Kings 1â— 17 18. Did not my Lord promise thus thus is it thy mind that thy word should go unfulfilled Lord are not these thy own words thine own hand writing whose staffe and bracelet is this If thou hadst not promised I should not have found in my heart to pray And if thou shouldst not perform where would be the glory of thy truth Thy mercy O Lord is great unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds Psal 57.10 My soul cleaveth unto the dust quicken thou me according to thy word Psal 119.25 Remember thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope Psa 119.49 Beseech him to consider thy misery like a beggar uncover thy nakednesse shew thy sores and wounds to move him to pity Tell him that in regard of thy spiritual condition Rev. 3.17 thou art at present wretched miserable poor blind and naked without God without Christ without hope an alien from the Common-wealth of Israel and a stranger from the Covenants of promise and that thine eternal state is like to be the worm that never dieth the fire that never goeth out amongst devils and damned ones in blacknesse of darknesse for ever Say Lord open thine eyes and see thy poor creature weltring Ezek. 16. wallowing polluted in his own soul blood and now I am in my blood open thy mouth and say unto me Live yea now I am in my blood say unto me Live Since no eye pitieth me to do any good unto me open thine heart let thy bowels yearn towards me Let this time be my time of love spread thy skirt over me and cover all my nakednesse Enter into a covenant with me and enable me to become thine for ever Since thou beholdest all the wants and necessities of my poor soul open thine hand and supply all my spiritual need There is bread enough and to spare in the Fathers house O let not my dying soul perish for hunger Open thine eares and hear the prayers and supplications which thy servant poureth out before thee night and day Thou hast the key of David and openest and no man shutteth Open the iron gate of my heart which will never open of its own accord that the King of glory may enter in Thou didst open the rock and cause it to send forth water Bow the heavens and come down Break open this rockie heart and come in and take an effectual universal eternal possession of my soul Consider thy bottomless mercie Christs infinite merits my unspeakable misery and let thine heart be opened in pitie and thine hand in bounty that my lips may be opened and my mouth may everlastingly shew forth thy praise Only in thy prayers be instant constant and look up to Jesus Christ Beg hard though humbly when thou art begging for heaven Hast thov never heard a Malefactor condemned to be hanged begging for a reprieve or pardon with what tears and prayers what bended knees watered cheeks strained joynts he intreateth for his mortal life Thou hast much more cause to be earnest when thou art begging for spiritual life Think of it thy soul thy eternal condition are engaged and at stake in thy prayer O how should all the parts and faculties of thy body and soul work and unite in prayers that are of such concernment What fervencie shouldst thou use considering that if thou art denied thou art undone if thy prayers be lost thy God is lost thy soul is lost thy happinesse is lost for ever Pray constantlie resolve to give God no rest day nor night till he give thee rest in his Son Besides set times every day for which thou canst not offer so little as two hours a day it being soul-work God-work eternitie-work and in which I would desire thee to be as serious and solemn as is possible thou mayst often in the shop or in the field in thy journying on thy bed thou mayst turn up thy heart to heaven in some ejaculations it is thy great priviledge where ever thou art thou mayst find â—od out such as these O when wilt thou come unto me Psa 101.2 Hear me speedilie O my God make no tarrying Ps 40.17 Shall I never be made clean good Lord when shall it once be Save me Master or I perish But be sure in all thy addresses to God thou look up to Jesus Christ as thine Advocate with the Father as the only Master of requests to present and perfume all thy prayers and thereby make them prevalent Through him we have access with confidence unto the Father Eph. 2.18 It is possible thou mayst have seen a Child going to be scourged for its faults by a stern Mother the tender Father sitting by and how the Child seeing the rod taken down and the Mother in earnest casteth a pitiful lamentable look upon its Father both longing and expecting to be saved by his mediation Go thou and do likewise and know for thy encouragement that if David heard Joah whom he loved but little for rebellious Absalom and if Herod heard Blastus a servant for those of Tyre and Sidon who had offended him then without doubt God will hear the Son of his infinite love for thee And if thou art but sensible of thy soul-sicknesse thou mayst be confident that thy spiritual Physitian who is authorized by his Father to practice and delighteth exceedinglie in the imployment will come and heal thee thy sicknesse shall not be unto death but for the glorie of God and thine eternal good I shall in the next place only annex three properties of this spiritual life as motives to encourage thee to a laborious endeavouring after it Si daretur mihi optio eligerem Christiani rustici agreste opus praeomnibus victoriis Alexandri Magni â—ulii Caesaris Luth. in Gen. 39. and then leave both thee and this exhortation to the blessing of God First This spiritual life is the most honorable life No life hath so much excellencie in it as the life of godlinesse If I had my wish saith Luther I would choose the homely work of a rustical Christian before all the victories of Alexander the great and Julius Caesar The excellencie and dignitie of every life dependeth upon the form which is its principle and its specificating difference Therefore the life of a man is more noble than the life of a beast because it hath a more noble form a rational soul which distinguisheth it specifically from and enableth it to act more nobly and highly than a beast And truly therefore the life of a Christian is more honorable and excellent than the life of any other man because he hath a more noble form which is the principle of it and differenceth it specificallie from the life of gracelesse men Jesus Christ the Lord of life and glory dwelling in his heart by his Spirit as the principle of his spiritual life If there be an excellencie in that body which is united to a soul what
he answered that when he was a common Friar he went dejected by looking downward for the keys of the Abby which now he had found and therefore left that posture So when an hypocrite hath the temporal good thing he desireth for that usually is most desired by him he hath his ends and his prayer an end too Or if God do not hear him presently he will not submit patiently but often flingeth away in a rage with that wicked King Why should he wait upon the Lord any longer If there come not in present profit he will give over his trade as Tully said to his Brother That he would pray to the Gods but that they have given over to hear Whereas a godly man will cry in the day and not be silent in the night he will direct his prayer to God und look up Psal 5.3 He will pray and wait wait and pray as you see beggars in some places they will beg and knit knit and beg and continue still begging and knitting So a right beggar at Gods door he will pray and work work and pray he will believe and pray hope and pray read and pray wait and pray he knoweth that it is not good to limit the holy One of Israel but it is good that a soul should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God Lam 3.26 A Divine giveth me this Simile which doth excellently illustrate our present subject Take some draught horse Mr. Car. on Job 27. and he will draw when the load is coming Of Carolus Magnus it is said Carolus plus cum deo quam hominibus loquitur but if he feel it not coming he will trample and not draw but take a horse of a right breed and put his traces to a tree or a post he will strain and strain and die upon the place before he will give over though nothing comes So a rotten Christian if he find no present gain coming he gives over duty fearing all is lost but a right Christian will pray continually 1 Thess 5.17 whether God hear him presently or no he knoweth that both the command of God and his own wants call upon him never to give over Besides this spirit of prayer abides in him for ever John 4.14 and 16. Examine thy heart by these marks faithfully and do not by flattery or self-love or rather self-hatred deceive thy soul no deceit like soul-deceit but passe sentence upon thy self impartially and if thou findest thy condition good blesse God keep close to Jesus Christ and labour that thou mayst walk worthy of the Lord Col. 1.10 even unto all well-pleasing The great and extraordinary priviledges bestowed on thee do call aloud for gracious and extraordinary practices from thee How exemplary shouldst thou live among men who art to live eternally with God What singular things wilt thou do for that God for that Saviour that hath done such singular things for thy soul Can any love be too much Can any labour be too great Can any honor be too high Can any service be too holy for that God to whom thou art by millions of eternal obligations thus infinitely infinitely bound O let the fruitfulness of thy heart and life in holiness proclaim thine abundant thankfulness for such mercies as for weight and worth exceed the very thoughts of Men and Angels How abundant shouldst thou be in the work of the Lord when thou knowest that thy labour shall not be in vain in the Lord When thou art confessing thy sins meditate on the choosing calling love of that God against whom thy sins are committed and try whether the heat of that burning love will not thaw thy heart and dissolve it into tears when it is most hard and icie When thou art backward to a duty that hath some difficulty in it consider Jesus Christ was not backward to his bitter bloody sufferings for thy sins As the Souldier told Augustus when he denied his petition I did not serve you so at the battel of Actium So say to thy soul Jesus Christ did not serve thee so when he was to drink the cup of his Fathers fierce wrath for thee and see whether such melting perswasions will not prevail with thee to subject thy self to the hardest precept When thou art departing away from â—od by any sinister course or insincere carriage remember who thou art one that art called not to sin but sanctity not to uncleanness but holiness As Antigonus being invited to a place that might probably prove a temptation to sin asked counsel of Menedemus what he should do He bade him only remember he was a Kings Son So do thou remember thine high and heavenly calling and do nothing unworthy of the God that hath enrolled thy name in the Book of Life that hath ransomed thy soul with the precious blood of his Son and hath sanctified thee by the effectual operations of his Spirit but walk worthy of the vocation wherewith and whereunto thou art called Eph. 4.1 It is an excellent meditation of Eusebius Emissenus Though the Devil saith he should be damned for many sins and I but for one yet mine would exceed the Devils impiety they never sinned against a God that became an Angel for them they never sinned against a Mediator that was crucified for them but miserable and wretched I and it s wonderful that my heart melteth not when it thinketh on it I have sinned against a God that became a Man for me against a God that died an ignominious death for me against a God that hath left me an example of love and holinesse I am more unworthy then the Devils Consider it Friend no sins admit of higher aggravations nor are matter of deeper provocation then the sins of those that are interested in Gods special distinguishing affection In a word for I had not thought to have told thee so much it was for the sake of others principally that I penn'd this piece since it shall be thy reward to be like an Angel in happiness ever to behold the face of the Father let it be thy work and endeavour to be like an Angel in holiness to do the will of God readily heartily and universally But if thou find upon a thorough search that thou art a stranger to this spiritual life if conscience sent to enquire bring in its verdict that this purifying praying Spirit dwelleth not in thy soul Let me beseeth thee in the fear of the Lord to bethink thy self what is like to become of thee for ever One of the Martyrs put his finger into the candle to try how he could endure the fire in which he was afterwards to be burnt do thou but read over again the former use of information and consider whether thou art able to undergo that losse and that terrible intolerable eternal wrath of an omnipotent God which is therein declared and by Scripture proved to be the portion of all that live and dye in thy condition Suppose thou shouldst
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HEAVEN and HELL EPITOMIZED THE TRUE CHRISTIAN Characterized AS ALSO An Exhortation with Motives Means and Directions to be speedy and serious about the work of Conversion By George Swinnocke M. A. sometime fellow of Baliol Colledge in Oxford and now Preacher of the Gospel at Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live Deut. 30.19 Accidiosi erubescere possunt qui non tam diligenter laborant ad impetrandum gaudium coeli sicut multi impiorum laborant ad impetrandum poenam inferni Fabritius indestruct Vitior part 5. cap. 2. Crede Stude Vive Pinge Aeternitati Cor. A Lapid London Printed by E. M. for Tho. Parkhurst and are to be sold at the Sign of the three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside over against the Conduit 1659. TO THE WORSHIPFUL And my esteemed Friend RICHARD BERESFORD Esquire Justice of the Peace for the Liberty of St. Albans in the County of Hertford and Clarke of the Pleas in his Highness Court of Exchequer Worthy Sir THis small Treatise part whereof was lately preached in your eares at the Funeral of your dear Mother presenteth it self to your eyes not for your protection Divine Truths desire none from men and humane errors deserve none from any but for your direction It containeth that in it which is able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus You have a double right to the dedication of this book partly in regard of the occasion of it partly in regard of the Authors obligation unto you which is great for your liberality but farre greater for your encouraging of and exemplariness in the truth and life of Christianity I did not think my self a little bound to that Providence which gave you Relation to our Parish and I suppose not without cause when the power of godliness hath few such considerable Patrons There is scarce one of a thousand cui praesens faeticitas si arrisit non irrisit Bern. lib. 2. de consolat Men of your rank though sometimes to stop the mouth of conscience or for their credit they take up a form and profession yet do usually neglect if not cursedly deride the strictness and power of Religion They are too often like the Moon farthest from and in most direct opposition unto the Sun of Righteousn sse when they are at the full of outward plenty and receive most light of Divine bounty from him their carnal hearts as the Sea turn the showers of mercies from heaven and fresh streams from the earth into the salt waters of corruption In our natural bodies the more fat there is the lesse blood in the veines and by consequence the fewer spirits Greatnesse and Goodness are beautiful and happy Quies hath no plural number God seldom giveth two Heavens Tamen aliquando Christus voluit Reginam in coelum vebere saith Luther of Elisabeth Queen of Denmark Luth. in Epist ad Jo Agric. but rare conjunctions You know who hath said Not many such are called 1 Cor. 1.26 And experience teacheth us that they are like Stars of the first Magnitude thinly scattered in the Firmament of a Country How much therefore are you engaged to that distinguishing love which enableth you to look after the things of a better life I shall take the liberty which I know you will give to speak a few words to you in your twofold capacity First as you are a Christian and herein my counsel will be that you would more and more ensure your effectual calling We say where men intend to live long they build strong I am confident all that you are worth for your endless condition in the other world dependeth under Christ upon your inward change And if ever any wyers had need to be firm and strong then questionlesse they upon which such heavy weights hang as your eternal unchangeable estate You have a large room in the hearts of many that are holy But alas Sir the best mans confidence of me would prove but a bad evidence for heaven He is not approved whom man commendeth but whom the Lord commendeth The great affection which you bear to the souls of the people amongst whom you were born is worthy of imitation And so is your care and cost in scattering some practical home-treatises in several families whereby souls may be converted and wherein you may have comfort at the day of Christ for soul-charity is the soul of charity but the best charity begins at home though it never ends there your main business lyeth within your own doors to make sure that good work within you which shall be perfected hereafter The ordinary security which most men trust to will not serve when they come in the other life to lay their claims and shew their deeds for the inheritance of the Saints in light Many flaws will then be found in their evidences which now through their wilful blindness they neither see nor fear Paâ—lens aurum melius est quâ—m fulgens aurichalcum Bern. He had need to have armour of proof that would enter the list with his enemy Death and not be foiled The heart not ballasted with renewing grace may hold out in the calm of life and shallows of time but when it meets with the storm of death and launcheth into the Ocean of eternity it suffereth a desperate and everlasting shipwrack The want of this is the leak which sinketh many a precious vessel soul I mean in the gulph of perdition There is as much difference between a nominal and a real Christian as between a liveless picture and a living person True Christianity which consisteth in the souls humble unfained acceptation of and hearty resolved dedication unto Christ as Saviour and Soveraign is a Paradox to most There are many Christians as Salvian complained in his time without Christ Christiani sine Christo Salv. but they which know experimentally what the sanctification of the holy Ghost meaneth are few indeed The Moralist in his best dresse of civility the Formalist in his gaudy attire of ceremonies and the hypocrite in all his royalty is not arrayed like one of these I do not write these things as in the least suspecting your sincerity but to quicken you to a godly jealousie over your own soul If the Apostles and Disciples needed such rousing cautions Take heed least that day come upon you unawares Luke 21.34 Take heed least any man fail of the grace of God Heb. 12.15 then much more you and I who are more drowsie and prone to slumber do require awakening considerations Secondly As you are a Magistrate And that relation calleth upon you to be very exemplary among men and exceeding active for God Man is a creature which is led more by the eye than the ear by patterns than precepts Great men
pardoning directing preventing mercy every day nay every moment and is not all this worth a prayer Upon no account neglect the offering up of these morning and evening sacrifices let thy prayers and of the rest in the family come up before the Lord in the morning like incense and the lifting up of thine hands at night as an evening sacrifice Do not say as sometimes I have heard of thee that thou canst not spare time for these duties thy family is great and thou canst not get them altogether thy business is great and a little time spent this way may wrong thee I answer thee Canst thou get all thy family together twice a day to set meals for their bodies and canst thou not get them together twice a day for set meals family duties for their souls 2. What greater or weighter business canst thou have then the working out the salvation of thy own and the souls committed to thy charge are not the most important affairs thou canst possibly deal about but toys and trifles to this 3. Was not Davids family greater then thine and his occasions weighter and yet he could find time though a King for family duties Psal 101.9 He and his Queen did both instruct their child in the things of God 1 Chron. 28.9 Pro. 4.3 to 10. Pro. 31. If thou art poor and saist thou art to provide for thy family see an answer to that in this book pag. 187.188.189 Though God will give you both another manner of answer to your foolish pretences when ye appear at the judgement seat of Christ Have a special care also of the sanctification of the Lords day in thy family remember the living God commandeth thee that thou thy son thy daughter thy man-servant and thy maid-servant and all within thy gate keep that day holy Do not make the sins of others thine by thy pattern or permission let not that queen of days be defloured or prophaned by idleness earthly thoughts words or actions spend the whole time which thou sparest from the publike Ordinances in secret and private duties as praying reading singing chatechising taking an account of thy children and servants what they know of the mysteries of Christ and particularly what they have learned that day Esteem it a special priviledge a great mercy that thou and thine may upon that day sequester your selves wholly from worldly imployments and enjoy communion with the blessed God in the means of grace This I shall be bold to tell thee that Religion and the service of the most high God in thy family dependeth much yea very much upon thy observation of the Lords day thou mayst expect its increase or decrease according to thy sanctification or prophanation of it In the Primitive times when the question was Servasti Dominicum the answer was Christianus sum omittere non possum Thou pretendest to be a Christian make conscience of every minute of that day of Christ Be sure that thou and as many of thy family as can possily be spared attend with all diligence and reverence at the publike place of worship there God receiveth the greatest praises and there he bestoweth the choicest mercies O blessed are they that dwell in his house blessed are they that wait at Wisdoms gates that watch at the posts of her doors Prov. 8. In all things shew thy self a pattern to them that are under thy care and charge the peop e committed to thy government will sooner imitate thy doings then obey thy sayings Sin cometh in at first by propagation but is increased exceedingly by imitation thou that hast thy children and servants following thee either to heaven or to hel hast need choose a right path even the narrow way that leadeth to life Weigh thy words considering that they will learn thy language avoid those sinful expressions of Faith and Troth let your yea be yea and your nay nay for whatsoever is more is evil of repeating others oathes of speaking irreverently of the great God and his word of wishing evil on any man for the command is Bless them that curse Mat. 5.44 let no evil communication proceed out of thy lips but let thy speech be seasoned with grace that it may administer good and be exemplary to the hearers Look well to thy works that they be agreeable to the word of God In thy Religious performances especially manifest all reverence fervency seriousness that thy children and servants may see that thou art in earnest about soul-affairs about eternity-concernments thou little knowest how profitable such a pattern may be unto them Do thy utmost use all means commanded thee to save thy self and them that dwell with thee Be confident that shortly Christ will say to thee as Eliah to David With whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness What is become of the children and servants which I intrusted thee with will it be enough thinkest thou for thee then to answer Lord For my children I brought them up without any charge to the Parish or Lord I bred them Gentlemen or I put them out to trades or I left them competent estates And for my servants I paid them their wages gave them their meat and drink according to my agreement with them When Christ shall reply Man what is become of their souls which I created capable of the immediate fruition of my self which I redeemed with my precious blood what shame will then cover thy face and what horror fill thy heart when the blood of their souls shall be required of thee O therefore let Joshuahs practice and resolution be thine That thou and thy house will serve the Lord Josh 24.15 Fourthly Make Religion and the worshipping and glorifying the great God the great business of thy whole life Improve all thy time power estate interests and talents whatsoever to the utmost for the honor of God and thine own everlasting good Look on thy self as created preserved supplyed with nightly daily hourly mercies not for the service of thy flesh no that end were mean and low but that thou mightest be enabled unto and encouraged in the service of the glorious God Surely saith that noble Lord Du Plessiâ— In the epistle before Veritaes Christia Relig. If all the world were made for man then man was made for more then the world All the favors thou enjoyest are but baitslaid by God to catch thy soul as they come all from him so let them be improved all for him It is godliness alone that will hold out when thou comest to the greatest hardships at the day of affliction and the hour of thy dissolution The good man and his godliness are like Saul and Jonathan lovely in their lives and in their deaths they are not divided therefore exercise thy self unto godliness It may be thou art one to whom God hath given much in the world I must tell thee that much will be required of thee the greater thy receipts are the greater thy returns must be
if it were as good as the best so there is a great deal of counterfeit holinesse in the world a great deal of civility of morality of common grace which is taken or rather mistaken by men for true saving grace much fancy is taken for faith presumption for hope self-love for Saint love and worldly sighs for godly sorrow What can the Saint do but as to the outward appearance the sinner may do the same as the divel is Gods ape so is the self-deluding soul not seldom the Saints ape Doth the Saint abstain from grosse sins so doth he whose Religion consisted so much in Negatives Luke 18.11 Doth the Saint pray so do the Pharisees and make long prayers too Matth. 23.14 Do the Saints fast Nehem. 1.4 Dan. 9. So do they Matth. 6.16 9 14. and it may be twice in one week Luke 18.11 Do the Saints give alms Acts 10. so do they Matth. 6.1 2. Do the Saints confesse sin the sinner can do it in the very same words 1 Sam. 15.24 Doth Ephraim repent Jer. 31.18 so doth Judas Matth. 27.3 Doth Abram believe Rom. 4. so doth Simon Magus Act. 8.13 Doth Hezekiah humble himself 2 Chron. 32.26 so doth Ahab and walk softly into the bargain 1 Kings 22.15 Doth the man after Gods own heart fulfill all Gods will Act. 13.22 you shall hear that a Jehu shall do very much and that by a testimony from Gods own mouth 1 Kings 10.31 Thou hast done well in executing that which was right in mine eyes thou hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart What a great resemblance is there in all these outwardly but a vast difference inwardly The ungodly sometimes do attain to the outward actions but never to the inward sanctified affections of the godly As the painter may paint fire but he cannot paint heat that is beyond his skill Many titular Christians are like the Onyx-stone of which Naturalists write that it is clear and bright in the superficies but dark and muddy at the center men of civil conversation but not of sanctified affections Now all this calleth aloud to thee to try thy self whether thou goest beyond them that do all before-mentioned and yet come short of heaven Besides it is not seldome that a true Christian for want of a prudent trial judgeth himself unsound As the face of Moses so his heart shines with grace and he knoweth it not Christ is in him as he was with the two Disciples and he as they is ignorant of it Many Christians like Hagar weep and mourn that they must die for thirst when the water of life is by them yea within them There is that maketh himself rich full of peace and joy from assurance of Gods favour and his salvation yet hath nothing not one jot of grace or true ground of joy there is that maketh himself pooâ— perswadeth himself to be in a most wretched estate and yet hath great riches Pro. 13.7 is highly in Gods favour and hath great store of saving grace But most coÌ„monly the error is on the other side how doth every swaggering or at best civilized sinner presume that he is a Saint how often hath he blear-eyed Leah lying by him all night and he thinketh it is beautiful Rachel til the light of the morning discover the contrary how many have the Devil and the world lodging in their arms and embraces and think it is Christ the fairest of ten thousand till upon examination it be found otherwise Reader take heed this be not thy case that thou like Uriah carriest letters about thee importing thy own execution and yet thou not know of it it is ordinary for men to think they are spiritually rich and increased with good and to have need of nothing and not to know that they are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Revel 3.17 they cry like Agag Surely the bitternesse of death is past there is no fear of death of wrath of hell or damnation when they are liable every moment to be hewn in pieces before the Lord to be torn in pieces by the roaring lion O how many a precious vessel soul I mean hath been split upon this rock of presumption Doth it not therefore concern thee to be serious and faithful in searching thy heart lest thou shouldst as the most deceive thy self about a businesse of such unspeakable consequence Secondly consider the fewnesse of them that have Christ for their life or that live this spiritual life every one almost that liveth within the visible Church is ready to say that heaven is his inheritance and he shall escape the wrath to come when the Word of God and the works of men do clearly and fully speak the contrary The Devil hath his droves all the earth wandreth after the beast Rev. 17.8 The whole world lyeth in wickedness 1 John 5.19 The enemies of God cover the earth like grasshoppers for multitude Judg. 7.12 they fill the Countrey when the Israeliter are like two little flocks of Kids 1 Kings 20.27 The good and the true shepherd calleth his flock a little flock Luke 12.32 nay a little little flock 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there being in the original two diminutives to shew ther fewnesse When four if not five Cities were destroyed one righteous Lot with his small family is delivered Gen. 19.15 When an whole world is drowned a few that is eight souls are saved 1 Pet. 3.20 Therefore the children of God are called a remnant Micah 7.18 two or three yards remaining of fourty or fifty and compared to the gleanings after the vintage Isa 17.6 one or two bunches may be left under some thick or outmost bough but what are they to the many baskets full that were gathered before The Saints are jewels now how few are there of such pearls in comparison of pebbles Mal. 3.17 and strangers Psal 119.19 how small is their number to natives which are the worlds own Joh. 15.19 The Church of Sardis hath a few names onely that have not defiled their garments Rev. 3.4 Some have divided the world into thirty parts and have affirmed nineteen of those to be without Christ in whose name alone is salvation and six of the remaining eleven to be â—apists which certainly are in no safe way to heaven and five parts of thirty only to be Protestants amongst whom they that read of their way of worship beyond the Seas will find many of these to be but mungrel-Protestants But to wave this and to come to England where it is generally by godly men believed that God hath as numerous an issue of new-born children as in any such quantity of ground in the world and Reader take the publick congregation thou dost joyn with in the solemn worship of the ever-blessed God upon his own day and suppose one should come and sweep out of it in the first place all notorious sinners drunkards swearers adulterers extortioners liars railers scoffers at
man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God And Hebr. 12.14 Follow holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Consider Friend this is the Word of the true and living God and this Law this standing Law of Heaven is like the law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered not one iota or title of it can possibly go unfulfilled Math. 5.18 Darest thou think that the God of truth will be found a lyar for thy sake as he must be if he save thee in thy sinful unconverted state I tell thee the God of holiness and justice will send millions of such carnal wretches as thou art to hell there to suffer the vengeance of the unquenchable fire before he will stain his honour in the least No he is more tender of his glory then so though thou carest not how much thou tramplest his honor in the dust by the wilful breach of his Commands yet he is exceeding jealous of his great Name and when his very being is engaged for the accomplishment of his Word he will not ungod himself to glorifie thee in an unsanctified condition and therefore do not delude thy soul in presuming that he that made thee will not damn thee for he saith himself that unless thou art new made and hast that true understanding to fear his Majesty and depart from iniquity He that made thee will not save thee and he that formed thee will shew thee no mercy Isai 27.11 I hope therefore thou art fully convinced that it highly concerneth thee to be night and day with the greatest diligence imaginable labouring for this spiritual life when thine everlasting comfort in the other world thine eternal life dependeth so much upon it Art thou rich hearken to this word of counsel from God look after these durable riches Prov. 6.18 thy earthly riches are not for ever Prov. 27.24 though thy heart possibly is more set upon thy houses and hoards then upon heaven yet thou must take thine everlasting leave of them ere long when these unsearchable riches in Christ which I am perswading thee to mind out-live the dayes of heaven run parallel with the life of God and line of eternity Prov. 8.18 Nay till thou livest this spiritual life all thy wealth is want all thy glory is ignominy all thy comforts are crosses yea curses to thee Prov. 1.32 Psal 69.22 All thy outward comforts like the Rainbow shew themselves in all their dainty colours and then vanish away or if they stay with thee till death then they die with thee Oh how hath the Moon of great mens plenty often been eclipsed at the full and the Sun of their pomp gone down at noon Through the corruption of thy heart they prove but fuel for thy lusts on earth if thou shouldst die having only this worlds goods they will feed the eternal fire in hell It is storied of Heliogabalus that he had silken halters to hang himself with ponds of sweet water to drown himself in and gilded poyson to poyson himself Truly more hurtful are the worlds trinity riches honors and pleasures to them that have great estates in the world but no estate in the Covenant Poyson worketh more furiously in wine then in water and so doth corruption many times bewray it self more in plenty then in poverty It is sad that thou shouldst not be led to God by that which came from God But O how lamentable is it that thou shouldst Jehu like fight against thy Master with his own Souldiers like the dunghill the more the Sun shineth on it it sends forth the more stinking savour The Poet feigned Pluto to be the god of riches and Hell as if they had been inseparable Homer that thou shouldst by the riches which his Majesty hath given thee only have this cursed advantage to be the greater Rebel Many good works hath Christ done for thee for which dost thou stone him John 10.32 for which of them dost thou stone him out of thy house by oaths or drunkenness or gaming or by atheisme and irreligion or at least by putting him off with a few short cold formal prayers and that but now and then neither Many good works hath he done for thee for which of them dost thou stone him out of thy heart by letting the world and the things of the world have the highest seat there the throne thy chiefest esteem warmest love and strongest trust What sayest thou is it not thus and is this to be led by his goodness to repentance Oh consider thy bodies mercies are holy baits laid by God to catch thy soul He tryeth the vessel with water to see whether it will hold wine do not like the foolish flie burn thy self in this flame of love turn not his grace into wantonnesse but let the kindnesse of God be salvation unto thee thou shouldst by those cords of love be drawn nearer unto him and by those bands of mercies be tied closer to his commands How shouldst thou gather if the streames of creatures be so sweet what sweetnesse is there in God who is the Fountain If he be so good in temporals surely he is better in spirituals and best of all in eternals How unsatisfied shouldst thou be with all these outward gifts which may consist with his everlasting hatred and resolve with Luther not to be put off with the blessings of his left hand Valde protestatus summe nolle sic ab eo satiari Melch. Aâ— in vit Luth. of his foot-stool Thou hast the more cause to look about thee because few of thy rank are truly religious a little godliness will go a great way with great men though of all men they have most obligations from God see James 2.5 God chooseth the poor of the world rich in faith and heirs of his Kingdom And Christ telleth us It is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 19.24 Our Saviour indeed doth not speak of an impossibility but of the difficulty of it and the rarenesse of it Job unfolded the riddle and got through the needles eye with three thousand Camels but it is hard to be wealthy and not wanton too too often are riches like bird-lime hindering the soul in its flight towards Heaven a load of earth hath sunk many a soul to hell and the inriching of the outward occasioned the impoverishing of the inward man A rich man is a rare dish at heavens table Blessed be God there are some but surely few rich of those very few that shall be saved 1 Cor. 1.26 The weighty burden in a vessel though it consisted of the most precious commodities hath not seldom caused its miscarriage when otherwise it had arrived safely at its desired haven As the Moon when she is at the full is farthest from and in most direct opposition to the Sun so t is the temper of most in thy condition to
and ten thousand times more Besides for what reason dost thou suppose God to have given thee these things Surely thou canst not be so brutish as to think that the great God made thee and serveth thee in daily with such variety of mercies health strength food raiment influences of heaven and fruits of the earth onely or chiefly that thou should eat and drink and follow thy calling and provide for thy family were such low ends the ground of his kindness or is it not that thou mightest ravish that pure and virgin inheritance by an holy and heavenly violence that thou mightest imploy them and improve them to the utmost about his service and thy own salvation Reader I must desire thee to consider and grant me these two or three suppositions in prosecution of this my second request to thee 1. Suppose thou hadst seen the Son of man who now sitteth at his Fathers right hand rising from his place and attended with the thousand thousands that are before him and with the ten thousand times ten thousand that minister to him coming and sparkling so gloriously through the firmament that he dazaleth the very eyes of the Sun and makes him to hide his head for shame and sitting down in the cloudes with the glory of his Father a fire devouring before him and behind him a flame burning Conceive now with me that thou hearest him call to the Archangel Sound the last Trump that the dead may arise and come to judgement Harke to the sound of the Trump how it rendeth rocks melteth mountains breaks in pieces the bands of death and bursts asunder the gates of hell how it pierceth the ocean and fetcheth from the bottom of the sea the dust of Adams seed how it descendeth into the belly of the earth and forceth it to vomit up all the bodies which it had ever taken down how it openeth the marble tombs of Princes and Potentates and makes their Highness and Majesty stoop as low as the meanest to the King of glory Dost thou not see the bodies of the Saints look how they flie upon the wings of the wind to their souls and both to the bosom of their beloved Saviour See how the spirits of unregenerate ones leave for a little while the dark vault of hell and enter though most unwillingly into the stinking carrion of their bodies and both haled by angels to the judgement seat of Christ When the Court is thus set conceive the Commission read wherein Jesus Christ is authorized in his humane nature by his Divine Power to be Judge of the quick and dead the law is produced both of nature and Scripture the books are opened hoth of Gods omniscience and mans conscience by which all men are to be tryed for their everlasting lives and deaths The holy ones are now called their persons through the righteousness of Christ acquitted by publike proclamation before God Angels and men their performances duties graces services sufferings punctually related to their glory and infinitely rewarded in their perfect freedom from all evil and eternal fruition of the chiefest good Behold how the unholy are with violence draged to the bar examined strictly by the covenant of works have all their sins secret open personal relative of nature and practice in thoughts words and deeds revealed publikely and aggravated fully with all their crimson crying bloody circumstances heark how pitifully they plead what poor evidences they had for salvation what sorry excuses for their Atheisme and abominations their conscience instead of a thousand witnesses accuseth them the law casteth them the Judge pronounceth against them a most severe sentence of condemnation the devils feise on them for its speedy execution Now what confusion and shame of face what lamentation and forrow of heart possesseth them what doleful screechings what bitter yellowâ—ngs are heard among them Here is body cursing the soul for being so ungodly a guide and soul cursing the body for being so unready an instrument and both cursing the time that ever they met together and wishing though in vain that they might for ever be parted asunder Now the worldling curseth his flocks and his Farm his gold and his silver that had more of his heart and of his care and time then his precious soul Now the lazy Christian curseth his madness and folly that he should think a little formal preparation were sufficient for such a strict examination A bloody husband hast thou been to me saith the wife thou mindedst provision for me for a little time and never regardedst my instruction about the things of eternity A cruel father hast thou been to me saith the child for generating me a child of wrath an heir of hell and never endeavoring my regeneration whereby I might have been a child of God and an heir of heaven and thus cursing crying roaring raging they are sent to the place where is mourning without mirth sorrow without solace darkness without light death without life pure wrath without mixture perfect pain without measure nothing but weeping and wailing sighing sobbing and gnashing of teeth for ever ever ever Suppose I say that thou hadst heard and seen all this and God should after it try thee in this world fourty years wouldst thou not night and day be strugling and striving with God by prayer watching over thy own heart waiting upon thy Saviour With what earnestness wouldst thou pray with what seriousness wouldst thou read and hear with what exactness and exemplariness wouldst thou live how diligent and laborious wouldst thou be in a faithful improvement of all thy time talents and opportunities that thou mightest find mercy at such a day even the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life Wouldst thou after such a sight think any time too much or any pains too great for thy eternal good Couldst thou give the world and the flesh the choicest place in thy heart and the chiefest part of thy life as now thou dost shouldst thou dare to be nibbling again at the devils baits or to be playing with the eternal fire or to put off God with a few cold formal prayers and that by fits in stead of hearty fiery continual supplication or to put off Jesus Christ with a complement that thou wearest his livery and professest thy self a Christian in stead of a sincere resolved dedication of heart and life to his word and law What saist thou man And why wilt thou not be as diligent and as holy now thou maist in the glass of Scripture see all that I have spoken for the substance of it at least if thou hast but an eye of faith and without question the sight of faith is as sure and true as a sight of sense what reason canst thou have why thou shouldst not work as industriously to escape hell and obtain heaven as if thou hadst known these things experimentally when the word of the living and true God speaketh it so expresly look 2 Cor. 5. 10. Acts
17.13 Eccles 12.2 ult vers 2. Suppose thou wer 't sure to die this day come moneth and take possession of thine eternal estate to do that which thou never didst before nor shalt ever do again even to throw thy last cast for eternity wouldst thou not then lay aside all other matters and make it thy onely business to ensure an interest in Christ and to make sure of a regenerated sanctified nature wouldst thou not then think Well now there is no daubing no dallying any longer I am now going to my long long everlasting home if I now deceive my self with any thing in stead of the power of godliness and mistake at death I shall miscarry for ever if I be not then right I shall be wrong for ever Now or never now and ever Wouldst thou not highly prize every week of that moneth every day of those weeks every hour of those dayes yea and every minute of those hours and say Ah desperate folly to leave a work of such infinite weight for which my whole life was little little enough to so short a space and yet O infinite mercy that I have any seasons of grace left wherein I may yet work out my salvation with fear and trembling How wouldst thou labor as for life in this duty and that ordinance hanging on those brests and tugging hard for some spiritual good Wouldst thou not with Jacob wrastle with God weep and make supplication wouldst thou not with the Ninivites cry mightily unto God for mercy How would thy prayers proceed from the very bottom of thy heart and with what force would they pierce the very heavens how wouldst thou with the Bereans search the Scriptutes and see upon what termes Christ and heaven may be had Wouldst thou not strive to break thy heart with the hammer of the law and to melt it with the Sun shine of the Gospel that thou mightest repent Wouldst thou not encourage thy soul from the freeness of Gods mercy the fulness of Christs merit to believe O what sad thoughts wouldst thou now have of thy soul and thy sins what serious thoughts wouldst thou have of God and Christ of hell and heaven of death and judgement Surely other manner of thoughts then now thou hast Thus friend it would be with thee if thou wert to leave this world within a month or thou wert worse then a mad man And why shall it not be thus with thee now when thou art so far from ensuring thy life for a moneth that thou canst not promise thy self the next hour dost thou not believe that thy foundation is in the dust Job 4.19 that man at his best estate is altogether vanity Psal 32.5 that one dyeth in his full strength being wholly at ease and quiet his breasts being full of milk and his bones moistned with marrow Job 21.23 24. Thou art not a tenant at thy own will whilst thou dwellest in thy house of clay Thou cuttest large thongs of Gods time if thou assurest thy self another week But look Reader dost thou not see that eternity is at the very threshold of thy house Mortalium nemo est qui crastinum sibi audeat pollireri Euripid that there is but a step a thin paper wall of life between thee and eternity Is there not much more reason that thou shouldst be more industrious for thy soul and salvation when thou art not sure to live a day than if thou wert sure to live a moneth There is a bird peculiar to Ireland called the Cock of the wood remarkable for its fine flesh and folly all the difficulty to kill them is to finde them they flie in woods in flocks and if one be shot the rest remove not but to the next tree and there stand staring at the shooter till the whole covey be destroyed yet as foolish as this bird is it may be the Embleme of most wise men in point of mortality death sweeps away one and one and one and another and all the rest remain no whit moved till at last they are destroyed and then their folly is though too late bewailed 3. Suppose thou couldst speak with thy carnal unregenerate neighbors or friends that are now under endless remorse frying in those unquenchable flames and shouldst ask them what caused them to miscarry for ever and how they came to that place of torment and they should tell thee O friend I thought heaven might have been had without so much ado that there had been no need of that seriousness and laboriousness which a few precise ones practised and which Ministers so much pressed I thought I might do well enough with a formal lazy outside serving of God because my neighbors did no better I presumed that because God was merciful and Christ meritorious I enjoyed the outward priviledges of the Gospel and gave God some of the time I could spare from the world and the flesh in a little heartless devotion that I should be saved never looking at that inward renovation and outward reformation which I see now to my sorrow are required in all to whom the special mercy of God and merit of Christ shall be extended and now wo and alas I am tormented in these flames After such an hearing from hell wouldst thou not be diligent to prevent thy damnation wouldst thou not take heed of those knives of negligence idleness and formality resting in a few good means which did cut the throate of others souls wouldst thou after this jest at heaven and hell or trifle about regeneration or the new birth Wouldst thou again mock God or cozen thy self with a form a shell a carcasse of Religion Would not the words thou hadst lately heard be alwayes sounding in thine ears and piercing thy heart and quickening thee to be sedulous and industrious about thy soul affairs And why wilt thou not do as much now when I can assure thee from the mighty possessor of heaven and earth that this is as true namely that many souls are eternally sunk by reason of those quick-sands as if thou hadst heard it from the mouth of hell nay it is possible a damned wretch may deceive thee but it is impossible that the blessed God who speaketh as much with his own mouth should deceive thee Look 1 Thess 5.3 Mat. 7.21 22 23. 4. Suppose thou hadst with Moses had a sight of the back parts of the infinite God about whose service I am perswading thee to be diligent or with Isaiah hadst seen some extraordinary manifestation of his glory or hadst been with the disciples at the transfiguration of Christ Or suppose thou hadst been in heaven and seen the royalty and majesty of God in those glorious Angels and Saints which continually wait upon him and in the glorified Saviour who sitteth at his right hand and representeth him as lively and fully as is possible to the eyes of men Suppose thou hadst taken strict notice of the number how many millions and order of Gods servants
then it runneth most freely and plentifully None might approach the King of Persia's Court in sackcloth and mourning Est 4.2 but no wandring sinner may draw near to the King of Heaven without it Aut paenitendum aut pereundum Except ye repent ye shall perish God is resolved to break the sinners heart on earth or his back in hell He will have the wound search'd and the pain of it felt before it be bound up and cured The wicked Prodigal must come to his Father with compunction in his soul as well as confession in his mouth Look therefore O sinner into the book of thy conscience and read over the black lines that still are in thy cursed heart and the bloody leaves of thy wicked life how long thou hast lived to little purpose yea to the killing of thy soul for ever how farre thou hast been from accomplishing the end for which thou wast born and the errand for which thou wast sent into the world Keep a petty Assize in thy heart preferre a large Bill of Indictment against thy self accuse and condemn thy self not only verbally but cordially if ever thou wouldst have Christ to acquit thee Thou hast spent many years in sinning and shouldst thou not spend some hours in sorrowing Thou didst make the soul of Jesus Christ sorrowful unto death shall not therefore thy soul be sorrowful when thy sorrow may be unto life Did the Rocks rent when he died for sin shall not thy rocky heart that thou hast lived 〈◊〉 sin He bled for thee and wilt not thou weep for thy self Thou hast filled Gods a Iob 14.17 Bag with thy fins and hast thou no tears for his b Psal 46.8 Bottle Hast thou so long broken the holy Commandements of God and shall not thy heart now at last be broken The damned feel sin it lyeth heavy on their souls couldst thou lay thy ear to the mouth of that bottomlesse pit thou mightst perceive by their yellowings and howlings that sin is sin in hell how lightly soever it is regarded by men upon earth The Lord Jesus felt sin Hadst thou been in the garden and seen his blessed body all over in a goar blood beheld those drops yea clods of blood that trickled down his face surely thou wouldst have believed that it was some heavy weight indeed which caused such a bloody sweat in a cold winter night And art not thou yet weary and heavy laden Do I speak to a man or a beast to a living creature or to a rock that will never be moved If thou hast a disease in thy body thou canst greive and complain and why not for the diseases of thy soul Are not they farre more deadly more dangerous If thou losest a child O what crying and roaring what wringing of hands and watering of cheeks nay if thou losest a place of profit an house or a beast thou canst mourn and think of it often with sorrow And doth it not greive thee that thou hast lost not thy child or cattel but thy Christ thy Saviour thy Soul thy God to eternity If thou missest a good bargain that was offered thee whereby thou mightst increase thy estate or if thou buyest or hirest at too dear a rate how dost thou beshrew and befool thy self for it Hast thou not ten thousand times more cause to be really and highly displeased with thy self and to abhor thy self in dust and ashes that thou shouldst have all the riches and glory and pleasures of the eternal Kingdom tendered to thee with many intreaties and yet thou hast refused them for the lying vanities of this world and for the pleasures of sin which are but for a season Thou hast denyed Heavens happinesse for a bubble a butterfly all things for nothing Did ever any fool buy so dear and sell so cheap Like Saul busie himself in seeking Asses when a Kingdom sought him Like Shimei seek his servant and thereby lose himself No fool like the sinner that embraceth a shadow which will certainly flee from him and neglecteth the substance which endureth to eternity Honorius the Emperor hearing that Rome was lost cried Alas alas very mournfully fearing it had been his hen so called which he exceedingly loved but hearing it was the famous City of Rome that was become a prey to his cruel enemies he made a tush at it Thus too too many can greive sufficiently for the losse of vanities riches but not at all for the losse of God and Christ and enduring felicities Well Friend repent timely and truly of this thy folly for I must tell thee shortly it will be too late if repentance be hid from thy heart now repentance will be hid from Gods eye then by whose Law thou art now a condemned man already if thy heart be hardened now in sinning the heart of God will ere long be hardened in sentencing thee to an eternity of suffering It is an infinite mercy that God yet alloweth thee liberty for second thoughts that notwithstanding thou hast shipwracked thy soul yet thou mayst swim out safe upon the plank of repentance O therefore think no pains too great to break thy stony heart it is worth the while when free grace hath promised a vast reward to that heaven-born work Hadst thou once offered up to God the sacrifice of a spirit truly sorrowful out of love to God and self-loathing because of fin I could tell thee as good as joyful news as ever thine ears heard The Father of mercies and God of comforts will be reconciled to thee in the Lord Jesus Thy prayers for pardon and life will pierce Gods ears and find acceptance if they proceed from a broken heart from sincere repentance A penitent tear is a messenger that never went away without a satisfactory answer Prayers with such tears are prevalent yea in Luthers phrase omnipotent Musick upon the waters sounds most pleasantly Thou hast heard the voice of my weeping saith David Psal 6.8 Augustus Caesar having promised a great reward to any that could bring him the head of a famous Pirate did yet when the Pirate heard of it and brought it himself and laid it at his feet Suet. in vit not only pardon but teward him for his confidence in his mercy As * Plutarch in vâ—t Alex. Antipater was answered by Alexander Thou hast written a long Letter against my Mother but dost thou not know that one tear of hers will wash out all her faults When the returning sinner weeps the tender-hearted Father smi es As he rejoyceth and laugheth at obstinate sinners destruction and ruine Quodâ— Deus loquiâ—ur cum risu tu legas cum fletu Aug. Proverbs 1.26 so he rejoyceth and smileth at the penitent sinners conversion He will do something for an hypocritical humiliation to assure us that he will do any thing upon a sincere humiliation Seest thou saith God how Ahab humbleth himself this judgement shall not be in his dayes but in his Sons
eyes to see him Thus the joys of a Saint are invisible to the wicked because they are inward spiritual joys though they are joys unspeakable and glorious Austines confess They have such joy as thou art not to intermeddle with Prov. 14.10 They have meat to eat which thou knowest not of Their life is an hidden life Col. 3.3 and their comforts are hidden comforts their secret meals fatten their souls and their bread eaten in secret how pleasant is it The kingdom of God which is this spiritual life consisteth not in meats and drink but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 And besides it cometh not with observation Luk. 17.20 the world taketh no notice of it It doth not consist in the laughter of the face in the smiles of the brow but in the tranquillity of the mind solid contentment in the brest Christ takes his Spouse apart from the crowd of the world and then gives her the sweetest kisses the dearest embraces yea her very fill of love Many a loving visit hath the Saint from his Saviour when Christ came in at the backdoor the neighbors neither saw when he came nor when he went away A true Christian hath the most heart-chearing wine though he hangs out no bush maketh no shew of it in the world the wealthy Merchant that is worth thousands doth not cry his commodities up and down the City The parlor wherein the spirit of Christ entertains the Christian is an inner room not next the street for every one that goeth by to smell the feast the stranger doth not meddle with his joy Prov. 14.10 Christ and the soul may sit at supper within Mr. Gurnal Arm. 2 part pag 343. and thou not see one dish go in nor hear the Musick that sounds so sweetly in the Christians ears Perhaps thou thinkest he wants peace because he doth not hang out a sign in his countenance of that peace and joy within Alas poor wretch may not the Saint have a peaceful conscience with a solemn yea sad countenance as well as thou and thy companions have a sorrowful heart when there is nothing but fair weather in your faces Whether they have the greatest comfort or no do thou judge Sure I am there are none in this world that have so much ground to be comfortable as they have They have the most delightful company they walk with God they suppe with Christ their fellowship is with the Father and Jesus Christ his Son which is the onely good fellowship 1 Iohn 1.3 They have the most delightful food they eat of the bread that came down from heaven and drink of that love which is better than wine Psal 36.8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Gods house and made to drink of the rivers of his own pleasures and are bidden welcome with eat O friends drink abundantly O beloved These are exceedings indeed but if it be not their own fault they have them often besides their every hours fare of a good conscience which is a continual feast They have the most delightful Musick they hear the joyful sound of the Gospel of peace the glad tidings of pardon adoption salvation and so may rejoyce in hope of glory many a time surely their hearts are warmed and their ears ravished at the hearing of the affection which Christ beareth to them and the benefits he hath bought for them They have the most delightful lodging they lie all night between Christs arms in the chamber of the great King They have the richest mercies the special love of the Father the precious blood of the Son and the divine graces of the spirit when others have onely the blessings of the footstool of the left hand such giftless gifts as one calleth them as may consist with an eternal separation from God they have the mercies of the throne of the right hand the blessings of his own children and such as do accompany salvation No wonder that they sit under Christs shadow with great delight and his fruit is sweet unto their taste Can. 2.3 The child of God by vertue of a good conscience in the midst of the waves of affliction is as secure as that child which in a shipwrack was upon a plank with his mother till she awaked him then securely sleeping and then with his pretty countenance sweetly smiling and by and by sportingly asking a stroak to beat the naughty waves at last when they continued boystrous for all that sharply chiding them as if they had been his play-fellows O the innocency O the comfort of peace of conscience Dr. Stoughton It is likely indeed that when they wander from Christ they may come home by weeping-cross as out-lying Deer are full of fear and therefore t is observed seldom fat but they run the waies of Gods commandments with enlarged hearts And what ever be the cause of their sorrow whether their own sins or thine or others or the afflictions of the church whatever it be their mourning is better then the carnal mirth And this I dare undertake for them that in their most disconsolate condition they shall not change with the most prosperous Prince in the world that is out of Christ Alas the comfort of a sinner as it is but short like the crackling of thornes under a pot so it is but shallow skin deep at most like a sudden storm of rain which wetteth the surface of the earth Caeterae hilaritates non implent pectus sed frontem reâ—mittunt Sen. epi. 23 but never sinketh to the root their joy may smooth the brow but cannot warm the breast their looks may be sometimes lively but their hearts are alwaies heavy For there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Isa 57.20 Their mirth is like some juicy plumbs which have stones with a bitter kernel The stateliest and best accommodated houses of unsanctified men I is not the great cage that maketh the bird sing nor the great estate that bringeth real comfort are but like the nests of Wasps where there may be curious combs but no honey many outward mercies but no true inward mirth no sweetness when the voice of joy and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous Psal 118.15 They onely have the strong consolations Heb. 6.18 The joy unspeakable and glorious 1 Pet. 1.8 The peace of God which passeth all understanding to garrison their hearts and minds through Christ Jesus Phil. 4.7 As they have more afflictions than others the disciple of Christ must take up his cross so they have more consolations than others and their soul comforts are not seldom the sweetest when their bodily crosses are greatest as the sweetest Roses grow nearest the most stinking weeds although the blind world see them not As a man standing saith a Divine upon the sea-shore seeth a great heap of waters one wave riding upon the neck of another and heareth loud roarings thereof but though he seeth the waters
yet he doth not see the wealth the infinite riches that lye buried in them So wicked men see the waters the afflictions the conflicts but not the wealth the comforts the inward joy of the children of God Thirdly as this spiritual life is the most honorable and comfortable so it is the most profitable life no calling bringeth in such advantage as Christianity godliness is profitable unto all things 1 Tim. 4.8 There is an universal gainfulness in real godliness Plutarch telleth us that the Babylonians make above three hundred several commodities of the Palme-tree but there are many thousand benefits which godliness bringeth no Merchant ever had his vessels returned so richly laden as he that tradeth heaven-ward Observe Reader after the Apostles affirmation his full confirmation of it Godliness saith he is profitable unto all things It hath the promise of this life and that to come i. e. It hath heaven and earth entailed on it and therefore it must needs be profitable It giveth the Christian much in possession the promise of this life but infinitely more in reversion the life that is to come The promises of God are exceeding great for their quantity and precious for their quality promises and they all belong to a godly man he is called an heir of the promises Heb. 6.17 Whensoever the tree of the Scripture is shaken whatsoever fruit of those precious promises falleth down it falleth into the lap of a godly man If at any time that box of costly ointment be broken and sendeth forth its fragrant sent and vertue it is to the refreshment only of the Saints Godliness is profitable to thy self If thou art wise thou art wise for thy self and if a scorner thou alone shalt bear it Prov. 9.12 The sinner is no bodies foe so much as his own the murdering peices of sin which he dischargeth against God miss their mark but do constantly recoyle and wound himself The Saint is no bodies friend so much as his own others fare the better for his great stock of grace but the propriety in all the comfort of all and the profit by all is his own It enables him to give away the more at his door but how rich a table doth he thereby keep for himself Godliness is profitable for thy children the just man walketh in his integrity and his children are blessed after him Prov. 20.7 personal piety is profitable to posterity yet not of merit but mercy Though grace come not by generation but donation and though God hath mercy on whom he will yet the seed of the Saints are visibly nearer the quickning influences of the spirit then the children of others When God saith he will be a â—od to the godly man and his children I believe he intendeth more in that promise for the comfort of godly parents then most of them think of Acts 2.36 Gen. 17.7 The children of believers are heirs apparent to the covenant of grace in their parents right Godliness is profitable in prosperity it giveth a spiritual right to temporal good things a gracious man holdeth his mercies in capite in Christ that is his tenure as Christ is a co-heir of all things he being married to him by this spiritual life is a co-heir with him he enjoyeth earthly things by an heavenly title and one peny enjoyed by special promise is far more worth than millions which ungodly men enjoy by a general providence as the beasts of the field do their provender It is godliness that causeth a sanctified improvement of mercies Grace alone like Christ turneth water into wine corporal mercies into spiritual advantages The more God oiles the wheels the more chearfully and swiftly he moveth in the way to heaven the more showers of heaven fall down upon him the more fruitful and abundant he is in the work of the Lord as we see in that gracious King Iehosophat 2 Chron. 17.5 6. The Lord established the Kingdom in his hand and all Iudah brought presents unto him and he had riches and honor in abundance and his heart was lift up in the wayes of God Mark the more Gods hand was enlarged in bounty the more his heart was enlarged in duty The more highly God thinks of David the more lowly he thought of himself 2 Sam. 7.18 Outward mercies to a believer are a ladder by which he mounteth up nearer to heaven Thus godliness like the Philosophers stone turneth iron and every thing into gold but the want of this spiritual life causeth a cursed hellish use of mercies ungodly men like the spider suck poison out of those flowers out of which the Bees the Saints suck honey Their mercies are like cordials to a foul stomach which do but increase the peccant humor He feedeth on such plenty that he surfeits himself because of their abundance Job 21.7 8 9 to 14. Therefore they say unto the Almighty Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes like the Israelites they make of the jewels which God giveth a golden Calf and worship that in stead of God Godliness is profitable in adversity it maketh a Christian like a Rabbit to thrive the better in frosty weather The child of God learneth the better for the rod Before he was afflicted he went astray but now he keepeth Gods word Psal 119.67 Well may grace be called the divine nature for it can bring not onely light out of light spiritual comfort and good out of outward good things but also light out of darkness good out of evil gain out of losses life out of death It will like Sampson fetch meat out of the eater like the Ostrich digest stones like Mithridates fetch nourishment out of poison When wicked men like Ahaz in their distress sin more against the Lord as fire the more it is kept in in an Oven the more it rageth so doth corruption but godly men far otherwise are by the fire of affliction the more refined and purified for their masters use Godliness is profitable to thee while thou livest In doubts it will direct thee as a light to thy feet and a lanthorn to thy paths In dangers it will protect thee by setting thee on high and giving thee for a place of defence the munition of rocks in wants it will supply thee by affording thee bread in the word when thou hast none on the boord and money in the promise 1 Tim. 4.8 which is by thousands the better when thou hast none in thy purse in thy pain it will ease thee in disgrace It will honor thee in sorrows it will comfort thee in sickness it will strengthen by causing thee to count the crosses of this life as nothing and unworthy to be compared to the pleasures and glory which shall revealed in all distresses it will support thee and make thee more then a conqueror over all through him that loveth us Rom. 8.37 Lastly godliness will be profitable to thee when thou diest death which is the terrible of terribles to
others will be the comfortable of comfortables to thee Thou needest never fear ill news in thine ears having Christ and grace in thy heart others shall not be such unspeakable loosers by death but thou shalt be as great a gainer When thou liest on thy death bed where all thy friends and riches and earthly comforts will fail thee this spiritual life is the good part which shall never be taken from thee Thou maist look upward and see as it were God smiling on thee in the face of Christ and hear him call to his angels to go and fetch thee his childe who hast been all this while at nurse home to the fathers house Thou mayst look downward on thy relations and with much faith and chearfulness commit thy fatherless children to God and bid thy weeping widdow trust in him who will be infinitely better to them than ten thousand of the richest tenderest fathers and husbands in the world Thou maist look without thee into Scripture and behold it as a garden full of sweet flowers comforting cordials refreshing heart-reviing promises and though it be an inclosure to others its open and free to thee thou maist pick and choose cull and gather where thou pleasest and needst not fear to be chidden In the multitude of those perplexing thoughts which at that time may be within thee thou mayest finde choice comforts there to refresh thy spirit If thou look within thee thou shalt not have thy conscience like an unquiet wife frowning on thee and scolding at thee but thou shalt hear a little bird singing merrily and sweetly in thy breast Lord Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seeen thy salvation How joyful maist thou leave thy dearest wife to go to thine infinitely dearer husband How willingly maist thou forsake thy lovely children to go to thy loving God and Father How freely maist thou part with all thy friends honors and pleasures to go to the Congregation of the first-born those rivers of pleasures and eternal weight of glory How chearfully maist thou bid adieu to nothing for all things to stars and streams at best for a full immediate eternal enjoyment of the Sun himself of an immense Ocean of happiness With what a lively colour in thy face and true comfort in thy heart maist thou behold that pale-faced messenger death the thought of whom though a far off is death to others entering into thy Chamber and coming up to thy bed-side how heartily welcome maist thou bid him as knowing that he cometh purposely to give thee actual possession of fulness of joy unspeakable delights a Kingdom of glory that is eternal in the heavens O the gain of godliness the profit of piety surely the price of this pearl is scarce known in this world A Merchant will in a morning gain five hundred pound by a bargain whereas poor people work hard a whole day for a shilling such a rich trade driveth the godly man godlinesse brings in thousands and millions at a clap when the moral and civil yet unsanctified man may work hard and yet earn but some poor businesse some outward blessing God may give them and his eternal wrath at last Now Reader consider if here be not abundant encouragement for thee presently and diligently to labor for this spiritual life Is it not the gainfullest calling that ever was followed the richest trade ever was driven Why dost thou spend thy strength for what is not bread and thy labor for that which will not satisfie Hearken to me and eat thou that which is good and let thy soul delight it self in fatnesse As Saul said to his servants Hear now ye Benjamites will the son of Jesse give you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds 1 Sam 22.7 So say I to thee hearken O friend will a sensual fleshly life give thee such honor as to be the son of the infinite God such comfort as to drink of the pure rivers of Gods own pleasures and will it make thee bold at death and confident at judgement an heir of heaven and so happy in every condition Can it do this Can it give thee as godliness can so much in hand and infinitely more in hope If it can I will give up my cause and leave thee to thy choice but if it cannot as doubtless thou art convinced so unlesse thou art an Heathen among Christians why dost thou labour so much and so eagerly for the pampering and pleasing thy flesh for the food that perisheth and so little and so lazily for this food which will endure unto everlasting life It was an excellent answer of one of the Martyrs when he was offered riches and honors if he would recant Do but offer me somewhat that is better than my Lord Jesus Christ and you shall see what I will say to you Reader Could the world or the flesh shew thee any thing that were equal nay that were but ten thousand degrees inferior to Christ and godliness thou mightst have some colour for thy gratifying the flesh and unwillingness to walk after the Spirit but when the disproportion is so vast that the one is not worthy in the least to be compared with the other when the difference is as great as between a sea of honey and a spoonful of gall a whole world of pearles and a little heap of dirt an heaven of happiness and an hell of horror Is it not unconceivable madness and inexcusable folly to choose that life which is after the flesh and refuse that which is after the Spirit Reader if thou wouldst be truly honorable in the esteem of God himself who is the fountain of all honor If thou wouldst have those spiritual consolations which can warm the heart in the coldest night of affliction If thou wouldst be profitable to thy dear children to thy own soul be a reall gainer in prosperity in adversity while thou livest when thou dyest If thou wouldst when thy wealth and friends and flesh and heart shall fail thee have God in Christ to be the strength of thy heart and thy portion for ever If thou wouldst in thy greatest extremity when thy soul shall be turned naked of all earthly delights out of thy body escape the fury of roaring Devils and unquenchable burnings If thou wouldst in that hour of thy misery find mercy and be received into the place of endlesse blisse then get this spiritual life this true wisdom to fear God and depart from evil Get wisdom get understanding forget it not above all thy gettings get wisdom Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold She is more precious than rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her Length of dayes is in her right hand and in her left hand
purchase which cost the blood of God to which all the wealth in the world is as dirt as nothing sit down and consider what an house what an heaven that must be if thou considerest God did infinitely love his Son and was not so prodigal of his blood as to let one drop more be shed then heaven was worth Besides canst thou think that the Lord Jesus would humble himself to such a contemptible birth live such a miserable life dye such a lamentable painful death to purchase low mean things or any thing less then eminent excellent unspeakable unconceivable happiness 3. The titles given to it do abundantly speak the excellency of it The holy men of God do as it were strive for expressions and words to set out the glory richness joy magnificence of this gain To the weary it is rest Isa 2.57 Rev. 14.13 To the hungry it is hidden manna Rev. 2.17 To the thirsty rivers of pleasures Psal 36.8 To the sorrowful the joy of the Lord Mat. 25.21 Fulness of joy Psal 16. ult To the disgraced Glory Rom. 8.18 A crown of glory 1 Pet. 5.4 A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 2 Cor. 4.17 To them that walk in darkness and see no light it is the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1.12 To them that are dying it is life Colos 3.3 yea eternal life John 10.28 It is a kingdom Luk 12.32 A kingdom that cannot be shaken Heb. 12.28 Where all the inhabitants are Kings and Queens Rev. 1.5 with palms and scepters in their hands Rev. 7.9 crowns on their heads Iam. 2.5 sitting on thrones Rev. 3.21 and shall reign with Christ for ever and ever Rev. 22.5 It is a being in Abrahams bosom Luk. 16.22 A being with Christ Phil. 1.23 A being ever with the Lord 1 Thess 4.17 A seeing God as he is 1 Iohn 3.2 A seeing God face to face a knowing God as we are known of God 1 Cor. 13.12 And many more expressions doth the spirit of God use to describe the excellency of the Saints happiness and why in such variety of phrases but to assure us that whatsoever is requisite or desirable in order â—o happiness it is there the holy Ghost doth gather as it were a posie of the most sweet beautiful pleasant choice flowers that grow in the whole garden of this world and telleth us this is heaven Do but abstract all the imperfections that attend the riches and honor and pleasures of earthly kindoms and they may be dark resemblances that shadow out the glory and excellency of the heavenly kingdom The Philosophers could say That happiness must consist in such a state wherein was an aggregation of all good things So that though a man had all good things and wanted but one he could not be called an happy man therefore in Scripture the Hebrew word for happiness is in the plural number Mâ— Anthony Burges on Ioh. 172. because not twenty or fourty things can make a man happy but there must be all good things and for this reason the holy Ghost useth such variety of resemblances to represent this blessedness to shew that it hath all desireable good things Reader when thou art feeding on all those glorious descriptions of heaven that are set before thee on the table of the Scripture do not swallow them all together but chew them severally and thou maist get much spiritual nourishment out of them As for example It is called the joy of thy Lord or the Masters joy Mat. 25.21 Now what joy must that be What infinite unconceivable joy hath the blessed God the fountain of all joy and the God of all consolations Thou shalt partake of the very same joy according to thy capacity Thou shalt sit at the same table drink of the same cup and feed on the same dainties with his Majesty Can it then enter into thy heart to imagine either the pureness or fulness of thy Lords joy Is not the best joy of the servants on earth sorrow and their greatest mirth mourning to the Masters joy in heaven Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord a joy too big to enter into us we must enter into it A joy more meet for the Lord then the servant yet such a Lord do we serve as will honor his servants with his own joy Again it is called a City whose builder and maker is God Heb. 11.10 Hence thou maist gather That structure must be beautiful indeed which hath such a builder what a glorious fabricke must that be which hath such a workman as he is who hath infinite richness to adorn infinite bounty to bestow and infinite power to erect what a City must that be If poor mortals can set up such stately buildings what a place what a palace must that be whose builder and maker is God Besides it is called the fathers house here I might expatiate and tell thee that great Princes have great seats often for their servants but they have glorious ones indeed for themselves In their own houses they manifest all their wealth and worth their bounty and bravery their honor and magnificence What an house then hath the King of kings for his mansion house If the several excellencies of all the Princes palaces in the world were united in one suppose it had the foundations of marble the floors of pearl the cielings of wrought gold all the varieties of Babel the glory of Solomons house the richness of the temple at Jerusalem suppose it had the stateliest rooms the pleasantest musick the greatest dainties the richest furniture that this inferior world could afford suppose all the choice perfections of the whole creation here below were extracted and the quintessence of them all bestowed upon it yet after all this it would be but like an house of dirt made by children in comparison of the fathers house of that house not made with hands but eternal in the heavens But Christian I leave these titles to be considered and enlarged in thy own meditations Secondly it is comfortable if thou considerest the certainty of it It is not onely excellent but certain though it were never so excellent yet if it were not certain it would be but little comfort but know to the joy of thine heart that as heaven is a place of unspeakable excellency so thy enjoyment of it O new-born creature is of unquestionable certainty It is worthy our admiration how many wayes the most high God out of condescention to our capacities and compassion to our infirmities doth confirm and ensure this gain by death to believers 1. By his promise Luk. 12.22 Fear not little flock it is your fathers pleasure to give you a kingdom So Ioh. 3.16 Now all the promises of God are yea and amen 2 Cor. 1.20 They as good as performances Not one good thing faileth of all the good things which the Lord promiseth Josh 23.14 But mark friend one place for many Tit. 1.2 In hope of eternal life which God
art young It was a wise answer of one that wa invited to dinner on thâ— morrow saith he A multis annis crastinum non habui thou deferrest it till to morrow but suppose thou dye to day and God say to thee as to the rich fool This night thy soul shall be required of thee Boast not thy self of to morrow thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Pro. 27.1 It is a good saying of Aquinas That though God promise forgiveness to repenting sinners Waldus he the fâ—tâ—er of the Walden es seeiâ— one suddenly fâ—ll â—own dead was converted wenâ—â—ome and â—ecame a new maâ— yet God promiseth not to morrow to repent in think how many hundred casualties thou art liable to how many others dye suddenly and take the counsel of Michal to David Save thy self to night to morrow thou mayest be slain Save thy soul today to morrow thou maist be damned 6. Art thou sure that God will accept thee hereafter if thou shouldst now delay and dally with his Majesty It is good seeking the Lord while he may be found and calling upon him while he is near Psal 55.6 There is a time when men shal call but God will nor hear cry but he will not answer and that because when God called they would not hear but set at naught his counsel Prov. 24. to 29. Whilst thine eyes are open the things which concern thy peace may be hid from them Luke 19.41 Thou maist live to have thy soul buried long before thy body Ezek. 24.13 14. God would purge thee now and thou wilt not take heed he clap not the same curse upon thee which he did on some others that thou shalt never be purged till thou diest The Spirit of God probably now stirreth thee to turn presently and offereth thee its help if thou lovest thy soul do not now deny it least the spirit serve thee as Samuel did Saul Saul disobeyed him and Samuel came no more to Saul to the day of his death 1 Sam. 15. ult i. e. never So take heed of quenching this motion of the holy Ghost least it depart in a distaste taking its everlasting leave of thee and thou never feel it more to the day of thy death Now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 This day if thou wilt hear his voice harden not thy heart least he swear in his wrath that thou shalt never enter into his rest Psal 95.7.11 My second request is that thou wouldst make the attaining this spiritual life the whole business of thy natural life that thou wouldest esteem it as the great end of thy creation preservation and of all the mercies and means of grace which God bestoweth on thee as the great end why God is so patient towards thee so provident over thee so bountiful unto thee that thou mightest repent and return unto him from whom thou hast gone astray Shall I intreat thee for the sake of thy poor soul to let thy greatest labor be for thine eternal welfare Is not this a business of the greatest necessity of the greatest excellency It is the unum necessarium Luk. 10. ult The primum quaerendum Mat. 6.33 The totum hominis Eccl. 12.13 and of the greatest commodity and profit that thou didst ever undertake To be everlastingly in heaven or in hell to enjoy endless and matchless pain or pleasure are other manner of things than men dream of Good Lord that men did but believe what it is to be happy or miserable for ever how then would they flie from the wrath to come and strive to enter in at the strait gate Mat. 7.14 Surely things of the greatest weight call for the strongest work matters that concern thine unchangeabe felicity require the greatest industry Demost Non taâ—ti emam poenitere The Philosopher would not buy repentance at too dear a rate Sure I am thou canst never buy this inheritance too dear though thou spendest all thy time and strength and sellest all thou hast to purchase it Friend if ever thou art saved thou must work out thy own salvation Phil. 2.12 God giveth earth to the meek and patient but heaven to the strong and violent Mat. 5.5 Mat 11.12 It is a saying of Lombard God condemns none before he sins nor crowns any before he overcomes The blind carnal world thinks that a man may go to heaven without so much ado as Judas said of the ointment so they of diligence in duties To what purpose is this waste Mat. 26.8 They tell us it is waste time to pray so frequently and it is waste strength to pray so fervently to what purpose is this waste They presume that godly men might spare a great deal of their pains heavenward As Seneca told the Jews that they lost a seventh part of their time by their sanctification of the Sabbath So the earthly-minded man will tell us that such and such men spend all their time almost in reading or hearing or praying or instructing their families or neighbors and they count it but lost time These men if you will believe them have found out an easier and a nearer way to heaven then ever Jesus Christ did they are the right brood of wicked Jeroboam that told the people 1 King 12.28 It was too much to go up to Jerusalem to worship he had found out a cheaper and an easier way of worship The Calves at Dan and Bethel would save them much labor and in his conceit serve to as much purpose Thus they delude themselves that their lazy cold trading God-ward their slight indifferent prayers will bring them in as much gain as the most zealous performances of the Saints But Reader I hope thou wilt obey the voice of God and not of men in this Consider his promise is to the laborious They that seek him early shall finde him Prov. 8.17 He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11.6 So Prov. 2.3 4. His precept is for labor Agaâ—hocles gâ—t to be King of Sicily by his industry so may the Chrstian by violence attain the kingdom of heaven Mat. 7.13 Strive to enter in at the strait gate be diligent to makâ— your calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 So John 6.27 nay he curseth them that put him off with their lame sacrifices For I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts and my name is dreadful Mal. 1.13 14. Further he is peremptory that the slothful shall be for utter darkness Mat. 25.26 The Egyptian King would have men of activity and industry to be his servants and will God thinkest thou who is a pure act accept of those that are not active Canst thou imagine that he should ever bestow pardon of sin eternal life the sanctification of the spirit the precious contents of his own promise the invaluable fruits of Christs purchase upon those those do not judge them worthy of all their strength and time and hearts and pains