mine iniquity and am by Nature a Son of Death and a thousand-fold more the Child of Hell by my wicked practice But of thine infinite Grace thou hast promised Mercy to me in Christ if I will but turn to Thee with all my Heart Therefore upon the Call of thy Gospel I am now come in and throwing down my weapons submit my self to thy Mercy And because thou requirest as the Condition of my Peace with Thee that I should put away mine Idols and be at defiance with all thine Enemies which I acknowledge I have wickedly sided with against Thee I here from the bottom of my heart renounce them all firmly Covenanting with thee not to allow my self in any known sin but conscientiously to use all the means that I know thou hast prescribed for the death and utter destruction of all my corruptions And whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the World I do here resign up my heart to Thee that madest it humbly protesting before thy Glorious Majesty that it is the firm resolution of my heart and that I do unfeignedly desire Grace from Thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practise this my resolution through thy assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this world rather than to turn from thee to the ways of sin and that I will watch against all its temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity lest they should withdraw my heart from thee beseeching thee also to help me against the temptations of Satan to whose wicked Suggestions I resolve by thy grace never to yield my self a Servant And because my own righteousness is but menstruous rags◠I renounce all confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone creature without righteousness or strength And forasmuch as thou hast of thy bottomless Mercy offered most graciously to me wretched sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of thee I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that I do here solemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God and with all possible veneration bowing the neck of my Soul under the feet of thy most Sacred Majesty I do here take thee Lord Iehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my Portion and chief good and to give up my self Body and Soul for thy Servant promising and vowing to serve thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my life And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the only means of coming unto thee I do here upon the bended knees of my Soul accept of him as the only new and living way by which sinners may have access to thee and do here solemnly joyn my self in Marriage Covenant to him O Blessed Jesus I come to thee hungry and hardly bested poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked a most loathsom polluted wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory but sith such is thine unparallel'd love I do here with all my power accept thee and do take thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poorer for all times and conditions to love honour and obey thee before all others and this to the death I embrace thee in all thine offices I renounce mine own worthiness and do here avow thee to be the Lord my Righteousness I renounce mine own wisdom and do here take thee for mine only guide I renounce mine own Will and take thy◠Will for my Law. And since thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign I do here Covenant with thee to take my Lot as it falls with thee and by thy grace assisting to run all hazards with thee verily supposing that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me And because thou hast been pleased to give me thy holy laws as the rule of my life and the way in which I should walk to thy Kingdom I do here willingly put my Neck under thy Yoak and set my shoulder to thy burden and subscribing to all thy Laws as holy iust and good I solemnly take them as the rule of my words thoughts and actions promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life according to thy direction and will not allow my self in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my duty Only because through the frailty of my flesh I am subject to many failings I am bold humbly to protest That unallowed miscarriages contrary to the setled bent and resolution of my heart shall not make void this Covenant for so thou hast said Now Almighty God searcher of hearts thou knowest that I make this Covenant with thee this day without any known guile or reservation beseeching thee that if thou espiest any flaw or falshood therein thou wouldst discover it to me and help me to do it aright And now glory be to thee O God the Father whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father that ever thou shouldst find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners Glory be to thee O God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own Blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer Glory be to thee O God the Holy Ghost who by the finger of thine Almighty Power hast turned about my Heart from Sin to God. O dreadful Iehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Ghost thou art now become my Covenant friend and I through thine infinite Grace am become thy Covenant Servant Amen So be it And the Covenant which I have made on Earth let it be ratified in Heaven The AUTHORS Advice THis Covenant I advise you to make not only in Heart but in Word not only in Word but in Writing and that you would with all possible reverence spread the Writing before the Lord as if you would present it to him as your Act and Deed. And when you have done this set your hand to it Keep it 〈◊〉 a Memorial of the Solemn Transactions that have passed between God and you that you may have recourse to it in Doubts and Temptations Direct XI Take heed of delaying thy Conversion and set upon a speedy and present turning I made haste and delayed not Psal. 119. 60. Remember and tremble at the sad instance of the foolish Virgins that came not till the door of mercy was shut Mat. 25. and of a convinced Felix that put off Paul to another season and we never find that he had such a season more Acts 24. 25. O come in while it is called to day lest thou shouldst be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin lest thy day of grace should be over and the things that
But wo is me my sins are as many as the Sands and as mighty as the Mountains Their weight is greater than their number It were better that the Rocks and the Mountains should fall upon me than the crushing and insupportable load of my own sins Lord I am heavy loaden let mercy help or I am gone Unload me of this heavy guilt this sinking load or I am crâ—â—hed without â—ope and must be pressed down to Hell. If my grief were thorowly weighed and my sins laid in the balances together they would be heavier than the Sand of the Sea therefore my words are swallowed up They would weigh down all the rocks and the hills and turn the balance against all the Isles of the Farthâ— O Lord thou knowest my manifold transgressions and my mighty sins Ah my Soul Alas my Glory Whither art thou humbled Once the Glory of the Creation and the Image of God now a Lump of filthiness a Coffin of rottenness replenished with stench and loathsomness O what work hath sin made with thee thou shalt be termed Forsaken and all the rooms of thy faculties Desolate and the name that thou shalt be called by is Ichabod or Where is the Glory How art thou come down mightily My Beauty is turned into deformity and my Glory into shame Lord what a loathsome Leper am I The Ulcerous Bodies of Iob or Lazarus were not more offensive to the eyes and nostrils of men than I must needs be to the most holy God whose eyes cannot behold iniquity And what misery have my sins brought upon me Lord what a case am I in Sold under sin cast out of Gods favour accursed from the Lord cursed in my body cursed in my soul cursed in my name in my estate my relations and all that I have My sins are unpardoned and my â—oul within a step of death Alas What shall I do Whither shall I go Which way shall I look God is frowning on me from above Hell gaping for me beneath Conscience smiting me within temptations and dangers surrounding me without Oh whither shall I flee What place can hide me from Omnisciency What power can secure me from Omnipotency What meanest thou O my soul to go on thus Art thou in league with Hell Hast thou made a Covenant with Death Art thou in love with thy misery Is it good for thee to be here Alas what shall I do Shall I go on in my sinful ways Why then certain damnation will be mine end and shall I be â—o besotted and bemadded as to go and sell my soul to the flames for a little Ale and a little ease for a little pleasure or gain or content to my flesh Shall I linger any longer in this wretched estate No if I tarry here I shall die What then Is there no help no hope None except I turn Why but is there any remedy for such woful misery Any mercy after such provoking iniquity Yes as sure as God's Oath is true I shall have pardon and mercy yet if presently unfeignedly and unreservedly I turn by Christ to him Why then I thank thee upon the bended knees of my soul O most merciful Jehovah that thy Patience hath waited upon me hitherto For hadst thou took me away in this estate I had perished for ever And now I adore thy grace and accept the offers of thy mercy I renounce all my sins and resolve by thy grace to set my self against them and to follow thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life Who am I Lord that I should make any claim unto thee or have any part or portion in thee who am not worthy to lick up the dust of thy feet ' Yet since thou holdest forth the golden Scepter I am bold to come and touch To despair would be to disparage thy mercy and to stand off when thou biddest me come would be at once to undo my self and rebel against thee under the pretence of humility Therefore I bow my soul to thee and with all possible thankfulness accept thee as mine and give up my self to thee as thine Thou shalt be Soveraign over me my King and my God Thou shalt be in the Throne and all my powers shall bow to thee they shall come and worship before thy feet Thou shalt be my Portion O Lord and I will rest in thee Thou callest for my heart O that it were any way fit for thine acceptance I am unworthy O Lord everlastingly unworthy to be thine But since thou wilt have it so I freely give up my heart to thee Take it it is thine Oh that it were better But Lord I put it into thine hand who alone canst mend it Mould it after thine own heart make it as thou wouldst have it holy humble heavenly soft tender flexible and write thy Law upon it Come Lord Jesus come quickly Enter in triumphantly take me up to thee for ever I give up to thee I come to thee as the only way to the Father as the only Mediator the means ordained to bring me to God. I have desâ—royed my self but in thee is my help Save Lord or else I perish I come to thee with the rope about my Neck I am worthy to die and to be damned Never was the hire more due to the servant never was penny more due to the labourer then Death and Hell my just wages is due to 〈◊〉 for my sins But I fly to thy merits I trust alone to the value and virtue of thy Sacrifice and prevaâ—â—â—cy of thine intercession I submit to thy teaching â— make choice of thy Government Stand open 〈…〉 doors that the King of Glory may come in O thou spirit of the most high the comforter and sanctifier of thy chosen come in with all thy glorious train all thy courtly 〈◊〉 thy fruits and graces Let â—â—e be thine habitacion â— I can give 〈◊〉 But what is thine 〈◊〉 already but here with the poor Widdow I casâ— my two miâ—es my soul and my body into thy treasury fully resigning them up to tâ—â—â—e to be sanctified by thee to be servants to thee They it all â—e thy Patients Cure thou their Malady they shall be thy Agents Govern thou their Moâ—â—câ—s Too long have I served the world too long have I hearkned to Satan but now I renounce them all and will be ruled by thy Dictates and Directions and guided by thy Counsel O blessed Trinity O glorious Unity I deliver up my self to thee receive me write thy name O Lord upon me and upon all that I have as thy proper goods Set thy mark upon me upon every member of my body and every faculty of my soul. I have chosen thy precepts Thy law will I lay before me This shall be the Copy which I will keep in my eye and study to write after According to this rule do I resolve by thy Grace to walk After this law shall my whole man be governed And though I cannot perfectly keep one
A Sure Guide TO HEAVEN OR An Earnest Invitation to Sinners to turn to God in order to their Eternal Salvation Shewing the thoughtful Sinner what he must do to be saved By Ioseph Alleine late Minister of the Gospel at Taunton in Somersetshire John 3. 3. Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside near Mercers Chappel 1688. TO THE READER That would be safe and happy IF it were only possible thou mayst live hereafter and be called to account in another world for what thou dost in this it would be thy wisdom to take the safest course and not to run the constant hazard of being dragg'd by death to Iudgment before thou wert prepar'd to meet thy Iudge But another Life and a Judgment to come are more than possible there is an high probability yea as great a certainty as can with reason he expected that death will not put an end to thy being that thou shalt live after the return of thy body to the Earth and that then thou shalt be tryed and sentenced to such an happiness or misery as will be incomparably greater than any thing nay than all thou didst ever feel or see hear of or imagine These weighty Truths are taught and establisht in some measure by the Light of Nature but much more clearly and firmly by the Oracles of God in the Holy Scriptures Besides what they say of the different states of separated Souls they plainly teach and strongly assert That God hath appointed a time in which he will judge the whole world by the Mediator Jesus Christ that that great Mediator who is God as well as Man will descend from Heaven attended by its glorious Inhabitants with triumphant Acclamations to his Royal Throne that a mighty Voice will cite all that ever dwelt on Earth to make their personal appearance that that awakening and commanding Summons shall be presently heard and obeyed by the dead and they with the quick then remaining alive shall all stand before the Judgment Seat that after a throughly searching and impartial tryal which will reach mens several talents trusts and opportunities of getting and doing good and their most secret actions words and thoughts every one shall receive an unalterable Sentence of Absolution or Condemnation and that then such as are approv'd and absolv'd shall inherit an heavenly Kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world be like the Angels their delightful Companions converse with their most amiable and loving Saviour beholding and partaking of his glory yea resemble see and enjoy God himself in compleated Holiness and everlasting Bliss And those on the other hand that are reprobated and damn'd shall never be admitted into the Regions of Light nor yet be favour'd with a glimpse thereof but suffer with Devils in the blackness of darkness for ever the perpetual gnawings of the Worm that dieth not and the extreme torments of unquenchable fire Seeing then these things cannot be denied thou must be guilty of such woful abuses of reason as far exceed all the extravagancies of them that want it thou must be most grosly foolish most unnaturally cruel to thine own Soul to thy whole self if thou dost not earnestly desire to be one of those unto whom the Lord shall say Come ye blessed and not Depart ye cursed if thou dost not readily welcom and diligently use any proper helps for the avoiding of the heaviest endless misery and for the attaining of the purest vastest everlasting happiness And such helps are now offered thee in this little Book which hath a taking tincture of the excellent Author's flaming love to God and useful Charity to the Souls of men and now it is in thine hand let me tell thee it cannot be refus'd the reading or reaâ— without doing what it so plainly teacheth and affectionately urgeth but at thy greatest peril If thou wilt not be at a small expence of time and pains to read it over if after the neglect of so many means of instruction this also be rejected how justly mayst thou be destroyed for lack of knowledge How soon may the things which belong unto thy peace be hid from thine eyes A continued wilful want of understanding is large ground for fear lest he that made thee should not have mercy on thee and he that form'd and redeem'd thee should shew thee no favour If thou readest but dost not practise what Scripture and Reason so pathetically plead for the increase of thy knowledge will increase thy sorrow because it will aggravate thy sin for to him that knows his Lords will how and why to do good and doth it not but the forbidden evil to him 't is heinous inexcusable sin for which he is liable to be beaten with many stripes in constant dreadful danger of severer punishment I hope therefore thou wilt peruse so short a discourse and art not unwilling to do it in such a manner as to grow acquainted with and be perswaded to thy great duty and which is inseparable from it thy greatest advantage and that thou may'st not fail thereof is the design of the following Directions 1. Pray in the name of Christ as thou art and shalt be enabled for the more effectual assistances of the Holy Spirit Such is the corruption of our nature that it utterly disables to make a saving use of outward means without inward aids Unless the Spirit by his powerful operations work thee into a serious teachable temper set home the attempts of Gods Messengers and give them an efficacy far beyond their own the most concerning truths and weightiest arguments can never be so represented and inforc'd as to overcome thy sensual worldly inclinations rescue thee from the dominion of sin and Satan and bring thee back to God. Thou must therefore pray and that with becoming apprehensions of the great God due regard to the gracious Mediator deep shame and sorrow for the â—ins thou confessest ardent desires of all the grace thou beggest and faithful improvements of such measures as thou hast already received And if thou thus askest with fervent importunity and persevering constancy thou wilt undoubtedly find that God bade thee not to seek his face in vain As our Lord warrants us to argue Luke II. If a man will not deny a Friend what he is importunate for and if a Father will grant his Son what he asks and wants much more will thy Heavenly Father give thee the Holy Spirit for all needful purposes to produce all those effects in thee that are truly necessary for thine Eternal Salvation 2. Consider seriously what thou readest and work it on thy Soul as far as thou art concern'd therein Medicines for the Body will operate though they are not thought of but Spiritual Remedies for the mind require its co-operation with them the clearest explications fullest proofs and strongest motives about matters of nearest and
mayst have disgorged a troublesome fin that will not sit in thy stomach and have escaped those gross pollutions of the world and yet not have changed thy swinish nature all the while 2 Pet. 2 20. 22. You may cast the lead out of the rude mass into the more comely proportion of a plant and then into the shape of a beast and thence into the form and features of a man but all the while it is but lead still So a man may pass thro' divers transmutations from ignorance to knowledge from profaneness to civility thence to a form of Religion and all this while he is but carnal and unregenerate while his nature remains unchanged Application Hear then O sinners hear as you would live so come and â—ear Isa. 55. 3. Why would you so wilfully deceive your selves or build your hopes upon the sand I know he shall find hard work of it that goes to pluck away your hopes It cannot but be ungrateful to you and truly it is not pleasing to me I set about it as a Surgeon when to cut off a putrified Member from his well Beloved friend which of force he must do but with an aking heart a pitiful eye a trembling hand But understand me Brethren I am only taking down the ruinous house which will otherwise speedily fall of it self and bury you in the rubbish that I may build fair and strong and firm for ever The hope of the wicked shall perish if God be true of his word Prov. 11. 7. And wert not thou better O sinner to let the word convince thee now in time and let go thy false and self-deluding hopes than to have death too late to open thine eyes and find thy self in hell before thou art aware I should be a false and faithless Shepherd if I should not tell you that you who have built your hopes upon no better grounds than these forementioned are yet in your sins Let your conscience speak what is it that you have to plead for your selves Is it that you wear Christ's livery that you bear his name that you are of the visible Church that you have knowledge in the Points of Religion are civilized perform religious duties are just in your dealings have been troubled in conscience for your sins I tell you from the Lord these pleas will never be accepted at God's Bar. All this though good in it self will not prove you converted and so will not suffice to your salvation Oh look about you and bethink your selves of turning speedily and soundly Set to praying and to reading and studying your own hearts rest not till God hath made thorough work with you for you must be other men or else you are lost men But if these be short of Conversion what shall I say of the profane sinner It may be he will scarce cast his Eyes or lend his Fars to this discourse But if there be any such reading or within hearing he must know from the Lord that made him that he is far from the Kingdom of God. May a man be civilized and not converted where then shall the Drunkard and Glutton appear May a man keep company with the wise Virgins and yet be shut out Shall not a companion of fools much more be destroyed Prov. 13. 20. May a man be true and just in his dealing and yet not be justified of God What then will become of thee O wretched man whose conscience tells thee thou art false in thy trade and false of thy word and makest thy advantage by a lying tongue If men may be enlightned and brought to the performance of holy duties and yet go down to perdition for resting in them and sitting down on this side of conversion what will become of you O miserable families that live as without God in the world and of you O wretched sinners with whom God is scarce in all your thoughts that are so ignorant that you cannot or so careless that you will not pray O repent and be converted break off your sins by righteousness away to Christ for pardoning and renewing grace give up your selves to him to walk with him in holiness or else you shall never see God. Oh that you would take the warnings of God! In his name I once more admonish you Turn you at my reproof Prov. 1. 23. Forsake the foolish and live Prov. 9. 6. Be sober righteous godly Tit. 2. 12. Wash your hands you sinners purifie your hearts ye double minded Iames 4. 8. Cease to do evil learn to do well Isa. 1. 16 17. But if you will on you must die Ezek. 33. 11. Chap. II. Shewing positively what Conversion is I May not leave you with your eyes half open as he that saw men as trees walking Mark 8. 24. The word is profitable for Doctrine as well as reproof 2 Tim. 3. 16. And therefore having thus far conducted you by the shelves and rocks of so many dangerous mistakes I would guide you at length into the Harbour of truth Conversion then in short lies in the thorow change both of the heart and life I shall briefly describe it in its nature and causes 1. The Author it is the spirit of God and therefore it is called the sanctification of the spirit 2. Thes. 2. 13. and the renewing of the holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. Yet not excluding the other Persons in the Trinity For the Apostle â—eacheth us to bless the father of our Lord Jesus Christ for that he hath begotten us again 1 Pet. 1. 3. and Christ is said to give repentance to Israel Acts 5. 31. and is called the everlasting Father Isa. 9. 6. and we his seed and the Children which God hath given him Heb 2. 13. Isa. 53. 10. O blessed Birth Seven Cities contended for the Birth of Homer but the whole Trinity fathers the new creature Yet is this work principally ascribed to the Holy Ghost and so we are said to be born of the Spirit Iob. 3. 8. So then it is a work above man's power We are born not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Iohn 1. 13. Never think thou canst convert thy self If ever thou wouldst be saveingly converted thou must despair of doing it in thine own strength Ier. 13. 18. It is a Resurrection from the dead Rev. 20. 5. Eph. 2. 1. a new creation Gal. 6. 15. Eph. 2. 10. a work of absolute omnipotency Eph. 1. 19. Are these out of the reach of humane power If thou hast no more than thou hadst by thy first birth a good nature a meek and chast temper c. thou art a very stranger to true Conversion This is a supernatural work 2. The moving Cause is Internal or External The Internal mover is only free grace Not by works of righteousness which we have done But of his own mercy he saved us by the renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. Of his own will begat he us Iam. 1. We are chosen and called
Before the news of a Christ was a stale and sapless thing but now how sweet is a Christ Augustine could not relish his before so much admired Cicero because he could not find the name of Christ how pathetically cries he Dulcissime amantis benignis caris c. quando te videbo quando satiabor de pulchritudine tua Medit. c. 37. O most sweet most loving most kind most dear most precious most desired most lovely most fair c. all in a breath when he speaks of and to his Christ in a word the voice of the Convert is with the Martyr None but Christ. 2. The terms which are either ultimate or Subordinate and Mediate The ultimate is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost whom the true Convert takes as his All-sufficient and eternal blessedness A Man is never truly sanctified till his very heart be in truth set upon God above all things as his portion and chief good These are the natural breathings of a believers heart Thou art my portion Psal. 119. 57. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord Psalm 34. 2. My expectation is from him he only is my rock and my salvation he is my defence in God is my salvation and my glory the Rock of my strength and my Refuge is in God Psalm 62. 1. 2 5 6 7. Psalm 18. 1 2. Would you put it to an issue whether you be converted or not Now then let thy soul and all that is within thee attend Hast thou taken God for thy happiness Where doth the content of thy heart lie Whence doth thy choicest comfort come in Come then and with Abraham lift up thine eyes Eastward and Westward and Northward and Southward and cast about thee what it is that thou wouldst have in Heaven or Earth to make thee happy If God should give thee thy choice as he did to Solomon or should say to thee as Ahashuerus to Esther What is thy petition and what is thy request and it shall be granted thee Esther 5. 3. What wouldst thou ask go into the gardens of pleasure and gather all the fragrant flowers from thence would these content thee Go to the treasures of Mammon suppose thou might'st lade thy self while thou wouldst from hence go to the towers to the trophies of honour what thinkest thou of being a man of renown and having a name like the name of the great men of the earth Would any of this all this suffice thee and make thee count thy self a happy man If so then certainly thou art carnal and unconverted If not go farther wâ—de into the divine excellencies the store of his mercies the hiding of his power the deeps unfathomable of his All-sufficiency Doth this sâ—it thee best and please thee most Dost thou say 'T is good to be here Mat. 17. 4. Here I will pitch here I will live and dye Wilt thou let all the world go rather than this Then 't is well between God and thee Happy art thou O man happy art thou that ever thou wast born If a God can make thee happy thou must needs be happy for thou hast avouched the Lord to be thy God Deut. 26. 17. Dost thou say to Christ as he to us Thy Father shall be my Father and thy God my God John 20. 17. Here is the turning Point An unsound professor never takes up his rest in God but converting grace does the work and so cures the fatal misery of the fall by turning the heart from its idols to the living God 1 Thes. 1. 9. Now says the soul Lord whither should I go Thou hast the words of eternal life Iohn 6. 68. Here he centers here he settles O 't is as the entrance of Heaven to him to see his interest in God When he discovers this he saith Return unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Psalm 116. 7. and it is even ready to breath out Simons Song Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace Luke 2. 29. and saith with Iacob when his old heart revived at the welcome tidings It is enough Gen. 45. 28. When he sees he hath a God in Covenant to go to this is all his salvation and all his desire 2 Sam. 23. 5. Man is this thy case Hast thou experienced this Why then blessed art thou of the Lord. God hath been at work with thee he hath laid hold on thy heart by the power of converting grace or else thou couldst never have done this The Mediate term of Conversion is either Principal or less Principal The Principal is Christ the only Mediator between God and Man 1 Tim. 2. 5. His work is to bring us to God 1 Pet. 3. 18. he is the way to the Father Iohn 14. 6. the only plank on which we may escape the only door by which we may enter Iohn 10. 9. Conversion brings over the soul to Christ to accept of him Col. 2. 6. as the only means to life as the only way the only name given under Heaven Acts 4. 12. He looks not for salvation in any other but him nor in any other with him but throws himself on Christ alone as one that should cast himself with spread arms upon the Sea. Here saith the convinced sinner here I will venture and if I perish I perish If I dâ—â— I will die here But Lord suffer me not to perish under the pitiful eyes of thy mercy Intreat me not to leave thee or to turn away from following after thee Ruth 1. 16. Here I will throw my self If thou kick me if thou kill me Job 13. 15. I will not go from thy door Thus the poor soul doth venture on Christ and resolvedly adhere to him Before Conversion the man made light of Christ minded the Farm Friends Merchandise more than Christ Mâ—t. 22. 5. Now Christ is to him as his necessary food his daily bread the life of his heart the staff of his life Phil. 3. 9. His great design is that Christ may be magnified in him Phil. 1. 20. His heart once said as they to the Spouse What is thy Beloved more than another Cant. 5. 9. He found more sweetness in his merry company wicked games earthly delights than in Christ. He took Religion of a fancy and the talk of great enjoyments for an idle dream But now to him to live is Christ. He sets light by all that he accounted precious for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Phil. 3. 8. All of Christ is accepted by the sincere Convert He loves not only the Wages but work of Christ. Ro. 7. 12. not only the benefits but the burden of Christ He is willing not only to tread out the corn but to draw under the yoak he takes up the commands of Christ yea and Cross of Christ Mat. 11. Mat. 16. 24. The unsound closes by the halves with Christ He is all for the Salvation of Christ but he is not for sanctification he is for the priviledges
Jesus Christ Acts 4. 12. Thou must unlearn tâ—y self and renounce thine own wisdom thine own righteousness thine own strength and throw thy self wholly upon Christ as a man that swimmeth casteth himself upon the water or else thou canst not escape While men trust in themselves and establish their own righteousness and have confidence in the flesh they will not come savingly to Christ Luke 18. 9. Phil. 3. 3. Thou must know thy gain to be but loss and dung thy strength but weakness thy righteousness rags and rottenness before there will be an effectual closure between Christ and thee Phil. 3. 7 8 9. 2 Cor. 3. 5. Isa. 64. 6. Can the lifeless carcass shake off its grave cloths and loose the bonds of death Then mayst thou recover thy self who art dead in trespasses and sins and under an impossibility of serving thy Maker acceptably in this condition Rom. 8. 8. Heb. â—1 6. Therefore when thou goest to pray or meditate or to do any of the duties to which thou art here directed go out of thy self call in the help of the Spirit as despairing to do any thing pleasing to God in thine own strength Yet neglect not thy duty but lie at the pool and wait in the way of the Spirit While the Eunuch was reading then the Holy Ghost sent Philip to him Acts 8. 28 29. when the Disciples were praying Acts 4. 31. when Cornelius and his friends were hearing Acts 10. 44. then the Holy Ghost fell upon them and filled them all Strive to give up thy self to Christ Strive to pray strive to meditate strive an hundred and an hundred times try to do it as well as thou canst and while thou art endeavouring in the way of thy duty the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee and help thee to do what of thy self thou art utterly unable unto Prov. 1. 23. Direct V. Forthwith renounce all thy sins If thou yield thy self to the contrary practice of any sin thou art undone Rom. 6. 17. in vain dost thou hope for life by Christ except thou dâ—part from iniquity 2 Tim. 2. 19. Forsake thy sins or else thou canst not find mercy Prov. 28. 13. Thou canst not be married to Christ except divorced from sin Give up the Traitor or you can have no peace with Heaven Cast the head of Sheba over the wall Keep not Dalilah in thy lap Thou must part with thy sins or with thy soul. Spare but one sin and God will not spare thee Never make excuses thy sins must die or thou must die for them Psal. 68. 21. If thou allow of one sin though but a little a secret one though thou may'st plead necessity and have a hundred shifts and excuses for it the life of thy soul must go for the life of that sin Ezek. 18. 21. and will it not be dearly bought O sinner hear and consider If thou wilt part with thy sins God will give thee his Christ Is not this a fair exchange I testifie unto thee this day that if thou perish it is not because there was never a Saviour provided nor life tendred but because thou preferredst with the Jews the Murderer before thy Saviouâ— sin before Christ and lovedst darkness rather than light Iohn 3. 19. Search thy heart therefore with Candles as the Jews did their Houses for Leaven before the Passover Labour to find out thy sins enter into thy Closet and consider What evil have I lived in What duty have I neglected towards God What sin have I lived in against my Brother And now strike the darts through the heart of thy sin as Iâ—ab did through Absalom's 2 Sam. 18. 14. Never stand looking upon thy sin nor rolling the morsel under thy tongue Iob 20. 11. but spit it out as poyson with fear and detestation Alas what will thy sins do for thee that thou shouldst stick at parting with them They will flatter thee but they will undo thee and cut thy throat while they smile upon thee and poyson thee while they please thee and arm the justice and wrath of the infinite God against thee They will open Hell for thee and pile up fuel to burn thee Behold the Gibbet that they have prepared for thee Oh serve them like Haman and do upon them the Execution they would else have done upon thee Away with them crucifie them and let Christ only be Lord over thee Direct VI. Make a solemn choice of God for thy portion and blessedness Deut. 26. With all possible devotion and veneration avouch the Lord for thy God. Set the world with all its glory and paint and gallantry with all its pleasures and promotions on the one hand and set God with all his infinite excellencies and perfections on the other and see that thou do deliberately make thy choice Iosh. 24. 15. Take up thy rest in God Iob. 6. 68. Set thee down under his shadow Cant. 2. 3. Let his promises and perfections turn the scale against all the world Settle it upon thy heart that the Lord is an all-sufficient portion that thou canst not be miserable while thou hast a God to live upon take him for thy shield and exceeding great reward God alone is more than all the world Content thy self with him Let others carry the preferments and glory of the world place thou thy happiness in his favour and the light of his countenance Psal. 4. 6 7. Poor sinner thou art fallen off from God and hast engaged his power and wrath against thee Yet know that of his abundant grace he doth offer to be thy God again in Christ 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. What sayest thou man Wilt thou have the Lord for thy God Why take this counsel and thou shalt have him Come to him by his Christ Ioh. 14. 6. Renounce the Idols of thine own pleasures gain reputation 1 Thes. 1. 9. Let these be pulled out of the Throne and set Gods interest uppermost in thine â—eare Take him as God to be chief in thine affections estimations intentions for he will not endure to have any set above him Rom. 1. 24 Psal. 73. 25. In a word thou must take him in all his Personal Relations and in all his Essential Perfections First In all his Personal Relations God the Father must be taken for thy Father Ier. 3. 4 19 22. O come to him with the Prodigal Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am not worthy to be called thy Son but since of thy wonderful mercy thou art pleased to take meâ— that am of my self a dog a swine a devil to be thy child I solemnly take thee for my Father commend my self to thy care and trust to thy providence and cast my burden on thy shoulders I depend on thy provision and submit to thy corrections and trust under the shadow of thy wings and hide in thy chambers and â—ly to thy name I renounce all confidence in my self I repose my confidence in thee I depose my concernments with
thee I will be for thee and for no other Again God the Son must be taken for thy Saviour for thy Redeemer and Righteousness Iohn 1. 2. He must be accepted as the only way to the Father and the only means of Life Heb. 7. 25. O then put off the rayment of thy captivity on with the wedding garment and go and marry thy self to Jesus Christ. Lord I am thine and all that I have my body my soul my name my estate I send a bill of divorce to my other lovers I give my heart to thee I will be thine undividedly thine ever lastingly I will set thy name on all I have and use it only as thy goods as thy loan during thy leave resigning ad to thee I will have no King but thee Reign thou over me Other Lords have had dominion over me But now I will make mention of thy name only and do here take an oâ—th of fealty to thee promising and vowing to serve and love and â—ear thee above all competitors I disavow mine own righteousness and despair of ever being pardoned and saved for mine own duties or graces and lean only on thine all-sufficient sacrifice and intercession for pardon and life and acceptance before God. I take thee for mine only guide and instructer resolving to be led and directed by thee and to wait forâ— thy counsel and that thine shall be the casting voice with me Lastly God the Spirit must be taken for thy sanctifier Rom. 8. 9 14. Gal. 5. 16 18. for thine Advocate thy Counsellor thy Comforter the teacher of thine ignorance the pledge and earnest of thine inheritance Rom. 8. 26. Psal. 73. 24. Iohn 14. 16. Eph. 1. 14. Iohn 14. 26. Eph. 4. 30. Awake thou Northwind and come thou Sâ—â—th and blow upon my Garden Cant. 4. 16. Come thou Spirit of the most highâ— here is a house for thee here is a Temple for thee Here do thou rest for â—ver dwell here and rest here Lo I give up the possession to thee full possession I send thee the keys of my heart that all may be for thy use that thou mayst put thy goods thy grace into every Room I give up the use of all to thee that every faculty and every member may be thine iâ—â—â—â—ument to work righteousness and do the will of my Father which is in Heaven Secondly In all his essential perâ—ections Consider how the Lord hath revealed himself to you in his word will you take him as such a God Oâ— sinner here 's the blessedest News that ever came to the sons of Men. The Lord will be thy God Gen. 17. 7. Rev. 21. 3. if thou wilt but close with him in his excellencies Wilt thou have the merciful the gracious the sin-pardoning God to be tâ—â— God O yes saith the sinner I am undone else But he farther tells thee I am the holy and sin-hating God. If thou wilt be owned as one of my people thou must be holy 1 Pet. 1. 16. holy in heart holy in life Thou must put away all thine iniquities be they never so near never so natural never so necessary to the maintaining thy fleshly interest Unless thou wilt be at defiance with sin I cannot be thy God. Cast out the leaven put away the evil of thy doings cease â—o do evil learn to do well or else I can have nothing to do with thee Isa. 1. 16 17 18. Bring forth mine enemies or there is no peace to be had with me What doth thine heart answer Lord I desire to have thee as such a God. I desire to be holy as thou art holy to be made partaker of thy holiness I love thee not only for thy goodness and mercy but for thy holiness and parity I take thy holiness for my happiness Oh! be to me a fountain of holiness set on me the stamp and impress of thy holiness I will thankfully part with all my sins at thy command My wiâ—ful sins I do forthwith forsake and for my infirmities that I cannot get rid of though I would I will strive against them in the use of the meaâ—s I detest them and will pray and war against them and never let them have quiet rest in my soul. Beloved whosoever of you will thus accept of the Lord for his God he shall have him Again he tells you I am the All-sufficient God Gen. 17. 1. Will you lay all at my feet and give it up to my dispose and take me for your only portion Will you own and honour mine All-sufficiency Will you take me as your happiness and treasure your hope and bliss I am a Sun and a Shield all in one will you have me for your all Gen. 15. 1. Psal 84. 11. Now what dost thou say to this Doth thy mouth water after the Onions and Flesh-pots of Egypt Art thou loath to exchange the earthly happiness for a part in God and though thou wouldest be glad to have God and the World too yet canst thou not think of having him and nothing but him but hadst rather take up with the earth below if God would but let thee keep it as long as thou wouldst This is a fearful sign But now if thou art willing to sell all for the Pearl of great price Mat. 13. 46. If thine heart answer Lord I desire no other portion but thee Take the Corn and the Wine and the Oyl whoso will so I may have the light of thy Countenance I pitch upon thee for my happiness I gladly venture my self on thee and trust my self with thee I set my hopes in thee I take up my rest with thee let me hear thee say I am thy God thy Salvation and I have enough all I wish for I will make no terms with thee but for thy self Let me but have thee sure let me â—e able to make my claim and see my Title to thy self and for other things I leave them to thee give me more or 〈◊〉 any thing or nothing I will be satisfied in my God. Take him thus and he is thine own Again he tells you I am the Soveraign Lord If you will have me for your God you must give me the supremacy Mat. 6. 24. I will not be an underling You must not make me a second to sin or 〈◊〉 worldly interest If you will be my people I must have the rule over you You must not live at your down list Will you come under my yoke Will you bow to my government Will you submit to my discipline to my word to my rod Sinner What sayest thou to this Lord I had rather be â—t thy command than live at mine own list I had rather have thy â—ill to be done than mine I approve of and consent to thy Laws and account it my priviledge to lie under them And though the flesh rebel and often break over bounds I am resolved to take no other Lord but thee I willingly take the Oath of thy supremacy and acknowledge thee for
of thy Commandments yet I will allow my self in the breach of none I know my flesh will hang back But I resolve in the power of thy Grace to cleave to thee and thy holy ways what ever it cost me I am sure I cannot come off a loser by thee therefore I will be content with reproach and difficulties and hardships here and will deny my self and take up my Cross and follow thee Lord Jesus thy Yoke is easie thy Cross is welcome as it is the way to thee I lay aside all hopes of worldly happiness I will be content to tarry till I come to thee Let me be poor and low little and despised here so I may but be admitted to live and reign with thee hereafter Lord thou hast my heart and hand to this agreement Be it as the laws of the Medes and Persians never to be reversed To this I will stand In this resolution by Grace I will live and die I have sworn and will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments I have given my free consent I have made my everlasting choice Lord Jesus confirm the Contract Amen Chap. VII Containing the Motives to Conversion THough what is already said of the Necessity of Conversion and of the Miseries of the Unconverted might be sufficient to induce any considering mind to resolve upon a present Turning or Conversion unto God Yet knowing what a piece of desperate obstinacy and untractableness the heart of man naturally is I have thought it necessary to add to the means of Conversion and Directions for a Covenant-closure with God in Christ some Motives to perswade you hereunto O Lord fail me not now at my last attempts If any soul hath read hitherto and be yet untouched now Lord fasten in him and do thy work Now take him by the heart overcome him perswade him till he sayâ— thou hast prevailed for thou wast stronger than I. Lord didst thou not make me a Fisher of men And have I toiled all this while and caught nothing Alas that I should have spent my strength for nought And now I am casting my last Lord Jesus stand thou upon the Shore and direct how and where I shall spread my Net and let me so enclose with arguments the souls I seek for that they may not be able to get out Now Lord for a multitude of souls I Now for a full draughtâ— O Lord God remember me I pray thee and strengthen me this once O God. But I turn me unto you Men and Brethren Heaven and Earth do call upon you yea Hell it self doth preach the Doctrine of Repentance unto you The Angels of the Churches travel with you Gal. 4. 19. the Angels of Heaven wait for you for your repenting and turning unto God. O sinner why should the Devils make merry with thee Why shouldst thou be a morsel for that devouring Leviathan Why should Harpies and Hell-Hounds tear thee and make a feast upon thee and when they have got thee into the Snare and have fastened their Talons in thee laugh at thy destruction and deride thy misery and sport themselves with thy damnable folly This must be thy case except thou turn And were it not better thou shouldst be a joy to Angels than a laughing stock and sport for Devils Verily if thou wouldst but come in the Heavenly Host would take up their Anthems and sing Glory be to God in the Highest the Morning Stars would sing together and all the Sons of God shout for joy and celebrate this new Creation as they did the first Thy Repentance would as it were make Holy-day in Heaven and the glorious Spirits would rejoice in that there is a new Brother added to their society Rev. 22. 9. another Heir born to their Lord and the lost Son received safe and sound The true penitents tears are indeed the Wine that cheareth both God and Man. If it be little that Men and Angels would rejoice at thy Conversion know that God himself would rejoice over thee even with singing and rest in his love Luke 15. 9. Isa. 62. 5. Never did Iacob with such joy weep over the Nâ—ck of his Ioseph as thy Heavenly Father would rejoice over thee upon thy coming in to him Look over the Story of the Prodigal Methinks I see how the Aged Father lays aside his estate and forgets his years Behold how he runneth Luke 15. 20. Oh the haste that mercy makes The Sinner makes not half that speed Methinks I see how his Bowels turn how his compassions yearn How quick-sighted is love Mercy spies him a great way off forgets his riotous courses unnatural rebellion horrid unthankfulness debauched practices not a word of these but receives him with open Arms clasps about his Neck forgets the nastiness of his Rags kisses the Lips that deserve to be loathed the Lips that had been joined to Harlots that had been commoners with the Swine calls for the fatted Calf the best Robe the Ring the Shooes the best cheer in Heavens Store the best attire in Heavens Wardrobe Luke 15. 6 9 23. yea the joy cannot be held in one breast c. others must be called to participate the friends must meet and make merry Angels must wait but the Prodigal must be set at the Table under his Fathers wing He is the joy of the feast He is the sweet subject of the Fathers delight The Friends sympathize but none knows the felicity the Father takes in his new born Son whom he hath received from the dead Methinks I hear the Musick and the Dancing at a distance Oh the Melody of the Heavenly Choristers I cannot learn the Sonâ— Rev. 14. 3. But methinks I over-hear the burden at which all the harmonious Quire with one consent strikes sweetly in for thus goes the round at Heavens Table For this my Son was dead and is alivâ— again was lost and is found Luke 5. 23 24 32. I need not farther explain the parable God is the Father Christ the Cheer his Righteousness the Robe his Graces the Ornaments Ministers Saints Angels the Friends and Servants and thou that readest if thou wilt but unfeignedly repent and turn the welcome Prodigal the happy instance of all this grace and blessed subject of this joy and love O Rock Oh Adamant What! not moved yet not yet resolved to turn forthwith and to close with mercy I will try thee yet once again If one were sent to thee from the dead wouldst thou be perswaded Why hear the voice from the dead from the damned crying to thee that thou shouldst repent I pray thee that thou wouldst send him to my Fathers house for I have five Brethren that he may testifie unto them lest they also come into this place of torment If one went unto them from the dead they will repent Luke 16. 27 28 c. Hear O man thy Predecessors in impenitence Preach to thee from the infernal Gibbets from the Flames from the Rack that thou shouldst repent O look
families have little time else O improve but your Sabbath days as diligently in labouring for knowledge and doing your Makers work as you do the other days in doing your own work and I doubt not but you may come to some proficiency 5. Let the Morning and Evening Sacrifice of solemn Prayer be daily offered up in all your families Psal. 92. 1 2. Exod. 30. 7 8. Luke 19 10. Beware they be not found among the families that call not upon Gods name for why should there be wrath from the Lord upon your families Ier. 10. 25. O miserable families without God in the world that are without family Prayer what have you so many family sins family wants family mercies what and yet no family Prayerâ— how do you pray with all prayer and supplication if you do not with family Prayer Eph. 6. 18. Say not I have no time What hast thou all thy time on purpose to serve God and save thy soul and yet is this it for which thou canst find no time find but a heart and I will find time Pinch out of your meals and sleep rather than want for Prayer Say not My business will not give leave This is the greatest business to save thy self and the souls committed to thee Besides a whet will be no let In a word the blessing of all is to be got by prayer Ier. 29. 11 12. 2 Sam. 7. 29. and what is thy business without Gods blessing say not I am not able Use the one talent and God will increase Mat. 25. 24. c. Helps are to be had till thou art better able But if there be no other remedy thou must join with thine abler neighbour God hath special regard to joint-prayer Iam 5. 4 10 19 Acâ—s 12. 5 10 12. 2 Cor. 1. 11. and therefore you must improve family advantages for the performing of it 6. Put every one in your famiâ—â—â—s upon private prayer Observe whether they do perform it Gâ—t â—hem the help of a form if they need it till they are able to go without it Direct them how to pray by mindiâ—g â—hem of their sins â—ants and mercies the materials of prayer This was the practice of Iohn and of jesus Luke 11. 1 2 c. 7. Set up Catechising in your families at the least once every week Have you no dread of the Almighties charge that you should teach these things diligently to your children and talk of them as you sit in your houses c. Deut 66 7 8 9. 4. 9 10. 11 18 19 20. and train them up in the way wherein they should go Prov 22. 6. the margin Hath God so commended Abraham that he would reach his children and houshold Gen. 18. 19. and that he had many instructed Servants Gen. 14. 14. see the margin and given such a promise to him thereupon and will not you pâ—t in for a share neither in the praise nor the promise Hath Christ honoured Catechiâ—ing with his presence Lis. 2. 46. and will you not own it with your practice Say not they are careless and will not learn What have you your authority for if not to use it for God and the good of their souls You will call them up and force them to do your work and should you not at least be as zealous in putting them upon Gods work say not they are dull and are not capable If they be dull God requires of you the more pains and patience but so dull as they are you will make them to learn how to work and can they not learn as well how to liveâ— Are they capable of the mysteries of your Trade and are they not capable of the plain Principles of Religion well as ever you would see the growth of Religion the cure of Ignorance the remedy of Prophaneness the downtal of Error fulfil you my joy in going through with this duty Will you answer the calls of divine providence would you remove the incumbent or prevent the impending calamities would you plant nurseries for the Church of God would you that God should build your houses and bless your substance would you that your children should bless you that your servants should bless you Oh then set up Piety in your families as ever you would be blessed or be a blessing let your hearts and your houses be the temples of the living God in which his worship according to all the forementioned directions may be with constancy reverently performed Prov. 29. 1. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy Oh be wise in time that you be not miserable to Eternity Books lately Printed for Tho. Parkhurst c. 1. A Discourse concerning Old Age tending to the Instruction Caution and Comfort to the Aged By Rich. Steel Minister of the Gospel 2. BAprisâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Renewed being some Meditations on Psalm 〈◊〉 By O. Heywood M. A. FINIS The terms of our Communion are either from which or to which The terms from which we must turn sin Satan the World and our own Righteousness which must be thus renounced The Terms to which we must turn are either ultimate or mediate The ultimate is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost who must be thus accepted The mediate terms are either principal or less principal The principal is Christ the Mediator who must thus be embraced The least principal are the Laws of Christ which must be thus observed
that is maintained in a way of sin Deut. 29. 19 20. Two sorts of peace are more to be dreaded than all the troubles in the world peace with sin and peace in sin Secondly Thy hopes of Salvation hereafter are in vain yea worse than in vain they are most injurious to God most pernicions to thy self there is death desperation blasphemy in the bowels of this hope 1. There is death in it Thy Confidence shall be rooted out of thy Tabernacles God will up with it root and branch it shall bring thee to the King of Terrors Iob 18. 14. tho thou maist lean upon this house it will not stand Iob 8. 1â— but will prove like a ruinous building which when a man trusts to it falls down about his ears 2. There is desperation in it Where is the Hope of the Hypocrite when God takes away his soul Iob 27. 8. Then there is an end for ever of his hope Indeed the hope of the righteous hath an end but then 't is not a destructive but a perfective end his hope ends in fruition others in frustration Prov. 10. 28. The godly must say at death It is finished but the wicked It is perished and in too sad earnest bemoan himself as Iob in a mistake Where now is my hope He hath destroyed me I am gone and my hope is removed like a tree Job 19. 10. The righteous hath hope in his death Prov. 14. 32. When nature is dying his hopes are living when his body is languishing his hopes are flourishing his hope is a living hope 1 Pet. 1. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but others a dying yea a damning soul-undoing hope When a wicked man dieth his expectation shall perish and the hope of unjust men perisheth Prov. 11. 7. It shall be cut off and prove like the Spiders Web Job 8. 14. which he spins out of his own bowels but then comes death with the broom and takes down all and so there is an eternal end of his confidence wherein he trusted For the eyes of the wicked shall fail and their hope shall be as the giving up of the Ghost Job 11. 20. Wicked men are setled in their carnal hope and will not be beaten out of it They hold it fast they will not let it go Yea but death will knock off their fingers Though we cannot undeceive them death and judgment will. When death strikes his dart through thy liver it will let out thy soul and thy hopes together The unsanctified have hope only in this life 1 Cor. 15. 19. and therefore are of all men most miserable When death comes it lets them out into the amazing gulf of endless desperation 3. There is blasphemy in it To hope we shall be saved though continuing unconverted is to hope we shall prove God a liar He hath told you that so merciful and pitiful as he is he will never save you notwithstanding if you go on in ignorance or a course of unrighteousnes Isa. 27. 11. 1. Cor. 6. 9. In a word he he hath told you that whatever you be or do nothing shall avail you to Salvation without you be new creatures Gal. 6. 15. Now to say God is merciful and we hope he will save us nevertheless is to say in effect we hope God will not do as he saith We may not set God's Attributes at variance God is resolved to glorifie mercy but not with the prejudice of truth as the presumptuous sinner will find to his everlasting sorrow Object Why but we hope in Jesus Christ we put our whole trust in God and therefore doubt not but we shall be saved Ans. 1. This is not to hope in Christ but against Christ. To hope to see the Kingdom of God without being born again to hope to find eternal life in the broad way is to hope Christ will prove a false Prophet 'T is David's plea I hope in thy word Psalm 119. 81. but this hope is against the word Shew me a word of Christ for thy hope that he will save thee in thine ignorance or prophane neglects of his service and I will never go to shake thy confidence 2. God doth with abhorrence reject this hope Those condemned in the Prophet went on in their sins yet faith the Text they will lean upon the Lord Mic. 3. 11. God will not endure to be made a prop to men in their sins The Lord rejected those presumptuous sinners that went on still in their trespasses and yet would stay themselves upon the God of Israel Isaâ— 48. 1 2. as a man would shake off the briars as one said well that cleaves to his garment 3. If thy hope be any thing worth it will purifie thee from thy sins 1 Iohn 3. 3. but cursed is that hope which doth cherish men in their sins Object Would you have us to despair Answ. You must despair of ever coming to Heaven as you are Acts 2. 37. that is while you remain unconverted You must despair ever to see the face of God without holiness but you must by no means despair of finding mercy upon your thorough repentance and conversion neither may you despair of attaining to repentance and conversion in the use of Gods means V. Without this all that Christ hath done and suffered will be as to you in vain John 13. 8. Tit. 2. 14. that is it will no way avail to your salvation Many urge this as a sufficient ground for their hopes that Christ died for sinners but I must tell you Christ never died to save impenitent and unconverted sinners so continuing 2 Tim. 2. 19. A great Divine was wont in his private dealings with souls to ask two questions 1. What hath Christ done for you 2. What hath Christ wrought in you Without the application of the Spirit in Regeneration we can have no saving 〈◊〉 â—â—rest in the benefits of Redemptâ—on I telâ— you from the Lord Christ himself cannot save you if you go on in this estate I. It were against his trust The Mediator is the Servant of the Father Isa. 42. 1. shews his commission from him acts in his name and pleads his command for his justification Iohn 10. 18 36. Iohn 6. 38 40. And God hath committed all things to him entrusted his own glory and the salvation of his elect with him Mat. 11. 27. Iohn 17. 2. Accordingly Christ gives his Father an account of both parts of his trust before he leaves the world Iohn 17. 4 6 12. Now Christ should quite cross his Fathers glory his greatest trust if he should save men in their sins for this were to overturn all his counsels and to offer violence to all his attributes First To overturn all his Councels of which this is the order that men should be brought through sanctification to salvation 2 Thes. 2. 13. He hath chosen them that they should be holy Eph. 1. 4. They are elected to pardon and life through sanctification 1 Pet. 1. 2. If thou canst repeal the Law
of Gods immutable counsel or corrupt him whom the Father hath sealed to go directly against his Commission then and not otherwise maist thou get to Heaven in this condition To hope that Christ will save thee while unconverted is to hope that Christ will falsify his trust He never did nor will save one soul but whom the Father hath given him in election and drawn to him in effectual calling Iohn 6. 34 37. Be assured Christ will save none in a way contrary to his Fathers will Iohn 6. 38. Secondly To offer violence to all his attributes 1. To his Iustice. For the righteousness of Gods judgment lies in rendring to all according to their works Rom. 2. 5 6. Now should men sow to the flesh and yet of the Spirit reap everlasting life Gal. 6. 7 8. where were the glory of divine Justice since it should be given to the wicked according to the work of the righteous 2. To his holiness If God should not only save sinners but save them in their sins his most pure and strict holiness would be exceedingly defaced The unsanctified is in the eyes of Gods holiness worse than a Swine or Viper Mat. 23. 33. 2 Pet. 2. 23. Now what cleanly nature could indure to have the filthy Swine Bed and Board with him in his Parlour or Bed-chamber It would offer the extreamest violence to the infinite purity of the divine nature to have such to dwell with him They cannot stand in his judgment they cannot abide in his presence Psalm 1. 5. Psalm 5. 4 5. If holy David would not endure such in his house no nor in his sight Psalm 101. 3 7. shall we think God will Should he take men as they be from the Trough to the Table from the Harlots lips from the Stye and Draff to the glory of Heaven the world would think God were at no such a distance from sin nor had such dislike of it as we are told he hathâ— they would conclude God were altogether such a one as themselves as they wickedly did but from the very forbearance of God Psal. 50. 21. 3. To his Veracity For God hath declared from Heaven That if any shall say he shall have peace tho' he should go on in the imagination of his heart his wrath shall smoak against that man Deut. 29. 19 20. That they only that confess and forsake their sins shall find mercy Prov. 28. 13. That they that shall enter into his Hill must be of clean hands and a pure heart Psal. 24. 3 4. Where were Gods truth if notwithstanding all this he should bring men to Salvation without Conversion O desperate sinner that darest to hope that Christ will put the lye upon his Father and nullifie his word to save thee 4. To his Wisdom For this were to throw away the choicest mercies on them that would not value them nor were any way suited to them First they would not value them The unsanctified sinner puts but little price upon God's great Salvation Mat. 22. 5. He sets no more by Christ than the whole by the Physician Matthew 9. 12. he prizes not his balm values not his cure tramples upon his blood Heb. 10. 29. Now would it stand with wisdom to force pardon and life upon them that would give him no thanks for them Will the all-wise God when he hath forbidden us to do it throw his holy things to Dogs and his pearls to Swine that would as it were but turn again and rend him Mat. 7. 6. This would make mercy to be despised indeed Wisdom requires that life be given in a way suitable to God's honour and that God provide for the securing his own glory as well as Man's felicity It would be dishonourable to God to set his Jewels on the snouts of Swine continuing such and to bestow his choicest riches on them that have more pleasure in their swill than the heavenly delights that he doth offer God should lose the praise and glory of his grace if he should cast it away on them that were not only unworthy but unwilling Secondly They are no way suited to them The Divine Wisdom is seen in suiting things each to other the means to the end the object to the faculty the quality of the gift to the capacity of the receiver Now if Christ should bring the unregenerate sinner to Heaven he could take no more felicity there than a Beast if you should bring him into a beautiful room to the Society of learned men and a well-furnished Table when as the poor thing had much rather be grazing with his fellow-brutes Alas what should an unsanctified creature do in Heaven He could take no content there because nothing suits him The place doth not suit him he would be but piscis in arido quite out of his element as a Swine in the parlour or a Fish out of water The Company doth not suit him What communion hath darkness with light corruption with perfection Filth and rottenness with glory and immortality The imployment doth not suit him The Anthems of Heaven fit not his mouth suit not his ear Canst thou charm thy Beast with Musick Or wilt thou bring him to thy Organ and expect that he should make thee melody or keep time with the skilful Quire Or had he skill he would have no will and so could find no pleasure no more than the nauseous stomach in the meat on which it hath newly surfeited Spread thy Table with delicates before a languishing Patient and it will be but a very offence Alas if the poor man think a Sermon long and say of a Sabbath What a weariness is it Mal. 1. 13. how miserable would he think it to be held to it to all eternity 5. To his immutability or else to his Omnisciency Omnipotency For this is enacted in the Conclave of Heaven and enrolled in the decrees of the Court above that none but the pure in heart shall ever see God Mat. 5. 8. This is laid up with him and sealed among his Treasures Now if Christ yet bring any to Heaven unconverted either he must get them in without his Fathers knowledge and then where is his Omnisciency Or against his will and then where were his Omnipotency Or he must change his will and then where were his Immutability Sinner wilt thou not yet give up thy vain hope of being saved in this condition Saith Bildad Shall the earth be forsaken for thee Or the rocks moved out of their place Job 18. 4. May not I much more reason so with thee Shall the Laws of Heaven be reversed for thee Shall the everlasting foundations be overturned for thee Shall Christ put out the eye of his Fathers Omnisciency or shorten the arm of his eternal power for thee Shall divine Justice be violated for thee or the brightness of the glory of his holiness be blemished for thee Oh the impossibility absurdity blasphemy that is in such a confidence To think Christ will ever save thee