Damn'd feel be inflicted on me how should I wish that I had liv'd all my dayes in Desarts and Wildernesses and spent my whole time in praying and praising of God and given all my Goods to the Poor and liv'd upon Bread and Water and undergone the greatest hardships and severities outpray'd a Saint and out-fasted a Hermit rather than ventur'd my Soul in so slight a bottom as worldly mindedness must necessarily be should that burning Lake be my Habitation for ever O how I should imprecate all my merry Companions that did allure me to run with them into Folly and Vanity O how I should wish that my eyes had never seen them that my ears had never heard their names that my tongue had been torn into a thousand pieces when first it entertain'd Discourse with them that my Arms had been cut off when they embrac'd those pleasures which like Syrens cheat men into misery and calamity O how I should curse the place where my Sins were committed the persons that occasion'd them the hour that ever I thought of them O how I should wish that I had improv'd those opportunities I do now make light of and believed Moses and the Prophets that gave me warning and turn'd to God while the doors of Grace stood open and applied my self to the Ministers of the Gospel and taken directions from them what I must do to be sav'd How should the possibility of such misery fright and terrifie me into watchfulness and seriousness Is not Eternity more to me than a moment of time Can that Gold and Silver I enjoy and do so much prize and adore be any motive to the great Judge of Life and Death to absolve me Can the pleasures of Sin be antidotes against Sin or my Jollities procure a pardon in that day when God shall judge men according to the Gospel What makes me thus stupid that I should forgo the Milk and Honey of Canaan for the pitiful Garlicks and Onions of Egypt What Devil doth possess me that I should prefer Dancing and Revelling for a few hours before endless joy where is my reason What 's become of my understanding Am I bewitch'd besotted beguil'd that I should believe a few flattering motions of flesh and blood before all the Oracles and Inspirations of the Holy Ghost Can there be any thing more reasonable than Christs precepts What is there in them that should discourage me If God had commanded severer things is not Heaven recompence enough I that forbear the greatest Delicacies shun the choicest Dainties will not be tempted to eat of the most palatable Dish when I am sensible it will bring upon me the pain either of Collic or Strangury Nay I that lying under a raging painful Distemper wish my self a Beggar or the poorest Body alive and would be content to stoop to the meanest offices so I might be but freed from the Malady which torments me can I scruple to obey these Laws when it is to avoid an eternity of pain and flames Was not Dives as stubborn as I can be and have not I reason to believe if he were on earth again he would think the Law of Charity the easiest and the reasonablest Law imaginable Have not I reason to believe he would go beyond Zachaeus leave himself but just enough to live on and study how to do good with the rest Have not I reason to believe that the Lawes of Christ would seem very facil and practicable to him Can I think he would say A Little more sleep and a little more slumber and delay his obedience He that hath felt the misery of another World would think nothing too good nothing too dear nothing too costly to sacrifice to him who is the King immortal invisible blessed for evermore God that gave me these Laws and hath entail'd everlasting bliss on my sincere obedience certainly knew best what was fit and expedient for me and he â—hat is acquainted with my sitting down and mine uprising and had a hand in my frame can I think he would prescribe me any thing prejudicial to my happiness These precepts as they are effects of the greatest wisdom so they cannot but be highly beneficial and promote my spiritual interest for they drop from a God that 's infinitely good as well as infinitely wise so that not to submit to them is not only to stand in my own light and to hinder my Soul from its proper food and nourishment but to make my self wiser than the Almighty and to extol my reason above his Omniscience and to accuse his immense wisdom of rashness and folly and shall I add blasphemy to my disobedience Am I afraid God is not enrag'd enough against me or that his Anger is not red enough shall I throw brimstone into the flame to make that consuming fire more terrible Is it such a pleasure to have God my Foe Is it such a satisfaction to have him that can destroy both Soul and Body into Hell for my Adversary such Labyrinths such Inconveniences do I cast my self into by my sinful life and are these encouragements to continue in it Is this the Wedding garment I may triumph in Shall I sing in Chains rejoyce in Fetters glory in my Shackles be proud of the Devils Service boast of my Slavery When is it that I intend to be clean shall I delay it one moment longer that know not but I may be in Hell before the Clock doth strike again Dull blockish heart what dost thou mean Dost thou stand upon the brink of destruction and art thou not afraid Dost thou see a crucified Jesus stretching forth his Arms to embrace thee and dost thou feel no warmth no heat no zeal no affection Dost thou see the great burning Lake before thee and dost not thou quake and tremble Dost thou see the Revenger of blood upon thy heels and wilt not thou run into the City of Refuge Dost thou see the Angel of the Lord preparing to rain down Fire and Brimstone on thee and wilt thou not save thy self in Zoar What hinders thee What is it stops thy progress Art thou still in love with that which will undo thee Why should Father and Mother Wife and Children Brethren and Sisters Lands and Houses make thee lose a Crown Hath Gods Favour no Temptation Is there no Charm in his Love Hath Heaven no Beauty If thou must be miserable hadst thou not better be so here than hereafter Shall the present Food flatter thee into eternal hunger And because the Tree is pleasant to the eye wilt thou prepare for being expell'd out of Paradise for ever Will a few pleasant Cups counterballance thy everlasting Thirst Wilt thou venture an everlasting storm for a present calm And run the hazard of an endless Tempest for a few months Recreation O Wretch that I am the Devil was never crucified for me never spilt one drop of blood for me never endured Agonies for me he never wore a Crown of Thorns for me he
Hosts my Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh cryeth out for the living God when shall I come to appear before thee when shall I shake off this clogg of the flesh and praise thee day and night in thy Temple when shall I be freed from this Earth and Dross and do thy Will O my God without Lett or Interruption O my Soul dost thou believe such a Heaven where no good shall be absent and canst thou be hunting after the husks and empty shells of sensual pleasure how little do the Inhabitants of that New Jerusalem mind the pomp and grandeur of this world they have nobler objects to mind and more delightful employments to take up their minds and thoughts didst thou live more in this Heaven O my Soul how wouldst thou look down upon this Earth as an inconsiderable trifle how little wouldst thou regard what man can do unto thee how contentedly mightst thou part with all that the world counts dear and precious for Christ his sake as knowing that there is laid up for thee the Crown of Righteousness which the Righteous Judge will give to thee one day and not only to thee but to all those that love his appearance Look upon the Primitive Martyrs O my Soul they broyled in Flames but loo'kd upon that Heaven and smiled St. Stephen hath a thousand Stones flying about his Ears but looks upon that Heaven and the Glory of God appears upon his face Abraham sojourns in the Land of Promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob but looks for a City which hath foundation and goes on triumphing Moses suffers affiiction with the people of God but hath respect unto the recompence of reward and esteems the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the Treasures of Egypt The Apostles are scourged and beaten for the testimony of Jesus but look upon this Heaven and depart from the Council rejoycing because they were counted worthy to suffer for the Name of the Lord Jesus St. Paul five times of the Jews receives forty stripes save one thrice is he beaten with rods once he is stoned thrice he suffers shipwrack a night and a day he is in the deep in journeyings often in cold and nakedness but what ails the Man he sings his heart dances for joy under all these troubles O my Soul he saw he saw that his light affliction which was but for a moment would work for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory O my God give me but my portion in this Heaven and I desire no more Come what will come Sword Fire Imprisonment Hunger Thirst Nakedness Disgrace Reproach Perils by Sea and Perils by Land Enemies Devils Friends Poverty Sickness Exile c. Here is a Jewel will counterballance all O give me but a room in that great House made without hands Eternal in the Heavens and then cut burn torture and afflict let storms and tempests come I 'll fight against them with my Title to that Inheritance which fades not away this shall quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil this shall bear up my Head above water this shall hush all my discontented thoughts this shall be my refuge in a storm my hiding place in flames my portion in poverty my pillow in great anguish my liberty in prison my cordial in temptations my Elixir in a swound my prop when I stumble my Laurel when it thunders my Rock in persecution my Safeguard in destruction my Light in the midst of darkness my Goshen in this Egypt my Ship under the fiercest Billows my Shield when I am assaulted my Helmet when I am in danger my encouragement when I do resist my Crown when I conquer my Manna in the Wilderness my Food in the Desart my Rose to smell to in a Dungeon my Guide in my journey my Pole-Star in my voyage my Staff in my Pilgrimage my Song in my misery my All when Death and Hell conspire unto my ruine VI. It makes a man prudent and discreet in secular affairs and businesses Consideration as it is a very great improvement of Mans Reason so it cannot but be very useful to him in governing his secular affairs with discretion Consideration makes a man master of his Reason and that man must needs act more wisely that hath his reason at command than he that makes it a slave to every flattering passion and since it is confessed that the fear of God hath that influence upon all humane affairs that it disposes a man to a wise and prudential management of them Consideration must of necessity be of the same Virtue and Efficacy for this fear of God is the immediate product of Consideration I deny not but men wise in Spiritual are not always so in Temporal concerns for either their scrupulous Consciences or fear of having their hearts carried out too much after the world or their giving themselves wholly to Heavenly employments may make them careless and unmindful of things belonging to this world but still in its nature and tendency this circumspection in things which concern a Christians Soul is able to shed wisdom and discretion into his carriage and behaviour to things which appertain to this present life hence from a man who seriously considers he hath a Soul to be saved you may expect great order in his Family a prudent foresight of dangers and a moderate care to shun them great temper in discourse and exact justice in his dealings and rendring to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honor to whom Honor as the Apostle's phrase is Rom. 13. 7. In all probability it was the attentive consideration of his Spiritual concerns that made David both valiant and prudent in matters as he is call'd 1 Sam. 16. 18. and to what can we ascribe Joseph's and Daniel's discreet Government of themselves and their secular affairs but to that Piety and Goodness which by long and serious consideration they had setled in their Breasts When 〈◊〉 mans wayes please the Lord he makes even his very enemies to be at peace with him i. e. He doth not only by an extraordinary providence turn their hearts towards him but infuses wisdom and discretion into his Soul so to behave himself towards his enemies that they cannot but bury their hatred and return to their former friendship and civility Prov. 16. 7. He that considers his ways with reference to his Eternal state and condition his ways cannot but please the Lord and such wisdom if he stand not in his own light will surely fall to his share and hereof we need no other proof but common experience The man who truly minds his everlasting interest and so considers the account he must give to God when this life is ended as to provide for that great and dreadful Audit thinks himself obliged to use what cautiousness he can that he may not wrong
his mouth there another follow'd sinners to the very gates of Hell with offers of mercy in his hand and while Vengeance was knocking at the door and the Sword was at their heatts call'd to them Turn ye Turn ye why will ye dye And what was all this but to lay invincible obligations on Men to Reform and by Reformation of their Lives to arrive at last to that Harbor of Bliss and Immortality which the great preserver of Men hath prepar'd for those that fear him Under the Gospel as if beyond this there were no other remedy to engage Men to holiness the Son of God himself comes down from Heaven and turns Preacher He that commands all the powers of Light and Darkness appears in a Pulpit He by whom the Worlds were made leaves the brightness of his Fathers glory to tell Men what a Monster Sin is how odious how loathsom in the eyes of God how lovely how amiable how beautiful the wayes of God are confirms the sayings of all the Prophets of old assures Men and certainly he could not tell a lye that all those Messengers of old were in the right when they profess'd That Iniquity would be Mens ruine and that at yonder gate no unclean thing should enter and that God must be prefer'd before all the Riches Honours and Pleasures of this World a favour for which we want expression and which we must draw a vail over as Timantes the Painter did over the face of Iphigenia's Father because we cannot reach it with our colours If a King should send a Messenger with a Pardon to a Malefactor that 's ready to be turn'd off of the Ladder there is no Man but a stranger to pity and compassion but would speak in commendation of the Royal mercy but should the King himself approach the place of Execution and absolve him it 's like the unexpected bounty would cast the Malefactor into a Swoon And then when the great God of Heaven and Earth made his favor exstatical went out of the common road of mercy stept beyond all precedents and examples encreas'd his kindness into perfect miracles miracles which the Ages before cannot parallel and the Son of God made his way through all the Clouds of Heaven to tell Men how God long'd for their society and happiness we cannot suppose a possibility of greater condescention And that which still encreases the Wonder this Son of God entreats wooes and beseeches Men to bethink themselves and dress up their Souls for the next Worlds glory He that might have come as one day most certainly he will with flames of fire and taken vengeance on the obstinate and terrified and startled them into seriousness and might without a Metaphor as it is Psal. 45.3 girded his Sword upon his Thigh and look'd stern on the Rebels that would not have him reign over them and frown'd them into Hell That this Son of God this Sovereign Prince whom all the Elements serve at whose command the Waters drown and the Fire burns and the Earth swallows up that he should come and draw near the City and instead of consuming weep over it as if he meant to quench the fire of Gods indignation against it and instead of dooming it outright to eternal vengeance wish O that thou hadst known in this thy day what belongs unto thy peace Call like a tender compassionate Father How often would I have gather'd you as a Hen doth gather her Chickens under her wings and ye would not That he should bear affronts and in the midst of those injuries entreat Men to be reconcil'd to him and seek for a Pardon That he should conjure Mankind by Tears and Wounds and his own Blood by those very Torments and Agonies he endured for them to have mercy on themselves to take a view of the burning Lake beneath and run away to look upon the joyes above and be ravish'd with the sight That he should court them by the sweetest invitations and the kindest calls by the greatest offers and the softest promises promises of assistance and of his holy Spirit of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost and seal his strong desires and longings after their holiness with his own death and after his death being risen again sends Apostles and whole Armies of Confessors and Martyrs to establish those desires ordain a Function of Men that might preach those Desires in Mens ears to the Worlds end this indeed is a condescention which the great ministring Spirits in Heaven stand amaz'd at and may justly be look'd upon to be one of those things the Angels desire to pry into By such astonishing means hath the great immortal God endeavour'd to effect that holiness in Men that Seriousness that Piety that Heavenly-mindedness which he hath appointed to be the only way to endless bliss Glorious means indeed But then they are no more but Pearls thrown before Swine where Men consider not how far they are concern'd in the heavenly Call And what can be the meaning of all these arts and stratagems of Divine compassion and what should make God thus sollicitous and careful to procure mans happiness and how dreadful it must be to neglect so great a salvation To lay all this labour and industry and indefatigable pains of God before their eyes where they will not fix their contemplations on the Remedies intended for their recovery what is it but to make a learned Oration to a flock of sheep to talk to a blind Man of Colours to discourse Mathematicks to one in a Fever and to prepare Elixirs and Cordials for Men depriv'd of life and sense Without Consideration we have little but shape and speech left us to distinguish us from Beasts and God clearly loses the virtue of his exhortations and entreaties except Consideration sets them home digests and applies them to the Soul and the inward thoughts like Sun-beams in a burning Glass unite and continue so long upon these spiritual objects till they set the heart on fire CHAP. II. Consideration no transitory view of spiritual things imports laying the heart and mind close unto spiritual Concerns resembles magnifying Glasses which discover things imperceptible by the naked eye The great Ingredients of it Self-Examination Expostulation and strong Resolution HOW Consideration Thinking Pondering Meditation Contemplation do differ is not material to enquire Consideration includes all these and is nothing but exercising and improving that rational Faculty the great Architect hath bestowed on us to the glory of God and the felicity of our immortal Souls The character St. Bernard gives of it may help to illustrate this Description It distinguishes saith he things confus'd collecteth such as lie dispers'd searches and dives into such as are conceal'd and hid examines probabilities reflects upon what is done resolves what to do and presses towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus The Schoolmen are in the right when they call it employing the whole understanding about a thing
never tasted of the shameful death of the Cross for me and shall I flie into his Arms How often hath he disappointed me in my hopes and desires and shall I fawn upon the Enemy lay force upon his Kingdom of darkness in despight of all the Bars and Bolts and Guards which the great King of Heaven puts between me and Damnation I have been abused and cheated by Sin these many years and shall I be cheated still Does not my blood rise at the very thoughts of it I that will not be cheated in my Trade or Dealings with men shall I suffer my self to be imposed upon by a lying Devil And when I study how to be revenged on him that hath sold me a Peble for a Pearl a Bristol stone for a Diamond and endeavour to prevent the like deception for the time to come shall I in these great concerns of my Soul where the Cheat is so apparent where to discover it I need do no more but open my eyes where God and his holy Angels and all the Ministers of the Gospel assure me of the fallacy where the Cheat is of that dangerous consequence too borders upon eternal Damnation shall I be so disgenerous so base so low-spirited as to suffer my self to be thus grosly abused and deceiv'd O Monster Why so cruel to my own Soul Why so barbarous to my immortal part Why so inhumane to my spiritual interest Why so mad to run into the fire Why such an enemy to my own good Have not I enemies enough but I must make my self my greatest Foe Shall I join with that roaring Lyon and teach him how to devour me Shall I give him advantages against my self first let him deceive me and then laugh at me first let him seduce me into the Net and then punish me for being taken I believe my Children if they tell me that they have seen such a House on fire and believe my Neighbors if they assure me there are Thieves broke into my House and believe a Physitian who affirms That such a Powder or Herb is perfect Poyson and shall not I believe that God who hath prepar'd and fore-ordain'd these everlasting burnings I hear and read of and must needs know the terror of them shall not I believe him when he tells me and protests upon the word of a God that if I do not betake my self betimes to another course of life I shall assuredly fall a Prey to those endless burnings Shall not I believe that God that feeds me and protects me and knows all things and can do all things and never intended me any harm but hath given me such evidences of his kind inclinations to me that I must deny my own Being if I question his willingness to have me come to the knowledge of the truth I choose a present Agony to keep off an After-evil and am content to prolong torment so I may but prolong this mortal life and shall not I to avoid those endless tortures mortifie a silly Lust subdue my extravagant Desires and inflict so much Pennance on my self as to cashier all darling and bosome iniquities What means my Conscience it 's not quiet under all the pleasures of sin it 's ready to accuse me when it gets me alone it twitches me I find it is a hard matter to rock it asleep and when I think it 's fast like a Gyant it awakes again and frights me with flashes of the next Worlds flames and shall I break through all those Funeral Torches to invade Damnation Such Expostulations if the heart be not all Rock and Adamant cannot but startle the Sinner in his Licentiousness make him stamp with his feet and force him into other resolutions which is the third ingredient of this great Art Consideration III. Strong Resolution This is the necessary consequent of the preceding Expostulations if they be serious and not used only out of formality and the Soul that is by this time stung into a sense of its danger and cryes out Lord what have I done will soon fall from thence into such resolutions as these Does the case stand thus and must my sinful life expire into the Worm that dies not must my Frolicks dye into endless howlings and must my sport of sin be crusht into never dying anguish and my wilful contempt and neglect of Gods Will be turned into Chains of Darkness for ever Is it so as God hath told me And why should he tell me so if it were not so Why should he fright me with painted fire And how could it consist with his Wisdom and Integrity to deceive me with Bugbears and Chimera's If this be the fate of a sinful life then tell me no more of Dalila's tell me no more of Impediments or Excuses or Delays If this be the fearful Exit of Sensuality and Irreligiousness there is no dallying with sin I 'll get rid of it whatever it cost me I 'll hearken to its soft Airs no longer I 'll be charm'd no more with the lovely looks of that Harlot its curious Dresses its trcacherous Glances shall commit a Rape upon my Affections no longer I will not for a few jolly hours neglect my eternal safety Eternity is not a thing to be made light of I believe there is such a thing and why should I be such a Changeling as not to provide for it with all imaginable care and industry I am gone Farewell Applause and Greatness of the World Farewell ye little shooting flames of sensual pleasures which serve only to delude not to revive or enlighten an immortal Soul Farewell my old Acquaintance that cocker'd and helpt to please those Lusts I now abhor Farewell ye dangerous Friends that would have drag'd me into Hell and would have had me kind to you even into eternal fire Farewell unhappy men who would have had me venture on that burthen of Gods anger which Devils cannot bear and tempted me to be miserable for companies sake I must either have no peace with God or none with you The friendship of God and the World are incompatible and would you have me leave my God my happiness my joy my comfort my refuge my hiding place my riches my treasure to follow you to a place of endless torments I see I see what all your follies will come to I am convinc'd that if there be a happiness hereafter as I am persuaded there is the course ye take cannot be the way to that Paradise Molest me no more I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep Gods righteous judgments I see a City which hath foundations whose Builder and Maker is God I behold afar off a House made without hands eternal in the Heavens Farewell temptations farewell corrupted deceitful heart I 'll believe thy false suggestions no longer I have a surer word of Prophecy to lay hold of How often hast thou taught me to cover my sins with plausible names that I might not be forc'd to leave them
Go into houses where mad men are kept and see whether thy deportment and practice be not as like theirs as one thing can be like another it 's the character of mad men to choose means altogether unsutable to the end they design if they offer to kindle a fire with shining brass or attempt to build a house without materials or think that a Net will secure them against the bitterest Frost or hope to be Masters of a Trade without learning of it or talk of being acquainted with such a language when they have neither Books nor Men to converse withall we justly look up on them as distracted and would not one think thou art besides thy wits that hears thee hope for Heaven without taking the way that leads to it And talk of being saved when thy actions savor only of preparation for eternal misery To hope to be saved by following the dictates of thy flesh is as wise an act as to hope to be warm by sitting upon Ice or by surrounding thy self with Snow-balls Thou wouldst take that man to be besides himself that should choose to lie all night in mire and dirt when there is a convenient Bed provided for him or that should-prefer sleeping on a Dunghil before reposing himself upon a cleanly Couch And dost not thou act the same madness when thou preferrest lying in the Arms of an Enemy before resting in the bosome of a gracious Redeemer And hadst rather rest in sin more odious and loathsome to God than any Dunghil than delight thy self in him whose service is perfect freedom Can there be greater madness than to prefer Stone before Bread and a Serpent before a Fish And is not thy Distraction as great to esteem a sinful pleasure more than the favour of God And set by the Dross and Dung of this World more than by the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Is this thy wisdom to neglect thy weightiest Concerns and spend thy time in admiring Bubbles Is this thy wisdom to prefer a few drops before an immense Ocean of blessedness an Atom before an Infinite and the small dust upon the balance before Mount Zion which can never be mov'd Is this thy wisdom to thrust away salvation with both Arms and to oppose the endeavours of that God that would even compel thee to come to the Supper of the Lamb Is this thy wisdom to lie in a Dungeon when a Palace is prepared for thy reception And to be enamor'd with deformity it self when thou art courted by him who is altogether lovely Is this thy wisdom to relie on broken Reeds rather than on the Rock of Ages And to trust more to Castles in the Air than to him who is the Ancient of dayes and hath promis'd neither to leave nor to forsake those that call upon him faithfully And when the case stands thus with thee when thou art as mad as thou canst well be sure thou needest not be afraid that Consideration of thy wayes will make thee so Consideration Why this would make thee sober This would bring thee to thy right senses again This would make thee live like a rational man again This would restore thee to thy Wits again This would cure the Distempers of thy Brain This would be so far from promoting that it would chase away all madness and distraction This would clear thy Understanding and rectifie thy Will and Affections and make all thy faculties move more orderly Consideration would let thee see what madness it is to despise him whom thou standest most in need of and to neglect that now which upon thy Death-bed thou wilt wish thou hadst minded day and night This would shew thee what a folly it is to slight the Fountain of living waters and to hunt after broken Cisterns which can hold no water and to esteem a Wilderness a Land of Desarts and of Pits a Land of drought and of the shadow of death a Land which no man passes through and where no man dwells infinitely more than a plentiful Countrey Jer. 2.6 This would shew thee what a folly it is to forfeit the favour of him that must be thy Judge one day and to make him thy Foe without whose mercy thou must fall a prey to Hellish furies to scorn that Provision now the crums whereof thou wilt be glad to gather one day and to mock his kindness now when one day thou wouldst rejoyce at the least smile of his countenance if thou couldst but have it This would shew thee what a folly it is to be ravish'd more with a painted Coronet than with the real glories of a Kingdom and to rejoyce more in the present pomp and adoration of a Stage than in thy right to the reversion of a Crown and what distraction it is to think that the great God who changes not will make those blessed who renounce his bliss and quench Hell-fire for men because they are resolved to run into it to make those like unto the Angels of God that will live like Beasts here and prefer those to this Throne that would not have him to reign over them This would shew thee what a folly it is to make merry at the brow of a Pit and to sing Care away when thy sins call for mourning and lamentation Consideration sinner would let thee see That there is no Wisdom like that Wisdom which makes men wise unto salvation and that those who deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts living soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and that glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ are the only men that are in their Wits and that the rest who forget their calling and walk not worthy of the vocation wherewith they are call'd do really unman themselves and live below their reason This would let thee see that those who give all diligence to add to their faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity and are not barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ are the men that choose the fittest means for the greatest end and that he that works to day in Gods Vineyard and so numbers his dayes that he may apply his heart unto Wisdom and lives like a person that remembers he hath a Soul to be saved is the man who governs his Affairs with discretion This would let thee see that men do pretend to Learning in vain while they are ignorant of mortification of their members which are upon the earth and of that spiritual life which is every mans greatest interest That the Logician who resolves all knotty Arguments is but a Fool while he knows not how to keep himself from the snares of the Devil and that the Grammarian who rectifies the errors of Speech is but a mad man while he takes no care to rectifie the errors
and be healed But what is worse than all this the death of the Son of God which thus instead of mortifying makes sin reign in your mortal bodies will be the greatest witness against you in the last day The stone shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber shall answer against the oppressor saith the Prophet Hab. 2.11 And then sure blood hath a louder voice the blood of a crucified Saviour Hebr. 12.24 will be one day the greatest evidence against you This like oyl will increase your flames and prove the brimstone that shall make the fire blaze the more That Jesus whose Cross thou despisest now will be thy Accuser then and woe to that man that hath the Judge himself for his enemy That dreadful spectacle the Crucifixion of the Lord of Life which cannot engage thy Soul to consider and look upon him whom thou hast pierc'd will be the great Argument then that shall cover thy face with everlasting confusion When thou shalt see in that day the spirits of men made perfect the men in white who have wash'd their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb when thou shalt reflect on their happiness a happiness which thou mightst have had as well as they if that blood could have persuaded thee to cleanse thy self from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit how will thine eyes flow with tears to think what strong delusions thou hast lay'n under in thinking that this blood was only spilt that thou mightest wallow more freely in the mire The Lamb which was slain from the foundation of the world and came to take away thy sins as well as thy Neighbors only thou wouldst not be clean That Lamb I say as harmless as its looks are now will then change his aspect and thou that now thinkst a Lamb can be nothing but kind wilt then find by woful experience that there is such a thing as the indignation and wrath of the Lamb. CHAP. V Of the various Mischief's arising from Neglect of Consideration The want of it prov'd to be the Cause of most Sins Some Instances are giuen in Atheism Vnbelief Swearing Pride Carelesness in Gods Service Lukewarmness Couetousness c. FRom what hath been said we may safely draw this Conclusion That want of Consideration is the unhappy spring from which most of the miseries and calamities of Mankind flow Indeed God Isa. 5.12 13. makes this the great reason Why his people were gone into Captiuity why their honourable men were famish'd and their multitude dryed up with thirst why Hell had enlarged herself and open'd her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp descended into it It 's the want of it which in all Ages hath procur'd Gods judgments which by Consideration might have been stopt and prevented Had Adam improv'd his solitariness in the Garden of Eden into serious Consideration of the Nature of the Precept his Master gave him and reflected on the wisdom of the Supreme Law-giver that made it on the immense bounty his great Benefactor had crown'd him withall on the abominable ingratitude he would make himself guilty of by breaking so reasonable an Injunction Had he but recollected himself when tempted to eat of the dangerous fruit under a pretence that it would open his eyes and make him wise as God and thought that the Creator of Heaven and Earth knew best what degree of wisdom and knowledge became a creature of his quality and condition and that he that was all love and beauty and kindness would not have interdicted him that fruit if the food might have any way advanc'd his happiness and that therefore there must be some cheat in the Temptation That the Angels which were lately thrown down from their glory could not but envy the felicity he enjoyed and for that reason would appear in all manner of shapes and try a thousand wayes to weaken the favor of God towards him and that it was without all peradventure the safest way to prefer an express command before an uncertain suggestion Had his mind taken a view of such Arguments as these of the uninterrupted prosperity and immortality he was promis'd upon his obedience it 's not the Charms or Rhetorick or soft language of a Wife nor the subtilty of a Serpent nor the pretended Omniscience the Devil flatter'd him withall would have made him leave that happy state which the infinite goodness of Heaven had plac'd him in But while he suffers the pleasure of a Garden to transport his Soul and to blind it fears no ill no mischief no danger among the Roses and Flowers of Paradice embraces the deceitful suggestion without examining the cause the manner or the end of it swallows the fatal bait without chewing believes a Wife and a Beast without considering the consequence of the fact and inquires not how God may resent his curiosity he falls into death and misery and drags all his Posterity after him Had the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah reflected like rational Men on the Reproofs and Admonitions of righteous Lot consider'd the kindness of the Almighty in sending them such a Preacher and thought with themselves That sure it could not be the Preachers interest to set himself against their Vices That except Conscience and a Divine Commission had prompted him to attempt their Reformation it was not probable he would enrage a debauched City against himself and make himself obnoxious to the fury of the People That the righteous Man spake nothing but reason and sought nothing but their good That Gods patience would certainly be tired ere long and his long-suffering turn into vengeance That the fire of their Lust would shortly pull down other fire and the heat of their unclean desires break into more consuming flames That God would not alwayes put up affronts nor suffer his methods to reclaim them to be baffled everlastingly That they could not hope to escape Gods indignation no more than the men of the first world and when their sins were equal Gods judgments would overtake them as well as they did their Brethren That God could intend them no harm by calling them to Repentance and being the great Preserver of Men could not but design their interest and happiness Had they suffered their thoughts to dwell on such truths as these made such Considerations familiar to their Souls they would have melted and humbled themselves and kept back that fire and brimstone which afterwards consumed them Want of Consideration made them secure in sin and that security prepared for their devastation Indeed there is no sin almost but is committed for want of Consideration Men consider not what sin is nor how loathsom it is to that God who carries them on his wings as the Eagle doth her young nor what injury they do to their own Souls nor what the dreadful effects and consequences of it are and that makes them supine and negligent of their duty To