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
God Prepare him an holy habitation open the doors and let the King of Glory come in and then shut the door and let no unclean thing enter to offend and displease him that so the Lord may take pleasure in you and delight in you and may say concerning you this is my rest here will I dwell for ever 2. How the heart is to be kept under Guard 1. What 't is to be guarded against that is against Theeves Blots Distempers 1. Against Theeves The great Thief is the World and all that is of the World and all that in the World which is purloyning from the heart Its profits or worldly gains its Pleasures and carnal Mirth its Favour and Friendship and Fawnings These all lie in wait for entrance into the heart to the end they may rifle and spoil it of all that it hath The World steals in upon the heart and it never comes there but to steals away its Treasure and therefore 't is to be observed that the hearts of such Christians as are most possessed of the World are ever the most poor and beggarly Never look to find much of Christ or his Grace if any thing at all where the World hath gotten Possession Christ comes into the heart on purpose to carry away the heart from the World his Word is where he comes give me thine heart Prov. 23.26 Love not the world nor the things of the world 1 Joh. 2.15 And the world comes into the heart on purpose to steal it away from Christ again There is never any one that embraceth this present World but 't is to his loss whatever the World brings it takes away better than it brings 2 Tim. 4.10 Demas hath forsaken us and embraced this present world He embrac'd the World and what got he by it the same day he embraced the World he forsook Christ Christian art thou fallen in with the World Are its gains and its pleasures gotten into thy heart doth it fawn and smile upon thee and is thine heart taken and pleased with its fawnings Look to thy self what hast thou within thee hast thou Grace hast thou Peace does thy Soul flourish for ought I know thou hast seen the last of thy good days what time this World is thus embraced by thee O friends set a watch against this Thief set a guard against it Take heed and beware of Covetousness Luk. 12.15 That 's the same Counsel as guard your hearts against this World Covetousness is the opening the door to let the world in nay the world is gotten in already where Covetousness is Thou which hast a Covetous heart thine heart is already possessed of the world May be thou hast yet but a little of it in thine hand but thine heart is already full of it the whole world is gotten in where Covetousness is gotten in Worldly Professors methinks you should be startled at it if you considered what a Theif you have within you Whatever thou seemest to have of Christ or the Treasures of heaven thou art like to be but a poor wretch in a little time And how is it like to be with thee whose heart hath entertained the Pleasures and the merriments of the world or the favours and fawnings of the Men of the world who lovest to be some body with evil men to have their respect and esteem he that would fain be some body with the world is like to be no body with Christ Make the world to know its distance and whatever you have to do in it keep it at a distance from your hearts Never look to thrive in Christianity whilst you venture to be too busie with this world or to dote on its favours or friendship O it were well with us were we yet but sensible what a snare this world is to us what a bane it is to all that 's good in us Never a flower in all our Garden will flourish where these thorns stand so thick about it that little Grace you have will be less dayly it will be choked up and devoured if you keep you not more clear of this world It were happy for us were we deeply sensible of the danger we are in but there 's the Misery of it people will not be sensible nor be warned to take heed of it this Theif steals away mens Reason and Consciences makes them such children and fools that they will not understand what an enemy it is to them How many Sermons have been preached and published to warn you to take heed of a worldly heart and yet how very few hearts are there that do escape it 't is who can be richest and who can be greatest in the world that the most of our hearts are set upon 't is not who can be the holiest or most heavenly 't is not who can improve in the Faith and Hope of the Gospel in the love and fear of the Lord who can get most of Christ and Heaven into his heart and grow rich unto God but who can grow greatest in this present world Is not this too common a Case though the Lord hath been knocking off our fingers from it pulling off our Chariot wheels and making us to drive heavily letting loose the spoilers upon us to catch from some of us what we have gotten fed the Husbandman with short harvests filled the Tradsman with complaints of bad Markets yet all is one how little soever many men can catch of this world yet they will catch after it still and what wonder is it then while this world doth so generally carry our hearts that Christ hath so much lost them You that would save any thing of what you have left in you you that would ever get any more while you live you that would not go down to your graves strip'd and naked of all that should then comfort you get again I say to you take heed of this world take heed of this worldliness 2. Against blots that is against wilful allowed sins Every wilful sin will be a blot upon your hearts Our sins are blots and blemishes upon our lives but every blot upon the life is also a blot upon the heart Blots will Darken and Obscure Defile 1. Blots will darken and obscure the Heart I told you that in the heart is kept all our evidences for heaven our sins that we give way to will be blots upon our evidences will so obscure and blur them that they will not be legible Our sins will do the direct contrary to what the blood of Christ will do the bloud of Christ will blot out the hand writing that was against us Col. 2.14 Our sins will blot out whatever hand-writing there is for us Thou that art a Christian there is an hand-writing upon that heart there is the Covenant of God which is thy Charter for glory written upon thy heart There is the token of the Covenant and thine interest in it the Circumcision of the heart there are the Articles of the Covenant
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
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
have gotten in and devoured our strength whilst we have loytered and slept Friends do not lye down and idly complain I am weak I am a poor feeble soulâ— I cannot do the things that I would I cannot pray I cannot hear I cannot live but at a sad and halting and broken rate God help me 't is a barren and unsavoury and unprofitable life that I live 't is a weariness to me that I can live to no better purpose fain I would be more heavenly and more lively and more fruitful in my Life but woe is me I cannot I cannot obtain thus you complain of your weakness of your unprofitableness but why do ye stand complaining look to your hearts better where your strength lies Hast thou Christ in thine heart hast thou Grace in thine heart and yet complainest thou hast no strength look better to thine heart keep Christ closer to thee get thy Faith increased stir up and kindle that spark of love call up all the Grace thou hast and keep it in action Let not the rust eat up thy strength a little more care and labour about your hearts to get and keep those in better plight will recover and renew your strength and silence those unprofitable complainings 6. In your hearts are preserved all your evidences for heaven This follows from the former What are our Evidences for Heaven but the being of Christ and the Graces of Christ in us your sincerity in the Covenant your having your Conversations in all good Conscience prove that Christ is in you and you thereby prove that you shall hereafter be with him Prove that you have Grace and you thereby prove that you shall have Glory Prove that you are in Covenant with God and walk before him in all good Conscience and that will prove that your names are written in heaven And whether must you look for all this but into your hearts there as I told you is a record kept of your Covenant and your Conscientious Life and these are the Rooms where you must look to find Christ and his Grace The Devil will tell sinners that they shall all to heaven and to make them believe it will provide them evidences such as they are but they are false and deceitful evidences Thou art a Christian thou hast been baptized into the name of Christ thou attendest on the Ordinances of Christ thou goest to hear and to pray c. therefore thou needest not fear but thou shalt to heaven But let sinners look but into their hearts where all good evidences are kept and there they can find nothing there 's no Christ within them no love to Christ none of the holiness of Christ their heart is a meer Hell full of Darkness Ignorance Unbelief Enmity against Christ and his holy ways As Christians Evidences for Heaven so Sinners Evidences for Hell are mostly in their hearts Whatever your hopes are if you would look into if you could see what hearâ— you have these would quickly tell you whether you must There you should find your Covenant with Sin and with â—ea h not disanull'd no Christ no Grace no Conscience but an evil one a guileful one a guilty one and nothing else but that which is vile and abominable Sinners Evidences for Hell are in their hearts and such evidences they might find as would kill all their hopes of Heaven But Christians Evidences for Heaven are in their hearts the Devil â—ill be telling them that they are none of Christs he will say to the Saints as God says to Sinners Psal 50.16 What has thou to do to take my Covenant into thy mouth What hast thou to do with Christ thou art mine thou art none of his Let thine heart be carefully kept and thou mayst answer the Devil None of his whose is this name that is written in my heart whose image are these Graces of my heart I find the Faith of Christ in me the love of Christ in me the very life of Christ in me Christ hath sent me many a token of his love which I still keep by me I remember what hath passed between Christ and me I have given my self to Christ I have laid hold on his Covenant and have bound my self in Covenant to him and I stand to that Covenant to this day And there 's my Conscience also within me bearing me witness that my care and endeavour hath been to walk before him according to the Covenant of my God and therefore go on to lie thus unto me while thou wilt Sathan I will not believe thee I believe God who hath said there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ and walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit and I will not belâ—e mine own sense and experience of my self this is the Testimony of my Conscience that I have walked not after the Flesh but after the Spirit And therefore Christ is mine and I trust I shall one day be with him where he is Friends if you look well to your hearts and keep the records clear this will be your benefit whatever fears the Devil raises 't is but looking inwards and there you will see that which will turn all your Fears into lively Hopes But if you look not to your hearts and keep them clean you will be at a perpetual loss you will never long know what to make of your selves nor what is like to become of you Assurance necessarily depends on watchfulness never look for a grounded peace without it and never trust to that confidence or assurance you seem to have whilst you are of a careless heart Whatever progress you have hitherto made in Religion whatever experiences you have formerly had of the workings of the Spirit of Grace in you a carelss heedless Spirit will so darken all your Experiences and blot your Evidences and leave you under such uncertainties that for ought you know you may be damned at last As ever therefore you would maintain an abiding Assurance that it s well with you at present and shall be well with you hereafter be watchful over your hearts that Record of all your Evidences The reason why we are at such uncertainties and so full of our doubts and fears it lies all here in our carelesness of our hearts And yet who will take warning O friends stedfastly resolve through the Grace of God I will look better to it Since my heart can never comfort me unless I watch it more narrowly mine eye shall be upon mine heart Night and Day I will commit my self to the keeper of Israel and I will set my self to keep whatever good thing he hath committed unto me 7. It is a sacrifice for God Psal 51.17 The Sacrifices of God are a broken heart 1. It is the heart that is a Sacrifice for God therefore Prov. 23.26 Give me thine heart It is the Sacrifices all the Sacrifices of God is the Sacrifice of the heart There are other Sacrifices but whatever they be 't is