of no other Argument though I could produce several if he died for such as deny him and crucifie him to themselves afresh and finally perish then he died no question for the rest but that he tasted Death for such is plain Heb. 10.29 Having in the verse before shewed the miserable end of those that despised Moses's Law he infers by way of interrogation Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy of that hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despight to the Spirit of Grace and yet plainer 2 Pet. 2.1 There shall be false Teachers as the Apostle gives them warning that shall bring in damnable Heresie denying the Lord that bought them So that hence it is evident that Christ laid down his Blood as a price to redeem them that ungratefully deny him And if Christ had not died for all it could not be the duty of every man to believe in him But there is nothing more unquestionable than that every one is bound to believe and such as refuse are threatned with a more fearful destruction because they wickedly frustrate as much as in them lies such a wonderful Grace of God and withstand the highest motive to Repentance and a new life 1 Cor. 6.20 Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie him in your Body and in your Spirit which are his The Apostle speaketh to the Corinthians in general among whom there were many unbelievers And what 's the Argument he useth to perswade them to Faith and newness of Life but because Christ hath shewed such love to them as to die for them Since he hath offered up his Body upon the Cross for you do you offer up your Souls and Bodies unto him to be instruments of Righteousness to do him service is the force of the Apostles Argument We see then that the Death of Christ and the Gift of the Spirit are obligations upon all that hear the Gospel at least to a thankful Commemoration of the love of God and a Remembrance of him There are none that live under the sound and influence of the Gospel but have the love of Christ expressed in his Incarnation Life and Death for them to move them externally by way of Argument and the powerful Spirit inwardly to check their Corruptions and prompt them to obedience in some degree and measure and if they will not think upon the one nor submit to the other but slightly regard the one and stubbornly resist the other and stiffle every good motion which they feel and keep off from any serious thoughts of the death of Christ and will not be perswaded to consider the Blood that was shed for them nor suffer his love to be shed abroad into their hearts by the Holy Spirit Let such know that their forgetfulness of God is the more heynous because it hath so fast an obligation as this to the most necessary duty of remembrance the Word also as well as the Spirit What are all the passages of Scripture but such as prepare for or directly stir up to such a Remembrance You may observe some parts of Scripture more remotely conduce to this grand duty of remembring God other parts do more immediately serve to produce it where it is wanting others to reduce and recover it when 't is lost So that one of these three ways either by conducing to it or producing or reducing of it all the parts of Gods Word conspire io this principal duty The main division of the Scripture is into the Old and New Testament But what is the design and drift of both these but to rescue or preserve a Memory of God in the World Our Saviour sums up the Old Testament in these two heads the Law and the Prophets Now what doth the Law serve for if not to mind us of the great Law-giver and to beget an awe of his Soveraignty upon the World And the main end of the Prophets and their Prophesies was to reproduce this Remembrance of God when the ungrateful People had forgot him And what can be the end of that Light that hath shined to us in the Gospel but to teach us to deny all ungodliness 〈◊〉 Forgetfulness of God and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present evil World which we can never do without frequent and effectual Remembrance of God and our Lord Jesus Christ I might more particularly insist here and shew how all the Precepts Promises and Threatnings which are the three essential parts of Gods Word are intended to this end and will leave the Soul inexcusable that forgets him or how the several Books of the Old and New Testament which are the integral parts of God's Word oblige to this Remembrance But I think the case is so plain and clear that none of these ways of demonstration is needful to convince us That the whole Word of God is no little impulsive but presseth earnestly to this Remembrance and is therefore another great Aggravation of the sin of Forgetfulness I shall only chuse to set some of those Texts of Scripture before you that are fullest of Affection and most Pathetical and that shew how unwilling God is to forget poor sinners or that they should perish as they must needs do in their Forgetfulness of him Esay 48.18 19. With what passion doth the Lord mourn over the poor forgetful Israelites that had even now brought utter ruine upon themselves O that thou hadst hearkened to my Commandments then had thy Peace been as a River and thy Righteousness as the Waves of the Sea Thy Seed also had been as the Sand and the off-spring of thy Bowels as the Gravel thereof and Hos 11.8 When the ten Tribes were got to such a degree of wickedness that God was not remembred by them any longer but they had divorced him from them by their Idolatries and could bear no longer without disparagement to the Truth and Justice of God with what unwillingness doth he throw them off How shall I give thee up O Ephraim How shall I deliver thee Israel How shall I make thee as Admah How shall I set thee as Zeboim My Heart is turned within me my Repentings are kindled together What heart that is not desperately sick of stupidity can hear this sound and not return and recover the remembrance of him whom before he had forgot O that my People had hearkened unto me and Israel had walked in my ways I should soon have subdued their Enemies and turned my Hand against their Adversaries The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him but their time should have endured for ever He should have fed them also with the finest of the Wheat and with Honey out of the Rock should I have satisfied thee Ps 81.13 14 15. Thus you see how these and such like Scriptures Numbers of which might be gathered together and as the parts of
the Question lest I should be too tedious The Common Directions which I shall propose are By way of 1 Consideration 2. Exercise Consider therefore 1. What a fearful and dangerous sin it is to forget God 2 What a shame it is to be unmindful of him 3. What are the benefits of preferinging God in our Remembrance before all other things For the First I have already shewed what a heinous and dangerous sin it is to forget God from whence it may be fetch'd for our Consideration I shall give a brief Recapitulation Consider then what Obligations thou sin'st against if thou shut God out of thy Remembrance 1. On God's part 1. He gave thee thy Faculties to this very end 2. And hath purposely set Heaven and Earth before thee to exercise these Faculties and to put thee in Remembrance of him 3. He hath sent his Son to put thee in mind of him 4. He hath given thee his Spirit Word and all his Ordinances to awake thee to remember him Think then what Gilt the breach of all these Obligations on Gods part will bring upon thee if yet thou shalt forget him Consider what Obligations also thou sinnest against 2. On thy own part Thou sinnest against 1. Thy solomn Vow 2. Covenant 3. Oath 4. Profession If these particulars be taken into thy consideration thou wilt not sure count it a venial sin to forget God and consequently it will be a means to bring thee to the Remembrance I am directing to Consider also the danger as well as the guiltiness of this sin 1. It may betray thee to all other sin and absurdity 2. It will provoke God to forget thee in a way of mercy 3. It will cause him to Remember thee in a way of Judgment If thon art one that dost believe and wilt consider thus much it will prepare thee for the duty we are now upon and be a help to a worthy Remembrance of him For every thing that hath the nature of a motive to a practical Duty hath the nature of a means or help to the performance of the Duty The Reason is because cause it is a necessary means to any Duty to bring the Will to a thorough Resolution Now all motives are the most proper means ro bring the Will to such a Determination So much for the first thing that we are to consider Secondly Consider also what a shame it is to forget God and to be unmindful of him Hast thou no ingenuity 1. Canst thou forget him that remembreth thee every hour 2. Canst thou forget him in prosperity whom thou wilt remember in thy necessity 3. Dost thou not blush to prefer empty unsatisfactory and transitory things in thy Remembrance before God But these things I have already insisted on and therefore do but now name them as matter of our consideration as a second sort of motives and therefore fit means to help on this Remembrance Thirdly If thou wouldst be in the number of those that exalt God above all things in their Remembrance then consider what advantage will accrue to thee by such a Remembrance I know these may be also called motives as all means by way of consideration are But yet they are all distinct and different kinds of motives and have their effect upon three several passions 1. The first sort taken from the consideration of the greatness and danger of the sin of not Remembring God are rather to fright us from the sin of forgetfulness than to draw us to the duty of Remembrance 2. The second sort are intended to work upon Ingenuity where there is any and to excite shame in those that neglect such a becoming duty 3. And the third sort taken from the benefits and advantage of this Remembrance are directly to excite Love and Desire and hereby to attract the Heart to the performance of a work so beneficial I come now therefore to propose the Benefits that will follow such a worthy Remembrance of God as a means to this duty First Consider If thou art one that Remembrest God with the most prizing valuing thoughts thou art translated from Death to Life If St. John make the predominant love of the Brethren to be so sure an evidence of this Translation 1 John 3.14 We know that we are passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren Then much more doth the sincere love of God give us full security that we are thus advanced But the predominant love of God is implied in this Remembrance as the essential part of it according to the known Rule words of Sense and Understanding in Morallity essentially involve Affections and Actions If they go alone all moral Acts are incompleat unless they be both in the understanding and will in the Mind and Heart If therefore thou art one that thus remembrest God thou hast this grand priviledge whose name is Legion and contains such a number under it Death is a name of terror and sounds dreadful to all whose Ears it hath not stop'd and is the sum and abridgment of all that 's either hateful or fearful And therefore all the penalty that God threatneth for the breach of such a perfect Righteous Law as he gave to Man was comprized in the word Death And if it be not enough to vindicate the Law from contempt of such as do but hear it yet it will teach them at least not to despise it that feel it And as Death is a Name pregnant with Dread and Horror so Life is the most comfortable Sound and carries all that 's desirable in the Bowels of it And it is put in Scripture to signifie 1. All Happiness 2. Perpetuity And therefore it was the only Sanction that God added to his Law by way of Remuneration Do this and Live Where Life is opposed to the Death that is threatned to the Transgressors As Death therefore is comprehensive of all Misery so Life is a complication of all Happiness And as it is put for all Felicity so for Perpetuity Psal 56.7 In his favour is Life 1. Perpetuity as appears by the opposeâ—â—â— in the former part of the verse His Anger endures but a moment that is it 's short but in his Favour is Life 1. It 's lasting and perpetual Now Death is of three sorts opposed to a three fold Life 1. Natural 2. Moral 3. Metaphorical Natural Death is the privation of all sense Death Moral is the privation of all Love in the Will to Vertue and propension to Goodness for want of which Love it is dead to all vertuous Life and Action and feels no sweetness in them because the principle of that Life is wanting For Love is the Principium Vitae in morallibus Love is the principle of Life in the Moral Spiritual or gracious Life And as Natural Death doth not only deprive the Body of all Sense and Motion but renders it unfit for the Soul to dwell in and be united to and so dissolves the union between these two So Morally
Death doth not deprive the Soul of all gracious and vertuous Sense and Motion but renders it unfit for the Spirit of true Vertue Grace and Holiness to dwell in and so there must needs follow a Devorce and Separation between them And as in the Natural Life there is a Union between the Soul and Body so in the Moral there is a Union between the Soul and God Death Metaphorical is the privation of all the comfortable effects of Life whether it be Natural or Moral whilst bear Life doth still remain and the presence of all those evils that may afflict or imbitter it And all these are either 1. Temporal 2. Eternal From what hath been spoken for the explication of these two terms Life and Death you may perceive what a priviledge and unspeakable favour it is to be translated from Death to Life 1. If thou Remembrest God The sting of a Natural Death is pulled out and though thou art not 〈◊〉 from the part of the penalty of sin whereby the Body is deprived of all sense and separated from the Soul yet thou art delivered from that which is most terrible in Death 〈◊〉 the misery or Death that will follow after and it is a comfortable passage for them that Remember God to endless Joy and Happiness and sometimes a welcome Messenger to them They may truly say as Agag 1 Sam. 15.32 The bitterness of Death is past 2. They are translated from the Death of Sin to the Life of Grace and Holiness and are united unto God and are disposed by Faith and Love to that Holiness which is the Divine Perfection and the way to the highest Happiness and Honour that the Heart of Man can wish or desire Though this Life will be imperfect whilst we stay here And if there be such pleasure in the Union between the Soul and Body then there is much more in the Union between the Soul and God 3. As Death is put for Misery and the bitter and uncomfortable effects of the endless Life to come so they are passed from Death to Life The Sentence of Death that God hath passed against sin is so far revers'd And as for the Miseries and Evils of this Life though materially they may have more than other Men yet as to the formal and most essential part of them they feel them not so much as other Men because they are allay'd and sweetned 1. By the inward Peace and Comfort that God gives to those that Remember him 2. By the benefit and advantage they get by those outward Sufferings For as their outward Man is afflicted so their inward man is renewed strengthened and confirmed day by day 2 Cor. 4.16 For their light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory even in the beginnings of it here ver 17.3 It lessens their short and momentary sufferings that by them they escape so much Temptation and all the â—aiâ—s of sin are become the less taking If thou art one in whose Remembrance God is advanced above all other things thou shalt not die but live and declare the works of the Lord Psal 118.17 And though the Lord may chasten and correct thee yet he will not give thee over unto Death ver 18. For God is the Fountain of Life and in his Light thou shalt see Life Psal 36.9 O what a Mercy is it to be delivered from the power of Death and Darkness and to be translated into the Kingdom of his dear Son where thou shalt grow up from one degree of Life to another till thou come to everlasting Life Col. 1.13 At thy first entrance into this Kingdom Death is sentenced and some execution is done upon every sort of Death which will be perfected as this remembrance of God grows up to perfection in thee O Death I will be thy Plague O Grave I will be thy Destruction Hos 13.14 Which as it was verified of Christ personally understood so it is of Christ mystically understood 1. As Christ overcame Death in his Person so every true Believer such are all and only they that have God in their Remembrance hath gotten some conquest over Death which shall grow up to a full Victory and therefore Paul in the Name of the whole Church doth acknowledge this mercy Thanks be to God that giveth us the victory thorough our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15 5 7. Whilst the wicked forgetters of God are dead in trespasses and sins and dead to all soul and solid Joy and Comfort and designed to an eternal death Thou that thinkest upon God and remembrest his Love in Christ art entred into a state of Life and hast such a Promise that contains more in it than all the rich Indian Mines Because â—e hath set his Love upon me With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my Salvation Psal 91.16 If thou didst but know what a treasure is hid in thâ—â— Remembrance thou wouldst throw out every thing of thy Memory and Heart that hinders this Remembrance of God This one priviledge of being translated from Death to Life is big with a number more 1. It implies that thou art reconciled to God and he is at peace with thee and thou needest no more to fear him as thine Enemy All his Attributes of Power Justice Holiness Vengeance Majesty that sound so terrible to the forgetters of God do but the better secure thee of thine Happiness 2. It implies also thy present Justification in title of Law God hath acquitted thee by the law of Grace and Act of the Gospel from the guilt of sin and dissolved the Obligation to condemnation Who can lay any thing to thy charge if God absolve thee Who can do thee any hurt when Christ is become thy Advocate Rom. 8.33 3. With this mercy doth concur the mercy of Adoption and Sonship It 's no small Honour to be one of his menial Servants but to be a Son yea a Heir is a priviledge not easily valued and understood 4. The gift of the Spirit to dwell within thee is here also implied to mortifie all sin and to work all gracious habits that may fit thee for a state of Glory In a word 5. All real and relative Grace so far as is necessary to Salvation is thine either in Title Possession 1. The Righteousness of Imputation is thine whereby thou art made fit for Pardon and the Righteousness of Implantation is thine whereby thou art made fit for his Love and Complacency and sweetest Communion with him Secondly If thou art one that Remembrest God all things shall co-operate and conspire for thy good Every Age every state and condition of Life every Place and Company every Change and Alteration in the World Prosperity and Adversity Friends and Enemies Health and Sickness Honour and Dishonour every Relation thou art plac'd in shall help forward thy Joy and Felicity and some Foundation God is laying in every one of these whereupon to
Righteous art thou O Lord in the Sentence which thou hast passed in the Judgment which thou hast executed Psal 119.137 Thou hast poured forth thy wrath and indignation on them and given them gall and bitterness to drink for they are worthy You shall then wish that your faculty to consider were gone it will follow you so close and be such a perpetual honour to you or rather that you had never had reason and understanding to consider then you might have both liv'd and died like a beast Whereas now though you have liv'd like a beast that you must die like a man that hath Memory Reason Foresight Judgment and Affections that will all conspire together to overwhelm you with eternal shame Why had I reason will the Soul say then but to prevent this misery Why had I will to choose when Life and Death were set before me and could choose no better Had it not been a wiser course to have troubled my self a little while with some few Thoughts of it then now to feel it for ever Why did God threaten Hell and destruction in his Word and set it forth with so much Terrour to mine apprehensions but that I might consider and escape it Why did he appoint the Ministerial Office but that knowing the Terrours of the Lord they might perswade men 2 Cor. 5.11 What could nothing prevail with one but what I now feel and must forever undergo Think not to say then I had not time to consider neither had I skill to follow such a work as this It 's not so much a knowing Head as an honest Heart that 's required to this work The Truths are but few and plain that thy Heart is to dwell upon and the certainty of them is beyond all doubt and question Whatever difference of Opinion there may be in other things yet here is no controversy all are agreed that man hath an Immortal Soul that there is a Life to come That the Happiness of man lies in these two things 1. In being like to God 2. In loving him and being loved by him that sin hath made us unlike to him and therefore must be repented of That Christ will purge away their guilt and sin and renew them by his Spirit that love him and consent to be ruled by him and will take him for their Physitian That there is a day in which God will summon all the World before him and Judge them Impartially according as they have believed or not believed in Christ to everlasting joy or 〈◊〉 These things are certain in the highest 〈◊〉 and there is none that doubteth 〈…〉 but either an Atheist or an 〈…〉 are the Truths that God hath 〈…〉 in great mercy and compassion 〈…〉 commanded every one 〈…〉 Poer and Rich 〈…〉 think upon when they are 〈…〉 when they are walk 〈…〉 when they lye down and 〈…〉 they rise up and to teach them diligently to their Children and to live as those that do believe and consider them Woe to the man or woman that considers not these things good it had been for him or her if they had never been born Wilt thou not think of those things It is because thou art void of understanding and hast chose the way of destruction If thou wilt not be perswaded now to consider thou wilt forget thy latter end thou wilt forget thine Immortal Soul and God will be forgotten and a little sensual pleasure will weigh more with thee than Eternal Life and Happiness And when the day of thy dishress is come upon thee thou wilt wish that thou hadst rather forgot to eat thy Bread than these things should have been forgotten and to fill up thy measure and make thee perfectly miserable God will forget thee forever Psal 50.22 Now consider this ye that forget God lest I tare you in peices and there be none to aeliver I Have set some of the Motives before you that should stir you up to Consideration and shewed you in part what a mischief it is for this faculty to lie dead which is given us by God to quicken those that are dead to the Life of Grace and Holiness and to make them strong and lively and vigorous Christians that are quickned by the spirit of Christ and have set their affections upon things above and not upon things here on Earth This is the way that God hath prescribed for Rational Creatures to get home to God that are revolted from him and to recover their affections to the right owner that are intangled in the love of Earth and vanity If they would but consider would feed upon Swinish pleasures no longer nor suffer their Souls to be charmed with more delusion nor prefer the imaginary dream of a sluggard before the happiness of a man that is awake and whose eyes are open Consideration would shew such a man the difference between Earth and Heaven rectify his judgment in this great point viz. where mans happiness lies And tell him roundly how the world hath cheated him with more shews and phantastick pleasures and put a picture into his hand instead of real felicity It would clear his Eye-sight and make him quite of another mind than once he was when Inconsideracy had blinded him and the world had befool'd him and he would see much more reason to live in the love of God looking for the mercies of his Redeemer unto eternal Life Jude the 21. than ever he did to live in carnal love and delights Consideration would bring the world and all its pleasures as much into disgrace as ever Inconsideracy brough◠them into credit And men that snatch'd at the riches and vain glory of the world before as a sweet bit to be purchased upon any terms would after they are enlightened by Consideration suspect all its soberest pleasures and those that come in upon the fairest terms What a Confession should you have from such a man of the foolishness and madness of his former Conversation when he liv'd upon Air and Trash as other Inconsiderate men still do Such a one as Paul's Tit. 3.3 For we our selves saith he describing his state before Consideration undeceived him were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures Then you should hear him bitterly accuse and condemn the soberest course he formerly took when the World had the Supremacy in his mind and heart Strange it would be to see a man so much altered for the better and advanced to such an improvement in knowledge and vertue as by impartial sober and considerate Thoughts might be done He was it may be before a covetous busie worldling that scrap'd and dig'd his happiness out of the dirt and said it up on Earth Whose God was his belly whose glory was his shame that minded Earthly things Phil. 3.19 But now his conversation is in Heaven and there he hath laid up his Treasure And digs for Wisdom as for Silver and searcheth for it as for hid Treasure Prov. 2.4 And his delight
thou seest Pleasure written upon the face of it that is as it is coming towards thee If thou wilt not believe this now thine experience shall shortly make it good and condemn thee for a stark fool in that thou hast so much teaching and yet would'st not learn that thou had'st eyes and could'st not see and that thou wast so oft forewarned of the vanity and deceitfulness of these Earthly pleasures and yet would'st be deceived And yet I will confess if the fault could then be mended after Experience hath taught thee the vanity of them and thou art going out of the world as a miserable wretch ready to be forsaken of the comforts which thou hast inordinately loved if then thou could'st recover thine affections and bequeath thine heart to God which the world did possess all thy life time then it would be some diminution of thy Sin and Folly But as sure as thou livest God will not take that heart at thy Death which thou would'st not give him in thy Life nor be put off with a Legacy when thou art dying and going out of the world to whom thou would'st give nothing all thy life-time But yet if the Lord would accept such an Offering from thee that heart that hath been so commanded all thy life long by such pleasures as the world affords will not be now at thine own command and dispose It will be hankering after the world when it is departing and leaving of it and would still live among these pleasures if it could and prefer them before Eternal Life with God But I beseech thee to consider whether it be not perfect madness to suffer thine affections to be thus captivated and bewitched with fading momentary delights They are little to be envied whose whole lives are but a Diversion from one pleasure to another But if any men on Earth are like to perish for ever and lose those satisfying pleasures at Gods right Hand for evermore these are the men It is not one of a thousand that recovers of their Surfeit when they come to be old that have lived their younger years wholly addicted to their carnal brutish delights and not a man that dies amidst such pleasures before his heart be weaned from them but is like to feel more bitter torment than such as have lived all their life-time in poverty and little ease Surely they that let out their hearts too freely to the things of this world forget that there is such a Text in the Word of God Love not the world nor the things of the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2.19 But that which makes some men that know this well enough to be mistaken is because they read of several rich men in Scripture that have their hands full of these Earthly comforts and see and hear of others that go to Heaven in the midst of great Possessions therefore they confidently conclude that they may enjoy them as well as others and yet be in a safe condition as if there were no difference between having and enjoying of them Their hearts were far enough from their Possessions as you might easily have seen if you had lived and conversed with them Though they had a large portion of their comforts a good measure of this Dung and Dross as the Apostle calls it yet they spread it to the good increase of Religion and Piety where they had to do they took little pleasure in this Dunghil neither did they spend their precious thoughts and time to encrease it But thy heart it may be is Wedded to these Carnal contentments and buried in this Dunghil and thy sweetest pleasures come in this way and when riches encrease thy heart is set upon them Psal 62.10 Let me tell thee that if ever Consideration open thine eyes thou wilt be as mad against these pleasures as ever thou wert mad for them And thou that do'st so industriously seek them with such careful study and endeavour wilt then be sick of them nulla major voluptas quam voluptatis fastidium No pleasure like that of contemning such transitory unmanly pleasures as these are if as Tully saith he is not worthy the name of a man that would live a whole day in such pleasures I am sure he is not worthy the name of a Christian that can live his whole life-time and prefer the pleasures of his body before the feasting of his Soul It 's the want of serious Consideration in this particular that makes so many lose the Joys of Heaven whilst they feast themselves with the Pleasures of the World Sixthly Another thing that should be the matter of your frequent serious Consideration is your latter end and the nearness of your dissolution This would make you wise indeed not to lay up riches and diet much less to treasure up sin and wrath against the day of wrath but to lay up in store a good foundation against the appointed time 1 Tim. 6.19 Rom. 2.5 It was the want of such heedful and attentive consideration that made Moses complain of the Israelites that they were a nation void of Counsel neither was there any understanding in them this made him wish so passionately O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Deut. 32.28 29. This made the same Moses to pray so to teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to true wisdom Psal 90.121 Who can think what a vapour his life is James 4.14 and make it shorter by neglecting the work it was given him for A man never begins to live till he lives to God and he that survives the most years after he hath begun this work may be truly said to live the longest although he reach not the age of many a Carnal minded man For a mans life is not to be computed by grey hairs or the number of years but by the work that he hath done If therefore thy work be undone when death is approaching to thee what shall I say that thou hast lived but a little while nay rather that thou hast not lived at all I must conclude therefore that to consider the shortness of thy life is the way to lengthen it and to put thee into such a happy condition that death shall be sure never to surprise thee O what a madness it is for men that are to live but a few years it may be days in the world never seriously to consider it till their days are at an end when they have but a few turns more to fetch in this World not to consider it and turn unfeignedly to God before they are turned out of the World where is that mans Wits that buries his thoughts alive in the impertinencies of this life and scarce thinks from one end of the year to the other that he must die and in that very day his thoughts must perish What doth that man do that Fidles
away his precious time and never thinks to any purpose that his day is coming and what a sad tune he will be then in If mens thoughts were but frequently and seriously imployed about this subject men would not live and walk about the World for nothing as they do They would not fish all their life time and catch nothing but a little worldly pleasure and honour which was but a bait that Satan used to bring them to this misery that now they are departing into Wo wo be to the man that thinks not of Death till it is even at his door That sees it not till his eyes are ready to close up That never dreams of it till he is ready to awake in another World O Sirs your Souls are here to day and gone to morrow and you know not what one day or night may bring forth Prov. 27.1 Though you may think it is the way to a merry comfortable life to put the serious sober thoughts of your later end out of your mind yet I am sure it is not the way to a comfortable joyful death and is it not a thousand times more desireable to die comfortably than to live comfortably if you will needs part these two one from the other But I must plainly tell you that you are mistaken and that it is not the way to a comfortable chearful life to forget a mans latter end and to decline such a provident Foresight and Meditation unless you take a licentious sensual and foolish life for a comfortable life And then there 's no doubt but the frequent Consideration of a mans latter end will disturb and interrupt such sinful foolish mirth But there are no men in the World that live a more comfortable joyful life and taste so full and true content and pleasure as those that have frequently thought upon death and the consequent of it and made it familiar to their thoughts and have quite overcome the fear of death by a wise foresight of it and preparation for it He may well rejoyce oven at the heart that hath overcome his great enemy and is got over the Rub that the rest of the World must meet with sooner or later that shall put an end to their foolish mirth and laughter The considerate man hath trampled this King of Terrours under his feet and through fear of death is no longer subject unto bondage as inconsiderate men are whereas on the contrary men that are not accustomed to these thoughts nor have brought forth the fruit of them whensoever such thoughts accidentaly rush into their mind they cannot bear them how terrible and affrighting are the apparitions of death when they get into their imaginations and fancy and let them do what they can to shift these imaginations out of their hearts sometime or other they will surprize them and break in though they shut the door never so fast and bolt them out and then they pay something for their former inconsideracy If a Fit of Sickness come upon them that threatens them with death fearfulness and trembling taketh hold on them and a fit of horrour is ready to overwhelm them Psal 55.5 What now Will you call that a merry comfortable life that 's so easily disturbed with one sad dismal thought that may arise Will you say that man lives a pleasant life whom a Hand-writing upon the Wall can damp and strike into a Fit of Trembling Will you say that that man lives as happily and comfortably that by some sad accident a thousand of which he is subject to may have his Countenance changed his Thoughts trouble him and the Joynts of his Loyns loosed and his Knees smite one against another as Belshazzar had in the midst of his mirth and jollity Dan. 5.6 Will you call this a comfortable life that will so soon perish and come to a fearful end or that rather that grows more lightsome and chearful when Death it self approacheth and is drawing near Let a man that 's forsaken of Reason and Understanding forget his latter end as the fittest Expedient to his distracted foolish mirth but if thou art Master of any Wit or Reason thou wilt entertain and cherish such thoughts as these as the beginning of true Wisdom O remember that die thou must and leave the world behind thee and woe be to thee if thou hast not made some good preparation for a more lasting life The night of thy life is even almost spent see how much the Taper of thy present life is already wasted If thou knowest any thing thou canst not but know that it 's appointed for all men to die yea and that but once and after Death comes the Judgment there 's no calling back thy time and life when once they are spent no turning up thy glass again when once it is run out no after-game to play after the first is lost no dying a second time when once thy breath is gone I mean in this world though there be a second Death a thousand times more terrible than the first in the world to come Well if thou would'st live comfortably indeed yea and die comfortably also consider thy latter end be not afraid of such thoughts that will make thee wise to Salvation Seventhly Another Object worthy thy frequent consideration is the Judgment of the Great Day O what pity is it that a man that 's made for another world and that must be solemnly cited before the Tribunal of the Righteous and Impartial Judge and be responsible for his whole Life how he hath spent it should drive such thoughts out of his mind as Gallio drove Pauls Accusers from the Judgment Seat Acts 18.16 and care for none of these things What is it better to stand trembling before thy Judge in that day than to hold up thy Head with confidence If thou art one that dost not consider the Solemnity of that day nor the Concernments of thine own Soul in that general Assembly and appearance thou art more like to be confounded in that day than to rejoyce Would a proud vain-glorious Worldling so passionately rejoyce in the day of his prosperity and let his heart chear him in the midst of his foolish pleasures and walk in the ways of his heart and in the sight of his eyes if he did but consider that for all these things God will bring him to Judgment Would any man cast off all duty to God or perform it with a negligent slightness and indifferency to gratifie his lazy flesh or a busie Lust if he did but remember and consider that for these things he must be judged and for these without Repentance before Death he must die for ever O my Brethren it is no such contemptible trivial day nor the business that must then be transacted of such small and petty concernment that you should not think them worth your frequent and considerate thoughts Think you must whether you will or no upon trifles if you refuse to think on such matters
the Nails afresh into his Side and Hands and to persecute him whom God hath wounded yea and that for thy sin Hast thou the Heart of a Man or fierce Savage Beast that canst add Sorrow to such Afflictions Is it Nothing to thee that he was such a Man of Sorrows and so despised of Men and smitten of God What when thou thy self art the Person for which he hath borne all this Is it no matter to thee though he was led as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a Sheep dumb before the shearer Isa 53.7 Wo to thee that ever God made thee a Man if thou art become such a hard-hearted Rock He submitted to all this that he might prevail with God on the one side to be reconciled unto sinners and that he might prevail with sinners on the other side to repent and be reconciled unto God The former part of his Work he hath already done He hath gained his Father's Consent And wilt not thou Consent to lay by thine Enmity to God to confess thy former sins and to return to thy Obedience It shall be more tolerable surely for the Devils themselves that never had such Mercy offered them in the Day of Judgment than for such hard-hearted impenitent sinners But this is not all that Christ does for them he bears with them in wonderful patience sometimes he casts a gracious Look upon them as once he did upon Peter as if he would melt them in despight of all their obstinacy And seems to say to them What sinner shall I suffer and wilt thou suffer too rather than repent and live Shall I bleed to the very death to save thee from destruction and wilt thou have no Mercy upon thy self Turn thee Turn thee Why wilt thou dye O impenitent sinner Sometimes he frowns upon the sinner and threatens him with a sorer and heavier Condemnation if he will not repent and all that he might gain his Consent He assaults him on all sides that he might recover him by Repentance unto that happy state which he doth so much desire to see him possessed of He sets the Motives of Eternal Life and Death before him and gives him many a precious Hour to ponder and consider them He sends his Spirit also to knock at the door of his Heart that he may be let in Wo a thousand Times to that Man that will not be invited to Repentance by all these Means Good it had been for that Man or Woman if they had never been born Sixthly It is the End of all the Ordinances of God and every Providence to work this Godly Sorrow in our Minds and Hearts and bring us to Repentance It is the First intention of the Ministry of the Word to kill sin in us by Repentance and then to bring us on to the Life of Faith and Holiness And all the Doctrines that are taught and delivered to us in the Ministry of the Word are to drive on this Design The Doctrine of God's Attributes and Perfections is but the better to inform us of our Duty and what Service is due to such a Majesty so related to us and to qualifie and prepare our Hearts to a reverend and humble Performance of our Duty And to shew us what a sin it is either to neglect it or slight it over And consequently to bring us to judge abhor and condemn our selves when we have any of this Guilt upon us All the Doctrines that concern our selves and that teach us what we were by Nature and what we are by Practice and what we may be through the Grace of God and the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus serve effectually to shame and humble us and to break our very Hearts in the sense of that Misery that sin hath brought upon us If God made us such beautiful lovely Creatures and we have made our selves such deformed loathsome sinners doth it not become our Duty and highly beseem us to afflict our souls with the bitter remembrance thereof especially when God offereth Mercy to such penitent afflicted sinners All the Doctrines that concern our Brethren what do they serve for but to teach us the Extent of our Duty to them and the hainousness of our sin that have so much failed in all the respects that we owe to God and Men That so the more distinct sight and knowledge of our sin may make our Repentance more sound and compleat To what end are all the Terrible Threatnings of God's Word against Sin and Sinners but either to prevent the Sin or else to humble the Sinner after he is fallen under the Threatning and to work upon the Passion of Fear that by it the sinner may be awakened to consider what he hath done And whither to serve all the Promises but to perfect that work more kindly which the Fear of Judgment hath begun There 's not a Doctrine that 's Preached and Published to us by the Ministry of the Word but what comes on this very Errand and hath a subserviency to this End and should be effectually managed to such a purpose by all that are intrusted with this Sacred Office Some helpful Considerations to provoke to the Sublime and Excellent Duty of Joy and Delight in God To Sing his Praise and to be Thankful to him Judaei dicunt prohibitum esse homini ulla refrui in hoc Mundo sine benedictione Et quicunque fruitur re aliquâ ex hoc Mundo sine benedictione perinde est acci spotiaret Deum Berach fol. 35. Scriptures enjoyning Joy and Delight in God with Thankfulness and Praise First Joy and Delight in God Psal 37.4 Delight thy self in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart Deut. 28.47 Because thou servedst not the Lord God with joyfulness and gladness of heart for the abundance of all things therefore thou shalt serve thine enemies in hunger and thirst c. Phil. 4.4 Rejoyce in the Lord always yea and again I say rejoyce Hab. 3.17 18. Although the Fig-tree should not blossom neither should Fruit be in the Vine though the labour of the Olive should fail and the Field should yeild no Meat although the Flock should be cut off from the Fold and there should be no Herd in the Stalls v. 18. Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation Psal 68.3 But let the righteous be glad let them rejoyce before God yea let them exceedingly rejoyce Isa 64.5 Thou meetest them that rejoyce and work righteousness Rom. 14.17 The kingdom of God is said there to consist in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost John 15.11 These things have I spoken that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full 1 Thess 5.16 Rejoyce evermore Nehem. 8.10 The joy of the Lord is our strength Psal 32.11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoyce ye righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart Psal 66.1 2. Make a joyful noise
2. Majesty 3. Glory 4. Lordship 5. Immutability Fifthly The Measure of all his Attributes is Infiniteness that is They have no Stint nor Measure As the Measure of his Being is Immensity Sixthly The Crown of all his Attributes is his Eternity Of these in order 1. His Bounty the Scripture thus expresseth Psalm 145.15 Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing Matth. 6.28 29. Consider the Lilies of the field they toil not neither do they spin and yet I say anto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these And Psal 104.27 28. These wait all upon thee speaking of the several living Creatures that thou mayest give them their meat in due season Thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good 2. His Justice in the Righteous Government of all things the Holy Ghost thus sets forth Psalm 89.14 Justice and Judgment are the Habitation of thy Throne And Psal 9.8 He shall judge the World in Righteousness and minister Judgment to the World in uprightness Jerem. 32.19 Thine Eyes are upon all the Ways of the Sons of Men to give to every one according to his Ways and according to the Fruit of his doings Gen. 18.25 Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right Rev. 15.3 Just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints 3. His Veracity is thus described Numb 23.19 He is not as a Man that he should lye Hath he said it and spoken it and shall it not be made good Rom. 3.4 God is true and every man a lyar Heb. 10.23 God is faithful who hath promised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is to be credited or believed Psalm 138.2 I will woriship towards thy Holy Temple and praise thy Name for thy Loving-kindness and for thy Truth for thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name Psalm 86.15 But thou O Lord art plenteous in Mercy and in Truth 4. His Mercy and Compassion to all Rational Creatures is thus expressed John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Ezek. 33.11 As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in him that dyeth or in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways For why will ye dye 1 Tim. 2.4 There it 's said that God would have all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth Besides 1. All those Scriptures that express the Death of Christ for sinners without limitation serve to this purpose such as 1 Tim. 2.6 Who gave himself a Ransome for all Men c. 2. All those Scriptures that contain a Commission to Preach the Gospel to all the World without Exception magnifie this Attribute to the full and make it shine forth gloriously such as Matth. 28.19 Go ye therefore and teach all Nations c. 3. Likewise all those Scriptures that promise Pardon and Salvation upon the Conditions of Repentance and Faith not excluding any from these Terms are a lively demonstration of this lovely Attribute such as 1 John 12. As many as received him to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe in his Name 4. So likewise all those Scriptures that set forth the Patience of God towards sinners in general may be reduced hither and serve under this Head 5. Lastly All those Scriptures that insist upon the Common Providences of God towards wicked Men and his veriest Enemies in supplying all their Necessities and giving them such a large portion of these outward Comforts bear ample Testimony to this Attribute and do very much exalt it such as Matth. 5.45 where God is said to make the Sun to shine upon the Evil and upon the Good and to send Rain on the just and on the unjust 5. His Special Love to Believers the Holy Ghost thus describeth Deut. 33.29 The Lord is the shield of their help and the sword of their excellency Psal 94.14 God will not cast off his Saints nor forsake his Inheritance And Psal 149.4 The Lord taketh pleasure in his people and will beautifie them with salvation And Psal 1. last The Lord knoweth i. approveth the way of the Righteous Isa 49.16 There they are said to be graven on the Palms of his Hands and their Walls are ever in his sight And Vers 15. It 's said God cannot and will not forget them Moreover 1. All those Scriptures that entitle them to Pardon Reconciliation Adoption and Glory Comfort in all Conditions and a blessed Issue out of all their Troubles be they more or less and that entail a Blessing upon their Seed and Posterity are a sufficient proof of God's special Love to Believers and set it forth illustriously such as Psalm 97.11 Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 37.37 Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Eccles 8.12 13. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God which fear before him c. Psal 102.28 The children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee Rom. 8.1 There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus that walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Psal 125.1 2. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever As the mountains are round about Jerusalem so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth and for ever Rom. 8.28 All things work together for their good And Gal. 4.6 Because they are sons God will send forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts 2. All those Scriptures that contain their special relations unto God and Priviledges founded thereupon do lively set forth God's special Love to them Sixthly His Almightiness the Scripture thus expresseth besides the places where he is expresly styled Almighty Ephes 3.20 He is able to do abundantly above what we can think or speak Job 26.14 The thunder of his power who can understand Prov. 21.30 There is no wisdom power nor understanding against him Jerem. 27.5 He hath made the Earth and all that therein is by his great power Isa 40.22 23. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as Grass-hoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in That bringeth the Princes to nothing and maketh the Judges of the Earth as vanity Heb. 1.3 God is there said to uphold all things by the word of his power All those Scriptures that assert the Creation of the World or any part of it by God The Division of the Sea or other Waters miraculously The strange Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha
2 Tim. 3.16 and shew how by Doctrine Reproof Correction and Instruction in Righteousness all the visible Creatures would help on this Remembrance of God and therefore forgetfulness of God hath the greater sin by how much it prevailes against the greater means vouchsafed by God for its cure But least that way shâ—uld not seem so intelligible and convincing I shall chuse rather to nominate four other ways whereby the several Creatures do provoke man to have God highest in their Remembrance 1. They all offer themselves to his sight and by that to his understanding to inform him in the glorious Perfections of God which they palpably discover and therefore are very serviceable in the work of Contemplation No one so sottish as to imagine they could make themselves then they must be made by another that 's God but such infinite variety and such rare and excellent works must suppose and therefore put any one that thinks on them in mind of infinite Wisdom and Skill infinite Goodness and Power in the creating of them 2. They serve for his Food and Rayment and are the means to keep him alive that could not live a day without them Let him that thinks he is least of all beholding to the Creatures consider whether he could live an hour without the Air he sucks in or how many days he could live without Food which one Creature or another serves in every day and then let him think who hath made and doth supply every Creature to him and forget God if he can 3. They serve for his other necessary uses in great delightful variety The Horse to fetch in and carry out both himself and other things and to remove his Luggage from place to place The Wood and Stones to build his Habitation and the Art and Workmanship of Man to adorn it the Dog to keep it and all things conspire together to make him as happy as he can be in the absence of God even a Lord on Earth because God hath appointed him so to be and hath he not yet enough to advance his great Benefactor in his Heart 4. They serve also for his Recreation and sober Pleasure and Refreshment when he hath been tired by his more serious Employments and yet to forget God whose Praise and Service these Creatures do so constantly bespeak by their so beneficial service to us All these steps lead up the sin to a higher guilt In a word to have all the Senses assaulted by the several Objects that God hath furnished to them The Eye to be fed with so many delightful sights of several things The Ear with such various Harmony and Sound The Taste with so many distinct and grateful Relishes of things which the wisdom of the Creator hath provided and offered to that Sense And the Objects of the other Senses are multiplied to as great a variety And is it not monstrous for the mind of man to have so many Monitors and yet to forget God in despight of all 3. Thirdly He hath moreover given us his Son that we might not want an Argument of the greatest force to provoke a remembrance of him When we were like to withstand all other Arguments and to lose the sense of all his other mercies towards us and to perish in a wicked oblivion and forgetfulness of God for ever He hath taken such a course that one would think should create a memory of him where there was none at all of him before and should recover those that are the most desperately gone in forgetfulness and force them to say that the love of Christ constraineth them 2 Cor. 5.14 Would not a Malefactor that 's sentenced and condemned to die take it for a favour indeed and place that man high in his Remembrance that should step between him and death and release him with the loss of his own life especially if he were a Person of Honour and Degree And doth it not deserve a Remembrance not a Customary but a substantial Remembrance when the highest and most honourable Person that ever lived in the World hath laid down his life in the room of ours Sure we think we are not so beholding to him as we are when such an obligation as this wiâ—l prevail no more to exalt God in our Hearts If this be not an obligation that doth inforce a gracious Remembrance now I am sure it is such a one that will enforce a tormenting Remembrance hereafter When the thought of such a mercy so wickedly slighted shall be a raging fire in their Bowels and then they shall not be able to forget it What 's the matter that such a motive is put off and not regarded by too many I am sure there 's nothing but flat downright wickedness can make a man so sleepy and forgetful If such a Breath as this will not kindle the love of God in our Hearts if such a spur will not prick us forward to the duty of Remembrance It 's not because we want Arguments but because we want Grace and how we should want Grace if we were apprehensive of the mercy would be very difficult to resolve and how we should not be apprehensive if we did but think frequently of it would be as impossible to determine So that you see the wickedness of this sin is ultimatly resolved into not thinking or bending our selves to think what we have received Well we are left to take our choice the death of Christ will either oblige us to the duty of Remembrance or aggravate the sin of forgetfulness Lastly We have the Spirit Word and all the Ordinances of God to beget and cherish this Remembrance of God I joyn all these together because I would not multiply particulars too much Obj. But you may say Though the Death of Christ and the Gift of the Spirit are Arguments of great strength and may do good service to quicken up a Believer that 's backward to this work yet how can they compel a wicked man or one that forgets God since Christ died for none but the Elect and none can know themselves to be such but such as have true Faith and know they have it and so also for the Spirit and therefore these Arguments are cogent to none but such as these Answer That Christ gave himself intentionally for all men and that God accepted his Sacrifice to that universal end is so plain in Scripture that scarce any truth is plainer 1 Tim. 2.6 Who gave himself a ransom for all 1 John 2.2 And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole World But because some evade those places by distinguishing of All and World that All is sometimes taken for some and World for part of the World As if the Apostle fore-saw such Quirks and meant to stop every Mouth his words are not liable to evasion Heb. 2.9 That he by the Grace of God should taste of Death for every Man And to make mention
contrary How unprepared is the Man that forgets God for his eternal state How loath to leave the Twig and fall into the Ocean With what regret and reluctancy with what an aking trembling Heart doth he look upon Death who can blame such a Man if he hang back and dare not launch forth into Eternity And therefore it 's said in the Proverbs The wicked is driven hence How unwilling doth he bid farewel to his dear injoyments How loath to part with the Wife out of his Bosom the Children out of his Arms He cannot bear such a loss Nothing is more dreadful to such an impudent man than to look down from the mast of this Life into the ocean of Eternity O what cold and clammy Sweats what saâ— and dismal Representations doth the thought of Death creat in him As ever thou wouldst hold up thy Head in Sickness or any other Affliction and die with comfort and keep thy Heart whole come what will then keep alive this Remembrance of God This is the second Motive Thirdly Remember God for nothing else is worthy thy Remembrance 1. Such a one as I am now speaking of there 's nothing here below that 's worth an act of our Understanding or Will that 's worth a Thought or an Embrace but as they lead to a more perfect Knowledge and Union and are a means suited to our necessity that cannot have any Knowledge worthy of God without his Works nor see him without this Glass whereby he hath represented himself to our weak capacity All Knowledge begins first in sense and we should never come to understand the things that are not seen but by those which are seen God therefore hath made the World as a School for us where we must be trained up and made fit for the higher instructions of his Word and the several Creatures are the Alphabet whereby we are to spell out the Nature and Perfections of God What a shame is it then to let sense go before and no Vnderstanding follow after To pore upon the Letters and not to mind the sense and meaning of them To exercise an act upon the visible Creatures without a following Act by way of inference and deduction to the invisible God What folly to dote upon the Letters and not to regard the meaning of them and to lose our understanding in a maze of insignificant things that stand for nothing if they teach not the knowledge of him that animates all things and is the end and signification of them What is there in Man or any other Creature that thou shouldst make an Idol of it and that thou shouldst set it up in thine Heart and prostrate thine Affections to it Is there any thing that deserves the reputation of a being every way full and perfect in which thou mayest acquiesce but God Yet if he have not the Remembrance I am pressing to something else will strike in and supply his absence and usurp thine Affections And be it what it will besides it is but a Reed or an Arm of Flesh that 's got so high in thine esteem and then thus saith the Lord Cursed be the Man that trusteth in Man and maketh Flesh his Arm and whose Heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the Heath in the Desart and shall not see when good cometh Jer. 17.5 6. All-sufficiency Immutability and indefectible Fidelity are proper to God alone It 's no wonder for the Sun to set and be eclipsed as glorious a body as it is It 's no marvel if all Creatures prove Liars Psal 116.11 and shew themselves untrusty and deceitful As it is their nature to deceive so it is our sin and folly to lean hard on them and be deceived by them Thou mayst as wisely expect that the Wind should always blow from the same quarter and sit in the same corner as that any created Being should afford thee constant help and never shame thee But the portion of Jacob is not like these changeable things Our Fathers trusted in thee saith the Prophet David and were delivered They hoped in thee and were not confounded Psal 22.4 5. Let him that is void of understanding run to something else and remember it with greatest pleasure and repose his trust in a lie and adore a silly Man that can but promote him to Riches and Honour Mark what will be the issue may be when thou art just expecting the fruit of sinful trust his Breath goeth forth here turneth to his Earth in that very day his thoughts perish May I not well say therefore Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help that remembreth the Lord his God He that is fond of any thing here below and setteth his Heart upon it and sufâ—ereth his Affections to brood over it is like the Patridge that setteth upon Eggs and hatcheth them not and in the end he shall certainly prove himself a fool Jer. 17.11 His warm thoughts that sit upon vanity all the day long shall never hatch and produce the thing he expected nor any thing that will look like happiness when his Judgment shall come to more maturity Why then is God so seldom in thy thoughts why art thou no more delighted in the Remembrance of him Why doth he dwell no more in thy Meditations Art thou willing to be deceived and labour in vain and to lie down in frustration and disappointments If thou couldst name any thing under Heaven that were not chargeable with a thousand Imperfections and were not liable to the Moth and Rust If thou couldst assure thy self that thy Friend will never prove perfidious that thy Lovers will always bear thee the same Affection which thou imaginest now they do If Youth and Health and Life would last ten times longer than they are like to do yet when the competition lies between God and them it 's folly and madness to prefer anything in thy Remembrance before him I might here single out the things that are most attractive of Mens Affections and have indeed the highest esteem and love in a Carnal Heart and then produce the several disparagements they are liable to when they are compared with an immutable Independant and All-sufficient Being But then I should too much digress And so much by way of Question to shame us and to stir us up to so excellent and necessary Duty But you will say What is the best course to get and cherish such a worthy Remembrance of God and to feed it up to a greater degree of Strength and Perfection To which I answer That there are means 1. Proper To beget this Remembrance where it never was 2. To recover it where it is sensibly lost 3. To quicken it to a greater Energy and Life where it is but weak and faint 2. Common to them all and have an influence upon every one of these I shall rather chuse to insist upon the more general and common Helps and Directions and wave the more distinct handling of
no rest till it hath enforced consent and resolution to obey These Truths are of two sorts 1. Some are Physick and meerly purgative 2. Others are Cordial and such as are restorative and comforting And although there is reluctancy enough in the distempered Soul of Man to both these yet he nauseats these of the first rank most and hath the greatest enmity to them He doth not relish the second sort but he perfectly hates the first sort the reason is because these Truths which I call Medicinal work directly upon the disturbing Humour and filthy Matter that must be evacuated and east out before we can find any Gust or Savour in those other Truths that are Nutritive and Cordial What aversness is there in the corrupt Nature of Man to admit those Truths into the Heart that cross either 1. The Interest or 2. The Inclination of the Flesh and that strike all the Heart and Root of the Old Man and that teach Self-denial that is the mortification of inward Lusts and the contempt of all outward Objects so far as they feed and nourish them And will a Man ever pull out his right Eye and cut off his right Hand for his Pride and his Passion and his Intemperance and his Petulary and Lasciviousness or any other Lust to which his Nature prompts him are as dear to him as his most beloved Members and will a Man ever digest such truths as these or take them into any place of strength that are such bloody enemies to his raging prevailing Lusts and arm and mortifie them against so dear and near a part of him This can never be done till Consideration make it appear that the Man is undone for ever and had better he had never been born be he never so rich and honourable in the World in whom there is any reigning Lust or Corruption till frequent thoughts convince him thoroughly that he that saveth such a Life as this shall lose it and a better But on the other side he that kills his Corruptions and suffereth no sin to prevail but mortifieth every one of these Members that make up the Body and the Life of the Old Man he that loseth such a Life as this shall find it and prove an unspeakable gainer Mark 8.35 Let me instance more particularly in some truths that must go before a worthy Remembrance of God which can never get into the Heart and work to any purpose till they be fermented by Consideration 1. It 's an easie Truth and very obvious to Man's understanding That God is the chief Good and our true happiness consisteth in his Love and Goodness This is the master Principle and Foundation of all Religion and inspires all practical Truths and the duty depends upon them with Breath and Life and were it well thought upon it would make a mighty change and alteration in the World you may see by what it does upon some that do consider it what it would do upon others if they were not inconsiderate In that proportion that Men consider this Truth and believe it they will study to please God and resemble him in all his imitable Perfections and their Love and Hatred will imitate his They will follow after Peace and Holiness without which daily Consideration assures them they can never see God Heb. 12.14 And they will have no Fellowship with the unfruitful works of Darkness because God hateth them Eph. 5.11 None in sensu morali though not in sensu physico Where that that falls short of a ruling mastering degree in Morality is said not to be And the Scripture frequently speaks after the same rate But he that lives after the Flesh and minds earthly things and blesseth himself in all worldly happiness cannot consider the fore-mentioned Truth and therefore is guilty of this Folly because he doth not consider It 's another weighty truth That we are fallen from God and Happiness into a state of Sin and Misery and shall never know what true Happiness means till we return We were made after his Likeness at the first and whilst we kept the stamp of his Image on us were happy in his Favour and Love and all Creatures were ready at our beck and service and Sorrow and Misery stood afar off and came not near us but having now provoked God and lost his Image we are now unspeakably miserable and in the path-way to Eternal Misery And what 's the reason that there are so few that are affected at the Heart with their condition that loath themselves that cry out of this bondage and would be set at liberty and restored into favour again but because there are but few that consider it The rest of their minds are taken up with other things and with worldly vanities and such disturbing thoughts as these are at the first are not permitted to enter which if they be not frequent and serious till the Soul hath got a full sight of the evil of Gods displeasure and sin that hath provoked it and the necessity and blessedness of his Favour These Truths though they should be taken in or assented to they will lie crude and raw upon the Stomach and never digest into good nourishment and be distributed into Life and Practice Consideration must awaken the Soul out of its Stupidity and Insensibleness which is Natural to all or else it will sleep into everlasting Death 3. A third plain but necessary and important Truth is That we are undone for ever unless we feel our Sin and Misery so as to confess it with inward shame and be humbled under it into that degree of Brokenness and Contrition that Salvation by Christ is the most welcome news that ever we heard or can hear insomuch that we embrace him with the highest love and respect and do heartily consent to be governed by him till he hath subdued our Corruptions sanctified us by his Spirit and made us meet for love and favour of God again But none can ever feel the worth and necessity of Christ and renewing Grace who have not set this matter by Consideration frequently before your Eyes It 's true of the Intellectual as well as the Corporal Eye out of sight out of mind what we see not by Consideration we shall never mind nor care for You will slight the greatest Truths and lie still in any state in the World though never so uneasie rather than part with sin and come to Christ if you do not consider that your sin will be bitterness in the end and Christ will make amends for all that do or suffer for him There be many other Truths in which I might instance What 's the reason that matters of such a consequence and weight and so certain and out of doubt as Death and the Resurrection and the Glory of Heaven and the Torments of Hell should work no more and make Men solicitous about them Why do Men die before they were aware and in such a careless and unprepared state Why do they
run upon the vengeance of Eternal Fire and take no care to get the Crown that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5.14 They are inconsiderate and will not suffer their Hearts to muse on these things O if these things were considered to any purpose your worldly business which you now pretend so much against these things would seem light and trivial and meer Childs-play in comparison or that work which is of Ten thousand times higher concernment You would not on the one hâ—nd neglect the opportunities of your Souls and of getting Grace and Peace with God thorough our Lord Jesus Christ and making your felt for ever If these thoughts did but dwell in your Minds and if Consideration did but open your Eye and shew you the worth and excellency the force and necessity of these big and most concerning Truths Neither would you on the other hand attend the means of Grace with such sleepy inattentive wandring Hearts Is not that Man a sot indeed that can sleep upon a Scaffold when he is going to Execution Is not that Man a careless stupid wretch indeed that will give no attention or heed what the Judge says when he is passing Sentence either of Life or Death upon him And yet it is the case of many a sinner that 's careless and inconsiderate when he is dying and going into another World and therefore he makes none or but foolish preparation Consideration if it were followed would bring home these Truths and give them a power to pierce and become sensible and make the Man that doth consider them to live answerably to them Physick worketh not in the Prescription or Doctors Bill no nor in the Apothecaries Shop where it is prepared till it be taken and let down into the Stomach or some way taken into the Body for it nourisheth not in the Dish or on the Table no nor though it be taken into the Mouth if it be not transmitted into the Stomach and there concocted Neither will the greatest Truths cure the Distempers of a sinful and perverted Heart or nourish up the Soul to any Spiritual Life and vigour in the Book nor in the Mouth of the Teacher nor yet if they be taken into the Brain till Meditation bring them to the Heart and the Soul by Consideration look frequently upon the worth and weight of them and enforce Subjection and Obedience thereto For want of this Consideration of these few plain and important Truths it is that Men forget God and never attain to a due Remembrance of him and for want of this they relapse and lose their first Love and Memory of him And therefore Consideration is the best way to beget this Remembrance at first and to restore it afterwards Secondly Such Consideration is very soveraign and powerful to bring a Man at first to Remember God or to recover his Thoughts and Affections again after a decay and relapse because in both these cases the Word of God calls to Consideration and insists perpetually upon this Duty When the Prophets of God are sent to call Men to their first or after Repentance they usually deliver their Message in terms that express or imply Consideration After the return of the Jews from the Babilonish Captivity from the which the Lord had brought them by such a mighty hand they forgat the Lord and grew presently careless and negligent of his House and Worship and the Prophet Haggai is sent 1. To censure and reprove the sin and 2. To prescribe the Remedy and Means to cure their sin and bring them to Repentance Their sin is taxed pretty sharply and is charged on them by a cutting Interrogation Hag. 1.4 Is it time for you O ye to dwell in your cieled Houses and Gods House lie waste and consequently his Service neglected which was then so much confined to the Temple In the next verse he proposeth the Remedy ver 5. Now therefure thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your ways Nay to shew the vertue and necessity of it he urgeth it the second time ver 7. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your ways And the Prophet Isaiah implieth the excellency of this Remedy in that he doth lay the blame of Israels Rebellion and Ingratitude upon the want of this They were grown to a strange pass of monstrous Wickedness and Ingratitude which the Prophet knew not how to express and therefore calls upon Heaven and Earth to take notice that God had nourished and brought up Children and yet they rebelled against him Esa 1.2 and fetcheth his proof from the Brutes and irrational Creatures to convince them of their sin The Oxe knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib 1. saith Vatablus the Master of his Crib But Israel doth not know and what 's the reason of such shameful miscarriage My People doth not consider And Moses intimateth that Death and Judgment which are the most powerful means to awaken Men to Repentance and the Remembrance of God will do no good without Consideration but if he could bring them to this Duty to consider of these things he did not doubt their Welfare and Happiness Deut. 32.29 O that my People were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end This act of Consideration applied to this Object is a most excellent means to bring Men to Wisdom and Understanding which are insolent with an Impenitency and Forgetfulness of God And without this leading act of the Soul there can be no beseeming Apprehensions of him nor Service rightly performed to him And where there is least of this there is most of Formality and slightness in his Worship and most of Irreligion and Athiesm in the Life And therefore Moses when he is Exhorting the Children of Israel to a due Remembrance of God and Veneration of him he gives them this Advice Know therefore this day and consider it in thine Heart that the Lord he is God in Heaven above and upon the Earth beneath and there is none else Deut. 4.39 When Men flee off from this and will not set themselves to consider and understand neither Correction nor Instruction nor Mercies will succeed but all will lose their designed end and leave a Man under Impenitency and Forgetfulness And therefore Moses adviseth Israel thus to consider Deut. 8.5 Thou shalt not consider it in thine Heart that as a Man chasteneth his Son so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee The same word in the Hebrew signifieth to Consider and Vnderstand because the one so much dependeth upon the other And as 1 Correction will not prosper without it so neither will 2. Instruction which is another means to to produce this worthy Remembrance of God Hence it is that the Apostle urgeth to consider what he had taught them or else the Instructions he had given them were like to be as Water spilt upon the ground 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Consider what I say and the Lord give you understanding in all things 2 Tim. 2.7
of him may be our sweetest daily Exercise and Imployment But without Consideration you cannot approach him nor get any transforming reviving sight of him His Ways are in the Seas and his Paths are in the deep Waters and Foot-steps cannot be known nor track'd without frequent Exercise of your Considering Faculty Psal 77.19 Secondly As we have the matters of greatest importance and necessity to Consider so we have many special advantages to excite and awaken Consideration One would think the worth and weightiness of the Object should be spur enough to quicken us to this Work and command our thoughts if there were no other motive to prick us forward but we have many current helps many a loud call from the Word of God set on by his appointed Servants that are sent forth on purpose upon this Errand Many providential help both sweet and terrible and something besides the common course strange and unusual and therefore more fit to set the Mind a thinking from what cause they come and what they drive at The veryest Atheist is sometime blank'd at some strange and unheard of events and knows not what interpretation to make of them nor whether to refer them for having denied the true Author of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They become vain in their imanations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And their foolish Heart is darkned Rom. 1.21 Yea that arch Opposer of Providence Epicurus himself had not made such a progress in Forgetfulness of God and the denial of a Deity governing and over-ruling the Affairs of the Earth but that he was so startled by some effects that he observed that he could not utterly wipe the notion of a Providence out of his Mind When a Blasphemer is struck dead in the very Act of his Blasphemy and Vengeance lights upon another with a fearful imprecation in his Mouth and some effects are so anomalous and besides the course of Nature that it is no thanks to the most Atheistical to bring in their Witness and to confess the Wisdom and Power and Justice of God Let a Man that truly worshippeth and feareth God in such a time of dreadful and publick Calamity as this is applaud the Justice of God and freely confess his handy work and assign the notorious publick allowed and encouraged sins of the City and Nation for the meritorious and provoking Cause It may be a purblind thick sighted Beast whose God is his Belly and whose Glory is his Shame that is drunk with Sensual Pleasure Phil. 9.13 will tell you that such a mortality comes about in the revolution and circle of so many years and will rake the Kennel for the Cause and ascribe the effects to the naughtiness of the Streets rather than to the naughtiness of their Hearts or look up to the true efficient to whom these causes they usually fasten upon are but subservient and all that they might hide their shame and that they might perswade themselves and others that their sin hath no hand in bringing such a scourge upon us but yet for all that when the Judgment comes a little nearer to them and begins to find them out and awaken them to Consideration which they had no time for when they were running from one brutish pleasure to another then they begin to see and to be confounded with shame They cannot now laugh out of their Hearts all serious thoughts of a Life to come nor make a jest of a Holy Life as they did in the day of their delusion but would give a World if they had it to die the death of the Righteous No wonder that strange and extraordinary Providences whether they be of Mercy or Judgment jostle the most sottish and inconsiderate Mind and awaken it to think other thoughts of all things than they did before and enforce an Heathenish Earthly Mind that spent all its thoughts upon vanity before to say that all is but vanity and God's Favour is the only ground for true Contentment if this good fit would last which Consideration hath brought him to But alas â—o sooner is the Providence over that brought him to Consider but he grows careless again and sleeps into Atheism and whilst things run in a constant Channel and keep a constant course God is not in all his thoughts Psal 10.4 Now they think that Repentance and Faith and Self-denial are the work of Cowards yes and such as believe that God hath as great hand in the orderly course and motion of things as when they go out of order and Water that is a fluid body and should run stands still and Fire that should burn doth not Let but a Man consider and it 's as easie to believe that it s as great a power must enable the Sun to run it's race as to stand still or go backward to preserve the Societies of Men as destroy and waste them with a devouring Plague All the difference is Men now consider that would not before and conclude at least that it 's the safest course to live the Life of the Righteous though there were no God and oh that all would so conclude and hold fast such a conclusion and live accordingly then they would quickly see more and more evidence of God in the Word and the necessity of his Service and the excellency of his ways and rise up to a higher conclusion That when as before they could say it was the safest way to renounce worldly Pleasure and to mortifie their Lusts and to addict themselves to the Love and Service oâ— God now they would be able to say that it 's perfect madness not to take this course It 's a Wisdom to be laughed at to be wise for this Life and neglect the Life to come A little Consideration would shew the nakedness of such pretended Wisdom and among other helps this of Publick Calamity where Plague or Famine or any extraordinary Judgment sweeps away thousands calls the rest to come and behold the works of the Lord what Desolations he hath wrought among us Psal 46.10 Be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the People I will be acknowledged by these careless and Atheistical Sinners ver 11. And if the Lethargy of Mens Minds be not great they will consider those that were even lost before for want of attention to the Word and Works of God will awaken now or it 's too much to be feared never shall I call it therefore a Judgment or a Mercy which the compassionate God hath sent upon this Nation that gives us so much advantage to come to sober thoughts Doth it not give some check whether we will or not to the external acts of Pride Luxury and Uncleanness whereby the inward Acts are weakened and we have time to reason with our selves and are better disposed to consider when freed from the clog of worldly cares and from the fumes of a surfeited Body overcharged with Meat and Drink and from the flattering Friend that make us
for what the World will give thee instead of it thou shalt consider when it is too late and say with that unhappy King that sold away his Kingdom for a draught of water Alas must I for so short a pleasure lose so great a Kingdom Ninthly Another thing that it concerns thee much to roul about and consider with thy deepest thoughts is the horrour and confusion of those that must be banished for ever from the face of God and sentenced to everlasting misery There 's none that escape that place but those that frequently think on it and believe it it s well worth thy serious Consideration to preserve thy soul from such a fearful destruction Many a man whom God hath awakened to believe those terrible endless torments have retired themselves from all worldly noise and disturbance that they might live under the power of these thoughts as the best preservative against these torments And is not thy Soul as dear and precious to thee as their's to them and deserve as much compassion from thee Surely though it is not thy duty to think actually of the woful and miserable estate of unbelievers all the day long Yet it 's of absolute necessity that some serious thoughts should be spent on that subject till the fear thereof make void and prevail over all Carnal worldly fears whatsoever And make thee more industrious to prevent that misery than thou art to escape the scorn and and reproach and all the sufferings and miseries of this life otherwise thou art never like to escape it And methinks thou should'st easily believe that Hell is more to be feared than all the Calamities of this Life and the loss of this Life it self But thus it will never be if thou art not one that dost often represent it to thy thoughts A danger though it be never so great yet if it be both out of sight and mind also will fright no body nor have any the least influence upon our endeavours to escape it The evil must be before the eye of our sense or understanding that works upon us to take the best course for our security and defence And the nearer we apprehend it to be the more hast we make to get away from it And whether a wicked man hath no reason to think his woful misery near even at the door I leave any man to Judge that hath any competent use of his understanding what can you name almost that 's more uncertain then this Life and so soon as ever it ends then begins his distress that shall never end But yet let him not be too confident that it shall not begin before Many a man hath felt the torments of Hell on this side the grave and this Judgment hath commenc'd before his life hath been concluded some mens sins go before them to Judgment saith the Apostle and some mens follow after 1 Tim. 5.24 There is some men feel the Vengeance of a righteous Judge even in this Life Spira professed that he felt the consuming fire of Gods wrath in his heart and Conscience whilst he was alive and openly blasphemed his Maker wishing that he was above him for he knew as he said that he would have no mercy on him O Sirs the intollerable pains that every impenitent Sinner must speedily undergo are well worth the pains of a few hours Consideration to prevent and if you think it not so you may spare your pains a little longer till your lamentable experience shall put you quite out of all doubt If indeed the diversion of your thoughts from so sad an object were the way to secure your Souls and to keep out of that devouring and unquenchable fire then you might well excuse your selves from troubling your minds with such thoughts as these But though you may quench the spirit of God that moveth you to Consider of this and to let it sink into your heart that you may seek for mercy whilst it may be had yet you cannot quench the flames of Hell nor extinguish that fire that must feed upon your soul and body for ever O how much better is it cooly to Consider the intolerableness of Gods wrath then to feel the burning heat and extremity of his indignation when there is no remedy If it were indeed but a flea bite you might slight it and keep your thoughts for something of more weight and moment Or if it were unavoidable perhaps you might do wisely not to torment your selves before the time nor invite such a guest till it comes of his own accord 'T is to no purpose to think of such sufferings which thinking will not prevent But believe it it is no flea-bite nor a matter to be slighted Fire and Sword and Rack and all the inventions of Cruelty that were ever found out are but Sport and Recreation to the Judgment and Condemnation of the Life to come And because the loss of God and Heaven seems such a tolerable punishment to these Vessels of wrath Let me tell them that there 's no part or member either in their Soul or Body that shall not be racked with perpetual and eternal pain And can thine heart endure or thine hands be strong when he shall come to deal with thee Ezek. 22.14 Thou would'st eat thy bread with trembling and drink thy drink with terrour and astonishment if he should pour out on thee some few bitter drops of his displeasure now in this life Thou even thou saith the Psalmist to Almighty God whose Judgments thou despisest art greatly to be feared and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry Psal 76.7 what trembling eyes and what a failing heart have they whom God doth a little terrifie with some frowns of his anger here on earth you may hear them cry out in the morning would God it were evening and in the evening would God it were morning for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear and for the fear of thine eyes which thou shalt see Deut. 28.6 51 67. How dolefully doth Job complain under his outward sufferings though he had Integrity to support him and the root of Comfort was within him Job 19.28 Death it self it seems would have been welcome to him under the heavy pressures which he felt as we may see in Job 3.20 21. c. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life to the bitter in Soul which long for death but it cometh not and dig for it more than for hid treasures which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Why is life given to a man whose way is hid and whom God hath hedg'd in for my sighing cometh before I eat and my roarings are poured out like water And how David was ready to faint away many a time under the apprehensions of Gods displeasure it 's the design of many a passage in the Psalms to tell you Psal 51.8 Make me to hear of joy and gladness that the
did intentionally lay down his life for all yet none shall reap the fruit and benefit of his sufferings and satisfaction but such as are broken in heart for their iniquities and come believingly unto him to bind them up again and heal them 5. What more certain than the vanity of all things here below and their utter insufficiency to satisfie the Soul of Man and make it happy Every one that is not wilfully blind may see how ridiculous the Competition is between God and them The greatest Epicures and those that dote most upon the world and admire its glory will confess thus much when they come to die and their eyes are then opened for the most part whose very Reason and Understanding as well as their affections were wholly captivated to its deluding pleasures all their life-long Ask them now which is better the Favour of God or the Pleasures of the World and they will not then stick to tell you there 's no comparison between them you shall have a free and a full confession from them But yet though the World be such an empty thing and not worthy to be laid in the balance with the Favour of God and an Interest in Christ yet it is a great question whether it is so indeed in thy Estimation and Affections Let thy practice and the course and tenour of thy life decide the case Which doest thou study and endeavour to serve and please most Which doest thou labour most after the Food that perisheth or the Food that endureth Which doest thou make the most careful provision for this life or the life to come It concerns thee as much as the Salvation of thy Soul comes to to put this as much out of doubt as it is past doubt that the World is altogether vanity 6. How sure is it that Death will shortly come and part thy Soul and Body and give thee thy mortal wound and turn thy flesh into corruption Not a man but must shortly make his Bed in the Grave and be forgotten as a dead man out of sight and leave his substance to those that come after This is a clear truth and hath a sound confession from all the world the experience of all our Forefathers is a clear proof But yet though this truth is so fully attested by the confession of all the living and the experience of all the Dead yet it is a very great doubt whether thou dost remember and consider thy latter end and improve thy life as that which will not always last Wo to thee if this be not as certain as the other 7. Nothing more sure than that there is a Publick Audit at which all men must give up their Accounts a general day of Oyer and Terminer where every one must undergo an impartial Tryal and Examination But it is uncertain whether thou dost sincerely believe such a day and dost make answerable preparations and whether thou dost live as in the sight of thy Judge it behoves thee to consider 8. It 's matter of greatest certainty that there is a State of unspeakable happiness for Believers and that there is a State of endless and unsufferable misery to which Unbelievers shall he condemned and when men are arrived thither their condition is unalterable there 's no possibility that they should lose the one or ever be released from the other These are all matters of the highest certainty all the doubt is whether thou hast lived under the power of these Truths by frequent Consideration and whether they had such influence on thee as things of such certainty weight and worth should have You see what is certain and what is doubtful and uncertain in all these particulars and in both respects they will deserve thy attentive heedful thoughts and thy most impartial Consideration The things that are certain will never make their due impression upon thy heart nor operate according to their worth nor put thee upon answerable practice till they be again and again considered The things that are uncertain will never be resolved till they be frequently considered Men regard not the Judgment to come because they will not be brought to consider the certainty of it and how much it doth concern them Men slight the Torments of Hell and Joys of Heaven because they will not consider the certainty of them Would any one fall in love with the world if he did but consider how certainly it will deceive him Would men live so improvidently and spend their strength and time so impertinently if they did but seriously consider that they must certainly die and speed Eternally as they have lived Would men set up their own will for a Law and live to themselves and put the fear of God out of their hearts if they did but consider that God is certainly their Maker and Soveraign and that they owe perfect subjection to his Person and obedience to his Laws Would men live so absurdly and forget their main Errand in the world and the principal business of their lives if they did but consider that God certainly sent them into the world for this very end and purpose to serve him and live in love and obedience to him In a word would men wipe their mouths after so much Rebellion and Disobedience to God as if they were Innocent and be so impenitent and unaffected with their sins if they did but consider how certain it is that without Repentance there 's no hope of pardon and that they must smart for their sin here by Repentance or else hereafter in Eternal misery and desperation and that Christ will be a Saviour to none but those that thus smart for their sin and feel its intolerable burthen and fly unto him by Faith as their only refuge O if we did enough consider the great certainty of these things they would have another effect and operation on us than usually they have upon the best of us much less would they suffer us to live in such Atheism and contempt of Christ and Salvation as the most of men live As sure as thou sinnest now thou shalt be judged for it and that to Everlasting Condemnation if thy serious Repentance step not in between as sure as thou livest now thou shalt shortly die and as sure as thou treadest upon the Earth so sure shalt thou lie down in it e're long and be trodden under foot Look up and behold the Heavens above thee that glister with so many Stars of light as sure as they now hang over thy head so certainly shall they be under thy feet e're a few years more be past If thou hast laid up thy Treasure in Heaven I mean if thy chief joy and delight be there if there be any trust in the Lord any truth and certainty in his Word these things which I have recommended to thy frequent Consideration are Truths of the highest certainty and importance the flattering World may deceive thee thy false dissembling heart may deceive thee
endeavoured to suppress them They had certainly perished in the Flames long before now if God had not walked in the midst of Fire with them How did the Jews on the one hand and the Heathen Emperours on the other conspire both to root out the Men and the Doctrin which they published and taught You know what General Persecutions there have been at once of all the Christians throughout the World and how many Thousands have been slaughtered by the Roman Emperours Commands I need not tell you that there were Ten of these General Persecutions and yet all would not do Julian strictly prohibited all Christian Schools thinking by that Means to root Christianity out of the World and yet the Success was not answerable to his Malice Antiochus Epiphanes commanded all the Holy Writings should be burnt as the History of the Maccabees will inform you 1 Macc. 1.59 yet God preserved them And Dioclesian Author of the Tenth Persecution commanded by Proclamation the Holy Scriptures to be burnt where ever they were found throughout the Roman Empire as Euseb relates l. 8. c. 3. If the Scriptures had not been the Word of God they had never surviv'd so much Malice and the vigilant Endeavours of so many subtil and potent Enemies to destroy them out of the World nor escap'd the combined furious Attempts both of Jews and Gentiles to blot them out of the Memory of Mankind Moreover If all that were hitherto produced were not enough to demonstrate the Divine Authority of Scripture and to satisfie and confirm the Mind in this weighty Truth I might add by way of Accumulation other Proofs from the Majesty Purity and Efficacy of this Word which so far excels all Humane Writings in these particulars And also from the Profession of Men and Martyrs that did and were ready to dye for it Men of great Parts and Integrity that would not have parted with their Lives without a sufficient Cause As also from the destruction of the Grand Opposers of it And the Consent of so many Men in all Ages and those that had the greatest Advantages throughly to scan and know the Truth and the Assent of very Adversaries All which do prove ex super abundanti that the Scriptures are the most Sacred Word of God and Written by Divine Inspiration To conclude therefore with some little Exhortation in a Point of such Weight and Moment Remember in your Meditations to strengthen this Intellectual Grace which lies in the Firm and Active Belief of the Divine Authority of Scripture Get and keep such Clear Evidence and Demonstration of its Divinity that may satisfie your Soul and enforce the most practical Assent That you may read the Threatnings with Reverence and a suitable Fear as those that God will certainly make good and execute upon those that fall under them That you may read the Promises with full perswasion of their Accomplishment to those that have their part and interest in them and so feel the forcible power of them to quicken you to your Duty That you may read the Precepts not as idle Storys but as the Commands of God Look that you evidently see the Name of God upon the Doctrin and History thereof and it will have another Effect than a bare opinionative or implicit belief grounded upon the bare word of Man could produce Your Assent will be suitable to your Evidence and the Effect and Influence it hath upon your Heart and Life will be suitable to your Assent It 's time well spent to read over and consider those Treatises that convince the Divine Authority of Scripture The better the Ground-work is laid the more firm will the Superstructure be When once thou art solidly and throughly perswaded that God is the Author of the Scriptures thou wilt expect a Treasure there that is not to be found in any Humane Writings any farther than they contain this Doctrin in them If you delight in Falshood and Lyes and love Darkness rather than Light search not here nor expect that Scripture should gratifie you But if thou art a Lover of Truth a Lover of Wisdom then come hither and dig into these Mines and God that was the Author will open thine Eyes if thou truly desire to be informed Some Considerations to help on the daily Exercise of Faith in Christ or Subjection to the Sovereignty of our Redeemer Scriptures that require Faith in Christ and shew us its Nature 1 John 12. As many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name John 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting Life Verse 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God Verse 36. He that believeth on the Son hath Everlasting life that is quo ad jus or Inchoative And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him John 5.40 Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life Luke 19.27 Those mine Enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me Heb. 5.9 And being made perfect he became the Author of Eternal Life and Salvation to all them that obey him Matth. 11.28 29. Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest to your souls John 5.22 23 24. For the Father judgeth no Man but hath committed all judgment unto the Son That all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which sent him Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my Word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting Life and shall not come into Condemnation but is passed from Death to Life BEfore I come to the Motives that should animate us to the frequent and delightful Exercise of Faith which must be daily kept in the Mind and Thoughts or some of the like Nature it 's necessary that we well understand the Nature of that Faith which is of such daily Use and unspeakable Advantage in the whole Christian Life For the better and more distinct Understanding whereof we must take notice that in the Word of God we are informed of a Twofold Kingdom of God 1. The First as Creatour 2. The Second as Redeemer And both these have their different Constitution and Administration Whilst Man stood in his Integrity he was under the Laws and Government of his Creatour and then Faith in God as his Creatour and Sovereign was the Radical and Fundamental Virtue which whilst it did continue firm and inviolate he was happy in the Favour of God and never
him when their obedience is required so that the subjection of the Heart to Christ and a deliberate purpose to serve him sincerely and constantly all our days is the first Foundation of our Union with Christ and specâ—â— Relation to him from whence Justification doth immediately flow And what a Mercy and Priviledge that is none but such as reap the Fruit of Justification perfectly in the other life can throughly tell Blessed is he whose Transgression is forgiven and whose 〈◊〉 is covered yea again Blessed is the Man 〈◊〉 David unto whom the Lord imputeth not Iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no Guile Psal 32.1 2. But as the Man is miserable and wretched for the present that is not justified so wo to him if he die in an unjustified state And this if he want true Faith he will certainly do Justification is the Act of the Supreme Rector none hath Authority to do it but he only and none can effectually remit or renounce the Penalty but he only who alone is both the Kingdom and the Power And this we have the Testimony of his certain and infallible Word that he will not do but upon the Condition of Faith and an unfeigned subjection to his Son which alone is the effectual Means to bring them off from their Sins and to reduce them to their Obedience to God Never hope to be justified till from the sense of your vile Nature and corrupt Inclinations and proneness to rebel against God and obnoxiousness to his just displeasure you do thankfully fly to Christ as your only Remedy and take his Person for your Ruler and his Laws and Example for your Rule and his Spirit for your Sanctifier For these are the only Terms on which a Sinner is made a true Member of Christ's Church and consequently justified and pardoned 4. Fourthly There 's no way whereby we can bring more honour to our Redeemer than by Believing For hereby we give him the Glory 1. Of his Love and Mercy and all the ways whereby he hath demonstrated his Bowels and Compassions towards us in his wonderful Condescention to be made like to us in the Assumption of our Nature in subjecting himself to the Law yea and to the Miseries of his Life Poverty Reproach and Shame and that in such a degree as never any one of us endured or could endure in suffering the most pitiful Usage the most sarcastical Taunts the most bitter Agonies and the most ignominious cursed Death and all to bring us into a salveable condition if we will believe Now as there can be no greater Affront nor Provocation given to him than to slight and make void his Grace and Mercy so unspeakably great so we can do him no greater honour than to close with it and accept it and be saved by it and so stand as the Eternal Monument of his Love 2. We hereby give him also the Glory of his Sovereignty that by his own Merit and Conquests as well as the Free Donation of God is advanced to the right hand of God and hath the Supreme Sovereignty and Lordship over all things both in Heaven and Earth And therefore he tells us Matth. 28.18 All Power is given unto me in Heaven and Earth And Paul tells us that to this End Christ both died and rose again and revived that he might be Lord both of Dead and Living Rom. 14.9 And Phil. 2.8 9 10. Because Christ was obedient even to the Death of the Cross Therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name That at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth Matth. 11.27 All things are delivered to me of my Father and so Luke 10.22 Now to believe on him is practically to acknowledge his Sovereignty that he is Lord of all Acts 10.36 That he is gone into Heaven and is on the right hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject to him 1 Pet. 3.22 When we subject our selves to him by Faith we own him whom God hath made a little lower than the Angels and crowned him with Glory and Honour and did set him over the Works of his hands and hath put all things in subjection under his feet 2 Heb. 7.8 9. Did we know what a Blessing and Priviledge it is to come under his Protection and live in subjection to him we should need no other Argument to perswade us to believe As we honour him so we ease our selves and rid our selves of those Fears that we are otherwise exposed to and therefore our Saviour that he might comfort his Disciples exhorts them John 14.1 Let not your Hearts be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me When we believe we do in effect say He hath satisfied the Justice of God and he hath given Sinners into his hands and laid the Government upon his shoulders and that he can save to the utmost all that come unto God by and through him since he ever liveth as an immutable and everlasting Priest to make intercession for them Heb. 7.25 3. Hereby we give him also the Glory of his Skill when by Faith we bring our diseased Souls to him with confidence of a Cure For that is one of the Chief Ends of Faith that we may be purified from all our Corruptions and perfect Holiness in the Fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 As it was one of Christs great Ends in dying so it should be ours in believing that we might be saved from our sins Matth. 1.21 It must be a skilful Physitian indeed that knows how to free the Soul of Man from such a Mass of Corruption from such a Chronical and Inveterate Disease that 's made up of such a complication of Distempers It must be no less than a Divine Skill indeed that must raise such an Earthly Mind that must Cure a Heart so full of Contradiction to the Will of God and that must tame the Affections to God that are grown so carnal It must be one that knows all the windings and turnings of the Heart and is throughly acquainted with its Pulse and all its secret Motions that can Cure its Selsishness and take it off from its inordinate pursuit of Earthly Things and make it submissive to the Will of God that can dispel the darkness of Mans Mind and heal the Confusion of his Thoughts and awaken him to an impartial Consideration of Things and fortifie Reason against the Flesh and rectifie his Judgment both as to present and future things and recover him out of Delirancy and Madness O how much do holy Souls admire his skill whom he hath perfectly recovered and how much will they that are now languishing in Selfishness and Pride and the doting Love of this World and under all that Litter of Corruptions wherewith their Souls are daily disquieted when he shall have restored them to Integrity again and to their right Mind Come unto him
by Faith and you need not doubt be your sickness never so mortal you honour him exceedingly when you see your manifold and deadly Distempers and cast your selves upon his Skill 5. Fifthly By Faith thou art made Partaker of all the Benefits of Christ's Incarnation Life and Death Those that were thine but conditionally before are now made absolutely thine If thou art heartily Christ's Subject thou shalt have thy share in all the Priviledges and Immunities of his most wise powerful and happy Government and find that his Yoke is most desirable Matth. 11.28.29 If thou doest consent deliberately and sincerely to be his Disciple thou shalt have the unspeakable Advantages of such a skilful and effectual Teacher And what Tongue is able to express how many and great they are If thou art heartily willing to be his Patient he can and will cure all thy Maladies and Distempers in his due time and restore thy Soul to its Primitive health and soundness again he will enlighten thy Mind and purifie thy Heart and bend thy Will to a chearful Compliance with the Will of God and put such a Rellish into thy Soul of Divine and Heavenly Things that shall make thee long after God and the Wisdom Grace and Holiness that make thee like to him And then it will be no hard matter to have thy Heart in Heaven thy Discourse of Heavenly Things and thy Delight in Heavenly Company Then the Biass of thy Soul will constantly encline thee to rejoyce in the Lord and live continually in his love and praise and in the love of all Men specially the Servants of God and the Heirs of Glory When thou hast once sworn Fealty to Christ with thy Heart For every baptized Christian doth it with his Mouth or by the Mouth of his Parents and art gotten under his Shelter and Protection The Lord shall be thy Keeper the Lord shall be thy Shade upon thy Right Hand The Sun shall not smite thee by Day nor the Moon by Night The Lord shall preserve thee from all Evil he shall preserve thy soul Psal 121.6 7 8. Thou shalt not be affraid for the terrour by Night nor for the Arrow that flyeth by Day Psal 91.6 Then shall he fill thy Mouth with laughter and thy Lips with rejoycing Job 8.21 Mistake me not as if I intimated that every true Believer hath actually this Joy and Peace but he hath the Foundation of it and he would rejoyce if he saw this Grace in himself But it is the Malice of Satan to keep some sincere Christians in the dark and to keep them from discerning their interest in Christ and the grace of God in them that he might defraud them of their Comfort and keep them continually under Trouble But though he take away their Comfort from them yet he shall not take away God's Favour from them They shall still be kept by his mighty Power through Faith unto Salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 All the Benefits that are necessary to Salvation they shall actually have and the rest as they are fit for them 6. And lastly Be their Portion here what it will they shall have the Blessing of God with it Which will make all things to work together for Good to them Rom. 8.28 He shall be like the Tree planted by the Rivers of Water which bringeth forth his Fruit in due season his Leaf also shall not wither and look whatsoever he doth it shall prosper Psalm 1.3 Blessed shall be thy Basket and thy Store Deut. 28.5 God shall bless thy Poverty and thy Riches Thy more plentiful or more mean Estate Whether thou have Health or Sickness it shall turn to thy Advantage in the End Thy Friends shall be a Blessing to thee yea and so shall thine Enemies be also As there is a secret blast of God's displeasure upon the wicked and all that he hath so the breath and inspiration of the Almighty teacheth Believers wisdom how to order all their steps The steps of a good Man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way Though he fall yet shall he not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand Ps 37.23 When the Curse of the Lord is in the House of the â—â—icked he will be sure to bless the Habitation of â—â—â—evers Prov. 3. Considerations to provoke and stir up the Superlative Love of God in the Heart John 14.15 If ye love me keep my Commandments Psal 91.41 Because he hath set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him I will set him on high because he hath known my Name Prov. 8.17 I love them that love me and those that seek me early shall find me Matth. 22.37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind This is the first and greatest Commandment And Deut. 6.5 and Luke 10.27 to the same purpose Matth. 10.37 He that loveth Father or Mother more than me is not worthy of me And Luke 14.26 1 John 4.8 He that loveth not knoweth not God for God is Love And Verse 16. God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him Psal 31.23 O love the Lord all ye his Saints Psal 145.20 The Lord preserveth them that love him Rom. 8.28 All things shall work together for good to them that love God Rom. 10.13 Love is the fulfilling of the Law 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred into the Heart of Man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him Gal. 5.22 The Fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy and Peace AS there is no surer proof of a Child of God than the predominant Love of him because Love is the principal and commanding Affection which includes and governs all the rest and the whole life with a subserviency to the Object to which it is mainly devoted so there is no better Exercise than for a rational Creature to study seriously and to give diligence to thrive in this Grace To which blosâ—ed end it is wisdom to treasure up Matter which either Reason or Faith can suggest out of the Word or Providences of God in the Heart and to digest and draw it forth by daily Meditation whereby this sovereign Affection may be fed and excited Some help hereto the few following Considerations will administer if they be impartially weighed by a Heart fully at leasure and not immersed in worldly Affairs nor entangled with any other impertinent Matters The which every soul may amplifie as it is able and to which many more may be superadded First There is nothing more highly congruous nor doth better become a Creature that hath reason and understanding than to love God above all and daily to grow in this Grace Secondly And it is the highest Dignity and Honour that an intelligent discursive Nature is capable of Thirdly And it brings in the greatest Profit and Advantage To these three general Heads I
Excellency and Perfection may justly challenge our greatest Love and Esteem yet the unparallel Good he hath done us doth call for much more Nimii durus est Animas saith Seneca qui si Amorem non velit impendere nolit rependere It 's a base Nature indeed and highly unreasonable that will not pay Love with Love Can we be content to receive all from God and to repay nothing back again He that gives him not the prime and choice of his Affections gives him nothing in the Scripture Account yea he is reputed a Hater of him Luke 14.26 If any Man come to me and hate not that is love them not less his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple Let but some of those Numberless Favours which thou hast received from him be but a while considered and it will utterly shame and put to silence this odious sin And the unthankful hard-hearted sinner that is not melted by such love as this must needs be confounded in the serious thoughts thereof either here or hereafter Here in Repentance or hereafter in Torment 1. Thou hast thy very Being from him without which thou wert uncapable of any Love or Kindness from God or any Creature He gave thee that very Heart which thou deniest him and whereby thou slightest him He gave thee thy Memory to remember him Thy Mind to think upon him He gave thee that Faculty of Love that it might burn continually towards him Ungrateful Soul to set any thing above him in thy Love and Esteem That hadst been a Brute and no Man if it had pleased him and might'st then have wanted such a gift to bestow on him or any other thing 2. The same Hand that gave thee thy Being at the first doth yet continue it and preserve thee every Day and Night every Hour and Moment If he should but subtract his Hand thou would'st soon dye and return to thy Dust again Thou hast forfeited Life and deserved Death over and over How oft hast thou run upon destruction and he hath saved thee and reversed the Sentence of Death when the Law hath condemned thee And lengthned out this Life to thee that thou might'st repent and live for ever And dost thou live by his meer grace and favour every day and yet lovest him not above all other things This is highly absurd and unreasonable 3. Thy Life and all other Comforts are not only the Fruit of his Bounty but of his meer Grace and Mercy They have been all forfeited a thousand times over Every Sin calls for Sentence and Execution upon the sinner and condemns him to universal want and misery But the Blood of God hath purchased them back again to thee and the hand of God hath restored them and recovered so base a Wretch into a state of favour and condition of hope And under each of these comprehensive Mercies infinite particulars might be reckoned up And now what canst thou set up in Competition with Him Thy Wit Thine Understanding Thy Health Strength Beauty Friends Riches Honour Life Or any Provision that 's made for it These all belong to him They are his Talents Art thou a Debter to all or any one of these that thou shouldst serve love or esteem them more than him who is so incomparably thy Benefactor Reason 3d. Thirdly God deserveth our greatest love because he is to us The most suitable Good Now that 's the most suitable good that doth most fitly and fully supply all our Necessities and satisfie our most rational Desires Now who or what can pretend to compare with him in this respect or stand in a competition with him There are Two great Necessities which every Soul lies under 1. The one is in respect of Sin The 2d in respect of Suffering and Misery which Two comprize all the Wants and Necessities of Man Both which none is capable of removing but Christ our Redeemer who is God-Man blessed for evermore And for the first Sin It exposeth every sinner to two great Wants The One of Pardon The Other of Sanctification In the want of either of which it 's plainly impossible that any Man should be happy And this needs no other Proof that the bare Explication of what Pardon and Sanctification are 1. Pardon is but the Removal of Guilt which every Sinner doth contract Now Guilt being an Obligation unto Punishment Pardon must needs be the dissolving or nulling of that Obligation which if it should continue and not be removed the guilty sinner must needs be terrified and affrighted with the sense of his obnoxiousness to God's displeasure who perfectly hates Sin and loves Justice and Righteousness more than all his Creatures and therefore must needs resent any Affront done to them as it were to the Apple of his Eye where such Guilt lies upon any Creature which sense cannot but arise in every Sinner when Conscience is awake which will be sooner or later And then he that knows God is his Enemy cannot sure be happy since he hath infinite power and wisdom against him And this is the very Case of every one that lies under Guilt unremoved he hath Almighty God for his Enemy And as the want of Pardon cannot consist with Happiness so neither can the want of 2. Sanctification For as he that hath God for his Enemy cannot be happy so neither can he that is an Enemy unto God And such a one is every unsanctified and unrenewed Soul who being unlike to God cannot take pleasure in him nor have any complacency in those things which are suited to his blessed Nature But loves them just as the Bird doth the Snare from whence he will fly and escape with all the speed he can But he that cannot love God above all and delight chiefly in his Ways can never be happy because these are the only Ways that can perfect his Nature and make him happy Pardon and Sanctification being thus explained it evidently follows by clear consequence that without these two the sinner cannot be happy but such a one is every Man and therefore without these two Supplies no Soul can be happy Thus much being evident and demonstrable it is as plain that none can remove the Guilt and Filth that sin implies but God who alone can remit sin and sanctifie the sinner and dispose him by Holiness to the Love of God and all Righteousness wherein his chief happiness doth consist The Second grand Necessity which Man lies under which indeed comprehends all Necessities whatsoever is Misery or Suffering which comprizeth all that Evil in Effect which sin doth in the Cause All that Sickness and Sorrow and Trouble and Fear and Discontent and Death and those sad Expectations after it are the Fruit and Effect of Sin by Resultancy oftentimes and always by way of a Righteous Punishment and Compensation Yea Sin is such a Monster that it not only deserves but also inflicts Evil upon
weakest and lowest measure of true or prevailing love to God Thirdly And as this Love encreaseth all troublesome slavish Fear and sad Expectations do scatter and fly away Who that hath the interest in God that such a love doth entitle to need to fear Sickness or Poverty or Crosses or Death it self considerably if he knows he is united to one so firmly that hath Life and Death in his hands and hath the Command of all Creatures in Heaven and Earth and Hell The Sleep of such a Man must needs be sweet His Food though never so course cannot but refresh and comfort him And all his Comforts are Comforts indeed because none of them are disturbed with those Raving Mad and disturbing Passions that every Man void of this love of God cannot be free from more or less How quietly doth such a Man lie down and rise up because the Lord when he thus loves maketh him to dwell continually in safety Psal 4.8 Fourthly As this Love encreaseth Temptation will lose its force and grow weaker and weaker How little will Riches and Honour and worldly Pleasures draw that Man to commit sin and displease God that feels the love of God and the sweet Consequences of it in his Soul and also knows that he hath or may have enough in him They may tempt a Fool and one that hath little or no experience of the love of God and that wants something to set his heart at rest and quiet But he that is rich already and truly happy will not easily catch at shadows but study to keep what he is possessed of and which he knows to be Treasure indeed He may in a short fit of inconsideracy perhaps forget God and his Soul and give some ease to Temptation in such an hour but he will quickly return again And then when he remembers God again he will be troubled Psal 77.3 And his folly will cost him dear And his Soul will cleave the faster afterwards to God when he hath been better taught by so bad experience Fifthly As this love encreaseth all base and sordid love will slink away and depart with confusion and shame Who will love a Harlot that is deformed when he may honestly enjoy sweeter and better love Sure none but a perverted distempered Mind Who will feed upon Husks when he may have the most pleasant wholsome and delicious Fare None but one that hath lost his Reason And who will dote upon a Trifle when he may have a Crown and Kingdom to be delighted with Certainly so far as a Man feels he loves God he disdains the love of other things that will not consist with him And he will abhor the Motion that 's back'd with the greatest worldly Preferment that would draw away his heart from God Had he not tasted how good and gracious the Lord is and how happy a thing it is to live in Unity with him He might perchance hearken to every deluding Pleasure that courts his Affections But after he hath received the love of God into his heart and felt what a reviving Cordial it is the Pleasures and Honours of the World come too late and seem but Dung and Dross when they are laid in the Scales with that No Man saith our Saviour having drunk old Wine straightway desireth new for he saith The old is better Luke 5.39 You know that famous Marquess Galeoc Carac was moved with indignation at such an offer as that Cursed are they saith he that think all the Gold and Silver in the World worth one day's Communion with Christ And thrice wicked are they that would wed Mens Affections to the World and divorce them from Christ When there is a plain Competition or Contradiction between God and any worldly happiness the presentment of such a happiness to a gracious heart and one that truly loves God looks like a motion from the Devil and provokes him to fly in the face of him that makes it and to abhor such a Sollicitor Let me live saith such a one in Poverty and Raggs rather than forgo what I now enjoy Let those that never felt the love of God in their hearts feed upon Trash if they please I have a better Dyet Better is a little with the fear of the Lord and his favour than the greatest treasure without it Prov. 15.16 Better is a dinner of Herbs where this love is than a stalled Ox and hatred therewith vers 17. It 's but a ridiculous foolish thought to think to draw an experienced Saint away from the love of God by Silver and Gold and a little gaudy Apparel and delicious Fare and two or three fair Words and some few more slight Courtesies the World can do for him when he sees the vast difference between an immovable Rock and a Reed shaken with every wind And that there is none in Heaven but God and none upon the Earth that his soul can desire in comparison of him Ps 73.25 The Law of thy Mouth saith David is dearer to me than thousands of Gold and Silver more to be desired than Gold Psal 119.14 yea than the most solid refined Gold sweeter also than the Honey and the dropping of the Honey-comb Psalm 19.10 And iâ— the Law was so lovely and excellent in his esteem much more the Law-giver I conclude therefore that the Love of God is the best Antidote against all base and poisonous love whatsoever and will not permit the World with any of its Pleasures to prevail where it is It will cast this Bond-woman with her Sons and not suffer them to be Co-heirs with God and his Son Gal. 4.30 Since therefore O my Soul it is so highly consonant to that Reason that is in thee and conduceth so much to the highest Honour and Perfection and brings in such incomparable Advantage Why art thou so backward and averse to this sweetest Imployment which is so sweet 1. In the very Exercise 2. And sweeter the more it is exercised 3. And makes all other Duty sweet easie and pleasant which for want of this Quickuer goes on but dully sometimes and is quickly tyred And so much as this warm Affection is wanting all thy Services will wax more and more chill and cold till at last if that spark go quite out I mean as to the exercise there will be a stop in all Duty and all will be frozen up And if the Pulse of this Affection cease to beat towards God all Devotion and Exercise of Piety towards him will suffer a Deliquium and be in a fainting Fit and Swone Why then is thy heart no more transported with this Love David felt so much pleasure and sweetness in this Work that he could not forbear to provoke others to partake with him in this noblest delight by a most Patherical Invitation O Love the Lord all ye his Saints for the Lord preserveth the Faithful Psalm 31.23 Thou canst love other things too sensibly that have not half the force and strength that this Object hath
they pass beyond our Imagination Fancy what thou wilt and Majesty Pomp and Beauty can present thee with it 's all but a poor faint Resemblance of the Glorious Life to come It 's easier for a Pencil to draw the Picture of Sound and Tast than for the Tongue to utter or the Heart to imagin The Joys of Heaven All that a curious Artist can do to describe the Content of a Soul at Rest with God and perfectly Happy is so far from what he would but cannot say as Heaven is from Earth We know There 's nothing of all this that we see hear or tast or imagin in the Heavenly Paradise But thou mayest be sure there 's more than all this Considerations to excite Shame and hearty Sorrow for all former Departure from God and present Strangeness to him THough God delighteth not in Sorrow and Contrition meerly as it is the Misery and Affliction of his Creature but rather is afflicted with them in all their Sorrows Isaiah 63.9 yet as it is an expression of any sincere hatred of former sin and willingness to forsake it and comes from any true Love to God who is dishonoured by it and Mens own Souls of which it is the death and destruction and leads directly to their future Reformation and Happiness so the Lord is delighted therewith And a sinner one that is yet under the guilt of his sins cannot present him with a better Sacrifice For The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and contrite heart O Lord thou wilt not despise Psalm 51.17 1. Thou wilt take pleasure in by a usual Figure called Litote or Mecoses And in the former Clause of the Verse The Sacrifices that is The Sacrifice of Sacrifices as the Heaven of Heavens is put for the Highest Heaven In which Forms of Speech it 's customary with the Hebrew Language to leave out the first Substantive * Hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for the Elephant because she is the chief Saith Grot. of Beasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for God himself because he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most excellent wisdom Psal 49.3 So the Canticles is put for the Canticle of Canticles or the most excellent Song Instances there are many of this kind to shew that the Plural Number is sometime instead of the Comparative Degree Thus you see in what sense God is delighted in our Sorrow and taketh pleasure in a sighing and broken Heart even in the same sense that Paul was glad at the sadness of the Corinthians even as it was a sign of and step to their future Amendment and Happiness 2 Cor. 2.2 For if I make you sorry saith he who is he then that maketh me glad but the same which is made sorry by me And indeed it is no wonder that the merciful God that delighteth so much in the welfare and felicity of his Creatures should yet be so well pleased in the bitter Repentance and heart-breaking Sorrow of sinful Creatures since it is such a preparative to your future Joy and that so many excellent Texts of Scripture are dropt from the Holy Spirit to encourage Sinners to labour after such a wounding piercing Sorrow as this is So Isaiah 57.15 Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity whose Name is Holy I dwell in the High and Holy Place with him also that is of a contrite and humble Spirit to revive the Spirit of the Humble and the Heart of the Contrite one So Isaiah 66.2 There he seemeth to despise and slight the most magnificent stately Structure which they could build him and to prefer the humble contrite Heart far before all that the Hands of Men could possibly make Thus saith the Lord The Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Footstool where is the House that ye build unto me And where is the place of my rest For all these things hath my Hand made But to this Man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my Word And how frequently is he said to comfort those that Mourn and to bind up the broken in Heart to regard their Sighs and bottle up their Tears as if there were no Temper that God more delighteth in There are some though very few that need to be warned and admonished that they do not place the Principal Part of God's Worship and Service in Sighs and Tears and pricking Sorrow and shameful Confessions of their Sin Not that I disswade any from giving due Time and Measure to these humbling self-abasing Acts For it is the design and business of this present Labour to promote this Sorrow in the Heart so far as it is a fit Instrument to promote Reformation in the Heart and Life But yet some I say have need of this Caution that they lay not too much stress upon this part of our Duty we owe unto God much less that they confine the whole work and business of Religion to Acts of Contrition and Mortification For though the Lord delighteth in the penitent broken Heart that mourneth over all its former Sin and Folly and is ashamed of his odious hainous Transgressions and doth loath himself for his Iniquities and doth particularly search into his Sores and uncover them before God with the most distinct clear and open Confession yet this is but a lower and preparatory step to that Love of God constant delight in him praises of him chearful obedience to him in the which he is far more delighted so that Tears and Sorrow and heart-melting Repentance and afflicting our Souls are not absolutely pleasing to God and a part of the immutable unchangeable Worship we owe to him but only acceptable to him 1. Upon supposition of former Miscarriages 2. In preparation to future Obedience Had we never sinned Sorrow and Repentance had been no acceptable Service to God at all neither would it have pleased him to see us go heavily as those that mourn But now supposing that every one of us is born into the World with hereditary Corruption and a depraved Nature quite contrary to that which God gave Man at the first the very first acceptable Service that we can perform to God is to be sensible of and to bewail this perverse Disposition according to its desert and to weigh and consider all the sad and woful Consequences of such a poisoned corrupted Nature how hateful it is to God how disgraceful to our selves here and how destructive to our souls hereafter and how dangerous and infectious it is to others that we are firmly resolved to take any Course to recover our former Freedom and Priviledge we had in the state of Innocency that God shall suggest to us It is as preposterous to offer up any Service to God till this be done as it is to â—earn to Read before we are acquainted with
such a Case How much more would a sinner bewail his Offences committed against him that is his Creatour and Sovereign and hath absolute dominion over him and the power of Eternal Life and Death in his hands Thou canst not endure his displeasure if he doth but frown Nor live without his favour if he should totally withdraw it but an hour As he commandeth the Sun to shed his light and influence upon thee so he clotheth the Heaven with blackness and maketh Sackcloth their covering when he pleaseth Isaiah 50.3 If thou didst but know and consider the one half of the infinite Mercies he doth bestow upon thee and the worth of them it would make thee sure to break into bitter complaints for all thy odious Transgressions especially when thou knowest before-hand That the Penitent are so sure to speed and find Mercy with him This is a Third Act That Godly Sorrow if it be sincere doth imply even a deep sense of all the Obligations every one of us lies under to abstain from all Appearance of Evil. Fourthly He that would bewail his sin aright must be sensible how shameful it is and destructive to his own Soul and Body It prevents his Reason and makes him far more vile than a Creature that wants that Faculty It animates his Senses to all insolency it makes his Passions masterless and unruly it destroys the Health of the Body the Peace and Composure of the Mind it fills the Conscience with perpetual Remorse and Unquietness And all these Effects do as naturally flow from it as Poyson doth from a Toad or Serpent And thus it would punish it self although God should inflict no other punishment than what will inevitably follow such sinful inordinate Acts and such abuse of the Reason and Faculties that Man is possessed of It procures the hatred of God and the shame of Men and breeds a continual Worm at home that will gnaw in twain the Thred of this Life and will then feed upon Soul and Body to their everlasting pain and torment hereafter Fifthly He that is truly penitent and doth lament his sin as he ought doth know and consider the Merit of his sin and what Wages it deserves He is sensible that the least sin committed against such a Majesty by a Creature so much obliged and enabled to the contrary deserves damnation and that he can make God no recompence for the wrong and injury it doth him And he understands in some good measure what Eternal Damnation doth imply And then when he calls to mind the infinite Number he hath committed and how oft he hath deserved such a dreadful Reward and that yet he is invited to Repentance and knows that he shall find Mercy if he repent from the bottom of his Heart This melts him into Tears and dissolveth his rocky Heart and maketh it to feel what heretofore he made light matter of Sixthly As the penitent sinner is sensible of all the foregoing Particulars so he is acquainted with his own personal Transgressions not only that he is a sinner in general but what actual wickedness he is every day guilty of How little his Thoughts Words or Actions come up to the Rule at the best and how often they utterly thwart and contradict the Rule and what are his Master-Corruptions and where the strength of his sin lies He is also deeply sensible of his sinful Nature that he brought with him into the World and how cross it is to the Will of God expressed in his Word and Law and altogether unlike the Nature that God gave Man at the first Seventhly He doth hereupon judge himself exceeding vile and even loath himself for his Abominations Ezek. 36.31 When he thinketh upon his odious ways he is heartily ashamed and counteth himself unworthy of any outward Mercy and wondreth at the Mercies that God doth bestow so contrary to his deserts He seriously judgeth himself more wretched and miserable by reason of his sin and an Object of greater shame and contempt than if he had liv'd in the greatest poverty and want without sin as knowing that one makes him contemptible only to such as judge according to outward appearance but the other to those that judge righteous judgment He knows that sin makes him a Beast or a Devil in Humane shape and is a Disgrace and Reproach to all his Faculties and quite perverts the very frame and design of them For what is sin but an absurd and unreasonable Act Actus debito ordine privatus as the School-men define it and supposeth the Senses and their Objects to be in chief power and command and the nobler Part I mean his Rational and Immortal Spirit to be chained up and lye by as a Prisoner in Fetters or which is worse to be a voluntary Servant and Drudge to the stinking corruptible part of Man What Lord that hath the Spirit of a Man would endure to be a drudge to his Servant It 's a sad sight to see a Prince a Captive to his Subjects or a Lord to be in the hand and power of his Slaves led up and down in Chains at the will and pleasure of him that is but of a base and degenerate Breed compared with himself It was a great aggravation of Job's pitiful Condition that contemptible persons had him in derision whose Fathers he would have disdained to have set with the Doggs of his Flock Job 30.1 That Children of Fools and Base Men that were viler than the Earth made him their Song and By-word and that they did abhor him and flee far from him and not spare to spit in his Face vers 8 9 10. It was a very doleful pitiful sight to see Edward the Second so barbarously entreated by Gourney and made to sit upon a Mole-hill whilst the Barber shaved him and to take cold Water out of a Ditch to wash him with which the patient King seeing told them that in despight of them he would have warm Water at his Barbing and therewithal poured down Tears in abundance It 's a much sadder Spectacle to see Sense trample upon Reason and the Flesh that is of so base a descent to domineer over the Soul that 's born of God and is of the Blood-Royal made to rule and govern as the very Heathen could tell Animi imperio Corporis servitio utimur saith Salast And what 's the Fruit of such a Monstrous Disorder when Flesh and Sense do exercise such an oppressive usurping Power and that Faculty that makes a Man is perfectly cow'd Why This unspeakable Mischief is the Fruit thereof Earth is preferr'd before Heaven The Creature before the Creator The momentary pleasures of Sin before the durable and everlasting Felicity And Men chuse rather to be Termers in these decaying Comforts that expire with their Lives than to have the Propriety of an Eternal Inheritance hereafter that shall never be out-dated These and the like Considerations make the sinner to judge himself a vile Person a Reproach to Humane
yield them I do not say that Tears are always an inseparable Concomitant of Repentance But unfeigned sorrow for sin if it be in that degree that our sin requireth will for the most part produce Tears What a Flood did St. Austin pour forth at his first Conversion The story is very remarkable you may find it in his Confessions After he had strugled with himself a good while and had met with stiff opposition from the World and the Flesh with the Lusts thereof that he was given to which were still tugging and drawing to keep their hold of him But the good Man knowing that they would prove his utter destruction if they were not forsaken prayed earnestly to God to deliver him from their Bondage And hearing by Pontition a Christian Courtier of the virtuous Life of St. Anthony a Man of little Learning but of strict and exemplary Piety began to be more enflamed with a desire after Conversion And walking in a Garden with his Friend Alipius he crys out to him Quid hoc est Quid patimur Sargunt indocti c. 1. What 's the Matter What unhappy Men are we Poor simple illiterate Men Rise up and get the Kingdom of Heaven by force and we with all our Learning wallow in the Mire of Lust and Corruption Afterwards going forth into an Orchard all his former pleasures mustered up and seemed to present themselves before his Eyes and thus to set upon him Dimittesne nos a momento isto c. What wilt thou leave us quite And must we never after this time see thee any more What filth saith he and shameful pleasures did they lay before mine Eyes which he entreated God to pardon At length after a tedious difficult Conflict a marvellous Tempest of Tears came upon him and Rivers of Water ran down his Eyes as he lay under a Figg-tree and there he poured forth his Soul to God and prevailed and threw off his beloved Lusts and Corruptions and never returned to them any more All these Acts must concur where there is true sorrow for sin such as the Gospel doth require as a condition without which there can be no forgiveness though perchance every one of these distinct Acts may not be taken notice of by him that is sincerely penitent yet he feeleth the force and power of them in his afflicted broken Heart But yet some of the forgoing Acts that are in the understanding it may be stick closer than the others and prevail more to bring on the after Acts that are in the Will and Affections and are expressed in the outward Actions But though some degrees of this forementioned Sorrow may and do always go before Faith in Christ yet your Repentance is never compleated and perfected till Christ be heartily closed with and received with loving subjection of the Soul for then the Soul is enabled by the Spirit that he bestoweth to bring forth that Repentance which it had brought but to the Birth before There must be some sense of the evil of sin and fear of God's displeasure and the miseries that it already hath and will moreover bring upon us and some loathing of a Man's self before ever Christ will be welcome to you and before you will consent that he shall be your Soveraign Lord and Saviour and take his Yoke on you You must feel the intolerableness of the other Yoke of Sin and Satan before you will change it for Christ's and come to him for ease and Relief So that you see some Acts of Repentance are preparatory to Faith viz. Such as Self-love and the Fear of Hell and Damnation can produce But it is the Love of God in Christ that must kindly melt the Heart for sin and antidote it against the poyson thereof for the future and settle the Resolution to forsake it and follow after holiness whereby the soul is made like to God So much for the Nature of Repentance or what Acts it is made up of I come next to the Considerations that should provoke and stir up this Holy Affection First then Consider the flat necessity of Repentance without which there is no Pardon nor Peace with God to be expected whatever he dispense withal this he will not dispense with He hath indeed dispensed with the Law of Works that required perfect sinless Obedience or threatned Damnation And hath promised thee that thou shalt not dye nor the threatning be executed on thee if thou wilt submit to the Gospel or the New Law of Christ thy Redeemer That is in other words if thou wilt from thy Heart acknowledge thy sins and repent of them and come to Christ for strength and resolution to forsake them But he will never dispense with thee here in case thou wilt not submit to this gracious offer Thy sins must be felt and that more than all worldly sufferings otherwise Christ will be no Physician to thee nor shalt thou ever feel the admirable power of his Blood Thy sin must be felt either here by Repentance or else hereafter in eternal Desparation Now the stain and filthiness of thy most hainous sins may be washed out by the Blood of Christ if thou comest with a penitent Heart to that sovereign healing Fountain But then the stain can never be got out nor thy reproach be ever wiped away though thou shouldst pour forth Rivers of Tears Behold I have foretold thee Let not thy Heart deceive thee nor think that after thou hast displeased God so often by thy sin that thou mayest scape and find Mercy though thou art never heartily displeased with thy self for thy foolish shameful ways Never any person found favour with God nor obtained Mercy that did not drink of this bitter Potion of Repentance and was not more afflicted in Heart and Soul for Disobedience to God than for any worldly Misery that ever befel him It is an unpleasant work to a Man yet in his sins and a narrow passage unto life but he that will enter into the Heavenly Kingdom must pass through this streight Gate The bitterness of this Repentance will quickly be over but the unspeakable comfort thereof if it be sound and enable thee to forsake thy sins will abide with thee for ever Who would not submit to hard Terms to save his Estate though it were never so little or his Life though it were unhealthy and uncomfortable But who would not consent to harder Terms to procure a more plentiful Estate and a more healthful comfortable Life And is there any thing more necessary or doth half so much concern thee as to have God thy reconciled Friend and to save thy Soul from Eternal Death anâ— thy self from utter destruction of Body and Soul for ever and ever And to get the possession of Eternal Life and Joy Consider I beseech O my Soul And do not reject the offer of Repentance lest the refusal cost thee a Repentance a thousand times more sharp and bitter The pangs of the New Birth will