to walk strictly before the Lord yet come and do it else something will befall thee shortly that thou shalt say is hard to suffer 5. This difficulty that thou findest in religious duties is because as yet thou hast no strength but what is thine own to do them with but if thou dost renounce the Devil and the flesh and give thy self to God and Christ thou shalt have help from Heaven and then they will be more easie to thee While thou art in bonds of sin thou hast neither strength nor skill to do them with and that makes it hard but if God make thee free thou shalt have both and then it will be easie If thou wantest skill God will shew thee and if thou wantest strength God will help thee and then praying work and repenting work will go more smoothly forward When God shall come and break and melt thy heart it will be more easie to repent when God shall come and give to thee a sight and sense of thy sins and wants of thy want of grace and pardon of thy want of Christ and a renewed heart it will be more easie for thee to bewail thy sins and to pray and beg supplies for what thou wantest God is not an hard Master to his servants to put them upon work and give them neither power nor reward for he gives both to those that in sincerity give up themselves unto his service That though without Christ we can do nothing Joh. 15. 5. yet being strengthened by Christ we can do all things in order to the saving of our Souls Phil. 4. 13. and the spirit is purchased and promised by Christ to help the weaknesses and infirmities of his servants Rom. 8. 26. he shall help thee unto words in prayer to express thy wants thy heart and thy desires unto God and when thou wantest words he shall help thee with sighs and sobs and tears which are powerful pleadings with the Lord who understandeth the stammerings and the groanings of his Children Rom. 8. 27. Thus we have shewed the second Chain with which these Captives are bound the Prejudice of their hearts against the holy ways of Gods Redeemed and free new-born people and have endeavoured to cut it in twain to knock it off but alas this is too hard a work for man to do for any Minister upon earth to do or for any Angel in Heaven to do Sinners are so fast locked in their fetters that it requires Almighty power to break them that the captive may escape and be set at liberty Oh that therefore God would come and burst and break it quite asunder Oh that God would come and take it off were it but from one or two amongst you this day that though you came captives in your chain yet you might go home free-men and at liberty but yet something is required from you that you should consider and weigh with your selves impartially and deliberately what hath been said to remove this prejudice of your hearts which makes you like your present captive-state and not desirous to come forth from it and if what hath been spoken is not sufficient ground to silence these carnal pleas I beg the prayers of the Congregation for me that God would forgive my weakness and pardon my unskilfulness that know no better how to deliver a message from the Lord and to pray that for the future I might be more fitted for this weighty work but if there be evidence of truth in what hath been delivered and spoken in your ears I charge you in the name of the dreadful and eternal God in the name of Christ my Lord that sent me that you do not slight it if I have spoken my own words fling them back in my face and tell me that I lie but if it be according to the Scripture then slight them at your peril either shew wherein I have erred or else submit unto it but if thou whosoever thou art or what name soever thou art called by art convinced in thy Conscience and thy reason and judgment is satisfied that these grounds of Prejudice have been made appear to be vain and frivolous and yet shalt upon these accounts chuse rather to continue in thy captive state than come to Christ and be made free and goest to thy grave and hell with these fetters on thy Soul know that thou art hereby rendred inexcusable CHAP. V. The Third Chain is the love of the world 3. A Third Chain wherewith these Captives are bound is the immoderate and prevailing love of the profits and riches of this world This bindeth thousands fast that they will not cannot stir or move or come to Christ that they may be set at liberty these are bound with chains of gold and because they are golden chains therefore they like them so much the more the Devil doth not care for cost if by all he can keep you still in bondage he will not grudg you the riches of the world if he can keep you out of heaven Many moral men that have escaped the gross pollutions of the world that are no Swearers nor Drunkards nor openly profane that bless themselves with the thoughts of their supposed good condition yet are as sure the Devils prisoners and in slavery and bondage and shall as certainly perish and be damned except they get this bond broken as any Drunkard in the Town or Parish where they live Believe this as a certain truth for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it turn and read Ephes 5. 5. Shall not the Whoremonger be saved nor the World monger neither Shall not the unclean person inherit the Kingdom of God no nor the person that hath his heart and affections set upon the world And the Holy Ghost gives a reason because such a man is an Idolater making his Gold his god that love and delight and joy which God should have is given to the world and that God will never bear that hope and trust which should be placed in the living God is placed in uncertain riches and this the jealous God will never brook Turn again to Col. 3. 5 6. God tells you this over and over in one place after another that so you might the more beware of being kept in bondage by this golden chain which is so very strong that the Lord doth tell us the love of money is the root of all evil 1 Tim. 6. 10. There are many branches of sin which shoot out in the lives of men but all do grow upon this root the heart being fixed in its love unto the world 1. Omissions of duty neglect of Closet and Family-prayer worldliness is the root the heart is so eager after riches that they have no time nor leisure for better things and when they have time yet the worldly heart is indisposed to perform them and is listless to Heavenly employment 2. Commissions of sin the use of false balances and deceitful measures over-reaching breach of promises falsifying their
reasonable betwixt God and you 2. Is it not better to go mourning and repenting to Heaven than to go merrily and rejoycing to Hell Had you not better mourn and have a sad and heavy heart for sin upon Earth and hereafter be filled with the joys of Heaven than to have a light heart upon Earth under the heavy weight and load of sin and be filled hereafter with the sorrows of Hell Had you not better have short sorrows for a time and afterwards eternal joys than to have short joys for a time and afterwards eternal sadness and sorrows sinned you have and sorrow you must on Earth or in Hell here among men or hereafter among Devils and the cursed crew of damned Souls If you can avoid all sorrow after sin do if thou thinkest thou canst have as merry and as light an heart in Hell and canst lead as jolly jovial pleasant life in the midst of scorching fiery flames as now thou dost in the ways of sin go on and take thy course but if thou canst not as indeed thou canst not and if thou couldst speak with a damned Soul that was of thine acquaintance that hath been in Hell but a Moneth or two he would tell thee that thou canst not he would tell thee amongst us damned wretches there is no singing and carousing amongst us there are no merry meetings no juncatings and delights no sports and pleasures all full of sadness and sorrow all lamenting their woful case all bewailing their miserable condition one crying out Wo is me I am undone And another in another place lamenting Wo is me I am undone I am undone wo is me I am undone my sports are spent my pleasures are all past and gone but my pain remains my joys are gone are fled away but my sorrow fills my heart those that mourned upon earth are now rejoycing in Heaven but I that had my sensual joy my fleshly delights am sorrowing here in Hell and every thing I think upon doth much increase and add unto my sorrow if I think that God is lost the glorious gracious blessed God is lost this doth encrease my sorrow and the heaviness of my heart if I think that I had time but it is past I had means of grace Ministers once preaching to me in the name of God forewarning me of this place directing me how I might have escaped these tormenting flames and got safely to the place of bliss and rest and joy and did intreat me and beseech me with that earnest seriousness as if they could not have been happy without my Salvation as if their comfort had wrapped up in my Salvation but these have done with me for eveâ— I cannot expect one Sermon more one offer of Christ one tender of mercy more for ever many a one I had but now not one not one wo and alas that ever I was born not one more for ever wo and alas that ever I had any and did slight them all and because I must have not one tender of a Saviour more for ever this all this doth add unto my sorrow Or if I think how loth I was to sorrow upon earth to have my heart made heavy for my sin nothing would please me but my pleasure I was for mirth and joy but the more I had of joy while I lived on the Earth the more I have of sadness and sorrow now I am in Hell I had indeed a short and merry life upon the Earth but now I have a long and heavy sorrowful life in the flames of Hell on Earth I was for joy and no sorrow and now in Hell I have sorrow and no joy Oh I had better I had better I had a thousand times better repented upon Earth and have been now rejoycing in Heaven than to rejoyce like a fool as I was upon Earth and must now weep and howl and fruitlesly lament in Hell these would be the tydings of a damned Soul and far more sad and heavy than these he would tell you that if one go quite through Hell there is not one merry heart amongst them all Think then of this and see and judg if there be any reason you should be prejudiced against the condition of Gods free-men or the ways of holiness because of sorrow and repentance there must be for sin Oh that after this poor captive thou maist be no longer bound with this chain of the Devil but yet to knock ofâ— this fetter and to cut this chain asunder let us strike the other blow Therefore I say 3. The ways of God and holiness are not heavy sad and melancholick ways Holiness is the foundation of Joy and the reason of it had Adam ever a more joyful comfortable life than when he was perfectly holy and who are more joyful and more glad and filled more with pleasure and delight than the Saints above that are perfectly holy and there are no persons upon earth have more cause of joy and true delight than those that are truly though imperfectly holy Who have more reason to rejoyce than those that have made their peace with God that do enjoy his savour and his gracious presence Who have cause to lead a more cheerful comfortable life than those that have the pardon of their sin that are the Children of the everliving God Who have more reason to spend their days and pilgrimage upon Earth with joy and gladness than those that are past the danger of damnation and have the assurance or a lively hope of being happy in the full and perfect enjoyment of the blessed God in Heaven for ever Do but bring forth the grounds and reasons of your rejoycing and set them over against the reasons of the righteous mans joy and then judg which of the two are more weighty and more rational Dost thou lead a merry life because thou dost enjoy the world and might not a godly man much more that doth enjoy God himself Art thou so pleasant in thy life because thou hast this worlds delights and might not a godly man much more that hath Heavenly delights Methinks the thoughts of what thou wantest should dash all the joy thou takest in what thou hast Thou hast Riches but thou wantest Grace thou hast the favour of thy friends but thou hast not the favour of the great eternal God thou hast no debts to pay or none but what thou canst discharge but thou hast not the pardon of thy sin this debt remains uncrossed in the Book of God and thou art never able to discharge this debt Methinks the thoughts and fears of what thou shalt hereafter feel should damp thy joy and in thy greatest merry mood should check thy folly and change thy countenance and fill thy heart with sorrow and sadness what thou be merry when thou art so near to Hell what upon the very brink and border of the bottomless pit what when thou maist not be out of Hell a year or two nay not a month or two nay
been a sinner thou wouldst have stood in no need of a Saviour and the greater sinner thou hast been the greater haste thou shouldst make unto a Saviour methinks I hear Christ calling to thee poor sinner why art thou thus dismaid at the sight and thoughts of thy Iniquities come unto me and I will help thee why art thou thus cast down at the remembrance of what a sinner thou hast been and what wickedness thou hast done come I have healing for thy wounds I have plaisters for thy sores come to me I will surely help and heal thee art thou affrighted by the justice of my Father come to me relie on me leave thy sins and relie on me and I will undertake to make thy peace with God and I will get and give thee pardon of thy sins Methinks I hear him say thou criest out because thou hast sinned and if thou hadst not there had been no need of my coming from heaven to earth there had been no need of my dying on the Cross Art thou a sinner I knew thou wast and therefore I came on purpose for to help thee art thou a lost sinner I knew thou wast and therefore I came to seek thee art thou a captive bound in fetters I knew thou wast and therefore I came to ease thee and release thee only be but heartily willing to receive me for thy Prophet Priest and King and consent to the conditions of the Gospel and do no more despond as if there were no hope nor help for thee come hither and see me in my sweat and agony come hither and behold the wounds made in my side my feet my hands my heart and all and these I suffered for such sinners look through the wounds made in my side and see if thou canst not there see Love in my heart and pity in my heart to poor returning sinners what did I suffer for and what did I bleed and die for but to help and save poor sinners come to me and I will be thy friend come to me believe on me receive me and God will be thy friend So then poor captive soul if thou be willing indeed willing to leave thy sins thy fetters and thy bonds to resign thy will thy love thy heart to Christ make him thy end and take him for thy Lord-Redeemer there 's no reason thou shouldst despair of pardon and salvation let not then Satan keep thee in this bond from coming unto Christ to be set at liberty 3. Thy sins and thy wickednesses are not greater are not more than all the sins of all the elect of God were that are now in Heaven and yet mercy hath pardoned them and yet Christs merits hath purchased life and salvation for them and they are now in possession of it thou hast out-sinned any one single man yet hast thou committed more or greater sins then all the sins of all the millions now in glory put them all together and yet hath God been able and willing to pardon them and Christ able and willing to save them if thou wilt repent and believe as they did thou shalt be saved as they are if thou wilt leave thy sins and be converted as they were do not despair nay do not doubt but thou shalt be happy as they be Hast thou sinned more than Adam did that at one blow did wound and kill so many souls as never man did the like no nor never shall again Hast thou sinned more than Manasseh read and judge 2 Chron. 33. 1. to 14 Hast thou sinned more than Paul that was a bloody persecutor of Gods people 1 Tim. 1. 13. Hast thou sinned more than Peter that did swear and curse he knew not Jesus Christ or more than Mary Magdalen or if thou couldst say thou hast sinned more than any one of these yet hast thou sinned more than all these put together and thousands of thousands more thou canst not say it Why then what is the matter with thee that thou sittest in thy chains lamenting of thy self saying there is no hope for me there is no help no mercy for me what no hope for a sinner and a Saviour by thee no help no deliverance for a Captive and the Ransom paid and the Redeemer come unto thee waiting that thou would be but willing to receive him for thy Lord and Saviour and he is ready to receive thee Say O say then what did this tempting Devil mean one while to draw into sin because it was no great matter he did tempt me to and what now doth this accusing Devil mean that when he hath wounded me would perswade me there is no healing for me O my soul once this enemy did befool thee when he did perswade thee thy condition was so good that thou didst not need to fear and now shall he befool thee to make thee think thy condition is now so bad that there is no reason why thou shouldst hope Tell him O tell him that yet his condition is is not thine though thou hast sinned as he hath done yet there is a Saviour offered unto thee that never was that never shall be offered unto him Oh my soul Satan is bound in this chain of despair himself and it never â—â—n be knocked off tell him then O mine enemy thou canst not repent and therefore canst not hope thou canst not believe and therefore canst not be saved Christ did not die for thee but he died for sinful men that shall have the benefits of his death by believing on him Oh I will now repent and by the grace of God I will believe and while the Devil doth despair and would hold me from going unto Christ by despairing too yet since there is mercy in God and merit in Christ whereby other have been saved and this is offered unto me God doth call me and Christ doth call me and the Spirit striveth with me to come to Christ and mercy is promised if I do and pardon is promised if I do why then should I sit here lamenting of my doleful case or why do I sit here despairing of mercy I will arise and go and venture to cast my self on Christ and trust my soul with him If I stay here from Christ I am sure I shall perish but if I go it may be I shall live Did I say it may be oh God hath declared in his word that if I do repent and believe that it shall be that I shall be saved Resolve therefore as those four Lepers 2 Kings 7. 3. that said one to another Why sit we here until we die 4. If we say we will enter into the City then the famine is in the City and we shall die there and if we sit still here we die also Now therefore come and let us fall into the Hosts of the Syrians if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but die If thou fittest still in thy natural state and wilt not go to Christ
had had they much or had they little had they little would not you have much had they much would not you have more If you would be richer and greater why may you not endeavour to be wiser and to be better than they were 5. What if some of your Fore-fathers should come from the dead and tell you they were mistaken and deceived and are damned and have been in hell ever since they died would you think your selves concern'd then to be wiser and to be better than they were if your Father or your Fathers Father should come to any of you and say Oh! do not sleight Christ as we did do not you our poor posterity remain in a natural state as we did and are now suffering the wrath of God and the vengeance of eternal flames Oh! do not follow our example nor lead your lives as we did and neglect to worship God in your families or do it by the halfs carelesly and negligently as we did lest you come to the same place of torment as we are condemned into and must be in for ever take the Scripture for your rule and not our example do not follow us oh do not follow us in sin in careless neglect of God and Christ lest you follow us to hell and to damnation too If you content your selves to live and die as we did captives to the Devil and your children after you content themselves to follow and to imitate you as you do to imitate and to follow us the race that did descend from us will be damned from one generation to another Would you after such warning as this plead your Fore-fathers examples no more let not then the Devil lead you any longer captives by this bond of their example as if this were more binding than the commands of God For the breaking of the other piece of this Cord wherewith the Devil binds his Captives the examples of those that live in the same age the most live as I do will God damn such multitudes if it go ill with me God help many others Consider 1. The most are not the best The greatest number is of the bad sort of men Christs flock is but little Luke 12. 32. while the Devil hath great droves Mat. 7. 13 14. if thou wilt follow the multitude they will lead thee to a place of sorrow Exod. 23. 2. 2. At the day of judgment there will be no escaping in a croud Thou shalt not speed the better because multitudes sin as well as thou If thousands continue captives to the Devil they shall all be damned God will damn millions of men rather than falsifie his Word if Men sin in companies they shall suffer in companies 3. That Multitudes are carried Captives to Hell will not make thy Chains the lighter nor thy pains the easier when thou art in hell to lye there and look round about thee and see multitudes there besides thy self will be no mitigation of thy torments Multitudes sinning doth not lessen thy sin and multitudes being Damned will not lessen thy Damnation God hath wrath enough for thee and them though he pour out more upon millions than they can bear yet he hath enough to inflict on thee and more than thou canst endure Wouldst thou be in Turkish slavery because more are there besides thy self Seriously ponder this and let not Satan keep thee captive to bear others company 9. Another Chain wherewith these Captives are kept in their bondage-state is their purposing hereafter to repent and forsake their sins In thy Childhood thou didst purpose to repent when thou shouldst come to mans estate then when thou shouldest be old and now when thou comest to be sick and die and thus from thy Birth to thy Death thou continuest a Captive to Satan and to sin thou wast born a Captive and by these delaying purposes diest so To break this Bond Consider 1. Who was it that did assure thee that thou shalt certainly live to that time in which thou purposest to repent Did God or Man Man cannot God doth not wont to tell sinners how long they shall live How comest thou to have this knowledg above other no I have not No what and yet purpose to repent and shake off the Devils Bonds hereafter when thy body might be in thy grave and thy soul in hell before that time may come where will be thy repentance then are not as young as thou art gone down into the pit of grave and hell too go and view the burial places of the dead measure and see if there be no grave as short as thou art and many graves of Infants there Thou art here today and mightest be in eternity tomorrow Now alive tomorrow mayest be dead All flesh is compared to grass Isa 40. 6 7 8. Mat. 6. 30. to a vapour Jam. 4. 13 14 15. Was not he a fool that reckoned he had many years to live Luke 12. 19 20 When thou goest to bed how knowest thou that thou shalt rise any more when thou fallest asleep that thou shalt awake till the Trumpet sound and the call be Arise ye dead and come to judgment 2. How knowest thou that when thou shalt be sick that thou shalt have the use of thy reason and understanding if not where is thy repentance then hast thou not often seen sick persons to be deprived of their understanding not capable of asking or receiving of counsel and advice 3. Is repentance in thy own power or canst thou repent when thou list canst thou the more thou art to blame the more is thy sin and and shame that thou dost not now repent Canst thou not the more is thy folly to put it off as though thou couldst nay the longer thou continuest in thy sin the harder thy heart will be and the harder is thy heart the harder work will it be for thee to break it Jer. 13. 23. 4. Dost thou read of any more than one only man that did repent at last at a dying hour in all the Word of God Is there any spoken of for this besides the Thief upon the Cross if thou hast but this one single example why wilt thou venture thy eternal state upon this 5. Doth not thy purposing to repent and leave the service of Satan and sin hereafter imply a present resolution that yet thou wilt not repent and that yet thou art resolved to go on in sin and is it not more wickedness to resolve to be a servant to the Devil and thy lusts till thou art sick or old than goodness in thee to purpose then to be a servant of God when thou wilt have neither time nor strength to do him any service in no nor heart neither Judg if this be reasonable and if not let not Satan keep thee captive by this any longer 6. Is it fit thou shouldest give the first of thy time and strength to Satan rather than to God is it not wickedness to say I will first serve the Devil
obedience to Christ your Lord-Redeemer freely and voluntarily as matter of your choice from a free principle of love because you love him you will pray to him because you love him you will hear from him and wait and attend upon him rejoicing when you please him grieving when you do offend him If by these things you discover what you are bond or free I shall close the whole with an Exhortation to both sorts both bond and free Use of Exhortation 1. To you that are bound that you would look after spiritual freedom young men that have hard service long to be made free and those that be in prisons and chains long to be at liberty and shall any of you be content to abide in your thraldom what will sin do for you and what will Satan do for you that you are so loth to leave their service Is the Redeemer come and wilt thou not mind him hath he paid the ransom and waiteth for thy acceptance of him and wilt thou still refuse him and the liberty and freedom thou mayest have by him and canst not have without him What say you sirs you young and old shall I have your answer will you be made free or will you continue in your bondage if thou wilt thou mayest be but willing and thy chain shall be taken from thee If thou will not remember liberty was offered to thee and thou didst refuse it thou wouldst not be free Though thou hast been a very vile sinner and rebellious yet thou mayest be made free Psal 68. 18. Isa 49. 6. Do these things 1. Labour to convince thy self that thou wast born in bondage a slave by nature to Satan and Sin The Pharisees did not believe that they were in bondage and therefore did not look out to Christ to be made free Joh. 8. 33. This is the undoing of multitudes that they conclude their condition to be good when it is not so and they conclude before they try Did you but see your bonds and understand your slavery Ministers would have hopes that by their Sermons they may do you good 2. Work upon thy heart by serious consideration thy misery and deplorable condition while thou art in a state of bondage When by diligent search thou hast found thy self in a bondage-condition hold thy thoughts unto this subject till thou art awakened and affected with it think with thy self and say Oh my soul being yet a Captive to Satan and to Sin thou art yet an enemy to God a slighter of Christ under the guilt of all thy sin in danger of damnation awake arise and look about thee and get out of this condition lest it be too late for ever 3. Set thy self under the preaching of the word and constantly attend upon God and come to the hearing of the word as to an Ordinance of God and look upon faithful Ministers as the Ambassadors of Jesus Christ that come to you in the Name of Christ as having Authority from God to propose the Gospel-conditions of deliverance from Captivity and to treat with you in the Name of God about your being made free So indeed it is 2 Cor. 5. 19 20. You come to hear a mans Parts but you do not look upon them as persons in Office having a commission from God to propound Articles of Peace betwixt God and you to treat with you from God and in the Name of God about your everlasting state and your deliverance from your present bondage and future torment Did you believe this would you sit and sleep as if what were delivered to you were not worth the hearing and regarding or would you sit and hear and go away and slight all that hath been said unto you 4. Make application of the Word of God when you hear it unto your selves This is spoken unto me this is my misery and this is my condition and this is my danger and mercy offered to sinners is offered unto me and Christ is tendered unto me to help me out of my woful state of bondage The Minister maketh Uses of the Doctrine he delivers but all this is ineffectual till you take it and lay it home to your own hearts for want of this you sit and hear like people not concerned you sit and hear without affection and go away without the due and powerful effect of the Word upon your hearts Let Conscience tell thee thou art the Drunkard the Hypocrite the Unbeliever that is threatned and in danger of damnation 5. Look up to God through the Ordinance and beyond the Minister that doth speak unto thy ear that God would speak unto thy heart and conscience Ministers might speak and yet Conscience might not speak Minister and Conscience might both speak Conscience seconding the Minister that saith Thou art in a dreadful condition while thou art in spiritual bondage Yes saith Conscience too so thou art and yet till God shall speak thou wilt not hearken Oh then when you come to the place where sinners are made free look up to God that he would speak unto your hearts 6. Pray to God that he would have mercy on thee and pity thee in thy bondage and help thee out As a poor prisoner look through the grates to Heaven and say Lord some pity for a poor Prisoner some relief and help for a poor Captive Lord I am in chains of sin but cannot break them held fast by Satan oh let me not perish oh let me not live and dye in this spiritual bondage the ransome is paid for my redemption I give my self to thee upon my knees I do resign my self my will my love my heart and all to thee Sinner Wilt thou when thou comest home not sit and talk vainly and not sit idly as heretofore but go apart and beg of God for mercy and do it earnestly for it is for thy life thy soul 2. Exhortation To you that are set at liberty Your priviledg is a singular priviledg and calleth for something singular from you You were debtors to God and prisoners to his Justice and were liable to everlasting imprisonment in the life to come but Christ hath made you free and you are free indeed Joh. 8 36. Stir up and awaken your selves to these following duties First Be thankful unto God and Christ that of bond-men you are made free If a Captive were delivered out of Turkish slavery by the means of another or a man exposed to a perpetual Imprisonment for his debt another should free him from the prison and the danger thereof What expressions of thankfulness would he abundantly utter saying O Sir I ow my present ease and freedom from my future danger unto you I shall never forget your kindness while I live I do acknowledg I have not such another friend that hath done the like for me in all the world Forasmuch then as the difference of being a debtor to God and a debtor to man of being exposed to a prison upon earth and to the prison
with me to be bound to me to save me harmless or you shall make over such houses or such lands for my security that if I be called upon or the Bond be put in suit against me I might save my self But as Christ did tread the wine-press of Gods wrath alone so did he alone undertake to ransom and redeem us from our bondage and captivity 8. Christ did never repent of this undertaking nor desired to stand bound no longer Men engaged for others when they fear they will fail make all means they can to get out of the bond and to stand surety no longer they will scarce sleep till they have got themselves free though the party that is the principal debtor be arrested and put in prison But Jesus Christ our Lord-Redeemer and Surety to bring us out of bondage was constant to the death and when Peter did disswade him from suffering which was the payment of our ransom how sharply did Christ rebuke him Mat. 6. 21 22 23 Yea he was desirous of the time of actual performance Luk. 12. 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straitned till it be accomplished Christ never said it doth repent me that I did ever undertake to ransom Captive sinners God said indeed it did repent him that he made man Gen. 6. 6 but Christ never did repent that he had engaged himself to redeem sinners 9. Consider what it was that was the price that Christ did give to make you free from your captivity Men might be Surety for men to pay a sum of money but Christ became our Surety to the shedding of his own most precious blood Men might give some money to redeem a Captive from Turkish slavery but Christ himself his life his soul and body to bring us from our bitter bondage and miserable captivity Thus take some time to ponder upon the Lord your surety that did so freely undertake the ransoming of your captivated Souls Which was the fourth head to get your hearts affected with this priviledg of being set at liberty Fifthly Consider That God was pleased to accept of the undertaking of Christ and what he hath laid down for your ransom from captivity God might have exacted the debt from man that did owe it It is a voluntary act for a man to become a surety no man is to be compelled to it and it is a voluntary act of the creditor to accept of such a surety they are both free and at their choice but when the one offers himself to become bound and the other doth accept of his suretiship then is the debtor or prisoner relieved It was free love in Christ to become our Redeemer it was grace in God to accept of Christs ransom for us The Son might have said Man hath sinned why should I suffer man hath deserved the wrath of God let him undergo it And the Father might have said Man hath transgressed my Law and violated my Covenant and I will make him suffer for it they have brought themselves into bonds of misery and they shall lie therein and they that sinned themselves shall die Oh wonder then at this blessed agreement between the Father and the Son for the bringing forth poor Souls in Bondage from their Captivity Seventhly From all the former it follows the Salvation of such as are made free is sure and certain Heaven now belongeth unto you and the glory above you have a title to Doth Satan object against you that you have sinned and deserved to lie in everlasting Chains you might reply it is true but Christ is my Surety and Redeemer and hath set me free Doth the Law or Conscience accuse you you might answer all from the Ransom of your Redeemer Do you fear the Justice of God why your Debt is paid by your Surety and then the Debtor cannot be cast into Prison The Surety and the Debtor in Law are but one Person and the Surety is liable to make satisfactory payment Prov. 22. 26 27. and Christ hath done it and you discharged God hath given some to Christ whom he is to bring to Heaven and they shall not perish John 6. 38 39 40. as Judah did engage to Jacob for Benjamin Gen. 43. 9. I will be Surety for him of my hands thou shalt require him if I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee then let me bear the blame for ever And therefore when Benjamin was to be detained by Joseph Judah pleads hard and offers himself to abide in his stead and to be a Bondman there so that Benjamin might return to his Father with his Brethren Gen. 44. 33. Christ hath undertaken to bring all those out of their Bonds and Fetters which the Father gave unto him and to set them in Heaven before him The price is paid the Bonds are broken the Chains fallen from your Souls in which you were held while unconverted as he hath opened the Prison-doors that you might come forth so he will open to you the Palace-gates that you may enter in for hopes hereof be thankful be exceeding thankful and rejoyce in the Lord your Redeemer Second Exhortation The next Duty I would press upon you is to be compassionate and to put on tender bowels of pity towards those that yet are bound in the Fetters and Chains of their sin and guilt whilest you do rejoyce in that you are free do not forget to commiserate them that yet are Captives 1. Let Ministers think of this when they are studying for and praying for and preaching to their people how they be in Bondage and in slavery and that except their Chains be loosed and their Fetters broken and knocked off their souls are lost for ever and that they will be faster shortly bound hand and foot and cast into a place of outer and eternal darkness some serious and believing thoughts of their present danger and their future misery would put more life into all we do for their recovery and prevention of their everlasting condemnation Should we then preach unto them with such lukewarmness as if we were telling them a tale or saying such things in that manner as if we did not believe our selves the things we do declare or as if it were no matter whether our hearers did believe receive and obey the Message we deliver to them or no when yet they be the great and weighty truths of everlasting Life or Death to preach a Redeemer to Captive souls what skill and life and love doth it require what zeal and pity to their souls doth it call for Oh that God would pardon the want of these in me give me that belief of their eternal state and seriousness of heart that I may ever speak and preach the Doctrine of Redemption to enslaved sinners as to those that are undone for ever except they be prevailed with to come to him submit to him accept of him and give up themselves to be His wholly and to be his only that
hath paid the ransom for their deliverance When some years since I was called occasionally to preach to the Prisoners in Newgate and saw my Hearers come in Fetters and heard their Chains ratling at their heels methoughts it was an affecting spectacle to see men before me that were shortly to be called to the Bar of Men and be tried for their lives and some likely to be sentenced to death and put to execution but if we do behold our Hearers standing before us though free from such material Chains of Iron yet bound fast in their lusts and sins and consider they must be shortly tried at the Bar of God and if not delivered by Christ must receive a sentence of death banished from the presence of the blessed God cast down to Devils and damned Spirits it should move us to pray for them weep over them and preach unto them with greatest pity and compassion To stand and view so many persons amongst whom many are the Devils Captives whom he is leading Fettered to eternal perdition should raise in our hearts strong workings of affection towards them and speak unto them with that earnestness and tender love as becometh those that are speaking in the Name of God to lost sinners in order to their recovery and deliverance from Captivity 2. Let Parents that are made free pity and compassionate their Children that yet are bound If any of your Children should be laid in Irons for some Fact committed against the Laws of men and carried bound to Execution would not this like a Sword pierce your very hearts be matter of grief and trouble to you would not tears plentifully flow from your eyes and bitter lamentations from your mouth that ever you should bring forth and bring up children that should end their days in such reproach and infamy to you and them or if any of you had a Son abroad and you should hear he were taken Captive by the Turks or were in the Spanish Inquisition what shedding of tears what wringing of hands what smiting on your brest would these tidings make what dolorous complaints and grievous moans would you make saying O my Son my Son my poor afflicted and distressed Son thou art fallen into the hands of barbarous and cruel men thou art put to drudgery and slavery O my Son my Son what shall I do for thee my Son Oh that I could give or find a ransom for him if all I have would set him free he should not lie in Chains and Fetters nor continue in that sore Captivity Why you Parents would you thus lament the misery of your Childrens body and do you make nothing of the the misery of your Childrens souls would you thus take on and grieve and mourn for their outward bondage which is consistent with the good condition of their souls and will shortly have an end and yet is it nothing to you to see them in their spiritual bondage captivated by Satan and in danger of being cast into an everlasting Dungeon of black and thick darkness Oh why do you not speak to them and tell them of their misery and their remedy how they came into this condition and how they may get out of it why do you not day and night plead with them instruct them and exhort them that they may escape the torments of Hell hereafter by being brought out of their bondage now why do you not pray to God that he would make them free why do you not plead at the throne of grace and say Lord I have Children that are Satans Captives my poor Children are fast bound in Fetters of sin in the Bonds of iniquity O thou God of grace that hast shewed favour unto me shew favour to my children also Oh that they may be released Oh that thou wouldst please to pity them in their Bondage and for the ransom of thy Son let them be redeemed and by the powerful workings of thy spirit have their wills subdued and inclined to accept of the only Redeemer him thou didst send to proclaim liberty to Captives Oh that by thy grace thou wouldst cause them to come in and lay hold upon the mercy granted in the proclamation of the Gospel that they might not perish in their Bonds 3. Let Masters that are made free and set at liberty have compassion on their servants that are fettered in their Chains of sin They are not only bound to you to be so bound is in order to their good and their freedom but are also bound in the Cords of their iniquity which is their present slavery and tendeth to their eternal misery doth it not pity you to see your servants to be servants of the Devil and in bondage to their lusts doth not your hearts work within you to consider that any under your Roof should be drudges unto Satan or do you see this and have you nothing to say unto them all the week long to make them apprehensive of their danger and sensible of their misery is it enough for you to teach them the skill and art of your trade and at the expiration of seven years to make them free while you do neglect to help them as instruments under God out of the thraldom of Satan and of sin or can it satisfie you that they have at the end of their Service to you the freedom of the City or Corporation where you and they do dwell while they are not brought into the liberty of the Sons of God or can you have peace in the neglect of your duty to think they came into your family Bond-slaves to sin and after seven years time they go out as they came in or should you not endeavour that they may be spiritually free while they continue servants unto you Oh how would they have cause to bless God for you and that ever they came within your doors and dwelt within your walls if they may say when I first became a Servant to my Master I was a servant to my lusts also but by his instructions admonitions and example I became a servant of God before I ceased to be a servant unto him if it should be otherwise let it not be through your neglect for as it will not be without sin and misery to your servants so neither will it be without guilt on you The like I might urge upon other relations acquaintance and friends husbands to have compassion on their wives wives on their husbands one Neighbour on another you that know what it is to have been in these cursed Bonds and what it is to be made free do your utmost to help and succour them that be in chains of sin and and know not the evil of it nor the good of the contray condition and therefore mourn not under the one nor desire to be brought forth into the other Third Exhortation Were you in Bonds and are they broke in Fetters and are they knocked off then walk in the whole course of your lives as becomes
words speaking often against Conscience the Seller commending his goods beyond and above what he knows them to be affirming they cost them more than they did and if he sells them not for so much he shall be a loser by them and all this to screw the buyer to an higher price and the Buyer discommends the Sellers ware saying it is naught it is naught to bring him down to a lower rate but all this cometh from this evil bitter root the immoderate love of the world Many men engage in company and are over-taken with excessive drinking and when reproved will reply It was with such as were my Customers and I cannot avoid such occasions if I will not drink with some they will not trade with me except I go to the Ale-house or the Tavern I shall lose the taking of many a pound Shall you so yes and would prevent many a drunken bout But what have you houses of your own for and what are your Shops for and what is the Exchange for but for your trades and dealing in the world It is a shame that it is brought into so great a custom that many cannot buy and sell but over a pot But if you do go what need you drink unto excess do others urge thee but they cannot they do not force thee is it not thine own hand that often lift the glass unto thy mouth and is not thy hand commanded by thy own will to do it thou hadst better be without such a Customer and without the profit thou gainest by him than to sin and wound and lose thy Soul But this branch of wickedness groweth on this cursed root the love of Money which if some may gain they will go from one drinking-place into another from morning to night one day after another yes and to Hell too at the last if they might but gain what their heart doth so much love while they are here By this bond was Balaam bound who loved the wages of unrighteousness 2 Pet. 2. 15. And Achan Josh 7. 20 21. And Gehazi who framed falshoods for worldly profit and afterwards would have hid it from his Master with a lie 2 King 5. 20. to the end And the young man Mat. 19. 21 22. whom when Christ saw so fast fettered with this chain he preached to his Disciples that it was exceeding hard for a rich man to be saved though he explained that it is not so much the having as the over-loving of them and trusting in them that hinders mens Salvation Mar. 10. 24. Judas also was detained the Devils captive being bound with this bond who for the love of Money sold his Lord and Soul and all Mat. 26. 14 15 16. And Demas 2 Tim. 4. 10. And doubtless thousands are now in everlasting chains of darkness being kept in bondage by the love of the world while they lived in the world But shall we try to break this bond for till your hearts be weaned from the world we shall not win them for Jesus Christ for you cannot love God and the world too with a prevailing and predominant love 1 Joh. 2. 15. Jam. 4. 4. and while you love the world you cannot value Christ nor are you worthy of him Mat. 10. 37 38. Consider 1. Have you not other things and better things to set the love of your hearts upon and is there not a God and Christ for thee to love And 1 is not God infinitely a more noble and excellent object for thy love 2 Is he not a more suitable good unto thy Soul 3 Is he not a sufficient good and therefore 4 a satisfying good 5 Is he not a more necessary good seeing without the things of the world thou maist be happy but not without God 6 Is he not a more durable lasting everlasting good do but get a right knowledg of God and the world and then thou wilt see cause to call off thy heart from earthly things and set them upon God 2. Shouldst thou set thy heart and love upon earthly things which thou must shortly leave and canst not carry with thee into another world Dost thou forget that thou art a pilgrim upon earth and that this is not the place of thy abode after thou hast slept out a few more nights and walked up and down a few more days will not thy last hour come when thou must bid adieu to all this world and take thy farewell of all upon earth whether thou shalt go to Heaven or to Hell here thou must not tarry whether thou shalt be damned or saved or go to God or Devils here thou must not abide and wilt thou take thy riches with thee what to do Silver and Gold doth not go in another world Whether thou goest to Heaven or to Hell after death Riches will be of no use unto thee God would then stand by thee and Christ would then stand by thee and Grace would then go with thee but thou must leave thy worldly riches and they will then leave thee when thou standest in greatest need of comfort and support Luc. 12. 19 20. Psal 49. 17. Eccles 5. 15. 1 Tim. 6. 7. Why wilt thou then so fix thy heart upon these things and be fettered and intangled with the love of them as thereby to be kept from God and Christ and Heaven for ever 3. Can these things comfort thee at thy departure Or will it not then wound thy Soul that thou hast loved the world but not God and Christ didst thou never stand by the bed-side of a dying man who in the anguish of his Soul hath roared and cried out Wo is me that I have spent my time in labouring for the world for this vain and empty world While God and Christ and Heaven have been neglected by me Oh if I had loved God and Christ as I have loved the world I had been now an happy blessed man though I am a dying man yet I had been now an happy blessed man God would now have comforted me and Christ would now have comforted me and solid lively hopes of Heaven would now have comforted me but the things that had my heart and all my love they do not comfort I find I feel they do not comfort me Shalt thou neither stay to enjoy them here and canst thou not take them with thee whether thou art going nor yet will they comfort thee in thy passage to Eternity and is it reasonable then thou shouldst be thus fettered and bound in thy love unto them as to keep thee from God and Christ here and hereafter too 4. Was this the end for which thou wast born and did God give thee such affections as love desire and delight that thou shouldst set them upon such things as these Did God make these things to be the chiefest object of thy Souls affections or thy Souls affections for these things Did God send thee into this world to scrape together an heap of refined earth and then to love it