us who dwell in houses of Clay whose Foundation is in the dust which are crushed before the moth did I say so Nay this is not the worst of our Character we are not only undeserving creatures but also Hell-deserving sâ—inners When our first Father began a desperate War against the Omnipotent God we were part of the mad Regiment involved in his persidious Treason and our Emnity against our Maker has from our very Cradles been so enormous that we should long ere now have bin Devils-in-flesh if the checks of Restraining Grace had bin taken away And what unreasonably vitious lives have we been leading ever since a Rational Soul apparently acted in us How have we bin every moment sinning against the Law of God transgressing every precept of Love to God to man Yea how grievousâ—ly have we bin sinning against the Gospel too fearfully grieving sleighting and shamefully affronting a Redeemer that for many a day besought us to be reconciled unto God! This have we been done And Ah Lord doest thou open thine eyes upon such ones What if the Lord Jesus Christ had now only spoken unto us such fiery wrathful words as those in Isa 1. 23. Aha I will ease me of mine enemies avenge me of mine Adversaries or those in Luc. 19. 27. Those mine enemies bring hither and slay before me Verily I say unto you he would be clear in his speaking and just in his judging so What if he should appear unto us in the black garments of all-desolating indignation with keen Darts consuming Thunder-bolts in his hand What if he should appear in flaming fire to take vengeance on us that have not known God nor obeyed his Gospel Surely this would be no more than a proper and a proportionable Dispensation But instead of this the winning Language which with bowels full of such Philanthropy as this King's wedding a Queen out of our poor Family His taking our Nature to subsist in his Second Person doth evince and encline Him to have unto us he speakes unto us is O Look in o Me and be SAVED Yea and in this thing he doth with a Riddle of Free Grace destinguish us from by dignifying us above uncountable Multitudes of our Fellow-creatures our Fellow-criminals If we do look through the earth and into Hell we shall soon see our selves lifted up to heaven by the Invitation which our Lord Jesus has given to us to Look unto Him for Salvation Let us we especeally in this Wilderness that that like Gideon's Fleece enjoyes these Dewes of Heaven when the rest of the world is dry may do it take a view of all the Visible World and see what incredible Millions in every Generation there are that either never had one beam from the Sun of Righteousness falling on them but drop down into the Land of Darkness without hearing a word of Him or at least are by their blind Guides muffled up in such Ignorance as proves to them the Mother of Destruction Alas Alas for the people that perish for lack of vision that sit in the region of the shadow of death But here in a little Spot of ground that t other day the Devil was worshiped in there now are the Colonies whom the Invitations of Jesus Christ have known above all the Families of earth This is much But take a view likewise of the howling people in the Invisible world Who are there in the fiery dismal Vault below There are vast Legions of Devils in that place of torment but unto which of those apostate spirits has our Lord Jesus said I would have thee to look unto me There is an innumerable number of our Race too gone down into that formidable Pit but unto none of those does the Lord Christ ever say Thou mayst be saved by me if thou wilt No those Invitations are our Prerogative Wonderments where are you Halleluiahs where are you Syrs let us place the utmost of them upon this misterious Love. But we are sottish our unaffected rocky hearts are insensible of our obligations to the Lord Jesus Christ Then wonder O ye Angels give Thanks O all ye ministring Spirits Let the Morning stars in the upper Regions throughout eternal Ages think honourably of the Saviour whom we are unapt to acknowledge for his remembring us in our low estate because his mercy endures for ever O how how shall we enough extol the merâ—iful High-Priest whose Look unto me and be saved has bin vouchsaved unto us Is this the manner of men O Lord No no. Then Let the people praise the O Lord let all the people praise thee since Thy way is known upon the earth and Thy SAVING Health among all Nations But This is not all the Good-Speech of our Lord Jesus Christ unto us There 's some-what more that remains to be said unto us all and particularly unto that Condemned Malefactor here who is never to see the Light of another Sabbath in the world It was a pathetic word of the Apostle to his Corinthians in 2. Cor. 6. 1. We beseech you that receive not the grace of God in vain Wherefore VSE I I. O Let every one of us now Look unto Jesus Christ by Faith for SALVATION If he say unto us Look unto me let not us be such prodigies of madness as to reply No we will not look unto thee It is a sweet intercourse between God and man which the prophet prescribes in Jer. 3. 22. where the Call of God is Return ye backsliding children and I will heal your backslidings and the Echo of man is Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God. O that there might now be such a Communion between Christ and us His Call is Look unto Mee and be saved let our Return be Behold we look unto thee for thou art the Lord our Saviour Do not I entreat you do not give unto the Lord Jesus Christ such a daring and damning Answer as that in Jer. 44. 16. As for the word spoken to us in the Name of the Lord we will not hearken thereunto It is a thing declared by the Lord Jesus Christ concerning these Gospel-times Zech. 12. 10. Men shall look upon me and morn Now shall a like thing be brought to pass within these walls this day How shall so great a thing as this be gained A sad part of this Congregation t is to be doubted are too much like the Leviathan Their hearts are as firm as a stone as hard as a peice of the nether Milstone The sword of him that layeth at them cannot hold Alas what shall be done for them Unto Thee O Lord do I how my knee O Father of spirits and of mercies look down with thy tender mercies on the spirits of the unperswadeable Children And O Thou that hast the keyes of David in thy hand Open open our hearts as thou didst Lydia ' s of old and effect by thy mighty power that we may look unto thee believe God forbid that
there should be any Esau-like despisers of Jesus Christ and his Invitation or his Salvation in the Congregation God forbid that there should be one such child of perdition as an impenitent unbeliever among us all Some persons there are indeed who make a Scruple of it May I venture to look unto Jesus Christ notwithstanding all my vileness my wretchedness my unworthiness To these it may be safely rejoin'd If you find that God hath wrought your heart to a willingness to close with a whole Christ you should not let your Unworthiness be your Discouragement against doing of it The Invitatitation Look unto me is enough to embolden you unto beleeving looks towards the Lord Jesus Christ notwithstanding all the damps doubts which your misgiving hearts may have about your acceptance in it Syrs the Golden Sceptre is held out you may draw near When Jesus Christ said unto Peter you may come he presently ran over the dangerous waves of the boisterous Sea unto Him Truly so since Jesus Christ sayes to you you may look let no hard suspicions and surmises keep you from doing your duty in it The Canaanitess in Mat. 15. 27. did as one of Ancients expresseth it play the Philosopher â—â—he disputed the case after this rate A Dog may have Crumbs It seems I am a dog Therefore an ingenious a gracious Therefore I may have Crumbs too Thus may you Argue prostrate at the footstool of the Lord Jesus Christ All the Ends of the earth should look unto thee O Lord I am one at the Ends of the earth Therefore I may look unto thee Surely He that hath his Chair in the heavens will deny no part of the Syllogism which shall thus be framed by a wrestling Faith Though you have bin as bad as any among the Corinthians were of old yet if you have arrived unto a due hunger thirst after Jesus Christ you may endeavour to look unto him saying as Samuel to Eli Lord here I am for thou calledst me and He will be far from saying to you as Eli to Samuel No I called not The Question which some will now be ready to ask is and O that many with an earnestness like that wherewith Peter's hearers put forth their What shall we do would ask such a question How shall I look unto Jesus Christ About this there are a few Directions to be given O set your hearts unto the words that shall be testified among you for they are not vain things your very lives yea the lives of your souls are concerned in them I Know then that besides your occasioâ—al glances towards the Lord Jesus Christ which every day ought to be very many at least as many as the stings which the infernal vipers do vex your souls withal there is a Set-work of this nature to be solemnly performed both by them whose dead eyes never yet look'd to Jesus Christ by them whose dim eyes have cause enough to continue looking unto him whom they have already seen Now there are Two things to be premised concerning this Let this be the 1st premised It is highly expedient that you should speedily set apart a time to make attempts about the grand work of Looking unto Jesus Christ It is indeed true that an unbeliever hath no other Assureance of prospering in his Essayes to break the iron Prison doors of his unbelief but such an Who can tell such an Who knowes such an It may be as the Prophets of old were wont much to insist upon If you set your selvs to believe in your own strength the Faith of Simon Magus is all you are like to attain unto Yet you may be quickned to do what you can from the renowned History of the man with the withred hand in Mat. 13. 13. unto whom Jesus saying stretch forth thy hand he tryed to do it without any demurr at the seeming unsuitableness of the Injunction and Behold he stretched it forth and it was restored Let this be next premised It is extreamly requisite that this rare work of Looking unto Jesus Christ should be often renewed Sometimes perhaps the spirit of Jealousy will come upon you you will be fearing Alas I did never yet aright look unto Jesus Christ Now the best way â—â— sectle these troubled waters will be that which Joâ—ah had I will look yet AGAIN And O remember that to do this work often over over again is a thing than which nothing can more tend to your Victory over all the Adversaries of your endless Welfare Yea sometimes if an Half or a Whole of a day were purposely laid out iâ— this work the time will be found not to have â—in lost when Eternity shall dawn upon the world Hence in 1. Pet. 2. 4. they who have already tasted the grace of Jesus Christ are bid still â—o come unto him Some of us before the sands of another hour be run out shall so meet with this King of glory in his Galleries that we may have a special opportunity to catch hold on the feet of the Lord who deigns to sup with us and like Mary cry my Lord my Lord until we have renewed the Looks that have hitherto kept our souls in life O be you thankful for this and do wish your might what your hands find to do And now Hear and your soul shall live O that you would labour in a wise Retirement to â—ifâ— up the wofâ—l eyes of your Hell-stung souls towards the Lord Jesus Christ after such a manner 1. Meditate most affectionately on those thingâ— which may awâ—ken the Christ-ward LOOKs of of your souâ—s It is hinted in Luc. 1. 17. Thaâ—â—â—dinaâ—ily before persons â—an look unto Jesus Christ they must be a people prepared for the Lord. Now to promote and produce this peice or Soul-good there is no Engine liâ—e to Consideration O Consideration what Meâ—icine for souâ— maladies is comaparable to That If we would but let the Angel of CONSIDERATION stir the Pool how probably might we step in and have our unbelieving eyes enabled to look unto our dear Helper who longs to be doing good unto us It 's said of a Convert in Ezek. 18. 28. He considers he turns perhaps it may likewise at last be said of us he considers he looks There are then 2 or 3 savory Meditations to which if you should give a time and room you may hereafter reap the comfort of it I perceive in Hos 14. 2. and elsewhere that the prophets would sometimes put words into the mouths of them that they were travelling for the Salvation of Something of that kind shal now be done by the bringing of those thoughts into your mind which may comport with the Invitations of Jesus Christ Let your first Head of Meditation be an I Must Think with your selves I must look unto Jesus Christ Say to your own souls about Looking to Jesus Christ as Paul did about preaching of Jesus Christ Necessity is laid upon me and woe unto me
for being wicked over much There is hardly any sort of Wickedness which you have not wallowed in-That sin particularly which you are now to die for is a most monstrous Crime I can't possibly describe or declare the sins whereby you have made your self an astonishing Example of Impiety punishment Mor. O Sir I have bin a most hellish sinner I am sorry for what I have bin Min. Sorry you say well tell me which of all your sins you are now most sorry for which lyes most heavy Mor. I hope I am sorry for all my sins but I must especially bewail my neglect of the means of grace On Sabbath dayes I us'd to lye at home or be ill imploy'd elsewhere when I should have bin at Church This has undone me Min. And let me seriously tell you Your Despiseing of Christ is a most dreadful sin indeed You have for whole years together had the Call of Jesus Christ to seek an Interest in him you would now give all the world for that interest but you would take no notice of him The Jews of Old put him to a worse death than yours will be this afternoon and by your contempt of Christ you have said the Jews did well to do so How justly might he now Laugh at your Calamity And for these sins of yours besides the direful woes plagues that have already come upon you you are now expos'd unto the Vengeance of eternal fire You are in danger of being now quickly cast into those exquisite amazing Torments in comparison of which the anguishes which your body ever did feel or shall feel before night or can ever feel are just nothing at all and these dolorous torments are such as never have an End as many sands as could lie between this earth the Stars in Heaven would not be near so many as the Ages the end-less Ages of these Torments Mor. But is there not Mercy for me in Christ Min. Yes and its a wonderful thing that I have now further to tell you Mind I entreat you The SON of GOD is become the Son of Man the Lord Jesus Christ is both God man in one Person he is both sufficiently able willing also to be your Saviour He lived a most righteous life and this was that such as you I might be able to say before God Lord accept of me as if I had liv'd righteously He died at length a most cursed death and this was that we might be able to say unto God Lord let not me die for sin since thy Son has died in my room This glorious Redeemer is now in the highest heaven pleading with God for the Salvation of His chosen ones And He pours out his Spirit continually upon them that do believe on him might you then be enabled by his grace to carry your poor guilty condemned enslaved ignorant soul unto Jesus Christ and humbly put your trust in him for deliverance from the whole bad state which you are brought into Oh then his voice is to you the same that was to the penitent Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Mor. Oh that I might be so Sir I would hear more of these things I think I can't better fit my self for my death than by hearkning to these things Min. Attend then The never-dying spirit that lodges within you must now within a few minutes appear before the Tribunal of the Great GOD in what or in whose Righteousness will you then appear will you have this to be your Plea Lord I experienced many good Motions Desires in my soul many Sorrows for my sin before I dy'd or will you expect to have no other Plea but This Lord I am vile but thy Son is a Surety for the worst of sinners that believe in him for his sake alone have MERCY on me Morg. I thank God for what He has wrought in my Soul Min. But be very careful about this matter if you build on your own good Affections instead of Jesus Christ the only Rock if you think they shall recommend you to God He that made you will not have mercy on you Mor. I would be clothed with the Righteousness of JESUS CHRIST Min But you can't sincerely desire that Christ should justify you if you don 't also desire that He should sanctify you those 2 alwaies go together Is evry lust that has hitherto had possession of your heart become so loathsom to you that it would fill your soul with joy to hear Jesus Christ say I will subdue those Iniquities of thine I will make a holy heavenly a spiritually minded person of thee Mor. I would sin against God no more Min. But I must deal plainly with you You have made it sadly suspicious that your repentance is not yet as it ought to be when men truly throughly repent of sin they use to be in a special manner watchful against that Sin which has bin their chief Sin one of your principal sins which has indeed brought you to the Death of a Murderer is Passion unmortifi'd outragious Passionateness Now I have been this day informed that no longer since than the last night upon some Dissatisfaction about the place which the Authority hath ordered you by and by to be buried in you did express your self with a most unruly Passionateness Mor. Sir I confess it and I was quickly sorry for it tho' for the present I was too much disturbed 'T was my folly to be so careful about the place where my body should be laid when my precious SOUL was in such a Condition Min. Truly you have cause to mourn for it Secure the welfarre of your soul and this now pinion'd hang'd vile body of yours will shortly be raised unto glory glory forevermore And let me put you in mind of one thing more I doubt you han't yet laid aside your unjust Grudges against the Persons concerned in your Conviction Condemnation You have no cause to complain of them and you are not fit to pray much less are you fit to dye till you heartily wish them as well as your own soul if you die malicious you die miserable Mor. I heartily wish them all well I bear Ill-will to none What a lamentable thing is this Ah this is that which has brought me hither Min. What do you mean Mor. I over-heard a man mocking scoffing at me when I stumbled just now he does very ill I have done so my self I have mock'd scoff'd like that man and see what it hath brought me to he may come to the like Min. The Lord forgive that foolish hard-hearted creature But be not too much disturbed Mor. Yonder I am now come in sight of the place where I must immediately end my dayes Oh what a huge Multitude of people is come together on this occasion O Lord O Lord I pray thee to make my Death profitable to all this Multitude of People that they may not sin
against thee as I have done Min. Amen Amen ten thousand times the Lord GOD Allmighty say Amen to this Prayer of yours It would indeed be an excellent thing if you could now come to receive your death with some Satisfaction of soul in this thought That Much Glory is like to come to God by it I am verily perswaded God intends to do good to many souls by means of your Execution This is a greater honour than you are worthy of After the Discourse had been intermitted about a minute or two by reason of the miery way Mor. I beseech you Sir speak to me Do me all the good you can my time grows very short your discourse fits me for my Death more than any thing Min. I 'm sorry so small a thing as a plashy Street should make me loose one minute of this more-than-ordinary precious time a few paces more bring you to the place which you have now in your eye from whence you shall not come back alive Do you find your self afraid to dy there Mor. Sir If it were not for the Condition that my SOUL must by by be in I should not fear my death at all but I have a little comfort from some of Gods promises about that Min. And what shall I now say These are among the last words that I can have liberty to leave with you Poor man thou art now going to knock at the door of Heaven and to beg cry Lord Lord open to me The only way for thee to speed is to open the door of thy own soul now unto the Lord Jesus Christ Do this and thou shalt undoubtedly be admitted into the gloryes of His heavenly Kingdom You shall fare as well as Manasseh did before you leave this undone and there 's nothing remains for you but the Worm which dyeth not and the fire which shall not be quenched Mor. Sir show me then again what I have to do Min. The voice the sweet voice of the Lord Jesus Christ who was once hanged on a tree to take away the Sting and Curfe of even such a Death as yours unto all that close with him His heavenly voice now is Oh that I my Saving work might be entertained kindly entreated in that poor perishing soul of thine Are you willing Morg. I hope I am Min. His Voice further is If I am lodged in thy soul I 'll sprinkle my blood upon it and on my account thou shalt find Favour with GOD. Do you consent to this Mor. This I want Min. But this is not all that he saith His Voice further is If I come into thy soul I will chang it I will make all sin bitter to it I will make it an holy heavenly soul Do you value this above the proffers of all the World Mor. I think I doe and now Sir I must go no further Look here what a solemn sight is this Here lyes the Coffin which this Body of mine must presently be laid in I thank you dear Sir for what you have already done for me Min. When you are gone up this Ladder my last service for you before you are gone off will be to pray with you But I would here take my leave of you Oh that I might meet you at the right Hand of the LORD JESVS in the last Day Farewel poor heart Fare thee well The everlasting Armes receive thee The Lord JESUS the merciful SAVIOUR of Souls take possession of thy Spirit for himself The Great GOD who is a great Forgiver grant thee Repentance unto Life and glorify himself in the Salvation of such a wounded soul as thine forever With HIM and with His free rich marvellous infinite Grace I leave you Farewell FINIS
like that of Despising the Word of God. For this is the Condemnation that Light is come into the world and men love Darkness rather than Light. And How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation They that shall be found guilty of neglecting the great Salvation offered in the Gospel cannot escape the wrath of God to the utmost of it And this is true not only concerning such as have lived under the constant Preaching of the Gospel and yet remain and live dye in a natural unconverted estate but of them also that might hear the Word of God but will not concerning Such Christ saith It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah at the day of Judgment than for them Mat. 10. 15. This dying man now that his Conscience is awaken d saith It is a terrour to him to think I might have heard the Word of God preached many a time but refused it He neglected to hear Sermons not only on Lecture dayes but on Lords-Dayes too when he was a Servant he was wont as himself saith on Sabbath-Days to go out into the Fields and there to profane the Lords Dayes at the very time when he might and ought to have bin hearing the Word of God and since he had a Family his custom was to keep at home when others were attending the publick Worship of God. And he told me that he did foolishly please himself in thinking that he had sufficient reason to stay at home because he had not clothes good enough to appear publickly in whenas the mony that he mis-spent in drink would have procur'd him Cloatheing Let others then by his Example be warned against this evil lest they provoke God and feel sorrow for it as he has done I doubt there are very many in this great Town guilty of his sin in this particular perhaps some that are professors of Religion which is dreadful to think on I hear some say that there are many Hundreds nay some Thousands in this place that seldom hear a Sermon preached from one end of the year to the other if that be so it is very lamentable What is like to become of the souls of such profane persons If they that are in place of power be they Superior or Inferior Officers can possibly redress this evil they will certainly do a Service acceptable to GOD and to our Lord JESUS CHRIST But I proceed to the Second Exhortation If Murder be such a Crime as has bin declared then Let whoever has been guilty of this Sin be humbled for it and repent of it As for Interpretative Murder many are guilty of that O how many have by Debauchery Intemperance shortened the lives of themselvs or others let such repent and turn from their sins unto God. But I hope there is none in this vast Assembly that has bin guilty of that Murder which is by the Law of God and of the Land a Capital Crime excepting one man and one such person there is here present unto whom I shall now particularly apply my self Do you then hear that your soul may live This is the Last Sermon that ever you shall hear Time was when you might have heard Sermons but would not and now you shall not hear them tho' you would For as God said to him This night thy soul shall be required of thee so I say to you in His Name This night thy soul shall be taken from thee This night your soul shall be in Heaven or Hell for ever You are appointed to dye this day and after death commeth the Judgment As soon as your Body is dead your immortal soul must appear before the great GOD and Judg of all and a Sentence of everlasting Life or Everlasting Death shall be passed upon you Are you willing when those Chains which are about you shall be taken off that your immortal soul should be hang'd in everlasting Chains Are you willing that when your Body is removed from the Prison your Soul should go to the Spirits that are in prison You have complain'd that you have bin in a Dungeon and had little light there but are you willing to go where you shall never see light Are you willing that when your Body is delivered from this Dungeon your Soul should go into that Dungeon where is Blackness of darkness for ever If not I charge you in the Name of God to hear and obey his Word yea that Word which you have many a time despised I have spoken so often to you in private since your being Apprehended that I shall not need to say much now only a few words 1. Consider what a sinner you have bin The Sin which you are to die for is as red as Scarlet and many other sins hath your wicked life been filled with You have been a stranger to me I never saw you I never heard of you till you had committed the Murder for which you must dye this day but I hear by others that have known you how wicked you have been and you have your self confessed to the world that you have been guilty of Drunkenness guilty of Cursing Swearing guilty of Sabbath-breaking guilty of Lying guilty of secret Uncleanness as Solomon said to Shimei Thou knowest the wickedness which thine own heart is privy unto so I say to you And that which aggravates your Guiltiness not a little is That since you have been in Prison you have done wickedly you have made your self drunk several times since your Imprisonment yea and you have bin guilty of Lying since your Condemnation It was said to a dying man Dost not thou fear God seeing thou art under Condemnation Oh what a sinner have you bin for since you have bin under Condemnation you have not feared God. And how have you sinned against the Gospel What Unbelief what Impenitency have you bin guilty of Consider 2. What Misery you have brought upon your self on your Body that must dye an 〈◊〉 ed death you must hang between Heaven and Earth as it were forsaken of both and unworthy to be in either And what Misery have you brought upon your poor Children you have brought an everlasting Reproach upon them How great will their Shame be when it shall be said to them that their Father was hang'd not for his goodness as many in the world have bin but for his wickedness not as a Martyr but as a Malefactor truly so But that which is Ten Thousand Thousand times worse than all this is That you have without Repentance brought undoing Misery upon your poor yet precious Soul not only Death on your Body but a Second Death on your never-dying Soul. It is said in the Scripture That Murderers shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the Second Death Rev. 21. 8. O tremble at that I remember a Man that was condemned and Executed in this place some years ago that had been a Souldier and as stout a spirited
your serious Attention Doct. The Lord Jesus Christ in His Gospel graciously earnestly inviteth all the Children of men to Look unto Him by Faith upon Him for SALVATION When the no less unexpected than un deniable Request of the dying man who now stands in in this Assembly that I would allow him this Morning a Discourse proper for his uncomfortable Circumstances was yesterday brought unto me I cold not suddenly think on any thing more accommodated unto all the Persons Services which are before me than that which I have now pitch'd upon The Body of this Congregation can't hear of a more important thing than this of Looking unto Jesus Christ for Salvation Men and Brethren This is the One thing needful The little flock of Communicants unto whom I am by by to administer the Holy Supper cannot be excited unto a fitter work than this of Looking unto Jesus Christ for Salvation Christians this is our Errand hither The poor condemned Malefactor who is here listening to one of the three last Sermons that ever he is like to fit under before his Encounter with the King of Terrors cannot be put in mind of any thing that will more tend to prepare him for his near approaching death than this of Looking unto the Lord of Life for Salvation Life Poor man do you hearken I 'll study to make this whole hour very particularly suitable serviceable to you and methinks a man that knows himself about to take an eternal Farewel of all Sermons should endeavour to hear with most earnest heed The God of Heaven grant that Faith may come unto you by your Hearing It is a very pretious Repast which is thus brought unto you O immortal Souls It comes from the Land flowing with milk honey The ensuing Propositions may carve it out unto you The 1st Proposition that arrests our thoughts is 1. That to Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is to Look unto Him for Salvation These blessed things are equivalent each to the other and herein we have both the Act of Faith and the End of Faith. fairly suggested unto us ¶ As for the Act of Faith that is a Looking The Faith of God's Elect hath in the Scripture several Bodily Actions used as the Metaphors Shadows of it There is the Action of the Hand for the sake of which in Joh. 1. 12. Faith is said to be a Receiving of Jesus Christ There is the Action of the Mouth in Resemblance of which in Joh. 6. 54. Faith is said to Fat the Flesh of Jesus Christ There is the Action of the Foot in regard of which Joh. 6. 35. Faith is said to be a Coming unto Jesus Christ Thus likewise the Action of the Eye is here improved to denote the Christ-ward motions of soul which the Believer hath There is indeed a 3 fold Look which the beleeving Soul in its Agonies does give towards the Lord Jesus Christ There is a Look of Desire a Look with a Wish yea with a Groan a Look with a Lord help me Such a Look as the hoarse Lâ—per gave in Marc. 1. 40. when he came to Jesus Christ beseeching Him kneeling down unto Him. There is also a Look of Dependance a Trusting a Rolling a Relying Look a Look accompanied with the Language of the Psalmist in Psal 25. 2. O my God I trust in thee And there is a Look of Acknowledment producing both of these Many things doth the Believer dâ—scern confess to be in that Jesus whose Name is Wonderful Counsellor The mighty God the Everlasting Eather the Prince of Peace But these 2 things especially One thing of which he is sensible is that Jesus Christ is a mighty Saviour owning that in Heb. 7. 25. He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him. Another thing whereof he is not unsensible is that Jesus Christ is a Merciful Saviour owning that in Joh. 6. 37. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out After this manner does the Believer look to the Saviour upon the everlasting Hills from whence comes all his help But upon what Motive for What ¶ As for the End of Faith that is SALVATION This the Apostle grants in 1. Pet. 1. 9. where he speaks to Christians about the end of their Faith the Salvation of their souls That which the Believer doth purpose to himself by his Addresses to Jesus Christ is that he may be rescued from all the Calamities which his Fall from God hath brought upon him and that he may be made partaker of Benefits contrary thereunto by the means of an All-sufficient a Compassionate Jesus the Mediator There are indeed especially three things which the Believer does look unto the Lord Jesus for His first Look is with that glance in Psal 119. 122. Lord Be surely for thy servant for good He would behold Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God appearing before divine Justice in his room adding unto this Cast of his Eye this Throb of his heart Oh let Jesus Christ take away all my Sins with all the wants woes which thereby I become obnoxious unto He would have Jesus Christ to remove all the guilt that lies upon him to enstate him in the Favour and Fellowship of God and to procure for him all Blessings whatsoever especially spiritual Blessings the Blessings of the upper springs the sure Mercies of the Covenant by His own Obedience Intercession His Next Look is with thatsigh in Plal. 25. 4. Shew â—e thy wayes O Lord Teach me thy paths There is an Eye-salve which he petitions unto this Lord our healer for He flyes cryes unto Jesus Christ as that son of sorrow did of old Lord that I may receive my sight He would have Christ to remove all the blindness of his mind to reveal unto him the happiness which is not seen and which is eternal and to discover unto him all that he must know do in order to his obtaining of it His Look is with that Aim in Psal 119. 5. Oh that my mayes were Directed to Keep thy statutes O God! He submits unto the ruling Will of God while he Emplores the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ He reckons that the Most High by saying I have â—â—â—t my Son to bless you by turning you away from your Iniquities hath told him of a Blessedness a Loving kindness which he hath infinite cause to say Amen unto He would have Jesus Christ to remove all the Disorder of his Will to incline him so that he may refuse the evil choose the good and to shield him against all the ruining attempts of the World the Flesh and the Devil for evermore This all of this Faith is beck'nned for in this one word Look unto Me. And these are the Christward Looks which must be given by you whose eyes will be within a few dayes clos'd by the cold hands of grim Death if you would not roar in outer worseâ—han
Speakest thou not unto me knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee have power to release thee But it is more fitly spoken by Jesus Christ unto you Knowest thou not that I have power to destroy thee soul body in hell forevermore knowest thou not that if thou passest a day or two more without a due regard unto me thou canst not be saved therefrom tho' the life of all the Angels in heaven should be proffered for thy ransom and speakest thoâ— not unto Me O thou deplorable soul speak and seek and look unto Him as for Life eternal May last Request unto you is O give get all the Honour you can unto that Jesus from whom you look for your Salvation While you are secking to look well unto Him O see that you speak well of Him and do well for Him until you shall speak and do be among the living on the earth no more Surely you have by presumptious things enough reproached him already The sharp Ax of Civil Justice will speedily cut you down O for a little good fruit before the blow Manifest your penitence for your Iniquities by a due care to excel in tempers quite contrary to those ill Habits and customs whereby you have heretofore blasphemed the worthy Name of Christ Christianity Especially employ the last minutes of your Life in giving a zealous Warning unto others to take need of those things which have bin destructive unto you Tell them what wild Gourds of death they are by which you have got your Bane point out before them those pathes of the destroyer which have led you down so near unto the Congregation â—f the dead When the numerous croud of spectators are 3 or 4 days hence thronged about the place where you shall then breathe your last before them all then do you with the heart-piercing groans of a deadly wounded man 〈◊〉 of your follow-sinners that they would turn new every one from the evil of his way Beseech of them to keep clear of ill Haunts ill Houses with as much dread of them as they could have of lying down in a nest of poisonful Snakes Beseech of them to abhor all Vncleanness as they would the deep ditch which the abhorred of the Lord do fall into Beseech of them to avoid all Excess in Drinking as they would not rott themselves with more bitter Liquors than the Waters of Jealousie Beseech of them to moderate and mortifie all inordinate Passions as they would not surrender themselves into the hands of Devils that will hurry them down into deeper Deeps than they are aware Beseech of them to Shun idle Swearing as a Prophanity that the GOD to whom Vengeance belongeth will not permit to go unpunished Beseech of them to avoid Curses on themselves or others lest while they like Mad-men so throw about fire-brands arrows death they bring upon their own heads as you have done the things which they are apt rashly to be wishing of Beseech of them to beware of Lying as they would not be put to need crave be denied a drop of water to cool their tongues in the place of Torment Beseech of them to be as averse to all Stealing as they would be to carry coals of fire into the Nests that they so feather by their dishonesty Beseech of them to prize the means of Grace to sleep At or keep from Sermons no more to love the Habitation of God's house and the place where His Honour dwels lest God do soon send their froward barren souls to dwell in silence where there never shall be a Gospel-Sermon heard never never as long as the Almighty sits upon His Chrystal Throne And when you have given these Warnings upon the Ladder from whence you shall not come off without taking an irrecoverable step into eternity O remember still you give unto Jesus Christ the honour of LOOKING to Him for His Salvation Remember that if you would do a work highly for the honour of Him This is The work of God that you Believe on Him. Even after your eyes are so covered as to take their leave of all sights below still continue LOOKING unto Him whom you have heard saying Look unto Me. And now let the Everlasting Saviour LOOK down in much mercy on you O that He would give this Murderer and extraordinary Sinner a place among the Wonders of free Grace O that this wretched man might be made meet for the Inheritance with the Saints in Light being kept from such an unrepenting and deluded heart as unquenchable fire will find Fuel in And be thou pleased O Holy Lord God Almighty to sanctifie this Example so that the Sinners in this Zion may be afraid that Fearfulness may surprise the Hypocrites thereof and they may all hear and fear and do wickedly no more Amen Amen AN EXHORTATION To A CONDEMNED MALEFACTOR Delivered March the 7th 1686. By JOSHVA MOODY Preacher of the Gospel at Boston in New-England Ezek. 33. 9. If thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it if he do not turn from his way he shall dy in his iniquity but thou shalt deliver thy soul Josh 7. 19. Give glory to the God of Israel and make Confession to Him and tell me what thou hast done Isai 55. 7. Seek the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near Let the wicked forsake his Way and the unrighteous man his Thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and He will have mercy upon him and to our God for He will abundantly pardon Printed at BOSTON by R. P. Anno 1687. To the Reader IT was the Motion of many and the Importunity of some that drew from me my consent to make this almost extemporary discourse thus public The Prisoner sent to me on the After-noon before the Sabbath a writing under his hand wherein he own'd the Justice of God in bringing him to this untimely End and the Righteousness of the Sentence of Man upon him together with a Confession of those sins that he had lived in all his dayes of which there is something spoken in the Sequel adding 2 Requests viz. that I would take some Notice of him in my Sermon and that I would give warning to those of his Follow-Siners that had been guilty of the like evils lest they also become like monuments of divine Justice Such reasonable requests especially from a dying man I could not deny My Subject that day was Isa 12. 1. and my Business at that time to discourse of the necessity means marks of the turning away of God's Anger which I judged not unsutable for a person in his condition accordingly did as there was occasion apply my self particularly to him in my Sermon which is not so proper to insert here What was directly spoken to himself or to others at his desire so far at least as my memory would serve me is committed to the Press and added as an