tending towards Good or procuring Loss and Evil to themselves Every one Desires good to himself and would avoid evil Hurt and Inconveniency As he is a Man of Understanding and Prudence to let him Judge and do according to the most likely Way to obtain the one and avoid the other See I have set before thee this Day Life and Good and Death and Evil I call Heaven and Earth to record this Day against you that I have set before you Life and Death Blessing and Cursing Therefore choose Life that thou and thy Seed may live Deut. 30. 15. VVhoever reads or hears these Lines whether thou examinest them in thy Closet or by a casual View whether this Book be read to thee by another or few or many be present To each Man or VVoman singly I do apply my self and I call the Angels to witness that these things be set home to thy Heart that this doth not turn for a Testimony against thee and when such things were laid before thee thou wouldst not mind but refuse Thou Man or VVoman of whatever Rank or Degree of whatever Age State or Condition of Life young Men or Maidens yea and Children that can in the least apprehend what I say I speak to you all severally and joyntly even in this very Moment of Time in this very Instant now even in the same Day that this is declared unto you I speak to every one of you in the Prophet's Phrase BEHOLD YOVR GOD. And I do most humbly and earnestly intreat of his divine Majesty which he is more ready to do than I to ask him O Lord God Almighty behold thy Sons and Daughters that from this Hour and Day they may take thee for the Lord their God consecrate themselves entirely and universally unto thy Service improving this and all their remaining Days for every Opportunity to do good and carefully watch against and eschew all Occasions of evil Hence forward to mind nothing but God and the things pertaining to him how they may most please and be accepted with him If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them Yea blessed is he that readeth or they that hear that they may know these VVords and immediately without any Delay keep and observe the things written therein CHAP. III. That Surmise and Imagination is spoken unto whereby some People think that they have so grievously offended God that they dare not come unto him THe second Hindrance which keeps People off and was proposed to be spoken unto in the Beginning of this Book is that some imagine that they have so grievously offended God that they dare not come unto him The first Example of this we have in our Father Adam And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him where art thou And he said I heard thy Voice in the Garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself Gen. 3. 9 10. A Consciousness of his Guilt and Disobedience did make him keep off yea and unwilling to approach unto God when he was called Perhaps he thought that God knew not his Transgression but would discern it by some outward Sign when he came somewhat nearer VVhereas God both saw and heard them talking under the Tree in the midst of the Garden and did more clearly discern their Temptation and Sin than he could inquire and be informed afterwards But he came and would examine the matter after the Manner of Men. Both to vindicate his Justice and also to manifest that he yet continued his Grace and Familiarity to our Nature For even in the Curse and Punishment pronounced Mercy is intermixed A most precious Promise is conveyed into what may seem a terrible Sentence It shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Gen. 3. 15. Thus Mercy rejoyceth against Judgment and even overcometh it at last And whereas it is said I will greatly multiply thy Sorrow and thy Conception In Sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the Days of thy Life Vers 16 17. Here also is somewhat released of the pronounced Punishment for God who is sovereign doth not execute in so severe a Degree as his VVords did seem at first to import for though indeed there is Trouble Pain and Sorrow in our coming into and Continuance in this VVorld yet blessed be God it is not altogether so continually grievous as what might have been expected when the VVords first proceeded forth Thus is the Lord merciful and gracious even when he is righteous and just And as his Mercy is over all his VVorks so it comes in as a Balm to mollifie his Vengeance God first calls upon our sinful Parents to shew that he had not quite cast them off and that they should not languish under a perpetual Separation from their Maker He finds out a Method of Reconciliation and Accommodation Tho' withal he ordained them and us a Punishment yet we may truly say the Lord hath punished us less than our Iniquities do deserve Hence we may learn and be encouraged that if we have not heretofore obeyed the Voice of his Commandment yet still we ought to come when he calleth us and it shall not be worse but better for us Thus saith the Lord behold I frame evil against you and devise a Device Return ye now every one from his evil Way and make your Ways and your Doings good And they said there is no Hope but we will walk after our own Devices and we will every one do the Imagination of his evil Heart Jer. 18. 11 12. VVhen People have committed much already their Conscience is accused of Sin and they are sensible how that they are obnoxious to God's VVrath and Punishment and fearing they shall one Day suffer under it they think it the same if they suffer for much as for little and so they fall from one VVickedness to another Nay with some there is a most strange and horrid Imagination as Persecutors and such like who conceiving an Hatred and Enmity against God but dreading withal he will be stronger than they when they come to meet him and therefore they take Advantage in this Time of Trial and Forbearance as it were out of foregoing Revenge to act stubbornly rebelliously and contemptuously against him as eveâ— they can It is written in the Revelations of those who gnawed their Tongues for Pain and blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their Pains and Sores and repented not of their Deeds Rev. 16. 10 11. Some again did give Glory to God for his Judgments The first Sort whilst they were yet in the VVay did provoke him yet more who at length was too hard for them and hath delivered them over unto the Tormentors Like as we have known or heard of some desperate condemned Rebels who might have their Pardon if they would sue and make Supplication for it but they would not through Stubbornness or a pretended Bravery and therefore they did all the Mischief they could before they died
Truth of God We could reason even from the very first Principle of Action and make even the man himself whether he be in a meer natural state or if he knoweth what we say whether he be learned or unlearned yet we could leave it to every man to judge what is best even for himself to do and which is lIkely to tend most unto his own good Nothing is more certain and evident Then that there is no fruit of Sin It is like dross Psal 119. 119. which melts and slides away The pleasure or profit thereof passeth away and comes to nothing at all there is nothing therein which doth remain and endure nothing which will abide the Fire or stand in any stead in the evil day Not the least comfort or happiness can possibly arise from it Wherefore then should any one continue in Sin Or why should any one go to add Iniquity to Iniquity To draw it on as with a Cart-Rope when hereby he doth not only lose so much good but bring on himself the more guilt and misery If he hath offended God by former sins he doth yet more by present continuance in the same if he hath been filthy he will be worse by wallowing yet further in the mire and the sooner he draws back from the ways of wickedness he will abate God's displeasure against him No flesh can stand under the power of his Anger they cannot endure nor are their hearts strong in the day when the Lord shall deal with them And seeing we must all appear before him to receive Good or Evil to be sentenced unto Life or Death What can be done too much to intreat our Judge in the mean while that we may have him favourable and propitious and be found accepted with him What intercessions and care should be used against this great day of Trial and everlasting Decision How should we in the mean while behave our selves towards him that now sits above to take notice of those who fear him and think on his Name and also expecting till his Enemies be made his Footstool Those who will not submit willingly at first must at length by force who will not do it of their own accord shall be made to do it Wherefore should any debate or doubt arise in the minds of men concerning this Had they not better forthwith close in with that God of whom it is graciously written Who is a God like unto thee who pardoneth Iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage He retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy Micah 7. 18. He would wink at and pass by former Iniquities if People would be careful to please him for the time to come if they would not perversly abuse things as to stir up his Anger so much the more because he doth not retain it nor yet to presume upon that Mercy which he delighteth in The right consequence is That if God doth not retain his Anger then they should not retain their Sins if he delighteth in Mercy they should both Pray and also endeavour to be Partakers thereof to meet God as it were in the way of Goodness to have good-will towards him that he may shew Mercy towards them with what Affection thou behavest thy self towards God he will manifest the same towards thee With the merciful thou wilt shew thy self merciful with an upright man thou wilt shew thy self upright With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure and with the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward Psal 18. 25 26. According as men are so will God be towards them Now seeing that every one knows that it is in the power of God to save or destroy to do good or to punish no man can be indifferent as to which he would partake of for he would have the good and avoid the evil let him then go the most likely way to obtain the one and eschew the other and that is not to be determined by a sudden thought or slight apprehension of things for such may be the temptation and delusion of Satan But consult the Word of God the very truth and reality of things for seeing that God made doth now govern and will dispose of all things we may rest fully assured that so it shall be as he hath said and decreed where his Word doth promise Forgiveness there the man may be assured thereof as again where it threatens Punishment there he hath just cause to fear and dread it Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Isa 55. 7. But the wicked think that this may be done hereafter so that he is for keeping to his own way in the mean while Then he will continue and go further in a wrong way out of which he must at length come or perish the longer he goes on therein the more way it is to come back those things which he now doth must be undone He must endeavour to please and be reconciled with that God whom now he provokes and sets afar off He must have an awful Regard and Reverence for him whom he now despises What strangeness and contradiction would it be to do those things now which he shall hereafter really wish and desire that he had never done Repentance comes in upon a better and more truly informed Judgment When the prodigal came to himself Luke 15. 17. then came in him the resolution of going home and framing right Principles of Life hence forwards Then it is discerned that he was in an Error heretofore that he had chosen the worst part but now he would mend and lay hold of the better then he verily assents and is really resolved That if such a thing were to do again he would not do it But how can this be that when either he doth already or might know as much yet he doth the same The whole doth depend upon a full and true knowledge That God is to be obeyed and pleased in all things and that it is best for men in all circumstances and at all times so to do If in one instance so likewise in another and then in a third and so throughout all parts of our Duty It is better to be temperate in all things than to run to the full excess of Riot to do Righteousness at all times Psal 106. 3. then to practice wrong or deceit at any time It is better to observe the several parts and stated seasons of Worship than to live in irreligion or contempt of God It is grievous to have forsaken God and it is good to draw near and hold fast unto him in every thing this may be known by that long series and tryal how it is with the condition of Mankind those several dispensations and accidents the sundry changes and chances of this mortal Life the temptations and what may
that formed us nor receive in wrong Prejudices and false Apprehensions of his supreme and most excellent Being Our Ignorance Corruption and Satan's Temptation make us turn aside and then some strange Imaginations make us unwilling to return All which might be discovered to be Falshood Mistake and Error so soon as they are fully known Where God calls unto the Children of Men they struggle and give backwards and are not willing to come and this is the Strivings of the People This Manner of Speech is not intended of Heathens and such as have not known nor heard of God for they are expressed afterwards but it is meant of those who go under the Name of Israelites whom he vouchsafes to stile his own People These have some Faith and Knowledge but it is dark and imperfect they conceive somewhat of God but it is Error and Falshood they apprehend somewhat of his Law but not fully and thence comes to be in them an evil Heart of standing off from God The general Deceivableness of Heart which keeps them off for there is a Thousand Kind of little Surmises which may be answered in like manner is here reduced unto these Three Particulars 1. They think that themselves are as it were forced unto Obedience and they do not love to be compelled against their Will 2. Some imagine that they have so grievously offended God that they dare not to come 3. Which is the principal Reason of all the Generality of People think that if they submit presently unto the Obedience of God they shall be Losers and disappointed of so much Pleasure Profit and Conveniency in the mean while They shall miss of so much imagined Happiness and fall into Sowerness and Misery If these Three Points can be cleared and the Heart of Man throughly satisfied as to each of them then it is just and equal that he should not defer one Moment longer but turn immediately unto the Lord their God CHAP. II. Here that Proposition is at Large discussed That People are not forced and compelled to the Obedience of God but they are left herein to their own free Choice or Refusal FOR the first Cannot they imagine That if it was the Mind of God that any should be compelled to his Service could not he have brought the whole World unto his Obedience before this Time when they have continued for some Thousands of Years in their Iniquity and Transgression He who fashioneth their Hearts alike Psal 33. 15. and knoweth our Frame Psal 103. 14. could also have put into us the same instant Necessity and Inclination to his Worship and Service as to our Meat and Drink that without it we should grow faint and perish He could have determined the Powers of Soul only one Way as in Brutes and have moved them towards his Law and Will as they are carried by Instinct to natural and sensible things he could have implanted into every one that strong Desire of following the thing that good is as after Life and Breath and they should abhor and flee from Evil with the like Care and Earnestness as from Death and Destruction He could have so hedged up all our Ways that it were not possible to go from him if we were never so eagerly bent on Backsliding no more than we can now get out of a strong Prison He might have so compassed us in of every Side that we could not avoid fulfilling his Command no more than any one doth now escape from under a Guard Neither can we hide from him who is every where and in all Places He might give us as sensible Evidence of his taking Knowledge of all our Ways as a King doth of any Treason committed in his Presence for which we should incur his severe Wrath immediately Verily thou art art a God that hidest thy self O God of Israel the Saviour Isa 45. 15. and so hast done ever since the World began to see what the Children of Men will do God hath discovered himself no more than what was necessary for to exercise our Faith and Trial. He hath just made known his Name and Power amongst Men but further it is left unto them how they will carry themselves towards the Lord their Strength and Redeemer It is a wonderful thing to consider how the God who made and filleth and is all things should yet be so little manifested unto Men That he who is all Brightness and Glory should not be seen among us That he who made and fashioned us in whom we live and move and have our Being should not be perceived by us That when he filleth Heaven and Earth with his Presence yet any should live without God in the World Surely Darkness hath covered the Earth and gross Darkness the People The Sun gives Light upon it by Day and the Moon by Night and yet there is a greater Darkness round about which the dull Element perceives not there is yet a worse and greater Obscurity in those who see and walk therein Strange that it should not be yet universally fulfilled in all People At that Day shall a Man look to his Maker and his Eyes shall have Respect unto the holy One of Israel Isa 17. 7. for he might see him with the Eyes of his Vnderstanding being enlightened all one as he doth with his bodily Eye see the Works of God and the Earth which we tread on By the Air which a Man breaths and moves in he might have a Sense and Resemblance of him who is invisible who doth also beset him behind and before and is with him in his going out and coming in and is acquainted with all his Ways There is no going from his Spirit and Presence If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there If I make my Bed in Hell behold thou art there If I take the Wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost Parts of the Sea even there shall thy Hand lead me and thy Right Hand shall hold me Psal 139. 8 9 10. And so he doth equally in the narrow Places of our Abode Whether we be on a Journey or a walking in our Chamber or in the lower Parts of our House whether we be alone or in Company God is all along present with us but through Imperfection the Soul is not well intent on several things together and his Creatures too often make us forget the Creator As we behold them we are unmindful of him that is invisible their Talk and Discourse too often make us not think of his Word and Law Nevertheless these Failings might be rectified and we might have a continual Sense of him and of his Commandments that we might not fall nor offend But here it is to be admired that when there are so many things to bring to the knowledge and Remembrance of our God yet Mankind for several Generations should be so sottishly ignorant and unmindful of him Every thing we see taste and handle is his Work and Creature which should renew
their Ignorance and Forgetfulness of him For would not his Holiness and Purity keep them in perfect Order and Subjection when one who is a less Partaker thereof than a Drop to the whole Ocean doth cast a Damp and clog that they cannot so freely enjoy the Pleasures of Sin nor run on so uncontroulably in the broad Way which leads unto Destruction When now they would refrain to do such a thing if a strict Demand and Account should be required of them would they not much more abstain if they were sensibly assured that the Lord himself shall come with Ten Thousand of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all He now sitteth in the Heavens and prepareth his Seat for Judgment and as sure as this is the Time of Trial so there will be a Day of Examination and rendring unto every one according to his Deeds Who are now so averse and afraid to hear or speak of him when we know but little more than of his Name and Truth which we hear with the Ear and see it thus written of him and conceive in the Mind But how will they fly back and be astonished when God himself shall come and the very things shall be manifested whereof it is now a Vexation only to understand the Report Who would not receive the Kingdom of God when heretofore it was in Word how must they submit unto it when it shall be actually in Deed When he sent a Message to reign over them and Officers to set up his Kingdom but they did not receive that and did evil entreat them whom he had sent what will they do when the King himself shall come with his Armies and miserably destroy those wicked Men He now speaketh from Heaven by his Word and the Time draweth nigh when he will fulfill the same This Word drops in by way of silent Thought to the Heart or it is heard by hearing of the Ear from a Fellow Creature or it is conveyed unto us by Means of Ink and Paper all which is but a still Voice whereby God doth now manifest himself unto us So he sent his only Son the eternal Word which was made Flesh who dwelt here and became as one of us that God might be more familiar and acquainted with our Nature and also to try whether we would thus receive and obey him But as many as received him to them he gave Power to become the Sons of God John 1. 12. It is said nothing is more free than a Gift so the tendring and offer thereof is free so likewise the Receipt and Acceptance thereof is a free Act for it might be refused If God the Father had shewn his Greatness and Glory then People would run unto him as now they ignorantly stay away for a little shadow and representation thereof from the World But when he hath revealed himself in a little contemptible Appearance this will prove whether they will take their Lot and Portion with that at present and expect the greater things to come Whether notwithstanding the Vail and Covering drawn over the things of God they can yet discern the Glory that excelleth whether they will believe this Word which hath spoken of more than what is now seen or had Again If he should at present reveal himself in his Majesty and Power then People would presently yield unto him who is mighty much more than they now pay Reverence and Submission to the King and great Men as he who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords doth exceed the greatest and highest of the Sons of Men. VVhich is so infinite that no Compassion can be made to express the just and true distance But when this God hideth himself when he seems as one asleep and taketh no notice when he doth not actually give his Favour presently to them that do well nor yet doth he immediately Manifest forth his severe displeasure against them who sin and transgress when it is alike with Subjects and Enemies VVho fear God and who fear him not this will exercise our Faith and waiting as also prove their Rebellion and Contempt Indeed there are the Promises and Threatnings annexed and all must partake of the one or they are liable to the other But yet the Conditions of one are put into our power and none unless by his own fault or wilfullness doth fall under the other His Kingdom and Dominion is over all every thing that can be named or doth any where exist but then he ruleth over them according to their several Natures The VVinds and Sea Obey him necessarily Beasts Birds and Creeping things go constantly according to that Instinct implanted in them which is as it were a Law unto them To Man is committed Revelation and Reason for to guide him nevertheless he may disregard act contrary or yield unto and comply with its dictates So much is left to his freedom and choice There is set before him Life and Good Death and Evil with a repeated inculcation to choose Life And though when these two opposite things are simply and abstractedly proposed every one hath so much Understanding as would preserve and make him happy Yet the great doubt and mistake is concerning the way and means of one or the other which also are laid before the Sons of Men and offered to their choice and liberty as the End is It might first of all be rationally and assuredly concluded That where the End is Right Good and Desirable so is every thing that necessarily tends towards it for upon a rotten Stock and Foundation there can never be a sure Building So contrariwise where the End is dismal and feared by every one they might well suspect the several steps leading towards it and consequently refrain to move a step further which they might if they would As they evidently see and know that God hath put it into their power at first to go into one way or another and when they are in a little they may stand still or go backwards or rather turn aside from out of it So likewise by God's Grace and Invitation They may come unto Life John 5. 40. and it is of themselves that they fall into Death and Destruction Hos 13. 9. This last thing being attendant to their refusal of coming unto God and Obeying his Voice doth seem to imply as if they were forced But if so they would actually do it for are Men stronger than He God is Allmighty and must prevail if it were the purpose of his Heart to compel Mankind unto his Obedience He could raise up Hell from beneath and set it evidently before our Eyes as Nebuchadnezzar did the Fiery Furnace He could even now Command his Angels to sound the Trumpet as at the last day when the dead shall hear his Voice that every Nation Country and Language all that are now living should fall down and VVorship him or they shall be cast into Hell He could so order it even at this present time That those which
carnal Considerations or worldly Inducements no present Motive nor yet a like Danger and Inconvenience did hinder or excuse with him but he immediately went to Jerusalem Undoubtedly all these did for the best and God was well pleased with them He did accept and reward them more than those who seek out for Excuse and Delay or such who first refuse to hear his Gracious call or if they do at any Time hear or it is made known unto them yet they will not yield unto it The Word of Exhortation stands continually for all People both young and old to hear and read it The Spirit and the Bridegroom say always come There is one knocking at the Door of their Hearts for Admission God is ready at all Times to set up his Kingdom within us his Law is already written in our Heart and inward Parts He sends his Prophets rising up early and sitting down late Who being dead speak yet unto us in their Writings There are constant Dictates of Mind to serve and obey our Maker There are Examples of those who do it in our Age and Circumstances of Life There is hardly a Chapter or Verse throughout the whole Bible but some way or other calls and stirs us up The Scripture is opened and alledged The Word preached in the several Congregations throughout our Land and in all the Nations of the World are a Sermon to us also For we are the same Creatures and stand in the very same Relation to the great God over all as those several Persons who hear such and such Truths with their outward Ears We might also know and hear more than we do and those who hear and understand are to declare it unto us to acquaint their Neighbours and Kinsfolks and they to others So that the Word of God might dwell richly and have free Passage among us There is a sufficient Call and Warning to all People in their several Generations and Ages of Life God now commandeth all Men every where to repent because he hath appointed a Day in the which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given Assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the Dead Acts 17. 31. As every one knows Christ to be a Saviour so there is the same Notice conveyed that he is to be our Judge And as God shall bring every secret thing into Judgment all the Actions of our Lives for each single Day will be called to account So it will be demanded why such and such did not come when they were called as they sensibly knew by a powerful Conviction over their Spirits when it was inculcated over and over to Day if ye will hear his Voice harden not your Heart When they might have considered more and more and themselves did find that the more they did consider the more they were pressed instantly to close with Christ and therefore they did put off considering their Wayes They might at such an Opportunity have heard God's Word which would have urged them to have turned from their evil Ways and therefore they would not attend to them They might at such a Day and by such Means have learned the Knowledge and Fear of the Lord but they would not His Statutes were laid before them but they would not let the Ears hear which were made to hear nor the Eyes see which were ordained for that End And further when the Thoughts thereof did recur to the Mind they would put them far away When God rises up and enters into Judgment how shall Men answer for such things And whosoever now looketh upon or hears what is written in these Lines and he is convinced of the Truth and Sincerity of them but if he should go away and not comply with the Purport thereof or be willingly ignorant or take no notice for fear he should be brought over unto God more suddenly than he otherwise intended how will he give account to the Judge of all Men for the same Even to that God who knows all his Thoughts and Imaginations concerning this or any other matter who will reprove and set the things he hath done in order before him even from the Time he had the Beginning of the Knowledge of Good and Evil unto the Day of his Death God knows all things but we know not as God knoweth and therefore we are so puzzled and distracted in things pertaining to him He seeth all things in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth at one Sight and knoweth all things to the utmost as they are known But we now see one thing and then another in order and Succession of Time as he shews them unto us Those Things which are more hidden and invisible he reveals them by his Word and Spirit and still we know nothing perfectly and comprehensively And it may be all confined to things pertaining to us Men which is not the Ten Thousandth Part of the things to be known nor yet one Half of what doth immediately relate unto and concern us The Sum and Comprehension of all is to know God and his Law our Duty to him in each particular and when we do vary from it It may be observed that the whole Scripture which is called the Lord's Book may be all reduced to this Besides the natural imprinted Knowledge God is there more discoverd to us by the History of the Creation of the World his Manifestations unto his Servants that worshipped and feared him his wonderful Works that he did from Time to Time the Descriptions given of him in sundry Places and also the Commandments enjoyned to the Sons of Men. The Law was given by Moses unto which he added much Exhortation to the Observance thereof So did David and the Prophets whose Writings were to press People unto Obedience and a Reproof of Transgression Which last was an orderly Declaration of Matter of Fact and according to Truth how People did turn aside from the Commandments delivered unto them It was a Telling of or Declaration unto the House of Jacob their Sins and Transgressions Which was expressed in general or more particular Terms but yet so plainly that every Offender might understand himself was spoken of and called upon for to amend his Doings There is a strong Sense and Obligation upon the Heart of Man to keep the Law of his Creator and he is sensible of as much every Time he is put in Remembrance thereof As on the other hand he is troubled with Shame Regret and Condemnation when he thinks of and more especially when he is told of his Sin and Error This proceeds from the Consciousness of having offended God and from the Fear of his Anger and Judgment A secret Thought doth arise from Ignorance or Unbelief that either God doth not see or not take notice of such evil Deeds and will not require for them But such an one brings their Sin to Remembrance and makes it recorded before God which
do Iniquity shall be cast immediately thereupon into a Furnance of Fire and then the boldest worker thereof would fear tremble and refrain He could stir up those terrible ones from under the Earth Devils and infernal Spirits the Executioners of his VVrath who should over-awe poor Mortals all one as a mighty King with his Armies doth now make them do this or that thing at his pleasure For hath he not the same power as Man to whom he gave being and hath before committed unto him the Power of doing whatever he doth Cannot he who sitteth upon the Circle of the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof are as Grashoppers do as much or rather more than any two-footed Creature that now walks thereon Cannot the High and Lofty One who sitteth upon his Throne and commandeth over the Armies in Heaven who are greater in power and might as that wide place above is bigger than this spot of ground here where we dwell send forth his Authority and execute the same here Is this too far off when it is his Footstool for he filleth all places and all things even those under the Earth with his presence If I make my Bed in Hell behold thou art there Psal 139. 8. Even now he sends sorth his Lightning unto the Ends of the Earth and his Arrows go throughout the World But because God doth not yet manifest his Power and shew forth all his Might a thought doth arise in them who know not God as if he cannot do this They who have a little more knowledge are sometimes apt to imagine That because he acts here by outward means which are but little and small that by reason of them is the Defect and they are unable to atchieve such great and mighty things whereas his infinite Wisdom and Glory are here to be seen in ordaining strength out of weakness VVho first made he will also enable them to perform what he would have them to do He can send forth his Angels or other Instruments whom we have not known nor heard of as yet A Temptation doth arise that though God can yet he will not do thus for so we have heard in Old Time and in our days over and over and yet all things continue as they were since the Creation But the Apostle in 2 Pet. 3. 5 6. answers this by what God did of Old both by Creation of and Drowning the VVorld For this they are willingly ignorant of That by the Word of God the Heavens were of Old and the Earth stamding out of the Water and in the Water whereby the World that then was being overflowed with Water perished But the Heavens and the Earth which are now by the same Word are kept in store reserved unto Fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of Vngodly Men. That same VVord which spake them first into Being acquainted Noah Gen 6. of the intended Flood and afterwards this same word brought the VVaters for God Commanded them The same VVord hath likewise said that it shall be thus in the latter days to which we now haste Thus it is determined upon all those who in the mean time have been Ungodly or are or shall hereafter not give regard to the great God above or are disobedient to him for all such are ungodly without God in the VVorld who do not live in sense of Submission and Duty under him These might even now conceive that as in the beginning the Lord laid the Foundations of the Earth and it abideth as they find by moving and dwelling thereon As they see the gathering of the VVaters which is called Sea and as we behold the Heavens upheld and the Stars in their Courses and Places So surely doth the threatning lye against such and will be fulfilled when these things shall be so changed as we are further foretold of As before it was observed of the stedfastness and immutability of the Promise from Isa 45. So from 2 Pet. 3. it may be gathered of the utmost certainty of the Evil and Good things there spoken of They seem therefore to be out of sight and to come to prove how we in the mean while will be concerned and affected towards them There is a little imperfect Good in the One at present and a lesser Evil and Harm in the other but God will so add further that the one shall be perfected in Reward and Happiness the other shall end in Punishment and Misery My Son forget not my Law but let thine heart keep my Commandments for Length of Days and long Life and Peace shall they add unto you Prov. 3. 1 2. and when the first is ended there shall succeed Immortality and Glory And the Peace here shall go out in Ravishment Extasie and unutterable Rejoycing So again Sin which now hurts for a moment doth bring on Torment for ever What occasions Sorrow and Vexation doth deliver over to the VVorm which shall never die VVhat occasions Sickness and Pain doth likewise bring forth Death and the Vengeance of Eternal Fire All that is seen or had here is but an earnest of like and worse things to come The less do fore-run and give notice of the greater And as in the former case by the comfort and satisfaction of the one we should much more desire and pray after that which exceedeth So by the sensible inconvenience and trouble of the latter way we should much more abhor and dread the End thereof which is Death As we now taste and feel it is thus so we may believe and be fully assured it shall be so hereafter as the faithful and true VVitness saith Behold I have told you before By the real Good of one way we may well depend further upon the substance of things hoped for By the hurt and deceitfulness of the other we may be sufficiently forewarned of the Destruction and Misery in that way The Nature of Rewards and Punishments Exhortation and Dehortation Promises and Threatnings do denote that Man is left to his Liberty and Freedom All these do inform and acquaint him how things stand pertaining to him That he might partake of the Good and avoid the Evil. God hath thus established the Connexion and Order of things They are set before Mankind and placed so near that they are become as closely appendant to him as his Flesh and Spirit so they must have the one or the other His trial is appointed in things absolutely necessary which he cannot be without as Meat Drink and Rayment to the Body and in Thoughts as to the Soul which are the very Essence of it for the Soul will cease to be when it shall cease to think And lest the Soul should degenerate into Sloth and Bruitishness of that we are rouzed up to take heed by the Parable of the unprofitable Servant whose Doom was Cast him into outer Darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth VVho would not receive and ascend up towards the Light but walked all his days in
contemptuously But yet they do much worse and are worthy of sorer Punishment who are not contented to let God alone but they have a secret Purpose as it were to dishonour him If they think that God may be glorified by such a thing they will with a secret Imagination what lieth in them cross that Intent and Purpose VVho will endeavour to disannul what he hath said and try to defeat what he hath purposed and intends to bring to pass Whom God hath exalted they consult to cast him down from his Excellency They bless with their Mouth but they curse inwardly Psal 62. 4. VVho after the manner of Hypocrites talk of God and his Glory but at the same time they both think otherwise in their Hearts and also practise contrary in their Actions God hath vowed to punish such Iniquity He doth first defeat and then over-rule their wicked Imaginations and Practices to his own greater Glory He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh the Lord shall have them in Derision Psal 2. 4. He doth behold all the cunning Contrivances and Actings of Men towards him For the Lord is a God of Knowledge and by him Actions are weighed 1 Sam. 2. 3. of whatever Kind they be whether good or Evil whether they please or provoke him He knows with what Heart and Intent each thing is done Strange That any of the Sons of Men who are but meer Creatures who are weak and dying subject to Pain here and Misery hereafter liable to Death here and Damnation hereafter so likewise they are capable of receiving Good and Happiness and these come from without or can be manifested from within yet they should not endeavour at all times to behave themselves rightly towards the great Lord and Disposer of all things in the whole World All that we have already is from God and he hath reserved more which he can dispense forth according to his own good Will and Pleasure His Favour and loving Kindness are most worthy to be sought after for it gives Peace and Assurance at present and is better than Life it self which doth relish and perceive all things and then transmits over to an eternal State of Blessedness Who would not partake of this For even the Desire and Enjoyment of Sensuality the Endeavours after being great and highly esteemed redounds all to this at last that he may be an happy Man To be so for all Eternity is rather to be chosen than to be so only for a short Time Nay an assured Hope and Expectation of that is to be preferred before the present Pleasure of Sin for as every one feels within himself and is sensible of there is a certain fearful Expectation of the End of that which is Death and Punishment Who will shew us any Good Psal 4. 6. is the Language of every one Where and how it may be had is the great Thought and searching of Heart yea and there is an actual Endeavour after it where it may be had with some little Pains and Labour as appears by the several Actions Ends and Designs of Mankind And though the Generality of the World hath been long settled on the Lees and they do still continue so They are sunk down into Earthliness and this present Life And they being wholly taken up with the Conveniences and small perishing Pleasures of this Life they do not care to rise and ascend up higher But yet they would do well to give heed unto those VVorkings and Movings of their Soul for that equally reaches after Happiness and covets after somewhat which is wanting in order to it as the Body desires Food and Health towards Preservation of its Life here This is only the Time of Trial and State of Preparation If we can shew our selves faithful and overcome but all our Acts here are in Order and Tendency to somewhat hereafter They are but Means towards the End and as a Scaffold towards the building up an House eternal in the Heavens Nothing here is compleat and for it self All we are still passing on and like wayfaring Men who have a Refreshment but no Abode who make some Stop but no continued sitting down And when we would as it were rest and fix up our Abode yet the very Succession Change Perishing and Weariness of our Acts teach us thus much The Times and Seasons instruct us in this the Four Quarters of the Year Spring Summer Autumn and Winter The constant Course of Day and Night also Infancy Childhood Youth Manhood and declining Age the Times of Labour Recreation Eating and Drinking all these pass on Too many are like Men amazed and astonied they know not what all this means They know not neither will they understand they walk on in Darkness all the Foundations of the Earth are out of course Psal 82. 5. Though the Light hath shined and manifested what their End is of being here and what is required of them yet they are willingly ignorant but go on as the rest do This is the Manner of the Inhabitants of the Earth that dwell carelesly that say in their Hearts We are and none besides us Zeph. 2. 15. There is a secret disowning of God above or if they acknowledge him by a few Acts of outward Worship yet they confine all to that but they have not to do with him in the common Actions and general Course of their Life Here they conclude that they are left to themselves and these things they imagine are in their own Power Some others will have Respect unto God in little trivial Concerns but for those of greater Moment they do not take Counsel of him nor yet are directed by his Law nor yet do they consider rightly for his Glory Were Men verily perswaded and did they act accordingly That God is to be obeyed in all things and at all Times not only in his Presence in the Sanctuary but also when they are more Apt to forget him at home and abroad in their going out and coming in Not only before his Saints and Servants as Paul did intimate concerning the Philippians but also when they are absent and afar off The Lord's Name is to be praised from the rising of the Sun unto the going down thereof So in Man's going forth unto his Work and Labour until the Evening And then we are to lie down in Remembrance of him and to rise up again to glorifie him To think upon him whilst in Bed and awaking and as others Devise Iniquity in their Beds so our selves should forecast which Way we shall most serve and honour him If this were universally practised by all Persons in all Places we should see another kind of World than as yet hath been And do we not think it would be better and more happy with Mankind if they did thus then as now they do in living securely and negligently The Mistake and Errour is that they do not see the different and miserable Effects till it is come upon them So the Prophet
saith in Zeph. 2. concerning Nineveh That when she shall be desolate and uninhabited then People shall reflect and look back upon what hath brought this Judgment on her And so when the World comes to be punished for their Evil and Iniquity then they shall call to remembrance and consider what brought all this Misery upon them But then it is too late and to no Purpose but to aggravate their own Folly and to torment them yet more And so contrariwise It would have been well with them if they had done after this and that Manner Why you were told and warned of as much by the Word of God for whom it was impossible to lie So that they might even then have been assured it would as certainly be as now they find it present upon them It was necessary to be told of it before because they might have done some things for which they should have been worthy to escape Luke 21. 36. and also obtain Good for which they did labour and endure the foregoing Conditions should be performed they should be in the mean while rendred meet which the same God did press unto by the same Word and Truth which spoke beforehand of these things People are apt to stumble and be blinded at the Doings of God Our Fathers understood not thy Wonders in Egypt Psal 106. 7. till after they were over And so it was of their Dealings towards his Servants the Prophets whom they did persecute unto Death and afterwards they acknowledged them to have been faithful Messengers sent from God So whilst the Messias lived and dwelt amongst Men they doubted whether it was he But after they had crucified and put him to Death then they understood it Now when the Centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus saw the Earthquake and those things that were done they feared greatly saying truly this was the Son of God Mat. 27. 54. Now Jesus did in his Lifetime both by his Doctrine and Miracles manifest sufficiently before the Jews that he was the holy one sent from God No Man can do those Miracles that thou dost except God be in him John 3. 2. The Works which the Father hath given me to finish the same Works that I do bear Witness of me that the Father hath sent me John 7. 36. And so they were amazed at his Doctrine for it was with Power and he taught as one having Authority and not as the Scribes It was sublime and divine and and so they might even then be convinced and apprehend it Those many great and wonderful things done throughout the whole Course of his Ministry were as evident a Demonstration of his being the Son of God as what appeared afterwards And when they did oppose him continually from Time to Time and still they were more and more convinced of his Truth and Divinity yet still to go on and to the utmost Pitch of their Malice and Rage as to kill the Body And when the whole Time of Trial is over then to acknowledge that they were in a Fault and would not have done it to pretend Ignorance for an Excuse or Mitigation of their Sin when it was either willing Ignorance or a false Plea God who knoweth the Hearts will judge of all this Our Saviour notably confutes such gross Hipocrites and Dissemblers Mat. 23. 29 30 31 32. Who say if we had been in the Days of our Fathers we would not have been Partakers with them in the Blood of the Prophets when at that very Time they did the same against Christ whom the most moderate Fame did say he was one of the Prophets risen again but others Christ and others Elias as their Fathers did against the Prophets And so it was clearly manifested that themselves did not only allow the Deeds of their Fathers but themselves at that Instant did the same And as they were Witnesses against themselves that they were Children of them which killed the Prophets so they did afterwards fill up the Measure of their Fathers for they proceeded and did kill him also of whom God spake to Moses I will raise them up a Prophet from among their Brethren like unto thee Deut. 18. 18. who was more than all the Prophets or the Angels yea the very Christ the anointed one of God This is the Abomination of Hypocrisie that when they do wickedly against God they would justifie themselves before Men and make a Shew as if they had not sinned nor done corruptly They would first hide their Sin as Adam but if it is known as publick Acts are then they would put a Colour and Pretext to it But what are your Sins to us or what are we that ye should plead with or extenuate your selves before Your Sins are against the Lord and he is the Judge himself Oh let the Wickedness of the Wicked came to an End but establish the Just For the righteous God trieth the Hearts and Reins Psal 7. 9. He observes the several Steps and Gradations thereof He sees how far it will go And it may be that is one Reason why he suffers it to proceed so far that the Folly thereof may be more manifest that Sin may appear to be exceeding sinful that when he comes to dissect and lay it open with his eternal Truth we may see the infinite Guilt and Aggravation thereof Like a putrifying Sore which the longer it is let alone the worse it grows If God should arise in his Anger and lift up himself Evil and Transgression could never have proceeded so far as now it hath done If God had spread out his Light universally to reprove the Deeds of Mankind there had not been so much Sin and Ungodliness If his Truth were clearly universally and fully made known it would prevent a great deal of Sin and Errour Neither then had all Flesh corrupted its Way upon Earth as now it hath done But there hath been the Hour of the wicked and the Power of Darkness Luke 22. 53. In which things have been suffered so to be That Hour draws towards its End and the Light doth begin to shine Then also Sin and Iniquity will have its Period It will make an End of Transgression and bring in everlasting Righteousness For he will finish the Work and cut it short in Righteousness because a short Work will the Lord make upon the Earth Rom. 9. 28. What hath been some Thousand Years in Agitation and Continuance may be brought to an utter End within the Compass of a Year or less Even as we see that he who hath been a Sinner all his Life long is converted in an Hour or a Minute By one full and clear Conviction of the exceeding Evil and Danger of Sin he may be induced and brought over imediately to forsake it If we were throughly made sensible of the infinite Goodness and Glory of God and how he is dishonoured by the breaking of his Law this alone Consideration should move any one who hath the common Sense