17.13 Eccles 12.2 ult vers 2. Suppose thou wer 't sure to die this day come moneth and take possession of thine eternal estate to do that which thou never didst before nor shalt ever do again even to throw thy last cast for eternity wouldst thou not then lay aside all other matters and make it thy onely business to ensure an interest in Christ and to make sure of a regenerated sanctified nature wouldst thou not then think Well now there is no daubing no dallying any longer I am now going to my long long everlasting home if I now deceive my self with any thing in stead of the power of godliness and mistake at death I shall miscarry for ever if I be not then right I shall be wrong for ever Now or never now and ever Wouldst thou not highly prize every week of that moneth every day of those weeks every hour of those dayes yea and every minute of those hours and say Ah desperate folly to leave a work of such infinite weight for which my whole life was little little enough to so short a space and yet O infinite mercy that I have any seasons of grace left wherein I may yet work out my salvation with fear and trembling How wouldst thou labor as for life in this duty and that ordinance hanging on those brests and tugging hard for some spiritual good Wouldst thou not with Jacob wrastle with God weep and make supplication wouldst thou not with the Ninivites cry mightily unto God for mercy How would thy prayers proceed from the very bottom of thy heart and with what force would they pierce the very heavens how wouldst thou with the Bereans search the Scriptutes and see upon what termes Christ and heaven may be had Wouldst thou not strive to break thy heart with the hammer of the law and to melt it with the Sun shine of the Gospel that thou mightest repent Wouldst thou not encourage thy soul from the freeness of Gods mercy the fulness of Christs merit to believe O what sad thoughts wouldst thou now have of thy soul and thy sins what serious thoughts wouldst thou have of God and Christ of hell and heaven of death and judgement Surely other manner of thoughts then now thou hast Thus friend it would be with thee if thou wert to leave this world within a month or thou wert worse then a mad man And why shall it not be thus with thee now when thou art so far from ensuring thy life for a moneth that thou canst not promise thy self the next hour dost thou not believe that thy foundation is in the dust Job 4.19 that man at his best estate is altogether vanity Psal 32.5 that one dyeth in his full strength being wholly at ease and quiet his breasts being full of milk and his bones moistned with marrow Job 21.23 24. Thou art not a tenant at thy own will whilst thou dwellest in thy house of clay Thou cuttest large thongs of Gods time if thou assurest thy self another week But look Reader dost thou not see that eternity is at the very threshold of thy house Mortalium nemo est qui crastinum sibi audeat pollireri Euripid that there is but a step a thin paper wall of life between thee and eternity Is there not much more reason that thou shouldst be more industrious for thy soul and salvation when thou art not sure to live a day than if thou wert sure to live a moneth There is a bird peculiar to Ireland called the Cock of the wood remarkable for its fine flesh and folly all the difficulty to kill them is to finde them they flie in woods in flocks and if one be shot the rest remove not but to the next tree and there stand staring at the shooter till the whole covey be destroyed yet as foolish as this bird is it may be the Embleme of most wise men in point of mortality death sweeps away one and one and one and another and all the rest remain no whit moved till at last they are destroyed and then their folly is though too late bewailed 3. Suppose thou couldst speak with thy carnal unregenerate neighbors or friends that are now under endless remorse frying in those unquenchable flames and shouldst ask them what caused them to miscarry for ever and how they came to that place of torment and they should tell thee O friend I thought heaven might have been had without so much ado that there had been no need of that seriousness and laboriousness which a few precise ones practised and which Ministers so much pressed I thought I might do well enough with a formal lazy outside serving of God because my neighbors did no better I presumed that because God was merciful and Christ meritorious I enjoyed the outward priviledges of the Gospel and gave God some of the time I could spare from the world and the flesh in a little heartless devotion that I should be saved never looking at that inward renovation and outward reformation which I see now to my sorrow are required in all to whom the special mercy of God and merit of Christ shall be extended and now wo and alas I am tormented in these flames After such an hearing from hell wouldst thou not be diligent to prevent thy damnation wouldst thou not take heed of those knives of negligence idleness and formality resting in a few good means which did cut the throate of others souls wouldst thou after this jest at heaven and hell or trifle about regeneration or the new birth Wouldst thou again mock God or cozen thy self with a form a shell a carcasse of Religion Would not the words thou hadst lately heard be alwayes sounding in thine ears and piercing thy heart and quickening thee to be sedulous and industrious about thy soul affairs And why wilt thou not do as much now when I can assure thee from the mighty possessor of heaven and earth that this is as true namely that many souls are eternally sunk by reason of those quick-sands as if thou hadst heard it from the mouth of hell nay it is possible a damned wretch may deceive thee but it is impossible that the blessed God who speaketh as much with his own mouth should deceive thee Look 1 Thess 5.3 Mat. 7.21 22 23. 4. Suppose thou hadst with Moses had a sight of the back parts of the infinite God about whose service I am perswading thee to be diligent or with Isaiah hadst seen some extraordinary manifestation of his glory or hadst been with the disciples at the transfiguration of Christ Or suppose thou hadst been in heaven and seen the royalty and majesty of God in those glorious Angels and Saints which continually wait upon him and in the glorified Saviour who sitteth at his right hand and representeth him as lively and fully as is possible to the eyes of men Suppose thou hadst taken strict notice of the number how many millions and order of Gods servants
the word seemeth to imply that when they lost their primitive purity they willingly lost that habitation of spiritual pleasures But whether he will or no he shall be banished those coasts though he now dog the Saint at and disturb him in every duty he shall do it no more The accuser of the brethren shall be cast down neither shall his place be found any more in heaven Rev. 12.8 9. Secondly a Christian by death shall not only be freed from the evil of sin and defilement but also from the evil of suffering and chastisement SublataeÌ„ causaÌ„ toâ—itur effectus the cause being taken away the effects will cease Sinne is that great-bellied mother or rather Monster which conceiveth and bringeth forth all those losses crosses diseases disgraces sorrowes and sufferings whatsoever that befall the children of men though man may be the Butt yet sin is the mark at which the arrows of Divine displeasure are shot man weaves a spiders web of sinne out of his own bowels and then in intangled in it Wickednesse alone is the original cause of all we Lament 3.39 Rom. 6. ult But now at the death of a Saint the fountain of sin will be dryed up and therefore the streams of sufferings must be dryed up also The fuel being taken away the fire will go out of it self sin and sorrow were born do live and shall die together As sin is the original cause of all so it 's the final cause of most afflictions Sometimes they are for probation as we shoot at good armour that we may prove it and that we may praise it but most commonly they are for purgation to amend something that is amiss the fathers of the flesh chastize for their pleasure but the father of spirits for our profit that we might be partakers of his holinesse Heb. 12.6 the quiet fruits of righteousnesse blossome from the correcting rod bitter Aloes purges the worms winds and thunder clear the air frosts and showers whiten cloaths the husbandman useth the flail to separate the chaff and the refiner the fire to consume the drosse but when the wheat shall be clean there will be no need of the flail when the gold pure no use of the fire now saith the Apostle if need be ye are in heavinesse 1 Pet. 1.6 Mark now if need be now men have hard knots and therefore need sharp wedges now men have strong corruptions and therefore need strong corrections now the rod is as necessary as our daily bread chastisements are to teach men in Gods law Psal 94.12 to search and heal their spiritual sores but now at death the Scholar in Christs school will have perfectly learned his lesson and therefore there will be no need of a rod then the wounds of the soul will be perfectly cured and these plaisters will fall off of themselves Death will make him whole that he can sin no more and so no worse or so bad thing shall come to him There are three evils of affliction which I shall mention The first on the Name The second on the Body The third on the Soul From all which a believer shall be freed by death First Death will free the Saint from ignominy on his name Here if the world cannot make the christian wound his conscience they will be sure to wound his credit Elijah is counted the troubler of Israel Nehemiah a rebel against the King David the song of the drunkards and the scorn of the gluttons Psalme 69.12.35.16 Isaiah and his children for signs and wonders Isa 8.18 Jeremiah is a man of contention Jer. 15.10 The son of man a wine-bibber a glutton Paul a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition Acts 24.10 the uprightest Saint is markt for an hypocrite in the worlds Kalender If they cannot smite him with their hands their arms are not long enough alwayes they will not fail to smite him with their tongues What a precise fool say they is such a fellow he dares not take up his cups as we do but could we see his heart it is as bad as the worst of ours he will do as bad or worse when no body seeth him he will not swear but he will lie I 'le warrant you He spendeth his time in nothing but going to Sermons and meetings and is as arrant a dissembler as liveth Such an one of the same Society was guilty of such a sin and they are all alike these are your professours Thus the corruption of their hearts breaks out at their lips and they most wretchedly wound even Christ through the sides of the Christian But heaven will not only wipe away all tears from the christians eyes but also all blots off from his name Upright Hezekiah in heaven is above the sound of cursed Rabshekah's tongue which was set on fire of hell Now holy David is got up that heavenly hill that Mount Zion he heareth not the railings and revilings of sinful Shimei The most spiteful scorner of them all cannot throw that dirt so high with which he bespatters the Saints reputation here below Secondly As death will free the christian from ignominy in his name so likewise from infirmities in his body Diseases cause death but death will cure all diseases In this life Job had his botches Hezekiah his boil David his wounds and sores the poor widdow her issue of blood one man wasteth away with a consumption like a candle till all the matter is spent Another laboureth under a continual ach that like the importunate widdow will give him no rest day nor night this man spends his dayes in pain that man hath wearisome nights appointed to him In some the bridle is taken off the fire and they burn with a Feaver in others the flood-gate is taken up from the water and they are like to be drowned with a dropsie The patient man complaineth my breath is corrupt my days are extinct the grave is ready for me Job 17.1 the upright man cryeth out My wounds stink and are corrupt my loines are filled with a loathsome disease In one the keepers of the house tremble with a palsie or lamenesse In a second the sound of grinders is low through weaknesse In a third those that look out of the windows are darkned through blindnesse In a fourth the daughters of Musick are brought down with deafnesse O what an army not only of moral but natural adversaries hath every man in his own bowels constantly set in array against him marching up sometimes one Physicians tell us that 2000 diseases annoy mans body whereof 200 affect the eyes sometime another as the Lord of hosts giveth the word of command So that indeed mans body is a spittle or an hospital for diseases But death will help all this as the blind man told the lame when they met at the stake Brother you may cast away your staffe death will cure us both the Physician of souls will by death heal all the diseases of the Saints bodies
where there is no rest day or night The last time thou didst quench the motions of his Spirit and stifle the convictions of thy conscience he could have taught thee by experience what is the meaning of the worm that never dyeth and the fire that goeth not out and yet he spareth thee stretching out his hands all the day long to a rebellious child Isa 65.2 Should not his long patience quicken thee to speedy repentance Answer God whether he hath not waited enough been long-suffering enough already and if he have not continue in thy ungodly course and see who shall suffer longest at last he or thou It is one thing to forbear a debt another thing to forgive the debtor The longer God is in fetching his hand about the heavier his blow will be when he striketh The threatning is like a child the longer it is kept in the womb the bigger it groweth and it will put thee to the more pain when it cometh to the birth of its execution therefore bethink thy self before the decree bring forth before the day passe as the chaffe before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon thee Zeph. 2.2 Dost thou not see in the Scriptures many examples of Gods severity upon the abuse of his patience What became of Sodom and Gomorrah when God waited in the dayes of Lot Are they not suffering the vengeance of eternal fire Jude v. 7. What became of the Jews upon whom Christ waited calling upon them and crying to them to return and reform is not wrath come upon them to the utmost 1 Thess 2.16 Are not these like the Maste of a ship sunk in the sands standing up to warn thee to avoid their course least thou split eternally Have not these the same inscription on them with Senacheribs tombe Look on me and learn to be godly Do not the Sodomites seem to say Look on us and learn to be godly Do not thy Atheistical neighbors in hell that thought they had had time enough before them and futured their repentance cry O look on us and learn to be godly and that with speed Friend take example by others least thou be made an example to others To day after so long a time thou wilt hear his voice harden not thy heart Heb. 4.7 My second question which I desire thee to answer is Hast thou not served the world and the flesh long enough already Is it not yet time to serve God hath not lust had too much of thy heart and the flesh of thy life already may not the time past of thy life suffice thee to have wrought the will of the flesh 1 Pet. 4. and 3. Canst thou have the face to say with the sluggard a little more slumber a little more sleep a little more drunkenness a little more swearing a little more wickedness is not the debt which thou owest to Divine Justice great enough Is not the heap of wrath and fury which thou hast provided for thy self against death and judgement big enough Dost thou think that thou maist serve the flesh too little and the Lord too much It may be thou hast served the devil twenty thirty fourty fifty sixty or seventy and knowest not whether thou shalt have so many hours to serve God in and is it not yet time to begin Answer me Hast thou not wallowed long enough in the mire of Atheism worldliness and sensuality wilt thou not yet be made clean Ah when shall it once be Jer. 13. ult 3. If one should offer thee an house and land or a bag of money wouldst thou not presently accept it wouldst thou say I am not yet at leisure hereafter will be time enough and is there not infinitely more reason why thou shouldst presently close with Christ and leave thy sins and seek the Kingdom of heaven Is not heaven more worth then earth are not the fruits of Christ better then silver and his revenews then choice gold Prov. 3.15 When gold is offered thee saith Ambrose thou dost not say I will come again to morrow and take it but art glad of present possession but salvation being profered to our souls few men haste to embrace it Is it not a sordid slighting of Jesus Christ the Lord of glory for thee to be more ready and hasty to take a little perishing wealth then his most precious blood Canst thou read the story of Pope Gregory the seventh how he made the Emperor Henry the fourth with his wife and child to stand bare feet and bare leg'd three days and three nights in a cold frosty season before he would admit them into the house and thy heart not rise against the Popes pride and wickedness And why doth it not rise against thy own obstinacy and vileness that hast suffered the King of Kings to stand knocking at the door of thy heart till his head hath been wet with the dew and his locks with the drops of the night and though he hath waited thus many years yet thou hast denyed him entrance and art not to this hour resolved to give him speedy acceptance 4. Dost thou not finde by experience that the longer thou delayest the farther thou wandrest from God and holiness and the more unfit thou art for and the more unwilling unto the work of conversion is it not time therefore to turn with speed when continuance in sin insensibly hardeneth thy heart and gradually indisposeth it more to the work of repentance as the ground so is thy heart the longer it lyeth fallow not ploughed up the harder it will be wilt thou go one step farther from God when thou must certainly come back every step and that by weeping cross all the way or be damned for ever The purchase of heaven is like buying the Sybils prophesies the longer thou holdest off the dearer A stain which hath been long in cloaths is not easily washed out an house that hath long run to ruin will require the more cost and labor for its reparation Diseases that have been long in the body are cured if at all yet with much difficulty The devil which had possessed the man from his infancy was hardly cast out and not without much renting and raging Mar. 9.21 26. Satan thinks his evidence as good as eleven points at law now he hath once got possession and the longer he continueth Commander in chief in the royal fort of thy heart the more he fortifieth it against God and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty All the while thou delayest God is more provoked the wicked one more encouraged thy heart more hardened thy debts more encreased thy soul more endangered and all the difficulties of conversion daily more and more multiplied upon thee having a day more to repent of and a day lesse to repent in 5. Canst thou promise thy self the next hour to repent in and darest thou defer it to another hour thou sayest thou wilt mind these things when thou art old but what if thou dyest while thou
there how high and noble their works how holy and pure their worship and hadst known the infinite power holiness wisdom and justice of God as they do and God should turn thee again into this world wouldst thou slubber over thy duties and play with his Ordinances as now thou dost wouldst thou pray to this God as if thou prayedst not or hear from his Majesty as if thou heardest not or attend on him so carelesly as if thou didst not attend on him at all or wouldst thou not rather think I can never be too serious in the service of such a God I can never wait on him with humility enough and with watchfulnesse enough with uprightnesse enough and with care and diligence enough Shouldst thou not be laborious in the service of such a good God Give me leave to urge this thought a little farther and to give thee a Scripture or two which through the free grace of God have sometimes helped me against deadness and dullness in duties The one is 2 Chron. 2. and 5. where Solomon telleth us The house I am to build must be great mark the reason for great is our God above all gods If God be so great a God how greatly is he to be reverenced canst thou do too much service for him or give too much glory to him Can thy love to him be too great or can thy fear of him be too great or can thy labor for him be too great when this God is so great That he measureth the ocean in the hollow of his hand and meteth out the heavens with a span and comprehendeth the dust of the earth in a measure and weigheth the mountains in scales and the hills in a ballance Behold the Nations are as a drop of the bucket and are counted as the small dust of the ballance Behold he taketh up the Isles as a very little thing And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering All Nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him as lesse then nothing and vanity Isa 40.12 15 16 17. God is a great God and therefore greatly to be feared Psal 89.7 God is a great God and therefore greatly to be praised for his greatness is unsearchable Psal 145.3 If he be a great God he may well require a great house to be his material temple and if he be a great God may he not justly call for a great part of yea all thy heart to be his spiritual temple It is likely the Son Solomon learned this of his father David who giveth us this as the reason why he danced before the Arke of the Covenant of the Lord of the whole earth with all his might 2 Sam. 6.14 21. It was saith he before the Lord as if he had said Had it been before men only or in their service I might have been cold and careless slothful and sluggish but it was before the Lord the infinite incomprehensible and holy God to whom I am unspeakably obliged for his distinguishing mercy and therefore all my might and all my strength was little enough for such a God I might mind thee further that thou hast wrought hard in thy slavery to the world and thy flesh in thy drudgery to the devil and thy lusts whose reward and wages is nothing but disappointment and vexation hell and damnation and shouldst thou not be fervent fiery seething hot as the word signifieth in spirit when thou art serving the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 11.12 Rom. 11.12 I might also ask thee to whom thou owest thy whole strength and thy whole heart if not to God Art thou so much indebted to the world and thy flesh those enemies of thy salvation as thou art to the blessed God and who will at last pay thee best for thy strength and time God or the world Christ or the flesh But I may speak more to this in another place Well Reader have I yet or rather the Lord by me perswaded thee to set about this great business upon which thy eternal felicity dependeth timely that is presently throughly that is withal thy strength as the main chief and onely work thou hast to do Art thou resolved to do thine utmost endeavor and through the strength of Christ faithfully to follow the directions which I shall commend to thee from the Lord in order to thy recovery out of that bottomlesse misery into which thou hast plunged thy self Is there not abundant reason in what thou hast read Are they the words of a sinfu◠dying man or of the jealous everliving God Is it I only that call upon thee to mind this spiritual life or do not the daily and nightly mercies which thou unworthy wretch injoyest do not the dreadful judgements which others feel and thou hast too much cause to fear do not thy sweet babes thy dear children cry often and aloud in thine ears O thar there were an heart in our Father in our Mother to fear the Lord and keep all his Commandements alwayes that it might go well with them and with their children for ever Deut. 5.29 Nay doth not the Almighty God who observeth all thy wickednesse in whose hands thou art every hour who can with a word speak thee into that place of wo where the worth of grace and holinesse is better known and where the weight of sin and ungodlinesse is more felt In hope that thou wilt not be such an enemy to the God that made thee that thou wilt not do that despight to the Spirit that moveth thee that thou wilt not be such a wilful murderer of thy precious soul as to neglect them I shall set them down the Lord set them home to thy heart Come along with me and I will shew thee the Bride the Lambs Wife how she must be trimmed and adorned for the marriage First Get thine understanding inlightned in the knowledge of thy sins and misery 1. Direction Illumination The knowledge of thy disease and danger must precede thy recovery and cure O how many thousand souls have miscarried in the dark of ignorance Did men know surely they would not daily by their sins crucifie the Lord of glory Did they know their misery they would not be so merry as they are in wayes of iniquity they rush into sin as the horse rusheth into the battel not knowing it will be to their death to their destruction I have sometime read a story of a King that was ever pensive and never seen to smile and being asked by his Brother the cause of it he put him off till the next day for an answer and in the mean time caused a deep pit to be made commanding his servants to fill it half full with fiery coals and then causeth an old rotten board to be laid over it and over the board to hang a two-edged sword by a small slender thred with the point downwards and close by the pit
to set a table full of all manner of delicacies His Brother coming next day for an answer was placed at the board and four men with drawn swords about him and with all the best musick that could be had to play before him Then the King called to him saying Rejoyce and be merry Brother eat drink and laugh for here is pleasant being But he replied O my Lord and King how can I be merry being in such danger on every side Then said the King Look how it is now with thee so it is alwayes with me for If I look above me I see the great and dreadful Judge to whom I must give an account of all my thoughts words and deeds if I look under me I see the endlesse torments of hell whereinto I shall be cast if I die in my sins if I look behind me I see all the sins which I have committed and the time which I have spent unprofitably if I look before me I see death every day drawing nearer and nearer unto me if I look on my right hand I see my conscience accusing me of all the evil I have done and good I have left undone in this world and if I look on my left hand I see the creatures on their Makers behalf crying out for vengeance against me a Rebell Now then cease hereafter to wonder why I cannot rejoyce in the things of this world This is the condition of every unsanctified man and woman and did they but know it they would see but little cause to spend their dayes in pastimes and pleasure but what the eye seeth not the heart greives not Had Haman known he had been so nigh his funeral he would hardly have boasted so much to his friends but it is the policy of the God of this world to blind mens eyes least they should see and avoid damnation As when a Malefactor is for some capital crime cast at the Assize Diogenes being demanded what burthen the earth did dâ—d beaâ— most heavy answered An ignorant man he is then carried into a dark dungeon and thence to execution So the Devil knowing that all the Sons and Daughters of Adam are cast by the Law of God the Law shutting them all up under sin and wrath endeavoureth to keep them in the dungeon of ignorance till the day of their execution When Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Zedekiah 2 Kings 25. and 7. he put out his eyes bound him in fetters and then carried him away to Babylon Thus Satan as soon as he entereth into the soul laboureth to put out the eyes of the understanding and so to lead them hood-winkt to hell Did men know what they had done against God and how they had undone themselves they would be restlesse till they attained a remedy Did the sinner but know the purity jealousie power and justice of that God whom he daily provoketh Did he but know the love and kindness the blood and bowels of that Saviour whom he undervalueth Did he but know the pleasures and joy and happinesse in heaven which he neglecteth Did he but know the beauty and amiableness the delights and comforts of grace and holinesse which he despiseth Did he but know the emptinesse and vanity of this deceitful world which he so heartily embraceth Did he but know where sin is in the premisses sorrow and hell without faith and sanctification must be in the conclusion Did men I say but know these things how quickly would they turn from sin unto God giving a bill of divorce to their most beloved lusts and entring into a most solemn covenant with the Lord But having their understandings darkned they are alienated from the life of God that is a life of holinesse through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindnesse of their hearts Eph. 4.18 Observe how expresly the Spirit of God speaketh ignorance to be the reason why men are such strangers to the power of Religion Reader thou mayst by all this see the necessity of knowledge if ever thou wouldst be converted and saved The Devil as I said before carrieth men hood-winkt to hell but God will never carry thee blindfold to heaven The end of a Saint is the inheritance in light Col. 1.12 and the way thither is a way of light The path of the just is as shining light Prov. 4.18 and surely in respect of knowledge as well as in other respects Do not please thy self that though thou art not book-learned yet thou hast as good an heart as others as thy foolish ignorant neighbors will prate for when thou thus speakest thou speakest beside thy book for the Book of God telleth us otherwise The soul without knowledge is not good Proverbs 19.2 There may be a clear head without a clean heart the light of knowledge without the heat of grace but a gracious heart in a grown person not distracted was ever accompanied with a competency of knowledge in the head And indeed knowledge is so near a kin to grace that it is often in the Word of God put for it John 17.3 It is life eternal to know thee to be the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent So 1 Cor. 2.2 Phil. 3.8 Isai 53.11 If thou would be sanctified and saved get knowledge seek knowledge as silver and search for it as for hid treasure Prov. 2.3 4. This is the first thing to be done it is first in the Ministers Commission Acts 26.18 I send thee saith God to Paul to open the eyes of the blind and to turn men from darkness unto light and this is first in the Spirits operation on the soul It convinceth the man of his sins John 16.10 11. It presenteth to the understanding a catalogue of its many and bloody provocations Imprimis thus Guilty in Adam of high treason against Heavens Majesty and thereby of want of original righteousnesse and of a deep deadly pollution in the whole nature Item so many hundred ungodly actions so many thousand unholy and idle expressions so many millions of evil thoughts and suggestions Item so many omissions and so many commissions Item so much precious time mis-spent a moment of which cannot be recalled or purchased with the revenues of the world Item so many talents of health strength food rayment esteem riches and the like misimployed Item so many Sacraments Sabbaths seasons of grace mis-improved Item so much uncorrigiblenesse under afflictions so much unprofitablenesse under mercies Thus the Spirit inlighteneth the sinners mind to see his sins with their circumstances and black aggravations as also what is like to be the fruit and effect of sin even nothing lesse than suffering everlasting perdition from the presence of the Lord. It may be the Spirit may cause him as it were to see the smoak that ascendeth from the bottomlesse pit to smell the scent of that infernal brimstone and fire to hear the roarings and howlings of the damned nay possibly to feel a very hell in his own conscience
by his Lord Gen. 24. to provide a Wife for my Masters son I do here in the presence of the living God by commission from his Majesty tender thee the most honourable profitable delightful match that was ever offered to mortals It is the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of life and glory the onely begotten of the Father the fairest of ten thousands to be thy head and husband hereby thou shalt have the King of Kings the Lord of heaven and earth for thy Father a Queen the Church for thy Mother the Saints those truly excellent noble illustrious ones higher then the Kings of the earth for thy brethren and sisters the Covenant of Grace in comparison of which all the gold of the Indies is but dirt and dung for thy treasure glorious Angels for thy servants the flesh of the Son of God for thy meat and his precious blood for thy drink perfect Righteousness which is more beautiful then the unspotted innocency of Adam or Angels for thy rayment a palace of pleasures a place of glory a building of God an house not made with hands but eternal in the heavens for thy habitation And all this only upon these termes that thou wilt be a loving faithful and obedient Wife which the poorest beggar in the country expects from his wife that thou wilt heartily give up thy self and all thou hast to his service and glory and this he desireth also for thy good and benefit that he may make thee a more excellent creature and render thee more acceptable to God and more capable of his dearest love and eternal embraces as the rain is sent up from the earth in thick and foggy vapours but the heavens return it in pure and silver showers so though thou givest an unbelieving hard earthly heart unto Christ he will return it unto thee again believing tender heavenly such an heart as shall be more pleasing both to God and thy self and for this he is pleased though ten thousand Suns united into one are but darkness to him so great is his glory to condescend to become a Suiter to thee to beseech thee to accept of him who knoweth thy portion to be misery and beggery who seeth thy person to be full of ugliness and deformity who gaineth no addition to his happiness by thine acceptance of his love nor suffereth the least diminution by thy refusal Well what sayest thou to this match Art thou heartily willing to take Jesus Christ for thy wedded Husband to protect and direct thee to purifie and pardon thee to sanctifie and save thee to guide thee by his counsel and afterwards to receive thee to glory And wilt thou here in the presence of the Lord and before thy conscience which is as ten thousand witnesses promise and covenant to obey him universally to love him unfainedly to resign up thy self and all thou hast to his disposal unreservedly What sayest thou Art thou willing or no Take heed of dallying in a match that is so unquestionably and infinitely for thy advantage Believe it thou shalt not have such offers every day Doe not stick at any of his Precepts for he can require nothing but what is equal excellent and honorable doe not trifle or defer it if thou lovest thy soul for this may be the very last time of asking If thou wilt deal kindly and truly with my Master tell me or if not tell me that I may return an answer to him that sent me Gen. 24.49 These four directions which I have laid down already are without question the whole of Christianity and that soul shall be certainly saved by whom they are uprightly practised yet there are two special means which God hath appointed for the enabling the soul to perform them which I shall speak briefly to and for method sake joyn them altogether Five Directions Attendance on the Word Fifthly If thou wouldst attain this spiritual life be much conversant with the Word of God be often reading it meditating on it but especiall frequent it in publick where it is preached by losing one Sermon for â—ought thou knowest thou mayst lose one soul Death at first entred into the world by the ear Gen. 3. and so doth life Faith comes by hearing Rom. 10.17 thou seest in the Gospel that Faith and Repentance are this spiritual life Mark 16.16 Gal. 2.20 and thou mayest see as clearly that they are both the fruits of the ministery of the Word For Faith that fore quoted place Rom. 10.17 is full and for Repentance that of Acts 2.37 speaketh home When they heard these things they were pricked to the heart mark When they heard these things The Word of God is an hammer with which God is pleased to break the stony heart and a fire wherewith he melteth the hard mettal Jerem. 23.29 In this respect it is that the Minister is called the Father of some Converts namely those whom he begetteth through the Gospel 1 Cor. 4.15 Joâ— Isaac a Jew was converted by reading the 53. of Isaiah Junius by the first of Johns Gospel Augustine by the 13. of Romans I will never forget thy precepts for by them thou hast quickened me David Psal 119.93 There is a resurrection of souls at this day when Ministers lift up their voice like a trumpet Isai 58.1 Acts 2.37 as well as there shall be a resurrection of bodies at the last day by the Trump of the Archangel This is the net which God is pleased to cast into the sea of the world and wherewith he harh caught many a soul three thousand at one draught Acts 2.41 Spiritual life is the gift of God as well as eternal the gift of all grace is of grace but ordinarily of his own will he begetteth souls by the word of truth Jam. 1 18. If thou wilt have Wisdomes dole thou must wait at Wisdomes gate for there it is given Prov. 8.34 Grace is the law written in the heart and usually the ministry of the Word is the pen wherewith the Spirit of God writes it That is the bed wherein the children of God are begotten Cantic 1.16 That is the school wherein the Disciples are taught of God and learn the truth as it is in Jesus The Ministers Commission doth abundantly evince this I send thee saith God to Paul to open the eyes of the blind and to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the living God God indeed is a most free Agent and can work when and how he pleaseth but it hath pleased him to make the Gospel of Christ his own power unto salvation Rom. 1.16 and it pleaseth him by the foolishnesse of preaching to save them that believe 1 Cor. 1.21 Abana and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus to the eye of sense may seem better then all the waters of Israel but Jordan can cleanse and heal when those cannot because it hath a divine precept and promise annexed to it Nay observe how God is pleased to dignifie his Word
that cannot lye hath promised â—ods people are a people that will not lye Isa 63.8 but God is a God that cannot lye it is impossible for God to lye Every lye proceedeth either from weakness or from wickedness Some are weak they would be as good as their words but cannot others are wicked they can be as good as their words but will not Neither of these can be charged on the blessed God he is able to perform his promise for he is the almighty God Gen. 17.1 I know that thou canst do all things saith Iob Iob 42.2 Omnipotency never met with a difficulty too hard for it the promises of â—od will eat their way through all the Alps of opposition because he is a â—od of infinite power and as he is able free from weakness so he is righteous holy so free from wickedness There is no unrighteousness in him Psa 92. ult He is light in him is no darkness at all 1 Io. 1.5 There is not the least spot in this Sun His truth reacheth unto the heavens and his faithfulness is above the clouds 2. By an oath God hath confirmed it Omnia verba Dei sunt juramenta quoad certitudinem saith Philo sed infirmatatis nostrae causa ut si non credamus Deâ— promittenti credamus saltem pro nostra saâ—usâ— juranti Hebr. 6.17 18. Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the Heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have strong consolation Thou wouldst take the word of a good man and wilt thou not take the word of a God But wonder at his goodnesse he tendereth further security by his oath nay by the greatest oath imaginable having no greater to swear by he sware by himself Hebr. 6.16 3. By his Seals we have the broad Seal of Heaven the Seals of the Covenant to confirm this to us The Sacraments are seals of the Covenant of Grace Rom. 4.11 And we have the privy Seal of the Spirit Eph. 4.30 So that if the hand and seal of a God will do it Heaven is ensured to all that are sanctified 4. By an earnest that makes a bargain sure Who hath sealed us and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts 2 Cor. 1.22 When Christ went from us he left his Spirit with us to assure us that he would come to us and took our flesh with him to assure us that we shall come to him 5. By first fruits Rom. 8.23 which did assure the Jews of their harvest 6. By the death of Christ Heaven is given to the holy by testament by Will John 17.24 Father I will saith the then dying Saviour that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory Now because a Testament or Will is of no force whilst the Testator liveth therefore Christ died to make his Will valid Hebr. 9.16 17. Thirdly it is comfortable if thou considerest the eternity of it Though it were never so excellent and certain yet if it were for a short time only it would afford but little comfort Nay the greater our joy were in the possession of it the greater our sorrow would be in our separation from it The very thought of ever losing such incomparable happiness would be a deep wound to a Christians heart and without question abate much of his joy whilst he did enjoy it Nothing lesse than eternity can perfect the Saints felicity And lo here it is thy gain is not only of unspeakable excellency and unquestionable certainty but also durable even unto eternity The pleasures of the Saints are for evermore Ps 16. ult The pleasures of the wicked on earth are like a standing pool quickly dried up by the scorching heat of Gods wrath leaving nothing behind save the mud of vexation But the pleasures of the godly in heaven are rivers of pleasures running over and running ever because they flow from the fountain of living waters The joy of the sinner is like the crackling of thorns under a pot it may make a busling noise but quickly goeth out but the joy of a Saint will be like the fire upon the Altar which never goeth out day nor night Their joy shall no man take from them John 16. The glory of a Christian there will be an eternal weight of glory the shame of a Christian here is transitory like a cloud upon the face of the Sun which will soon be scattered and the honor of a graceless man here is short like a fleeting shadow * Tacitus as Sejanus was one day adored like a God and a little after with the greatest ignominy committed to the Goal But the honor of a Christian there is an eternal noon-tide of glory heaven is an everlasting home to the Saints Luke 16.9 2 Cor. 5.1 when their earthly tabernacles are dissolved they enjoy the building of God an house not made with hands but eternall in the heavens They enjoy the society of the good for ever they sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven Mat. 8.11 Standing is a posture of going or at least of but staying little but siting is a posture of staying long They shall enjoy God for ever they shall ever be with the Lord Angels in the Syrisck have their name from a word wh ch signifieth face because â—t is their honor and office alwa es to behold Gods face 1 Thess 4. ult The Saints shall in heaven be like Angels Mat. 22.30 Now Angels always behold the face of their Father Matth. 18.10 Now God sometimes sheweth himself unto and sometimes hides his face from his children that a godly man may say to Christ as Jacob to his Wives I perceive that thy fathers countenance is not towards me as at other times Gen. 31.5 Some sin or other like a cloud interposeth and hindereth the light of his gracious countenance but there will be no cloud or mist of sin and the Sun of Righteousness will ever behold the soul with the same favorable aspect And therefore the joy and happinesse of the Saint will be ever like the Moon at the full because that Sun will ever look upon him with the same lightsome countenance O what a long day will eternity be to the damned and what a short day to the saved Eternal pain will make every moment seem eternity eternal pleasure will make eternity seem but a moment the joyes there will be so great and many that the dayes there will seem small and few the delights there will spring every moment so fresh and full that a Christian like Jacob will think them but few dayes for the love he will bear to them Reader if thou art in Christ ponder much in time the eternity of pleasure which is prepared for thee Consider if there be so much felicity in seeing the lovely face of