our selves whether we are acquainted with him or no. Let us every one turn into our own bosoms and ask our selves this question Thou hast heard O my soul that which is thy great Duty that which is the very end of thy Creation and thy Redemption and that the highest perfection of thy noblest faculty consists in knowing God and being acquainted with him which contains a nigh union to him and intimate converse with him and mutual communion to God and from God and radicated unmoveable love to God these are excellent things O my soul what is thy case Art thou one of those precious ones which conversest oft with God and talk oft of God whom he will make up with his Jewels Or art thou one of those wretched Creatures who are alienated from the life of God by reason of the ignorance that is in thee Or art thou one of those who having been sometimes afar off art now made nigh to God by the bloud of Christ and so art lead into fellowship and communion with the Father and the Son by the Spirit Or art thou one of those who looks upon God afar off and upon whom God looks afar off I beseech you every one of you deal seriously and accurately with your selves in this inquiry for it is most certain that most men in the world yea in the visible Church are not acquainted with God Thus it hath been in all generations from the beginning of the world and thus it is at this day the people of God have been like a little flock of sheep while the rest are like locusts covering the whole face of the earth The people of God have still complained that they are but as the gleaning of the vintage and as two or three Olive-berries in the top of the utmost branches when the rest have been gathered The visible Church of God in respect of the rest of the world â—â—w small a part is it In the visible Church how few live up to their Religion by any considerable profession How little difference is there between most among us and Heathens And of those that profess and lay claim to something beyond others among whom they live how many betray their Profession by their wicked practice and worldly conversation So that when we have made enquiry there will remain very few of those that are really acquainted with God it concerns us then to be very diligent in enquiry what is our case how we stand toward God Secondly I shall be the more earnest in pressing you upon a diligent search into what acquaintance you have gotten with God because I know that those that have least acquaintance with God are most apt to neglect this enquiry It may be a tender soul that hath been much with God will be ready upon the first hint to enter into the secrets of its own heart to look over his evidences to call to mind when have I drawn nigh to God When have I conversed with God When have I communion with God Hath my life been a walking with God Have I dwelt with God and made my abode with him Thus the soul that makes high account of its acquaintance with God will be trying and examining it self and it may be upon its more a wakened signs of its sometimes departing from God or feeling some present strangeness it will be apt to conclude of it self surely I am none of those precious ones whose life is a converse with God But the common generation of the world Oh how hardly will they be brought to ask themselves this question whether they are of the acquaintance of God or no! How often have they been urged with a great and vehement affection upon trial how their souls stand towards God and hitherto they have neglected it Many are so inconsiderate as to think what is spoken is nothing to them they come and sit in the Congregation but their hearts are out of reach out of the shot of the Word so they go away and the word to them is as if it had not been Many are so light and vain and frothy in their spirits as that the streams will almost as soon return to their fountain as they will be perswaded to turn in and enquire into their own souls In all naturally there is an averseness to come to the light that their works and hearts may be manifested If I should come to you one by one and beseech you with the greatest earnestness wherewith I were able when you go from the congregation to take opportunity to go in secret and enter upon tryal with your hearts and ask your selves throughly this question and let them not alone till you have a clear determinate answer whether you are in a state of acquaintance with God I fear you would go one to his pleasures another to this vanity and another to his covetousness and almost all of you neglect this work of so great concernment Let me therefore urge you with all earnestness that you will not account it a small matter whether you be acquainted with God or not and so neglect this trial of your selves But bring your hearts up roundly to the examination yield not to their unreasonable withdrawings force them to answer If you make any account of the charge of God if you make any account of the excellency of man if you would not lose the highest priviledge of the Creature if you have any esteem of the life of heaven know your selves in this whether you are in a state of acquaintance with God and be serious and diligent in this enquiery Thirdly Because men are so exceeding apt to be mistaken and to misapprehend concerning themselves that they are in a state of acquaintance with God while they are meer strangers unto him such as those whom our Saviour speaks of Matth. 7.22 23. Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out Devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then he will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye workers of iniquity They take it for granted that because of such priviledges gifts common graces which they had therefore they were well acquainted with Christ but our Saviour answereth I never knew you that is I never had any acquaintance with you Such are those who are resembled to us by five foolish Virgins Matth. 25.11 The five foolish Virgins come when the door is shut and say Lord Lord open unto us but he answereth Verily I say unto you I know you not that is never had acquaintance with you you never knew me in the time of your life and I will not know you now you were ashamed to own me before men and I will be ashamed to own you before my Father Men are so apt to be mistaken in Judgment of themselves that they think themselves rich and encreasing with goods and to have need of nothing when they
the matter for accepting or looking after I believe I need not spend ten years in earnest begging and intreating you to look after such a thing Should I offer to bring you to the place and person of whom you might buy it should I not soon have your company should not your necessaries be quickly made ready for such a journey would you not be up betimes in the morning nay would you not travel all night and think it no folly nor madness both to lose some rest and to take some pains so you might but come to possess what I speak of Nay were there but a possibility of obtaining of it at least a probability I perswade my self you would not fail to look after it the very first thing you did I am ready to think you would neither spare for pains or costs so that after all you might but make sure of enjoying it Why what then is the matter that I can do no more in the business that I am about I am sure I bring you tidings of a better bargain a braver purchase and surer inheritance and what need I then spend so much time in arguing with you Good Lord what mean people Are they out of their wits and quite beside themselves What is a Feather better then a Crown Brass then Gold Is a Glass to be preferred before a Diamond finite Enjoyments before everlasting Riches Darkness before Light the World before God O how is man sunk below himself What hath sin made men and women If this be not folly and madness what is Such may go for wise men in the worlds account that makes such choices and it 's possible a man in Bedlam may say his neighbour that tore all his hair off from his head is well in his wits O that this were not the condition of the far greater part of the world And what meanest thou O my soul that thou art no more affected to see such vast multitudes of brain-sick frantick sinners that make light of the tender of the Gospel that take them for their enemies who would do their utmost to make them happy for ever I must profess I am even ashamed of my own heart that I do not mingle my words with tears that I should speak for God and souls with so indifferent a spirit Well now you have heard of a great match by which you may be made for ever are you for all this of the same mind you were Well then complain not if you be a beggar Remember how you were offered remember you might have been worth more then a world O that inconsiderate souls did but know and indeed know what an offer this is O that they would not carelesly undervalue such a proposal O what shall I do How shall I perswade you What Arguments will prevail O thou great and mighty God give men and women but a spiritual understanding of these things make them deeply apprehensive of their excellency and reality and then I should soon have them with thankfulness complying with these tenders which thou commandest me to make unto them O when shall it once be How long shall the Devil and an unbelieving heart undo so many millions How long shall Satan triumph over souls and cheat them thus miserably of their All O pity pity dear Lord the besotted foolish world and give me more compassion to souls that I may with incomparably greater earnestness and tenderness plead thy cause with them and resolve to give them no rest till I have perswaded some of them in good earnest to look after the great and weighty affairs of Eternity and the making sure of this Friend Eighthly He is a sympathizing Friend It goes to his heart with Reverence be it spoken when any injuries are done to any of his when his friends are wronged it touches him to the quick He is as tender of them as of the apple of his eye Again He that despiseth you despiseth me Never was tender hearted Mother more pitiful over her only Child then God is to them which love him never was any friend so much concerned for another as God for his What else mean those high expressions of pity in Isa 63.9 In all their afflictions he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the days of old It was not once or twice that God did so by them but in all their afflictions he was afflicted which was not expressed in some cold formal words such as these Alas poor creatures they are quite undone their enemies are very barbarous but he shew'd it in that most real demonstration by saving of them by the Angel of his presence A verbal kindness costs little and helps little But suppose his friends are carried Captive are they not quite out of the reach of his help No his love pity and power will find them out in any place under Heaven and if they be slaves he will redeem them though he gives Kingdoms and Nations for their Ransom In his love and in his pity he redeemed them and when by hard usage they are grown so weak and feeble that they can scarce go nor creep why he will carry them in his arms and bare them And thus he did of old and his affections are rather greater then lesser now then they were then The mother can be weary of carrying a dirty screaming child she thinks it less trouble to whip him or to let him lie till he hath cried himself weary she is loath to lug such a troublesome thing up and down all the day long But yet such is the tenderness of this Father that he carries his all the day long though they be so heavy so unquiet so dirty But of that presently How oft do you read of strange pity in the book of the Judges when they had by their own folly more then once brought themselves into calamity how do his bowels yern over them and when any of his are groaning under any trials or temptation what sending and running is there how many Cordials are prepared for them what calling to this servant and that servant to attend them with all the care that may be and to comfort them in this state and in case of abuse how doth he shew his love to them If you should ask Pharaoh he would tell you that Gods Friends are edge tools why else doth the Lord lay about him with so much indignation when they are oppressed Nay for their sakes he rebukes Kings saying Touch not mine Anointed and do my Prophets no harm if they do be it on their peril How did he bare the afflictions of his people Israel in Egypt did he stand still as if he were unconcerned did he shut his eyes not see or did he stop his ears to their cries No no he sees he sees the sufferings of his in Egypt and that both enemies and friends too
excellently handled already by so many of our brave Worthies See Mr. Baxters Saints Rest and R. A. his Vindicia Pietatis XII DIRECTION If you would be acquainted with God resolvedly and freely given up your self to him and enter into a most solemn Covenant with him And here I shall make bold with that Reverend Author which R. A. doth mention in his Vindicia Pietatis and present you again with that excellent Form with the preparatories to it which I have lately met with in the forementioned Author After your most serious addresses to God and after a deliberate consideration of the terms of this Covenant and after a thorow search of your own heart whether you either have already or can now freely make such a closure with God in Christ as you have been exhorted to And when you have composed your spirits into the most serious frame possible suitable to a transaction of so high a nature Lay hold upon the Covenant and reply upon his promise of giving grace and strength whereby you may be enabled to perform your promise Resolve in the next place to be faithful having engaged your hearts and opened your mouths and subscribed with your hands to the Lord resolve in his strength never to go back And being thus prepared and some convenient time being set apart for the purpose set upon the work in the most solemn manner possible as if the Lord were visibly present before your eyes fall down on your knees and spreading forth your hands towards Heaven open your hearts to the Lord in these or the like words O most dreadful God for the Passion of thy Son I beseech thee accept of thy poor Prodigal now prostrating himself at thy door I have fallen from thee by mine Iniquity and am by Nature a Son of Death and a thousand fold more the Child of Hell by my Wicked Practise but of thine infinite Grace thou hast promised Mercy to me in Christ if I will but turn to thee with all my Heart Therefore upon the Call of the Gospel I am now come in and throwing down my Weapons submit my self to thy mercy And because thou requirest as the Condition of my Peace with thee that I should put away mine Idols and be at defiance with all thine Enemies which I acknowledge I have wickedly sided with against thee I here from the bottome of mine Heart renounce them all freely covenanting with thee not to allow my self in any known Sin but conscientiously to use all the means that I know thou hast prescribed for the Death and utter Destruction of all my Corruptions And whereas I have formerly inordinately and Idolatriously let out my Affections upon the World I do here resign my heart to thee that madest it Humbly protesting before thy glorious Majesty that it is the firm Resolution of my Heart and that I do unfeignedly desire grace from thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practice this my Resolution through thy Assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this World rather than to turn from thee to the ways of sin And that I will watch against all its Temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity lest they should withdraw my Heart from thee beseeching thee also to help me against the Temptations of Satan to whose suggestions I resolve by thy Grace never to yield my self a Servant And because mine own Righteousness is but menstruous Rags I renounce all Confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone Creature without righteousness or strength And for as much as thou hast of thy bottomless Mercy offered most graciously to me wretched sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of thee I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that I do here solemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God and with all possible Veneration bowing the Neck of my Soul under the Feet of thy most Sacred Majesty I do here take thee the Lord Jehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my Portion and chief good and do give up my self Body and Soul for thy Servant promising and vowing to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the only means of coming unto thee I do here upon the bended Knees of my Soul accept of him as the only new and living way by which sinners may have access to thee and do here solemnly joyn my self in a Marriage Covenant to him O blessed Jesus I come to thee hungry and hardly bestead poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked a most loathsome polluted wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the Servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly Married to the King of Glory But since such is thine unparall'd Love I do here with all my power accept thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poor for all times and conditions to Love and Honour and Obey thee before all others and this to the Death I embrace thee in all thy Offices I renounce mine own worthiness and do here avow thee to be the Lord my righteousness I renounce mine own wisdom and do here take thee for mine only Guide I renounce mine own will and take the will for my Law And since thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign I do here covenant with thee to take my Lot as it falls with thee and by thy Grace assisting to run all hazards with thee verily supposing that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me And because thou hast been pleased to give me thy Holy Law as the rule of my life and the way in which I should walk to thy Kingdom I do here willingly put my Neck under thy Yoke and set my shoulders to thy Burden and subscribing to all thy Laws as Holy Just and Good I solemnly take them as the rule of my Words Thoughts and Actions Promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life according to thy direction and will not allow my self in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my duty Only because through the frailty of my flesh I am subject to many failings I am bold humbly to protest that unhallowed miscarriages contrary to the setled bent and resolution of my heart shall not make void this Covenant for so thou hast said Now Almighty God searcher of hearts thou knowest that I make this Covenant with thee this day without any known guile or reservation beseeching thee that if thou espiest any flaw or falshood herein thou wouldest discover it to me and help me to do it a right And now glory be to thee O God the Father whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon thee as my God and Father That ever thou shouldest
but those that are acquainted with God know these things and upon the mention of them their hearts leap within them As face answereth to face in a glass so experience answereth these things When this string is struck their hearts do harmonize as when a Lute-string is struck the other strings of nighest concord with it move also But these things are a mystery to the world and they say as those of Christs word We know not what he saith And it is no wonder for they are the actings of a Divine life to which all are naturally dead till they are raised to newness of life by the quickning of the spirit of God But I proceed to shew what is meant by this acquaintance with God Fourthly To this Acquaintance with God there is required a mutual Communication Where there is acquaintance between man and man there hath been a mutual Interchange of conference and discourse Thus when the soul is acquainted with God there is an Interchange of conference between God and the soul The soul openeth its wants breaths out its complaints spreadeth its necessities before God God openeth the treasures of his love in his Son the rich Mynes of his precious Promises and the secrets of his good Will to the soul Thus Psal 25.15 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant Gen. 18.17 The Lord saith shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I do Those that are friends and acquaintance they will let out their thoughts and purposes one to another they gave out themselves mutually into communion one with another Thus Christs knocks at the door of the soul Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in and sup with him and he with me Here is Christ offering himself to the soul the soul is to entertain him at another time the soul goes to God and God entertains it God hath promised that he will open Mat. 7.28 Knock and it shall be opened unto you and to him that knocks it shall be opened There are frequent actions among those that are acquainted And by these are expressed to us the acquaintance of the soul with God Now the Communications that are between the soul and God are exceeding transcending all communications that are between mens acquaintance Men may communicate their thoughts their estates their assistance to one another but they cannot communicate their life nor their nature nor their likeness but such communications there are between God and the soul that is acquainted with him All being is a communication from God the first being nay the several degrees of being have several communications from God some greater and some lesser spiritual beings have a higher communication then natural but Gods highest communications have been to man in that mystical Union of the Divine Nature to the Humane Nature in Christ and next in the mystical Union of the Sons of God to Christ and in him to the Father Thus Christ is said to live in us Colos 2.20 I live saith Paul yet not I but Christ liveth in me Thus Christ prays the Father for his Children that they may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they be one in us Joh. 4.17 21. Joh. 1.15 16. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God 2 Pet. 1.4 We are said to be partakers of the Divine Nature This expression implyes high communication of God to man Again there are high acts of communication from man to God for though God receives not from man yet man is to act as giving out himself to God such as to give up the will to Gods will As that of Eli It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good And that of David 2 Sam. 15.16 If he thus say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him do with me as seemeth good unto him Another act of high Communication of a mans self to God is parting with present enjoyments for future hopes in confidence of Gods promise Thus the Spirit of God works in the children of God a readiness to forsake Father or Mother and Brethren and Sister and life it self for the cause of God Thus John Baptist was willing to become Nothing that Christ might become All to be cast down that Christ might be lifted up Joh. 3.13 He must increase but I must decrease Thus Abraham gives his Isaack to dye when God calls for him Thus Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt Heb. 11.26 Paul counted not his life dear for Christ Acts 20.24 These have been the actings of the souls of those that have been acquainted with God and such workings as these are the feeling of a child of God I have shewed you four things which are requisite to acquaintance with God First Knowledg of God Secondly access to him Thirdly Converse with him Fourthly Communication to him and from him Fifthly There is likewise required to acquaintance a loving compliance Amongst men Acquaintance implyes Affection And so it is between God and Man Never any soul was acquainted with God that did not love God and such a soul is an enemy to God therefore very few are acquainted with God but all that are not acquainted with God are enemies to God If we should come to a person that is not acquainted with God and say Thou art an enemy to God this would seem a heavy imputation but I speak it freely thou whosoever thou art that art not acquainted with God thou art an enemy to God for thou art still as thou we'rt born but we are all enemies to God according to our corrupt nature and abide enemies till we come to be acquainted with God Love to God and acquaintance with God go together are heightned by one another First God lets into the soul by his Spirit a partial discovery of himself and by this with the working of his Spirit he incline the heart in love to him Then on the first working of the soul towards God he lets in a clear light whereby he draweth the soul to a further degree of love A clear place for this Ephes 3.17 18. And that being rooted and grounded in love ye may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the length and breadth and depth and heighth and to know the love of God which passeth all understanding that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God The love of God fits the soul to comprehend the glorious discoveries of God and the discoveries of God doth heighten our love to God Acquaintance with God makes us like unto God as in Joh. 3.2 We shall see him as he is And our likeness to God as it makes us the delight of God so it makes us delight in God
kindness and love and good will and affection If then I can upon search into my self find that God hath the highest room in my affections that my heart is his that his love is prevailing with me above the love of all things beside and that I love those that are his beloved for his sake then I have in me a sign of regal acquaintance with God for love is the very quintessence of acquaintance but if in the search into the workings of my mind I can find no such friendly compliance but that God was still thwarting and crossing my designs that I should find my self better content if there were no God and that those workings of my mind that are about God are sower harsh and tearing upon my spirit then it is to be feared that I have no acquaintance with God And hast thou made an impartial inquiry into thy state And how stand things between thy Soul and God Art thou acquainted with him or art thou not Consider seriously O sinners that this is one of the weightiest questions in the world and if this question were but well resolved it would put an end to a thousand other questions He that can say of God and Christ this is my beloved and this is my friend he need not very solicitously ask what news He hath heard good news from Heaven which will easily ballance all come what will come he need not much pass as long as there stands that one Text in the Bible That all shall work together for good to them that love God He hath no cause to goe a begging to the world and to say who will shew me any good As long as the Lord hath shined upon him with the light of his countenance He need not complain what shall I do I have lost this or that dear friend when he hath found him who can make up all with one look whom he can never lose In a word he need not ask how shall I do to live and what shall I eat and what shall I drink and wherewithall shall I be cloathed So long as he knows that he hath a noble friend who will ease him of all this care and never see him want Well then hast thou answered this great question or not Or wilt thou do by thy conscience as Felix put it off and say thou wilt hear of these matters at some more convenient season and I wonder when that more convenient season will be and why not now I pray What season more fit then the present I am sure God saith Now is the acceptable time and do you know better then he What hast thou to do that is more necessary Speak out I pray is the following of thy pleasures Is the serving of Satan Is the damming of thy Soul more necessary then the saving of it Is the life and death of a Soul nothing Are everlasting glory and misery small matters Is the love or hatred of thy God so inconsiderable a thing Awake O sinner what meanest thou Arise speedily and look about thee man Consider seriously as thou valuest thy Soul what best becomes a sinner in thy condition What answer shall I return to my Master Are not these things worth the thinking of Shall I say for all this that thou art not at leisure to look after an interest in his favour or any thing that rends to it Shall I tell him that thou hast somthing of greater weight and higher importance to trouble your head with And do you in sober sadness think so For you make account that excuse is sufficient I pray then make use of it your self for I dare not When God shall come to ask you why you did no more vigorously mind the getting acquaintance with himself tell him then if you think that answer will serve your turn that you were not at leisure you had such urgeth occasions which took up the whole of your time such and such a friend you had who sent for you to the Tavern and you could not possibly come when he invited you tell him if you believe that plea will hold water that you would have been glad to have come upon his invitation but that you were taken up with such good old friends the World the Flesh and the Devil How do you think such an answer will be taken You may think to put us off with such kind of reasons as this but do you hope by this answer to satisfie your Judge Believe it sinner God will not thus be put off Wherefore I do again with all the earnestness I can for my soul renew by suit to thee that thou wouldest act like a man in his wits make some serious inquiry into the state and condition of thy soul And consider for the Lords sake again and again before you send me away thus what errand I come to you on It is to treat with you about a rich match for thy poor undone soul therefore consider well what you do before you make light of this business and know when you are well offered believe it God will not long send after you in this manner and you are not like every day to have such proffers Divine Patience and Goodness will not always plead at this rate with you God will ere long say let them alone the Lord will ere long speak to scornful sinners in such language that will make their ears to tingle he will despise and slight as well as they and who is like to have the worst of it at last I leave to any rational man to judge The time is coming when your ungodly hearts shall ake to see him whom you might have had for your husband when you shall have him for your Judge whom you might have had for your Advocate And though we could not get you to be willing to be acquainted with him no not so much as to have any serious thoughts about it or to make any enquiry after him to inform your self concerning him yet you shall have him for your enemy whether you will or no. But O let us not part thus let me a man like thy self reason the case a little more with thee come tell me poor ignorant creature thou that still standest demurring and sayst Shall I shall I what evil is there in thy God that thou shouldest be thus hardly brought so much as to discourse this business with thy own soul What is the reason that thou scarce thinkest it worth the while to trouble thy head about any thing that doth concern your interest in his love Thou that mindest his love so little tell me what do'st thou think had become of thee long before this if God had regarded thee as little as thou dost him What wouldest thou have done had the Lord said to any Disease the least of his Messengers fetch that Rebel before me that values not my favour he shall know what my anger is seeing he will not prize my love O what a lamentable
shall be as kindly entertained as if you did shine in cloth of gold and were besparkled with Diamonds He will not give freer access to the rich then the poor neither doth he value a strong healthful person before a sick and crazie one a beautiful and well-trimm'd gallant before a cankered old deformed creature Thus far Seneca and the Scripture speaks the same language Neither Job's boyls nor Lazarus's sores made God keep ever the further off from them I knew one all of a cleave with the small Pox whom this friend came to visit and in that condition how many kisses had that sweet creature from God O it would do ones heart good to have such a friend And this is the next qualification of this Friend which may commend him to thy acquaintance be thou never so poor never so vile and sinful in thy own eyes such as thy self he hath made welcome and upon his Word wilt thou but come away speedily thou shalt be welcome too Sixthly He is the most Faithful friend Where is the man that can tax him of the least unfaithfulness Which is the man that can say that he ever forsook any of his in their greatest exigency he hath been trusted more then once with more then the world is worth a thousand times over and they which trusted him most never accuseth never thought their choisest Jewels their whole estate could be left in safer hands his promise and his performance have kept touch he never failed his in the least punctilio or circumstance of time Ask Abraham who was one of Gods friends God tells him that his seed shall inherit Canaan and that they shall be strangers in a Land that was not theirs four hundered years and did he not at the expiring of that time though it was at midnight almost bring them out of Egypt God keeps his time with them to a minute Ask Joshua whether he did not live to see this promise made good inquire of David and he will tell you again that no friend is so trusty The unfaithfulness is on mans side there indeed there I say is many an unhandsome thing done and yet for all God doth not as you shall hear hereafter presently break with them if they forget that they are Children he will not forget that he is their Father if God should have done thus by them many thousands of them that are now in Glory had been somewhere else He promiseth indeed great things unto his Friend but do's he not do as he saith if not in the very thing yet in that which is better and who would account himself wronged if one that promised him ten pound in silver should in the stead of it give him ten thousand pound in Gold and Jewels I believe such a one would not be thought to be worse then his word nor the person to whom he made this promise count himself injured And this God doth frequently did men but understand the worth of what God pays them with It may be God doth not cloath them in Silks and Sattins neither do I know that he ever promised to do so but yet he cloaths them with the Righteousness of Christ and bestows those glorious robes upon them in which they look more trim and neat then in cloaths of Gold he hath made him such a Suit that is the handsomer for the much wearing he may eat and drink sleep and work in it and keep it on his back day and night and it shall not he wrinkled it is the better for use He is a faithfull Friend and none that ever had to do with him can say any thing to the contrary he never forgot any business that any of his Friends desired him to do for them he never neglected it or did it by the halves where did any of them come to him to reveal some secret loathsome distemper to him that he reproached them with it To which of them did he promise a heaven and put them off with this World when this Pilot undertakes to steer their course there their vessel shall never split upon the Rock run upon the Sands or spring a Leak so as to sink in the Seas to be sure he will see them safe in the harbour Ar. Epist l.c. 26. He was no Christian yet I suppose none will deny but he spake good Divinity who said If a man will choose God for his Friend he shall travel securely through a Wilderness that hath many beasts of prey in it he shall pass safely through this World for be only is safe that hath God for his guide Doth he not speak a little like David himself Psal 37.26 Who never expected to come to glory except he were guided by his counsel Now if a poor Heathen could say thus and see good reason to trust God and admire his Faithfulness as he doth frequently and so doth Seneca justifying Gods Faithfulness in all his dealings with the best men in all their sufferings and the prosperity of the wicked what then shall the heavenly Christian say who hath experienced so much of Gods faithfulness in answering his Prayers in fulfilling his promises and supplying all his exigencies David will tell you as much and justifie God in his most severe dispensations towards him In very Faithfulness hast thou afflicted me Psal 119.75 In our earthly and bodily affairs we should never count that Physitian faithful that will rather open a vein or put his Patient to exquisite torture to save his life then let him dye easily We believe a Father may whip his stubborn Child with more love then let him alone To prevent the ax or halter with a rod is no cruelty Faithful are the wounds of a friend Prov. 2.7 6. It was not for nothing that the Psalmist sticks so close to god he had a little experience of the unfaithfulness of other friends Psal 38.9 11. His Lovers and his Friends stood aloof from his sore and his Kinsmen stood afar off May not a great many complain as well as Job That their Brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook and as the stream of brooks they pass away Job 6.15 A friend may forget one a brother may disown one father and mother may cast one off but here 's a friend that sticks closer then all Nay he is a better friend to his then they are to themselves when they love themselves so little as to undo themselves he loved them so well as to save them when they loved themselves so as to poison themselves he loved them so as to give them a powerful Antidote when they like children would have the knife he takes it out of their hands least they should cut their fingers when they are so careless as to surfit themselves he is so faithful as to keep them short and diet them and all this I hope they that understand themselves will not call unkindness or infidelity David had in his time some friends that made no bones of hazarding their
everlasting burnings do you not think it a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God and if you do not let me tell you you are worse than mad if you do believe all this why then let me ask you again whether you conceive it unnecessary to use the utmost care and diligence to get acquainted with him who can deliver you from the wrath to come O friends I call you so and I believe most of you love me dearly O that you would do me one kindness I should count it the greatest kindness that you can do me why what is that you say why it is but to pity your own Souls and to mind that one thing necessary and to pitty them that are mourning for your dry eyes and hard hearts What say you to all this if you have any thing to say against the necessity of these things I am ready to plead the case with you c. Well if it be not necessary to know God and Christ and lay in provision for eternity what then is necessary If it be not necessary to serve love and delight in him who can deliver from everlasting death and reward with everlasting life what then is Once more for your Souls sakes consider what you do when you vigorously pursue worldly things and look upon the favour and displeasure of God as small things O write not these things down amongst the superfluous things which are to be minded by the by Remember this that it is very possible for a man to be exceeding holy and yet to be altogether unknown to the world but it is altogether impossible to be truly happy and yet unacquainted with God 17. He is a tryed Friend Thousands and Millions can from their own experience say all this which I have said of him and much more but I shall pass this over at present having hinted it already and because it may be I may touch upon something of the same Nature hereafter 18. He is an everlasting Friend I shall be but brief in speaking to this head because what might have been spoken of this fell under that of his immorality Yet because it is possible to conceive God immortal in himself and yet by reason of mans default his kindness to him to be finite so it was in respect of the Angels that fell from him But now Blessed be free Grace man stands upon surer ground then ever he did the children of God have a firmer bottom by far then Adam had when he was in Paradice his state is more secure being once united to God in Christ then that of the Angels of Heaven in their first Creation For that their State was mutable is de facto proved but now blessed be rich goodness if we can but make sure of reconciliation with God again it is impossible for us to miscarry God hath sworn and he will perform it that the heirs of glory might have the more strong consolation Isa 54 9 10. For this is as the waters of Noah for I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth so have I sworn that I would not be wrath with thee nor rebuke thee For the mountains shall depart and the Hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Gods children need not fear dis-inheriting his gifts and callings are without repentence If God loved us while we were enemies how much more being reconciled will he continue his love to us once a Child of God and a Child of God for ever once in favour and never out of it again Rom. 8.35 39. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword Nor heighth nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Who can pluck us our of the Arms of the Almighty Who or what is that which can alienate our Fathers affections from us If the promise of God which saith I will never never never never never leave nor forsake you be valid if his oath bind him if the blood of Christ continue always to be satisfactory if his mediation can prevail if the nature of God be unchangeable we are well enough we are safe if this be but clear that we are really reconciled to God if we be acquainted with him We are kept by the mighty power of God through Faith unto Salvation If they had been of us saith the Apostle no doubt they would have continued with us It is possible indeed yea common for men to pretend love to God and to seem to have a true friendship for him and yet not to be truly so To have a name to live and to live are two things It is not unsual to bare God company as I may say abroad and yet at home to have some body that they have a greater kindness for It is common to go along with God if I may so call it in the external actions of Religion and yet to desert him at last Isa 58.1 2 3. Mat. 7.21 There are many that seem to bid fair for Heaven and if cap and knee will do God shall have that they will give him the husk and shell that they may keep the kernel for one that they love better Thousands there are of such persons in the world and these profess abundance of kindness for God they come oft to his house and sit down there and make as if they were his friends and his acquaintance and some of Gods servants by a mistake may bid them welcome but yet for all this they may be strangers only they have heard of God and can talk of him and it may be have given him many transient visits but yet they want the real properties of friends they never knew what it was to be brought nigh to the Father by the Son to have a fence of their lost state and estrangement from God and under a fence of this to make earnest inquiry after him they never knew what it was to converse with God to have an intimate acquaintance with him to be sending out the breathings of their Souls after him and to be unsatisfied without him they took up a trade of lifeless duties and that was all As for the life and power of Religion they never understood it communion with God they heard oft of but never understood what it meant they never savoured and rellished the things of God nor with any suitableness or complacency ingaged in his service And as for those more secret actings of Religion to take up the interest of God to design his glory to be deeply concerned for his honour observing their affections and the workings of their hearts in duty to take notice of answers of prayers or to look after their petitions when they
and Earth and the dangerous hazzards that it did run every moment upon that account but the Soul thought very well of its own state it slattered it self in its own in-iniquity the man thinks he is rich and increased in goods and hath need of nothing but when he comes to look into his Purse to open his Treasury and to tell over all his Gold and Silver in the light why then he perceives a sad mistake all his Silver is drossie and the best Riches that he hath is but dung When the light comes in he sees the darkness of his Understanding the perverseness of his will the disorderliness of his Affections the distemper of the whole soul He before took himself for a beautiful creature but by his light this glass he sees his beauty is great deformity he beholds heaps of lusts crawling up and down which before lay undiscerned and then that man that reckoned himself so happy cries out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me what shall I do to be saved I am undone undone how shall I live where shall I dwell for ever Time was that the man admired what the Ministers ailed to Keep such a stir about sin but now he wonders that they are no more earnest in their preaching of it down It was a little while ago that he thought himself whole but now he feels himself sick to the very heart wounded sainting and ready to dye he made full account that he was pure but now he cries out unclean unclean it was not long since he said with indignation am I blind also but now he cries out and will not be silenced have mercy upon me Jesus thou Son of David and grant that I may receive my sight His language is much altered he can now say was ever such a sinner as I pardoned Will such a prodigal ever be received shall such foul offences as mine be forgiven if God should look upon me and give me a Christ and pitty me and cast his skirts over me while I lye in my blood if the Lord should look upon me it would be such a wonder that all that ever heard of it may justly admire Now the man which thought himself the best of Saints believes himself as bad as the worst of sinners When a man begins to be acquainted with God he begins also to know himself He that saw no need of washing by Christ would now have hands feet head and heart all washt He that thought himself sometimes far enough from Hell now begins to admire that he did not fall into it and although there be a sweet alteration in him for the better and Saints begin to delight very much in him yet he wonders that any one should see any thing in him that should cause any affection in them towards him much more to inflame their hearts in such vehement love to him if he hear of any reproaches that are cast upon him he is ready to say with that wise stoick Epist If he had known me better he would have spoke much worse of me If any praise him he judgeâ—h that it proceeds from their ignorance of his weakness rather then from any knowledge of his worth and if he hear any such language he is ready to tremble for fear of his own heart and cries out not unto me not unto me but unto his name be the praise yet not I but Christ which dwelleth in me Thus it is with one that begins to have some saving knowledge of God the nearer he comes to God the further he goes from himself the more he sees of him and his righteousness the less he sees of his own the more he is exalted the more he debateth himself like those four and twenty Elders he lays his Crown at the feet of God Thus it was with Job when God as I may so say stood at a greater distance from him he is ready to speak a little too highly he stands much upon his own righteousness he stifly justifieth himself but when the holy God comes a little nearer to him when he throws off that dark cloud with which he had mantled himself and when he caused that glorious brightness to break forth upon Job and made him to see a glance of his Holiness Wisdom and Justice then how is he even ashamed and confounded within himself that he should ever stand so much upon his ovvn justification Job 42.5 6. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee Wherefore I abbor my self and repent in dust and ashes When he comes to be better acquainted with God how strangely is his note changed and I might say when he was thus abased how speedily doth God raise him to a wonder A man may hear of God twenty years together and yet never abhor himself with dust and ashes never see any vileness that is in his nature never be brought off from his own righteousness never admire that he is kept out of hell O but when he comes to see God and to be acquainted with him how doth he cry out of himself as unworthy to breath in the air as deserving nothing but wrath then he hath not a word to say for the goodness of his own heart now he can say with astonishement O infinite patience O unmeasureable goodness O the dephts of Gods love He must be merciful indeed that can pardon such sins That must be goodness indeed that can be so to me That is love with a witness that can imbrace such a loathsome monster What was it that made Abraham call himself dust and ashes What made David to say he was a worm and no man What made Isaiah speak so debasingly of himself why these were the Friends of God they had visions of that holy One When is it that the people of God are most ingenuous in their confesions when do they most freely pour our their souls before God When is it that they most readily open their soars and desire that they should be searched but when this great Chyrurgion comes to their chamber those which before where whole are now sick full of plague soars head and heart sick dangerously sick and no whole part in them they can say more against themselves now then ever the Minister could they can aggravate their sins and lay loads upon themselves and they see themselves vile and even are ready to wonder that the earth did not open and swallow them up before this they admire that God should indure them so long and think it no small miracle that they were not crushed in the Egge that they were not cast from the darkness of the Womb to the darkness of Hell Now they can cry out of Original Sin and the indisposition of their souls to any thing that is good and inclination to that which is bad They say as well as David That they were born in sin and in iniquity did their mother conceive them they
whatsoever is presented to his sence the world and all that is therein must ere long be burnt up whereupon he thinks it no imprudence at all to hazard present injoyments for future hopes no folly to look after something that will bear the flame He thinks it scarce worth the while to be born to possess if it were a whole world except he were sure of having something after it that were better than what he met with here he had rather have one smile from his friend than thousands of Gold and Silver he would not for a world be to have his portion here though it be never so large a one he had rather by far be with Lazarus upon a dunghil than sit with Dives in a chair of State before the richest fare that the Sea or Air or Earth could afford him he would not change conditions with those which enjoy the most of the things of this world he can thankfully want that which most commonly makes its possessors miserable O could you but talk with a man that lives in Heaven while he is upon earth and could you but see and here how much he slights that which you adore Give me neither poverty nor riches but Food convenient for me is the highest that he dare pray for He had rather live in a smoaking Cottage and have God for his companion than dwell in the greatest palace and have the Devil for his Neighbour Counsellor Master When a man hath been in Heaven by contemplation though his body be upon the Earth yet the best part of him his affections his love joy and heart is still there Sen. Ep. 41. One that doth converse with God here he is indeed that earthly lump his body is below but could you see his thoughts could you look into his heart and see the inward actings of his soul you should see the man out of the world discoursing with God he sticks close to the company of his Friend He is like the Sun-beams who though they touch the earth yet they still abide there from whence they are sent and are most intensly hot nearest the fountain the Sun So the soul and thoughts of a child of God they may nay they can't but glance upon the world but it 's most vigorous spiteful actings are towards God the heat of its affections are abundantly more remiss and cool when they beat upon earthly objects He that knows what it is to have the company of God is almost ready to wonder how any one can be content with any thing below God and as for himself he takes himself for little better then a prisoner while his soul is pent up in a body which is so unwildly as to all spiritual employments till it be refined by the grave He would not be to dwell here for ever for a world though he might enjoy more content then ever any since the Fall did A Soul acquainted with God is a noble Creature indeed it scorns petty low things it thinks no Estate big enough for it but that which is infinite he looks upon himself as a Citizen of no mean City a Denizen of Zion a Free-man of the New Jerusalem one of the Royal Society over which Christ that King of Glory is the President his inheritance is greater than that which the Sun compasseth in its course O when saith such a one shall I leave these Cities of Cabul and dwell with the King at Jerusalem O when shall my soul be sasely ark'd O when shall I be upon the wing for Heaven O when shall I leave this body there whence it first came When shall I go out of this cell this cage O that I were once safe in Heaven O that I were in the immediate presence of God and might stand for ever before him and have his blessed society for ever ever Neither am I now quite without him but how little O how little is it that now I enjoy O when shall I enter into the possession of that better longer life I stay long for that separating or rather uniting hour which will separate my soul from my body from my dross but perfectly unite me to God Look then O my Soul upon all that thou seest below but as so many Inns and resting places for a Pilgrim to take some little refreshment in and then to be gone That day O my fearful Soul which thou sometimes fearest as my last is the birth-day of eternity O what mean we to love our prisons fetter-burdens What ad we to be so much pleased with our miseries and affraid of our happiness O this unbelief O were Christians but more in the company of God by Faith and Meditation they would look upon God as great the world as a very small thing He that knows God to be great sees every thing below him little It is an infallible argument of a Divine and Excellent Soul and one that hath Acquaintance with God when he can judge all beneath God as low sordid base and utterly unworthy of the respect of his soul 4. Another glorious effect of acquaintance with God is that it will ease us of all sorrows or cure all sorrows As soon as any one hath but a saving knowledge of Christ he is in such a condition as that he need not trouble his head with care nor his heart with fear no more then a rich Heir that hath a tender-hearted loving wise Father need not trouble himself what he shall do for bread and cloathing as long as the great cause of fear is taken away so long he is well enough As for those that are unacquainted with God they either are always afraid or have cause always to be afraid but as for a Child of God that Scripture bears up his Soul under the mightiest waves of fear There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 He that is in Covenant with God may in this world undergo some petty injures some insurrections may be made against him but this is his comfort he is sure never to be quite over-powered never to be finally conquered O the disquietments and fears that strangers and enemies are compassed with or will be And O the joys the security the true security that some have at what a rate do they live and how bravely do they die mark the perfect and behold the upright man for the end of that man is peace This was touched upon before when I opened the nature and qualifications of this friend and therefore I need say the less hear yet it being the great inquiry of the wisest how they may be sheltered from this storm What shall they do to be cured of these heart qualms How they may be freed from fears I shall not altogether pass it over in this place I can't but incourage poor strangers as they value the truest comforts as they would be free from fear and trembling when the Foundations of the Earth shall be shaken when the
Mountains shall tremble and melt at the presence of God the mighty God of Jacob when the Heavens shall be rouled together as a Scroul and be all of a flame Make sure of this Friend it is impossible that one that hath such a one for his friend should much be daunted when he hears of Wars and Rumors of Wars when the Pestilence rages when there are dreadful Earthquakes in sundry places and such distress of Nations and perplexities that the stoutest heart shall sink that hath not this to support Then a Child of God may lift up his head with comfort because his redemption draweth near There is a vast difference between a godly man and a wicked as to their affections fears joys desires hope The godly thinks long for that which the wicked wishes withal his heart might never be the Day of Judgment The righteous man is even delighted with the fore-thoughts of that the thoughts of which doth put a damp upon all the comforts of the ungodly he rejoyceth in that which makes his Neighbour to tremble As for death a gracious heart that hath kept his watch and maintained a sweet constant correspondency with God and hath had his heart in heaven and can look upon the great Jehovah as his friend can't be very much affrighted at his approach He is not much appaled when he looks out at the window sees this messenger making hast to his house and when he knocks at his door he dares let him in and can heartily bid him welcome he understands whence he comes and what his errand is though he look somwhat grimly yet as long as he comes to conduct him to his friends house he can dispence with that he hath more reason to speake it then he which did Plotinus Let me make haste away to my Country there are my excellent Ancestors there dwell my noble Relations there is the constant residence of my dearest Friends Tull. O happy will that day be when I shall come into that glorious assembly when I shall have better company then Homer Orpheus Socrat. Cato when I shall sit down with Abraham Isaac Jacob in the Palace of their Friend and mine O happy day when I shall come to my Fathers house to that general Assembly the Church of the First born to an innumerable company of Angels to Jesus the Mediator of the New-Covenant and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect A mans knowledg of other things may add to his fears and make his miseries greater But the more knowledg we have of God the less our fears and sorrows must needs be and when our knowledg of God is perfect all our fears and sorrow shall be for ever blown over I can't omit a brave speech of that noble Stoick which comes to my mind Ar. Epist l. 1. c. 7. If the acquaintance and favour of Caesar can keep you as you are made to believe from some fears how much rather to have God for your Father and Friend how little cause have such to be afraid at any time of any thing Death it self is not evil to a friend of God he may say come let us go quickly to our Fathers house our Father calls us And doth this seem a small matter to you believe it when you come to dye you will be of another mind then you will think that 's a cordial worth any mony that wil raise your spirits at such a time make you with a smiling countenance to passe into an everlasting state It is but a folly to expect that any thing in the world should do this for us but the knowledg of our interest in God It 's possible indeed to get some stupifying intoxicating stuff that makes a man to dye like a beast without any great horror the Devils shop will furnish poor dying Creatures with enough of that Nay he is glad if he can keep men a sleep till death awaken them but miserable is that man who is beholding to the Devil for his Cordials miserable is he who hath nothing to keep him from a Hell upon Earth but his own ignorance and the Devils word I promise you 't is none of the joyfullest spectacles to an inlightned Soul to look upon one that lived wickedly and died peaceably You would think that a poor man that is going to Execution had little cause to smile though he should Ride to the Gallows upon an easie going Horse or in a Coach The Swine is usually very still when the Butcher is scraping away the hair of his Throat in order to the Sticking of him It 's no unusual thing for a vile unsanctified sinner to leap with a mad confidence into eternity but he alone hath a soild peace who hath God for his friend This is the only man hath just cause to sing for joy when his soul is going into another world It was none of the worst counsel which he gave whosoever he was who said that it doth highly concern us seriously to think of terrible things which we must most certainly see ere long and to lay in such provision as may make us fit to grapple with them when they come O for that which will keeps us from crying out hereafter what shall I do wo is me I am undon were it so that there were such rare extraction to be made which would certainly prolong our lives as long as we would and make us always cheerful what striving would there be to get such a receipt O how would the great ones bring out their bags to purchase it at any rate How willingly would they mortgage all their Lands part with their richest Jewels to buy it yet how little will they exspend for that which if they had would prove far more effectual O would men and women but understand themselves and mind their business what sweet lives might they lead what a calm might there be constantly upon their Spirits How cheerfully might they live and how joyfully might they dye Tully saith that he and many others had been gathering the most powerful herbs that they could find to cure all fears but saith he I know not what is the matter the disease is still stronger then the remedy And dost thou not know O Tully what 's the matter why then I will tell thee One principal Ingredient was left out viz Faith in the Bloud of Christ and Union with God by vertue of that bloud He that is by Christ brought acquainted with God need not much fear griefs sorrows and such things Christ was acquainted with for him he hath unsting'd Death and sweetened the Grave all his troubles are now but as Physick the Poyson of them is corrected though the Pill be bitter yet it 's of his Friends composing and therefore you may take it without any turning away of your head Shew me a man said old Epictetus that is happy truly in his life and happy in his death happy in his health in his sickness
would poor Creatures that receive good by their holy counsels and suitable lives bless God for the day that ever they were born and adore that goodness which brought them near such and such a one by whose means God hath brought them out of the Vassalage and Captivity of Satan and by whose help they have got acquainted with a Friend that is more worth to them then a world for one that hath God for his Friend can't but desire that others also should have an interest in him they know how ill it will go with them that know not God and this makes them to do what they can to bring God and man acquainted they would make those that are good better and them that are bad good if those that he converseth with or stands related to were enemies he lets them know that a Christian can love him dearly whose sin he hates entirely and that a child of God can pitty them that have no pitty at all for him I might add how oft are a great many wicked ones spared from temporal judgements for the sakes of the righteous that are amongst them III. HEAD OF MOTIVES The next Head of Motives to enforce this Exhortation might be taken from the danger of not being acquainted with God If you could live securely without God and be in a safe condition though you still remained a stranger to him the business then were not so very considerable if you could find any in Heaven that could do as much for you as God can I should not be so earnest with you to get an interest in his favour if you could by any means possible be everlastingly happy any other way if without this Friend get to Heaven and without his Alliance avoid utter ruine I should have had the less reason to use so much importunity I might then possibly have spared my self the trouble of speaking these things and you the trouble of hearing of them But when I see and know that it is as much as their life and soule is worth to slight and undervalue the Motions that I am now a making to you in Christs stead how can I with any faithfulness and love to your souls hold my peace How can I stand looking upon men and women that are about to murder their own souls and forbear crying out How can I endure to see poor Creatures running with all the speed they can to that dismal place from whence there is no Redemption and not endeavour to stop them Would you have me so cruel to your souls as not to tell that which doth infinitely concern their well-being for let me tell you God will not stand neuter he will be either for you or against you he is the Lord of Hosts and he will fight on one side or other Now see to your matters as the nature of them doth require What do you think of having a God a gainst you if God be against you who will be for you There is no peace saith my God to the wicked The safest conditions you can be in while God is your enemy is sadly hazzardous such a one hangs by a twined thread over everlasting flames he stands upon the brink of that bottomless pit and one shove one slip sends him going for ever he stands upon a pinacle which one little blast may blow him off and then where is the man to all Eternity if he fall thence there is no rising again if he once go into that other world there is no recovery of him if one would give a world to bring him back again I say it again if God be not your Friend he will be your Enemy and what do you think of such an Enemy It is but a word a look and they fall Let me tell you that except you speedily humble your selves you shall find that we do not make the danger greater then it is according to his fear so is his wrath you may know soon enough to your cost what the displeasure of a God is how dreadful his arrows how sharp his sword Not a man of them shall scape that will not accept of peace upon his tearms and that quickly too O that will be a sad day when God shall say Bring them out and slay them before my face If God be your enemy who do you think will be your friend To which of the Saints or Angels will you fly where will you go for shelter against the storm of that terrible one what armour will defend you from the dint of his weapons what in the world can stand that man in any stead that hath such an Adversary especially when he comes to give his definitivesentence against him for high Treason Dives may say Father and Abraham Son but what comfort for all that had the miserable Child from his holy Father doth he not in stead of cooling his tongue with a drop of water lay more burning coals upon it if it be possible make the heat of it greater son remember that thou in thy life time hadst thy good things Thus Abraham by putting him in mind what his condition was makes him with the greater sorrow to feel what it is The memory of former joys under present sorrows make them sting the more Well then if you would not hereafter reflect with an aking heart upon your lost enjoyments think with a serious and thankful heart of the present offers that you may in Eternity reflect with joy upon your short sorrows in time If you will not be acquainted with God you shall be acquainted with the Devil and know whose company is best by woful experience If you will not believe his Word you shall feel his Sword If his kindness and goodness will not melt you his power and justice shall break you for be that now is so patient will ere long roar like a Lyon and tear in pieces and there shall be none to deliver he will break his stubborn enemies with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potters vessel Those that will not know his love shall know something else I will not say what for it is inexpressible But only this remember It is such a God that you will have to deal with before whom the mountains quake and the hills remove out of their places before whom the great Tyrants of the world have fallen and shall you stand Where are all those Giants Where are the inhabitants of the old World What is become of Nimrod that mighty hunter and all his fellows Where are all those daring sinners that scorned to accept of a pardon mercy and peace and which had the courage to grapple with omnipotency it self who got the day who had the worst of it at last and art thou stronger then they is thy power greater thy understanding deeper thy Allyes more considerable then theirs A fly may be too hard for Pharaoh but Pharaoh can never be too hard for God Because judgement is not speedily executed
DIRECTION If you would be acquainted with God you must visit him often be much at his house knock at his door many times in a day and resolve to continue knocking till he open and if he do not come presently wait for him you would do as much for your Prince and it may be to a meaner person We can't expect to be acquainted with them that we will not come near It is to no purpose for that man to speak of acquaintance with God who never speaks to him comes at him or enquires after him Neither will a slight visit or two in a Transitory complemental manner serve the turn a man may do this and yet not be said to be acquainted with God A stranger may come once to your house that was never there before and never intends to come again and I believe you will scarce write such a own down amongst your special friends and intimate acquaintance So in Spirituals for acquaintance and converse with God are no such slight things as the world commonly take them to be If you would make any thing of this great work of getting acquaintance with God you must not jest in it you must give God many solemn and set-visits and carry your self with all the observance and respect to him that you can for your soul This is that which keeps many thousands of strangers from the life of Grace and intimate acquaintance with God because they know not what those more peculiar visits of God mean they understand not what it is to draw nigh to God in secret they come not to him with those more spiritual acts of Religion they pray it may be in their Families and it may be that but seldom but by the way never let such pretend to the Knowledge of God who call not upon him in their Families but what they do it is but in a poor formal perfunctory manner between sleep and awake and will you call this acquaintance with God will you call this an act of Adoration and spiritual Worship Is it to bow down a while before God and to read or speak a few words and there 's an end their work is over their task is done and they are glad of it But now such as these do not come into Gods Chambers they come to his House as I may so say but they regard not whither he be at home whether they speak to God and have an answer from God or no they call indeed but desire not much to be heard they knock but are not very careful to stay till the door be opened But alas alas such as these can't tell what it is to enjoy communion with God They have got it may be into some course of external performances by reason of the Example of their Superiours Education or by being under the sound of the Gospel and from some force that natural conscience doth put upon them which will not be content except something be done But such as these may not be said to visit God in that manner that I would perswade them to which would be acquainted with God for all this they stand a great way off from God and may be termed strangers and forraigners How seldom are they upon their knees in secret How rare a thing is it for them with Isaac to go into the field to meditate They visit their Farms they visit their Flocks they visit their Swine they go often to uisit their sottish drunken Companions whilest God and Christ their Bible their Closet their Hearts are forgotten and seldom or never visited And is this true kindness to ones self Is it any wisdom to slight such a Friend as God would be to us and to make so much of such sorry Companions O stupid and dull souls O what do we mean so strangely to forget our selves For who is like to get by it God or we when we come and feed at his Table and spend upon his cost O little do people think what they might enjoy would they purposely set themselves to meet with God and go to his house with a strong resolution not to come away from him till they have seen him or heard from him Now the great duties in which the soul may be said to visit God in and in which God doth many times give out much of himself to to the soul are these 1. Solemn Meditation 2. Secret Prayer 3. Fasting 4. Community of Experiences and Communion with the Saints 5. The Lord's Supper 1. Meditation When the Soul doth fix it self upon the Thoughts of some Spiritual and Divine object such as the love of God in Christ the glory of another world c. This is as it were going out to meet the Lord and to take a walke with our Beloved this is the getting up to Mount Pisgah to take a survey of that goodly Land When the soul doth as it were bathe it self in the Contemplation of Christs beauty and labours to enamour it self more and more with his love and to throw it self as I may so say into that Ocean of Divine goodness it will scarce leave till it be wound up to the highest pitch of admiration of that infinite boundless love which should do such glorious things for so vile and contemptible for so rebellious and unthankful wretch as that is O what manner of love is this O that I were sick of love O that I might die sick of love O that I were once in the embraces of my dearest Lord and Husband O that I could do nothing else day and night but praise love and admire this infinite boundless love And did Christ indeed offer up his life for my sin Did he not think his precious heart blood too dear for me And shall I think my heart-love too dear for him What for me Lord which am the chiefest of sinners Here here 's kindness with a witness Stand still O my soul and admire stand looking upon this lovely sight till thou art all on fire These are the pure flames here thou needest not to fear to exceed widen thy soul let thy affections run without controle More fire still blow hard it doth yet but smoke O for some coals from the altar O for more fire more fuel O that my heart were vehemently inflamed in the strongest love to him who still deserves a thousand times more Help me all ye Angels to bless and adore his marvellous loving kindness Christ is a friend to Publicans and Sinners indeed or such a one as I had never been on this side of Hell O love love love What shall I render unto the Lord O that men would bless the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men O what meanest thou O my soul that thou art yet so cold Awake awake Psaltery and Harp I my self will awake and praise admire and love thee O my God whose love to my soul is beyond expression and thus while the soul is musing the
Keeper inquire further and you shall be informed if their experience be not too big for to be clothed in words How oft have some of Christ favourites after they have Dined with their Lord been led forth into the Garden to walk and oh the delightful shades that they have sat under At another time Christ not Satan hath carried them as it were in his Arms and Bosome and set them upon the Pinacle of the Temple not to make them giddy and hazard their fall but to let them understand how much he hath preferred them before others and as long as they are upon that great Corner-Stone no Storms can shake in Christs Arms no fear of falling At another time the Soul hath been carried into the Mount of God and there it hath seen Christ Transfigured and beheld so much Brightness Glory and Majesty in him that hath reflected a Glory upon it self and even Transfigured the Soul that its scarce like it self and there it could say its good being here and then Christ hath bid the Soul lift up its Eyes and look up to the Heavens look round from one side to the other and look beyond the visible Heavens by Faith to the Seat of the Blessed well all this is thine to thee will I give it I purchased it I have paid for it and 't is thine and live like one that is worth more than a world live up to your Estate expect that shortly I should set you in the Possession of all And as for the World look down upon that if it be worth thy accepting so much of it as is good for thee thou shalt have also O did weak Christians but know what strength joy and comfort this Ordinance doth afford I believe they would not be so hardly perswaded to come when they are invited Did they but understand how sweet how wholsome how dainty the Dishes are which Wisdom prepares could they but conceive what satisfaction and fulness there is for the empty what joy and sollace for the Mourning and Disconsolate what strength and quickning for the Weak I am ready to think that they would scarce be so long absent from the Lords Table but think not that every one that sits down is made so welcome nor that Christ gives his dainties to strangers or enemies many may come and receive and yet only feed upon a piece of Bread and Drink two or three spoonfuls of Wine and and really if this were all the Provision that a Saint were to have it were scarce worth so solemn an Invitation It 's possible to come thither to eat and drink your own Damnation and instead of an affectionate Treatment to be dismissed with a Friend how comest thou hither not having on the Wedding Garment Yet the sensible Hungry burthened Souls notwithstanding all their fears may come nay they must and its little less than giving ascent to Sathans callumnies which he raiseth against Christ and his wayes to forbear it s too ungrateful a Contempt of one of the excellent Cordials which the great Physician hath provided for the recovering and strengthning of his poor swooning Patients and in a word it s too like a foolish being fond of our Sin and Sorrow when we refuse the comfor-fortable Appointment which the Goodness and and Wisdom of a Father the Love and Tenderness of a Husband and the Sweetness of the Holy Spirit doth so freely offer perswade command the Spirit saith come and the Bridegroom saith come and why should not he that is a thirst come thankfully humbly speedily Well now poor weary Soul what hast thou to say against the excellency of rest Poor sick Soul what Fault canst thou find with Ease Health and Strength Poor guilty Soul that looks upon thy self as next to condemned What harm would a Pardon and the publique sealing of it do thee Who would think that man hungry that had rather eat Ashes than Bread who would judge that person thirsty that had rather drink Gall Tears and Wormwood than the clear refreshing Streams that come from that Rock the Lord Christ Will you never believe that Christ invites you look into the Note that he hath sent out his servants wish whose Name do I read there Who are the persons that are invited of what Rank and Quality Are they the Great ones of the World Are they the Learned Are they the Proud and Self-conceited Pharises Why I find none of these in the Writing Who are they then that may come with Confidence to draw water out of these Wells of Consolation The Poor in Spirit the Hungry the Sick the Wounded the Lost these are Pools of Bethesdah where the Angel of the Covenant doth oft descend and move the Waters and where is it fitter for the Impotent to lye than there where they can not miss of a Doctor a visit or Cure What do you think of this poor Heart are they but flourishes do I speak or doth Christ and if he say it who can dissanul it will he can he be worse than his word I know he is usually better but never short of his Promise will you Credit the Experiences of Christians have they not seen have they not known have they not felt yea have not all your Spiritual sences been exercised and refreshed at that time when the King hath been at his Table One is ready to say if ever I could have left the World at a minnutes warning and have stept immediately into Eternity it was then when mine eyes beheld the King in his beauty when he held out his Golden Scepter unto me and took me into his Imbraces Yea when the Ministers of Christ presented me with the Jewels and Bracelets and ask't me whither I would go with them to Christ my Soul made a speedy and thankful reply my Heart and Love is his and his will I be for ever O that I were once safe in his Armes O that I might live with him and never part O when shall it be Come Lord Jesus come quickly I remember I have heard it reported of that Reverend and Holy man of God Master Allen who lived at as high a rate as most on this side Perfection and Glory that he was before he died in a very rare seraphique raptures of Joy and Love so that he could not chuse but burst out into unusual Expressions of Praise such as these Ten thousand praises to the King of Saints for the freeness and riches of his Grace to any poor Soul let every corner of Heaven ring with Hallelujahs let all the Angels help me to praise thy incomparable lovely and glorious Jesus O the Joys that he feasts my Soul with I who would not be Christs Servant never did I feel such transcendent pure Divine Joys except at the Lords Table and then indeed I have been oft so raised in Spirit that my Nature except sustained by a Miracle could scarce bear a greater weight of Comfort O the unspeakable vast satisfying Pleasures that Christ
themselves and by themselves which they can never do alone They go to God all alone and no Wonder then they meet with a frown for there is no Name under Heaven by which a man can be saved but by the Name of Christ and out of Christ God is a consuming fire there is but one Mediator the man Christ Jesus And there is but one Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous That which Joseph said of Benjamin God saith of Christ except you bring Benjamin along with you you shall not see my Face except you bring Christ along with you you shall not see my Face There is a notable story which is commonly by Divines applied to our present purpose and that not without good reason it is concerning a Law among the Molossians where whosoever came to the King with his Son in his Arms should be accepted into favour let his fault be what it will So let a man be what he will before yet if ye come to God in Christ he can't be thrust away O therefore if thou wouldest have any countenance from God beg for a Christ to bear thee company into the presence of God I will tell you this for your comfort Christ hath a loving design in his heart to do such offices of kindness for poor Malefactors that understand something of their danger If you see your self lost for want of reconciliation with God Christ he stands ready to lead you into his Fathers house O did you but know how willing he is to bring undone lost Penitents to God it would make your heart leap within you for joy Behold how oft he asks after you what doth that sinner mean to ruine himself I would with all my heart bring him out of all those perplexities and undertake to make God and him Friends if he would be but ruled by me and upon this account he sends up and down many hundreds of his Ministers to tell sinners as much that they may not be undone everlastingly Doth not Wisdom call doth not Christ plead the Case and expostulate with sinners and who would not that hath any understanding at all of his state out of Christ with all possible thankfulness be encouraged to accept of his kindness Christ hath done as much as this comes to already for many Millions and his Father never said to him Son why do you trouble your self and me with so many of these wretched Creatures let them alone to take their course Where did God ever express himself in this manner did he ever take it unkindly that his Son should every day bring such Guests to his house and be continually begging one Boon or other for them or putting up some Petitions upon their account or pleading with his Father for them when they do offend Is God displeased at such work as this is he not as willing to receive such as his Son is to bring them and both Father and Son more willing to save the sinner than he is to be saved O kindness Christ loves the sinner better than he loves himself and as I said before so I say again the Father doth not grutch any thing that Christ gives or doth for poor sinners The Righteousness of Christ it is that Wedding Garment in which we may sit at the Kings Table and are welcome these are the Robes of our elder Brother in which we can't miss of our Fathers Blessing O how many poor Creatures have walked in the dark many years because they have not been brought off from themselves but have sought that by themselves which is to be sought only by Christ because they have looked for that in the Law which is to be found only in the Gospel and no wonder their business went on so slowly when they went the quite contrary way to work When any comes to God without Christ they come like Simon Magus with their own money in their hand to buy a great Commodity which is not to be purchased with such kind of Coyn. If you come to God through Christ you may come with boldness to the Throne of Grace but if you come without him you do but come with Madness upon the point of the flaming Sword V. DIRECTION If you would be acquainted with God come much where he is wont to be frequent his house lye always at the Doors of Wisdom engage much in his Ordinances This was that course that David took when he wanted Gods company away he goes to the house of God and O what earnestness doth he use when the doors of the Lords Tabernacle were shut to get them open again what moan doth he make when he was for some time sequestred by his enemies from the enjoyment of God in his publick Ordinances As the Hart pants after the water-brooks so did his soul pant after God the living God O when should he appear before him when should he again behold the out-goings of God in his Sanctury as sometimes he had How amiable are thy tabernacles saith he O Lord God of Hosts And one thing have I desired and that will I seek after that I may dwell in thy house and see thee and enquire in thy tabernacle Psal 42. Psal 48. Psal 27.4 He thought God was like to be found no where so soon as at his own house he was sure he was never from home David can never forget what usage and entertainment he was wont to have there and that this great Friend was used to have a standing Table an open House and that when his Guests were set he would come and bid them welcome eat O friends drink yea drink abundantly O beloved See therefore that you get into that part of Gods house where he doth most frequently come get under the most powerful Ministery O hear the Word with all the Reverence Attention and affection that you can for your soul miss not any opportunities that God puts into your hand least that should be the time in which you might have met with God Lye at the pool of Bethesda and wait for the moving of the Waters set your selves as in the house of God and remember though you see not God that he is always present in all places but he is there more especially present where his people meet together to attend upon him in his own Ordinances Wherefore when you come to hear the Word set your self as in the presence of God and hear as for your life and soul Deut. 32.46 Set your hearts to all the words that you shall hear for it is not a vain thing it is your life Isa 55 2 3. Hearken diligently unto me and cat ye that which is good and let your soul delight it self in fatness Incline your ear and come unto me hear and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure mercies of David He that hath ears to hear let him hear what the mighty Jehovah is speaking to his soul Wherefore I
say it again set your self as in the very immediate presence of God and when you hear a word that you are very nearly concerned in put up such a short Ejaculation as this Now Lord strike this hard heart of mine now Lord come in I beseech thee O that this word might be the key which might open my heart for the King of Glory to come in O command thy loving kindness this day to break into my soul O that this might be the day in which Salvation might come unto my house O that this might be the man that might be my Spiritual Father that this might be the Messenger one among a thousand that may bring me good tidings O that this might be the sentence that this might be the hour of Love O that this might be the day that I may have in everlasting remembrance O that I might presently without any more delay set out for Canaan Cry out with as much earnestness as that poor man did who brought his possessed child before Christ O Lord I have brought my unbeliving heart before thee to cure it exposes me a thousand times to unspeakable hazards but Lord if thou wilt but speak the word it shall be dispossessed I would believe Lord help my unbelief I have brought my hard heart before thee Lord soften it and let me not go from time to time with these dreadful diseases hanging about me to infect and undoe my self and others O melt me O Lord melt me and let me have such a look from thee as Peter once had which made him to go out and weep bitterly But I shall speak a little more of this nature under another Direction VI. DIRECTION If you would be acquainted with God you must get acquainted with some of his Friends and they will do all they can and be glad of it too to help you to be acquainted with him they will not spare to give you their utmost assistance in this great business And when they shall hear you asking what you shall do to know God they are glad at their Heart and will not be at quiet till they have got thee home with them to their Fathers House they watch for your Soul and no greater Joy than to help forward such a work as this then to be imployed any way in the service of your Souls They are glad when they hear any saying let us go to the house of the Lord and asking the way to Zion with their faces thither-ward O! Christians society good company is of exceeding use one good servant in a house the whole Family may fare the better for him Laban and Potiphar though ignorant enough in Spirituals could not but observe this that the Lord blessed their Families for the sake of one godly Servant I do not speak this only with respect to Temporals because of that Diligence and Faithfulness in their places that Religion will put them upon but with respect to Spirituals they will be dropping something that may tend to the awakening and convincing of their sleepy unbelieving ignorant companions they have an inward principle which puts them upon communicating what Grace they have received they know the more they impart to others the more they shall have themselves they have a Compassion for Souls and would fain have as many as they can along with them to Heaven they will be teaching little Children to Pray and Instilling something that the very Babes may set forth Gods Praises and they will be pleading with God for them But this only by the by Now if those that are gracious endeavour what they can to bring in those that are open enemies how much more will they be ready to give all the help they can to you that earnestly desire it Now when any one comes to this pass that he sees a difference between the godly and the wicked and to say that the righteous is more excellent than his Neighbour and to have an earnest desire to associate themselves with them it is a very great sign that God hath an intention to do such a Soul good Wherefore if you would be brought to the knowledge of God go speedily to them that know him well and they will tell you great things of him and how they came first acquainted with him and how this acquaintance hath been kept they will tell you where they first met him they will give you to understand that at such and such a time when they little thought of God they were strangely brought acquainted with him When they came out of Fashion or curiosity or to laugh at him that taught them or it may be to pick some Quarrel with him to hear such a man they were made to see what they never took any great notice of before that they were in an undone condition by Nature and that except Christ would pitty them there was no remedy but to Hell they must go whereas before they thought themselves as safe as could be But then they saw that it was no light matter to be out of Christ and Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel After this they were made to understand something of Christs undertaking for poor lost sinners and they heard of his exceeding willingness to receive the chiefest of sinners and that then they began to see an excellency in his love and goodness and to be somewhat more taken with the kindness of Christ than ever they were before and they felt some longings after the precious Jesus O that they had but a Christ for their Souls and that after this they were by the Spirit of God in some measure enabled to cast themselves at the feet of Christ for mercy and that upon his own terms knowing that if mercy came not that way to them they must sink for ever and that upon this act of recumbency after they had for some time waited upon God in the way of his ordinances they began to taste and relish the things of God and at last they met him whom their Souls loved Inquire of them I say and they will talk thus to you and tell you also that there was a time wherein they were foolish disobedient and unto every good Work Reprobate and miserably neglectful of their Souls that they did not at all mind their Eternal welfare but made light of Christ made a mock of sin and made nothing of Eternal Damnation And they will direct and encourage you also Let me tell you they have an interest in God and their prayers for you may be more advantagious than you are aware of Yet I would not that you should make Christs of the Saints nor forget what is the work of the Mediator alone Saints are to be valued but Christ is to be valued infinitely more Get acquainted with some warm rare experienced Christian and make him your bosom Friend and observe him and you shall see much of the beauty of Religion shining in him and you shall see how chearfully and comfortably
find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners Glory be to thee O God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own Blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer Glory he to thee O God the Holy Ghost who by the finger of thine Almighty power hast turned about my Heart from sin to God O dreadful Jehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Ghost thou art now become my Covenant-Friend and I through thine infinite Grace am become thy Covenant-Servant Amen So be it And the Covenant which I have made on Earth let it be ratified in Heaven The Conclusion AND now my Work is done I must leave you and whether I shall ever speak to you or see you or write to you again while the world stands I know not My body is frail and I am a poor dying man and before it be long my mouth will be more stopped than it is and yours too And therefore it 's high time for us to look about us As for my part I have with all the seriousness that I could for my soul spoke to you about the great and weighty affairs of your Souls and Eternity I again call Heaven and Earth to witness that I have set Life and Death before you I have in the Name of my great Master been woing of you to accept of his Son for your Lord and Husband himself for your God Father and Friend I have told you what the Lord doth require of them that would be in Covenant with him I have given you a rude Description of him whom I would have you acquainted with I have told you of some of the glorious effects of acquaintance with God I have told you of the danger of being a stranger to God I have told you how thankfully some have closed with these offers and how well they like their choice I have further show'd you what a peaceable state you shall be in immediately upon your Spiritual Alliance with this Great and Noble friend I have told you also of some further benefit and good that will come unto you upon your acquaintance with God I have given you to understand how desirous the Lord is notwithstanding all that is past to forget and forgive and to receive you into favour if you will in good earnest return to him with speed I have again and again propounded this match to you and told you as much as I could well do in so short a time I have stayed a great while for an answer I have put the business forward all that possibly I could because I see how foolishly and madly you make light of those advantageous offers that are made to you I have again and again pleaded with you as if I were ready to starve and begging an alms of you nay if it had been for my very life I could not have spoke with more earnestness I have expostulated the Case with you and asked you several weighty Questions and you have not you cannot answer any one of them but you must condemn your self and by your own confession you have nothing in the world to say against the excellency of this friend And therefore you must either speedily come in upon the invitation and close with those gracious overtures that are made to you or you must without any reason in the world your self being Judg cast your self away And in hopes that all that have heard me will not be so mad as to make light of these things but be asking with some seriousness that great question How shall I do to get acquainted with God How shall I do to get a Friend for my Soul What shall I do to be saved I have laid down some Directions for those that are unfeignedly desirous to be reconciled to God I have told them that they must labour to be thorowly acquainted with that strangeness and enmity that is in their hearts against God and of the unspeakable danger of their being strangers to God I have further directed them that would be acquainted with God to labour to get humble hearts I have advised that they visit him often if they would be intimately acquainted with him that not in a transitory way but to make a Solemn set visit of it and to be sure that they do not forget to get Christ along with them I counselled them also to be much in those places where he is wont to walk and to get intimately acquainted with some of them that know him very well and will do their best to get them to be acquainted with him I have told you that if you would be acquainted with God you must kindly entertain and make much of any Messengers that come from him to you and if men would make sure work I desired them as they loved their Souls that they would follow this great Business with the greatest earnestness and seriousness in the world and that what they do they would do speedily I informed you what arguments the Scripture puts into our mouths which we may urge at the Throne of Grace I intreated you for your Souls sake to take heed of those things which kept God and man unacquainted as namely all sin in general but more particularly Pride Worldly-mindedness Hypocrisie delight in wicked company Unbelief and Sensuality Lastly I direct all such as would be at peace with God to give up themselves to him resolvedly and freely in a Solemn Covenant And have I been beating the Air all this while What will you do after all this What shall become of all these Sermons Dare any of you all still be contented to be Unacquainted with God Can you be very well satisfied after you have heard of such a Friend to be a stranger to him Can any of you look upon your state as safe while God is your enemy O how shall I leave you with Hearts full of Enmity against your Maker Alas alas poor Hearts You look very merrily as bad a condition as you are in but did you but know how neer you are to everlasting Burnings I believe it would put a damp upon your Spirits and spoil your Mirth O how shall I leave that poor sinner that stands as a person altogether unconcerned Whereas death stands ready for his Commission to fetch him away before God and where are you then O where are you then if you come before God as a Stranger O what shall I do for thee What shall I say to thee to prevail with thee O what arguments will perswade thee O how shall we part Brethren my hearts desire is that you may all be saved O that you may all know in this your day the things of your peace O that I could mingle all my words with tears O pitty pitty for the Lords sake pitty your precious Souls O come not here to ask Counsel of God and then go away and take the Counsel of the Devil And what will you yet
are wretched miserable and poor and blind and naked And this makes David Psal 139.24 to cry out after he had been trying himself Search me O God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting This unaptness in us to make a right judgement of our selves in our relation to God ariseth First From that deep root of self-love that is in us by nature whereby we are apt to apprehend well of our selves and please our selves with a good conceit of our selves though we are never so bad And such is the nature of this affection that it blinds our eyes and prejudiceth the mind that it cannot make a right judgment As affection in some Parents to their Children makes them reckon that which is a blemish to be a beauty in their children so doth inordinate self-love work in men in the judgment of themselves Men when they judge themselves they look into a flattering glass which presents them in greater beauty then that which is their own Secondly we judge amiss of our selves because we take not a right rule for our judgments as those whom Paul speaks of 2 Corinthians 10.12 Some commend themselves but they measure themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves are not wise If we take our selves to be the rule and measure then we cannot discern our own crookedness and irregularness Thirdly We judge amiss of our selves because of the deceitfulness of our hearts The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it Jer. 17.9 Gross wickedness is apparent to the pur-blind eye but where there is an abstaining from gross outward sins there are special workings of Corruption such as pride self-love distrust of God and love of the world any of which shut up the soul against God as with bolts and bars and these lying inward are not discerned Other accounts may be given of the unaptness to make a due judgment of our selves it concerns us therefore to be exact in our tryal and trust not to a sudden answer for we are ready to make a short work of it and to save our selves the labour and to sit down with charitable thoughts of our selves Whatsoever answer therefore our hearts give us let us see cleared and have such reason for it that we may know how to proceed with our selves upon a right judgment of our selves The chief work of trial in this particular acquaintance with God will be from those particulars wherein I opened the nature of the souls acquaintance with God Let us therefore take those Heads and our own Experience of our selves and by a rational deduction let us find out our own estate As thus Those that are acquainted with God are brought nigh to God Whereas sometimes there was a strangeness and remoteness a vast separation now the partition is taken out of the way and I am made one in Christ I have took God to be my portion and my Father I have been a Prodigal and have departed from him but I finding my self lost and undone and that nothing could satisfie my soul in the world therefore I resolved I would return to my Fathers house and try if he would receive me again into his family and so I have done I have cast off my old converse with the world and with corruption I have broken my league with Hell and have entered into a covenant with the Father through his Son Jesus Christ therefore I may comfortably conclude that I am now in a state of acquaintance with God But if in the enquiry into my self I find not these things if I find that now I am as in former dayes I have felt no such change in my self and that all things are with me as they were of old I never was sensible of any loss in my self I never knew what strangeness and nighness to God meant I never understood what union with God and distance from God was this signifies ill it is a symptome of a bad state of a state of unacquaintance with God 2. So again for our converse with God He that is acquainted with God he hath had his converse with God he hath dwelt with God and God with him he hath supped with Christ and Christ with him his great business and employment hath been nigh God in those things wherein is most of God If I find my soul much conversing with God oft sending out breathings to Heaven oft casting my eye towards God if I find the great work of my mind to be with God my great business lies in Heaven my treasure is laid up there and my thoughts and desires and joys and delights and meditations are there I may comfortably conclude that I am in some measure acquainted with God But if in the inquiry into my self I find that I have my whole converse with the world that I can afford no time for Prayer to God in my family and in secret If I find all the day long my cares and desires and thoughts run out most naturally and fully without controle towards the things of the world or that I will mind my self in a natural carnal way and mind not the things of God this signifies to me my unacquaintance with God and it will be an ungrounded presumption in me to reckon of my self any other then a stranger to him 3. So for communion and fellowship which is in acquaintance Those that are intimately acquainted their communion in the way of discourse is very frequent in making known their thoughts and apprehensions their fears and wants their minds are open one to another and that which is the propriety of one is by their acquaintance communicated to the use of both If then I can find in reviewing the workings of my soul that there hath been this sight of Heaven this Spiritual Communion between my soul and God that my heart hath been open to God that I have gone to God when my heart hath been burdened with sorrow I have discharged it into the bosom of God as into the bosom of a friend that in my doubts I have betaken my self to him expecting comfort from him that upon hearing his voice I have opened to him and upon my opening he hath come in with smiles of love and given me tokens of his favour these things signifie a state of acquaintance with God but if I know not what it is to have given up my soul to God to be his and to have taken God to be mine if I have had experience of receiving nothing else from God but a partaking of the things of the world if I have not been wont to communicate the workings of my mind to God it betokeneth my unacquaintance with God 4. And again for that friendly working of love and affection in the soul towards God Those that are in a state of acquaintance are supposed to comply with each other in