Kingdome which the holy shall immediately upon their deaths enter into but what is all this to thee when thou must be without it for ever thou mayst see Abram afar off and Lazarus in his bosome but between him and thee there will be a great gulf As a stranger thou mayst hear the last Will and Testament of Christ read and therein the fair rich and large portions which he hath bequeathed to his children John 17.24 Luke 12.32 but not the least mention made of any good for thee look from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation and see if there be one good word spoken to thee whil'st thou art in thy natural estate Moses like thou mayst by the prospective of Scripture have a Pisgah sight of Palestine of that good Land flowing with milk and hony but as God is true if thou diest in unregeneracy thou shalt never enjoy one foot of it The worst of a Saint is past when he dyeth but thy worst O sinner is to come there are some dregs in the bottome which thou art yet to drink down thou hast thy good things here and he his evil things but at death he is comforted and thou art tormented He hath all his hell upon earth his heaven is to come thou hast all thy heaven on earth and thy hell is to come when thou passest into another world the hell of a Saint is an easie hell But ah how hot is that hel in hel how fiery is that furnace how how terrible those torments I may conceive somewhat the damned feel most but no tongue can expresse them But it may be Friend thou art one that thrivest in this world and therefore dost not trouble thy head much lesse thy heart with the things of another world thou art unwilling to put a spoonful of those thoughts into thy sauce least it should make thy meat unsavory it would mar thy mirth and spoile thy sports As Sigismund the Emperor did not love the pronunciation of the Greek Zeta because it represented the gnashing teeth of a dying man so thou art resolved to banish such enemies as thou thinkest out of thy coasts and like a bear to go down that steep hill of death backward But know thou O man that whether thou wilt consider of thy death before-hand or no it is hastening upon thee though thou puttest it farre from thee whether thou wilt or no it draweth nigh to thee the ship moveth not so fast in the waters nor the Sun in the heavens as thou art hastening towards thy long thine everlasting home and then death will bring thee up a reckoning for all thy sweet morsels merry meetings time and talents whatsoever believe it then thou wilt have sowre sauce for all thy sweet-meats thy presumption will prove but like Hamans banquet before execution What advantage then will thy suni-shiny morning of common mercies bring thee when as on Sodome it will be followed with flakes of fire and brimstone before night Dost thou not know that when the wicked flourish it is that they may be destroyed for ever Psal 92.7 The higher thou ascendest on this ladder the greater thy fall when death turneth thee off thou art but ripening for ruine and fatting on earth to fry in hell all the while thou art flourishing in a course of sinning nay thou mayest be much nearer hell then thou art aware of The mettal when it shineth brightest in the fire is nearest melting thou like a candle mayst give a blaze when thou art going out of the world into blacknesse of darknesse for ever The Hawk flieth high and is as highly prized being set upon a Pearch and set out with the gingling bells of encouragement and carried on his Masters fist but being once dead and pitched over the Pearch is cast upon the dunghill as good for nothing The Hen scrapes in the dust nothing rewarded while she liveth but being dead is brought as a choice dish to her Masters Table Thus wicked men in this life are set in high places godly men lie groveling with their mouths in the dust but being dead the former is cast into hell the latter brought to Heavens Table But that I may awaken thy conscience O secure sinner and make thee look about thee whil'st there is time and hope if the gracious and powerful God please to assist I shall give thee an estimate of the sinners losses by death by which thou mayest see what a difference there is between the death of the titular and the real Christian And here Reader thou must help me with thy conceptions for I shall come infinitely short in my expressions As none can endure it so none can declare it for who knoweth the power of Gods wrath Psa 90.11 The oratour when he would describe the violent death of the Crosse doth it by an Aposiopesis What saith he shall I say of the death of the Crosse Quid dicam in crucem tollere Tull. much more cause have I to speak so of this death What shall I say of this eternal death 1. By death thou shalt lose all thy earthly delights and carnal contentments The table of thy life possibly is richly spread with variety of outward enjoyments riches relations honours pleasures beauty and bravery but death will come in with a voider and take all away It is called an uncloathing 2 Cor. 5.4 and indeed it wil strip thee naked of all such garments and ornaments Thine eye shall no more see good Job 7.7 i. e. the good things of this life they will all die with thee as to thy use and comfort It is a doleful expression of Abram to Dives Thou hadst or thou receivedst thy good things in thy life-time Luk. 16.25 O what a cutting word was that to his heart when he was passed into another world Remember there was a time when thou and they were joyned together but now ye are parted for ever to have been happy Miserum est fuisse felicem was no small aggravation of his misery It is with thee while in this world as it was with the Jews in the Vineyards and fields of their Neighbours pluck and eat they might while there but pocket up and carry away they might not Deut. 23.24 25. Death is the great thief which will rob thee of all thy riches The wealthiest Emperor the next moment after death hath no more than the poorest beggar As thou camest forth of thy mothers wombe naked thou shalt return to go as thou camest and shalt take nothing in thy hand of all thy labour Eccles 5.15 That gold which thou lovest and trustest more than God these pebbles which thou valuest above the pearl of price that treasure on earth which thy heart is set upon more than on the true treasure in heaven will all leave thee when death findeth thee In his Treatise of love Mr. Rogers telleth us of one that being nigh death clapt a twenty shilling piece in his mouth saying Some
excellencie is there in that soul which is united to a Saviour It is called the life of God Eph. 4.18 Surely no life can be more honorable than the life of God yet in their measure the sanctified ones live the very same life that the glorious God the fountain of all true honor liveth David though a King thought himself honored by being Gods subject and therefore as others before their works mention those titles which belong to them and speak their honor David stileth himself before the six and thirtieth Psalm a servant of God as his most honorable title Constantine and Valentinian two Emperors subscribed themselves Vasallos Christi Socr. A Psalm of David a servant of the Lord. If it be such an honor to serve an Earle a King what is it to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Godlinesse is called a walking with God Gen. 5.24 a conversing or having fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ his Son 1 John 1.3 For God to walk and converse with us is his greatest humiliation but for us to walk or converse with God is our highest exaltation The righteous saith the wise man who had judgement to set a due price upon persons is more excellent then his neighbor Prov. 12.26 Let him live by never so rich or great men yet if they want grace they are not comparable to him Sumus Domini non tantum in Genitivo singulari sed etiam in Nominativo plurali Luth. The godly man hath the most honorable birth he is born of God John 1.13 the most honorable breeding he is brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord the most honorable Tutor and Teacher the good Spirit of God John 14.16 the most honorable Attendants the glorious Angels the most honorable employment his main work is to wait upon God The most honorable Relations A King for his Father 2 Cor. 6. ult A Queen for his Mother Gal. 4.26 The excellent of the earth Psal 16.3 Lords in all Lands Psal 45.16 Higher then the Kings of the earth Psal 89.27 Those Worthies of whom the world is not worthy for his Brethren Hebr. 11. Numa second King in Rome though an Heathen could say That he held it an higher honor to serve God then to rule over men The Jews say That those seventie souls which went down into Egypt were more worth then all the seventie Nations of the world beside If the glorious Angels in heaven are more honorable than the Devils sure I am it is holinesse that maketh the difference The most gaudy and goodly fruits of moralitie springing from the soil of nature manured and improved to the utmost The Heavens bespangled with those glittering Stars and adorned with that illustrious Sun are nothing glorious in comparison of the heart of a poor Christian that is embroidered with grace It is godlinesse alone that addeth worth and value to all our civil and natural things as the Diamond to the Ring Nothing doth really debase and degrade a man but sin and nothing doth truly advance or innoble the soul but holinesse Job scraping himself on the dunghill and Jeremiah sinking in the mire were more honorable and glorious than Ahab and Ahaz on their Thrones with their Crowns If the respect we have from others makes us honorable then they that are most precious in Gods sight are most honorable Isai 43.4 If it be some internal excellencie that makes men honorable then they that have the Image of God must be most honorable It is worthy our observation that sin is so ignoble and base that those wicked ones who love it most are ashamed to own it openly but because of the excellencie of holinesse will set that forth for their colours their banners though indeed they fight Satans battels That forlorn hope for hell 2 Tim. 3.5 of covenant-breakers blasphemers men without natural affection yet they will have a form of godlinesse though they do sins drudgery yet they are ashamed of their base master and therefore wear the Saints livery having a form of godlinesse Nay the Devil himself will appear in Samuel's mantle and transform himself into an Angel of light But holinesse is so excellent that God is pleased to esteem it as his own beauty and glory How often is he called The holy One of Israel The Angels ascribe holinesse to him by way of eminencie Holy Holy Holy Isai 6.3 we read not in Scripture of any of Gods other Attributes thrice repeated to shew that the Dignity of God consisteth in this And so doe the Saints in heaven praise him for it as his Excellencie Rev. 6.10 and the Saints on earth Exod. 15.11 Holinesse is the character of Jesus Christ The Image of the infinitely glorious God nay it is called the divine nature Surely then they that have most of it are most honorable and they which want it how full soever they are of all other excellencies are base and contemptible Secondly As this spiritual life is most honorable so it is most comfortable There is no life so pleasant and delightful as the life of a Saint The merry grigs and jolly gallants of the world whose sinful mirth is worse than madnesse will needs tell us that godlinesse makes men mopish and melancholy that when once we salute Religion we take our leave of all delight and consolation whereas indeed there never was true peace born but it had purity for its parent All other is spurious and illegitimate But the world like the Primitive Persecutors put Christians into the skins of Beares and Buls and then bait them as if they were really such And the hand of the Devil is in all this who like the Indians maketh great fires to fright Mariners from landing at such Coasts as would be most for their comfort and contentment Believe Reader the true and faithful Witnesse His wayes are wayes of pleasantness and all his paths are peace Prov. 3.17 It is not sanctity but their want of it or mistake about it which maketh them sorrowfull It is confest Saints may be sad they doe not cease to be men when they begin to be Christians It was in thy company it may be O sinner No wonder Fish cannot sport themselves when they are out of their element Birds do not sing on the ground but when they are mounting on high towards heaven And probably their hearts were heavy out of compassion to thee whom they observed to be hastening to hell and dancing merrily over the very pit or destruction and easeless misery Thou seest their sorrows sometimes thine eyes may behold their tears but thou dost not see their joys thy heart cannot conceive them Saint Austâ—ne relateth concerning an heathen that shewed the father his idol gods saying Here is my God where is thine and then pointing up to the Sun he said Here is my God but where is thine I shewed him not my God saith Austine not because I had none to shew but because he had no
therefore in their language they have the same word for a dead man and a Divel and the godly after death shall be perfectly like God They are now partakers of the divine nature and so like him yet how much unlike him but when they shall see him in heaven then they shall be like him indeed 1 Joh. 3.2 a Pet. Martyr tells us of a deformed woman married to an uncomely man that by looking much on beautiful pictures brought forth lovely childâ—en Loc. Com. pars 1. cap. 6. Vision causeth an assimulation in nature Gen. 30.37 38. in grace 2 Cor. 3.18 so here in glory The Schoolmen put the question How the Angels and souls of men in heaven come to be impeccable or without sinne * Visâ—o beatifica impotentes reddit ad peccandum and answer that it is by the beatifical visions The Apostle seemeth to intimate as much in the fore-quoted place When he shall appeare we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is As the Pearl by the often beating of the sun-beams upon it becomes radiant so the Christian being ever beheld by the Lord and alwayes beholding the face of his Father in heaven shall be more like him then ever child was to father on earth then that Profession of Christ will be abundantly verified Behold thou art faire my love behold thou art faire thou art all faire my love there is no spot in thee Cant. 4.1 7. Then the end of Christs passion shall be fully attained when he shall present to himself a glorious Church without spot or wrinckle or any such thing Ephes 5.27 not only in regard of imputed righteousnesse or justification but also in regard of imparted righteousnesse or sanctification Here the heart of a Christian is like Rebeccahs womb it hath twins struggling in it the appearance of the Church is as it were the company of two Armies Cant. 6.13 the old man and the new man flesh and spirit the Law in the members warring against the Law of the mind As there was war betwixt Asa and Baasha all their dayes so there is betwixt the regenerate and unregenerate part all the time of this life but this gracious conflict shall then end in a glorious conquest when the death of the body shall quite destroy this body of death Sin in the heart is like the leprosie in the house which would not out till the house was pulled down Levit. 14.44 45. But when soul and body shall be parted for a time sin and the soul shall be separated to eternity And as the heart so the life of a Christian is like a book which hath many errata's in it and therefore legendus cum veniâ the whitest swan hath her black feet the best gold must have its grains of allowance There is no man that liveth upon earth and sinneth not Eccles 7.20 All of us offend in many things and many of us in all things Jam. 3.2 * Omne opus justi damnabile est si judicio Dei judicetur Luther in Alsert Our righteousness as a filthy rag Isa 64.6 Our graces not without their defects Lord I believe help mine unbelief Mark 9.24 Our duties not without their defaults When I would do good evil is present with me Rom. 7.21 The purest fire hath some smoak the richest Wine some dregs but death will turn sinne out of all its holds and leave it not so much as a being in the Christian The bodies of men have usually a mighty shoot at death but O what a shoot will the soul of a Saint have when it shall be carried by Angels to the place where the spirits of just men are made perfect Heb. 12.23 2. The soul alive in Christ shall be freed at death from all suggestions and temptations to sin Then a Christian shall be above the reach of all Satans batteries then that promise will be performed That the God of peace will tread Satan under the Saints feet Rom. 16.20 Now Peter is winnowed Paul is buffeted David is stirred by the wicked one to number the people If Joshua be ministring unto the Lord Satan will be at his right hand to resist him Zach. 3.1 It 's no small unhappinesse to a Saint that he is here followed with unwearied assaults that the Prince of darknesse is restlesse in casting in his fire-balls to put the soul into an hellish flame though he should never be conquered yet for the Christian to have his quarters beaten up night and day must needs disquiet him To have blasphemous thoughts of a God infinitely great and gracious to have mean and vile apprehensions of a Saviour imcomparably precious cast into him though he close not with them cannot but wound him to the heart As for a chast Matron that loatheth the thoughts of dishonesty to be continually solicited to folly is a sore vexation The temptations of our Lord Jesus were a sad part of his humiliation But death will ease the soul of this trouble As in heaven there shall be no tinder of a corrupt heart to take so no divel like steel and flint to strike fire The crooked serpent could wind himself into the terrestrial but shall never creep into the celestial Paradise his circuit is to go to and fro in the earth he cannot enter the confines of heaven when he fell from his state of integrity he left that place of felicity and cannot possibly recover it again The Saints on earth indeed are militant fighting with him but the Saints in heaven are all Triumphant wholly above him more than conquerours through him that loveth them Rom. 8.37 There the children of God are gathered together and no Satan among them there the son of David delivereth his true Israelites from all their fears of this uncircumcised Philistine When the heavenly Mordecai comes to be a chief favourite in that high and holy Court he shall be freed from all his frights about this enemy and adversary this wicked Haman The Ark and Dagon could not stand together in one house much lesse can light and darknesse Michael and the Dragon God and the Divel dwell together in one heaven If Ireland as some write be so pure a soyle that it will not nourish any venemous creature I am sure heaven is so pure that into it can in no wise enter any thing that defileth Rev. 21. ult it will not harbour those poisnous serpents Heaven once saith an Author spued them out and it will not return to its vomit or lick them up again no such dirty dog shall ever trample on that golden pavement There is such a cursed irreconcileable contrariety in their natures to the blessed company and exercises in heaven that certainly they cannot desire much lesse delight in that place If the Presence of Christ were such a torment to them in his estate of humiliation what a torment would it be in his estate of exaltation it is observable they left their own habitation Jude ver 6.
robes of glory Mr. Thomas Wilson Minister of Maidstone in Kâ—nt an eminent servant of the Lord Jesus I remember I have sometimes heard an able holy Minister now with Christ say that that sight of five hundred Saints and Jesus Christ among them 1 Cor. 15.6 was one of the bravest goodliest sights that ever eyes beheld on earth Sure I am they that are in heaven see a far better beholding Jesus Christ in the midst of many thousands Secondly A Christian shall gain by death the neerest communion with the Lord Jesus Christ and O what happinessâ— is included in this Head The presence of Christ on earth can make a mean cottage a most delightful court to the three children it turned the fiery furnace into a delectable palace what will it do then in Heaven Bernard saith he had rather be in his chimny-corner with Christ Mallem in camino meo cum Christo quam in coelo sine Christo Bern. than in heaven without Christ Luther saith he had rather be in hell with Christ than in heaven without Christ communion with Christ can sweeten the bitterest condition Christ alone is the salt which seasons all the Saints comforts without which nothing is savoury to the spiritual taste A duty without Christ is like a body without a soul which hath neither loveliness nor life in it Communion with Christ is one great motive which inciteth the Saint to and encourageth him in the Ordinances of God He attendeth on Scriptures because they are they that testifie of Christ the pearl of price is hid in that field Cant. 5.1 In them the lips of Christ like lillies drop sweet-smelling myrrhe and O how his heart burneth within him with love to Christ whilst Christ is opening to him the Scriptures He frequenteth prayer because therein Christ and his soul converse together in that Ordinance he enjoyeth much of Ch ists quickning presence he speaketh to Christ by holy supplications and Christ to him by heavenly consolations He mindeth fasting because therein his soul may with Jesus Christ have a spiritual feast or the greatest cause of his weeping is with Mary They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him The means of grace are therefore so desirable and delightful because rhey are the Galleries wherein he walketh talketh feedeth and feasteth with the Lord of glory The highest duty without Christ is as a dish without meat from which he goeth as empty and unsatisfied as he came to it It is to him as Tullies Hortens to Austine of little worth if the Name of Jesus be not there If he love the Saints with a love of complacency 't is because they are Christs seed if he love the sinner with a love of pity 't is for Christs sake his affections are contracted or enlarged towards any thing as it hath lesse or more relation to Christ and nothing is of true value or worth in his esteem which hath not aliquid Christi something of Christ in it Now consider Reader if the presence of Christ be so precious so pleasant to the Christian here when he can see so little of his excellent beauty and receive so little of his infinite bounty what will it be when he shall appear to the soul in all his royalty and fill the water-pots of the soul up to the brim with the riches of grace and glory Demorrhathus of Corinth saith they lost the chief part of their lives happinesse that did not see Alexander sit on the throne of Darius if that were such an happy sight what a sight shall the Saints have to see Christ on his Fathers Throne O how much is included in those few words To be with Christ which is the description of the Saints gain by death Philip. 1.23 This was the great Legacy and portion which Christ bequeathed his in his last Will and Testament John 17.24 This was the great promise and sweet meats which the tender father provided to comfort his fainting children with at his own Funeral John 16.22 This was the great prayer which Paul maketh for his beloved Timothy 2 Tim. 4.22 This was the enlivening cordial which the good Physician administred to the dying patient Luke 23.43 This is the great reason for which the godly long for death Philip. 1.23 I desire death saith Melancthon that I may enjoy the desirable fight of Christ Ut desiderato fruar conspectu Christi and O when will that blessed hour come when shall I be dissolved when shall I be with Christ said holy Mr. Robert Bolton on his Death-bed Surely then this gain is great which the Saint shall have by death He that hath Christ with him by grace may say with Peter Master it is good to be here but he that is with Christ in glory may say with Paul To be with Christ is far better without doubt best of all They were blessed which saw him in his estate of debasement Luke 10.23 but much more blessed will they be that shall see him in his estate of advancement Thirdly the Saint by death shall gain the full and immediate fruition of God The former were excellent but this as the Sun among the Planets surpasseth them all The other were as Rivers this is the Ocean they were as branches bearing goodly fruit but this is the root upon which they grow they all as lines meet in this center this is the top-stone of the celestial building this is the highest stair the apex of the Saints happinesse This is the greatest gift which the creature can possibly ask or the infinite God bestow The boundlesse God cannot well give a greater mercy than this Is any thing yea are all things in heaven and earth equal to God God alone is the highest object of faith 1 Pet. 1.21 and therefore the greatest ground of joy and satisfaction to the soul Psalm 17. ult The Vision of God is the beatifical vision 1 John 3.3 and therefore the fruition of God will cause perfection in the soul The enjoyment of God is the great desire and delight of the Saints on earth Psalm 42.1 2. nay it is the happinesse of the humane nature of the Lord Jesus Psalm 16.5 6. without question then it will be the Heaven of Heaven That excellent description of Heaven mentioned by the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.28 That God may be all in all 1 Thess 4. ult is a being ever with the Lord. This is all the most fluent tongue must be here silent and the most capacious understanding will be soon at a stand in the consideration of the felicity which floweth from the fruition of God The presence of this King will make the Court indeed For the Lord to be with us is our chiefest security though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death I will feare no evil for thou art with me Psal 23.4 but for us to be with the Lord will be our choicest felicity In his presence is fulnesse of
God offereth thee heaven thou choosest earth and notwithstanding he assureth thee that now is the only acceptable time now is the only day of salvation yet thou wilt not hear when he calleth I tel thee the day is near when thou wouldst but God wil not when thou shalt call but he wil not hear and then thou shalt find no place for repentance though Esau like thou seek it carefully with tears When once thy particular judgement is pass'd 't wil be in vain to beg a Psalm of mercy 3. Thou shalt at death lose the society of all the godly even of those excellent ones in whom is the delight of Christ Prov. 8.31 and all the delight of Christians Psa 16.3 It is a blessing to thee upon earth did the Lord but sanctifie it to thee that thy lot is cast in a Land in a Parish in a family where those holy ones are that thou mayst hear their gracious prayers see their pious patterns and enjoy their precious precepts Homo boni pedis A Saint is as the Proverb is in Africa A man whose coming is prosperous this churlish Laban could confesse Gen. 30.27 and the Heathenish Egyptian found by experience Gen. 39.2 All the Countrey fareth the better for a good and rich Christian he eateth not his morsels alone but keepeth open house for all comers He both desireth and endeavoureth that others might be not almost but altogether as he is None are more spiritually covetous to make Proselites then the true Israelites As the wall which receiveth heat from the Sun reflecteth it on the passengers so he wisheth so wel to the worst that they were partakers of the same grace that they may have fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ his Sonne John 1.1 Like the Bee he goeth to this and that flower to this and that Ordinance and sucketh some sweetness some spiritual good and carrieth all home to his house to his hive As sin is diffusive a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump 1 Cor. 5. 6. Some say they that have the plague are very desirous to infect others so is grace like oil spreading the gracious desire to go to an innumerable company of Angels with a numerous company of Saints Their examples are amiable and sometimes instrumental for the conversion of others 1 Pet. 3.1 1 Cor. 7.16 Justin Martyr confesseth of himself that beholding the Saints piety in life and patience at death he gathered their doctrine to be the truth and was converted their prayers are desirable and that in the esteem of prophane and ungodly men Exod. 8.28 Exod. 9.28 Acts 8.24 In a word The Saints are clouds which water the earth Heb. 12. the salt which keepeth the world from putrefaction Mat. 6. That place Prov. 10.25 But the righteous is an everlasting foundation The Hebrews expound the righteous are the foundation of the world which but for their sakes would soon shatter and fall to ruine Sanctum semen statumen terae Isa 6.13 Absque stationibus non staret â—undus I beare up the pillars thereof saith David Psalm 75.9 It is for the sake of the good that the bad are spared Acts 27.24 All that sailed with Paul were saved for his sake How many a time have they stood in the gap and diverted a flood of wrath from breaking in Psal 106.30 Numb 14.20 How many a mercy hath come flying to the world upon the wings of their prayers But O sinners herein wil be a part of thy misery that thou shalt for ever be banish't their company now possibly thou thinkest the Parish the worse for such strict inhabitants thy dwelling the worse for such precise Neighbours thy family the worse for such an humble zealous child or servant now thou do'st not know what thou gainest when thou hast their society but thou shalt know what thou losest when thou hast lost them to eternity If Cicero did so bewail his banishment from the Romane Moralists that though the Countries through which he travelled did him much honour yet he would often look towards Italy with sighs and tears and if the Disciples wept so much for the losse of Paul they fell about his neck and kissed him and wept sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more in this world Acts 20.37 38. how wilt thou sigh and sob weep and wail when thou shalt be parted from them in the other world Did the devout men make suck great lamentation for the losse of one good man for a little time Act. 8.2 what lamentation shalt thou make for the losse of all good men to eternity Surely as in Ramah there wil be a voice heard lamentation weeping and mourning for the losse of these children of God 4. When thou diest thou shalt lose all thy hope or presumption rather Thy dead hope for Saints only have a lively hope 1 Pet. 1.3 wil fail thee at death As thou hast no true holiness so thou canst have no true hope but something 't is likely thou hast upon which thou reliest as to thy future estate It may be thou hast the good things of this life and thence concludest thy right to a better life as if because the great House-keeper of the world throweth some bones to the dogs therefore he must love them with a paternal love thou do'st not consider their houses may be full of gold whose hearts are empty of grace and whose souls shall assuredly come short of glory Job 22.17 18. Psal 17.13 14. It may be it is thy profession of Religion that holds thee up by the chin and keepeth from sinking as if because a stage-player is drest in the Robes and for a quarter of an houre acteth the part of a King he must therefore have a real right to the Dignity Dominions and Revenues of the Regal Office not believing that those colours of the form which are not laid in oyl in the power of godlinesse wil be wash't off at death Matth. 25.8 Or it is likely thou enjoyest the priviledges of the Gospel Sabbaths Sacraments and the seasons of grace are the bladders with the help of which without an inward change thou thinkest to swim to heaven do'st thou not know that many go to hel fire with Font-water on their faces and from the table to the tormentour Matth. 22.13 that Esau a cast-away and Ishmael an out-cast had both Abram to their father and so had they whom truth it self assureth that they were of their father the divel John 8.44 Circumcision availeth nothing nor uncircumcision but a new creature Gal. 6.15 All such things are but lying words where an internal work of grace is wanting Jer. 7.4 5 6. Or possibly thou art a man of many performances thou mindest secret family relation-duties which too too many neglect praying reading hearing Christian communion like the spider thou weavest a curious web out of thine own bowels and therewith makest thee a house in which thou
if it were as good as the best so there is a great deal of counterfeit holinesse in the world a great deal of civility of morality of common grace which is taken or rather mistaken by men for true saving grace much fancy is taken for faith presumption for hope self-love for Saint love and worldly sighs for godly sorrow What can the Saint do but as to the outward appearance the sinner may do the same as the divel is Gods ape so is the self-deluding soul not seldom the Saints ape Doth the Saint abstain from grosse sins so doth he whose Religion consisted so much in Negatives Luke 18.11 Doth the Saint pray so do the Pharisees and make long prayers too Matth. 23.14 Do the Saints fast Nehem. 1.4 Dan. 9. So do they Matth. 6.16 9 14. and it may be twice in one week Luke 18.11 Do the Saints give alms Acts 10. so do they Matth. 6.1 2. Do the Saints confesse sin the sinner can do it in the very same words 1 Sam. 15.24 Doth Ephraim repent Jer. 31.18 so doth Judas Matth. 27.3 Doth Abram believe Rom. 4. so doth Simon Magus Act. 8.13 Doth Hezekiah humble himself 2 Chron. 32.26 so doth Ahab and walk softly into the bargain 1 Kings 22.15 Doth the man after Gods own heart fulfill all Gods will Act. 13.22 you shall hear that a Jehu shall do very much and that by a testimony from Gods own mouth 1 Kings 10.31 Thou hast done well in executing that which was right in mine eyes thou hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart What a great resemblance is there in all these outwardly but a vast difference inwardly The ungodly sometimes do attain to the outward actions but never to the inward sanctified affections of the godly As the painter may paint fire but he cannot paint heat that is beyond his skill Many titular Christians are like the Onyx-stone of which Naturalists write that it is clear and bright in the superficies but dark and muddy at the center men of civil conversation but not of sanctified affections Now all this calleth aloud to thee to try thy self whether thou goest beyond them that do all before-mentioned and yet come short of heaven Besides it is not seldome that a true Christian for want of a prudent trial judgeth himself unsound As the face of Moses so his heart shines with grace and he knoweth it not Christ is in him as he was with the two Disciples and he as they is ignorant of it Many Christians like Hagar weep and mourn that they must die for thirst when the water of life is by them yea within them There is that maketh himself rich full of peace and joy from assurance of Gods favour and his salvation yet hath nothing not one jot of grace or true ground of joy there is that maketh himself pooâ— perswadeth himself to be in a most wretched estate and yet hath great riches Pro. 13.7 is highly in Gods favour and hath great store of saving grace But most coÌ„monly the error is on the other side how doth every swaggering or at best civilized sinner presume that he is a Saint how often hath he blear-eyed Leah lying by him all night and he thinketh it is beautiful Rachel til the light of the morning discover the contrary how many have the Devil and the world lodging in their arms and embraces and think it is Christ the fairest of ten thousand till upon examination it be found otherwise Reader take heed this be not thy case that thou like Uriah carriest letters about thee importing thy own execution and yet thou not know of it it is ordinary for men to think they are spiritually rich and increased with good and to have need of nothing and not to know that they are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Revel 3.17 they cry like Agag Surely the bitternesse of death is past there is no fear of death of wrath of hell or damnation when they are liable every moment to be hewn in pieces before the Lord to be torn in pieces by the roaring lion O how many a precious vessel soul I mean hath been split upon this rock of presumption Doth it not therefore concern thee to be serious and faithful in searching thy heart lest thou shouldst as the most deceive thy self about a businesse of such unspeakable consequence Secondly consider the fewnesse of them that have Christ for their life or that live this spiritual life every one almost that liveth within the visible Church is ready to say that heaven is his inheritance and he shall escape the wrath to come when the Word of God and the works of men do clearly and fully speak the contrary The Devil hath his droves all the earth wandreth after the beast Rev. 17.8 The whole world lyeth in wickedness 1 John 5.19 The enemies of God cover the earth like grasshoppers for multitude Judg. 7.12 they fill the Countrey when the Israeliter are like two little flocks of Kids 1 Kings 20.27 The good and the true shepherd calleth his flock a little flock Luke 12.32 nay a little little flock 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there being in the original two diminutives to shew ther fewnesse When four if not five Cities were destroyed one righteous Lot with his small family is delivered Gen. 19.15 When an whole world is drowned a few that is eight souls are saved 1 Pet. 3.20 Therefore the children of God are called a remnant Micah 7.18 two or three yards remaining of fourty or fifty and compared to the gleanings after the vintage Isa 17.6 one or two bunches may be left under some thick or outmost bough but what are they to the many baskets full that were gathered before The Saints are jewels now how few are there of such pearls in comparison of pebbles Mal. 3.17 and strangers Psal 119.19 how small is their number to natives which are the worlds own Joh. 15.19 The Church of Sardis hath a few names onely that have not defiled their garments Rev. 3.4 Some have divided the world into thirty parts and have affirmed nineteen of those to be without Christ in whose name alone is salvation and six of the remaining eleven to be â—apists which certainly are in no safe way to heaven and five parts of thirty only to be Protestants amongst whom they that read of their way of worship beyond the Seas will find many of these to be but mungrel-Protestants But to wave this and to come to England where it is generally by godly men believed that God hath as numerous an issue of new-born children as in any such quantity of ground in the world and Reader take the publick congregation thou dost joyn with in the solemn worship of the ever-blessed God upon his own day and suppose one should come and sweep out of it in the first place all notorious sinners drunkards swearers adulterers extortioners liars railers scoffers at
man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God And Hebr. 12.14 Follow holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Consider Friend this is the Word of the true and living God and this Law this standing Law of Heaven is like the law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered not one iota or title of it can possibly go unfulfilled Math. 5.18 Darest thou think that the God of truth will be found a lyar for thy sake as he must be if he save thee in thy sinful unconverted state I tell thee the God of holiness and justice will send millions of such carnal wretches as thou art to hell there to suffer the vengeance of the unquenchable fire before he will stain his honour in the least No he is more tender of his glory then so though thou carest not how much thou tramplest his honor in the dust by the wilful breach of his Commands yet he is exceeding jealous of his great Name and when his very being is engaged for the accomplishment of his Word he will not ungod himself to glorifie thee in an unsanctified condition and therefore do not delude thy soul in presuming that he that made thee will not damn thee for he saith himself that unless thou art new made and hast that true understanding to fear his Majesty and depart from iniquity He that made thee will not save thee and he that formed thee will shew thee no mercy Isai 27.11 I hope therefore thou art fully convinced that it highly concerneth thee to be night and day with the greatest diligence imaginable labouring for this spiritual life when thine everlasting comfort in the other world thine eternal life dependeth so much upon it Art thou rich hearken to this word of counsel from God look after these durable riches Prov. 6.18 thy earthly riches are not for ever Prov. 27.24 though thy heart possibly is more set upon thy houses and hoards then upon heaven yet thou must take thine everlasting leave of them ere long when these unsearchable riches in Christ which I am perswading thee to mind out-live the dayes of heaven run parallel with the life of God and line of eternity Prov. 8.18 Nay till thou livest this spiritual life all thy wealth is want all thy glory is ignominy all thy comforts are crosses yea curses to thee Prov. 1.32 Psal 69.22 All thy outward comforts like the Rainbow shew themselves in all their dainty colours and then vanish away or if they stay with thee till death then they die with thee Oh how hath the Moon of great mens plenty often been eclipsed at the full and the Sun of their pomp gone down at noon Through the corruption of thy heart they prove but fuel for thy lusts on earth if thou shouldst die having only this worlds goods they will feed the eternal fire in hell It is storied of Heliogabalus that he had silken halters to hang himself with ponds of sweet water to drown himself in and gilded poyson to poyson himself Truly more hurtful are the worlds trinity riches honors and pleasures to them that have great estates in the world but no estate in the Covenant Poyson worketh more furiously in wine then in water and so doth corruption many times bewray it self more in plenty then in poverty It is sad that thou shouldst not be led to God by that which came from God But O how lamentable is it that thou shouldst Jehu like fight against thy Master with his own Souldiers like the dunghill the more the Sun shineth on it it sends forth the more stinking savour The Poet feigned Pluto to be the god of riches and Hell as if they had been inseparable Homer that thou shouldst by the riches which his Majesty hath given thee only have this cursed advantage to be the greater Rebel Many good works hath Christ done for thee for which dost thou stone him John 10.32 for which of them dost thou stone him out of thy house by oaths or drunkenness or gaming or by atheisme and irreligion or at least by putting him off with a few short cold formal prayers and that but now and then neither Many good works hath he done for thee for which of them dost thou stone him out of thy heart by letting the world and the things of the world have the highest seat there the throne thy chiefest esteem warmest love and strongest trust What sayest thou is it not thus and is this to be led by his goodness to repentance Oh consider thy bodies mercies are holy baits laid by God to catch thy soul He tryeth the vessel with water to see whether it will hold wine do not like the foolish flie burn thy self in this flame of love turn not his grace into wantonnesse but let the kindnesse of God be salvation unto thee thou shouldst by those cords of love be drawn nearer unto him and by those bands of mercies be tied closer to his commands How shouldst thou gather if the streames of creatures be so sweet what sweetnesse is there in God who is the Fountain If he be so good in temporals surely he is better in spirituals and best of all in eternals How unsatisfied shouldst thou be with all these outward gifts which may consist with his everlasting hatred and resolve with Luther not to be put off with the blessings of his left hand Valde protestatus summe nolle sic ab eo satiari Melch. Aâ— in vit Luth. of his foot-stool Thou hast the more cause to look about thee because few of thy rank are truly religious a little godliness will go a great way with great men though of all men they have most obligations from God see James 2.5 God chooseth the poor of the world rich in faith and heirs of his Kingdom And Christ telleth us It is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 19.24 Our Saviour indeed doth not speak of an impossibility but of the difficulty of it and the rarenesse of it Job unfolded the riddle and got through the needles eye with three thousand Camels but it is hard to be wealthy and not wanton too too often are riches like bird-lime hindering the soul in its flight towards Heaven a load of earth hath sunk many a soul to hell and the inriching of the outward occasioned the impoverishing of the inward man A rich man is a rare dish at heavens table Blessed be God there are some but surely few rich of those very few that shall be saved 1 Cor. 1.26 The weighty burden in a vessel though it consisted of the most precious commodities hath not seldom caused its miscarriage when otherwise it had arrived safely at its desired haven As the Moon when she is at the full is farthest from and in most direct opposition to the Sun so t is the temper of most in thy condition to
be farthest from and most opposite to Christ when they receive the most light of prosperity from him and art fullest of the blessings of his goodness Take heed thou be not like the Horse and Mule Psalm 32.9 to drink plentifully of the streames and never look to the Fountain but let thine eyes as the Churches be Doves eyes When the Dove hath pecked her corn she turneth her eyes heavenward she looketh up Cant. 1.15 It is reported of the Spartans that they use to choose their King every year during which year he liveth in all abundance but is after the year be expired banisht into some remote place for ever One King knowing this being called to be King did not as others prodigally spend his revenues but heaped up all the treasure he could get together and sent it before to that place whither he should be banisht and so in the year of his Government made a comfortable provision for his whole life So wise are they that lay up a treasure in Heaven against the time of their departure out of this world Art thou poor Labour for this spiritual life it will make thee rich indeed Thou hast little on earth but thou mayst have a treasure in heaven God offereth thee Grace Christ and Life as freely as others take heed thou neglect them not and think as they in Sweden that it is only for Gentlemen to keep the Sabbath that its only for Gentlemen to mind Religion thou hast a soul to save an endlesse estate to provide for an hell to escape an heaven to attain a dreadful day of judgement to prepare for as well as they It is a great mercy that though God difference thee from others in temporals yet not in spirituals Among the Israelites the price for their ransome was equal half a shekel the rich shall not give more nor the poor lesse Exod. 30.12 15 16. thereby * Willet in loc signifying that the same price was paid by Christ for the redemption of all poor as well as rich and that the vertue and merits of Christs passion belong equally to all thy outward condition doth not exclude thee from an interest in Christs death and intercession Poor Lazarus may lie in the bosom of rich Abraham The poor may be gospellized as that Matth. 11.5 is sometimes read not only have the Gospel preached to them but be changed by it God accepted the Lamb and Dove in sacrifice when he rejected the Lion and Eagle But thou must be one of Gods poor not of the Devils ragged Regiment Will it not be sad for thee to have two hels one on earth in cold hunger and thirst and wants and another in hell in heat and unspeakable woe How many of thy condition serve the Devil and the world all their dayes in drudgery and slavery and are turned into hell as a Sumpter-horse at the night of death after all his hard travel with his back full of gals and bruises A low man if his eye be clear may look as high as the tallest B. Hall Contempl. the least Pigmie may from the lowest valley see the Sun as fully as a Gyant upon the highest mountain Christ is now in Heaven it is not the smalnesse of our person nor the meanness of our condition that can let us from beholding him The soul hath no stature neither is heaven to be had with reaching If God clear the eyes of our faith we shall be high enough to beho d him Do not say thou art to provide for thy wife and children and hast no time to regard thy soul in a solemn serious performance of duties remember the same God that commandeth thee to follow thy particular calling as a man injoyneth thee likewise to follow thy general calling as a Christian and that in the first place Seek first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof and all other things shall be added to you Mat. 6.33 and also with the greatest labour John 6.27 Phil. 2.12 Labour not for the food that perisheth but for the food that endureth to everlasting life Where our Saviour doth not indeed absolutely forbid labour for the body but comparatively thy labour for thy soul should be so much so great that thy labour for thy body should be no labour at all not deserve the name of labour in comparison of it Now consider what answer thou wilt make to the great God when he shall plead with thee for the breach of these commands besides hast not thou many spare hours in many evenings and on wet dayes wherein thou mightst go to God in secret and with thy family and humble thy soul in a mournful confession of thy sins and sensible apprehension of the wrath which is due to thee and wherein thou mightst be importunate for pardon and grace without which thou art lost for ever Nay the Lord knoweth how many Lords dayes thou hast enjoyed which dayes he hath set apart as well out of mercy as out of soveraignity not only for the glory of his Name but also for the good of thy soul wherein thou mightst both publickly privately and secretly have furthered thy spiritual and eternal good but how dost thou squander away those precious hours sometime in corporal labour alwayes in spiritual idleness in sleeping or walking or sitting at thy door or talking with thy neighbors and yet thou hast no time for thy soul But lastly tell me hast thou time to eat and drink and work and sleep and no time to work out thy salvation to fit thy soul for death for judgement for eternity If thy house were in a flame thou wouldst not let it burn and say I have no time to quench it If thy neighbor call thee to sit or talk or dine or it may be to go to the Ale-house with him thou dost not answer him I must provide for my family I have no time but when thy Maker and Preserver the blessed God calleth upon thee by his Spirit and Word to be diligent for the making thy calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 thou must provide for thy family thou hast no time for this Foolish worm leave off thy vain and cursed pretences and set upon the business for which thou wast sent into the world even the glorifying and obeying the Lord or thou shalt have another manner of answer to thy simple excuses from the Judge of quick and dead when for thy want of time to serve him in he shall give thee an eternity to suffer in Reader I have two things to desire of thee before I deliver thee the directions which I have received of the Lord for thee and indeed unlesse thou grant me or rather God and thy soul these two requests all that I have to say will be to no purpose at all my requests are that thou wouldst follow the counsel of God in order to the recovery of thy soul out of its bottomlesse misery with all speed and with all diligence Now because
shew of trading with God to which their stirred consciences will by no means yield would willingly compound and give Christ a part and the world and flesh the other part But as Christ is worthy of so he will have all acceptation The gods of the Heathen are good fellows and share their honour among themselves but this Lord over all who is God blessed for ever will not give his glory to others he will not suffer that superlative esteem trust and love of the soul to be bestowed upon any but himself o◠to be divided betwixt himself and any other He will allow no superiour nay no equal As Alexander answered Darius when Darius sent to him about peace because there were Empires enough in the world to satisfie them both The whole world could endure but one sun but one Alexander So the heart of man must have but one General but one Commander in chief and that must be Jesus Christ Truly Reader I hope that these things will not discourage thee from the wayes of God Do but rationally consider them Is it not most just and equal that since all these things come freely from him that they should be laid out purely for him Thou givest thy servant a little meat and drink and mony or rather God by thee and what service dost thou require of him Thou art instrumental under God to the birth and breeding of thy children and what duty dost thou expect from them Art not thou ten thousand times more engaged to Jesus Christ for every bit of bread and breath of air for every nights sleep and days supply for every mercy that thine enjoy for every moments abode on this side hell for every soul-favour and body-kindness In him thou livest movest and hast thy being the light doth not so much depend on the Sun as thy life and all thy comforts depend on Christ Now be thy own judge what service what obedience may the Lord Jesus look for at thy hands If the world or the flesh could do half so much for thee thou wer't more excuseable then now thou art in doing so much for them Again when the question ariseth Whether Christ or the flesh Christ or the world should have thy greatest esteem or love or trust or the most of thy time and strength and talents One would think thou shouldst be ashamed to put such a question or at least that the very mention of it would be a sufficient answer to it Alas what are all the honours and pleasures riches and relations delicates and diadems of the whole world to Jesus Christ but as pebbles to pearls dirt to Diamonds dross to gold nothing to all things there is surely no comparison The whole world of heaven and earth doth not so far excell a feather as Jesus Christ doth the whole world Besides this request of mine should rather encourage thee in regard this absolute resignation of thy self to Christ tendeth to the perfection and happiness of thy soul Thy misery by thy fall is chiefly in this that thou hast thereby lost the Image of God Thy want of conformity to him is the cause why thou hast not communion with him Beasts do not converse with men nor trees with beasts because they do not live the life of each other Sense must fit trees to converse with beasts and reason must fit beasts to converse with men and grace and holiness must fit thee to converse with God When thou once livest the life of God as this unreserved soul-resignation or sanctification is called Ephes 4.18 thou mayst then bathe thy soul in his love Now this is the way to it The life of Christianity consisteth in an hearty dedication of thy self and all thou hast to Christ When thou hast done this thou art a Christian indeed The excellency of every thing standeth in two things Dr. Reyn. on Hos 14. Sermon 7. first the perfection of beautie in which it was made and the perfection of use for which it was made now the beauty of man consisteth in this that he was made like unto God Gen. 1 26. and his end and use is this that he was made for God first to serve him and after to enjoy him for the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself therefore to recover the Image of God which consisteth in knowledge righteousnesse and true holinesse to work to the service and glory of God to aspire to the possession and fruition of God must needs be mans greatest good By what hath been largely spoken before in this Use thou mayst perceive that there is no going to heaven per saltum by leaping out of a dirty and stinking jakes into the presence of the glorious God There is a being made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Coloss 1.12 Operatione acceptatione divinâ idonei constituimur ad participandam sortem sanctorum Davenant in loc which is by sanctification As cloaths are by lighter colours fitted to receive a deep Scarlet dye so thou must by this spiritual life of holiness be fitted for the eternal life of glory Observe 2 Cor. 5.5 the Apostle tells us He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing i. e. heaven is God Man is a rugged piece of timber an unhewn stone now the stone must be polished and the timber squared before it can be fit for the heavenly building wrought for it Joseph when he was sent for to Pharaoh out of prison changed his Rayment and trimmed himself and then appeared before the King And as there must be Regeneration or the beginning of grace so there must be a proficiency or growth in grace to prepare the soul for the weight of glory * Mr. Strong Holinesse the way to happiness pag. 45. There is a double right which every child of God hath to heaven 1. Jus haereditarium an hereditary right and that is at regeneration when he is put into Christ and made a Co-heir with him of his Inheritance having grace begun in him which shall be perfected in glory and was given as a principle ordained to such a perfection 2. Jus aptitudinarium and that is a right of fitness whereby we are qualified to receive such a mercy and that as an heir hath a right of inheritance in his non-age but he hath not a right of fitness till he come to years and be able to manage his estate when he hath received it Reader in both these respects there is a necessity that thou presently make a deed of gift of thy self and thy all unto Jesus Christ and that thou never more look upon thy self or any thing thou hast as thine own but as a servant intrusted with them for thy Masters use and advantage Well Reader I suppose thou dost ere this fully understand the conditions upon which thy soul may be contracted unto Christ My work is to treat with thee about this marriage I am commanded by the Lord as Abrahams Steward
by his Lord Gen. 24. to provide a Wife for my Masters son I do here in the presence of the living God by commission from his Majesty tender thee the most honourable profitable delightful match that was ever offered to mortals It is the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of life and glory the onely begotten of the Father the fairest of ten thousands to be thy head and husband hereby thou shalt have the King of Kings the Lord of heaven and earth for thy Father a Queen the Church for thy Mother the Saints those truly excellent noble illustrious ones higher then the Kings of the earth for thy brethren and sisters the Covenant of Grace in comparison of which all the gold of the Indies is but dirt and dung for thy treasure glorious Angels for thy servants the flesh of the Son of God for thy meat and his precious blood for thy drink perfect Righteousness which is more beautiful then the unspotted innocency of Adam or Angels for thy rayment a palace of pleasures a place of glory a building of God an house not made with hands but eternal in the heavens for thy habitation And all this only upon these termes that thou wilt be a loving faithful and obedient Wife which the poorest beggar in the country expects from his wife that thou wilt heartily give up thy self and all thou hast to his service and glory and this he desireth also for thy good and benefit that he may make thee a more excellent creature and render thee more acceptable to God and more capable of his dearest love and eternal embraces as the rain is sent up from the earth in thick and foggy vapours but the heavens return it in pure and silver showers so though thou givest an unbelieving hard earthly heart unto Christ he will return it unto thee again believing tender heavenly such an heart as shall be more pleasing both to God and thy self and for this he is pleased though ten thousand Suns united into one are but darkness to him so great is his glory to condescend to become a Suiter to thee to beseech thee to accept of him who knoweth thy portion to be misery and beggery who seeth thy person to be full of ugliness and deformity who gaineth no addition to his happiness by thine acceptance of his love nor suffereth the least diminution by thy refusal Well what sayest thou to this match Art thou heartily willing to take Jesus Christ for thy wedded Husband to protect and direct thee to purifie and pardon thee to sanctifie and save thee to guide thee by his counsel and afterwards to receive thee to glory And wilt thou here in the presence of the Lord and before thy conscience which is as ten thousand witnesses promise and covenant to obey him universally to love him unfainedly to resign up thy self and all thou hast to his disposal unreservedly What sayest thou Art thou willing or no Take heed of dallying in a match that is so unquestionably and infinitely for thy advantage Believe it thou shalt not have such offers every day Doe not stick at any of his Precepts for he can require nothing but what is equal excellent and honorable doe not trifle or defer it if thou lovest thy soul for this may be the very last time of asking If thou wilt deal kindly and truly with my Master tell me or if not tell me that I may return an answer to him that sent me Gen. 24.49 These four directions which I have laid down already are without question the whole of Christianity and that soul shall be certainly saved by whom they are uprightly practised yet there are two special means which God hath appointed for the enabling the soul to perform them which I shall speak briefly to and for method sake joyn them altogether Five Directions Attendance on the Word Fifthly If thou wouldst attain this spiritual life be much conversant with the Word of God be often reading it meditating on it but especiall frequent it in publick where it is preached by losing one Sermon for â—ought thou knowest thou mayst lose one soul Death at first entred into the world by the ear Gen. 3. and so doth life Faith comes by hearing Rom. 10.17 thou seest in the Gospel that Faith and Repentance are this spiritual life Mark 16.16 Gal. 2.20 and thou mayest see as clearly that they are both the fruits of the ministery of the Word For Faith that fore quoted place Rom. 10.17 is full and for Repentance that of Acts 2.37 speaketh home When they heard these things they were pricked to the heart mark When they heard these things The Word of God is an hammer with which God is pleased to break the stony heart and a fire wherewith he melteth the hard mettal Jerem. 23.29 In this respect it is that the Minister is called the Father of some Converts namely those whom he begetteth through the Gospel 1 Cor. 4.15 Joâ— Isaac a Jew was converted by reading the 53. of Isaiah Junius by the first of Johns Gospel Augustine by the 13. of Romans I will never forget thy precepts for by them thou hast quickened me David Psal 119.93 There is a resurrection of souls at this day when Ministers lift up their voice like a trumpet Isai 58.1 Acts 2.37 as well as there shall be a resurrection of bodies at the last day by the Trump of the Archangel This is the net which God is pleased to cast into the sea of the world and wherewith he harh caught many a soul three thousand at one draught Acts 2.41 Spiritual life is the gift of God as well as eternal the gift of all grace is of grace but ordinarily of his own will he begetteth souls by the word of truth Jam. 1 18. If thou wilt have Wisdomes dole thou must wait at Wisdomes gate for there it is given Prov. 8.34 Grace is the law written in the heart and usually the ministry of the Word is the pen wherewith the Spirit of God writes it That is the bed wherein the children of God are begotten Cantic 1.16 That is the school wherein the Disciples are taught of God and learn the truth as it is in Jesus The Ministers Commission doth abundantly evince this I send thee saith God to Paul to open the eyes of the blind and to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the living God God indeed is a most free Agent and can work when and how he pleaseth but it hath pleased him to make the Gospel of Christ his own power unto salvation Rom. 1.16 and it pleaseth him by the foolishnesse of preaching to save them that believe 1 Cor. 1.21 Abana and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus to the eye of sense may seem better then all the waters of Israel but Jordan can cleanse and heal when those cannot because it hath a divine precept and promise annexed to it Nay observe how God is pleased to dignifie his Word
riches and honor Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace She is a tree of life to all that lay hold upon her and happy is every one that retaineth her Prov. 3.13 14 15 16 17 18. ANd now Reader I have done this large Use of Exhortation which is of such infinite concernment to thy precious soul but what thou wilt do or what use thou wilt make of it I know not Could I have told what other holy bait to have laid which had been more likely to have caught thy soul it is probable I should have laâ—d it I appeal to thy conscience whether tâ—ere be not unspeakable weight and unquestionable truth in the particulars which are laid down Well what sayest thou to them and what effect have they wrought upon thee Art thou resolved through the help of heaven speedily and diligently to practice the directions which I have from the Almighty God injoyned thee Is it not a thousand thousand pities that such endlesse matchlesse happinesse should be so gratiously offered by God and so unworthily neglected by men that an empty perishing world should be so eagerly pursued and heartily embraced when the unsearchable riches in Christ the Image of the blessed God eternal weight of Glory are basely undervalued and wretchedly despised Good Lord what teares of blood are sufficient to bewail this monstrous unthankfulness Friend if thou art truly resolved to obey the counsell of God thou wilt have cause to blesse that Providence which called me to this task and I may rejoyce in thee and thou in me at the day of Christ But if thou either delayest the work till thou art more at leisure or dalliest about it doing it as if thou didst it not I am sure the greatest wrong will be to thy self for behold thou sinnest against the Lord and be confident thy sins will sooner or later find thee out I come in the next place to my last Use which will be of consolation If they who have Christ for their life shall have gain by their death what comfort is here to the new born Creature Here is wine indeed to make glad the heart of every one that is holy Reader art thou sanctified and alive in Christ then thou art freed from all the misery which is mentioned in the first Use as the portion of the ungodly I may say to thee as Gryneus when he had been reproving and threatening sinners would turning to the Saint say Bone vir hoc nihil ad te Good man all this is nothing to thee Though they are losers thou shalt be a gainer by death Come but with the mouth of faith and thou mayst suck much honey from this combe thou mayst draw much milk of consolation from this breast to thee to die shall be gain Surely here is enough to ballast thy soul and keep it steady in the most tempestuous condition and to ballance and weigh down the greatest the heaviest affliction Hierom comforted the Hermite that was in a wildernesse sad and pensive Meditare coelum tam diu non eris in eremo If thou hadst hope only in this life thou wert of all men most miserable but because thou hast hope beyond this life thou mayst be of all men most comfortable Should such a man as I fly Nehem. 6.11 Should sucha a man as thou fear that art heir to a Crown to a Kingdom Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock it is your Fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom In thy greatest losses this may support thee that death will be thy gain by giving thee possession of a life which will make amends for all If an heathen could say It is unbecoming a Roman spirit to cry out I am undone while Cesar was safe sure it is more uncomely for a Christian to complain as if he were undone when his soul is safe his eternal estate is secure For thy help I shall digest this Use into this method briefly First to shew thee against what it is comfortable Secondly wherein it is comfortable For the first It is comfortable first against the opposition of the world The world will hate thee because thou art not of the world John 15.19 She is a Paradise to her children and lovers but a Purgatory to aliens and strangers Whilst thou art in the stormy sea of this world thou art a ship bound for the Streights He that goeth towards the Sun shall have his shadow following him but he that goeth from it shall have it flie before He that goeth towards the Sun of Righteousnesse shall be sure to have these shadows these afflictions at his heels Infinite Wisdom seeth fit to imbitter the breasts of the creatures to wean thee from them Trouble upon earth is one legacie which thy Saviour hath left thee In the world ye shall have trouble John 16. ult The Souldiers were to have his garments Joseph was to have his body His Father was to have his soul He had his crosse left and that he bequeaths to his Disciples But be of good chear he did not only leave thee his crosse but hath also made thee heir to a Crown He never lookt over the threshold of Heaven Bish Hall Heaven upon eâ—rth Sect. 14. that cannot more rejoyce that he shall be glorious than mourn in present that he is miserable Oppose thy future felicity to thy present misery thy happinesse at death to the hardships thou meetest with in life thiâ— will be the way to counterpoise the temptation and to keep thee from fainting in tribulation whilst thou lookest not at the things which are seen which are temporal but at the things which are not seen which are eternal 2 Cor. 4. I have read of one Giacopo Senzaro an Italian who having been long in love and much crossed about his match filled a pot full of black stones only one white stone among them and being asked the reason answered There will come one white day meaning his marriage day which will make amends for all my black dayes So whatsoever poverty nakednesse hunger cold pain shame losses thou undergoest here in this world how many soever thy black dayes are of trials and troubles of persecutions and opposition thou mayst say there is one white day of death one long day of eternity coming which will make amends for all It was a brave speech of Luther when he was demanded where he would be when the Emperor should with all his forces fall upon the Elector of Saxonie who was the chief Protector of Protestants He answered Aut in coelo aut sub coelo either in heaven or under heaven Why shouldst thou be discouraged at any losse considering thou hast a treasure in heaven a more enduring substance At any disgrace considering thou art heir to a Crown of glory At any pain or sorrow when thou art entitled to fulnesse of joy and pleasures for evermore No storm should disquiet thee that shall shortly enjoy an everlasting calm What a
God in the glasse of his Ordinances for one hour what will there be when thou shalt see him face to face and alwayes behold the face of thy Father When Christ and thy soul meet sweetly in a duty on the Lords day and thou sittest under his shadow with great delight and his fruit is sweet unto thy taste thou thinkest the duty is done too soon and the Sabbath is too short thou couldst wish the Sun would stand still as in the dayes of Joshua aâ—d that day to be longer but be encouraged though thy Sabbaths now begin and end yet within a few dayes thou shalt begin that eternal Sabbath which shall never end In his Epistle before Discourse of t ue happiness Certain it is saith Mr. Robert Bolton that if a man were crowned with the royal state and imperial command of all the kingdoms upon earth if his heart were enlarged to the utmost of all created capacities and filled with all the exquisite and unmixed pleasures that the reach of mortality and most ambitious curiosity could possibly devise and might without any interruption or distaste enjoy them the length of the worlds duration they were all nothing to the precious and peerless comforts of the Kingdom of Grace but for one hour I speak the truth in Christ and use no Hyperbole the Spirit of all comfort and consciences of all true Christians bearing me witness What then will it be my friend to enjoy the unconceivable comforts of the Kingdom of Glory for ever If one day in Gods Courts on earth be better to thee than a thousand elsewhere how happy wilt thou be when thou shalt dwell in the heavenly House of the Lord and that for ever ever when thou shalt be a pillar in the Temple of thy God and shalt go no more out for ever Rev. 3.12 O sweet word ever ever thou art musick to the ear and honâ—y to the taste and melody to the heart indeed to be free from all evil both of sin suffering and to be for ever free from them to be with the Lord enjoying all good imaginable and ever to be with the Lord. O how much worth doth this one word ever adde to the Saints portion in the other world Mortality is a flaw in all earthly tenures which abateth their price and imbittereth their pleasures but eternity is a diamond which sparkleth most radiantly in the crown of glory and maketh it beyond all expression or comparison weighty Christian how may this perswade thee to be exact in thy walking with God when in doing of his commands there is such great reward Thy temporal obedience shall have an eternal recompence If Zeuxis the famous Painter was so curious in drawing his lines because he painted for Eternity how exact shouldst thou be in all thy duties how curious in the whole course of thy life when thou dost all for eternity How may this support thee in the greatest dangers Thy sufferings are temporal but thy solace shall be eternal If Saul when called to an earthly kingdom for a short time could hold his peace when men despised and derided him surely thou mayst be steady in the greatest storm and in all hardships bear up thy spirit with the lively hope of that heavenly eternal Kingdom to which thou art called Dost thou not know that all the sufferings of this life though all the sufferings of the mystical body of Christ were laid on thy back are not worthy to be compared to that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Rom. 8.18 Thus thy felicicy in heaven will be compleat felicity and thy consolation in the fore-thoughts of it may well be a full consolation since for its perfections it is unspeakable thy fruition of it is unquestionable and thy condition in it will be unchangeable and eternal When thou hast filled thy heart with that fulness of joy and bathed thy soul in those rivers of pleasures as many millions of yeares as there have been minutes since the Creation and after that as many thousand ages as there are creatures great and small in heaven earth and sea and after that as many thousand millions of ages as all the men in the world can reckon up all the time of their lives yet after all this thou shalt not have one moment lesse to continue in heaven and enjoy that perfect happinesse The very greatest and highest numerations and multiplications of time are but drops yea ciphers and nothing to this boundless bottomless ocean of eternity For of eternity as Drexelius saith Truly there is no FINIS
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HEAVEN and HELL EPITOMIZED THE TRUE CHRISTIAN Characterized AS ALSO An Exhortation with Motives Means and Directions to be speedy and serious about the work of Conversion By George Swinnocke M. A. sometime fellow of Baliol Colledge in Oxford and now Preacher of the Gospel at Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live Deut. 30.19 Accidiosi erubescere possunt qui non tam diligenter laborant ad impetrandum gaudium coeli sicut multi impiorum laborant ad impetrandum poenam inferni Fabritius indestruct Vitior part 5. cap. 2. Crede Stude Vive Pinge Aeternitati Cor. A Lapid London Printed by E. M. for Tho. Parkhurst and are to be sold at the Sign of the three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside over against the Conduit 1659. TO THE WORSHIPFUL And my esteemed Friend RICHARD BERESFORD Esquire Justice of the Peace for the Liberty of St. Albans in the County of Hertford and Clarke of the Pleas in his Highness Court of Exchequer Worthy Sir THis small Treatise part whereof was lately preached in your eares at the Funeral of your dear Mother presenteth it self to your eyes not for your protection Divine Truths desire none from men and humane errors deserve none from any but for your direction It containeth that in it which is able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus You have a double right to the dedication of this book partly in regard of the occasion of it partly in regard of the Authors obligation unto you which is great for your liberality but farre greater for your encouraging of and exemplariness in the truth and life of Christianity I did not think my self a little bound to that Providence which gave you Relation to our Parish and I suppose not without cause when the power of godliness hath few such considerable Patrons There is scarce one of a thousand cui praesens faeticitas si arrisit non irrisit Bern. lib. 2. de consolat Men of your rank though sometimes to stop the mouth of conscience or for their credit they take up a form and profession yet do usually neglect if not cursedly deride the strictness and power of Religion They are too often like the Moon farthest from and in most direct opposition unto the Sun of Righteousn sse when they are at the full of outward plenty and receive most light of Divine bounty from him their carnal hearts as the Sea turn the showers of mercies from heaven and fresh streams from the earth into the salt waters of corruption In our natural bodies the more fat there is the lesse blood in the veines and by consequence the fewer spirits Greatnesse and Goodness are beautiful and happy Quies hath no plural number God seldom giveth two Heavens Tamen aliquando Christus voluit Reginam in coelum vebere saith Luther of Elisabeth Queen of Denmark Luth. in Epist ad Jo Agric. but rare conjunctions You know who hath said Not many such are called 1 Cor. 1.26 And experience teacheth us that they are like Stars of the first Magnitude thinly scattered in the Firmament of a Country How much therefore are you engaged to that distinguishing love which enableth you to look after the things of a better life I shall take the liberty which I know you will give to speak a few words to you in your twofold capacity First as you are a Christian and herein my counsel will be that you would more and more ensure your effectual calling We say where men intend to live long they build strong I am confident all that you are worth for your endless condition in the other world dependeth under Christ upon your inward change And if ever any wyers had need to be firm and strong then questionlesse they upon which such heavy weights hang as your eternal unchangeable estate You have a large room in the hearts of many that are holy But alas Sir the best mans confidence of me would prove but a bad evidence for heaven He is not approved whom man commendeth but whom the Lord commendeth The great affection which you bear to the souls of the people amongst whom you were born is worthy of imitation And so is your care and cost in scattering some practical home-treatises in several families whereby souls may be converted and wherein you may have comfort at the day of Christ for soul-charity is the soul of charity but the best charity begins at home though it never ends there your main business lyeth within your own doors to make sure that good work within you which shall be perfected hereafter The ordinary security which most men trust to will not serve when they come in the other life to lay their claims and shew their deeds for the inheritance of the Saints in light Many flaws will then be found in their evidences which now through their wilful blindness they neither see nor fear Paâ—lens aurum melius est quâ—m fulgens aurichalcum Bern. He had need to have armour of proof that would enter the list with his enemy Death and not be foiled The heart not ballasted with renewing grace may hold out in the calm of life and shallows of time but when it meets with the storm of death and launcheth into the Ocean of eternity it suffereth a desperate and everlasting shipwrack The want of this is the leak which sinketh many a precious vessel soul I mean in the gulph of perdition There is as much difference between a nominal and a real Christian as between a liveless picture and a living person True Christianity which consisteth in the souls humble unfained acceptation of and hearty resolved dedication unto Christ as Saviour and Soveraign is a Paradox to most There are many Christians as Salvian complained in his time without Christ Christiani sine Christo Salv. but they which know experimentally what the sanctification of the holy Ghost meaneth are few indeed The Moralist in his best dresse of civility the Formalist in his gaudy attire of ceremonies and the hypocrite in all his royalty is not arrayed like one of these I do not write these things as in the least suspecting your sincerity but to quicken you to a godly jealousie over your own soul If the Apostles and Disciples needed such rousing cautions Take heed least that day come upon you unawares Luke 21.34 Take heed least any man fail of the grace of God Heb. 12.15 then much more you and I who are more drowsie and prone to slumber do require awakening considerations Secondly As you are a Magistrate And that relation calleth upon you to be very exemplary among men and exceeding active for God Man is a creature which is led more by the eye than the ear by patterns than precepts Great men
birth without which it is impossible for thee to escape the second death I have in the third use of this Treatise endeavoured to awakeâ— thee to and to direct thee about this great work as in the first use I have discovered the unspeakable endless misery of them that dye before it be done Those which had the Sudor Anglicus or sweating sicknesâ— dyed assuredly if suffered to sleep those were their best friends that kept them waking though they possibly had little thank for it It may be thou mayst think I am too sharpe but truely the wound is deep dangerous yea deadly and therefore though I put thee to pain by lancing it I am forced to it otherwise thou wilt not be cured Sin and hell and holiness and sanctification are other manner of things then the sleepy world dreameth of The Lord give thee an heart to obey his counsel in order to thy conversion and then I am sure thou wilt have cause to give him thanks that I would not let thee sleep quietly on a bed that was in a flame nor in an condition that was next door to infinite misery and eternal desperation Thirdly exalt godliness in thy family If once Christ be chief in thy heart I am confident he will to thy utmost power be so in thy house that thou art really which thou art relatively Labor that thy children and servants may know and serve God Dwell with thy wife as a man of knowledge as heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindred 1 Pet. 3.7 Bring up thy children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Eph. 6 4. Teach thy servants their duty to God and their own souls Consider these are the laws of the righteous God and ere long when thou shalt leave all the dying and lying vanities of this world thou must give an account in the other world how thou hast obeyed them God hath committed a great trust to thee even the charge of the souls of all in thy family and doth not thine heart tremble to think of soul-blood of soul-murder I assure thee thou mayst be as truely and really guilty of their deaths and damnations by starving them as by poisoning them I mean by not instructing chatechizing and principling them in the things of God by not praying with them and over seeing that they mind the worship of God as in making them drunk and teaching them to steal and swear For thy children Dost thou not know that they are born children of wrath and heirs of hell and canst thou be quiet till thou seest in them some signs and hopes of regeneration an interest in Christ and thereby a right to heaven When thou readest of Herod how he murdered poor children thou condemnest him thou thinkest Ah hard-hearted Herod But dost not thou do ten thousand times worse in murdering the souls and bodies of thy dear children for ever Ah hard-hearted ah bloody father Herod was a man of bowels a merciful man to thee Is it any wonder to hear saith one of that ship sunk or dasht upon a rock that was put to sea without card of compass nor is it a wonder to hear of children sinking in perdition who are thrust into the world which is a sea of temptations without any knowledge of God and their duty One would think every time thou readest and hearest of the extremity and eternity of hells torments of the multitudes that must undergo them of the few even of those within the visible Church that shall be saved and of the difficulty of obtaining salvation that thy loyns should tremble and thy joynts smite together that thy head yea heart should ake for fear any of thy dear children should be among those many that must drink that cup of the Lords pure wrath that thou shouldst be restless night and day in wrastling with â—od and instructing them in using all means to prevent their endless ruine surely if thou hadst a spark of true love to thy children thus it would be with thee And for thy servants unless thou art careful that they serve the Lord they are but little beholden to thee for thy service thou givest them possibly food and outward things convenient but dost thou not do as much for thy cattel And is it thinkest thou enough to do no more for those souls which must live in unspeakable pain or pleasure for ever then for thy beasts If he that provideth not for the bodies of his family be worse then an Infidel 1 Tim. 5.8 surely he that provideth not for their souls is kin to a devil say not they are stubborn and will not be taught Hast not thou power in thy hands either to teach them or turn them out of doors Let none serve thee that will not serve God Thou wilt not keep a servant that knoweth not how to do thy work at least if he will not learn and then follow it with diligence Now let thy conscience be judge Is not Gods work the pleasing and glorifying his infinite majesty of far greater concernment than thy greatest and weightest work and darest thou keep one that neither knoweth how to do it nor will learn Follow the man after Gods own heart Ps 101.2.9 I will walk within my house with a perfect heart Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me he that walketh in a perfect way he shall serve me It is said of Constantine that in this he was truely great that he would have his whole Court gathered together and cause the Scriptures to be read to them and instruction to be given them from the Word of God Besides if thou didst but regard thy own temporal good thou wouldst instruct thy servants and children in spiritual things for they that are unfaithful to their Master and father in heaven will be unfaithful to their master and father on earth They that make no conscience of their duty to God but rob him of his service and worship will never make conscience of their duty to thee but if they have opportunity will rob thee of thy time service and goods Be sure that thou performe family duties as praying reading and the like morning and evening do not serve the flesh and the world all day and then put God off with a few cold sleepy petitions at night the command is Pray continually 1 Thess 5.17 Daniel was at it three times a day Dan. 6.10 David seven times a day Psal 119.164 Gods mercies are renewed on thee every morning and should not thy prayers and praises be renewed every morning Doth not the preservation of thy family every night deserve family acknowledgement in the morning Wearisome nights are appointed to others the beds of others prove their graves thou and thine might have awaken in hell doth this distinguishing mercy deserve no thanks Is not thy family every day lyable to many dangers both bodily and spiritual doth it not need pitying sanctifying
were handled The Contents will make full satisfaction for that error My absence from the Press hath occasioned also some few mistakes in the body of the Book the most considerable of which I have observed and request thee to amend The Greek and Latine are mangled in the Margine but I intending not the Treatise for Scholars medled little with them and am the less troubled for the mistakes about them Errata PAge 7. line 21. r. is p. 20. l. 10. r. there p. 23. l. 21. add iâ— p. 37. l. 8. r. shall p. 41. l. 3. r. Demarathus p. 81. l. 23. r. such p. 116. l. 6. r. life p. 123. l. 2. add shall p. 159. l. 25. 1. whos 's l. 26. r. mayst p. 192. l. 24. add for p. 198. l. 20. add years p. 278. l. 4. for Christ is a co-heir r. Christ is heir Margine Pag. 4. r. an p. 35. â— adeptio p. 39. r. cummo Phil. 1.12 For to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain IT is a memorable observation of that Christian Heathen Vivere tâ—ta vita discendum est quod magis fortasse miraberis tota vita discendum est mori Sene. ad Paulin. cap. 7. as he hath been sometime called That the two great lessons which every man hath to learn in the whole time of his life are how to live and how to dye how to live vertuously and how to die valiantly These two weighty questions are clearly and fully answered in this Text. It declareth and delivereth such directions about life as could never be learned in the school of nature improved to the utmost It prepareth and provideth such a cordial against death as could never be extracted out of all the creatures distill'd together And indeed herein the excellency of the Christian Religion appeareth above all Religions in the world None enjoyneth such pious precepts none subjoyneth such precious promises none sets the soul about so noble a work none satisfieth it with such an ample reward The scope of the Apostle in this Epistle is first to confirm the Philippians in the faith of Christ against the scandal of the Crosse And secondly to exhort them to such godlinesse as might be answerable to the Gospel In this first Chapter Paul encourageth them greatly to be constant in Christianity 1. From the nature of God who never doth his works by halves but performeth what he promiseth and perfecteth what he beginneth ver 6. 2. From his own prayer which was for their increase and perseverance in grace and that inoffensively to Gods glory verse 9.10 3. From the happy fruits of his sufferings for the faith The Rod wherewith he was scourged like Aarons Rod blossomed First The Gospel was the more propagated verse 12. The more the Husbandmen were dispersed the more the seed of the Word was scattered and the deeper the ground was ploughed it took the better root and brought forth the greater fruit Secondly The Ministers of the Gospel were the more emboldned ver 14. True zeal like the fire burns hottest in the coldest season and sincerity like the stars though it may be hid in a warme day yet it will be sure to shew it self in a frosty night Thirdly Eveniunt mihi ut mi hisâ—ut salutaria Trem. in Phil. 1.19 Paul himself should be much advantaged verse 19. which latter he amplifieth by acquainting them with the reason of that hope namely the assistance of the Spirit of Christ verse 19. and the assurance God had wrought in him from his experience of what God had done for him that his Saviour should be honoured and his salvation furthered both by his life and death ver 20.21 The Text considered relatively contains the ground why the Philippians should not be troubled so much at Pauls trials For to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain i. e. If I be a gainer in all conditions why should you be discouraged by my afflictions If sufferings advantage the Pastor why should they dishearten the people The children may well enjoy a calm in their spirits when their spiritual Father is safe nay a gainer in the greaâ—â—st storme Take the words absolutely and they include first the character of a Christian while he liveth To me to live is Christ and secondly the comfort of a Christian when he dyeth and to die is gain Or you may take notice of the piety of a Saint in life To me to live is Christ and his profit by death to dye is gain For the meaning of the words To me To me who am the mark at which hell and the world shoot their arrowes of persecution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To me whose life hath been a ring of miseries ever since my conversion To me who am set to undergo both mens and devils opposition yet to me there are spiritual and inward consolations For to me to live is Christ To me to live is Christ To me who am in Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nam mihi vivere Christus est i. e. Tota meavita ad hoc ordinata est ut per meum ministerium perque meam vocationem verbis factis promoveam pro mea virili regnum Christi Au non hac res bona cuique fideli optanda Zanch. in loc to me to live is Christ I live not only the life of nature but I live also the life of grace I have not only a being from Christ as a man but likewise a well-being in Christ as a Christian as I did receive my life from Christ so I do improve my life for Christ his honour is my utmost desire and my greatest endeavour And to die is gain i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diodate to this purpose I having had no other object no employment but Christ and his service in my life shall certainly have an eternal advancement at my death Or Christ is my life here by grace and hereafter by glory He is both the Authour and the end of my life I live for him I live to him I live in him I live by him and if I be put to death that shall no way endamage me but rather bring me great advantage in regard that thereby I shall gain heaven for earth an happy eternal life for this miserable mortal life So our larger Annotations sense it a Atqui Christus in utroque membro subjectum esse debet Christus vita in vita Christus lucrum in morte Cal. in loc Mihi enim est Christus in vita in morte lumen Beza Some indeed read the words Christ is my gain both in life and death and therefore the Apostle was little troubled at but rather indifferent to all conditions There is a certain truth in this Exposition though b Sic haec sententia non cohaerebit uâ— râ—tiocum praecedente quod tamen postulat conjunctio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 namaliud â—st gloria Christi aliud salus Pauli Piscat in loc
Piscator will by no means grant it to be the mind of the Spirit in this place In the words you may see the sign of a Saint to him to live is Christ and his solace to him to die is gain his holy description in the former his happy condition in the latter The Text being thus explained affordeth this truth taking both parts of it together Doctrine That such as have Christ for their life shall have gain by their death He that liveth in Christ on earth shall live with Christ in heaven Where the soul hath the seed of holinesse it shall reap an harvest of happinesse The Apostle when he summeth up the estate of a believer counteth death as a part of his riches Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the world or life or death all are yours 1 Cor. 3.22 and ye are Christs he that can say I am Christs may as truly say Death is mine If thou canst say I am Christs servant I am Christs Subject thou mayest say Death will be my preferment death will be my advancement For the Explication of this doctrine I shall shew first what is meant by that phrase to me to live is Christ and secondly wherein it will appear that death to such a man iâ— gain Four things in the phrase To me to live is Christ For the former To me to live is Christ may imply these four things 1. Christ is the principle of my life All living creatures have an inward principle by which they live and according to which they act Plants have a principle of vegetation beasts have a principle of sense Ad vitam spiritualem quod attinet certum est adnos derivari exiguos quosdam rivulos ipsum autem fontem in Christo latere Daven in Col. 3.3 men have a principle of reason and their lives are different answerable to their different principles But a Christian hath an higher principle that is Christ dwelling in his heart by faith Ephes 3.17 and thence it is that he lives an higher life As the body liveth by its union with the soul so the Christian liveth by his union with Jesus Christ Christ is the fountaine and spring of his life the soul of his soul and the life of his life I live saith the Apostle Gal. 2.20 yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Sonne of God As the branches they live but it is by the root they derive sap from it and so live by it So the believer he liveth spiritually but it is by Christ he deriveth the sap of grace from this true Vine and so liveth by him The water in the Rivers doth not more depend upon the Ocean nor the light in the air upon the Sun than the life of a Christian dependeth on Jesus Christ And therefore the Holy Ghost telleth us He that hath the Son 1 Joh. 5.12 hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life I have sometime read that the Lioness bringeth forth her whelps dead till after some time the lion roareth aloud and then they live This is certain every man and woman is born dead dead to God dead in sins and trespasses till this lion of rhe tribe of Judah uttereth his voice then they arise from the dead and Christ giveth them life When the soul like the body of Lazarus hath been dead so long that it stinketh and is unsavory when it hath been many dayes nay many years rotting in the grave of corruption then if Jesus Christ calleth effectually Lazarus come forth sinner come forth of thy carnal unregenerate estate then and not till then the soul heareth the voice of the Son of God and liveth Grace is of a divine birth Joh. 3.3 it is the seed of God John 3.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Except a man be born from above 1 Joh. 3.9 an unction from the holy One 1 Joh. 2.27 called dew which is of a coelestial extraction Psal 110.3 and light 1 Joh. 1.7 the fountain of water is in the earth but the fountain of light is in the Heavens Non nascimur sed renascimur christiani The web of godlinesse was never spun out of mans own bowels As none can see the Sun but by its own light so none can with an eye of faith see the Sun of righteousnesse but by the light of grace derived from him We are his workmanship saith the Apostle created in Jesus Christ unto good works His workmanship not only in our natural capacity as men as creatures and in our civil capacity as rich or poor high or low but also in our spiritual capacity as Christians as new creatures Secondly To me to live is Christ i. e. Christ is the pattern of my life my life is not onely from him but according to him Christ is the rule according to which I walk the copy after which I write As sin and disobedience is a resemblance of the first so grace and holinesse is a resemblance of the second Adam True christianity consisteth in nothing but our conformity to Sanctitas dicitur per quam mens scipsam suos actâ—â— applicat Deo So the Schoolâ—e and imitation of Jesus Christ And indeed as the child in generation receiveth from the parent member for member part for part and the paper from the press word for word letter for lettter and the wax from the seal figure for figure So in regeneration Christ is formed in the soul and it receiveth according to its proportion grace for grace One end of Christs incarnation and life in the flesh was to set an exact pattern for our lives in the spirit He left us an example that we shoeld follow his steps 1 Pet. 2.21 All the actions of Christ are instructions to a Christian His actions were either moral or mediatory In both the Christian imitates him In the former doing as he did exercising the same graces performing the same duties resisting the same temptations forbearing the same corruptions In the latter by similitude dying to sin as he died for sin rising to a spiritual life as he rose again to a natural life None indeed can parallel the life of Christ but every new creature imitateth Christ in his life he walketh as Christ walked Philip. 2 1 Joh. 2.6 The same mind is in all the Saints so far as they are regenerated that was in Christ the same will the same affections they love what he loveth they loath what he loatheth what pleaseth him pleaseth them what grieveth his spirit grieveth their spirits As the wicked are like their father the Devil unholy as he is unholy so the children of Christ are like their everlasting Father holy as he is holy onely with this difference in Christ there is a fulnesse in them a measure in Christ pureness in them a mixture Thirdly To me to live is Christ i. e. Christ is the comfort of
there are some diseases which are called opprobria medici because they cannot cure them but none are opprobria Christi he healeth all whom he undertaketh If the higher an house standeth on earth it be esteemed the healthier surely then the highest heavens must be a pure air and all health Revel 20.4 there shall be no more death nor any more pain for the former things are past away So that every christian that dieth in the faith how diseased soever he were before shall then immediately as in the Gospel be made every whit whole John 7.23 Thirdly As death will free the believer from diseases in his body so also from sorrows in his soul The christian liveth upon earth as in a valley of tears and often mingleth his drink with weeping As he is a man he is born to sorrows as the sparks fly upward he cometh into the world crying and goeth out groaning and his whole life from the womb to the tomb is in some regard a living death or a dying life But as he is a christian he drinketh deepest of this cup of sorrows the world is a tender mother to her children but a step-mother to strangers Sometimes the afflictions of the good cause high-water in the Saints heart by the rivers of Babylon he sits down and weepeth when he remembreth Zion Psal 137.1 He cannot but sympathize with the miseries of his fellow-members as being himself in the body Sometimes the transgressions of the bad cloath him with mourning like Croessus son though dumb before yet he cryeth out when his father is wounded As with a sword they pierce his bones when they blasphemously say unto him Psal 42.10 Where is thy God rivers of tears run down his eyes because the wicked forsake Gods Law Psal 119.136 Sometimes his own corruptions like so many daggers stab him to the heart that he should abuse such an Ocean of unspeakable love by so unsuitable a heart and so unanswerable a life He confesseth his iniquities and is sorry for his sins Psal 38.18 Sometimes divine desertions darken and cloud all his comforts When God hides his face he is troubled Psal 30.7 As there are no joyes like to those joyes wherewith God reviveth him in the day of his favour so there is no sorrow like to those sorrows wherewith God depresseth him in the day of his anger Thus his life is a circle of sorrows but death will be the Funeral of his sorrows and resurrection of his joyes now he soweth in tears but then he shalâ— reap in joy The day of death is a Saints Marriage-day Sampsons wife indeed wepâ— on her wedding-day Judg. 14.16 but when the soul which in this life is contracted shall at death be solemnly espoused and more neerly conjoyned unto Jesus Christ all tears shall be wiped from its eyes there shall be no more sorrow Revel 21.4 At that Marriage-day Christ will turn all water into wine all mourning into mirth all sighing into singing and cause the bones which he hath broken to rejoyce Now the Saints sorrows are not perfect sorrows non dantur purae tenebrae to the believer it shineth and showreth at the same time he sorroweth not as they which have no hope but his joy at death shall be perfect joy fulness of joy Psal 16. ult and permanent joy when they shall see Christ at death their hearts shall rejoyce and their joy shall no man take from them John 16.22 then the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladnesse and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Isa 35. ult So much for the privative gain of a christian by death or his freedome from evil There is a second thing which is positive Adeâ—pt â—o omnium bonoruâ— and that is the fruition of all good which a believer shall gain by death and in this Head I shall observe these three gradations First a believer by death shall gain the company of perfect Christians Death wil exempt him from all commerce with sinners and teach him fully the meaning of that article The communion of Saints In the field of this world the tares and the wheat grow together but in that heavenly Garner they are parted asunder There is no treacherous Judas among the Apostles no covetous Demas among the Disciples no Amorites to be prickes in the eyes and thorns in the sides of the Israelite no bestial Sodomite to vex righteous Lot with their unclean conversation no flattering Doeg sets his foot in that heavenly Sanctuary David doth not there complain Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace Psal 120.4 5. nor Isaiah that he dwelleth among a people of unclean lips Isa 6.5 nor Elijah that he is left alone Hell holdeth none but sinners heaven hath onely Saints He that dieth in the Lord goeth to the congregation of the first-born to the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And questionlesse the sweet company will be part of our felicity If Platinus the Philosopher could say Let us make haste to our Countrey there are our parents there are all our friends and if Cicero the Orator could say O praeclaruÌ„ diem cùm ad illud animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar Cic de Senect O what a brave day will that be when I shall go to the councel and company of happy souls to my Cato and other Roman Worthies How much better will it be with the Christian when he wall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven when he shall leave the rout and rabble of wicked ones and be admitted into the society of all that died in the faith and be joyfully welcomed by the melodious quire of Angels and be heartily embraced by the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles yea all the Saints Surely if ever thar Proverb were true it is here The more the merrier The fair streams there will never be drawn dry though it be divided into many channels the musick there is not the lesse harmonious because many hear it nor the light of the Sun of righteousness the lesse pleasant because many see it and O what a gain will this be to enjoy the company of them that are holy If Aaron when he met Moses on earth was glad at his heart certainly there was greater joy at their meeting in heaven If David placed all his delight in the Saints here below when they shined a little with the light of purity like the Moon and had their spots in them what delight doth he take in them above now they have perfect purity and shine like the Sun in the firmament of their father Matth. 13.43 If it were so lovely a sight to see Solomon in his rags of mortality that the Queen of Sheba came so far to behold it what will it be to see him in his
wiser then some I will take this with me however but alas poor fool he could not be so good as his word The Holy Ghost excellently termeth rich men rich in this world because riches will not make men rich in another world 1 Tim. 6.17 Death will seal a Lease of ejectment and turn thee out of all thy possessions and death will give thee a bil of divorce and separate thee from all thy relations The relations of Husband and Wife Parents and children are calculated only for the Meridian of this world and shall not out-live this life Thy dear husband or thy loving wife and thy most dutiful children wil all serve thee as Orpah did Ruth Ruth 1â—4 follow thee while thou art full but forsake thee when thou shalt be empty cleave to thee in thy health and life but leave thee in thy greatest danger at death and thy birth and breeding honour and respect wil serve thee in the like kind they are but a shadow which wil not be seen when the Sun of thy life is set The great distinctions in the other world wil be holy or unholy not noble or ignoble Be not afraid when one is made rich when the glory of his house is encreased for when he dieth he shall carry nothing away Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat his glory shall not descend after him Psa 49.16 17. Death is the great leveller making Princes and Peasants equal All thy sinful pleasures will also be lost the sweet taste thou foundest in thy mouth wil be gone though they wil rise in thy stomach and after in thy belly be more bitter than gall Thy merry meetings jovial companions witty jests sporting recreations pictures for thine eyes musick for thine ears dainties for thy taste thine eating and drinking and all these delights on earth which thou solacest thy sensual soul with desiring no other heaven will all like leaves in the Autumn of thy death fall off from thee though in the short summer of thy life thou art richly laden with them yet in thy long thine everlasting Winter thou shalt be stript naked of them Thou mayest say to all the fore-mentioned delights of riches relations honours and pleasures and what ever it is which thou foolishly rejoycest in as Charles the fifth Emperor of Germany whom the world counted most happy did to his trophies treasures and things of the like nature A bite hinc A bite longe Be gone get you farre out of my sight Be assured that as a false harlot leaves her lovers wheâ— they are arrested for debt and followeth other customers so this painted strumpeâ— this deceitful world that now layeth opeâ— her fair breasts to allure thee to go a whoâ—ring after her and commit spiritual fornication with her when death shall arreâ— thee by a Writ from heaven will whollâ— forsake thee and follow them that survive now what a losse will this be But it may be thou comfortest thy self against this that all even good as well as bad will joyn with thee in this losse Reader dost thou consider that they who enjoy the stars all night and come in the morning instead thereof to enjoy the glorious Sun are no losers the Sun hath all the light of the stars and far far more Neither can the godly be properly called losers of these comforts because they enjoy them all and infinitely more in the blessed God As mony answereth all things Prov. 10.19 Mony is equivalently sheep oxen corn meat drink cloth whatsoever you want for this life is virtually in mony so God to a gracious soul after death will answer all things he will be eminently and virtually Father Mother wife child wealth honour pleasure and all things though he loseth them here he will find them there and much more but when thou O sinner losest them in this world they shall never be made up to thee in another world thou losest not only the streams but the fountain not only the beams but the Sun and therefore thy portion will be scorching drought and dismal darknessâ— Besides these things are not the portion the all of a good man they are not his estate or inheritance they are but an additional over-plus cast in over and above So much the words of Christ imply Matth. 6.33 And all other things shall be added to you As when a father giveth his son a thousand pounds worth of ware he casteth in paper and packthread or one thousand yards of cloth he doth not stand upon the bredth of the thumb which is to be allowed in measurng so God having given himself and his Son to his Saints out of his vast bounty casteth in the creatures as an over-plus they are not their estate or portion or all no when a godly man at the great and terrible day of the Lord Jesus shall see his house and land and outward good things in that common flame which shall burn up the earth he may then behold it with comfort Omnia mea n eoum portâ— â—ias and say with the Philosopher I have my all still But sinner thy losse of them will be a losse indeed for these things are thy all they are all thy God and all thy Christ and all thy happinesse and all thy heaven they are all the fulnesse of joy and all the rivers of pleasures and all the weight of glory which thou shalt enjoy They are all thy riches all thine inheritance all thy consolation all thy reward all thy portion and all thou shalt be worth for ever look Luk. 16.24 They have received their consolation cold comfort indeed ye have your reward * Mat. 6.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they receive it as their full pay whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an acquittance It is one of the saddest speeches in the Book of God whose portion is in this life Psal 17.14 ah poor portion Thou hast no other Paradise but thy garden no other mansion but thy beautiful building no other inheritance but thy Land no other kindred but thy wife and children no other honour but the stinking breath of thy flattering neighbours no other God but thy gold no other heaven but the earth all thy estate is in dust rubbish and lumber surely then it will be a losse with a witnesse to lose all that in a moment and that for ever wherein all thy happinesse consisteth Will it not be a sad sight for thee to stand as it were upon the shoare and to see the vessel in which is imbarqu'd all thy treasures all thy near and dear relations all thy respect and esteem all thy joy and delights sinking before thine eyes and lost for ever or to see that house in which is thy Plate and Jewels thy wife and children and all that ever thou art to be worth in a flame and nothing possible to be recovered would not thine eyes affect thine heart with unspeakable horrour Now this O Reader will be thy case if thou art unsanctified at
death when thou lyest upon thy death-bed and art going out of the world thou mayst take thy leave of thy friends estate honour and delights in such language as this Farewel my dear wife children and all my friends farewel for ever I am going where lovers and friends will be put farre from me I must never never have any friend more but shall remain friendlesse to all eternity Farewel my house and Land my silver and gold farewel for ever I shall from henceforth and for ever be a beggar and though I beg but for one drop of water to coole my tongue when this whole body shall be in unquenchable flames I must everlastingly be denied Farewel my honours and delights farewel for ever I shall never more be respected or comforted confusion of face and easelesse pains are to be my endlesse and unchangeable portion Thus man thou wilt most miserably even out-live thy felicity and when thou comest to live indeed i. e. in the other world want all thy comforts and joys 2. Thou shalt lose by death all thy spiritual preferment It is now no mean mercy to thee hadst thou an heart to prize and improve it that thou enjoyest the Ordinances of God the means of grace many golden seasons for the good of thy soul that thou mayst sit at Gods feet and hear his voice out of Scripture fall down on thy knees and seek his face by prayer but know to thy sorrow death wil rob thee of all these Jewels Now thou hast the tenders of mercy the intreaties of the Minister the motions of the Spirit the invitations of Christ liberty to cast thy self down at the foot-stool of Heavens Majesty and to be as fervent and instant as thou wilt for mercy but then the gate wil be shut and there wil be no praying or hearing or preaching in the place whether thou art going Psal 88.11 Shall thy loving kindnesse be declared in the grave or thy faithfulnesse in destruction the interrogation is a strong negation There is no preaching of Gods clemency or fidelity either in the grave or hel All the Lectures read in the former are by worms of mans mortality and all the Sermons heard in the latter are of mans misery and Gods severity Reader I assure thee from the living God that though in this life thou art now and then bungling about a duty and giving God thy stinking breath a few cold lazy petitions which proceed from thy corrupt lungs thy cursed heart thou shalt do so no more after death As the Saints shall be above this mediate enjoyment of God so thou shalt be below it And truly hadst thou ever had Communion with God in a duty this losse would go near thee How amiable is the worshipping of God to a gracious soul he prizeth Ordinances because they are the means of it in this world above his estate and food or what ever is deare to him Psa 119.14 72 111. Job 23.12 Psa 84.1.2 3. And this priviledge he shall have by death to be employed stil about the same work of pleasing glorifying worshipping and enjoying God only he shall do it in a more excellent and more delightful way He continueth as it were in the same School death only removes him to an higher form or if you will death sends him from the School in which he was fitted and prepared to the University of heaven but O sinner thou must be deprived of this happinesse indeed now thou esteemest the Ordinances of God a burden as precious as they are to others they are tedious to thee The Church is thy Goal the Sabbath is thy ague-day the commands of Christ are bonds and fetters to thee Psa 72.3 The voice of thy carnal heart is when wil the glasse be out when wil the duty be done when wil the Sabbath be over that thou mayst follow the world Amos 8.5 Thou thinkest the prayer is too long the Sermon is too long the Sabbath is too long the duties are all too long wel be patient but a little a short time and thou shalt never be troubled with these long duties more The night is coming when there is no working Joh. 9.4 There is no enjoying Sabbath or Sacraments or seasons of grace no wisdome knowledge or device in the grave to which thou art hastening Eccles 9.10 Now the Minister exhorteth thee to cast away thy sins and come to thy Saviour to reject thy soul-damning lusts and accept of a soul-saving Lord The Father commandeth thee by his Soveraignty over thee and propriety in thee as thy Creatour The Son entreateth thee by presenting his bloody sweat and sufferings unto thee as he is thy Redeemer The Spirit stirreth thee to pity thy precious soul and to minde thine unchangeable estate to consider seriously in this day of Gods patience the things which concern thy eternal peace The Gospel is a Treasure of inestimable value freely offered to thee upon condition thou wilt but heartily embrace it and the easie yoke of Christ together The Word of God chargeth inviteth allureth beseecheth promiseth threateneth all these like so many Trumpets do loudly sound a retreat to call thee off from thy slavery to the world and flesh unto the glorious liberty of the Sons of God but thou art as deaf as the Adder and wilt not hear the voice of these heavenly charmes as hard as the Rock the waves of threatenings which dash unweariedly against thee stirre thee not the showres and dews of promises which fall on thee continually make no impression neither mercies nor judgements neither men nor God can prevaile with thee Well sinner think of it again and again and thy heart is hardened with a witnesse if it do not tremble to think of it the hour is approaching when thou shalt never have these tenders these invitations these means these motions more though thou shalt earnestly and uncessantly desire them and willingly accept of them if they could be granted thee after thou hast fryed as many millions of yeares in hell as there are stars in the heavens piles of grasse on the earth and sands on the sea shoar yet thy intreaty upon such an hard condition shall be denied then thou wilt befool thy self to purpose for staying til the day after the faire for not accepting when thou wast wel offered then mercy wil be mercy indeed then grace wil be grace indeed then the Gospel wil be glad-tydings indeed when by the want of them thou shalt fully know the worth of them Now God holdeth the Candle of his Word to thee and instead of working thou playest instead of working out thy own salvation instead of working the works of him that sent thee into the world thou playest the fool the drunkard the beast the hypocrite the Atheist wel thou shalt go into utter darknesse where those lights which thou now enjoyest will never shine Plutarch observeth of Hannibal he might once have taken Rome and would not afterwards he would and could not now
enough of lust and lasciviousnesse when he shall imbrace deformed Devils and lie down in a bed of fire instead of feathers surrounded with curtains of frightful fiends In thee it is that the drunkard wil have enough of his cups when a cup of the pure wrath of an infinitely incensed God shall be presented to him and he forced to drink it all up though there be eternity to the bottome In thee it is that the Sabbath-breaker shall have enough of disturbing Gods rest when he shall be tormented and have no rest day nor night for ever and ever Revel 14.16 In thee it is that the Atheist in his family shall have enough of his prayerlessness and regardlessenesse of God when he shall be ever ever praying with his whole heart for a drop of water to cool his tongue and God shall never never shew the least regard towards him In thee it is that the hypocrite wil have enough of putting off God with a painted holinesse when he shall find a real Hell In thee lastly it is that the covetous worldling that like Corah is swallowed up of earth alive and yet hath never enough shal have fire enough pain enough and wrath enough in Hel. Consider this ye that forget God lest he tear you in pieces when there is none to deliver you Psal 50.22 Good God! whether is man fallen what desperate hardnesse hath seised on his heart that he should be every moment liable to such a boundless bottomlesse sea of scalding wrath and yet as insensible of it as if it did no whit concern him Ah did but the seduced world believe thy word they would mind other works than now they do But Reader what is thy judgment is not the mirth of every sinner that maketh a mock of sin worse than madnesse Should not the sting in sins tail deterre thee more than the false beauty of its face allure thee Shalt thou look hence forward upon the most delightful sin as any better than Claudius his mushrome pleasant and poison Well whoever thou art that readest this Use be confident all this and ten thousand times more is thy birth-right thou art by nature an heir to this estate that lieth in the valley of Hinnom All this is the wages due to thee for thy service to sin sin payeth all that die its servants in such black mony and shouldst thou go out of this world before thou art new-born thou shalt as certainly find and feel more than all this in the other world as there is a God in heaven and as thou art a living creature on earth The God of truth hath spoken it and who shall dis-annul it Matth. 18.3 Matth. 5.20 John 3.3 though thou art not actually under it yet then art every moment liable to it this cloud of blood hangs night and day over thy head and thou knowest not how soon it may break and showre down upon thee The decree and sentence is already pass'd in heaven that thou who turnst not in time shalt burn to eternity and thou canst not tell how soon God may seal the warrant for thy execution Bellarmine is of opinion that one glimpse of hel-fire were enough to make a man turn not only Christian but Monk and to live after the strictest order Drexelius tells us of a young man given to his lust that he could not endure to lie awake in the dark and on a time being sick he could not sleep all night and then he had these thoughts What! is it so tedious to lie awake one night to lie a few hours in the dark what is it then to lie in everlasting chains of darknesse I am here in my house on a soft bed kept from sleep one night O to lie in flames and in darknesse everlasting how dreadful will that be this was the means of his conversion O that Reader what I have written might work such an effect upon thy soul how abundantly should I be satisfied for all my pains how heartily should I blesse that God who by his providence call'd me to this task Shall I entreat thee as thou hast the least spark of true love to thy dying body to thy immortal soul to thine eternal peace to break off thy sins by repentance and flie all ungodlinesse as hell for dost thou not perceive out of the Word of the living and true God that though thy lust may be sweet in the act yet her end is bitter as worm-wood sharp as a two-edged sword her feet go down to death her steps take hold of hell Prov. 5.4 5. And in order hereunto I desire thee to observe faithfully those directions I shall give thee in the third use for I would not only open the sore and shew its danger but also by the help of the Physician of souls prepare a plaister the Lord enable thee to apply it for thy cure Take a man that is most addicted to his pleasures and bring him to the mouth of a furnace red hot and flaming and ask him How much pleasure wouldst thou take to continue burning in this furnace for one day he would answer undoubtedly I would not be tormented in it one day to gain the whole world and all the pleasures of it ask him a second time what reward would you take to endure this fire half a day propound what reward you wil there is nothing so precious which he would buy at so dear a rate as those torments and yet how comes it to passe O God that for a little gain and that vile for a little honour and that fugitive for a little pleasure and that fading men so little regard hel-fire which is eternal By this time I hope it is day in thine understanding Drex of etern third consid Rhododaphne and thou seest clearly that there is a difference between the death of the righteous and the wicked that as the same perfume which is mortal to the ravenous vulture is refreshing to the true Dove that as the same hearb which cureth men stung with Serpents killeth beasts so the same mortal disease which cuteth the Godly of all their spiritual and bodily distempers killeth the wicked they are killed with death Rev. 6. Heavinesse to a Saint may endure for the night of this life but joy wil come in the morning of death whereas the freshest streams of sinful delights wil end in a salt sea of sorrows and tears I come now to a second use and that will be by way of examination If it be so that they who have Christ for their â—ife â—â—ll have gain by their death then examine whether thou art one of them to whom to die will be gain Like a Merchant cast up the accompts between God and thy soul and see how much thou art worth for another world It is good husbandry to know the state of thy flock Prov. 27.23 but there is a greater necessity of knowing the state of thy soul of communing with thy own heart Psal 4.5
every messenger welcome for his sake that sendeth him thou needst not fear any servant can night or day knock at thy door with ill news how willingly wilt thou go to duty and with what alacrity perform them knowing the God whom thou drawest nigh to is thy loving Father the Christ in whose Name thou approachest is thy lovely Saviour nay how joyfully maiest thou think of death as the portal through which thou shalt go into thy Masters joy and endlesse life Believe it thy life will be an heaven upon earth And shouldst thou find thy estate lost will it not be an infinite mercy to thee that thou didst know it before it was too late how will it awaken thee out of thy security and affrighten thee upon the apprehension of thy misery how will it quicken thee to mind thy duty in loathing thy self in leaving thy sins and in flying to thy Saviour Sound conversion begins at self-examination First we search and try our wayes and then turn to the Lord Lament 3.39 The way to have our sores cured is first to have them throughly searched I considered my wayes and turned my feet to thy testimonies Psal 119.59 If thou wouldst have thy face clean look into the glasse of the Law and view thy spots He that knoweth not that he is in a wrong path will not turn back though the farther he goeth the greater is his deviation and danger Jer. 31.19 After I was instructed or after I was made known to my self I repented As Abigail said to David if thou hearken to thy servant it will be no grief of mind hereafter to my Lord that thou art kept from shedding of blood so say I to thee If thou wilt faithfully examine thy self it will be no cause of sorrow hereafter to thee that thou wert thereby kept from a further shedding the blood of thy soul Bish Halls Meditat. Vows Cent. 2. Meditat. 4. I will conclude this motive with the meditation of the learned and holy Bishop now with Christ That which is said of the Elephant that being guilty of his deformity he cannot abide to look on his face in the water but seeks for troubled and muddy channels we see well moralized in men of evil conscience who know their souls are so filthy that they dare not so much as view them but shift off all checks of their former iniquity with the excuses of good fellowship Whence it is that every small reprehension galls them because it calls the eye of the soul home â—o it self and makes them see a glimpse of what they would not So have I seen a foolish and timerous patient which knowing his wound very deep would not endure the Chirurgion to search it whereon what can ensue but a festering of the part and a danger of the whole body so have I seen many prodigal wasters run so far in books that they cannot abide to hear of a reckoning It hath been an old and true Proverb Oft and even reckonings make long friends I will oft summe my estate with God that I may know what I have to expect and answer for neither shall my score run on so long with God that I shal not know my debts or fear an audit or despair of pardon I come now to the touchstone by which thou must be tried whether thou art true gold or counterfeit it is likely thou presumest thy estate is good well art thou willing the Word of God that must whether thou wilt or no judge thee for thy eternal life or death at the last day Ad bunc librum ut judicem ad alias ut â— judex divenio saith Melancth of tâ— â—ble should try thee at this day If thy wares be right and good thou wilt not be afraid to bring them out of thy dark shop into the light If thy title be sound and good I know thou wilt be ready for a fair Trial at law even at the Law of God I shall try thee two wayes though both will lead to the same place I must first intreat thee to put those four particulars to thy soul which in the beginning I told thee were included in that expression To me to live is Christ 1. Ask thy soul what is the principle of thy Religious performances what is the spring of thy obedience men indeed judge of others principles by their practices because they cannot discern the heart whether it be right in a duty or no but God judgeth of mens practices by their principles as we may see by his speech of Paul Behold he prayeth Act. 9.11 Paul was a Pharisee one of the strictest of them and they were much in prayer but God who knew his heart was wrong in former duties takes not any notice of them now behold he prayeth he might say a prayer before but he never pray'd a prayer til now when he had a right principle being regenerated by the holy Ghost then and not till then he made a right prayer Til the Tree be good the fruit can never be good Matth. 7.17 Now Friend what is the principle of thy duties is it fear of men hope of honour desire of gain or mearly the stopping the mouth of conscience or custome are these the weights that make thy Clock to go and if these were taken off would thy devotion stand still then thy heart is not right in the sight of God intreat him for the Lords sake that the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee Or do thy pious actions flow from a renewed will and renewed affections Doth the outward correspondency of thy life to the Law of God proceed from an inward conformity in thy heart to the nature and Law of God from the Law written within if it be thus thy condition is safe for the deeper the spring is from whence the water comes the sweeter the water is and thy services the more acceptable to God Speak thy self whether thou prayest readest hearest singest from the Divine nature within from love to the infinitely amiable God from the delight thou takest in communion with him in duties O how sweet is that hony that drops of its own accord from the comb and how pure is that Wine which floweth freely from the grape So grateful and acceptable is that sacrifice to God which is season'd with sincere love Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord and delighteth greatly in his Commandments Psal 128.1 Or dost thou worship God from the same principle the Sadduces do who deny the Resurrection only from a desire it may go well with thee in this life or from the same principle from which the Persians do the divel only from fear least he should do thee hurt surely that service will be sowr which like verjuice is squeezed out of the crabs To serve God with a filial fear is commendable but to serve him from a servile fear is unacceptable The upright Christian worketh from an inward principle the new Creation within and
thence it is that spiritual things are so natural and delightful to his regenerate part as we see in David I delight to do thy will O my God how cometh this to passe but from an inward principle Thy Law is within my heart Psal 40.8 or as it is in Hebrew Thy Law is in the midst of my bowels But now an hypocrite usually acteth from some outward principle as the Pharisees did Matth. 23.14 27. Matth. 6.1 5. the wind from without makes their Mill to go some goads or whips force them forward hence it is that like tired Jades they are presently weary and desire nothing more then to rest and cease from such unpleasant labour 2. Ask thy soul what is the pattern of thy life whom dost thou labour to imitate is it Christ or thy Neighbour Do'st thou set thy watch by the Town Clock or by the dial of Scripture because that never faileth of going according to the Sun of Righteousnesse A man dead spiritually like dead fish ever swimmeth down with the stream of the times will follow a multitude to do evil cannot endure to be singular like the Planet Mercury at best if in conjunction with good he is good if with bad he is bad or like water taketh the figure of the vessel what ever it be into which it is put But now a living Christian doth not dresse himself by the glasse of the times whil'st he is in the Wildernesse of this world he may follow the cloud of faithful Witnesses but it must be no farther then they follow Christ 1 Cor. 11.1 Christ is the great standard by which he measureth and trieth and which he endeavoureth to imitate in his thoughts words actions He doth uti verbis nummis praesentibus vivere moribus praeteritis use such words and money as is currant at present but lives after that example which was in times past the patterns of godly men bear much sway with him but he knoweth there are some things in their lives Admonet non omnes promiscue esse imitandos Calv. in Phil. 3. which are sea-marks to be avoided and not Land-marks to direct us therefore like the Eagle he looketh most at the Sun Christ himself Now Christian examine thy selfe whom dost thou look upon for thy pattern is it thy desire and care to regulate thy Family and life as such a Knight or Esquire or Gentleman in the Parish where thou livest ordereth his or as thy prophane irreligious Neighbours do theirs or do'st thou look upon and labor to resemble Jesus Christ to govern thy house and heart as he did his praying with his Apostles instructing them in the Mysteries of the Kingdome of heaven and the like Matth. 6. walking humbly inoffensively and worthy of the Lord even unto all well-pleasing Heb. 7.26 1 Pet. 1.19 It is reported of Hierom that having read the Religious life and death of Hilarion he cried out holding up the book Well Hilarion shall be the Champion whom I will follow So when thou readest in the Scripture of the heavenly pious life and holy patient death of the Redeemer how he did all things well and none could convince him of sin is thy soul so ravish't with the beauty and lustre of those many graces which shined so eminently in him that it breatheth out O that I were like him O that I could be as meek and lowly as Christ that I could deny my self and despise the world and glorifie God as much as Christ did Christiani à Christâ— nomen acceperunt operae pretium est ut sunt haeâ—edes nominis ita sint imitatores sanctitatis Bern. Sentent p. 496 that the same mind were in me that was in Christ Jesus and though to thy hearty sorrow thou seest how far short thou comest of a perfect conformity to him yet thou resolvest to use all means appointed that thou mayst be more like him and concludest Well Christ shall be the only Champion whom I will follow Answer thy conscience within thee whether it be thus or no for if thou art a living Member thou wilt resemble thy Head Those whom God did fore-know he did predestinate to be conformable to the Image of his Son Rom. 8.29 As the Image in the glasse resembleth the face in figure feature and favour so doth the true Christian after his proportion resemble Jesus Christ 3. Is Christ the comfort of thy life when trouble like frosty weather overtaketh thee which is the fire at which thou warmest thy heart is it this friend or that place of preferment or any outward comfort whatsoever or is it thy Relation to Christ and his affection to thee when damps arise out of the earth is it the joy of thy soul that light springs down from heaven or do'st thou trust to the Candle of the creature which will burn blew and go out Is Christ man or the world the door through which thy joys come in the dish on which thou feedest with most delight If Christ should give thee the long life of Methuselah the strength of Sampson the beauty of Absolom the wisdome wealth and renown of Solomon and deny himself to thee canst thou contentedly bear his absence or wouldst thou say as Haman in another case and Absolom 2 Sam. 14.32 All this availeth me nothing so long as I may not see the Kings face Xenophon As Artabazus when Cyrus gave him a cup of gold and kissed Chrysantas told the King The cup thou gavest to me was not half so good gold as the kisse thou gavest Chrysantas so saith the living Saint when Christ blesseth him outwardly and with-draweth himself from the soul Lord the cups the wife and children the food and raiment the pleasures and treasures all the earthly mercies thou givest to me are not a quarter so good gold as the kisses of thy love which thou givest unto thy favourites O kisse me with the kisses of thy mouth for thy love is better then wine Cant. 1. Remember me O Lord with the favour that thou bearest unto thy children O visit me with thy salvation that I may see the good of thy chosen that I may rejoyce in the gladnesse of thy Nation that I may glory with thine inheritance Psal 106.4 5. Look thou upon me and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those that love thy Name Psal 119.132 These are the holy Petitions of a gracious soul for a childs portion Common mercies will never content them that have special grace nor satisfie them that are sanctified indeed As the needle toucht with the Load-stone is restlesse till it points toward the North so the Saint that is toucht effectually by the Spirit of God is unquiet till he turn unto and have fellowship with Jesus Christ He may flutter up and down like the Dove over the waters of this world but can find no rest for the soles of his feet till he return to Christ the true Ark till Christ put forth his hand
and take him in Gen. 8.9 Then and not till then he crieth out with the Psalmish Return to thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Now Reader what say'st thou how is it with thee Do thy affections as the waters of Jordan overflow their banks at the time of thine earthly harvest Josh 3.15 Or like the bird do'st thou then sing most merrily when thou art mounting up to heaven Art thou willing to be served as the children of Abrams Concubines put off with ordinary gifts or must thou like Isaac have all even Jesus Christ or else thou esteemest thy self to have nothing Gen. 25 5 6. 4. Is Christ the end of thy life Is it thy main scope to live to him that died for thee Doth the compasse of thy soul without trepidation stand right to this pole the glory of Jesus Christ For none of us liveth to himself saith the Apostle and no man dieth to himself but whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord whether we live therefore or die we are the Lords For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of dead and living Rom. 14.7 8 9. A sincere Christian dedicates his body soul name estate relations interests and his all to the glory of Christ and wisheth he had something better to consecrate to him As the Grecian told the Emperour If I had more more would I give thee so the Saint desireth that he may believe more and repent more and hate sin more and for this end that he may exalt Christ more The Philosopher telleth us that means move by the goodnesse of their ends Media movent bonitate finis not by any absolute goodnesse of their own but by their relative goodnesse the goodnesse of their ends as we take Physick not for Physicks sake but for healths sake So duties and Ordinances move a Christian to mind them not so much for their own sake as for their â—nds sake he prayeth fasteth readeth meditateth that he may thereby and therein please glorifie and enjoy the Lord Jesus Christ But now a Professour without the power of godlinesse hath another end He goeth to Church but it is as the cut-purse not to seek God but his prey He performeth duties but either for self-credit Matth. 6.2 as Pliny observeth of the Nightingale As that Emperor who commanded all golden Idols to be pull'd down out of Churches not out of hatred to the Idols but out of love to the gold that she will sing much longer and louder when men are by then when they are not or else for self-profit Matth. 23.14 Like him in the comedy that cried out O heavens but pointed to the earth Religion is either this mans stirrup by which he hopes to get into the saddle above his Neighbours or else it is his stalking horse which he contentedly followeth all day because it may bring him in some gain at night like Satan he may assume the shape of Samuel but it is only upon some particular errand and for his own ends This man is not holy but crafty and doth not serve God but himself of God Reader search whether thou art not one of these Thou art but an empty vine if thou bringest forth fruit to thy self Hos 10.1 O how many a work materially good being flie-blown with self proves sormally bad and so becomes stinking and unsavoury in the nostrils of God! Self is the pirate which too too often intercepteth the golden fleet of religious performances that they cannot return fraughted with blessings It concerneth thee therefore to observe thy ends what are thy ends in thy eating and drinking and all thy natural and civil actions is thy end to please and gratifie the flesh or is it that thou mayst get health and strength and thereby be the more serviceable to thy Maker and Redeemer what is thy end in thy spiritual undertakings is duty the end of duty or is obedience to the honour of and Communion with Christ the end of thy performances make a pause before thou readest farther and answer the Lord who commandeth thee to examine and know the state of thy soul But because I would willingly find thee out whoever thou art and have thee fully acquainted with thy spiritual condition I shall desire thee to try thy spiritual condition by the efficient cause of it and that is the Spirit of God The holy Ghost is called the Spirit of life Rom. 8.2 and indeed he only hath this spiritual life that hath this Spirit of life As all the members of the natural body are actuated and enlivened by the same humane spirit from the Head So all the Members of the Mystical body are quickened and actuated by the same Divine Spirit from their Head the Lord Jesus Christ Mark therefore that one place in Rom. 8.9 how full it is to this purpose for upon that place the weight of all I have to speak further about this Use of trial will depend The words are these But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you Mark Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Observe I beseech thee If any man let him pretend never so much let his priviledges be never so many let his profession be never so great and his performances never so numerous yet if he have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his so that if the Spirit of Christ have not its habitation in thee thou hast no spiritual relation to Jesus Christ Now I shall teach thee to know whether the Spirit be in thee or no by two of its effects or properties the first will be more general the second more special 1. The Spirit of God if it be in thee will purifie thee for it is a purifying Spirit Sanctification is the proper work of the Spirit of Christ It is called the holy Ghost and it is holy not only subjectively but effectively it worketh holinesse and makes men holy 1 Cor. 6.11 It infuseth holy habits and principles into the soul whereby it is enabled to fight with and by degrees to foyl its corruptions It changeth the understanding by illumination the will by renovation and the affections by sanctification it doth not infuse new faculties into the soul but it doth renew the old it turneth the same waters into another Channel they ran before after the world and the flesh but now after God and his wayes It is as it were the same viol only it is new tuned before it could make no musick in praying or singing but now it is so melodious that it delighteth the heart and ravisheth the ear of God himself The old Moon and the new are the same only the new hath a new endowment of light from the Sun which it had not before so it is here the purified person
is the same man he was before only he hath a new endowment of the light of holinesse which he had not before Now thus the Spirit ever worketh where it dwelleth it is therefore called a river of living waters John 7.37 not a pond of dead but a river of living waters a pond will suffer dirt and mud to continue in it without opposition but a river of living waters purgeth out and casteth up its mire and dirt its foam and scum Isa 57.20 So the spirit of the world and flesh will let Atheism pride and unbelief to lodge and lurk in the soul without resistance unlesse it be a little from a natural conscience but the Spirit of God worketh out these gradually as generous wine worketh out lees and dregs The Spirit is also called fire Acts 2. Matth. 3.11 for as fire fighteth with the cold water that is over it and by degrees conquereth it and reduceth the water to its own likenesse of heat in some measure so the Spirit lusteth and fighteth against the flesh and by degrees overcometh the interest of it captivateth the soul to the obedience of Christ and conformeth the whole man in some measure to the Image of God Examine thy soul by this Doth the spirit within thee combat with and conquer thy corruptions Doth it enable thee to cast them away with shame and detestation Hath it turned the bent of thy heart and stream of thy affections after spiritual and heavenly things The waters of the sea as some write though by their naturall course they follow the center yet in obedience to the Moon are subject to her motion and so turn and return ebbe and flow So though thou by nature didst follow the lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eye and the pride of life yet in obedience to the Spirit dost thou now follow its motions Hath the interest of the Spirit an actual predominancy in thy soul above the interest of the flesh Canst thou say that the interest of the spirit and the interest of the flesh do often meet together on a narrow bridge where both cannot go forward together and usually thou sufferest the Spirit to go forward and the flesh to go back When two Masters walk together and a servant followeth after it is not easie to know to which of the two the servant belongs but when the Masters part the servant is discovered whose he is When relgiion and the world have their interests together thou mayst be hid but when thy credit and Christ thy pleasure and the spirit come in competition as they will very often thou mayst discover thy self clearly whore servant thou art Speak friend and let thy conscience witness whether it be thus or no thou mast deceive and thereby undo thy self but thou canst not deceive God for if the Spirit do not sanctifie thee the Son will never save thee Pharao's Court admitted of Frogs and Lice and Noah's Ark received unclean Beasts into it but no such vermine can crawle into the heavenly Court Into it can in no wise enter observe Reader in no wise any thing that is defiled or unclean Revel 21.17 These are the words of the true and living God Canst thou think that thou hast the Spirit of God and shalt be a gainer by death who art a servant of unrighteousness who hast vain-glory covetousness hypocrisie carnal-mindedness within thee and never mournest under them as one heavy laden with them nor longest after Regeneratio gratuitam coram deo justificationem individuo nexu comitatur nec ab ea separari potest etiamsi distingui debeat Polan Syntag. lib 6. cap. 37. nor usest diligently the meanes for deliverance from them Dost thou live a spiritual life that instead of being dead to sin art dead in sin and shalt thou arrive at heaven who walkest in the road to hell I assure thee a King will sooner admit dunghill-rakers and privy-cleaners in their nastiest filthiest pickle into his bed then God will take thee if thou be such a one into heaven No Heaven is for the holy and for them only 2. The Spirit of God is a praying Spirit it is called the spirit of grace and supplication Zach. 12.10 the spirit of adoption Rom. 8.15 and of his Son whereby they that have it cry Abba Father Gal. 4.6 As Christ in Heaven makes intercession for them without them Heb. 7.25 so the Spirit of Christ on earth maketh intercession for them within them God never had any still-born children The fathers after the flesh sometimes have dumbe children but the Father of spirits never had any such Mans invocation of God presently followeth upon Gods effectual vocation of him One of the first signes of spiritual life in Paul was spiritual breathing Behold he prayeth Acts 9.6 and it is observable that prayer is the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending almost of all his Epistles And David was three times a day Psal 55.17 nay seven times a day at this blessed duty Psal 119.164 yea he was so wholly employed in it that he speaketh as if he were altogether made up of it Psal 109 4. Et ego oratio Moller legit But I prayer give my self unto as it is read in our translations is added for explanation as the different character sheweth as if prayer had been his essential constitutive part Some write of Latimer that he would pray so many hours that he was not able to rise Nazianzen saith of his Sister Gorgonia that she prayed so much that her knees seemed to be grown to the very ground * Hierom. in rit Paul the Eremite was found dead kneeling upon his knees holding up his hands and lifting up his eyes * Euseb Constantine the Emperour would not have his effigies set up as other Princes had in his armour leaning but in a posture of prayer kneeling Thus all the Children of God are frequent at asking their heavenly Father blessing Quorum spiritus domiti sunt qui â—ese deo subjiciunt mendici spiritu â—unius in Mat. 5.3 Now ask thy soul Doth the Spirit of â—od bring thee often upon thy knees Art thou one of the generation of seekers Psal 24.6 Art thou one of Gods suppliants Zeph. 3.10 Dost thou know what it is to be poor in spirit It is the character of the worst of sinners they call not on God Psal 14.4 a man once speechless is nigh unto deâ—th to be a beggar and to live altogether upon the almes-basket of heavens bounty Is there a constant trade driven betwixt God and thy soul God sending down mercies and thou sending up prayers This is the daily Exchange Canst thou better live without thy daily bread then this daily duty When thy heart is big with grief whither dost thou go Is this thy greaâ— ease that thou mayst empty thy soul into Gods eares Are thy prayers fervent prayers Is this holy fire put to thy daily sacrifices Is thy prayer made without ceasing or
where there is no rest day or night The last time thou didst quench the motions of his Spirit and stifle the convictions of thy conscience he could have taught thee by experience what is the meaning of the worm that never dyeth and the fire that goeth not out and yet he spareth thee stretching out his hands all the day long to a rebellious child Isa 65.2 Should not his long patience quicken thee to speedy repentance Answer God whether he hath not waited enough been long-suffering enough already and if he have not continue in thy ungodly course and see who shall suffer longest at last he or thou It is one thing to forbear a debt another thing to forgive the debtor The longer God is in fetching his hand about the heavier his blow will be when he striketh The threatning is like a child the longer it is kept in the womb the bigger it groweth and it will put thee to the more pain when it cometh to the birth of its execution therefore bethink thy self before the decree bring forth before the day passe as the chaffe before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon thee Zeph. 2.2 Dost thou not see in the Scriptures many examples of Gods severity upon the abuse of his patience What became of Sodom and Gomorrah when God waited in the dayes of Lot Are they not suffering the vengeance of eternal fire Jude v. 7. What became of the Jews upon whom Christ waited calling upon them and crying to them to return and reform is not wrath come upon them to the utmost 1 Thess 2.16 Are not these like the Maste of a ship sunk in the sands standing up to warn thee to avoid their course least thou split eternally Have not these the same inscription on them with Senacheribs tombe Look on me and learn to be godly Do not the Sodomites seem to say Look on us and learn to be godly Do not thy Atheistical neighbors in hell that thought they had had time enough before them and futured their repentance cry O look on us and learn to be godly and that with speed Friend take example by others least thou be made an example to others To day after so long a time thou wilt hear his voice harden not thy heart Heb. 4.7 My second question which I desire thee to answer is Hast thou not served the world and the flesh long enough already Is it not yet time to serve God hath not lust had too much of thy heart and the flesh of thy life already may not the time past of thy life suffice thee to have wrought the will of the flesh 1 Pet. 4. and 3. Canst thou have the face to say with the sluggard a little more slumber a little more sleep a little more drunkenness a little more swearing a little more wickedness is not the debt which thou owest to Divine Justice great enough Is not the heap of wrath and fury which thou hast provided for thy self against death and judgement big enough Dost thou think that thou maist serve the flesh too little and the Lord too much It may be thou hast served the devil twenty thirty fourty fifty sixty or seventy and knowest not whether thou shalt have so many hours to serve God in and is it not yet time to begin Answer me Hast thou not wallowed long enough in the mire of Atheism worldliness and sensuality wilt thou not yet be made clean Ah when shall it once be Jer. 13. ult 3. If one should offer thee an house and land or a bag of money wouldst thou not presently accept it wouldst thou say I am not yet at leisure hereafter will be time enough and is there not infinitely more reason why thou shouldst presently close with Christ and leave thy sins and seek the Kingdom of heaven Is not heaven more worth then earth are not the fruits of Christ better then silver and his revenews then choice gold Prov. 3.15 When gold is offered thee saith Ambrose thou dost not say I will come again to morrow and take it but art glad of present possession but salvation being profered to our souls few men haste to embrace it Is it not a sordid slighting of Jesus Christ the Lord of glory for thee to be more ready and hasty to take a little perishing wealth then his most precious blood Canst thou read the story of Pope Gregory the seventh how he made the Emperor Henry the fourth with his wife and child to stand bare feet and bare leg'd three days and three nights in a cold frosty season before he would admit them into the house and thy heart not rise against the Popes pride and wickedness And why doth it not rise against thy own obstinacy and vileness that hast suffered the King of Kings to stand knocking at the door of thy heart till his head hath been wet with the dew and his locks with the drops of the night and though he hath waited thus many years yet thou hast denyed him entrance and art not to this hour resolved to give him speedy acceptance 4. Dost thou not finde by experience that the longer thou delayest the farther thou wandrest from God and holiness and the more unfit thou art for and the more unwilling unto the work of conversion is it not time therefore to turn with speed when continuance in sin insensibly hardeneth thy heart and gradually indisposeth it more to the work of repentance as the ground so is thy heart the longer it lyeth fallow not ploughed up the harder it will be wilt thou go one step farther from God when thou must certainly come back every step and that by weeping cross all the way or be damned for ever The purchase of heaven is like buying the Sybils prophesies the longer thou holdest off the dearer A stain which hath been long in cloaths is not easily washed out an house that hath long run to ruin will require the more cost and labor for its reparation Diseases that have been long in the body are cured if at all yet with much difficulty The devil which had possessed the man from his infancy was hardly cast out and not without much renting and raging Mar. 9.21 26. Satan thinks his evidence as good as eleven points at law now he hath once got possession and the longer he continueth Commander in chief in the royal fort of thy heart the more he fortifieth it against God and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty All the while thou delayest God is more provoked the wicked one more encouraged thy heart more hardened thy debts more encreased thy soul more endangered and all the difficulties of conversion daily more and more multiplied upon thee having a day more to repent of and a day lesse to repent in 5. Canst thou promise thy self the next hour to repent in and darest thou defer it to another hour thou sayest thou wilt mind these things when thou art old but what if thou dyest while thou
art young It was a wise answer of one that wa invited to dinner on thâ— morrow saith he A multis annis crastinum non habui thou deferrest it till to morrow but suppose thou dye to day and God say to thee as to the rich fool This night thy soul shall be required of thee Boast not thy self of to morrow thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Pro. 27.1 It is a good saying of Aquinas That though God promise forgiveness to repenting sinners Waldus he the fâ—tâ—er of the Walden es seeiâ— one suddenly fâ—ll â—own dead was converted wenâ—â—ome and â—ecame a new maâ— yet God promiseth not to morrow to repent in think how many hundred casualties thou art liable to how many others dye suddenly and take the counsel of Michal to David Save thy self to night to morrow thou mayest be slain Save thy soul today to morrow thou maist be damned 6. Art thou sure that God will accept thee hereafter if thou shouldst now delay and dally with his Majesty It is good seeking the Lord while he may be found and calling upon him while he is near Psal 55.6 There is a time when men shal call but God will nor hear cry but he will not answer and that because when God called they would not hear but set at naught his counsel Prov. 24. to 29. Whilst thine eyes are open the things which concern thy peace may be hid from them Luke 19.41 Thou maist live to have thy soul buried long before thy body Ezek. 24.13 14. God would purge thee now and thou wilt not take heed he clap not the same curse upon thee which he did on some others that thou shalt never be purged till thou diest The Spirit of God probably now stirreth thee to turn presently and offereth thee its help if thou lovest thy soul do not now deny it least the spirit serve thee as Samuel did Saul Saul disobeyed him and Samuel came no more to Saul to the day of his death 1 Sam. 15. ult i. e. never So take heed of quenching this motion of the holy Ghost least it depart in a distaste taking its everlasting leave of thee and thou never feel it more to the day of thy death Now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 This day if thou wilt hear his voice harden not thy heart least he swear in his wrath that thou shalt never enter into his rest Psal 95.7.11 My second request is that thou wouldst make the attaining this spiritual life the whole business of thy natural life that thou wouldest esteem it as the great end of thy creation preservation and of all the mercies and means of grace which God bestoweth on thee as the great end why God is so patient towards thee so provident over thee so bountiful unto thee that thou mightest repent and return unto him from whom thou hast gone astray Shall I intreat thee for the sake of thy poor soul to let thy greatest labor be for thine eternal welfare Is not this a business of the greatest necessity of the greatest excellency It is the unum necessarium Luk. 10. ult The primum quaerendum Mat. 6.33 The totum hominis Eccl. 12.13 and of the greatest commodity and profit that thou didst ever undertake To be everlastingly in heaven or in hell to enjoy endless and matchless pain or pleasure are other manner of things than men dream of Good Lord that men did but believe what it is to be happy or miserable for ever how then would they flie from the wrath to come and strive to enter in at the strait gate Mat. 7.14 Surely things of the greatest weight call for the strongest work matters that concern thine unchangeabe felicity require the greatest industry Demost Non taâ—ti emam poenitere The Philosopher would not buy repentance at too dear a rate Sure I am thou canst never buy this inheritance too dear though thou spendest all thy time and strength and sellest all thou hast to purchase it Friend if ever thou art saved thou must work out thy own salvation Phil. 2.12 God giveth earth to the meek and patient but heaven to the strong and violent Mat. 5.5 Mat 11.12 It is a saying of Lombard God condemns none before he sins nor crowns any before he overcomes The blind carnal world thinks that a man may go to heaven without so much ado as Judas said of the ointment so they of diligence in duties To what purpose is this waste Mat. 26.8 They tell us it is waste time to pray so frequently and it is waste strength to pray so fervently to what purpose is this waste They presume that godly men might spare a great deal of their pains heavenward As Seneca told the Jews that they lost a seventh part of their time by their sanctification of the Sabbath So the earthly-minded man will tell us that such and such men spend all their time almost in reading or hearing or praying or instructing their families or neighbors and they count it but lost time These men if you will believe them have found out an easier and a nearer way to heaven then ever Jesus Christ did they are the right brood of wicked Jeroboam that told the people 1 King 12.28 It was too much to go up to Jerusalem to worship he had found out a cheaper and an easier way of worship The Calves at Dan and Bethel would save them much labor and in his conceit serve to as much purpose Thus they delude themselves that their lazy cold trading God-ward their slight indifferent prayers will bring them in as much gain as the most zealous performances of the Saints But Reader I hope thou wilt obey the voice of God and not of men in this Consider his promise is to the laborious They that seek him early shall finde him Prov. 8.17 He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11.6 So Prov. 2.3 4. His precept is for labor Agaâ—hocles gâ—t to be King of Sicily by his industry so may the Chrstian by violence attain the kingdom of heaven Mat. 7.13 Strive to enter in at the strait gate be diligent to makâ— your calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 So John 6.27 nay he curseth them that put him off with their lame sacrifices For I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts and my name is dreadful Mal. 1.13 14. Further he is peremptory that the slothful shall be for utter darkness Mat. 25.26 The Egyptian King would have men of activity and industry to be his servants and will God thinkest thou who is a pure act accept of those that are not active Canst thou imagine that he should ever bestow pardon of sin eternal life the sanctification of the spirit the precious contents of his own promise the invaluable fruits of Christs purchase upon those those do not judge them worthy of all their strength and time and hearts and pains
and ten thousand times more Besides for what reason dost thou suppose God to have given thee these things Surely thou canst not be so brutish as to think that the great God made thee and serveth thee in daily with such variety of mercies health strength food raiment influences of heaven and fruits of the earth onely or chiefly that thou should eat and drink and follow thy calling and provide for thy family were such low ends the ground of his kindness or is it not that thou mightest ravish that pure and virgin inheritance by an holy and heavenly violence that thou mightest imploy them and improve them to the utmost about his service and thy own salvation Reader I must desire thee to consider and grant me these two or three suppositions in prosecution of this my second request to thee 1. Suppose thou hadst seen the Son of man who now sitteth at his Fathers right hand rising from his place and attended with the thousand thousands that are before him and with the ten thousand times ten thousand that minister to him coming and sparkling so gloriously through the firmament that he dazaleth the very eyes of the Sun and makes him to hide his head for shame and sitting down in the cloudes with the glory of his Father a fire devouring before him and behind him a flame burning Conceive now with me that thou hearest him call to the Archangel Sound the last Trump that the dead may arise and come to judgement Harke to the sound of the Trump how it rendeth rocks melteth mountains breaks in pieces the bands of death and bursts asunder the gates of hell how it pierceth the ocean and fetcheth from the bottom of the sea the dust of Adams seed how it descendeth into the belly of the earth and forceth it to vomit up all the bodies which it had ever taken down how it openeth the marble tombs of Princes and Potentates and makes their Highness and Majesty stoop as low as the meanest to the King of glory Dost thou not see the bodies of the Saints look how they flie upon the wings of the wind to their souls and both to the bosom of their beloved Saviour See how the spirits of unregenerate ones leave for a little while the dark vault of hell and enter though most unwillingly into the stinking carrion of their bodies and both haled by angels to the judgement seat of Christ When the Court is thus set conceive the Commission read wherein Jesus Christ is authorized in his humane nature by his Divine Power to be Judge of the quick and dead the law is produced both of nature and Scripture the books are opened hoth of Gods omniscience and mans conscience by which all men are to be tryed for their everlasting lives and deaths The holy ones are now called their persons through the righteousness of Christ acquitted by publike proclamation before God Angels and men their performances duties graces services sufferings punctually related to their glory and infinitely rewarded in their perfect freedom from all evil and eternal fruition of the chiefest good Behold how the unholy are with violence draged to the bar examined strictly by the covenant of works have all their sins secret open personal relative of nature and practice in thoughts words and deeds revealed publikely and aggravated fully with all their crimson crying bloody circumstances heark how pitifully they plead what poor evidences they had for salvation what sorry excuses for their Atheisme and abominations their conscience instead of a thousand witnesses accuseth them the law casteth them the Judge pronounceth against them a most severe sentence of condemnation the devils feise on them for its speedy execution Now what confusion and shame of face what lamentation and forrow of heart possesseth them what doleful screechings what bitter yellowâ—ngs are heard among them Here is body cursing the soul for being so ungodly a guide and soul cursing the body for being so unready an instrument and both cursing the time that ever they met together and wishing though in vain that they might for ever be parted asunder Now the worldling curseth his flocks and his Farm his gold and his silver that had more of his heart and of his care and time then his precious soul Now the lazy Christian curseth his madness and folly that he should think a little formal preparation were sufficient for such a strict examination A bloody husband hast thou been to me saith the wife thou mindedst provision for me for a little time and never regardedst my instruction about the things of eternity A cruel father hast thou been to me saith the child for generating me a child of wrath an heir of hell and never endeavoring my regeneration whereby I might have been a child of God and an heir of heaven and thus cursing crying roaring raging they are sent to the place where is mourning without mirth sorrow without solace darkness without light death without life pure wrath without mixture perfect pain without measure nothing but weeping and wailing sighing sobbing and gnashing of teeth for ever ever ever Suppose I say that thou hadst heard and seen all this and God should after it try thee in this world fourty years wouldst thou not night and day be strugling and striving with God by prayer watching over thy own heart waiting upon thy Saviour With what earnestness wouldst thou pray with what seriousness wouldst thou read and hear with what exactness and exemplariness wouldst thou live how diligent and laborious wouldst thou be in a faithful improvement of all thy time talents and opportunities that thou mightest find mercy at such a day even the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life Wouldst thou after such a sight think any time too much or any pains too great for thy eternal good Couldst thou give the world and the flesh the choicest place in thy heart and the chiefest part of thy life as now thou dost shouldst thou dare to be nibbling again at the devils baits or to be playing with the eternal fire or to put off God with a few cold formal prayers and that by fits in stead of hearty fiery continual supplication or to put off Jesus Christ with a complement that thou wearest his livery and professest thy self a Christian in stead of a sincere resolved dedication of heart and life to his word and law What saist thou man And why wilt thou not be as diligent and as holy now thou maist in the glass of Scripture see all that I have spoken for the substance of it at least if thou hast but an eye of faith and without question the sight of faith is as sure and true as a sight of sense what reason canst thou have why thou shouldst not work as industriously to escape hell and obtain heaven as if thou hadst known these things experimentally when the word of the living and true God speaketh it so expresly look 2 Cor. 5. 10. Acts
17.13 Eccles 12.2 ult vers 2. Suppose thou wer 't sure to die this day come moneth and take possession of thine eternal estate to do that which thou never didst before nor shalt ever do again even to throw thy last cast for eternity wouldst thou not then lay aside all other matters and make it thy onely business to ensure an interest in Christ and to make sure of a regenerated sanctified nature wouldst thou not then think Well now there is no daubing no dallying any longer I am now going to my long long everlasting home if I now deceive my self with any thing in stead of the power of godliness and mistake at death I shall miscarry for ever if I be not then right I shall be wrong for ever Now or never now and ever Wouldst thou not highly prize every week of that moneth every day of those weeks every hour of those dayes yea and every minute of those hours and say Ah desperate folly to leave a work of such infinite weight for which my whole life was little little enough to so short a space and yet O infinite mercy that I have any seasons of grace left wherein I may yet work out my salvation with fear and trembling How wouldst thou labor as for life in this duty and that ordinance hanging on those brests and tugging hard for some spiritual good Wouldst thou not with Jacob wrastle with God weep and make supplication wouldst thou not with the Ninivites cry mightily unto God for mercy How would thy prayers proceed from the very bottom of thy heart and with what force would they pierce the very heavens how wouldst thou with the Bereans search the Scriptutes and see upon what termes Christ and heaven may be had Wouldst thou not strive to break thy heart with the hammer of the law and to melt it with the Sun shine of the Gospel that thou mightest repent Wouldst thou not encourage thy soul from the freeness of Gods mercy the fulness of Christs merit to believe O what sad thoughts wouldst thou now have of thy soul and thy sins what serious thoughts wouldst thou have of God and Christ of hell and heaven of death and judgement Surely other manner of thoughts then now thou hast Thus friend it would be with thee if thou wert to leave this world within a month or thou wert worse then a mad man And why shall it not be thus with thee now when thou art so far from ensuring thy life for a moneth that thou canst not promise thy self the next hour dost thou not believe that thy foundation is in the dust Job 4.19 that man at his best estate is altogether vanity Psal 32.5 that one dyeth in his full strength being wholly at ease and quiet his breasts being full of milk and his bones moistned with marrow Job 21.23 24. Thou art not a tenant at thy own will whilst thou dwellest in thy house of clay Thou cuttest large thongs of Gods time if thou assurest thy self another week But look Reader dost thou not see that eternity is at the very threshold of thy house Mortalium nemo est qui crastinum sibi audeat pollireri Euripid that there is but a step a thin paper wall of life between thee and eternity Is there not much more reason that thou shouldst be more industrious for thy soul and salvation when thou art not sure to live a day than if thou wert sure to live a moneth There is a bird peculiar to Ireland called the Cock of the wood remarkable for its fine flesh and folly all the difficulty to kill them is to finde them they flie in woods in flocks and if one be shot the rest remove not but to the next tree and there stand staring at the shooter till the whole covey be destroyed yet as foolish as this bird is it may be the Embleme of most wise men in point of mortality death sweeps away one and one and one and another and all the rest remain no whit moved till at last they are destroyed and then their folly is though too late bewailed 3. Suppose thou couldst speak with thy carnal unregenerate neighbors or friends that are now under endless remorse frying in those unquenchable flames and shouldst ask them what caused them to miscarry for ever and how they came to that place of torment and they should tell thee O friend I thought heaven might have been had without so much ado that there had been no need of that seriousness and laboriousness which a few precise ones practised and which Ministers so much pressed I thought I might do well enough with a formal lazy outside serving of God because my neighbors did no better I presumed that because God was merciful and Christ meritorious I enjoyed the outward priviledges of the Gospel and gave God some of the time I could spare from the world and the flesh in a little heartless devotion that I should be saved never looking at that inward renovation and outward reformation which I see now to my sorrow are required in all to whom the special mercy of God and merit of Christ shall be extended and now wo and alas I am tormented in these flames After such an hearing from hell wouldst thou not be diligent to prevent thy damnation wouldst thou not take heed of those knives of negligence idleness and formality resting in a few good means which did cut the throate of others souls wouldst thou after this jest at heaven and hell or trifle about regeneration or the new birth Wouldst thou again mock God or cozen thy self with a form a shell a carcasse of Religion Would not the words thou hadst lately heard be alwayes sounding in thine ears and piercing thy heart and quickening thee to be sedulous and industrious about thy soul affairs And why wilt thou not do as much now when I can assure thee from the mighty possessor of heaven and earth that this is as true namely that many souls are eternally sunk by reason of those quick-sands as if thou hadst heard it from the mouth of hell nay it is possible a damned wretch may deceive thee but it is impossible that the blessed God who speaketh as much with his own mouth should deceive thee Look 1 Thess 5.3 Mat. 7.21 22 23. 4. Suppose thou hadst with Moses had a sight of the back parts of the infinite God about whose service I am perswading thee to be diligent or with Isaiah hadst seen some extraordinary manifestation of his glory or hadst been with the disciples at the transfiguration of Christ Or suppose thou hadst been in heaven and seen the royalty and majesty of God in those glorious Angels and Saints which continually wait upon him and in the glorified Saviour who sitteth at his right hand and representeth him as lively and fully as is possible to the eyes of men Suppose thou hadst taken strict notice of the number how many millions and order of Gods servants
there how high and noble their works how holy and pure their worship and hadst known the infinite power holiness wisdom and justice of God as they do and God should turn thee again into this world wouldst thou slubber over thy duties and play with his Ordinances as now thou dost wouldst thou pray to this God as if thou prayedst not or hear from his Majesty as if thou heardest not or attend on him so carelesly as if thou didst not attend on him at all or wouldst thou not rather think I can never be too serious in the service of such a God I can never wait on him with humility enough and with watchfulnesse enough with uprightnesse enough and with care and diligence enough Shouldst thou not be laborious in the service of such a good God Give me leave to urge this thought a little farther and to give thee a Scripture or two which through the free grace of God have sometimes helped me against deadness and dullness in duties The one is 2 Chron. 2. and 5. where Solomon telleth us The house I am to build must be great mark the reason for great is our God above all gods If God be so great a God how greatly is he to be reverenced canst thou do too much service for him or give too much glory to him Can thy love to him be too great or can thy fear of him be too great or can thy labor for him be too great when this God is so great That he measureth the ocean in the hollow of his hand and meteth out the heavens with a span and comprehendeth the dust of the earth in a measure and weigheth the mountains in scales and the hills in a ballance Behold the Nations are as a drop of the bucket and are counted as the small dust of the ballance Behold he taketh up the Isles as a very little thing And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering All Nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him as lesse then nothing and vanity Isa 40.12 15 16 17. God is a great God and therefore greatly to be feared Psal 89.7 God is a great God and therefore greatly to be praised for his greatness is unsearchable Psal 145.3 If he be a great God he may well require a great house to be his material temple and if he be a great God may he not justly call for a great part of yea all thy heart to be his spiritual temple It is likely the Son Solomon learned this of his father David who giveth us this as the reason why he danced before the Arke of the Covenant of the Lord of the whole earth with all his might 2 Sam. 6.14 21. It was saith he before the Lord as if he had said Had it been before men only or in their service I might have been cold and careless slothful and sluggish but it was before the Lord the infinite incomprehensible and holy God to whom I am unspeakably obliged for his distinguishing mercy and therefore all my might and all my strength was little enough for such a God I might mind thee further that thou hast wrought hard in thy slavery to the world and thy flesh in thy drudgery to the devil and thy lusts whose reward and wages is nothing but disappointment and vexation hell and damnation and shouldst thou not be fervent fiery seething hot as the word signifieth in spirit when thou art serving the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 11.12 Rom. 11.12 I might also ask thee to whom thou owest thy whole strength and thy whole heart if not to God Art thou so much indebted to the world and thy flesh those enemies of thy salvation as thou art to the blessed God and who will at last pay thee best for thy strength and time God or the world Christ or the flesh But I may speak more to this in another place Well Reader have I yet or rather the Lord by me perswaded thee to set about this great business upon which thy eternal felicity dependeth timely that is presently throughly that is withal thy strength as the main chief and onely work thou hast to do Art thou resolved to do thine utmost endeavor and through the strength of Christ faithfully to follow the directions which I shall commend to thee from the Lord in order to thy recovery out of that bottomlesse misery into which thou hast plunged thy self Is there not abundant reason in what thou hast read Are they the words of a sinfu◠dying man or of the jealous everliving God Is it I only that call upon thee to mind this spiritual life or do not the daily and nightly mercies which thou unworthy wretch injoyest do not the dreadful judgements which others feel and thou hast too much cause to fear do not thy sweet babes thy dear children cry often and aloud in thine ears O thar there were an heart in our Father in our Mother to fear the Lord and keep all his Commandements alwayes that it might go well with them and with their children for ever Deut. 5.29 Nay doth not the Almighty God who observeth all thy wickednesse in whose hands thou art every hour who can with a word speak thee into that place of wo where the worth of grace and holinesse is better known and where the weight of sin and ungodlinesse is more felt In hope that thou wilt not be such an enemy to the God that made thee that thou wilt not do that despight to the Spirit that moveth thee that thou wilt not be such a wilful murderer of thy precious soul as to neglect them I shall set them down the Lord set them home to thy heart Come along with me and I will shew thee the Bride the Lambs Wife how she must be trimmed and adorned for the marriage First Get thine understanding inlightned in the knowledge of thy sins and misery 1. Direction Illumination The knowledge of thy disease and danger must precede thy recovery and cure O how many thousand souls have miscarried in the dark of ignorance Did men know surely they would not daily by their sins crucifie the Lord of glory Did they know their misery they would not be so merry as they are in wayes of iniquity they rush into sin as the horse rusheth into the battel not knowing it will be to their death to their destruction I have sometime read a story of a King that was ever pensive and never seen to smile and being asked by his Brother the cause of it he put him off till the next day for an answer and in the mean time caused a deep pit to be made commanding his servants to fill it half full with fiery coals and then causeth an old rotten board to be laid over it and over the board to hang a two-edged sword by a small slender thred with the point downwards and close by the pit
then it runneth most freely and plentifully None might approach the King of Persia's Court in sackcloth and mourning Est 4.2 but no wandring sinner may draw near to the King of Heaven without it Aut paenitendum aut pereundum Except ye repent ye shall perish God is resolved to break the sinners heart on earth or his back in hell He will have the wound search'd and the pain of it felt before it be bound up and cured The wicked Prodigal must come to his Father with compunction in his soul as well as confession in his mouth Look therefore O sinner into the book of thy conscience and read over the black lines that still are in thy cursed heart and the bloody leaves of thy wicked life how long thou hast lived to little purpose yea to the killing of thy soul for ever how farre thou hast been from accomplishing the end for which thou wast born and the errand for which thou wast sent into the world Keep a petty Assize in thy heart preferre a large Bill of Indictment against thy self accuse and condemn thy self not only verbally but cordially if ever thou wouldst have Christ to acquit thee Thou hast spent many years in sinning and shouldst thou not spend some hours in sorrowing Thou didst make the soul of Jesus Christ sorrowful unto death shall not therefore thy soul be sorrowful when thy sorrow may be unto life Did the Rocks rent when he died for sin shall not thy rocky heart that thou hast lived 〈◊〉 sin He bled for thee and wilt not thou weep for thy self Thou hast filled Gods a Iob 14.17 Bag with thy fins and hast thou no tears for his b Psal 46.8 Bottle Hast thou so long broken the holy Commandements of God and shall not thy heart now at last be broken The damned feel sin it lyeth heavy on their souls couldst thou lay thy ear to the mouth of that bottomlesse pit thou mightst perceive by their yellowings and howlings that sin is sin in hell how lightly soever it is regarded by men upon earth The Lord Jesus felt sin Hadst thou been in the garden and seen his blessed body all over in a goar blood beheld those drops yea clods of blood that trickled down his face surely thou wouldst have believed that it was some heavy weight indeed which caused such a bloody sweat in a cold winter night And art not thou yet weary and heavy laden Do I speak to a man or a beast to a living creature or to a rock that will never be moved If thou hast a disease in thy body thou canst greive and complain and why not for the diseases of thy soul Are not they farre more deadly more dangerous If thou losest a child O what crying and roaring what wringing of hands and watering of cheeks nay if thou losest a place of profit an house or a beast thou canst mourn and think of it often with sorrow And doth it not greive thee that thou hast lost not thy child or cattel but thy Christ thy Saviour thy Soul thy God to eternity If thou missest a good bargain that was offered thee whereby thou mightst increase thy estate or if thou buyest or hirest at too dear a rate how dost thou beshrew and befool thy self for it Hast thou not ten thousand times more cause to be really and highly displeased with thy self and to abhor thy self in dust and ashes that thou shouldst have all the riches and glory and pleasures of the eternal Kingdom tendered to thee with many intreaties and yet thou hast refused them for the lying vanities of this world and for the pleasures of sin which are but for a season Thou hast denyed Heavens happinesse for a bubble a butterfly all things for nothing Did ever any fool buy so dear and sell so cheap Like Saul busie himself in seeking Asses when a Kingdom sought him Like Shimei seek his servant and thereby lose himself No fool like the sinner that embraceth a shadow which will certainly flee from him and neglecteth the substance which endureth to eternity Honorius the Emperor hearing that Rome was lost cried Alas alas very mournfully fearing it had been his hen so called which he exceedingly loved but hearing it was the famous City of Rome that was become a prey to his cruel enemies he made a tush at it Thus too too many can greive sufficiently for the losse of vanities riches but not at all for the losse of God and Christ and enduring felicities Well Friend repent timely and truly of this thy folly for I must tell thee shortly it will be too late if repentance be hid from thy heart now repentance will be hid from Gods eye then by whose Law thou art now a condemned man already if thy heart be hardened now in sinning the heart of God will ere long be hardened in sentencing thee to an eternity of suffering It is an infinite mercy that God yet alloweth thee liberty for second thoughts that notwithstanding thou hast shipwracked thy soul yet thou mayst swim out safe upon the plank of repentance O therefore think no pains too great to break thy stony heart it is worth the while when free grace hath promised a vast reward to that heaven-born work Hadst thou once offered up to God the sacrifice of a spirit truly sorrowful out of love to God and self-loathing because of fin I could tell thee as good as joyful news as ever thine ears heard The Father of mercies and God of comforts will be reconciled to thee in the Lord Jesus Thy prayers for pardon and life will pierce Gods ears and find acceptance if they proceed from a broken heart from sincere repentance A penitent tear is a messenger that never went away without a satisfactory answer Prayers with such tears are prevalent yea in Luthers phrase omnipotent Musick upon the waters sounds most pleasantly Thou hast heard the voice of my weeping saith David Psal 6.8 Augustus Caesar having promised a great reward to any that could bring him the head of a famous Pirate did yet when the Pirate heard of it and brought it himself and laid it at his feet Suet. in vit not only pardon but teward him for his confidence in his mercy As * Plutarch in vâ—t Alex. Antipater was answered by Alexander Thou hast written a long Letter against my Mother but dost thou not know that one tear of hers will wash out all her faults When the returning sinner weeps the tender-hearted Father smi es As he rejoyceth and laugheth at obstinate sinners destruction and ruine Quodâ— Deus loquiâ—ur cum risu tu legas cum fletu Aug. Proverbs 1.26 so he rejoyceth and smileth at the penitent sinners conversion He will do something for an hypocritical humiliation to assure us that he will do any thing upon a sincere humiliation Seest thou saith God how Ahab humbleth himself this judgement shall not be in his dayes but in his Sons
God may imprint what he pleaseth Lord what wilt thou have me do The other instance is in the cruel rough hard-hearted Jaylour After the earth-quake and the heart-quake which God had caused he springs trembling in and fell down before Paul and Silas crying out Sirs What shall I do to be saved Acts 16. 29 30. Observe now the man is heart-sick indeed he is willing to take the most bitter pills As if he had said Sirs Do but tell me what I must do for salvation though the terms be never so hard the conditions never so unpleasant the price never so much the pains never so great yet I will submit to any thing to all things for salvation What must I do to be saved When the Israelite first sets out towards Canaan there is a mixt multitude of carnal affections which desire and endeavour to bear him company now because God knoweth that the land is too good for such evil inhabitants and besides that they will cause many mutinies in the way he brings therefore the Israelite into the wildernesse to humble him and to cut them off Before the soul be throughly humbled it dodgeth with Christ it plaies fast and loose off and on this it liketh and that it disliketh this part of the yoke is uneasie this burthen is too heavy and such and such commandments are grievous fain it would have Christ and his precious promises but loth it is to forego its old friends its beloved lusts but when God is pleased to take the sinner by the throat and to shake him out of his security by shewing him sin and wrath in their colours making him sensible of the one and terrifying him with a fearful expectation of the other laying him at the pits brink within the smoak of hell within the smell of that brimstone within the sorchings of that eternal fire which is prepared for the Devil and his Angles now the sinner seeth that God is in earnest and therefore dareth not halt or halve it any longer now he is in a boisterous storm and casteth all those goods his darling-sinnes into the sea perceiving that he must perish if he do not God is necessitated to launce mens wounds and put them to pain because otherwise they cannot be cured When the metal is thus melted God may cast it into what mold he pleaseth O thrice happy is that heart which hath been deeply and truly humbled it shall hold out in those tempests wherein many others shall make shipwrack of faith and a good conscience Thirdly 3 Direction Application of Christ if thou hast been faithful in following my former advice to get thy mind enlightned to see and thy heart throughly humbled for thy sin and misery thy next work is to rest and rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ for pardon grace and salvation To look upon him as one appointed by the father given by himself sanctified by the spirit and revealed in the word of truth the Gospel to be the onely and al-sufficient Saviour of lost souls It is now the proper time for thee to cast thy soul thy sins thine eternal estate upon the infinite meritoriousnesse of the blessed Redeemer Experience sheweth that it is very easie for an unbroken sinner to presume but surely it is very hard for an humbled sinner that hath had all his vilenesse and unworthinesse displayed before his eye and the infinite wrath of God like a mountain of lead oppressing his conscience to believe and therefore I have prepared some choice cordials for such fainting spirits which I shall give thee anon But my work now is to beseech thee broken heart that thou take heed of thinking to lick thy self whole I know the Devil and thy heart will be both busie and diligent to get thee to make a Christ of thy contrition and a Saviour of thy humiliation O how unwilling is man when he hath shipwrack't his soul to commit himself naked to the sea of Christs blood how earnest is he to have the chains and jewels of his earthly affections along with him This spiritual life is a liâ—e of Faith and indeed upon this the whole almost of thy work dependeth Fide regenâ—ramur resipiscontia non solum fidem subsâ—quitur sed ex ea nascitur Calv. and to swim out upon the rotten boards of his own works Reader now therefore especially if thy soul be in a flame be careful out of what well thou drawest thy water to quench it This is one of the chiefest nay the chiefest of all fundamentals in Religion and therefore it behoveth thee to be very tender Now thou art nigh drowning neer sinking in the Ocean of divine fury thou hadst need to make sure that the bough or stake or what ever it be by which thou holdest be strong enough and able to bear thy weight It is likely nay it is certain if thou art humbled as aforesaid thou prayest thou mournest thou sighest thou loathest thy self for thy wickednesse thou admirest God for his forbearance thou longest after help and deliverance be sure that thou do not look on these as so much money wherewith thou maiest purchase thy pardon and buy off thy guilt for believe it if thou doest as white as thy silver is it will draw black lines instead of wiping off thy old score thou wilt thereby run further in debt Evangelical humiliation is required not so much to make thee acceptable to Christ as to make Christ acceptable to thee It is a good evidence of the beginnings of sanctification but it is a bad advocate for thy justification It is as truly dangerous to appear before God in the rags of thy own righteousnesse as in thy sinful nakednesse If ever thou receive the blessing of pardon and love from thy heavenly father it must be by appearing in the garments of thine elder brother He maketh his acceptable but it is in Christ the beloved Eph. 1.6 Nothing but perfect righteousnesse will pacifie Gods anger or satisfie his justice or please those eyes which are purer than to behold the least iniquity And this righteousnesse is onely in Christ who was made sin for thee that thou mightst become the righteousnesse of God in him 2 Corinth 5. ult Do not therefore when thou ceasest to be an Athiest begin to be a Papist in relying upon thy good works for though God will not save thee without them yet he will never save thee for them Shepherds Sincere Convert p. 107. Edit 5. Canst thou saith an eminent Minister now with Christ make thy self a Christ for thy self Canst thou bear and come from under an infinite wrath canst thou bring in perfect righteousnesse into the presence of God This Christ must do else he could not satisfie and redeem And if thou canst not do this and hast no Christ desire and pray till heaven and earth shake till thou hast worn thy tongue to the stumps endeavour as much as thou canst and others commend thee for a diligent
men come to be prickt at the heart Acts 2.37 That thou must believe or perish and how shalt thou believe on him of whom thou hast not heard Rom. 10. As ships will ride a long time in a road-steed when they might be in the haven for this end that they may be in the winds way to take the first opportunity that shall be offered for their intended voyage So do thou ride in the road of Gods Ordinances waiting for the gales of the Spirit thou knowst not how soon that wind may blow on the waters of the Sanctuary and drive the vessel of thy soul swiftly and land it safely at the haven of happinesse of Heaven Direction If thou wouldst attain this spiritual life be frequent and fervent at the throne of grace Prayer that the God of all grace would infuse grace into thee and breath into thy soul the breath of this spiritual life As Abram pleaded for Ishmael Gen. 17.18 O that Ishmael might live before thee so do thou for thy soul O that my soul might live before thee And â—s the Ruler for his son Lord come down quickly ere my soul die yea ere it die eternally Go to God with a sense of thy own unworthiness and iniquities that though thou comest to his Majesty for the greatest favours yet thou art lesse than the least of all his mercies acknowledging that thou hast sinned hainously against heaven and before him and art unworthy to be called his son Confesse thy original actual heart life sins with their bloody aggravations and intreat him to pardon and purifie thee O with what humility reverence and self-abhorrency should such a guilty prisoner approach the Judge of the whole earth Arraign accuse and condemn thy self and thy sins if ever thou wouldst have God to acquit thee Pray also with a sense of thy own impotency and weaknesse That though there be a necessity of humiliation if ever thou wouldst escape damnation yet thou canst as soon fetch water out of a rock as teares from thine eyes or sorrow from thine heart for thy sins till the wind of the Spirit bloweth those waters will never flow It is God that must give to thee a poor Gentile repentance unto life Non minus difficile est nobis velle credere quam cadaveri volare Beza Confess p. 22. Acts 11.18 That thou must believe or thou canst not be saved yet thou canst as easily cause iron to swim as thy soul to believe in the Son of God Faith is the gift of God Phil. 1.29 Zeph. 8. It is as hard a work to believe the Gospel as to keep the Law perfectly Nothing lesse than omnipotency can enable the soul to either As thy first birth and generation so is thy second birth and regeneration from the Lord. Men and meanes may be instrumental and subservient but their efficacy and successe dependeth on God As Protogenes when he saw a line curiously drawn in a Painters shop cried out None but Apelles could draw that line so when thou seest the new Creation thou mayst say None but a God could doe that When thou hast through the strength of Christ wrought thy heart to some sense of thy weakness and unworthiness then look into the Scriptures and fetch arguments from Gods own mouth weapons from his own Armory whereby thou mayst prevail with him and overcome him Beseech him to consult his glorious Name and gracious Nature mind him that he is the Lord the Lord God gracious merciful long-suffering abundant in goodness and truth forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Exod. 34.6 Tell him that he delighteth not in the death of sinners that he taketh more pleasure in unbloody conquests in the chearful services than in the painful sufferings of his Creatures That he had much rather have trees for fruit than for the fire Say Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving kindness and after the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out mine offences Psal 51.1 O thou that art rich in mercy for the great love wherewith thou lovest souls quicken me in Christ that by grace I may be sanctified and saved Since thou delightest in mercy be pleased Lord to delight both thy self and thy servant by extending thine hand of mercy to pluck me out of this bottomlesse depth of misery Intreat God to consult his own Honor as well as his gracious Nature Mind him that if he condescend to convert and save thee he shall have the glory of his patience in waiting thus long to be gracious the glory of his providence in causing all things to work together for thy good the glory of mercy in pitying and pardoning such a greivous sinner the glory of his justice in that noble satisfaction it shall have from the death of his Son the glory of his power in bringing such a rebellious heart into subjection unto Jesus Christ Intreat his Majesty to consider that he may pardon and cleanse thee through Christ without the least diminution to his glory nay that far more revenues will come to his crown from thy salvation then from thy damnation That the forced confessions of them that perish as of Malefactors upon a wrack do not sound forth his praises so much nor so well as the joyful hearty acclamations of his saved ones Say Lord if thou suffer me to continue in my filth and pollution and never wash me by the blood and spirit of thy Son and suffer me to perish eternally thou art righteous but Lord if I perish I shall not praise thee thy glory will rather be forced out of me with blows as fire out of a flint thou delightest to see poor creatures volunteers in thy service The damned do not celebrate thy praise Psal 30.9 they that go into the infernal pit give thee no thanks The living Psal 88.10 11. Isa 38.19 the living they shall praise thee they that live spiritually and they that live with thee eternally O what Hosanna's and Halelujah's what honor and glory and blessing and praise do they give to the Lord and to the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne for ever O let my soul live and it shall praise thee Thine is the kingdom and power do thou work within me by thy grace and thine shall be the glory Desire God to consider his own promise as well as his praise Urge his own word That they that ask shall receive that seek shall find that knock shall have heaven opened That if men know how to give good gifts to them that ask how much more will the Father in heaven give his holy Spirit to them that ask That he will circumcise the hearts of men and women to love him Deut. 30.6 That he will put his fear into their hearts and they shall never depart away from him Jer. 32.40 That he will write his Law in their hearts Ezek. 31.33 Go in to him when thou art full of heaviness as Bathsheba did to David and say 1
yet he doth not see the wealth the infinite riches that lye buried in them So wicked men see the waters the afflictions the conflicts but not the wealth the comforts the inward joy of the children of God Thirdly as this spiritual life is the most honorable and comfortable so it is the most profitable life no calling bringeth in such advantage as Christianity godliness is profitable unto all things 1 Tim. 4.8 There is an universal gainfulness in real godliness Plutarch telleth us that the Babylonians make above three hundred several commodities of the Palme-tree but there are many thousand benefits which godliness bringeth no Merchant ever had his vessels returned so richly laden as he that tradeth heaven-ward Observe Reader after the Apostles affirmation his full confirmation of it Godliness saith he is profitable unto all things It hath the promise of this life and that to come i. e. It hath heaven and earth entailed on it and therefore it must needs be profitable It giveth the Christian much in possession the promise of this life but infinitely more in reversion the life that is to come The promises of God are exceeding great for their quantity and precious for their quality promises and they all belong to a godly man he is called an heir of the promises Heb. 6.17 Whensoever the tree of the Scripture is shaken whatsoever fruit of those precious promises falleth down it falleth into the lap of a godly man If at any time that box of costly ointment be broken and sendeth forth its fragrant sent and vertue it is to the refreshment only of the Saints Godliness is profitable to thy self If thou art wise thou art wise for thy self and if a scorner thou alone shalt bear it Prov. 9.12 The sinner is no bodies foe so much as his own the murdering peices of sin which he dischargeth against God miss their mark but do constantly recoyle and wound himself The Saint is no bodies friend so much as his own others fare the better for his great stock of grace but the propriety in all the comfort of all and the profit by all is his own It enables him to give away the more at his door but how rich a table doth he thereby keep for himself Godliness is profitable for thy children the just man walketh in his integrity and his children are blessed after him Prov. 20.7 personal piety is profitable to posterity yet not of merit but mercy Though grace come not by generation but donation and though God hath mercy on whom he will yet the seed of the Saints are visibly nearer the quickning influences of the spirit then the children of others When God saith he will be a â—od to the godly man and his children I believe he intendeth more in that promise for the comfort of godly parents then most of them think of Acts 2.36 Gen. 17.7 The children of believers are heirs apparent to the covenant of grace in their parents right Godliness is profitable in prosperity it giveth a spiritual right to temporal good things a gracious man holdeth his mercies in capite in Christ that is his tenure as Christ is a co-heir of all things he being married to him by this spiritual life is a co-heir with him he enjoyeth earthly things by an heavenly title and one peny enjoyed by special promise is far more worth than millions which ungodly men enjoy by a general providence as the beasts of the field do their provender It is godliness that causeth a sanctified improvement of mercies Grace alone like Christ turneth water into wine corporal mercies into spiritual advantages The more God oiles the wheels the more chearfully and swiftly he moveth in the way to heaven the more showers of heaven fall down upon him the more fruitful and abundant he is in the work of the Lord as we see in that gracious King Iehosophat 2 Chron. 17.5 6. The Lord established the Kingdom in his hand and all Iudah brought presents unto him and he had riches and honor in abundance and his heart was lift up in the wayes of God Mark the more Gods hand was enlarged in bounty the more his heart was enlarged in duty The more highly God thinks of David the more lowly he thought of himself 2 Sam. 7.18 Outward mercies to a believer are a ladder by which he mounteth up nearer to heaven Thus godliness like the Philosophers stone turneth iron and every thing into gold but the want of this spiritual life causeth a cursed hellish use of mercies ungodly men like the spider suck poison out of those flowers out of which the Bees the Saints suck honey Their mercies are like cordials to a foul stomach which do but increase the peccant humor He feedeth on such plenty that he surfeits himself because of their abundance Job 21.7 8 9 to 14. Therefore they say unto the Almighty Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes like the Israelites they make of the jewels which God giveth a golden Calf and worship that in stead of God Godliness is profitable in adversity it maketh a Christian like a Rabbit to thrive the better in frosty weather The child of God learneth the better for the rod Before he was afflicted he went astray but now he keepeth Gods word Psal 119.67 Well may grace be called the divine nature for it can bring not onely light out of light spiritual comfort and good out of outward good things but also light out of darkness good out of evil gain out of losses life out of death It will like Sampson fetch meat out of the eater like the Ostrich digest stones like Mithridates fetch nourishment out of poison When wicked men like Ahaz in their distress sin more against the Lord as fire the more it is kept in in an Oven the more it rageth so doth corruption but godly men far otherwise are by the fire of affliction the more refined and purified for their masters use Godliness is profitable to thee while thou livest In doubts it will direct thee as a light to thy feet and a lanthorn to thy paths In dangers it will protect thee by setting thee on high and giving thee for a place of defence the munition of rocks in wants it will supply thee by affording thee bread in the word when thou hast none on the boord and money in the promise 1 Tim. 4.8 which is by thousands the better when thou hast none in thy purse in thy pain it will ease thee in disgrace It will honor thee in sorrows it will comfort thee in sickness it will strengthen by causing thee to count the crosses of this life as nothing and unworthy to be compared to the pleasures and glory which shall revealed in all distresses it will support thee and make thee more then a conqueror over all through him that loveth us Rom. 8.37 Lastly godliness will be profitable to thee when thou diest death which is the terrible of terribles to
pitiful thing was it that Alexander that was Lord almost of the world should be troubled that Ivy would not grow in his garden at Babylon And is it not a poor thing for thee that art a Child of God the Spouse of Christ the Temple of the Spirit an Heir of the most glorious rich and delightful Kingdom that ever was to lie whining and pining if thy head do but ake or thy estate decrease or thy friend forsake thee For shame remember who thou art and to what thou art called and say as the Martyr Hold out Faith and Patience your work is almost at an end Thou shalt ere long leave this world and all its evils and go where there is neither sorrow nor sin and indeed there can be no affliction there because there wil be no corruption there which is the original of all miseries As there cannot be any thunder or lightning in the upper Region because the vapours which are the materials of it cannot ascend so high So because no unclean thing can be there therefore no sorrow no suffering can be there How may this comfort thee Basil tels us Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how the Martyrs that were cast out naked in a winters night being to be burned the next day solaced their souls with these words Sharp is the cold but sweet is Paradise Troublesome is the way but pleasant shall be the end of our journy Let us endure cold a little and the Patriarchs bosome shall soon warm us Let our feet burn a while that we may dance for ever with Angels 2. It is a comfort against the temptations of the Devil Whilst thou livest in this world thou art liable to his wiles If thou wilt go to heaven so boundless is his malice that he raiseth all the powers of hell against thee and forceth thee to fight every foot of the way He is the strong man that hath full possession of carnal unregenerate ones and therefore all is at peace with them Matth. 12. What need a Captain bend his Forces against a Town which hath delivered up it self into his hands What need he plant his Canons and batteries against these gates which are already set open to him This Gaoler doth not trouble himself much about those prisoners which are fast in his dungeon with his irons on their legs and are led captive by him at his will 1 Tim. 2.26 But for thee who hast by the help of Christ broken prison and in part got out of his power he raiseth all the Country with Hue and cry to bring thee back to thy old place of bondage But be comforted Christ hath conquered him already in his own person as thy head is daily conquering him in thee his member by his Spirit and will shortly crush him fully under thy feet Rom. 16.20 Paraeus in loc Some refer that shortly to the day of judgement which will come shortly and wherein Satan shall be utterly crushed under all the Saints feet for ever And it is as true of the day of death in reference to every particular Saint As when a man dyeth all those vexatious law-suits with which he was before molested do cease So when the believer dyeth all those false actions which Satan had commenced against him in the court of his conscience and all that inward trouble which did arise thereupon do all cease It is no bad sign now O Christian if thou resistest that thou art assaulted by the wicked one A Theif will not break into an house that is empty A Pirate will not fight but for some considerable prize A Father will not seek to destroy his own Children Temptation is no sign of Gods hatred but of the Devils But let this be thy solace that within a few dayes thou shalt be at rest not only from thy own labours but also from Satans snares and suggestions God doth thee much good by them now the noise of those guns causeth the Conies to hasten to their burrowes and the Birds to their places of refuge The more the tops of sound trees are shaken with the wind the more deeply their roots are fixed in the earth the more eagerly Satan followeth thee the faster thou fliest and the closer thou clingest to Jesus Christ But God will do thee the greatest good without them and when that shall be thou shalt be wholly freed from them Since the Devils were cast out of Heaven we read of their being sometimes in the Sea Matth. 8.33 sometimes in the Earth Job 1.7 and sometimes in the Air Eph. 2.3 and they are called Principalities and spiritual wickednesses in high places Eph. 6.12 but never in Heaven They aspire to get as high as they can but they can get no further than the Air Satan and his Angels find no more place in heaven Rev. 12.8 Now what comfort is this O Christian that thou shalt serve the Lord without distraction without temptations 3. It is comfortable against the corruptions of thine own heart What is it now that is thy greatest sorrow Is it not thy sin These are the weights which hang on the clock of thy heart and will not suffer it to rest day or night Well rejoyce in hope at death all these Achans which are the troublers of thy peace shall be stoned to death all these Jonahs which cause such stormes in thy soul shall be cast over-board all these Hamans which seek the ruine of thee and thy people shall be executed Now it is thy great care in every Ordinance to kill thy sins Dost thou not like Joab set the Uriah of thy beloved lust in the fore-front of every duty and retire from it out of pious policy that it may be slain And when at any time it pleaseth the Captain of thy salvation to send the supplies of his Spirit and wound mortally thy corruption that it lyeth gasping and dying before thee dost thou not look up to Christ and say as Cushi to David concerning dead Absalom Would to God that all the enemies of my Lord the King and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt were as that young man is Lord that all my sins might drink of the same cup and be served the same sauce Blessed be the Lord my God which hath avenged me this day of mine enemy If God should thrust the knife of mortification up to the haft in the very hearts of all thy sins that thou couldst see thy pride distrust unthankfulnesse hardnesse of heart and every corruption in a goar-blood fetching their last breath would it not be a lovely sight to thee Wouldst thou not look upon it with as much content as Hannibal did upon a pit full of the blood of men when he cried out O beautiful sight O formosum specta culum Or as that Queen that cried out when she saw her Subjects lie dead before her eyes The goodliest tapestry that ever she beheld At death all this shall be done for thee One touch
glorifying and beatifical vision of God then to mourn that thou hast lost him for a little time It was a memorable speech of William Hunters mother when her son was to dye a violent death for he suffered Martyrdom under Bonner I am glad saith she that ever I was so happy as to bear such a child that can find in his heart to lose his life for Christ and then kneeling down on her knees she said I pray God strengthen thee my son to the end I think thee as well bestowed as any childe that ever I bore Take the counsel of the spirit not to sorrow as others which have no hope and know this for thy comfort that those which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord wherefore comfort one another with these words 1 Thess 4.13 to the end I shall shew thee farther in what respects it is comfortable and then conclude 1. It is comfortable if thou considerest the excellency of this gain as David said of Goliahs sword so I may of this gain of a Saint by death There is none like it In hist Eccles Nicephorus tells us of one Agbarus a great man that hearing so much of Christs fame by reason of the miracles that he wrought he sent a Painter to take his picture and that the Painter when he came was not able to do it because of the radiancy and divine splendor which sate on Christs face whether this be true or no I leave to the author but without controversie there is such a radiancy on the glorified head and members in heaven that none can conceive it much lesse describe it There are three things which will speak a little how great the gain of every godly man is by death 1. The fore-tastes of it do shew that it is excellent Saints here have the first fruits Rom. 8.23 and they do speak what the harvest will be The Jewish Rabbies report that when Joseph in the years of plenty had gathered much corn in Egypt he threw the chaffe into the river Nilus that so flowing to the neighbor Countries they might know what abundance was laid up for themselves and others So God is pleased that we might know the plenty in heaven to give us some sign some taste of it here upon earth He enableth us to conclude if his wayes are wayes of pleasantness how pleasant will the end be If his people have songs in their pilgrimage in their banishment surely they have Halelujahs in their Country in their fathers house If there be so much goodness laid out upon them in this valley of tears how infinite is that goodness which is laid up for them in the masters joy Christian Didst thou never taste and see that the Lord is gracious Didst thou never in thy closet enjoy fellowship with the father and with Jesus Christ his Son Didst thou never find one day in Gods Courts nay one hour better then a thousand elsewhere Did the Lord Jesus never call thee aside from others and carry thee into his banqueting-house and cause his banner over thee to be love Did he never kiss thee with the kisses of his lips and embrace thee in his dearest arms Hast thou not sometimes seen the smiles of his face and found them better then life And hearing his voice known thy heart-burning towards him with love Dost thou not remember at such a time he took thee up into his Chariot and gave thee a token for good shewing thee a glimpse of thy future glory solacing thy soul with a sense of his favour ravishing thy heart with hopes of thy eternal happiness when thou didst wonder exceedingly at the creatures emptiness and befool thy self for doting so much upon nothing when thou didst see sin in its opposition and contrariety to the divine nature and thy own welfare and didst curse thy lusts with the most bitter curses whereby thou had offended so gracious a Lord when thou didst behold the Lord Jesus in all his embroydery and glory O how lovely was he in thine eyes how sweet was he to thy taste how precious was he in thy esteem how closely was thy soul joyned to him how largely was thy spirit drawn out after him how earnestly didst thou desire to be ever with him when thou thoughtest what joy is there in being with Christ if there be so much in Christs being with me How happy are they that enjoy the fountain if some small streams are so pleasant when thou saidst Master it is good to be here Let us build a tabernacle My soul is filled with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips One thing do I desire of the Lord that I may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever ever This is the foretaste of glory by this thou maist conceive what heaven will be As Fulgentius when he beheld the beauty and bravery the glory and gallantry of Rome cryed out If earthly Rome be so glorious how glorious is heavenly Rome Si talis est R ma terrestris quatis est Roma coelestis so thou mayst gather if thou hast so much joy when thou hast heaven onely in hope what joy shalt thou have when thou shalt have it in hand If the seed-time be so joyous how great will the joy of harvest be If the promise can stay one that is ready to die surely the performance will be better then life from from the dead If Jerusalem below be paved with Gold then questionless Jerusalem above is paved with Pearl 2. The price paid for it speaketh the excellency of it where there is honesty and righteousness in the seller and wisdom in the buyer there the price of a thing will speak its worth Now here there was infinite righteousness in God the seller and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ the purchaser therefore the price laid down for heaven will speak the excellency of it If the price were very great the place must be very glorious Heven is called the purchased possession Eph. 1.14 because it was bought with the blood of the Son of God Reader wonder at this price and at this place We are bold to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus Heb. 10.19 When thou hearest of a purchase on earth that costeth a hundred thousand pound or a million wouldst not thou presently conclude Surely that must be an incomparable seat for delight what pleasant Springs what stately rooms what curious contrivances what unheard of excellencies must be there without question all things imaginable for riches glory and comfort But when thou readest in Scripture of a