the world comes in But how little pleas'd with the galleries wherein the beloved may be held How are men pleased with the earth but find no more rellish in Christ and his ways than in the white of an egge What great journeys have you taken even compassed Sea and Land to gain riches and hardly can go a mile or two to meet with God How is every opportunity laid hold of to get more to the heap But do not you remain contented with the least measures of grace yea with somewhat below grace How oft have you left your meat to serve a Customer but when so to serve the Lord Jesus Christ How few design for riches as a means to carry them to a further end They should be but as the rounds of a Ladder not to stand upon but thereby to ascend higher even to glory and to the new Hierusalem But alas few desire the world in subordination to God and as a means to glorifie God but the more they love the World the less God is loved and the more their desires are carried out after riches the less after God How few pursue earthly things in obedience to Gods call How many out of a desire of filthy lucre How few seek the World with an holy indifferency How few reserve their zeal and hottest endeavours for heavenly things Is not the general cry Psa 4.6 Who will shew us any good We need no proof of this there are instances every where How for the getting of a penny Note will some debarr themselves of Ordinances Is it not a sufficient excuse with some for not attending on the Worship of God that they met with a Customer that kept them from the Ordinance Doth not the Clock strike too fast whilst thou art selling to advantage Doth not time run away too fast Dost thou not wish thou couldst with Joshuah cause the Sun to stand still on a Market-day or on a Fair-day when trading is quick But O! The Sexton is blamed for suffering the Clock to stand still on a Sabbath day and when thou art in the Worship of God O! When will the Sabbath be gone Amos 8.5 When will the Duty be over that we may fell How many Hypocritical out-cries are there against the World O! It eats up my time O! It eats up my spirits It robs me of communion with God We say it is an Enemy and yet we can bosome this Snake lodge this Enemy Col. 3.5 that God would have us to kill Mortifie Covetousness How oft hath God charged thee against Covetousness Take heed and beware of it Considerations to withdraw the heare from Covetousness Luke 12.15 Two words to the same purpose all little enough to take thee off from earthly pursuits How apparently hath God with-drawn from thee ever since thou wast taken with this Dalilah How hardly art thou pull'd out of the deep pit and miry clay to Duty much more to God And wilt thou be rich Art thou resolved to run into the bryars Then farewell to thee not only in time but to eternity Mat. 13.23 How many convictions and impressions of the blessed Spirit have your worldly cares choaked How have your inordinate desires of riches puzled your Souls and diverted them from minding and improving the counsells of God and Conscience But O! How unreasonable are earthly prosecutions in this day of Gods wrath When God is plucking up by the roots now to be seeking great things for our selves to have Baruck's sore running on us Jer. 45. ult this makes us the more inexcusable sinners This is altogether unseasonable this is no time for it this is ignoble yea base O that we were ashamed of it We say The last dayes are perillous dayes we pretend to expect the Cross and is this good preparation for the Cross of Christ to load our selves with thick clay to crack our Consciences and thereby to incurr Gods farther displeasure How unlike art thou to the primitive Converts Paul when converted Phil. 3.8 counts all things but dung in comparison of Christ And Zacheus no sooner had a work of grace begun upon him but down went the World faster than ever it went up He parts from riches with more freedome than he sought them The half of my goods I give to the poor Luke 19.8 and if I have wronged any man I will restore four-fold John the beloved Disciple affirms That there is an inconsistency between loving the Father 1 John 2.15 1 John 5.4 and the World and that Whosoever is born of God evercometh the World But alas Our hearts are as Cities without walls the World hath a thorow-fare in them and may come and goe without any Pass from Heaven How hath God put a remark of his sore displeasure upon our worldly endeavours We have to dwell in our seiled houses neglected Gods house Hag. 1.2 4 6. and said The time is not come for the building the waste places for the restoring the Worship of God for the building of the house of God and how hath God caused many of us to vomit up our sweet morsels which we rolled under our tongues O! Consider your wayes Ye have sowen much and bring in little ye eat but have not enough ye drink but ye are not silled with drink and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bagg with holes How hath this Sin deadned you to all the Worship of God How by the interposition of this dark body of the Earth hath the light of Heaven yea the light of Gods countenance been darkned and how hath thy Soul been benighted and clouded They say If a Knife be put into the Earth it will lose its edge I am sure of this experiment That Christians who were once lively and active for God yet by engaging their hearts to the World they have lost their zeal their keenness and their lustre which once they had When thou hast gained time from thy business to think of God and to discharge duty hast hot thou miss'd thine heart hast not thou left and lost it in the croud How dost thou debase thy self hereby The curse of Cham is upon thee a servant of servants thou art a slave to that which thou shouldst rule over God did not give thee a reasonable Soul that thou shouldst choose the Serpents curse to crawl and live upon the Earth O! What sordid practises have some stoop'd unto for the getting this Worlds riches Ahab to gain a few handfulls of earth dares walk to it through Naboth's bowells Judas to pocket thirty Pieces will venture to betray his Lord and the Lord of Heaven and Earth O! tremble to think what sad effects your Covetousness may have upon you before you dye Demas left Christ lost his Soul shipwrack'd his faith and all to embrace this present evil world Prov. 28.20 And if thou make hast to be rich shalt thou be innocent Whether thou place thy confidence and hope
if this one thing were all things and disobedience to this Commandement were disobedience to all Is it nothing to us that hereby Crossing Christs Prayer as much as in us lies we make the Prayer of Christ of none effect Christ knew the evil of heart-burnings and divisions of wrath and bitterness against one another though we do not and therefore having preached up love among his Disciples on earth he sets upon praying down Union from his Father in Heaven and what he insisted most upon in his Sermon that he enlargeth most upon in his Prayer John 17.11 21 22 23. And now I am no more in the World but these are in the World and I come to thee holy Father keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us That the World may believe that thou hast sent me And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me Throwing off Christs Livery John 13.35 that they may be made perfect in one and that the World may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me Is it nothing to us that hereby we throw off Christs distinguishing Livery By this shall all men know that you are my Disciples if you have love one to another He doth not say Hereby you shall be my Disciples but hereby it shall be known Nor doth he say Hereby I shall know nor hereby you shall know but hereby shall others know Nor doth he say Hereby they shall ghès and conjecture but hereby they shall know as by a sure and infallible sign Nor doth he say Hereby some a very few shall know this great secret but hereby all men shall know Nor doth he say Hereby all men shall know that you seem to be my Disciples but that you are so indeed Is it nothing to us Representing Christ as an Imposture that hereby we make the Jewes and Heathens look on Christ as an Impostour How can they look upon him otherwise whilst they see his Coat so full of seams yea his Body so full of rents Hereby we hinder the World from being convinced that Christ is sent of God Christ therefore prayed John 17.21 23. Making Christs doath of none effect that His might be one that the World may know that God sent him Is it nothing to us that hereby we make as much as in us lyes the Cross of Christ of none effect and his blood to be shed in vain Christ not only preach'd up Love and prayed for it but also paid for it As he went from preaching up Love on Earth by his Sermon to pulling it down from Heaven by Prayer So he went from praying to paying for it and the Price which he laid down for it Ephes 2.14 15 16. was his Blood saith a late ingenuous Writer For he is our Peace who hath made both one c. having abolished in his flesh the enmity c. for to make in himself of twain one new man so making peace And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the Cross Shall Christ dye to break down partition walls and will we dare to keep them up Shall he shed his blood for peace and shall we imploy our wit and interest to blow the trumpet to War Is it nothing to us Calling in question Gods Promises Isa 65.25.11.6 that hereby we make Jews and Pagans call in question the truth of Gods promises What can they think of those promises that the Wolf and the Lamb shall feed together they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain saith the Lord. That the Wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid and the Calf and the young Lyon and the failing together and a little Child shall lead them When the Lambs cannot fold together without pushing at one another Is it nothing to us Grieving Christ and the Spirit that hereby we grieve our dear Lord Jesus and the ever blessed Spirit May we not easily imagine what a grief it is to the head to see the members of his body renting and tearing each other to see heirs of the same hope those that lye together in the same bosom of Election and whose Names are on his Breast and whom he presents before his Father together in Heaven to be thus broken asunder on earth O! me thinks if we had any love to Jesus Christ we should study to be of one affection What Luther said once to the Ministers of Norimberg is very considerable Suppose said he you saw Jesus Christ standing bodily in the midst of you and thus bespeaking you What do you O my dear Children whom I have Redeemed by my blood that you might mutually love one another There is no danger in your difference but there is much in your dissention Do not thus sadden my Spirit do not thus spoil the holy Angels of their joy in heaven Am not I more to you than all your matters of difference How can we expect the company of the Spirit of grace and peace whilst such fiery contentions are amongst us Were the Disciples quarrelling and contending when the Holy Ghost fell on them No They were all with one accord in one place Acts 2.1 Psal 133.10 Where men dwell together in Unity there the Lord commands the blessing for ever God will not saith a learned man sow the precious seed of his grace and love among bryars and thornes the enemies of peace Is it nothing to us Rasing Sion that hereby we do what in utlyes to rase Sion even to the foundation thereof The stones support the building by being coupled together Mat. 12.25 Making real Saints weaty to support the World any longer How can the house stand when the stones are severed when not a stone is left joyned to a stone Every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against it self shall not stand Is it nothing to us that hereby we make reall Saints the pillars of the World weary of staying in the World to support it any longer It was the sight of the divisions among Christianss that made Grynaeus Melancthon Strigclius those pious and precious Souls weary of earth Psa 55.6 and to wish and desire the wings of a Dove that they might sly away and be at rest in that place where there is a rest remaining for the people of God Hebr. 4.9 as from all other evils so from this of divisions and dissentions among Brethren It was â—â—e conjecture of one that as Go is first Judgement against the old World was by Water against the heat of Lust so his last Judgement upon the World
misdemeanours were they convinced of the body of sin within them their greatest sorrows would be for their sinful propensities Neither would you wonder at any impieties and enormities in the Earth but would admire at the restraints of Heaven that they are no greater Alass If the Reader were left to himself he would presently lay hands on his nearest relations and on himself Certainly the reason why we turn not Cannibals why every man is not a Sodomite a Murtherer an Oppressour c. is because God hath a rein on the heart and curbs it for the continuation of mankind that otherwise would soon be destroyed The great boundary of the Seas and of the Ocean of corruption is the Soveraign above But O! how do we commend Nature such a man hath a good nature such a man you may trust him he will never commit such abominations You may as well believe a Toad will not poyson or the Sea will not overflow the Earth if God leave it to its self But to descend to particulars 1. Few convinced of the minds corruption Rom. 8.7 How few see the corruption of their mind How few are convinced that the carnal mind is enmity against God and is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be How are our minds delighted with tales and toyes more than with the serious mysteries of God How few are sensible that they are as foolish and mad as any Bedlams in that they please themselves with that which should be their greatest burden namely Sin They are worse than the Bee or Ant for these prepare for a severe hard Winter these provide for hereafter whilst most people mind present things present pleasure present profit c. with the neglect of heaven and future glory They mind more what to eat and drink here what to have at present for this life than what to lay up for eternity They busie themselves to know what is of no consequence but careless of momentous and eternal matters How few employ their minds to know God and how he is to be worshipped and pleased but employ themselves in needless and unprofitable speculations in this like fools and children who preferr painted glass before jewels of value they more set by a little mirth and pleasure than the matters of their salvation How are our minds enslaved to our affections to the more bruitish inferiour and ignoble parts of the soul and we love to have it so Through this corruption of our minds how do we justifie sin excuse it and plead for it Hence also there are swarms of idle confused impertinent foolish ridiculous thoughts that fill our souls and duties seldome in the day week or year any conceptions of God suitable to his majesty and holiness How unstable are our minds and judgements so that we are as reeds shaken with every wind now for duty then soon wheel'd off again now for repenting and humbling work then tired and soon diverted And if we know the out-side of truths yet how often is that a barr to our closing with Christ and walking in him And yet though these poor blind deluded Bartimeus's fill all our wayes and paths so that where ever we goe we meet with them yet how seldome are any convinced of this how seldome do any cry for eye salve that they may see 2. Few convinced of the corruption of the Conscience Tit. 1.15 And though not only the mind but the conscience is defiled though there be a blindness upon it whereby it mis judgeth and calleth darkness light and though it be senseless and stupid as a stone yet few do believe this corruption hence they take sanctuary in their consciences their consciences bear them witness though it be bribed and corrupted and they have a good conscience though they know not what conscience is 3. How few are convinced of the corruption of their Will Few convinced of the corruption of their Will How do they wish that drunkenness uncleanness c. were no sins How do they choose to live a merry rather than an holy life to be the servants of the Devil rather than of God to commit sin and thereby hazard their damnation rather than to suffer and through many tribulations to enter into the Kingdom of God And how gladly would most Professours enter and take up their rest in somewhat below God if they could but enjoy the world according to their will Few convinced of the corruption of their Affections 4. Few are convinced of the pollution of their Affections Though they hate what they should love and love what they should hate though they love sin which they should hate and hate and slight God to whom they should give the precedency of their love though all be in disorder all be mis-placed though God be dethroned and Sin Sathan and the World be set up above all that is called God yet few do really believe that such a miserable Chaos is upon them 5. Few convinced of the corruption of their Memories How few are sensible of the corruption of their Memory Though they are especially charged to remember God and how to get a possession of him and to remember duty and how to practise and to remember sin and how to shun it yet how soon do they forget such truths and lodge in their memories injuries that they may avenge them and vanities foolish jests unprofitable toâ—es and tales to please themselves therewith You can remember how merry you were such a time how vain how your sensualities were abounding but you soon forget a Sermon or if you remember any thing delivered by the Preacher it is that which either concerns others conditions rather than yours or which yields you the least advantages heaven-ward We can remember the fall of Peter much easier than the repentance of Peter than his bitter weepings we can remember David's Adultery but not his Repentance and how it broke his bones and made his bed to swim Few convinced that sin iâ— the greatest evil Secondly How few have been convinced that sin is the greatest evil How few have seen it in its perfect odiousness in its naked face as that which makes Men Devils fighting against God How are most strangers to its pedigree Joh. 8.44 and consider not the Devil to be its Father We would be thought to have nothing to do with the Devil nor that he hath any thing to do with us we can live in sin and yet hypocritically enough defie the Devil and all his works We can make more moderate constructions of our sins and call them the frailties of our flesh but he that commits sin is of the Devil i. e. the Devil's drudge Sathan works in him and by him If men were convinced of this they would not drink in the Devil's piss Sin it comes from the Devil it is the Devil's excrement and yet this is rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel O! with what greediness is the
he had fourteen thousand before he had three thousand Camels afterwards six thousand before five hundred Asses then one thousand yet how little can we trust Providence in such cases How hardly were the Disciples perswaded that the absence of their Lord and Master Jesus Christ should be supplyed in the Spirit And yet saith Christ Nevertheless I tell you the truth â—fo 16.7 it is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him to you Christ in his Spirit dwelling in our hearts is better than Christ in Flesh dwelling in our houses When the unclean Spirit departs from a man Mat. 12.43 and returns again he brings seven Spirits worse than himself and the latter end of that man is worse than his beginning but when Christ withdrew from Earth to Heaven he brings seven consolations better than at first in the powring forth of the Comforter and the end of such in whom the Spirit supplies the want of Christs bodily presence is better than the beginning Why cryest thou for thine affliction thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity Jer. 30.15 16 17. c. Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured c. for I will restore health unto thee and I will heal thee of thy wounds saith the Lord because they called thee an outcast c. Nothing more usual with God than to make the loss of one comfort the means of enjoying another with advantage yea with the advantage of the hundred fold But alas most fear they shall be losers by Christ and for Christ God doth as Marriners row one way and look another he brings most of his great ends about by looking quite aside from what he hath a special intent to bring to pass the Lord seldome proceeds in a direct way to his ends i. e. in a right way to our apprehensions in such a way as we would have him go in but he leads us about Psa 107.7 as he did Israel and yet that was the right way indeed though the means seem to oppose the end yet he works to the praise of his Name he can write right by a crooked pen and bring honey out of the Carkas of the Lion make use of strange instruments break down Jerichos walls by the sounds of Ramshorns But O! how little do we trust Providence when the means are not probable to effect our expected end Zech. 14.7 Hebr. 11.12 Who believes there shall be light in the Evening And that Sarah shall have a posterity as the Stars in the Firmament for multitude and as the sand on the Sea shore which is innumerable when she was old had been barren so long and her Lord old also Who will think that the Sun and the Stars shall bow to Joseph when he lies in the Pit or is in the Dungeon of the Heathen King How slow to believe were the Disciples when Christ is dead and buried Luk. 24.21 25. and lies three dayes in the Grave We thought this should have been he that should have delivered Israel How little doth the Worm Jacob Jacob when reduced as low as the earth when creeping into holes for security when as contemptible as a worm that no man scruples to tread upon when so easily to be destroyed as a worm believe Isa 41.15 16.17 that yet the Worm Jacob shall thresh the mountains and fan them and the wind shall carry them away Alas how unseemly is the behaviour of many if Providence thwarts them in taking away a Child an Husband an Estate how discouraged and cast down are we as if God in his Providence had pulled down that which he could never build again or rooted up that which he could never plant again O! how few believe that if God pull down their brick-houses that he will build them again of hewn-stones and that if he consume their Fir-trees he will build again with Cedars Do not many afflicted Christians think it impossible for their sorrow to be turned into joy Whence is all our dejectedness under Cross-Providences Hence dejectedness under Cross-Providences but from our not believing that all things are disposed by the wife and gracious Providence of God We believe not enough that the Eyes of our loving Father run to and fro throughout the Earth to shew himself Marvellous for our help in a time of need and danger David was thus overtaken till he school'd himself into a better frame with Why art thou cast down O my Soul Psa 42.5 and why art thou disquieted in me Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance Few can say God is our refuge and strength Psa 46.1 2. a very present help in trouble Therefore will we not fear though the Earth be removed and though the Mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea Few believe that if the Lord be pleased to lay a great burden upon their shoulders he will give great strength to bear it and if he gives but little strength he will surely proportion the burden to it Whence are all our uproars of Spirit and disquietness of heart but from our not trusting upon Providence When God is working desolation did we see it his work we would be still David was so when strangely provoked by Shimei's insolency and railings God hath bid Shimei curse Abisha was not so much concerned in the affront as David but he sees not God in the lips of Shimei and therefore his Spirit is inflamed All the boylings of Revenge that are in the hearts of men one ' gainst another may be Boyling of revenge attributed to mans blindness and injudicious view of things they see not the wicked to be Gods Sword to let out their corruption they do not believe that God intends to pursue gracious designs by such instruments Joseph was easily conquered and perswaded to forgive the unkindness yea the cruelty of his Brethren in making Merchandize of him to the Ishmalites he could say Gen. 45.8.50.20 It was not you that sent me hither but God c. As for you ye thought evil against me but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive He insinuates to them that they had no cause to fear his revenging himself on them for that he could easily pardon that offence of theirs out of which God hath drawn so much good to his people and so much glory to his own Name How silent would we be yea how full of praises if by an eye of faith we did see the end of God in all his Providences that they lead to holyness Before I was afflicted I went astray Psa 119.67 75. Hebr. 12.10 but now I keep thy Word I know O Lord that thy judgements are right and that thou hast afflicted me in faithfulness He for
Lord of Heaven and Earth keep the Soul of this Wife this Child this Servant for if it be missing amongst the number of my sheep at the great day through thy neglect in instructing c. thy Soul shall go for it Hence not only should your Children be taught by you but your Wives and Servants The Wife is commanded to learn of her Husband at home and the Husband to walk with her as a man of knowledge and your Servants should be trained by you in Religion Gen. 14.14 as Abrahams Servants were by Abraham thus some of the Hebrew Rabbins think that Abraham's trained Servants are therefore so called Not conversing personally with them abâ—ut their Souls How seldome do you converse personally with every one in your Families concerning the practical part of Religion How seldome do you ask them any questions how it is with their Souls and what they think will become of them to all Eternity Are you not as great strangers to the inwards of their Souls as you are to the Souls of the Indians If their bodies be in danger meat physick attendance are procured but their Souls may perish in formality and carelessness for any help you will afford them Some Professing-Governours never treat with their housholds about their Spiritual Estate from one year to another Hence comes the great Apostasy of our times The Lord humble us and deliver us from bloud-guiltiness Many an Husband may cry out O my Wife's Soul is like to perish through my default many a Parent may shriek O! I am verily guilty of the bloud of my Child and many a Master may impute to his own account all the disorders of his Servants for that they have no personal conference with them about Original Corruption Regeneration Justification Sanctification Glorification c. Perhaps thou prayest in thy Family every day but not knowing the inward lusts and workings of their hearts towards God or Sin thou knowst not how to pray as thou oughtest thou knowst not what to confess and what to pray for nor what to bless God for 4. Not walking with gravity Have you walk'd with that gravity before your Wives Children and Servants as ye ought Have you not made your selves vile by lightness frothiness and unseemly carriages Governours of Families are the Viceroy's of God they are in the place of God and therefore should keep up their Authority and not sinfully run into such vanity and familiarity with their inferiours as to breed in them contempt of the Ordinance of God 5. Not giving them time to serve God in You have given your Children and Servants time to work for your selves but have you afforded them time to serve their God in Too too many use their Inferiours just as they use their Beasts they work and feed their Beasts but never instruct no more do they instruct their Inferiours When do you call your Wives Children Servants into your Closet and not only press them to look after their Souls and in order thereunto to spend some time in Prayer Reading Meditation c. but tell them how God wrought on you how he awakened you what corruptions prevail'd with you and how God help'd you to crucisie them How do you know but the same motives might melt reduce and turn their hearts too 6. Have not you miscarried as to the time Taking undue time for Family-Duties In the Morning too early for the management of your religious work in your houses Some Governours Pray in the Morning too early so early with a small part of their Family whilst others are in Bed or in the service of the World so that they worship not God together as they ought and this is past over with silence but if they miss of their Servant in the Shop or Field O! how doth the fire of Hell break forth at their lips How angry is the Governour he cries out O! I shall be undone by the unfaithfullness of my Wife Children Servants but sees not a greater danger a more probable ruine falling on him for not having his Family to worship God with him Others deferr Morning Prayer till it be almost Noon Too late They will adventure into all worldly imployments as we say without fear or wit they see no need of God to protect them from outward or inward dangers no need of Gods blessing till they are ready to fill their panch and then some Collects must be said some short Prayers it is the Custome of their fore Fathers it is the Religion of their Ancestours or Conscience will trouble at the total neglect of the Morning Sacrifice and therefore the Prayer shall be run over with more hast than the boy that saith his lesson that they may rise up to eat drink and play And as some are unseasonable in their duties in the Morning At Evening too late so at Evening Whilst their strength lasts to serve the world they attend it some 'till even midnight and then come let us go to Prayer when the poor Wife Children and Servants had rather be in bed than on their knees The Governour Prays dully enough 1 Sam. 2.17 Putting off family Prayer with a long grace and that while the poor family sleep or nauseate the duty and so like Elies Sons these Sons of Belial cause their people to abhorre the offering of the Lord. Are there not also some Professing-Governours unworthy of the name of Christian who think to please God and the family with a long grace before meat which shall be in lieu of all the service of the day 7. Not reading Scripture and good books How few are there that read the Scriptures and good books in their houses O! this will take up too much time as if God had given men all their time to neglect him in and to indulge to the services of the Flesh World and Devils CHAP. XXIX The sins of Husbands and Wives HUsband 's and Wives are call'd to reflexion on their miscarriages joyntly Husbands and Wives sins severally Joyntly for their not being so carefull of their choice as they should have been not seeking God enough in a matter of so great consequence which was for tearm of life and wherein the Souls of each other were so highly concerned 1 Cor. 7.39 The Wife is bound by the Law as long as her Husband liveth but if her Husband he dead she is at liberty to be married to whom she will only in the Lord. 2 Cor. 6.14 Be ye not unequally yoaked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness That they came together upon low earthly and lustfull motives for profit pleasure beauty rather than to further the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ The Sons of God saw the Daughters of Men that they were fair Gen. 6.2 and they took them Wives of all which they chose That they did not by Prayer and Fasting
to you by them though in the Name of the Lord. When your Ministers declaimed against your sins did you so mind what they delivered as to be any whit troubled Zech. 7.11 12. Did you not harden your hearts as an adamant Were you not so farr from being troubled for your sins that it was your only trouble you could not commit them without controul Were you not even troubled with admonitions and counsels commands and threatnings that crost you in your sins Can you say Acts 17.11 that you Received the Word with all readiness of mind Have not you heard heartlesly Heartlesly without a real sense of your want of the Word and without an appetite to it Had you such vehement desires after the treasure your Ministers were bringing you as covetous men have after the treasures of the Earth Could you ever with David say Psal 119.20 My Soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgements at all times Have not you heard unbelievingly unbelievingly Not crediting your Ministers Doctrine and not applying it to but shifting it off from your selve Have not their Sermons been therefore unprofitable to your Souls Heb. 4.2 because not mix'd with Faith Can you say that you received their Word 1 Thes 2.13 as the Word of God That you applyed it to your Souls as that which concern'd you May not we say with grief of Soul as our Lord hath said already John 5.37 You have not heard his voice at any time When you heard the Word which is Gods Word did you hear God himself speaking his own Word unto your hearts Have you not been cautioned by the Lord Jesus Christ and by his Ministers with a Take heed how you hear Luke 18.18 Carpingly And yet how oft have you heard the Ministers of Christ carpingly Not with a willingness to be judged by the Word but to judge it and the Preacher for it Have not you let slip the most material passages of the Sermon and pitch'd upon the weaknesses or impertinencies of the Minister How oft have you when you could not blame the subject matter found fault with the method and the manner of delivery and over-look'd that wherein your Souls were especially concerned Have not you heard Non-obediently Non-obediently Have not you been untractable and unteachable Have you not heard proudly and not humbly With hard hearts and not with hearts of flesh ready to receive the impression of the Word and willing to be moulded and fashioned according to it When could you say to any of Gods Ministers as Cornelius to Peter We are all here present to hear all that is commanded of God When wast thou of such an yielding Spirit Acts 9.6 Job 34.32 as Saul was of Lord What wilt thou have me to do His ear and heart was open to every command So was Job's That which I see not teach thou me Have not you had your Exceptions If Ministers have enjoyn'd you to pray in your Families perhaps you heard them therein but if they enjoyned from the Lord the same Legislatour that you pray in your Closets that you examine your selves that you fill your hands with both the Tables they could not be heard one reserve at least Whereas the right hearer cries out Lord What wilt thou have me to do I will do any thing Lord actively or passively to get Hill out of my Soul now and to keep my Soul out of Hell hereafter After hearing the Embassadours of Heaven After Not examining what they have heard how faulty have you been In not examining what you have heard by the written Word The Bereans consulted with the Oracles of God brought the Doctrines they heard to the measuring Line of the Sanctuary but so have not you They say a man will tell money after his Father but you have been too careless to tell over the Doctrines you have heard How many were there to whom the reputation and worth of the Teacher was sufficient proof of his Doctrine receiving all that was stamp'd with his tongue Mat. 23.9 Jude v. 16. Have not you called such and such a Minister Your Father on Earth in the same sense in which Christ forbids it Have not you had the Persons of men in admiration and that for advantage No wonder that Errours have abounded Men that through an over-esteem of the Minister take all upon trust or through sloth will not examine Doctrines are like to be deceived May not Christ check you Not remembring it Mar. 8.18 rather than the Disciples with Why do you not remember Have not you heard the Word and instantly forgot it Hath not the Word gone in at one ear and out at another Have not you let slip the Word Jam. 1.25 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is metaphorical taken from a Sieve or leaking Vessel when the liquor runs out as fast as it is put in Heb. 2.1 Have not you hereby been ever learning but not come to the knowledge of the truth Your Memories should be like the Ark wherein the Pot of Mannah was kept but alas When you heard the Word then came the wicked One Mat. 13.19 and catched away what was sowen in your hearts and was not the Word and the labours of Christs Ministers fallen so low that you were contented at least little troubled thus to be pillaged of this heavenly treasure Have not you neglected Meditation upon the Word you have heard Not meditating on it It was one special way whereby in time of the Law the clean Beasts were known from the unclean chewing the end Levit. 11.3 Luke 11.25 But how few ruminate upon what they have heard and received They do not with Mary keep the sayings and ponder them in their hearts Blessed are they that hear the Word and keep it How few retire into their Closets and reflect on the usefulness of the Word for the nourishment of their graces for the destruction of their sins How few consider whether they have met with God in the Sermon yea or no You should have gathered up the words of Christs Minister as Christ said of the fragments so as none should be lost or as the Gold-smith looks after the very dust of gold but as soon as Conscience was quieted did you ever think more of the Word How few have gone from the Church to the Closet Not praying over it there to pour out their Souls for a blessing upon what they heard From the Pulpit to the Trade is bad but from the Pulpit to the Ale-house that 's abominable but all are not clear herein O! If when your sin was discovered you had gone into your chambers and begg'd humiliation for it and victory over it and if when neglected duty was prest in publick you had retired and prayed to God to incline your hearts to keep Gods statutes would it not have been better with you than now it is Have not you
exhort one another daily to do good to all Did not I furnish you with wisdome and experience that you might be able and ready to help others Did not I by wonders of Providence prolong your dayes that you might be useful Did not I give you an interest in the affections of your Neighbours that you might be as the Dew and as the Rivers of Waters to the parched ground that you might be the Light and Salt of the Earth Nay did not I remove the Ministry among other weighty grounds to try your affections to perishing Souls And is this your answering all my designs and expectations to rail at them as the ungodly party and not to endeavour to make them better O! Consider how sad your case will be if the blood of thousands of Souls shall be lain at your doors for your neglects for your carelessness for your being worse than Balaams Ass for he once reproved perhaps you have never How do you know but a few words of yours might be as forcible as Jonah's to Nineveh as the Samaritan woman's was to the City Is this to love thy Neighbour as thy self Do'st love thy self and not regard thy Soul And canst thou love thy Neighbour and not endeavour to save him from perishing to pull the brand out of the fire Have you so learned Christ When our Lord dwelt in flesh among us was he dumb before sinners as you are when he saw the multitude wanting bread did not he deal forth the bread of life to them did not he prefer this work before his meat and drink had not he compassion for the ignorant did not he enlighten poor ignorant Souls and reprove the Hypocrisie of others When he went into the Publicans houses did not he preach of the Kingdome of God unto them And hath not he given you an enample that you should do as he hath done Should not you make it a matter of Conscience to write after so great so safe so glorious a Copy to follow so worthy a Leader and Pattern Add withall what stumbling blocks you have laid in the wayes of sinners how many have been offended by your conversation And will you send so many hundreds to Hell and not endeavour the conversion of some You pretend the want of parts But alas you want bowels you want affections you have not a real sight and deep sense of eternal matters If you had you would with tears in your eyes beseech your Neighbours to mind their perishing Souls Have not you so many parts as to say to your Neighbours Repent and Pray if perhaps your sins may be forgiven Go into thy Closet Professour and there mourn over thy hard heartedness and unmercifulness to the Souls of thousands of whom thou might'st have been an instrument of Conversion if thou hadst but attempted it Or could you not have gone and beseeched your Ministers to lay to heart the perishing estate of such a man or woman Or might you not have entreated those Souls to consult some Minister about their Everlasting State You have not done what you could you pretend you cannot convert them but you will not you will not try whether you can work them over from sin to God You say they are dead in sins and trespasses they have hearts of stone as insensible as stones as stupid as blockish as impenetrable as stones And wast not thou so some years ago Hast thou forgot the rock out of which thou wast hewn Nay is there not too much stone in thy heart that thou canst see thy God so dishonoured Christ so reproached by those who are baptized in his Name and wear his Livery and yet not endeavour to pull them out of the fire Thou relievest thy self with the mercy thou shewest to the bodies of the poor that beg at thy door when thou seest their soars their lean cheeks and naked shoulders thou succourest them there things thou oughtest to do but not to lay aside the Spiritual Almes that were due unto them thou shouldst have counselled them admonished them enlightned them and now if they perish in their ignorance will not their blood be required at thy hands O! tremble at your blood-guiltiness The Lord of Heaven and Earth who layes his claim to Souls All Souls are mine hath charged thee not to hate thy Brother in thine heart not to suffer sin to rest upon him but to reprove him And yet thou lettest him alone to perish in his iniquity You are so taken up with your own temporal or eternal good that you little regard what becomes of others to all eternity How do some hope to slink to Heaven alone Perhaps they seek their own profit 1 Cor. 10.33 but not the profit of many that they may be saved O that men would cast their eyes abroad saith one the very dumb inanimate Creatures would teach them better every Creature assimulates Fire turns what is near it into Fire Earth converts into Earth Flowers will be scattering of their seed and scent How canst thou hope the blessing of the new Creation rests upon thee when thou dost not increase and multiply O that you would be prevailed with to help counsel and direct others to Heaven If you have found the way thither be pleased to shew others the way to life the way to glory O! Pitty them as Christ pittied you Christ hath led you out of the wilderness of sin and trouble Be you eyes to the blind direct them the right way to the Land of Promise tell them what course you took declare unto them what God hath done for your Souls Do not you see how industrious Christs enemies are to diffuse their poyson Do not Turks and Papists endeavour to proselyte Will they not compass Sea and Land to spread and diffuse their Leaven Do not all people besides you labour to win to their Gods Do not unclean persons and drunkards entice others to the same wickedness shall Satans Vassals be filling Hell and will you not labour to fill Heaven Is it not your Honour to bring many Sons and Daughters unto God What will become of the next Generation How few Servants if any will Christ have if others take no more pains than you do to convince to allure to convert I fear Christ will take up the old complaint Mat. 8.20 The Foxes have holes and the Birds have Nests but the Son of Man will not have where to lay his head Consider how oft your poor Ministers have beseeched you to enter on this work lest other-mens-sins prove your damnation and yet how hath a dumb Devil possessed you O that yet you would commune with your own hearts whether you are willing that thousands should perish and go to Hell and if they answer No Ask them a second question why do not you use the means to prevent it Namely Exhortation Reproof and Counsell You have covered over your want of Zeal and tenderness with a pretence that you have not the gifts of Ministers
you cannot so exhort as Ministers c. But have you not been told that God can work by small means as well as by great and that by things that are not God can confound the wisdome of the flesh and bring to naught the things that are Is not this like the pretence of not being eloquent Do you not know have you not heard that the issue and event depends on the blessng of the Lord rather than on the work it self Is it not all one to the Lord to wound by a short as by a long sword Cannot God bless a few words in thy mouth as he did in Christs and the Apostles Can'st not thou say follow Christ and may not presently a Matthew a Publican leave his sinfull courses and embrace the Christian faith Can'st thou not say Repent and Believe that your sins may be blotted out and may not God concur with thee as he did of old times Is the Lords hand shortned that it cannot help If Israel be not gathered yet thy reward is with the Lord if thine heart were upright and could testifie that night and day thou hast not ceased to warn to rebuke and counsel Certainly your memories are not so bad but you must remember the weight of sin and of the wrath of God you have seen the wonders of the Lord in the deeps you that have escaped to shoar can tell of the Rocks and Shelves and Storms which you have been delivered from and will you set other Shipwrack their Souls rather than hold out your light unto them 〈…〉 may avoyd their ruines What shall I say to humble you There is more 〈◊〉 in Hell than you can afford Blush blush and be ashamed to have less zeal love and pitty to perishing Souls than Dives in Hell had he would have his Brethren saved from the Valley of Hinnom Your silence will make others think that Hell is a tollerable place that sin is not so evil and bitter a thing that to lye under Gods wrath is not so great a misery whilst you are so slow and backward to warn your Friends and Acquaintance that they slee from these and take Sanctuary in the true City of Refuge the Lord Jesus Christ O! If you know the worth of a Soul pitty the multitude with whom the day is not broke whose forlorn Souls are under a continual Massacre from the bloudy Butcher of Hell Besmear your Souls no longer with the guilt of their bloud Let them not starve for want of bread whilst you have to give them I shall bless God for ever and ever if this your negligence of the Souls of those whom you may account without may be cordially bewailed and you for the future double your diligence for their conversion Ministers cannot convert without the Concourse of Omnipotency neither can you Though Satan and thy own lazy heart hath told thee thou art unfit to set upon this work yet better do it meanly than wholy omit it God like Parents on earth loves to see his Children lift at those duties which are too hard for them and then he steps in and is a Co-worker with them What God did by illiterate Fishermen by Priscilla he can do by thee The Lord pardon thy former unmercifulness to the Souls of men But if thou continue careless and cruel if thou wilt not by Prayers for them and counsels to them seek their reducement as sure as thou art reading the voyce of thy Brothers blood is crying against thee from the earth By your example before if not since Profession you have been the cause of the destruction of Souls of how many who can tell And as Jeroboam made Israel to sin many years after he was rotten in his grave so your sin your wicked examples may propagate the trade of sin from generation to generation until Christ shall come to Judgement Tremble tremble at the thoughts of it if thou hast not the heart of a Beast in thee O! how many Souls are crying in Hell against thee cursing the day they knew thee or their Ancestours knew thee for that by thee they learned to sin the more and were strengthned in their wickedness by thy tongue and by thy life And now are not you bound to do your utmost to make restitution to labour to save them that be alive Is it not reasonable that you should labour to win Souls to Gods as you have to the Devils service and to have many blessing God in the Heavens for you that ever they were in the company of such an active zealous Christian who by word and life was instrumental to bring them to the knowledge of themselves and of their God And is it not a glorious work to hold forth such Light to the World that they seeing your good works may glorifie God and you may be Propagators of Zeal and Holiness from Generation to Generation till Christ shall appear to judge the World and to reward you for all the services you have done to his Name O! how welcome shall that man be to Heaven and Christ who hath fed the Souls and clothed the Souls and visited the Souls which he hath purchased with his own precious blood Christ will own thee for his Benefactour CHAP. XXXVII The Dis-ingenuity and Scandalousness of their Miscarriages WHen God had given the Prophet Ezekiel a large Catalogue of Judah's Abominations The wickedness of the former miscarriages Ezek. 8.9 V. 6 13 15. he then shew'd him the Wickedness of their Abominations He said unto me Goe in and Behold the wicked Abominations they do here He commanded him once and again and again to turn him yet again and he should see greater Abominations I cannot indeed promise thee that thou shalt now see greater Abominations than those already mentioned All that I shall now do shall be to represent the former Miscarriages in their crimson dye and scarlet colour And The First Thing I shall mention Commitred against so good and kind a God Eph. 4.30 as making your Sins Professours out of measure sinful is your Dis-ingenuity in so sinning against God O! You have sinned against a gracious God You have grieved the good Spirit of God whereby some amongst you have been sealed to the day of Redemption I am bold to say that one godly man's sinning against light and mercy doth more break the heart of God than the bruitish Sins of a Pagan Kingdom Ezek. 6.9 I am broken saith God with your whorish heart which hath departed from me c. And ye shall loath your selves for your evils which ye have committed in your abominations Amos 2.13 God hath been press'd down with your sins as the Cart with sheaves till he hath even Creak'd under the weight God expected more from the Treet planted in Zion than from the wild ones in the Wilderness Luke 13.9 Grief and Burthen springs much from unexpected Unkindnesses I looked for Fruit and there was none How were David's and Saul's Sins aggravated from
of your provocations humbled in the very dust be sure to keep Conscience tender Let not your convictions dye strike again and again smite on the thigh again and again whilst the Iron is hot This fire may be kept alive by bringing new fuel to it Labour exquisitely to afflict your Souls that you should be so foolish so vile as under Christs Livery to commit so great and so hideous abominations Take words and say O the Light that I have abused O the means of Grace that I have slighted O the little service that I have done to Christ O the many dis-services Let these things cut and grave and afflict and humble thy Soul exceedingly from morning to evening and from evening to morning till God be pacified towards thee beware lest the motions of a lazy heart cause thee to desist sooner A patient that hath had a long disease must continue in the use of the prescriptions till the ill humour be purged away 4. Indignation Let your sorrow be accompanied with detestation See all your sins and loath them and your selves too This is promised they shall loath their ways and doings which are not good O! how much sin have we confessed which yet we have secretly hug'd in our hearts Labour to have your hearts rise against your pride hypocrifie c. Hate sin not only for Hell but as Hell yea hate your selves for your sins yea hate your selves that you can hate your sins no more O that my hatred of my Lusts might be greater than ever my love was unto them I wish from my Soul Professors were more apprehensive of Gods Judgements that are upon them and the Nation for their sins I wish many of us were come up to the frames of the hard-hearted Jews and expressed so much tenderness as they did when Gods hand was heavy upon them their sins also were an heavy burden Hos 7.14 In their affliction they sought God early they mourned and humbled themselves very much though with the removal of their trouble their sorrows wore away However be not satisfied with this sorrow but labour for such sorrow as David had when he was wounded in his heart for sin though Nathan told him his sin was forgiven yet he continued his sorrows for his great transgressions Labour I beseech you for tears of hatred and indignation be greatly displeased with your selves because you have so foolishly and wretchedly dishonoured God and ventured your eternal undoing and if yet thine eyes be not like the Fish-ponds of Heshbon for thy sins take words and sament before God thine hardness of heart that thou shouldst so grievously offend and provoke God so good so gracious a God and that notwithstanding thine heart should remain unbroken 5. Supplication Let there be added hearty cries to God for pardon of all these and all other abominations Who forgives him that scorns to sue for Remission Here is your work in this day the Devil and a false heart will put you upon other work but this is your present work Cant. 1.6 They made me the keeper of the Vineyards but mine own Vineyard I have not kept But O! do not leave the work that God sets you about I know it is your duty to provide for the bodies of your Children but consider the danger of thy Soul what guilt thou art under and give the Lord no rest till he hath blotted out all thy sin and art assured that he will remember it no more Relieve not thy self with the general bounty of God or with the free grace and rich mercy of God whilst thou neglectest to cry to God for grace and mercy He will be sought unto by the house of Israel Prize thy condition that thou art alive to pray thou mightst have been in Hell there to howl for ever and ever Seek the Lord whilst he may be found Seek in time before it be too late And if thou doubtest whether thou hast an interest in Christ and the promises because of thy hideous transgressions yet remember the gracious words that tell once from the mouth of Christ to the Samaritan John 4.10 If thou didst know the gift of God thou wouldst have asked and he would have given thee living water Though thou art unworthy of Childrens bread and hast deserved to be cast forth among the dogs yet thou hast to do with a bountifull and mercifull Lord and therefore be not cast down so as to be discouraged from waiting on the Lord. It was ill said of him why should I wait on the Lord any longer There is no hope I would have thee take better words into thy mouth and say Lord I am unworthy to be the object of thy mercy unworthy to live worthy to be denyed because thou didst call and I did not hear therefore if I call thou mayst justly turn me off in thy fury thou mightest answer me by terrible things in righteousness But deal not with me according to my deservings O! make me the great instance of the power of thy grace let thy mercy in pardoning be great exceeding great O God! Do not delay the suing out thy pardon Without delay away quickly to the Throne of Grace Remember Faelix put off his work till some other time There is danger in delays lest your sense of sin and sorrow for it vanish and decay blow up the first sparks of grace lest they go out and dye again take the first advantages of the grace of God Hast thou an inclination to humble thy self to pray to seek Gods face improve it quickly lest the wrath of God who is nighly provoked already against thee break form upon thee and there be no remedy Do not you know that you have lost the sense of the love of God But have you also lost all sense of Gods wrath Do not you wonder you escape that you are yet alive that you are not free among the dead incorporated with the Hypocrites and damned crew Will you dare you go on in your hardness of heart Will you treasure up wrath against the day of wrath O! God forbid Lay by the world thy false friend thy treacherous Joab that hath smitten to the earth with its kisses and its smiles Here is a business on which thy life the life of thy precious Soul depends Prepare to meet thy God wrath is gone out from the Lord howl weep cry it may be you shall be hid is the day of the Lords wrath it may be your sins shall be forgiven Though the law be a looking-glass to shew you your spots the Baver under the law was made of looking-glosses yet it cannot cleanse you it is the Gospel alone that pardons Away ye wandring Sheep to the great Shepheard of your Souls Hebr. 13.20 great he is in affection and love to his flock he hath laid down his life for you he hath purchased you with his own bloud Nathans parable of the Ewe-Lamb is most true of Christ and