haunted with the Devil What terror do they live in whose dwelling is in haunted Houses How are they scar'd and frighted to see the face of that Dragon though shap'd into the most beautiful form Those that tremble so to see the Devil in their own Houses what will it be to them to be carried with him into his House where he will be unclothed of all his Vizors and no longer appear in the snape of a Man no nor of a Lion or Bear but will shew himself a Devil And his Angels All the Legions of those unclean and damned Spirits together with all those damned Souls their fellow-Sinners All the filth and garbage of the Earth must lie rotting and stinking together in that dismal Hole All the Atheists and Blasphemers all the Adulterers and their Whores all the Rioters and Drunkards that have spent so many Days and sat up so many Nights at the Wine and the strong Drink shall now be filled with the Company they loved and shall have an everlasting Night to lie drinking up the Wine of the Wrath of the Almighty and of the Lamb and suck up the dregs and bottom of that deadly Cup which the Fury of the Most High hath mingled and appointed for them This is their Sentence 4. The Curse is executed in full in the World to come Mat. 25.46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment Of this Sentence there will be 1. no Repeal or Reversing 't is the final Sentence and must be executed 2. Nor will there be any Reprieve but as the doom is past away they immediately go into the place of Execution Esther 7.8 As the Word went out of the King's Mouth they covered Haman 's Face and away presently they carried him to the Gallows and hang'd him up As soon as ever this Word is spoken Depart from me ye Cursed c. Down they are tumbled into that Fire prepared for them which the Breath of the Lord as a River of Brimstone doth kindle and make to burn for ever Lay all this together and then you will know what the Curse to be feared is 2. Vnconverted Sinners are under the Curse We are all by Nature Children of Wrath cursed Children Ephes 2.3 All the World is become guilty before God Rom. 3.19 The whole World lyeth in wickedness 1 Joh. 5.19 and he that lyeth in wickedness abideth in Death and the Wrath of God abideth on him This wicked and cursed state is naturally the state of every Man and whosoever is not Converted he is under this Curse to this day Not only the first-born of Sinners the worst and most monstrous among them whose Iniquities have mark'd them with a Curse in their Foreheads but every Sinner the most harmless amongst the whole Rout every one of them the Wrath of God abideth on him and if he should die and go out of the World in such a case there 's no hope of him but he must perish everlastingly How unsuitable are the jocund and merry Hearts of Sinners to their state and condition These Sons of Death are most of them Sons of Laughter the jolly ones of the Earth When you pass by the Tents of evil Men and behold them drinking and dancing singing and sporting and rufling it out in their gallantry as some of them do or find them sleeping at their ease and out of fear as 't is with others of them would you not say Is this the noise is this the guise of Men appointed to Death Is this the sound of the Vessels of Wrath Are these the Guilty Ones and the Cursed Ones whose Souls are in Chains dragging down to the horrible Pit One would think by their Faces and Carriages by their merry Dayes and quiet Nights that the Sinners of the Earth were fairest for Heaven that they had shot the Gulf and were past danger of miscarrying for ever But what art thou O Sinner To whom dost thou belong Whither art thou falling What is thine Inheritance or thy Portion from the Lord Consider the Scriptures Psal 11.6 Vpon the Wicked he shall rain Snares Fire and Brimstone and an horrible Tempest this is the Portion of their Cup. This shall be their Portion hereafter but what is their Portion here John 3.18 He that believeth not is condemned already And Joh. 3.6 The Wrath of God abideth on him Every unconverted Sinner is under the Curse 3. There is great danger he may never escape or be delivered from it If he never be Converted he can never escape The Devil shall as soon break Prison and make an escape from Hell to Heaven as thou who diest an Impenitent canst escape falling into that Prison Mat. 18.3 Except ye be converted ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Continue Unconverted till thou diest and 't is impossible thou shouldst escape And there is very great danger that thou that art yet an Unbeliever and an Impenitent to this day mayst never be a Convert to thy dying day This is the last hope thou hast that however it be with thee at present yet hereafter thou mayest be brought in But know that what-ever hope thou hast of that there is a very great hazard that it may never be which will appear if thou consider these three things 1. The multitudes of those that miscarry that die in final Impenitency and so perish everlastingly to a very few that are Converted and Saved 2. The constant miscarriage and succeslesness of all the means that have been hitherto used for thy Conversion 3. The potent Adversaries and the mighty opposition they make and will make against thy Conversion 1. Consider the multitudes of those that miscarry and die Impenitents to a very few that are Converted and Saved The Scriptures tell us That there are but few that shall be saved The real Converts are but a little Flock Luk. 12.32 Mat. 7.13 14. Strait is the Gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to Life and few there be that find it But wide is the Gate and broad is the way that leadeth to Destruction and many there be which go in thereat Shall we believe our own Experiences How many poor Souls do we see in the World who walk on in the courses and after the Lusts of this World some in a blind and ignorant State some in Lewdness and Luxury some in Covetousness and Sensuality in Carelesness and Carnal-security who after a long course that they have thus run at length drop into the Grave and go out of the World without the least token of sound Repentance How many such Instances have we of Men going Unbelievers and Impenitents out of the World to here and there one that gives any hopeful testimony of real Conversion The number of Converts to them that die in Impenitence even in the judgment of the greatest Charity is but a very small number Now if any of you were sick of some dangerous Disease as suppose the Pestilence which were so generally mortal that it swept
be many that say God is my portion I have chosen him for my inheritance and they think as they speak and yet do but deceive themselves I hope I have sincerely chosen the Lord but yet am in fear lest I also may be deceived How may I know whether it be so or no To this I answer you may know that you have sincerely chosen the Lord 1. If you have chosen him deliberately 2. If you have chosen him absolutely 3. If you carefully pursue your choice 4. If you measure your present happiness by the communion you have with him and the clearness of your title to him 5. If you be willing and resolved to forsake all things for his sake 1. If you have chosen God deliberately if your choice be not in a sudden fit but be the result of the deepest consideration Suddain bargains are often as suddenly repented of A light unadvised choice is not like to hold and while it holds there 's no great heed to be given to it Some men are such unstable Souls that their whole life almost is nothing else but choosing and changing when we choose understandingly and deliberately when we have throughly considered the great reasons for our choosing God his worthiness and excellency and our own necessity and have also weighed all the inconveniencies thereof and all the objections against it and do find that the reasons for do infinitely over-ballance all that can be said against it and hereupon determine for God that 's like to be found a sincere choice 2. If you have chosen him absolutely as that which you will stand to to the last whatever inconveniencies may follow When there are no ifs nor ands no reserves in your heart nor place lest for repentance When your choice runs not as Jacob's conditional vow Gen. 28.20 If the Lord will be with me and will keep me in the way that I go and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I return to my Fathers house in peace then the Lord shall be my God but without any such if's whether he will feed me or no cloth me or no let him do with me as he will for that I am resolved however the Lord shall be my God And indeed so was Jacob too however the words sound This was never intended by him as the condition of his Religion there 's no other condition of that but if or since the Lord will be my God he shall be my God Jacob was in bond to God before and here he enters into a new bond layes a new obligation upon himself every one of these Mercies shall be so many new cords to bind me fast to the Lord but whether these new cords were added or no whether the Lord would keep or feed or cloth him or no 't was never his intent but his old bond should stand however that the Lord should be his God And as there are no reserves nor conditions in this our choice of God so is there a resolution against repenting of our choice whatever should happen A Christian chooses once for all chooses and changes not His choice of God is like to Gods choice Psal 110.4 I have sworn and will not repent sayes he concerning Christ The gifts and calling of God much more the Election of God are without repentance Rom. 11.29 where we choose God absolutely we leave no place for repentance 3. If you carefully pursue your choice Thus was it with Paul who had chosen for himself above and taken his aim at the right mark the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus he sayes Philip. 3.12 13. I follow after I reach forward I press to the mark Some vain men perswade themselves that they have chosen God and yet seldom or never look after nor take any care to obtain and make sure of him whom they have chosen they choose God but never follow God nor take the way that leads to the blessedness to come Sincere choice takes in both end and means When the choice of our hearts doth govern the course of our lives and doth effectually bend our course towards the obtaining of him whom we have chosen when this becomes our main drift and scope This I pray for this I wait for this I labour for this I live for I have nothing else to do but to serve and make sure of God if I can but so live as to please God here and get to Heaven when I dye whatever I miscarry in 't is all I look for this argues such a choice of God as will certainly argue us to be of God To choose God and yet to live to our selves to choose Heaven for our portion and yet to have our conversation in the earth an idle and inefficacious choice that doth not effectually command us after him whom we have chosen but let us run our old carnal course is a vanity and a delusion 4. If you measure your present happiness by the communications of God to you and the clearness of your title to him He that hath chosen God for his happiness look how much he possesses and enjoys of God and to what degree of clearness he is come concerning his Evidences for Heaven to such a degree of happiness he counts himself to have arrived whilst he can love and please and serve the Lord and maintain a confidence of his acceptance with him so long he can rejoyce when he is estranged from God he is as a man undone Therefore is it that Christians set themselves to get as much of God here and as sure a claim to the inheritance of the Saints in light as possibly they can Every one would make as sure of happiness as he can and would be happy as soon as he can would get as much as may be into present possession Hence are those breathings and thirstings and rejoycings of the Saints which we read of in Scripture As the hart panteth after the water brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God my Soul thirsteth for God for the living God Psal 42.1 2. My Soul thirsteth for thee my Flesh longeth for thee thy loving kindness is better than life My Soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness when my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips Psal 63. O that my wayes were so directed to keep thy Statutes O let me not wander from thy Commandments Psal 119.5.10 For in keeping them is great reward Psal 19. I have set the Lord alwayes before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved therefore mine heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth Psal 16.8 9. Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me thou hast put gladness in my heart Psal 4.6 7. Christians can never have good dayes longer than they are walking with God and beholding his face in righteousness this is their Heaven on Earth The reflection of the face of God in his Holy Image that appears upon them
the Soul a destructive Evil that will undoe and destroy it 2. To be an evil hardly to be escaped It sees the Soul to be in danger of it every day and every hour Evil as Evil is not the Object of Fear but Evil that we are in danger of Evil as Evil is the Object of Hatred not so of Fear there 's no Fear of Sin in Heaven because there 's no danger of it To hear of the Plague or Sword or Famine or Earthquakes or Fire in the Indies or any other remote parts of the World this doth not move Fear it 's far enough off us we are in no danger of it But when the Plague is in the Town when the next House is on Fire then we are startled 3. To be an Evil not to be endured an intolerable Evil Hereupon the Heart shrinks back from it and is in pain till it can be secured against it 5. There is foresight in it Fear is of future Evil apprehended to be coming on Prov. 22.3 A prudent Man foreseeth the Evil. This prudent Man is the very same with this fearing Man as appears by the next words and hideth himself 't is Fear that makes Men hide A bold Sinner is blind and cannot see afar off 2 Pet. 1.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pur-blind that can see things very near but through the weakness of his Eyes cannot see at a distance he is but short-sighted Sinners are Men for the present and they look not to what comes after But sayes the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.18 We look on the things that are not seen as on the Good things so on the Evil not seen He that Fears God sees what 's out of sight to the blear-ey'd World He sees Evils in the beginning of them he sees Midnight in the Evening he sees the Winter in the Autumn He sees Evils in the causes of them he sees the Storms in the Cloud the Birth in the Conception James 1.15 Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth Sin and Sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death What is there in a Thought What is there in a Lust or an evil Motion Who would fright himself with Fancies saith the Pur-blind World I but what will this Thought or this Lust bring forth Who knows saith the Fearing Soul what a numerous Brood may spring forth out of this pregnant Womb Lust when it hath conceived brings forth Sin any Sin the worst that can be imagined multitudes of Sins all manner of Iniquities Lust will bring forth Sin and what will Sin bring forth Why Sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death A prudent Man foreseeth all this sees Sin 's last in its first its Fruits in its Root he sees the product and issues of things that do appear the burning down of the House in the first Spark that kindles in the Thatch in the entrance of the Thief in at the Door he sees all the rifling and bloodshed that afterwards follows Sinner how is it that thou art so secure Friend what seest thou Some it may be will answer as the Prophet's Servant when he first went up to Carmel 1 Kin. 18.43 I see nothing Others will answer as he did at his last going up I see a Cloud but it 's but a little one no bigger than a Man's hand But the Prophet saw a great Rain in that little Cloud Sinner thou that yet seest nothing nothing to trouble thee nothing to make thee afraid look again and again even unto seven times Dost thou yet see a Cloud rising do not say it is a little one take heed if thy foresight do not thy sense will quickly tell thee what a Storm there is in it Christian how is it that thou art so secure where be thine eyes art thou blind also Dost thou not see the Spark in the Thatch Dost thou not see the Thief at the Door Hast thou a Treasure within hast thou a God a Conscience a Soul hast thou Grace hast thou Peace hast thou Hope And dost thou not see the Thief breaking in and the Fire breaking out that Lust that is in thine Heart and the Temptations that are at the Door ready to steal away or burn up every good thing thou hast How is it that there is no Cry heard within thee Fire Fire Thieves Thieves Look to thy self save thy self O my Soul from the mischiefs and miseries that are coming upon thee We may give a Judgment of what Sin is bringing forth by observing what it hath brought forth Fear will conclude that what hath been may be It 's like to be my case which hath been the case of others What hath Sin done upon the World How hath it filled them with all Vnrighteousness Fornication Covetousness Wickedness Maliciousness Envy Murder Debate Deceit Malignity c. Rom. 1.29 What Fools and Bruits and Stocks hath it made them fit for nothing but to be Fuel for the Eternal Fire And what hath it done even upon Christians or the Professors of Christianity How low hath it held many of them so low that they can hardly tell whether they are alive or dead and those that have seem'd to be gotten up a little higher how often hath it pull'd them down again even to Death's Door Some Professors it hath slain out-right The Christianity they seem'd to have is dead and buried O Friends when you see what Sin and the Temptations thereof have done to others is it not to be feared what it may do to you May I not say to you as Peter did to Saphira if you look not the more carefully to it Acts 5.19 The Feet of those that have buried thy Husband are at the Door to carry thee out The same Sins the same Temptations that have slain your Friends and buried them behold their feet are at the Door waiting for your Souls also Open your eyes a little and look who there are round about you Behold the Pleasures of Sin waiting for you behold the Gains of Unrighteousness waiting behold your Carnal Friends and Sinful Companions behold the Persecutions and Scoffs and Scorns the Bonds and Imprisonments that are waiting at the Door and what wait they for but to carry out your Souls also dead to those that you have seen slain before you Hast thou seen what hath become of others and dost not therein foresee what may become of thee and canst thou yet be secure Christians you are Men of like Passions and subject to the same Temptations with other Men there 's the same Pride the same Lust after the World the same love of Carnal Pleasures the same fears of Fleshly Sufferings rooted in your Natures And do you not feel these Evil Roots sometimes budding these Fires kindling And have you not often suffered loss by them Yet you hope you have a little Faith some Love to Christ some Hope towards God some Conscience of Sin some Affection for Things Above let Lust alone a-while venture on upon Temptations a-while and O what leanness of
to Wrath and Vengeance Wouldst thou be content the Day of the Lord should find thee thus Art thou sure but that Day may find thee thus Would not such a Voice from Heaven Thy Day is come strike thee into horror and amazement and strike through thy easie lazie Soul as a Dart through thy Liver O why wilt thou not try what some thoughts of that Day might do whether it would not perswade thee to a wiser course and put thee into a better case against it comes indeed It is a strange thing that it should be possible for Sinners that believe the Scriptures not to think of a day of recompence Hast thou not heard dost thou not read that the Wages of Sin is Death dost thou not know that every working day must have its pay-day Canst thou be Sowing daily and never think of Reaping And hast thou not learned That as thy Sowing is such must thy Reaping be that an evil Seed-time will bring forth an evil Harvest Canst thou be Sowing Tares and either not think of Reaping at all or think of Reaping Wheat Is this all the wit thou hast Be not deceived as Men Sow so shall they also Reap he that Soweth to the Flesh shall Reap Corruption he that Soweth to the Spirit shall Reap Life Everlasting Gal. 6.7 8. Know it in time and throughout thy Sowing think of thy Reaping-Day 2. Men put the Evil Day far from their Loyns That is though they do think of the Judgments of God and as such as both may overtake them and if they fall will fall heavy upon them and grind them to Pouder yet they count 't will be a great while first there may be time enough to prevent them or at least the distance they apprehend of them from them makes them the less to be feared or regarded Eccles 1.8 Because Sentence against an evil work is not executed specdily therefore the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do evil Because Judgment is so long a-coming therefore they grow bold in their Sin as if 't would never come Not till after a long time is almost the same with them as never at all As if because the Bench and the Gibbet stand not both together because the Sin and its Sentence the Sentence and its Execution are not on the same day therefore there will be no Sentence no Execution as if because it's Sun-shine to day there were no fear of a Storm for many dayes after The Thoughts of Sinners are like those words of Rebellious Israel Ezek. 12.27 The Vision that he seeth is for many dayes to come and he Prophesieth of the Times that are far off Those Scoffers who walk after their own Lusts 2 Pet. 3.4 demand in derision Where is the Promise of his coming Where is the Promise that is where is the Threatning of his coming The same word that is a Promise to the Saints is often a Threatning to Sinners Where is the Threatning of his coming There hath been much Preaching and Talking of the Day of the Lord of a Black Day that 's coming to pay all our Scores this hath been foretold a long time agone even in the dayes of our Fore-fathers who are yet gone to their Graves in peace and behold to this day after the revolution of so many Ages we see no sign of it but all things are still as they were and Men may sin at as cheap rates now as they did then Those Rebel Jews Isa 5.19 That drew Iniquity with Cords of Vanity and Sin as it were with Cart-ropes are so bold as to say Let the Day of the Lord come let it hasten that we may see it let the Counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh that we may know it Such Infidels were these Rebels become that they made the Threatnings of the Lord a meer Mock or a Dream or a lying Vision that would never come to pass But even among those that do believe that there is such a day a-coming wherein the Lord will confirm the Word of his Servants and perform the Counsel of his Messengers even amongst them there are who say Yet the Lord may delay his coming I may have time enough to repent before it comes not considering that though to day it be said Time enough yet to morrow the word may be Too late too late though now the word be My Lord delayeth his coming the next word may be He is come the Day of the Lord is come and I must no longer escape O my foolish Soul thou thoughtest such a day might come but didst thou think it so near Wo wo unto me the Day of Vengeance is come in a day that I thought not of in an hour that I was not aware He is come he is come to cut me in sunder and to give me my Portion with Hypocrites It is fallen unto me as to some Women with Child my Time is come before my Reckoning was out Friends Is there nothing of this kind of Security also to be found even among those that take themselves to be wiser than this Bedlam-World How is it with many Professors of Religion Do we live in hourly expectation of the Day of Retribution Are we so vigilant and so circumspect in our daily course as Men that do believe that the Day of the Lord is at hand How didst thou live yesterday didst thou carry it so as if that should have been thy last day How dost thou behave thy self to day Dost thou now carry it so as if thou expectedst to hear This night shall thy Soul be taken away Dost thou hear daily as if thou wert hearing thy last Sermon Dost thou pray daily as if thou wert making thy last Prayer Dost thou not sleep daily and sin daily as a Man that presumeth on many dayes to come Dost thou never venture on a little sin or on remisness in thy Duty with this thought it will but be repenting of it after Wouldst thou dare to do what sometimes thou dost wouldst thou dare to neglect what sometimes thou dost neglect wert thou sure there would be no time for repentance Wouldst thou be so proud as thou art or so covetous as thou art or so vain or so slothful as thou art if thou didst not count upon more day before thee Darest thou never lie down one night in an unrepented Sin for fear of what may be before the morning O what Holy-Dayes what Sabbath-Dayes would every day be did we but daily think this may be my Judgment Day But dost thou use to think so Thou hast thy fleshly designs already laid for to morrow and next day and next year to morrow thou sayest thou wilt go to such a City to buy and to sell and to get gain next day to such a Fair next day to such a Feast to make merry with thy Friends and there thou goest and eatest and drinkest and tradest and so thou meanest to go on from Year to Year and
to destroy these make him to do the Works of the Devil They make the Saviour of Sinners to be the Minister of Sin they make him not only a Friend of Sinners but a Friend of Sin and what is the Devil more It must no longer be said that Christ came to make an end of Sin to redeem from all Iniquity to fulfil all Righteousness but to countenance and encourage Sin and to fill the World with Unrighteousness What Doctrine would the Devil preach other than this Fear not to Sin God is merciful Continue in Sin for Grace hath abounded If there were any ground for such an hope we must quite invert the Gospel and whilst the Apostle tells us Tit. 2.11 12. The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live righteously and soberly and godly in this present World It must be now written for Gospel The Grace of God teacheth us to deny all Godliness and to indulge to worldly Lusts and to live wickedly and filthily and ungodlily in this present World and yet still to look for the Blessed Hope and the glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Is this the Doctrine of Christ It must be so or thou art undone And if it be what difference betwixt the Doctrine of Christ and the Doctrine of Devils Presumptuous Sinner stand and tremble If the Word of God be not a lye If the Holy Jesus came not to build but to destroy the Works of the Devil there 's no hope for thee but if thou continuest thus thou must perish for ever Who shall bring thee into the Holy City who shall intercede and appear before God for thee Will Christ do it will he ever bring up the Servants of the Devil and set them before the Throne of God and say concerning them These are my Redeemed Ones These Lyars these evil Beasts these slow Bellies these Wantons these Earth-worms these blind and bruitish Souls these Rebels that all their life-time set at nought all my Counsels and rejected my Salvation these are mine I pray thee set the Crown upon their Heads for they are worthy Will Christ ever present such a Brood as these to his Father Will he plead for entrance for such as these Canst thou imagine that Christ would not blush and be ashamed to bring such an unclean thing as thou art before his Father at last and say This is my Child I pray thee let him live in thy sight Will he say to the Father O that Ishmael might live before thee that these Bond-men and Bastards and Belials that never knew thee nor car'd for thee that never minded any such thing as Religion and Godliness in the World but mocked and scoffed at all that did that would never be perswaded to seek the Lord or serve the Lord but all their life long gave themselves up to serve their Lusts and the Devil Let there be an entrance for these into the Everlasting Kingdom as black as they are and as resolute as they were never to be wash'd and made white with the Blood of the Lamb yet they are mine take them in Sinner if it were possible that Christ should thus plead for thee if thou be found in that day in the case that now thou art by all the Power and Interest he hath in Heaven he could not prevail for thee He might as well prevail for Cain and Judas yea for Beelzebub himself with all those black Legions which are already in Hell and fetch them up from the Deep to sit upon Thrones of Glory as ever he could prevail for thee 'T is against the determinate Counsel and Purpose of God against the Design and Tenour of the Gospel of Grace Christ had never any Commission from his Father to save or speak one word for any one Soul that lives and dies in his sins Objection But I will repent and turn from my Sins hereafter how-ever I live now I do not mean to die so I will reform and amend my wayes and then I shall have Mercy Answer This also is thy Presumption Thou neither wilt nor canst Thou wilt repent thou sayest but how long hast thou said so and yet the time comes not When wilt thou Canst thou repent when thou wilt Either thou canst or thou canst not If thou canst why not now Is it too soon for thee to be wise and to be happy Canst thou spare God and his Grace and Favour till hereafter Hast thou not enough of the Devil yet Art thou content to be his Bond-slave to be made such a Fool and a Beast by him yet a-while longer Dost thou chuse to leave thy Soul in hazard of Eternal Fire for a few dayes more If thou wert hungry or naked or harbourless wouldst thou say 't is time enough yet to have Bread or Cloaths or an House to put mine head in If thou wert sick of the Stone or the Gout or the Colick wouldst thou say Let me lie a while a little more torment a few more of these Pangs and Gripes It 's more madness than all this to say Yet a little longer for Sin and the Curse of God and under the Power of the Devil If it be not in thy power now to repent then how darest thou presume on an after-Repentance Will it be more easie hereafter when thy Sin is grown stronger and thy Soul is grown weaker and thine Heart harder and put farther off from Repentance I will return and step over to Christ at last 'T is all one as if thou shouldst say I will run from mine House and my Home and my Friends as far as I can all day but I mean to step home again at night Why Man thou art a dayes journey from home and canst thou step back in a minute what thou hast been running out all the day Hast thou been running from Christ all thy Life long and yet is there but a step betwixt thee and him Thou hast been hampering thy self in the Net and tying thy self to the Threshold of the Devil hast been still knitting Knot upon Knot all along thy time to make thy self sure to him and canst thou unravel in an hour the Webs thou hast been weaving the Knots thou hast been tying all thy life long It 's true it is not impossible the Divine Grace may help at the last but it is a strange thing and so exceedingly unusual that it 's utterly improbable that thou that hast been sinning all thy life in Presumption upon Repentance in thy last hour shouldst not then find it flying as far from thee as thou dost now from it Presumptuous Sinner thou that goest on in thy Sin and countest upon Repentance at last 't is even such another piece of folly as to count upon Mercy at last without Repentance Thou mayest almost as well conclude that God will pardon thee though thou never repent as that God will give thee Grace
the irradiations of his Holy Spirit and the light of his countenance whilest they are walking in the Law of the Lord the prospering of their Souls in the grace of God and the comforts of the Holy Ghost this is the sunshine of their lives Their countenance is fallen their heart is sick they reckon themselves among the dead when God and their Souls are parted He hath no part in God that can live comfortably without him It 's true the pleasure that the Saints take in God is more or less according to the different degrees of their love to God and accordingly will the sense of his absence be more or less There is a desiring love which is the highest attainment of some weaker Christians and there is a delighting love which is the attainment of the more grown Christians The purer and stronger the love the greater pleasures comes in from the object of it and the more impatience follows from its distance and estrangement from it The love of weaker Christians puts forth in thirstings after the Lord but they taste but little of the sweetness but the more grown can sit down under his shadow with great delight yet neither the one nor the other can be at ease or contented without him Again there is a difference in the Natural temper and constitutions of Christians some are naturally of lively and warm affections and of a chearful and serene Spirit others are of more flat and dull and heavy spirits and this will make a difference upon their sence of things Spiritual Yea and the same persons at several times may be differing from themselves by reason of bodily distempers or occasional discomposures which may have such an influence upon their Spirits that they may at such seasons not only have lost the sweetness of Divine communion but the sence also of its want and those very duties wherein they were wont to have delightful converse with God may seem the most uneasie and wearisome work of their time But yet whoever he be that in ordinary can be satisfied at ease and be merry whilst he is a stranger from God and neither finds pleasure in him nor takes comfort in pleasing of him this man can never conclude that God is his portion He that is least in the Kingdom of God will doubtless be able to say Lord whom have I in Heaven yea or in Earth besides thee Sinner thou sayest that thou also hast chosen the Lord but how is it that he is no more look'd after or regarded by thee How is it that thou canst live so much without God in the world and find no miss of his presence Art thou content to be miserable whil'st thou livest here or hast thou chosen two portions this world to be thy portion here and God only for hereafter I that 's the truth of the case thou foreseest that this world will not last alwayes but thou must after a while be gone and leave all behind thee whil'st these things will last thou wilt take up with them but when they fail thee thou countest upon God at last and so he must only stand by as thy last refuge when all else is gone then God must be thy happiness Is this thy choice of God when thou canst only say Rather God than nothing So I may be sure of thee hereafter I care not for thee now He that hath not chosen God for his happiness in both worlds hath sincerely chosen him for neither Canst thou say thou hast chosen him for thy happiness in this world also when thou canst count thy self happy without him canst thou want communion with him and yet be at hearts ease canst thou take the prosperities of this world to supply the want of a God the smiles of fortune instead of smiles from Heaven will thy twilight or candle-light serve thee instead of sun-Sun-light Canst thou quiet and comfort thy self thus God is none of my acquaintance but I have good acquaintance enough in the world God is angry with me but I have many good friends about me that bear me good will My work for Heaven goes but sadly on but yet I prosper and thrive in the Earth I have none of the best hearts I confess but yet I have a good House and a good Estate 't would be sad indeed if I had nothing either above or below either within or without me if both Heaven and Earth had cast me out but whil'st one of them holds 't is well mine own Cisterne is full and so long I can spare the Fountain Canst thou comfort thy self thus Deceive not thy self God is not the portion thine heart hath chosen thou wilt never find rest in any thing else who hast pitch'd on him as thine only happiness and till thou hast made him alone thou hast not made him at all the portion of thy Soul 5. If you are willing and resolved to forsake all things for his sake God and this world are proposed to our choice and this is included in the very nature of choosing that one be taken and the other left 't is not choosing to take both one of the two must be parted with or neither can be said to be chosen and so the word tells us Luk. 14.33 Whoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my Disciple This seems to be an hard word but is it so indeed Is it hard to part with all our Brass and to receive it in Gold to exchange our rags for better clothing our husks for better seeding What is Earth to Heaven Is all thou hast in the world too great a price to redeem thy Soul from Death and to instate it in everlasting blessedness If these things could redeem thee would'st thou say 't is too much to give this Earth is more than Heaven is worth But farther consider It is not so hard as it seems to be for what is it to forsake all that we have God would not have us to throw away our Estates and make our selves voluntary Beggars to give away our Houses and take up our Habitation in Dens or Caves to give away all our bread and our clothes and leave our selves to hunger and nakedness God would not have us to break the peace with the world to disoblige and fall out with all our friends and to become strangers to our own flesh God would not have us studiously to offend Father and Mother to despise Brethren and Sisters to be undutiful or unnatural to be surly and rude and uncivil to any and thereby create our selves enemies and trouble 't is for the honour of Christianity that we behave our selves sweetly and courteously and dutifully towards all and 't is the Interest of Christianity that those that fear God be good Husbands and provident and have Estates to serve him withall in their generations This is not the meaning of our forsaking of all to cast our selves into voluntary poverty or studiously to make our selves
most kindly stroke in all Religion Fear brings us to Religion as to our Physick the sick man hath no love to Physick but yet he will take it rather than dye Love brings us to it as to our food 't is our meat and drink to do the will of God eating and drinking to the hungry and thirsty are some of the great pleasures of life Duties are the meat of Holy Souls and they come unto them with as great desire and are conversant in them with as great delight as hungry bodies come to and sit at their meals Cant. 2.3 I sate down under his shadow and his fruit was sweet to my taste Weak believers are like sickly men neither Physick nor food will relish with them they must eat for necessity they cannot live without something of Religion but were it not for necessity they could almost as well let it all alone 'T is well that necessity will prevail but whilest they are thus forced on how heavily do they drive and how little must suffice them too often they come on to their duties like bears to the stake and go off from them as the Oxe from under the yoke But when thou lovest thy soul will enlarge and reach forth with desire even after the highest pitch of Godliness and thou wilt go freely and chearfully on in all the exercises of it Thou wilt not then say may not less serve thou wilt not say may not less duty serve because thou canst not say may not less pleasure serve Every one would have as much pleasure as he can and therefore would'st thou have as much holiness as thou canst the more holy the more pleasure If thou lovest thou wilt not be for short Duties short Prayers short Sermons little snatches at Religion thou wilt not be so soon weary at thy work when are men weary of pleasure when do they use to say I have pleasant hours enough sunshine dayes enough O that my good dayes were over once O that my dayes of darkness would come and the years draw nigh wherein I might say I have no pleasure in them Every one is willing to live in delights as much and as long as he can when once we can say the Lord is my delight the next word will be Let me dwell in the presence of God for ever Christians let our Souls take the wing and mount up towards this blessed state O how short do the most of us fall we have much ground to go e're we shall get up to it How is it with us in our secret converses with God are we glad when our retiring hours draw near when we enter into our Closets to meet with our beloved do we there use to solace our selves with love Is praying and praising our pleasure is communing with God and with our own hearts a delight do our hearts use to say It 's good for me to be here And how is it with us in our ordinary course what is the joy of our life Is this it that our life is a walking with God have we no good dayes but our holy-holy-dayes are we never well but when we can see and serve the Lord and never amiss while we are so doing do we not only judge but feel that intimacy and familiarity in Heaven is our only Heaven on earth Lord how seldom Lord how little is it thus with us But may we not obtain Is not such a blessed state worth our putting in for it Are you willing friends to keep you alwayes at this distance from your delight Is it enough that you have some hopes for hereafter are you content that your souls should never taste of your joyes here shall they still dwell in exile while they dwell on earth shall they never put off the garments of their widowhood till they put off their clothing of flesh Are you content to take up yet longer with this dark and disconsolate state Is the drudgery of Religion this sighing and mourning and striving against the stream and going on so poor and hungry and hard bestead Is this Religion enough for you would you be glad to be more cheary and lively in your way would you taste the milk and the honey the marrow and the fatness would you ride on with free spirits and full sails triumphing over difficulties and rejoycing in hope of the glory of God would you that these rough wayes were become a plain and these dark shades were all sun-shine would you feed in the green pastures and be led by the still waters and be made to drink of that River that makes glad the City of God Then put you on be no longer smatterers and pidlers dwell no longer on the shoar or surface of Religion but hoyse up all your sails and launch forth into the deep get you into the heart and inside of Christianity where the Lord will shew you his loves Be not satisfyed with some few glances or little touches but get you possessed and swallowed up of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord and this will be to you both the wine that will make glad your hearts and the oyle that will make all your wheels to run then shall you run the way of Gods Commandements when the pleasure of Love shall enlarge your hearts FINIS