or your estate or your precious time May we not say to all these as the Apostle said Rom. 8.12 We are not debtors to the flesh nor to the world nor sin we owe them nothing no but we are debtors to God we owe him our time and strength and parts and estates and lives and whatsoever we have or are for of him and from him are all things to him therefore be glory Not to fear love and serve God is to blot out the notion of a Creatour out of our hearts and to forget we are creatures Secondly Consider him in his Power This is frequently in Scripture made an argument to fear the Lord if we look to his power over the creatures so David often Psalm 86.8 9 10 11. Among the gods there is none like to thee O God neither are there any works like unto thy works vers 9. All Nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee O Lord and shall glorifie thy name vers 10. For thou art great and dost wondrous things thou art God alone We see David makes choise of God to fear and serve him because of his greatness in the works of his hands he concludeth That surely God was able to do great things for him also Secondly if we consider his great power especially over us Christ makes use of this Matthew 10.28 Feare not them which are able to kill the body but are not able to kil the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell Doth the world call for thy service or doth this or that great mans lust call for it If thou dost refuse them can they revenge thy neglect of them at that rate which the Lord can Can they deal with their despisers as the Lord doth with his Psal 5.17 The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the Nations that forget God Or can they reward their servants as God doth his Have they the Keys of the grave and Heaven and Hell at their girdles Have they a power suitable unto his Thirdly Consider how infinitely the Lord is above all thy services not taking this into consideration breeds so many put offs men think any thing good enough for God the very dreggs of their time and strength the weak and the lame wil serve him and a little of that too but didst thou consider the vast disproportion that is betwixt God and thee thou wouldest not think all thy time too much nor the choicest of it too good for him who is infinitely above all that thou canst offer up unto him Psalm 16.2 My goodness extendeth not to thee whatever thou givest him thou canst not inrich him thou canst not adde unto him nay when thou hast given him all thou hast given him nothing worthy of him thou hast very little reason to boast but rather to wonder that the Lord will give thee leave such a poor wretch to take his Name into thy mouth If this consideration were kept in all duties and addresses unto God it would make us more frequent in duties and more serious it would check those vain thoughts of men who think the last hour soon enough and the shortest hour long enough and the slightest service good enough for the great and infinite God who shall one day despise their image Psal 73.20 As dream when one awaketh so O Lord whâ—â— thou awakest thou shalt despise their Image Fourthly Consider how the Lord stands upon points of Honour his Name is very precious and he wil exalt it either in your souls or upon them although you may think it a slight thing and what injury or wrong is it to him if I go on a little longer and enjoy this lust or that the Lord hath made such proffers to thy foul in Christ that the world cannot parallel and he stands upon point of Honour in this case Most he wait and be put off and every base Lust and every lying vanity entertained and his Service laid aside May not I say as Isaiah to Ahaz Isa 7.13 Is it a small thing to weary men but you must weary my God also A man will not indure this that has any spirit of a man in him that has respect to Honour he will not put it up to be laid aside and so his inferiors accepted upon unworthy terms when he is put off who offered terms more honourable and advantagious the Lord calls this a double evil Jer. 2.11 12 13. Hath a Nation changed their gods which yet are no gods but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit Be astonished O ye heavens at this and be horribly affraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord ver 13. For my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the Fountain of living waters and hewed them out Cisterns broken Cisterns that will hold no water It was one evil and very dishonourable to God that his people did forsake him it was a blemish which the Heathen did not cast upon their gods but it was a double dishonour to God that they went off upon bad and base terms Remember all you that are invited daily to come to Christ and yet come not notwithstanding those glorious proffers which he makes to souls and you that pretend to come but come not in good earnest your hearts are going another way O see that you go off upon good terms God wil one day make you know to what losse you go off when you leave him and how much he takes notice of the dishonour you cast upon him by going off to things so infinitely beneath him Fifthly Consider the Mercy of God in Christ this is the great Argument to draw the Soul unto God these are the cords of a man the winning argument to prevail with an ingenuous spirit I am sure they are strong arguments to Saints if not to men Paul knew the weight and strength of this kinde of arguing when he ventered so much duty upon it as the giving up all to Christ Rom. 12.4 I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service Now that I might help this consideration to its full weight and value I shall divide it into two parts 1 Consider External and Temporal Mercies these are Motives What is there that thou dost enjoy but it is Mercy to thee and the least of all these hath a voice if thou couldest understand it and it importunes thee to look up to him from whence is every good gift Acts 14.17 Neverthelesse hee left not himself without witnesse in that hee did good and gave us rain from Heaven and fruitfull seasons filling our hearts with food and gladnesse They bear witnesse that God is merciful although I do not think with some that they bear witnesse of Christ and of special pardoning mercy by him 2. Consider God hath more mercy that he might have
against such particular corruptions or temperations how doth the Lord answer thee in these things What returns hath this day brought forth of prayer if any then there is way made for another duty of praise if it hath brought forth none as yet then there is work for faith to live upon God and to wait for him untill he return and speak peace This was Davids excellency when be had prayed and spred his want before the Lord he had not done with them but he waited to see what would become of his prayer Psalm 5.3 My voice shall thou hear in the morning O Lord in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up Here is a double care in praying to hit the mark to study his wants and after prayer I will not lose what I have prayed for for lack of looking after it I will wait to see what answer the Lord will give to me according to that Psal 85.8 I will hearken what the Lord God will speake and like a beggar that comes to the door and in begging opens his condition presentâ—y he listens to hear whether any answer him from within or what manner of return is made or as a man that hath made an adventure to Sea waits still to hear what is become of the Ship whether she came safe to the Harbour whether she was bound and he is stil waiting for some good news of a safe returne of adventures why should not men look as much after their prayers they are their adventures to Heaven I am sure there are many of them lost for want of looking after Men think it is enough if they have been a little warmed or enlarged in the duty but look not after their hearts nor prayers after whether God answers them or not and this is a great reason of the unconstancy in the frame of the people of God If we could but follow our prayers as worldly men do their designs we should seldome let the Lord go out of our eye if we could but consider our Petitions and our present tempers and compare them would it not minde us when our hearts are out of frame this is not the frame of spirit which I begged of God this day I sought other things of God when I was before him suerly this is not an answer of my prayers they are lost this day for ought I can see I do not find that humility self-denial heavenly-mindedness that watchfullness zeal c. which I prayed for this day O did I pray for such a cold drousie dead frame of spirit as now I am under If these kinde of reasonings were taken up they would serve to bring our spirits into praying frames again when they are fallen Tenthly Keep an eye and an ear open unto Providences they will hint much of God to thee he is wonderfull in his goings and in every condition if thou art an observer of God thou shalt find a rod or a staff and either of these will administer occasion of drawing nigh to God if thou hast a desire to keep the Fire constantly burning upon the Altar thou needest not to want fuel to keep it alive every Providence and Dispensation of God will if well and wisely improved afford thee somthing to keep thy heart flaming toward God Eleventhly Lose not the Book of the Creatures that is alwayes open before thee and in it much of God to be seen although he be not fully revealed in them yet something of him you may finde there the very Heathens saw something of God in Nature Rom. 1.20 and surely thou maist read enough in the Book of the Creatures to prevent those Atheisticall thoughts which abound in mens spirits and are the very flood-gates as I have shewed you unto practicall wickedness thon maist suck out something out of one Artribute and something of another and although all these are too weak to declare the Father yet he being revealed in Christ these may be Memento's to thee because they are always before thee I may say as Christ said once Me you have not alwayes with you but the poor you have You have not Christ alwayes nor Saints nor Ordinances always but the creatures you have alwayes with you these are constant Preachers and therefore fit remembrances Psalm 19.1.2 The Heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work day unto day utereth speech night unto night sheweth knowledg David learns much out of this Book of Nature the Creatures taught him knowledge by conversing with them and observing God â—n them and it is observable that he mentions such Creatures as are most frequently known such as every man converses withall he pitches not upon the great and mighty works of God in the depths he does not send men to the Leviathan to inquire for this knowledge every man cannot find him out neither does he send men into the Wilderness to find the Lion or the Elephant or the Ostridge or any of those creatures little known to men neither does he send men to the Seas because many are strangers to them nor to the Earth because the Sea-man who hath lost the sight of the Land should not say he had lost his teacher but he sends to the Sky and to the Firmament this is seen or known by Sea or by Land But you will say When the day is gone then the night wraps up the Firmament in a Mantle and takes it away from our eyes what shall we converse withall then he answers this Then thou hast the Night that is a creature and who-ever thou art and where-ever thou art thou hast Day or Night Light or Darknesse and these teach knowledge thou canst not want an Instructor or one to minde thee of God so long as the Book of the Creature is before thee and this he proves is never shut night nor day but alwaies legible and in every page there is something to minde thee of the glorious God and surely David got abundance of knowledge and choise affections by observing the Creation and had many sweet frames of spirit and choise breathings from hence and when God was about to instruct Job and to furnish him with an holy and humbling knowledge he opens to him this book of Nature and shewed him abundance of his glory there and although he speaks of many Creatures to whom we are strangers yet of many again which are not so intimating that there was enough to be seen of God among the Creatures most usual and best known to us to mind us and to affect us with the Majesty of the Lord. Twelfthly Compare those daies and hours which thou spendest with God in thine eye and thoughts with those which thou spendest without him and try which of them do bring thee most comfort examine thy heart in thy bed at the end of this day compare a day wherein thou hast walked in a sweet holy humble frame wherein thou hast walked with an active spirit
and yet they would not listen to him they would not be obedient the means of Conviction had been so plain and clear that God could not bear their unbeleef any longer he threatens therefore to disinherit them O hath not this been your case Have you not enjoied the Word in that plainness that you might easily have bin convinc'd long since of your Pride covetousness Uncleanness Drunkness Sabbath-breaking nay thou mightest have seen thy unbelief and the irregeneracy of thy heart thou hast had things so planly brought home to thee that if thou wouldest have used thy Reason and have suffered conscience to speak thou hadst been convinced of thy lost condition long ago and yet thou goest on in those things which the Word condemns and tels thee That thy ways are not the ways of Gods people yet thou goest on carelesly and securely and cryest peace peace this is a provocation Thou hast been plainly shewn what Formality is and what Unbelief is and what are the signs of a Regenerate unregenerate condition that if thou wouldest but make application to thy self bring the Word thy condition together thou couldest not but see that thy condition is dangerous yet thou wil not be convinced thou wilt not examine and try thy heart and come to a result concerning thy Soul strong security after much plainness in Preaching and clearness in the meanes of Conviction speaks a people near to hardening and that their day is almost at an end 2 When men have clear Convictions of the Truth and of their condition and of their duty and yet hold the truth in unrighteonsness Rom. 1.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as forcibly hold the Truth and inslave it wil not suffer it go its own way the Truth bids them do one thing and they would do another they have will of Conscience that would go for God that would be for Prayer and for reading the Word and for hearing but there is the wil of their affections and that is for the world and for the Ale house or for this pleasure or for that lust so that these men draw their consciences after them as you lead a Dogg in a slip he must go your way by force They have gotten so much of the knowledg of the truth to convince them that it is their duty to pray in the Family and in the Closet and conscience minds them of this and sollicites them to go this way and to begin the day thus but the affections they go after their covetousness the thoughts of his Calling comes in some design for profit cals him off and he goes away and slights conscience or the thought of his pleasure comes to him and he must attend that so that he imprisons the truth under unrighteousness and although conscience goes grudgingly up and down and grumbles at him while he is in the Alehouse or in his calling in his pleasures or elsewhere and tels him that he should have been doing something else that while yet it is all one he keeps it under like a slave and drags it after him while he satisfies his Lust Such as these are mentioned in two Scriptures the first is he that keeps it in a Negative unrighteousness or an unrighteousness of omission Luke 12.47 who dos not follow the truth in those things which are clearly revealed to him it is said that he shall be beaten with many stripes The second is he who holds truth in a positive unrighteousness or an unrighteousness of Commission who does not only refuse to follow the light and truth into those duties which it would lead him unto but runs against the clear light and truth into the contrary practises which the light and truth do abhor These are spoken of Rom. 1.32 Such men carry a conviction of the justice of that sentence which God wil pass upon those who walk in such wayes and yet they both do them and delight in them and if you observe how these men came to the height of wickedness it was first of all by not walking with after their light that they came so boldly at last against it vers 21. Thus you see that this contradicting and forcing the light and truth received into the understanding borders on this night for you see it is presently added after he had given an instance of such as did thus hold the truth in unrighteousness that they became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened vers 21. God punishes this perversness of the wil with blindness of mind and it is fit that he who would not use no eye should have never an eye O now bring this home to your own souls Be there not many of you who walk in the Omission of known duties such things as you cannot but be acquainted withal How many prayerless Families be there here and yet the master of the Family knows it is his duty topray with and for his Family and to instruct and command them concerning the fear of the Lord How many prayerless souls be here that seldom or never seek the Lord in private O if I should run thorow particular known duties how many should we find guilty and if Conscience would stand it would say This is a known duty and yet I live in a constant or general neglect of it I le name but one and it is a great and plain one 2 Cor. 13.5 Prove your selves whether ye be in the faith or not It is a word spoken to such as had been owned for Saints there were many strong probabilities that they were such yet these are advised to make diligent search into their hearts and to bring themselves to the touchstone But do you do so How many be there here that never spent a serious hour in all their lives in debating this question whether Christ be in them or not they think it is enough to believe that God is merciful and that they are Christions and it is a shorter way to believe then to prove it It is every man and womans duty solemnly to search the scripture and to search their hearts and bring these two together and then come to a serious resolution Is Christ in me or not of a truth But are there not many here that are so far from searching the scripture in order to this work that they wil not make use of those things which do immediately concern their condition when they are brought to their hands out of the word how long would it be ere such souls would search the scriptures themselves to find out the state of their souls who wil not make use of them when so plainly proposed take heed of holding the truth thus in unrighteousness in neglecting those duties which lie so plain in the woâ—d 2 Bring the second also home and take heed of swearing drunkenness lying cheating add defrauding of pride uncleannesse Sabbath-breaking scoffing these things cannot but be with some conviction and although thou sayest God hath
art chusing and when reason and judgement are quickest and least engaged least the engaging of these blinde thee that thou wilt not see the scale when it turns We have a Scripture which will give much light to this Heb. 11.24 25. Moses when he came to years refused to be called the son of Pharaohs Daughter and chose rather to suffer with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season when he came to weigh and consider things and to make his choice then he refused to be called the son of Pharaohs Daughter then he threw away the Court Honours and Pleasures but it was in judgement he chose rather to suffer with the people of God he saw something of greater importance to him Before this time he was pleased wel enough with AEgyptian toys and trifles of the Court but now comes his chusing time he must be seted in his spirit and he weighs all and upon a serious survey of both sides he throws away the Rattles which hee had played withall before and he makes another choice he chose rather to suffer Thus wee have the sum of the words in the dayes of thy choice Here is a second word to make it more full In thy choice dayes in the days that thou art fittest for Meditation or Action then set the Lord before thee do not put off the thoughts of God till a time when thou shalt be altogether unfit for him and his Service till a time wherein thou wilt be fit for nothing these are the choice days and thy youth is the chusing time We have the same word which in my text is rendered youth read chosen men 2 Sam. 6.1 David gathered together the chosen men of Israel the choisest and fittest men for action now thou art fittest for the Service of the Lord and this sense seemes to correspond much with the text for it agrees much with that which is but a Paraphrase upon these words before the evil dayes come when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them Do not say in thy heart I will try what the world will afford me now and when I have sucked the breasts of her consolation dry and there no more to be had there then I will try what is to be had in Religion what the ways of God will yeeld this Religion is a thing only fit for old Men and Women that have nothing else to do whose palats are grown old and cannot rellish or taste the delights which youth affords or whose memories are grown weak and have forgotten the pleasures of their past days these may begin to think of Heaven now their blood is grown cold and their senses fail them that they can hardly distinguish between sweet and bitter when we have worn out our selves in the world and crippled our Bodies and worn out our Senses in turning every stone and sucking every flower which will afford us any comfort then will we creep to our Closets and cloyster up our selves there too and spend the remainder of our dayes in praying and sighing but for our youth you must excuse us we will take this time to our selves to eat drink and be merry and put death and Judgement and every troublesome thought from us O say not thus in your heart but in your choyse days begin thus work for no day nor time is too precious for the Lord. I have now briefly opened the words I shall propound such Observations as will naturally flow from them 1. That every man has a choice or chusing time 2 God expects that at that time we should chuse him 3 It is a great advantage to begin with the Loâ—d before we are too far engaged in other choyces 4. Remembring and considering or setting God before our eyes is a great Duty and a great help towards the feare of the Lord. 5. No time so fit for this great work as the youth I shal not handle all these distinctly but shall dravv them into one grand Conclusion and in handling that I shall touch and clear up all these as branches of that great Truth vvhich lyeth in the vvords vvhich is this DOCTRINE That nothing conduces more to the fear of the Lord as a means on our part then a seas nable and timely setting him before our eyes A serious and a solemn calling forth of the Attributes of the glorious God and comparing and weighing them with the vanity of the creatures does wonderfully conduce to the ballancing our spirits and to the setting and fixing them upon God as our and chiefest good and at least to over-awe our spirits with a fear of him if not to draw forth the heart unto a love of him For it is very clear that all the wickedness amongst men does arise from a forgetfulness of God David renders a reason of the wickedness of his enemies Psal 54.3 they did not set God before them For strangers are risen up against me and oppressors seek after my soul they have not set God before them And in that fore-mentioned place Deut. 8.11 12. the Lord clearly expounds disobeence and forgetfulness of himself one by the other I shal not spend time in proving this Truth generally but shal divide my discourse into these four parts 1. To enquire how and what of God is to be set before our eyes to help forward this work 2. How the setting of the Lord before us doth further this feare in our hearts 3. How to keep the Lord in our eye when we have him there 4. Why the young man especially must set upon this duty For the first How and what of God is to be set before our eyes to help forward this work Answ I le begin with that in the Text Consider him as thy Creator this doth surely reach thee this reaches Angels and Men and Devils in In ipsa voce creatoris occultum habetur Argumentum look to thy very being or to the beings of thy Creature-enjoyments and Nature wil tel thee by these That God is to be feared that thou dost ow him homage and service think what God may challenge from thee as thou art his Creature the Apostle condemns the Heathen that they did not walk up to this light Rom. 1.21 Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God God complains from hence of unjust measure from his people Ezek. 16.18 19. Thou hast set mine Oyl and mine Incense before them my meat also which I gave thee fine flower and oyl and honey where-with I fed thee thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour Hosea 2.8 For she did not know that I gave her wine and oyl and multiplied her silver and gold which they prepared for Baalim And may not the same complaint be made against us That we offer up our time and strength and parts to the World and Sin and Lust and Satan Did they give you these things Are these your Creators Did â—hey give you your being
more fear he hath Spiritual mercies for your souls Psal 130.4 There is mercy with thee that thou mayest be feared It is impossible that the true fear of the Lord should bee planted and advanced in the heart without this consideration this mercy is pardoning mercy it is Soul mercy other considerations with this are usefull to ballance the Spirit but this is principally attractive this is the very door of the fear of the Lord where this is shut there is no way unto repentance Jerem. 2.25 But thou saidest there is no hope for I have loved strangers and after them I will go And Chap. 18.12 And they said there is no hope but wee will walke after our own devices and wee will every one do the imagination of his evil heart If God had no mercy for men it would be vain to perswade them to fear if men had not some kind of hope they would be hellishly wicked And that I might yet advance this Motive in your Souls take these particulars 1. He is willing to be reconciled to thee although he can destroy thee 2 Cor. 5.20 Now then we are Embassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ that you be reconciled to God he hath ways enough to make thee stoop without wooing of thee and can dash thee in pieces when he pleaseth yet he beseecheth thee he intreats thee though hee hath no need of thee but thou hast need of him what need hath God of thee more then of the Heathens or Indians or Turks who know him not he could as easily have invited them as thee at this day he invites thee though thou art as the damned thy nature is as corrupt as theirs and thy sins as great as others before they were cast in there Rom. 3.22 23. There is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God O what impression should these have upon thy soul if thou wouldest give them their full allowance upon thy soul in meditation 2. He moves them to fear him by his mercies he might require it by his power without mercy hee might have called for as much duty and have given no encouragement at all unto it but beloved what heart-ensnaring language doth he speak Isa 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon The Lord might have chosen another manner of Stile then this 3 He offers thee better termes then thou art like to meet withall else-where the world cannot bid so faire nor perform so faithfully as he doth See that Promise which the Lord makes to the returning sinner Isa 55.1 2 Ho every one that thirsteth come yee to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without price vers 2. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Hearken diligently unto me and eat yee that which is good and let your soul delight in fatnesse c. Search and finde where the Devil the World and Sin promiseth and when and to whom he gives such a thing as is held out attainable in following God 4 If thou hast tasted of mercy thou canst not but acknowledg that it is an engaging thing Tit. 2.11.12 For the grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men teaching us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world 5. If thou pretendest to Saintship and are not drawn by mercy surely thou hast a frame of spirit much different from the Saints of old for the love of God constrained them 1 Cor. 5.4 they had beseeching spirits which were very much affected with such arguments as I shewed you Rom. 12.1 6. If these are not perswasive motives how then art thou under that promise Hos 3.5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their King and shall feare the Lord and his goodnesse in the latter dayes 7. Is it not reason that thou shouldest do Gods work when he hath provided one to do thine he hath sent a Christ unto thee who offers himself to be thy life and thy strength and he tells thee That he hath left Heaven for a time that he might come down and make such an offer of himself to sinners and wilt thou not leave a little of the world to offer up thy self to him Shall the kind proffers of Christ in the Gospel meet with no returns Canst thou do lesse then offer up all that thou hast or art as a reasonable sacrifice to him who so freely offers thee himself in his Son to be thy righteousnesse wisdom sanctification and redemption In a word to be all and in all to thy soul Canst thou deny him thy time who offers thee Eternity Is thy present time and condition and ability too good to give out to him who offers thee more in Christ then thy present condition is able to bear more then can enter into thine heart to conceive Reserve nothing from him of thy little who gives thee with a reserve for this reason because thy present condition is not capable of all he intends thee Sixthly Consider how quick the Lord is with some men to cut them off without giving them many warnings or suffering them to grow up to such a measure of sin as he does others as he did Nadab and Abihu And that Gods coming to Judgement will appear quick when ever it comes 1. Though thou mayest have a smooth time in sin yet when that time of pleasure in sin is past it will seem very short Ask the old man and he wil tel that his Youth was quickly gone and Age came suddenly upon him Is not the life past like a tale that is told If God should suffer thee to live a full age and then cut thee off in thy sin wouldest not thou seem to go down quickly into hell 2. If you compare the time past with Eternity God is not slack concerning his comming saith the Apostle you will finde him quick enough when he comes Art thou come say the spirits to torment us before the time as some say before the end of the World and I exclude not that but how did the Divel know the end was not yet But it intimates that although the Divel had so many thousand years to tempt yet he thought it too soon to be troubled 3 He may be quick in that he wil be unwelcome and unwelcom guests when ever they come wil come too soon 4 When he cometh latest he will come before thou lookest for him he will come unawares and so wil be quick with thy soul notwithstanding all this patience the evil servant said not I have no Master nor that his Master wil
not come but he delayeth his coming Matth. 24 48 49. this was the cause of his ungodliness But what saith Christ The Master of that Servant shal come in an hour when he looketh not for him these supposed delays on Gods part breed delays and neglects on our part Matth. 25.5 while the Bride-groom slept the good slept as wel as the bad it is a consideration for Saints as well as for sinners to quicken up their spirits and to stir them up to a serious minding of God The Apostle layeth down a very good preservative against this James 5.9 Grudge not one against another brethren behold the judge standeth before the door at the door of your houses at your Shop doors at every Tavern door and Ale-house as thou passest in at thy Chamber door at the door of every day and night and providence and he is ready to come and call thee to account without any warning Not some Officers or Fore-runners but he himself is comming without notice 2 Pet. 3.11 12. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godlinesse looking for and hastning unto the comming of the day of God the setting this day near us is a quickning consideration to rouse up the Saints Seventhly Consider the patience and forbearance of the Lord and if thou dost rightly weigh them they will be sufficient Motives to this great work of the fear of the Lord. The wise man doth conclude it as an evidence of a wicked heart to take advantage to himself from the forbearance of the Lord Eccles 8.11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the hearts of the Sons of men is fully set in them to evil and the Apostle argueth it at least an argument of an ignorant if not a stubborn spirit Rom. 2.4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering not knowing the goodnesse of God leadeth thee to repentance He draws out this Dilemma with which he galls every one that refuseth to return under mercy and patience either thou despisest the goodnesse thou hast a God-despising heart where ever thou art or at last if we put a fairer gloss on it and the best which it will bear thou hast an ignorant heart which doth not understand the natural tendency of every dispensation of God and especially this under which thou art this of patience and forbearance Here is a consideration which reaches every soule this day before me And therefore lay it home you are all under the patience of God at least now If this consideration do not quicken up to duty pray read impartially the frames of your spirits in those words last read unto you And to help this Consideration forward pray think in your selves what a base unworthy thing it is to make the great Jehovah to wait upon such a vile wretch as thou art that he must follow thee at thy heels like a Drudge while thou followest thy pleasures and walkest in waies which he abominates Christ used it as a mighty Argument to the Spouse that he had waited upon her all night Cant. 5.2 My undefiled for my head is filled with dew and my locks with the drops of the night It was too long for him to wait a night but how many nights and dayes hath the Lord waited on some of you How hast thou suffered him to follow thee from Alehouse to Ale-house and from Tavern to Tavern and there he hath checkt thee and from thence to thy Bed and from thence to the Tavern again and from thence into thy Imployment and from thence to the Ordinance and hath there convicted thee and yet thou thinkest it nothing to make the Lord wait as a Drudge at thy heels to this very day is not this very unworthy dealing with the great God Nay consider what will be the end of all this this patience and forbearance of God will cost thee deer which thou dost abuse it will be said when God upon account wil charge thee with so many dayes Attandance so long I waited upon thee in Providences and so long in ordinances and you made a Drudge of me made me to follow you from one Alehouse to another and from one Tavern to another and here I checkt you and in your Chamber and upon your sick-beds but all this attendance was slighted How wilt thou come off Dost thou think not to account for this wil it not be a heavy account when all the patience and forbearance of God will come in against thee then you shall understand that saying common amongst us but little considered and less applyed Laesa patientia in furorem vertitur Eightly consider Although patient yet he is just and although he seem slow yet he is sure and without peradvanture he will call thee to an account one day for all thy wayes and works whether good or evil The necessity and use of such a consideration as this we finde 2 Corin. 5.10.11 For me must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men He propounds this as an engaging Motive to the Saints to seek for and to keep a clear sight of their interest in God or to such a walking before him as may be acceptable to him through Christ And in the second place he lays it down as a pressing consideration to those who are acquainted with the Lord and with his dispensations to mind other men with these things and to use all means by perswasive ways to draw them out of the snares of the Divel and from this argument he presseth to a speedy repentance Acts 17.30 31. And the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every where to repent Vers 31. Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the World in righteousnesse by that man whom he hath ordained I wish that this consideration might come as near to you as it did to Felix Acts 24 25. And as he reasoned of Righteousnesse Temperance and Judgement to come Felix trembled only thus that it may have better successe that it may not be so soon shaken off from you as from him I am sure it is such a consideration that if it were wel and seriously weighed it would be a great help to ballance thy spirit when most vain This we may see by the use that the wise man makes of it Eccles 11.9 Rejoice O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the daies of thy youth and walk in the waies of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to judgement He propounds it to him that was resolved to have no other Counsellours but his own
all these did flow from an experimental taste of God and the excellency of his ways and when the Soul hath found out the sweetness of the presence of God and his ways it wil no longer be contented with broken cisterns which wil hold no water it wil not live upon that which is not bread and which satisfieth not but it flies to God and Christ and nothing else wil satisfie the soul Isaiah 55.1 2. It says to it self as the Lord saith Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight it self in fatness there is bread and water and marrow and fatness I will up says the Soul to my Fathers house there is bread enough and to spare Oh if we did but eye the Lord more we should be more acquainted with those choise breathings of the Saints Fifthly It begets an assimilating love the discoveries of God made out and fastned upon the Soul in a constant and serious frame of eying God do wonderfully move the Soul to love raise very strong affections and these do strongly carry the soul after likeness and conformity to the good which we see and know of God the Soul would fain be like him and doth by degrees grow into the Image and likenesse of that beauty and glory which it beholdeth in the Lord. 2 Cor. 3.18 But we all with open face beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory Souls that are much conversant with God in Christ and are much in admiring and beholding God in him do grow much although perhaps insensible to themselves into the Image of Jesus Christ Sixthly It makes Souls active and fruitful good thoughts make way for good desires and they for good actions how much of time and of the man do vain and unprofitable thoughts take up and what is the fruit of them Psal 10.4 6 7. The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts he hath said in his heart I shall not be moved for I shall never be in adversity Vers 7. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud and in his tongue is mischief and vanity Vain thoughts make way for wicked designes and practises shut him first out of thy thoughts and next deny him in thy works so on the other hand the eying of God feeds and furnisheth the soul with sweet Meditations of him and the fruit of such meditations in a fruitful conversation Psal 1.2 3. His delight is in the law of the Lord and in his Law doth he meditate day and night And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season and his leaf also shall not wither He joyneth these two together as Jacobs Ewes did conceive by eying the Poplars so doth the soul by eying God Seventhly It brings in a sweet experimental knowledge of God which is as fatness unto the soul Now nothing doth so glew the soul to God and his ways as this tast and rellish which the soul gets of them and the sweetness is gotten very much in meditation Psalm 104.34 My meditation of them shall be sweet When he had spent the whole Psalm in beholding the ways and works of God he draweth this conclusion My meditation of him shall be sweet He would not lay aside the thoughts of God when he had ceased speaking he would then to another duty which should yeeld him no smal comfort and what sweetness this was he doth excellently express elsewhere Psalm 63.5 6. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips Vers 6. When I remember thee on my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches And in the connexion of the fifteenth and sixteenth verses of the one hundred and nineteenth Psal you shall find delight as a fruit of meditation on the things of God I will meditate on thy precepts and have respect to thy ways Vers 16. I will delight my self in thy statutes and will not forget thy word The heart that sticks close with God and carries him much in his eye and thoughts is never weary of beholding of him all other Objects do breed a loathing and weariness in the soul but it is not so here the longer a soul converses with God the more delight it hath in him enjoyment breeds hungrings and those being always satisfying but not satisfied breeds an inconceivable delight in the soul Que. 3. How shall I do to keep the Lord in mine eye continually Ans I shall lay down some quickening considerations which wil both engage us and assist us in this duty and then give some practical directions to further it First Consider that God hath an eye continually upon thee and this will help thee always to eye him we know that if we are in any company and observe amongst all the persons one who does particularly observe us we are engaged much in our eyes to that party we shal hardly forbear eying such a one as we observe to eye us thus it would be with us if we did but consider that the Lords eye runs too and fro and observes exactly all our ways it would help us much to seriousness as being in his presence I shall propound a few Scriptures to shew you what use they make of this consideration for I am confident that there is very little use made of it on all hands what manner of men should we be if we did but walk up and down as a people who are always under his eye we should be more mindful of him if we thought he did more mind us David makes the same use of this consideration which I bring it for Psalm thirty four and the fifteenth The eys of the Lord are upon the righteous he brings this unto the young-man to presse him unâ—o the fear of the Lord Vers 11. Come yee children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord. He lays down the duty in general and branches it into two particulars and presses all with this The eys of the Lord c. There it is principally used to the Saints and we find this very place quoted by the Apostle 1 Peter 3.12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers And the wise man makes it an universal argument to all sorts but especially to the young man Prov. 5.20 21. And why wilt thou my son be ravished with a strange Woman and imbrace the bosome of a stranger For the waies of man are before the eyes of the Lord and hee pondereth all his goings Nay presses from hence not only circumspection in our actions but in our words too to watch the tongue to weigh every
word that cometh out of our lips Prover 15.2 3. The tongue of the wise man useth knowledge aright but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishnesse The eys of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good hee is advising to a discreet and wise ordering of words not only to speak according to knowledge but also according to discretion to do and speak every thing and word seasonably and suitably and to edification and this he urges from this Thou art under the eye of the Lord and what sad effects the want of this consideration hath brought forth let the Scripture beside our sad experience declare Hear what account David gives of this Psalm 10.11 He hath said in his heart God hath forgotten hee hideth his face hee will never see it Hee rips open the heart of the wicked and shews the reason of his practical wickedness We have the very sinews of sin that strengthen the hands of wicked men They slay the widow and the stranger and murther the fatherlesse yet say the Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob regard it If thou wouldest therefore be found walking in an even path and avoid the steps of the wicked keep thine eys upon God and that thou mayest do this First Consider that God will eye thee whether thou eyest him or no it s the commendation of a picture when it is drawn so that the eye of it is upon thee wheresoever thou standest to behold it the Image of God is rightly drawn upon thy soul when thou seest his eye is alwaies towards thee Secondly Consider that thou livest no longer then whilst thou art present with God and God with thee whilst thou walkest without God in thine eye thou liest under a cloud and a damp is upon thy spirit coldness and deadness must needs seize uâ—on thy heart when it is withdrawn from the eye of the sun Psal 16 11. Thou wilt show me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore As the Epicure said A man doth live onely whilst he doth enjoy his pleasure So may I say Thou dost live no longer then thou art with God See what the Apostle sayes of such as are strangers to the life of God they have a name to live but are dead or if thou art not altogether dead yet thou livest only in the root as the tree doth in winter when the leaves and fruit fail who can tell whether it be alive or dead there is little difference between a dead one and that So indeed it is with the people of God whilst they neglect this great duty there is little difference betwixt carnal people and them Thirdly Consider how thou art engaged to this duty as thou professest thy self a Christian it is thy duty as a Professor to walk as Christ walked He that saith he abideth in him ought himselfe also to walk even as he walked 1 Joh. 2.6 If thou wouldest know how he walked consult with Psal 16.8 I have set the Lord alway before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved And if you doubt whether this be meant of Christ or not see Act. 2.25 For David speaketh concerning him I foresaw the Lord alway before my face for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved You see the fruit which is from hence stability in the ways of God therefore he had assurance that he should not be moved Fourthly Consider this was Davids frame and therefore not onely imitable but attainable also Psalm 25 15. Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord Psalm 139.17 18. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the summ of them If I should count them they are more then the sands when I awake I am still with thee Why should not this engage us and encourage us to endeavour this thing seeing that the Saints of old have attained unto it why should we not go and do likewise Fifthly Consider such a frame of spirit is very dear unto the Lord and a People that so live are very precious unto him he sets much by such a people who carry him much in their eye Mal. 3.16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name God will be sure to think upon those for good who think much upon him the Lord enters their names upon the List for preservation takes special notice of them Not that we should think that the Lord hath any need of a Register to keep things in remembrance but that the Lord might hereby speaking after the manner of men give his people good assurance that they should not be forgotten by him that whoever were neglected in an evil day these should be provided for these are his Jewels as he calls them Now we know if a house be on fire a man will run and catch the Jewels that he hath in his house or the Children that he hath and save them from the flames Thus will God save his precious ones Oh here you may see how good it is to have God in our thoughts for one thought of him shall not be lost God will not only cause their prayers to return into their bosoms but their thoughts shall come home at such a time Sixthly Consider such a frame will bee very sweet unto thee thou wilt find it at present a very choice frame of spirit to have God much before thee David found sweet refreshments here when he could not find any comfort from any visible thing he then had it in his thoughts within him Psa 94.19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soule Psalm 139.17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the sum of them David seems to be ravished with the sweetnesse of the thoughts of his heart he does as it were travel with a desire to expresse that sweetnesse which he found in the very thoughts of God and because they were inexpressible he propounds this in a question to the Lord who only was able to give an answer How precious are thy thoughts O God! The worldlings thoughts or the wantons thoughts or the voluptuous mans thoughts are not cannot bee half so sweet unto him as the thoughts of God are to a soul that sincerely converseth with him Seventhly Consider that the more thou conversest with God the sweeter will his name and waies be unto thee when thou hast once made entrance into this duty and hast tasted the sweetnesse of it thou wilt not know where or when to end David speaking in commendation of the ways of God hath this expression I know no end therof And in that Psa 119.96 I have seen an end of all perfection but thy Commandment is exceeding
the day not to exclude other times and seasons but especially do it then when the work of the day is done then call thy heart to account as Masters use to do their Servants when the work is over and this time is the most fit and seasonable time for this duty because in the evening time thou maist finde that which in the morning thou couldest not foresee the morning is for the engaging and preparing but the evening for examining the heart for those holes at which thy heart escapes from thee in the day thou couldst not discern but in the evening by perusing thy heart thou mayest easily discover A man goes about his house and views it in all parts but cannot tell where the Theif should break in or go out and is very secure thinks himself strong but when the house is broken open and his goods taken away he traces the Thief by his foot and he finds which way hee is escaped and he labours to fortifie that place which he did not suspect before so perhaps it may be with some of us we take a view of our Souls in the morning and wee think all is well we go forth in the strength of resolution to keep close with God but the house is broken open and the heart is gone by some back door which we neither did nor could fore-see The way to finde out this escape is to view the house after it is broken open and by this means thou maist finde that it is easier to finde a gap then to fore-see it and when thou hast found it get it shut by this means thou maist in time finde out every door and hole at which thy wandring heart goes out from God in the day Fifthly Take heed of walking contrary to thy own light for the sinning against that will bring forth cursed effects which do directly destroy this frame of spirit which I am pressing to The first is this It blindes the Soul and by this means in time it will be so that thou wilt want an eye to watch thy wandring Soul and when thou hast put out thine own eyes thou art like to be a sad Watchman If we consult with that of the Apostle Rom 1.22 because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankfull but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned we shall find that there is no speedier way to lose our light then to sin against it the very Heathens sinned away that light they had and if thou sinnest against more light thou maist lose more a sinal injury done to the eye makes a man see the worse for a time at least if it do not endanger the losing it walking contrary to thy light in smal things may dis-enable thee to see great things for a time labour so to walk as fearing to sin away that light in which thou desirest to behold God and thine own soul Secondly walking contrary to light although in smal things doth estrange the heart from God every sin seeks a shelter but especially sin against light loves not to behold the light we do not love to look much on them whom we cannot behold without a blush Guilt newly contracted and fresh in our eyes doth estrange the soul from God the creature is unwilling to behold him as we see in Adam he hid himself especially if it arises from sin against light no sin doth so much separate from God as this the sense of the sin of our nature or the perswasion that we have committed sins of ignorance are not such interrupters of communion with God as the sin against light for although they do humble us before God yet they do not stir up such a fear and shame in us as this does which obstructs our addresses to God and the reason is plain for when a man hath done an injury to his neighbour ignorantly he can easily go and excuse it but when he hath no excuse to carry with him he is then hardly perswaded to draw near I appeal to experiences of Saints concerning this Truth whether it be not a hard thing to look upon God when guilt sticks fresh on the soul I am sure David found it thus Ps 40.12 Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up Sixthly Remember that in the midst of all thy designs and endeavours in this thing that thou live not upon them but upon Christ neglect no duty which may facilitate this great duty but remember to beleeve as if thou didst use no means Live upon the strengthening promise for it is the work of Christ to bring over the heart first to God and it is his work to keep it close with God This is the great Gospel-promise and we are to wait for the fulfilling of it in the use of means Jer. 31.33 After those days saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people And Jer. 32.40 God hath promised to heal the back-slidings of the soul after promises and endeavors and engagements and back-sliding thoughts and revolts of the heâ—rt thou canst not keep up with God see what God saith Jer. 3.22 Return to me ye back sliding children and I will heal your back-slidings And in Hos 14.4 I will heal your back-slidings I will love you freely See what precious promises are these for souls to take hold of We find how difficult it is to keep close to God lay these to heart take these promises and melt them into petitions who knows but that the Lord may do great things for thee if thou wilt wait for him in the promise when he puts out his greatstrength and communicates a kind of omnipotency to poor souls what is there too hard for him who knows how to use a promise as a promise I hint this Because I find many souls to abuse the promises of God strangely and therefore reap but little comfort from them they take the promises and turn them into tryals and onely examine themselves by them and neglect the very end of the promise As for example they take a promise and say God has promised such and such things in Christ to his people as to put his Law in their hearts and to keep them from departing from him and to heal their back-slidings but I fear it is not so with me I do not find these things in my heart therefore I can take no comfort in the promise This is a wronging of the Promise as much as if thou shouldest say I wil believe God when I see his word fulfilled and not before The Promise was given thee to comfort thee and to support thee when nothing else could when the Sun is clouded and thou seest the want of these things which the promise holds forth then thou art to beleeve and rely on the promise this is to use it as a
promise If thou dost this thou shalt find them mighty through Christ and him near at hand to help thee in all thy streights And be sure remember this that the use of the promise must not take thee off from other means prescribed neither must other means take thee off from the promise but in the use of all means herein lies the great strength in the strengthening promise Seventhly Labour for an experimental taste and knowledg of God in Christ this wil be the sweetest and surest means to keep the soul intent upon God Where your treasure is saith Christ there your hearts will be now no soul can make God and Christ his treasure but the experimental soul he that hath not tasted how good the Lord is cannot set his heart upon him so as to make him his portion and inheritance But the soul who hath had a taste from God and seen what engagements are from thence to keep close to God Phil. 3.7 to 14. Paul quickly cast away all when he had tasted of Christ but what things were gain to me those I accounted loss for Christ his senses were spiritualized and he does not content himself with a taste but he would comprehend but I follow after that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus he endeavours to that So reaching forth to these things which are before vers 13. and he presses to the mark vers 14. All these shew how an experimental rellish of the goodness of God doth engage the heart to him David hints thus much that there was nothing more conducible to the fear of the Lord then this taste of him Ps 34.8 9. O taste and see that the Lord is good blessed be the man that trusteth in him O fear the Lord ye his Saints for there is no want to them that fear him He cals upon to taste and try how good God is and then to fear him Plainly implying that if he could perswade men to make trial of God and his ways he should engage some of them to fear him from the experience of the sweetnesse of them and the Apostle makes use of this as an argument to press after growth in grace 1 Pet. 2.2 3. As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious Intimating that it could not be but they who had any experience of the grace of God and of his goodness in Christ must needs be hungring and thirsting after more communion with God if you would therefore keep up your hearts close to God seek for a taste look out for experimental knowledge it is this that wil endear God to your souls If we did labour to set up more precious and high esteem and honorable thoughts of God in our hearts we should endeavour to break through every condition to him What is it that draws the carnal heart after the world but a kinde of sweetness which his earthly distemperate pallate tastes in it What is it that made Israel long so much to go back again into Egypt was it not the garlick and the flesh-pots and because they had tasted of these and seen the Land and the fruitfulness of it they were going into a Land of which they had heard but had not seen therefore they often wished themselves back again and therefore the Lord commanded Moses to send out some to search the Land that they might bring of the fruit of it Numb 13.21 And they brought a cluster of Grapes of the choicest to commend the Land Thus it is with us whilst we make a profession without experience it is no wonder that our hearts keep not close to God we pretend to follow God whom wee know not but the world we know that is always with us we have experience of the sweetness of it and what it yeelds therefore we cleave more to that then to the Lord until he sends us a cluster of the first ripe grapes some first fruits of the Kingdom of Heaven If we have not a little of Heaven in our way to Heaven we shall never seek it with intention of spirit Eighthly Labour for a clear sight of interest Pulchrum meum Beauty and propriety do very much ingage the heart things that are beautifull are very much attractive but if we have an interest in them they seem the more beautiful 'T is a great help to consider of the excellency and goodness of God and of his wayes above and beyond the World and the pleasures of it but when we can consider God in relation to our selves then he is much more comely and glorious when we can say not only God is good but My God is good Propriety does wonderfully knit and glue the heart we see to its object in all things and so it will in spiritual things an interest in Christ revealed and cleared to the Soul doth marvellously engage it to him and quickens it in its acting heaven-ward see for this Colossians 3.1 2 3 4. If ye be then risen with Christ seeke those things that are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God set your affections on things above not on things of the earth for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory The Apostle argues strongly with them unto a Spiritual life and constant frame of breathing after Christ and Spiritual things from their interest in Jesus Christ which was very clear and without scruple to many of their souls and we have the same improvement made of this which the Apostle exhorts to here Phil. 3.20 Our conversation is in heaven from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ An interest in Christ draws the Soul much towards Heaven to be constantly looking for it and into it and this causes the Soul to bend unto it That Soul cannot be long a stranger to Heaven who knows a Saviour there O labour therefore to keep your interest clear and plain if you would keep your hearts constantly active and yearning towards Heaven Ninthly Follow thy Prayers and consider what becomes of them if thou dost so they will carry thee much to God consider in the day what thou diddest pray for in the morning and in the night what thou didst aske in the evening and live as one that waiteth for returns this will be an excellent means to keep thy heart busie with the Lord either in a waiting believing frame for something thou hast sought of God and is not yet given in or els in a thankful frame for some answer of prayer As you are before prayer to sum up your wants so after the duty consider of your Petitions and What you have sought of God for the day and wait for sutable returnes Hast thou prayed for a holy humble heart for an active frame of spirit for strength