to the same excess of riot will then be manifested to be men of Integrity and Humility and to have declined the prophane courses of others not out of foolish preciseness or needless scrupulosity or humoursomeness but out of Conscience to the Commands of God Their Faith and Love and Sincerity will be found to their praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus When Christ who is our Life shall appear then shall ye appear with him in Glory 1 Pet. 1.7 They who are now despised and reproached and trampled on as the dirt and dung and filth of the Earth will then be manifested to be Gods Jewels Christs Glory and the Temples of the Holy Ghost When Christ who is our Life shall appear we shall appear with him in Glory Col. 3.4 Then there will be a manifestation of the Sons of God Rom. 8.19 Bad men will then be manifested to be the Servants of Unrighteousness the Children of the Devil the Slaves and Vassals of Corruption and notwithstanding all their glorious Profession and specious Pretences to have been but as a painted Sepulchre gaudy without and rottenness within or as a curious Chimney-piece without white and shining but within full of soot and blackness He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the thoughts of the heart 2. Of the Lord Jesus Christ We read of the appearing of Christ at that day 1 Pet. 1.7 Col. 3.4 He was vail'd and hid and obscured when on Earth but then he shall be reveal'd and discover'd to the whole World When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven 2 Thess 1.7 And it will be a glorious Revelation Looking for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Tit. 2.13 In this World he appeared as the Son of man as one born of a Woman and in the form of a Servant but then he shall appear as the Son of God as the only begotten of the Father and as the Head of Principalities and Powers and as the Heir of all things Matth. 16.27 For the Son of Man shall come in the Glory of his Father with his Angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works He shall come in the Glory of his Father i. e. in that Glory and Honour which is proper and peculiar to the Divine Nature At his first appearing a weak mortal man was his Harbinger Mat. 3.3 4. to prepare his way before him But at his second appearing a mighty immortal Arch-Angel shall be his fore-runner and go before him For the Lord himself shall descend with a shout with the voice of the Arch-Angel and with the Trump of God 1 Thess 4.16 At his first appearing he was accompanied with a few poor mean Fishermen but at his second appearing he shall be attended with his mighty Angels 2 Thess 1.7 With all his holy Angels Matth. 6.27 With the thousand thousand that are before him and the ten thousand times ten thousand that minister to him At his first appearing he came as a Servant to minister unto others and to be abased He came riding upon an Asse Matth. 20.5 28. But at his second appearing he shall come in the Clouds of Heaven as his Chariot Matth. 26.61 To be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe And then he shall appear as a Lord some think it 's therefore called the Lords-day 2 Pet. 3.10 At his first appearing he appeared wholly as a Saviour and Redeemer When he appeared to the World the Philanthropy or kindness of God to man appeared Titus 3.4 And the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation appeared Titus 2.11 But then he shall appear as a Judge full of Fire and Fury and Wrath against his Enemies The Kings and Captains and Nobles will call to the Rocks to fall on them and to the Mountains to cover them from the wrath of the Lamb when that great day of his Wrath is come Rev. 6.16 17. At first he appeared as a Sinner In the likeness of sinful flesh Rom. 8.3 He was numbred among the Transgressors The Lord laid on him the inquity of us all Isa 53.12 He was called a Samaritan and one that had a Devil Joh. 10. A Wine-bibber and a Glutton a Friend of Publicans and Sinners Joh. 8.48 Matth. 11.19 A Traytour against Caesar Joh. 19.12 One guilty of Blasphemy against God Matth. 26.65 A Conjurer and one in Compact and Covenant with the Devil Matth. 12.24 But his second appearing will be without any such likeness of sinful Flesh or imputation of sin by God or reputation of a Sinner among men But unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto Salvation Heb. 9. ult 2. There will be at that day a manifestation of things The Books that are now sealed up will then be opened Rev. 20.12 The Book of the Divine Decrees will then be unclasped and the Names written in the Lambs Book of Life will then be visible and legible to all And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life Rev. 20.12 All the Divine Providences in time will be manifest then will the Divine Purpose from eternity as now the Divine Purpose is manifest by the Divine Providence The Book of Divine Providences will then be opened and all the rare curious Contrivances thereof unfolded the agreement of Providence with the Promises as well as with the eternal Purpose will then be apparent The History of the whole World will then be read by the Saints in one entire Volume Now we see a little of Gods Wisdom and Power and Faithfulness in one Providence and a little in another and a little in a third yea we are so blind and Providences often so dark that through our ignorance and unbelief God loseth much of the Glory due to him for them and we much of the comfort we might receive by them but then we shall with strengthened and enlarged Understandings discern the whole Series Method and Contexture of Divine Providences together and how by a powerful wise gracious Government all things conspired and combin'd and wrought together for our everlasting good Rom. 8. 28. It 's one thing to see a rich piece of Arras with a curious story wrought in it by parcels and pieces and another thing to see it all together hung up and to be seen all at once with one view The Book of Conscience will then be opened Though now wicked men blot and blur this Book by their wilful Presumptuous sins that they cannot read it though they darken their Eyes and stiffen their Wills and harden their Hearts and will not read it yet then they shall have the Book of Conscience representing to them in large though black yea bloody Characters all their atheistical Impieties Enormities Drunkenness Revellings Debaucheries Hypocrisies Blasphemies and they shall be forced to
If some kind of Food be wanting another kind may possibly do as well so if some sort of Drugs or Herbs for Physick be wanting there may be others found of the same Virtue and Operation but if once the Soul be sentenced to depart from Christ there is nothing to compensate this loss He is the Saviour and indeed the only Saviour Act. 4.12 He is the Mediator between a Righteous God and a guilty Creature and indeed the only Mediator 1 Tim. 2.5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus CHAP. V. The reasons of the Sinners privative Punishment Thirdly I Proceed to the Reasons of this Doctrine and shall name but two 1. Wicked men in the other world shall be sentenced to depart from Christ because of their wickedness or unworthiness of his presence The Judge himself gives this Reason in the Text vers 42 43. For I was hungry and ye gave me no meat c. Sin is the great Wall of Partition between God and his Creatures Evil cannot stand in thy sight neither canst thou behold the works of Iniquity Psal 5. They must lose the light of his Countenance who never minded the light of his Commandments the holy Jesus cannot abide the Company of unholy Creatures Shall the Throne of Iniquity have fellowship with thee No it may not it cannot Psal 94.20 It 's contrary to his Honour who hath threatned their banishment from him and it 's contrary to his Nature who hates their Company If God depart from his own people in this world in part and for a time it is for their sins Your Iniquities separate between me and your Souls Isa 59.2 Thus they are the Cloud that interpose between the Soul and the Sun of Righteousness Isa 44.22 and hinder the light of his Favour from shining on us Job knew and acknowledged this in Job 13.24 25 26. Why hidest thou thy Face Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the sins of my youth And if wicked men depart totally and eternally from God in the other World it is for their sins Depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity I know you not Matth. 7.23 Luke 13.27 Departure from Christ is the Wages which the Workers of Iniquity earn Deeds of darkness merit utter darkness Wicked men now desire Christ to depart from them They besought him to depart out of their Coasts Matth. 8. ult But what is now their Pleasure shall then be their Punishment He will go from them who bid him be gone and hide his Face for ever from those who turn their backs upon him in time He that prepares for Sinners the Torments of Hell will not bestow on them the Joys of Heaven 2. Because of their unfitness for the presence of Christ A carnal heart cannot savour a spiritual Heaven The vitiated nature of man cares not for the pleasures joyn'd with the holiness of the Coelestial Paradise When Angels kept not their first Estate they left their own Habitation Jude vers 6. As soon as they lost their primitive Purity they lost the place of their Glory and Felicity When once they turn'd haters of God and Holiness of their own accord they forsook Heaven Distemper'd Palats cannot rellish the choicest Dainties How can the wicked delight in God which is the Heaven of Heaven who have in them a predominant enmity against him Heb. 12.14 Follow after holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. It 's holiness that makes the Soul sit and meet for Heaven Col. 1.12 Giving thanks unto the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light The Blind are as capable of seeing and the Deaf of hearing and the Dead of eating and drinking as wicked men are of seeing God as he is and hearing the melodious Songs of Saints and Angels and of feeding of the Tree of Life that groweth in the midst of Paradise and of drinking of the pure Water that floweth from the Throne of God and the Lamb. If the Tabernacle on Earth wherein are the Saints of God and holy Institutions of Christ and the Divine Worship for four or five hours in a week be a Prison to earthly carnal men surely the Temple in Heaven wherein is the holy One of Israel in the greatest manifestion of his holiness holy Angels perfect Spirits pure Service of the blessed God without interruption or cessation would be a Purgatory yea an Hell to them Communion with God is impossible in natura rei without conformity to him 2 Cor. 6.14 They tell a broad lye who say They have fellowship with God here and walk after their own lusts 1 Joh. 1.6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked Our delight in God is ever proportionable to our desires of him Now wicked men desiring above all things the absence yea the dethroning of God can never take any delight in his presence though they should be admitted thereunto If suitableness be wanting that which is never so excellent is no way joyous or pleasant to us All Creatures delight only in what is suitable to their natures Barzillai refused the pleasures of Davids Court because they were so unsuitable to an old man that they would be no pleasures to him he could not tast their Meat nor hear their Musick So all the delights of the Coelestial Court would be no delights because of their unsuitableness to sinful sensual natures Ungodly men could not rellish the spiritual Dainties at the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb nor hear with pleasure the heavenly Quire singing the Song of Moses and the Lamb. I grant that wicked men are naturally capable of Heaven as they are rational Creatures but they are morally uncapable as they are predominantly carnal and sinful so they want that holiness which should prepare and dispose and fit them for Heaven CHAP. VI. Vses concerning the hainous nature of Sin and grievous misery of Sinners Vse I Shall now apply this Doctrine It may be useful by way of Information and by way of Exhortation 1. By way of Information 1. It may inform us If the Wicked in the other World shall be banished the presence of Christ then how hainous is the nature of Sin and how odious to God God is love it self and delights in Mercy yea takes pleasure in the Prosperity of men Joh. 1.4 In him was life and the life was the light of men Micah 7.18 Who is a God like unto thee who pardoneth Iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the Remnant of his Heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy Therefore it must be some grievous Crime and somewhat which is very offensive to him that provokes him to sentence them to an eternal banishment from him O how horrid a thing is Sin It brings all evil Rom. 2.7 8. And deprives of all good Isa 59.2 It s formal nature is a
walk and converse with the blessed and glorious God Is not his Law worth observing his Glory worth advancing and his Service worth minding and his Love worth accepting when he can make thee miserable or happy with a word in an instant when thou and all thou hast are in his hand every moment to be disposed of for Good or Evil altogether at his Pleasure when he can with the breath of his Nostrils with the blast of his Lips with a glance of his Eye send thee to Hell where the Worm never dieth and the Fire never goeth out Friend consider it Is it not good advice to wish thee to sue and seek to him to pray to and please him upon whom thine unchangeable Felicity or Misery dependeth and who shall judge thee to thine everlasting state of Life or Death Is it not good to have the King thy Friend how many Pleasures may he do thee and how many Favours may he bestow on thee But how much better is it to have the King of Kings thy Friend What Pleasure is there which he cannot do thee what Favour which he cannot bestow on thee He can give thee Earth Heaven Riches Honours Pleasures Life Health Food Raiment Friends Relations his Day his Word his Ordinances his Love his Image his Peace his Joy his Spirit his Son Himself every Good any Good all Good O how blessed is he that hath this God! But Reader wouldst thou have all these without so much as asking for them We say they are poor Favours that are not worth asking Sure I am these Mercies are of more value than thine Understanding can conceive and therefore must deserve more Prayers and Tears and Groans for them than thou art capable of giving Do not any day upon any pretence omit to offer up thy Morning and Evening Sacrifices Remember so often as thou neglectest Morning-Prayer so often thou art all the day naked destitute of thy spiritual Guard and exposed to all manner of Evils and Enemies and dost fore-speak thy self an evil Day and so often as thou omittest Evening-Prayer thou presumest upon sleep and rest and safety without God's leave and fore-speakest thy self an evil Night What did Thomas lose by one Omission Jesus appeared the first day of the week to his Disciples but Thomas saith the Text was not there Joh. 20.24 But what is the issue of this Omission truly by his neglecting this opportunity of confirming his Faith he falls into a desperate fit of Unbelief When the Apostles told him That they had seen the Lord He presently answers Except I shall see in his hands the print of the Nails and put my finger into the print of the Nails and thrust my hand into his side I will not believe Joh. 20.24 25. Ah what had become of Thomas if infinite Majesty had not stooped to recover him 2. Take heed of internal Omissions In the next place I advise thee to look seriously to the manner of thy performances to be sure that thou worship God with thy Heart and Affections This is the chief and substance and heart of thy Performances according to which they shall be accepted or not In all thy Addresses draw nigh to God with an humble Faith and Confidence as to a Father ready able and willing to supply all thy wants and answer all thy Doubts and to grant all thy Prayers and Desires as also with a chearful reverence and awfulness as to a God infinite in his Being and in all his Perfections between whom and thee a poor worm there is an infinite distance In every Duty Let thy Faith in Christ thy Love to God and thy Repentance from dead Works be exercised Hereby thy Duties will be more comfortable to thy self Men that perform Duties in a round out of custom or for fashion-sake have no pleasure therein are backward to them untoward at them and careless after them They come to them with trouble as to that to which their hearts have a reluctancy and go from them with joy as from that which was burdensome and tedious to them But when men pray with a sense of their wants and beg mercy with hope in the blood of Christ and have their love and joy acted in their Duties how sweetly do they come off nay how pleasant are they in the very performance of them Communion with God in them brings peace and comfort indeed Now Reader do I advise thee to thy hurt when I advise thee to the life of a Saint to the life of an Angel to a life of love and joy and delight in the Father of Mercies and God of all Consolations Is not this Life the Suburbs the Earnest the First-fruits of the life of the Blessed of the life of those heavenly Courtiers who bathe themselves without intermission in Springs of Joy and in Rivers of Pleasures And by this care of thine about the manner of performing thy Duties they will be the more acceptable to God He commands the Heart Prov. 23.26 delights in truth in the inward parts Psal 51. and is nigh to them that call upon him in truth Psal 34. How pleasing would it be to thee to know thy prayers and readings to be pleasing to God Jer. 30.21 And I will cause him to draw near and to approach unto me i. e. with welcome and acceptance for who is this that engageth his heart to approach unto me If thou bring thy Heart to a Duty God will bring his Ear to hear thee In the prosecution of this Use I shall first lay down some Arguments or Motives to inforce it 2. Lay down the cause of these Omissions which are so frequent among us 3. Prescribe somewhat for the Cure and Remedy thereof CHAP. XXXIV Arguments against Omissions The positiveness of our Rule and of Gods Mercies I Begin with the first viz. The Arguments to move us to mind positive Duties 1. Consider the Law which God hath given us for the Rule of our Lives is both positive and negative and therefore our Obedience must be such What need positive Precepts but to require positive Practices Single Prohibitions would have sufficed for a negative Religion The Law is holy in its Commands that immediately concern God just in what it commands concerning our Neighbours and good in what it commands concerning our selves Rom. 7.12 Look to the Moral Law every negative command hath a positive Precept Take the Prophets all along that speak in the Name of the Lord and we shall find that they still enjoyn Duty as well as forbid Sin Deut. 12.29 to the end Take heed that thou be not snared by following the Nations that are destroyed before thee and that thou inquire not after their gods saying How did these Nations serve their gods even so will I do likewise Here is Sin forbidden But mark also Duty is commanded What thing soever I command you observe to do it thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it Nay a Copy of this Law both positive
and honoured with his Masters own happiness Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. No less will content his large liberal heart than his own joy for his holy Ones a joy so great that it cannot enter into them their narrow Vessels can never hold such an Ocean therefore they must enter into it and be immerst and swallow'd up as it were in this vast Sea of Pleasure and Solace But Reader consider in this Chapter before the Text vers 34. What will be the profit of this sort of Piety how infinitely the gains will exceed the pains were they ten thousand times more than they can be Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World For I was hungry and ye gave me meat c. How doth every word speak Love and Life every syllable drop Myrh and Mercy In which we may observe the welcome those that are fruitful Christians shall find from Christ in the other World We have 1. The estate they shall be invested with and that is a Kingdom 2. Their Title to it and that is by Inhetance from their Father Ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom 3. It s preparation for them Prepared for you from the Foundation of the World 4. Their formal introduction into it Come ye blessed of my Father 5. The qualification of the persons that shall inherit this Kingdom I was hungry and ye fed me such as feed the Hungry and cloath the Naked 1. Observe Reader for thine encouragement to mind positive Holiness the estate thy loving and bountiful Father hath provided for thee when thou comest to age It 's no less than a Kingdom thou shalt be a King now and enjoy a Kingdom then He hath made us Kings and Priests unto God Rev. 1.6 with Palms in thy hand Rev. 7.9 of which the door of the Holy of Holies was made 1 Kings 6.33 an emblem of perfect Victory over all thine enemies and Robes on thy back Rev. 19.8 of perfect Purity spotless Innocency and Meridian Glory and a Crown on thy Head James 1.12 such a Crown as will never wear never waste but endure and therefore called Incorruptible 1 Cor. 9.25 and reign with Christ for ever and ever Reader hath a Kingdom nothing of amiableness in it to allure thee What fighting and killing and swearing and forswearing is there for an earthly Kingdom O what shouldst thou not do for an heavenly Kindgom Where 1. Is the greatest Glory a far more exceeding Weight of it 2 Cor. 5.17 18. 2. The strongest Security a Kingdom that cannot be shaken Heb. 11. No Devil or subtile Serpent can crawl into the Coelestial Paradise 3. The brightest Splendor transparent as Christal Rev. 21. Wherein the Inhabitants shall shine as the Sun and much more lustrously Matth. 13. 4. The highest Attendants Cherubims and Seraphims standing as Servants or Porters at the twelve Gates of the City Rev. 21.12 5. The greatest Power the Saints shall inherit all things Rev. 12. Judge that World which now censureth and judgeth them 1 Cor. 6.2 3. 6. the most pure and perfect satisfaction in every power and part of Soul and Body There is fulness of Joy and rivers of Pleasures and vers 7. eternity to compleat their felicity 2 Pet. 1.11 So an entrance shall be administred into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2. The Title Inherit the Kingdom It comes to them not by their Purchase but by Christs Purchase therefore called the purchased Possession Ephes 1.14 Vntil the Redemption of the purchased Possession It comes not to them by their goodness but by Gods Gift Fear not little Flock it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you a Kingdom Luk. 12.32 It comes not to them by their Obedience but by Inheritance from their Father Christ is Gods natural Son and Heir of all things by him Believers are Gods adopted Children Gal. 3.26 Ye are all the Children of God through Faith in Jesus Christ and if Sons then Heirs Heirs of God and Joynt-Heirs with Christ Rom. 8.17 3. It s preparation for them from the Foundation of the World When God first erected the stately Fabrick of Heaven and Earth probably he made the empirean Heaven the place of the blessed for at first when he laid the Foundations of the World the Morning-Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy therefore it 's likely the place of their Residence was made Besides it was prepared in the Decrees of God they were destinated to a Diadem before they had a being 4. Their formal admission into it Come ye blessed of my Father Come from all Sin from all Sorrow all Sufferings Come from Babylon to Sion from a barren Wilderness where is no water for a thirsty Soul to a fruitful pleasant Paradise where are all sorts of luscious and heart-chearing Rarities Come where have ye been all this while how could ye bear my absence so long what have ye done in a Valley of Tears a Bochim a place of weeping so many years When he calls them to die his Voice need not be unpleasant to them He doth but call them as a Father his Child out of the shower into his house Come my people enter into the Chambers shut the door hide your selves for a very little moment till the Indignation be overpast Isa 28.20 Come Child go to bed I will cause the dust to be a soft Couch of repose to thee and when thou awakest in the Morning of the Resurrection all shall be well with thee but his Voice at the Resurrection will be sweet indeed Come Child O come dear Child into my Arms and Embraces come into my Heart come into my very Soul Come and take possession of my dear bought Purchase Come and inherit the Kingdom prepared for thee Come Child and enjoy all that Honour and Treasure and Joy and Delight and Happiness which thou hast so often pray'd and wept and watcht and sighed and sob'd for Come Child to thy Fathers House sit down at his Table drink of his new Wine and eat of his hidden Manna and feast of the Tree of Life that groweth in the midst of Paradise for ever and ever 5. The qualification of the Persons that shall partake of this Possession they are such as feed the Hungry cloath the Naked c. For I was hungry and ye gave me meat thirsty and ye gave me drink Reader dost thou not observe that those who mind this positive Holiness are the blessed of the Father and the Heirs of the Kingdom and wilt thou neglect A Kingdom makes the greatest difference among men The height of any ones ambition can be but a Kingdom and will not a glorious joyful eternal Kingdom move thee CHAP. XL. Arguments against sins of Omission God delights chiefly in our doing good and our opportunities for doing good will quickly be gone 13. COnsider God takes most pleasure in our positive Holiness It 's
judgment of many that a Princes Negative Voice is a greater part and mark of his Royalty than any Affirmative Command of his for a King may have Power to Command that which he hath no Power to forbid As he may and should enjoyn his Subjects to Worship the true God according to his revealed Will but he hath no Power to forbid them Thus in Sins of Omission for a man to live without Prayer without the love and fear of God without delight in him and communion with him without care of and watchfulness over his own heart and life may be a greater sign of the reign of Sin and thereby of an unregenerate state than the commission of some gross actual Transgressions It is apparent that this man is under the power of Lust as a Servant to it Tit. 3.3 And under the dominion of the Devil carried captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 And an unregenerate unsanctified person because he lives in Disobedience to these positive Laws of God Whereas he that is born of God sinneth not 1 Joh. 3.9 with his whole will there is not a free voluntary chearful submission of his Will to the quiet undisturbed dominion of Sin And he that is born of God hath a tender regard to the whole Law I have esteemed thy Precepts concerning all things to be right therefore I hate every false way Psal 119.128 He hath respect to Affirmative as well as Negative Precepts He hath an equal uniform regard to all the Law to that part which commands the doing good as well as that part which forbids the doing evil Therefore the man that lives in Sins of Omission is not born of God and therefore uncapable by the Gospel of Heaven and so justly for this cause sentenced to Hell CHAP. XXV Farther Reasons why Christ at the Great Day will condemn men for sins of Omission 3. CHrist will condemn men at the Reason 3 Great Day for sins of Omission because those that live in such Sins have no interest in himself There is no way to escape Hell but by the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thess 1. ult Jesus that delivereth from the wrath to come There is no way to attain Heaven but by Christ I give to them eternal life and they shall never perish Joh. 10.28 As Salvation is God's Gift Rom. 6. ult so it 's Christs Purchase There is no Name under Heaven whereby men may be saved but by the Name of Christ Act. 4.12 So that all who are without Christ not interested in him must of necessity perish He that hath the Son hath life he that hath not the Son hath not life 1 Joh. 5.12 Those that are without Christ are unpardoned All their sins are imputed to them Ephes 4. ult Rom. 3.25 And where-ever sin is imputed it condemneth Ezek. 18.3 Those that are not interested in Christ are Children of the Devil Joh. 8.44 and Children of wrath Ephes 2.2 3. And such Children must be with their Father the Devil and under wrath for ever Now those that live in Sins of Omission have no interest in Christ Our interest in Christ and so in Life is by Faith That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith Ephes 3.17 Gal. 2.20 I live by Faith in the Son of God It is Faith that causeth the Union between Christ and the Soul and joyns them together by virtue of which Union the Christian hath communion with Christ in his Merits and Righteousness that his Life and Death and Burial are the Christians are by God imputed to him as if performed in his own person Hence it 's said That the Christian lives with Christ is crucified with Christ and buried with Christ Rom. 6.4 And the Christian is said to be the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. ult By this Union with Christ which is the fruit of Faith the Christian is made a Son of God Gal. 3.26 and so an Heir of God and Joynt-Heir with Christ Rom. 8.17 As a Woman by marriage being united and made one with a Man hath communion with him in his Relations Honours and Estate So the Christian by Faith made one with Christ hath communion with him in his Relations Go tell my Brethren I go to my Father and your Father to my God and your God Joh. 20.17 In his Estate Christ is Heir of all things Heb. 1.2 and the Believer is a Joynt-Heir with him as is before proved Christ was the First-born among many Brethren and so the Inheritance did belong to him Col. 1.18 Believers are a Congregation of first-born and so the right of the Inheritance is theirs Heb. 12.23 But such as live in sins of Omission are without Faith and therefore without Christ and therefore must be without Heaven for ever Faith is a sanctifying as well as a justifying Grace Act. 26.18 And to give them an Inheritance among them that are sanctified through Faith in Christ and therefore will not suffer the Soul to live in any sin Faith will not suffer a man to live in the want of love to God in so great an Omission for when Faith certifieth the Soul of Gods love to it this kindleth in the Soul flames of love to God 1 Joh. 4.19 When Faith brings much fewel the fire of love will be great Faith will not suffer a man to live without Repentance The eye of Faith which beholds a Christ crucified for sin affects the heart with sorrow for and indignation against those sins that crucified him Zach. 12.10 They shall see him whom they have pierced and mourn Faith will not suffer a man to live without delight in Christ and rejoycing in the God of all Consolation Faith seeth so much good certainly laid up in the Covenant and Promises for the Soul that it fills the Soul with joy in the hope and expectation of the enjoyment of them Whom having not seen we love and in whom believing though now we see him not we rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.7 8. Faith will not suffer a man to live without waiting quietly on God Faith will not limit the Holy One of Israel but patiently stay Gods time for the mercies the Soul wanteth Faith knoweth his Bonds are good his Debts are in sure Hands The God that cannot lye hath promised Tit. 1.2 and therefore is not hasty to call them in He that believeth will not make haste Isa 28.16 Faith will not suffer a man to live without prayer He that knows his own wants and necessities how great and urgent they are and also where he may quickly have liberal Supplies and bountiful Relief will not long be kept from that Door You may sooner and easier put off a Beggar ready to starve who must needs perish if Charity do not help him and perswade him never to ask Alms more as keep a Believer from his daily waiting at Heavens Temple to ask spiritual Alms. An Unbeliever hath little hope to speed and therefore little heart to
suppose is meant the scandalous man who liveth in Commission It 's said of Mary Magdalen who had been guilty of notorious Enormities Luke 7. For she is a Sinner And it 's said of the Publican whose whole Tribe was infamous for Extortion and Bribery That he was a Sinner He is gone to be a Guest to one that is a Sinner By Ungodly as the very word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth is meant one that liveth in Omissions one that liveth without the Worship of God i. e. without the Love and Fear the Acknowledgment and Adoration of this God Worship is that high Honour and Solemn Respect that the Creature owes to God Not to give him this is ungodliness An ungodly man is one that doth not seek God nor trust God nor obey God that doth not own him in his Mercies as his Father and Benefactor nor in his Judgments as a wise Master that would by Chastisements make him partaker of his Holiness Now if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the sinner and ungodly appear If there be a difficulty in the Salvation of the Righteous there is a necessity of the damnation of the Sinner and ungodly If the Righteous get so hardly to Heaven the Sinner and Ungodly must surely be cast into Hell Where shall the Sinner and Ungodly those that are guilty of these Omissions and Commissions appear They must appear somewhere but they can appear no where with comfort or without unspeakable horrour Where shall they appear before God why they hate his Being despise his Dominions slight his Love disobey his Laws and indeed seek his Life and can they appear before him Can they look for a smile from his Face who loath him perfectly or can they stand before his Frowns and Fury Do they know the weight of his Hand the killing-darts of his Eye and the Power of his Anger No surely they cannot appear before him Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand when thou art angry Where shall they appear Shall they appear before Christ the Judge of Quick and Dead Before him who sometimes invited them earnestly to come to him and intreated them affectionately to accept of him and life with him Shall they appear before him It 's his Call which they have despised and his Commands which they have violated It 's his Blood which they have trampled on and his Spirit whom they have grieved They are his Members whom the Sinners have oppressed and wronged and his Children and Spouse and Body which the Ungodly have neglected and not relieved O how glad would they be if the Rocks would crush them to pieces that they might be deliver'd from the wrath of the Lamb Rev. 6.15 Their severe Sentence which may make every Ear to tingle and Heart to tremble that hears it will proceed from his mouth Then shall he say unto them on his left hand Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire But where shall these Sinners and Ungodly appear Shall they appear before the Saints Alas with what face can they behold them whose Persons they have imprison'd whose Estates they have plundered whose Profession they have derided whose Names they have abused and whom they have often wished out of the way and thought the Troublers of the Family and Town and Country where they lived If the Saints plead it must be against them for they cannot but as Justices agree and concur with the Sentence of the Judge as righteous and just But where shall they appear Shall they appear before the Law No that condemneth them for the least Omission for the smallest Commission to Hell fire they are the Prohibitions of the Law that the Sinner hath transgressed and they are the Precepts of the Law that the Ungodly hath not obeyed and therefore the Law curseth them both to the uttermost The Law enableth Sin to bind over the Transgressor of it to the Wrath and Curse of God Hence it 's said The strength of Sin is the Law But where shall they appear Shall they appear before the Gospel No their Omissions have most relation to the Gospel They have not believed the truth of it They have not embraced the goodness of it They have not obeyed the Precepts of it They rejected the tenders of Pardon and Life made to them in the Gospel with frequency and fervency They would not come to their Physitian to be healed of their mortal Diseases Though he came to them and offer'd his help freely and assured them of effectual and speedy recovery if they would be directed by him yet they rejected the Counsel of God against themselves therefore the Gospel will condemn as surely and more sorely than the Law Heb. 2.2 3 Joh. 3.19 If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every Disobedience received a just recompence of Reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation And again Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy But where shall they appear Shall they appear on Earth Surely there will be no Earth then for them to appear in That Earth which they sported so much in as Leviathan in the waters and which they were fond of and delighted in will be burnt up with fire and consumed with fervent heat But where shall they appear Shall they appear in Heaven Can an unsanctified heart enter into the Holy of Holies No. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 An impure Eye cannot behold such an infinitely pure Object When Angels seated in Heaven as their Habitation once lost their purity they soon lost that place Heaven could not bear them 't is not as Noahs Ark to take in all sorts Clean or Unclean Into it can in no wise enter any thing that is Vnclean Rev. 21.27 Neither could they bear Heaven Thee spiritual delights of that Coelestial Court became unsuitable to their polluted Natures The rarest Dainties and most curious Delicates are altogether unsavoury and unpleasant to an aguish and distemper'd Palat. But where shall they appear If they cannot appear before God their Maker before the Lord Jesus Christ before the Saints Before whom shall they appear If they cannot appear before the Law before the Gospel before what shall they appear It must be in Hell before Devils and damned Spirits with them to lodge and dwell for ever Ah the Great Day is called The terrible Day of the Lord Jesus and it will be a terrible Day indeed to these meer Civilians It is called the Day of Perdition of ungodly men It 's to others a Day of Consolation Lift up your Heads with joy for the Day of your Redemption draweth nigh A Day of Promotion It 's your Fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom Luke 12.32 Joh. 17.24 A Day of Rest from all their Labours and Sorrows and Sufferings bodily or spiritually Rev. 14.13 But it 's the Day of Perdition of Ungodly men They who live without God here must live without him for
against the first and second Table but that is not all we should live righteously soberly and godly righteously towards men soberly in relation to our selves godly in the Duties that concern God in this present evil world The Gospel allows of Omissions no more than the Law and is so far from indulging men in sin because it hath mercy for the penitent Sinner that it addeth stronger Obligations to Obedience and threatneth more severe condemnation to the Disobedient 2 Cor. 5.15 16. Heb. 10. Again the Promises which have in their bowels all the good of Heaven and Earth all the blessings of this Life and a better which are as much worth as both worlds 1 Tim. 4.8 which are exceeding great in their quantity and precious in their quality 2 Pet. 1.4 and the peculiar portion of Gods own Children Heb. 6.17 who are the only Heirs of them and all others strangers to them and therefore miserable and in an hopeless and desperate Condition These Promises are so far from excusing or exempting from these positive Duties that they engage us the more firmly to them 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore dearly beloved these Promises that God will be our Father and we shall be his Children c. Chap. 6. vers 18. let us cleanse our selves from all pollutions of Flesh and Spirit but this is not all and perfect holiness in the fear of God The Promises do not only bind to Purity but also to Proficiency therein till we come to perfection And perfect holiness in the fear of God The Covenant of Grace which is a Mine of unsearchable Riches a Book wherein every leaf nay every line speaks Love and Life which contains more mercy in it even the boundless God than Heaven and Earth are able to contain this requires positive as well as negative holiness Deut. 26.17 nay it engageth for both Ezek. 36.25 From all your Idols and from all your filthiness will I cleanse you But more than this 26 27 verses I will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh I will put my Spirit into you and ye shall keep my Commandments and do them So that all these Priviledges are to no purpose if we be not provoked by them to do good and perform the Duties which are the Conditions of them Reader think of it why should God give thee Precepts to direct thee about the matter and manner of performing thy Duties and Promises to encourage thee to diligence and faithfulness therein if thou mayst live in the Omission of them Surely such infinite cost calls for some great care and conscienciousness in thy Conversation Might not God by virtue of his Dominion over thee as grand Proprietor of the Universe have required this at thine hands but when he is so gracious as to sue to thee and to allure thee and seek to draw thee by such Cords of love wilt thou stand out and deny him O blush for shame that thou hast neglected so long the wooings and beseechings and intreaties of such a glorious Gospel and such precious Promises and such an inestimable Covenant The greater the Charge God is at with thee the greater should be the Service thou dost him Where the ground is well dunged and dressed and watered and manured a greater Crop is expected by the Husbandman I must tell thee Friend that thou wilt one day find That to whom much is given of him much will be required Luke 12.48 and that God expects Returns answerable to thy Receipts Do not imagine as some vainly have done that the bare enjoyment of these Priviledges will save thee I must tell thee and that from Gods own mouth they will be so far from it that they will make Hell fire the hotter for thee and much deepen thine eternal condemnation Matth. 11.21 22 23. Jer. 7.3 4. Amend your ways and yours doings and trust not in lying words saying the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these Such Priviledges without positive holiness do but usher men to an hotter Hell CHAP. XXXVI Arguments against Omissions We profess our selves Gods Servants and all our Religion will come to nothing without positive holiness 5. COnsider you are the professed Servants of God and will you not do your Masters business You are baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost you own your Baptism by your attendance on God though but sometimes in publick Ordinances You wear the Livery of Christ before the World and if any ask you what you are you say a Christian or whose you are you say you belong to Jesus Christ And Friend will you pretend to be Gods Servant and neglect his business This is but to put a mock and cheat upon him like him in the Gospel who when he was bid go work in the Vineyard said I go but went not If I be a Master where is your fear Mal. 1.7 If God be your Master where is your fear of displeasing him either by neglecting what he enjoyns or doing what he forbids True Servants are not at their own but at their Masters pleasure and disposal as the Centurions Souldiers when the Master saith Go they go when he saith Come they come when he saith Do this they do it Matth. 8.9 The Redeemer himself when he took upon him the form of a Servant and became so to his Father Phil. 2.7 Isa 53.10 did not what he himself would I came not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me Joh. 6.38 And as the Father gave me Commandment so do I Joh. 14.31 And to shew his faithfulness in that relation when he came to die he tells his Father I have glorified thee on the Earth and finished the work thou hast given me to do Joh. 17. Nay the very irrational and inanimate Creatures are the Servants of God and as such do him positive service The Psalmist speaks of the Heavens and the Earth with the Creatures therein All are thy Servants at thy beck and bidding at thy call and command Psal 119.91 If thou speak to the Sun it riseth not if thou speak again it will stand still if thou speak a third time it will move faster or slower which thou pleasest If thou commandest the Stars they will fight in their courses against thine Enemies and serve thee faithfully after their manner as their Lord of Hosts Nay those Creatures which seem most stubborn and rebellious being Gods Servants are pliable to his pleasure Fire and Hail and stormy Winds fulfil his Word Psal 148.8 Reader what dost thou think of these examples thou seest the Highest the Heir of all things when he became his Servant did his Will and Work for thee fulfil'd all righteousnes and went about doing good Act. 10. And thou seest the lowest Beings Gods Servants do not only forbear doing evil but after their manner analogically they do good and positively serve God and wilt thou content thy self with
All he doth for thee is mercy meer mercy not only beyond but contrary to merit All he requireth of thee and all thou canst do for him is Duty and that which the greatest Justice calls upon thee for Now if thou art unwilling to be neglected by God why shouldst thou not be as unwilling to neglect God Is thy safety of greater concern than his Glory or must thy Pleasure be prefer'd before his Wilt thou not make that golden Rule of Christ the rule of thy actions with men to deal with them as thou wouldst have them to deal with thee and wilt thou deal otherwise with the blessed God Must he remember thee at all times in all conditions keep thee night and day lest any hurt thee support and supply thee every moment and thou forget him days without number Is this fair or honest dealing Reader Let me tell thee upon him thou livest by him thou movest and from him thou hast thy Being Thou canst not think or speak or act in the least if he should suspend his care of thee thine Eyes could not see nor thine Ears hear nor thy Mouth tast nor thy Hands or Feet move if his Providence doth not concur to them If he should but with-draw his manutenency and the hold he hath of thee for the smallest pittance of time thou wouldst drop into the bottomless Pit The flames do not depend more on the Fire nor the streams on the Spring of water than thy Life and all thy Comforts for this and the other World do upon God and wilt thou provoke him to leave thee He hath said with the froward he will shew himself froward Psal 18.26 That he will walk contrary to them that walk contrary to him Lev. 26.24 and that he will forsake them that forsake him and pay men in their own Coin 2 Chron. 15.2 and wilt thou venture him any longer Others have felt the truth of those threatnings and dost thou think to go unpunished Surely if common ingenuity will not move thee to remember him night and day who remembreth thee with Loving-kindness every minute yet the Divine Severity may fright thee from forgetting him lest he forget thee for ever Believe it if he leave thee Wrath and Death and Hell and Damnation and Devils will soon find thee Thou canst now depart from him by thy neglect of his Worship and be merry and chearful notwithstanding but if once he depart from thee though but for a moment thou art undone eternally Woe be to thee when I depart from you Hos 9.12 Thy Friends and Relations and Creature-Comforts may depart from thee and it may be well with thee but if the Fountain of thy Life the God of thy Health the Father of all Mercies depart from thee woe will be to thee Heaven and Earth cannot make him blessed or hinder him from being extreamly cursed whom God leaves and forsakes Alas if the Heavens omit to give us its showers or the Sun omit to dispense its influences or the Earth omit to yield its increase where are we what can we do how lamentable is our condition Those Persons that were purer than Snow that were whiter than Milk that were more ruddy than Rubies or than polished Saphires their Visage is blacker than a coal They are not known in the streets their Skin cleaveth to their Bones it is withered it is become like a stick Lament 4.7 8. The Children and the Sucklings swoon in the streets Lam. 2.11 12. But if our case be so woful when Creatures omit their accustomed kindness to us what will it be if God should omit his care of us 10. Consider If the Lord Jesus Christ should omit the least in the Work of thy Redemption thou wouldst be undone for ever Had Christ been as unwilling to save thee to the uttermost as thou art to serve him to the uttermost what would have become of thee Friend Jesus Christ trod the whole Wine-press of his Fathers Wrath alone had he left but one drop of that bitter Cup of Divine Wrath for thee to drink it would have caused thy Belly to swell and Bowels to be troubled and Bones to ake and whole Body and Soul to suffer extremity of Torments for ever When Christ undertook to interpose between thee and his Father to stand as a skreen between thy poor Soul and a consuming Fire he omitted not the least that was requisite for thy good Though it was hard work painful work amazing work such work as neither Men nor Angels durst undertake yet when thy Miseries and Necessities required it he did it He did not omit to contend with Earth and Heaven and Hell for thee He did not omit to drink of the Brook in the way of the Cup of his Fathers Wrath and to tread the Wine-press of his Anger alone that he might obtain Favour and Life for thee He omitted not the least in point of satisfaction to his Fathers Justice he desired not the smallest abatement of those vast sums which thou thou didst ow to the Divine Majesty but paid the utmost farthing for thee He never gave over till all was finished till all the Tipes were verified all the Promises accomplished and all the Demands of his Father fully answered Joh. 19.28 He omitted nothing in point of application of the Purchase which he had bought for Sinners As he died to make satisfaction for us so he ever liveth to make intercession for us As he died to make his Will good for a Will is not of force as long as the Testator liveth Heb. 9.17 wherein he gives Pardon and Love and Life to his people so he liveth to see his Will made good that his chosen might enjoy whatsoever his boundless Love and Grace had bequeathed to them He died that he might be a legal Testator and he liveth that he might be his own Executor Now Reader did Christ omit nothing which related to thy Salvation and wilt thou omit any thing that relates to his Service Did he not shrink back when thy Miserie 's call'd him to bear that burden which made the Earth to quake the whole Creation to groan and would have broke the backs of Angels and Arch-Angels and all the heavenly Host if they had put their shoulders under it and wilt thou shrink back from that easie Yoke and light Burden which he calls thee to take upon thee Is this thy kindness to thy Friend Why dost thou use him thus as Absalom said to Hushai Is this thy gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ why dost thou serve him so 2 Sam. 16.17 When the most righteous God demanded full satifaction for the breach of his Law by the Nature that had transgressed it and resolved that if he had it not the whole Posterity of Adam should perish when his Wrath was breaking in like a Flood to overwhelm the whole World of Mankind and neither Man nor Angel durst stand in the breach to divert this deluge of Fury when the
knowledge make way for the sin against the Holy Ghost Matth. 12.32 Heb. 6.4 5 6. Sins against the Gospel are greater than sins against the Law Those sins are against the natural Law the moral and the Law of Faith Rom. 3.27 and are committed in the face of the Sun as they are against the clearest Light so they are against the sweetest Love and therefore the more sinful A Taper in the hand of a Ghost makes it look the more gastly This is the condemnation Joh. 3.19 Sins repeated and reiterated are much greater than sins once committed Hereby the habit of Sin is strengthened frequent acts root the habits Hereby the long-suffering of God is abused for the more patient he is the more he is provoked Rom. 2.4 As in Numbers one in the first place stands but for a single one in the second place ten in the third place for an hundred the fourth place for a thousand so here each Repetition is a great aggravation Prov. 29.1 He that being often reproved hardneth his heart shall be see the grievousness of his punishment not afflicted but destroyed the quickness of it speedily and the irrecoverableness of it and that without remedy It 's one thing to fall into the water another thing to lie there 't is the latter that drowns men The Sins of the people of God are greater respectively than the Sins of others therefore they are said only to do evil as if all the World beside were innocent Jer. 32. The Children of Israel and the Children of Judah have only done evil before me Deut. 32.6 1. As these Sins are committed against the greatest Obligations on Gods part against the electing calling pardoning adopting saving-love each of these is an aggravation of Sin God accents Israels Sin from his special kindness Hos 11.1 Although I was an Husband to them 2. As they are committed against the most solemn ingagements on our part Every of Gods people doth expresly before God Angels and Men promise and covenant to be the Lords wholly universally and eternally the Lords The Israelites avouched God to be theirs And David swore that he would be Gods obedient Servant Psal 119. I have sworn and I will perform that I will keep thy righteous Judgments And it 's no mean Sin to be guilty of Perjury God aggravates the Sin of his people by this They all like men have transgressed the Covenant 3. As these Sins are committed against the greatest helps to Obedience An enlightned Mind a renewed Will sanctified Affections an awakned Conscience and a principle of Life or new Nature are all opposed and resisted by their Disobedience This cut the heart of David that God made him to know Wisdom secretly Psal 51.6 4. As the Sins of these men cause God to be more blasphemed and dishonoured than the Sins of others Levit. 22.31 Nathan tells David By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme 2 Sam. 12.14 Indeed these by falling into sin after their Repentance seem to repent of their Repentance and to lick up their Vomit Sins of Omission may be greater in respect of the person committing them a Believer in regard of the means the Offender enjoyeth The Word of the Divine Grace in regard of the matter he omits the Duties of the Gospel and in many other respects than Sins of Commissions in others who have not such circumstances It is very evident and cannot be denied that Sins are unequal for though Original Sin as the Logicians say of Substantia be not capable of magis minus of intension or remission of aggravation or diminution yet actual sins are like qualities and quantities which receive more or less addition or substraction and have their Latitude and Degrees For this cause under the Law there were diversity of Sacrifices for diversity of Sin Levit. 4. 2. I answer that no sins are little simply Though there is a difference of sins consider'd comparatively and so sins may be said to be little if compared with those that are more hainous yet no sins absolutely consider'd are little The least Sin resembleth the Earth which though but a point to the Heavens yet is a vast immeasurable Body in it self 1. Because all sins are against a great and infinite Majesty Reader it 's the excellency of the Person whose Authority is contemned and Commands violated and whose Name is dishonoured by sin that gives sin its name speaks its hainous Nature and is the highest aggravation of it Numb 32.23 and this is done in all Sins Friend till thou canst hear of a little God contemned abused disgraced and resisted by Sin speak no more of little sins in excuse for thy allowance of them Zach. 1.5 2. Because the price paid to make satisfaction for all sins of what size or sort soever was a great price It is the blood the precious blood of the Son of God Liv. 5.17 18. and that only that can wash away the least Sin 1 Joh. 1.7 Aaron must offer Sacrifice for pollution in a mans dream that he never thought of possibly but in sleep And for the Sins which the Jews committed ignorantly not understanding them to be any offence to God and in answer to those Types our Redeemer is said to die for the ignorance the errors of the people Reader till that thou canst tell of a Sin so little that somewhat less than the death of him who was God will satisfie for it call no Sin little 3. Because no little punishment is the due and desert of every Sin The wages of Sin is Death and Hell and infinite Wrath of an Almighty God and therefore it s the wages of every Sin Rom. 6. ult A quatenus ad omne valet consequentia Because fire as fire burns therefore every fire burns because Sin as Sin damneth therefore every Sin damneth So that all Sins bring greater intollerable eternal Sufferings Endless banishment from the blissful presence of God and Christ everlasting burnings amongst Devils and damned Ones is the desert of every Sin Reader when thou canst tell of a little Fire and little Torments in Hell and little horrors and terrors of Soul there to be the fruit of Sin Call not any of thy sins little Another thing Reader I would advertise thee of No Sin is little to him who thinks it so Sins may be said to be mortal or venial 1. In respect of their own Nature and so no Sins are venial but the least is mortal 2. In respect of the Divine Favour 3. In regard of the Issue In the two last respects all the sins of such as believe and repent are venial not in the Popish sense so as to be in their own nature no transgressions but praeter-transgressions of the Divine Law and not properly sins but analogically but they are venial as God for Christ's sake doth forgive them Either those Sins which they term venial are forbidden by the Law of God or not if not they