and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death He would not only rejoyce in Christ he would not only live in Christ but be dead with Christ and then be raised with Christ above these earthly things he would have his interest in the death and resurrection of Christ witnessed by fellowship with him in both by the power of his death and resurrection made manifest in him he would that both the death of Jesus and the life of Jesus be made manifest in his mortal flesh 3. He sets his face and bends his whole course towards the obtaining of Christ I follow after I press towards the mark and this not in his prayers only but in his whole practice this one thing I do this one is all whatever I am doing this I am doing I have nothing else to do nothing else to do nothing else to seek but this interest and conformity to Christ 4. He turns his back upon all things else forgetting those things that are behind that is not only his pharisaical righteousness and his external priviledges to which this especially refers but much more all carnal and earthly things v. 8. Yea doubtless I count all things but loss he leaves all behind first he setts his feet upon them and treads them into dung and then he turns his back upon them and leaves them all bâ—hind and henceforth his whole conversation is heavenward v. 20. our conversation is in Heaven Lo this is the man who is bold to say of himself Galat. 6. 14. The World is crucified unto me and I unto the World 2. He proposes himself as a pattern to all beleivers v. 15. 17. Let us be thus minded I have told you my mind come let 's be all of one mind and be ye followers together of me let your heart be as my heart let your conversation be as my conversation my conversation is in Heaven come along and there let yours be also 3. He points with the finger at some among them who though they profess'd Christ with them and worshipp'd God with them and walk'd with them yet they walk'd not after them and setts this brand upon them They are the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction whose God is their belly who mind earthly things Here are the men and their censure here is their mark and their brand their mark or description whose God is their belly who mind earthly things their brand and their doom the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction Professour is thy face like the faces of these Is thy heart and thy way as the heart of these So shall the judgment be You say as the Apostle v. 3. We are the circumcision we are Christs we worship God in the Spirit and rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh But yet have you not fellowship with the flesh do you not walk after the flesh even whilest you pretend to rejoyce in Christ Jesus and to worship God in the Spirit Oh how many such mark'd and branded Disciples may we find among us whom while their lusts have marked for belly-gods and earthly minded the word hath branded for enemies and vessels of destruction whilst the Devil hath branded and the World hath branded the whole generation of the Saints for a proud deceitful earthly self-seeking generation Christ hath set this brand on thee earthly sensual devilish Oh brethren if we could speak of these with the the heart of the Apostle we should with his tears also we should speak weeping that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ the wounds and the sores and the scabs the shame and the reproach of the profession of the Gospel good had it been for the Gospel if never a good word of it had ever proceeded out of such mouths and better had it been for such souls if they had never known nor so much as heard of the Gospel of Christ Friends if you do not yet fall a weeping for your selves for your hypocrisie your carnality for your self-seeking and self-deceiving my soul weep thou in secret for them Oh that mine head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for you till either this earth be thrown out of your hearts or the name of Christ out of your mouths O for more of the Gospel or for less for more of the power or nothing of the name for more of its holiness or less of its hopes and boastings come ye and be crucified to this world or talk no more of the Cross of Christ Oh how many enemies hath the Cross of Christ made him oh how few friends have the severities of Christ left him are those the friends of Christ who are the enemies of his Cross are you the friends of Christ who are the intimates of the world will professing and praying and hearing baptize such into the name of Disciples If lying and promise breaking if serving of bellies and satiating of appetites if pride fulness of bread and abundance of idleness or abundance of labour a little tip'd over with a silver tongue be the marks of Disciples we may find them walking on every side whole Towns whole Countries of them if these may be reckoned for the seed how great an herd would the little flock become if those Swine that are rooting in the earth or wallowing in the mire must go all for Lambs if these Sensualists and earth-creepers must all be thrown into the number if the wise of the world Polititians and Projectors must all pass under the same name to what a bulk would the Body of Christ swell But if all these these speckled and spotted must be set aside as none of the sheep oh what a small parcel will there then be left If of earth-worms and Epicures it must be said these are not they the next word may almost be where are they to be found But be not deceived God is not mocked as you sow so shall you also reap your sowing to the flesh even while you boast of the spirit is conviction enough whose you are and what your end will be whose end is destruction Ob. But I mean not for all this to cast away my confidence God forbid that I should think that I have professed in vain that I have heard and pray'd and believed all this while in vain I know whom I have believed I feel that I love God and I am perswaded that nothing shall separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord whatever corruptions I have yet the spirit witnesses with my spirit that I am the Child of God I am sealed by that holy spirit unto the day of Redemption and I will not cast away my confidence Sol. The meaning of all these good words may be no more but this you will hold your Opinion against the greatest evidence of Scripture
stopped the mouth of Conscience quenched the heat of zeal slain holiness with the edge of the sword put to flight the hopes of the Saints left for dead those whom God hath raised up to life left the Church that living vineyard as a field of dead carkasses their peace slain their comforts slain the Spirit of light and life within them vanished into dimness and deadness and all this because our Faith hath so much fail'd what are we become to what a low ebbe are we brought O we of little faith well but yet there is hope concerning this thing This stump if there be but life in the root will spring again and recover again you that have but a little faith blow up that living sparkle and your sick and spoiled and half dead Souls will revive again let your faith once out of weakness be made strong and it will recover all you have lost Beleive more nourish and cherish and exercise Faith more lean on the rock of ages look unto Jesus lay hold on the Covenant live in the word of promise hang upon the shoulders feed upon the fulness of the Lord and there let your Faith gather strength again and this will be the strength of your hearts will renew your life recover your love enflame your zeal set your holiness and your hopes again upon the wing and bring the world and its temptations again under your feet the strenth of a Christian is his Faith 2. The strength of Faith is Christ Christ is the mighty one the mighty God If. 9. 6. The rock of ages in whom is everlasting strength If. 26. through Faith this mighty God is our God this rock of ages is our rock 1 Joh. 4. 4. Ye are of God little children and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you then he that is in the world who is he that is in you t is Christ that is in you who is he that is in the world the Devil is in the world Christ is greater then the enemy and therefore you have overcome He that is in the world is great but he that is in you is greater he that is in the world is strong and subtil but he that is in you is stronger and wiser then he little Children ye have overcome what are a company of poor children to a mighty giant But behold the childrens Champion and you will quickly see on which side the victory will go There are 2. things in Christ which are the strength of faith His Power Victory 1. His power he is a mighty one as before I have layd help on one that is mighty Psal 89. 19. he hath power Temptations To prevent To deaden To succour those that are tempted 1. He hath power to prevent temptations 1 Cor. 10. 13. he will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able You may conclude from the promise of Christ to his power he will not promise more then he can doe when he saies he will not suffer us to be tempted you may be sure he hath power to restrain the tempter Christ hath all our tempters and temptations in his power the Devil in his power the World in his power they must have leave ere they can strike a stroke If he say the word the Assyrian shall not come against Jerusalem nor dig a trench about them nor shoot an arrow against them he hath his hook in the nose and his bridle in the Jaws of all his enemies As the Devil could not tempt Christ so neither any of his servants unless the Spirit lead them into the wilderness to be tempted therefore he directs us to pray Lead us not into temptation 2. He hath power to deaden temptations to take off the edge of them that so though they come yet they shall not enter though Sathan strikes yet his arrows shall not stick Gal. 6. 14. By him the world is crucified to me and I am crucified to the world Christ by his Cross hath slain the world it s now become to the Saints as a dead thing It s beauty and glory is dead dried up and withered Christ by his cross hath discovered the glory of the other world life and mortality are hung forth in open sight on the Cross of Christ and that sunshine hath withered all the flowers here below who will play at such small games that sees the invisible Crown which the Cross of Christ hath set before his eyes And as the beauty and glory so the power and wrath of the world is slain Christ by his death kill'd all the powers of darkness a Christian sees that the world can now doe him neither good nor hurt it can neither befriend nor mischief him who would be enticed by a dead Carrion or affrighted by a dead Lyon And I am crucified unto it Christ hath slain the World without us and our worldly Lusts within us Our old man is crucified with Christ Rom. 6. 6. ye are dead saith the Apostle Col. 3. 3. dead to this World Set your affections on things above for ye are dead to things below I am crucified to the World that is worldly temptations are no more to me than if I were a dead man What are meat and drink and cloaths and pleasures and honours to a dead man If the Devil should go and preach among the tombs and call out to the dead hearken to me and I will feed you with delicates cloath you in scarlet enrich you with silver and gold exalt you to honour what skull or bone would be moved the same success will he have in his tempting crucified Saints were they totally thus mortified the highest temptations would move them nothing at all no more than a Carkass in the grave and according to the degree of that mortification they have attained to so far forth is the edge of temptation blunted 3. He hath power to succour those that are tempted Though the Tempter be let loose and temptation come thick and strike deep as by reason of our imperfect mortification they may our experiences sadly restifie how much the World is often too hard for us how often we are intangled and led away by it what breaches it makes on our peace what wounds in our hearts and what fears and misgivings hereupon arise in our souls how we shall stand for the future thus are we weary and distressed and hard bestead but though it be thus with us in the midst of all these there 's this to support us Heb. 2. 18. In that he suffered being tempted he is able also to succour those that are tempted 2. His Victory over the world Christ hath power over the World to restrain it from tempting to deaden its temptations to succour those that are tempted yea more than that he hath already overcome the World and thereby secur'd our fifinal victory John 16. 33. In the world ye shall have tribulation but be ye of good comfort I have overcome the World Why
there any empty souls among you hungring and thirsting after the bread and water of life what if Christ should come down and meet you here and feed you with these good things would you not say O this is sweet feeding O this is a sweet morning O this is a pleasant meal If you could see all the blessed fruits of the gospel spred upon this table if you saw pardons sealed before you for every one of your souls if grace and peace if love and joy if holiness and power and every thing your souls want or wish for if you should see them here on the table if you should hear a voice from Heaven calling unto you Eat O friends drink yea drink abundantly O beloved you that want a pardon there 't is for you you that want holiness humility patience power assurance here 't is for you take it It may be the full souls among you would be nothing moved it would better please them to hear there 's a penny for you there 's a sheep or an house or a living for you But every hungry soul would cry out O this is sweet ' its good to be here 3. That these fruits of Christ are exhibited and given forth in the sacrament The sacrament is a communion the Communion of the body of Christ the Communion of the bloud of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. wherein we come not only to see but to receive Christ crucified to receive of his fulness grace for grace Isa 12. 3. we have a promise with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation here note 1. That the Church of Christ hath her wells of salvation without is death and destruction sinners have their pits and their pools and their cisterns but no wells There is a fountain and a fountain opened Zech. 13. 1. but 't is to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to the Israel of God not to his enemies to these the fountains opened is a fountain sealed Christ shall profit them nothing Christ is the Churches inclosure no common for aliens If you ask what are those wells I answer the word is a well the ordinances are wells in particular this ordinance this sacrament to which we are come this day to draw this is a well it hath the depth of a well this ordinance is a deep mystery 't is not every hand no nor every eye that can reach the water 2. It hath the spring of a well wells have not a standing and underived fulness but they have a spring that feeds them Christ is the spring that fills this well 3. It hath the fulness of a well cisterns will hold little water in the well there is store all Christ is here in whom all fulness dwells This well is the Churches it belongs only to those that belong to God 1 Cor. 3. 22. 23. whether Paul Apollos or Cephas whether ministers or ordinances all are yours because you are Christs and Christ is Gods Rom. 9. 4. who are Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants to whom the adoption and the covenants belong theirs are the seals The things that are without are yours sinners sin is yours guilt is yours temptations snares woes death is yours because ye are none of Christs this well of life is none of yours It will be demanded of you as Math. 22. 12 Friend how camst thou in hither what hast thou to do to take my covenant or the bloud of my covenant into thy mouth since thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee Psal 50. Such may not come to the well or if they come it may prove a well of damnation to them not of salvation and so the Apostle tells them it will prove 1 Cor. 11. 29. This water of life may prove as the water of jealousie that bitter water that will cause their belly to swell and their thigh to rott may be a curse and not a blessing Look to it sinners you may be drown'd in this well when you come to drink you may drink flames and fury instead of the water of life Oh how many have been drown'd in these waters who rushing unpreparedly upon this dreadful ordinance have drown'd all that little good they seem'd to have something possibly they formerly had that was hopeful but by the just judgment of God upon them for abusing such an ordinance they have lost all at first they came it may be with some little tenderness and trembling of heart but not being upright in the main they have at length lost all their sense and have been smitten with deadness and hardness O consider what you are and how 't is with you now you come here are you Christs are you sincerely his are you resolvedly his if you have not assurance that you are his what probable evidences have you that you are are your souls wishing for Christ waiting for Christ thirsting and panting and following after love to Christ likeness to Christ subjection to Christ evidences that he is yours are you resolved never while you live to turn back and give over your pursuit of Christ nor to sit down by any thing short of an universal conformity to his image and will Are you crucified with Christ Is the world crucified to you and you unto the world Is the old man slain and all your earthly members feel every limb of the old man if there be not life still found in them feel the heart of the old man is there not self-will self-love and the love of this present world yet alive feel the head of the old man is not pride and self-conce it alive what plottings and contrivances what great designs are there carrying on for the flesh and the world feel the gall and the spleen of him is not bitterness and wrath envy and malice yet alive observe the eyes and the ears and the tongue and the habit and the way doth not the old man live in all these are not the eyes pleas'd with beholding vanity the ears itching after fleshly fooleries Is not the sound of him upon the tongue the shew of him in the countenance the habit and whole way of life feel the pulses of the old man his breathings and pantings is it not after earth still Brethren if there be any sad remains of this earth and flesh in you as doubtless there are yet is there an abatement of the power and vigor of them if the old man be not quite dead yet is he in a Consumption are the waters of lust fallen yea and still falling lower are you in good earnest for mortification for the death of every lust and are you impatient while they live are you come to this point you 'l never be the friends of your flesh you 'l never take its part again against warnings against reproofs you 'l never live in peace with it but will wrestle and fight and wait for the victory as long as you live
withholding us from Christ Christ comes to bring us back unto the Father 1 Pet. 3. 18. to reduce us to our duty and restore us to our happiness The world that withdraws us from God withholds us from Christ Particularly It holds us back from coming to Christ It holds us in from following of Christ 1. It holds us back from coming to Christ And this it doth by these four means By Darkning our sight Deadning our sense Hanging upon our hearts and about our necks Furnishing us with excuses 1. By darkning the sight that we cannot see either the excellency or the necessity of Christ Christ draws on Souls to him by love and fear First he frights us in by presenting the danger and misery that is falling upon us and we cannot escape if we stand out Look to thy self Sinner this world will betray thee to thy ruine thy pleasures are thy traitors thy carnal friends are thy traitors thy estate is thy traitor they are feasting thee and feeding thee but t is for the day of slaughter the butcher the butcher of souls is near thee into whose hands they are betraying thee they seek thy life thou art but a dead man death is already feeding upon thee the curse of God doth already cleave to thee and is ready to fall upon thee in its full weight thou wilt be devoured thou wilt be swallowed up ere thou art aware come away come to me and thou shalt be safe this house is falling on thine head escape for thy life the avenger of blood is at thy heels flee to the City of refuge I am thy City of refuge come unto me Thus he provokes by fear And this is such an argument to drive Souls into Christ as a clap of thunder or a storm of hail is to the Traviler to hasten him to shelter Then Christ draws by love presents himself and his salvation to the Soul displayes all his beautie and excellencies before it opens the Gospel wherein his grace and his glory appear and shine forth the Gospel is sent down full of Christ there are all the treasures and unsearchable riches of Christ and all held forth in open sight to invite sinners unto him Now the world dashes all this that it workes nothing on the Soul by blinding the eye that it cannot see what Christ sets before it what is either beauty or blackness to the blind soul 2 Cor. 4. 4. The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which beleive not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them We are naturally born blind and if our eyes begin a little to be opened this earth is thrown as dust in our eyes that we may not see what 's before us The things of this world as the Moon interposed causeth an eclipse in our souls that we cannot see the Sun we cannot discern either light or darkness either the light of the glorious Gospel or the darkness of the Pitt either our hopes or our dangers this earth keeps both Heaven and Hell out of sight The things of the world should be a glass wherein we may behold the glory of the Lord we may see God in every creature The Heavens declare the glory of God Psal 19. 1. And so doth the earth also and all that is therein but that which God made a glass in which we might see his glory the Divel makes a cloud to take God out of sight what God made a window to let in the light the Divel makes a shut to keep it out Worldly men fix and terminate their eyes in worldly things they can neither look besides them nor through them It is not with them according to the course of nature The Sun dazles mens eyes that they cannot see the Earth but the quite contrary The Earth dazles their eyes that they cannot see the Sun Men usually carry their eyes in their hearts they will not look but where they love or if they should look heavenward yet they could not see the earth hath dazled their eyes Sinners take heed of these riches take heed of these pleasures these substances and these shadowes which your hearts are set upon they will not only be as clogs to keep you down from ascending heavenward but as clouds to hinder you from looking thither It may be they appear as bright clouds but a bright cloud will hide the Sun out of sight as well as a black 2. By deadning the sense they can neither see nor feel they see not the excellency nor can feel their need of Christ who are drunken with these worldly vanities they who altogether live by sense are without sense of any but the present things they can make a shift to live without Christ the less of Christ the better for their turns Christ and the things of Christ are the only things that stand in their way are their way to poverty not to wealth to reproach and shame not to honour they can well enough want Christ while they live but what need they may have of him after this life that enters not into their hearts they are so busy with what they find here that they look not so far as the grave much less beyond it 'T is hard dealing with such hearts but when you find them alone retired and withdrawn from the world and how long may we wait ere we meet with such a season find them in a croud among their carnal friends and companions find them among their Sheep or Oxen or at their pleasures and the noise of these will so drown all that can be said that its like to make as deep impression as a showre upon a stone cry out in their eares fire fire throw Death and Hell in their faces it moves them not so much as to draw forth such a question What may I do to escape We never will come to Christ till we see we need him and we never see our need of Christ till being withdrawn from the hurries of this World we have leisure to sit down and consider How seldom do carnal hearts ask What use is there of Christ wherefore is he come what want would there be of him if there were no Christ If God that spared not his Son but gave him a ransome for the world had spared all this cost it had been all one to them they could have liv'd as merrily and as plentifully here however and that 's all they mind or regard Or if they have any sense of their need of Christ at all it is so little that it will do nothing to the perswading them after him the wound is not so deep but the name of a Saviour will skin it over Seldome does it rise so high as to wring out such a serious question What may I do that Christ may be mine How many Houses and Markets and Shops and Companies may we come into ere we hear any such question Go into the
seldom does us more good than by his srowns and the Devil never does us more hurt than by his kindnesses It never fares better with Gods Children than when they are crost nor ever fares it worse with the Devils Children than when they are cocker'd never suspect the Devil more than when he pretends to do you a courtesie what ever it be by which he usually pleasures you dread that as Death and Hell Mistake not Gods chastisements nor the Devils complements be content that God should displease you and be afraid when the Devil pleases you be convinc'd that Gods smitings are a precious Balm and the Devils stroakings are stabs at your heart fear not his Thunder and Storms so much as his warm Sun Beware of this folly Whatever pleases me is good for me Beware of this madness I must be pleased what ever comes of it mine eye must be pleased my humour must be pleased mine appetite must be pleased I must be pleased what ever it costs me If you be for that the Devil knows where to have you though God does not please you though holiness does not please you though Heaven does not please you the Devil that knows your palate will find something that will If Mony will do it if Mirth will do it if Meat and Drink and fine Cloathes or merry Company will do it this he offers you and by this he holds you captive at his will III. Wherein the strength of faith lies whereby it overcomes the world What a mighty enemy is here who can stand before it What is little David to Goliah what is a sling and a pebble to a sword and a spear to an helmet and greaves and a target of brasse The mighty Philistim comes blustring and boasting and fuming and chafing so that he made an earthquake in the Camp of Israel and what could a poor stripling do to undertake this mighty Champion what hope is there of victory over him little David tells us 1 Sam. 17. 45. Thou comest to me with a Sword and a Spear but I come unto thee in the Name of the Lord of Hosts this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with Sword and Spear the battel is the Lords and he will give you into our hands The strength of Israel is this David the strength of David is his Faith the strength of Faith is the Name of the Lord Prov. 18. 10. the Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the righteous runneth into it and is safe But to come closer to the matter in hand this general I shall dispatch in these two Particulars 1. The strength of a Christian is his Faith 2. The strength of Faith is Christ 1. The strength of a Christian is his Faith Mark 9. 23. to him that believeth all things are possible there 's nothing impossible to Faith because there 's nothing impossible to God The 11th chapter to the Hebrews is a short Chroniele of the mighty Acts and Atchievements of Faith It spoiled Death of its prey as in the case of Enoch verse 5. his Faith carried him to Heaven another way he was translated and did not see death It made an Ark to save from a Flood as in the case of Noah verse 7. It caus'd a living issue to spring out of dead bodies as in the case of Abraham and Sarah verse 12. It received a living Child from the dead by offering it up to death as in the case of Abraham offering up his Son Isaac v. 17. 19. It foretold things to come and conveyed down the Fathers blessing on his posterity as in the case of Isaac Jacob and Joseph v. 20. But more fully to our purpose It overcame the world 1. It despised and rejected the prosperity of the world v. 15. They were not mindful of their earthly countrey they had a better an Heavenly countrey in their eye and were content to be Pilgrims in this in hope to be possessours of that better inheritance v. 24. Moses by faith forsook the glory of Egypt the Court of Pharaoh the bosome of Pharaohs daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season 2. It triumph'd over the power and wrath of the world v. 33. It subdued Kingdoms wrought righteousness quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness it made strong turned to flight the Armies of the Aliens endured cruel mockings and scourgings yea moreover bonds and imprisonments endured stoning sawing asunder wandrings about in sheep-skins and goat-skins destitute afflicted and tormented In all these things the servants of God were more then conquerours through Faith in him that loved them Christians where is your faith how is it that the world is still on horseback riding on conquering and to conquer not only riding over our backs but riding over our Faith crowing over our consciences triumphing over religion and righteousness as if Christ had lost the day and conscience had run the field Oh how many Captives hath it taken from the mighty what multitudes of prisoners hath it gotten Some it hath in golden chains fettered in riches and worldly gains in honours and dignities Some it holds with a Spiders web which yet they cannot break the fashions and fooleries of the world its pomps pleasures and humours others it hath laid fast in iron chains manacled with fears and dread of its fury and violence they dare not be Saints any longer their faith and their love and their zeal are all thrown away they dare not appear in their Armour lest they should be known for Christs disciples How many renegadoes and Apostates hath the world made that have run from their colours and have listed themselves under the Devil under whose conduct they are fighting against that faith and holiness which once they professed and those that are left behind how weak and faint-hearted are they most become afraid not only of sufferings but of their duty O how are we lost in our conflicts with temptations whither are our hearts run some into our fields some into our shops some into our gardens some into our beds of ease where we may sleep in a whole skin Some are gotten into sanctuary turn'd aside to iniquity to escape affliction Oh how few hearts are there left behind with Christ and those that are how cold and spiritless are they become t is woful to observe with what a pale face Christianity looks at this day May we not sadly invert the words of the Text This is the victory that hath overcome our Faith even this present world whilest the Apostle boasts that the believers of old by their faith subdued Kingdomes wrought righteousness obteined promises stopd the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of Fire c. May we not now hear the world triumphing that it hath shaken the Kingdom of Christ wrought wickedness vacated promises
if this will not keep thee in frame Put on more weight Christians and your wheels will run more even and more constant let the importance of your eternal state be much in your eye and upon your heart Look often into the blessed eternity that is before you steep your hearts in Divine Contemplation and when you are transported into admirings of that glory then ask your hearts what little things are the Sun-shine or the storms of this lower Region tell me not of pleasures of plenty and prosperity here tell me not of crosses or disappointments here how shall I get to heaven Oh may I come there once no matter how it be here Look also into the black and dreadful eternity put your finger into the eternal fire think and think over and over of those flames of the gripings and gnawings of the Infernal Worm think of these things till you feel them to smart and begin to scorch and burn in your hearts and then say What if this should be my place if this fire and this Worm if these gnawings and this burning should be my portion for ever may I but escape this death only what is there else should trouble me Take a view thus of Eternity and then set down This is the work I have upon me this is the business of my day to make sure for Eternity Let this sink into your hearts hang on this poise and see if it do not hold your souls in such constant and vigorous motion heaven-ward that all the noises of this world which now so amuse and confound you will be but whispers that will be little regarded 3. Reckon upon nothing but God Make sure of God and reckon upon nothing else Reckon on no good thing but God and reckon on all the troubles and miseries on this side hell What you look for and count upon will work the less disturbance when it comes count upon all losses but the loss of God him if you be his you shall never loose Count upon all woes but the last woe upon all sufferings but hell God would never have thee count upon these if thou be his these shall never come upon you bless God for that so long 't is well enough any thing else the worst you can think of may come reckon upon it and you will the better bear it 4. Put your flesh upon the frequent tryal of a voluntary restraint and self-crossing Restrain your selves and you will the better endure when God straitens you He whose flesh is ordinarily curb'd by his Christian prudence will be less mov'd when cross'd by Divine Providence allow not thy flesh what it craves though thou hast to satisfie it think not opportunities of satisfying thy flesh to be a divine allowance count it not thy Warrant to allow thy self whatever pleases thee that thou hast wherewithall opportunities are often but temptations God sometimes does as a wise Master who lays an apple or a piece of money in the way to try his child or servant Use to give thy heart no more then God bids thee and thou shalt find that God will never give it less then will content thee Inure thy self to live daily at the allowance of Religion and thou shalt never want thy allowance When thou usest to have no more then thou shouldst have thou wilt be like to be content with what thou shouldst have and when thou art content with what thou shouldst have thou wilt ever be content to have what thou hast Though it be often said of some of the servants of men yet it shall never be said of any of Gods servants that they have not what they should have And he who whatever falls whatever his portion or condition be in every turn or change that comes can find his heart saying still 't is with me as it should be yesterday it was so this day it is so to morrow it shall be so he whose heart sayes thus of every condition he is in It is with me as it should be will say It is well and so sit down quietly in his lot 5. Lastly Victory over the world stands in a willingness to be gone from this and to take our flight to the other world in a willingness to die Worldly men if they could help it would never die they would rather live among the dead then die into a better life they are dead while they are alive dead in sin and they would that this might be their eternal death Oh might they be allowed an everlasting day to sin in to drink and swear and whore and curse and covet in what other heaven would they wish for Were there a message brought down to the World that their houses of Clay should stand for ever that this buying and selling and building and planting and getting wealth and rolling themselves in pleasures should be their everlasting imployment that all the noise and fear of graves and tombs and death and mortality should be for ever silenc'd what a Gospel would this be to them how would the word then be changed not the poor but the rich receive the Gospel Worldlings if Ministers were sent this day to preach to you that you should never come to heaven but that you should abide here in your houses in your fields in your pomp and peace and wealth eternally O what a Jubilee would this day be unto you what ringings and bonfires and shoutings and triumphs would there be at the news Oh this would be the best Sermon that ever you heard in your lives this would be the best tidings in your account that ever came into the world Death is a terror the great dread of the world the King of terrors Job 18. 14. the hopes of heaven would willingly be parted with so the fears of death might be no more How do the expectations and approach of death appale the faces weaken the hands shake the hearts sowre the pleasures damp the jollities cool and cow the spirits of the mighty ones of the earth If it should be said this day to any of the Worldlings among you Set thine house in order for thou must die if you should see a Tekell written on these walls thy day is finished this night shall thy soul be taken from thee thou hast eaten thy last morsel hast drank thy last draught thy last sand is running out were this my message to you this day what a sad Funeral Sermon would this be to such But now a Christian is willing to be gone Luke 2. 29. Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation Said old Simeon I desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Said Paul the aged Phil. 1. 23. Egredere O anima go forth O my soul linger not these fourscore years thouhast served the Lord fear not now to go and receive thy wages It s true there is even in the Saints a degree of unwillingness to die but