knowledge of our Interest sitteth us for his Praise Psal 118.28 Thou art my God and I will praise thee thou art 〈◊〉 God I will exalt thee Psal 116.16 17 O Lord truly I am thy servant I am thâ— servant and the son of thine handmaid thou hast â—â—â—sed my bonds I will offer 〈◊〉 thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and wiâ—â— call upon the name of the Lord His Praisâ— is for the Congregation of his Saintâ— Psal 141.1 2. Let Israel rejoyce in him thâ—â— made him let the children of Zion be joyâ—ful in their King Psal 148.13 14 Let them praise the name of the Lord for his name alone is excellent his glory iâ— above the earth and heaven He also exalteth the horn of his people the Praise of all his Saints even of the children of Israel 〈◊〉 people near unto him Psal 132.16 I will also cloath his priests with salvation and his Saints shall shout aloud for joy Praise is a work so proper for the Saints and Thanksgiving must be fed with the knowledge of your mercies that Satan well knoweth what he shall get by it and what you will lose if he can but hide your mercies from you The height of his malice is against the Lord and the next is against you and how can he shew it more then by drawing you to rob God of his Thanks and Praise when he hath blessed and enriched you with the chiefest of his mercies Labour therefore Christians to know that you have that Grace that may be the Matter and Cause of so sweet and acceptable an employment as the Praises of your Lord. 13. Moreover you should consider that without the knowledge of your interest in Christ you cannot live to the honour of your Redeemer in such a measure as the Gospel doth require The excellency of Gospel mercies will be veiled and obscured by you and will not be revealed and honoured by your lives Your low and poor dejected spirits will be a dishonour to the faith and hope of the Saints and to the Glorious inheritance of which you have so full a prospect in the promises If you take the son of a Prince in his infancy and educate him as the son of a plowman he will not live to the honour of his birth which he is not acquainted with The heirs of Heaven that know not themselves to be such may live like the heirs of Heaven as to uprightness and humility but not in the triumphant Joy nor in the couragious boldness which becometh a Believer What an injury and dishonour is to our Redeemer that when he hath done and suffered so much to make us happy we should walk as heavily as he had done nothing for us at all Anâ— when he hath so fully secured us of eveâ—â—lasting happiness and told us of it so eâ—â—presly that our Joy may be full we shouâ—â— live as if the Gospel were not the Gospel 〈◊〉 such things had never been promised or râ—â—vealed When Heaven is the Object aâ—â— the promise of God is the groundwork 〈◊〉 our faith we should live above all earthâ—â— things as having the honours and pleasure of the world under our feet accountinâ— all as loss and dung for the excellency of 〈◊〉 knowledge of Jesus Christ Phil. 3.8 whoâ— we should love though we have not seen him in whom though now we see him not yet bâ—â—lieving we should rejoyce with joy unspeakaâ—ble and full of glory as those that 〈◊〉 receive the end of their faith the salvation oâ— our souls 1 Pet. 1.8 9. And how caâ— we do this if we are still questioning the Love of Christ or our interesâ— in it Believers should with undaunted resolution charge through the armies of temptation and conquer difficulties and suffer for the name of Christ with joy accounting it a bessed thing to be persecuted 〈◊〉 righteousness sake because that theirs iâ— the kingdom of Heaven Because of the greatness of the Reward they should rejoyce and be exceeding glad Matth. 5.10 12. And how can they do this that believe not that the Reward and Kingdom will be theirs The Joys of faith and confidence on the promise and strength of Christ should overcome all inordinate fears of man For he hath said I will never fail thee nor forsake thee So that we may boldly say The Lord is my helper and I wiâ—l not fear what man shall do unto me Heb. 13.5.6 And how can we do this while we are questioning our part in the Christ and promise that we should thus boldly trust upon 14. Lastly consider that the knowledge of your part in Christ may make all sufferings easie to you You will be so much satisfied in God your portion as will abate the desires and drown the Joys and sorrows of the world You will judge the sufferings of this present time unwâ—rthy to be compared to the Glory that shall be revealed in us Rom. 8.18 You will choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of the world as having respect to the recompence of reâ—ward Heb. 11.25 26. All this must bâ— done and will be done by true believers that have an assurance of their own sinceâ—rity They must and will forsake all and take up the Cross and follow Christ in hopâ— of a Reward in Heaven as it is offered theâ— in the Gospel when they know their speciaâ— interest in it For these are Christs termâ— which he imposeth on all that will be hiâ— Disciples Luk. 14.33 18.22 24 25. But you may certainly perceive that iâ— will be much more easie to part with all and undergoe and do all this wen we have the great encouragement of our assured inetrest then when we have no more but the common offer To instance in some particulars 1. Do you live where serious Godliness is derided and you cannot obey the word of God and seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness without being made the common scorn and the daily jeast and by-word of the company Let it be so If you know that you have Christ within you and are secured of the everlasting Joys will you feel will you regard such things as these â— shall the jeast of a distracted miserable fool abate the joy of your â—ssured happiness Princes and noblemen â—ill not forsake their dominions or Lord-ships nor cast away the esteem and â—omfort of all they have because the poor â—o ordinarily reproach them as Proud â—â—merciful oppressors They think they may bear the words of the miserable while â—hey have the the pleasure of prospe And shall not we give losers leave to â—alke We will not be mockt out of the comfort of our health or wealth our habitaâ—ions or our friends and shall we be mockt â—ut of the comfort of Christ and of the presence of the comforter himself If they that go naked deride you for having cloaths and they
should move you to seek to be acquainteâ— with it where it is 1. The knowledge of God is the most exceâ—â—lent knowledge and therefore the best sorâ— of creature knowledge is that which hath the most of God in it And undoubtedly theâ—â— is more of God in Holiness which is his Image then in common things Sins and 〈◊〉 have nothing of God in them They must be fathered on the Devil and your selves Anâ— therefore the knowledge of them is gooâ— but by Accident because the knowledgâ— even of evil hath a tendency to good Anâ— therefore it is commanded and made ouâ— duty for the good which it tendeth to It is the Divine nature and Image within you which hath the most of God and therefore â—o know this is the high and noble knowâ—edge To know Christ within us is our â—appiness on earth in order to the knowâ—edge of him in Glory face to face which is â—he happiness of heaven To know God â—hough darkly through a glass and but in â—art 1 Cor. 13.12 is far above all creaâ—ure knowledge The knowledge of him â—aiseth quickneth sanctifieth enlargeth â—nd advanceth all our faculties It is life â—ternal to know God in Christ John 17.3 Therefore where God appeareth most there â—hould our understandings be most diâ—igently exercised in study and observaâ—ion 2. It is a most delightfull felicitating knowledge to know that Christ is in you â—f it be delightfull to the Rich to see their wealth their houses and lands and goods â—nd money and if it be delightfull to the Honourable to see their attendance and hear their own commendations and applause how delightfull must it be to a true Believer to find Christ within him and to know his title to eternal life If the knowledge of full barns and much goods laid up for many years can make a sensual worlding say Soul take thy ease eat drink and be merry Luke 12.19 20. Me thinkâ— the knowledge of our interest in Christ anâ— heaven should make us say Thou hast 〈◊〉 gladness in my heart more then in the tiâ—â— that their corn and wine increased that 〈◊〉 more then corn and wine could put inâ—â— theirs Psal 4.7 Return unto thy Rest 〈◊〉 soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully wiâ—â— thee Psal 116.7 If we say with Daviâ— Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be still praysing thee Psal 84 â— much more may we say Blessed anâ— they in whom Christ dwelleth and the Holâ— Ghost hath made his Temple they should 〈◊〉 still praising thee Blessed is the 〈◊〉 whom thou choosest and causest to approâ—â—â— unto thee that he may dwell in thy courts 〈◊〉 shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house even of thy holy Temple Psal 65.4 But this 〈◊〉 upon supposition that he be first Blessed by Christs approach to him and dwelling in hiâ— If you ask How it is that Christ dwelleâ—â— in us I answer 1. Objectively as he is apâ—prehended by our Faith and Love As thâ— things or persons that we think of and Lovâ— and delight in are said to dwell in our 〈◊〉 or hearts 2. By the Holy Ghost who 〈◊〉 a principle of new and heavenly Life 〈◊〉 given by Christ the Head unto his members and as the Agent of Christ doth illuminate sanctifie and guide the soul He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given us 1 Joh. 3.24 That of Eph. 3.17 may be taken in either or both senses comprehensively That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith 3. Did you know that Christ is in you by his spirit it might make every place and condition comfortable to you If you are alone it may rejoyce you to think what company dwelleth continually with you in your hearts If you are wearied with evil company without it may comfort you to think that you have better within when your have communion with the Saints it is your joy to think that you have nearer communion with the Lords of Saints You may well say with David Psal 139.18 when I awake I am still with thee Psal 16.8 I have set the Lord alwayes before me because he is at may right hand I shall not be moved 4. Did you know Christ within you it would much help you in believing what is written of him in the Gospel Though to the ungodly the mysteries of the Kingdom of God do seem incredible yet when you have experience of the power of it on your souls and find the Image of it on your hearts and the same Christ within you conforming you to what he commandeth in his word this will work such a sutableness to the Gospel in your hearts as will make the work of faith more easie Saith the Apostle 1 Joh. 4.14 16. We have seen do testifie that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world there 's their outward experience And we have known and believed the Love that God hath to us God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him There is their Faith confirmed by their inward evidence Nâ— wonder if they that have God dwelling 〈◊〉 them by holy love do believe the love 〈◊〉 God hath to them This is the great advantage that the sanctified have in the work 〈◊〉 faith above those that much excell them 〈◊〉 disputing and are furnished with more Arguments for the Christian verity Christ hath his witness abiding in them The fruits of the spirit bear witness to the incorruptible 〈◊〉 the word of God that liveth and abideth for ever 1 Pet. 1.23 The impress on the 〈◊〉 heard witness to the seal that caused i◠〈◊〉 it is not a weak uneffectual Argument for the Truth of the Gospel that Believer 〈◊〉 to fetch from within when they plead the effects of it on their souls Labour to know the Truth of your sanctification that you may be confirmed by it in the Truth of the word that sanctifieth you Joh. 17.17 and may rejoice in him that hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth 2 Thes 2.13 5. If you can come to the knowledge of Christ within you it will be much the easier to you to trust upon him and fly to him in all your particular necessities and to make use of his Mediatorship with holy confidence When others flie from Christ with trembling and know not whether he will speak for them or help them or have any regard to them but look at him with strange and doubtful thoughts it will be otherwise with you that have assurance of his continual Love and presence Nearness breedeth familiarity and overcometh strangness Familiarity breedeth confidence and boldness when you find Christ so â—â—er you as to dwell within you and so particular and abundant in his Love to you as to have given you his spirit and all his Graces iâ— will breed
discern the evil of it O how easie is it with the most to see and aggravate the faults of others How safe were we if we were as impartial to ourselves And also it will be very useful to desire often the help of more impartial judgements then your own Fit enim nescio quomedo inquit Cicero ut magis in aliis cernamus quam in nobis met ipsis siquid delinquitur Others can quickly spie our faults as we can quickly find out theirs Therefore as Poets and Painters do expose their works before they finish them to the common view that so what is blamed by many may be considered and amended so should we in order to the judging of our selves observe both what our friends and enemies say of us and the more suspiciously try what others blame But especially have some neer judicious friends that will prudently and faithfully assist you A true friend is an excellent looking-glass Saith Seneca Deliberate well first in the choosing of a friend and then with him deliberate of all things And if you would have the benefits of friendship discourage not plain dealing Magis amat objurgator sanans inquit August quam adulator dissimulans I know a reprover should be wise and love must be predominant if he will expect success for if he speak laceráto animo as Augustine saith it will seem but punientis impetus and not corigentis charitas But we must take heed of judging that we are hated because we are reproved that is that a friend is not a friend because he doth the office of a friend Of the two it is fitter to say of a reproving enemy He dealeth with me like a friend then of a reproving friend He dealeth with me like an enemy For as Augustine saith Accusare vitia officium est bonum quod cum mali faciunt alienas partes agunt It is a good office to speak ill of vice which when bad men do they play anothers part It is a happy enmity that helpeth you to deliver you from sin and hell and a cruel friendship that will let you undoe your soul for ever for fear of displeasing you by hindering it There are two sorts that deprive themselves of the saving benefit of necessary reproof and the most desirable fruits of friendship The one is the Hypocrite that so cunningly hideth his greatest faults that his friend and enemie never tell him of them He hath the happiness of keeping his physicion unacquainted with his disease and consequently of keeping the disease The other is the Proud that can better endure to be ungodly then to be told of it and to live in many sins then to be freely admonished of one Consider therefore that it will prove self-hatred in the effect which is now called self-love and that it would seem but a strange kind of love from another to suffer you to fall into a Cole-pit for fear of telling you that you are neer it or to suffer you to fall into the enemies hands lest he should affright you by telling you that they are neer If you love another no better then thus you have no reason to call your self his friend And shall this be your wisest Loving of your selves If it be Love to damn your souls for fear of knowing your danger of damnation the Devil loveth you If i◠be friendship to keep you out of Heaven for fear of disquieting you with the Light that should have saved you then you have no enemies in Hell The Devil himself can be content to grant you a temporal quietness and ease in order to your everlasting disquietness and woe Let go your hopes of Heaven and he can let you be merry a while on earth while the strong armed man keepeth his house the things that he possesseth are in peace If it be no◠friendship but enmity to trouble you with the sight of sin and danger in order to your deliverance then you have none but enemies in Heaven For God himself doth take this course with the dearest of his chosen No star doth give such light as the Sun doth No Minister doth so much to make a sinner know himself as God doth Love yeur selves therefore in the way that God loveth you Be impartially willing that God and man should help you to be throughly acquainted with your state Love not to be flattered by others or your selves Vice is never the more lovely because it is yours And you know that pain is never the more easie or desirable to you because it is yours Your own diseases losses injuries and miseries seem the worst and most grievous to you And why should not your own sins also be most grievous You love not poverty or pain because it s your own O love not sin because it is your own Hind 4. ANother impediment to self-acquaintance is that men observe not their hearts in a time of trial but take them always at the best when no great temptation puts them to it A man that never had any opportunity to rise in the world perhaps doth think he is not ambitious and desireth not much to be higher then he is because the coal was never blown when a little affront doth ferment their Pride into disquietness and desires of revenge or applause doth ferment it into tumor or self-exaltation they observe not then the distemper when it is up and most observable because the nature of sin is to please and blind and cheat the mind into a consent And when the sin seems past and they find themselves in a seeming humility and meekness they judge of themselves as then they find themselves as thinking that distemper is past and cured and they are not to judge of themselves by what they were but what they are And by that Rule every drunkard or whoremonger should judge themselves temperate and chaste as soon as they forbear the act of sin And what if poverty age or sickness hinder them from ever commiting either of them again For all this the person is a drunkard or fornicator still because the Act is not pardoned nor the heart sanctified and the habit or corrupt inclination mortified And thus passionate persons do judge of themselves by their milder temper when no temptation kindleth the flame But little doth many a one know himself what corruption is latent in his heart till tryal shall disclose it and draw it into sight Jam diu Diabolus inq August sopitum ignem sine ullis flammis occultat donec duas faculas jungens ambas simul accendat c. If these persons be not always sinning they will not take themselves for sinners But he that hath once sinned knowingly in Gods account continueth in the sin till his heart be changed by true repentance Yet on the other side I would not wrong any upright soul by perswading them to judge of themselves as they are at the worst in the hour of temptation for so they will be mistaken as certainly though
Physicion And they must tell us themselves what medicine must be given them what doctrine and what administrations they must have But self-acquaintance would teach them to understand that of Augustine Novit medicus quid salutiferum quidve contrarium petat aegrotus Aegroti estis nolite ergo dictare quae vobis medicamnia velit opponere Yea they that will not be directed or healed by us will blame us if others be not healed and hit the Minister in the teeth with the errors and faults of his unteachable hearers Though we do our best in season and out of season and they cannot tell us what we have neglected on our part that was like to do the cure though I confess we are too often negligent and though we succeed to the conversion of many others yet must we be reproached with the disobedience of the impenitent as if it were not grief enough to us to have our labours frustrate and see them obstinate in their sin and misery but we must also be blamed or derided for our calamity Fecerit postquam quicquid jubet ipsa medendi Norma nisi valeat subitoque revixerit aeger Murmurat insipiens vulgus linguaq loquaci Et loquitur de te convitia talia jactans Hen mihi quam stultum est medicorum credere nugis As if they knew not the power of the disease and what a wonder of mercy it is that any and so many are recovered Non est in medico semper reveletur ut aeger Interdum docta plus valet arte malum None would die if Physicions could cure all And none would perish if Ministers could save all Rhetor non semper persuadebit nec medicus semper sanabat saith the Philosopher They cast away the medicine and then blame the Physicion Crudelem vel infalicem medicum intemeperans eger facit An intemperate unruly patient maketh the Physition seem cruel or unsuccesfull 12. Lastly consider but how many how great and necessary things concerning your selves you have to know and it will shew you how needfull it is to make this the first of your studies To know what you are as men with what faculties you are endowed and to what use for what end you live in what Relation you stand to God and to your fellow creatures what duties you owe what sin is in your hearts and what hath been by commission and omission in your lives what humiliation contrition and repentance you have for that sin Whether you have truly entertained an offered Christ and are renewed and sanctified by his spirit and unreservedly devoted to God and resolved to be entirely his Whether you Love him above all and your neighbours as your selves Whether you are Justified and have forgiveness of all your sins Whether you can bear afflictions from the hand or for the sake of Christ even to the forsaking of all the world for the hopes of the heavenly everlasting treasure how you perform the daily works of your relations and callings Whether you are ready to die and are safe from the danger of damnation O did you but know how it concerneth you to get all these questions well resolved you would find more matter for your studies in your selves then in many volumes You would then perceive that the matters of your own hearts and lives are not so lightly and carelesly to be past over as they ordinarily be by drowsie sinners To consider but Quid Quis Qualis sis Quid in natura Quis in persona Qualis in vita ut Bern. would find you no small labour And it would redound saith another in utilitatem sui charitatem proximi contemptum mundi amorem Dei to our own profit charity to our neighbour the contempt of the world and the love of God If you have but many weighty businesses to think on in the world you are so taken up with care that you cannot turn away your thoughts And yet do you find no work at home where you have such a world of things to think on and such as of all the matters in the world do nearliest concern you Having shewed you so much Reason for this duty let me now take leave to invite you all to the serious study of your selves It is a duty past all controversie agreed on by heathens as well as Christians and urged by them in the generall though many of the particulars to be knowne are beyond their light It brutifyeth man to be ignorant of himself Man that is in honour and understandeth not himself especially is as the beasts that perish Psal 49.20 saith Boetius Humana natura infra bestias redigitur si se nosse desierit Nam caeteris animantibus sese ignorare natura est hominibus vitio venit Its worse then beastly to be ignorant of our selves it being a vice in us which is nature in them Come home you wandering self-neglecting souls Lose not your selves in a wilderness or tumult of impertinent vaine distracting things your work is neerer you The country that you should first survey and travaile is within you from which you must pass to that above you when by losing your selves in this without you you will find your selves before you are aware in that below you And then as Gregory speakes he that was stultus in culpa a foole in sining will be sapiens in poena wise in suffering you shall then have time enough to review your lives and such constraining help to know your selves as you cannot resist O that you would know but a little of that now that then you must elss know in that overwhelming evidence which will everlastingly confound you And that you would now thinke of that for a timely cure which els must be thought of endlesly in despair Come home then and see what work is there Let the eyes of fooles be in the corners of the earth Leave it to men besides themselves to live as without themselves and to be still from home and waste that time in other business that was given them to prepare for life eternall Laudabilior est animus cui nota est infirmitas propria quam qui ea non perspecta mania muÌ„di vias syderum fundamenta terrarum fastigia caelorum scrutatur inquit August The soule is more laudable that knowes its own infirmity then he that without discerning this doth search after the compass of the world the courses of the starres the foundations of the earth and the heights of the heavens Dost thou delight in the mysteryes of nature consider well the mysteryes of thy own Mirantur aliqui altiudines montium ingentes fluctus mariâ— altissimos lapsus fluminum Oceani â—â—bitum gyros syderum relinquunt seipsos nec mirantur saith Augustine some men admeire the heights of mountaines the huge waves of the sea the great falls of the rivers the compass of the Ocean and the circuit of the stars and they passe by them themseves without admiration The compendium of all
fall their sin and misery of the Redeemer and the sure and free salvation which they may have if they will but come to him But alas we cannot make them believe that they are so sick as to have so much need of the Physicion and that they are dead and have need of a new creation as to the inclinations of their hearts and the end and bent and business of their lives We are sent to tender them the mercy of Christ but we cannot make them believe that they are miserable We are sent to offer them the riches and eye selve and white rayment of the Gospel but we cannot make them know that they are poor and blind and naked We are sent to call them to Repent and Turn that they may be saved and we cannot make them know that they are so far out of the way as to need a change of heart and life Here they sit before us and we look on them with pitty and know not how to help them We look on them and think alas poor souls you little see what death will quickly make you see You will then see that there is no salvation by all the blood and merits of Christ for any but the sanctified but O that we could now but make you understand it We look on them with compassion and think Alas poor souls as easily and quietly as you sit here a change is neer It will be thus with you but a little while and where will you be next We know as sure as the word of God is true that they must be converted and sanctified or be lost for ever and we cannot make them believe but that the work is done already The Lord knoweth and our consciences witness to our shame that we be not half so sensible of their misery nor so compassionate towards them as we ought to be but yet sometimes our hearts melt over them and fain we would save them from the wrath to come and we should have great hopes of the success if we could but make them know their danger It melts our hearts to look on them and think that they are so near damnation and never like to scape it till they know it till they know that their corruption is so great that nothing but the quickning spirit can recover them and nothing less then to become new creatures will serve the turn But if we would never so fain we cannot make them know it O that we knew how to acquaint them with their case O that we knew how to get within them and to open the windows that the light of Christ might shew them their condition But when we have done all we find it past our power We know they will be past help in Hell if they die before they are regenerate And could we but get themselves to know it we could not but hope that they would better look about them and be saved but we are not able it s more then we can do We cannot get the grossest worldling the basest sensualist the filthiest letcher the proudest child of the Spirit of pride to know that he is in a state of condemnation and must be sanctified or be damned much less can we procure the formal Pharisee thus to know himself We can easily get them to confess that they are sinners and deserve damnation and cannot be saved without Christ But this will not serve The best Saint on earth must say as much as this comes to There are converted and uncoverted sinners sanctifyed and unsanctified sinners Pardoned and unpardoned sinners Sinners that are members of Christ and the children of God and heirs of Heaven and sinners that are not so but contrary They must know not only that they are sinners but that they are yet unconverted unsanctified unpardoned sinners not only that they cannot be saved without Christ but that yet they have no special interest in Christ They will not Turn while they think they are turned already They will not so value and seek for Conversion and Remission and Adoption as to obtain them while they think they have them all already They will not come to Christ that they may have life while they think they have part in Christ already Paul after his Conversion was a sinner and had need of Christ but Paul before his Conversion was an unsanctified unjustified sinner and had no part in Christ This is the state of sin and misery that you must come out of or you are lost And how can you be brought out of it till you know that you are in it O therefore that we knew how to make you know it How should we make poor sinners see that they are within a few steps of everlasting fire that we might procure them to run away from it and be saved we cry so oft and lose our labour and leave so many in their security and self-deceits that we are too discouraged and remit our desires and lose our compassion and our selves alas grow dull and too insensible of their case and preach too oft as coldly as if we could be content to let them perish We are too apt to grow weary of holding the light to men asleep or that shut their eyes and will not see by it When alâ— that we have said is not regarded and we know not what more to say then hath been said so long in vain this flats our spirits this makes so many of us preach almost as carelesly as we are heard Regardless sleepy hearers make regardless sleepy Preachers Frequent frustration abateth hope And the fervour and diligence of prosecution ceaseth as hope abateth This is our fault Your insensibility is no good excuse for ours But it s a fault not easily avoided And when we are stopt at the first door and cannot conquer Satans out works what hopes have we of going further If all that we can say will not convince you that you are yet unsanctified and unjustified how shall we get you to the duties that belong to such in order to the attainment of this desireable state ANd here I think it not unseasonable to inform you of the reason why the most able faithfull Ministers of Christ do search so deep and speak so hardly of the case of unrenewed souls as much displeaseth many of their hearers and makes them say they are too severe and terrible preachers The zealous Antinomian saith they are Legalists and the prophane Antimonian saith they rail and preach not mercy but judgement only and would drive men to despair and make them mad But will they tell God he is a Legalist for making the Law even the Gospel Law as well as the Law of Nature and commanding us to preach it to the world Shall they escape the Sentence by reproaching the Law-maker Will not God judge the world and judge them by a Law and will he not be just and beyond the reach of their reproach O sinner this is not the smallest part of
likewise with the same mind for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God 3. All those are unregenerate that depend not upon God as their chiefest Benefactor and do not most carefully apply themselves to him as knowing that in his favour is life Psal 30.5 and that his loving kindness is better then life Psal 63.3 and that to his judgement we must finally stand or fall but do ambitiously seek the favour of men and call them their Benefactors Luke 22.25 Matth. 23.9 whatever become of the favour of God He is no child of God that preferreth not the Love of God before the Love of all the world He is no heir of heaven that preferreth not the fruition of God in Heaven before all worldly glory and felicity Col. 4.1 2 3. If ye be risen with Christ seek the things that are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God set your affection on things above not on things on the earth The Love of God is the summ of Holiness the Heart of the new creature the perfecting of it is the perfection and felicity of man 4. They are certainly unregenerate that Believe not the Gospel and take not Christ for their only Saviour and his promises of Grace and Glory as purchased by his Sacrifice and Merits for the Foundation of their hopes on which they resolve to trust their souls for pardon and for peace with God and endless Happiness Acts 4.12 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved 1 John 5.11 12. This is the record that God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life When our Happiness was in Adams hands he lost it It is now put into safer hands and Jesus Christ the second Adam is become our Treasury He is the Head of the Body from whom each member hath quickning influence Eph. 1.22 The life of Saints is in him as the life of the tree is in the root unseen Col. 4.3 4. Holiness is a Living unto God in Christ Though we are dead with Christ to the Law and to the world and to the flesh we are alive to God So Paul describeth our case in his own Gal. 2.19 20. I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Rom. 6.11 Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ is the Vine and we are the branches without him we can do nothing If you abide not in him and his words in you you are cast forth as a branch and withered which men gather and cast into the fire and they are burnt John 15.1 5 6 7. In Baptism you are married unto Christ as to the external solemnization and in spiritual Regeneration your Hearts do inwardly close with him entertain him and resign themselves unto him by Faith and Love and by a resolved Covenant become his own And therefore Baptism and the Lords Supper are called Sacraments because as Souldiers were wont by an Oath and listing their names and other engaging Ceremonies to oblige themselveâ— to their Commanders and their Vow waâ— called A Sacrament so do we engage ouâ— selves to Christ in the holy Vow or Covenanâ— entered in Baptism and renewed in the Lords Supper 5. That person is certainly unregenerate that never was convinced of a Necessity of Sanctification or never perceived an excellency and amiableness in Holiness of heart and life and loved it in others and desired it himself and never gave up himself to the Holy Ghost to be further sanctified in the use of his appointed means desiring to be perfect and willing to press forward towards the mark and to abound in grace Much less is that person renewed by the Holy Ghost that hateth Holiness and had rather be without it and would not walk in the fear and obedience of the Lord. The Spirit of Holiness is that Life by which Christ quickneth all that are his members He is no member of Christ that is without it Rom. 8.9 According to his Mercy he saveth us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3.5 6. That person is unregenerate that is under the Dominion of his fleshly desires and mindeth the things of the flesh above the things of the Spirit and hath not mortified it so far as not to live according to it A carnal mind and a carnal life are opposite to Holiness as Sickness is tâ— Health and Darkness unto Light Rom. 8.1 to 14. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus that walk not after the flesh but after the spirit For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace Because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if by the spirit ye mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders Drunkenness revellings and such like of which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God But the fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance against such there is no Law And they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Galat. 5.18 to 25. 7. Lastly that person is certainly unregenerate that so far valueth and loveth this world or any of the carnal accommodations therein as practically to prefer them before the Love of God and the Hopes of Everlasting Glory seeking it first with highest estimation and holding it fastest so as that he will rather venture his soul upon the threatned wrath of God then his body upon the wrath of man and will be religious no further then may consist with his prosperity or safety in the world and hath something that he cannot part with for Christ and heaven because it is dearer to him then they Let this man go never so far in Religion as long
terrible avenger and you may confess his judgements to be just but can you amicably embrace the consuming fire and love to dwell with the everlasting burnings O therefore as ever you would have the Love of God to animate and sanctifie and delight your souls study the greatness of his Love to you and labour with all possible speed and diligence to find that Christ by his spirit is within you It is the whole work of sanctification that Satan would destroy or weaken by your doubts And it is the whole work of sanctification that by Love would be promoted if you knew your interest in the Love of Christ 12. It is the knowledge of Christ dwelling in you and so of the special Love of God that must acquaint you with a life of holy Thankfulness and prase These highest and most acceptable duties will be out of your reach if Satan can hide from you that mercy which must be the chiefest matter of your Thanksgiving Will that soul be in tune for the high Praises of the Lord that thinks he meaneth to use him as an enemy Can you look for any cheerful thanksgiving from him that looks to lie in hell will he not rather cry with David Psal 6.5 In death there is no remembrance of thee in the grave who shall give thee thanks Psal 30.9 What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit shall the dust praise thee shall it declare thy truth shall the damned praise thee or shall they give thee thanks that must be scorched with the flames of thine indignation Can you expect that Joy should be in their hearts or cheerfulness in their countenances or praises in their mouths that think they are Reprobated to the fire of Hell Undoubtedly Satan is not ignorant that this is the way to deprive God of the Service which is most acceptable to him and you of the pleasures of so sweet a life And therefore he that envyeth both will do his worst to damp your spirits and breed uncomfortable doubts and fears and wrongful suspitions in your minds Whereas the Knowledge of your interest in Christ would be a continual storehouse of thanksgiving and praise and teach your hearts as well as your tongues to say with David Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile Be glad in the Lord and rejoyce ye Righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart Psal 32.1 2 11. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits Who forgiveth all thine iniquities Who healeth all thy diseases Who redeemeth thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies Psal 103.1 2 3 4. O Lord my God I cried unto thee and thou hast healed me O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the grave thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit sing unto the Lord O ye saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness for his anger endureth but for a moment in his favour is life Psal 30.2 3 4 5. Thanksgiving would be the very pulse and breath of your assurance of Christ dwelling in you You would say with Paul Eph. 1.3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in celestials in Christ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in Love having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved In whom we have redemption through his blood the remission of sins according to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded toward us c. Thus faith and assurance as they have an unspeakable store to work upon so it is natural to them to expatiate in the praise of our Redeemer and to delight in amplifications and commemorations of the ways of grace Just so doth Peter begin his first Epistle Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you who are kept by the power of Goâ— through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time wherein ye greatly rejoyce c. No wonder if the Heirs of Heaven be inclined to the language and the work of Heaven I think there are few of you that would not rejoice and by your speech and countenance express your joy if you had assurance but of the dignities and dominions of this world And can he choose but express his Joy and Thankfulness that hath assurance of the crown of life What fragrant thoughts should possess that mind that knoweth it self to be possessed by the Spirit of the living God! How thankfull will he be that knows he hath Christ and Heaven to be thankfull for What sweet delights should fill up the hours of that mans life that knows the son of God liveth in him and that he shall live in Joy with Christ for ever How gladly will he be exercised in the praises of his Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier that knows it must be his work for ever No wonder if this Joy be a stranger to their hearts that are strangers to Christ or strangers to their interest in his love No wonder if they have no hearts for these celestial works that have no part in the celestial inheritance or that know not that they have any part therein How can they joyfully give thanks for that which they know not that they have or ever shall have or have any probability to attain But to that man that is assured of Christ within him Heaven and Earth and all their store do offer themselves as the matter of his Thanks and do furnish him with provisions to feed his Praises What a shame is it that an assured heir of Heaven should be scant and barren in comfort to himself or in Thanks and Praise to Jesus Christ when he hath so full a heap of Love and mercy to fetch his motives from and hath two worlds to furnish him with the preciousest materials and hath no less then Infinite goodness even God himself to be the subject of his Praise O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good because his mercy endureth for ever what ever others do Let Israel say let the house of Aaron say let them that fear the Lord say that his mercy endureth for ever Psal 118.1 2 3 4. The
that are out of doors in the cold and rain deride you that are warm and dry withthin or they that are sick deride you for being well this will but make you more sensible of your felicity and pitty them that have added such folly to their wants so will it increase the sense of your felicity to find that you are possessed of so unspeakable a mercy which others have not so far tasted of as to know its worth If you have the feast you may bear the words of faâ—ished unhappy souls that speak against it because they taste it not If you are in your Fathers arms you may bear the scorns of such as stand without the door 2. If you have the contradictions aâ—â— opposition of the ignorant or malicious speâ—â—â—ing evil of things they know not and peâ—â—swading you from the ways of righteoâ—â—â—ness how easily may all this be born whâ—â— you have Christ within you to strengtheneâ—â— encourage you Had you but his exampâ—â— before you who is the author and finisher 〈◊〉 your faith who for the joy that was set bâ—fore him endured the Cross despising 〈◊〉 shame and endured such contradiction of sinâ—ners against himself it should keep you from being weary and fainting in your minds Heb. 12.2 3. But when you have 〈◊〉 presence his spirit and his help how mucâ— should it corroborate and confirm you 3. How easily may you bear the slander of your own or the Gospels enemies as lonâ— as you are sure of your interest in Christ How easily may you suffer them to call yoâ— by their own names pestilent fellows 〈◊〉 movers of sedition among the People ringleadâ—ers of a Sect prophaners of the Temple as 〈◊〉 was called Act. 24.5 6. as long as you have Christ within you that was called Beelzebub for you sakes Matth. 10 25 Your Judge that must finally decide the case is your dearest friend and dwelleth in you 〈◊〉 It is he that will justifie you who is he that condemneth you Rom. 8.33 34. His approbation is your life and comfort How inconsiderable is it as to your own felicity what mortal worms shall say or think of you What if they call you all that is naught and stain your names and obscure your innocency and make others believe the falsest accusations that Satan can use their tongues to utter of you You have enough against all this within you What if you go for hypocrites or factious or what malignity can call you until the day of Judgement As long as you have so good security of being then fully cleared of all and your righteousness vindicated by your Judge how easily may you now bear the slanders of men that prove themselves wicked by falsly affirming it of you You can endure to be called Poor so you be not poor and to be called sick as long as you are well And you may well endure to be called Proud while you are Humble and factious while you are the Lovers of Vnity and Peace or Hypocrites while you are sincere How boldly may you say with the Prophet Isaiah 50.7 8 9. The Lord God will help me therefore shall I not be confounded therefore have I set my face like a flint and I know that I shall not be ashamed He is near that justifieth me Who will contend with me let us stand together Who is mine adversary Let him come near to me Behold the Lord God will help me who is he that shall condemn me Lo they shall all wax old as a garment the moth shall eat them up Had you but Pauls assurance and experience of Christ dwelling in you you might imitate him in a holy contempt of all the slanders and revilings of the world 1 Cor. 4.9 10 11 12 13. For I think that God hath set forth us the Apostles last as it were men appointed to death For we are made a spectacle to the world and to Angels and to men We are fools for Christs sake but ye are wise in Christ We are weak but ye are strong Ye are honourable but we are despised Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffetted and have no certain dwelling place and labour working with our own hands being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it being defamed we intreate We are made as the filth of the world and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day Thus may we do and suffer all things through Christ that strengtheneth us Phil. 4.13 What matter is it what men call us if God call us his children and friends and Christ be not ashamed to call us Brethren With us â—t will be a very small thing to be judged of man while we know the Lord that must judge 〈◊〉 is on our side 1 Cor. 4.3 4. It lyeth not â—n our hands to justifie our selves It is Christ that hath undertaken to answer for â—s and made it the work of his office to â—ustifie us and to him we may boldly and â—omfortably leave it and let all the accusers â—repare their charge and deal with him â—nd do their worst 4. How easily may you bear imprisonment banishment or other persecution as â—ong as you are assured of the Love of Christ Can you fear to dwell where Christ â—wells with you If he will go with you â—hrough fire and water what need you fear â—hose owning appropriating words will make us venture upon the greatest perils Fear not for I have Redeemed thee I have â—alled thee by thy name thou art mine When â—hou passest through the waters I will be with â—hee and through the rivers they shall not â—verflow thee When thou walkest through the â—ire thou shalt not be burnt For I am the Lord thy God the Holy one of Israel thy Saviour Who would not with Peter cast â—imself into the Sea or walk with confidence upon the waters if Christ be there and call us to him Matth. 14.28 29. John 21.7 The eleventh chapter to the Hebrews doth recapitulate the victories of faith and shew us what the Hope of unseen things can cause Believers patiently to undergo How cheerfully will he endure the foulest way that is assured to come safe to such a home What will a man stick at that knows he is following Christ to Heaven and knoweth that he shall reign with him when he hath suffered with him 2 Tim. 2.12 Who wilâ— refuse blood letting that is assured before-hand that it shall procure his health He is unworthy of Christ and of salvation that thinks any thing in the world too good to lose for them Matth. 10.37 What matter is it whether Death find us in honour or dishonour in our own Countrey or in another at liberty or in prison so we are sure it find us not in a state of death Who would not rather pass to Glory by as straight a way as John Baptist Stephen or other Martyrâ— did then with their persecutors to prosper in the way to misery Who can
What fears should disquiet him that is sure to escape the wrath of God What wants should trouble him that knoweth he is an heir of Heaven Why should the indignation or threatnings of man be any temptation to turn him out of the way of duty or dismay his mind who knoweth that they can but kill the body and dismiss the soul into his blessed presence whom it loveth and laboureth and longs to see what should inordinately grieve that man that is certain of eternal Joy What else should he thirst for that hath in him the well of living waters springing up to everlasting life Joh. 4.14 And what should deprive that man of comfort that knoweth he hath the Comforter within him and shall be for ever comforted with his masters joy And what should break the Peace and Patience of him that is assured of Everlasting Rest If the assurance of a happy death cannot make it welcome and cannot make affliction easie and fill our lives with the Joyes of Hope I know not what can do it But alas for those poor souls that know not whither death will send them or at least have not good grounds of hope what wonder if through the fear of death they be all their life time subject unto bondage Heb. 2.14 Methinks in the midst of their wealth and pleasure they should not be so stupid as to forget the millions that are gone before them that lately were as jovial and secure as they and how short their dreaming feast will be Methinks all the beauty of their fleshly Idols should be blasted with those nipping frosts and storms that in their serious forethoughts come in upon them from the black and dreadful regions of death Methinks at any time it should damp their mirth and allay the ebullition of their phrenetick blood to remember For all this I must die and it may be this night that the fool must deliver up his soul and then whose shall those things be which he hath provided Luk. 12.19 20. Then who shall be the Lord and who the Knight or Gentleman and who shall wear the gay attire and who shall domineer and say Our will shall be done anâ— thus we will have it Then where is thâ— pleasure of lust and merry company anâ— meat drink and sports Methinks Soloâ—mons memento Eccles 11.9 should brinâ— them to themselves Rejoyce O young maâ— in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee iâ— the days of thy youth and walk in the wayâ— of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes 〈◊〉 but know thou that for all these things Goâ— will bring thee into judgement And as thâ— sound of these words I must shortly die methinks should be always in your ears so in reason the Question Whether must I then go should be always aâ— it were before your eyes till your soulâ— have received a satisfactory answer to it O what an amazing dreadful thing it is when an unsanctified unprepared soul must say I must depart from earth but I know not whither I know not whether unto Heaven or Hell Here I am now but where must I be for ever When men believe that their next habitation must be everlasting methinks the Question Whether must I goe should be day and night upon their minds till they can say upon good grounds I shall go to the blessed presence of the Lord O had you but the hearts of men within you methinks the sense of this one Question Whither must I go when I leave â—he flesh should so possess you that it should give your souls no rest till you were â—ble to say We shall be with Christ because he dwelleth in us here and hath sealed us and given us the earnest of his spirit or at least till you have good hopes of this and have done your best to make it sure And thus I have told you of how great importance it is to believers to attain assurance of the love of God and to know that Christ abideth in them And now I think you will confess I have proved the necessity of Self-knowledge both to the unregenerate and the regenerate though in several degrees and having opened the disease and shewed you the need of a remedy I am next to direct you in the application for the cure I Doubt not but there are many of the Hearers that by this time are desirous to be instructed how this self knowledge may be attained For whose satsfaction and for the reducing of all that hath been spoken into practise I shall next acquaint you with the Hinderances of Self-knowledge the removing of them being not the least point in the cure and with the Positive Directions to be practised for the attainment of it And because the Hinderances and Helps are contrary I shall open both together as we go on The Hinderances of self knowledge are some of them without us and some within us and so must be the Helps I. The external Hinderances are these 1. The failing of Ministers in their part of the work through unskilfulness or unfaithfulness is a great cause that so many are ignorant of themselves They are the Lights of the world and if they are ecâ—lipsed or put under a bushell if they are darkened by the snuff of their own corruptions or if they feed not their light by the oile of diligent studies and other endeavours or if they will not go â—long with men into the dark and unknown corners of the heart what wonder if mens hearts remain in darkness when those â—hat by office are appointed to afford them Light do fail them It is not a general dull discourse or critical observations upon words or the subtile decision of some nice and curious questions of the schools though these may be useful to their proper ends nor is it a neat and well composed speech about some other distant matters that is like to acquaint a sinner with himself How many sermons may we hear that to others ends are not unprofitable that are levelled at some mark or other that is very far from the Hearers hearts and therefore are never like to convince them or prick them or open and convert them And if our congregations were in such a case as that they needed no closer quickening work such preaching might be born with and commended But when so many usually sit before us that must shortly dye and are unprepared and that are condemned by the Law of God and must be pardoned or finally condemned that must be saved from their sins that they may be saved from everlasting misery I think it is time for us to talk to them of such things as most concern them and that in such a matter as may most effectually convince awake and change them When we come to them on their sick-beds we talk not then to them of distant or impertinent things oâ— words or forms or parties or by-opinions but of the state of their souls anâ— their appearing before the Lord and hoâ—
they may be ready that death may b◠both safe and comfortable to them 〈◊〉 though a superstitious miserable fellow that knoweth no better things himself may talk to the sick of beads and relicts and o◠being on this side or that for this ceremony or the other and may think to conjure the unholy spirit out of him by some affected words of devotions uttered from a graceless senseless heart or to command him out by Papal authority as if they would charm his soul to heaven by saying ove◠some lifeless forms and using the Gospel 〈◊〉 a spell Yet Ministers indeed that know themselves what Faith and what Repentance is and what it is to be regenerate and to be prepared to die do know that they have other work to do The Gospe◠offereth men their Choice whether they will have Holiness or sin and be ruled by Christ or by their fleshly lusts and so whether they will have spiritual or carnal eternal or transitory Joys And our work is to perswade them to make that choice which will be their Happiness if we can prevail and which eternal Joy depends upon whether we come to them in sickness or in health this is our business with them A man that is ready to be drowned is not at leisure for a song or dance And a man that is ready to be damned methinks should not find himself at leisure to hear a man shew his wit and reading only if not his folly and malice against a life of Holiness Nor should you think that suitable to such mens case that doth not evidently tend to save them But alas how often have we heard such sermons as tend more to diversion than direction to fill their minds with other matters and find men something else to think on lest they should study themselves and know their misery And whereas there may be so much ingenuity in the sinner as to perceive that the discourse of idle tongues or the reading of a Romance is unsuitable to one in his condition and therefore will not by such toyes as these be called off from the consideration of his ways A preacher that seems to speak religiously by a sapeless dry impertinent discourse that 's called a sermon may more plausibly and easily divert him And has conscience will more quietly suffer him to be taken off the necessary care of his salvation by something that is like it and pretends to do the work as well then by the grosser avocations or the scorns of fools And he will more tamely be turned from Religion by something that is called Religion and which he hopes may serve the turn then by open wickedness or impious defiance of God and Reason But how oft do we hear applauded Sermons which force us in compassion to mens souls to think O what 〈◊〉 all this to the opening a sinners heart unto himself shewing him his unregenerate state What 's this to the conviction of a self-deluding soul that is passing unto Hell with the confident expectations of Heaven To the opening of mens eyes and turning them from darkness unto light and from the power of Satan unto God! what 's this to shew men their undone condition and the absolute necessity of Christ and of renewing grace what is in this to lead men up from earth to heaven and to acquaint them with the unseen world and to help them to the life of faith and love and to the mortifying and the pardon of their sins How little skil have many miserable preachers in the searching of the heart and helping men to know themselves whether Christ be in them or whether they be reprobates and how little care and diligence is used by them to call men to the tryal and help them in the examining and judging of themselves as if it were a work of no necessity They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly saying Peace Peace when there is no Peace saith the Lord Jer. 6.14 And Ezek. 13.10 11 12. Because even because they have seduced my people saying Peace and there was no peace and one built up a wall and lo others dawbed 〈◊〉 with untempered morter say to them that dawb it with untempered morter that it shall fall there shall be an overflowing showre and ye O great hailstones shall fall and a stormy wind shall rend it Lo when the wall is faln shall it not be said unto you Where is the dawbing wherewith ye dawbed it It is a plain and terrible passage Prov. 24.24 He that saith to the wicked Thou art Righteous him shall the people curse natives shall abhor him Such injustice in a Judge or witnesses is odious that determine but in order to temporal rewards on punishments Lev 19.15 Prov. 18.5 28.21 But in a messenger that professeth to speak to men in the name of God and in the stead of Jesus Christ when the determination hath respect to the consciences of men and to their endless joy or torment how odious and horrid a crime must it be esteemed to perswade the wicked that he is Righteous or to speak that which tendeth to perswade him of it though not in open plain expressions what perfidious dealing is this against the Holy God! what an abuse of our Redeemer that his pretended messengers shall make him seem to judge clean contrary to his Holiness and to his Law and to the Judgement which indeed he passeth and will pass on all that live and die unsanctified What vile deceit and cruelty against the souls of men are such Preachers guilty of that would make them believe that all is well with them or that their state is safe or tolerable till they must find it otherwise to their woe when diseased souls have but a short and limited time allowed them for their cure that a man shall come to them as in the name of their Physition and tell them that they are pretty well and need not make so much ado about the business and thus keep them from their only help till it be too late what shame what punishment can be too great for such a wretch when the neglect and making light of Christ and his salvation is the common road to Hell Heb. 2.3 Matth. 22.5 and most men perish because they value not and use not the necessary means of their recovery for a man in the name of a minister of the Gospel to cheat them into such undervaluings and neglects as are like to prove their condemnation what is this but to play the Minister of Satan and to do his work in the name and garb of a minister of Christ It is damnable treachery against Christ and against the peoples souls to hide their misery when it is your office to reveal it and to let people deceive themselves in the matters of Salvation and not to labour diligently to undeceive them and to see them live upon presumption and ungrounded hopes and not to labour with faithful
not forbear any means that tend to the getting of true grace If you have it and know it not the same means for the most part may increase it which you use to get it And if you have it not when it is thought you have it the means may work it that that are intended to increase it Do all that you can to Repent Believe and Love God and Live to him whether you ever did these before or not But yet let the judgement of your faithful Pastors the officers and experienced servants of the Lord keep of despondency and despair that would disable you from the use of means and would weaken your hands and make you sit down in unprofitable complaints and give up all as hopeless Let their judgement quiet you in the way of duty Lean on them in the dark till you come into the light Yea be glad that you have so much encouragement and hope from those that are by Christ appointed to subserve the spirit in the comforting as well as the sanctifying work and to shew to man his uprightness and to say to the Righteous It shall be well with him Isa 3.10 I tell you all the wealth of the world is not worth even this much ground of comfort Live upon this much till by diligent attendance and waiting on the spirit of grace and comfort you can get higher 2. THE second extrinsical Hinderance of self-knowledge is Prosperity and the Flattery that usually attendeth it The one disposeth men to be deceived and the other putteth the hood over their eyes and tells them the falshoods which deceive them When men prosper in the world their â—inds are lifted up with their estates and â—hey can hardly believe that they are inâ—eed so ill while they feel themselves so â—ell and that so much misery is joyned with â—o much content and pleasure They cannot â—aste the bitterness of their sin and Gods displeasure while the sweetness of worldly deâ—â—ghts honours is in their mouths The Rich â—an in Luk. 16. its like would have given 〈◊〉 man but an unwelcome entertainment â—hat had come to tell him that within a few days or years he should lie in hell and not â—e able to get a drop of water to cool his â—ongue What need we doubt of that when his five Brethren that he left on earth behind him would not be perswaded to know their danger of those flames and to use the necessary means to scape them though one had come to them from the dead Luk. 16.31 You plead against their feeling when you tell them of their misery when they feel prosperity Their fleshly appetite and sense which is in them the reigning faculty doth tell them they are well and happy and that which must confute this and tell them they are miserable must be an inward sense of the sin and diseases of their souls and a foreseeing Faith that must look before theâ— unto eternity and fetch its proofs froâ— the word of God and fetch its motive from another world And alas they havâ— no such inward sense nor no such Faith 〈◊〉 can prevail against their their sensual feelâ—ing And therefore it is a matter of lamenâ—table difficulty to make a prospering sinneâ— well acquainted with his misery He 〈◊〉 drunken with fleshly pleasures and conâ—tentments And when the drink is in a mans head you can hardly make him sensiâ—ble of his misery though he be a beggar or a prisoner or were to die within a week The Devil is therefore willing to reach hiâ— servants as full a cup of prosperity as hâ— can that their drunkenness may keep them from the true use of their reason Foâ— if they once come to themselves they wilâ— come home to God When misery brought the Prodigal to himself he resolveth presently of going to his Father Luk. 15. The bustle of his worldly business and the chattering vain discourse that is in his ears and the mirth and sport that takes him up will not allow him so much of reason as seriously to consider of his souls condition Alas when poor men that must labour all day for food and â—ayment can find some time for serious converse with God and with their Consciences the Great ones of the world have â—o such leisure How many are going â—pace towards Hell and say they cannot â—ave while to bethink themselves what â—ay they are in or whether it is that they are going That which they have all their time for they have no time for because they have no hearts for it Prosperity doth so please their flesh that they can give no heed to conscience or to reason It doth so charm their minds and enslave their wills to sense and appetite that they cannot abide to be so Melancholy is to prepare for death and judgement or to consider seriously how this will relish with them at the end nor scare to remember that they are men that should rule their senses and be ruled by God and that have another life to live And as Prosperity in it self is so great a Hinderance to the knowledge of your selves so Flatterers that are the flies of summer are always ready to blow upon the prosperous and increase the danger What miserable men are extolled as wise and virtuous and Religious if they be but Rich and Great Their vices are masked or extenuated and made but little human frailties Though they were swinish glutâ—tons or drunkards or filthy fornicatorâ— or meer flesh-pleasing sensual bruits thaâ— waste most of their lives in ease and sports and eating and drinking and such delights yet with their flatterers all these shall gâ— for prudent pious worthy persons if they can but seek when they have done to mock God and their consciences with somâ— lip-service and lifeless carcass of Religion O happy men if God would judge of them as their flatterers do and would make aâ— small a matter of their wickedness and as great a matter of their out-side Hypocritical heartless worship But they must be greater then men or Angels and higher then either earth or Heaven before God will flatter them When they can make him afraid of their high looks or threatnings or when they can him put in Hope of rising by their preferment then they may look that he should comply with their parasites and complement with his enemies and justifie the ungodly but not till then O did they consider how little flattery doth secure them and how little the Judge of all the world regards their worldly pompe and splendor yea how greatly â—heir greatness doth aggravate their sin and â—isery they would frown their flatterers out â—f doors and call for plain and faithful dealâ—â—s Of all the miseries of worldly greatness â—â—is is not the least that usually such want â—â—e necessary blessing of a glass that will â—â—uly shew them their faces of a friend at â—and that will deal plainly and justly with their souls Who tells them plainly of the odiousness and bitter