand, and thoſe fingers doe, which diſpoſe into your boſome ſuch a Lot of great treaſure.
Some motion is peculiar for ſtate. Kings give low things by Offices, and take no notice of them themſelves, what they are, nor to whom they goe. But other things, of a more noble nature, they give with their own mouth, and with their own hand, ſuch and ſuch noble things, to ſuch and ſuch noble perſons. Heaven is nobility confer'd with Gods own hand; 'Tis the beſt robe, put upon the Prodidall, by the hand of his Father, and none elſe. 'Tis lame Mephiboſheth, advanced by word of mouth, from David himſelfe, as a piece of the ſtate of his greatneſſe, to which God had raiſed him, and as a high point of love. The more immeditate things come, out of one friends hand into another, the more they ſpeake out love, and render parties honorable. I did it for him with my own hand, you have ſuch a common expreſſion, when you would worke your reſpect, with ſuch and ſuch, to a great height. The King gives a Jewell, and he gives it with his owne hand; his love and honor doublely ſparkle in ſuch a Jewel, every time 'tis look 't upon. Heaven is a Jewell hanged about our neck, by Gods owne hand. God makes a rich portion, and as it were rolles it up in a Lot, and with his owne hand, without any art of man, caſts it into our lap—the lot of Saints.
Some motion is peculiar for complement. 'Tis a filling up of Love, to give and to give with a mans owne hand: to give an onelyonly ſon, and the father to do it with his hand onelyonly; this is Love to admiration, love filled up to the brim. God ſo loved the World, that [he gave] his only begotten Sonne. Some perſons give, as if they would give themſelves too, if they knew how; that makes the gift mighty big: yee ſhall have gift, and hand and al; words, and armes and all. A gift fully circumſtanced with love, is a double gift. Heaven given, and caſt into our lap with Gods owne hand, is a double Heaven. A Lot in a good ground, and to [fall] there; Heaven, and to fal as out of Heaven, that's two Heavens. Gods love motions, are fully circumſtanced with love; the Sun wants not a beame, to give forth its glory. Heaven comes from God to the ſoule, as the ſoule it ſelfe came from God; the ſoule and the felicity of the ſoule, both breathed from Gods own mouth.
Some motion is pecular for Echo. *A trumpet is ſoū ded ſo, and at ſuch a place, for echo.Some things are done ſo and ſo, to ſuite and joynt to others. The holy Land was divided by Lot, immediate providence caryed it there. Friendſhip made no revenue in Canaan; Gods own hand caſt every man his fortune, ſo big and ſo good; in ſuch a place, in the Mountaines, or in the vallies, with ſprings, or without. Divine diſpenſations, are harmonious; Heaven comes in no new way to us: God gives, as he did give: Hee did give Canaan with his owne hand, ſo hee gives Heaven. Power wrought very immediate, to plant our fathers in the holy Land; Ioſhuah did caſt lots, and ſo divided the Land; power did worke very immediate, to plant perſons there; ſo it doth to plant Perſons above: [I goe] before to provide a place, Ioſh. 18.10&c. Our Ioſhuah, aſſignes our manſion, ſituation, building, conveyance, all done with Chriſts own hand [I goe &c.] Though power worke without hand, yet not without rule; not a word ſpoke, nor a worke done by Chriſt, but with ſcope, and look to ſome rule, though ſometimes that rule be a great way off, as far as Heaven. Truth fulfils Types; diſpenſations under each covenant, one eccho to another. Canaan went by Lot, ſo does Heaven—the lot of Saints.
Diſpenſations of grace and glory ſuite, Gory is ſuited to grace in diſpenſation, as grace is ſuited to glory in fruition.as really the ſame. Heaven and Chriſt, come both one way to a Chriſtian, by immedate providence: grace and glory, are wrought both with Gods own hand; 'Tis the finger of God that turnes the heart towards Heaven, and that turnes the heart into Heaven. Grace is an inſpiration, glory is ſo too; there is no remoter agent of either then Gods own ſpirit. A ſoule and ſuch a ſoule, ſo happy, and ſo glorious, was breathed altogether into Adams noſtrils. The breath of Gods own mouth makes alive ſtil, and the breath of his owne mouth, caſt varniſh and glory, upon that being, to maturation. 'Tis Chriſt al in al here, 'tis no otherwiſe above. Chriſt al in al; no leſſe makes grace; and no more is glory. Grace is ſuch an immediation, according to ſuch a location: glory is ſuch an immediatiō, according to ſuch a tranſlocation: Chriſt is next to, and onelyonly with the ſoule in both.
Ʋſe. If this point were rightly applied to the heart, hope would not fall reſpecting great favours depending: providence hath more wayes then one, to bring great things to us: it can worke with hands, and without hands: divine power can bring a Heaven to you, on its owne ſhoulders, caſt a Heaven upon you as a Lot into your lap, in a very immediate way, beyond all proviſion or expectation; God does moſt and beſt for man alone, when hee has no toole, or no toole conſiderable in his hand. Wee have a Heaven depending, but yet a hell betweene us and it, and no man can ſee but one way to it, if that way do not hit which we propoſe, we are all undone; this is almoſt every ones vote. This point ſhould relieve us, in this deſperate caſe, reſpecting our great feares, & our great hops which are ſo oppoſed. There are great mountaines before Zerubbabell, great hindrances, in the way of our great mercies, ſo that we ſee no likelyhood in an ordinary way, how or when, our great Heaven deſired, ſhould arriue with us. Let the point in hand ſupport; the greateſt favours come, in the moſt immediate way of providence: heavenly favors come to us, as if they did drop out of Heaven. The more heavenly and divine, the mercies are which wee expect, in the more divine and immediate way, they'l deſcend. The ſtone ſhall be cut out without hands, that ſhall ſmite the image, of various mixtures, and breake it to pieces: new Ieruſalem, comes downe out of Heaven. Power will worke in a very immediate way, to bring in that new Heaven into the Chriſtian World, which now the Chriſtian World is labouring for. Yet once more [I] ſhake, not the earth only, Heb. 12.26.but alſo Heaven. God himſelfe will after a ſpeciall manner, ſet his own ſhoulders, to ſhake that rotten heaven of mens inventions, and thoſe which ſet their ſhoulders to keepe it up, and make battery with ſuch Cannon, as we are not aware of. Not by might nor by power but by [my ſpirit] ſaith the Lord, reſpecting the building of that houſe, which typifyed this. Not by might nor power (i) not by humane ſtrength, ſo much as by his owne power, ſhall the old Heaven be deſtroyed, and the new erected. We expect our Heaven too low; from men: but 'twill come from God when it comes. As 'tis a great favour, ſo '…will come in ſtate, in the way of ſublime favors, very ſublimely. Magicians, great heads, and divelliſh wits, ſhall be non-pluſt by God owne finger and art, not by mens wiſdome and art. Egiptians ſhall be drownned on a ſudden, by a ſtratageme made in Heaven, and managed from heaven. Iericho ſhall fall by Faith, by making no more or the power of men, of Swords and Guns, then of Rammes-hornes, but magnifying the power of Chriſt, and truſting in that. Surely wee are yet too many and too ſtrong, to be delivered.
Chriſtians, I would yee were skilled in the way of GOD. GOD keeps his Old way in beſtowing great things, and yet yee wonder and murmur: your folly is your owne affliction, and many's more. Things of great worth, Chriſt will truſt no Meſſenger with them, but bring them himſelfe: Chriſt will truſt none to bring your Heaven to you; neither your Heaven here, nor hereafter. Men are falſe, they would marre your heaven, and bring you an old one, in ſtead of a new one, or an old one new patcht up. Bleſſed be he that will bring a new heaven to us, all new, divine favours in their maturity, though every man be trampled under foote, and none ſeene in the worke but God: though he trample all men in the dirt, and he onelyonly be left alive, with the cauſe in his hand. If men would allow God his way, they would never be at a loſſe of Faith, ſo fearefully as they are. Yee open one doore and there comes in nothing but your ſhame; yee ſet open another doore of your owne, for Chriſt to come in at, and there alſo comes in nothing but your folly and ſhame. Ah Lord! When will yee looke up, and expect Chriſt from Heaven? Do not great things come in a very immediate way to man? Hath God tyed himſelfe to do every great worke, with ſuch and ſuch great meanes, as your eye is fixed upon, to caſt out a Legion of bad ſpirits, with a Legion of good? Is not one enough to do it? Chriſt brings an eternall weight of glory, upon his owne Shoulders to your doores, can he not bring a temporall weight of of glory, which is far eaſier, alone? Thou art great and doſt great things, thou art God alone ſayth the Pſalmiſt. We thinke God is not God, nor able to do like a God,Pſal. 86.10. unleſſe ſuch and ſuch men ſtand, by him. What? Is not God, God alone? Cannot he, nay, doth not he uſe to do great things, alone? Nemine adjuvante, multis obſtantibus? Is not Heaven brought to us, againſt all the ſtrength of Hell, by Chriſt alone?
I will make a more ſtrict ſoule-application of this point. Great things come in a very immediate way: my inference is, our eyes in matters of the ſoule, which are the greateſt things, ſhould be much fixed upon God. Sinners undoe their ſoules, in that little which they doe, to ſave them. 'Tis enough to ſome, that they put themſelves upon Ordinances, as if that were all to bring the ſoule to Heaven. Grace and ſalvation, come in a more immediate way; 'Tis not what men ſay to the eare, but what God himſelfe ſpeaks to the heart, which makes Heaven there, and a capacity of Heaven for ever. 'Tis the voice behind you that turnes you, and ſaves you. Grace drops from Chriſts on we lips, [I create] the fruit of the lips, peace. Theſe waters are nothing, to him that makes them enough: 'Tis the Angels ſtirring, does the worke for Heaven. Sinners when you come to Ordinances, uſe them as Ordinances,*Media ut media, ſecùs ſlagella, and not as Gods, charge your ſoules to hearken what God will ſay, and what God will doe. I am going to divine Ordinances, it may be a man may ſay many good wordes to me, and God never a one, man may lift and lift, and be very lively, and God give never a lift, and then is my ſoule loſt: Ah Lord! How ominous is that, when God will not ſpeake a word to the ſoule?
I am fallen upon a point of life & death: ſinners attend, or you will utterly loſe your ſoules. You have mediate favours caſt upon you, but what immediate? You have men-preaching, but what God-preaching do you find? you keepe on in a rode-way, what foot-way hath Chriſt within from heaven to your hearts? The Law was written with Gods own hand, and ſo diſpenſed in a very immediate way, which was Iſraells greateſt favor. Is the Law written on your hearts, by the finger of God? What friends have you from Heaven viſiting you, which no eye ſees? What immediate diſpenſations from Chriſt to your ſoules? What workings of the ſpirit of God upon your ſpirits, doe you finde in Ordinances? many a man, hath no bigger favours from God, then a Horſe or a Cow; naked corporall things, for the ſupport of ſuch a corporall being; bread and fleſh, as a bruite hath hay and graſſe: This was Caines curſe; baniſhed from Heaven to earth, curſed from the preſence of the Lord, to bruites mercies, onelyonly to what felicity the earth could afford; no fellowſhip betweene God and his ſoule. The World is full of baniſhed ſoules, from the preſence of the Lord. Juſtice for this makes no difference O England, betweene thy men and horſe, no more of one then of t'other, becauſe ſo like in qualification, one looking no higher then t'other. The nobleſt bleſſings, the greateſt favours, Heaven and Heavenly things, which God gives with his owne hands to the ſoule, theſe thy wantons and worldlings O ſenſuall England, have not eſteemed. A baſe ſunke ſpirit, hath ſunk thee England. If thou couldeſt have but the mercies of a bruite, fat paſture and peace to graſe in it, 'twould much as thy heart wiſhes; As for thoſe greateſt favours, which God in ſtate diſpences, with his owne hand to the heart, thou haſt many children, which will diſpence with theſe, and many which will ſcoffe at them. Multitudes amongſt you care not for the ſmile of a God, ſo you may have but the ſmiling countenance, of ſome great man; ſo you may but ſleepe in a whole skinne, and enjoy fleſhly delights, whether God or your ſoule ever change a good word, you heed not.
Yee baſe ſpirited wretches, which care not for Heaven, ſo that yee may have but earth; know, that yee are the plague of poore England: The bloud of the Land, will be laid at your doore. Had not you growne ſo earthly and baſe in a fat Land, as to ſleight Heaven, and ſleight the greateſt favours, we had not bled at this day. Tis the badge of an Eſau to prize earth, and ſleight Heaven; to ſerve ſence, and to care for no nobler, nor nearer fellowſhip with God, then providence bring to the belly. God may bring a Heaven to your bodies, if this will ſerve turne, and a hell to your ſoules. Let every man know the plague of his heart, and repent: carnality will kill you all.
Spirituality onelyonly covets the nobleſt things. A ſpirituall man cannot feed ſo low, nor ſo courſe, as others doe; hee muſt have a Diſh from GODS owne Table, or all dainties at his owne table relliſh not. The Creature is ſweete, but there is a Heaven beyond this, (ſaith hee.) Hee cannot ſit downe without God, nor riſe up without him. All is wanting, when God cannot be found: no body at Table, when Chriſt is not there: what dropping from Heaven upon my ſoule, from every thing? that's ſtill the Quaere, with a ſpirituall man. Immediate favours, nobleſt; God alone, all, to this man. Whom have I in Heaven but thee, whom have I in Earth, in compariſon of thee? Words of men, weighed; words of Gods within, laid up more choyce then Jewells. The opportunity is ſtill loſt, when Chriſt and the ſoule, hath had no talke. Vanites enſnare, I am too fleſhly for Chriſt to take mee by the hand, ſayes a ſpirituall man. One ſpirit is ſtill panting, after another; two ſpirits would be one in the boſome of another; no leſſe then the jewels, which hang about Chriſts owne neck, will content a noble ſpirit. The Quaere is not, how much the body hath of the Creature, but how much the ſoule doth enjoy of God. What immediate mercies, doe I enjoy? What hath God laid in, for ſpending, in theſe hard times, with his owne hands? What faith? What experiments? What divine reſolutions? Spirituality carries the ſoule ſublime; every thing is in price, as it comes from Heaven, and brings Heaven along with it. That's preaching, that brings Heaven and the heart together; that's a chriſtian, whoſe breath ſmels like a garden, which the Lord hath bleſt; In whoſe mouth Heaven opens. As things are wrapped up in Chriſt, ſo they have their price ſtill, to a ſpiritualll man. Carnality makes you mind, no high things; earth is heavy; earthy ſoules cannot flee high, no higher, then the top of a golden dunghill. Let theſe things hint a bad ſtate, and better it. The nobleſt things, make the nobleſt condition, both here and here after. Live low now, and live low for ever; as low as hell.
FINIS.