that they may be quickned into the more strong desires unite them let all your desires be after this one thing the grace and good will of the Lord. Christians let me ask you What would you have What is it you desire O let the Lord be my God let me have grace from the Lord but what of God how much of the grace of God would content you It may be some of you would answer O! if it were never so little if I could have Faith though it were but as a grain of Mustard-Seed if I could get any thing of God in my Heart if by the grace of God in me this Heart of mine might be but as a bruised Reed and smoaking Flax if I might get any thing that God would not despise this should satisfie me 'T is true the least degree of saving grace the least Beam of the Divine Light the first springing of the Life of God in us the least Spark of his Holy Image our desires should be so far fixed on this that nothing short of this nothing short of the truth of Grace should in the least suffice us and we should be thankful for the very first grace if we should never have any more or rise no higher But are there not some that would have this and care for no more that bound and limit their desires to the first and lowest degrees of grace This desire is not the desire of the Children of God thou mayest go to Hell with such desires after God he that desires not to be perfectly Holy is not sincerely Holy Do you desire God do you desire grace Stir up and enlarge your desires let those narrow Hearts open their Mouths wide be covetous Christians covet much and covet earnestly these best of giâ—ts say with the Psalmist This one thing I desire nothing but God nothing but grace take Corn and Wine who will take the Gold and the Silver who will let the Lord God be mine and that shall suffice me Desire God only and follow after God fully as Psalm 63.8 My Soul followeth hard after thee Friends you have some Wishes and some weaker desires after the Lord O quicken up these fainty Hearts look oftner before you how worthy the Lord is of all your desires what a Jewel what a Treasure the grace of God is look oftner Heaven-ward get a sight of God and his glorious Treasures live more in the Contemplation of his glory and goodness it is the sight of the Object that must kindle and quicken desires you that have cold Hearts Heaven-ward 't is a sign your Eye is little in Heaven Believe it some clearer views of the Love and Goodness and Holiness and Kindness and Glory of the Lord would whet your Appetites would put Life into those dull Desires would make you hungry Souls and thirsty Souls and longing Souls O look oftner upward dwell in the Mountain of Spices get some Taste and Relish of the goodness of God by being more constantly conversant with him and this will set abroach all your Vessels your Souls would stream forth in the Words and Sighs of the Psalmist Psal 42.1 As the Hart panteth after the Water Brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul thirsteth for God for the living God 2. Curb and limit your desires after the good things below and desire them no more than you should particularly 1. Desire not over much of them The best Food the best Physick if we take too much of it becomes hurtfull and pernicious when the Stomach is overcharged and so when the Heart is overcharged it surfets and suffereth prejudice by what it hath received That Prayer of Agur Prov. 30.8 should be the desire of Christians Feed me with Food convenient a convenient Habitation a competent Portion of these Earthly things should be the Proportion of our desires O if Men knew what were enough and when they had enough it would prevent the extravagancy of our desires Jer. 45.5 Seekest thou great things to thy self Seek them not Thou canst not bear great things great Possessions are great Temptations Seek no greater things than thou canst bear a Ship that hath more than its Load will sink and drown The Journey or Voyage of the Heart is upwards you are Travelling Heaven-wards this Earth the more you have of it presses you down-ward and hinders your ascending O how much nearer Heaven might some of our Hearts have ascended how much nearer to God and Glory might we have gotten had we not been clogged with the things of this Earth Some Men are too Rich and too Prosperous in this World to be Spiritually-minded Great Estates bring great Cares and encumbring Business so that they cannot be at liberty nor at leisure to think on God or their Souls Desire only so much of the World as is best for you and that proportion is best for you which will help you Heaven-ward and least hinder you know what is a competency and desire no more That 's not a competency which is enough to satisfie your Appetite you will never say you have enough if you will stay till your Appetite say It is enough this is like those two Daughters of the Horse-Leach Prov. 30.15 that still cry Give give Get get and never say It is enough That is not a competency which will satisfie your Appetite but that which will comfortably serve your necessities know what is a competency and desire no more 2. Desire them not over earnestly be not over hungry and greedy Souls desire but a competency and desire it but moderately that you may not over-desire these Earthly good things do not over-prize them Carry it towards the good things below as Sinners carry it towards Christ and the good things above how do Sinners carry it towards Christ They make light of him Isa 53.2 They see no beauty in him that they should desire him See as little beauty in the World as Sinners see in Christ make as light of the good things of the Earth as they do of the good things of Heaven and then your desires will be as cold after these things as theirs are after Christ O if Christians did desire this Earth no more than Sinners desire Heaven how mortified would all their Earthly desires be Mortifie your inordinate desires after the World quench your thirst after the good things thereof or else these desires will mortifie and quench your thirst after God Christians you would fain love God more it is your Affliction that your Affections to things above are so dull and so flat that you have no more strong and working desires Heaven-ward abate your desires to things below and then they will rise more to the things above never look to love God more than you do till you love the World less than you do Do ye mean to hold up at this height in your Carnal desires Will you not set Bounds to your Earthly Appetites Then count upon it God is like to
and every abomination dwells Christ hath come and called to thee open to me let me come and dwell there and cast the Devil out How many knocks hath he given at thy door How many Messengers hath he sent to thee with this word Open those wretched hearts open the everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in And hast not thou slighted all this and put a contempt and a scorn upon an offered Jesus Who I God forbid I adore and honour that worthy name I acknowledge him to be the Son of the living God and the Saviour of the World and worthy of all acceptation I but hast thou accepted Hast thou opened unto him Hast thou received Christ Jesus the Lord Is Christ within thee Is the light of Christ the love of Christ the holiness of Christ in thee Hast thou resigned up the throne and dominion of thy soul to him and given him hearty leave to put all that is within thee in subjection to himself and to cast out what ever is an offence to him to cast the World out to cut the flesh down and the lusts thereof Hath he new made thee and new molded thee Is there another Spirit begotten in thee a new heart bestowed upon thee Hath he made a Christian of thee a sincere inward Christian not in word nor in tongue but in deed and in truth Art thou become his hearty Disciple and his follower in holiness Hath he given thee the understanding of a Christian Dost thou know God and art thou now acquainted with the mystery of the kingdom of God Dost thou know Christ and the mystery of Christ crucified Hath he given thee the heart and affections of a Christian Hath the World lost thine heart have thy companions lost thee thy carnal pleasures lost thine heart Is thine heart set upon Christ and upon all his holy ways Art thou now brought about from sinful pleasing of men or affecting to live in their good repute and good will to be all for pleasing God Is thy soul that was bent upon earth and the vanities thereof now bent for God and for heaven and for holiness the way to the Kingdom of heaven Sinner If thou hast received Christ into thy soul there are all these works begun there is such a change as this wrought upon thee 2 Cor. 5.17 He that is in Christ is a new Creature and if there be no such change if thine old ignorance thine old worldliness thine old delights in the lusts or friendship or fellowship of the World remain if thou hast not the inwards of a Christian an holy heart an heavenly mind yea and something of the outwards of a Christian an holy conversation an heavenly life If there be not such a change wrought in thee but thou art of the same life and the same spirit thou wert of thou hast not received Christ he hath been offered thee but thou wouldst none of him he hath come unto thee but thou hast refused him And what ever honour thou hast in thy mouth for Christ if thou hast refused to receive him thou art one of those that hast made light of Christ yea and set him at nought That which is rendred refusing Psal 118.22 The stone which was refused by the builders is exprest Acts 4 11. to be setting at nought This is the stone which was set at nought Sinners every one of you that have not received Christ into your hearts you have set Christ at nought you have despised and trampled him under your foot and if you go away from his word to day as you have used to do other days and return home without accepting of him you go on to set Christ at nought You that hear Christ preached and will not receive him if you should be asked when you come home what you have done at Church to day You must answer I have put a slight and contempt upon Christ he was preached to me and I was told of his wonderful excellencies and his worthiness but I have despised and neglected it all I have been at Church but to mock Christ and to set him at nought This do every one of you to whom Christ is preached and yet you will not receive him 2. Those that make light of Christ are not recovered by him This is so evident from what hath been said that I shall add no more concerning it but this if Christ be the only recoverer of lost souls then those that refuse him are not recovered He is our Redeemer and there is no other saviour He is our Physitian and there is no other helper neither is there salvation in any other Act 4.12 If there be no other Saviour but Christ Jesus the Lord if there be none recovered by Christ but those that prize and put such an high value on Christ as to embrace and accept of him then those that make light of Christ and refuse him are lost souls to this day These are the negative marks which evidence souls still lost If you are not grosly ignorant but have understood somthing of the doctrin of Christ If you have somthing of conscience If some prizing of Christ yet you may not be recovered but if not thou art a grosly ignorant soul and of no conscience to be sure thou art a lost soul to this day 2. Affirmatively 1. The man whose eyes are opened that is who hath recovered his understanding and the saving knowledge of God The first step towards the conversion of a sinner is the recovery of his sight Acts 26.18 To open blind eyes c. And it is not every little opening the eyes and the getting in a little knowledge that is a sure sign of conversion There are knowing sinners knowing hypocrites It is an enlightning of the mind and a renewing of the mind Rom. 12.2 Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds The mind of the Convert doth not only see other things than it saw before but looks upon them with another eye as he hath another heart so he hath another eye a renewed mind a sanctified understanding that perceives the beauty and excellency of God and his ways of Christ and his graces that sees wisdom and goodness and an excellency and desirableness in them the carnal mind what ever it perceives of the things of God yet they are foolishness to him 1. Cor 2.14 The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit for they are foolishness to him neither can he know them Where see 1. What account carnal men have of spiritual things they look on them as foolish things poor and weak and contemptible things and look upon them all as a company of fools and giddy brain-sick folks that will have any thing to do with them 2. That whilst he looks on the things of God as foolishness as such contemptible and unworthy things he doth not know them nor can he know them whilst he continues to be such a foolish soul Thou takest upon thee to
gone away hardned from many a Sabbath thou hast gone away hardned from many a Sermon and must this Day and this Word leave thee as all the rest have done When dost thou hope to be recovered if thou wilt not be broken Wilt thou say it is no matter though I never be recovered though I perish and die in this hardned state Wouldst thou fear to be let alone till thou be past recovery to be lost forever Then yield to the stroke of the Word and let thine heart be humbled and broken and brought to repentance 4. Get the temper of your hearts to be changed Let the Word work to the mollifying you and to the changing of you to the renewing you after the image of God in righteousness and holiness And what ever awakenings there have been of your sleepy consciences what ever light or understanding there may be conveyed into your minds yea and what ever wounds and breaches there have been made upon your hard hearts yet till you be renewed in the very frame and temper and dispositions of your hearts never count your selves to be recovered Thou art a lost soul till thou art a sanctified soul that is till thine heart be broken off and brought back from the love and lusts and ways of this World and brought about unto God and his holy ways till godliness be gotten into thine heart and formed into thy nature and thou hast a love of it and hearty good liking of it and the very bent of thine heart which was formerly towards sin and vanity be now towards holiness and heaven When thou art brought to this this new frame of heart then thou art recovered Now Sinners let this be that you have in your eye and upon your hearts let this be your endeavour let this be your prayer that God would so bless his Word to you that it may awaken your sleepy consciences enlighten your blinded minds soften and break your hardned hearts that you may be changed and renewed after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness that you may be wrought into a new temper changed into another spirit loving and savouring and delighting in the holy ways of God that Religion may become sweet and pleasant to you that your spirits may be made suitable to God and his holy ways that the food of God may relish with you and the work of God may be more easie to you Sick men can neither relish their food nor endure their work Dost thou find no relish in Religion Does the work of holiness seem contrary to thee Dost thou groan under it as that thou canst not bear Dost thou groan under this praying and repenting and watching and striving against sin and denying thy self and mortifying thy flesh Canst thou not endure to be held to such work It is a sign that thy sickness is still upon thee and thou art not recovered O get your hearts to be so changed and renewed by the Word and Spirit of the Lord that both the food of God may relish with you and his work may be pleasant 3. His Rod. Sinners are fools and the Rod is Physick for Fools The rod is for the Fools back Prov. 26.3 Psal 119.67 Before I was afflicted I went astray but the Rod reduced me now have I kept thy word Sinner thou hearest the awakening word but it doth not awaken thee thou sleepest on Thou hearest the mollifying and breaking word but it does not break nor mollifie thee thou art still a wilful stubborn soul and thine heart is so obstinately set upon thine own loose and wild ways that thou wilt not be broken off thy will nor broken off from thy course but God may bring some affliction upon thee bring thee into poverty cast thee on thy sick bed set death at thy beds foot to stare thee in the face and this will tame thee then thou mayest be spoken to then the Word there is hope will enter into thee and work upon thee Indeed some sinners are so desperately hardened that neither word nor rod will do What afflictions come they rather stupifie than awaken them They continue as very stocks under the smitings of God as they are under his teachings and therefore take heed the longer thou goest on to harden thine heart against the word there is the less hope that thou wilt be humbled by afflictions Dare not to encourage your selves and harden your hearts against repentance by hopes and purposes that when sickness comes and death looks thee in the face then thou wilt repent no no the longer thou hardnest thy self against the word the less hope there is that thine heart will be broken by afflictions But some hope there is that when the word awakens not the rod may But if that do not neither then God be merciful unto thee there is but one thing more and that will certainly do it the unquenchable flames will awaken thee Hell will do that which all the means under Heaven cannot do But that fire will not be thy physick to cure thee but thy plague to kill thy soul for ever The afflictions of this life are Gods physick for the recovering thy soul O take this cup at the hand of the Lord take this physick for thy soul But what is it to take this medicine so as it may be recovering physick 1. Submit to afflictions when God lays them on Be patient and contented that the Lord should afflict thee Do not fret nor murmur at the afflcting hand of God Some froward patients if their Physitian be forced to give any harder physick it will not down but they fret and fume against the physitian as if he were cruel and will not submit to take what he offers them Be patient under the hand of God and submit to what ever he layes on 2. Consider thine afflictions Eccl. 7.14 In the day of adversity consider Affliction is a considering time Sinners you will not consider now but you may have time enough to consider it afterwards You will neither consider what you do Ecles 5.1 They consider not they do evil Nor will you consider what the Lord speaks to you you hear our words that we speak to you from the Lord but we cannot perswade you to consider them Consider what we say and the Lord give you understanding in all things Think over the words that you hear It is a miserable plague that hath seized upon your hearts this inconsideration and that which hinders you from profiting by the word and holds you under your senselessness and hardness of heart Think of what you hear think what a wretched case the word declares you to be in When you hear such words He that committeth sin is of the Devil 1. Joh. 3.8 He that liveth after the flesh shall die Rom. 8.13 He that is not born again cannot inherit the Kingdom of God When you hear such words as these then consider then think with your self what a word have I heard to
they are the wisest men who meddle least with it at least they have a strong conceit they shall to Heaven without so much troubling themselves about it Let the Lord God speak never so clearly and never so closely of the danger of the way they are in of the damnableness of their state of the necessity of a Change of their State and Life of their becoming new men and giving themselves to a new Life yet their self-conceit carries it against all the Convictions and Demonstrations of the Lord They will not be beaten out of their own Conceits they will believe their own blind and sottish mind before they will believe God Sinners is not this true how many times hath the Lord God preached to you of the necessity of Regeneration and your being born again of the necessity of Sanctification your being made his holy ones pure and undefiled ones How much hath he spoken to convince you that you are the Sons of death and that your ways are the ways of death that you can never see the Kingdom of God but must undoubtedly perish and be destroyed for ever without such a great and effectual change as may bring you in amongst his holy ones How often hath this been preached how plainly hath this been proved and yet after all how is it with you why behold you have a conceit you shall do well enough and get to Heaven at last and upon this conceit you will adventure your Souls What do you herein but Idolize your own Understandings and deny the God that is above Thus saith the Lord is nothing with you nor will perswade you to any thing if your own hearts do but tell you 't is well enough already Sinners if you will not be beaten out of this conceit if we cannot break down your carnal Confidence if we cannot deliver your Souls out of the hands of these Lies and Delusions if you will not be brought to see that these your self-conceits are your self-deceivings I have thought foolishly I have thought falsly in thinking well of my case if we cannot save you from your vain Conceits and Confidence we shall never set up the Authority of God in you nor ever bring you to God or to Heaven O to hear such words as these from you I have been deceived mine Heart hath deceived me the Devil hath deceived me I could never have had a good Thought of my â—sent state I could never have good hope of my future state if I had not been deceived into it I have been meerly gull'd and cheated into this good Opinion I am lost I perish I die for ever if I escape not suddenly out of this case I can be confident no more I can have a good conceit of my self no longer I am an undone Wretch God tells me so the Word tells me so and if ever mine Heart tell me yet again 'T is well enough I 'le never believe it again might we see such a sence upon you might we hear such words from you then there were hope that you were coming back from Self to God For you that are Professors have not you also something of this self-conceitedness upon you some are conceited of their own Opinions whatever Opinion they take up in the matters of God it must be right because it 's right in their own eyes and many of their Brethren that are contrary minded they are in the wrong and in the dark and so become the objects of their censure and reproach Lean not to your own understandings be so humble and so modest as to think that others may see more than you see suspect your selves when you differ from other Christians that you may be in the mistake Others are conceited of their Gifts and Attainments though they yet be but among the young ones and the weak ones of the Flock yet through that pernicious Pride of their Hearts they are apt to be puffed up with high Conceits of any little that they have Christians must be lowly like their Master Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in Heart They must think soberly of themselves Others are Conceited of their Conditions and the State of their Souls who though they have little acquaintance with their own Hearts little understanding and experience of Religion and have spent as little time in the examining their States yet are grown to a confidence that their Hearts are right in the sight of God when this Confidence may be nothing else but Conceit they do but conceit themselves to be Converts conceit themselves to be Believers and and this conceit must carry it against all Convictions to the contrary Examine the grounds upon which your good Opinion of your self is built Search the Scriptures where are certain Evidences of Conversion search your Hearts whether the marks of real Believers be found in you suspect your selves whether you be not in a mistake a mistake here to have a strong conceit that you are Believers when you are but Hypocrites that you are come to Christ when it may be not come half way such mistakes may be your damnation your Everlasting loss and undoing Let the fear of Self-deceiving be the cure of Self-conceitedness 2. Self-will That Brand which is put upon false Teachers and their followers 2 Pet. 2.10 is upon the Heart of every Sinner they are Self-willed and this brand is more or less remaining upon the Heart of every Saint There 's too much of Self-willedness in the best Hearts Here I shall shew you 1. That the great Controversy betwixt God and Self is whose Will shall stand 2. That in the Conversion of a Sinner the Power of Self-will is broken 3. But yet the Will is not so broken but Self hath still a root remaining which will be putting forth again 4. That therefore there is a necessity of keeping the Heart under constant Government 1. The great controversie betwixt God and Self is whose Will shall stand God will have his Will Isa 45.23 I have Sworn by my Self the Word is gone forth of my Mouth and shall not return that unto me every knee shall bow In one way or other first or last I 'le make them all to stoop God will have his Will but Self also will have its Will what is said concerning the Wisdom of the Flesh Rom. 8.7 is true of the Will of the Flesh The Wisdom of the Flesh is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be the Will of the Flesh is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed will be What is the Will of God This is the Will of God even your Sanctification 1 Thes 4.3 He hath said Be ye holy for I the Lord your God am holy 1 Pet. 1.16 This is the Will of God to sinners their Salvation 1 Tim. 2.4 He will have all men to be saved and come to the Knowledge of the Truth The reason why so many are damned is not because God will have them
you ascend not by Ordinances if you get not up to have Communion with God in them this flesh and this world will be thrusting in upon you and steal your hearts away Christ hath been riding down to you this day as the chariots and horses of fire once were sent down for Elijah 2 Kin. 2.11 The Chariots came down to fetch up the Prophet in them the Ordinances of God that you have been at this day was the Chariot of God that was sent down on purpose that those hearts of yours might ride up in it into Glory I hope some of your hearts got up into the Chariot and are ascended with your Lord who came down to fetch them up What Christian is thine heart yet below where was it when the Chariot came down what are your Souls yet among the Sheep and the Oxen among the grass of the Field and the dust of the Earth what yet among the wormes what yet creeping upon this Earth and feeding upon Ashes do your Soules still dwell in these Tombs and Sepulchres I hope there may be some among you can say I thank the Lord mine heart is no longer here it is risen it is ascended with my Lord who came down for it and hath carried it up with him But man how is it with thee whose heart is left behind Christ hath been here and those that were wise took the Season and got up with him into the Chariot But is thine heart still upon this Earth and must it away again to its old trading to its old feeding on this dirt and trash hast thou been tasting of that Angels Food that hidden Manna the bread of God that came down from heaven and canst thou now return to thy Quailes or thy Husks sure thou hadst not a taste of that heavenly food if thou dost not yet disgust and disrelish thine old carnal Delights But are your hearts any of you yet left below behold yet a Chariot from God is before you this Ordinance of Preaching behold the same Jesus in this Chariot is come down again for those hearts that are not yet gotten up Thy Lord is loth to leave thee here wilt thou yet ascend with him Why is there not a cry among you Lord help me up into thy Chariot Lord take my Soul up with thee Lord let not me be left behind Let Christ hear that voice from you Lord take me up with thee here this poor wretched heart of mine lies at thy feet I can't lift it up 't is too heavy for me it hath weights but no wings yet it groans after thee it would not that thou shouldst go up without it Lord lift me up Lord carry up this poor and wretched heart from Earth to Heaven What must I yet dwell in Meseâ—◠〈…〉 mine heart amongst the tents of Kedar M◠〈…〉 amongst these Theives and Robbers O where 〈…〉 that hath brought thee down again for me 〈…〉 thou me O Lord and wilt thou yet leave me at 〈◊〉 â—â—stance from thee O take pity O take me up that I may from henceforth be with thee where thou art Christians O that I could set you even every one of you a crying thus after the Lord and a bemoaning these earthly and too carnal hearts that they are not yet ascended Let Christ yet hear that voice and let it come deep even from the bottom of thy Soul Let Christ hear not that mouth crying nor those eyes crying but that Soul crying Lord take me up also with thee and he will take thee up O get you into the Psalmists Posture and Spirit Psal 42.1 Psal 84.2 As the hart panteth after the water brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God My soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for thee my heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God When Lord O let this be the day take me this very hour and carry me up to the mountains of spices Christians be but unfeignedly willing that Christ should carry away those hearts from this Earth be but in good earnest with him when you say Lord take me up and he will not leave you behind Get these hearts to heaven and keep them there Get you up from Earth to Heaven and come not down again from Heaven to Earth Let that blessedness be antedated which is promised to be after the Resurrection 1 Thes 4.17 Then shall we ever be with the Lord. Say to the Lord even from henceforth as he sayes to his Church Psal 132.14 Thou shalt be my rest here will I dwell for ever Let it not be a Visit to Heaven that will satisfie you but a Conversation in heaven Phil. 3.20 Our Conversation is in heaven Let it not be a few heavenly hours or a short heavenly repast but an heavenly life that you design and follow after When you get you once thus near unto the Lord live as much as possible in the constant viewes of his Glory so continually beholding and feeding upon the foretastes and forethoughts of his Goodness and Grace that you may be changed daily from Glory to Glory into the same image Know friends that if there be any security in the world from the Robbers and the Spoilers from your Lusts and Temptations from suffering such losses again in your peace the only security you have is to keep your hearts still above Hast thou gotten thine heart to heaven keep thee where thou art keep you out of harmes way If the Devil can but catch those hearts again below catch you a roving catch you a wandring after your carnal things if he can but meet you declining from an heavenly to an earthly Conversation from a spiritual to a carnal Conversation O what sad spoiles of whatever good days you have had of whatever delights and satisfactions and joyes and comforts you have had what spoiles will he make of them all Christians when ever you can get or do feel your hearts in a better frame most full of the love and life and joy of the Lord O think what pity 't is what a sad fall it will be to make an exchange of this blessed state for the barren and brackish Pleasures of this world think with your selves shall I forsake the sweetness of the Fig-tree and the fulness of the Olive and go and browze upon brambles The design friends of all this is to perswade and invite you to live in constant Communion with God You have been received and entertained this day into special communion with God and the intent and meaning of this solemne communion is that by the sweetness and refreshing you find in it you may be set into a way of ordinary communion with him That your life may be a life of Communion with God a life of faith a life of love a life of Holiness and Joy that so you might prophesie to your selves with the Psalmist Psal 23.6 Surely goodness and mercy
life of Christ begotten in them O what multitudes of lost souls are there among us if every soul be lost that makes light of sin What account dost thou make of it Thou sinnest dayly thou livest an idle and a careless and a sinful life thou art proud or covetous or a sensual flesh-pleaser and is not all this this sin Thou art a Liar a Promise-breaker a defrauder and is not this thy sin Thou art perverse and peevish and of a froward heart and is not this thy wickedness But what account dost thou make of all this Is it an heavy thing to thee to be thus sinful No not at all thou makest light of thy pride and light of thy covetousness and light of thy frowardness thou makest just nothing of them or at least but small matters Thou dost not feel them to be such a weight and burthen to thee but thou canst bear them and go out with them well enough Or if thou dost sometimes feel some smart or pain by them yet it is but such a light touch that what ever thou thinkest at present thou wilt quickly after them again at thy lying again at thy swearing again at thy froppish and froward carriages again It is such a deep sense of sin as will make us beware of it for the future that wil prove our recovery What shall we then think of them that make a mock of sin that make a sport of sin that take pleasure in iniquity Without all controversie these are lost souls and those that make but little reckoning of it that pass by their sins as small matters that are either not toucht at all or but lightly toucht for them so lightly that their sin hath still the power and dominion over them thou that art but such a one thou art a lost soul thy soul is lost and not recovered 4. Th sâ— that make light of Christ their recoverer Christ that is sent down as the Physitian of souls to seek and to save them that are lost hath ordinarily the same entertainment as the King in the Parable had amongst the Guests that he invited to his Feast Mat. 22.5 but they made light of it Here 1. There are some sinners that do make light of Christ Jesus Christ is worthy of all acceptation What is Jesus Christ He is the Son of God full of grace and truth Joh. 1. God equal with the Father the brightness of his Fathers glory the express image of his person and upholdeth all things by the word of his power Heb. 1.3 He is the Head of all Principalities and Powers the Prince of the Kings of the earth Rev. 1 5. What is Jesus Christ to sinners He is the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace Is 9.6 his name shall be wonderful What comes this Jesus into the world for To reconcile them to God to save them from their sins to die for the sins of the World and to wash them in his own bloud And to what end comes he to particular sinners wherefore is he preached to them wherefore is he offered to them To what end is it that sinners are so importunately invited to entertain and accept of him to be willing that he that was the Saviour might become their Saviour that he that was the Reconciler might become their Recoverer to recover them from the snare of the Devil and to bring them into the everlasting Kingdom This is that Jesus that by the Gospel is preached unto you Who could imagine that such a great and mighty and glorious one who is the everlasting King the God of all the earth who would think but he should be reverenced where-ever he come They will reverence my son said the King in the Parable Mat. 22.37 It might be well presumed they would however it proved in the issue Who could imagine that one that came upon such a gracious design to reconcile poor Rebels unto God to redeem poor Prisoners out of Prison to recover and raise the dead to life and ransom them from the Pit and give them an entrance into the everlasting kingdom who would think but Christ coming upon such a gracious and glorious design should have wonderful chearful entertainment Who would think but that the whole World should ring with acclamations of joy and praise at his appearing amongst them Who would think but when Christ comes to particular sinners and makes a free offer of himself to them to be theirs their Redeemer their Saviour but such an offer should be greedily catched at and readily embraced Doth the King of Glory come unto me Hast thou shed thy bloud and poured forth thy soul and laid down thy liâ—e and purchased pardon and an interest in Heaven for me And dost thou now come to give thy self and all that thou hast purchased to be mine What answer would any one think would be given by lost souls to such questions Wilt thou be mine Shall I be thine Art thou willing to be redeemed to be washed from thy sins to be healed of thy diseases Shall my bloud which is shed for the salvation of sinners shall my bloud be thine and the peace and reconciliation it hath made be thine Shall I come into that miserable soul of thine and dwell there and rule there and cast that Devil out that hath been thy destroyer and murderer Shall I love thee and delight in thee and bless thee with my salvation What answer would any one think that undone lost sinners should give to such questions What wilt thou come unto me love and bless me With all my soul Lord come in thou blessed Lord all that is within me shall rejoyce that thou wilt thus enter upon me and take me for thy possession and habitation This one would think should be the answer that sinners would give But behold such miserably foolish souls are sinners become that they make light of all this A cup of drink a carnal companion a lust a sensual pleasure is made more reckoning of than Christ and all his love As it is said of those Builders the Scribes and Pharisees Acts 4.11 It is true of all sinners this stone this pretious stone this corner stone this foundation stone upon which alone their hopes of salvation might be built this stone is set at nought by them Is 53.3 He was despised and rejected of men they made no account or reckoning of him but even tread under foot the Son of God And this is the general entertainment that Christ hath among the sinners of the earth so light do they make of him he comes to them but they will not receive him How often says he would I have gathered you Mat. 23.37 but you would not And what is the common case of sinners is it not thy case Art not thou one that makest light of Christ He hath been preached unto thee he hath come and tendered himself to thy soul That vile heart of thine sinner that dark hole where the Devil and Lust
come and make a Saint of thee Hath Sin made a very Devil of thee and art not thou willing that Christ should make thee a Saint What wouldst thou do in Heaven if thou wilt not be made a Saint or dost thou think thou mayest continue a Devil whilest thou livest on the earth and yet at last be a Saint in Heaven What say you sinners There be some it may be of you that have made a mock at holiness that have despised the saints that are on earth and made them the objects of your scorn rather than your desire but speaks man art thou yet willing that Christ should come this day and make thee a saint Wilt thou that he should humble thee and bring thee to repentance Wilt thou that he should wash thee and bring thee to holiness Wouldst thou who camest hither an ignorant sinner an hardned sinner an impenitent sinner be glad at thine heart if thou mayst r turn an enlightned a convinced yea a converted sinner a beleiver a sincere christian Wouldst thou carry home another heart than thou broughtst hither a new heart transformed and changed into the image of him that created thee or art thou content to go home as thou camest such an ignorant hardned polluted creature as thou camest hither If thou be heartily willing of such a change as this that is a great part of thy cure Art thou willing to be cured willing to be cleansed Then bring forth that leprous soul of thine lay it at the feet of Christ and speak to him as the leper did Mat. 8.2 Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean As vile a state as this soul of mine is in as deadly as my diseases are as very a Leper as my soul is become yet Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Let Christ hear such a word from thee Lord help me Lord heal me if thou wilt thou canst And then there is hope that thou maiest hear the same words from Christ as that poor Leper did I will be thou clean And immediately his Leprosie was cleansed 2. Take Christs medicines To what purpose is it that the physitian comes to a sick man and prescribes to him and adviseth him to what will recover him if he will not take what he prescribeth Christ hath medicines to recover sick souls but his medicines must be taken or they will not recover them Christs medicines are 1. His bloud His bloud is purging and cleansing bloud Heb. 9 14. 1 Joh. 1.7 Therefore he is said to wash us in his bloud By the bloud of Christ is meant the same with the death of Christ There is vertue in the death of Christ to destroy the life of sin Our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed Rom. 6.6 It is the body of sin that must be first laid at The inward pravity of our natures our original corruption Christs physick must be firstly applyed to the root and fountain of our disease those sinful natures those depraved habits and sinful dispositions within you must be changed The inward enmity must be slain and there is nothing will do that but the bloud of a crucified Iesus That is the soveraign medicine that must help and heal you But how must this medicine the bloud of Christ be taken 1. Christ himself must be taken Christ offers himself to you to be yours and you must accept of him for your own Your hearts must by faith consent unto Christ to put your selves into his hands to put your life into his hands expecting and depending upon him trusting your selves with him for your recovery It is Christ alone with whom I lay up all mine hopes upon whose sufficiency and faithfulness I will venture my soul If I die I le die under his hand and if I live I look for life only from him Put your selves thus into the hands of Christ and take Christ into your hearts Take him as your own he gives himself to you to be your own Christ offers to every sinner among you I will be thine own thine own Jesus thine own Saviour if thou be willing to have me Take him at his word Since he says to thee I will be thine own if thou wilt let thy heart lay hold on this blessed word and say content Lord since thou wilt thou shalt be mine own I accept thee with all my heart Now if Christ be once yours his bloud shall be yours his death shall be yours and all the benefits of his death Whereas nothing of Christ can be yours nor any fruit of his death if he be not first yours Let Christ be once imbraced by you and if there be any purging or cleansing or sin-killing ver ue in his bloud your sins shall be purged away If all that the bloud of Christ can do for thee will recover thee thou shalt be recovered 2. You must have frequent recourse to the bloud of Christ by renewed acts of faith Look up to this crucified Jesus Cast thy polluted soul into the fountain of his bloud Zach. 13.1 He is a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness His bloud is the fountain cast thy soul into it You are come into the bloud of sprinkling Heb. 12.24 Christians are so and they may freely lay hold on it for their cleansing 1. Believe that there is such vertue in him to cleanse thy soul Say with the woman Mat. 9.21 If I may but touch him I shall be made whole 2. Believe that it is free for theâ— Thou mayst come with boldness to him Christ would have thee to be bold with him and to lay thine help upon him Believe that it is free for thee to lay hold on the bloud of Christ and 3. Come and lay hold upon it Lean upon him for his help and trust him for it 4. Lift up a prayer to him Lord here is a polluted dying soul that is even lost and choaked up in the mud and mire of my sins there is no help for me but I must die and perish in them if thou wilt not look upon me and save me In thy bowels I have hope in thy bloud I have hope and that is all the hope I have O sprinkle me with thy bloud wash me in thy bloud and my soul shall live Wherefore Lord didst thou die Wherefore didst thou shed that precious bloud Was it not for the recovery of lost souls for the cleansing of polluted souls Is not my poor soul one of the number of those for whom Christ died Have not I as great need of of thee as any Is it not thou thy self that hast brought this my soul to thy door crying for thine help Lord Jesus hear let some drops of that bloud some of the vertue of thy death be shed abroad upon my sinful heart and it shall live My sins must die Lord or my soul will never recover I must get this lust destroyed this enmity slain this proud and hard and stubborn
day Am not I concerned in it Was not this word spoken to me Am not I one that committeth sin Do not I live after the flesh Was I ever regenerated or born again What then Why then think farther Is it nothing to be of the Devil Is everlasting death nothing Is it nothing to be shut out of the kingdom of God Awaken O my sleepy soul yet break and melt and tremble oh mine hardned heart awaken escape for thy Life there is but a step betwixt thee and everlasting death Consider this now whilst the day of adversity comes nor but if thou shouldst be so unwise as not to consider at present yet at least in the day of thy distress consider Then think how little the word hath done to the breaking and awakening of thee What a stock what a senseless stone hath it left thee Then think now God is using one means more to cure me of this sleepy hardned heart God hath laid this sickness upon me or this poverty upon me to humble me and awaken me And now I am come to my last remedy if affliction if distress if sickness if the sight of death and the grave do not work upon me nor cause the word which I have heard to work yet upon me what then Why then I am undone forever I am within a step of the Pit just dropping in and then this lost soul of mine will be past recovery forever O sinners how does this word sit upon your hearts Are not you greatly concerned in it Does not thy life lie at stake thy soul lie at stake upon thy considering or slighting thy warning O consider let present consideration prevent the great necessity of sickness consideration of death-bed consideration At least when any of you shall come to be in distress when pains shall come upon you or poverty come upon you or death make its approach to you then remember the warning of this day In the day of adversity consider 3. Take your physitians counsel and follow his rules Physitians besides their medicins do usually give rules to their Patients for their well ordering themselves and these rules they must observe or they are never like to recover and there are these three rules which ordinarily Physitians give which our great Physitian of souls gives also to them that will be recovered by him 1. Keep a good diet 2. Vse good exercise 3. Take heed of taking cold 1. Keep a good diet Abstain from all such things as will nourish and feed your diseases What is it that hath brought thee to this wretched pass That hath made thee this sick and miserable soul Thou hast been with the prodigal Luk. 15. Feeding upon husks Thou hast been with Israel Is 44 20. Feeding upon ashes Thou hast been with Ephraim Hos 12.1 Feeding upon wind These husks and these ashes and this wind have been all thy poor soul hath been feeding upon the vanities of this world the lust and the pleasures the carnal delights and the profits of this world these are but windy food for thy soul these are the very ashes and husks that have filled thee with such sore diseases thou hast fed thine heart so long with these carnal things thy soul hath been eating these ashes and drinking this wind so long that it is even turned into ashes and wind it is becom an earthly soul a fleshly soul a vain frothy soul and never think to be recovered to a better case till thou feed upon better food Wouldest thou be recovered and get thee a new heart and a new soul Then abstain from thy old feeding Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul 1. Pet. 2.11 Make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof Rom. 13. ult Deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts Tit. 2.12 My meaning plainly is this If ever you would recover allow not your fleshly appetites the liberty as formerly Come off from your carnal pleasures which have been such a band to you Come off from your carnal companions drink no more with the drunken run not with them to their excess of Riot No more such vain sportings and revellings Not in chambring and wantonness not in Riot and Drunkenness Come off from this greedy worldly life feed not your souls upon your lands or your monies or your trades Though you must have something of these for your bodies yet feed not your hearts with them Set not your hearts upon them that is the advice of the Psalmist Psal 62.10 If riches increase or whether they do increase or no set not your hearts upon them Let not your souls be drudges to your flesh to gather in provision for it nor let them feed with your flesh at the same trough You have better things for your souls to feed upon you have God to feed on you have the bloud of Christ the Covenant of grace the hope of Salvation the joys of the spirit the pleasures of Eternity the bread that comes down from Heaven the wine that makes glad the city of God Let these be the food of your souls feed your thoughts upon them Think often of God of his infinite goodness and grace of his eternal treasures and everlasting pleasures Think of Christ what he hath done for you what he hath purchased for you how he hath loved you and washed you in his bloud and saved you by his death Feed your affections on God and his Glory to come feed your desires upon him let this be your voice Js 26.8.9 The desire of my soul is to thy name Enlarge your desires here you cannot be too greedy and of too eager an appetite Delight your selves in the Lord get the savour and relish of things spiritual taste the pleasures of religion taste the sweetness of Christianity Do not onely spend now and then a sudden thought upon God and the things above but live in such frequent and serious meditation that you may get down something of the sweetness and fatness of heaven and digest holy meditations into holy affections Never count you have thought of God to any purpose till you can love and taste and get out good nourishment for your souls by which you may thrive and flourish and with which you may be so delighted as to wean you from the Love and Lusts of this world Believe it friends as loth as you are to let go your pleasant morsels the stolen waters of your own Cisterns as hard as you find it to diet your souls so as to deny your selves the pleasures and contentments of a worldly fleshly life as strongly as your hearts lust after ease and lust after the world and the contentments thereof get but once to be so inwardly acquainted with religion as to taste the pleasure thereof and you will be able to despise this carnal life and all its advantages and wonder at your selves that ever you should find out contentment in such a life as you have lived And now your souls are like
things honestly in all things and at all times This exercise of keeping to conscience is a painful exercise you can never live a conscientious life unless you will be content to live a painful life to take pains with your hearts to take pains with your thoughts and affections to take pains with your tongues and all your members to hold them close to the rule of conscience this painful exercise will get you an heat will beget warmth in those cold and careless hearts The most conscientious Christians are the most warm and lively Christians and according as you get and keep your hearts warm so will your diseases waste the health of your souls return into you Remember what I have said if ever you would recover your lost souls recover conscience if ever you would recover conscience get the guilt the guile of conscience purged away by the bloud of Christ and water of repentance keep the eye of conscience open let conscience be the Supervisor of all your ways let the book of conscience be kept clear from blots and blurs and let there be a faithful record kept there of all your ways let the tongue of Conscience have leave to speak and warn you from day to day and submit to its Scepter and government be no longer govern'd by Will or by appetite or by lust or by the fashions and customs or examples of men but be govern'd by Conscience Do not give Conscience a Kiss and a Stab hearken to it in some things and wound it in other things but study to live in all good Conscience on your Sabbath-dayes on your working-dayes in the House of the Lord in your own houses in the houses of your Friends in the Field in the Market in the matters of God in the matters of the World when you are alone when in company when you are in good company when you are fallen into evil company wherever you are whatever you are a doing still have an eye upon Conscience an ear open to Conscience and let Conscience prescribe to you what you should do and how you should carry it in every affair 3. Beware of taking cold That 's a special rule Physicians use to give to the recovering Patient when Persons are upon recovery of their bodily diseases how ordinary is it that upon a little cold they relapse and sometimes die of their disease Is thy Soul upon recovery take heed of Colds Soul such there are who when they begin to be wrought upon and brought to any sence of Religion there appears a great heat and fervour of spirit upon them 't is with them as with the Prophet Jer. 20.9 Thy Word was in me like fire their love and desire and zeal for God seem all in a flame O what warm affections have they how warm in their Duties how warm in their converses they seem to be all Life and Soul and then after a time they grow stark cold and little life is left in them and some of them never recover again while they live Hath thy Spirit gotten an heat hath the Word heated thee and those Exercises of Prayer Repentance and keeping Conscience gotten thee into an heat then take heed of growing cold keep you constant to those Exercises that have begotten an heat in you Keep you in the Sun-shine all your heart-warmth is begotten and must be maintained from above live in the beholding the face of God live under the Sun-beams of the Sun of righteousness keep you close to God keep you near to Christ live in intimate communion with God Take heed of those clouds your sins that will obscure the Sun Isa 59.1 Take heed of an Eclipse see that this Earth do not interpose betwixt your Souls and Heaven take heed of the damp Influences of the dead that you live amongst We live in a cold World a cold Age that Age has overtaken us which Christ Prophesied of Mat. 24.20 Wherein the love many of should wax cold Those that are grown cold themselves will serve for nothing but to chill and damp the Spirits of others Be not unnecessarily conversant with this cold World trust not your selves in their Company have you never found how much your Souls have lost by carnal Correspondencies Professors how is it with you Do you still retain your first vigour as when you began to be recovered May not the Lord complain over some of us as of Israel Jer. 2.2 I remember the kindness of thy Youth and the love of thine Espousals I remember it as a thing that is past that now is not or as Ephesus Rev. 2.4 Thou hast lost thy first Love and what follows from this decay Hence is it that we are become a Company of sickly Professors of Carnal Professors of Earthly Professors the World hath return'd upon us the Flesh hath gotten head again in us the things that are Eternal and the influences of them upon us are even lost and swallow'd up of things Temporal our Stocks and our Businesses and our Trades how have they even choak'd up our Religion Friends it 's matter of astonishment to consider how very few lively Christians there are to be found amongst us Thus we every one talk what a General decay of Religion there is among us has not thine own Mouth complain'd of the coldness of this Age But whilst thou complainest of the Age how is it with thee Art not thou sick of the same Disease Look homeward look inward into thine own House into thine own Heart what Spirit of Religion is there going in thine own Family Hast thou not by thy negligence let all run to decay there What Life of Religion is there maintain'd in thine own Heart Friends feel you every man his own Pulse lay your hand every Man upon his own Heart and feel how faintly it beats Heaven-wards Sure Friends if we should examine our own Cases we should find enough to set us all a Weeping over our own decays and she should hear that voice within us Weep not for others but weep for thy self and thine own Children O take heed lest such of you as are fallen back among the Sick do not also return among the Dead and make your recovery again more hopeless at last than 't was at first You that stand be warn'd by those that are fallen stand with your Loyns girded and your Lights burning and you that are fallen fallen to decay fallen to a dead and flat and lifeless State you that are fallen remember whence you are fallen remember and repent remember and recover strengthen the things that remain if there be any sparks left blow off your Ashes blow up the Coals Let the Life of God and the love of Christ and a Zeal for Holiness be again kindled in you and if ever the Lord should recover you again there 's great hazard whether he may thou mayest die of the Cold thou hast taken the Consumption that hath Eaten up so much of thy Vitals may be unto
Death Eternal Death but if ever God should recover thee again and revive his work and enliven that almost Dead Carkass then at last learn from thine own miserable experience to take heed of taking Cold again as long as thou livest Thus much for the recovering the Heart which is pre-supposed to the keeping of the Heart The Heart thus recovered out of its lost State must be kept and well look'd to that it fall not back again and here 2. Now I shall shew you what it is to keep the heart or how it must be kept and so 1. It must be kept under Government 2. It must be kept under Guard 1. It must be kept under Government here I shall shew 1. The necessity of keeping the Heart under Government 2. How the Heart must be Governed 1. The necessity of keeping the Heart under Government that will appear by considering what an Heart it is and because the Heart is recovered in part and there is much of its Old and Original pravity remaining in it which will be apt to boil up and break forth again I shall a little open the wretched temper and disposition of it which will evidence how great a necessity there is to keep it under Government 1. It is a wicked mischievous heart Jer. 17.9 Desperately wicked Psalm 5.9 Very wickedness Rom. 8.7 Enmity against God It is the Fountain whence all the filthy streams that pollute and defile our lives do flow and are cast forth It is the Furnace whence all the stinking fumes and smoaks that annoy the World are sent forth It is the Nest where all the Cockatrices Eggs are Hatched It is the Sink that gathers in all manner of filth into it and then sendeth it abroad to do mischief Psal 41.6 His Heart gathereth iniquity to it self as the Sinks gather in all the filth of the Town and when he goeth abroad he telleth it only there is this difference between this and other Sinks other Sinks gather in the filth but 't is in order to the conveying it and carrying it away Into this evil evil Sink of the Heart all the filth is gathered and there it stops and stinks and casts it self back in its annoying streams Out of the Heart comes evil Thoughts Murthers Adulteries c. Mat. 15.19 All this Filth and Mudd all this Wickedness and Malignity as it Naturally dwells in every Heart so there 's much of it remaining even in renewed Hearts and will if there be not constant care to keep down and by degrees to cast it out will rise and swell and work up again in them Christians you may thank God that there is Salt cast into these filthy Fountains for the healing these muddy waters that there is a Spring of Living Waters broken in your Hearts by degrees to drain out your Dirt that there is Grace begotten in you to resist and repell the contagion of Lust but this little Grace will be choak'd up again if Lust be not kept under And as it is a Wicked so 't is a Mischievous Heart it 's set upon mischief Wickedness will be doing wickedly as 't is said of the Workers of Iniquity so 't is true of all as far forth as they are unrenewed Mischief is in their Hearts Psal 28.3 There 's the same Reason of keeping our Hearts under restraint as of keeping Mad-men in they will be doing mischief if they have their liberty Besides the mischief that our evil Hearts will be doing to others they will be mischiefing themselves Mad Men will tear their own Flesh will cut and wound themselves if they be let alone and there is no such danger of evil Hearts as in regard of that mischief they do themselves 1. Our evil Hearts will hinder us from doing good to our Selves or of receiving or laying up good for our Selves Rom. 7.19 The good that I would I do not why what hinders See Vers 21. I find a Law the Law of Sin in the Heart When I would do good evil is present with me Gal. 5.17 The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit so that we cannot do the things that we would Sometimes good Counsel is given us from the Lord but we do not take it How many good Counsels have you heard from the Ministry of the Word that are lost and forgotten and come to nothing Sometimes a good motion comes into the Heart to repent and amend our ways to pray or to Meditate or to search out Hearts to cease from this Earth and Flesh from serving our Sense and minding only the present and to lay up Treasure in Heaven and provide for the time to come have you never such motions Do you never hear such a voice within you Get you Baggs that wax not Old a Treasure in Heaven that faileth not Choose the good part lay hold on Eternal Life give your self to Praying keep a good Conscience take heed and beware of Covetousness use more diligence live with more heedfulness have your Conversation in Heaven and keep your self unspotted of the World keep your self in the love of God set the Lord alway before your Eyes behold his Face in Righteousness study to shew thy self approved of God and to walk so in all things that thou mayest be accepted of God are there not such motions as these come into your hearts You that are Christians sure you have many such good motions But how do they take What do they bring forth If you had obeyed all the good motions that you have sometimes felt within you O what manner of Christians would you have been What mortified what circumspect what raised and Heavenly minded Christians had you been But how do your good motions take What success are they attended with Do not you see that they are often strangled in the Birth and die away and come to just nothing Or at least do you not meerly halt and trifle in the pursuace of them If you Pray or hear or set your Hearts to humble your selves before the Lord how are you Distracted and Diverted and Deadned and all your duties spoiled in the doing so that you can have little comfort or real advantage by what yo do Do you not often mourn over your Prayers and Sermons and Sabbaths as meerly lost to you When you would work up your Hearts Heaven ward and fix above when you would love and del ght your selves in the Lord and Solace your selves in the contemplation of the Divine Love and Goodness when you would fain set your Hearts to live such a Godly Conscientious Circumspect Self-denying Life and comfort your selves with such thoughts I hope I shall never live such a Careless Carnal Useless Unsavory Earthly Life again I hope you have many such Thoughts Desires Hopes and Aims you are lamentable Christians if you have not but how do they succed What do they bring forth Do they not often prove Abortive and bring forth nothing May it not be said of you as of those Job 15.35 They conceive
in an Army what would an Enemy desire more than to have the Army he was to fight against to be in a Mutiny amongst themselves the Devil will not doubt his Conquest whilst he can but keep all within you in disorder Mens Damnation does frequently begin in Thoughts evil Thoughts corrupt the Affections evil Affections corrupt the Manners and practice and evil works have their end in Destruction Never again make a light thing of Thoughts how many men are there who by giving themselves leave to be thinking of their Pleasures and thinking of their Gains and thinking of their Lascivious lustful Objects do think themselves into very Beasts first and then into Devils Job 31.1 I made a Covenant with mine eyes why then should I think upon a Maid The next to looking is thinking the eyes let in Fuel for the Thoughts the next to thinking is lusting the Thoughts provide Fuel for Lust the next to Lusting is Whoring and the next to Whoring is Death and the like in other Cases For the World the next to thinking is loving the next to loving is lusting and inordinate desiring the next to lusting is seeking and progging the next to seeking is getting and heaping up and loading our selves with thick Clay and the next to this is sinking and drowning our selves in Perdition and Destruction 2. These are the Evidences of what we are in respect to our Eternal State Men may judge themselves and come to know themselves by the Thoughts and Affections Rom. 8.7 To be carnally minded is Death but to be Spiritually minded is Life and Peace Those that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh and those that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit Where art thou Friend art thou in the way of Life or the way of Death why how may I tell that why where are your minds what are they running upon where are your Thoughts your most serious and delightful Thoughts are they in Heaven or on Earth on things Spiritual or on things Carnal where are your Affections working upwards or downwards Such as thy Thoughts and Affections are such is the State of thy Soul To be Carnally minded is Death but to be Spiritually minded is Life and Peace It 's true many serious Christians have too many Carnal Thoughts Vain and Wandring Thoughts but 't is their Affliction and 't is their care and endeavour to give check to such Thoughts but when the allowed Stream runs towards Earth and sin 't is a sign thou art an Earthly Fleshly Man and in the State of the Dead 3. There are Idols set up in the Heart after which if it be not well looked to it 's apt to go a Whoring It is true more or less of all men what is said of the Elders of Israel Ezek. 14.3 These men have set up their Idols in their Heart Whatsoever the Heart loves more than God whatever the Heart serves or seeks more than God yea whatever the Heart loves or serves or seeks ultimately for it self without respect to any higher end this is an Idol set up in the Heart those very men that abhor those Idols that are set up in the House or the Church that detest Saint-Worship or Image-Worship the Worshipping of Stocks or Stones or Pictures the work of mens hands yea that call that an Idol or Idolatry which God never called so that cry out Idolatry Idolatry against every thing that is not according to their own Minds even these very men may have set up their Idols in their Hearts The Heart hath multitudes of Idols set up in it there are in the Heart as the Apostle said 1 Cor. 5.8 there are in the world Gods many and Lords many The World is an Idol some men make their Lands and their Money their Gods though Job would not chap. 31.24 yet some mens Hearts will say to their Gold Thou art my God Others there are who make their Belly their God Whose God is their Belly Phil. 3.19 Others make their Honours and their Pleasures their God and these may be said to be as those 2 Tim. 3.4 Lovers of Pleasures more than Lovers of God The Heart hath many Idols set up in it but the great Heart-Idol to which all the rest must stoop and serve is Self the World is served Honours are sought Pleasures are loved but all for the sake of Self Whatever Idol there be the great Idol is Self which is set up in the room of God Mans original Apostacy was his falling from God to Self and mans recovery to Christ is his bringing back from Self to God Therefore he tells the World that whoso will come along with him and be his disciple must deny himself Mat. 16.24 If any man Christ suffered that he might bring us to God 1 Pet. 3.18 And that he cannot do unless he come back from Self he departed from God when he declined to himself and he must deny himself that will return to the Lord. God and Self divide the whole world The most are for Self and there is not a man of all these for God some few are for God and every one of these have denyed and departed from Self Mens recovery by Christ is their returning from Self unto God but this Recovery is but imperfect this Self carnal Self I mean hath a Seat higher or lower in the best hearts There is a sinful Selfishness wherewith we still remain infected and there is still a danger even after our recovery of Apostacy to this Self again The great Idoll set up in the heart is self and the great Idolatry or going a whoring after this Idol the great heart Idolatry stands in these three things 1. Self-conceit 2. Self-will 3. Self-love 1. Self-conceit The magnifying our own Opinions the Idolizing our own apprehensions the growing wise in our own eyes and the resigning up our selves to the conduct and government of our own carnal Reasons or Understandings This Solomon intimates is an encroaching upon God yea denying of God he sets these two as Opposites one to another the acknowledging of God and the leaning to our own understandings Prov. 3.5 6. Lean not to thine own understanding in all thy wayes acknowledge him Intimating that whilest we lean to our own understandings we deny and do not acknowledge God It belongs to God as God to be the Supreme Guide and Dictator to us but when men take upon them to be so wise as that their own Opinions and Conceits must be their Guide they therein deny the God that is above Take heed of being self-conceited The worst of Sinners as blind as they are yet they are wise in their own eyes they think their Way is good and their State is good they have a conceit that their own way is best they have taken up conceits against the ways of God this strictness of Religion this Preciseness of Holiness they have a conceit 't is all but Nicety and Hypocrisie and that
This is your own wilfulness you have been perswaded to Christ but you will not come you have been perswaded back from your sins but ye will not come back you have been instructed in the way of Life but you will not learn you have been taught and call'd upon to become New Men to become serious Christians but you will not hearken you have been pressed to give your selves to Prayer to studying the Scriptures to studying your own Hearts to the ordering your Conversations according to the Gospel but you will not yield unto it you will walk after the flesh you will be proud you will be covetous and Carnal livers and thus you spend out your days Sinners consider who is it fit should have the Government of you The will of God or your own wills What would be best for you in the end to be subject to the Law of God or this Law of sin What is it that God would have with you This is the will of God your Salvation he would have you to Heaven he would that these poor Souls of yours whom the Devil hath made Drudges to your Flesh and Slaves to his Lust and Sacrifices to his Malice God would have you to be Vessels of Honour to bear his Image to shine forth in his Glory to live in his likeness and to rejoice in his everlasting Joy Man this is that which God would have that thou maiest live in everlasting Blessedness he would have thee to Heaven and he would have thee by an Holy Life to be fitted for that Blessed Life to be made meet to be a partaker of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Therefore 't is that he commands you to Repent therefore 't is that he with so much importunity perswades you to Christ that he might wash you with his Blood and guide you by his Word and sanctifie you by his Spirit and present you blameless and faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding Joy as Jude 24. This is the will of God that you should be thus Governed and thus Ordered that these Earthen Vessels these dirty Souls might be made Vessels of Honour and of his everlasting praise And what is it that your own wills are for but to live so that you may be fit for nothing but to be Vessels of contempt to be Fuel for the everlasting Fire The Devil and your own Hearts are conspired so to sully and to black you with your ways that you may be fit for no other place but to live in the Smoak and the Fire of the everlasting Furnace Gods will is to bring you to that Inheritance which is reserved in Heaven he would have you to have all the Hell you shall have on this side the Grave and your Heaven in that Eternity which comes after Your sorrows all here and your troubles here and hereafter your rest from them all but your will is to have your Heaven here your good things here your Mirth and your Pleasure here and so leave nothing but your Hell for hereafter Now which of these two wills God's will or your own will is it the best for you to be Governed by If you say God's will is better for me to follow than mine own will 't will end best whatever it seems to be at present then one would think you should see so much Reason against this self-will'dness against this wilfulness and hardness and obstinacy in your own ways as to tremble to think of being left any longer under the Government of your own wills Sinners let me do you a kindness this day let me break the Yoak of Bondage the will of your Flesh from off your Necks and unhorse your Riders the Devil Rides your wills and your will rides your Souls come off from this drudgery Let me do the Lord this Honour this day to perswade you under the Government of his will what God would have me to do that will I do as God would have me to live so will I live will you say the word once God would have me be a Penitent and through his grace a Penitent I will be God would have me to be a Christian a sincere Christian and through his help a Christian I will be God would have me to walk humbly to live honestly to live a blameless Consciencious Heavenly Life and O this is the Life that I will give my self to What if you should say this word and say it heartily What if this word should prevail to fetch you off from your Wilfulness and the hardness of your hearts and lay your Souls at the Feet and under the Government of the Almighty What if such a change should now be wrought upon you that your hearts should now be brought about from Will towards God from Lust to Conscience from this thy Carnal and Sensual and vain Life to a Spiritual and Heavenly Life Would you not bless God for such a change Would you not say This is an happy Day for me a Blessed change the Lord hath wrought upon me Then hearken to the word you have heard and say the word once I will be the Lords and from henceforth he alone shall have the Government of me You that will not but will be self-will'd still will be hardned in your way still go home and chew upon this thought Whether will this wilful hardned Heart lead me at last 2. In the conversion of a Sinner the power of self-will is broken the Controversie betwixt God and the Sinner is determined The Controversie is whose will shall stand the will of God or the will of the Flesh in Conversion the Sinner yields that God's will shall be thenceforth his Law It was foretold of Christ Gen. 3. That he should break the Serpents Head the Serpents Head is his Power over Man and his Head-quarters is the will of Man this is his Strong-hold and in the Conversion of a Sinner the Devil is beaten out of and hath lost his Strong-hold 2 Cor. 10.4 The Weapons of our Warfare are mighty through God to the pulling down the Strong-holds the will of Man which is the great Fort or Strong-hold is so broken and pulled down that 1. He is heartily willing to resign up to God to his Will and Government he that before said Not God's will but mine own can now say Not my will but the will of the Lord be done He that before said I will not that this Man that Christ should Reign over me now says I will not that this Flesh shall Rule over me Psal 110.3 Thy People shall be willing in the Day of thy Power the Day of Conversion is the Day of Gods Power wherein the Power of God's Grace is revealed upon Sinners Hearts in the Day of this Power Sinners shall be willing When the Power of Grace hath conquered the Power of Nature the Sinner shall yield and resign up to God and be heartily contented to be thenceforth under his Rule and Government This is the
our Duty Let him that Blesseth himself in the Earth bless himself in the God of Truth He that loveth himself will bless himself There 's a double Self-blessing 1. A seeking our own blessedness Self-love will prompt us to seek an happiness for our selves not only to save our selves from Misery but to bring our selves to Blessedness The blessedness which true Self-love wisheth and seeketh for Self is in God in the God of Truth He that truly loveth his own Soul can be content with nothing less than God for the blessedness of of it No State no Inheritance no Treasure can satisfie him below Heaven and everlasting glory There 's not a man of you that loves his Soul but he is seeking Glory and Honour and Immortality for it he is taking care and taking pains to get a place in Heaven for his Soul to lay up Treasure in Heaven for it Dost thou love thy self who dost not bless thy Self or seek a Blessing in God for thy Self Dost thou bless thy Self in God who slightest God who carest not for God and who refusest the blessing of God and this for the sake of thy Lusts and Pleasures Sinner lovest thou thy Self lovest thou thine own Soul O seek a Blessing for it a blessing in God a blessing in Heaven for it 2. An enjoying and rejoycing in your own Blessedness Loving our selves aright is part of the fruition and enjoying our selves as loving God is of the fruition of God No man that loves himself but he would enjoy himself and bless himself in the reflection on his own Happiness And this is the self-blessing mentioned let him bless himself in the God of Truth that is let him satisfy himself let him comfort himself let him enjoy and rejoyce over himself upon this account that the God of Truth is his God and his Happness Let him not bless himself in the Earth that Riches are his that Pleasures and Honours are his that he hath the World at will but that the Lord God is his let him not chear himself with the Rich Man's Song Luke 12. Soul take thine ease thou mayest enjoy thy Self for thou hast goods laid up for many Years but let him take up the Psalmist's Song Psal 116.7 Return unto thy rest O my Soul herein thou mayest bless thy Self herein thou mayest comfort thy Self the Lord hath dealt graciously with thee Friends you whose God is the Lord you are the Men that may bless your Selves you are the Men that may enjoy your Selves you may look into your Hearts with comfort you may look upon your States with Joy you may bless your Selves that God hath given you such an Heart you may bless your Selves that God hath given you such a Portion You that have an Interest in God and this witnessed by the Image of God upon your Hearts you may enjoy your Selves and take comfort as often as you look inward and see the Marks and the Prints of Divine Grace stamped upon you your very love to your Selves will make you to rejoice over your Selves as often as you view the blessed Frame into which the Goodness and Grace of God hath brought you Well this Self-love with it's Fruits Self-preservation and Self-blessing is our Duty and the Lord hath planted it in our Hearts on purpose to bring us on upon all our other Duties God makes great use of this innocent Self-love in his Government of the World God Governs by Laws and Laws Govern by their Rewards and Punishments and Rewards and Punishments have their Efficacy by vertue of this love of our selves what would Laws signifie were there no Rewards to the Obedient nor Penalties to the Disobedient These are the Sinews and Strength of Laws and what would Rewards and Penalties signifie to us were we not lovers of our Selves Our Self-love prompts us to seek our good and to prevent our misery As far as we love our Selves we desire our own Happiness 'T was Self-love that made those many Psal 4.6 to say Who will shew us any good 'T was the Psalmist's Love to the Church Psal 122.9 that made him say I will seek thy good and hence 't is that we endeavour the prevention of our ruin Self-preservation is the Fruit of Self-love Self-love is the first spring and motive to Religion 't is true when we come to be Religious indeed there are higher motives the love of God the Love of Christ is the great Argument to carry us on in sound Religion when we come to be Christians then the main Motive to Christianity is that which Christ used to Peter John 21.15 to faithfulness in his Ministry Lovest thou me Feed my Sheep Lovest thou me Feed my Lambs If ye love me keep my Commandments Joh. 14.15 But the first Motive to bring us to be Christians is this Self-love Lovest thou thy Self Then give thy Self to Christ Lovest thou thy Soul Then be a Christian Christ is the only way to blessedness He that hath the Son hath Life 1 Joh. 5.12 And he that not the Son hath not Life Christ is the only way to blessedness and the only security against misery against Everlasting misery There is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ Rom. 8.1 There is no Name under Heaven by which we must be saved saved from Death from Eternal Death but by the Name of Jesus Acts 4.12 Now when Christ says Come unto me and ye shall have rest Mat. 11. Follow me and ye shall have Treasure in Heaven Mark 10. He that is ashamed of me of him will I be ashamed before my Father that is in Heaven the intent and meaning of all this is if you love your Selves come to me if you love your Souls keep my Commandments if ever you would that those Souls of yours should be happy Souls if you would not that they should be Lost and Burned and Drowned in everlasting Destruction if you love your Souls and wish their good and happiness if you would not be your Destroyers and Murtherers if you have so much love to your Souls that you would they should be Saved and would not that they be Damned then come unto Christ then be followers of Christ then believe then repent and obey the Gospel If you love your Selves be Holy if you love your Selves be Heavenly minded if you love your Selves be humble be painfull be circumspect and walk in all things as becometh the Gospel By the way I exhort you to improve and maintain your true Self-love I say not to you only Husbands love your Wives Parents love your Children Christians love one another but every one of you love your Selves If you love your Selves you will love God if you love your Selves you will love Christ if you love your Selves you will love Godliness if you love your Selves you will be the followers of God the Disciples of Christ and will give your selves to live godly in Christ Jesus See therefore that you love your Selves that your poor Souls may grow more dear
to you Be more Zealous for the Salvation of your own Souls be more fearful of their Damnation be more tender of wounding and wronging your Souls Take heed of sin Prov. 8.36 He that sinneth wrongeth his own Soul all they that hate me love Death You that sin against God ye wrong your own Souls Love your Souls better and you will never be such proud Livers or such Worldlings or such Drunkards or Rioters you would be sober and serious and circumspect If you lov'd your Selves better you would take heed of this Lying and these Oaths and this unrighteous Dealing of this hardness of Heart in your sins you would fall upon your Knees you would fall upon your Faces and be ashamed and bewail and repent of your sins and return to the Lord from them all had you more of this true Self-love within you Sinners why come you not in to Christ Why will you not yet be perswaded to repent Why Man hast thou no love to thy Self The Apostle tells us Eph. 5.29 No Man ever yet hated his own Flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it He useth that word to press Husbands to love their Wives who says he are their own Flesh Dost thou not love thy Self What wouldst thou say of a Man that doth not love his Wife but would play the Tyrant and Tygre brawling and snarling yea fighting and beating her You would say This were a Monster among Men rather than a Christian worse than the very Brutes amongst whom it 's seldom seen that the Male snarleth or biteth or pusheth at the Female What then is he that loveth not his own Soul Lovest thou thy Self Lovest thou thine own Soul Then take heed of going on in thy Sins then take heed of standing it out against Christ You hear what a reward there is for the Righteous you hear what an Inheritance Christ hath laid up for his Saints an Inheritance in Light Life Love Joy everlasting Pleasure and everlasting Glory Christ would make those poor Souls blessed Souls joyful Souls glorious Souls partakers of the everlasting Riches of his Glory and Joy But what wilt thou say My Soul shall have no part in it My Soul shall never come there my Lot shall never be with the Saints but shall be without amongst Unbelievers Impenitents amongst Dogs and Sorcerers and Idolaters In refusing to come to Christ to Repent and be made Holy thou sayest in effect my Soul shall never come to Heaven Let it to Hell amongst Dogs and Devils and that vile and wicked Generation of the Damned But Sinner hast thou forgot that thou art a Man Art thou a Monster of Men Hast thou lost all love to thy Self to thine own Soul Doest thou neither love nor pity thine own Soul Wouldst thou that Christ should ever love thee when thou whilt not love thy Self Wouldst thou that Christ should ever pity thee when thou wilt not pity thy self O Sinners love your own Souls pity your own Souls be not so cruel and hard-hearted to your selves Will you for the love of your Lusts for the love of the World sell your Souls to the Devil sell them to Hell to make Faggots for the everlasting Burnings Where are your Bowels O pity pity that poor blind and miserable Soul of thine and bring it to Christ for pity's sake go on in thy evil ways no longer be a Drunkard no longer a Worldling no longer a Lyar a Scoffer no longer be no longer hardned in your sins but come away to Christ and escape for your Lives if you love your Selves come if you have any pity for your Selves come let the dread of the Cruelties of the Devil bring you back from following him and come you in and cast your Selves upon the Blood upon the Bowels and Compassions of Christ who is such an High Priest as can have compassion upon the Ignorant and those that are out of the way and even on the worst of Sinners that will return to him What shall I say more to you I will speak but the same words let every one of you see that he so love himself as Christ loved the Church washing it and saving it by his Blood Love your Selves and save your Selves love your Selves and bless your Selves in the God of Truth Don't bless your selves in the Earth in your Money in your Lands in your carnal Pleasures in your carnal Friends these things are not nor ever think they will be your Blessedness but bless your Selves in the God of Truth bless your Selves in Jesus whom God hath sent to bless you in turning you from your Iniquities Act. 3.26 Turn to Christ and you shall be blessed be Believers and you shall be Blessed come in this day and let your Names be written among the blessed of the Lord come every one of you and put in your Names among the Disciples of Christ Let me be one Lord let me be another write down my Name for one among thy Disciples I am willing to be thine and do solemnly covenant and this very day give my Self to Thee Who of you are there that will thus come in Will you be perswaded to it or must I lose my labour Are there any of you Is there any one of all the Sinners in this Company that will thus come in Come then in the Name of the Lord come get your Names to be thus written in the Lamb's Book and and he will write it in Heaven there it will be found in the last Day written in the Book of Life this do and then you that have been hitherto the Haters and Wrongers and Cruel will hence-forth appear to be Lovers of your own Souls 2. There is a sinful Self-love this is the great Heart Idolatry and the Root of all Rebellion and Disobedience to God Here I shall shew you 1. What this sinful Self-love is 1. It is a Love of mistaken Self of Carnal-self a love of the Flesh and it's Affections and Lusts a love of that Flesh which Christ would have us to hate and deny Mat. 16.24 Himself that is his Flesh or Carnal-self Men are mistaken in themselves and count that their Self which is not their Self as Christ said to the Woman of Samaria John 4. concerning her Husband He that thou hast for an Husband is not thine Husband so may it be said to Sinners That which thou takest for thy Self is not thy Self this Flesh which thou takest for thy Self and lovest as thy Self is not thy Self You that love your Flesh you love your Enemy you that please your Flesh you are pleasing your Enemy you that are working for your Flesh and providing for your Flesh and pampering your Flesh you are working for and feeding your Enemy you count you are seeking of and working for your Self no 't is for your Enemy this Flesh is your Mortal Enemy Now this is one sort of sinfull Self-love when we love our Flesh or our corruptions when we love our Selves as Fleshly-minded Men when we love to please and
over much in any of the good things below we may rejoice in our outward good things James 1.9 Let the Brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted that is let the Poor rejoice when he is made Rich Poverty is an Affliction and Riches are a Mercy and such a Mercy as we may rejoice in But though we may rejoice in every outward Mercy yet we may not rejoice overmuch in them particularly for the limits of this Joy they must be such as these 1. Joy not in any of these good things as if they were your happiness they may be Means to our happiness but must not be made the Matter of our happiness to make our Estates our happiness is to make them our God and the way to make us miserable he is a miserable Rich Man who maketh his Riches his Happiness 2. Joy not so much in them as to rejoyce ever the less in God You have so much need of God in the greatest Plenty and Prosperity as you have when you have nothing and you should so much thirst after the Joy of God in your greatest Worldly Joy as in your Sorrow Take not your Worldly Joy in stead of Joy in God think not to supply your want of Joy in God by the abounding of Worldly Joy You may as well feed your Souls with Meat and Drink you may as well provide for your Souls by your Money or Estates as comfort them by that Joy that ariseth out of these Earthly things Souls must have a God the Comfort of God the Joy of God to refresh them and support them that Soul is a Carnal Soul that can feed upon Carnal Joys you nevertheless need the Joy of God for any Worldly Joy and you must look to it that your Worldly Joys be never to that height as to lessen your esteem of the Joy of the Lord. The Joy of God will quench your thirst after the World and then the Joy of the World exceedeth it's Bounds when it quencheth your thirst after God and the light of his Countenance Thou art Rich thou art full and prosperest in the World thy Bull gendreth and faileth not thy Cow calveth c. thy Oxen are strong to labour thy Sheep bring forth Thousands and ten Thousands in the Streets and now thou hast Hearts Ease and rejoycest in thy Portion but how standest thou now in respect to God Is God ever the less needed Is God ever the less loved Is the Joy of God still thy chief Joy Or dost thou not even forget that thou hast a God or a Soul and leave it to them that have nothing below to rejoyce in God that is above What thinkest thou of thy self Hath this Earth eaten up Heaven Hath the Joy of this Earth swallowed up the Joy of the Lord Sure it hath transgressed its Bounds It may be thou wilt say as the Prophet Hab. 3.17 18. and it is well if thou canst say so Although the Fig-Tree doth not Blossom c Yet will I rejoyce in the Lord and Joy in the God of my Salvation When thou art Poor and in Want and hast nothing left thee in the World to comfort thine Heart in then thou wilt look to the Lord and he shall be thy Joy and thy Comfort but how is it with thee when the Fig-Tree doth Blossom when thou livest in the abundance of all things Dost thou then feel thou hast as much need of a God dost thou then take as much Joy in God canst thou say of all here below These are miserable Comforters if God be not my Comfort these are miserable Pleasures if God be not my Joy This is something and thus it should be 3. Rejoice with Trembling That 's the Psalmist's Counsel Psal 2.11 Serve the Lord with Fear and rejoice with Trembling in allusion to that let me say Seek the World with Fear and rejoice in the World with Trembling let fear be a Bridle to prevent the excess of your Worldly Joy Fear what should we fear Why fear lest you should forget God lest that which is your Joy become your Snare and turn you aside from God lest your Joy in the World should prove Worldly Joy and serve for nothing but to feed and heighten your Worldly Lusts fear lest this Joy of the World should do the same by you as sometimes the Sorrows of the World do which the Apostle says 2 Cor. 7. Worketh Death fear lest it kill your Souls there is nothing that does more corrupt and endanger the Soul than Carnal Mirth Eccle. 11.9 Rejoice O young Man in thy Youth c. but what followeth Know that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment that is to Condemnation These Joys drag the Soul to the Bar of Justice and thence to Execution in the Fire There is scarce any thing that does Ripen Men faster for Ruin than the Mirth of the World Job 21.10 11. Their Bull gendreth and faileth not there 's the matter of their Joy their Children Dance they take the Timbrel and the Harp and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ there 's the Measure and Expression of their Joy they are so lifted up that they must have the Musick and their Dancing to heighten their Mirth but what 's the end In a Moment they go down to the Grave and thence into the Bottomless Pit O the Madness of this Merry World That can see nothing in God to Joy them in and yet can rejoice in a thing of nought that undo themselves by their own Felicity their Joy and Mirth Joy is the sweetest Flower that grows in that Garden the Heart of Man and this Flower must be the Poyson to kill them and is never sweet to them but when it growes up out of a Dung-hill out of their Fleshly Lusts What Multitudes have surfeited and Died of their Carnal Mirth and yet foolish Souls will never fear it but this must be their only Heaven which leads to Hell what do these Carnal Joys serve for but to corrupt Men first and then to confound Men Worldly sorrow it 's said worketh Death but it may be said of Worldly Sorrow and Mirth as of David and Saul Saul hath slain his Thousands and David his ten Thousands Worldly Sorrow hath slain many but nothing so many as Carnal Mirth whilest that Saints wade through their Temporal Sorrows to everlasting Joy Sinners pass through their Worldly Joy to everlasting Sorrows Isa 50.11 Behold ye that kindle your Fires c. Here 1. Sinners have their Fires that is to comfort and chear and warm their Hearts these their comforting Fires are their Joy and Jollities 2. Sinners Fires are of their own kindling their comforts come not from God but they raise them up to themselves they comfort themselves and chear themselves but are not comforted of God 3. Sinners Fires are all but Sparks a Spark will not warm and will not last the Triumphing of the Wicked is short and the Joy of the Hypocrite is
and the Torments of them shall make you know what now you will not understand 'T is a foreknowledge by observing and pondering what is written and preach'd of these great things that is necessary to your present Government 3. A feeling of these things I mean now a feeling beforehand a feeling that 's gotten by your fore-knowledge What we believe and understand if they be great things will make impressions upon our senses By the knowledge of God and of the blessedness of Heaven the Saints get some â—orâ—â—â—â—es of that Glory and Blessedness 1 Pet. 2.2 If we have taâ—â—d that the Lord is gracious And by the knowledge of the Wrath and Judgments of God some sinners get a taste of that wrath it makes their hearts to begin to burn above ground There 's an heaven begun in the hearts of Saints and an hell begun in the hearts of some Sinners And this now is that which I mean by a sense of the things to come the getting such a belief of the certainty of these things such an understanding of the greatness of these things that may deeply affect the Heart that may leave powerful impressions on the Senses that the heart may be powerfully moved and deeply affected with them Sinners hearts are as stones and senseless stocks when we have spoken to them of the deep things of God we may say of these eternal things as the Apostle of his temporal Sufferings Acts 20.24 None of these things move them or will in the least work upon them but if we could let in a little more light into their Minds if we could shew them some glimpses of the Glory to some some flashes of the Eternal fire this would make those stocks to feel 2. This sense of the eternal things is the sinews of Government There can be no Government without Rewards and Punishments and if these Rewards and Punishments be not believed known and perceived it s all one as to Government as if there were none at all 'T is the understanding and sense of these Rewards that is the strength of Government Now there is according to the two different Rewards a different sense of them 1. an alluring encouraging and obliging sense A sense of the Magnificence of the Kindness and Mercies of the Lord will encourage to Subjection and obedience to him It will draw forth our love and stir up all our Powers to active Obedience O how would the lively sense of God and the blessedness of Heaven kindle Affection enlarge our desires raise our hopes and fill us with joy What would be loved as God is loved what would be desired as God is desired what would be hoped for as heaven is hoped for what would our love or desires or hopes find too much to be done or suffered where there is a deep sense of these great things that shall be the reward of all And how would such a lively sense of God and of heaven abate our love and cool our desires after earth and the things thereof Who would regard dust and stones and trash that had Gold and Pearles before him what would this money be these Sheep and Oxen be these carnal pleasures and sports be how easily could they be wanted how little would they be loved or desired were that Glory Honour Immortality that is above more before our Eye and upon our Hearts you complain you can't get your hearts loosned and disintangled from these earthly things O 't is because heaven is so much out of sight you have so little sense of the good things to come that hence it is you fall a lusting so after the good things present Get more sense of God into your hearts and you will feel your Affections to fall and abate towards these earthly things Look on the things not seen as the Apostle did 2 Cor. 4.18 Upon the things that are eternal and you will disdain and contemn the things that are seen which are but Temporal 2. The sense of the punishments to come will be an awing sense The severities of the Lord and his dreadful wrath and vengeance would awe the heart into subjection to him O what an influence would this have upon the Governing our fears and our griefs and our anger whom should we then fear but God what would the wrath of man be what would temporal sufferings be how little would they be feared were there a due awe of God upon our hearts your awe of God would say the same to you as the Prophet Isa 2.22 Cease ye from man trust not in him and fear him not and as Christ said Rev. 2.10 Fear none of those things you shall suffer And Luk. 12.5 Fear not them that kill the body fear God who is able to cast into Hell Whom should we then fear but God and what should we then fear but sin against God which maketh so obnoxious to his wrath you that now make light of Sin can lye and defraud and be covetous and do any thing else your hearts lead you to and make nothing of it or but a small matter Get an awe of God on your hearts and your sins would make you tremble and what an influence would it have upon the suppressing your sinful Anger it would take up all our quarrels a sense of Heaven and Hell would make us all friends those great things would swallow up the lesser What do I stand vexing and fretting mv self at every one that crosseth me how stands it with my Soul to God ward how may I escape the wrath to come Is it peace betwixt the Almighty and my Soul Friends 't is a sign that you have little sense of your eternal conceraments where every little thing so excessively moves and disturbs your Spirits 3. How to get and maintain upon our hearts this sense of the eternal things There are two things I have told you are supposed to this sense a believing and an understanding these great things and to the improving of what we believe and understand of them there 's a third thing necessary Meditation and frequent thinking upon them Exercise your thoughts more upon the Eternal World spend more thoughts think oftner upon it and spend more deep thoughts of heart upon them Our thinking and meditating is the same with that looking on the things not seen mentioned before 2 Cor. 4. Look more Heavenward and look more towards hell and this will affect your hearts particularly think these three thoughts 1. Think this thought In this eternal world I must shortly be one of these two Rewards must be my Reward one of these two States Eternal Blessedness or Eternal Misery must be my State That Heaven which I now hear Preach'd of that Hell which I now am warned of I shall be in one of them in a little while As sure as I am alive and here this day so sure shall I be in Heaven or Hell a few days hence What 's become of those many that were alive a few years
they take for Star-light Sinners whatever brightness or beauty there be in any of your Faces whatever Gaudy or merry Outsides you have yet what an inside have you your hearts are all dark holes where dwells every abominable thing Toads and Serpents Zim and Jim Owles and Satyrs and every unclean thing dwells within you Thou that hast the fairest outside there are Toads and Serpents and Worms crawling and breeding in thine heart You would every one of you be afraid of your selves you would loath your selves and you would tremble at your selves you would if you knew how run away from your selves in a fright if you knew what were in your hearts Sinners care not to look into their hearts and some of them are afraid to look inwards and well enough you may you would see such ugly and monstrous Sights as might even scare you out of your Wits Saints have all their Riches within them they have a treasure in their hearts A good man out of the good treasure of his heart Mat 12.35 There may be and often is poverty without but there 's a treasure within the richest of sinners they have all their Treasures without them in their houses in their Purses in their shops in their Chests but all the while there 's poverty and beggery in their hearts Thou art a very beggar Sinner with all thy load of Wealth 't is a poor beggarly Soul thou hast how richly soever thy Carcase be provided for 'T is the heart of the Saints where God bestows all his Riches Christians Look to your hearts you carry more riches in you then the whole World is worth you loose all that ever you are worth if you loose your hearts He that hath a Treasure in his house will look more carefully to the locking of his doors especially the room where his Riches lye must be most fortified with Bolts and Bars You have more to loose than the Princes of the Earth and therefore have the more reason to keep those hearts wherein all your riches lye Not only your graces but your good works are all kept in your hearts If ever you have done any good in all your lives whereof you hope for a reward in the other World all your Duties the holiness and fruitfulness of your Conversation your works of Righteousness your works of Mercy these are all kept in your hearts Conscience is the keeper of them the Conscience of an honest holy gracious heavenly life is a precious Treasure kept within you 2 Cor. 1.12 This is our rejoycing the Testimony of a good Conscience All your Duties arise from your hearts all your Holiness and Fruitfulness and activity for God are so many holy streams flowing from an holy heart and all these streams return into the heart there they must be kept against the day of Accounts 5. It is the Ark of your strength Some mens strength lies in their heads in their Wisdom and Counsel and Policy a wise man is a strong man Other mens strength lies in their hands a Princes strength lies in his Armies in his Forts and Castles and strong Towers but a Christians strength is in his heart The Lord is in his heart and Psal 73.26 Thou art the strength of mine heart Eph. 6.10 Be ye strong in the Lord and in the power of his might The weakest Christians have a strong God and hence it is they are strong and of good courage Christians have need of strength 1. Of Strength for their Work there are great things they have to do they have much work hard service the life of a Christian is not a toying but a toyling life You shall never get to Heaven by play or by Idleness you have much business lying upon you and great business The working out your Salvation is hard work The Soules of Sinners lye idle as if they had nothing to do What pains dost thou use to take for thy Soul What hast thou done all thy life long towards the working out thy Salvation Sinners you live as if God should throw in Heaven upon you and cloath you with Glory and immortality whilst your Souls are fast asleep no you must work if you will live you must labour for the meat that endures to eternal life Joh. 6.27 if ever you will have the eating of it You must pray and watch and strive to enter in at the strait gate if ever you will get in This should be your work and it is the work of Christians and for this their great work they have great strength given them and all their strength is in their hearts 2. Christians have need of strength for their burthens Christians have hard work and heavy burthens lying upon them Besides the Care that is upon them for their Souls which is a great and weighty burthen and their fear of miscarrying in the matters of their Souls which is another burthen they have burthens of Sufferings and Afflictions ordinarily upon their backs All the hatred and malice all the scorns and reproaches of this Evil World light and lie upon the backs of poor Christians and how shall they bear their burthens if they have no strength 3. They have need of Strength against their Enemies Christians live in the midst of Enemies Enemies without the Devil and his Instruments Enemies within their own Lusts and Corruptions and they must be in continual fight against these Enemies and their Enemies being so many and so strong they have need of strength to resist them Christians have need of strength and strength they have and all their strength is in their hearts There their Armour lies The shield of Faith the breast-plate of Righteousness the helmet the hope of Salvation and there their Captain dwells the Captain of their Salvation lodges in their hearts Lose your hearts and lose your strength and what will you do at your Work how will you bear your burthens how will you stand against your Enemies when your strength is lost What became of Sampson when he was deprived of that wherein his strength lay what weakly Souls are careless Christians every little duty is too hard them how quickly are they weary weary of Praying weary of Hearing weary of Meditation weary of a watchful Life a little work will make them weary How little can they do and how little can they bear every little cross sinks their spirits and what resistance can they make against Enemies every lust is apt to carry them away every Temptation overcomes them O Christians by how slow a pace do we keep on our way how little sign do we make at our work we have been Christians some of us of twenty years standing or more how little good have we done how little treasure have we gotten in how little execution have we done upon our sins and lusts what poor weakly lifeless half-starv'd Souls have we to this day sure we have been ill keepers of our hearts the ark of our strength hath been laid waste strangers
have need of many washing dayes who have so many sinning dayes Every day should be a washing day to us Take that counsel of the Prophet Isa 1.16 Wash ye make ye clean put away the evil of your doings Make you clean and keep you clean Wash ye and watch ye put away the evil of your doings if you would that your hearts should long be kept clean Wash your hands and wash your face and wash your feet or these will defile your hearts Put away the Garment spotted with the flesh keep your outward man clean keep you unspotted from the World that so you may be blameless and unreprovable in the sight of God O Christians let us study every one of us to get to such a blameless and unrebukable Conversation that not only the world may have nothing to spot us with but that our Consciences may have nothing to spot us with that our hearts may not have wherewith to reprove us as little as may be of the common and unavoidable infirmities of our flesh but however we may be overtaken as to these yet be unreproveable as to any tolerated or allowed iniquities these are the great blots wherewith the heart is defiled Brethren beloved whoever among you that fear the Lord I would fain do what I can to prepare you an holy habitation for the holy one that whereas he hath said 2 Cor. 6.16 I will dwell with them and walk in them you may be such in whom his Soul may delight to dwell that he may say of you all as Psal 132.14 This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it It is a strange expression the holy God speaks this to all his holy ones to thee in particular to thine heart if it be but a clean heart the Almighty God says to thee there is my rest in that heart of thine will I dwell for I have desired it the Lord God hath a desire to be thy Guest hath a desire to that poor Soul of thine to take it up for his own dwelling I would that you may be presented at last unspotted and unreproveable in his sight and to this end that you may be presented holy at last I would that you may be preserved holy and without blame at present O look to those hearts keep you pure let there be written upon you holiness to the Lord they should be a little heaven into which nothing that defileth should enter O purge your selves of whatever may offend and then guard your selves against it This is my warning to you and this is my prayer for you that the very God of Peace will sanctifie you wholly and I pray God that your whole Spirit Soul and Body may be preserved blameless against the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ And to him I commend you who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy to him be Gloro for ever Amen 3. Against Distempers A good temper of heart will be an advantage to us in any thing we have to do An heart out of temper is like a bone out of joint or like a Tempestuous Sea there 's no good sailing in it We cannot keep our way but shall be driven about this way and that way with every wind and wave An heart out of temper is like a door off the hinges or a Chariot off the Wheels it draggs and goes untowardly and heavily on O how often are our Souls unhinged our Chariots off the wheels or our wheels without oyl and then what pitiful work do we make at any thing we have to do when we have been in a crowd of worldly business or been foolishly merry and vain what a discomposure do we find upon our Souls and how unfit are we then for duty when we come to pray or to hear what labour doth it cost us to reconcile our hearts to our Duties or to get us into a praying or hearing frame We come to pray as a Musitian comes to play when his Instrument is out of Tune he must spend a good deal of his time in tuneing before one stroke can be strook How much work have we to tune our hearts at such times and it may be at last 't is more then we can do and so we must either let the duty alone or make such sad melody in the Ears of the Lord as a Musitian would do in ours who should play on his Instrument when every string is out of tune Get your hearts in temper and keep them so Be able to say with the Psalmist Psal 57.7 O God mine heart is fixed mine heart is fixed The good temper of the heart notes freedom and towardliness and disposedness for any thing God calls to and firmness and stability in that towardliness Let your hearts be established in Good Let there be an abiding holy temper upon your Spirits some of the distempers that we should guard our hearts against are 1. Slightness and vanity of Spirit A well tempered heart is a serious heart Seriousness of heart is as ballast to a Ship we shall go steadily whilst our hearts are serious 1 Pet. 1.13 Gird up the loyns of your minds and be sober Soberness here is the same with seriousness Christians are always engaged about serious and weighty things their Eternity is concern'd in every day they live and in every thing they do Every action of our Lives is a stroke at that work which must have an influence upon our Eternal State We have weighty work lying upon our hands every day and hour and how unsuitable is a slight and trifling Spirit to important affairs a slight heart is an empty and shallow heart and a shallow heart is unfit to meddle in the deep things of God Watch against slightness of Spirit Frothiness and Vanity becomes not a Christian at any time we may say of the frolicks and light and jovial lives of the carnal world as Solomon says of laughter Eccl. 2.2 I said of laughter it it is mad A Christian is besides himself when he indulgeth to a vain and frothy Spirit Friends 't is not for us to live in jest Eternal Life and Death are no jesting matters learn to live in good earnest those that are light and vain that are little else but froth and vapour in their ordinary Course do use to be but little better in their most serious Duties O what slight praying is there amonst us what shallow and empty Duties do our slight and trifling hearts satisfie themselves withal it may be some of us when we have spent a whole Sabbath with the Lord if we do reflect upon the temper we have been in may sometimes find that we have hardly had a serious hour in a whole day If they should be asked as Christ asked his Disciples Mat. 26.40 What could ye not watch with me one hour what could ye not be serious with me one hour what could we answer
a bondage to it to be tied up so short The more of this the higher the Disease is and the more to be doubted whether such mens Christianity be sound The strictest Christian is the most healthful and the most evidently a Christian indeed and the greater latitude the heart indulges its self to the more sickly the Soul is if it be not quite dead and no Christian at all Friends You that are Christians indeed if you know what you have done you have vowed the greatness strictness possible That is to press on towards it and to reach out after it You did not Covenant to follow Christ to such a degree and no higher to advance in Religion to such a pitch and no more you did not Covenant for thus much Obedience thus much duty thus much diligence thus much Zeal and no more if ye be Christians indeed you have covenanted to follow the Lord fully to watch to every Duty to watch against every sin to press on to the highest pitch of holiness to do to the utmost to please the Lord. If there were any reserve in your vow to Christ of any little liberty to the Flesh of any limit of your zeal and care if there were any such reserve you are false in your Covenant and but false Christians O friends have you vowed the greatest strictness then watch against the least degrees of looseness Get a settled Judgment of the excellency and necessity of strictness get an hearty love and good liking of it let your Souls be bent upon it let it be your desire and your aim and your hope and your labour to hold you close by Christ and if you would not have licentious practises abound in your life let no licentious Principles no licentious affections nest themselves in your hearts see that there be no lust after any other liberty then Christ hath allowed you Get to be heartily well pleased with all the Laws of Christ with his narrowest ways let that latitude of Religion which is the measure of carnal disciples be your fear and not your desire And if you feel any itch after it look upon it as a disease and distemper of your heart Count thy self but a weakly and sickly Christian whilst is is thus with thee Know that it is your greatest Excellency if Holiness be an Excellency then the more strictly holy the more Excellent Yea and you will find it your greatest Liberty the more holiness the more enlargement of your hearts to all the holy ways of God Psal 119.44 45. I will keep thy law continually c. And I will walk at liberty his meaning was not I will walk licentiously at liberty from thy Laws at liberty from Rule but I will walk freely in thy ways when thou shalt knock off my fetters that hinder me The more we can hold in and inure our selves to be punctual in our Religion the more freedom shall we find and with the more ease and delight shall we run the way of Gods Commands And know this that by how much the more loose you are from the ways of God by so much the more loose from God and what will you have to comfort you what will you have to sweeten Religion to you whilst God is at a distance from you Keep you fast to him and you shall live the more under his reviving and refreshing influences Religion hath its troubles and its harshness and you will have little else then the harshness of it longer then you keep you close to the Lord. The Waters of the Sanctuary will tast but brackish to you longer then the Sun shines upon them a little Sun-shine from above a smile from the Face of God this is the sweetness this is the Blessedness Keep close to God and you shall keep the passage clear between Heaven and your Hearts Religion will be like Ephraims Idolatry Hos 8.7 It will be but a dry stalk the Bud will yield no Meat There will be the Labours of it and the Troubles of it but no Meat for your Souls to feed upon longer then you meet with God in your Duties Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you Jam. 4.8 Keep close by God and he will keep close to you May be some of you have never yet tasted how Gracious the Lord is nor will you ever be like to do if you set not in closer in his ways Loose Religion will keep you still in the dark and in a weary and uncomfortable State There 's no such way to make Christ's ways pleasant as by keeping constantly in them no such way to make Christs Yoke easie as by holding it close to your Necks it never so galls and wrings as when it hangs loosely on resolve upon strictness and you shall taste the sweetness Hold you in from running out after the Pleasures of the Flesh and the Face of God will be a pleasure to you which the Distemper of a loose and carnal Heart will certainly deprive you of and hinder you from the relish or finding delight therein 3. Listlesness A dull untoward sluggish unactive lifeless temper where the Edge of our Spirits is blunted insomuch that whatever opportunities we have or whatever calls we have to be doing for God or our Souls we have no list to them but through the way-wardness and and untowardness of our hearts we let them slip and either do nothing or nothing to purpose Opportunities are a price put into our hands but by reason of this sluggish listless untoward temper we have no heart to them but became like the Fool Prov. 17.16 In vain is there a price put into the hands of a Fool which hath no heart to it This is a wretched and pernicious Distemper 2. It proceeds from an evil cause From the carnality of our hearts and our unsuitableness to the work of God It is ungrateful and unpleasing work to us our hearts are so contrary to it we had rather be any where then with God we had rather be about any work then the work of our Souls We can be brisk and sprightful about our carnal and earthly employments but for any thing of Religion there we dragg and go heavily on we are all Soul and Life in what we have to do for our Flesh but our hearts hang backward and come but heavily and untowardly on to do any thing for God This is from the little interest that God hath in our Souls and the little affection we bear to him We are yet carnal and that 's the reason we have so little Edge or so little list to spiritual things 2. It is an ill sign What ill sign is it 'T is a sign of want of Grace either that we have no Grace at all or at least are but very low in the Grace of God that our day is yet but a day of small things Where is our Faith in Christ when we are so backward in the work of Faith As Christ sayd Mat. 14.31
Wherefore dost thou doubt so wherefore dost thou drag so O thou of little Faith Where 's our Love to Christ when our work for Christ goes so slowly on 2 Cor. 5.14 The Love of Christ constrains us The Love of Christ will quicken us the Love of Christ will put Life into us we should find our Tongues and find our Hands and find time to be more abundant in service could we feel more of the Love of Christ in us Thou makest nothing of it that thou art such a dull untoward unactive Souls but is it nothing to want Faith Is it nothing to want love to Christ Is it nothing to be without Grace in thy heart Or if thou hast any to have so very little as thou canst not tell whither 't is any or no It is an ill sign that thy Soul is in a very doubtful case at least 't is to be doubted Whether thou hast any Grace in thee Where in ordinary thou art so untoward and listless to the matters of God and the businesses of Religion 3. 'T is of ill consequence 'T is a sign our case is bad and it is an hindrance from our growing better It is the vivacious active stirring soul that 's like to be the thriving Soul Sluggards and Sleepers are never like to come to any thing We may preach to you while our hearts ake we may instruct you and tell you what is your duty while we will and you may hear us while you will but in vain shall we preach and in vain will you hear till we can fire you out of this deadness and whet and set an edge upon those blunted Souls what will it be to be told of your Duty whilst you remain to have so little heart to it what becomes of all the Sermons you hear of all the teaching you what you should do and how you should live what becomes of all the convincing awakening quickning words that are in your ears from day to day what doth all our Preaching and all your hearing bring forth upon you truly friends the little success that is to be perceived of our Preaching among you either to the converting of sinners or improving of professors the small success that does appear what there is within God knows does even make us out of heart But as little success as we have we are never like to have it much better unless we may stir your hearts and awaken you to more diligence and activity When we have done all we can we are I doubt like at last to leave the most of you either quite dead in sin or but very Dwarfes in Religion Sinners is it nothing to you that the enlivening word should leave you still among the dead Christians is it nothing to you that the nourishing and quickning Word should leave you but babes and infants Is it not a trouble to you and a discomfort to you that you get no more that you grow no faster much more that any of you should consume and languish under the hands of your Physicians I must tell you it is a discomfort to us but is it not more a discomfort to you can you continue at this pass and not be troubled at it O what a comfort is it to be a thriving lively Christian Methinks when you see any such before your eyes you should at least sigh out such a wish O that it were so with me and breath out such a groan wo is me that 't is not so methinks it should be an heaviness of heart to you to feel your own soul in Cloggs when you see others upon the wing O that I could make you sensible of your diseases that I could preach you heart sick that I could but make your hearts ake under your distempers that you might no longer be able to go up and down without trouble in this unthriving case Sure friends you whose case this is had need to be troubled and 't would be well for you if your Souls were in pain and refused to be comforted till you be cured To make you yet more sensible of the perniciousness of this untoward dull and listless temper look a little more upon the excellency of the contrary a chearful lively temper 'T is call'd 2 Cor. 8.17 A forward mind 1 Pet. 5.2 A ready mind that need not be spurred and whip'd but goes chearfully and freely on its way What is a sprightful horse to a dull and heavy jade what is a blunted rusty knife to that which is bright and keen what is a consumptive languishing body to one that 's lively and healthful what is a dark and lowring to a Sunshine day what is Winter to Summer yea what are the living to the dead what a pitiful thing is that dead and spiritless heart of thine when thou lookest on them in whom is the life of God Hear O ye sleepy and listless Souls awaken stir up your selves shake off this sloth and sleep work out this untoward spirit What do you mean to hang thus betwixt alive and dead will you hold you at this pass till you come to your Graves Is this all the care and the pains you ever mean to bestow on God and your Souls must the Lord ever find you so unready and untoward to what he calls you to shall the world find a forward mind in you shall your flesh find such a ready mind to whatever it hath for you to do and will you only be unready and unactive for God Wherefore have you Reason and Understandings wherefore have you the Scriptures before you what are Sabbaths and Ordinances and Ministers for must we come hither only to sing you asleep or to rock von in your Cradles Where is that Grace that is in you where is your Faith where is your love to Christ where is your hope if you have any Grace where is it what must all these precious talents be eaten up with rust or laid up in a napkin Remember the slothful Servants doom Mat. 25.30 What are your immortal Souls what is the holy God what is Jesus Christ what are the glorious treasures of Eternity are all these worth no more of your care and industry will none of these things move you will not these great things quicken you Hear them all calling upon you God calls upon you oh my children if you have any respect for me come along come faster after me Christ calls oh my Disciples if you have any love to me if all that I have done for you if all that I will do for you will move you arise and mend your pace Heaven calls upon you if ever you mean to come here gird up your loyns and come on Yea Hell calls look ye down hither what a place is here prepared for Sleepers and Loyterers Your poor Souls call have ye any pity for me must I perish and die for the pleasing this lazy flesh Your poor Families call your poor Children call your poor Neighbours call
shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever Brethren do you in good earnest desire to get you up to such a life as this do you heartily wish it might be thus with you have you any hope that you shall obtain and will you follow after it will you go hence as men and women designing any such thing shall we that have been with the Lord together this day now agree together in the Name of the Lord to be reaching forward with one heart and with one soul towards such an heavenly life shall we help one another and quicken one another and set examples one to another of such spirituality and heavenliness what do ye think would be the fruit of our appearance before the Lord this day might we return to our houses with our hearts full of such holy Resolutions with our hearts flaming in such holy desires Oh be impatient of thinking to return again to your old carnal and sensual and worldly frames to your cold and indifferent and lukewarm and lifeless way of Religion Let not the Devil catch you again wandring or carelesly jogging on at your wonted rate if he do look for it that whatsoever of the Divine Life or Love of the Divine Hope or joy hath been kindled in you this day you will be quickly spoiled and robbed of it all and those poor and weakly hearts will fall into a worse condition then before If you would keep any thing about you that might comfort you if you would secure your Souls from being rifled of all that you have received if you would not return to be dark and dead and barren Souls then remember this Counsel you have received from the Lord to whom my Prayer is for you which was Davids for Israel 1 Chron. 29.18 O Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Israel our fathers keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of this people and prepare their heart unto thee Keep these thoughts fresh upon your hearts and you shall thereby keep your hearts after the Lord hath spoken Grace unto you from returning again to folly Lastly Commit the keeping of your hearts to the keeper of Israel Commit them to God Psal 127.1 Except the Lord keep the City the watchmen waketh but in vain The keeping of the heart is a greater trust than the keeping of a City and therefore had need be put into safe hands G d is able to keep it 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him unto that day God is able and God is faithful faithful is he that hath called you and will do it But it may be you will say O I shall never be able to keep mine heart in heaven keep up the love and life and joy of God in my Soul keep my self pure keep me close to God that the Devil never catch me wandring abroad Why I see he may catch me every hour mine heart is given to wandring and I cannot hold it in It would be an ease and a joy and a great delight to me could I get to be raised to such a pitch to be all spiritual and heavenly and there to fix and be ever with the Lord. O what a joy it would be to me had I but hope I might get to such a pitch but wo is me I shall never be able Why do your duty and for such a comfortable success let that care lie on the Lord. Commit it to him both to help you into such a frame and to keep you in it he hath said he will not fail you He hath sealed to you this day that he will help you that he will keep you trust upon him and he will do it But what is it to commit the keeping of our hearts to the Lord 1. To give them to the Lord. God will keep nothing but what is his own Wilt thou give thine heart to the Devil and then commit it to God to keep it for him give your hearts to the Lord give them to him for his Servants and then commit them to his Custody 2. To trust him with the keeping of them Psal 143.9 Deliver me O God from mine enemies for I flee unto thee to hide me I have many enemies that lie in wait for my Soul I dare not trust to my self for security God is my trust and my refuge I flee unto thee to hide me I will trust under the shadow of thy wings Psal 36.7 Therefore brethren my Exhortation to you shall be the same with Peters Exhortation to suffering Christians 1 Pet. 4.19 Commit the keeping of your Souls to him in well doing as unto a faithful creatour Observe it commit but in well doing Do not neglect your duty and think to make it up with this I have committed the care of my self to God I say do not neglect your hearts be not idle and careless of your own duty do not leave your selves open to the Usurpation of lust or the invasion of the Devil do not suffer your hearts to lead you on in your carnal ways leave not that heart of thine to be a blind house a dark hole and filthy Dungeon full of Abominations and then think to make up the matter with this to say I have committed it to the Lord to wash it and cleanse it and keep it I trust God with my Soul he I hope will preserve it commit the keeping of your Souls in well doing do your duty keep your hearts under Government keep them under Guard be washing your hearts daily be watching your hearts daily though God be also yet you are every one your own keepers do your part to keep that which God hath committed to you and then fear not but God will do his part he will keep whatever you have committed to him And thus I have at length run through this great duty of keeping the heart The Lord knows how great need there is of every word that hath been spoken O that none of it might be lost Our poor hearts God knows have hitherto found us but poor heart-keepers The case they are in is Evidence sufficient to prove how sadly they have been look'd to Some of them continuing in a lost state to this day others of them but half recovered others relapsed and fallen back from what they were once hopefully recovered to none of our hearts but have often been among Thieves where we have suffered great loss and how many have been the heart distempers and diseases we have fallen into O what slight what licentious what listless dull and lazy Souls have we been sure these hearts have found us but bad keepers O what shall be the success of these many words that have been spoken what say you Christians is there any hope that your hearts shall be better look'd to for the future what say you will you now be faithful will you keep this charge of the Lord keep this heart with all diligence who is there among you that will say I confess my faults and my great neglects this day I confess I have been careless the sad frame mine heart is in is a witness against me but through the Grace of God I will look better to my self and hope I shall not forget this word as long as I live I hope I shall leave medling with other mens matters and leave censuring of other mens ways and from henceforth keep mine eye more close and constant upon mine own Soul This do be more faithful in keeping your selves and then you may be bold to commit your selves to the Lord as unto a faithful Creator What hath been my design and desire in this whole work But 1. To prepare your hearts for the Lord that he may accept them 2. To bring them over to the Lord that they may become his own 3. To keep them for the Lord to keep them pure that he may take pleasure in them O let this be done and then you may commit them to the Lord to keep them safe Will you be perswaded will you be prevail'd upon thus to prepare and bring over your hearts to the Lord thus to preserve and keep them pure and faithful to him and so trust to his faithfulness Might I prevail with you in this I had done my work and having put you thus into safe custody should there be bold to leave you in this Confidence that you should be thenceforth all kept by the mighty power of God through faith unto Salvation FINIS