Sermons Volume 4, Sermon on John 2
A Second Sermon on JOHN i.29.
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the World.
Doctrine 2. THE great Work of Christ, the Lamb of God, is to take away the Sins of the World.
1. What is meant by the World.
2. In what manner Christ taketh away the Sins of the World.
3. That this is the great End, Work, and Scope of Christ's coming into the World.
I. What is meant by the World? Why is there such a capacious and comprehensive Word used? Since it is clear, that all the World have not benefit by Christ, for many of them die in their Sins.
Answ. 1. To shew the difference between the Lamb of God, and the Sacrifices of the Law; the old Sacrifices were only offered for the People of Israel, but Christ's Death hath a larger Extent to People of all places, Iews and Gentiles: 1 Iohn 2.2. And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And in all Ages from the beginning of the World to the end, Rev. 13.8. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The Lamb of God is of an universal and perpetual Use.
2. To shew the sufficiency of this Mediatorial Sacrifice, it is of such a full and overflowing Merit, that it becometh a Foundation for a tendry of Grace to every Creature. Here is a Ground-work and Foundation laid for the truth of this Proposition, Mark 16.16. That whosoever believeth shall be saved: So that here is a great Invitation and Incouragement for every oppressed Soul; if Christ taketh away the Sins of the World, put in for a share, thou art a Member of the World. Paul creepeth in at the back Door of the Promise, 1 Tim. 1.15. Christ Iesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Christ would not have Sinners exclude themselves, but attend upon him for this Benefit. Therefore he would have his Grace set forth in the most comprehensive Terms, that all that find themselves Sinners, may stir up themselves to find benefit by him.
3. Those Elect ones, who have actual Benefit by this Sacrifice, may be called The World; partly because of their Number; take them all together, and they are many, and therefore called World, Rev. 7.9. I beheld a great multitude, which no man could number, &c. And partly in regard of God's Estimation, though they are few, they are as good as all the World to him: And partly because they will one day be set apart from the rest of Mankind, and make a peculiar World of themselves.
II. In what manner doth Christ take away the Sins of the World, I shall give my Answer in these Propositions.
1. The whole World in its natural Estate lieth under Sin and Wrath. The Scripture in one place telleth us, 1 Iohn 5.19. The whole World lieth in wickedness. And in another, that all the World is become guilty before God, Rom. 3.19. Both together speak this much, That the Sin and Misery of the World was such, that it groaned for a Saviour, even as a Man sick of a mortal Disease, and almost at his last gasp, hath need of a Physician. In the corruption of Nature all are involved, Rom. 3.23. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. And so by consequence all are under the wrath of God, Eph. 2.3. We are by nature the children of Wrath even as others. Which abideth upon us while we remain Unbelieving and Impenitent, Iohn 3.36. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. And besides this, there is the Dominion of actual Sin, Rom. 6.14. All which shew the miserable state of the World, and the high need of a Saviour. Sin liveth with Men from the Birth to the Grave, and all are become abominable and filthy, they are all gone out of the way, there is none that seeketh after God, there is none that doth good, no not one, Psal. 14.1, 2, 3. They are all gone out of the way of Holiness and Happiness, they are all become vile and loathsom to God, all guilty of a careless neglect of God, and of their Duty, and of the Service they owe to him; all are given to please the Flesh, Iohn 3.6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. So general a Wickedness and Defection from God is there throughout the World, as if they had cast off all Fear, and Care, and Love of God and his Service; though they speak honourably of him in Words, yet in their Deeds they deny him, and disobey his Authority, and wholly abandon themselves to please the Flesh.
2. To lie under Sin, and the Consequences thereof, is a Burden too heavy for us to bear, and miserable are they who have it lying upon their own Shoulders. How light soever Sins may seem to be when they are committed, yet they will not be found to be light when we come to reckon with God for them. Sin to a waking Conscience is one of the heaviest Burdens that ever was felt, Psal. 38.4. My iniquities are gone over my head, as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. If you do but tast of this Cup, if a Spark of God's Wrath light upon the Conscience, what a weight and pressure is this upon the Soul! You will find the little Finger of Sin to be heavier than the Loins of any other Sorrow. You may know it in part by what Christ suffered; if his Soul was heavy unto Death, if he felt such strange Agonies, sweated drops of curdled Blood, lost the actual sensible Comforts of his Godhead when he bore the burden of Sin, what shall any one of us do, if he were to bear his own burden? If this be done in the green Tree, what shall be done in the dry? You may also know it by the Complaints of the Saints, when the Finger of God hath but touched them; all Life and Power is gone, if God should set home one Sin upon the Conscience. Psal. 40.12. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me. So Iob complaineth, that the arrows of the Almighty are within him, the poison whereof did drink up his spirits, Iob 6.4. If you will know what it is to bear Sin, ask a tender Conscience, or a troubled Conscience; what disquiets of Soul do wicked Men feel when their Consciences are a little awakened! How uneasie do their Hearts sit within them! Prov. 28.14. He that hardeneth his heart, shall fall into mischief. Gain crieth out, My punishment is greater than I can bear, Gen. 4.13. What large Offers do Men then make to get rid of their Burden! Thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oyl, yea their firstborn for their transgressions, the fruit of their bodies for the sin of their souls, Micah 6.6, 7. Lastly, what it is to live and die in Sin, the other World will shew us, Christ useth no other Expression of the Misery of the unbelieving Iews, but this, Ye shall die in your sins, Iohn 8.24. That is enough, for that speaketh all manner of Horror and Torment. And the threatnings of the Word shew their Case is miserable enough, They fall into the hands of the living God, Heb. 10.31. And the Worm, that feedeth upon them, shall never die; and the Fire, wherewith they are scorched, shall never be quenched, Mark 9.44. Sins that now lie like sleepy Lions, then awaken, and take them by the Throat, and feed and gnaw upon them to all Eternity. Miserable questionless is the state of them, who bear their own Burden, and their own Transgression. Now the sense of this should make a Crucified Saviour sweet to us.
3. None can take off this burden of Sin but Jesus Christ, this is a Work proper to the Lamb of God. None else could preserve the Honour of God's Justice, which was necessary, before we could be intrusted with a new stock of Grace: Rom. 3.24, 25. Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Iesus Christ; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins. None else could secure the Honour of God's Government; Punishments are inflicted, not only for the Reformation and Correction of the Offendors, but for a Warning to others, to secure the ends of Government, that none may presume upon Impunity. The same is necessary in the Government of the World by God; if God should wholly release the Law, all Awe and Sense of it would be lost, Sin would not be counted so grievous a thing; therefore there is a Brand put upon Sin by the Sufferings of Christ, the Odiousness of it is represented in the Agonies and Sorrows of his Cross. The Apostle saith, That God for sin condemned sin in the flesh, Rom. 8.3. Or by a Sacrifice given for Sin, he hath shewed his Hatred and Displeasure against it. When we look upon Sin through Satan's Spectacles, or the Cloud of our own Passions, or Carnal Affections, we make nothing of it; but it is a terrible Spectacle to see the Fruits of it in the Agonies and Sufferings of Jesus Christ, which are represented to us in the Word and Sacraments, as if he were Crucified before our Eyes. Once more, none could bear this burden of Punishment but Jesus Christ, who was Man to undertake it in our Name, and also God to get through it in his own Strength: His Human Nature did put a Price into his Hands to lay down for the Ransom of our Souls, and his Divine Nature did put a Value upon that Price, and made it sufficient and responsible to all God's Ends. Therefore it is said, Psal. 89.19. Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty, I have exalted one chosen out of the people. It best befitted the Divine Wisdom to choose such a Person as might undertake the Work, and not miscarry it; otherwise we could have no assurance that full satisfaction was given.
4. Jesus Christ taketh away Sin, by bearing it in his own Person; foreign, signifieth both to take it away, and carry it away: And it is said, Isa. 53.6. The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all. God laid it on him, and he willingly took it upon himself, 1 Pet. 2.24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree; which signifieth his voluntary Susception, as well as the Father's Ordination and Appointment.
I must a little explain two things:
1. How Sin was laid upon Christ.
2. That being transferred and laid upon Christ, it is taken off from the Creature.
1. How Sin was laid upon Christ, for so the Scripture speaketh. There is in Sin, Culpa, the Fault; Macula, the Stain; Reatus, the Guilt; and Poena, the Punishment: We cannot say the Fault was laid on him, for that is the Blame, which ariseth or groweth out of Sin inherent; we cannot say the Stain, for Christ was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from Sinners, Heb. 7.26. Therefore we must understand it of the other two, the Guilt, and the Punishment: The Guilt is imputed as he stood in our stead, for he is said, To bear the sins of many, Isa. 53.12. And, To be made sin for us, 2 Cor. 5.21. As he offered himself, and obliged himself to make satisfaction to his Father's Justice, his Soul and Body was a Ransom in our Souls stead, 1 Tim. 2.6. Who gave himself, foreign, a ransom for all; he not only died, In bonum nostrum, for our good, but, Loco & vice omnium nostrum, he stood before the Father's Tribunal in our room and stead. Then for the Punishment; as he was made sin for us, so he was made a curse for us, Gal. 3.13. That is, to undergo the Curse of the Law due to us: He was no more spared, than if we our selves, who had sinned, had been in his room and place at that time: And therefore he is said, To carry our sorrows, and bear our griefs, Isa. 53.4. He was the Object of Sin-pursuing Justice, and at his hands did God demand satisfaction for all our Wrongs. He had all the Sins of the Elect upon him, by Imputation, and voluntary Susception, and was handled by Divine Justice, as if he had been guilty of them all.
2. The Guilt and Punishment being transferred and transacted upon Christ, it is taken off from the Creature; and all, who upon God's Terms do thankfully accept of this Atonement, are acquitted, and reconciled to God, and taken into Grace and Favour through Christ. Iob 33.24. Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom. When the Surety hath paid the Debt, the Debtor is let out of Prison; when the Ram was taken, Isaac was let go, Gen. 22. As Christ told his Persecutors, Iohn 18.8. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way. In that Action of his there was a Pledge, an Illustration at least, of his offering himself to the Curse of the Law, and the Punishment due to Sin, to exempt us from it, take me, and let these go. The Fault is forgiven, the Guilt expiated, the Blot more and more done away, and the Sentence of Condemnation and Punishment disanulled, so that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ, Rom. 8.1.
5. Christ having born the burden and weight of our Sins, hath undertaken to take away all that may be called Sin; he hath taken away the Guilt, and he hath taken away the Stain; the Obligation to Punishment, and the Power of Corruption: Or, in short, he hath procured both Justification and Sanctification for us.
1. Justification is a Fruit of his bearing Sin, Isa. 53.11. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many, for he shall bear their iniquities. To bear the Sin, is to bear the Punishment, the Wrath due to it; now God will not exact it twice, of Christ, and of us too. Christ doth so bear it for us, that he takes it away from us, that we are discharged from the Guilt, and delivered from wrath to come, 2 Thess. 1.10. and are brought into a Justifiable condition before God, 2 Cor. 5.21. He was made sin for us that knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
2. Sanctification, that is one taking away of Sin, and a Fruit of Christ's bearing our Iniquities: 1 Pet. 2.24. He bore our sins in his own body upon the tree, that we, being dead unto sin, might be alive unto righteousness. Naturally we are alive to Sin, love it, delight in it, and are active in it, but we are dead to Righteousness, not only sick and wounded, but dead to it. But Christ came to purchase Grace, to subdue our Love and Delight in Sin, and to turn our Hearts towards God. We need a Saviour to help us to Repentance, as well as to Pardon; the loss of God's Image was part of our Punishment, and the Renovation of our Nature is a part, yea a principal part of our Deliverance by Jesus Christ.
6. This Work of taking away Sin is not done all at an instant, but accomplished by degrees, foreign, the Participle noteth a continued act; it is a thing Christ is always a doing, till Sin be no more. Here we must distinguish between Impetration and Application: As to Purchase and Impetration, Christ hath done it once for all, there needed no repeating of this Act, Heb. 10.14. For by one offering he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified. As to the Merit, nothing is wanting, no other Oblation and Sacrifice needeth to be offered to God. But as to Application, so he is every day taking away Sin; what is his business now in Heaven, but to sit at the right hand of God, and to see the Fruits of his Mediation accomplished? Yea, and as to the same Persons, Christ doth not destroy Sin all at once: Narrow-mouth'd Vessels cannot be filled in an instant, though cast into an Ocean. Therefore taking away Sin is a continual act, which Christ is ever a doing. Some Blessings are dispensed presently, upon the first day of our entering into the state of Grace and Favour with God, as Adoption into God's Family, Pardon of Sins past, a renewing of the Image of God in us, Redemption or Exemption from the Curse of the Law, which Things encrease more and more unto their final perfection in Eternal Glory. Adoption then shall be compleat, Rom. 8.23. Waiting for …he Adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies: When we shall know more fully what Honour and Blessedness belongeth to the Children of God, now it doth not appear what we shall be. So pardon of Sin shall be then compleat, Acts 3.19. Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. All pardoned Sins shall never be remembred more, our Absolution shall be solemnly pronounced by the Judge upon the Bench. That is the great Regeneration, Matth. 19.28. You that have followed me in the regeneration, when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. So for Redemption, Eph. 4.30. Grieve not the holy spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of Redemption: When all the Effects of Sin shall cease, for Death remaineth on the Body till that day.
7. This Work of taking away Sin is carried on with respect to Christ's threefold Office of King, Priest, and Prophet.
1. As a Priest; so he taketh away Sin by his Merit, having purchased a Power, and a Virtue, whereby our Natures may be healed and cleansed, and our Peace made with God. In this sense it is said, 1 Iohn 1.7. The blood of Iesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin.
2. As a Prophet; so he taketh away Sin by his Doctrine, which is fit for such a purpose, as it commandeth and requireth Purity and Holiness, and inviteth us to it by notable Promises, and encourageth us by blessed Examples, especially of Jesus Christ himself, and the perfect Pattern of his holy Obedience, and heavenly Life. Iohn 17.17. Sanctifie them through thy truth, thy word is truth.
3. As a King; so he taketh away Sin by his Spirit. So backward are our Minds, so bad our Hearts, so strong our Lusts, so manifold our Temptations, that be… Teaching will not serve the turn without a Spirit of Light, Life, and Love, to open our Eyes, and change our Hearts, and incline us, and bring us back again to God. Therefore it is said, Titus 3.5, 6. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy-Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our saviour. His Merit giveth us Confidence, his Word Means and Helps, and his sanctifying Spirit maketh all effectual to the Soul.
III. That this is the great End and Scope of Christ's coming into the World, appeareth by sundry Scriptures. 1 Iohn 3.5. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. He was manifested in the Flesh, and manifested in the Gospel for this end. He came as an holy innocent Saviour to take away Sin, Matth. 1.21. Thou shalt call his name Iesus, for he shall save his people from their sins: Not to ease them of their Trouble only, but chiefly to destroy Sin, with the mischievous Effects of it. He is a Saviour, that saves us from Sin, not in Sin. Tit. 2.14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity: Not only from the Curse of the Law, but from all Iniquity. The Mediator's Blessing was not to free us from the Roman Yoke, but from the slavery and bondage of Sin. Acts 3.26. Unto you first, God having raised up his son Iesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Reasons:
1. Sin is the great Make-bate between God and us. The first breach was by Sin, and still it continueth the distance, Isa. 59.2. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God. Till Sin be taken out of the way, there can be no perfect Communion betwen God and the Creature. The Purity of God is irreconcilable to Sin, though not to the Sinner, and therefore though the Sinner be pardoned, the Sin must be taken away.
2. Sin is the great Disease of Mankind, and the cause of all Misery; therefore Christ came to stop Mischief at the Fountain Head. Take away Sin, and you take away Wrath; for when the Cause is gone, the Effect ceaseth. Those who are most sensible of their true Evil, do mainly desire the taking away of Sin. Pharaoh said, Take away this Plague; but the Church saith, Take away all iniquity, Hosea 14.2. Many seek to get rid of Trouble and Temporal Afflictions, but not of Sin; because they have a gross sense of Things, and measure their Happiness and Misery by their outward Condition. Hosea 7.14. They assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me: They sought not God's Favour, but Corn, and Wine, and Oyl. Others, if they mind Spiritual Things, they mind only pardon of Sins, and ease of Conscience, but not to be freed from the Power of it; as if a Man that had broken his Leg should only desire to be eased of the smart, but not to have it set again. But the true Penitent is troubled with the Stain, as well as the Guilt, therefore the Promise is suited to such, 1 Iohn 1.9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Others, if they would be freed from Sin, they respect only the preventing the outward Act, but you must abstain from the Lust, 2 Pet. 2.11. I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. If they look after the Heart and inward Man, it is some Branch of Sin, not the Root, or the Change of the Heart, and so die Impenitent. Evil Practices do not flow from a present Temptation, but an evil Nature. All these lose their labour, they neither get rid of Trouble, nor prevent the Act, nor are free from the breach of God's Law, but Christ would make a thorough Cure.
3. Taking away of Sin is a greater benefit than Impunity, or taking away the Punishment. Those Means, which have a more immediate Connexion with the last End, are more noble than those which are more remote: The last End is the Glory of God. Now the Holiness and Subjection of the Creature is a nearer means to it than our Comfort and Pardon. Christ's End was to fit us for God's Use, and therefore his End was to sanctifie us, and free us from Sin.
1 Use, Is Caution. Let us renounce all Sin, that we may not make Christ's coming into the World in vain. You go about to frustrate your Redeemer's End, and so to put him to shame, if you cherish Sin; for then you cherish that which he came to destroy. 1 Iohn 3.8. For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil; that is, dissolve, unty, and loose this Knot: The Work of the Devil is to bring us into Sin and Misery, and will you tie the Knot the faster? If you go about to frustrate his Undertaking, you renounce all Benefit by him, and slight the Price of your Redemption.
2 Use, Hath Christ taken upon him to carry away Sin; Then here is Instruction.
1. To the Careless. Certainly he that seeketh after benefit by Christ, must be one that is not a Stranger to himself, one that knoweth and is acquainted with the case of his own Heart and Life, one that is sensible of his Sins and corrupt Inclinations, and the guilt and burden that lieth upon him, one that mourneth under the fears of God's displeasure. Will Christ ease a Man of a Burden that he feeleth not? A sensless sleepy Soul hath not Work for Christ to do. He inviteth those that see a need of Mercy, Matth. 11.28. Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
2. To those who are afflicted in Conscience for Sin. Remember you must be not only sensible of the guilt of Sin, but the stain of it, and look after not only Peace, but Healing. Isa. 53.5. With his stripes we are healed. It is not a sound Cure, that aimeth only at the asswaging of the Grief, but the Distemper must be removed. Mountebanks only stop the Pain, but let alone the Cause, such a Cure would they have, who are more earnest for Ease and Comfort, than for Grace. Sin in some sense is worse than Damnation. Remember then this is the Undertaking of our blessed Redeemer; will he come in vain, and miss of his End? Consider the Merit of his Humiliation, what a Price he hath paid for sanctifying Grace. 1 Pet. 1.18, 19. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers: But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot. This Price was not given only to heighten our Esteem of the Priviledge, but to encrease our Confidence. And consider the Power of his Exaltation, Acts 3.26. God having raised up his son Iesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. Having paid our Ransom, he is gone into Heaven fully furnished and impowred to free from Sin all that consent to receive this Benefit.
But what shall we do that we may have the actual Benefit?
1. Seek the Pardon of Sin in the way of Repentance, confessing your Sins with brokeness of Heart. 1 Iohn 1.9. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Sue out his Grace, and turn to the Lord. Repentance lieth not in a feigned Wish only, that Sin had not been done, but in a change of Mind, Heart, and Life; in a hatred to Sin repented of, and a love to God and Holiness. Man's Fall was specially in point of Love, and his Recovery must be a Recovery of Love to God again. Your Love to Sin must be turned into an Hatred of Sin, the Soul must be not only turned from Sin, but against it. Repentance is most seen in our Love and Hatred.
2. Seek the subduing of Sin in a diligent use of Means. There is a Spirit purchased by Christ, to begin the Life of Grace, and to carry it on with success; to heal and renew our Natures, and to strengthen them being heal'd and renew'd. Now we must not by our carelesness, negligence, or other Sin, provoke the Lord to withdraw from us, and suspend his Grace, but humbly implore his Favour, wait for his Approaches, and attend and obey his sanctifying Motions. God is willing to give the Spirit to them that ask him, as a Father is to give an hungry Child bread. Luke 11.13. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him? We make our selves uncapable of this help, by grieving the Spirit: Eph. 4.30. And grieve not the holy spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. When we are so easie to the Requests of Sin, and so deaf to his Motions, he ceaseth to give us warning. There are certain Ordinances whereby this Grace is conveyed to us, and Christ died to sanctifie them to us, Eph. 5.25, 26. Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. These Ordinances are the Word and Sacraments, by the use of which Sin receiveth a new wound. The Word is for cleansing the Soul, Iohn 15.3. Now ye are clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you. Baptism must be improved for the washing away of Sin, Acts 22.16. Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins. A Man forgetteth his Baptism, that is, neglecteth it, if he be not purged from Sin, 2 Pet. 1.9. He that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see far off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins: That is, he hath made no use, and received no benefit by his Baptism. In the Lord's Supper we remember the Death of Christ, as the Price given for the Life of our Souls, as a Spectacle that may affect us with the Odiousness of Sin, as an occasion of renewing our Covenant with God, and binding our selves afresh to his service, and as a means to stir up our Love to God, and so by consequence our hatred of Sin, Psal. 97.10. Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: And to awaken our hopes, and so of purifying the Soul, 1 Iohn 3.3. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Here is delivered to the believing Soul a sealed Pardon of all Sin, Matth. 26.28. This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins: And we wait for the Application of his mortifying and renewing Grace.
3. If the first Attempt succeed not, yet afterwards Sin may be subdued and broken. In natural Things we do not sit down with one Tryal and one Endeavour; a Man that will be rich, pierceth himself through with many Sorrows, 1 Tim. 4.10. and after many miscarriages, pursue their Designs till they compleat them; and shall we give over our waiting and striving, because we cannot presently find success? That sheweth our Will is not fully bent and set upon the thing we seem to desire. In the face of Discouragements we must venture again, Luke 5.5. Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless at thy command I will let down the ne…. God's Grace is free, and his holy Leisure must be waited for; it was long e're God got us to this pass, to be sensible of our Burden, or anxiously solicitous about our Soul Distempers. We must lie at the Pool for cure, the Spirit bloweth when and where it listeth, Iohn 3.8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the spirit. He that begun the Work to make us serious, will carry it on to a farther degree, if we be not impatient: Matth. 12.20. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoaking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. He is not wont to be strange to such as bemoan themselves to him, Ier. 31.18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself. It may be he will not do it so sensibly by Ordinances, as by, or not without sharp Providences, which usually subtract the Fuel of our Lusts, and awaken Seriousness: Isa. 27.9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Iacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his sin: And, 2 Cor. 12.7. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure, We must leave God to his own way.
3 Use. Let it put us on Thankfulness to our Redeemer. Sin is a great mischief, now that he should fetch us up from the Gates of Hell, and recover us, when the sentence of Condemnation was pass'd upon us, and there was nothing but the slender thread of a frail Life between us and Execution; and was content to do it at so dear a rate, as to be made Sin, and to be made a Curse for us; and that he should put us into the way of Salvation to obtain Eternal Life, how should our Hearts be enlarged in Thanksgiving to such a Redeemer?